Hong Kong: Concerted effort to fight virus assured Every bureau and department in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been mobilised to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. Chief Executive Carrie Lam made the statement this morning at a press conference where she thanked the State Council's Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office Director Xia Baolong for co-ordinating Mainland authorities' assistance for Hong Kong's anti-epidemic work. About remarks made by the State Councils Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office Director, I would first wish to express my deepest gratitude to Director Xia Baolong for his personal attention and tremendous efforts in co-ordinating the various ministries and commissions in the Central Peoples Government to support Hong Kong. As far as I understand, he has personally chaired eight co-ordination meetings to make sure that every request from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been attended to by the relevant ministries and commissions. He also, through his deputy directors, communicates with me very often to convey his care and concern about Hong Kong and also to assure me as well as the people of Hong Kong that the central government is always behind us. I cannot really comment on the adjective or the description he used, but I can assure him and assure the people of Hong Kong that we are putting in every effort to fight this epidemic. Mrs Lam also stressed that the Hong Kong SAR Government is prepared to spend whatever amount of money it takes to combat the fifth wave of COVID-19, adding that all bureaus and departments are making a concerted effort to do their part. We are not short of money. We will spend whatever money is required in order to get us out of this epidemic as soon as possible. More importantly, the whole of the Hong Kong SAR Government is acting as one government to tackle this epidemic. I do not want any more speculations that there are bureaus and departments that are working very hard, whereas others are not doing so. This story has been published on: 2022-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. China's commitment to high-quality development benefits all -- experts Xinhua) 09:42, March 12, 2022 Aerial photo taken on Dec. 16, 2021 shows the automated production line of a technology company in the Economic Development Zone of Anji County, Huzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo by Xia Pengfei/Xinhua) China has made important contributions to promoting world economic recovery, providing development dividends, and boosting global sustainable development, said overseas experts, noting that China's development experience can also be helpful for other countries. BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's commitment to pursuing high-quality development and building a community with a shared future for mankind has drawn global attention during its annual "two sessions," and will further benefit the world, say experts worldwide. This year's "two sessions," the gatherings of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, held closing meetings on Friday and Thursday respectively. Such topics as expanding high-level opening-up, promoting green development and boosting global cooperation have received intense global attention. China has made important contributions to promoting world economic recovery, providing development dividends, and boosting global sustainable development, said overseas experts, noting that China's development experience can also be helpful for other countries. China-donated COVID-19 vaccines are transported at the Nsimalen airport in Yaounde, Cameroon, Dec. 14, 2021. (Photo by Kepseu/Xinhua) BOOST GLOBAL COOPERATION Munshi Faiz Ahmad, former chair of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, said since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has been playing a very constructive role in an effort to enhance cooperation among countries to combat the virus in a coordinated manner. He also said that China has been sharing resources with many countries, rich and poor, in an effort to defeat the pandemic, adding that "China has succeeded in doing this because the democratic will of the people of China was fully behind the government policies as well expressed through the two sessions." Antoine Roger Lokongo, a professor of international politics and strategies at the Joseph Kasa-Vubu University, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, noted that Africa and other developing countries could learn from China's development. China's aid and investment are "profoundly transforming Africa, especially in fields of infrastructure and rural development," said Lokongo. Staff members promote coffee machines via livestreaming at the Consumer Goods Exhibition Area of the 4th China International Import Expo in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Ying) PRIORITIZE OPENING-UP It is "enormously reassuring" that China continues to be committed to the process of opening-up at the "two sessions," said John Pang, a senior fellow at Bard College, New York. Pang noted that it is good to see China's support for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a major free trade deal which came into force on Jan. 1 in China and nine other countries. Khairy Tourk, a professor of economics with the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, said "We see foreign direct investment flowing into China," adding that giants like Tesla and Apple are expanding their operations in China. "I think the world feels grateful to China and its economic planners to keep the country on a trajectory that would promise better economic conditions not only in China but in the rest of the world," Tourk argued. Aerial photo taken on Nov. 3, 2021 shows a wind power field in Luduo Township of Baoying County of Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Li Bo) PROMOTE GREEN DEVELOPMENT China is taking good steps to promote a green and low-carbon economy, said Alexandre Sebuhura, a senior lecturer of development studies at Kigali Independent University, Rwanda. Global challenges, for example climate change, will be dealt with once all countries push for co-existence between human and nature, Sebuhura added. Kostas Gouliamos, former rector of European University Cyprus, noted that China, sticking to people-centered policies, has moved faster to nurture green new drivers with the purpose of establishing a green technology innovation system. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Bianji) https://sputniknews.com/20220312/nasa-teams-up-with-us-government-agencies-to-prepare-for-asteroid-impact-1093813436.html NASA Teams Up With US Government Agencies to Prepare for Asteroid Impact NASA Teams Up With US Government Agencies to Prepare for Asteroid Impact Last year, NASA launched a specialised spacecraft dubbed DART that was designed to divert asteroids and comets endangering Earth. The initial concept device is... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T17:40+0000 2022-03-12T17:40+0000 2022-03-12T17:40+0000 space us nasa asteroid /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107903/04/1079030406_0:20:1917:1098_1920x0_80_0_0_d47917aecb9f82571e046371a906672e.png NASA has conducted a month-long exercise to prepare for an asteroid impact. Not that there is one threatening Earth right now, but the US space agency wants its personnel and American officials to be ready if and when one should arise. Thus, it organised a special training exercise on a hypothetical asteroid collision.Johnson explained that conducting such exercises can help "government stakeholders" to identify a potential threat and take appropriate action before the need "to respond to an actual asteroid impact threat" and not a hypothetical one. He added that an asteroid impact is essentially the only natural disaster so far that humanity can reliably predict and even prevent.The exercise, which was hosted by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, was divided into stages corresponding to ever increasing levels of awareness of officials of the asteroid threat. With the current level of technology, no government can predict an impact when an asteroid is too far away. However, once a potential candidate for activating planetary defence is found, it is the job of government agencies to determine how much damage it could inflict and what the probability of a hit is.That was the first stage of NASA's exercise after the scientists "discovered" the hypothetical 2022 TTX asteroid that was due to collide with Earth in six months, according to the scenario. As the participants of the exercise progressed through the scenario, they received additional information on 2022 TTX's properties, helping them take further steps to avert disaster.NASA did not reveal if the participants of the exercise were successful in diverting the threat and what methods they used. However, NASA's Planetary Defence division recently developed a prototype spacecraft that is believed to be capable of redirecting dangerous space objects that might hit Earth DART (short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test). The spacecraft was test launched in November 2021 and will attempt to alter an asteroid's path in order to prove that it is a concept that works.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus space Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg space, us, nasa, asteroid https://sputniknews.com/20220312/pakistan-presses-for-joint-probe-over-indias-accidental-missile-launch-1093808711.html Pakistan Presses for Joint Probe Over India's 'Accidental' Missile Launch Pakistan Presses for Joint Probe Over India's 'Accidental' Missile Launch On Thursday, Pakistan said it had downed an Indian supersonic surface-to-surface missile, with the country's air defence system destroying the rocket before it... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T14:24+0000 2022-03-12T14:24+0000 2022-03-14T16:21+0000 india pakistan pakistan missile missile missile tests accident accident indian defence ministry foreign office /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/101644/10/1016441050_0:267:2840:1865_1920x0_80_0_0_cce4ba838446c05a84de564d06d967eb.jpg A day after the Indian Defence Ministry's admission that it had "accidentally" launched a missile towards Pakistan, Islamabad sought a joint probe into the incident. Islamabad questioned New Delhi's honesty, asking why India didn't inform Pakistan almost immediately after knowing that the missile test had gone awry. Expressing deep regret over the incident, India said on Friday that a "technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of the missile".The Indian government also declared that a "high-level court of enquiry" has been ordered to investigate the incident.However, Pakistan's Foreign Office (FO) said that it wasn't satisfied with India's "simplistic explanation", because an incident involving a missile from a nuclear-armed neighbour was a matter of grave concern. "Indian decision to hold an internal court of inquiry is not sufficient since the missile ended up in Pakistani territory. Pakistan demands a joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding the incident", the FO's statement added.The Indian Ministry of Defence said that the incident is "deeply regrettable", adding that "it is a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident".The "accidental" missile launch from India comes against the backdrop of an improvement of relations between the two bitter rivals, which have fought three wars since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1947.Last year, the two countries agreed to a ceasefire along the Kashmir border after talks were held between their respective directors general of military operations. Earlier this month, the two South Asian nations held a dialogue on exchanging hydrological and flood data of the Indus River, which flows through India into Pakistan. pakistan Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png india, pakistan, pakistan, missile, missile, missile tests, accident, accident, indian defence ministry, foreign office, rajnath singh https://sputniknews.com/20220312/prince-harry-wont-attend-prince-philips-memorial-service--1093805976.html Prince Harry Won't Attend Prince Philip's Memorial Service Prince Harry Won't Attend Prince Philip's Memorial Service The royal's last visit to the United Kingdom was in the summer of 2021. Back then, he unveiled a statue dedicated to his late mother Princess Diana together with his brother. Reports say Prince Harry wanted to come to the UK with his two children Archie, 3, and 9-month-old Lilibet, but feared it could be dangerous. 2022-03-12T12:11+0000 2022-03-12T12:11+0000 2022-03-12T12:11+0000 uk uk royal family prince harry meghan markle queen elizabeth ii prince philip uk home office /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/07/18/1083451596_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_4b7bea2e3845b3530add7c5bde498496.jpg Prince Harry will miss a memorial service dedicated to his late grandfather Prince Philip, who passed away last April, the royal's spokesperson said. The representative added that the Duke of Sussex hopes to visit his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II as soon as possible. The spokesperson did not elaborate on any possible dates.No reason has been given for why Harry will be absent, but UK media outlets point out that it likely involves the ongoing legal battle with the country's Home Office. All members of the Royal Family are provided with taxpayer-funded protection. Yet, when in 2020 Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle announced their decision to step down as working royals and move to North America that protection was rescinded.Prince Harry has offered to pay for police protection himself. He emphasised that his US security team does not have jurisdiction in the United Kingdom as well as access to information needed to keep his family safe. "The claimant does not feel safe when he is in the UK given the security arrangements applied to him in June 2021. It goes without saying that he does want to come back to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities close to his heart", said the royal's lawyer.Robert Palmer, who has represented the Home Office, said Prince Harry's offer to fund the protection was "irrelevant". The verdict on the case is expected to be announced later this month.The Duke of Sussex briefly returned to the United Kingdom last summer to attend the unveiling of a statue dedicated to his late mother Princess Diana and before that he attended the funeral of his grandfather Prince Philip in April 2021.Relations between the Sussexes and the rest of the Royal Family are said to have soured after the couple gave a tell-all interview to US talk show host Oprah Winfrey in which they made sensational allegations. Meghan Markle accused royal staff of denying her help when she felt suicidal and implied that one member of the family was racist they were concerned about the potentially dark skin of the couple's firstborn child Archie.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Max Gorbachev Max Gorbachev News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Max Gorbachev uk, uk royal family, prince harry, meghan markle, queen elizabeth ii, prince philip, uk home office https://sputniknews.com/20220312/red-cross-official-asks-world-not-to-shift-attention-from-yemen-other-nations-in-war---report-1093796989.html Red Cross Official Asks World Not to Shift Attention From Yemen, Other Nations in War - Report Red Cross Official Asks World Not to Shift Attention From Yemen, Other Nations in War - Report Yemeni government forces and the militant Houthi opposition faction have been at war for over six years. In 2015, a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T03:20+0000 2022-03-12T03:20+0000 2022-03-12T03:19+0000 yemen yemen conflict middle east un international red cross and red crescent societies federation (ifrc) /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0c/1093797312_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_c42e3bf66d08d23c32897d3494ba3281.jpg Katharina Ritz, a Red Cross official, has warned that the world must not forget Yemen and other war-torn countries in the wake of a current humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.In an interview with the Associated Press, Ritz, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Yemen, said the country is still in desperate need of aid as the violent conflict between the Yemeni government and the armed Houthi political opposition faction continues.According to numerous experts and media reports, Yemen, the poorest nation in the Middle East, has been on the verge of famine, and the crisis could be aggravated by supply chain disruptions due to the ongoing Russian special military operation in Ukraine. Yemen gets about 40% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, according to the report.The United Nations food agency reported late last month that 13 million people in Yemen are suffering starvation as a result of the country's prolonged conflict.The official noted that in the meantime, the Red Cross has been regularly granted access to captives imprisoned by militias, the Houthi-controlled government in Sanaa, and the Yemeni government in Aden.The warring parties reportedly orchestrated a large-scale prisoner swap in 2020, but there has not been another since. The sides agreed to transfer nearly 15,000 convicts in a 2018 agreement in Stockholm.Ritz stressed that the organization worked with the Saudi-led military coalition, the Houthis, and other factions in the war to emphasize the need of protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure. At the same time, the official pointed out that responsibility for civilian casualties rests with the belligerents.The armed Houthi political opposition faction seized control of Sanaa, Yemen's capital, in late 2014, forcing the Yemeni government to flee to the city of Aden, while it's president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, fled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he now primarily resides. The Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen months after Hadi fled the country, in support of the exiled government.Yemen has since become one of the world's top humanitarian disasters. According to estimates quoted by the media, more over 150,000 people have been killed in the ongoing war, with fighters and civilians among them.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus yemen Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Kirill Kurevlev Kirill Kurevlev News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Kirill Kurevlev yemen, yemen conflict, middle east, un, international red cross and red crescent societies federation (ifrc) https://sputniknews.com/20220312/russia-could-resume-security-dialogue-with-us-if-washington-is-ready-deputy-fm-says-1093803083.html Russia Warns West Convoys With Foreign Weapons for Ukraine Are Legit Military Targets Russia Warns West Convoys With Foreign Weapons for Ukraine Are Legit Military Targets Relations between Russia and the US have plunged to a new low since Washington imposed massive sanctions against the Russian financial sector and economy in... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T09:24+0000 2022-03-12T09:24+0000 2022-03-12T10:45+0000 russia-nato row on european security world russia us /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/01/1093482779_0:0:3277:1844_1920x0_80_0_0_b611052748eef8398e4f9e09cea112d4.jpg Moscow could resume a security dialogue with the US if Washington is ready to do so, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ryabkov has stated. He added that Russia is also prepared to discuss the issue of the New START treaty, which had been put on hold as well.At the same time, Ryabkov said that Moscow's propositions for a security dialogue have changed since the last time it was on the agenda.The deputy minister added that Russia will not make any concessions to the US in matters of strategic stability. He also warned Washington against any reckless steps in this area.The diplomat further cautioned the West against "mindlessly pumping weapons" into Ukraine. He stressed that it is a dangerous move and that convoys carrying these weapons will be legitimate targets for the Russian military.Russian Response to West's Sanctions ReadyThe deputy foreign minister stated that right now the US is waging economic war against Russia. He separately lambasted a decision by western countries to close their airspace to Russian aircraft as "illegal". Ryabkov added that Moscow has already prepared lists of personal counter sanctions against western countries and that they will be revealed soon.Ryabkov underscored that the West would have eventually found a pretext for new anti-Russian sanctions even without Moscow launching a special operation in Ukraine. The latter was ordered by President Vladimir Putin on 24 February after a request from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) to protect them against Kiev's forces. Ukraine and its western allies branded the operation an "invasion".The US, other western countries, and their allies slapped Russia with harsh economic sanctions targeting its top companies, energy and financial sectors, as well as the Central Bank and country's aviation industry. They tied the decision to Russia's decision to recognise the DPR and LPR's independence on 21 February and to launch a special operation in Ukraine three days later. Moscow said it seeks to demilitarise and de-Nazify the country, pointing out that Ukraine was on the verge of becoming a NATO member and deploying weapons endangering Russia's security on its territory.NATO members have repeatedly denied planning to accept Ukraine into its ranks in the foreseeable future, despite promising to eventually do that back in 2008. The bloc's members said they won't be engaging in the fight on Ukraine's territory including by creating a no-fly zone above it as per the request of President Volodymyr Zelensky. US President Joe Biden elaborated that such an engagement could prompt WWIII.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg world, russia, us https://sputniknews.com/20220312/russia-seeing-humanitarian-crisis-of-catastrophic-levels-as-far-right-ukrainians-take-hostages-1093815694.html Russia Seeing Humanitarian Crisis of Catastrophic Levels as Far-Right Ukrainians Take Hostages Russia Seeing Humanitarian Crisis of Catastrophic Levels as Far-Right Ukrainians Take Hostages A Russian general pointed to the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol as a flashpoint, asserting that far-right forces have been firing at those trying... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T20:30+0000 2022-03-12T20:30+0000 2022-03-12T21:44+0000 ukraine ukraine crisis russia terrorism ukrainian ultra-nationalists hostage situation in ukraine /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0c/1093815668_0:0:3014:1696_1920x0_80_0_0_6b0ba28df005806d5bcd97be5fe1b113.jpg MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Over 6,900 foreign nationals are being held by Ukrainian far-right forces and are being used as human shields in combat, the head of the Russian National Defense Control Center announced on Saturday.Foreign crews of over 50 foreign-flagged vessels are stranded in Ukrainian seaports, the general added.Foreign citizens hail from Azerbaijan, Greece, Georgia, Egypt, India, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, the Philippines and Jamaica, among others. Moscow has reported that it is in contact with their respective diplomatic missions.Mizintsev added that some cities in Ukraine are facing a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions as the situation continues to worsen across the country.The top military representative also noted that, on March 12, for humanitarian purposes, Russia had provided humanitarian corridors in the direction of Kiev, Chernigov, Sumy, Kharkov and Mariupol, for the eighth time, beginning at 10 am, local time.Kiev has rejected multiple attempts by the Kremlin to conduct humanitarian evacuations of civilians into Russia from the southeastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol.The Russian general additionally accused troops in Ukraine of violating humanitarian corridors while "hunting" those who flee eastward. The Ukrainian national security agency - the SBU - has, according to the Russian military general, been tracking phone calls and conducting mass searches and arrests to stop people from traveling to Russia.Some 450 civilians heading toward the bordering Russian region of Kursk, from Ukraines Sumy region, had their transports seized and were driven away from the border, according to Mizintsev's report.Russia as evacuated at least 9,787 people from conflict zones across Ukraine and the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics in the past 24 hours, according to the Kremlin. The total number of evacuees has topped 231,000, which includes 51,996 children.Moscow, Mizintsev continued, has been contacted by over 2.6 million civilians and foreigners stranded in Ukraine in hopes of leaving the conflict-torn country, with a reported 19,963 pleas for help over the past 24 hours alone.At the time of the proclamation of independence for the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in 2014, Mariupol, with a population of about 450,000, was the second largest city, after its local capital of Donetsk. In June 2014, however, the Ukrainian military regained control of Mariupol, and its eastern suburbs became one of the hot spots of conflict in Ukraine. On March 7, Alexander Semenov, deputy commander of the DPR's Vostok battalion, said that the largest city on the Azov coast was surrounded, and that certain areas were being cleared. Mariupol is home to the far-right Azov nationalist regiment, accused of committing crimes and using civilians as human shields in combat situations to protect themselves from harm.The Kremlin launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 at the request of breakaway republics in Donbass to carry out "demilitarization and denazification" in Ukraine. Additionally, the special military operation seeks to bring to justice war criminals responsible for "bloody crimes against civilians" in the region.According to official statements from the Russian Ministry of Defense, its military conducts missile strikes only at Ukraine's military infrastructure and troops. With the support of the Russian army, the DPR and LPR troops are reported to be developing an offensive. Russian President Vladimir Putin has on multiple occasions declared that there is no goal to occupy Ukraine.Let's stay in touch no matter what happens! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus https://sputniknews.com/20220312/whats-behind-washingtons-denial-of-biowarfare-weapons-programme-in-ukraine-1093810839.html https://sputniknews.com/20220305/dpr-head-some-200-people-buried-under-rubble-as-azov-militants-set-off-explosive-device-in-mariupol-1093607780.html ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 ukraine, ukraine crisis, russia, terrorism, ukrainian ultra-nationalists, hostage https://sputniknews.com/20220312/russian-cargo-ship-catches-fire-after-ukrainian-shelling-in-sea-of-azov---investigative-committee-1093813927.html Russian Cargo Ship Catches Fire After Ukrainian Shelling in Sea of Azov - Investigative Committee Russian Cargo Ship Catches Fire After Ukrainian Shelling in Sea of Azov - Investigative Committee Russias Investigative Committee said that a criminal investigation has been launched after a Russian cargo ship was hit by a Ukrainian projectile in the Sea... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T17:22+0000 2022-03-12T17:22+0000 2022-03-12T17:50+0000 russia ukraine sea of azov /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0c/1093814325_0:146:3072:1874_1920x0_80_0_0_f13f204dee585d48ac7936854b146bdf.jpg Russian cargo ship the Sormovskiy 3064 caught fire after being hit by a Ukrainian projectile in the Sea of Azov, Russia's Investigative Committee said on Saturday.One of the Ukrainian projectiles hit the cabin of the first mate, causing the ship to catch fire. According to the committee, the crew managed to contain the fire.At the time of the shelling, the vessel was 12 kilometres north of the village of Shabelskoye, in the vicinity of Krasnodar in the Sea of Azov. It was heading to the Russian city of Taganrog after leaving a port in Greece. The Investigative Committee said that it has launched a criminal probe into the incident. The circumstances, along with the suspects in the Ukrainian Armed Forces who may have been involved in the shelling, are still being determined. ukraine sea of azov Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 russia, ukraine, sea of azov https://sputniknews.com/20220312/russian-forces-down-ukraines-mi-24-helicopter-three-uavs-including-bayraktar-drone-mod-says-1093812655.html Russian Forces Down Ukrainian Mi-24 Helicopter, Three UAVs, Including Bayraktar Drone, MoD Says Russian Forces Down Ukrainian Mi-24 Helicopter, Three UAVs, Including Bayraktar Drone, MoD Says The Russian Armed Forces are continuing to conduct the special operation in Ukraine, which was ordered by President Vladimir Putin on 24 February following a... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T16:31+0000 2022-03-12T16:31+0000 2022-03-12T16:59+0000 ukraine russia situation in ukraine mi-24 bayraktar /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/0a/06/1080681439_0:300:1600:1200_1920x0_80_0_0_260a0a85178030155561d5b7a78d30ed.jpg Russias military shot down one Ukrainian Mi-24 (NATO reporting name: Hind) helicopter and three unmanned aerial vehicles, including a Turkish-made Bayraktar drone, the Russian Defence Ministry reported. All four aircraft were downed in one day, the ministry clarified.Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov stated that Russian forces have destroyed a total of 3,593 military objects in Ukraine over the course of the special military operation, which was launched on 24 February. He clarified that Russian forces have downed 61 Ukrainian helicopters and 126 drones, in addition to 1,159 tanks and other armoured vehicles.Forces of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) have moved deeper into territory controlled by Kiev's forces, seizing Vozgorye, Molodezhnoe, and parts of Popasnaya, Konashenkov said. He added that LPR troops are approaching the city of Severodonetsk.Russian forces, in turn, seized Novoandreevka and Kirillovka, drawing near to a group of settlements held by Ukrainian forces Novomayorskoye, Pavlovka, Nikolskoye, Vladimirovka, and Blagodatnoye.President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to launch a military operation in Ukraine following a request for help from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), also citing the need to protect the two republics that have been suffering from constant shelling by Ukrainian forces. Putin described the goals of the special operation as the demilitarisation and de-Nazification of Ukraine.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Tim Korso https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0d/1093831826_0:0:216:216_100x100_80_0_0_e3f43a960af0c6c99f7eb8ccbf5f812c.jpg ukraine, russia, mi-24, bayraktar https://sputniknews.com/20220312/saudi-arabia-carries-out-mass-execution-of-81-people-in-single-day-for-terrorism-capital-crimes-1093816985.html Saudi Arabia Carries Out Mass Execution of 81 People in Single-Day for Terrorism, Capital Crimes Saudi Arabia Carries Out Mass Execution of 81 People in Single-Day for Terrorism, Capital Crimes Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed 81 people said to have been convicted of terrorism and capital crimes, including the murder of innocent men, women and... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T22:04+0000 2022-03-12T22:04+0000 2022-03-12T22:03+0000 saudi arabia mass executions /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/04/01/1082504848_0:217:2869:1831_1920x0_80_0_0_b54396232ac00191ef5649f875e9d009.jpg According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA), those sentenced in the mass execution included individuals who were said to be loyal to foreign terrorist organizations, such as ISIS*, Al-Qaeda*, and the Houthis, and those who had traveled to regional conflict zones to join terrorist groups.Other crimes said to have been convicted by those who were executed included targeting police officers and vital economic sites, planting landmines to target police vehicles, kidnapping, torture, rape, and smuggling weapons into the kingdom.According to SPA, before being sentenced to death, the individuals were tried in Saudi courts overseen by 13 judges, over three separate stages of trial for each suspect. Of the 81 men who were executed on Saturday, seven were Yemenis and one was Syrian.In 2021, Saudi authorities carried out 67 executions, an increase in the number of executions over the 27 in the year prior. In 2019, however, Riyadh executed 185 people in that year alone.According to UK-based human rights group Amnesty International, executions in Saudi Arabia resumed directly after Riyadh completed hosting the Group 20 (G20) summit in December 2019, handing over host duties to Italy. After which, the kingdom executed nine people in the month of December 2020.The human rights group and many others have criticized Saudi Arabia for what they suggest are grossly unfair trials, marred by claims of torture during pre-trial detention leading to forced confessions which the prosecution systematically failed to investigate.While Riyadh has asserted that capital punishment for those under the age of 18 has been abolished, Amnesty noted that in June 2021 a man was sentenced to death for crimes allegedly committed while the suspect was under the age of 18.Amnesty has also criticized Saudi Arabia for persecuting its activists and dissidents, including 11 women in March 2019 who were charged with promoting womens rights, calling for an end to Saudi Arabias male guardianship system, and contacting human rights organizations such as Amnesty. Some of those women include: Loujain al-Hathloul, Iman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Yousef, Amal al-Harbi, Dr. Ruqayyah al-Mharib, Nouf Abdulziaz, Mayaa al-Zahrani, Shadan al-Anezi, Dr. Abir Namankni, and Dr. Hatoon al-Fassi.In late March 2019, a Saudi court temporarily freed three of the women after international criticism. In 2021, Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who led a campaign to legalize driving for women, was released from jail after three years of imprisonment. That move has been seen as a gesture to improve the US-Saudi relationship after US President Joe Bidens criticism of the countrys treatment of its activists and journalists.Al-Hathlouls release was conditional, as she was placed under a 5-year travel ban, among other restrictions. In late 2021, the activist sued three former USintelligence contractors for allegedly assisting to hack her cellphone using Pegasus spyware, which she believes led to her arrest.This is why I have chosen to stand up for our collective right to remain safe online and limit government-backed cyber abuses of power. I continue to realize my privilege to possibly act upon my beliefs, al-Hathloul said.I hope this case inspires others to confront all sorts of cybercrimes while creating a safer space for all of us to grow, share, and learn from one another without the threat of power abuses.*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISL/ IS) and Al-Qaeda are terrorist organisations outlawed in Russia and many other states.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus https://sputniknews.com/20200421/saudi-arabia-sets-new-record-for-executions-despite-global-decline-of-death-penalty---amnesty--1079049118.html saudi arabia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg saudi arabia, mass executions https://sputniknews.com/20220312/tehran-vows-to-retaliate-against-israeli-strike-on-syria-that-killed-two-irgc-officers-1093805324.html Tehran Vows to Retaliate Against 'Israeli Strike' on Syria That Killed Two IRGC Officers Tehran Vows to Retaliate Against 'Israeli Strike' on Syria That Killed Two IRGC Officers Tehran and Tel Aviv do not have diplomatic relations, with Iran refusing to recognise the Jewish state and Israel vowing to do its best to prevent the Islamic... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T11:11+0000 2022-03-12T11:11+0000 2022-03-12T11:11+0000 israel iran islamic revolutionary guard corps officers missile attacks /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/07/18/1079973638_0:120:1280:840_1920x0_80_0_0_21665d477171c94d7bc68dd2f5b0d872.jpg Iran's Permanent Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht-Ravanchi has stated that Tehran reserves "its inherent right to self-defence" to respond to Israel's alleged missile strike on Syria earlier this week, which killed two Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers.In letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council, Takht-Ravanchi accused Israel of violating the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic" and launching "missile attacks against an area north of Damascus" on 7 March.Takht-Ravanchi noted that the Iranian advisory forces are present in Syria at its government's "official request and the invitation to provide advisory services to assist the Syrian military forces to combat terrorism, specifically the terrorist group ISIS [Daesh*]".The Iranian diplomat described the missile strike as an Israeli "terrorist attack" and "a highly provocative and deliberate act intended at increasing tensions to an uncontrolled level and disrupting coordination among those fighting terrorism in the region, particularly ISIS".The remarks followed the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemning the killing of the IRGC officers, with spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh pledging that Israel would "pay for this crime". He was echoed by the IRGC's Public Relations Office, which said in a statement that "undoubtedly", the Jewish state will pay the price of this atrocity.The Syrian government has repeatedly attributed the constant missile attacks, which, in particular, target armaments depots in the Arab Republic, to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), who prefer to avoid commenting on the matter.Tel Aviv, for its part, accuses Tehran of providing weapons to Damascus as a means of attacking the Jewish state. Iran denies having a military presence in Syria apart from advisers sent in at the request of Damascus to help the Syrian government fight terrorist groups.Tehran rejects Israel's right to exist, frequently vowing to destroy it, while Tel Aviv, aside from accusing Iran of supplying arms to Damascus, has repeatedly pledged to stop the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons. The Iranian government insists that its nuclear programme is purely peaceful.*Daesh (ISIS/Islamic State/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus iran Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Oleg Burunov https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg Oleg Burunov https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Oleg Burunov https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg israel, iran, islamic revolutionary guard corps, officers, missile attacks https://sputniknews.com/20220312/the-epstein-situation-lawyer-for-jussie-smollett-explains-actors-outburst-about-suicide-in-court-1093802242.html The Epstein Situation: Lawyer for Jussie Smollett Explains Actor's Outburst About Suicide in Court The Epstein Situation: Lawyer for Jussie Smollett Explains Actor's Outburst About Suicide in Court In 2019, the star of the musical drama "Empire" was assaulted by two men, who shouted homophobic and racial slurs. A subsequent police investigation revealed that the act was a hoax staged by the actor in order to promote his career. 2022-03-12T09:29+0000 2022-03-12T09:29+0000 2022-03-12T09:30+0000 us society jeffrey epstein suicide hate crime hoax racism homophobia /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107261/16/1072611611_0:178:3500:2147_1920x0_80_0_0_fc40fdbe970895a43920839722c9e260.jpg A lawyer for Jussie Smollett has explained the actor's odd outburst about taking his own life. Moments after Judge James Linn announced a prison sentence for the 39-year-old, Smollett started saying that he is not suicidal. When asked about the actor's comments, his lawyer Nenye Uche said that they were made for "a specific reason". In the event Smollett turns up dead in protective custody, he doesn't want people to think that he took his own life, the lawyer said before mentioning the case of financier Jeffrey Epstein.In July 2019, Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on charges of running a sex trafficking network after several women accused him of sexual abuse. The case made headlines across the globe. Epstein rubbed shoulders with heads of state, billionaires, celebrities, and royals, with reports saying that some of his friends could be implicated in the crimes.The New York City Medical Examiner's Office concluded that the financier hanged himself. Yet, a forensic pathologist hired by his family suggested that evidence pointed to the financier potentially having been strangled.Prior to his death the billionaire was put on suicide watch after a first botched attempt to take his own life, but several days later was taken off of it. A subsequent investigation revealed that the prison guards responsible for checking on him were reportedly sleeping and browsing the internet and the video of his first suicide attempt was deleted due to a technical error.These and other details sparked wild conspiracy theories. According to one of them, the disgraced financier didn't kill himself and was actually murdered by someone, a claim supported by a pathologist that was hired by Epstein's family. Numerous conspiracy theories suggest that his influential friends and acquaintances, among them US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Prince Andrew, could have killed Epstein to avoid being implicated in his crimes during his trial.Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail. In January 2019, the actor, who is Black and gay, said he was a victim of a hate crime. He stated that two men wearing ski masks assaulted him in the street and yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him.Police detained the perpetrators, who also turned out to be Black. Later, it became known that they had worked as extras on the set of the musical drama "Empire", where Smollet starred, and that one of them was gay. The men told the police that the actor actually paid them to stage a crime in order to promote his career.Aside from a jail sentence, the 39-year-old paid over $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago and $25,000 in fines. Prosecutors said police spent over 3,000 hours investigating the purported hate crime and had interviewed dozens of witnesses, walking door-to-door during Chicago's Polar Vortex, one of the coldest period in the city's history.Smollett has maintained that he was a victim of a crime and claimed that he is innocent.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Max Gorbachev Max Gorbachev News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Max Gorbachev us, society, jeffrey epstein, suicide, hate crime, hoax, racism, homophobia https://sputniknews.com/20220312/whats-behind-washingtons-denial-of-biowarfare-weapons-programme-in-ukraine-1093810839.html What's Behind Washington's Denial of Biowarfare Weapons Programme in Ukraine? What's Behind Washington's Denial of Biowarfare Weapons Programme in Ukraine? On 11 March, the UN Security Council convened at Russia's request to discuss the "biological activities of the US on the territory of Ukraine". Earlier, the... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T15:50+0000 2022-03-12T15:50+0000 2022-03-12T18:40+0000 situation in ukraine us world opinion russia europe ukraine biolab bioweapon ebola /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/101907/55/1019075568_0:107:1024:683_1920x0_80_0_0_dfbf0a0a6014f8f08d6beb66cdc44c9f.jpg "The US State Department says that the public mission of the biolabs in Ukraine is about securing Cold War era Soviet bioweapons", says former Pentagon analyst and retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski. "The companies that operate and have constructed these labs competed far more recently for contracts awarded by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), so the Cold war or Soviet era weapons disposal rings hollow. In fact, the successful 2014 US colour revolution in Ukraine opened the door for fresh DTRA contracts, and these facilities appear to be relatively modern. What they are working on is not strictly defensive, and Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland publicly stated as much before the US Congress a few days ago".Nuland's exchange with Senator Marco Rubio during the Tuesday hearings at the Senate triggered a heated debate, given that Washington had previously strongly denied the presence of any US-run biolabs in Ukraine.When asked whether Ukraine possesses "chemical or biological weapons", Nuland admitted that "Ukraine has biological research facilities." What's more, as US independent journalist Glenn Greenwald later remarked, she immediately "destroyed any hope to depict such 'facilities' as benign or banal" by adding: "We are now in fact quite concerned that Russian troops, Russian forces, may be seeking to gain control of [those labs], so we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach".On the same day, the National Pulse, a US-British conservative media outlet, recovered a deleted article titled "Biolab Opens in Ukraine", dating back to 18 June 2010. The article said that the US had built a level-3 biosafety lab in the Ukrainian city of Odessa to study dangerous pathogens, including anthrax, tularemia, and Q fever, "used by bioterrorists".A 2011 report from the US National Academy of Sciences Committee on Anticipating Biosecurity Challenges of the Global Expansion of High-Containment Biological Laboratories, also cited by the National Pulse, further reveals that the Odessa lab was reconstructed through "a cooperative agreement" between the Pentagon and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine that started in 2005 following the US-backed 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine and served as "Interim Central Reference Laboratory with a depozitarium (pathogen collection)". A separate document, cited by the media outlet, named the pathogens the facility allegedly conducted research on, including: the Marburg, Ebola, Lassa, Junin, Machupo, and Simian B viruses, the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, as well as other viruses of pathogenicity group II.Earlier this week, Fox News host Tucker Carlson raised a red flag over the lack of transparency about the Ukrainian biolabs' research of dangerous pathogens and the US government's role in it. The host quoted Robert Pope, the head of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program at the Pentagon, who claimed in a 25 February interview that some Ukrainian biolabs may hold pathogen strains left over from the Soviet bioweapons programme preserved in freezers for research purposes. According to Carlson, this sounds bizarre, given US mainstream media claims that since 2005, the Pentagon has been busy with "eliminat[ing] biological weapons left behind by the Soviets" in Ukraine.Biological Warfare WeaponsMeanwhile, on 10 March the Russian Ministry of Defence released documents related to the suspected military biological activities of the United States on the territory of Ukraine. The US Defence Threat Reduction Agency played the leading role in financing and developing components for biological weapons, according to the Russian MoD.In particular, Project UP-4, conducted with the participation of laboratories in Kiev, Kharkov, and Odessa, studied the possibility of the spread of dangerous infections through migrating birds; Project R-781reportedly studied bats as carriers of viral pathogens, including plague, leptospirosis, brucellosis, coronaviruses, and filoviruses that can be transmitted to humans, thus making them "potential biological weapons agents", according to the MoD. Among the goals pursued in the Ukrainian biolabs was the creation of bioagents that would be capable of targeting certain ethnic groups, the Defence Ministry stated. On 6 March, the Russian MoD released Ukrainian Ministry of Health documents containing instructions to all biological laboratories to urgently eliminate stored stocks of dangerous pathogens amid Russia's special operation.Judging from the incoming reports, it appears that the US carried out bio warfare programmes in Ukraine in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 (BWATA), according to Francis Boyle, a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, who drafted BWATA and has been fighting against the spread of bioweapons since 1983.All bioweapons centres in Ukraine have to be secured and decontaminated by Russian professional experts on biological weapons and then rendered permanently inoperable so that they can never be used again for any reason, according to the professor.Boyle noted that American neoconservatives, an influential political group Victoria Nuland is tied with, had long flirted with the idea of biological warfare weapons which could target specific genotypes and be used as a "politically useful tool". According to Boyle, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a US major neocon think tank, openly discussed that in their manifesto "Rebuilding America's Defenses" (2000), cited by the academic in his book "Biowarfare and Terrorism" (2005).Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus ukraine odessa kiev kharkov Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Ekaterina Blinova Ekaterina Blinova News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ekaterina Blinova us, world, opinion, russia, europe, ukraine, biolab, bioweapon, ebola, coronavirus, pathogens, odessa, kiev, kharkov, russian ministry of defense https://sputniknews.com/20220312/wisconsin-crime-lab-destroys-rifle-rittenhouse-used-in-2020-kenosha-shooting---report-1093797762.html Wisconsin Crime Lab Destroys Rifle Rittenhouse Used in 2020 Kenosha Shooting - Report Wisconsin Crime Lab Destroys Rifle Rittenhouse Used in 2020 Kenosha Shooting - Report Rittenhouse was charged with multiple counts following a 2020 shooting during the Kenosha, Wisconsin, protests in which he shot three men, killing two. After... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T03:55+0000 2022-03-12T03:55+0000 2022-03-12T04:32+0000 us kyle rittenhouse weapon kenosha police wisconsin /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0c/1093798009_0:167:2601:1630_1920x0_80_0_0_9a2a1b59ba4d2934320b98a6cfdb0bc7.jpg The weapon used by Kyle Rittenhouse to shoot three people during street protests in Kenosha in 2020 has been destroyed by Wisconsin officials, the local network WISN reported on Friday.The rifle was reportedly destroyed by the state crime lab on 25 February. Technicians unboxed the rifle and fed it into a metal shredder, according to the station's video.In January, Rittenhouse's attorneys and prosecutors agreed that the gun would be destroyed. Rittenhouse's primary attorney, Mark Richards, reportedly claimed Rittenhouse did not want it remain intact and sold as a trophy. The agreement stipulated that the procedure be documented.During the protests in August 2020, Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz. The protests during which the incident occurred erupted after a police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, during a domestic disturbance call. Blake was reportedly paralyzed from the waist down after the shooting.At the time of the protests, Rittenhouse was 17 years old, making him ineligible to purchase a gun in the state of Wisconsin. Dominick Black, a friend of Rittenhouse, had purchased the rifle for him earlier that year. In January, Black pleaded no contest to assisting a juvenile in delinquency.Richards reportedly told the outlet that one of the reasons they wanted it destroyed, is that they did not want Black to profit from selling the firearm. There have reportedly been requests to purchase the weapon.Rittenhouse wanted his clothing from the night of the incident returned for the same reason - a request that was granted.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus kenosha wisconsin Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Kirill Kurevlev Kirill Kurevlev News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Kirill Kurevlev us, kyle rittenhouse, weapon, kenosha, police, wisconsin https://sputniknews.com/20220312/youtube-blocks-sputnik-news-worldwide-1093792162.html YouTube Blocks Sputnik News Worldwide YouTube Blocks Sputnik News Worldwide The Misfits talk, Meta media war, YouTube blocks Sputnik channels globally, Medicaid purge, cost of police misconduct and "stories of the weird". 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T09:17+0000 2022-03-12T09:17+0000 2022-03-12T09:17+0000 political misfits russia ukraine meta facebook icc drones youtube medicaid /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0b/1093792050_56:0:1300:700_1920x0_80_0_0_362cbdaa07179d71a47a58edeeb6a180.png Youtube Blocks SputnikNews Worldwide The Misfits talk, Meta media war, Medicaid purge, cost of police misconduct and "stories of the weird". For the first segment, George Szamuely, PhD, Senior Research Fellow, Global Policy Institute and author, Bombs for Peace: NATO's Humanitarian War on Yugoslavia, 2014 joins the show to talk about Meta - Facebooks parent company - changing its hate speech rules to allow what it calls forms of political expression that include calls for violence against Russian soldiers and Russian leaders - as long as the context is the "invasion of Ukraine". Then they talk about media coverage of bio labs discovered in Ukraine. And, they talk about the announcement that the US, the EU and the G7 countries will revoke Russias most favored nation trading status.Next on the show, Ali al-Ahmed, Director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs joins the conversation to talk about Saudi Arabia and China announcing on Wednesday that they would create a joint venture to design and build military drones in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia already owns Chinese-made Wing Loong II military drones and American-made Reaper drones that it actively uses in its war in Yemen. China is also in talks to sell to Saudi Arabia its FC-31 stealth fighter aircraft. And, Saudi Aramco, the largest oil company in the world, announced a joint venture with China to develop a refinery and petrochemical complex in eastern Saudi Arabia. These announcements come after reports in the US media that Saudi and Emirati leaders would not accept telephone calls from President Biden.For the next segment, Netfa Freeman, organizer for Pan-African Community Action (PACA), member of the Coordinating Committee of the Black Alliance for Peace, Co-Producer/Host for the radio show and podcast Voices With Vision on WPFW 89.3 FM, joins the conversation to talk about a published investigative report showing that police departments around the country have spent $1.5 billion since 2010 to settle lawsuits brought against police for misconduct. Departments across the country have had to pay settlements for individual officer misconduct multiple times. Then they talk about Johnson & Johnson apologizing for an experiment that it conducted in 1971, when it injected 50 Pennsylvania prisoners with asbestos to compare its effect on skin versus talc. Both asbestos and talc are known to cause cancer. 50 prisoners were black men and none of them knew exactly what they were being injected with.For the last segment, Dr. Yolanda Hancock, board-certified pediatrician and obesity medicine specialist called into the program to talk about Dr Bronners Soap Company funding research into the mental health benefits of psychedelic drugs and making the benefits of that research available to their staff by covering ketamine therapy in the companys insurance plan. And, they talk about a looming health disaster in this country - the coming purge of medicaid rolls. The Daily Poster reported on this earlier this week, noting that since the start of the pandemic, Medicaid, the program that provides health insurance to low income Americans, has expanded, with enrollment at 77.8 million. That is nearly a quarter of the population! Part of the reason for this is that states had halted disenrollments because of the ongoing public health emergency - so they werent going to check on whether someones income had tipped over the income threshold according to Dr. Hancock.It's Friday, the Misfits close with "stories of the weird."We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comThe views and opinions expressed in this programme are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik. russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Michelle Witte https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/11/1082103644_0:1:240:241_100x100_80_0_0_aa1e89cc3422c54bfdeb46decb112e73.jpg Michelle Witte https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/11/1082103644_0:1:240:241_100x100_80_0_0_aa1e89cc3422c54bfdeb46decb112e73.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Michelle Witte https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/11/1082103644_0:1:240:241_100x100_80_0_0_aa1e89cc3422c54bfdeb46decb112e73.jpg political misfits, russia, ukraine, meta, facebook, icc, drones, youtube, medicaid, , radio A Madison County farm operation specializing in wild game processing is investing nearly half-million dollars to expand its services to local livestock producers that have seen a surge in demand during the pandemic. A $40,000 grant from the Governors Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund, Glenn Youngkins first of his administration, will support the initiative. Hidden Pines Meat Processing LLC, southwest of the town of Madison, is expanding to year-round operations and adding USDA inspections to meet surging consumer demand for locally produced meats, according to a news release on Thursday from Gov. Youngkin. This expansion will lead to the creation of at least seven new jobs and enable the company to process over 1,100 locally raised beef cattle, hogs, lambs, and goats each year, the release stated. Virginias livestock producers have been clear, in order to serve their customers and grow their businesses, they need more local processing options for their animals. Thats why Im thrilled that this Administrations first AFID award is doing just that, said Youngkin. By partnering with forward-thinking counties like Madison, which understands the value of investing in their agricultural economy, to support the growth of a family-owned, farm-based business like Hidden Pines, we are bringing real benefit to Virginias hardworking farming community. Since 2003, owners Shawn and Ali Woodfolk, a husband-wife team, have grown Hidden Pines to become one of the largest game processors in the state, according to the governor. We feel incredibly thankful for the opportunity to provide quality meat processing services to the region and are hopeful that our ability to provide employment opportunities to our community, will have a positive impact, the couple said in a statement. We would especially like to thank Madison County, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Administration for their support in launching this project with us. Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Matthew Lohr said the pandemic has presented many challenges to Virginias agricultural community, especially livestock producers whose livelihoods rely on being able to process and sell their animals locally. By making strategic investments like this to help grow the Commonwealths meat processing capacity, we are creating important new market opportunities for our farmers, as well as local options for our consumers, he said. Agriculture is the foundation of Madison, said Board of Supervisors Chairman Clay Jackson. Seeing new innovative investments by young agriculturalists like Sean and Ali Woodfolk, will help to preserve the quality of life we all enjoy, while providing much needed services to not only our community, but the State as well, Jackson said. Local meat processors play a critical role in connecting small and medium-sized livestock producers to the local customer base that sustains their operations, noted State Sen. Emmett Hanger. The expansion at Hidden Pines will alleviate extended processing lead-times across the region, and help local producers add more value to their products, he said. Hidden Pines Meat Processing offers a full-line of value-added products and is as a major donor to Hunters for the Hungry, where sportsmen donate meat to people in need. In response to the pandemic-induced surge in demand for local meats, Hidden Pines plans to leverage its experience in meat processing and reputation for quality to grow from being just a seasonal game processor to a year-round meat processing operation, the governors release stated. By offering USDA inspection services, farmers who have their animals processed there can sell it retail and wholesale. Since the pandemic began, wait time for meat processing is a year or more, according to the release. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services worked with Madison County and its Economic Development Authority on the project. Created in 2012, the AFID Fund provides local governments a performance-based, economic development incentive to support new and expanding agriculture and forestry-based businesses in their communities which the localities match with local funds. Since its inception, AFID has awarded over $10 million to 115 businesses creating over 3,150 jobs, $1 billion in new investment, and commitments to purchase over $1.15 billion of Virginia-grown agriculture and forestry products, according to Youngkin. The Madison meat processer is nestled on the property of White Oak Run Farm, the familys beef cattle and crop farm, according to hiddenpinesmeatprocessing.com/ Shawn Woodfolk an alumnus of Virginia Tech, received his agricultural degree in 1998 and was pursing his passion in active farming when an opportunity to purchase Hidden Pines presented itself, according to the web site. With encouragement and support from family and friends, he purchased Hidden Pines from its original owner with an initial goal to supplement income in the offseason of crop farming. What began as a small processing operation out of his fathers garage has since evolved into a large-scale processing facility that averages two thousand plus deer per season, in addition to bear and wild boar, the web site stated. And growing. In a follow-up email on Friday, Ali Gentry-Woodfolk said they hope to start livestock processing by June or July, contingent on contractors and passing of inspection. Our futuristic goal is to be a direct producer, but that is not currently in place as were evaluating metrics to determine if we can include that within our business model, she said, asked about a farm store on site. Existing producers/farmers have such an intense need for processing of beef/domestics and we want to make sure were meeting their needs and expectations as well as private clients. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. I get to be outdoors, in the fresh air and play in the dirt, Steve Benzel, a third generation Alliance farmer said. Benzel went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for pre-engineering and realized after one year that key patch engineering and desk work were not for him. He joined his two younger brothers and dad on the family farm in 1977. I wanted to be able to be free to come and go as I please any time I wanted to without being required to be in a certain spot, he said. Benzel is a third generation Volga German farmer, his great grandfather worked in a German farm camp in Russia in the early 1900s. When the Bolsheviks began talk of unrest, Benzels family immigrated to the U.S. before the Russian Revolution began in 1917. The young family most likely settled in the Panhandle because it is an agriculture community and they would be able to continue farming. Benzels grandfather was three or four years old at the time. They got the heck out of there before that Bolshevik Revolution happened, Benzel said. They came over as farm laborers and they found places to live and work. They never really talked about it much but they had German Bibles when I was growing up and they spoke German amongst themselves. Benzel and his two brothers, Trent and Carl, were raised in Box Butte county farming on the familys 1,200 acres that relied heavily on gravity irrigation. He recalls working with tubes and dirt ditches using gravity to flood fields. I worked my tail off when I was a young kid, Benzel said. Gravity irrigation is a dying art that I really dont miss, but I was in a lot better shape back then. Through the years, the Benzel family leased, bought and sold farm ground near Alliance. In the early 1980s the family began transitioning to pivot irrigation. It would be nearly 20 years later and many added acres before they would accumulate the mighty nine, in reference to their center pivots. In the early 90s I took a hiatus and sold cars for about three or four years just to try something different, Benzel said. I had enough of that business and ended up back on the farm because my dad was sick and needed the help. In 1998, Benzels' father passed away from cancer, sealing Benzels future in the farming industry. He explained at this stage some families could afford the risk and venture out to farm on their own but the Benzel trio could not. The brothers gravitated to separate farm responsibilities. Benzel mainly does the planting while Trent and Carl do spraying, combine duty and other field work. The brothers farm 1,700 acres, which Benzel considers fairly small for the Panhandle area. Most of the land is irrigated by the nine center pivots and the remainder of their ground is dry-land. He recalls that after his father passed away, he made the decision to become involved in agriculture organizations in the Panhandle. He decided it was time to take an active approach to figure out what was going on in the agriculture industry. Benzel later went to his first Nebraska Dry Bean Commission meeting and found himself on the board of directors with the organization for about 17 years. Roughly six years ago Benzel also became involved with the Nebraska Sugar Beet Growers Association. He humbly reflected on thinking at the time that these groups must have been desperate to include him and elect him to board positions. Among Benzels activities in Panhandle grower organizations is his unique involvement with the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center. He has been working with the extension centers on-farm research team for several years by planting variety trials and participating on discussion boards. Benzel said it was his involvement with the bean commission that gave him the extension contacts and interest. John Thomas is the crop/water systems extension educator positioned in Alliance and among his many duties is coordinating on-farm research for that area of the Panhandle. Benzels farm is one of a handful that are planting small plots, harvesting them and sharing the data to advance research. On-farm research initiatives study a multi-faceted number of factors including seed variety, bug infestations, weed management and harvest of the crops. Thomas said the Benzel farm has been an asset to the research effort because of their direct harvest of beans and Benzel is a progressive farmer, always questioning current practices. For a number of years UNL extension has been conducting variety trials and driving inoculation and how that happened, if that was a positive yield and an economic benefit to the farmer. In addition to working with UNL extension research on the farming aspect, Benzel participates in the Nebraska on-farm research panel that meets across the state as well as grower organization meetings like the Dry Edible Bean Growers Association which recently held their annual meeting that included a panel with researchers and on-farm growers. I just appreciate growers that are willing to participate, Thomas said. It does take a little of their time; it slows them down a little bit. But theyre willing to participate, they learn and it also helps the community of growers to learn. So I appreciate guys like Steve (Benzel) that are willing to do this. Benzel adds that he and his brothers have a drill and a system that works good for smaller plots that are ideal for research. They have also been interested in direct harvest for over 10 years. Benzel describes direct harvest in a true farmer fashion by simply saying it is harvesting the plant while it is standing and ready to cut off, feeding it directly into the harvester. While Benzel is active in furthering farm research in the Panhandle, the brothers will likely be the final instalment of the third generation farming family. His wife, Lori, teaches fourth grade at Grandview Elementary in Alliance and will be retiring soon. Their oldest son works with farmers as a loan officer in Sidney and their youngest son is a Lancaster County clerk living in Lincoln. Between the three of us (the brothers), we could handle the workload. So we really didnt look down the road far enough to think well, maybe someday buy some land for these kids, Benzel said. We encouraged them to go off, get a college education and get jobs. Plus they just really never grew up working on the farm like we did. So thats where were at. I think this just might be the end of the line for this bunch. Nicole Heldt is a reporter with the Star-Herald, covering agriculture. She can be reached at 308-632-9044 or by email at nheldt@starherald.com. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. We want to make sure no kid cant go to prom simply because they cant afford a dress or a jacket, Chris Graves, secretary of P.U.B.s Sisterhood said about the groups charity event Saturday. P.U.B.s Sisterhood is holding the first annual Bikers in Dresses Prom Charity event Saturday, March 12 from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Uptown Scottsbluff Mall, located at 2302 Frontage Rd. in Scottsbluff. The idea is a spinoff of the UMF mens social club motorcycle ride. The P.U.B.s Sisterhood is a support club with many of the women married to members of the UMF club. The UMF used to do a bike run in prom dresses, but they discontinued the event because it was too cold, P.U.B.s Sisterhood president Michele Ruff said. We decided we would get donations of dresses, money, shoes, makeup, jewelry and have the bikers, instead of riding bikes with dresses have them walk down the runway at the mall in dresses. Students can attend the event at the mall Saturday where P.U.B.s Sisterhood will have dresses, tuxedoes, shoes and jewelry available for them to try on. Dressing rooms will be set up. There is no cost for students, but they are asked to bring a student ID. The event will also feature a raffle of free meals, jewelry, hair and makeup, boutonnieres and corsages, courtesy of local businesses. The event is for all Panhandle school students as well as Torrington students. The community has been amazing as far as wanting to help out, wanting to help make this happen for these kids, Graves said. Graves attended Scottsbluff High School in the 1980s and was unable to attend prom because her family could not afford it. She does not want that to happen to students. For me, I listen to everybody else talk about their proms and after parties, she said. My thing is I dont ever want to see another kid have to explain to their children or their grandchildren why they didnt get to go to prom. I wish somebody would have done this when I was a kid. While the event runs from 2 to 6 p.m., the fashion show is set for 3 p.m. They hope the show brings a smile to peoples faces while also helping students have an opportunity to enjoy their proms. It lets people know that it doesnt matter if youre rich, if youre skinny, if youre fat. It doesnt matter, Ruff said. We have something for you. We want people to feel good about themselves and seeing these big burly guys in dresses knowing the whole wrap the bikers get if theyre not afraid to put on a dress, nobody should be. There are 22 people walking down the runway Saturday afternoon to music they picked themselves. Some of the men are walking down the runway in multiple outfits. Some of them will be dancing to their own music, Ruff said. Were looking forward to seeing them with the big smiles and acting like silly little boys. Once the show concludes, Graves said five random students will be selected to serve as judges and will name the prom king. We want to express the fact that it is free to the student, Ruff said. They dont have to purchase anything and we have a little bit of everything for the guys and the girls. There will be grab bags filled with cologne, hand sanitizer and lotion for the boys and perfume, hand sanitizer and lotion for the girls. If families or high schoolers are unable to attend the Saturday event due to a conflict, they can still get their attire for prom by contacting Ruff at 308-765-5089. She is available any day, expect for Fridays and Sundays. Its just fun and its all for the kids to help them go to prom, Ruff said. Were here to help them out. After attending the event, P.U.B.s hopes students leave with a positive attitude about themselves and are ready to enjoy their school prom. What Im really hoping this tells these kids is that theres always somebody out there willing to help, Graves said. Were a group of moms and grandmas who want to do what we can to help the next generation. Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Neither Poland nor the United States wants to make itself or NATO a target of Russia. Providing MIG fighters might cross over Putins invisible line. But it is a risk we must consider taking against the megalomaniacal ruler of Russia. President Bidens commitment to keeping the United States from engaging in direct combat with Russian forces faces an unexpected test. Poland has offered to turn over its collection of old, Russian-made MIG fighters, for ultimate transfer to Ukraine. But the offer came with a hitch: Poland refused to give the MIGs directly to Ukraine. The deal would only go forward if the United States, and NATO, did the transferring, and then replaced Polands fleet with American-made fighter jets. The transfer of combat aircraft could be mistaken for an escalatory step, the Pentagon spokesman told reporters. The effort to punish and repel Russia has a third rail that no one wants to touch. NATO will provide 17,000 Javelin anti-tank weapons; not to mention more Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. But the allies will not risk a dogfight over the skies of Ukraine which would very likely bring them fully into the war. That distinction was driven home when Secretary of State Tony Blinken said the idea of flying MIG-29 fighter jets to a U.S. air base in Germany for transfer to Ukraine lacked a clear substantive rationale. His central point: Our goal is to end the war, not to expand it including potentially expand it to NATO territory. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) rejoined: Why does President Biden think that Ukrainian MIGs, flown by Ukrainian pilots, would be shot down over NATO territory while theyre on their way to defend Ukrainian airspace? In my opinion, the Biden administration needs to explain what they we will do to help the Ukrainians achieve what the latter wanted to achieve with the MIGs. We do not know what is in Putins mind and there is no collective Politburo check on him, alas. Our conventional (non-nuclear) theater forces pack a terrible punch. The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty is often referred to as the cornerstone of European security. The treaty eliminated the Soviet Unions overwhelming quantitative advantage in conventional weapons in Europe by setting equal limits on the number of tanks, armored combat vehicles, heavy artillery, combat aircraft, and attack helicopters that NATO and the old Warsaw Pact could deploy between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ural Mountains region. In all, the U.S. has repositioned nearly 15,000 military personnel in reaction to Russian aggression. The total number of US troops in Europe is nearing 100,000. We have 130 jets at high alert. Over 200 ships from the high north to the Mediterranean, and thousands of additional troops in the region, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday while traveling in Latvia. The latest deployment includes an air support operations center heading to Poland and Romania, as well as refueling and maintenance specialists to Germany to bolster U.S. and NATO air operations over the region. The Armys Fifth Corps also is deploying 300 headquarters troops to Poland and Germany to provide command and control for U.S. ground forces. The U.S. Navy has temporarily positioned an aircraft carrier in the northern Aegean Sea that could be used in a contingency for flight operations. There is no question it is all about protecting against any possible Russian invasion into NATO member nations We do not know how far West Putin will try to go. But he must not be allowed to place the West in a vise, and to conclude that he can read our minds (and hearts); and proceed to march westward! Russias invasion of Ukraine is steering us to a place we have never been before. But where? William E. Jackson Jr. was the executive director of President Jimmy Carters General Advisory Committee on Arms Control, 1978-1980, and a former professor of political science at Davidson College. Gauff sets up third-round clash against former world No. 1 Halep at Indian Wells by IANS | Indian Wells, March 12 (IANS) American teenager Coco Gauff held off country-mate Claire Liu 6-1, 7-6(4) at the BNP Paribas Open to make a return appearance in the third round here on Saturday (IST). The No.16 seed Gauff, who had reached the third round in her tournament debut last year, defeated the world No.87 Liu in just over two hours. The 17-year-old Gauff will now take on former world No.1 Simona Halep of Romania, on the American's 18th birthday on Sunday. Halep had won their only prior meeting, when she ended then 15-year-old Gauff's breakthrough run to the round of 16 at 2019 Wimbledon. The Romanian 30-year-old had gone on to win the Wimbledon that year, defeating American Serena Williams in the final. Gauff looked in full control after the first set wrapped up in just over half an hour. But the second set proved to be a battle of nerves as the compatriots stayed in touching distance the whole way through. No.15 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany managed a potentially tough opening draw against rising Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen, winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to advance to the third round. A finalist in 2019, Kerber came back from 1-4 down in the final set to hold off Zheng after 2 hours and 18 minutes. She will face No.23 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia on Sunday. Australian Open semifinalist Madison Keys of the US also needed three sets to defeat Japan's Misaki Doi 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Keys will face compatriot Alison Riske in the third round after Riske scored a tiugh win over No.8 seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain earlier in the day. British qualifier Harriet Dart defeats No.18 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 2-6 6-3 6-3 to earn the first top-20 win of her career. Harriet Dart joined fellow Brit Emma Raducanu in the third round. Child sexual assault charges against a man who has worked for organizations to help kids were dropped this month after the prosecution said they faced problems proving the allegations. Two first-degree child molestation charges against Martin Daniel Perez, 35, of Kelso, were dismissed without prejudice March 2 in Cowlitz County Superior Court. Cowlitz County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jason Laurine said charges were dropped because issues in proof arose. Perez's public defender Shoshanah Epstein said the right decision was made. "I am glad we got the right result and he is no longer facing charges," she said. Perez is no longer facing a trial or possible incarceration for the allegations, but charges could be refiled. History Perez was arrested in March 2021 after a child known to him told family and officials Perez sexually molested the minor. The probable cause statement that led to his arrest says people told police Perez was a social worker. Last spring, a representative from the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families said Perez was an employee at the departments Kelso office. The representative declined to provide any additional details about Perez. It was not clear whether the connection between Perez and the alleged victim was related to his work for the state agency. The Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families is a state social services organization that recruits and trains foster parents. Its local office is located at 711 Vine St. in Kelso. Perez also was a caseworker for Longviews Progress Center, which provides developmental services for families of children from birth to 3 years old, but he did not directly work with children at that job. This story was updated to include information from Perez's public defender after press time. Love 6 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 4 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Cowlitz County sheriff's deputies arrested a Vancouver man Wednesday night after reports of a driver tailgating and shooting at another vehicle on northbound Interstate 5. At about 9:20 p.m., deputies and Washington State Patrol troopers responded to reports of a driver shooting at a vehicle around exit 30 near Kalama, according to the probable cause statement. The victim vehicle exited at Longview and the suspect vehicle continued north until troopers stopped it at exit 40, according to the document. The driver, later identified as Justin Avery Allen, argued with troopers and deputies for about 15 minutes before getting out of the vehicle and complying. Allen, 22, was arrested on suspicion of drive-by shooting, obstructing a public servant, carrying a weapon without a permit, driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license and violating a restriction of an ignition interlock driver's license. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Starting Saturday, customers will no longer have to mask up inside stores, restaurants and most other indoor public spaces, as the state lifts its mandate amid falling COVID-19 cases. While it is unclear if or when virus activity may increase to a level that calls for renewed masking, vaccinations and the most recent surge in cases have lowered overall risk, at least in the short term, said Dr. Steve Krager, Cowlitz County deputy health officer. Well probably see little spikes in case rates, but even if that happens with the level of population immunity we have, the chances of significant impact on the health-care system is lower, he said. State officials cited falling case and hospitalization rates, improving vaccination rates and access to testing as reasons to loosen restrictions. On Feb. 28, Gov. Jay Inslee moved the end of the mandate from March 21 up to Saturday to align with the end of the requirements in Oregon and California. People still will need to mask up in health-care settings, including hospitals, clinics, dental offices; and in congregate settings like long-term care and correctional facilities. Federal officials are extending the mask requirement for planes and public transportation through April 18, giving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention time to develop new, more targeted policies, the Associated Press reported Thursday. Businesses and local governments can choose to implement mask or vaccination requirements for workers or customers. Cowlitz County and local city governments dont plan to set their own mandates outside the state requirement. School districts also can choose to have students and staff wear masks, but thats not the plan for Cowlitz County or Rainier schools, except for when required by the updated state rules. Some people may decide to continue masking, especially if they are at higher risk from COVID-19, Krager said. The updated CDC guidance also offers recommendations on when residents should mask up, he said. The CDCs risk levels are based on the seven-day case rate, new COVID-19 hospitalization rate and the share of staffed hospital beds occupied by virus patients. The agency recommends everyone in high-risk counties wear a mask indoors and those at high risk of severe disease should do so while in medium risk counties. As of Friday, 29 Washington counties, including Cowlitz, were low risk, nine were medium risk and one was high risk. Washingtons case and hospitalization rates have fallen significantly since January but may be starting to flatten. Cowlitz Countys downward trend may also be slowing, but cases have reached the lowest level since early July. The county recorded 65.2 new cases per 100,000 people from Feb. 24 to March 2. The county had about 8 new hospitalizations per 100,000 from Feb. 24 to March 2. PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center had four COVID-19 patients as of Friday morning. Recommendations and requirements may change if circumstances change, but a huge surge in cases at least in the next couple months is unlikely, Krager said. Were very much in a transition period, he said. Its understandable to be uncertain about things that are changing. People got used to wearing masks and having quarantine protocols in place but it doesnt make sense to maintain them forever. We need to pick a cut off eventually, exactly what the rate or ... perfect set of circumstances is, no one knows for sure. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BIG smartphone launches in 2022: iPhone 14 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 are among top phones that we look forward to. Big smartphone launches in 2022 are yet to happen! In the past few weeks, we have seen a couple of high-profile phones as well as a multitude of midrange phones grace our market. The Samsung Galaxy S22 series has been the biggest launch so far, with a couple of announcements from Oppo, iQOO, and Realme. However, 2022 has just begun and there is still a lot of it left to explore. And in that time, we are expecting a couple of big launches that will make it to India eventually. Note that we are considering only some of the high-end phones coming from the biggest names of the industry. The iPhone 14 is one of the biggest ones we are anticipating this year, with the Galaxy Z Fold 4 also expected to make some noise in the world of foldable smartphones. Hence, lets have a look at some of the top options in the market. BIG smartphones launches we await in 2022 iPhone 14 The iPhone 14 will be the next big upgrade to the vastly popular iPhone 13. While the launch is still six months away, rumours and leaks have suggested that the iPhone 14 could finally get a 120Hz refresh rate display from the iPhone 13 Pro series. You can also expect an improvement in the cameras, battery life, and the next generation Apple A16 chipset. iPhone 14 Max Same as iPhone 14 but only bigger! The iPhone 14 Max will replace the iPhone 13 Mini but with a larger display. Rumours suggest the same 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED display from the iPhone 13 Pro Max, a bigger battery, and possibly a few other differences will grace the iPhone 14 Max. This phone could also be getting a higher price tag. iPhone 14 Pro The iPhone 14 Pro is said to mark the next major evolution in the world of iPhones. The display notch could go away for a pill-shaped hole cut-out for the TruDepth camera system. The main rear camera is expected to use a custom 48MP sensor to offer more details and overall better performance. A faster chipset is also expected to be present on the Pro variant. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Rumours have suggested that the Galaxy Z Fold 4 could end up as a refined variant of the Galaxy Z Fold 3, with Samsung wanting to make the phone lighter. Some even say that the Fold 4 will have its S Pen tucked inside the phones body, just like the Galaxy S22 Ultra. We could also see improved rear cameras and an under-display front camera on the main display. This phone could set the benchmark for other foldables. Xiaomi 12 Ultra The Xiaomi 12 Ultra will be the next big Xiaomi flagship that could take on the likes of the Samsung S22 Ultra. Leaks already suggest the phone will have a similar camera setup as last year, minus the rear viewfinder, and possibly use Sony sensors this year instead of the Samsung GN5 sensor we saw on the iQOO 9 Pro. Google Pixel 6A Not the most ambitious phone here but the Pixel 6A could finally be a new Pixel device that Google could launch in India after the Pixel 4A. Rumours suggest the Pixel 6A could use the same Tensor chip as the Pixel 6 and even borrow its camera sensors. The display could be limited to a 60Hz OLED panel and the battery life could be lower too. Get Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G for Rs. 10000 on Flipkart using discount and exchange offer. Check offer details here. The recently launched Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G can be availed for Rs. 10,000. Don't get surprised or shocked. Flipkart's Big Saving Days has started from today, March 12 and you can grab some of the exciting deals on smartphones and the offer on Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G is one of them. Along with discount, you can get exchange, bank offers and freebies too on buying Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G. If you are wanting to upgrade your phone with the one that can charge itself in 15-20 minutes and comes with several other great features, here is a good opportunity for you. Here is all you need to know about the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G price cut on Flipkart. Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G price drop on Flipkart Flipkart is offering 16 percent off on Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. This means that you can buy the phone at a discount of Rs. 5000 at 26,999 on Flipkart. It can be noted that the market price of the phone is 31,999. But hold on, along with the discount you can also buy the phone with exchange and bank offers. Check out the details below. Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G on Flipkart: Exchange offer If you want to buy Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G with exchange then the price of the phone can be reduced further. Flipkart is offering up to Rs. 17,000 off on buying the phone with exchange. After which the price of the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G will reduce to Rs. 9,999 on the ecommerce website. But, first you will have to check if the exchange offer is available at your place or not by entering your pin code. Also, the off on price with exchange depends on the model of the phone you are exchanging and its condition. Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G on Flipkart: Bank offers The ecommerce website is offering several bank offers on Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G. The bank offers include 10 percent off on SBI Credit Card, up to Rs. 750 on orders of Rs. 5000 and above. 5 percent unlimited cashback on Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card and Rs. 250 off on SBI Credit Card transactions. Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G on Flipkart: Freebies The freebies offered include free 6 months Gaana Plus subscription, up to 25 percent off on PharmEasy and you can also add Bitcoin worth Rs. 201 to your portfolio. Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G on Flipkart: Variants You can also avail discount and other offers on Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge 5G 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. The phone is available at a discount of 15 percent for Rs. 28,999. With the help of exchange offer you can further save up to Rs. 17000 on the phone. After which its cost will reduce to Rs. 11,999. The bank offers and freebies offered on the phone is similar to that of the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant. The only difference is you will not get up to 25 percent off on PharmEasy here. According to reports, a massive solar flare has erupted on the Sun. The resultant solar storm will strike the Earth tomorrow. Check out the details now. A massive solar storm is headed towards the Earth after the Sun erupted and sent a firestorm of energy shooting into space yesterday. The solar flare erupted unexpectedly on the Sun in the late hours of March 11, 2022 that lasted for hours. Reports suggest that the coronal mass ejection (CME) was launched at a high speed of 600 KM/s. The eruption took place on the side of the sun facing the Earth and as a result, our home planet is set to suffer a hit from a solar storm that may be in the vicinity of G1 or G2 level on Sunday, March 13. The solar flare was unexpected and happened in a region of the Sun where such solar activities are not seen much. Read on to find out what impact the solar storm may have. Massive solar storm to hit the Earth tomorrow Reporting on the event, SpaceWeatherLive.com posted on Twitter, A long duration C2 solar flare launched an asymmetrical full halo coronal mass ejection into space. The solar plasma cloud is likely to arrive at Earth late on Sunday, 13 March. Minor G1 geomagnetic storm conditions are likely with a chance of moderate G2 conditions. Looking for a smartphone? To check mobile finder click here. Also read: The solar storm is reportedly minor but its effect will still be seen in the form of auroras near the northern or southern) horizon under optimal conditions. Further, the solar storm may also cause minor glitches in some smaller satellites orbiting around the Earth. NASA has classified solar storms into 5 different levels from G1 to G5. G1 is the most minor level of solar storm that only causes aurora light effects near the northern horizon. G2 can cause some minor glitches into the small satellites that are not fully heat and radiation protected G3 and G4 can cause moderate to severe damage to even larger satellites with enough protection. And finally, the G5 class geomagnetic storm is so powerful that it can cause power failure in electric grids, mobile network and GPS to stop working and can even bring down important satellites. Luckily, this time the solar storm is only at a G1 or G2 level, but a more powerful storm could have spelled a far worse scenario on Earth. Indias dithering on whether to embrace digital assets is causing thousands of developers, investors and entrepreneurs to leave. Indias dithering on whether to embrace digital assets is causing thousands of developers, investors and entrepreneurs to leave for places with more friendly regulation, according to the co-founder of the countrys most famous crypto startup. The brain drain is absolutely crazy, Sandeep Nailwal, whose Polygon operates the biggest so-called Layer 2 protocol for the Ethereum blockchain system, said in an interview from Dubai. Looking for a smartphone? To check mobile finder click here. Also read: India, with an estimated 15 million active crypto users, has been stuck in regulatory limbo since the Supreme Court in 2020 overturned a central bank ban on digital tokens. The government this year unveiled a tax on crypto transactions without formally declaring that it wont ban trading, a move that became emblematic of the confusion. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government has yet to make a final call on whether to ban virtual coins or regulate them. At the same time, she acknowledged the industrys potential as a source of tax income: Many Indians have seen a future in it, therefore I see a possibility for revenue in it, she said. The government imposes a 30% tax on digital coin transactions. Nailwal, who co-founded Polygon in 2017, relocated to Dubai two years ago. The emirate is aspiring to be a crypto hub for the Middle East -- just as it is for traditional financial services -- and on Wednesday, it adopted a law for regulating digital assets. Powerhouse? Polygons eponymous protocol is used by developers to make Ethereum transactions cheaper and faster. It has some 7,000 decentralized apps (or dapps), more than 130 million unique users, and handles over 3 million daily transactions. In February, Polygon raised $450 million by selling its Matic token to investors led by Sequoia Capital India. I want to live in India and promote the Web3 ecosystem, the 34-year-old said. But overall, the way the regulatory uncertainty is there and how big Polygon has become it doesnt make sense for us or for any team to expose their protocols to local risks. On the face of it, India has the potential to be a crypto powerhouse. The population of 1.4 billion people skews young, with a growing, well-educated middle class. That, combined with a less-developed traditional financial system, has led to the worlds second-highest crypto adoption rate behind Vietnam, according to blockchain research firm Chainalysis. Overall crypto transactions jumped 641% between July 2020 and June 2021, Chainalysis said in an October report. China, the only country with a larger population, last year declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal. Governments around the world have long grappled with the need to tame the worst excesses of an industry beset by speculation, fraud and hacking incidents, while at the same time harnessing its explosive growth and potential for innovation. Countries from Singapore to the U.S. are now moving toward a more structured approach to regulating the sector. Investors and entrepreneurs around the world have clamored for more clarity. Bitcoin surged as much as 11% on Thursday as word got out of an impending executive order from U.S. President Joe Biden to coordinate the governments approach to crypto. Countries will keep losing new talent capabilities until the time they figure it out, Nailwal said. Crypto is very disruptive in the sense it has a potential not only to disrupt the concept of money but also the concept of government itself. Cryptos Foe Even as Indians embrace digital assets and the government warms to the potential for tax revenue, the industry still faces determined opposition from the central bank. And while its not uncommon for central banks to express skepticism toward crypto, the Reserve Bank of Indias criticism has been particularly withering. Governor Shaktikanta Das last month compared the asset class unfavorably to the 17th-century Dutch tulip market bubble; a few days later, his deputy said cryptocurrencies are akin to Ponzi schemes, threaten financial stability and should be banned. Edul Patel, the co-founder of Mudrex, an automated digital asset trading platform backed by Y Combinator, chose to set up his company in the U.S. in 2019 after the central bank cut off crypto-related businesses from Indias payment network. The central banks move was later reversed by the Supreme Court. Right now, many Indian crypto companies, developers and founders are trying to move to places like Dubai, Patel said in an interview. One selling point for Dubai is its sandbox approach, something India lacks for crypto, he said. Governments often use so-called sandbox setups as a testing ground for promising but unproven financial technologies. Patel also cited Dubais proximity to India and open, transparent and friendly taxation regime for creators. Ive often heard the joke that Dubai is the best city in India, said Nitin Sharma, the Bengaluru-based founding partner of venture capital firm Antler, which plans to invest in Indian startups focused on blockchain and Web3 applications. And once you have well-known founders or startups move, it starts to attract many others, creating a community. Asteroid strike: An asteroid, which was supposed to fly past Earth, has struck our home planet. Check the details now. Yesterday, NASA showed that four dangerous asteroids were going to fly past the Earth virtually within hours of each other. But now, it appears that one of the asteroids has actually crashed into Earth! Shocking, but true, there was an asteroid strike on our home planet. In the early hours of March 12, an asteroid named 2022 EB5 crashed into an isolated location on the coast of Greenland. The other three asteroids, which were much larger in size, luckily made safe passages and did not come close to us. The event has again given us a reminder on how scary these space rocks can be if they shift even a little from their predetermined orbits and make a way for the Earth. Read on to check out the details. Asteroid 2022 EB5 crashes into the Earth In what could have been a scary reality for our planet, the asteroid EB5 has actually collided with the Earth. The impact details were shared by Peter Brown, a meteor scientist and faculty of science in the Western University, Canada. Posting on Twitter, the scientist wrote, Infrasound detection from 2022 EB5 impact off the coast of Iceland at I37NO between 2223-2227 UTC. Below is I18DK infrasound data in Greenland. Arrival near 2340 UTC. From this data yield is approximately 2-3 kT TNT. At 15 km/s, this is roughly 3-4 m diameter. Looking for a smartphone? To check mobile finder click here. Also read: The asteroid was calculated to be around 1.2 mtr by NASA, but Browns calculations highlighted that it was close to 3-4 m diameter. The asteroids speed was mind-boggling! It was noted to be around 15 km/s. For reference, that is around 5 times faster than the speed of sound. At its velocity, the asteroid strike to Earth would have resulted in a damage equivalent to 2-3 kiloton of TNT explosive. Again, for reference, this is close to an explosion caused by 5 grenades simultaneously. Luckily for Earth, the impact took place in an isolated location and did not cause any casualties. The damage was also minimized due to its relatively smaller size, which must have been reduced further due to friction in the atmosphere. However, if one of the other three asteroids hit us, it would have been massively destructive. For instance, the asteroid 2015 DR215 is 910 feet wide. If an asteroid of that size struck Earth, it could cause large scale localized damage and even generate earthquakes and tsunamis. New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart said there was extensive fire damage to Tephereth Israel Synagogue on Friday night. Less than an hour after the synagogue fire was reported, a second fire was discovered at another place of worship in New Britain. (Lori Riley) NEW BRITAIN - A suspect has been arrested and will be charged with arson in connection with two fires at houses of worship in New Britain on Friday, Mayor Erin Stewart said Saturday. The suspect was not immediately identified. Advertisement Firefighters were called to put out two fires at a synagogue and a church in New Britain about 45 minutes apart, and a burglar alarm was set off at a third church on Friday night. The morning after Friday's fire at Tephereth Israel Synagogue on Winter Street in New Britain there was still a heavy police and fire presence. Damage to one of the windows on the side of the building is visible. (Kenneth R. Gosselin / Hartford Courant) On Saturday, a longtime member of Tephereth Israel Synagogue at 76 Winter St. said the fire is a blow to a synagogue that has been dealing with dwindling membership in recent years. Advertisement Im very sad about it, Michele Joyce, who has been a member since the 1950s, said. I dont know the extent of the damage, but at this point, it sounds extensive. I dont know what the actual long-term fate of the building will be at this point. Joyce said she has strong connections to the orthodox synagogue, built in 1926. Her grandparents were early members, and, as a little girl, Joyce said she remembers another fire at the synagogue in the early 1960s. It was devastating then, and now, again, Joyce said. The first call to the fire department came in at 8:05 p.m. from the synagogue. Forty-five minutes later, the second fire was discovered at St. Matthews Lutheran Church at 95 Franklin Square. A burglary alarm then went off at St. Joseph, a Catholic church at 195 South Main St. St. Matthews could not be reached for comment Saturday. Stewart said Friday damage was fairly extensive at the synagogue but minimal at St. Matthews and nothing was found in a police sweep at St. Joseph. A second fire was discovered in New Britain at St. Matthews Evangelical Lutheran Church on Friday night 45 minutes after the first fire call at Tephereth Israel Synagogue. (Lori Riley) No one was injured in any of the fires, Stewart said. Advertisement Breaking News As it happens Get the latest updates on Coronavirus and other breaking news events happening across Connecticut > Stewart said the damage at the synagogue was in the front of the building. Theres holes in the floor. Its gone all the way up the wall, she said. There is extensive damage, structural damage to the floors. She added that each church in town would be checked by New Britain police Friday night and that there would be extra security at local churches for services this weekend. We want people to feel safe coming into services on Sunday so our police will have a presence, Stewart said. Advertisement Lori Riley can be reached at lriley@courant.com. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. 1 event to mark on your calendar MSC OPAS presents a new production of Fiddler on the Roof, with 7:30 p.m. performances at Rudder Auditorium on the Texas A&M University campus March 28 and 29. Tickets are $26 to $100 and available at boxoffice.tamu.edu. SATURDAY EVENTS Texas A&M intercollegiate rodeo, 5 p.m. at the Brazos County Expo, 5827 Leonard Road in Bryan. More than 15 colleges will be competing. It is a qualifying event for the College National Finals in Casper, Wyoming, in June. Tickets are available at Cavenders for $8 or at the gate for $10. Student tickets are $7. Children under 3 are free. Run the Ramps, 9 a.m. at Kyle Field on the Texas A&M University campus. The event is for runners at any level and open to all ages. Runners can choose between 5K and 1.5K runs. The event is a fundraiser for Kyle Field Day and includes a shoe donation drive to Soles4Souls. Participants are encouraged to donate old shoes. Second Saturday run, 8 a.m. at the Lake Walk tower, 4107 Lake Atlas Drive in Bryan. Different route and distance options the second Saturday of every month. HERPS Exotic Reptile and Pet Show, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Brazos County Expo, 5827 Leonard Road in Bryan. The event includes vendors with reptiles, amphibians, feeders, supplies and small mammals for sale. Adult tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door. Blessing of the Bikes, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Ranch Harley-Davidson, 4101 Texas 6 in College Station. Get ready for riding season by having your motorcycle blessed by Tribe of Judah Motorcycle Ministries. Saturday Morning Physics, 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Hawking Auditorium in the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy on the Texas A&M University campus. A lecture series for high school students to learn about developments in modern physics. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. cyclotron.tamu.edu/smp. Teen Share and Care support group, 10 a.m. online and in-person at the National Alliance for Mental Illness Brazos Valley office, 3705 S. College Ave. in Bryan. A weekly support group for teens. To register for online access, visit namibv.org/namibvsupport. Lick Creek Nature Center exhibit unveiling, 10 a.m. to noon at Lick Creek Park, 13600 Rock Prairie Road in College Station. The opening of a new exhibit with interactive activities for all ages each Saturday through April 23. The displays are open throughout the week; admission is free. Topics feature mammals, owls, snakes, butterflies, birds, vegetation and more. Brazos Valley Farmers Market, 8 a.m. to noon at 500 N. Main St. in Downtown Bryan. brazosvalleyfarmersmarket.com. Navasota Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Navasota Public Library, 1411 E. Washington Ave. in Navasota. Holy Hikes, 9 a.m. at Lick Creek Park, 13600 Rock Prairie Road in College Station. A monthly hike in areas around Bryan-College Station hosted by St. Thomas Episcopal Church in College Station. LIVE MUSIC Mary Charlotte Young, 7 to 10 p.m. at the Front Porch at Century Square, 170 Century Square Drive in College Station. Clay Hollis, 7:30 p.m. at Canteen Bar and Grill in Cavalry Court, 200 Century Court in College Station. Andrew Wade, 9 p.m. at 3rd Floor Cantina, 201B W. 26th St. in Downtown Bryan. Ages 21 and up. Tickets are $15. Matthew Gonzaba, 7 p.m. at Ronin, 800 N. Main St. in Downtown Bryan. Element Jazz Trio, 7 to 10 p.m. at Luigis Patio Ristorante, 3975 Texas 6 in College Station. Thiago Nascimento, 8 p.m. at The George, 180 Century Court in College Station. Joey Kipfer, 9 p.m. at Hershels in The Stella Hotel, 4100 Lake Atlas Drive in Bryan. Mike Gallo, 2 to 5 p.m. at Threshold Vineyards, 14615 County Road 318 at Texas 6, five miles south of Navasota. Free. Southern Ruckus Duo, 5 p.m. at Brazos Valley Brewing Co., 206 S. Jackson St. in Brenham. Free. Southern Disposition Band, 1:30 to 5 p.m. at Bernhardt Winery, 9043 County Road 204 in Plantersville. Free admission. No reservation required. Food truck on site. Picnics and coolers are welcome; no outside alcohol. Tennessee Stiffs, 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. at Home Sweet Farm Biergarten, 307 Park St. in Brenham. Ryann Elise, 7 to 10 p.m. at Floyds Wine Lounge, 315 S. Baylor St. in Brenham. Ray Cashman, 4 p.m. at West Sandy Creek Winery, 1773 F.M. 1791 in Richards. Sweet Baby Mayhem, 8 p.m. at The Cowboy Club, 2820 Finfeather Road in Bryan. Barefoot Nation, a tribute to Kenny Chesney, 7:30 p.m. at DeepRoots Vineyards, 19318 F.M. 1774 in Plantersville. Tickets are $19 and only available at go.theeagle.com/barefoot. Brian Thomas, 9 p.m. at Somerville Icehouse, 17291 Texas 36 in Somerville. Texas 105 Band, 8:30 p.m. at Bottlenecks, 1789 F.M. 60 in Deanville. HEALTH AND FITNESS Community yoga, 8 a.m. at Lake Walk Pavilion, 4107 Lake Atlas Drive in Bryan. Free and open to the public. Punk rock yoga, 2:30 p.m. at The 101, 101 Texas Ave. in Bryan. Free; all skill levels welcome. Yoga on the Green, 9 a.m. at Century Square in College Station. Free. EXHIBITS Oceans of Plastic at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station. A collection of art made from plastic pollution acquired from beaches along the Texas coast. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $9 for adults, and tickets must be purchased at bush41.org/visit/admission. Astrophotography: Exploring Celestial Mysteries, through March 19 at the Arts Council of Brazos Valley, 4180 Texas 6 in College Station. A collection of work by Randall Light, a photographer and member of the Brazos Valley Astronomy Club. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Lovin That Lone Star Flag, through April 2 at the Arts Council of Brazos Valley, 4180 Texas 6 in College Station. A collection of work by E. Joe Deering. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Fire and Earth, the Story of Ceramics, through May 28 at the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History, 3232 Briarcrest Drive in Bryan. Exhibit highlights include the origins of ceramics, current uses and the future of the material. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults. In Actuality: Social Realism and Its Legacy, through April 10 at the Forsyth Galleries in the Memorial Student Center on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station. The exhibit features more than 40 images by nine photographers, highlighting their contribution to the social realism movement. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. tx.ag/inactuality. Pulped Under Pressure: The Art of Handmade Paper, through March 20 at the J. Wayne Stark Galleries in the Memorial Student Center on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station. The exhibit features art with traditional papermaking at its core. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. tx.ag/pulped. Central District Health Departments COVID positivity rate has slid into the green zone, officials announced Friday. The most recent seven-day average shows a health district case count of 20 in the last seven-day period with a 10% test positivity rate, 25.5 cases per 100,000 and no deaths. Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those factors put CDHDs coverage area in the low transmissibility category or green. The last time the health district had a positivity rate less than 10% was the week of July 3, 2021. At that time, CDHD which consists of Hall, Hamilton and Merrick counties had a 6.3% positivity rate, officials reported. According to CDC, as of March 10 more than 98% of the United States population is in an area with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level. Its a sure sign the omicron variant, which bears responsibility for the last surge, has fizzled, said Teresa Anderson, health director of CDHD. The omicron variant has kind of burned itself through. This one was a quicker up-and-down with the omicron. Still, Anderson said, another variant surfacing is all but inevitable, but she remains cautiously optimistic. Its quite possible that well have another surge. We have no idea what the next variant will do. Right now, according to the World Health Organization, there are no variants of concern, so thats a good sign. The middle of the United States is at a bit of a disadvantage currently, Anderson noted. Right now in the central part of the country our vaccination rates are low enough that should that variant come on in, its going to take a fairly strong hold of the population. Anderson said she encourages people to get vaccinated completely. We know that there are people who got their two doses of the mRNA vaccine that didnt get boosted. That booster is really important. Soon younger people will have the chance to be vaccinated, Anderson said. One thing we really are looking forward to is being able to vaccinate kids that are six months (old) to up to four years. We havent gotten that vaccine yet. Being in the green changes the nature of coronavirus transmission prevention, Anderson said. Where we are right now, the hospitals arent seeing a lot of COVID patients. We can loosen up, if you will, and we can go places without a mask, we can get into large group settings, and feel fairly safe. Being proactive is more about self-empowerment at this stage, Anderson said. Were empowering people to say: You know what, I know what I need to ask for. I know what I need to stay home. Numbers being reported by county can help make decisions like whether to wear a mask, or stay home. These figures can be found by visiting the CDHD website (https://cdhd.ne.gov/), then clicking on the CDC site. Were looking for people to become very familiar with checking out that community transmission and then making decisions for themselves and their loved ones based on what they know, Anderson said. Using CDCs county-by-county numbers, coupled with knowledge about ones own health status help people make decisions about how to protect themselves and others, Anderson said. If youre someone who is young and healthy, and not really concerned about the spread, or about catching COVID, then you dont have to take any precautions. If youre someone who has an underlying health condition, you probably want to talk to your doctor about wearing a mask. Central District Health Department offers services to help people take precautions and make decisions. Free COVID tests are available at CDHD as well as vaccines. Take home tests are getting in short supply. While green is good, the specter of another surge still looms, making personal choices about vaccinations, wearing masks and other precautions critical, Anderson said. Weve got a lot of things in place right now that can help guide our decision making. But theres always that risk that there is some virus out there. Jessica Votipka is the education reporter at the Grand Island Independent. She can be reached at 308-381-5420. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Being away from what youve always called home can be one of the most difficult and stressful things you could ever do. It also can be thrilling and exciting for a lot of people, but usually it takes time for most to adjust. Moving means getting out of your comfort zone, making adjustments, and leaving people that you care about behind. Although you can make new friends, leaving behind everything youve ever known can be challenging. People can feel left out and feel like they dont belong. I talked to Alexandra Tchernaya, a foreign exchange student, and got to hear about the difficulties she faced when she came to America from Belarus, Russia, for the first time. She said that it was difficult to adjust to her new life here because she didnt have many friends, but that joining different activities in school helped her. Although I miss home, I wouldnt change a thing because of the people Ive met and the things Ive gotten to experience here, she said. She said that she would do it all over again if she could because she got to have opportunities that she couldnt have in Russia. Things in America and in my country are different, she said, In Russia, you feel judged for doing what you love, but here most people accept you. Having opportunities like freedom of expression and free schooling was something that Ive always taken for granted and didnt think about. Many people have had to sacrifice a lot to get to where they are today. My parents, for example, are people that Ive always looked up to because they decided to leave behind everyone and everything they loved for us. Your father and I came to America to give you and your siblings a chance that we never got to have, my mother always told me when I was little. She said that staying in Mexico wouldnt give us the same opportunities to grow and to experience new things that being in America would. My parents came to the United States when they were both very young and went to a school in California where they had to learn how to speak English from scratch. My father worked in construction right out of high school and my mother helped by cleaning rooms and babysitting to support our family. It was difficult for both of them because they didnt know English fluently and everything around them was different than how it was in Mexico. I would say that learning English was the hardest thing for us to do, my mother said, It was something that we needed to learn because everyone spoke it, but it took a long time. They worked hard to build a new life here and have continued to remind me everyday that we need to take the opportunities presented to us because we might never have the same opportunity again. My parents always told us that home wasnt just a place, but also the people you choose to surround yourself with. Wherever we end up going, it will always feel like home because we have each other, they told us. We ended up moving to Grand Island when I turned four and looking back on it, I dont really remember living in California. All I remember is being happy surrounded by the people I loved most. Ive always had the dream of traveling around the world to see new cultures and learn new languages, but I dont think Ill ever move somewhere else permanently. Grand Island always has been home to me because my family is here and because I know that if I ever need anything they will always be here for me. Its where I spent most of my childhood and where I see myself growing old. Traveling always will be something that I want to do, but knowing that I have a home that I can come back to is amazing. Walking through my house after a long trip and seeing my bed is one of the best feelings I could ever have. Moving isnt always easy, but I think that home is really where your heart tells you it is. If you havent found the place or people that make your heart feel full, then I think exploring new places is a good idea. For me home will always be here, in this community with my family and friends. It will always be home to me no matter where I go or what I decide to do in the future. Jackie Ruiz-Rodriguez is a junior at Grand Island Senior High. Eight horses were scratched from Friday afternoons racing at Fonner Park because of a quarantine implemented in response to equine health problems. A 21-day quarantine has been placed on Barn R, where more than 100 horses are stalled. Two horses were euthanized this week one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. The cause of their illness has not yet been identified. Fonner Chief Executive Officer Chris Kotulak described the quarantine as a precautionary step. While we have yet to confirm if there has been an outbreak of a virus, we have decided to err on the side of caution and enact immediate precautions, Kotulak said in a statement. The livelihood of many has been affected. The health and welfare of all beings in our stable is always a grave concern. And everyone has a role to play to return to normalcy. The illness is believed to be the equine herpes neurological virus. But it is only believed that because of some of the symptoms that the horses have shown, Kotulak said in an interview. On Wednesday, Kotulak was notified that a horse in Barn R had a high temperature and was displaying mobility issues. Blood and nasal swab samples were taken and immediately driven to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. Tests were completed on Thursday and the lab results were inconclusive. Therefore, additional samples were sent for testing on Thursday. That same day a second horse showed similar symptoms. Unfortunately, both horses were euthanized, according to Kotulaks statement. Late Friday afternoon, Fonner still was awaiting lab results from Ames. Fonner still doesnt know if it was a coincidence that the two horses were stricken. So we are taking extreme precaution with the quarantine, Kotulak said. The horses that were scratched Friday came from trainers who are stabled in Barn R. Horses in that barn currently are not allowed to race at Fonner. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture has been notified. That department was involved in a discussion with the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, the state veterinarian and the Fonner Park board of stewards. Among other steps, precautions have been mandated that disallow any horsemen with horses in Barn R to have contact with any other horses in the stable area, according to the Fonner news release. Any horses that arrive may not leave the entire stable area until the quarantine is lifted. Fonner Park has also begun protocol to routinely sanitize the paddock, the starting gate and other common areas for horses. Fonner will use a three-stage quarantine process. During the first seven days of the quarantine, which began Thursday, horsemen from Barn R will be allowed to put their horses on the outdoor walker wheels. Each walker wheel will be designated for use by a specific trainer. Those wheels will be sprayed down with disinfectant after each use. After seven days, if there is not another outbreak, we will then allow those horses and only those horses from the R Barn to train on the training track, which is adjacent to the R Barn, Kotulak said. After two weeks, if there is no longer an outbreak, horses from Barn R will be allowed to train on the main track after standard training hours. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Since Sunday, volunteers have been collecting, sorting, packing and shipping items from the Ukraine National Home in Hartford to Poland for Ukrainians under attack by Russian forces. "This is from the heart," said volunteer Stephan Ochrim. "Everyone is here for home, friends, family and and peace in the world." (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) Hartford The first donations collected at Hartfords Ukrainian National Home are now bound for war-ravaged Ukraine in a shipping container the size of an 18-wheeler tractor trailer. And there are enough items ranging from medical supplies and snacks for the military to clothing, blankets and candles for civilians to fill three more containers. Advertisement Its unbelievable the support that we have gotten from Connecticut, Peter Gluch, a national home board member and a coordinator of the effort, said Saturday. We did not expect this at all. We just cant take any more items. Volunteers, from left, Jeff Kastner, Zenon Szahay and Stephan Ochrim pack goods bound for Ukraine at the Ukrainian National Home in Hartford. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) What the national home can use are monetary donations to help pay shipping costs, at $2.50 a pound, or $26,000 for each container. Advertisement So far, the donations from the community have covered the first shipment, now on its way from New Jersey to a hub in Poland. From there, the items will be transported by truck into Ukraine. The national home is on its way to raising enough money for a second container, and it also has incurred the cost of renting pods to store donations until more can be shipped. Every single space in this building was filled with boxes, Gluch said. Im just happy to be able to see the floor again. This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows burning apartment buildings in western Mariupol, Ukraine. (AP) Dozens of volunteers scurried around the basement of the national home Saturday, a fixture on Wethersfield Avenue since 1965, the sound of packing tape being ripped off rolls and slapped on boxes as the constant backdrop. Mike Laflair, a volunteer with no tie to Ukraine except the upset he felt watching the destruction unfold from his West Hartford home, first came last Sunday to donate cat food. I saw the devastation on TV, and I had to do something, Laflair said. Then when I was driving home, I said, Ive got a couple hours, and Ive been back every day since. Gluch estimates that since the collection started a week ago, thousands of volunteers, the majority of them from outside national home membership, have helped with sorting, packing and loading into storage containers. A photograph taken on March 7 shows destruction following shelling in Khariv, Ukraine's second-largest city. (SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images) How quickly the next shipping container from Hartford will be bound for Ukraine isnt clear, Gluch said. Advertisement Shipping companies are overwhelmed by the volume of donations, Gluch said, not just from every U.S. state but from around the globe. The national home also is now looking for a nearby place to temporarily park storage pods until future shipments can be arranged. And the organization is asking the public to visit http://ukrainiannationalhome.org/support-ukraine or its Facebook page for daily updates to cut down on the 200 calls a day the national home has been fielding since the start of the collection. News @3 Daily Catch up on the days top headlines sent directly to your inbox weekdays at 3 p.m > Gluch, the son of Ukrainian immigrants who came to America in the late 1940s, said he is worried about the safety of relatives still in the country, mostly in western Ukraine. When I see a Facebook message, I say, OK, they are OK. Gluch said. Gluch, who grew up in Hartford and now lives in West Hartford, said he had hoped one day to visit Ukraine, but he now wonders when or if that will be possible. The assault by Russia is the latest in a series of conflicts in which Ukraine has had to assert its right to independence, Gluch said. Advertisement Its history repeating itself in many ways, Gluch said. We make progress, and it goes backwards. We make progress, and it goes backwards. To help fund shipping costs, there are two ways to donate: checks for tax-deductible gifts can be written to UAYA Hartford with Ukraine Humanitarian Aid Fund in the memo. If a tax deduction isnt sought, checks can be written to Ukrainian National Home with Ukrainian Relief in the memo. Both may be sent to Ukrainian National Home, 961 Wethersfield Ave., Hartford, 06114, Attention: Cathy. Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com. Paris, TX (75460) Today Cloudy skies this morning followed by thunderstorms during the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 83F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low around 65F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Weddings, by their very nature, could be considered works of art. Cinematic films are, too. Marions White Oak Wedding Films puts the two together will remarkable results. Owner Luke ONeill first discovered the perfect pairing as a cinema and photography student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale almost ten years ago. It was during his studies that he began filming weddings. You know, as a broke college student looking for extra work on the weekends, weddings were a great way to use some of the skills I was gaining in school, ONeill said. After graduation, his weekend wedding work led him to join a New Orleans-based company that focused on filming weddings full-time. We were doing weddings in the French Quarter and as part of a very interesting wedding culture. It was really cool to be around, he said. Following a brief stay in Colorado where ONeill was part of commercial photography, videography and still more wedding work, the Marion native returned to Southern Illinois in 2018. Ive been doing weddings here ever since, he said. ONeill, who also owns a Marion media and production company called Union Street Arts, said there is a real difference between having a wedding filmed by professionals and having friends capture the ceremony on their cell phones. Theres obviously a level of professionalism. If you go with someone like White Oak, you know there is a certain quality that you can expect, he explained. Along with that comes accountability and reliability. For weddings, White Oak brings not only professionalism, but professionals. ONeill works with other cinema graduates who are part of his team. With a team approach, the final product is better. We have multiple camera angles and we use several professional microphones, so we offer complete coverage of the event and we also add a flare of cinematography to give Hollywood-looking images, he said. The company also can include drone capabilities to showcase the beauty of the venue and the region. Once the initial photography is completed, ONeill gives clients full post-production efforts including video and sound editing, color correction and more. One result is a highlight film, perfect for sharing with friends or on social media. The highlight films are where we put together a montage of all the live events during the day in a cinematic sequence where we showcase everything from getting ready through the ceremony and to the reception, he said. ONeill said the company also offers a full wedding film: a 60-minute documentary-style production. Every wedding film is different, he explained. We learn a lot in our consultation process with our couples. We discover people are looking for so we can deliver that, he said. He explained that wedding season months like June and October are especially busy for the company and for that reason, he said he is looking to expand. We want to add more people to the wedding team through the SIU cinema program, he said. ONeill stressed the professionalism White Oak Wedding Films brings to each ceremony. We work closely with not only the wedding party, but with other photographers hired for the wedding ... We have great relationships with a lot of photographers and we make sure that we are all on the same team and trying to make the day as successful as we can, he said. He added the ultimate goal is not just to have a video of the wedding, but to have a film that couples will want to watch again and again. Our films will let them relive those moments, he said. Final products are delivered to couples in a digital format or can be prepared on a DVD. They also come with one other feature that benefits the environment. We also have a tree program, ONeill said. We are big into giving back and promoting sustainability in our region, so we plant a tree usually a white oak for each of our films. Its who we are. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 In my quest to learn and share as much of the history of the people who have lived in Orangeburg County, I have recently located the first woman to be elected to Orangeburg City Council and first woman ever to run for public office and win an election. Nell Blackmon placed her hat in the political race in 1957 for a position on Orangeburg City Council. That was some 18 years before the time women and Blacks were elected in our government. Indeed, Blackmon was far ahead of her time. In 1936, Blackmon was employed with First National Bank of Orangeburg as a clerk. In 1945, she enrolled in the biggest nurses aide class ever to start in Orangeburg that totaled 33 students. And in 1955, she was appointed treasurer of the 1955 Heart Fund Drive. On Feb. 19, 1957, The T&D wrote, Miss Blackmon Enters Race For Seat On City Council. Miss Nell Blackmon, a lifelong resident of Orangeburg, yesterday announced her candidacy for City Council. "Miss Blackmon said, 'I feel that I can make a contribution to Orangeburg and particularly in the field of economy in the city government.' "Miss Blackmon has been associated with the First National Bank for almost 20 years. She has been active in all phases of civic life. She has served in various fund raising campaigns including; The Cancer Drive, March of Dimes and Heart Fund. During World War II, she was a Red Cross Nurse, a member of the Red Cross Motor Corps, and also assisted in Bond Drives. She is a member of St. Pauls Methodist Church. "Friends of Miss Blackmon stated that she was, 'willing to run for this office only because of her experience, her interest in Orangeburg, and because so many people have urged her to do so. She not only understands the Citys needs from a business point of view, but also from a ladys view. "Many of her friends feel that Orangeburg would benefit by having a womans steadying hand in city affairs. "Miss Blackmon expressed keen interest in civic and industrial growth and also in parks, playgrounds, and recreation facilities for the citizens of Orangeburg. "Nell, as she is affectionately known by almost everyone in Orangeburg, is the first woman to offer for this office in the history of Orangeburg. And this is the first time she has ever been a candidate for any office. Then on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 1957, the results of the election ended up with the first woman being elected to Orangeburg City Council, Nell Blackmon. Blackmon garnered the second highest number of votes in the entire election. She received a total of 1,404 votes. In no time, she began her business of being involved in the decision-making process in city government. The T&D wrote on March 19, 1958, Motion To Provide Supervision Of Utilities By City Defeated An extremely long session of City Council Tuesday night saw a motion to effect changes in the Public Utilities Dept., by Councilwoman Nell Blackmon and seconded by Councilman Jack Wannamaker, rejected by the other two councilmen and Mayor Clyde Fair. "Councilwoman Blackmon sought to have the administration of the Public Utilities Dept. included in the city government and have all funds of the public utilities transferred to the city. Miss Blackmon said that under the present setup, 'the city has two treasurers.' "Councilwoman Blackmon said, 'I offer the following as a motion -- That the City Treasurers Office be the Fiscal Agent for the City of Orangeburg and that all monies due the City of Orangeburg and that all monies owed by the City of Orangeburg be received and disbursed at the Treasurers Office.' "In the motion made by Councilwoman Blackmon, she proposed the Utilities Dept., be brought under closer supervision of the Council. Even when it came to a dog control ordinance, Miss Blackmon weighed right in an rendered her opinion." During this time in 1957, there were only two women politicians in Orangeburg County: Miss Ellen Chaplin, the countys first woman superintendent of education, and Miss Nell Blackmon, the citys first councilwoman. At election time in April 1961, Blackmon submitted her name for re-election to City Council. She said, During the last three years she has had an opportunity to study all departments in the city government and has visited each department at regular intervals. The turnout for the election was comparatively small, less than 2,000 of the citys approximately 4,500 registered voters taking the time and trouble to go to the polls. Blackmon came close but she received only 825 votes for her position. After serving our citys government for four years, Miss Nell returned full time to the First National Bank. She joined the bank in November 1937 and retired in January 1976 after serving 38 years. During her time in banking, she worked in bookkeeping, and as a teller and branch manager. The T&D reported on Sept. 18, 1980, Several From Area Enjoy The Mountains -- Miss Nell Blackmon reported a relaxing time in the North Carolina mountains where she spent two weeks recently with her sister, Miss Annie Lee Blackmon at her home in Blowing Rock. A trailblazing woman in Orangeburg, A. Nell Blackmon died Nov. 19, 1990, at the age of 78 in The Regional Medical Center. She was born in 1912 to Samuel Anderson Blackmon and Carrie Ruple Blackmon. Blackmon also had two brothers, Andrew and Harry Blackmon. Blackmon was a special part of Orangeburg and its growth and development. Certaintly, she made her mark as the "First Woman Elected to Our City Council. Happy Women's History Month! Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Each year since 1980, the month of March has been designated and proclaimed as Women's History Month. At this time, our nation gives recognition and honor to all of the young and older women living in America. In our county, both the Black and white women of Orangeburg have provided the men with companionship and togetherness needed to make our lives a joy to live. From the years of slavery and throughout the years of freedom, our women have made great contributions to the life in which we enjoy in todays world. During this month of March, we give honor and thanks to the role that women in Orangeburg County have played from 1704 to 2022 and all of the years we have before us. The first woman to be elected to a county-wide position in Orangeburg County was Geneva Fogle Dean in 1986. Dean became the first woman to hold the office of probate judge. In 1970, Probate Judge Jerry M. Hughes announced his retirement after serving our county since the year 1916. When he was elected to the position, he said he would remain active in that capacity until I have to give it up. And that he surely did for 54 years. That year, Dean became the deputy clerk of probate court for Orangeburg County. Judge Harry B. Dawkins was elected to the position of probate judge at the departure of Judge Hughes. In 1974, a group of 25 South Carolinians traveled to Israel and was involved in a bus accident. The judge called his secretary, Mrs. Dean, and told her to let the people of Orangeburg know that all from the area had escaped injury. This was reported in The T&D on Dec. 17, 1974. In 1986, Dawkins decided to retire as probate judge. With some thoughts and reservations, Geneva Fogle Dean, after serving for 17 years as the associate judge and a county employee for the past 35 years, made a decision to run for the position. She became a political candidate for the first time. Along with that announcement, Dean became the first woman in Orangeburg County to run and become a winner for public office. In November 1986, Dean won the election over her opponent, Republican D. Holbrook Oliver, by more than 10,000 votes. After Dean served one term, on Feb. 16, 1990, The T&D reported, Probate judge wont seek to be re-elected Orangeburg County Probate Judge Geneva Dean announced Thursday she will not seek re-election to a second term of office." She said in a prepared statement, I am very grateful to the citizens of Orangeburg County for having had the privilege of serving as judge of probate for the past three years. "With election time drawing near, I have had a very difficult decision to make; and after much thought and heartfelt consideration, I have decided not to offer myself for re-election. When I entered politics four years ago, I promised to treat all people with dignity and respect and always on an equal and fair basis. (And that, she did.) This I feel I have done and will continue to do so until my term expires December 31, 1990. "After serving 38 years in various capacities in county government, I will always have a special interest in the affairs of our county and wish only the best for her people in future years. When she retired, Dean passed the probate court baton to the first Black woman and the second woman to serve in that position for our county. In 1990, Margret Thompson became the next woman to lead the probate court. Since 1986, the office of Judge of Probate has been led by women. On Feb. 13, 2022, our Lord and Savior peacefully called our first woman Orangeburg County Probate Judge Geneva Fogle Dean home to be with him. Dean was born to Zacharia Alonzo Lonnie Fogle and Rubie Stack Fogle on Aug. 9, 1933, in Orangeburg. She was married to Norman Rudolph Dean for 61 years. They had two children; a son, Norman Rudolph Rudy and a daughter, Nancy. Dean was a mild-mannered woman who knew the probate court system up and down and all around. I met her in the 1980s in the Probate Court Office. She was always kind and polite when I was speaking with her about a subject. She was a soft-spoken person you had to like because she would lead you in the right direction when you were searching. She was highly knowledgeable in all aspects of the probate court. And the manner in which she provided service to the customer, it was always a delight to be served by her. To the first woman of Orangeburg County to hold and serve the Office of Probate Court, Geneva Fogle Dean, we say thank you for the long and outstanding service that you gave to the people. Happy Women's History Month. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A first-year UNC Wilmington student treated herself to her first-ever lottery ticket on her 19th birthday. Her strategy for picking her ticket? Get the one with the prettiest colors, she said, according to North Carolina lottery officials. Advertisement Her pick paid off and she won $100,000. Laniah Ashley, from Clinton, was celebrating her birthday with her grandparents at a Chinese restaurant on March 9, a news release said. Advertisement After dinner, she stopped to buy a $20 100x The Cash scratch-off, lottery officials said. Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news > It was my first time ever buying a ticket, Ashley said. I thought the colors on the ticket looked pretty so I chose that one. When she got back to her grandparents house and finally scratched her birthday ticket to realize she won, she said she was too stunned to speak, according to the release. I kept looking at the numbers and reading the rules over and over again, Ashley said. Ashley told lottery officials that she first kept the results to herself, afraid she was going to sound crazy. I was too excited to believe it was true, she added. The student is a biology major who plans to attend medical school. She said she plans to use that money toward paying for her studies, and help out her grandparents as well, the release said. On March 10 she collected her prize money $71,016 after taxes, lottery officials said. The Bamberg County Republican Party will be hosting a campaign kick-off event Saturday, March 19 at the Ehrhardt Pavilion. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will aim to introduce Republican candidates for County Council Districts 2, 3 and 6, S.C. House District 90 and U.S. Congressional District 6. The event will feature food trucks, a DJ and several speakers. The Ehrhardt Pavilion is located at 13402 Broxton Bridge Road in Ehrhardt. Other Bamberg County seats up for election are auditor and treasurer. The nonpartisan office of Willow Swamp Watershed Conservation District is also on the ballot, with three seats up for election. The two-week filing period for partisan and nonpartisan candidates in the fall general election runs from noon March 16 to noon March 30. The primaries will be held June 14 with any runoff scheduled for June 28. The general election is Nov. 8. All local filing is done at the Voter Registration and Election offices in a candidate's county of residence. The Bamberg County Voter Registration and Election Office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. It is located in the Bamberg County Courthouse Annex at 1234 North St. in Bamberg. The office can be reached by phone at 803-245-3028. All filing for federal and statewide offices is done through the South Carolina Election Commission at scvotes.gov. For more information, the SEC can also be contacted by phone at 803-734-9060 or email at elections@elections.sc.gov. SEC filing hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Filing for state Senate and state House of Representatives offices can be done through the SEC or the Voter Registration and Election offices in a candidate's county of residence. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MONCKS CORNER Berkeley County Sheriffs detectives have arrested a South Carolina Forestry Commission employee on charges related to a string of suspicious wildfires in northern Berkeley County near the Francis Marion National Forest in January and February. Brad Chance, 52, a forestry technician who worked for the agency in Berkeley and Charleston counties, was taken into custody Thursday after a joint investigation by SCFC law enforcement and the Berkeley County Sheriffs Office. He is charged with three counts of willfully burning lands of another. DENMARK Mayor Gerald Wright of Denmark was contacted over the phone on Monday, March 7, after the special meeting of Denmark City Council was held Thursday, March 3, regarding usage of what he said has ended up being close to $1.5 million in American Rescue Act funds for the city with almost a million of it being used for the replacement of the Bi-Lo Lift Station. Most of the rest of the funds are being used for water and sewer projects as well with a smaller percentage being used for COVID relief pay for city employees. According to an official report emailed to The T&D by Denmark town clerk Barbara Williams, $1,460,674.18 was given to the city through the ARA. Wright said the entire special meeting last Thursday was to look at the funds that were made available and share an outline of intended usage of the funds. Denmark was given a substantial amount of funds The full amount of funding is available, he added over the phone. According to the emailed report from Williams, the bulk of the funds are being used for the water and sewer department. In addition to $900,000 being used for the replacement of the Bi-Lo Lift Station, $342,840.93 will be used for the replacement of the spray field pump. Also, $123,027.65 will be used to purchase a new backhoe for the water department. Some funds have already been used for city employees. $112,805.60 was used to pay city employees as COVID-19 pandemic pay. This was corroborated with a previous report from City Accountant Rusty Munoz. A report from Munoz, as shared by City Administrator Heyward Robinson during the regular February 2022 council meeting, showed Denmark had used $112,805.00 in American Rescue Act funds. Therefore, by all appearances, the city employees were paid their COVID-19 pandemic pay. Robison had said in Januarys regular council meeting before the report was discussed last week, We have come up with some preliminary figures for the American Rescue Act, but they are not finalized yet. He had said he would soon have some reports for the mayor and council members regarding this. The report Williams sent Monday, March 7, was apparently a summary of a finalized version of this report. According to past articles in The T&D, multiple council members had complained that the council had not discussed usage of the ARA funds during regular meetings or even special meetings the past few months. Councilwoman Hope Long Weldon, in Februarys meeting, stated she had asked about having a meeting regarding the usage of ARA funds six times. This was resolved with last Thursdays meeting. She also had the minutes changed to more accurately reflect that she had asked about usage of the funds, not just the funds themselves. Council approved the change of the minutes in the February meeting.. The T&D was unable to attend the special meeting last Thursday, March 3, but Wright confirmed that no executive session was held during the meeting and that comments and the aforementioned report were made publicly. As aforementioned, he also shared information from the report with The T&D over the phone Monday and had Williams email the report from Denmark City Hall. Council members Hope Long Weldon and Calvin Odom were contacted via email but were unable to be reached for additional comments as of press time. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Gasoline prices in The T&D Region are reaching record highs. A T&D survey of 20 Orangeburg-area gas stations shows regular was selling for an average price of $4.079 a gallon on Wednesday morning. The least expensive sold for $3.95 a gallon at the Sunoco gas station on Boulevard Street. Rudy Still called the prices extremely high. They could be back to normal if we use the resources we have in this country like we did when we had another president, he said while filling up his gas tank at Dodge's Store. We have enough natural resources for gas that we shouldn't have to buy gas from anybody, he said. The average price for regular unleaded shattered a 14-year-old record that was hit in September 2008 when Hurricane Ike threatened refineries in the Gulf Coast region. At that time, gas prices in Orangeburg were averaging about $3.949. In some cases, it rose to as high as $4.599 a gallon. Oil experts say that unlike the short-lived hike in 2008, this time high gas prices could be around for quite some time. Govan resident Wallace Hicks Jr. said the high fuel prices are just like other products. Everything is going up, he said. I don't think there is any reason for gas to be this high. This is something people have to buy every day. Hicks says his 25-gallon Silverado cost him $76 to fill up. Now, You just have to adjust bills on other things, he said. Like people who play the lottery might have to cut back and if you go out to eat crab legs or steak, you might have to cut back to save the extra $20 or $30 to put in your gas tank. Orangeburg resident Linda Brown also described gas prices as extremely high. Brown says she does not know what can be done to help lower the prices. The Russia/Ukraine deal, she said. I don't know. I really don't know. Brown was filling up her Kia Sportage Wednesday. She put in about $33 for half of a tank. I figured the next day it is going to be even higher and then the next day it is going to be even higher, Brown said. Orangeburg resident Daniel Ruple said the prices are ridiculous. The last couple of weeks have been pretty rough, Ruple said. I have a business that we run here locally. It is a moving company and one of the things we do is transport cars. It holds 75 gallons of diesel, but you go to fill it up it is a lot when you look at less than a year ago it was $1.89. It is over $5 a gallon now. Ruple said the high gas prices are being blamed on the war in Ukraine. Weve got a lot of people who don't want to have our own pipeline coming through America, Ruple said. It seems like at this point here it is ridiculous not to do it. You start weighing in what it costs to bring oil in from another country and the damage it does to the environment, but what about all the fuel it takes for those tankers to bring it over here? he said. You are bringing it overseas, but we could be pumping right here in our own country. Orangeburg resident Marvin Bonnette echoed Ruple. Democrat politicians are really bringing the country down. We should be self-sufficient with gas prices. Pump more oil. Don't depend on other countries to supply, he said. Bonnette said the high gas prices have yet to impact him financially, but he fears it will be bad for all if they keep going up. Orangeburg resident LaTonja Brooks is concerned about the impact of gas prices on her family. She has four children under the age of 10. "I am concerned," she said, noting she just put about $89 in her truck just to fill it up. The last time prior to 2008 when gas prices spiked so high, so quickly, was when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005. Prices at that time rose about 50 cents to a high of $3.39 a gallon. In Orangeburg, they averaged about $3.949 a gallon. Statewide, gasoline prices on Wednesday were averaging about $4.026 a gallon for regular unleaded, according to AAA. This was the 17th lowest average gas price in the nation. Nationwide, gasoline prices were averaging about $4.25 a gallon. This is the highest nationwide average ever recorded. Kansas' average gas prices for regular gas was $3.792 a gallon. The most expensive gasoline sold in California for $5.573 a gallon. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. This subscription will allow existing subscribers of The World to access all of our online content, including the E-Editions area. NOTE: To claim your access to the site, you will need to enter the Last Name and First Name that is tied to your subscription in this format: SMITH, JOHN If you need help with exactly how your specific name needs be entered, please email us at admin@countrymedia.net or call us at 1-541 266 6047. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Send us your news, photos, and videos and let us know what's going on! Submit Here (TBTCO) - Thi truong chung khoan Viet Nam co ban van giu nhip on inh trong quy au nam nay, tuy nhien, thi truong chiu ap luc ieu chinh kha manh ke tu cuoi thang 3 en nay do tac ong tu cac yeu to ngoai bien va cac vu viec sai pham mang tinh on le cua mot so ca nhan, to chuc. Theo cac chuyen gia, nhung tac ong en tam ly ngan han cua nha au tu la kho tranh khoi, nhung ay la co hoi e huong dong tien i ung huong, giup thi truong gan uc, khoi trong e phat trien ben vung. A 28-year-old California man was shot and killed at a Virginia Beach home Friday night. Police responded at 9:47 p.m. to a shooting in the 4800 block of Crystalline Place, Virginia Beach Police said in a news release. Thats off I-264, west of Mount Trashmore. Advertisement Tyler L. Jenkins, 26, of Virginia Beach, was charged in the slaying of a 28-year-old California man on March 11, 2022. (Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office) Officers found Timothy Paul Talley III with multiple gunshot wounds. They tried to provide first aid, but Talley was soon pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Tyler L. Jenkins, 26, of Virginia Beach, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and using a firearm in a felony. Advertisement A police news release Saturday described the slaying as a domestic related shooting death, but did not describe the relationship between Talley and Jenkins and didnt provide a motive for the shooting. Police officials could not be immediately reached for comment. Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com People attending municipal court or city council meetings in Casper will now have to be screened by a metal detector and cannot bring dangerous weapons including firearms inside. The city announced the heightened security measures in a release Friday morning. The detector is already in use at the municipal court, the release said, and another will go into effect for council meetings starting Tuesday. Visitors to City Hall during normal business hours will not be screened, City Manager Carter Napier said. Napier said the measure is in response to recent security concerns at council meetings, but did not cite any specific instances. In the past year, the city manager said, there have been some issues at council meetings that prompted this step. Id say its probably more of a cumulative effect, Napier said. We probably should have done this a while back. Council leadership, police Chief Keith McPheeters and municipal court Judge Cally Martinez worked together on the solution, according to Napier. (The metal detector) will likely be a permanent feature, Napier said. We felt like we had to do more to protect the sanctity of those two chambers. In January, on the night Mayor Ray Pacheco and Vice Mayor Steve Freel were sworn into their new posts (they swapped positions on the council from last year), council members and meeting attendees were cleared from the room when a public commenter refused to leave the stand. Pacheco, McPheeters and other police officers asked the man to leave several times, and he left voluntarily about five minutes after the room was emptied. Council meetings will be screening people primarily for guns, in accordance with a 2011 ordinance that bans deadly weapons from city meetings, except for law enforcement. Bags will only be searched, Napier said, if they set off the detector and officers on duty suspect there could be a firearm. The process should be as minimally invasive as possible, he said. This is not a new practice in government, Napier said. It certainly may be new around here, and it may be one of just a few in the state of Wyoming. Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Wyoming Department of Healths Aging Division needs more local partners including health care agencies and home modification providers to help carry out a coronavirus relief program for aging and disabled renters. The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), established by the federal CARES Act, assists Americans struggling to pay rent because of the pandemic. The U.S. Department of the Treasury allocated $352 million for Wyomings rental aid program. Community organizations have given out $21.6 million of that to landlords, renters and utilities companies so far, according to the Department of Family Services website. But not all rental aid money goes toward rental assistance; $1 million has been earmarked to pay for home disability access and personal care services. Most seniors and people with disabilities want to stay in their homes as long as they can, said Jeff Clark, community living section manager for the aging division. They often find it more comfortable, and cheaper, than moving to an assisted living facility or nursing home, he said. But houses, apartments and trailers arent usually designed to accommodate people with mobility problems. They require additional modifications which can be pricey for people already having trouble with rent. Thats why the Housing Stability Services program was created. The program, which launched last summer, pays for a variety of services aimed at keeping Wyomingites in their homes. It serves adults ages 55 or older and people with disabilities, as long as theyre eligible for ERAP. In addition to household renovations, it funds things like trailer repairs, cleaning services, skilled nursing and transportation. Each applicant is eligible for up to $5,000 of assistance. A grant of about $2,000 is typical, said Mark Kelly, Housing Stability Services program manager. In total, the program has doled out about $15,000 so far, Kelly estimates. As of Tuesday, it had served 27 people. Another 39 applications were pending, Kelly said. Some of those 39 wont have to wait long for help, Kelly said. But a lack of county-level partner organizations is causing a backlog of applications in some parts of the state. When someone requests a service through Housing Stability Services, the aging division has to find a local business or nonprofit to carry it out. Say a 75-year-old man in Cheyenne applies for disability modifications for his rental unit. The aging division could pay a group like Habitat for Humanity of Laramie County to do the necessary renovations: adding ramps, railing, a walk-in shower and anything else he needs. The group would then be reimbursed with ERAP money. But until such an organization agrees to provide that service and the aging division verifies the organization is a good fit for the program that man cant be helped. Theres an especially steep need for partner organizations in Albany, Campbell, Natrona, Big Horn and Uinta counties, Kelly said. There are enough groups out there thatd be right for the job, but not all of them have the person power or time to take on additional clients, Clark said. Senior centers, for example, provide a lot of the services applicants ask for, he said. A lot of them are hurting for staff right now. The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated frustrations over stagnant wages, leading to widespread employee shortages not least for those who work in the social services and health care industries. In counties where there are enough community partners, the program is going fairly smoothly, Kelly said. Some applicants can be helped in a matter of days. It can be a quick process once all the ducks are in a row, he said. For information about how to apply for the Housing Stability Services program, or how your business or organization can become a local provider, visit health.wyo.gov/aging. To apply for ERAP rental assistance, visit dfs.wyo.gov. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Wyoming will move forward with a $2.8 billion budget for the upcoming two years. The new state budget is roughly $400 million smaller than the last one, largely because COVID-19 relief dollars were reworked to be one-time expenditures in the general fund essentially the states main checking account. Gov. Mark Gordon announced shortly before midnight Thursday that he had signed off on the budget, with a handful of line-item vetoes. Gordon, who drew up the original budget draft, was commended by the Joint Appropriations Committee for being able to transfer such a large chunk of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding into general fund dollars. When its all said and done, Wyoming will have received more than $1 billion in ARPA money in response to the pandemic. Virtually none of the federal dollars were put towards ongoing costs such as, for example, a new position in a state agency. After both the House and the Senate amended the main state budget, there was roughly a $46 million difference between the two versions. Those differences were reconciled in a Joint Conference Committee comprised of lawmakers from both chambers. The biggest development to come out of the conference committee was a pay increase for state workers. Lawmakers adopted a $64.8 million pay increase for state employees, something that the House pushed for more than the Senate. Gordon has repeatedly emphasized how important it is to give state workers pay increases due to the difficulties of hiring and retaining workers. Educators are also getting a boost. The budget allocates about $10 million for books and materials as well as utilities to school districts. That said, the school districts have discretion over how those funds are ultimately spent. Schools are also facing challenges retaining teachers, who are reporting burnout more often in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The budget bill passed with super-majorities in both chambers. Gordon used his line-item veto authority on the budget, but did not make major changes. Most of his vetoes were philosophical, meaning the governor believed that certain provisions were out of place in the budget or violated the separation of powers. The Senate voted Friday to override some of the governors vetoes, but the House had not acted prior to the Star-Tribunes press deadline. Follow state politics reporter Victoria Eavis on Twitter @Victoria_Eavis Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. With two hours to spare before they were in violation of the state constitution, state lawmakers passed a redistricting bill. The bill, adopted late Friday evening, adds three lawmakers, bringing the total in the Wyoming Legislature to 93, including 62 representatives and 31 senators. Lawmakers have been working for months on redrawing the states legislative districts in light of population changes over the past decade. The process has been a challenge, especially as lawmakers try to balance population growth in Wyomings larger cities with the states shrinking population in rural areas. In the final legislative map, all House districts in Sheridan County are "slightly" out of deviation, meaning that the ratio of constituents to representatives was not proportional enough. If districts are out of deviation, they risk being struck down by the courts in violation of the 14th Amendment. Taxpayer dollars would be used to fund the battle, and if the state loses, it's possible public money would also have to be used to fund the plaintiff's legal fees. The reapportionment also created three new "splits" in Natrona County, which occur when legislative districts don't line up with preexisting boundaries. Such a scenario has the potential to sacrifice voter confidentiality. The number of splits in Sheridan County are still unknown because the map was completed at the last minute. Members of the Wyoming County Clerks Association have said multiple times that they prioritize a map that is completely within deviation. They also wanted a map that creates as few splits as possible. This map meets neither of those principles. "Im going to vote aye on this, but Im going to plug my nose doing it because this really stinks," said Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne. A number of other lawmakers expressed similar sentiments. Some lawmakers in the House also expressed dismay over how much of the legislative map came together behind closed doors in the final hours. The map that was ultimately passed was dramatically different in important areas from versions the public had seen. The bill passed the House easily, but more narrowly succeeded in the Senate in a 17-12 vote. The committee was delayed in the redistricting process by the pandemic and the special session that was held in the fall to fight back against the federal government's vaccine mandates. Due to the pandemic, the legislative committee responsible for redistricting got the data it needed in August and started the process on Sep. 1. They were supposed to have received the data in the spring, allowing them the summer to work up maps. The committee aimed to be done by Dec. 1, but met on the last Friday before the session started Feb. 14. Because of all the heartburn over redistricting, multiple parties have floated the idea of a redistricting commission to take over responsibility for redrawing legislative maps. The commission would be comprised of appointed individuals rather than elected officials. Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, brought a constitutional amendment this session to take the power out of hands of lawmakers and put it into the hands of such a commission. His measure ultimately failed. Follow state politics reporter Victoria Eavis on Twitter @Victoria_Eavis Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 3 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Wyoming became the 13th state on Friday to join the Occupational Therapy Licensure compact, an interstate agreement that will allow occupational therapists to practice more easily across state lines. The compact, an initiative by the American Occupational Therapy Association and the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, began to form in 2019 and recently took effect when a 10th state Wisconsin joined in early February. Professionals who opt into the group practice in member states under a compact privilege can begin providing services much sooner than they would otherwise be able to. The compact also cuts down on redundant requirements, such as those for continuing education, that some therapists holding licenses in multiple states are currently required to fulfill. Rep. Mark Kinner, R-Sheridan, the main sponsor of the bill to join the compact, said being a member state would improve access to services, attract more occupational therapists to Wyoming and support military spouses who move frequently. Concern about military spouses was prominent during discussion on the bill; spouses who practice occupational therapy can be unemployed for several months while they complete their licensing requirements in a new state. Licensure compacts not only support military spouses but also the services they offer, Defense-State Liaison Office Northwest Region Liaison Tammie Perreault said during public testimony on the bill. It helps military families financial stability. In Cheyenne, we have an air force base and spouses needing work, but its often not worthwhile for them to go through the licensing process because theyre here temporarily, owner of Sensational Kids Shellie Szmyd told the Star-Tribune. Szmyd is also a member of the Wyoming Occupational Therapy Association. Sensational Kids is a group of pediatric clinics located in Sheridan, Casper, Gillette and Cheyenne. Szmyd said there are almost always openings for more staff at her clinics. Were really hoping that this can be a draw that will get people to Wyoming, she said of the compact. It could also knock down barriers for candidates who already want to provide services in Wyoming; her clinic in Cheyenne, she said, draws quite a few employees from Colorado because there is an occupational therapy program in Fort Collins. But getting these employees licensed and credentialed in Wyoming can take several months, and some cant afford to lose out on that income. Under the compact, that process could be reduced to just weeks. Wyoming is already part of several health-related compacts, including ones that allow nurses and physicians to provide services in participating states. Another compact for emergency medical technicians is in the process of getting started. According to Wyoming Hospital Association President Eric Boley, these compacts have been successful as all get out. They have actually been vital during the pandemic because weve been able to bring in nurses and physicians, he said. From our perspective, theyve been really really successful. States were already receptive to compacts prior to the pandemic. But Lindsay Simineo, a lobbyist with the Wyoming Counseling Association, said COVID has been instrumental in generating more interest (Simineo gave testimony at the legislature on a bill to join another compact for counselors, but that bill failed to enter the Committee of the Whole by deadline). Providers in Wyoming were struggling to see clients because of COVID, so it has really opened their minds to the idea that this is beneficial and that there is a need for it, she said. In some ways, the pandemic provided a preview of what it might look like to be part of a compact. Some states modified their licensure requirements for telehealth and in-person medical care during COVID. Many modifications around in-person care were initially geared toward expanding the vaccine workforce, but some also allowed health workers to provide other services across state lines. These modifications provided flexibility for a workforce that continues to be stretched thin. In a rural state, keeping this kind of flexibility in place could make services available to more Wyomingites. Us being a rural state definitely is a huge reason why were pushing these compacts, Simineo said. Its agreed upon that compacts are not going to solve the workforce issue, but were open to any tools that will help. Were having to look at all the solutions. Szmyd said this could also be particularly impactful for small border communities. The Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact is not up and running at this point. Meghan Pudeler, the compacts manager of state affairs, said a commission will meet sometime this summer to draft the compacts bylaws and create a database for licensure information. Pudeler estimated that it will take 12 to 18 months before therapists can start taking advantage of the compacts benefits. Since Wyoming joined early on in the compacts enactment, Wyoming Board of Occupational Therapy Director Greg Searls said during public testimony that the state could play a role in the groups rulemaking. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Vladimir Putins infliction on the Russian people of a second Iron Curtain has demonstrated more effectively than any number of seminars and lectures possibly could the critical importance of freedom of the press to governmental accountability. Putins nationwide censorship of any news or reports that contradict his characterization of the lie that he is de-nazifying Ukraine, enforced by a brutal 15-year prison sentence for violators, has plunged most Russians into a state of darkness and ignorance. Most know very little about the horrific, unprovoked war that Putin has launched against Ukraine and the atrocities against civilians that constitute war crimes, by any measure. Such is life in a totalitarian nation in which freedom of the press does not exist. Some Russians, through access to private internet networks, are aware of Putins horrors and are demonstrating against the dictator in Moscow and elsewhere. Some 8,000 courageous protesters have been jailed, leaving them to face a very uncertain future. Suppose circumstances were otherwise. Suppose an iron curtain had not descended across the country and Russians were, in fact, informed by professionally trained journalists who report from the front lines about the conduct of the war its costs, casualties and tragedies. Armed with knowledge about the war, the Russian people might rise in opposition and bring it to an end. Putins censorship, however, chokes the pipeline of information and knowledge and, with it, the emergence of dissenters capable of ending the catastrophe. His totalitarianism, including his war on the press, represents a stark lesson for Americans who take freedom of the press for granted. Freedom of the press, we should recall, serves several vital functions in a democracy. It certainly promotes individual fulfillment, knowledge and understanding of the issues of the day. It is critically linked to self-government, social change and the exchange of ideas. A free press, in its historic role as the fourth estate, performs the crucial function of checking government and holding it accountable to both the law and the American people. In addition, a free press is capable of confronting powerful institutions and organizations and other centers of authority. The founders of the First Amendment, Justice Hugo Black wrote in his powerful opinion in The Pentagon Papers Case, had these critical functions, among others, in mind when they drafted the Free Press Clause: In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Governments power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. Freedom of the press alone cannot prevent governmental errors of policy, laws and programs, any more than it can guarantee that an informed citizenry will act wisely and exhibit good judgment. Nor does freedom of the press guarantee that newspapers will be free of errors, but what profession is always right? What freedom of the press does do, more than anything else, is that it gives democracy an opportunity to succeed. No country aspiring to become a democracy, and no democracy aspiring to success, can accomplish such an end without freedom of the press because, without it, the citizenry will live in ignorance and darkness. Governmental accountability will forever lie beyond the reach of the people without freedom of the press. For all those in recent years who have railed against the press as the enemy of people and delighted in despoiling the Fourth Estate and destroying its reputation because it represents a hindrance to their own autocratic aims, it is important to understand that those attacks are cut from the same cloth as Putins attacks on independent news in Russia. The line between democracy and authoritarianism is thin when the institutions created to defend the rule of law, liberty and justice are brought low. The line, we might say, begins and ends with an informed citizenry determined to defend democratic values, principles and freedoms. Justice George Sutherland, one of the most conservative Justices in the history of the Supreme Court, wrote in 1936, in Grosjean v. American Press Co., that the people are entitled to full information in respect of the doings or misdoings of their government; informed public opinion is the most potent of all restraints upon misgovernment. David Adler, PHD, is a noted author who lectures nationally and internationally on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Presidential power. His scholarly writings have been cited by the US Supreme Court and lower courts by both Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress. Adlers column is supported in part through a grant from Wyoming Humanities funded by the Why it Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation initiative, administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Adler can be reached at david.adler@alturasinstitute.com Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Living in Wyoming, it is easy to feel insulated from world events, especially those overseas. Even though we see the news footage and can recognize that significant things are happening elsewhere, there is often little practical impact to our day to day lives. Our work generally continues, our goods and services still arrive, and we still feel safe and secure in our homes. However, just because our daily lives may not be significantly impacted, that does not mean that we should not pay close attention. Russias invasion of Ukraine brings this into direct focus. Even though we in Wyoming have little risk of danger, the return of Russia as an aggressive international threat should be concerning to all of us. Even though we are insulated, world events matter. Russia as an aggressor, fighting what is essentially the first unprovoked war of conquest since World War II, destabilizes world affairs. We can expect this to cause ripples through world supply lines and prices as well as changing expectations of how countries will act on the international scale. The United States does not have a defense pact with Ukraine, but if Russian aggression in Ukraine went unchecked, Russia would be far more likely to make further attempts to regain control over countries that left the former USSR some of which we do have mutual defense agreements with. Similarly, if naked aggression goes unchecked, what is to stop China from taking military action against another one of our allies in Taiwan? An international response showing that expansionist plots will not be tolerated is vital to preventing wars of conquest that may put U.S. troops in direct conflict with foreign armies. Unfortunately, there is a small, but vocal, minority in the United States that feels expresses its support and admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Make no mistake, Putin is not a genius as former President Trump said. Putin is a dictator, a bully, and a global threat. There is no common cause between Putins goals for Russia and the United States best interests. As we can see clearly now, Putin is using force to try to impose his will on a resistant foreign nation. There is no good in what he is doing and, as the international response has shown, there is no genius to it. Fortunately, most of us Republican and Democrat alike agree that Russias actions must not go unpunished. The rest of the Western world also agrees that we must take coordinated action to oppose Russias invasion of Ukraine. The response of both the West and of Ukraine itself appears to have surprised Putin. Ukraine has resisted far more effectively than experts on both sides anticipated. At the same time, Russian troops have been poorly supplied and appear to have been fed lies about Ukrainians welcoming their presence. Rather than the Russian military overrunning the country, it has turned into a military slog with no clear end in sight. The Western worlds response has been united in imposing sanctions on Russia. While sanctions may sound like a weak response to a military invasion, their impact is far more first meets the eye. While Russia has a large military, it has a surprisingly weak and small economy. Russias GDP (the total value of the goods and services produced by the economy) is slightly smaller than that of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg combined. It is less than 1/14th the size of the United States GDP and it is greatly dependent on oil exports, particularly to Europe. The Western sanctions have already caused a major hit to the Russian economy effectively freezing them out of most trade with the Western world. The one area that sanctions have not yet hit is that one area that would be most devastating to the economy: oil exports. If the Western world were to sanction Russian oil exports, the Russian economy may go from significant decline to catastrophic collapse. If the West, or even just the United States, wants to put maximum pressure on Russia, it should expand sanctions to include Russias oil exports. Fortunately, the United States could easily increase its production to more than account for the decline in Russian oil. Doing so would put maximum pressure on Russia and as an ancillary benefit, would likely result in increases in Wyomings oil production and jobs. Shutting off Russian oil imports is the right thing to do, is strategically advantageous, and is good for Wyoming. Why should Wyoming care about the Russian invasion of Ukraine? We should care because we believe in opposing unprovoked aggression. We should care because doing so is in the strategic interests of the United States. We should care because we want to avoid setting a precedent that may lead to other military conflicts, potentially involving U.S. troops. Above all, we should care because it is the right thing to do. Khale Lenhart is an attorney in Cheyenne and a former Chairman of the Laramie County Republican Party. He can be reached at khale.lenhart@gmail.com. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Yellowstone National Park turns 150 years old this month a milestone truly worth celebrating. When Westerners think of Yellowstone, probably what comes to mind are its grizzlies, exploding geysers, wolf packs and bison traffic jams, not to mention bubbling, iridescent hot pools that attract swarms of visitors from all over the world. The park is a jewel of the Northern Rockies, but to this journalist who has covered its stories for 35 years, the real miracle of Yellowstone is its intricate world of wildlife. Yet any discussion of wildlife here comes wrapped in a paradox. Despite Covid-19, or perhaps because of it, in 2021 Yellowstone smashed monthly, seasonal and annual visitation records, notching nearly 4.9 million visits. That is 860,000 more than in 2019, the year before the pandemic struck. This year, given social media and marketing aimed at the parks 150th anniversary, its possible that Yellowstone could surpass the 5 million mark. Even if it doesnt hit that milestone, many locals who have visited the park for decades say its roads and its capacity for serving visitors are already overwhelmed, as are many public facilities in the gateway towns of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Although the crushing visitation happens on a tiny percent of parkland, all these curious tourists create waves of troubling ripple effects. Yellowstone is neither a standalone island nor a drive-through zoo. It is unique, the last ecosystem in the Lower 48 to contain all of the original mammal species that were on the landscape before Europeans arrived on the continent. Now, based on the diversity and health of its wildlife populations, Yellowstone is wilder than it was in 1872, when poachers, bounty, and market hunters nearly wiped out all wildlife in the country. Grizzly bears have been rescued from a population free fall. Wolves were brought back by the Interior Department under Bruce Babbitt in the mid-1990s, and the parks bison population, which numbered just 23 at one point in the late 19th century, is at 5,000. Had Yellowstone not been created, had winter range beyond Yellowstone not existed, and had environmental protection laws not been put in place, its doubtful that those original species would have survived. Many biologists think most would have been lost. Not all are celebrating Yellowstones birth. Some have portrayed the park as an emblem of injustice that resulted in the removal of Indigenous people from native homelands. These critics see a park which non-white citizens say they have never felt invited to embrace as part of their heritage. This needs to be addressed by the National Park Service and remedied. What cannot be repaired, once broken, are the fragile threads of biological connections holding the ecosystem together. And those connections extend for miles outside the park boundaries, through migration trails and rivers. These days, the boom in outdoor recreation in the West has been crowding the parks adjacent national forests. The high numbers rival public-land use levels around Moab, Utahs Wasatch, and the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies, places that dont have Yellowstones diversity of wildlife. Another threat is that neighboring states like Montana have promoted the killing of park wolves and bison when they cross Yellowstones invisible boundary. Private lands surrounding Yellowstone are also getting built up, transformed by mostly unplanned development. Such development is the biggest threat to the survival of grizzlies and other park species, warns Chris Servheen, who served as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services national director of grizzly bear recovery for 35 years. Wild animals always suffer when roads, houses and people move into their territories, Servheen says. Coexistence may be the goal, but humans always win any dispute with wildlife trying to survive. Five years ago, Dave Hallac, who managed the science division at the park, told me he was worried not just about the Yellowstone ecosystem suffering death by 1,000 cuts, but death by 10,000 scratches, as more people scramble for their piece of paradise. The trend has only accelerated. What is the most enduring value of Yellowstone? The park reveals that humans deeply appreciate this special place of wildness. But the park also has an urgent message to those same humans: Our consumption of wild places means we must deliberately decide to accept limits. This is a good thingand an increasingly rare thing. Todd Wilkinson is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, a nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is a writer and founder of Mountain Journal in Montana, mountainjournal.org. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Osmond Baboolal will be 40 years old soon. Those who know, will always see him as a child. He could have been saved. He deserved being saved. But we all failed him. This is how. NEAR the junction leading to the mud volcano and narco mansion of Piparo is the turn-off to Pooran Street in the former sugarcane village of Williamsville. Here you will find the ruins of a burnt-out house hidden behind the bushes. Alexandria A Virginia man has been sentenced to prison for leading senior citizens across the U.S. to send him money in what was described as a romance fraud scheme, a federal prosecutor said Friday. Abdul Rasak Garuba, 41, of Woodbridge was given 21 months, said Jessica Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a news release. Advertisement Court documents say that beginning in February 2016, Garuba received large wire transfers from senior citizens who were led to believe they were sending money at the request of and for the benefit of romantic partners they met through online dating sites. In fact, victims had been directed to send money to Garuba by people in Nigeria who were operating a romance fraud scheme, the news release said. One victim reported the fraud documents. Garuba told his bank that he was doing business with the victims, bought cars for them and had the paperwork to prove it. However, the bank closed his account when he couldnt produce any records, according to prosecutors. Advertisement Prosecutors said Garuba transferred approximately 15% of the nearly $2.9 million gained from the victims. He used the money to buy cars which he shipped to scheme leaders in Nigeria. And so it has come to pass. One week after the island-wide blackout of February 16, we told you in this space that, from among the best authority available, there would be, there could be no one to blame for what happened. We told you that the determination had already been made as to what happened, how and why, and that nobody could have been held responsible for that. It was a warning against the natural national tendency to go for blood. Loud had been the shouts of sabotage, the result of worker discontentment, and a clamour for heads to roll. The Pima County Attorneys Office has resumed charging simple drug possession cases after a more than two-month pause on the policy put in place to lower the county jails population amid the increasing spread of COVID-19. County Attorney Laura Conover announced on Dec. 14 her office would no longer charge people for simple drug possession, paraphernalia or related personal-use cases. On Wednesday, she sent a memo to Southern Arizonas law enforcement agencies announcing the reversal of that policy. The jails population was 1,671 on the day the policy went into place, and 1,673 on March 9, Conover wrote in the memo. She said law enforcement personnel were still bringing people to the jail for the charges Conover announced she would no longer prosecute, resulting in the policy having little effect on the inmate population. In December, Conover asked law enforcement to deflect people to drug treatment such as CODAC, a behavioral health care center, or the Crisis Response Center instead of arresting them. But arrestees were still crowded in the initial holding area of the jail, or the pit, waiting to find out if theyd be booked, she said. People were simply still brought to the jail on simple drug possession. They were booked and went into the pit for hours before they finally get to the initial appearance where my deputy could dismiss the case, Conover said. So we didnt see signs of increased deflection. While the Tucson Police Department has had years to grow accustomed to deflection, the county attorney said, other local law enforcement agencies dont have the same experience. Theyre going to do what theyve been doing for 20 years. Everyone does the best they can, Conover said. But the result was frustrating. Sheriff Chris Nanos acknowledged his departments deputies can use opportunities to cite and release or deflect at their discretion, but said he wishes there were more social services available outside city limits in the wider area his department patrols. We try to encourage our deputies to understand in our training processes that not everybody needs to go to jail. There are other ways to deal with the situation, he said. But Ive got $18 million a year spent in my jail on mental health and drug addiction issues. Can we not give that $18 million a year to those who are better equipped to handle that? And although he supported the effort to reduce the jail population, Nanos said he wanted to focus on getting the hundreds of inmates booked for probation violations and other petty charges out of the facility. I didnt really need (Conovers) help to reduce the jail population because of COVID. I mean, thats an honorable thing to do, he said. But I stressed to her and to the courts and the judges: What I needed their help to do was to reduce the jail population because we have people in our custody who dont need to be there. Conover acknowledged this idea in her memo to law enforcement and said Nanos is dealing with some 200 inmates held on unspeakably violent crimes and trying to also manage non-violent sick people who should not be in the jail at all and are at risk for violence, and illness, and overdose. The county attorney asked law enforcement to continue to use deflection, adding, I dont need the jail to help me hold non-violent people accountable. I can and will do that through charging. Brutal choice Former County Attorney Barbara LaWall made a similar decision to halt simple drug possession charges in March 2020. Conover said she resumed prosecuting those cases as her office launched the nations first pre-charge drug court, STEPs, or Supportive Treatment and Engagement Program, with the goal to divert nonviolent people with substance use disorder away from the criminal-justice system. It seemed safe to move people quickly from arrest, out of custody, into the STEPs court. So I lifted it, Conover said. But when Conover stopped simple drug charges as a COVID-19 mitigation measure again in December, the STEPs court wasnt able to fully serve its purpose. The court had made it clear that the STEPs court was going to die on the vine because I hadnt put anyone into the court since the (December) memo. So it was empty now, she said. It was a brutal choice because at the end of the day, Im not convinced that adding criminal-justice system involvement to a person already suffering from substance-use disorder, Im not convinced yet that that that makes it better and in fact, worse. Joel Feinman, the countys public defender, is set on the belief that the criminal-justice system fails to help those with substance-use issues. Criminalizing minor drug possession use has never worked in 100-plus years of the war on drugs. It never will work, he said. Substance abuse is not a criminal-justice issue. It is a mental health and a public health issue. Conover said those suffering from substance use and mental health issues can attend the STEPs court to receive treatment instead of spending time in jail. It seemed to be the better of the two options. STEPs court I dont think really even has a full six months of data yet, she said. I think everyone worked so hard to launch it. Its absolutely worth testing and seeing if we cant get results, especially maybe post-COVID. But Feinman argues reinstating the policy to charge simple drug possession negatively affects those who need treatment by continuing to criminalize them. At the end of the day, you are still arresting people for crimes and charging them with felonies. Youre still treating it like a criminal-justice issue, he said. It doesnt mean creating specialty courts and behavioral health courts within the criminal-justice system. It means not doing the same thing slightly different. For now, the idea is to see if the STEPs court can fulfill its purpose and help divert those with substance use disorder away from jail. It deserves a real test. And then well do just what we did here, review again, Conover said. Is deflection still better than STEPs? We need to set up these markers to figure out how to get the best results. Contact reporter Nicole Ludden at nludden@tucson.com Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. An international community of friends, colleagues and people she helped are mourning the death of Naya Arbiter, who co-founded the Amity Foundation and dedicated her life to those struggling with addiction and trauma. She died March 3 after a brief illness. She was 69. Arbiter was born Sept. 20, 1952, in New York City. Her childhood included time in Mexico and Bolivia, where her stepfather worked in mining. She won the Miss Bolivia contest in Cochabamba at 13, said her husband, Rod Mullen, but was disqualified from more pageants because she was American. Her family moved to Tucson in the late 1960s. Arbiter, then a teenager, began experimenting with drugs and became addicted to heroin. She was arrested in Mexico and spent seven months in jail in Nogales, Sonora, which, Mullen said, helped shape her compassion and insight when it came to addiction and inmates. She was later arrested in Pima County by the FBI and faced, at 17, sentencing as an adult for drug trafficking. At that time, Mullen said, a courageous and empathic probation officer risked her career by taking Arbiter to Synanon, a California-based program that was the first therapeutic community in the country. That ended Arbiters drug use and, her husband said, launched 50 years of researching and perfecting ways to create therapeutic communities. She worked at Synanon for a decade before starting the Amity Foundation in Tucson with her husband in 1981. She became, in my view, the worlds most impactful advancer of that approach, said George De Leon, a New York psychologist and researcher Arbiter sought out as she developed her ideas about helping people recover from not only addiction, but many other life-limiting experiences such as poverty, child abuse, racism, homelessness and violence. The emphasis is not just on moving beyond dependence on drugs or alcohol, De Leon said, but helping people change their lifestyles and find out who they are, over time and without those limitations. Arbiter frequently reached out to De Leon, among many others, and read voraciously on these topics. She wrote 14 volumes of curriculum, and she did all of this without a college education. Instead, she often said, she learned from hearing the stories of others. Her compassion extended beyond people. She was outspoken about the environment and climate change, and was a lifelong vegetarian who carried cat food in her purse in case she encountered a stray. She was extraordinarily wise, kind, honest, said her lifelong friend and colleague, Pamela Jay. She had an amazing, intuitive capacity to make a difference for others whether it be a plant, an animal, a pet or a human being. Arbiter and Mullen began working with inmates at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego in 1990, and that program continued until funding issues closed it in 2019. Inmates who participated were then given the chance to transition from prison to a residential Amity campus in nearby Vista, California. Mullen said recidivism dropped about 47% for those who participated in both the inmate program and then the therapeutic community after release. Their prison work, which also included programs in New Mexico and Texas, reached as far away as Argentina and Japan. An independent filmmaker in Tokyo, Kaori Sakagami, became friends with Arbiter in 1995 through Alice Miller, a renowned psychologist from Switzerland, one of the first to explore how child abuse affects a persons body and mind. I was preparing to make a documentary on Alice Miller for a Japanese public TV channel and was looking for some activities that use her methodology looking into childhood abuse and breaking the cycle of abuse, Sakagami wrote in an email to the Arizona Daily Star. We filmed a weeklong retreat at the Circle Tree Ranch in Tucson which Naya organized and led. It was a mind-blowing and life-change experience for me. Sakagami went on to release two films about Arbiter and Mullens prison work. The first is called Lifers: Reaching for Life Beyond the Walls, which she produced in 2004. The second, from 2019, was Prison Circle, about the creation of a 60-bed therapeutic community for Japanese prisoners. Jess Losoyas introduction to Arbiter was when he first watched Lifers in a California prison cell in 2009. Hed been addicted to crystal methamphetamine, committed related crimes and, he said, didnt have a lot going for me in my life. Losoya said three years later, when he was paroled, he asked to go to an Amity facility in Los Angeles. In time, he met Arbiter and began assisting with the work there. He was hired in 2013 and moved to Tucson and Amitys Circle Tree Ranch on East Tanque Verde Road, where hes now vice president of services and training. Arbiter and Mullen became like family, he said. She really connected, she really cared, he said. She wanted to know your story. Dozens of people reached out to the Arizona Daily Star to share stories of how Arbiter helped them. Tucsonan Mark Schuettinger, 66, first met Arbiter when he was 25. Hed been using heroin for 11 years when he arrived at Amity. Thanks to her hard work and help, I ended my life of self-destruction and degradation, he said. I have spent the last 40 years working with her and her husband, Rod Mullen. She became my dearest friend. Arbiter served on numerous national and international committees and advisory boards and, in 2013, was the second American and first woman to receive the prestigious Acknowledgement Award of the European Federation of Therapeutic Communities, given to those recognized for the greatest contribution to the development of this approach. Arbiter is survived by her husband of 45 years, Rod Mullen, son, Angelo Mullen, stepdaughters Cristina Mullen and Moneka Krouse and their children. Contact reporter Patty Machelor at 806-7754 or pmachelor@tucson.com Contact reporter Patty Machelor at 806-7754 or pmachelor@tucson.com Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Obituaries Newsletter Sign up to get the most recent local obituaries delivered to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A monthly workshop that pairs Southern Arizona writers with people in prisons across the country is building a community through the old-fashioned art of letter-writing. The program was started four years ago by former journalist Joe Watson, who experienced firsthand the benefits writing can bring to incarcerated people. Free Time: Building Community for Incarcerated Writers is run out of the University of Arizona Poetry Center, with volunteers meeting in person or via Zoom one Saturday a month. Volunteers offer guidance, mentorship and collaboration through regular correspondence with incarcerated people. Watson provides advice to volunteers on how to best encourage and offer constructive and compassionate criticism to their mentees. Studies over the years have shown that prison arts programs encourage and facilitate creativity, communication and reflection, while also teaching inmates how to work with a focused discipline, according to a 2014 evaluation published in the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice's Justice Policy Journal. Prison arts programs have also been shown to act as a gateway to further learning by building confidence and self-esteem, especially in people who have been alienated from the formal education system, the article said. One reason might be the arts programs' nontraditional content and teaching methods, it added. Feeling free behind bars The program's name is personal for Watson. While serving his own prison sentence years ago, the time he spent writing from his bunk was the only time he felt free, he said. After his release, Watson went to work as communications coordinator for American Friends Service Committee Arizona (now called Just Communities Arizona), a group working toward ending the current punishment system and its emphasis on criminalization, surveillance and mass incarceration. In January 2021, he became communications director for Pima County Attorney Laura Conover but left the position last month to pursue other opportunities, including writing a book. On the last Saturday in January, a half-dozen community members gathered in a sun-bathed conference room on the second floor of the University of Arizona Poetry Center, with another 18 people joining via Zoom. Watson said later that he was pleased with the turnout in that second consecutive month of the program's hybrid-attendance model. He kicked off the meeting by inviting newcomers to introduce themselves. Attendees ranged in ages and genders, and included a retiree who previously taught classes at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, a law school student, a woman who also volunteers with Literacy Connects, and others. Watson explained the process, telling attendees they would be matched with incarcerated people from prisons in Arizona, California, New York, Texas, Florida and other sites, through a list of more than 2,500 people maintained by a national nonprofit called PEN America. PEN America works to protect free expression by uniting writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression. In October, Free Time participants organized and facilitated the UA Poetry Center's 2021 Poetry & Prose Writing Challenge for Incarcerated Writers for the second year in a row, which included a public reading of finalists' works and cash awards, thanks to PEN America and the Art for Justice Fund. The contest culminated in a November reading of selected works by judges Piper Kerman, bestselling author of "Orange Is the New Black," and others. Now, Watson told volunteers, it was time to get back to the basics of what the workshop is about. "Helping your friend inside get the most from you," he said. Watson told volunteers that building trust in the relationship is key, due to the inherent differences they and their mentees will likely have, and to focus on who they are as people. "Ask who they are. Are they a parent? Someone's brother, sister, son? What do they do for a living, what are their hopes and dreams?" Watson suggested. The program is based on letter-writing because while tablets are free for many inmates to use, communication on those tablets is not, with people being charged every time they send or receive an email. "And writing letters is an incredibly rewarding thing when you're incarcerated. Being able to share how your day is or what your experience has been," Watson said. "Lots of you will be writing to people who it says on paper will never get out of prison." Watson said 90-95% of people in prisons will get out at some point, but that many inmates taking part in the writing program are doing so because they know they have some time to do. "If someone has a two- to three-year sentence, they maybe are not as interested in getting into the writing process and putting in the emotional labor gaining self-awareness and growth," he said. Arts programs help lift morale Studies have shown prison arts programs to be effective in not just improving inmate morale and self-esteem, but also improving their disciplinary records. The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice's 2014 evaluation surveyed 49 former participants in California's longstanding Arts-In-Corrections program, which ended its 30-year run in 2010 because of state budgetary issues. Nearly 13% of people enrolled in the program for a year or less reported fewer disciplinary issues, and the longer people remained in the program, the more their behavior changed. For people enrolled in the program for two to four years, 36% said they had fewer disciplinary records and after five years in the program, that number increased to 61%. The overwhelming majority of former Arts-In-Corrrections participants also reported improved relationships with other inmates, staffers and family members, and said they liked themselves more after spending time in the program, the study showed. To give volunteers an idea of what's going on in the lives of their mentees inside prison or what they'll face when they get out, Watson reviews developments in criminal-justice reform and prison-related news topics during each meeting. Every meeting also includes a writing prompt. January's focused on how incarceration often reduces people to their inmate number, but that number can be a point of pride for some. If a person has an inmate number that starts with a lower digit, they've likely been in for many years, Watson said. Inmate identification numbers aren't the only significant numbers in an incarcerated person's life. For some people, the day they were admitted to prison for the first time might be significant, or it may be the day they're slated for release. "But it can also bring up all the times they survived something," Watson said. "Fights, disrespect, getting a GED or college education. Reconciling with family members or losing contact with people they love while incarcerated." He encouraged attendees to think about what their number would be if they were able to choose a number to represent their lives, and consider if that number demonstrates something he or she overcame. One participant said he would refuse, calling it dehumanizing. Longtime participant Betty King said her number would be 17, as she grew up in the superstitious South and her lucky number was 17. Another volunteer said her number would be the pandemic year that changed her life, with another saying she immediately thought of her age, saying she never thought she'd live that long. Watson urged volunteers to use the number as a conversation piece in their letters to mentees, as new mentees often feel intimidated writing their first letter. "I think we share more experiences, all of us as human beings, whether we're incarcerated or not than all of us care to admit," Watson said. "Don't be afraid to share your number." Finding things in common While studies have shown prison arts programs to be beneficial to incarcerated individuals, they also have positive impacts on the people who work with them. King got involved with the program a year and a half ago, coming from a background in public health. When the program went online during the pandemic, King decided to give it a shot, saying one of her values is service, "even if it's in small ways." While she was a little intimidated at first, knowing that there were more experienced writers in the group, King said her lack of professional writing experience has never been an issue. "I shy away from the word mentor. I really do try to think of them as my writing friends as opposed to incarcerated," King said. "When I write to someone who is a writer in prison, that is the terms on which we communicate." King said she's been pleasantly surprised by the personal connections she's formed. "I'm realizing that people who are in prison, as Joe likes to say, they're not that different from me," King said. "We find things in common beyond a love or poetry and writing. It's fun and meaningful." "One person I was writing with, he had a son who got in trouble and was going to go to jail, and we talked about being parents and having kids and the struggle to raise our kids," she said. "It meant a lot to him because he was a parent and he was struggling with that." King has also been surprised by how interested she is in the criminal-justice issues discussed during the workshop and how much she's wanted to get involved. In January, she planned a voting education session for the League of Women Voters in Tucson, about how to improve the state's criminal-justice system. She also joined the local branch of the NAACP, which actively works on bail reform. She's also stepped up to help the program run more efficiently, overseeing the list of writers and keeping it updated, while matching new volunteers with their mentees. She has hopes the word will get out and more volunteers will sign up. "I've found something I'm really interested in and passionate about," King said. "I'm committed." Caitlin Schmidt is the Star's solutions reporter, focusing on potential approaches or solutions to social issues and problems. Contact her at 520-573-4191 or cschmidt@tucson.com. On Twitter: @caitlincschmidt To get involved with Free Time Free Time meets one Saturday a month from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Upcoming meetings will take place March 26, April 30, May 21 and June 25 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. All prospective mentors must email Joe Watson at heyjoewatson@arizona.edu before their first workshop to receive instructions on how to join and to learn more about class format. For more information, visit poetry.arizona.edu/calendar/free-time-building-community-incarcerated-writers Poetry contest for incarcerated writers The full list of winners of the UA Poetry Center's 2021 Poetry & Prose Writing Challenge for Incarcerated Writers will be published later this month on the center's website. Here is an entry that received an honorable mention. To read more of the honorable mentions, visit poetry.arizona.edu/blog/resilience-today-tomorrow-poetry-honorable-mentions and poetry.arizona.edu/blog/resilience-today-tomorrow-fiction-honorable-mentions "I'VE BEEN" By Patrick Pantusco Ive been thrown against a wall Ive been locked-up in a cage Ive been pushed passed my limits And I was full of blinding rage. Ive been labeled narcissistic Ive been called a sociopath Ive been locked away for years And I became a slave to my wrath. Ive been beaten to a pulp Ive been told Id never win Ive been kicked in the balls And Ive committed every sin. Ive been tortured in the mind Ive been left alone to die Ive been treated like a beast But theyll never see me cry. Ive been looking for a chance Ive been searching all around Ive been accepted into STEP And now Im college bound. Ive been cracking all the books Ive been reading every line Ive been a sponge for information And now I use my mind. Ive been the one who used the drugs Ive been the one who committed crime Ive been the one who did his time Now the second chance is mine! Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Used-car buyers who have waited years for the law to catch up with a Tucson dealer suspected of cheating them may never get their day in court. State investigators filed 32 criminal counts against former car lot owner Patrick S. Egan and were searching for him to execute an arrest warrant but recently learned he died in Utah early last year, an agency spokesman told the Arizona Daily Star. Detectives with the Arizona Department of Transportations Office of Inspector General, which investigates dealer fraud complaints, confirmed Egan, 54, died in a Salt Lake City hospital in January 2021, said Ryan Harding, the agencys public information officer. The cause of death was not available. The states investigation of Pat Egan Automotive Group began in late 2019 after the dealership at South Swan Road and East 22nd Street suddenly closed, leaving dozens of customers in legal limbo. More than two years later, some still are making loan payments on vehicles they dont own because Egan failed to transfer the titles to them after purchase. Oliver Plimpton of Tucson, a retired electrical equipment salesman, said hes been has been making $200-a-month payments since August 2019 on a 2008 Honda CR-V he bought for $7,000. The title is still in the name of the previous owner who sold it to Egan, he said. At this point, Plimpton said he wonders if hell live long enough to see the matter sorted out. Im 87 years old. I may never get the title on this car. Melissa Davis, 42, who bought a 2011 Kia Soul for nearly $7,000 in August 2019, said Egan told her shed receive the vehicles title within 90 days. I still have absolutely no idea when or if I will ever own my car, said Davis, a graphic designer in the Arizona Daily Stars advertising department. Harding said Egan was indicted by a grand jury last year on 32 counts of theft, fraudulent schemes and forgery in a case that involved about $500,000 in total losses. Had the charges been prosecuted, he said, the court would have sorted out what to do about the car buyers who still dont have titles. Its unclear what will happen to those customers now that Egan is deceased, he said. He said the state agency was able to fix things administratively for some buyers. But for those who are still waiting for a title, their situations are such that (the agency) cannot resolve them on their own, Harding said. The Pima County Superior Court, where the case was filed, will have to determine any next steps, he said. Further details of the criminal case were not immediately available. Court records related to the charges are not yet public because the warrant wasnt executed. Contact reporter Carol Ann Alaimo at 573-4138 or calaimo@tucson.com . On Twitter: @AZStarConsumer Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Tidewater Solidarity Bail Fund is available to anyone jailed in Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach, but organizers prioritize bail for people of color, trans individuals and those who require medical treatment not available in jail. The program caps the available funds at $5,000 per bail out. (Dreamstime/TNS) On any given day, an estimated 13,000 people who have not been convicted or sentenced are locked up in jails across Virginia. Some of those defendants are detained pretrial solely because they cannot afford bail. In Hampton Roads, a local bail fund program is working to change that. Advertisement The 757 bail fund program, which operates under the name of Tidewater Solidarity Bail Fund, covers the cost of bail for individuals arrested for low-level crimes who do not otherwise have the means to pay. The fund recently hit a milestone paying bail for the 100th time for a defendant who could not afford it and would have awaited trial in jail. The program was launched in 2020 by Shane Sugden, a senior at Virginia Beach Public Schools Legal Studies Academy, and the nonprofit Humanities Behind Bars. Advertisement What we are trying to solve with this bail fund, is the fact that if me and another person commit the same crime, and the bail is $500 or $1,000, I can be bailed out while someone less fortunate has to sit in jail for six months waiting for their trial under the presumption of innocence, said Sugden, who was inspired by the national social justice movement in 2020. The group has amassed $238,000 in revolving funds dedicated to bailing out individuals arrested for low-level crimes. Once a defendant returns to court and the bail returned, the money is put back into the fund to be used for the next person. The bail fund has a waiting list of about 10 people at any given time due to the time it takes to return bail money, said Casey Guditus, a spokesperson for Humanities Behind Bars and founding team member. The Tidewater Solidarity Bail Fund is available to anyone jailed in Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach, but organizers prioritize bail for people of color, trans individuals and those who require medical treatment not available in jail. The program caps the available funds at $5,000 per bail out. Of the 100 payments the organization has made, the average amount spent per case was roughly $1,000. In two of those cases, the bond was forfeited after defendants failed to appear in court, according to Humanities Behind Bars. The defendants typically bonded out by the fund have a low risk of flight and little or no criminal history, Sugden said. That is why their bail is low. The only reason they are in jail compared to someone who has been bailed out, is because they do not have the money, Sugden said. The Tidewater Solidarity Bail Fund is among a growing number of community-led bail funds that aim to reform pretrial detention practices. The National Bail Fund Network counts more than 90 community-led bail and bond funds across the country including three in Virginia. Advertisement A representative from the Virginia Bail Association could not be reached for comment. Pretrial detention and monetary bail was established to ensure defendants would return to court for necessary hearings. But criminal justice experts with the Vera Institute of Justice said the practice of holding defendants in jail before trial can lead to worse outcomes compared with similarly situated defendants who are able to secure pretrial release. Studies on pretrial detention have found that even a small number of days in custody awaiting trial can have many negative effects, increasing the likelihood that people will be found guilty, harming their housing stability and employment status and, ultimately, increasing the chances that they will be convicted on new charges in the future, wrote Leon Digard and Elizabeth Swavola in a 2019 Vera report on pretrial detention. While the Tidewater Solidarity Bail Fund is currently focused on sustaining donations, the groups ultimate goal is to abolish pre-trial incarceration and the need for cash bail entirely, Guditus said. Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news > This is a temporary solution to what we see as a much larger problem, Guditus said. We have seen the impacts of pretrial incarceration losing your job, vehicle, houses, even access to their children. When the Virginia State Crime Commission analyzed pretrial detention outcomes in the state, it found that of 11,487 defendants who were charged with a jailable offense and had a bail determination made, 17% or 1,984 were detained the entire pretrial period. Advertisement The VSCCs Virginia Pre-trial Data Project, published in 2021, found the average secured bond amount paid by those who were released was $4,389 for felony arrests and $2,549 for misdemeanor arrests. The report noted that lack of funding is not the only reason defendants may remain detained some are unable to bond out because they dont have any family or friends who are willing or able to post bond. Because incarcerated individuals cannot pay bail from jail, defendants who reach out to Tidewater Solidarity Bail Fund are typically new to the area or senior citizens with no living family or friends nearby, Sugden said. Sugden emphasized the losses one experiences as a result of pretrial incarceration happen under the presumption of innocence. The majority of jail populations have not been convicted of a crime, have not even had a trial, and are sitting in jail because they do not have the money to be bailed out, Sugden said. There is also the misconception that if you are in jail, then you are guilty. But you are not guilty or innocent until trial. Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com Retailers said the skinless chicken was being sold at Rs 290 a kg while the live birds were sold at Rs155 per kg. (AFP file photo) VISAKHAPATNAM: Broiler chicken prices shot up and reached an all-time high in Andhra Pradesh while the price of egg remained normal. This is despite the abundant availability of sea and freshwater fish. Retailers said the skinless chicken was being sold at Rs 290 a kg while the live birds were sold at Rs155 per kg. The country chicken prices are stable and sold at Rs 600 a kg. The prices began moving up since midweek of February due to the hike in prices of ingredients in chicken feed, farmers said. The state produces around five crore birds per month and the average demand for chicken meat is around 10 lakh kgs per day in Andhra Pradesh. The popular retailer in MVP Colony K. Subba Rao said one lakh birds were sold on Sundays while 20,000 were sold on weekdays in Visakhapatnam city. North Andhra Poultry Farmers Association president Thataraju Appa Rao said rice bran oil, mixed in the chicken feed, was being quoted at Rs 145 per litre which was just Rs 100 last month. Similarly, the cost of maize rose to Rs 2,500 per quintal which was Rs 1,800 last month. This is the harvest season for maize and yet the prices are being quoted high, Appa Rao said. He said each chicklet was being sold at Rs 45 which was just Rs 35 two months ago. The farmers had pruned their production due to high input costs and as a result the meat cost went up, he said. Chicken at Rs 290 and mutton at Rs 900 per kg will soon become out of reach for the middle class, Akula Seshagiri Rao, who consumes chicken five days a week. PHOENIX The states top election official is urging the state Supreme Court to reject a bid by the Arizona Republican Party to kill all early voting. Court filings Friday on behalf of Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said the GOPs lawsuit attacking the legality of the long-held practice is cherry-picked words and phrases from various parts of the Constitution. Hobbs attorney. Roopali Desai, said the Republican lawsuit, filed late last month, ignores the clear intent of the Constitutions framers to leave the details of how people vote up to the Legislature. Desai told the justices there is something sinister in the bid by the party and one of its members to end a century of absentee voting and more than three decades of no-excuse early voting. Their claims are part of a broader ongoing effort to sow doubt about our electoral process to justify infringing voting rights, she said. Even as the case is pending, Republican lawmakers are moving to impose new restrictions on early voting. Even though petitioners claims are legally baseless, they threaten our democracy, Desai said. And, if nothing else, she said theres another reason for the court to send the GOP packing on the challenge to early voting and also on various other claims the Election Procedures Manual, or EPM, isnt being followed. Petitioners waited until the 2022 election cycle was underway and less than five months before the Aug. 2, 2022, primary election to challenge the secretarys EPM and Arizonas entire early voting system, Desai said. Petitioners waited until the eleventh hour and now ask the court for speedy and final resolution before the upcoming Arizona general election, she said. The court should not overlook that petitioners claimed emergency is entirely of their own making. In a separate filing, Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich also urged the justices to refuse to take the case, but for purely legal matters. He contends the Supreme Court cannot hear cases against the state that go directly to the justices. But Brnovich took no position on the claim by his party that early voting is illegal. The heart of the case is the claim that the only form of voting specifically authorized in the Arizona Constitution is in person and on Election Day. The GOP lawsuit says that means anything else including the current system of no-excuse early ballots created by the Legislature in 1991 is illegal. To buttress that argument, GOP attorney Alexander Kolodin cited provisions in the constitution dealing with ballot measures. They say theyre put on the ballot in such a manner that the electors may express at the polls their approval or disapproval. The ordinary meaning of polls is one of the places where the votes are cast at an election, Kolodin contends. Desai, however, called that a tortured interpretation of the Arizona Constitution. She said there is only one section of the Constitution that deals with the method of voting. And it says all elections by the people shall be by ballot, or by such other method as may be prescribed by law, provided that secrecy in voting shall be preserved. This language is clear, Desai wrote. It ensures the right to a secret ballot but leaves the precise methods of voting to the legislature. And the Legislature, she said, has decided it is within its powers. She noted that lawmakers adopted mail-in voting statutes just years after the Constitution was adopted. In subsequent years, legislators agreed to permit early voting by those who were ill or would be out of their precinct on Election Day. And in 1991 the Legislature approved the current system that allows anyone to request an early ballot without having to provide an excuse. The GOP lawsuit also contends that early voting, by its nature, is not secret because it permits bad actors to pay for votes or coerce voters and then stand over them as they complete their ballots. Desai said that interpretation is not borne out, citing rulings on similar secrecy requirements in other states. For example, the California Supreme Court concluded the secrecy provision in that states constitution, similar to the one in Arizona, was never intended to preclude reasonable measures to facilitate and increase exercise of the right to vote such as absentee and mail ballot voting. Desai said the Arizona laws on early voting have detailed procedures to ensure secrecy, including return envelopes that do not reveal a voters selection or party affiliation, as well as providing tamper evidence when properly sealed. She called the claim of voter coercion and vote-buying rank speculation. Finally, Desai noted, the right to secrecy belongs to the voter, and can be waived if the voter chooses to share the choices with others. Just as any Arizona voter may choose to vote in-person or by mail, any Arizona voter whether they vote in-person or by mail always has the choice to waive the secrecy of their vote, she wrote. Desai also disputed claims that Arizona law requires Hobbs, through the Election Procedures Manual, to adopt specific procedures for verifying signatures on mail-in ballots. No statute directs the secretary to adopt a specific procedure for signature verification, she wrote. And Desai rejected the claim that Hobbs exceeded her authority by adopting security procedures for ballot drop boxes. Arizona law allows counties to designate where votes can deliver their voted early ballots, and many counties have been using ballot drop boxes for years, she wrote. The secretary not doubt had the power to adopt drop-box procedures on the collection and storage of early ballots. Both Hobbs and Brnovich are running in the election, Hobbs as a Democrat for governor and Brnovich as a Republican for U.S. Senate. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer: Voting is the foundation of our democracy, and encouraging people to vote should be a bipartisan effort. Todays Arizona Republican lawmakers, however, are busy making it harder for us to cast our ballots. A Republican assault on voting is a national phenomenon, but Arizonas Legislature is going gangbusters, filing dozens of measures in the 2022 session dealing with voting, elections, initiatives, and referenda. Many are quickly moving through the process and could become law this year. All of these bills are moving through with votes straight down party line. Here is a sampling of legislative Republicans 2022 handiwork: HB 2492 introduced by Rep. Jake Hoffman from Queen Creek, would create new requirements for voter registration. We would have to show proof of our place of residence, our place of birth, and show our proof of U.S. citizenship. If this becomes law, when a voter registration form reaches a county recorder, the recorder would have 10 days to verify an applicants data. If a registration error is missed, the recorder would be subject to a felony charge. The full House of Representatives approved HB 2492, and it goes to the Senate. Another Hoffman bill, HB 2241, would require a family member, household member, or caregiver to show identification and attest in writing that they fulfill one of these roles in order to drop off a signed and sealed early ballot. Right now, this person simply signs the envelope of the ballot documenting they assisted the voter. The House Government and Elections Committee has already approved this. Pima County is set to open voting centers this year. We will have 130 locations in Pima County, so everyone will have a convenient location near your home, your job, your parents home, or where you run your errands. You wont have to vote in the polling place near your home, but can vote at any voting center convenient for you. These voting centers will increase access and encourage voting. Unsurprisingly, several bills are attacking voting sites and centers. SB 1404 would repeal early voting and early voting sites and set limiting criteria for voters to cast an early ballot; SB 1474 would eliminate early-voting sites. SB 1338 and HB 2602 would prohibit voting centers on Election Day! The irony is that Yavapai County, a Republican stronghold, pioneered voting centers in Arizona in 2012. The majority of Arizonans, in 11 out of our 15 counties, already vote in these centers. Republicans are attacking more than just voting. At least three measures aim to make it harder for citizens to put initiatives (laws or constitutional amendments) or referenda (public votes on legislative measures) onto election ballots. SB 1094 would require petition-signature gatherers to read the entire description of a proposal to each potential signer. Signers then must affirm that they heard and understood the description. HCR 2014 and CR 1025 mandate initiatives and referenda measures get the requisite percentage of signatures in each of the states 30 legislative districts instead of from the entire state. HCR 2015, calls for 60% of voters to approve initiatives and referenda, instead of 50%. The full House approved HCR 2015 and the others won approval from their respective committees. The Republican Arizona legislative majority is determined to make our participation in our democracy more and more difficult. These are dangerous moves and should raise a red flag for us all. Our voice is our vote and we should fight to protect it. The public deserves a voice, and I hope it is heard loud and clear this November. Adelita Grijalva is a Pima County supervisor representing District 5. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. The following is the opinion and analysis of the writers: We write to call on elected officials to go beyond economic sanctions to halt the devastation increasing in Ukraine. We stand in support of Ukraine. We, as most of the world over the past week, have mounted a clarion voice in support of the people of Ukraine, denouncing an increasingly violent, brutal and caustic war. But now we must do more. Voice is not enough, we must act. We must act in support of Ukraine with dynamic, substantive and forceful actions beyond economic and humanitarian. Of course constraints on Russia must continue, but we are entering a dangerous new phase. After one week, the shock and awe of the blitzkrieg campaign has awakened us all to realize that Vladimir Putin is in this for the long haul. We must, in parallel with support, attempt to understand, to whatever degree possible, the mentality of Putin in driving this offensive. Is it land? Is it people? Is it property? Or is it something else? It is clear from the indiscriminate bombing, shelling and destruction of property that an attempt to take back Ukraine as an element of a larger Russian empire is at best a subterfuge for this offensive, unwarranted, counter to the will of the sovereign people, and in violation of international law. Is it the people? It is similarly clear that indiscriminate bombing of civilians, most pointedly with the recent attack on the childrens hospital in Mariupol and the mounting fatalities of innocent citizens of all ages erases any concept that this is about reuniting a people. The exodus of over 2.3 million Ukranians and the mounting death toll emphasize this futility. Then what is this is about? This is about Vladimir Putin, with visions of glory, of domination and superiority of Russia as a world power. And while we may never completely understand the driving forces of this war, it is clear that without driving back Russian forces, rapidly halting the destruction and squelching this mounting inferno, that devastation and decimation of Ukraine will be the consequence. We therefore call upon Arizonans, those in the public and private sector, as well as our government officials to mount all efforts via whatever means at their disposal, to boost support for Ukraine on all levels that they may conceive. We urge the mounting of a campaign of information, to counter disinformation to spread via all means possible the truth, particularly to Russian citizens to drive increasing resistance and revolt from within. We call on our elected officials to urgently advance immigration statutes facilitating acceptance of those fleeing from the war zone to enter the U.S. and to offer protection for Ukrainians temporarily in the U.S. But most importantly we call on our representatives to advance support at the governmental level for intervention covert, overt, jets or otherwise, to stop this brutal campaign and combat the combatants. In our modern connected world, we can view the war up close, with means and media previously unimaginable in the days of prior European campaigns as in World War II with the atrocities of the Nazis hidden from the world until the end, when it was too late. We, now sadly and shockingly, are witnessing the same activity on media feeds on our smartphones in real time. There is incredible irony here, by virtue of having the war up close and in person with modern technology we should not stand by with this added capability of watching war from our armchair without mounting a similar, strong, advanced technological effort aimed at absolutely halting an evolving Holocaust unfolding in front of our eyes. Dr. Marvin J. Slepian is a University of Arizona regents professor. Other UA regents and distinguished professors signing this guest opinion are: Victor R. Baker, Ph.D.; Carol Bender, M.S.S.W.; Karletta Chief, Ph.D.; Albrecht Classen, Ph.D.; Andrew S. Cohen, Ph.D.; Victor J. Hruby, Ph.D.; Mark Nichter, Ph.D.; Joellen L. Russell, Ph.D.; Farhang Shadman, Ph.D.; Peter Strittmatter, Ph.D.; Nicholas Strausfeld, Ph.D.; Mary C. Stiner, Ph.D.; and Lucy M. Ziurys, Ph.D. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. By the time the last shell had fallen, most of the neighborhood buildings had been turned into rubble. But not all of them. Somehow, despite all the destruction raining down, the church that Yana Sherdis father built was still standing. And the sight of its steeple cross silhouetted against the morning sky provided some much-needed encouragement. When I saw the photos from Mariupol of the church, I was so happy for the people there, said Sherdis, one of many former Ukrainian refugees whove settled in Tulsa over the last decade. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine began Feb. 24, most images pouring out of the conflict have been heart-rending. A few, though, like the one of the church, have inspired hope. Built in 1990 by Sherdis late father, the churchs former pastor, the structure withstood the heavy Russian bombardment of its section of the eastern port city of Mariupol. Images surfacing on social media showed it standing almost alone on its rubble-strewn block. Members also sent out video of a service held in the church basement. They wanted the outside world to know that they are standing firm. For Sherdis, who has felt so powerless following the war from a distance, it was encouraging to see. Still, the overall picture of whats going on the bloodshed and mounting casualties is devastating, she said. Sherdis, who was born in Russia, moved to Mariupol as a child. Its been hard to watch the horrors unfold from afar. Not in my worst nightmare could I have imagined this happening, she said. Refugee is not a bad word Sherdis, who teaches at Jenks West Elementary School, attained a long sought-after goal last week. Completing a journey that began after she arrived in 2016, she officially took the oath to become a U.S. citizen. But the naturalization ceremony, held Wednesday in Tulsa, was not as joyful for her as it should have been. Overshadowing everything was the news out of Mariupol, where the Russian siege continued to exact a staggering toll. Sherdis still has many family and friends in the city. On top of the Russian shelling, they are experiencing loss of electricity, heat, water and other basic necessities. Sherdis said she and her husband, Nikolay, have not heard a word from his parents in Mariupol in two weeks. Their neighbor did tell us last week they were OK, she said. He had to climb a tree to get cell reception. But he was able to call. Sherdis mother and brother are in the capital, Kyiv. Communication is better there, and she talks to her mother every day. But with Russian forces closing in on that city, she worries for their safety. One thing thats helped Sherdis emotionally during the crisis is the presence of fellow Ukrainians in Tulsa. I never knew there were so many before this, she said. Along with her husband and their two boys, Ted and Peter, Sherdis attends South Tulsa Baptist Church, which has made serving refugees and immigrants one of its main missions. In addition to a few Ukrainians who are members, others come there to attend English language classes. How many more Ukrainians might eventually come to Tulsa is hard to predict. So far, its estimated that over 2 million people have left Ukraine since Russia invaded, seeking refuge in neighboring countries. But however it works out, Sherdis and her fellow church members will be ready to step up. Refugee is not a bad word here, said the Rev. Eric Costanzo, South Tulsa Baptist Church pastor. People here just immediately hear that now and say, Whats our next step? They know its a frontline ministry for us. The church has played a big part in Tulsas ongoing Afghan refugee resettlement, organizing airport welcomes and helping prepare houses for three families. The idea that another huge refugee crisis might follow on the heels of the Afghans never crossed anyones mind, Costanzo said. Right now, its just chatter. Nothing from official channels. But with so many refugees pushed out, its hard to imagine a significant population not coming into the U.S. Were all waiting to see, he said. And with many Ukrainians already in Tulsa, Costanzo added, it would make even more sense for others to move here after arriving in the U.S. The plight of Ukraines children is also a special concern for Sherdis. Before his death, her father started a ministry called Open Doors that supports the nations orphans and helps facilitate adoptions. Sherdis previously served as director of the organization, which is supported by her church. There are already so many orphans in Ukraine for economical reasons and because of previous (conflicts), she said. But now, with this, the numbers are huge, and theyre growing. God had a plan Though she and her family were classified as refugees, Sherdis doesnt like to compare their situation to the present groups. It was so much different for us, she said of when they left Ukraine six years ago. At the time, her family was fleeing the possibility of religious persecution, not actual death and destruction, she said. And also, she added, they just wanted better opportunities for their children. Whats created the current refugee situation is so much worse, she said. One of the saddest aspects of the war, Sherdis added, is that it pits brother against brother. We look the same. We speak the same language. We have the same faith. But Ukraine has no choice but to defend itself, she said. It is a war for freedom. People are fighting for their land, for their freedom. Since leaving Ukraine, Sherdis has been back only once. It was last summer, and the trip offered her a chance to visit family members she hadnt seen in years. She also took the opportunity to show her children her fathers church in Mariupol. It was such a challenge for him to get it built, she said. Also, some complained that the basement was too big. But my father knew God had a plan. She saw that plan come to fruition in the cellphone video that recently emerged. It showed a worship service being held in the church basement, a safer location during the siege. Sherdis said she cant help but feel some survivors guilt that shes safe in the U.S. and not facing what her friends and family are in Ukraine. But she has to trust that, again, God has a plan, she said. And whatever it is, shes sure that being in Tulsa and her new status as an American citizen are part of it. I feel if God brings me here, if Im a citizen now, then its because he wants it, Sherdis said. He knew why he brought me here. Maybe he will use me here. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Epic Charter Schools Board of Education made a significant change that state leaders ought to follow consolidate oversight of virtual and brick-and-mortar schools under one board. Yet lawmakers have resisted creating a single vision for public education, pushing for the dismantling of local control and duplicating state supervision. The founders of Epic separated its virtual and in-person centers. That led to a complicated system that allowed financial mismanagement as determined by the state auditor. A district attorney is reviewing a years-long investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and the IRS has launched an audit. Co-founders Ben Harris and David Chaney lost control of the school, leading to changes in administration. Epics merger comes after difficulty in complying with a consent agreement to separate all administrative functions and governance of its two schools, as reported by Andrea Eger. The consolidation will save at least $4 million and streamline oversight under one board and sponsor. Having dual oversight tracks failed at the district level, and its not working at the state level, either. When the Legislature agreed to fund online charter schools, it established the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board in 2012 to oversee them. Other public schools report to the State Board of Education. This was a time when virtual education was in its infancy, and lawmakers were uncertain of its operation. That structure is disjointed, confusing, and no longer efficient or necessary. Oklahomans recognize that the mission and goals of virtual and in-person learning are the same. But having different oversight boards has led to inconsistency, territorial power struggles, political posturing and a lack of coordinated goals for elementary and secondary schools. Public charter schools, including online districts, belong under the Oklahoma State School Board and Department of Education. If all are public and governed by the same rules, there is no reason to have different state boards. Lawmakers continue to fight this commonsense idea. This session, Senate Bill 1621, from Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Oklahoma City, seeks to establish a public charter school system completely separate from traditional public schools. It would eliminate the state virtual board and all local sponsoring boards. It would create a separate Statewide Charter School Board to oversee all charter schools. It passed the Senate Education Committee 5-3 and Appropriations Committee 15-4. Oklahoma has 24 charter schools, and Tulsa Public Schools is a sponsor to seven of those. The arrangement works for local school-choice coordination and oversight. Were not convinced that moving all supervision to the state level particularly under a new, separate public school board would lead to better outcomes, either financially or academically. Public schools need a unified focus and mission no matter how education is delivered. Its something the state can learn from the saga at Epic Charter Schools. Subscribe to Daily Headlines Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The twelfth and thirteen trains of Ho Chi Minh Citys metro line No. 1 have arrived at a seaport in the Vietnamese southern metropolis after a journey from the Kasado Port in Japan. After reaching the Khanh Hoi Port at 10:00 am on Friday, the trains were moved to specialized vehicles for transport to Long Binh depot in Thu Duc City for trial operations. Thirty engineers and workers were mobilized to the port for handling the carriages, according to the Saigon Port Handling Services JSC. This photo shows one of the six metro cars being craned out of a ship at the Khanh Hoi Port in Ho Chi Minh City on March 11, 2022. Photo: Tu Trung / Tuoi Tre Similar to the Japanese-manufactured trains delivered before, these two trains, consisting of three cars each, have their covers made of aluminum alloy and painted mainly in blue. Each train is 61.5 meters long and can carry 930 passengers, including 147 seating and 783 standing guests. The citys first metro line is 19.7 kilometers long, including 2.6 kilometers of underground railways and 17.1 kilometers of elevated tracks. It runs from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc City through three underground stations and 11 stops above the ground. Some of the 30 engineers and workers are seen handling the two metro trains delivered to the Khanh Hoi Port in Ho Chi Minh City on March 11, 2022. Photo: Tu Trung / Tuoi Tre The line is designed to have 17 trains, with 51 cars in total, and can run at up to 110 kilometers per hour above ground and 80 kilometers per hour underground. The first train was delivered to the port on October 8, 2020. The four remaining trains are expected to arrive at the same port within this month, said Hoang Mai Tung, deputy director of the Project Management Unit No. 1 under the citys Management Authority for Urban Railway (MAUR), the project investor. Nearly 89 percent of the workload of the metro line project, which started in August 2012, has completed so far, MAUR said. The project was previously expected to be completed by the end of last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a lot of difficulties to the arrival of experts and the import of equipment, which has slowed down the overall progress. Tung said MAUR and the contractors will try their best to put the line into operation in late 2023, the Vietnam News Agency reported. The project costs more than VND43.7 trillion (US$1.92 billion), most of which comes from Japans official development assistance (ODA) aid. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! From food security to carbon goals, "two sessions" demonstrate China's steady steps toward modernization Xinhua) 09:43, March 12, 2022 * Through enormous efforts, China is capable of feeding one-fifth of the global population with 9 percent of the world's arable land and 6 percent of the freshwater resources. * China has pledged to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. * China's whole-process people's democracy, which covers elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight, ensures that it is the people who are running the country. * As the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges unseen in a century, China seeks stable progress amid all headwinds. BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- In 1995, a book titled "Who Will Feed China?" speculated, "In an integrated world economy, China's rising food prices will become the world's rising food prices. China's land scarcity will become everyone's land scarcity." A "powerful answer" has been delivered. "Today, China's 1.4 billion people are eating well with a great range of choices," Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said during the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Aerial photo taken on Oct. 1, 2021 shows a view of the paddy fields in Yongji County of Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Xu Chang) "Through enormous efforts, China is capable of feeding one-fifth of the global population with 9 percent of the world's arable land and 6 percent of the freshwater resources," said Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission. That China feeds itself well is but one anecdote of what has been dubbed the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, which is first and foremost about the people. FOR THE PEOPLE "Of all things, eating matters most, and food is the most basic necessity of the people," Xi said, stressing that despite China's industrialization, food supply should never be considered an insignificant issue. "How many days has it been since hunger is behind the Chinese people? Probably just the kids born after the 1980s," he added, evoking not-so-distant memories and wide agreements at the fifth sessions of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and the 13th CPPCC National Committee, also dubbed the "two sessions." Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, Xi has attended 10 annual "two sessions," where the "people" stood out as his most frequently used word. Yeshe Dawa, a national political advisor from southwest China's Sichuan Province, brought two photos to Xi depicting staggering changes of a village on a cliff at an elevation of 1,700 meters in his hometown. Xi carefully looked at the photographs -- one showing a ramshackle rattan and wooden ladder as the only access to Atulieer Village, and the other depicting a renovated steel ladder that is imposing and strong. Aerial photo taken in November 2019 shows a steel ladder built on the cliff in Atulieer Village, Zhaojue County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua) "Have the villagers moved down the hills to their new homes? How about children and the elderly?" Xi asked. "Some moved down and some stayed in the village, which is now a popular tourist destination. People's lives are getting better," Yeshe Dawa replied. Over the last 10 years, Xi has joined national lawmakers and political advisors in group discussions on 53 occasions at such annual sessions. The topics ranged from poverty reduction to equal access to education, epidemic control, rural revitalization, common prosperity and food security, among others. "When it comes to the wellbeing of the public, there is no such thing as a trivial matter," Xi said this year. "We must give extra attention and care to the people in difficulty, to help them resolve problems. We should further reform the social assistance system, and work for a comprehensive, effective, multi-tiered, and multi-category social assistance framework centered on basic living assistance, special assistance, and emergency assistance." PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACY Xi and other Chinese leaders joining NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members for extensive exchanges and discussions on important matters of national development and public interest is one of the features of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics. Among the issues raised by the NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members at the "two sessions" are "building a nationwide, unified health code," a digital technology registration tool that has become an everyday occurrence in the lives of people in China since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Proponents say the various codes in use across the country create inconveniences and confusion. Raising the threshold of personal income tax and slashing the medical insurance payment by rural people above 60 years old were among other important topics at the "two sessions." As always, one highlight of the annual sessions was the report on the work of the government. Thousands of opinions and suggestions were solicited via multiple channels from all walks of life. As of the end of 2020, China had 2.62 million deputies to people's congresses at all five levels. Of the total, 94.5 percent were from the county and township levels, all directly elected on a one-person-one-vote basis. Deputies to people's congresses at the city, provincial and national levels are elected by people's congresses at the next level below. China's whole-process people's democracy, which covers elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight, ensures that it is the people who are running the country. SEEKING STABLE PROGRESS The annual sessions also speak volumes about China's general principle of maintaining stability while pursuing progress of the economy. For example, China has pledged to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 shows wind turbines at Changma wind farm in Yumen City, northwest China's Gansu Province. (Xinhua/Fan Peishen) Southwest China's Tibet is working to develop itself into a national clean energy base. By 2020, clean energy had contributed 89.1 percent of the total installed capacity of power generation in the autonomous region. "We will take proactive and prudent steps to advance carbon emissions peaking and carbon neutrality initiatives," Xi said. "When carrying out carbon reductions, we must also ensure the security of energy, food, and industrial and supply chains, as well as the normal life and work of our people. We must not distance ourselves from realities and rush for quick results." As the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges unseen in a century, China seeks stable progress amid all headwinds. On the current situation in Ukraine, Premier Li Keqiang said at a press conference at the end of the NPC session on Friday that China is deeply concerned and grieved. "We sincerely hope that the situation will ease and peace will return at an early date." On the vital China-U.S. relations, Li said, "We hope that the two countries will properly manage differences in a rational and constructive manner and respect each other's core interests and major concerns. There should be more dialogues and communication. Now that the door has been opened, it shouldn't be shut again, nor should there be decoupling." "I can tell you very clearly that no matter how the international environment may change, China will keep to the course of wider openness. Just as the course of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers will not be reversed," Li added. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Bianji) On October 3, 2021, four farmers were mowed down by an SUV that was allegedly being driven by Ashish Mishra. (AP file image) New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on March 15 a plea by the relatives of the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri, challenging the grant of bail to main accused Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra Teni as lawyer Prashant Bhushan told the court that on Thursday evening one of the prime witnesses was attacked. On October 3, 2021, four farmers were mowed down by an SUV that was allegedly being driven by Ashish Mishra. Making a mentioning, Mr Bhushan on Friday told a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana that the matter was to be heard on Friday but is not in the list and urged the court to take it up on Monday (March 14). It was to be heard today. Last night there was an attack on one of the prime witnesses of the case, Mr Bhushan told the court. CJI Ramana then said that it will be listed on Tuesday (March 15), adding that the plea could not get listed on Friday due to a mistake by the office. It is an office mistake. This will be listed on Tuesday, CJI said. Following a mentioning by Mr Bhushan on March 4 for an urgent listing of the plea challenging grant of bail to Ashish Mishra by Allahabad high court, CJI Ramana had said that the matter will be listed on March 11. The trial court had in November 2021 rejected Mr Mishras plea for bail. However, he was granted bail by the high court on February 10, 2022. The family members of the deceased farmers who were mowed down by a car belonging to Ashish Mishra approached the top court on February 21, challenging the bail. In their plea the family members of the deceased farmers say that they have been forced to approach the top court, since the Uttar Pradesh government has not challenged the high court order granting bail to Ashish Mishra. After Mishra was arrested, the Uttar Pradesh Polices special investigation team (SIT) filed a 5,000-page chargesheet before a local court, naming Mishra as the prime accused in the case. Despite her own combat against cancer, Phan Thi Binh has done her bit over the past few decades through different initiatives to provide free-of-charge ambulance service to poor patients from across the country and essentials to those no longer able to earn a living during COVID-19 outbreaks among other good deeds. Over the past three years, the 66-year-old woman from Hanoi and her group have been on duty 24/7 to make sure their ambulance service is accessible to all those in need, no matter where they are from across the country. The life-saving service is just one of the senior womans extraordinary contributions to society. Her various initiatives have been a mainstay for dozens of years, providing food and necessities for thousands of people in need. Binhs decade-long fight against breast cancer shows how strong she is. As she has recently experienced metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from the place where they first formed to another part of the body, the elderly woman is now on chemotherapy. Her debilitating condition, however, cannot keep her from reaching out to those in distress, dedicating herself to a cause she really cares about and truly making a difference. To her beneficiaries, Binh is a gold-hearted angel who shows up at a time when they need kindness more than ever. Though Binh prefers to stay anonymous, they know just how extraordinary she is and keeps her hotline number in case someone they know may need it. Amazing woman changes the world Despite her worsening illness, Binh tries her best to make the world a little sweeter place to live in and not allow any life to be lost when she knows she can do something about it. Among her beneficiaries is 50-year-old Tran Quang Dinh. Two years after he was carried back home in the northern province of Nam Dinh from Hanoi-based National Institute of Burns on Binhs ambulance, Dinh is grateful to the Hanoi woman for her much-needed help. Dinh told the story of an accidental fall 24 years ago that left him paralyzed and bed bound since. His life turned to tragedy and he has since been unable to make a single movement and his body is full of bedsores. With his family already struggling to pay hospital bills, Dinh said he would not have known how they would survive the ordeal without Binhs free ambulance rides. Binh recalled how the idea of offering the gratis service first crossed her mind. It would be great if I can give them free rides back home, she shared. With a plan in mind, she flew to the southern province of An Giang in the Mekong Delta, home to many charity models to learn how to properly adopt one. The senior woman saw herself flying back and forth between the north and south in the two following years to garner more experience and set up connections. In late 2018, with her daughters support, Binh sold her plot of land in Cam Ranh City, located in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, for an ambulance. With a dozen volunteers including Ba Be, Vu and Khan stepping up to lend a hand and working around the clock, Binhs ambulances have rushed hundreds of poor patients from across the country to hospital for emergency care or transported them back home, dead or alive. We offer patients, mostly those in critical condition or on tight budget, the rides back home absolutely for free, wherever they are from, Binh said. As words spread, first on social media and later through hospitals social work departments, Binh began receiving more emergency calls. Binh distinctly remembers a call which came through from a man desperately in need of a ride for his dying father. Please help us, Ms. Were from Cao Bang [a northern mountainous province], and only have VND3 million [US$131] left, the son sobbed. Our dad is dying, were afraid he cant make it home, the voice said. Immediately, Binh dispatched an ambulance to the man barely clinging to life. Binh added the memory and the dying mans look at her are etched in her mind, as he tried faintly to express his gratitude. The man passed shortly after the vehicle got out of the city. There are times when Binhs condition takes a turn for the worse, but she never misses a distress call. Once, she mustered all her strength to summon volunteer drivers right after receiving a call asking the body of a deceased child to be transported back home in Ha Giang Province, also in the north. It took the vehicle almost an entire day to traverse treacherous terrain and bring the dead child home. Binh believes the gratis ambulance service is her true calling. I almost never cease thinking about what to do to help tomorrow, even in beds, and Im on the phone most of my waking time, the elderly woman shared. Until my last breath Since her husbands passing, Binh has always worked tirelessly to help those in distress, in one way or another. Her apartment on Linh Dam Peninsula, off Hoang Mai District, Hanoi, where she lives on her own, often resonates with incoming calls. Many of the neighbors are used to the sight of the woman collecting used clothes and sending them to needy people in mountainous areas. The frail woman is determined for her good cause. I will continue to help others until I draw my last breath, she said. As the novel coronavirus outbreaks over the past two years put charitable activities on hold during the social distancing periods, Binh offered to Hoang Mai District Medical Center they could use her ambulances to transport COVID-19 patients to quarantine areas. As local governments and residents in southern localities struggled to curb the spread of the virus around July last year, Binhs ambulances once again came to the rescue, carrying loads of vegetables and essentials to affected people, particularly those who were unable to scrounge up enough cash to afford food and other necessities. Apart from the free ambulance services, another of Binhs charity initiatives, Tu Tam Group, is also active in preparing free food servings for in-patients and their care-providing relatives at hospitals. The woman with a big heart has also joined with hospitals to provide nearly 400 free-of-charge cataract surgeries. For her tireless efforts and excellence in charitable activities, Binh was named by the Hanoi Peoples Committee as one of its nine Outstanding Capital Citizen honorees in 2021. She spent her entire award and some more from her own pocket, totaling VND25 million ($1,095), on more veggies for quarantine areas. The gold-hearted woman is also working to launch an alternative medicine clinic which will offer free treatment to patients. People often wonder where I get all the money for charity over the past dozens of years, Binh shared. She added there are three things on her bucket list: opening a free traditional medicine clinic, a nursing home for the elderly and an orphanage. I cant rest in peace until I fulfill these three wishes. Binhs positive energy and efforts have inspired many. Vu Van Anh, a university lecturer in Hanoi, along with her two young daughters, is among Binhs active volunteers. Everyone calls her the living Buddha. She [Binh]s always willing to spend all her time, energy and even money from her own pocket helping some of the countrys neediest, Van Anh said. I really appreciate her empathy and kind-heartedness, said Linh Dan, one of Van Anhs daughters. Ill help homeless people if I see some near my school, the sixth-grader added. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnam firmly opposes and demands Taiwan to cancel its live-fire exercises in the waters around Ba Binh (Itu Aba) Island, part of Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in the East Vietnam Sea, spokeswoman of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang said on Friday. The spokesperson made the statement in response to medias questions about Vietnams reactions related to two live-fire exercises to be conducted by Taiwan within this month. Hang said such drills seriously violate Vietnams territorial sovereignty over Truong Sa, and threaten peace, stability, safety and security of navigation in the East Vietnam Sea. They also trigger tensions and complicate the situation in the waters, Hang stated, adding that Vietnam requests that Taiwan not repeat similar actions in the future. As we have repeatedly issued statements on this issue, Vietnam has full legal foundations and historical evidence to affirm its sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa archipelagoes in accordance with international law, the spokesperson said. Previously, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported that Taiwan would conduct a live-fire drill from March 16 to 17 and another from March 26 to 31 in the said waters. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Check out news you should not miss today: Politics -- Vietnam has resolutely protested Taiwans repeated live-fire exercises on the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, an action it says seriously violates the formers territorial sovereignty, according to the spokeperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Le Thi Thu Hang. Society -- Firefighters were able to rescue two elders after a blaze broke out at a house in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City on Friday afternoon. Business -- The twelveth and thirteenth trains of Ho Chi Minh Citys metro line No. 1 reached a seaport in the southern metropolis on Friday. Lifestyle -- A rare saphire-blue-colored lobster caught in Canada has been exhibited at Nha Trangs Oceanographic Museum in the south-central Vietnamese province of Khanh Hoa. -- According to authorities in Hanoi's Son Tay Town, the locality is rushing to complete preparations for the opening of a 820-meter-long pedestrian street that circles the moat of the Son Tay Ancient Citadel on Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers' Day (May 1). -- Dem My Son (Night at My Son), an outdoor art performance program reviving the quintessential values of Champa culture, will take place in March to serve visitors to the My Son relic in Quang Nam Province. Sports -- Nguyen Anh Minh and Nguyen Thao My of Vietnam won the Lexus Challenge Golf Tournament 2022, which was held at Trang An Golf and Country Club in Ninh Binh Province. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Firefighters successfully rescued two elders with paralysis after a blaze broke out at a house in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City on Friday afternoon. Police in Go Vap District are investigating the cause of the fire. Local residents at an alley down Nguyen Van Bao Street in Ward 4 of Go Vap District noticed the fire from the house of Truong Thi Luy, 95, at around 12:45 pm on Friday. After local rescue efforts failed, many firefighters and fire engines were dispatched to the scene. The fire was completely extinguished at 1:00 pm. Firefighters also managed to rescue Luy and her 73-year-old son-in-law Bui Van Hoang, both of whom were paralyzed and stuck inside the burning house. Luy was then taken to Military Hospital 175 in the same district for treatment for suspected burns while Hoangs health was not affected. The functional forces determined that the flammable substances in the case were mainly household items. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The current high ultraviolet (UV) radiation levels, which pose a risk of harm from unprotected sun exposure, will linger until next week and stay at the high-risk level in Ho Chi Minh City, the central weather agency has warned. On Saturday, the UV index in Hanoi has been average while it has reached high levels in Quang Ninh Provinces Ha Long City and Hai Phong City in the northern region, and in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting reported. The same day has seen very high UV radiation in Thua Thien Hue Provinces Hue City, Da Nang City, Quang Nam Provinces Hoi An City, and in Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho City in the southern region. Specifically, the UV radiation index has been measured 7.5 to 8 in Ha Long and Hai Phong, 8 to 9 in Hue, 8.8 to 9.1 in Hoi An, 7.5 to 9.5 in Da Nang, 7.8 to 9.5 in Khanh Hoa Provinces Nha Trang City, 8.3 - 9 in Can Tho City, and 7.5 to 10 in Ho Chi Minh City the highest level in the country. Most of these indexes were recorded at noon, when there usually is a lot of sunlight. From Sunday until next Tuesday, high UV levels in several cities in the northern part will keep posing a high risk of harm, while those in some cities in the central and southern regions will cause a very high risk, the center warned. According to the World Health Organizations Global Solar UV Index, UV levels are measured on a scale from 0 (low) to 11+ (extreme). A UV index of six and seven is considered 'high' and eight to ten is very high, where peoples skin may get burned in less than 25 minutes. Meanwhile, the level of 11 and more is considered extreme and may cause burns to fair-skinned people in less than 10 minutes. Dr. Le Duc Tho, a dermatologist, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper UV radiation is harmful and can cause a number of skin conditions including hyperpigmentation, skin aging, sunburn, and skin cancer, as well as eye problems such as cataracts and macular degeneration. People should apply preventive measures to reduce the impact of ultraviolet on the body, especially during the peak time from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, doctors said. When going out, people need to wear protective clothing, use a wide-brimmed hat to cover their face, neck and ears, and wear sunglasses to protect their eyes. Sunscreen should also be used regularly, even on cloudy days, with special attention during the hours when UV radiation levels reach at its peaks, doctors advised. In addition, people need to drink enough water, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and drink mineral water or vitamin-rich fruit juice, among other healthy practices, to increase resistance and protect health, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic with its complicated developments. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Jose Manuel Gonzalez Wins PokerStars EPT Prague 2,200 Eureka High Roller (343,750) March 12 2022 Christian Zetzsche The record-breaking PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague 2,200 Eureka High Roller has crowned a champion. An additional day was needed to whittle down the record-breaking field of 1,149 entries to a winner and it was Spain's Jose Manuel Gonzalez who defeated Pedro Marques in a brief heads-up encounter. Both split the lion's share of the 2,206,080 prize pool after entering the extra day as the two run-away chip leaders. Among the six finalists who returned was 2021 WSOP bracelet winner Romain Lewis, who was unable to mount a comeback from one big blind and finished in sixth place. EPT Prague 2,200 Eureka High Roller Final Table Results Place Winner Country Prize (in EUR) 1 Jose Manuel Gonzalez Spain 343,750* 2 Pedro Marques Portugal 288,750* 3 Ermanno Di Nicola Italy 166,120 4 Nicolas Vayssieres France 124,860 5 Thomas Lhomme France 95,080 6 Romain Lewis France 69,930 7 John Mooney United Kingdom 53,060 8 Gilles Gauyacq France 37,880 * the final two players agreed to an ICM deal and continued to play for 32,500 in cash and the EPT winner's trophy How To Qualify For the $10M Gtd Sunday Million From $0.50 Final Table Recap The day began with a scenario heavily impacted by ICM considerations as four of the six finalists had six or fewer big binds at their disposal. Lewis was fortunate enough to begin on the button but none of his opponents bowed out in the first orbit to send the Frenchman all-in and at risk when the big blind came around. There was no miracle for Lewis and he had to settle for a payday of 69,930. Next to go was fellow countryman Thomas Lhomme who also hit the rail after being forced all-in from the big blind as well. Nicolas Vayssieres made some moves with his short stack and doubled twice but ultimately fell in fourth place. One hand later, it was all over for Ermanno Di Nicola and the odds-on heads-up duel between the two biggest stacks Jose Manuel Gonzalez and Pedro Marques was set. Read More: PokerStars Ambassador Alejandro "Papo MC" Lococo Wins EPT Prague 1,100 Eureka Main Event Marques, a former EPT Main Event finalist and two-time SCOOP champion, started with a narrow disadvantage but never gained the lead in a duel that stretched almost one hour. Ultimately, the Portuguese jammed with a king on the button and Gonzalez called with an ace. Five blanks later, the celebrations of Gonzalez could be heard throughout the entire tournament room as the Spaniard recorded a career-best score of 343,750. Marques had to settle for a consolation prize of 288,750 and will certainly jump into the 5,300 EPT Prague Main Event soon. Timothy Adams Wins EPT Prague 50,000 Super High Roller (742,200) March 12 2022 Will Shillibier Timothy Adams topped a 45-player field to win the EPT Prague 50,000 Super High Roller after a battling final day. He finally saw off Orpen Kisacikoglu heads-up to win 742,200 in his second Super High Roller victory in the Czech capital, after winning the same tournament back in 2017. The final table featured no fewer than a dozen double-ups, the majority split between Kisacikoglu and third-place finisher Nick Petrangelo. Fourth-place went to Chris Brewer, with Adrian Mateos fifth despite holding a commanding chip lead at the start of play. EPT Prague 50,000 Super High Roller Final Table Results Place Player Country Payout (EUR) 1 Timothy Adams Canada 742,200 2 Orpen Kisacikoglu Turkey 512,990 3 Nick Petrangelo United States 327,440 4 Chris Brewer United States 251,040 5 Adrian Mateos Spain 196,470 6 Yuri Dzivielevski Brazil 152,810 How To Qualify For the $10M Gtd Sunday Million From $0.50 Winner's Reaction After his victory, Adams spoke with PokerNews who said that there was a simple answer as to why the final table featured such a battling and resilient style of play - the opponents. "They're just world-class players," he explained. "They make all the right decisions, and it's just how the cards are being dealt. "Anything can happen because everyone is an elite poker player..." "This [final table] was very deep, so I was prepared for a long day of poker, because you know everyone is going to be playing very tough. But anything can happen because everyone is an elite poker player. It's not surprising when the chips go in the middle. People know they have to play aggressively in certain situations." This is a ninth career cash in Prague for Adams, including two Main Event cashes and a Super High Roller victory back in 2017. He says that it was good to be back in the city. "It's easy in the past to take EPTs for granted, but now that we're back you realise how much you appreciate the staff, the tournament, your opponents and that's me really being honest. I was very happy to see a bunch of familiar faces. The whole vibe is quite joyous and people are happy to be back." The final table featured a different atmosphere to the robotic style of play that High Rollers are often believed to have, and Adams believes that's down to the relationships the players have with one another. "A lot of us are close friends, and everyone respects one another. It's one of those dynamics where...it's not like you're playing in a home game, but they're all people you're really close to. I just think people are very happy to be social again!" Final Day Recap A stunning turn of events to open the day, saw runaway chip leader Adrian Mateos eliminated inside the first two levels. A series of doubles would see him drop down the counts, before shoving into Chris Brewer's pocket aces to be left short. He was eliminated soon thereafter as Brewer took over as chip leader, with Timothy Adams close behind. Nick Petrangelo was left on the brink of elimination at one point, with just three big blinds, but battled back to double back three times in quick succession. Read More: Jose Manuel Gonzalez Wins PokerStars EPT Prague 2,200 Eureka High Roller (343,750) Double-ups were the theme, with Kisacikoglu doubling through Brewer twice in a row, as no one managed to grasp control of proceedings. That was until Brewer was eliminated in fourth place, vaulting Adams into the chip lead. He would relinquish the chip lead only once, to Kisacikoglu, has the double-ups continued with the two short stacks battling it out behind Adams. And after Adams sent Petrangelo to the rail, he held a more than 2:1 advantage over Kisacikoglu. It wasn't long before the Turk hit the rail, handing Adams the victory and almost three quarters of a million euros. Stay tuned to PokerNews for more 2021 PokerStars EPT Prague live coverage, including the Main Event and 10,000 High Roller! Credit: PA Images Ireland kept their Six Nations title hopes alive after they managed to avoid a shock defeat to a 14-man England, winning 32-15 at Twickenham. A red card for England second-row Charlie Ewels with just over a minute played handed the hosts a monumental task of overcoming Andy Farrells men. But the Red Rose showed real spirit to stay in touch for the majority of the contest before late scores for Ireland sealed the result and also a bonus-point. The scrum emerged as Englands greatest weapon, producing six penalties on a traumatising afternoon for the Irish set-piece and enabling Marcus Smith to keep his side in contention from the kicking tee. Even with wing Jack Nowell packing down in the back row they were utterly dominant and the visitors suffered terribly through their indiscipline across all areas as referee Mathieu Raynal penalised them freely. The home resistance was led by Maro Itoje and Ellis Genge amid an inspired performance from the pack, but eventually the pressure told as Jack Conan crossed in the 72nd minute before Finlay Bealham gave the scoreline a lop-sided look that was harsh on England. It means Ireland remain in title contention on the final weekend while England must discover how much they have left in the tank as they head to France with the aim of finishing third. An action-packed first half unfolded at lightning pace and produced brutal collisions to the extent that neither James Ryan, Tom Curry nor Kyle Sinckler made it to the interval. But there were also moments of artistry and the first of these arrived in the sixth minute when an undermanned England blindside was expertly exploited by Josh van der Flier and Dan Sheehan, with the pace of James Lowe doing the rest. A second Ireland try was chalked off because of a knock-on and even as England celebrated winning a scrum penalty close to their line, their joy quickly turned to despair as Curry injured his hamstring while running. Story continues Alex Dombrandt had been limited to one training session all week due to Covid but he now found himself in the back row that was swimming against the tide. Ireland were pummelled at the scrum once more, however, and this time the penalty was in Smiths range so the fly-half duly obliged to get his side off the mark. Until Jamie George knocked on at the back of a dangerously-positioned maul, the home side had defied the odds to seize control with their pack making an impact in all departments. A thrilling raid by Ireland ended with a third scrum penalty and they just could not escape Raynals whistle as Smith found the target once more. But when given the opportunity to accelerate the tempo they were irrepressible and even in the face of heroic home defence, a second try was added as Jamison Gibson-Park took a quick tap and sent Hugo Keenan over. The first half finished with Smith splitting the posts and the second began with the rivals trading blows in attack, Sam Simmonds flattening Tadhg Furlong one highlight. Smith kicked another three points as England continued to win key moments, but the most profitable platform remained the scrum and when Raynal raised his hand for the sixth time Harlequins fly-half levelled the score. Johnny Sexton nudged Ireland back in front, however, and as pressure built again on the home line, Conan was able to stride through a big gap before Bealham secured the bonus point. The article Six Nations: Ireland manage to shake off 14-man England to keep title dreams alive appeared first on Planetrugby.com. New Delhi: Sensing that after Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is zeroing in on Gujarat, the BJP has swung into action. A day after scoring a stunning electoral victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a nine-kilometer long grand roadshow in Ahmedabad on Friday. Before leaving for his two-day visit, the Prime Minister tweeted, "Leaving for Gujarat, where I will be attending various programmes today and tomorrow. At 4 pm today will address a panchayat mahasammelan, which several representatives from panchayat raj institutions will attend." With Gujarat election slated later this year, the Prime Minister has sounded the poll bugle with a massive rally of the elected panchayat representatives. Coinciding with the Prime Minister's visit is the RSS' three-day national meet in the state. While the BJP has started its exercise to retain the Prime Minister's home state, the AAP is planning to make deep inroads with its proposed "Tiranga Yatra" across the tehsils and village panchayats in Gujarat. Both Mr Kejriwal and the party's chief minister-designate in Punjab, Bhagwant Singh Mann, are planning to visit Gujarat. AAP has also launched a massive membership drive ahead of the Assembly polls. AAP Delhi MLA and Gujarat in-charge Gulab Singh claimed that after the Punjab results "our phones have been ringing with people wanting to join the party." AAP's Gujarat spokesperson Yogesh Patel told a news agency that "with blessings of the people of Gujarat, AAP will emerge as the main contender to the BJP in Gujarat. The Congress has been rejected by the people of Gujarat." Speaking to a television channel, another AAP leader, Akshay Marathe, said: "We are definitely going to Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. These two states are on our radar. The party has been working in these states and we expect to have a big impact." It may be recalled that in its debut performance in the local body polls early last year AAP emerged as a viable alternative to the Congress by bagging over 13 per cent of the vote share. Making the party's national ambition amply clear, Raghav Chadha, AAP's Punjab co-incharge and Delhi MLA on Thursday claimed that the party has become a "national force". Mr Chadha said that he was "certain that Kejriwal will lead the nation one day and by 2024, AAP will be a national party and natural replacement of the Congress." Incidentally, while both the BJP and AAP have swung into action, Congress, the main Opposition in the state till now, seemed to be missing in action. While the BJP and AAP top guns are pouring into this poll-bound state, the Congress' Gujarat unit awaits instructions from the high command. Ambitious Senior DVM Student Participates in Externship at Budapest Zoo while Studying Abroad in Hungary Senior Purdue DVM student Floyd Williams, Jr. took giant leaps towards his career goals this past year by studying abroad in Budapest, Hungary, where he participated in an externship at the Budapest Zoo that would change his life. His travel also marked a milestone for the college as the first international externship experience for a Purdue veterinary student since the pandemic shut down study abroad opportunities in 2020. Floyds study abroad journey actually began in 2019, when he spent four weeks in Central Europe working with veterinarians and biologists in zoological conservation and exotic pet medicine through a faculty-led course by Dr. Steve Thompson, Purdue clinical associate professor of small animal primary care. While studying at the Budapest Zoo, Floyd was able to attend the annual Zoo4Nat Wildlife Conservation Conference, where attendees were informed of current projects and efforts in wildlife medicine today. After spending just one week at the zoo with Dr. Endre Sos, lead veterinarian, and witnessing his dedication to wildlife, along with his amazing team of veterinary technicians, zookeepers, and staff, Floyd couldnt help but ask for an externship. In response, Dr. Sos invited him back for an unlimited stay. Floyd was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He enjoys hiking, fishing, reading, meditating, FaceTiming his family, and recently, scuba diving. While in high school, Floyd chose a criminal justice academic track with the intent of becoming an advocate for abused and neglected animals. But then he transferred to Judson High School in Converse, Texas, and not long after, opted to switch tracks to pursue veterinary/animal science and joined the local FFA chapter. His decision was influenced by his high school advisor, who suggested that he take the veterinary medicine science course offered his sophomore year. He enjoyed it so much he decided to pursue his Veterinary Assistant Certification (CVA). To gain a CVA, one must obtain 500 hours of in-hospital experience, completing about 100 skills under the supervision of a DVM or LVT before qualifying for the state exam. On the way to earning his CVA, Floyd found fulfillment in advocating for his patients health and care and realized that veterinary medicine is his calling. The opportunity to advocate for animals health and help them fight disease proved to be a powerful draw to the veterinary medical profession. Floyd attended Prairie View A&M University and graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture, with a concentration in animal and food sciences. However, he has not forgotten about his initial dreams of advocating for abused and neglected animals. I havent completely abandoned my goals of gaining a seat in the courtroom, said Floyd. Veterinarians can literally do anything, so stay tuned! When deciding where to attend veterinary school, Floyds initial instinct was to enroll at another HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), similar to Prairie View A&M University. But after Purdue invited him to West Lafayette as an Access to Animal Related Careers scholar (A2RC the forerunner to Purdues current Vet Up! College program), Floyd immediately felt welcomed by the warm atmosphere at PVM and knew Purdue is where he belonged. It was a blessing to receive admittance into this program and I wouldnt change it for the world, says Floyd. There has been so much professional and personal growth from my time studying at this incredible institution. Floyd is consistently moved and inspired by the diversity amongst the professors and staff at PVM, and notes it makes the college even more welcoming. He is especially touched by the opportunity he has had to get to know Dean Willie Reed. Dean Reeds story and current accomplishments in this profession are incredibly powerful and motivating, says Floyd. The fact that he knows me on a first name basis and will stop me in the halls to discuss my morning is everything Ive needed to continue tackling this incredibly challenging career path. In terms of future career goals, Floyds are bright and ambitious. Most recently, he officially accepted a position as a one-year small animal rotating intern at IndyVet Emergency and Specialty Hospital in Indianapolis a position which will eventually help him as he seeks to obtain a residency in emergency and critical care and pursue board certification by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (ACVECC). His goal in becoming a criticalist is to develop into a steady contributor in emergency exotic and zoological triage and stabilization. Currently it is difficult to find updated or existing literature on emergency stabilization efforts in our zoologic species, says Floyd. I want to help translate more of our rapidly growing small animal practices to our exotic species that represent a significantly underserved patient population. Floyd is passionate about spreading awareness and creating more readily available resources that will provide translational techniques to begin comfortable stabilization measures in not only exotic species, but also the beautiful wildlife species that naturally inhabit our planet. Thats why it was so meaningful to Floyd when he recently had the opportunity to work directly with the exotic species he loves across the ocean. Asked about his experiences while studying abroad, Floyd said he has too many favorites to count. Honestly, waking up daily to go to the zoo was my absolute favorite part, Floyd recalled. Thats every kids dream well at least mine. But, Floyd admits, the day he was able to prove his talent in emergency triage and stabilization takes the cake. As he recounts the story of that day, Floyd recalls how the team at the Budapest Zoo was focusing on male Gundis, a rodent species native to Africa, when the technician rushed in with a surgical patient who wasnt recovering as properly as the rest and had become cyanotic. Cyanosis is a bluish discoloration of the skin resulting from poor circulation or inadequate oxygenation of the blood. Floyd requested permission to break sterility and assess the patient, which Dr. Sos approved as long as Floyd reported the patient status in real time. This was one of those moments veterinarians fear the most during high volume procedures, Floyd said as he reflected on the situation. After a series of orders and reports, within one to two minutes, the patients color and heartrate had returned to normal. In another five to ten minutes, the patient was ventilating on his own and lifting his head. That was no doubt my favorite and most motivating experience in Budapest, Floyd said. Floyd strongly encourages other students to study abroad while they can in order to gain invaluable academic and life experiences. Not only does it expose students to new cultures, but it enhances communication skills, both verbal and nonverbal, as they learn to communicate with those of a different language. Being able to connect with colleagues in this profession with similar missions for our wildlife species really showed me how much we have in common, Floyd remarked. Studying abroad truly allows students to make an impact on the world. Floyd concludes with words of gratitude to those who helped him on his journey to Budapest. I really want to thank Addison Sheldon, PVM director of global engagement, for his guidance and support, and for constantly checking on me before and during my time abroad. Traveling during a pandemic has its unique stressors, but not once did I feel like I didnt have anyone to answer my questions or help me handle difficult logistics. Addison and Chelsi do an incredible job with our international programs during these unprecedented times, and I cant thank them enough for their support. Chelsi McAnelly is the global engagement program administrator. As Purdue Veterinary Medicine welcomes Floyd back home, we cant wait to see where his next giant leaps take him! Writer(s): Madeline Brod, PVM Communications Intern | pvmnews@purdue.edu Supported by $1M Grant, Purdue Research Team Pursues African Swine Fever Rapid Test Purdue University photo/Tom Campbell African swine fever, a highly contagious swine disease, is in the Dominican Republic. The disease does not infect people, but it can wipe out pork production in a region. Quick identification and containment are key to stopping its spread, and a team of Purdue University researchers that includes a scholar in the College of Veterinary Medicine, is developing a rapid, pen-side test for the disease. Dr. Mohit Verma in his lab. Dr. Verma is leading a $1M project involving a team of Purdue researchers, including Dr. Darryl Ragland, associate professor of food animal production medicine, to develop a rapid test for African swine fever. (Purdue University photo/Tom Campbell) The National Animal Health Laboratory Network and the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program has provided $1 million to Dr. Mohit Verma, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University, for the project. A rapid test that can be done in the field is needed for surveillance and diagnosis of African swine fever, he said. When it hit China a few years ago, it wiped out 50% of the countrys pig population. It is a devastating disease, and hours, even minutes, matter in containing it. The research funding was included in the U.S. Farm Bill to build up the nations ability to quickly detect and respond to high-consequence diseases. This was the first time to my knowledge that a joint operation between these two organizations was included in the farm bill, Dr. Verma said. It shows how seriously the U.S. is taking the risk from African swine fever. An example of what the African swine fever test may look like. Shown is the test for COVID-19 developed by Dr. Mohit Verma, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University. PortaScience Inc. packaged and developed the color scale, and Cortex Design built the cartridge shown. (Purdue University photo/courtesy of Dr. Mohit Verma) Dr. Verma is collaborating with fellow Purdue scientists including Dr. Darryl Ragland, associate professor of food animal production medicine in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, and Dr. Jonathan Alex Pasternak, an assistant professor of animal sciences in the College of Agriculture, to create a portable paper-strip test for the disease. The project follows in the footsteps of Dr. Vermas success developing similar tests for COVID-19 and Bovine Respiratory Disease. Were working on a test that will detect the virus within 30 minutes and indicate results through an easy-to-see color change on a paper strip, Dr. Verma said. The ease of use, test timing, and size are similar to those of an at-home pregnancy test or COVID-19 test. A saliva or blood sample will be used for the test. Within a cartridge, the sample is mixed with primers and reagents developed by the team and gently heated. The included paper strip then changes colors if African swine fever DNA is present, Dr. Varma said. We want the test to be easy for farmers and veterinarians, and for the pigs, he explained. Our hope is to create something affordable and accessible that could be broadly used in the U.S. and throughout the world. The technology tests for DNA from the virus and uses a method of nucleic acid amplification called loop-mediated isothermal amplification, or LAMP. When the viral DNA is present, LAMP amplifies it. As the level of nucleic acid increases, it changes the pH of the assay, which triggers the color change on the paper strip. According to Dr. Verma, the advantage of LAMP over other methods is that it does not require extraction and processing of the samples, which can be lengthy and expensive. Writer(s): Elizabeth Gardner, Purdue Agricultural Communications | pvmnews@purdue.edu Shelter waiving adoption fees Adoption fees are being waived on all dog adoptions through 5 p.m. Saturday at the animal shelter, 2032 Circle Road. The Humane Society of Central Texas opens at 10 a.m. For more information, call 254-754-1454. Dr Pepper convention The 37th annual Dr Pepper Collectors Convention & Swap Meet will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Brazos Room of the Waco Hilton, 113 S. University Parks Drive. The event is free to the public. Waco Aglow canceled Saturdays scheduled meeting of Waco Aglow at the county courthouse has been canceled. For more information, call 254-495-7872. Art Guild to host Dallas artist Art Guild of Central Texas will have a live demonstration by Dallas artist James Gilbreath from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Central Presbyterian Church, 9191 Woodway Drive. Cost is $10 for non-members, free for members. For more information, call 254-722-9928. St. Jerome blood drive St. Jerome Catholic Church will host a blood drive from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of the Mother Teresa Center, 9820 Chapel Road, on a Carter BloodCare bus. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call BJ Todaro at 254-855-4400. Workshop focus on county records Central Texas Genealogical Society and the West Waco Library will have a workshop on how to find and use county records, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in the meeting room at the library, 5301 Bosque Blvd. Speakers include Kelvin Meyers, Texas Institute of Genealogical Research; Kerry McGuire, McLennan County Archives; and Bill Buckner, Waco-McLennan County Library Genealogy Center. For more information, call 254-750-5945. Submit printed or typed items to Briefly, P.O. Box 2588, Waco, 76702-2588; or email goingson@wacotrib.com. Operation Ganga, a humanitarian project to evacuate Indians from Ukraine, was a resounding success as most of the 20,000 Indians estimated to be living in the country invaded by Russia have been brought back safely. A history of such operations, beginning with the Kuwait war of 1990 from which as many as 1.70 lakh Indians were rescued, meant that India could not but go to the aid of stranded Indians who were caught in the conflict zones in Ukrainian cities like Kharkiv, Sumy and Kyiv. It is debatable whether the government could have begun the evacuation process any earlier but they did act as early as on the third day of the war breaking out since when flights, both civilian and IAF, operated into countries neighbouring Ukraine. Prime Minister Narendra Modis close ties with both Presidents, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Volodomyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, facilitated the rescue of close to 20,000 students. Given the situation of desperate foreign citizens stuck like this were bound to pick holes in the governments efforts to come to the aid of people caught in conflicts and wars. But to labour the point as some in the Opposition tended to do was just vile politics. India lost only one citizen while another was injured in the shelling. The star rating for yet another evacuation exercise run by a nation for its citizens numbering thousands must be very high indeed. Rescuing the career of the students who were in Ukraine is altogether another issue. The government has to find a way so as not to waste the human resources of young students, mostly medicos, who travel to other countries for various reasons connected with medical education that can accommodate only around one lakh medical students a year in India from among 15 lakh aspirants. A way must be found to tag these students to government and private universities, including deemed ones, to complete their education and practice medicine. Only a national decision in this regard can help but it makes sense to utilise these students to bolster the national medical force in a country that has less than 1.5 doctors for every 1,000 Indians in a population close to 140 crore people. A decision on this as speedily taken as in the rescue would suit the situation. Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the personnel action by Humane Society board took regarding former executive director Don Bland in 2019. The board demoted him to operations director in April 2019, and he resigned that August. A lifelong love of Pomeranians led Kandi Hillyer away from her background in health care and eventually to her new role as director of the Humane Society of Central Texas. She is the third person in four years to hold the title. Hillyer grew up in southern Florida and worked for Concentra, a national health care chain, for 12 years. She started volunteering at a Pomeranian rescue, and when she and her husband moved to Iowa, she joined the Des Moines County Humane Society as a volunteer. She served on the board there, then worked as director for seven years. We were having a really hard time getting someone in there with experience, so I took the full-time director position and stayed, Hillyer said. She started at the Humane Society chapter in Waco two weeks ago, replacing interim Director Jordan Cervantez. Cervantez stepped into the interim role after the board of directors fired Paula Rivadeneira in August, shortly after she filed a complaint against then-board President Tom Lupfer. Rivadeneira was a replacement for Don Bland, who served as executive director until he resigned in 2019 after being demoted to operations director. We were looking for a combination of good business and management skills, fundraising skills and preferably an animal shelter or animal welfare background, local board President Christie Acosta said. Its particularly challenging to find that combination, and we feel like with Kandi we found that. Hillyer said that during her time volunteering at an Atlanta shelter with high intake, then serving as Humane Society director in Des Moines, she learned how important social media activity can be for a shelter, along with which breeds have stigmas against them and how to help them find homes regardless. She is planning a St. Patricks Day event specifically for pit bull adoption later this month. You can go through phases where youre not so full, you have plenty of kennel space, and within a week that can completely turn around, Hillyer said. You never know whats ahead. The city of Waco owns and operates the Waco Animal Shelter, and the Humane Society runs adoptions and the rescue program for the city. Hillyer said she also hopes to expand the list of animal rescue operations, both local and in other states, including rescues that specialize in one dog breed. The city shelter works regularly with five to 10 others. She said the shelters in densely populated Southern cities she is used to working in usually have more strays to manage than shelters in less populated states, and shelters in the Pacific Northwest often take in animals from busier shelters. Its challenging work to nail down a rescue group that has space, because theyre like us, she said. Sometimes kennels just get full. Hillyer said her other goals include networking to increase donations from the community, and polishing the Humane Societys customer service. The shelter always needs more donations of food, treats, harnesses, leashes and other pet supplies, and relies on donations for funding. Acosta said the nonprofit has struggled to plan events ahead of time during the COVID-19 pandemic. It seems like we could plan something and then well go through another cycle, people isolate again and its just made planning difficult because we dont want to be on the wrong end of that cycle, Acosta said. Hillyer said the Humane Society is planning a gala for October, and she is interested in staging a trivia night fundraiser in the future. For now, the shelters nine-person full-time staff has its hands full. The Baylor University students who volunteer there are gone for spring break, and the shelter was housing about 190 dogs as of Thursday, with another 130 in foster homes. Some of them are puppies too young to be spayed or neutered and adopted out, but between 60 and 70 need homes. Adoption fees will be waived Saturday during a Clear the Shelter event, and shelter staff hope to adopt out 50 to 75 dogs. Hillyer said the shelter receives a relatively small number of cats each month compared to dogs and has an easier time placing them in foster homes as a result. Acosta said it has been difficult in recent years to predict when shelter occupancy will spike. In a normal year, this would be the start of a busier season, the start of puppy and kitten season, she said. But honestly, I dont feel like weve had downtime in a while, so I dont know what to predict at this point. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. With raw emotions erupting on the floor of the Legislature during a morning of intense debate, state senators voted Friday to free Sen. Tom Brewer's "constitutional carry" gun rights bill from a filibuster and sent it on the way to second-round consideration. The bill advanced on a 35-9 vote following a 36-9 vote to end debate. Thirty-three votes were required to break the filibuster that threatened to trap the bill and eliminate it from this session's agenda. The action represented a big step forward for gun rights advocates and a huge victory for Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, who shepherded the bill through a gauntlet of opposition mounted by senators from Lincoln and Omaha. "We live in a place much different outside of Lincoln," Brewer told his metropolitan colleagues, suggesting that on occasion undermanned law enforcement in rural areas could welcome the assistance of law-abiding citizens in "protecting themselves and their families." The bill (LB773) would allow people to carry a concealed handgun in Nebraska without paying for a $100 permit. How they voted A bill (LB773) to allow people to carry a concealed handgun in Nebraska without paying for a $100 permit advanced 35-9 to the second round on Friday. Voting yes (35): Aguilar, Albrecht, Arch, Blood, Bostelman, Brandt, Brewer, Briese, Clements, Day, Dorn, Erdman, Flood, Friesen, Geist, Gragert, Halloran, Hansen, B., Hilgers, Hilkemann, Hughes, Jacobson, Kolterman, Lindstrom, Linehan, Lowe, McDonnell, Moser, Murman, Pahls, Sanders, Slama, Stinner, Wayne, Williams Voting no (9): Bostar, Cavanaugh, J., Cavanaugh, M., DeBoer, Hansen, M., Lathrop, Morfeld, Pansing Brooks, Vargas Present, not voting (4): McCollister, McKinney, Walz, Wishart Excused, not voting (1): Hunt But Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, who proposed a compromise that would eliminate current fees charged for both permitting and required training for people who carry a concealed handgun, said the bill would also "remove training and background requirements (and) that is a bridge too far." "I want to be sure that gun owners have the requisite training they need," he said. Brewer said the bill does not remove the background check requirement that concealed-carry gunowners still would need to clear. Noting the opposition expressed to the bill by Lincoln senators, Brewer asked "have we forgotten the chaos in Lincoln?" that erupted during Black Lives Matter protests near the state Capitol in 2020. All of the nine votes to maintain the filibuster and in opposition to the bill itself were cast by senators from Lincoln and metropolitan Omaha. The proposal is opposed by the Lincoln Police Department. During the intense debate, Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha strode angrily out of the chamber after her shouted demands for a point of order were ignored during remarks by Sen. Julie Slama of Sterling personally criticizing her. "Wow!" Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln said following that eruption, which grew out of an earlier exchange between Cavanaugh and Brewer prompted by the Omaha senator's expressed concerns about allowing people who might be armed into the gallery overlooking the floor during Thursday's debate. "This is ridiculous," Pansing Brooks said. "That (criticism of Cavanaugh) should have been stopped. It was not kind," she said, "and it embarrassed our state, our colleague and our friend." Friday's debate often turned angry and confrontational, prompting Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha to remark on the changes in the Legislature he has experienced since he returned as a senator in 2019 after being term-limited out in 2015 following two consecutive terms that began in 2007. Lathrop, who decided not to seek re-election this year, said "I've been lied to in the last four years," declaring that "lying has become a tool" in the Legislature now. "This culture has changed," he said, and it reflects the national political culture now. "The culture has gone to hell," he said. "Everything's decided before I get to the floor. This is choreographed now." Responding to Lathrop's remarks and his approaching departure, Brewer said: "You have been a true professional. I do hate to see you leave. We are lesser for it." Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk said Friday's decision for senators could be simply stated: "Where are you on gun rights?" Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon CEDAR FALLS On his final day in charge, Public Safety Director Jeff Olsons passion for his work was on full display during a special ceremony commemorating his years of service. He took the time Thursday afternoon to speak about the changes hes seen in the field. In addition, Mayor Rob Green honored him with a plaque for his dedication to the city and a challenge coin for his outstanding performance. It was an emotional day, marking the conclusion of a 40-year (36 in Cedar Falls) career in public safety and law enforcement. At 5 p.m. Thursday, Police Chief Craig Berte assumed the role of interim public safety director as the city goes about hiring a permanent replacement for Olson. Olsons wife and two sons were by his side at the podium during the ceremony. Several dozen current and former city officials made their way to the Public Safety Building to pay tribute to a man who since 1986 served Cedar Falls as a patrol officer, investigator, sergeant, captain, deputy director, police chief, and public safety director. Before Cedar Falls, he began his career in Newton as a patrol officer. I moved here back when the economy was depressed, back when Deere was laying people off, and it wasnt the thriving community that it is now, he said. So much has happened here in Cedar Falls over the years. I hope I at least contributed something to it. Mention often was made of the controversial Public Safety Officer model that was carried out under his watch at the direction of elected officials. Change is difficult for people. The public safety changes were difficult for a lot of people, Olson said. I genuinely hope a few years from now that Craig and (Fire Chief John Bostwick) dont have to go through this. Its difficult for people, but I think its a good model. With the industrial park, some people stuck their neck out a little bit and said, Hey, lets start working on an industrial park. We need to do something to get this community turned around, and get things going. And look at what this industrial park has become, Olson added. Theres so many good things that have happened in Cedar Falls. We (he and his wife) intend to stay here throughout retirement, with the exception of maybe a couple of the colder months. Olsons leadership and demeanor were perhaps his most highly touted attributes throughout the afternoon event. Jeff has always carried himself with the utmost character and integrity, and even during these trying times when we talk about police service and fire service, hes always carried himself with class and dignity, said City Administrator Ron Gaines. There was a high level of confidence from the people in the room that the department is in good hands because of the way Olson prepared people for the next step in rank. When Olson took over as police chief in 2008, he promoted J.J. Sitzmann to captain, a position hes since held. Ill always be grateful to him for that, he said, adding Its his demeanor that stood out. Its not always easy for a police officer, but this guy was always calm and collected. His demeanor is something everyone can learn from. Retired City Administrator Dick McAlister said Olson is responsible for the culture: Hes always been positive and has never lost his temper. Hes just a class act. He noted how Olson handled himself when he was demoted because of an organizational change, not performance. UPDATE: Fire won't delay theme park opening Waterloo Fire Rescue was dispatched at 7:47 p.m. to East Shaulis Road and arrived on the scene of a fully engulfed theme park building, where visitors would stand in line waiting for a ride. Green pointed to his consummate professionalism and always being forthright and very knowledgeable. Former mayor Jim Brown also pointed to the culture Olson created, and how hes viewed his role in implementing the PSO model. In 2019, I asked Jeff off the cuff, What if council, your bosses, said forget the model, go back to what it was? Brown said. Without hesitation, Jeff said, Id do it. Theyre my bosses. I dont agree with it. I dont like it. But Id do it. What a contrast in attitude as a leader compared to those no longer with it who didnt have that attitude. Former police chief Mick Reifsteck maybe put it best. Even in the most unpleasant of situations, he quipped: We never had to reprimand you. But when it came time for Olson to take the mike to deliver his remarks, he often pivoted and couldnt help but speak to his genuine interest in how police work has evolved over time. He touched on a lot in 10 minutes: radios, revolvers, Tasers, car computers, body cameras and the holster. Its just a lot different today. What Ive seen in Cedar Falls over the years, Olson said. But his comments about his experience with the first car cameras were probably the most relatable to the average person. You didnt have them for years, and the first car camera you got, you had your camera in the dash like you do now, but Ill tell you it was a little bit bigger, and in the trunk was a VHS recorder. So you had to get the big cassette tape, you had to put them in there, you had to record it, and you had to always be thinking: I got a 90 minute tape. How longs it going to last? Do I have to get another tape out? Now today you got body cameras and car cameras. You pull it up and it downloads, and you cradle the charge. Its phenomenal. His wife, Patti, retired in May, and they began to talk about when in 2022 hed hang up his hat. Now, she told The Courier, she looks forward to traveling to as many states as possible in their camper and how the two have plans to take off in a few days, not knowing or caring when they might return from their adventure. Jeff is a great leader, but there are a lot of great people coming up, she said. Hes probably going to miss this for a while. Of all the remarks on Thursday, former councilman Nick Taiber arguably had the most eloquent, about how Olson steered the ship through the controversial public safety program: The chief kept this program moving forward despite nonstop criticism, scrutiny and organized opposition. City staff, certain council members and our awesome public safety professionals deserve tremendous credit for giving the chief time, the confidence and the resources to implement the program to success. But make no mistake about it, this programs ultimate success is a credit to Director Olson, maybe the best leader, manager and mentor among us, so Director Olson, you accomplished what few in government service could begin to fathom: positive change. Government doesnt reward change the system, the populism, special interests and the incentives actually discourage it. You put your job on the line. I know your family was threatened and your only incentive was a scarce, atta boy. Director Olson, you gave so much to the city. You improved it in measurable and immeasurable ways, and in my opinion you created the very best public safety program in this state and maybe the nation. You will always be seen in my eyes and in the eyes of many, many more as one of the greatest leaders ever to serve this great city. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Weather Alert ...MORE WINDY DAYS ON THE WAY, WITH COLDER TEMPERATURES AND RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS FOR MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND... --Thursday and Friday-- * A pair of systems brushing through the region will bring gusty winds both days, with Friday looking to have the strongest peak winds. Anticipate wind gusts of 35-45 mph Thursday, and 35-55 mph Friday, locally stronger in wind prone locations. Winds will bring travel difficulties both in the air and on the ground. Travel restrictions for high profile vehicles are possible. Check with CalTrans/NDOT for the current road information. * Area of blowing dust are possible both afternoons downwind of the Carson Sink, possibly affecting portions of I-80, US 50, and Highway 95. In addition, backcountry and ski recreation could be impacted along with choppy conditions on area lakes. * A few light showers with minimal liquid totals are possible in far northern Nevada and northeast California. --Mother's Day Weekend into Early Next Week-- * It will remain breezy throughout the weekend, with a secondary max in wind speeds on Sunday due to a strong cold front. This front will usher in a much colder air mass and high temperatures on Mother's Day will be 15-20 degrees below normal. * There will be rain and snow showers with the front, but again, liquid amounts will be minimal. There are solid chances for snow levels to fall to all valley floors by Sunday evening, which may catch many off guard, though it is hard to get snow to stick to roadways in lower elevation valleys this late in the spring. * Well below normal temperatures and chances for light showers will continue into Monday and Tuesday next week. While still some uncertainty due to winds and cloud cover, it's possible we could have frost and freeze concerns Sunday and Monday nights. Elk Grove, CA (95624) Today Sunny skies. High around 90F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds overnight. Low 52F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. 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. The Cosumnes Community Services District's current division map is based on population data recorded in the 2010 census. Their board is now updating the map to reflect more recent data from the 2020 census. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal A jury found a former Santa Fe elementary school teacher guilty Friday of five felony counts involving sexual abuse of students, the New Mexico Attorney Generals Office said Friday. Gary Gregor, 65, faces up to 84 years in prison in addition to a 114-year prison sentence he is currently serving for two previous convictions for molesting elementary students. His sentencing has not been scheduled. A former teacher at Agua Fria Elementary School in Santa Fe, Gregor was found guilty of four counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor and one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor. The 1st Judicial District Court case was tried by prosecutors in Attorney General Hector Balderas office. I honor every one of the survivors of these horrendous crimes who were able to confront this serial sex offender, Balderas said in a written statement issued Friday. Balderas office also prosecuted two previous jury trials that resulted in convictions against Gregor. In 2019, Gregor was sentenced to 108 years in prison for raping two fourth grade students who were in his class at Fairview Elementary School in Espanola during the 2007-08 school year. In that case, jurors found Gregor guilty of three counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor, four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and five counts of kidnapping. Victims in that case, who were adults at the time of the trial, testified that Gregor held them behind in class and touched them sexually every day. In 2020, Gregor was sentenced to an additional six years in prison for one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor under 13 for inappropriately touching a female student in his second grade class at Fairview Elementary during the 2006-07 school year. In Miami, Albuquerque MMA fighters batted .500 Friday on Eagle FC 46. In the nights main event, Diego Sanchez (30-14) lost by unanimous decision to Detroits Kevin Lee (19-7). All three judges scored it a shutout, 30-27 for Lee. The fight was contested at the 165-pound super lightweight limit. Afterward, Sanchez,a 40-year-old who has lost four of his last five fights, said he has two fights remaining on his Eagle FC contract and intends to fulfill his obligation. Lee, meanwhile, said hed injured his knee during the first round and was headed to a hospital. Though Sanchez didnt win a round on any of the official scorecards, the post-fight consensus appeared to be that hed exceeded expectations and generally performed well. Among those praising his effort was the promoter, former UFC light heavyweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Im very impressed with 40 YO Diego Sanchez, Nurmagomedov posted on social media. Never give up thank you legend for joining @Eaglefightclub this is honor for us! Earlier, Albuquerque bantamweight Ray Borg (16-5) defeated Florida-based Ricky Bandejas (15-7) by split decision. Two judges saw it 29-28 for Borg, one for Bandejas by the same score. Borg was fighting for the second time in six weeks, having made his Eagle FC debut with a victory by unanimous decision over Cody Gibson on Jan. 28. Before Fridays fight, Borg said he was eager to return to action as soon as possible, perhaps on the next Eagle FC card. That could be problematic, given whats happening in Europe, since that next Eagle FC card is scheduled for April 1 in Sochi, Russia. A better option might be Eagle FC 48, scheduled for May 20 in Miami. Nurmagomedov, who is originally from Dagestan, was honored by Russian President Vladimir Putin after Nurmagomedov won the UFC title in 2018. As of this writing, Nurmagomedov has had no comment on Russias now 15-day-old invasion of Ukraine. COOPER WINS: In Orlando, Fla., Jackson-Wink featherweight Edwin Cooper Jr. (7-1) defeated Michigans Troy Lamson (13-5) by unanimous decision at Professional Fighters League Challenger Series 4. The scores were 29-28, 29-28 and 29-27. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Two Czech Republic Army officers, in full uniform and accompanied by their wives, arrived at 96-year-old Jim Duncans retirement community apartment here this week, bringing with them flowers, gifts and a medal. This medal is only for heroes like you, said Col. Jindrich Hacker, defense, military and air attache at the Czech Republics embassy in Washington, D.C. Thank you for liberating us. The medal, awarded by the Czech Republics minister of defense, recognizes Duncan for his role, as a member of the U.S. Armys 2nd Infantry Division during World War II, in liberating Czechoslovakia from the Germans in May 1945. Hacker was accompanied by his wife, Pavla; Maj. Jan Pekar, assistant military and air attache at the Czech Republic embassy; and Pekars wife, Jana. They traveled by plane from Washington to Baltimore to Atlanta to Albuquerque and by car from Albuquerque to Santa Fe to arrive at Duncans apartment Monday afternoon. Duncan thanked his guests for taking the trouble to bring the medal to him. To come here was easy, Hacker said. It was much harder for you to go to Czechoslovakia. The 2nd Infantry Division had captured Leipzig, Germany, during fierce fighting in April 1945. Then the division got orders to go to Czechoslovakia and battled its way into that country on May 4, liberating the town of Pilsen shortly afterwards. Pilsen is known for its Pilsner Urquell Brewery, so one of the gifts Duncans visitors brought him was a bottle of Urquell beer. They also gave him a bottle of herbal bitters produced in the Czech Republic. Duncan was living in Kalamazoo, Michigan, when he joined the Army in June 1943, shortly after his 18th birthday. He was involved in heavy fighting during World War II and received two Purple Hearts for injuries sustained during his service. Ukrainians look for heroes like you, Hacker told Duncan, referring to Ukraines war with invading Russian military forces. Hacker said 100,000 Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have sought refuge from the fighting in the Czech Republic. Duncan came out of the war as a tech sergeant, but later joined the Army Reserve and attained the rank of second lieutenant. After 35 years in the banking business in Michigan, Duncan retired to Santa Fe, a city his family had been visiting since the 1970s. A widower, he is the father of seven children. Two of his sons, John, 73, and Tom, 59, were with him Monday when he received his medal from the Czech Republic. Since the early 1990s, Pilsen has been marking its World War II liberation day with a public celebration in early May. Duncan has attended 13 of those celebrations. Col. Hacker said the plan had been to present the medal to Duncan and others who participated in the liberation of the city at the Pilsen liberation celebration in May 2020, the 75th anniversary of end of World War II in Europe. But the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancelation of the 2020 and the 2021 Pilsen observances. Hacker said it was decided to send the medals to the United States. He said about 20 medals, such as the one received by Duncan, have been or will be presented to persons who live in Maryland, Connecticut, Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Tennessee, California and Oregon. On this trip, Hacker and his party will travel to Fresno, California, and Portland, Oregon, to award medals before returning to Washington, D.C. If you live long enough, you become a hero, Duncan said. I was not a hero. I did my duty and maybe a little more. Whats behind all this is my age. I am very happy to still be here for this to happen to me and to have two of my sons here with me to see it. Tom Duncan said he thinks many people have a different view of his father than his father has of himself. I bet you would not find one person over 30 in the Czech Republic who would not think he is a hero, Tom said. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal As New Mexico enters its third year of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the state Department of Health will be relying less on daily new case counts and more on hospitalization data to gauge the grip of the virus that has killed more than 7,000 New Mexicans. A state update Friday on the second anniversary of New Mexicos first recorded COVID-19 outbreak offered reassuring news of the recent lull in the spread of the virus. Friday, for instance, marked the expiration of months-long crisis of care standards designed to potentially deal with rationing virus treatment in overwhelmed New Mexico hospitals. Daily case counts have plummeted from more than 6,000 new cases reported one day in mid-January, during the wave of the more contagious omicron variant, to less than 400 a day this week. On Friday the state reported just 264 new cases. Whether the states case counts reflect the true number of people who have tested positive for the virus is an issue given the advent of rapid-at home testing and the federal governments direct mailing in recent months of free test kits to households who request them. This week Medicare offered to send out another four test kits to homes for free, in addition to its earlier mailing of four tests per household. Dr. David Scrase, acting state health department secretary, said Friday the state expects up to 90 percent of all COVID-19 testing will be done, not at test sites, but through at-home tests in the future. He said the state still expects people testing positive to report those results to the DOH either online or by phone. Asked how accurate the current case counts are given the rise in at-home testing, Scrase said, I think the data is less complete. Certainly were not getting people trying to report negative tests to us. We know for sure that were going to miss some positive cases. He said the DOH isnt including self-reports in its overall positive case counts, but will include a separate total of those types of positive results in its public reporting. The DOH must abide by the Centers for Disease Control case definition and only count tests results provided by laboratories in its overall case totals, Scrase said. Some at-home tests offer results in 15 minutes. As the approach to combating COVID-19 evolves, Scrase said the state will no longer be reporting test positivity rates, which had once been a determining metric in deciding health restrictions, such as whether businesses in each of the states 33 counties remained opened or had to close or restrict capacity. What weve learned is that the cases themselves are nowhere near as important as hospitalizations, Scrase said. The public can still access DOH data to compute test positivity rates, which are the number of new positive cases divided by the number of tests. The agency will also publish county-level COVID data every week. We do have a Department of Health to run and theres a whole bunch of other issues to deal with related to the health of New Mexicans so were going to be moving away from very intensive press releases that literally took 80 human hours a day, he said. He said a more automated reporting system is on the way. Scrase on Friday reminded the public of the hard work of first responders, medical workers and others who came to the aid of COVID-19 patients over the past two years some of those workers losing their lives to the virus. Scrase, who is still running the state Human Services Department in addition to the DOH, recalled that at the very beginning of the pandemic two years ago, I saw what was happening in Wuhan, China, it was very clear it was coming to America and New Mexico and I remember looking around and realizing I was the only doctor on the (governors) Cabinet and thinking how on earth are we going to be able to fight this? He credited Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for pushing health officials to set up data systems that provided detailed information to the public and really made us one of the best if not the best data reporting states in the country and we will continue to provide that data as we go forward. Scrase said the state is relying on effective new treatments to keep future COVID-19 patients from requiring hospitalizations and said health officials in New Mexico will be watching for worldwide trends in how the virus will manifest itself. Often times we see these waves (of COVID variants) elsewhere in the world first. We often know like we did before March 11, 2020, whats coming. And well be fully prepared. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal Earl Weston knows the isolation of being in prison and how important a magazine, or a letter from a friend or family member can be. He served 27 years in New Mexico prisons for a murder conviction. Since his release in 2014, he has befriended a number of people still serving time behind bars. As of Feb. 1, corresponding with his incarcerated friends has become more challenging. The New Mexico Corrections Department, in an attempt to intercept drugs hidden in mail, now provides inmates with photocopies of letters rather than the originals which they never see and are ultimately destroyed, said Corrections Department spokesman Eric Harrison. Inmates also no longer receive packages, magazines, personal checks or cash. Harrison said inmates had been receiving personal letters with the paper and envelopes sprayed with any number of drugs, including spice, fentanyl and Suboxone, a narcotic often used in the treatment of opioid addiction. The inmates would chew or swallow pieces of the paper to ingest the drugs. Weston said he became aware of the mail procedure change while corresponding with Michael Clark, an inmate at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Las Cruces. Weston said Clark and other inmates criticized the change, and he questioned why all inmates should be penalized for the actions of a few. Under the old system, corrections officers opened inmate mail to look for contraband; any cash or money orders in those envelopes was removed and credited to the inmates prison account before the correspondence was passed on to the individuals. The biggest problem, said Weston, was sometimes mail would get a little slow or backed up if a corrections officer assigned to the mail room was on vacation or out sick. The new procedure requires that mail for inmates at the eight state Corrections Department-run prisons must be addressed to the digital mail center of Securus Technologies in Tampa, Florida, a prisons communications company. Securus opens and screens the mail, and scans it into a computer system. From there, it is made available to each of the prisons, which download the files and print out photocopies of the correspondence for the inmates. The originals sent to Securus in Florida are subsequently destroyed, Harrison said. Packages, as well as letters containing cash and personal checks, are returned to the sender. Inmate mail that continues to be received at the prisons is likewise returned to the sender. The exception is privileged mail, such as documents from a lawyer, judge or the courts. These can be sent directly to a prison, where they are opened in the presence of the inmate and, after being screened for contraband, are turned over to that person, Harrison said. The prisons will also accept cashiers checks and money orders to place in inmate accounts. The two privately run prisons in Lea and Otero counties continue to receive mail at their facilities and have not signed on with Securus, Harrison said. Weston, who now lives in California and owns a commercial trucking business, said drugs will always be a problem in prisons because theres a huge demand and theres money to be made. However, he expressed doubt that drug-laced paper was the primary avenue by which inmates obtain illegal substances. Weston also questioned why is a business in Florida getting money to operate a prison mail system, instead of a New Mexico company? Harrison said he was unaware of any other businesses in New Mexico that provide this type of mail service and because Securus was already operating the state prisons phone system, it made sense to just expand its services. The cost to the Corrections Department for the Securus mail system is $3.50 per inmate, per month, regardless of the amount of mail individual inmates receive, Harrison said. With about 3,800 inmates currently at the eight state-run facilities, that comes out to $13,300 a month, or just under $160,000 a year. Harrison said he didnt know what the cost had been in the past to process prison mail, but Corrections officers had to be pulled from their regular duties to open and screen mail, which was time-consuming. While its too early to know if the new mail system will prove cost-effective or efficient at reducing contraband, he said the reality is that inmates on drugs are a safety threat to themselves and Corrections officers. Harrison said he did not know how many cases there were of inmates extracting drugs from laced correspondences, only that it occurred regularly. There were a number of incidents where individuals had to be administered Narcan (to counteract drug overdoses) and they later confessed that they had received the drugs through the mail, Harrison said. Inmate Michael Clark said in a telephone interview with the Journal that he was particularly irritated because inmates no longer get magazines, including educational and faith-based publications or newspapers items that Securus does not scan and upload. Securus did not respond to calls or an email sent by the Journal seeking comment. That stuff comes straight from the publishers, from churches, religious groups or educational companies. Theyre not gonna put drugs inside that stuff, said Clark, who was convicted of a 1991 murder in Chaves County and sentenced to life in prison plus 24 years. Ive got 12 more years till I even hit a parole board, he said, adding, thats a long time to go with limited mail availability. I dont like it. Nobody likes it, nobodys happy with it. Its just frustrating, said Clark, who said he voiced his concerns in letters to the governor and the secretary of Corrections, and is still waiting for a response. Clark said he also filed a formal grievance through the normal in-house prison channels. I was told I was out of time, that I was supposed to have filed it within 10 days of the issue. Ten days from when? Its an ongoing issue. According to Harrison, prison officials are reviewing the new procedure with respect to magazines and other material that is mailed directly from publishers. It is possible, he said, that these may eventually be made available to inmates, or access could be provided through prison libraries. The whole thing seems a bit misguided, said Clark. I know stopping our mail has not stopped the drugs. I can tell you that much. Dear J.T. & Dale: My co-worker has been working from home a lot. The company has given us that option as a result of the pandemic. They told us they dont want to lose anyone. My boss is not happy about this, as she prefers those in her department be in the office. The other day, she made a comment that she is thinking about making staff cuts and that it seems like my co-worker would probably welcome the layoff. I was shocked she said this in front of me. I know for a fact my co-worker needs this job and would be crushed. Should I call and tell her? Kylie J.T.: No. You would be betraying your bosss trust. And your co-worker will likely say something to the boss and that will put you in the middle. If your co-worker cant pick up on the fact that your boss isnt happy, you cant control that. If anything, you could go to your boss and say you were concerned about her comment because you know your co-worker cares deeply for her job. That way you could suggest that maybe the two of them should have a conversation about it. Those two need to work things out. DALE: It seems as though you care about your co-worker, and thus, I think you do have an obligation to get involved, a friends duty. Even so, J.T. makes a good point about violating your bosss trust. However, that may just be what your boss had in mind Im thinking that she was hoping that youd say something to your co-worker. Is that weaselly management? Probably. But your manager is stuck between the corporate policy and her own methods. So heres what Id suggest: Go to your boss and, as J.T. suggested, say that you know your co-worker needs the job; then, ask your boss if she would like you to talk to your co-worker. Then youll know. Im guessing that youll be doing both of them a favor. Dear J.T. & Dale: Ive been out of the workforce for 10 years raising children. Now I want to go back to work, and it seems like with such high demand for employees that I should be able to break in. But Ive sent out lots of applications, and nobodys responding to me. Is it really that bad that I havent worked in so long? Caroline DALE: First, we hear some version of your sentiment all the time, that Ive sent out lots of applications, and nobodys responding. The thing is, we routinely hear it from folks who have not been out of the workforce. When youre sending in your application, youre throwing it onto a giant digital pile of applications, and a recruiter (or probably a piece of software) is selecting perfect candidates, ones with exact qualifications. So the challenge is getting out of that pile. J.T.: And even if you do, it can be hard for employers to imagine that youd be able to jump right back into things after a decade out of the workplace. Thats why I would encourage you to reach out to your local temporary agencies. They have the ability to send you out on assignments without having to interview with a company. Its a great way for someone like you to get back into the workforce and prove yourself. Once you have a few assignments under your belt, you have something new to put on your resume and will probably see a better response rate. Also, some of these companies that you work for on a temporary basis may see your work ethic and want to hire you full-time. The other option is to see if you can network your way into a job. Let friends and family know that youre looking. You may have to take something a bit below where you were previously, but it wont take you long to get back to where you were. The key is to just get working again so that people can see the gap has closed. Jeanine J.T. Tanner ODonnell is a career coach and the founder of the leading career site www.workitdaily.com. Dale Dauten is founder of The Innovators Lab and author of a novel about H.R., The Weary Optimist. Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via email, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803. (c) 2022 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. CONCORD, N.H. Growing suspicion about the security of voting systems has kindled a back-to-the future moment among conservatives in some parts of the U.S. Republican lawmakers in at least six states have introduced legislation that would require all election ballots to be counted by hand instead of electronic tabulators. Similar proposals have been floated within some local governments, including about a dozen New Hampshire towns and Washoe County in the presidential battleground state of Nevada. The push for hand-counting ballots comes amid mistrust of elections among many Republicans who believe the false narrative that widespread fraud cost former President Donald Trump reelection in the 2020 presidential contest. Despite no evidence of widespread fraud or major irregularities, conspiracy theories have proliferated among his allies that voting systems were somehow manipulated to favor Democrat Joe Biden. That has prompted calls to ban electronic tabulators used to scan ballots, record votes and compile race tallies. Its our responsibility, and it should be our desire, to count every vote and to imbue confidence in our citizenry that our elections are fair and free, and that their vote is being counted, said New Hampshire state Rep. Mark Alliegro, sponsor of a hand-counting bill that is similar to ones proposed in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Washington and West Virginia. Alliegro said he was motivated by his analysis of recounts in nearly 50 New Hampshire state legislative races, not by the 2020 presidential election. But some of the bills supporters reference the 2020 election to explain why they feel his hand-count legislation is needed. They cite a belief that Trump actually won a landslide victory and that cheating is the only way to explain how New Hampshire voters elected a Republican governor and GOP majorities in the Legislature, but then backed Democrats for federal office. Critics of the proposals to ditch electronic ballot tabulators and return to hand-counting are blunt about what they see as the motivation. Its coming from conspiracy theories and lies, said Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for Common Cause, a nonpartisan group that advocates for expanded voter access. Its attempting to lower peoples confidence in elections. Albert and others said its unrealistic to think election officials can count millions of ballots by hand and report results quickly, given that ballots often include dozens of races. The partisan review last summer of the 2 million ballots cast in Maricopa County, Arizona, which included a hand count, took several months and hundreds of people to complete. If you have a jurisdiction with 500 voters, you might be OK. But if you have a jurisdiction with thousands of voters, tens of thousands of voters, hundreds of thousands of voters, its just not going to work, said Jennifer Morrell, a former elections clerk in Colorado and Utah who now advises state and local election officials. Even in New Hampshires small towns, hand-counting is a complicated, lengthy process when a typical ballot might include 50 questions, said Milford Town Clerk Joan Dargie, who spoke against the proposed legislation on behalf of the New Hampshire City and Town Clerks Association. She estimates her town would have to increase its number of election workers from 200 to 350, and said many of her fellow clerks have said they will quit if they have to tabulate every ballot by hand. People who are asking to get rid of machines obviously havent worked in an election, she said. As one example, Cobb County, Georgia, performed a hand tally ordered by the state after the 2020 election. It took hundreds of people five days to count just the votes for president on roughly 397,000 ballots, said Janine Eveler, elections director for the county in metro Atlanta. She estimates it would have taken 100 days to count every race on each ballot using the same procedures. Counting by machine isnt just faster. Multiple studies have shown its also more accurate, said Charles Stewart, professor of political science at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The first research on the topic was done almost two decades ago comparing recounts of New Hampshire races that were originally tabulated by hand to those tabulated by machines. In that study and subsequent research, the machines won, he said. Counting votes is very tedious. Human beings are bad doing tedious things, and computers are very good at doing tedious things, Stewart said. Most states also conduct post-election audits that are designed to identify any irregularities with ballot scanning and counting. But with many Republicans believing Biden was not legitimately elected, election machines have become a popular target. In Nevada, a Republican county commissioner is pushing a proposal that would require hand-counting of all ballots, along with a return to primarily in-person voting and beefing up uniformed security at polling places. Im 82 years old and Ive been through a lot of elections, said Washoe County Commissioner Jeanne Herman. I know that something is not right. The proposal has drawn opposition from other commissioners, the biggest labor union in the state and a rare front-page editorial in the largest newspaper in northern Nevada, which said the measure could cost taxpayers millions of dollars to chase down Facebook rumors of illusory election fraud. In West Virginia, a bill to repeal the state law governing tabulation machines died in committee earlier this month. In Missouri, lawmakers have not yet acted on a proposal that would ban electronic voting machines and tabulation equipment and require hand-counting to be livestreamed and recorded. The bills sponsor, Republican state Rep. Mitch Boggs Jr., said he has no proof elections have been manipulated but is responding to constituent concerns. You file what the constituents are asking for, Boggs said. But at the end of the day, what theyre really wanting is just the transparency. They want to know that our elections are secure. Republican state Rep. Petty McGaugh said the legislation would delay election results and likely undermine their accuracy. When she became clerk of rural Carroll County in 1995, election staff were still hand-counting ballots by marking tallies in blocks of five on paper. She noticed multiple errors and eventually switched the county to an electronic tabulation system. I dont really think that in this day and age we need to go back to hand-counting where its so susceptible to human error, she said. Weve got to start trusting electronics and computers. In New Hampshire, that message seems to have gotten through. This past week, a state House committee unanimously recommended killing the hand-counting legislation and voters in nine towns where the question was on the ballot in local elections rejected it. ___ Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri; Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada; and Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report. Its fitting that April 3 was my first day as CEO of New Mexico Mutual. The news reports then said that COVID-19 would start waning with increased vaccinations and continuing to wear masks. But shortly after April Fools Day, the next COVID waves were upon us. First delta, then omicron. Pivot became the word of 2021, and New Mexico Mutual did that again and again and again. My first year was one full of lessons, teamwork, communication and breakthroughs. Here are some of the lessons I learned: Hybrid work is here to stay. Weve all heard it. After various trials, weve landed on a program that is working. Prior to COVID, we offered an optional 9-80 schedule, where employees could work 80 hours during a two-week period over nine days and have every other Friday off. Then, when COVID hit, we went fully remote to keep our employees safe, and followed the state guidelines and restrictions. We found that our employees appreciated the flexibility of remote work, so we implemented a hybrid work policy. It has been a huge success. People love it. My takeaway? Be flexible. Provide options for team members. While hybrid work is great, the one downside is not being able to have the spontaneous conversations that happen in the break room, walking down the hall, or leaving for lunch. It doesnt happen as much when half of the workforce is working from home. What weve done to counter that is create new celebrations. Weve started celebrating 1-, 3-, 7-, 13-, 20- and 25-year work anniversaries. Employees are recognized with communications placed around the office and near workstations with the months anniversaries. Small celebrations happen within each department and employees have really gone out of their way to congratulate one another. The employee celebrating an anniversary gets a card with the year celebrated and a sweet treat from our HR department. We learned to be creative with celebrations. Reach out to your employees and come up with unique ways to keep everyone engaged. Another program weve instituted to keep people engaged with one another is 8 hours per year of paid time off to participate in community service. New Mexico Mutual is very philanthropic, and we want to support our employees in making a difference, as well. Weve encouraged team members to find projects they can do together. Its worked well and has fostered deeper relationships among the teams. Along the lines of encouraging engagement, Ive also started a quarterly Coffee with Kellie meeting. Its a time where employees can submit questions, make suggestions and spend some quality time together. Its been really enlightening and engaging, and is one of my favorite meetings of the quarter. The last thing weve done, which is probably the most important, is focused on physical and mental well-being. The pandemic has been hard on everyone, especially employees with children at home. And, while working from home is easier in some ways, its more stressful, and many people have let their wellness practices slide. We have an on-site gym that all employees can use and, to make it safer, weve spread out the machines to allow for social distancing. Weve also added wellness and mental health workshops that are free for employees to participate in when it works best for them. Weve focused a lot of attention on this and encouraged everyone to take advantage of the resources we offer. We have programs on site and online so that we literally have something for everyone. The takeaway here is to focus on wellness and well-being. We have many resources in New Mexico to tap into. It has been a wonderful and rewarding first year as CEO. The lessons Ive learned have been invaluable and will be with me as we continue into post-pandemic life. The executives desk is a guest column providing advice, commentary or information about resources available to the business community in New Mexico. To submit a column for consideration, email gporter@abqjournal.com. I am reading American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, which is a biography of Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. This exceptionally written book provides insight into Oppenheimers life, and the background of how the bomb was conceived, designed and tested in the desert southeast of Socorro. While this is very interesting, I find the post-WWII period even more fascinating where Oppenheimer is trying to put the genie back in the bottle by lobbying the U.S. to engage the Soviet Union in discussions to limit the production of nuclear weapons, a stance which eventually led to the rescinding of his top-level security clearance. Oppenheimer fully realized that escalating the production of mass weapons of destruction was a threat not only to the U.S., but to worldwide humanity itself. The real possibility of a madman or rogue country using them to conduct war could destroy the world. Here we are, 70 years later, and we find that Oppenheimer was a sage. Russia has invaded Ukraine and put its nuclear armaments program on high alert, as a threat to the world not to interfere with its aggression. Thank God no nuclear bombs have been used in this war, but Russia is finding out that it is fighting a war on two fronts an economic and public relations war being waged by most of the world against it. Russian assets have been frozen by countries throughout the world. Russian oligarchs, many whom have made their riches in clandestine ways, are waking up to find their luxury apartments in Miami and their yachts in France seized as penalties for Russias attack on Ukraine. Participation by Russian athletes and teams in sporting events have been prohibited, and international sporting and other events in Russia have been moved or canceled. President Biden slapped a ban on Russian petroleum imports in the U.S. Even Russian-bred cats have been banned from competition outside of Russia. The U.S. trades very little with Russia, having exported $6.38 billion to that country and imported $29.69 billion from it in 2021. The most popular goods that the U.S. exports to Russia are aircraft, machinery, autos, medical products. Top U.S. imports from Russia include fuels, precious metals, rare minerals, fertilizers and chemicals. Total trade with Russia is miniscule, considering that in 2021, total U.S. global imports were $1.8 trillion and exports were $1.1 trillion. Stakes are higher for the European Union, which exported a89 billion (4.1% of total exports) to Russia and imported a158 billion (7.5% of total imports) in 2021. Approximately 62% of the EUs imports from Russia were in the energy sector, mainly petroleum. Russia is essentially a large fueling station. It doesnt make a lot of products that the world wants to buy. Restricting trade will hurt Russias economy going forward. However, restricting the ability of Russias government, banks, businesses and citizens to access assets in foreign bank accounts will hurt even more. The ruble has crashed upon the implementation of international sanctions against Russia. Its economy, which was anemic before the invasion, will experience even more pain, especially in the long run. Restricting the economic options that Russia has is paramount. The sanctions imposed against Russia are the most ever imposed against a country in the post-WWII period. This speaks to the near universal abhorrence against Russias behavior. It is doubtful that Russian President Vladimir Putin had any concept of the financial hurt that would befall his country after he invaded Ukraine. He probably thought that he would receive a gentle slap on the wrist, as he did when he invaded and annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014. However, this time the Ukrainian situation is different. Unlike the invasion of the Crimea, this time the Russian people will suffer. The run on banks is already occurring, as people are lining up to withdraw money and spend it before it loses even more value or it is inaccessible. Russias industrial base will experience delays and shutdowns, as the U.S., Japan, and other high-tech producers restrict the sale of semiconductors and other high-tech equipment to Russian companies. Because of his miscalculation of the worlds support for Ukraine, Putin now finds himself between a rock and a hard place. He cant easily withdraw from Ukraine with his tail between his legs. This humiliation could very likely lead to his deposition and a different direction in terms of Russian leadership. However, with the strict sanctions gradually tightening around his neck, how long will Russian citizens endure the position in which he has put them? Experts are stating that Russias invasion of Ukraine represents a new direction in the world, and possibly a new world order, which reestablishes a new Cold War in which Russia exercises absolute control over its neighbors. No matter how the war that Russia started ends, I do believe that a new world order has been established that includes Russia being firmly established as a pariah, which only a select number of countries will trade and do business with in the future. Jerry Pacheco is the executive director of the International Business Accelerator, a nonprofit trade counseling program of the New Mexico Small Business Development Centers Network. He can be reached at 575-589-2200 or at jerry@nmiba.com. First in a series In 1791, the lawyer Gabriel Duvall filed a lawsuit in Maryland court on behalf of Edward Queen. The suit contended that Queens grandmother, Mary, had been born a free person. To the modern legal mind, that doesnt sound like the basis for a lawsuit. But it was high-stakes litigation because Edward and others of Mary Queens grandchildren were held in slavery. They contended that their grandmother had agreed to work for a term of years for a Maryland planter. But, when the planter died, his heirs wrongfully treated Mary and her children as hereditary slaves. Duvall was a first-rate attorney with experience in bringing freedom suits. That was a recognized legal specialty back then. In seeking to uncover evidence about the circumstances under which Mary Queen first came to Maryland, 70 years before, Duvall was confronted with the predictable problem that everyone with first-hand knowledge of events had died. Apparently, no written records could be located, either. So, he assembled the best evidence he could find, gathering written statements from witnesses who recalled what they had heard the old folks saying about how everyone knew Mary Queen had come to Maryland as a free person. The colloquial definition of hearsay repeating what someone else told you is incomplete, legally speaking, but it conveys the main point. All the evidence gathered by Duvall was hearsay. But no other evidence was available. As a matter of common sense, its always better to base important decisions on first-hand information rather than hearsay. The awkward way the legal system expresses that common-sense preference is to 1) establish a blanket rule against the admission of hearsay and then 2) recognize dozens of exceptions to the rule. By and large, the exceptions are common sense, too. For example, in the modern state and federal Rules of Evidence, an exception exists for reputation concerning personal or family history exactly the kind of evidence offered by Duvall on behalf of Edward Queen. Duvall won the case. Queen was declared a free man. Im drawing these details from an illuminating article by the lawyer and historian Andrew T. Fede. He recounts that various other Queen family members subsequently brought their own successful freedom suits, relying on the same hearsay evidence. One such lawsuit was filed in the District of Columbia by Francis Scott Key, the lawyer best remembered today for writing the words to our national anthem. He represented another grandchild, Mina Queen. (In the official case report, her first name is misspelled.) But, shockingly, Key lost in the U.S. Supreme Court. The fact that many of his clients relatives had previously been adjudicated free cut no ice with Chief Justice John Marshall. Marshall, writing for the courts majority, held that hearsay evidence should never be admitted in freedom suits because, otherwise, no man could feel safe in any property. The only dissent came from Justice Gabriel Duvall, who would have admitted the hearsay as the best evidence obtainable on a matter of utmost significance. Good for Justice Duvall. But why was he hearing a case that derived from a suit he himself had brought as an attorney in private practice? Under modern standards, he had an obvious conflict of interest and should have recused himself. But Chief Justice Marshall labored under a much more severe conflict of interest. His conflict was financial for he was a slave-owner, and not in a casual way. Summarizing extensive research in Atlantic Magazine, historian Paul Finkelman counted more than 300 people held in bondage by the chief justice. Marshall did not inherit enslaved people; he aggressively bought them whenever he could. Finkelman adds: As the chief justice of the United States, Marshall wrote the Supreme Courts opinion in seven cases involving claims of Black freedom. Each and every time, the Black people lost. Marshall had a direct pocketbook interest in making it as difficult as possible for the people he victimized to prove their legal right to freedom. By ruling against Mina Queen, he ruled in favor of himself. He acted unethically. But, at least he didnt violate any federal ethics laws, as far as I can tell. The current statute requiring federal judges to recuse themselves when they have a financial stake in a case dates only from 1948. Last September, the Wall Street Journal reported that scores of federal judges have broken that particular law in recent years. Some are repeat offenders. Scofflaws, one might even call them. In his 2021 year-end report on the federal judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts treated the revelation of judicial lawbreaking as a PR problem to be swept under the rug with a few vague promises. The next column will take a peek under that rug. Joel Jacobsen is an author who, in 2015, retired from a 29-year legal career. If there are topics you would like to see covered in future columns, please write him at legal.column.tips@gmail.com. WASHINGTON The State Department says its paying more than $2 million per month to provide 24-hour security to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a former top aide, both of whom face serious and credible threats from Iran. The department told Congress in a report that the cost of protecting Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian Hook between August 2021 and February 2022 amounted to $13.1 million. The report, dated Feb. 14 and marked sensitive but unclassified, was obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday. Pompeo and Hook led the Trump administrations maximum pressure campaign against Iran and the report says U.S. intelligence assesses that the threats to them have remained constant since they left government and could intensify. The threats have persisted even as President Joe Bidens administration has been engaged in indirect negotiations with Iran over a U.S. return to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. As a former secretary of state, Pompeo was automatically given 180 days of protection by the State Departments Bureau of Diplomatic Security after leaving office. But that protection has been repeatedly extended in 60-day increments by Secretary of State Antony Blinken due to a serious and credible threat from a foreign power or agent of a foreign power arising from duties performed by former Secretary Pompeo while employed by the department, the report said. Hook, who along with Pompeo was often the public face of the Trump administrations imposition of crippling sanctions against Iran, was granted the special protection by Blinken for the same reason as Pompeo immediately after he left government service. That has also been repeatedly renewed in 60-day increments. The latest 60-day extensions will expire soon and the State Department, in conjunction with the Director of National Intelligence, must determine by March 16 if the protection should extended again, according to the report. The report was prepared because the special protection budget will run out in June and require a new infusion of money if extensions are deemed necessary. Current U.S. officials say the threats have been discusses in the nuclear talks in Vienna, where Iran is demanding the removal of all Trump-era sanctions. Those sanctions include a foreign terrorist organization designation of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that Pompeo and Hook were instrumental in approving. The Vienna talks had been expected to produce an agreement soon to salvage the nuclear agreement that President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from in 2018. But the talks have been thrown into doubt because of new demands made by Russia and a small number of unresolved U.S.-Iran issues, including the terrorism designation, according to U.S. officials. Guadalupe, Lincoln and Torrance counties are now collectively supporting the electricity needs of nearly 1 million people through a massive new wind farm and transmission line in central New Mexico. Pattern Energy officially dedicated its Western Spirit wind project in late February after more than a decade of development. The project includes four sprawling wind farms with a total of 377 turbines scattered throughout the three counties. Together, they can generate more than a gigawatt of electricity, which Pattern Energy will sell to utilities in California. Thats enough power to supply some 365,000 homes, or nearly a million people, said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham during the dedication ceremony on Feb. 24 in Corona, attended by public officials, and industry representatives from New Mexico and California. Thats the equivalent of nearly one half of New Mexicos total population, Lujan Grisham told participants. Were celebrating a monumental occasion, the governor said. It shows the success of our efforts to grow reliable, renewable power, and to partner with industry and other states to export the natural resources we have here in abundance. At 1,050 megawatts, Western Spirit is more than twice the size of Xcel Energys 522 MW Sagamore Wind Farm in Roosevelt County, until now the states largest wind facility. The project also includes the largest new transmission project built in New Mexico since the 1980s a 155-mile line that will carry electricity from Western Spirit turbines to a Public Service Company of New Mexico substation west of Albuquerque. From there, the power will flow to California markets through existing transmission infrastructure. That new transmission capacity could represent a turning point in building the states clean power industry, since its the first new major transmission line dedicated solely to transporting renewable energy from rural New Mexico to heavily populated urban areas, said Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM. Such dedicated lines are critical to opening up the states vast wind and solar potential. We have to have the transmission, Heinrich said. It allows central New Mexico to export power while creating local jobs. Indeed, more transmission development would open the gates to a lot more renewable development, starting with a massive expansion of Pattern Energys wind farm construction in and around Corona in Lincoln County. The company invested nearly $2 billion in its Western Spirit infrastructure. It had also spent about $1.6 billion previously on wind energy facilities near Clovis that today generate 550 MW of renewable generation for western states. Pattern now plans to build another 3,000 MW of wind power in the Corona region, more than doubling its investments, said company CEO Mike Garland. Weve already invested almost $4 billion in New Mexico to date, Garland said at the Western Spirit dedication. And we hope to invest another $6 billion in coming years. But those new commitments depend on construction of the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, a massive, 520-mile line that, if built, could carry up to 4.5 gigawatts of electricity from Central New Mexico to Arizona for sale in other states. Pattern would be the anchor tenant for the SunZia line, but that transmission project has been tied up for 15 years in permitting red tape. Likewise, the Western Spirit line took more than a decade to achieve all needed regulatory approvals and right-of-way agreements, reflecting the single biggest hurdle for Pattern and other clean energy companies to fully tap into New Mexicos immense wind and solar potential, said Fernando Martinez, executive director of the states Renewable Energy Transmission Authority. Slow regulatory process To further open the states gusty eastern plains which offer some of the best wind development capacity in the U.S. faster permitting for transmission infrastructure is critical, Martinez told the Journal. We need an enormous increase in transmission, Martinez said. We need thousands of miles of new lines in New Mexico, but it wont be built without a change in the permitting process. State and federal approvals need to be streamlined, Martinez said. Government agencies need clearly defined deadlines that span months rather than years to review issues, consider public input and resolve potential opposition to projects. They also need to scale up staffing and resources, with incentives to do things faster. Developers like Pattern know how to site, develop and finance projects, but building them boils down to permission to move forward, Martinez said. We dont want to cut corners we need to meet all state and federal laws and standards but streamlining the process is the only way to allow the massive development of renewable energy needed to meet climate goals. SunZia is advancing through the federal permitting process, with a draft environmental impact statement from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management expected this spring. But opposition from local communities and conservation groups concerned about SunZias impact on cultural sites and wildlife along the Rio Grande have bogged that process down in the past. And it remains to be seen how fast BLM proceedings will advance this time. If all goes well with the BLMs current timeline, we could see SunZia get approval to move forward late this year or in early 2023, Martinez said. That would allow the first phase of the SunZia project to come online by 2025. Unlike SunZia, which would cross a lot of federal land, Western Spirit straddles only private property and state lands, reducing the regulatory hurdles it faced. But even so, it took more than 10 years to get approval, and thats too long, said Gov. Lujan Grisham. New Mexico needs to accelerate the process and set an example for other places, she said. These kinds of projects can no longer take a decade, the governor told dedication participants. We can pave the way for the U.S. and the rest of the world, showcasing how to get things done. Huge benefits Apart from Pattern, more companies want to work with the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority to pursue transmission construction and wind development in New Mexico, Martinez said. Transmission developer Invenergy, for example, has signed a memorandum of understanding with RETA to build a New Mexico North Path transmission line to run from northeastern New Mexico to the Four Corners, potentially paving the way for another 4,000 megawatts of wind development on the states northeastern plains. For now, however, most attention is focused on Pattern Energy, whose current and future development plans could turn the Corona region into a wind energy mecca for New Mexico and the West. Corona will be the future of the states wind industry, Sen. Heinrich said. Its at the heart of New Mexicos wind leadership. With SunZia, if we can pull that off, we can have 4 gigawatts of wind generation there the equivalent of four nuclear power plants (of electric generation) coming out of New Mexico. Patterns projects are already generating substantial benefits for land owners, and local and state government. Property owners will earn $426 million in land-lease payments for the Western Spirit wind farms and transmission line over the life of those projects, according to Pattern. That includes $16 million for the State Land Office. In addition, local government and school districts in Guadalupe, Torrance and Lincoln counties will earn a combined $3 million per year in taxes, or $90 million over 30 years. The Western Spirit project alone will increase the budgets of those three counties by about 10%, Pattern CEO Mike Garland said. The yearlong transmission and wind farm construction employed 1,100 people, followed by 50 permanent positions now. And the new transmission line helps reinforce PNMs grid. The utility acquired the line for $285 million in December with no cost to PNM ratepayers, because Pattern will earn back its investment through credits when using the line. For PNM, it provides additional transmission capacity when Pattern isnt fully occupying the line, while also providing an alternative route to keep electricity flowing in case of a transmission outage elsewhere on the grid, said PNM spokesman Ray Sandoval. Western Spirit now accounts for one-fourth of the total 4,235 MW of wind-generating capacity currently installed throughout New Mexico at some two dozen facilities. In fact, the project boosted New Mexico to fifth place among all U.S. states in new renewable generation brought online last year, according to the American Clean Power Associations year-end national report, released in February. The new Route 66 Western Spirit has elevated New Mexicos position as a key renewable energy supplier for California and other western states. A small part of the wind energy will be used in New Mexico through Uniper North America, which will purchase up to 219,000 megawatt hours per year of electricity, enough to power about 20,000 homes, most of which to be sold to local customers. But the vast majority will flow to California utilities, including the city of San Jose, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. LADWP will receive 331 MW, or one-third of Western Spirit generation, accounting for 6% of that citys current renewable portfolio. Bringing this state-of-the-art facility online makes it our largest wind project to date providing clean energy for hundreds of thousands of Angelenos and bringing us one major step closer to becoming a city powered without fossil fuels, said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who attended the dedication. LADWP General Manager Martin Adams called it a fantastic marriage that directly connects Los Angeles with rural New Mexico. Its exporting energy west and importing jobs east, Adams told dedication participants. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-NM, suggested renaming Western Spirit the Route 66 of renewable energy. The old Route 66 took visitors to L.A., Leger Fernandez said. This new project will now take renewable energy to that city. NEW YORK Kara Trainor composed herself, looked into a camera and began to speak to the drugmakers she holds responsible for two decades of suffering that has extended from her to a son born dependent on opioids. Three members of the family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma watched silently or listened to the virtual court hearing as Trainor described giving birth to a baby who rapidly plunged into withdrawal the screaming will haunt you for the rest of your life and what its been like to raise him. At 11, he still uses a sippy cup and diapers. Trainor and others who have suffered from or lost relatives to opioid addiction had waited years for this moment: a direct, if virtual, confrontation with members of the Sackler family in court over the consequences of the painkiller that made them a fortune while helping fuel a deadly drug epidemic. The opportunity finally came for about two dozen victims or their relatives at an extraordinary bankruptcy court hearing Thursday. Some emerged exhausted, others angry, others relieved, and all unsure whether the Sacklers, who werent allowed to respond during the session, had been moved. Still, several people who gave statements said they valued being able to speak for their lost loved ones and show solidarity, and that they had gotten a grain of resolution. I can feel, as a mother, that my son was seen and heard by the family, said Trainor, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, who got an OxyContin prescription at 21 and soon became addicted. Shes now 40, in recovery and working with others who struggle with drug abuse. Its going to be part of my healing and part of a closure of 20 years, she said, finally being able to be heard. The hearing, highly unusual for U.S. Bankruptcy Court, was suggested by a mediator who helped broker a potential settlement of thousands of lawsuits against Purdue. If it wins final approval, the deal will generate $10 billion or more to fight addiction and overdoses, with the Sacklers chipping in as much as $6 billion in exchange for protection from civil lawsuits. Up to 149,000 people who have struggled with addiction or who lost loved ones to it are due to split $750 million under the settlement. One after another, victims logged in from Hawaii to New Hampshire on Thursday with accounts of surgeries and illnesses that led to OxyContin prescriptions, followed by dependency, despair, rounds of drug-abuse treatment, personal and financial ruin and, all too often, death by overdose or suicide. Vitaly Pinkusov described waking up to find his 32-year-old wifes body cold in their bed. Kristy Nelson played a recording of her frantic 911 call reporting that her son was unresponsive. Stephanie Lubinski recounted how her husband went into their basement and shot himself in the chest. Former Purdue president and board chairman Richard Sackler listened by phone, a sore point for some victims who found it disrespectful that he didnt face them. His son, David Sackler, and another family member, Theresa Sackler, appeared on camera, appearing attentive but showing little reaction. They just sat there, alone but stone-faced, and never changed their expression, never, a frustrated Lubinski of Blaine, Minnesota, said afterward. The Sacklers have never unequivocally apologized. They released a statement last week saying they had acted lawfully but regret that OxyContin unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities. OxyContin, a pioneering extended-release prescription painkiller, hit the market in 1996, while Purdue and other drug companies funded efforts to suggest that prescribers consider opioids for a wider range of pain conditions than previously thought appropriate. Purdue asserted that far fewer than 1% of people prescribed opioids developed addictions, though there werent rigorous studies to support the claim. Waves of fatal opioid overdoses followed, from prescription drugs, heroin, and most recently fentanyl and similar drugs. Purdue documents made public in lawsuits appear to show family members at times downplaying the crisis. Tiffinee Scott asked the Sacklers whether they had ever revived one of their children from an overdose, as she did for her daughter before finally losing her to an overdose at age 28. Tiarra Renee Brown-Lewis had been prescribed OxyContin for sickle cell disease pain, the mother said. Shame on you, she told the Sacklers, though she said later that she hadnt expected a reaction from people she sees as heartless. To her, the point of the session was the impact of the families unity and their joint message. For once, we felt to have a sense of power over privilege, as it pertains to the Sacklers, she said. After her 21-year-old son, Chris Yoder, died from an overdose, Dede Yoder used to swear at the Sacklers as she drove by Purdues headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, near her Norwalk home. Shes felt vindicated by the bankruptcy case and public scrutiny of the Sacklers. Being part of this court record is very important, and my sons story being part of the record, she said after making her statement during the hearing. Ryan Hampton of Las Vegas found a level of catharsis in testifying Thursday about the years of addiction, overdoses and periods of homelessness he endured after a knee injury. But it bothered him that victims and their relatives were delivering a message that, in his view, should come from authorities. Like several of those who testified, he wants the Sacklers to be criminally charged. Theres no sign that will happen, although seven U.S. senators last month asked the Department of Justice to consider it. Purdue Pharma, meanwhile, has twice pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Cheryl Juaire, meanwhile, is looking ahead to the potential for money to flow to addiction treatment programs and start to heal this country. Juaire, of Marlborough, Massachusetts, lost two adult sons, Corey Merrill and Sean Merrill, who died just last June. Jill Cichowicz, who lost her twin brother, Scott Zebrowski, hopes that Thursdays uncommonly personal hearing sets the tone for future companies, and they understand the ramifications of their actions. For a long time, she had thought about what she might say to the Sacklers if she ever got the chance. And then, when youre actually in the room facing them, eye-to-eye, youre not as angry. Youre hurt, said Cichowicz, of Richmond, Virginia. It was a sense of closure, but in the same sense, Im still suffering, being hurt by their actions. ___ Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Editors note: The Journal continues the once-a-month series From the Studio with Kathaleen Roberts, as she takes an up-close look at an artist. Julia Lambright spent 45 years waiting for her mother. Today she mines that loss through the glow of a golden yolk and brush, transforming it into art with egg tempera. Lambrights dream to become an artist gestated in her native Russia, where she spent most of her childhood in an orphanage. She designed Soviet New Years and May Day posters in the orphanage, winning multiple prizes. I met my Mom twice in my life, she said. She still has no idea why her mother abandoned her. A middle-aged piano teacher adopted her at 10, changing her name from Larissa to Julia. The pair moved from Moscow to the Republic of Georgia near the Black Sea. It would prove an unruly match. Longing to run away, Lambright was pregnant and married by 16. After her divorce, she took a cosmetology course. She worked as a makeup artist with photographers, stylists and models. Lambright met her second husband, a New Mexico engineer, on a job in Prague. They corresponded for three years and he proposed. She moved to Albuquerque nearly 20 years ago knowing very little English. In Russia, we say who doesnt take a risk doesnt drink champagne, Lambright said. I was a single mom for 10 years and I was ready for a change. Spiritually starved in a strange land, her thoughts turned to art. She signed up for classes at the old TVI, then earned a masters in fine arts degree at the University of New Mexico. She even flew back to Moscow to study traditional icon painting, writing her dissertation on the ancient art form. Artist Julia Lambright works on a pastel rendering. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Julia Lambright uses egg tempera in her paintings. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Russian-born Albuquerque artist Julia Lambright is a painter who sometimes uses Russian iconography in her work. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Prev 1 of 3 Next Today Lambright shows her work at Gallery Hozho in Albuquerques Hotel Chaco. Lambrights paintings blend her immersion in historic Russian iconography with the sweeping brushstrokes of abstract expressionism. She layers colors, textures and images in Symbolist-meets-Surrealist dreamscapes, creating a permanent record of impermanence. I thought, I cant speak very well yet, so I will speak visually, she said. Liana (2021) emerged from her Russian memories and dreams, entangled in symbolism. The two women bookending the little girl appear pregnant, balancing fruit baskets that transform into ships atop their heads. Lambright owns just one photo from her childhood; she stole it from an orphanage notice board. Her mother wrote, promising to visit. One letter said she would take me from the orphanage by the Caspian Sea with my sister, Lambright said. I think she actually was a cousin. This is from my imagination of having a sister. I would draw things for my Mom, hoping she would see them, she added. Lambright compares her paintings to puzzles, calling them figurative abstractions. I like to think of plotting imagery together, almost like a collage, she said. Blackhead Sheep (2020) contains multiple layers. The sheep balances on wheels, like a childs toy. Its alive and at the same time static from a dream I had vividly as a child, Lambright said. I was looking a this low horizontal line and there was a man and a woman and there was this sheep like an object of sacrifice. Sometimes I create things and I dont know the answers. "Albina," Julia Lambright, egg tempera on panel, 2021. (Courtesy of Gallery Hozho) "Liana," Julia Lambright, egg tempera on panel, 2021. (Courtesy of Gallery Hozho) "Blackhead Sheep," Julia Lambright, egg tempera on panel, 2020. (Courtesy of Gallery Hozho) Prev 1 of 3 Next Speaking of her painting Albina (2021) brought her to tears. Albina was an old friend in Ukraine who was bedridden because of a car accident. She died in June. The pandemic prevented Lambright from visiting as often as she wished. The yellow hues cascading from her body were inspired by Charlotte Perkins Gilmans story The Yellow Wall-Paper, about the deterioration of a womans mental health. We were friends for 25 years, Lambright said. We knew each other from my time in Moscow. Albina envisioned herself in a landscape and sunset. She sees possibilities and she cannot escape, Lambright said. She was very beautiful, like a model. Yellow symbolizes light and life and also aging and illness. For me, it was almost a healing medium. In contrast, the tangled trees and butterscotch light beams of her diptych Flourishing Night of Green Thoughts (2021) captures a jungle in the moonlight, redolent of jasmine blooms. Its not a strategic plan, Lambright said of her compositions. She sketches her work directly on her cotton canvas on panel. Sometimes it is dictated from above, she added. Purple Butterfly (2021) emerged during the pandemic lockdown, when all she could see were the plants growing inside her studio. So many people got depressed, but I was scared, Lambright said. I started thinking about today and now and not so much worrying about the past. The plants are a metaphor for my life. When she first flew into the Albuquerque International Sunport, she was shocked by the sight of the vast desert. She has since learned to love chile. What I like most about New Mexico is I loved when people were friendly to me, she said. I was very welcomed here. Consuelo Cordova said she didnt have much of a philosophy or planned approach to parenthood before becoming a mother. That didnt seem to matter much when it actually came time to do it. All nine of her children went on to successful careers and American Mothers recently named the 91-year-old Mother of the Year for New Mexico. American Mothers is a national non-profit organization that started in 1931, the same year Cordova was born. It began recognizing inspirational mothers in 1935. Im kind of surprised, she said in a phone interview. I guess they think Im pretty good. Cordova was born Consuelo Mirabal in Gallup on Feb. 13, 1931. She grew up in a big family, where she was the 10th of 11 children, but her mother died when she was only 7 years old. Cordova was one of three children still at home and the siblings were left to support one another while her father worked. This set the stage for a life of independence, according to her daughter Kathleen Cordova. Her mom died and she had brothers killed in the war, she said. She had a very disruptive life She really almost raised herself with a lot of stuff. Cordova graduated from Gallups Cathedral High School, which is no longer there, and earned a scholarship to the College of St. Joseph on the Rio Grande. It also no longer exists; the campus is now home to St. Pius X High School. She met fellow student Melvin Cordova there and he became her husband a few years later. After they married, Melvin Cordova started his life as an educator in mainly rural parts of New Mexico including Cuba, Pecos and El Rito. The two began to grow their family and Cordova put her education on hold. But it wasnt forever. At 41, she decided it was time to return to school. The family was living in Cuba at the time and she enrolled at the University of New Mexico. She decided to go back to school and drove 86 miles to Albuquerque, Kathleen Cordova said. There were five of us in college at the time, including my mom. She earned a degree in elementary education and began teaching remedial reading. She didnt stop there. More than a decade later, she returned to get her masters degree in counseling. She and her husband made their final move to Los Lunas, where they both retired. Shortly after, the two began traveling in earnest. The first year, they completed their goal of visiting all 50 states, which was Consuelos idea. She said the two pulled out a map to figure out where they hadnt been and then started planning. They also traveled internationally to many places including Spain, China, Mexico and Russia. It was a really nice time, she said. Melvin Cordova passed away in 2020, 69 years after the couple took their vows. Their children are now spread across the country, all having built successful careers, including a dentist, pharmacist, chemical engineer and accountant. My parents were very good role models, Kathleen Cordova said. They both worked together so well as a team. My mom never said you cant do something. Shes the type of person who was successful in whatever she did. When asked if she had a philosophy on parenting, Consuelo Cordova said she never put much thought into it. We just did what we had to do, she said. They (her children) are all very independent. We let them fly naturally and led by example, I guess. They also had a very patient father. Consuelo Cordova may not have taken a calculated approach to parenting, but she did have some advice. The children need to be confident in their own selves and their family, she said. I would tell mine Dont say I cant. Just try it and see. The subtitle of the book Totally Pizza is The Wild Story of the Worlds Most Famous Food. It leads the reader to believe theres just one long, wild story in its pages. Not so. The author, Mark Masker, acknowledged he was being modest in using the singular. It being my first book, I didnt want to make big claims, the veteran magazine writer/blogger said in a phone interview from his home in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Inside are many wild stories of culinary history and anecdotes, trivia and pop quizzes served in bite-sized portions. Maskers humorous writing style helps makes the book appealing. The funnies start in the preface. Masker tells about his own pizza addiction, starting in the 1970s when his parents fed him frozen pizza: It was win-win for everybody. I liked it because pizza shut me up quickly when I was hungry, and my folks liked it because it shut me up quickly when I was hungry. Next is the introduction (Mom, where do pizzas come from?) which addresses two of three basic ingredients of pizza cheese and sauce. Bread comes later. Masker writes that mozzarella, provolone, cheddar and Parmesan are the most popular pizza cheeses. Often-added toppings are Emmental, Romano or ricotta cheese. Other processed cheeses are used for mass producing pizza. Pause a moment. Heres part one of a two-part quiz. True or false; some estimates state that only 40% of all pizza cheese in the United States is actual mozzarella cheese. Answer: False. Its 30%. Back to the narrative. Masker claims tomato sauce is the unifying element of any pizza, though true Neopolitan-style pizza sauce is marinara, with herbs, garlic and onion. He says that to a Neopolitan (someone from Naples), you use San Marzano, the queen of tomatoes. The intro jumps to the subject of meat, specifically pepperoni, with the authors welcome, funny commentary. Masker says pepperoni is the most traditional of pizza meats, with its distinct molten reddish grease and little spicy kick. Oh, how I love you. I just wish youd drop the act and stop letting everyone think you come from Italy. Most likely, he speculates, pepperoni was invented by Italian immigrants in the United States in the early 20th century. Masker alleges the word pizza came into use in the year 997 A.D. but it wasnt until centuries later that the so-called modern pizza was born in Naples. Considered a staple for Naples poor, it was topped with salt, lard, garlic and maybe pepper. Masker mentions several venerable 18th century Neopolitan pizzerias. One of them, Pizzeria Brandi, created three different pizzas for Queen Margherita and King Umberto of Savoy in the late 19th century, Masker writes. The queen favored the pizza with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, representing the tricolored Italian flag, he adds. To this day its called a Margherita pizza. The book considers regional categories of American Pie foldable New York slices, deep-dish Chicago pies and Californias gourmet pizzas. The section Franchise Pizza zeros in on the histories of Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa Johns, Chuck E. Cheese and store-bought frozen and kit pizza. Theres a hefty chapter in yet another section, titled Extra Cheese. In part, it discusses the involvement of organized crime in illicit pizza ingredient enterprises, with some pizza parlors in the Northeast and Midwest as fronts for the mobs drug operations. The book moves on from the mob to look at the rise of gourmet and artisan pizza, and at international perspectives of the pie. In the final chapter, Pizza in Pop Culture, Masker mentions pizza referenced in the movies. Two 1989 films are Mystic Pizza, set in a Northeast pizzeria known for its special sauce starring Julia Roberts, and Spike Lees film Do the Right Thing, in which Lees character delivered pizza. The author lastly brings up a batch of Pizza Quotes, what some have said, or sang, about the dish. Notable is crooner Dean Martin, of Rat Pack fame, who popularized the song Thats Amore. It has this rhyming silliness, When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, thats amore. Ciao. n n Totally Pizza is the debut publication of Sunbelt Editions, the imprint of Albuquerque-based Sunbelt Shows Inc., a producer of trade/consumer shows. Author/food historian Dave DeWitt is Sunbelts publisher. Masker is associate publisher. Copies of the book are available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. WENN/Joseph Marzullo Celebrity Meanwhile, the disgraced actor's attorney has filed an official notice they will seek an appeal and filed an emergency injunction seeking his release during the appeal process. Mar 12, 2022 AceShowbiz - Jussie Smollett has begun his 150-day jail sentence in protective custody at Cook County Jail after he declared that he is "not suicidal." Judge James Linn says the actor and his team requested the protection as soon as he was taken into custody following Thursday's (March 10) sentencing. This means Smollett will be "housed in his own cell, which is monitored by security cameras in the cell and by an officers wearing a body camera who is stationed at the entrance of the cell to ensure Mr. Smollett is under direct observation at all times." A rep for the Cook Co. Sheriff's Office tells TMZ the disgraced actor will be able to have time outside of his cell in common areas, where he can watch TV and use the phone, but other inmates will not be in the common area at that time. "The safety and security of all detained individuals, including Mr. Smollett, is the Sheriff's Office's highest priority," the rep assures. Meanwhile, Smollett's legal team is making it clear that they are not going to accept the sentence without a fight. They filed an official notice they will seek an appeal on Friday. A spokesperson for the 39-year-old's attorney said late Friday his legal team has filed an emergency injunction seeking his release from jail during the appeal process. An appellate court judge ruled prosecutors have five days to respond to the emergency motion. In December 2021, Smollett was found guilty of five of the six counts of felony disorderly conduct pertaining to making four false police reports relating to his hate crime hoax. On Thursday, Judge Linn handed down an overall sentence of 30 months probation, $120,106 in restitution to the Windy City, and a further $25,000 fine. He also ruled that Smollett will spend the first 150 days of his probation in the Cook County Jail. Upon learning of his sentence, the former "Empire" star went off on the judge, maintaining his innocence and declaring his concern for his own safety. "I am not suicidal. I am innocent," he yelled, pulling off his mask just as deputies prepared to take him to the Cook County Jail. "If I did this then it means I stuck my fist in the fears of black Americans in this country of over 400 years in this country and the years of the LGBT community," he continued. "if anything happens to me when I'm in there, I did not do it to myself and you must all know that. I respect you your honor and your decision." His mug shot was released after he was taken into custody. Instagram Celebrity Filed in Florida, the lawsuit alleges that the Laundrie family helped their late son Brian cover up the murder of the YouTube personality back in September 2021. Mar 12, 2022 AceShowbiz - Gabby Petito's parents filed a civil lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents. In the Thursday, March 10 lawsuit, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt accuse Christopher and Roberta Laundrie of helping their son hide the murder of their daughter. Filed in Florida, the lawsuit alleges that the Laundries helped their son Brian cover up the murder of Gabby. The Petito family additionally claims in the suit that the Laundries hid Brian's location after he went missing in September. "While Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt were desperately searching for information concerning their daughter, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie were keeping the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie secret," the lawsuit states. Gabby's family also believed that they were "making arrangements for him to leave the country." In their complaint, Gabby's parents accuse Christopher and Roberta of knowing about their daughter's death for almost a month before her remains were discovered. "On or about August 28, 2021, Brian Laundrie advised his parents, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie, that he had murdered Gabrielle Petito," it claims. Through the lawsuit, Joseph and Nichole are seeking "compensation for the damages they have suffered" as well as additional relief. Back in September 2021, Gabby's missing case caught national attention. She was reported missing during a cross-country road trip with fiance Brian before her remains were discovered at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping area in Wyoming. Brian was named a person of interest in the case. Brian, meanwhile, was missing himself after returning home solo from the trip. Days later, authorities found his body in an area previously underwater in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park. According to The Medical Examiner's Office, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Also discovered near his body were his belongings, including a notebook. FBI revealed that Brian admitted to be responsible for Gabby's death. Celebrity Aside from pausing political donations in Florida, Bob Chapek promises that the company will be 'increasing' support for advocacy groups to 'combat similar legislation in other states.' Mar 12, 2022 AceShowbiz - Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek has announced that the company will pause political donations to Florida. The decision came after he apologized for being silent amid "Don't Say Gay" bill, which prohibits discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in primary school classrooms. On Friday, March 11, Bob wrote in a memo, "Today, we are pausing all political donations in the state of Florida pending this review." He added, "Speaking to you, reading your messages, and meeting with you have helped me better understand how painful our silence was. It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights." Bob also thanked those "who have reached out to [him] sharing [their] pain, frustration and sadness over the company's response to the Florida 'Don't Say Gay' bill." He continued, "You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights and I let you down. I am sorry." Bob then praised Disney employees in his note for "see(ing) the power of this great company as an opportunity to do good." He stated, "I agree. Yes, we need to use our influence to promote that good by telling inclusive stories, but also by standing up for the rights of all." "Starting immediately," said the CEO, Disney is "increasing [their] support for advocacy groups to combat similar legislation in other states." He went on noting, "We are hard at work creating a new framework for our political giving that will ensure our advocacy better reflects our values." Bob also said he knows "there is so much more work to be done," but promised he is "committed to this work and to you all, and will continue to engage with the LGBTQ+ community so that I can become a better ally." He then vowed, "You will hear more about our progress in the coming weeks." "I truly believe we are an infinitely better and stronger company because of our LGBTQ+ community," Bob shared. "I missed the mark in this case but am an ally you can count on and I will be an outspoken champion for the protections, visibility, and opportunity you deserve." At Disney's shareholder meeting on Wednesday, Bob said that while the company had opposed the bill "from the outset," it decided not to release any public statements because it would be more effective advocating behind the scenes. He added at the time, "We were hoping that our longstanding relationships with those lawmakers would enable us to achieve a better outcome. But, despite weeks of effort, we were ultimately unsuccessful." Disney has faced public scrutiny as it had donated to many of the bill's sponsors. The company has also been accused of removing gay content from Pixar films, according to letter from employees. "We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were," the letter read. "Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney's behest, regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar." It continued, "Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it. Beyond the 'inspiring content' that we aren't even allowed to create, we require action." The note then urged Disney leadership to "immediately withdraw all financial support from the legislators behind the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, to fully denounce this legislation publicly, and to make amends for their financial involvement." WENN/Judy Eddy Celebrity After the model asks the court to force the social media giant to hand over alleged communications between the social networking service and her ex, the company is asking a judge to shut down a subpoena her lawyer fired off. Mar 12, 2022 AceShowbiz - Twitter is turning down Blac Chyna's request for Rob Kardashian's records. The company believed that the model's request is "entirely devoid" of logic as she asked the court to force them to hand over alleged communications between the social media giant and her ex. In court documents obtained by Radar on Friday, March 11, Twitter asked a judge to shut down a subpoena Blac's lawyer fired off. The company then claimed that they don't have any documents in their possession. The company also said that Blac already admitted that she "has no reason to believe any contracts between Twitter and Rob Kardashian exist." The paperwork further stated, "Indeed, when Twitter asked [Blac] the basis for the requests related to seeking contracts between Twitter and [Rob], [Blac] expressly stated that she was not aware of any such contracts and did not have a reason to believe that any such contracts existed." The motion added that Blac "stated that she issued the request so that, if contracts did exist, she could get a copy." Regarding Blac's demand for any documents relating to payments made to Rob by Twitter, the company insisted, "[Blac's] speculation that Twitter might have made payments to Robert Kardashian in connection with his alleged posting of Plaintiff's photographs is entirely devoid of both explanation and logic." Blac, who is suing Rob over explicit photos he posted of her on social media following their breakup in 2017, asked Twitter to hand over Rob's records as she believed it will help her case against the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" alum. She also alleged that Twitter and Rob have such "contracts" from 2017 until now. Blac went to court to file a motion to compel her lawsuit. She's asking the court to step in and force Twitter to hand over all communications between the company and Rob from January 1, 2017 to the present. Blac, as for now, is not backing down from her motion. A judge has yet to rule. The trial is scheduled to start next month, where Blac and the 34-year-old reality star, who recently dismissed the assault lawsuit against Blac, will both testify before a jury. Aside from that, Blac is suing Rob's mother Kris Jenner and his sisters Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner. She accused them of spreading lies about her abusing Rob in an attempt to convince E! producers and execs to cancel her show, "Rob & Chyna". The network ended up canceling the show. Blac then claimed that it caused her to lose tens of millions. The Kardashian-Jenner clan, however, denied the allegations. The family is set to testify in court during the upcoming trial in April. Gujarat Titans are proud to sign 15 partners ahead of their debut in the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. The Gujarat Titans have set the tone for their debut season with an innovative brand and marketing strategy and these partnerships reflect that philosophy. Ather Energy , Indias leading electric scooter manufacturer, have signed up as the principal Partner of the Gujarat Titans in a multi-year deal. Gujarat Titans have signed nine Associate Partners. Capri Global, a Non-Banking Financial Corporation (NBFC) and BKT Tires, have joined hands with the Gujarat Titans. Their logos will feature on the jersey of the Gujarat Titans. Jio, one of Indias leading telecom companies, pipe-manufacturer Astral, have joined the bandwagon along with Simpolo Ceramics to feature on the shoulders of the Gujarat Titans jersey. The headgear will sport logos of two associate partners. ACKO, the tech-first insurance company, and toothsi, the Great Smiles Partner take their spots on the headgear. Meesho a fashion e-commerce portal have signed on to feature on the trousers of the Gujarat Titans team kit alongside FanCode. In addition, the Gujarat Titans have also signed four official partners. Dream11, audio wearable manufacture boAt and Kotak Cards have come on board. Amul are the official beverage partners. Radio Mirchi are Gujarat Titans official radio partner. Arvinder Singh, Chief Operating Officer (COO) Gujarat Titans, said, Ahead of our debut in the IPL, we have joined hands with as many as 15 well-known brands. We at Gujarat Titans believe in innovation and excellence and our partners reflect those core values as well. The aim of these partnerships is to add value to each others campaigns and to mark a successful debut for the Gujarat Titans in all spheres. As we embark on an exciting journey ahead, we welcome each and every one of our partners and are grateful for the faith they have shown in us. The Gujarat Titans also acknowledge Rise Worldwide for their support and guidance in facilitating these partnerships. The Russian government has announced the limiting of access to the social media platform Instagram, adding to one of its many restrictions since its invasion of Ukraine. As reported by Reuters, Russia has to blame the change in Metas hate speech policy, for taking the decision to block Instagram. This sudden decision has come in the midst of Putin trying to control the online space and trying to stop Russians from getting uncensored information on the war situation by avoiding the propaganda set by the state. It has also passed a new law that criminalizes independent reporting about the Russian military, with up to 15 years of prison for circulating distorted information. The Russian government has said in its statement, that Roskomnadzor, its national internal regulator, will take steps to block the access to Instagram, saying that the platform is illegally being used to spread malicious information to undertake violent acts against the Russian citizens, which include the soldiers. Access to the Instagram social network (owned by Meta Platforms, Inc.) in the Russian Federation will be restricted in accordance with a request by the Russian Federation's Prosecutor General's Office. Sources inside Russia noted that the citizens still have access to Instagram, as it takes a few days for mobile service providers and internet providers to ban it from their side. Instagram has around 60 million users in Russia and is the last to be added to the platforms with restrictions after Facebook and Twitter. On February 25, Facebook has been restricted partially in the country after it the access to several stateaffiliated media outlets has been limited by it. Twitter has also tried to restore its full service in Russia after news of users getting problems in accessing the platform, has come to the surface. Since then Twitter has also developed a committed Tor Onion service for anyone who is looking to avoid censorship by the state to get access to its platform. According Reuters sources, Meta has made temporary provisions or has allowed the expression of political hate speech against the Russian invaders, in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but has not allowed calls for violence against the Russians. Death threats directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko would also be allowed, according to internal emails reviewed by the news agency, unless the threats also targeted others and/or included additional "indicators of credibility" (such as location and method). According to Roskomnadzor's statement announcing the Instagram restrictions, a Meta spokesperson has confirmed the change to the hate-speech policy, claiming that the policy change allows residents of a number of countries to "post information containing calls for violence against Russian citizens, including military personnel" who the Russian government identifies by name as Andy Stone.It's unclear whether WhatsApp, another Meta-owned company, will be subjected to similar restrictions. It's unclear whether another Meta-owned site, WhatsApp, will be subjected to the same restrictions. WhatsApp has chosen to remain silent on the matter. However, because it is not a public-facing social network, some reports imply it is being treated differently by Russian authorities. However, the Russian government is going much further in one area: It also announced today that a state investigative committee in Russia has opened a criminal case against Meta and Meta employees, ostensibly using sweeping anti-terror laws to label the company a "extremist organisation" (following "illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation"). In response to Meta's policy change allowing calls for violence, Russia's investigative committee wrote today, "These actions contain signs of crimes under Articles 280 and 205.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public calls for extremist activities; assistance in terrorist activities)." "The required investigative procedures are being carried out as part of the criminal case to offer a legal evaluation to the conduct of Andy Stone and other workers of the American corporation," it added. Russia has long maintained harsh 'anti-terror' legislation that can be used to intimidate opponents of Putin's leadership and drive self-censorship. The maximum penalty for "extremism" a charge that The Guardian claimed had been increasingly pursued against social media users critical at the time was increased in a 2016 upgrade. Russia now appears to be planning a charge of extremism against Stone, who is based in the United States, as well as other unnamed Meta employees. Clearly, Meta staff who are located in Russia face the greatest risk of arrest and detention underlining yet again the very real on-the-ground risks that can be attached to centralized policy decisions being applied, top down, by major global platforms. Nick Clegg, the president of Meta, has also slammed Russia's plan to label the company an extremist organisation, defending the policy amendment to allow some hate speech against Russia within Ukraine as a necessary safeguard of "people's rights to speech as an expression of self-defence in response to a military invasion of their country" in a statement posted to Twitter. "On our platform, we will not accept Russophobia or any type of discrimination, harassment, or violence towards Russians," Clegg said, adding that the policy change was "temporary" and "made in extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances." Bob Chapek, CEO, The Walt Disney Company, send out a message to the employees specifically to LGBTQ+ community, empathising over the Floridas Dont Say Gay bill. Bob shared his thoughts about the employees that shared their pain, frustration, and sadness on the Bill. He said, Speaking to you, reading your messages, and meeting with you have helped me better understand how painful our silence was. It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights. You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights and I let you down. I am sorry. Bob Chapek also gave out an assurance on the increasing support for advocacy groups to combat similar legislation in other states regarding the bill and LGBTQ+ community. He also mentioned, I truly believe we are an infinitely better and stronger company because of our LGBTQ+ community. I missed the mark in this case but am an ally you can count onand I will be an outspoken champion for the protections, visibility, and opportunity you deserve. Both the Florida Senate and House have passed the Parental Rights in Education measure, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by LGBTQ activists. The law would restrict what sexual orientation and gender identity can be taught in schools. CLICK HERE Current subscribers to the Advertiser Gleam get free access to AdvertiserGleam.com Just provide the last name on your account and your phone number to activate your account. Type your phone number with no spaces (example: 2565555555) You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Funny how people come into our lives and the timing. Earlier this week, I wrote about an autism Mom who was facing problems with her daughter's dental hygiene. Well, that Mom has another daughter who opened the amazing Puzzles Bakery and Cafe where she employed people with autism and launched awareness right in Schenectady, New York, near Albany. I visited Puzzles on March 11 back in 2016, and wrote about how fabulous it was then. And will be AGAIN soon, we hope. On a darker note, Sara got blowback because she used the Puzzle theme for autism. The Neurodiversity crowd in action. Imagine causing grief for a young woman trying to help the community over... a symbol? Sara had to close because of Covid, but the hope is that it will reopen. In fact, the local paper featured Puzzles this week. Foss: Puzzles Bakery and Cafe remains closed in Schenectady, but hopes to reopen ...What makes Puzzles ongoing limbo so distressing is its human toll. Pratt conceived the restaurant as a place where developmentally disabled adults would work side by side with their neurotypical peers, attaining the meaningful, real-world work experience that too often eludes them. ### Written March 13, 2016 by Kim Rossi Sometimes dreams come true. Thoughts and ideas on paper spring to life before your eyes. For instance, I'm a big Harry Potter fan. I can recall watching the very first movie in the theatre and marveling at how each scene turned the book into a cinematic reality before my eyes. When I was a young woman, I joined the Junior League and volunteered at a local Children's Museum. One of their exhibits was "The Great Green Room" from the classic book, Goodnight Moon. I had no kids of my own, but I knew the book, of course. And when I walked into the room for the first time, I was transported into the pages. As my girls have aged into adulthood, I've been writing the story of their future in my mind's eye. A bakery with an autism theme has been a dream of mine - far fetched - but still, a dream. On Friday night, I saw firsthand how that dream would look when I had the great honor of speaking at Puzzles Bakery & Cafe, in Schenectady, New York, whose owner, Sara Mae Hickey is an autism sibling. From their website: In addition to serving delicious food, the bakery-cafe provides adults with developmental disabilities with an opportunity for personal growth, as well as a source of income, social interaction, and a sense of purpose. Sara Mae has done everything right. And I mean everything. From the design of the signage, to the soothing, bright cheerful interior (with a community room) to the menu of fun, healthy and delicious foods, Puzzles would be a great bakery and cafe even without the autism theme. But that theme is truly the icing on the cupcake. I think the autism siblings will change the world for our kids. They are battle tested. Some will become advocates and warriors on behalf of their brothers and sisters. Like Sara Mae Hickey has for her sister. It may seem odd for a farmer to go to a seed companys research plots to learn about the profitability of lower seeding rates, new planting equipment or nitrogen trials. But this is exactly what farmers are doing as they take advantage of research and information programs some agricultural companies provide. These companies often do research that doesnt necessarily relate to the products they sell. Several agricultural companies find a balance between the research they do to improve their products and the research to help farmers. For example, 360 Yield Center devotes half its agronomy research work to supporting its products and half to unrelated products they sell, said John Larkin, 360 Yield Center marketing manager based in Morton, Illinois. So, we will do plots that test the yield impact of banding nitrogen with the planter to demonstrate the value of our 360 BANDIT. But we also, for example, do a plot to learn about intercropping wheat and soybeans compared to double-crop soybeans, Larkin said. We work to keep this balance so that our meetings and presentation dont appear to be infomercials. The founder of 360 Yield Center, Gregg Sauder, started doing large winter meetings and summer field demonstrations in the early days of Precision Planting. We soon found that growers were anxious to get hands-on experience with new technology and spend time in the field with agronomists, Larkin said. In the early days they used videos and DVDs to reach growers who could not attend the meetings in person. At one point they distributed more than 200,000 DVDs in a year, he said. Over time, YouTube became a popular vehicle in sharing their demonstrations online. Having perfected these skills served them well when the COIVID-19 pandemic nixed in-person meetings. Most of their products are tested at their Proving Grounds, a 200-acre playground in central Illinois, where their agronomy team sets up side-by-side and demonstration plots. We are a group of farmers developing products that work on our farms, so taking other farmers out to the field to demonstrate the products made a lot of sense, Larkin said. Testing better ideas Likewise, Precision Planting brings farmers out to its fields to see new products and practices. Much of the research is done at the 200-acre Precision Technology Institute research farm in Pontiac where the company tests idea, agronomic principles and equipment. Research topics are as varied as fertilizer placement, planting depth and irrigation. They provide tours of the more than 125 plots on site for farmers in-season and held 21 winter meetings in about a dozen states this year. Its part of our companys culture, said Bruce Baker, Precision Plantings marketing manager. The new, better ideas found here give farmers an opportunity to improve their systems. What a farmer gets from attending a Precision Planting event may be as simple as planter maintenance guide. A farmer may go to a winter meeting and learn that a row cleaner would be a profitable addition to his operation and then go home and shop around for the best option. Were totally fine with that, Baker said. Practical Farm Research Another such resource for farmers is Becks Practical Farm Research. Deatra Gremaux, PFR and agronomy data information specialist at Becks Hybrids, said the companys first research plot was at their home site in Indiana and has expanded to two locations in Illinois, one in Ohio, one in Kentucky and one in Iowa, with the newest one coming in Nebraska. They also have cooperator farms in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, Gremaux said. With a variety of sites in different states, the company provides tested information from different soil types and weather conditions. The products and practices which have consistent success are known as PFR Proven, she said. They must have been tested at least three years at multiple locations, and have had positive yields all three years with an average positive return on investment, she said. The ideas of what to test come from farmers and popular trends of the day. For example, organic practices and organic transition systems have become more popular in recent years. This year, tests reflect farmer interest in managing the high costs of inputs. More than ever, nitrogen rates, timing and application are hot topics, she said. Farmers are looking to bring value to farm. They want to make minor changes that bring bigger returns, said Gremaux, who collects data and photos and designs charts for the annual PFR book which was almost 300 pages in 2021. The data is also online. Gremaux said she sometimes gets phone calls from farmers who plant seed from other companies and are interested in PFR studies. This years PFR menu includes new trials on organic crops, nitrogen, fungicides, cover crop placement, tire pressure regarding compaction and short corn, she said. CropWatch Weekly Update Get the Iowa and Illinois CropWatchers report delivered to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. DONETSK, Ukraine Workers on a farm near Donetsk in the east of Ukraine were forced to run to the bomb shelter March 15 as missiles fired by OWATONNA, Minn. After two long years away, the North American Farm & Power Show (NAFPS) is returning to the Steele County Fairgrounds Four Seasons Centre, located at 1525 South Elm Ave. in Owatonna. The 2022 farm show will run Thursday, March 17, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, March 18, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Saturday, March 19, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The indoor show has more than 300 booths on 52,000-square-feet, with additional exhibitors outside the Four Seasons Centre. Were planning on having a sold-out indoor venue, so 310 booths there, and 5 outdoor booths that are 25-foot by 50-foot, said Brock Nelson, Tradexpos show director. Several local farm equipment dealers are returning for the 2022 show, displaying all sizes of tractors and implements, he added. The NAFPS will offer free farm seminars all three days, hosted by Linder Farm Network and University of Minnesota Extension. All seminars are in the second-floor hospitality area. Just off the lobby, look for stairs/signage leading up to the seminars. TJ Kartes of Saddle Butte Ag, Inc., in Blooming Prairie, will give a seminar on Saturday, March 19. A grand prize will be given away each day, courtesy of Miners Outdoor & Rec in Blooming Prairie. Guests can register in the lobby when they enter the Four Seasons Centre. Thursday, March 17, and Friday, March 18, the grand prize is a Husqvarna 522L trimmer package. The Saturday, March 19, grand prize is a Husqvarna 455 Rancher chainsaw package. Come to the show and look for the grand prize stand in the entryway, Nelson suggests. Also located in the lobby is the long-standing Minnesota FFA Foundation silent auction, where guests can bid on some great items while supporting FFA. COVID shelter-in-place Nelson recalled the decision to cancel the 2020 show due to the COVID pandemic. Like many people, he followed the outbreak that was reported in January, but no one knew how serious the coronavirus outbreak would become. Thursday before we planned to open the show in 2020, the owner and my team made the decision to cancel the show due to concerns, Nelson said. The next day, Minnesota officials set up emergency shelter-in-place requirements until more could be learned about the novel disease. Tradexpos offered exhibitors a refund for their 2020 booth deposits, or they could carry the funds over to the next NAFPS. About 60 percent of the exhibitors decided to carry their funds and will be in the 2022 show. Nelson also reached out to previous exhibitors with hopes they would return for 2022. Once they were confident we were going to have the show, we got them signed up, he said. Arnolds Inc., Boss Supply, Inc., Kibble Equipment, Northland Farm Systems, and Ziegler Cat are bringing very large equipment this year. New exhibitors include Agroecopower, which specializes in modifications for more diesel engine performance. Another new exhibitor is Zimmerman Manufacturing, offering Contour KingST strip-till equipment and more. Quality Equipment Sales and Service will also be bringing in a large Kubota construction, ag and turf exhibit. A very large variety of farm-related exhibits will fill out the building from roofing and building products, to crop input suppliers, to livestock equipment, and all the infrastructure needed to run a farm. Many service-oriented vendors will also attend to assist farmers with financials, computers, auctions and ag careers. Were still going to have a sold-out show in Owatonna, and Im very grateful for that, Nelson said. He invites everyone to drive on over to the Steele County Fairgrounds to socialize with the farming and ag-business community, gain great information to help with the 2022 growing season, and maybe put some feelers out for something new to buy for the farm. Weve been very fortunate to have all of our shows this year, and its worked out very well, Nelson said. I think were in very great shape for the North American Farm & Power Show! Parking and admission to the show is free, and food and drink for purchase is available in the Four Seasons Centre lobby. Minnesota Farm Guide Weekly Update Get the latest agriculture news delivered to your inbox from the Minnesota Farm Guide. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Emporia, KS (66801) Today Periods of rain. High 58F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Thundershowers overnight following a period of rain early. Low 53F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch. At first there were two. Since the 1880s, Lutherans near the village of Storla, South Dakota west of Mitchell supported two churches. They shared in youth gatherings and summer picnics. They shared in tragedy as well, when both church buildings were blown down in one big summer storm in 1924. They each rebuilt and continued their work for another 90 years. Today, just one church remains. Knowing how far theyve come through wind storms, economic hardships, world wars and declining rural populations members are preparing to celebrate 140 years of history at Storla Lutheran Church this summer. Its our roots, Mary Fristad said. Its like the homestead, Dennis Scott said. Scotts family is amongst those that founded the church April 7, 1882. His dad grew up in Storla Lutheran while is moms family were members of its now defunct sister church, Trinity, which sat three miles to the east. The Storla boys would go over and steal the Trinity girls, he said. The Storla church was originally located just north of the village of Storla at spot known as Jensen corner. The church moved closer to the thriving community center in 1924. It was two weeks after the move, on June 14, that a storm blew through, destroying both that building and Trinity Church. The lumber was salvaged and used to build a parsonage, which still stands next door. One of the other few items saved from the disaster was a large alter painting of Jesus as a shepherd leading a flock of sheep and carrying a small lamb in his arms, a gift from the Andrew Jensen family. Decades later, that long treasured focal point of the church was lost as well. A fire broke out May 18, 1980, the day Mount Saint Helens erupted, and the painting was lost. The congregation put much thought into designing a new art piece for the altar. Fristads husband, Eugene, spent many nights at their dining room table putting to work his drafting tools from his time at the South Dakota School of Mines, she said. The church commissioned Robert Aldren, at the time chairman of the art department at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, to turn it into a metal sculpture. The sculpture is highly symbolic. The triangle background stands for the trinity, as do the images within: a hand for God the father, a lamb for the son of God, and a descending dove to represent the holy spirit. There are also symbols representing the sacraments of baptism and communion. Storla Lutheran members have put great effort into ensuring that their churchs mission withstands any challenges that come. The women of the church have been especially dutiful in this regard. The Ladies Aid Society was organized in 1888 with the mission of operating a parochial school. Classes met over the course of a month or two in the granary of member Andrew Jensen, and the teacher was paid $15. Ladies Aid meetings were an all-day affair, and women came by foot, horseback or wagon. One lady walked three miles carrying her child to attend, according to a history compiled for the states bicentennial celebration. When the church building blew down, the women contributed to raising money for a new building by selling brooding hens and serving lunch at local auctions. By 1928, enough money had been raised. Construction began that fall, and the first service at the new Storla Lutheran Church took place Feb. 24, 1929, with the baptism of four babies. The 1930s were rough as crops failed and the economy faltered. The ministers salary was cut by a third, and the meetings of church organizations were cut in half to save on mileage and furnace oil used to heat the buildings. As things rebounded, so did the Ladies Aid Society, which became well known for their lutefisk suppers. By 1945, they were so popular that they served 800 people. The ladies worked so hard boiling lutefisk on that old stove, said Norma Fristad, who at 95 is the churchs oldest member. She didnt like the lutefisk, she said, but all the side dishes were delicious. From early on, the Ladies Aid was a big part of social life for women of the church. Fristad remembers her first meeting with the group as a young bride of 22 and feeling that she might not be cut out for it. A large group of ladies turned out for the meeting, and the host was expected to serve a full lunch mashed potatoes, chicken and pie, she said. I thought, Ill never join this organization because I cant do this, she said. But then it went to just dessert, which kind of burned the older ladies. Fristad did take readily to the quilting group, and shes still at it. In the early days, quilters would meet in the church basement twice a week, taking breaks for coffee, homemade doughnuts and a potluck lunch. While they stitched, older ladies worked in the kitchen cooking, cleaning and polishing silverware. That was a great event, Fristad said. They had fun in the kitchen and we had fun out here. Even though its now just her and a friend making them today, they still managed to send 47 quilts to Lutheran World Relief last year. Fristad also makes quilts for baptisms and high school graduations. For the graduates, church members each design a square to be embroidered and sewn into the creation. It makes for quite a colorful quilt, Fristad said. Even though some families have moved away from the area, many women carry on the active church life they grew up with at Storla Lutheran. We left legacies for our daughters, said Margene Thompson who used to bring her youngest daughter to circle and cleaning days, and she remains a good example today, serving as president of the synod-wide womens organization, WELCA. Its one way Storla is active in a wider community, Pastor Nancy Eckels said. Theyve also reached out to help a companion church in Cameroon. A framed photo in the sanctuary shows the roof they helped put on the African church building. Eckels finds that special for such a small church. I think it takes real commitment, she said. In earlier days there were three circles for the women of Storla, couples clubs for young and old, and monthly family nights with games and supper. Sunday school was once dubbed penny school because of the offering children would bring tied in their handkerchief. Norma Fristad taught a nursery school class of 13 little Lutherans, including Brett Selland who today has unofficially taken on the job of church historian. He remembers the days of an active Junior Mission Society and a Luther League that enjoyed camping trips to the Black Hills and the Rocky Mountains. An annual summer softball game at Trinity Church was a favorite. That was the highlight of the summer meetings, Mary Fristad said. She and her husband farmed the land around Trinity, and the pastor always worried whether the hay would be put up in time to clear the field for the softball game. Storla Lutheran has been soldiering on without its sister church. Trinity closed in 2015 and the building was burned. A metal monument stands in its spot, and the joint church cemetery is across the street. Its a hard things to see rural churches close, Norma Fristad said. A livestream of the service started during COVID-19 shutdowns continues today and brings a good following from outside the area. Todays members are ready to celebrate how far theyve come and honor the past with a celebration July 10. There are plans for morning worship with Bishop Constanze Hagmaier, a noon meal and an afternoon of visiting and reminiscing. I think they have a lot to be proud of, said Pastor Eckels, who has served the church since being ordained in 2018 and before that in her formal internship. Theyve done a lot in those 140 years, and theyve been faithful. Prayers on the Prairie is a regular feature of the Tri-State Neighbor, taking the place of the Crop Watchers report during the winter season. If you have a suggestion for a rural church to feature here, contact editor Janelle Atyeo at jatyeo@tristateneighbor.com. The Tri-State Neighbor Weekly Update Get the latest agriculture news delivered to your inbox from the Tri-State Neighbor. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Grantee Profile Sigall K Bell, M.D. Associate Professor of Medicine Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School Sigall K Bell, M.D. AHRQ is helping to pioneer a novel 360-degree approach to diagnostic error prevention by bringing patients and families directly into the discussion, so we can more effectively recognize their unique knowledge, and better detect, track, and address the kinds of diagnostic breakdowns theyre experiencing. Efforts to identify the nature of diagnostic errors and how to prevent them have come a long way in just the past decade. On the heels of a 2015 National Academy of Medicine report (PDF, 424 KB) that found most Americans will experience either a delayed or inaccurate diagnosis in their lifetime, innovative research is changing how clinicians understand diagnostic errors. Among the leaders in this endeavor is AHRQ-funded researcher Sigall K. Bell, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, who is creating a shared language that encourages patients and families to engage with clinicians in improving diagnostic safety using terms that reflect patients experiences. The traditional tools and measures to identify diagnostic errors were developed and used by clinicians, she said. But patients and families describe diagnostic breakdowns using different words and concepts, including some that might not be detected by conventional methods. Dr. Bells research demonstrates that inviting patients to review visit notes following an ambulatory appointment (i.e. Open Notes) can help improve the diagnostic process, by helping them better remember next steps, including tests and referrals, and build stronger relationships with their clinicians. Adding further momentum to the role of patient engagement is the recent implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule, which guarantees patients free access to the health information in their electronic health records (EHRs). Diagnostic errors occur in part because diagnosis itself is a multi-layered process, potentially involving a lengthy exchange of patient symptoms and history, clinical reasoning, lab orders and results, and other elements. Documentation errors occur frequently, with about one in five patients reporting a perceived serious mistake following a review of their post-visit notes, as reported in a study by Dr. Bell in JAMA Network Open. Patients and clinicians have a shared vested interest in getting to the right diagnosis, Dr. Bell said. But what weve learned from our research is that there are many ways that can go off course, and many ways that patients and families can uniquely contribute information to keep the process on track. During a visit, for example, a clinician might misinterpret the significance of a new or changing symptomsuch as pain or poor sleepreported by the patient. These types of misalignments, may be subtle but can actually derail the diagnostic process, she said. Patients who reviewed notes could identify such gaps. Were starting to zoom in on uncovering these contributions earlier in the process so theres a corrective mechanism thats possible before it leads to duplication, diagnostic error, or harm. Thats the ultimate goal. Dr. Bells AHRQ-funded work draws from the input of patients who are able to view and contribute to provide feedback on their visit notes. These contributions have helped her and her collaborators create a patient-centered framework to understand more precisely where and how often diagnostic breakdowns take place. With input from patients, families, clinicians, and experts in diagnostic safety, Dr. Bell and her team developed and tested the framework for patient-reported diagnostic breakdowns that occur in ambulatory care settings. After analyzing more than 2,000 patient-reported errors from 25,000 respondents, researchers identified several major categories of breakdowns potentially associated with a delayed or inaccurate diagnosis. Prominent concerns included missed or erroneous elements of the patients medical history; missed or delayed test results or referrals; and problematic communication, including not feeling heard, or a perceived lack of respect. Among patients who reported a diagnostic error, the most common contributing factor patients reported was that they didnt feel listened to by providers, Dr. Bell observed. This opens up an important door in terms of targeted interventions: how do we begin to capture this phenomenon? Clinicians may not know that patients dont feel listened to unless they ask. The second part of Dr. Bells AHRQ-funded project aims to make it easier for clinicians and healthcare organizations to actively partner with patients and families in the diagnostic process by inviting their contributions before the visit, using existing EHR functionality. Drawing on data from the framework of patient-reported breakdowns, Dr. Bell and her colleagues worked with patients, clinicians, and user-design experts to design a new tool named Our Diagnosis (OurDX). It encourages patients to read their notes and creates a dedicated space in patients medical records to gather patients contributions, including their visit priorities, recent history, and any concerns they have about potential breakdowns in the diagnostic process. She is hopeful that OurDX, which will be made available for free, will encourage healthcare organizations to pursue projects to reduce diagnostic errors working with patients and families. The tool design is simple and shelf-ready for implementation through an organizations existing EHR, which makes it easy to expand the work of OurDX going forward, although we still need to learn more, Dr. Bell said. Analysis of its use is currently being tested at two sites, with nearly 7,500 reports thus far. The project is expected to conclude in late 2022. Extending the AHRQ-funded work that helped create OurDX, Dr. Bell and her colleagues at Boston Childrens Hospital have examined the impact of the tool to engage patients with limited English proficiency in the diagnostic process. Funded by the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, this study found that patients and families who preferred a language other than English were more likely to report that they didnt feel heard or report a problem or delay with tests or referrals. Researchers hope that OurDX will enable clinicians to pick up on those vulnerabilities at the point of care, she said. As the field of diagnostic safety continues to mature, Dr. Bell credits AHRQ with having the foresight to fund research at the intersection of health information transparency, patient and family engagement, and improving diagnostic safety in ambulatory settings. It reflects on AHRQs vision to take such a pioneering stance on tackling the complex issue of ambulatory diagnostic error in a new and innovative way, she said. AHRQ is helping to shape a novel 360-degree approach to diagnostic safety by bringing patients and families directly into the discussion, so we can more effectively recognize their unique knowledge, and better detect, track, and address the kinds of breakdowns theyre experiencing. Dr. Bell is director of Patient Safety and Discovery at Open Notes, the project that invites patients to access to their visit notes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. In addition to her academic appointment at Harvard Medical School, she serves as the co-director of research at the Collaborative for Accountability and Improvement and was a former recipient of the Arnold P. Gold Professorship for humanism in medicine. The Open Notes team has been recognized with the John Q. Sherman award for patient engagement and the AcademyHealth Data Liberator award. Principal Investigator: Sigall K Bell, M.D. Institution: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA Grantee Since: 2019 Type of Grant: Research Project (R01) Related AHRQ Resources: Consistent with its mission, AHRQ provides a broad range of extramural research grants and contracts, research training, conference grants, and intramural research activities. AHRQ is committed to fostering the next generation of health services researchers who can focus on some of the most important challenges facing our Nation's health care system. To learn more about AHRQ's Research Education and Training Programs, please visit https://www.ahrq.gov/training. Return to AHRQ Grantee Profiles On Thursday, March 9, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs stated that there was biological research taking place in Ukraine. Then, in a follow-up question by Sen. Marco Rubio, she stated emphatically that if any biological material from that lab were used in an act of biological warfare, it would surely come from Russia. While there is a distinction between biological research and biological warfare research, the very fact that the answer and follow-up question alluded to using material from that lab in a biological attack shows that the pathogens in that lab can be weaponized. Further, we know that biological weapons of mass destruction were proposed to the U.N. way back in 2002 by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell as an excuse for invading Iraq. So, the admission that there is a biological research lab that has material that could be used as bioweapons could easily be used as an excuse by Russia for invading Ukraine. However, it cannot be used as justification for the war crime of Russias bombing a maternity hospital or other atrocities that are already taking place. Nevertheless, despite disclaimers that might come -- that the facility is not a bio-weapons developmental facility -- we can say if it looks like bio-weapons, sounds like bio-weapons, and kills like bio-weapons, it is a bio-weapons facility (despite disclaimers). In an article going back to June 2010 entitled Biolab Opens In Ukraine, the author, Tina Redlup, wrote, The level-3 bio-safety lab, which is the first built under the expanded authority of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, will be used to study anthrax, tularemia and Q fever as well as other dangerous pathogens. Additionally, Sen. Richard Lugar stated that the facility began in 2005 [during the Bush administration] when he and then-Senator Barack Obama entered a partnership with Ukrainian officials. How and why U.S. senators are involved in setting up a biological lab in Odessa rather than health or defense officials of the executive branch of government is still a mystery to this writer. To many people going about their lives, it may seem that having such a lab supported by the U.S. from its inception is not troubling. To those people, the world is a dangerous place, and we owe it to the American citizenry to stop biowarfare if it originates with the bad guys, but if the good guys are doing it, its O.K. In that case, it may be perceived as a purely defensive measure to alert the bad guys that whats good for the goose is good for the gander. Its a species of the idea that the best offense is a good defense. So, if there are bad actors in the world they have to know that whatever cruel measures they dish out will be dished out doubly or triply to them. However appealing this might be to masses who tend to think in terms of Ill get him worse than he gets me, it does not conform to international law. Biological warfare is not treated the same as stand your ground laws where the threatened or endangered party may use deadly force to defend himself or herself. No. Rather, regarding biological weapons, there is a comprehensive convention against the use of biological weapons that entered into force in 1975. It has the long and weighty title The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological [Biological] and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction. This document has been signed and ratified by 183 countries worldwide including Ukraine and the U.S. in 1975. The convention bans biological agents that have no justification for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes. One could easily see how that strange breed of diplomatic word parsers in the State department or smart, ivy league cookies in high places could weasel around the Convention by stating that there were protective or peaceful purposes in the research in the Odessa lab (or Wuhan for that matter) as a way of evading the aggressive and evil implications of the work being done there. Further, the Convention states that each State undertakes to destroy, or to divert to peaceful purposes, all agents, toxins, weapons, equipment and means of delivery which are in its possession or under its jurisdiction or control (Art. 11). This writer can easily see how the U.S. can distort the intent of this restriction by sending research of this kind to territories other than the U.S., like Odesa, Ukraine, or Wuhan, PRC. Thus, we arrange to fund (my italics) this kind of devilish research in other venues in order to posture before the world that we have clean hands because we do not do this work in the U.S. This would explain why the research being done in Wuhan was stopped on U.S. soil by the National Institutes of Health, yet substantial funding was sent to the lab at Wuhan. The U.S.-based EcoHealth Alliance received $3.7 million from the NIH, $600,000 of which was given to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. And, similarly, Obama and Lugar undoubtedly funded the lab in Odessa, although the actual funding amounts are not known to me as of this writing. At the same time, we cannot say unequivocally that the U.S. or Ukraine or even China are directly in violation of the Convention on biological weapons by having these labs. As a matter of fact, there are 59 maximum biosafety level-4 facilities planned, under construction or in operation across the world, spanning 23 countries including the U.K., U.S., China, India, Gabon, and Cote dIvoire. Thus, there is a fine line sometimes between intentionally wishing to attack and harm or, conversely, simply playing with fire. Despite the 1975 Convention which clearly forbids bioweapons and was clearly a caution to the entire world, perverse humanity, including many U.S. leaders in the 47 years since the Convention was ratified has continued to expand its involvement in research that can, too easily, be weaponized. To this writer, no matter what the intentions of the participants in these bioweapon researches, the expansion of these programs displays devilish intentions that do not bode well for humanity. While some hyped-up greenies are worried about global climate change, we should be a lot more concerned about global suicide-by-germs. Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License As things stand now, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zielinsky has no intention of accepting Putins demands, and the whole world supports that decision, but since the world will not get involved directly and militarily, its support might not mean so much. So should Zielinsky give in to Putins demands, considering that Putin has promised a ceasefire if he does? What are the demands? There are various reports. Does the MSM get its facts right? And even if it does, do the demands change with time? There was this story the other day in The New York Post that stated that Putin offered this bare, simple deal to Zielinsky: Russia has told Ukraine it will halt its invasion in a moment if Kyiv agrees to give up three key regions, President Vladimir Putins spokesperson said Monday. Moscow is demanding Ukraine cease military action, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory and recognize the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine was aware of the demands. They were told that all this can be stopped in a moment, Peskov told Reuters in a phone interview. This story itself said near its end that its more involved than that, but for the moment, lets suppose that these are all of Putins demands. Then the question is, should Zielinsky accept these demands? I say, yes he should, and here is why: Lets consider each demand in turn. Crimea. The simple truth is, Crimea is not Ukrainian and never was Ukrainian until a sheer accident of history happened in 1954. The last ruler of an independent Ukraine was Bogdan Chmielnitsky, whose reign ended in 1653; thereafter Ukraine was controlled by the tsars and then the Communists, in Moskva, continually until 1991. For an expanded summary of Crimeas history, go to this Wikipedia paper. But briefly, in the Middle Ages Crimea was controlled by the Mongol Golden Horde until they were overthrown by Tamerlane at the end of the 14th century. Thereafter local Tatars controlled it. With the assistance of the Ottoman Turks they overthrew the last Genoese strongholds; then accepted Ottoman domination. Their Crimean Khanate spent the next couple of centuries raiding into Ukraine to snatch up slaves. In 1774 the Russian Tsarina Catherine the Great defeated the Ottoman Turks and by 1783 had annexed Crimea into the Russian Empire. In the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Crimea became an autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. After World War II it became part of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic (RSSR). Keep in mind that while Crimea was part of the RSSR, its sole slender land connection with the rest of the world goes through the skinny Isthmus of Perekop, only a few miles wide, and this flows into, not the RSSR, but instead into Ukraine, which at the time was the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (UkSSR). Here is a Google Maps illustration. Stalin died in 1953 and, in the following year, the Great Mistake happened. Nikita S. Khrushchev, himself Ukrainian actually, but a super-loyal Soviet man, looked at the map and decided to erase the line on the map that defined a border between Crimea of the RSSR and the UkSSR. And why not? Did it not improve administrative efficiency to connect Crimea to the UkSSR? As it was, Crimea was a Russian island, unconnected directly with the RSSR. So what difference did it make? Crimea would remain part of the one big, happy USSR either way, all controlled from Moskva, whether Moskva exercised its control through the RSSR or the UkSSR. Transferring control of Crimea from the RSSR to the UkSSR would be like allowing Rhode Island to annex Cape Cod from Massachusetts. What difference would that make to the greater United States? Little did Khrushchev dream that his own son would live long enough to see Ukraine secede from Russia, and Crimea would go over with it! But what difference does it make to Russia either, for that matter? Heres the deal, to paraphrase our President. Recall that JFK was willing to risk nuclear war to get Soviet missiles out of Cuba. Why did he do that? Because he and everybody else regarded Soviet missiles so close to American soil as a grave threat. Just as JFK regarded that as a grave threat, so too does Russia regard NATO as a grave threat. And Russia has a long history of invasions. Ukraine becoming independent was bad enough, but Russia lived with it. But then when Ukraine overthrew its pro-Russian president in 2014 and made noises about joining NATO, that was the final straw. It was then that Russia annexed Crimea because, to Russia, Crimea is an unsinkable aircraft carrier for NATO forward bases. America has long been trying to establish itself and NATO eastward. When Russia withdrew from the Warsaw Pact countries after 1989, it was promised those countries would never join NATO but they did. Victoria Nuland has admitted that the United States has spent $5 billion to build democracy and fight corruption in Ukraine since 1991. But if Democracy is so wonderful, why should any free country have to be bribed to develop it? Ought they not do that themselves, for free? And why is internal Ukrainian corruption an American interest? Why did not only Biden but also then-CIA Chief John Brennan both visit Kyiv in 2014, if not to promote American interests in Ukraine? All of this signals what must seem to Putin as an unhealthy American interest in Ukraine. In short, Crimea is not Ukrainian and never was, and recognizing Russias claim to it should be a no-brainer. Recognizing Russian sovereignty over Crimea gives up nothing because Ukraine never really possessed Crimea in the first place. Donbas. As for the Russian regions in the Donbas, Zielinsky should be willing to give those up too. The regions are small, and at this point, why would an independent Ukraine even want small regions of disgruntled Russians? Better just to sever them and say bye-bye and then build a Big Wall to separate them forever. If Crimea and Donbas are the only issues, Zielinsky should agree to give them up in a heartbeat. But there is more to the story than this, and in a word, its NATO. As in Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea, NATO is at the heart of this war. Last November the Biden administration committed a grave blunder of its own when it signed The Charter for Strategic Partnership with Ukraine. A crucial purpose was to support eventual Ukrainian membership in NATO and establish and define the steps Ukraine would follow for that. This is when Putin decided to mobilize on the border. The tragedy is that neither Biden nor Zielinsky took Putin seriously enough. Biden, the naive American that he is, believes in Free Association, and all countries should have full freedom to associate with anybody they please. They thought Putin was bluffing and would never invade. NATO is a red line for Putin. Unfortunately, Zielinsky should give in on this too. Russia has proven its determination to keep Ukraine neutral. No NATO for Ukraine. But what about EU membership and Ukrainian disarmament? Because the same above-hyperlinked NY Post story further down admitted there are these other issues. Were Zielinsky to give in on these too, then even Putin would surely stop the war. For his part and at this point, why would even he want to force Ukraine back into Greater Russia? By now, after a century of gross tragedy inflicted on Ukraine at Russian hands, the myth of pan-Slavic brotherhood has been severed forever. Ukraine hates Russia. Far better for Putin to recognize genuine Ukrainian independence, with neutrality, as Finland has. Zielinsky probably ought not to give in on the issue of EU membership. I hope that this would not be a red line for Putin. And finally, there is the matter of Ukrainian disarmament. Putin may well demand it. But on this one, Zielinsky can never give it. Because to do so would lay Ukraine at Russias mercy forever. If Putin will stop fighting and withdraw his armies in exchange for a deal on Crimea and Donbas, Zielinsky should jump on the offer. What happens when you have uninformed, immature child-adults who happen to be the correct chronological age voting for government leaders? Precisely what we have now: two totally unfit, inept, unqualified imbeciles representing the United States on the world stage during a time of tremendous crisis. Biden and Harris are spinning through "Dumb" and "Dumber" at such blinding speed it's impossible to know who's filling which role at any given moment. Harris can't put together a coherent sentence geared to anyone over three years old to save her own life. This is incredibly troubling during a world crisis. She is a thoroughgoing embarrassment to capable intelligent women everywhere. God forbid Joey keels over, and we're left with this cackling chicken as our president! As for Biden, he is the ultimate definition of an empty suit. If his lips move, you can lay odds that he's lying. Sanctions? Sure! We'll do sanctions (that will have zero effect or won't show any result for at least three months long after it's all over in and for Ukraine unless there's a miracle). In the meantime, the U.S. is still buying Russian oil to the tune of millions of dollars per day. Every time the price of a barrel of oil goes up and every time any one of us buys a gallon of gasoline, Putin gets more of America's money. If we truly want to impact Russia's incursion into Ukraine, we would immediately (as in today) halt all purchases of Russian oil, and we wouldn't even consider importing from Venezuela. Maduro is one of Putin's closest allies. Buying oil from Maduro ensures that Vlad gets whatever money he needs to continue his war against the people of Ukraine through loans or grants. And let's be real: Putin is waging a war against [warning: graphic image] women and children. He's bombing civilian targets. He's bombing lines of refugees simply wanting to escape. He's not going after military targets, and it's probable that he's already deployed thermobaric bombs, which suck the oxygen out of the air within a radius of 200 (approximately 8 acres) to 300 meters (17 acres) and are capable of vaporizing any living thing if it happens to be in the immediate vicinity of the bomb's detonation. If Biden gave the green light to U.S. oil and gas companies to restart existing wells and begin producing as much oil as possible to supply America's needs, that would stop us funding Russia's war and bring down the cost of gas at the pump now at around $4.00 per gallon across America and bound to go much, much higher. They would be allowed to develop new wells and produce even more oil, making us independent of foreign oil supplies and strengthening our security. Except that AOC and the Squad and the climate change activists would come unglued (and we can't have that, can we?). Although, somehow, I don't think dear ol' Vlad in his fight with Ukraine is all that concerned about climate change. Digging deeper into the Democrats' burning dumpster, we have a collection of woke Joint Chiefs of Staff more interested in pronouns and equity than in doing their job of recommending protective actions for our country during a time of incipient war, coupled with a zombie speaker of the House and nitwit Senate majority leader who oozes slime like Jabba the Hutt. All of this brings us to the question of what is really going on. My theory is that these are the first serious moves toward the Great Reset. Take down the United States. We've pretty much done this to ourselves by electing Biden, Harris, and the Democrats. If we can survive until November, we might have a chance to stop the bleeding. It only remains to be seen if the bleeding that's taking place will be fatal to this once great nation and that depends on whether we have a truly Conservative majority in the House and Senate that can put a halt to the insanity of the left, or if we end up with a bunch of RINOs and whining socialists again. Take control of people's money. We've pretty much done this to ourselves by becoming addicted to direct deposit, debit cards, credit cards, and payments by our smartphones. However, what happened in Canada last month should be a key lesson to anyone who loves individual freedom. Convenience comes with a price and the price associated with the convenience of digital money means whoever controls the banks controls our ability to access our money. You say or do something someone in power doesn't like? Zap! There goes your bank account. Trudeau crossed a line when he froze the accounts of people who wanted nothing more than an end to government-imposed vaccine mandates. This action and the lack of outcry from around the world make it easier for Vlad to do the same to his people (which he's doing), and for other despots to do the same. Take away freedom of speech. Ever heard of cancel culture? How confident are you nowadays when it comes to speaking up and speaking out on anything remotely conservative or right-leaning? Whisper the name "Trump" anywhere in a crowd, and what happens? We are nearing a crossroads for humanity's future. Where will we be in two years? Will we be freer, or will we be more enslaved? It's up to us. Between now and November and on into the future, know whom you're voting for. Not just what they say, but what they've done in the past. Words are cheap and easy. (Just look at ol' Joe.) Actions speak louder, so pay attention and then vote as if your life and the lives of your children and grandchildren depend upon it. They do. Stop taking the easy way out when it comes to purchasing. Don't be wholly reliant on digital forms of money, which can be taken away from you with the press of a button. Go back to demanding and carrying cash and using it whenever and wherever possible. Prevent the government from beggaring you if you don't think or speak the way it thinks you should. Take control of your bank account! Look for alternative forms of currency. Gold and silver will never go to zero, so consider them as options. If you think the internet will survive and can't be taken over by the government, buy digital currencies. Our future is largely in our hands. Remember! There are billions more of us than there are politicians and elites. Image: CNN via YouTube. Sometimes it is good to take a big step back and reflect. This is definitely true now for Americans, even though you won't like what it brings. And I think the clock is ticking. Let's reflect upon what has gone down since Trump has left office: 1. The price of fuel (for your car but also just to stay both warm and cool) has doubled and looks to go higher. 2. The prices of food and many other staples have gone up over 40% and are likely going higher. 3. Your wages have likely gone up one to four percent if you're lucky. 4. Your standard of living just took a serious hit if you are making less than $100,000 per year. 5. Your retirement and other savings are heading south and picking up speed. These five items make me think the Biden Cabal really is out to skewer those Americans making less than $100,000 a year (you know, the ones they constantly swear they're for). It's incredible, but the White House and Democrats are showing an almost obscene disregard for these people. Let's stare at it! It is mind-numbingly outrageous. It is excruciatingly more so because it is so easily remedied: unleash American energy. But they won't do it. In a society where the leadership is supposed to depend on the electorate to keep it in office, this is stupefying. Recent comments from them, such as "drive a Tesla," make it astoundingly more so. In a sane society, politicians who act like this don't risk being voted from office. Historically, they have risked Mussolini's fate! And yet our overlords seem blithely uncaring. It is remarkable, or, more precisely, it is remarkably sinister. Image: Flag by vectorpocket (Freepik license) and Minneapolis during the George Floyd riots (YouTube screen grab). Let's keep reflecting: 1. The Democrats' recent recourse is to ask our avowed enemies (Iran, Venezuela) to remedy the U.S. energy situation. That's not exactly treason, but it does seem to rhyme, doesn't it? 2. We are coming off a year where the party in power has mandated that you must be injected with an as yet experimental drug (of debatable efficacy) or lose your job/livelihood. All for the common good. Disregarding (for now) "My Body, My Choice," they have seemingly shredded the Constitution here. I rolled up my sleeve voluntarily, but to force people? Really? Land of the free? Isn't this the country that authored the Bill of Rights? 3. During a pandemic that killed over 6 million worldwide, this administration essentially scrapped the Bill of Rights for its own citizens, and yet it allowed millions of untested, unvaccinated illegal aliens to flood into the country. In what corner of the galaxy does this make even remote sense? Follow the science? Really? 4. Regarding that experimental vaccine, the Cabal shows an incredible disregard for exactly how the virus that killed over 6 million worldwide actually came about. It appears that might be to protect certain elements of the Deep State (e.g., Anthony Fauci) and/or not offend this country's singularly greatest foreign enemy (i.e., China). So the single greatest disease disaster in any of our lifetimes goes unaddressed in terms of who brought it about? And we do what? 5. In the wake of the Ukraine disaster (which follows on the Afghanistan disaster), there appears to be little to no action to avoid the next military disaster Taiwan as no massive defensive buildup of a key ally (think Taiwan Semiconductor, if you don't care for the moral element here) is occurring. (Oh, and the next military disaster might occur with tens of thousands of casualties of U.S. military at sea and on land a military that has been focused, by the way, more on diversity than ballistics. An epochal military defeat could truly be on our horizon.) Do you have any family on active military duty? Their lives may soon be as forfeit as the 13 we so disgracefully lost in Kabul. 6. The national debt of our country our debt has ballooned to over 30 trillion during this administration. That is almost $100,000 for every U.S. citizen! Exactly how do you think that is ever going to be repaid and is not going to affect your children's or your own quality of life? 7. The murder rate in every major American city is spiraling upward, as are carjackings and rapes, as Democrat mayors and D.A.s smile and preen and moralize. Lately, freight trains get ransacked, and downtown department stores get robbed by roving packs. This will shift from the evening news to directly impact your extended and possibly immediate family in the next two years. It is guaranteed. Are you emotionally ready? 8. Your children are being taught in public schools the ones you pay for to hate themselves (and you) if they happen to be white and assume victimhood if they aren't. Now, there's a recipe for future racial harmony in the U.S. If Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin were in actual control of the U.S. its government, its media, its education he would be ordering exactly what is described above. Is one of them truly in control? If not, who/what exactly is doing so that could be that level of bad? Will we ever know? We have all taken the blue pill of the Matrix for far too long. We have gone along to get along, and now we have what we have deserved. But do the children being born today deserve that (by which I mean those who get to be born)? My wife often chides me for being too strident. I asked her the other day if Mrs. Revere should have given Paul Revere the same admonition. If she had, and succeeded, would my wife now have a framed picture of the queen in our living room? Or if Mrs. Lincoln had chided Abraham to be more likable, might we currently need a passport to travel from Pennsylvania to Virginia? I really don't know what it will take to turn the U.S. around or if it is too far gone. I know this: without the sense of outrage and steel that Americans marshaled at Lexington/Concord, Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, and Midway, and in the first days after 9/11, we will lose what we have, and once lost, our children will never get it back. Now, there is a legacy. Everyone in the media makes mistakes, and I am no exception. Last week, American Thinker posted an article of mine titled "Why the Washington Post Cannot 'Correct' Its Trayvon Tribute." The article was accurate in every single detail except for a rather major one the offending party was the New York Times. We all agreed to pull the article pronto. Once I recovered from my embarrassment, I asked the New York Times "corrections" department to address the mistakes in the print-video Trayvon tribute that the Times ran on February 26, the tenth anniversary of Trayvon Martin's death. The email read as follows: Before listing the problems, let me establish my credentials to comment. I attended George Zimmerman's trial and wrote a book on the subject: If I Had a Son: Race, Guns, and the Railroading of George Zimmerman. I have since gotten to know George and his family well. In 2019, I edited Joel Gilbert's brilliantly researched book (and film), The Trayvon Hoax. I have a Ph.D. in American studies from Purdue. Now for the problems: Charles Blow tells us, The contemporary civil rights movement unfolded directly in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman was rightfully acquitted of murder. To launch a civil rights movement on a lie is a bad way to start one. Barack Obama expressed his outrage at the idea that this teenager who was walking down the street could be considered so threatening that a private citizen could initiate a confrontation resulting in that teenagers death. Well, Trayvon wasnt walking down the street. He was lurking in the shadows on a rainy night in a housing development plagued with break-ins and home invasions by young black men, and Zimmerman did not initiate the confrontation. In the Times video, we hear George Zimmermans edited call to the dispatcher. What follows is the actual exchange: GZ: Hey, weve had some break-ins in my neighborhood and theres a real suspicious guy, uh [near] Retreat View Circle. The best address I can give you is 111 Retreat View Circle. This guy looks like hes up to no good or hes on drugs or something. Its raining and hes just walking around, looking about. SPD: Okay, and this guy, is he White, Black, or Hispanic? GZ: He looks black. Here is how the Times edited this exchange: GZ: Hey, weve had some break-ins in my neighborhood and theres a real suspicious guy. This guy looks like hes up to no good or hes on drugs or something. He looks black. The Times edited the call to make GZ look like a racist profiler. This was the first of two deceptive edits. When the dispatcher asked Zimmerman which way Trayvon was running, Zimmerman left the car to maintain a visual. Upon hearing the wind in the phone, the dispatcher asked: SPD: Are you following him? GZ: Yeah. SPD: Okay. We dont need you to do that. GZ: Okay. The Times edited out Zimmerman's okay, all the better to preserve the fiction that GZ was stalking Trayvon. In fact, GZ stopped following Trayvon and looked for an address where he could meet the police who were on their way. Writes Blow, "Martin was just 17 years old, a boy, and he was where he was supposed to be. He was unarmed. He was carrying Skittles and a can of iced tea." No, Trayvon was not where he was supposed to be. He had been exiled to the townhome of his fathers new girlfriend in Sanford, Florida, after being suspended from school for the third time that school year and kicked out of his mothers home. Having been caught with stolen jewelry and burglary tools, Trayvon avoided arrest under the same misguided policy that allowed Nikolas Cruz free to kill 17 of his Parkland high school classmates a few years later. Zimmerman was right about Trayvon. He was high, and he was up to no good. He had gone to the 7-11 not on some innocent mission, but to buy some blunts and the makings -- Skittles, watermelon cooler -- of a drug concoction called purple lean. This unarmed "boy" was an aspiring mixed martial artist nearly a half a foot taller than Zimmerman. Yet, in violation of all journalism standards, the Times only showed pictures of Trayvon as a little boy. Trayvon had four minutes to run 100 yards to the townhome where he was staying. Instead, he circled back to the spot where Zimmerman was waiting for the police and sucker punched him. The only eyewitness, Jonathan Good, told the jury that he saw a black man in a black hoodie on top of either a white guy... or an Hispanic guy in a red sweater on the ground yelling out help. According to Good, the black man on top was throwing down blows on the guy MMA style. Trayvon pounded Zimmermans head for more than 40 seconds. A 911 call picked up Zimmermans screams. Losing consciousness, Zimmerman finally pulled out his pistol and shot Trayvon in the chest. The evidence for this scenario was irrefutable. To compare Trayvon Martin to Emmett Till is disgraceful. The case should never have come to trial. With the mob pressing hard, state authorities arrested Zimmerman only after attorney Benjamin Crump manufactured a phone witness, a grossly overweight and mentally challenged 19-year-old who claimed to be Trayvons puppy love. Gilbert found the real 16-year-old girlfriend. I would recommend Blow watch The Trayvon Hoax. Zimmerman did not face not an all-white jury as the Times video claimed. One of the six jurors was an Afro-Puerto Rican. They acquitted Zimmerman because they heard and saw the evidence. Although the Times chose not to share this info, Zimmerman was an Hispanic civil rights activist, the active mentor of two Black teens, and an Obama supporter. I have never seen a more consequential story so grossly misreported. The Times has an opportunity here to tell the truth about what happened. That will take some courage. Happy to help or, if need be, shout out about this defamatory nonsense from the rooftops. I am not going to let this level of media malpractice pass. I would prefer option A. Thanks for hearing me out. To their credit, the editors got back to me promptly and said they would review my complaint. In retrospect, I was wishing the Post editors had gotten back to me when I emailed them and said, "Hey, numbnuts. We didn't run the piece you're b------ about," but they didn't. Soon thereafter, I got an encouraging email from Times copy chief Jose Fidelino. It read: "Thank you for your message. I have forwarded your email to the video's editors to determine whether the dispatch call was edited inappropriately. They will delete and append a correction for the television commentator's mischaracterization of the jury's makeup." I emailed Fidelino, "Jose, Thanks for getting back to me. Can you alert me when the changes are made. Of course, it would be nice if Charles Blow would retract his 'murder' comment." True to his word, Fidelino emailed me back a short time later, saying, "The video has been updated, and a correction has been added to the end." I then received an email from Adam Ellick, the executive producer of Opinion Video at the Times: "This video was an Opinion analysis of an event and subsequent discussion and impact in society for years to follow, rather than additional news reporting on events that have been covered extensively." Ellick continued: "Regarding your comment about the racial makeup of the jury, our video included a clip from news coverage at the time. To avoid misunderstanding by our audience, we have offered a correction to that matter and I appreciate you flagging it. On your comment regarding the 911 call, as is our standard, we conducted editing for time to encapsulate multiple lengthy calls that are only part of the overall story." My foolish optimism fading, I sought out the "corrected" Trayvon tribute. I watched it all the way through the credits. Nothing had changed. (Still hasn't.) Zimmerman's exchange with the dispatcher remains almost criminally butchered. Finally, after the credits, there appeared on screen this "correction": "An earlier version of this video included an audio file in which a television commentator mischaracterized the composition of a jury. It consisted of five white women and one woman of mixed race." That was it. I emailed Ellick: "As much as I appreciate your quick response and understand your limited ability to make substantive changes, I have a hard time believing that that the editing out of Zimmerman's 'okay' to the dispatcher has anything to do with 'time to encapsulate.' Also, the 'mixed race' juror will probably be surprised to learn that she is now 'mixed race.'" I included a video interview of that juror with the email. I figured that it made no more sense for me to scold Ellick than it would to blame a Russian private for the Ukrainian invasion. Each is a cog in a corrupt machine, and I am not sure which machine is more dangerous. The New York Times once again lent its imprimatur to a recklessly dishonest narrative that has already resulted in thousands of needless deaths. The war in Ukraine will come to an end. The war in our streets... maybe never. Image: Werth Media. Following the Holocaust, many in the world understood that Jews, the ongoing victims of the world's oldest hatred, needed a safe haven where they would be masters of their own destiny. That haven was Israel, a land acquired through an unbroken four-thousand-year history, purchase, and gift, and, eventually, through attacks against them, the spoils of war. For many years, American support for Israel was consistent across the political spectrum. However, as Israel became associated too strongly with America during the Cold War, the left turned against her and now leftists, including those in the Biden administration, are increasingly open about their animosity. A couple of days ago, The Washington Free Beacon revealed that the Biden administration is offering almost $1 million in taxpayer money to whatever groups can dig up dirt on Israel: The Biden administration is offering nearly $1 million for groups to investigate alleged human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, an effort that will delegitimize Israel, according to sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon. The State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) is soliciting nonprofit groups to apply for grant money up to $987,654 to "strengthen accountability and human rights in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza," according to a grant notice first posted online in mid-February. Groups applying for the grant money will investigate alleged crimes inside Israel and these territories and "collect, archive, and maintain human rights documentation to support justice and accountability and civil society-led advocacy efforts, which may include documentation of legal or security sector violations and housing, land, and property rights," according to the State Department. Ted Cruz spoke with the Beacon and pretty much summed up what's going on under Joe Biden, a man notorious for his hostility to Israel (although that didn't faze his Jewish voters, who don't really care about Israel): "This is disgraceful," Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) told the Free Beacon. "The Biden administration wants to use American taxpayer money to subsidize the international NGO campaign to demonize and isolate Israel, which then serves as a basis for anti-Semitic efforts to boycott and wage economic warfare against Israeli Jews. Congress did not appropriate funds for this purpose and has repeatedly condemned such campaigns." Additionally, the disastrous agreement Biden is desperate to sign with Iran will only put Israel at even greater risk. And then there's Amnesty International. A month ago, AI issued a report accusing Israel, the only nation in the Middle East that has freedom of worship and civil rights for all legal residents, of being an "apartheid" nation. Presumably, Muslim nations avoid this designation because they don't segregate other faiths; they expel them or slaughter them. Image: The Western Wall by wirestock. Freepick license. On Wednesday, A.I.'s director finally revealed the reason for the hostility behind this nonsensical, biased report: he doesn't think Israel should exist. Following Amnesty International's recent report that accused Israel of "apartheid" in its treatment of Palestinians, the group's USA director appeared to go a step further on Wednesday, suggesting to a Women's National Democratic Club audience that the bulk of American Jews do not want Israel to be a Jewish state, but rather "a safe Jewish space" based on "core Jewish values." [snip] Israel "shouldn't exist as a Jewish state," O'Brien told some 20 in-person and 30 virtual attendees at the Wednesday lunch event, before adding "Amnesty takes no political views on any question, including the right of the State of Israel to survive." [snip] "The right of the people to self-determination and to be protected is without a doubt something that we believe in, and I personally believe that," said O'Brien. But "we are opposed to the idea and this, I think, is an existential part of the debate that Israel should be preserved as a state for the Jewish people." In that sea of words, all of which contradict each other, the fact that the right of self-determination has led the Jewish people to create a Jewish state doesn't matter to O'Brien. He wants Israel gone. Imagine if A.I. applies to the State Department for that money. The American taxpayer will be funding an entity hostile to Israel as it seeks dirt to destroy it. Meanwhile, the fact that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority brutalize their own people and, when they can, slaughter any Jews unlucky enough to come near them is irrelevant. Israel's coalition government under Naftali Bennett is only slowly coming to grips with the fact that, while Israel once had a president in the White House who was truly bringing peace to the Middle East via the Abraham Accords, they now have a president who, even without leftists whispering in his ear, would love to see Israel erased as a Jewish state. Notwithstanding the many differences between the United States and Russia, perhaps the most striking similarity between them is the existence of an oligarchy that pervades the financial and political structure of both nations. An oligarch is a wealthy business leader who exerts political influence. Oligarchs are typically associated with Russia, but they exist in many countries. They possess money, the nutrient that feeds political endeavors. Oligarchs in Russia and the U.S. exist in a sort of alternative universe. In Russia, they are granted financial favor by the government with support expected. In the U.S. they obtain wealth in a free financial system, then use it to influence the government. The Facebook oligarch, Mark Zuckerberg, spent $350 million in what was purported to be assistance to local officials to assure "trustworthy, inclusive elections." Monica Showalter reported that the real reason for the support was to bribe officials to deliver votes to Democrats in swing states. Zuckerberg's Center for Tech and Civic Life spent $15 million in Michigan, almost half of it going to the Democratic stronghold of Detroit. Real Clear Politics reported that the money was used to "increase mail-in voting, remote drop boxes, and other measures that increase ballot harvesting," making election malfeasance easier. Almost 90% of the votes impacted by Mr. Zuckerberg's activism in the Detroit area went to candidates of the Democratic Party. It's against the law to buy elections, but Mr. Zuckerberg seems to have found a loophole. Is Twitter an oligarch? It is a platform from which almost anyone can broadcast their thoughts while generating millions of dollars from advertisers hoping to sell products to tweeters. Twitter management has chosen to censor the platform. This may be to assure adherence to Twitter Rules, or it may be that only tweets supporting factions Twitter's management favor "serve the public conversation." During the 2020 election, Twitter canceled politicians its management determined violated Twitter Rules. An example of this is the cancelation of President Trump over claims that he incited violence. They have chosen to allow Ayatollah Khamenei to blame the world's problems on the U.S., Antifa recruitment efforts, and many distasteful tweets. Twitter's real motivation, aside from the profit motive, is to deliver public conversation that promotes the political factions its management endorses. This makes Twitter a techno-oligarch of sorts. Another example of an American oligarch is Jeff Bezos. He has amassed a fortune at Amazon by accepting electronic requests for goods from its customers, converting the requests into physical goods, and delivering them for profit. The business model is simple and efficient, and it has made Mr. Bezos a very wealthy man. He is so wealthy that he can afford to build his own spaceship in which he has flown with Captain Kirk, boldly going where no oligarch has gone before. He also purchased the Washington Post, a legendary liberal-leaning leader of American journalism. Under his ownership, the WaPo has been at war with Donald Trump and those who follow him. The WaPo has printed misleading stories, some of which have been absurdly false. They printed at least 18 reasons why Trump could be a Russian agent. A journalist or editorial board might attempt to determine whether such allegations are factual. The Washington Post and many other news outlets don't burden themselves with journalistic standards. Mr. Bezos purchased the WaPo in 2013, and the paper has been a reliable propagandist for the Democratic Party. As a business, the Post operates within the parameters of a free press. Unfortunately, its managers and staffers are inspired more by political faction than truth. The paper has helped propel Mr. Bezos through the ether into the stratosphere of American oligarchy. Beam us up, Jeff there is no sign of intelligent life at the WaPo. Bill Gates is using his billions to advocate for green energy. He suggests that consumption of meat generates climate-changing CO2 and advocates cardboard protein as a substitute for beef steak. To cash in, he is buying farmland in the Midwest. Perhaps he can use the agricultural products he produces to make the cardboard protein he advocates or some form of Soylent Green. He could deliver the product to Jeff Bezos to eat as he goes star-trekking. American oligarchs aren't confined to the talking points of the Democratic Party platform. Conservatives like the Koch brothers are oligarchs, as is the anarchist George Soros. Monied interests have long enjoyed outsized influence over American culture and political discourse. The Rockefellers and Vanderbilts didn't support the trust-busting Progressive Republicans. Perhaps modern-day trustbusters should insert themselves into the business activities of some of these oligarchs. American oligarchs attempt to insulate conversations to prevent the dissemination of divergent ideas and cancel those who dare disagree with them. They push untrue narratives disguised as journalism, censor their internet platforms, and spend the millions they've earned to buy votes for factions they support. Oligarchs all over the world have too much power. The United States is no exception. Image: Sebastian Vital via Flickr. Underneath the city of Odessa, in Ukraine, is an extensive network of tunnels believed to be the largest catacomb system in the world. Largely unmapped and spread haphazardly under the city, the huge maze of underground passages extends for over 2,500 kilometers. If it were laid out in a straight line the tunnels would reach all the way to Paris. Incidentally, Paris is also the place where the world's second largest catacombs are located. But Odessas catacombs are five times longer than those in Paris. Its difficult to say when digging underneath Odessa first started but the catacombs were greatly expanded starting from the late 18th century, when Catherine the Great ordered this new port city to be built by the sea. An incredible amount of mining took place to extract limestone to build the city above ground. The tunnels were dug more than a hundred feet below ground on three different levels. New shafts were created whenever old ones ran out of limestone, and it was through this process an intricate web of tunnels began to take shape. Photo credit: goneva.net.ua Mining continued throughout the entire 19th century and into the 20th, until the outbreak of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The mines fell into the hands of criminals and vagabonds who began to use the underground to meet and smuggle goods. At one time these dark and dingy tunnels were even used by slave traders. When the Nazis arrived in Odessa and began massacring the citys population, the catacombs served as hiding place for Soviet partisans fighting the axis forces. The hideouts were turned into comfortable living spaces by the guerilla fighters. There were recreation rooms where men played checkers, chess, or dominoes by candlelight. Rooms for accommodation had shelves cut into the walls where men and women slept. Kitchens were equipped with stoves made of limestone and smoke was vented into empty chambers above. There was even a hospital and an operating theater. Some of the tunnels have been reconstructed today, allowing visitors to see the exact conditions that the partisans lived in. At the Museum of Partisan Glory near Nerubayskoye, there's a kilometer-long section of catacomb neatly arranged with period-costume dummies and rusty WWII weapons. There are more than a thousand known entrances leading into the mysterious labyrinth filled with hidden caves, where modern explorers routinely discover century-old artifacts such as coins, tools, items of clothing, cooking pots and utensils, rifles from World War II, and old newspapers. Going into the tunnels without a guide is extremely dangerous. Its all to easy to wander into the darkness and never return. Amateur map of a section from the Odessa catacombs. Photo credit: Reddit Photo credit: goneva.net.ua Photo credit: IPAAT/Panoramio Museum of Partisan Glory in the Odessa Catacombs. Photo credit: IPAAT/Panoramio Photo credit: IPAAT/Panoramio Photo credit: IPAAT/Panoramio Photo credit: IPAAT/Panoramio Photo credit: IPAAT/Panoramio Sources: Wikipedia / www.wsj.com / The Bohemian Blog / www.ukraine.com / wol.jw.org (Image source from: Newsmeter.in) AP Government ignores Amaravati in the Annual Budget:- The High Court of Andhra Pradesh slammed the government to focus on the construction of the capital in Amaravati and the court asked the AP government to update them on a timely basis. The Annual Budget of Andhra Pradesh was presented in the state's Assembly yesterday by the Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy. The Finance Minister had no mention about the capital Amaravati or allocating funds in the Annual Budget. The government is not much bothered about Amaravati even after the High Court affirmed Amaravati would remain as the capital of the state. The High Court asked the government to develop the region and handover the developed plots for the farmers in the next six months. A massive fund is needed for the construction of the capital but there are no allocations made by the AP government for the same. There are speculations that AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy is discussing about the same with the legal experts to challenge the decision of the High Court in the Supreme Court of India. TDP and Janasena leaders slammed the AP government for ignoring Amaravati once again. Rajendranath Reddy announced that Rs 800 crores will be spent for the essential infrastructure of the new capital but the name of Amaravati was never mentioned. This makes it clear that the government of Andhra Pradesh is not in a mood to obey the orders of the High Court about the capital. 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Please note *Your Subscription will Automatically Renew unless you contact Customer Service To Cancel* (ANSA) - ROME, FEB 17 - Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio has hailed the Italy Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai as an "extraordinary" way to present the country to the world. The Italy Pavilion, which is inspired by the motto Beauty Connects People and features a full-sized replica of Michelangelo's David, is one of the most popular attractions at the ongoing World Fair, the first in the Middle East. "Beauty is at the heart of Italy's participation at Expo 2020 Dubai," Di Maio said in a message to conference at the pavilion presenting a report by industrial confederation Confindustria and export-credit agency SACE on 'exporting Dolce Vita' with 'beauty and the well-crafted'. "The pavilion is an extraordinary presentation of our country's most distinctive characteristics, which are technological advancement linked to our traditions. "The report presented today shows that, despite the impact of the pandemic, beautiful and well-crafted products remain a key driving force for exports and for the Italian economy. "According to the report, these goods are worth 135 billion euros (a year). "This is proof that quality is a distinctive characteristic of Italian output and a key to its attractiveness in advanced and emerging markets". (ANSA). This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. Police signage (Joe Giddens/PA) Three teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 19-year-old man was stabbed to death in Bury. Police received a report of a stabbing on Market Street in Bury shortly before 4pm on Friday. Emergency services attended to the man at the scene before he was taken to hospital where he later died. His next of kin have been informed. Three 16-year-old boys have been arrested on suspicion of murder. Police are implementing stop and search powers in Bury town centre. Detective Superintendent Lewis Hughes said that it has been a fast-paced investigation. He said: Id like to reiterate that our thoughts remain with the family and loved ones of the young man who was very sadly killed yesterday afternoon. This has been a fast-paced investigation and I am pleased to say detectives have made three arrests overnight in connection with his death. Although they remain in custody for questioning our investigation is still in its initial stages and we are continuing to appeal to anyone who may have been in the area at the time to come forward and assist police. This incident occurred in broad daylight in a Bury town centre so it is highly likely there are members of the public who witnessed the assault or may have mobile phone footage from around the town. If you were in Bury town centre and saw any disturbance in or around Millgate Shopping Centre then we ask that you contact Greater Manchester Police. You can also pass information anonymously via Crimestoppers. This is a shocking incident of violence and I want to assure the public we are continuing to work at pace to ensure those responsible face justice and we provide this young mans family with the answers they deserve. Greater Manchester Police have asked anyone with any information to contact them on 0161 856 0027 quoting incident reference 1940 of 11/03/22. Independent charity Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111. Ramesh Sunny Balwani, former right-hand man to fallen Silicon Valley entrepreneur Elizabeth Homes, faces nearly identical fraud accusations to those that ended in four guilty verdicts for Holmes in January. Criminal defense experts, however, anticipate key differences in the pair's legal strategies. A central reason is that Balwani's case will go forward with testimony and jury verdicts already on the record from Holmes case. And while both sides stand to gain and lose advantages from the scenario, it presents a balancing act for Balwani's defense to keep from being pushed into a more vulnerable position. Balwani has the advantage of all the testimony being on the record, Benjamin Gluck, a white-collar criminal defense attorney, told Yahoo Finance. He has the disadvantage of the exact same thing. The defendant's advantage comes from knowing in advance much of what witnesses will say on the stand, Gluck explained. Balwani has that luxury, since most of the witnesses expected to testify against him have already testified against Holmes. Yet it can be a double-edged sword, Gluck argued, given that Holmes trial now serves as somewhat of a dress rehearsal for those witnesses. Its going to be harder to shake witnesses who have already withstood cross-examination and been 'vindicated' by a conviction, the attorney said. Will Holmes take the stand? Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (center) arrives to attend her fraud trial at federal court in San Jose, California, U.S. January 3, 2022. REUTERS/Brittany Hosea-Small Standing trial following the trial of a co-defendant cuts both ways, according to George Demos, a former SEC enforcement attorney and adjunct professor at University of California-Davis School of Law. In Balwanis case though, he expects the government to have an edge. His defense team has an opportunity to dig for holes in each witness's testimony, but the government is likely to whittle its witness list down to its best, Demos suggested. The government will no doubt streamline its presentation and focus on the witnesses who were most persuasive in the first trial, the professor said. One influential witness who undoubtedly made an impression on jurors during Holmes's trial was Elizabeth Holmes herself. In theory, Holmes could take the stand against Balwani, though it is unlikely since prosecutors would have to offer her as a credible witness following their effort to discredit her during her trial. Nonetheless, Balwanis strategy must consider the possibility that Holmes's words could impact his case. Id be very surprised if Elizabeth Holmes testifies in Balwanis trial, Caroline Johnston Polisi, a white-collar criminal defense attorney and law lecturer at Columbia University School of Law told Yahoo Finance. After all, according to the government, shes not a credible witness. She also still maintains her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, as she has not finished the appeals process in her own case," she added. "Never say never, but I just dont think it will happen in this case. Even with Holmess trial in the rearview mirror, lawyers think that Balwanis central defense could differ from Holmes's. Johnston Polisi expects Balwani to raise a classic antagonistic defense that echoes Holmess mantra that she wasn't aware of or overseeing every aspect at Theranos especially its laboratory operations, which Holmes testified was the responsibility of her laboratory directors. I think that you're going to see that Sunnys defense has got to be a knowledge defense, Johnston Polisi said. It has to go back to: The buck always stopped with Elizabeth. Balwani's disadvantage Former Theranos COO Ramesh Balwani (C) appears in federal court for a status hearing on July 17, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images) According to Demos, that strategy could be tougher for Balwani than for Holmes. A seasoned technology entrepreneur nearly 20 years Holmes's senior, Balwani made his fortune during the dot-com boom. He became friends with Holmes in 2002, a year before she launched Theranos at the age of 19 with the goal of creating a machine that could process diagnostic tests using mere drops of finger stick blood. Over more than a decade, Holmes sold investors on the idea that her analyzer, the size of a desktop printer, could process the blood drops across a suite of common tests. In 2009, Holmes hired Balwani as the companys president and later as its COO. During that time, the two went to great lengths to keep their romantic relationship a secret. Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes becomes emotional as she is asked to read romantic texts between herself and ex-boyfriend Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani as she is cross-examined during her trial, in San Jose, California, U.S., in this courtroom sketch, November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Vicki Behringer Balwani will no doubt mirror Holmess defense that failure in business is not a crime, but the difference is that Balwani has even less credibility to assert that than Holmes, Demos said. Holmes, he explained, had the benefit of arguing naivety as a college dropout who started making business decisions as a startup founder. She also had the advantage of standing trial just months after she gave birth to her first child. Balwani shares all of Holmess liabilities but benefits from none of her sympathetic qualities, Demos added. About five years into building the company, Balwani helped Holmes keep Theranos afloat with a $12 million dollar line of credit. In 2013, the duo struck a $140 million contract with Walgreens (WBA) to deploy Theranos devices at Walgreens locations in Palo Alto and Arizona. But the company ultimately collapsed in the wake of a bombshell 2015 Wall Street Journal report. The Journal revealed the company was not, in fact, conducting the array of blood tests from a finger prick of blood, as Holmes promoted. Like Holmes, Balwani was indicted in 2018 on 12 separate felony counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Early on, the judge dropped charges alleging fraud against doctors, and Holmes's attorneys successfully argued for the dismissal of another charge alleging fraud against patients. Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed. Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit. Find live stock market quotes and the latest business and finance news For tutorials and information on investing and trading stocks, check out Cashay As Russia's invasion of Ukraine intensifies with shelling of cities, the CEO of a private security contractor hired to extract clients from the region is troubled by what he's seeing. The conditions on the ground are worsening every day, Global Guardian CEO Dale Buckner told Yahoo Finance (video above). "When we started, of course, the front line trace of the Russian forces which was much further north near Kyiv, the capital, was much further to the east near Donbas, and they were in, within the Crimea in the south. Obviously, all that's changed. So now we're moving and flowing with where the Russians are moving towards and we're trying to avoid those areas as we continue to execute these evacuations." Buckner, speaking on Friday, added that "we went into Kyiv and Odessa and Dnipro... this morning. In each case, literally as the vehicles are standing there, as we're manifesting clients and Ukrainians onto the bus, you can hear missile strikes, you can hear bombs going off. The situation in Ukraine as of March 12, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. (UK Ministry of Defence) Russias invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24 has been marked by heavy fighting and intense resistance from Ukrainian forces. The conflict has led to widespread sanctions against Russia in addition to major U.S. companies suspending business in Russia. Companies with employees in Ukraine are turning to private security firms like Global Guardian to extract workers and other VIPs. Extracting workers has become a top priority for tech companies that have tapped into the countrys burgeoning tech hub. IT profession here is very popular among the young people, so a lot of universities, they grow their faculties for technical professionals, N-iX Founder and CEO Andrew Pavliv recently told Yahoo Finance in an interview. Software developers in Ukraine, they have much bigger wages than the average in the country, so its a popular job to do for young people. People evacuated from Ukraine land at Brasilia Air Base, Brazil, on March 10, 2022. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua via Getty Images) Buckner said the current evacuations are classified as emergency response. And because many countries have restricted their airspace amid the invasion, clients must first be flown to countries like the UAE before returning to their home countries or headquarters. He added that Global Guardian has also shifted to taking on some humanitarian efforts despite primarily operating as a for-hire private security group. When we dont have [extraction teams] tasked, we are running free shuttles to the border of Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, he said, adding that the security firm is also making room for civilians on corporate missions. When we do execute a mission on behalf of a corporate client, were bringing families and all elements of family members." Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube With Russias invasion of Ukraine bringing us images of murdered civilians, bombed maternity wards and the horror of urban warfare, you really have to wonder about the human race. How is it that 145 million Russians allow someone like Putin to rule over them? The answer to that question has everything to do with Russian history and politics of course, but an even more sobering point is that Putin is hardly alone. The world today is rife with authoritarians, nationalists and dictators tinpot and otherwise. And they are on the march. In fact you could make the case that we are moving towards an unprecedented anti-Democratic hegemony. Forget "dark forces rising" from Lord of the Rings or "winter is coming" in Game of Thrones. This is real-deal, happening-in-our-lifetimes stuff. Without being alarmist, there is something even bigger afoot than Russia invading Ukraine a war between civilization and humankinds worst impulses. The implications for companies and economies are myriad, but Id identify two key points. First, to a degree this represents a transition, it brings uncertainty and we will know how Mr. Market hates that. Second, authoritarianism and its evil twin corruption produce substandard outcomes for everyone except the unscrupulous few. Autocracies are not in the rising tide business. What about World War II? Its true that 80 years ago Hitler, Mussolini, Imperial Japan and their puppets waged a brutal world war. Its also true for the time being at least they were generally more murderous. But the Axis Powers controlled a far smaller share of the global population than todays authoritarians. As far as todays autocrats Putin, Xi, Bolsonaro, Erdogan, Orban, Khamenei and dozens of others this is a mixed bag of leaders. Some are military dictators, some are popularly elected and some control by dint of persona. What they all share at the very least is a disdain for globalism, and in most cases much more than that; suppression of human rights and the media (a chilling source here), jailing of political opponents, murder and, well, acts such as the invasion of Ukraine. Lets look at the 10 most populous countries: China, India, the U.S., Indonesia, Pakistan, Brazil, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia and Mexico. My colleague Max Zahn and I turned to a 2021 study by V-Dem Institute, (Varieties of Democracy), a Swedish NGO that analyzes and ranks nations based on democratic characteristics, (i.e. home country Sweden has the strongest democracy and Eritrea the worst below North Korea even.) As for the 10 most populous nations, only four; the U.S., Mexico, Indonesia and Brazil (which has "undergone substantial autocratization" over the past decade, according to the V-Dem report) and Indonesia are in the top 50% of most democratic nations. (Mexico barely made the cut.) The others are all below the line, highlighted by China coming in at No. 172 out of 179 countries and Russia at No.151. Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China February 4, 2022. Sputnik/Aleksey Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. V-Dem finds that 70% of the world, or 5.4 billion people, are living in autocracies, up from 49% in 2011. The report also found that only 15 countries are democratizing covering 3% of the world population the lowest number since 1978. (Another source here is Freedom House, which notes that the number of countries becoming less free has outnumbered those becoming more free for 16 straight years.) Why is this happening? On some levels, its a reversion to the norm, says Erica Frantz, an associate professor of political science at Michigan State. There was such a burst of democracy after the end of the Cold War, perhaps were settling into a new normal. At the same time, its important to remember that democracies still outnumber dictatorships. Frantz also thinks Putins invasion might ultimately backfire and slow the advance of authoritarianism. Another perspective comes from Joseph Wright, a professor of political science at Penn State. Wright makes the case that underlying much of this shift to autocracy is our demand for resources. This kind of aggressive behavior of people like Putin weve seen it in the past with Iran as well to some extent Venezuela is driven by oil and gas prices, he says. As those prices go up, dictators whose states own assets in those sectors consolidate power at home, trampling vestiges of democratic institutions that could constrain their behavior. It emboldens their actions internationally, as were seeing now with Putin. The why now of why attack in February 2022 part of that is due to the rise in oil prices in 2021. Decarbonizing Western economies will limit the reach of authoritarianism. Regarding Wright's last point about decarbonizing, Im not so sure. I just dont think the world going all solar would end human beings megalomaniac impulses. Speaking of which, both Frantz and Wright speak to another trend known as "personalism," which as Wright explains is when oligarchs are able to amass huge fortunes, finance parties they create or take over. He notes: In Benin, an oligarch created a party; in El Salvador, the president created a party; Brazil did the same thing. In Hungary, the president was able to consolidate power over the party with the help of oligarchs. Georgia, Serbia are countries that experienced it recently. We know personalist dictatorships are more likely to be aggressive in foreign policy, more likely to initiate conflicts, to provoke disputes with democracies, says Frantz. Hmm, does personalism feel a bit familiar? Maybe now would be a good time to point out that the U.S. ranks only No. 29 on the V-Dems list between Japan and Latvia and worse, like Brazil, has "undergone substantial autocratization" over the past decade. (Freedom House corroborates this, citing illegitimate attempts to overturn elections, a rise in political intimidation and violence and discrimination against racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.) We have every right to be outraged by Putin and his heinous mob and to condemn them, but we best make sure to keep our own house in order. Investors, voters and lovers of freedom everywhere will be watching. This article was featured in a Saturday edition of the Morning Brief on March 12, 2022. Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. Subscribe Andy Serwer is editor-in-chief of Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter: @serwer Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube Boris Johnson has told the Irish premier that significant changes are still needed with the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol after the Taoiseach said there is an increasing view that it is working. The Prime Minister met Taoiseach Micheal Martin in London where the pair discussed Ukraine and the protocol before watching Ireland beat England in the Six Nations at Twickenham. Mr Johnson told Mr Martin that he hopes the same spirit of co-operation the UK and EU have shared during the Ukraine crisis can be applied to Brexit discussions. A Downing Street spokesperson said: The Prime Minister reiterated the need to make significant changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol in order to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland and safeguard the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all its dimensions. He said that while greater ambition and flexibility was needed from the EU in the negotiations, it was his hope that the same spirit of co-operation that had characterised the UK/EU relationship in respect of Ukraine could also be applied to resolving the issues with the protocol. Pleased to meet Prime Minister @BorisJohnson before the Ireland v England game. We discussed brutal invasion of #Ukraine by Russia and the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Welcomed the close collaboration between the EU, U.K. and our partners to hold Russia to account. pic.twitter.com/hDmzTfeIkL Micheal Martin (@MichealMartinTD) March 12, 2022 A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said: The Taoiseach welcomed the ongoing engagement between the EU and UK on issues relating to the Northern Ireland Protocol and highlighted the importance of reaching durable, practical solutions for people and businesses in Northern Ireland. The protocol has created new economic barriers on trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Agreed by the UK and EU to ensure no hardening of the Irish land border post-Brexit, it has instead moved regulatory and customs checks to the Irish Sea, with Northern Ireland remaining in the EU single market for goods. The region also applies the EU customs code at its ports. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Micheal Martin in the stands ahead of the Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London (David Davies/PA) Unionists and loyalists claim the arrangements have undermined the sovereignty of the UK and have demanded the UK triggers the protocols Article 16 mechanism to suspend its trading provisions. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said on Friday he will not go back into the Stormont Executive until the matter of the protocol is dealt with. Earlier on Saturday, Mr Martin said everyone he has met in Northern Ireland wants continued access to the EU single market. Mr Martin was asked what the Irish governments communication channels were like with the DUP and how likely it is that the issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol will be resolved by the time of upcoming elections. Speaking to reporters at the Embassy of Ireland in London, Mr Martin said the Irish government has good channels of communication with all parties in Northern Ireland. He said: Whats very interesting from our perspective though is that whats increasing and growing is a view within Northern Ireland, particularly in Northern Ireland business and industry, that the protocol is working in terms of inward investment into Northern Ireland, and in terms of access to the EU single market. Taoiseach Micheal Martin at the Embassy of Ireland in London (James Manning/PA) So anybody Ive met in Northern Ireland all want to continue access to the EU single market. Its a good basic principle to start off on. And my view, given the improved relationship between the UK and the EU as a result of the partnership on Ukraine, I would like to think that in the fullness of time we will be able to resolve this issue. But well take it step by step. And theres a channel there between the European Union and the United Kingdom thats ongoing and were going to take this step by step. Sir Jeffrey was applauded at Crossgar Orange Hall on Friday night as he said his party would not re-enter the Stormont Executive until the Government acts to protect Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. Paul Givan resigned as first minister earlier this year as part of the DUPs action against the protocol in a move which also removed deputy first minister Michelle ONeill from the joint office. French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris to attend a 2019 summit on Ukraine. (Chesnot / Getty Images) Official photographs of French President Emmanuel Macron usually depict him looking composed and confident. But in recent pictures released by Elysee Palace after his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Macron looks drawn, haggard, even despairing. The messaging seems clear: Dealing with Putin is taxing. But it's election season in France, and Macron's shouldering of a difficult statesmanlike task talking with a volatile Russian leader who is waging Europe's biggest land war since 1945 appears to be paying political dividends for the 44-year-old French president. Macron, perhaps more than any other Western head of state, has engaged intensively with Putin for years including during the run-up to the war in Ukraine, and continuing during the more than two weeks since the start of the massive Russian offensive. After his latest parley with Putin last week, Macron appealed for a "complete truce" in what has become an all-out Russian assault on Ukrainian cities and towns. France, he said, was committed to protecting civilians and would continue to apply "diplomatic pressure, so that this war stops as soon as possible." In part because it bolsters France's image as a major world player, the French public is generally happy to see the country's leader take on a high-profile diplomatic role. In France, it goes down fairly well with citizens if the president is seen to be playing an active role on the international stage, said Douglas Webber, emeritus professor of political science at INSEAD, an international business school headquartered in France. That boost comes just in time for next months two-round presidential election. A report published this week by the Elabe pollster for BFM television indicated that one-third of those surveyed planned to vote for Macron in the first round, a jump of more than 8 percentage points from the previous week. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen trailed, with 15% of the intended votes. That gives Macron the biggest first-round lead heading into a presidential vote since 1965, according to Mujtaba Rahman, the Eurasia Groups managing director for Europe. Even so, Macron has come under fire in some quarters for his longtime efforts to engage with Putin to the point of courting him. The French president's supporters call it a laudable effort to keep the lines of communication open with an autocratic leader often hostile to the West; his detractors suggest Macron may have been taken in by the wily former KGB officer. For a long time, he didnt understand Putin, said Michel Duclos, senior fellow at Institut Montaigne. He was under the illusion that Putin was a rational actor and had security interests that one could understand. But after a visit to Moscow by Macron weeks before Putin launched his Ukraine invasion on Feb. 24, the French leader sought to make it known that he had a clear-eyed grasp of just how far the Russian leader might be willing to go in his bid to subdue Ukraine. Macron well understood that there was a different person sitting across from him, Duclos said. While Macron wasnt able to dissuade Putin from invading, some veteran observers believe his ongoing contact provides a useful window into the Russian leader's thinking. Macron wanted to use diplomacy to determine Putins intentions, said Judy Dempsey, nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and editor in chief of Strategic Europe. He has no illusions, but as a leader, he felt a certain responsibility to try. The desire to keep lines of communication open, even with interlocutors whose goals might be considered repugnant, is a classically French one, said Olivier Costa, research professor at the French National Center for Scientific Research and an expert on French politics. There is a French tradition that goes back to [Charles] de Gaulle of France finding its own way between two blocs, Costa said. The idea is that someone should speak to the Russians. [Macron] has always said that someone needs to speak to Putin." But, Costa acknowledged, "not everyone is of that view. Macron has also been in regular contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, expressing emphatic support for the Ukrainian side, but his outreach has been far more weighted toward Moscow. At times he has sought to serve as a bridge between the two sides, as when he spoke with both Putin and Zelensky on Feb. 28, four days after Russia invaded, and said he pressed for an immediate cease-fire. A shift in emphasis from domestic politics to a pressing international crisis is clearly benefiting Macron. Just weeks ago, his political opponents were busy criticizing his immigration policies and his governments handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, public discourse is centered on the war in Ukraine, which has triggered an enormous refugee exodus and caused heart-rending harm to starving, freezing, bombarded Ukrainian civilians. No other candidate has an international profile," Costa said. "He is strategically playing that role and underlining the international dimension to show how weak the other candidates are. Moreover, three of Macrons leading rivals in the upcoming election Le Pen, Eric Zemmour on the extreme right and Jean-Luc Melenchon on the hard left are in an extremely awkward position vis-a-vis Putin, having publicly praised him or taken Russian money. Zemmour recently called Putins demands completely legitimate, and last week, Le Pen had to destroy fliers that featured a photo of her shaking Putins hand. Melenchon, for his part, has been trying to explain away previous statements he made in support of Putin, most notably concerning Syria. The discomfit of his rivals has been a political gift to Macron. At the moment, he is making hay, Dempsey said. France currently holds the European Unions rotating presidency, so Macron is positioned to speak more broadly for Europe as well. The Ukraine crisis dovetails neatly with the French leader's long-standing wish to shake up the EU, moving away from wielding mainly soft power and toward ramping up the bloc's defense and security capabilities. While there was some support for that point of view, it had been largely theoretical until war in Ukraine, analysts say. Now the more muscular approach advocated by Macron looks prescient. There has been a change of mind-set in the EU about becoming a power, Costa said. Ukraine is an occasion to say, Now we need to do something.'" The bloc is taking steps no one would have anticipated six months ago; for example, buying and delivering $500 million worth of weapons to Ukraine, a historic first. Macron is also riding a wave of almost unprecedented alignment within Europe over Ukraine. Sweden abandoned its rule of neutrality and sent tanks to the defenders. Germany, in a momentous about-face, reversed its long-standing policy of not sending arms to conflict zones. Even Switzerland, whose confidential banking policies make it a haven for parking ill-gotten gains, joined in sanctions and signaled willingness to freeze Russian oligarchs' accounts. Even if Macron has little to show so far in his dealings with Putin, his associates express confidence that he is well positioned to play a role in any negotiated settlement distant though that prospect may seem. And the French leader has not minced words when it comes to denouncing what he considers bad-faith actions on Putin's part, such as when Russia offered evacuation routes for Ukrainian civilians but wanted to direct those fleeing the bombardment into Russia or its ally Belarus. All this is not serious, Macron said in a broadcast interview. It is moral and political cynicism, which is unbearable to me. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) The Columbus police officer who shot and killed 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant last year has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, Ohio prosecutors announced Friday. Bryant was killed in April by Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon as she swung a knife at a young woman, just seconds after pushing another woman to the ground. Bryant was Black and Reardon is white. Police were responding to a 911 call made from Bryant's foster home about a group of girls threatening to stab members of the household. The killing led to a Justice Department review of the police department in Ohios capital city. Bryant was shot four times and died from her injuries. The coroner listed the cause of death as a homicide a medical determination used in cases where someone has died at someone elses hand, but not a legal finding. It doesnt imply criminal intent. Bryants killing further heightened tensions in Ohio's capital city over fatal police shootings of Black people, and also cast a light on the states foster care system. Related video: Ohio AG on investigation into the death of Ma'Khia Bryant In announcing the grand jury decision, special prosecutors Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer noted, Under Ohio law the use of deadly force by a police officer is justified when there exists an immediate or imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another. They said the decision followed a full review of the shooting. The woman Bryant was attacking, Shai-onta Craig, had formerly lived at the home but had returned and argued with her that day, according to Craig's statement to police released Friday. A week after Bryants death, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther invited the Justice Department to review the police department for possible deficiencies and racial disparities. The U.S. Justice Department accepted, and last fall agreed to review practices of the police department, saying its Office of Community Oriented Policing Services would conduct a review of what the department called technical assistance in such areas as training, recruitment including a focus on diversity and creating an early intervention system for officers. Columbus the countrys 14th largest city has recorded several contested police shootings, including the 2021 killing of 27-year-old Miles Jackson in an emergency room; and the 2020 shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill. The white police officer who fatally shot Hill has pleaded not guilty to a number of charges brought against him by the state attorney generals office. ___ Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo and Mark Gillispie in Cleveland contributed to this report. Of the 2.5 million Ukrainian refugees to have fled Russias invasion of their homeland for neighboring countries, 1.5 million have sought safety in Poland. With the war dragging on, more refugees arrive every day, and U.S. Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski told Yahoo News that the response from the Polish people has been beautiful. I've seen ordinary people in Poland doing extraordinary things, Brzezinski said in an exclusive interview on the Yahoo News Skullduggery podcast. To me, that's the most beautiful thing you can say about humanity, about someone who maybe themselves doesn't have a job, but they jump in their car, organize with friends to go help someone who they don't know and they probably will not know in the future. That's happening thousands upon thousands of times. Across Poland, Brzezinski said, there has been an outpouring of support from both the government and ordinary citizens who have mobilized to help. Many people have opened their own homes to accommodate the new arrivals, while others have volunteered to drive refugees arriving at the border to shelters or other accommodations. These folks are running toward the fire, not away from the fire, to help those fleeing the fire, the ambassador told Yahoo News, adding that the way the Polish people have come together to help their neighbors is a great story out of a terrible story. Businesses have stepped up too. Bus companies have been offering free rides, and some hotels have pledged to provide temporary free housing for the refugees. But there are also growing concerns over whether Poland can continue to cope with the influx. We are dealing with the greatest migration crisis in the history of Europe since World War II. ... The situation is getting more and more difficult every day, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski said Friday, adding that a proper system needs to be implemented to help his city deal with the situation. Ukrainians who fled Russian attacks huddle in a shelter at the railway station in Krakow, Poland, on Friday. (Beata Zawrzel/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Many Ukrainian refugees pass through Warsaw as they make their way to other parts of the country, but approximately 230,000 have decided to settle in the Polish capital. Housing all of them has become an issue. The mayor of this city, Rafal Trzaskowski, has dedicated one train station, Zachodnia Warszawa, and the stadium here, to receive refugees to stay a little longer, Brzezinski said. But beyond that the question is, can they be placed in apartments? Can they be placed in houses? According to the Warsaw mayor, when the war began two weeks ago, 95% of Ukrainian refugees arriving in the city were people who already had friends or family there and were able to stay with them. Today that group is 70% of the new arrivals, which means that 30% of the refugees need a roof over their heads in addition to other support, Trzaskowski said Friday. Brzezinski, who has visited various crossing points of the Polish-Ukrainian border, said many of the refugees he has interacted with have expressed a desire to return home. There's a hope that this will somehow turn in Ukraine's favor and they will be able to get home within a couple months or within this year, he said, adding that for this reason many want to stay close to the Ukrainian border. Ukrainian refugees on cots inside the Krakow railway station on Friday. (Beata Zawrzel/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Many others, Brzezinski said, will want to stay and settle in Poland because both countries have shared history and culture. Their language and food are similar, he said, and many of them already have family working in Poland. Some studies have shown that many refugees in these situations ultimately may choose not to return home. According to a study conducted by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit think tank, only 30% of refugees on average have returned to their home countries within 10 years after a conflicts end. With no sign that the war is stopping anytime soon, experts say Poland and other neighboring countries will soon need assistance from the international community to cope with the influx of refugees. Many of those countries have started to get that much-needed help. It is an amazing movement of people, Brzezinski said. We don't know what Putin will do next. We don't know how many refugees will [continue to] come to Poland. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The woman whose DNA from a sexual assault case was used by San Francisco police to arrest her in an unrelated property crime plans to sue the city, her attorney said Thursday. The woman has filed notice of a possible federal lawsuit because she feels betrayed by police officers who broke her trust and violated her rights, said her attorney, Adante Pointer. Pointer declined to identify his client. The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they choose to be named. The woman was tied to a burglary in late 2021 during a search of a San Francisco Police Department crime lab database, according to District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who said last month that the match came from DNA collected from her as part of a 2016 domestic violence and sexual assault case. This is the ultimate betrayal and re-victimization at the hands of authorities and people that she sought help and protection from," Pointer said. Boudin said he dropped felony property crime charges against the woman after becoming aware of a report, found in evidence of the property crime case, that referred to a DNA sample collected from her during the 2016 rape investigation. The revelation prompted a national outcry from law enforcement, legal experts, lawmakers and advocates and led San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott to institute new guidelines so that victim DNA would no longer be used in unrelated investigations. He said at a police commission meeting last week that hes discovered 17 crime victim profiles, 11 of them from rape kits, that were matched using a crime victims database during unrelated investigations, KTVU-TV reported. Scott said he believes the only arrest was that of the woman planning to sue the city. The departments crime lab stopped the practice shortly after receiving a complaint from the district attorneys office and formally changed its operating procedure, Scott said. California allows local law enforcement crime labs to operate their own forensic databases that are separate from federal and state databases. The law also lets municipal labs perform forensic analysis, including DNA profiling, using those databases without regulation by the state or others. Pointer declined to make the woman available for an interview with the AP. She told local media that she felt violated again after finding out the DNA collected as part of a sexual abuse case had been used against her. It was a slap in the face, she told KTVU-TV. Its just unbelievable. Im still having a hard time wrapping my head around this right now. Its just not a good feeling. UN chief says 11 years of "brutal fighting" in Syria must end Xinhua) 10:03, March 12, 2022 UNITED NATIONS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for a ceasefire in Syria in a statement marking 11 years of "brutal fighting" in the conflict-torn nation. "We cannot fail the Syrian people. The conflict must cease. International humanitarian law must be respected," said the UN chief. "I call on all parties to meaningfully engage in the UN-facilitated political process and appeal for further support to scale up the humanitarian response. We must choose peace," the secretary-general added. The top UN official said that Syria's 11 years of "brutal fighting" has come at an "unconscionable human cost," subjecting millions there to human rights violations on a "massive and systematic scale." "The destruction that Syrians have endured is so extensive and deadly that it has few equals in modern history," said the secretary-general. He noted that the slow but systematic destruction of basic infrastructure around the country, since the civil war began in 2011 in the wake of the so-called "Arab Spring" of popular uprisings across the Middle East, has "deepened the economic crisis" and now, humanitarian needs are at their highest level since conflict began. "We must not lose hope, we must act now. We must show the courage and determination to move beyond rhetorical commitments to peace and to do all that is necessary to reach a negotiated political solution in line with Security Council resolution 2254 (2015)," the UN chief said. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Bianji) The IRS announced its plan to hire 10,000 new workers to address the massive backlog that will make the current tax season the most challenging in the history of the United States. As the agency served as the leading distributor of stimulus relief during the pandemic, it encountered budget cuts and staff shortages. The IRS plan is to apply an "all hands on deck" approach to ensure" inventory is back to a healthy level for next filing season." According to Charles P. Rettig, the IRS commissioner, they plan to have an "all hands on deck" approach to emerge from longstanding staffing shortages that were compounded by the pandemic, saying that they will leave " no stone unturned. " KSL reported that the agency announced a plan to reduce the tens of millions of filings, which includes accelerating the normally lengthy recruiting process, relying more on automated systems, and hiring additional contract workers to assist with mailroom and paper processes. More IRS Employees Needed Now More Than Ever There are 20 million pieces of correspondence that need to be accomplished in the IRS backlogs. That is 15 times more than the regular filing season. However, the number of agency personnel remains the same as it was 50 years ago, despite the increase of the United States' population and the country's tax code has become complex. Also, the IRS now supervises programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought new assignments. According to officials of the Biden administration, who requested anonymity, the IRS' processing of tax returns will remain a huge challenge if it will not modify its structure set in 1960s standards. The latest plan of the IRS to accomplish the backlog is to hire 10,000 new employees (tax job experience is not necessary). Half of those are targeted to be employed within the next few months, as per New York Times. The plan also includes having 2,000 contractors and developing chatbots and automated voices that will attend to queries of taxpayers regarding tax credit payments, stimulus, and other concerns, according to CBS News. IRS jobs fairs will be set up in Austin, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Ogden, Utah, where the agency will use "direct-hire authority" to let new hires start working within 30 to 45 days of their job offer. Read Also: Biden's Popularity Shows Minor Bounce Back, Signals Hope For Democratic Majority After Midterms Lawmakers Campaign Boosting of IRS Funds Legislators have already asked IRS Commissioner Rettig to extend the April 18 deadline due to challenges faced by taxpayers during the pandemic. Though, according to the senior official, there is no plan to extend the filing deadline. The new IRS strategy comes as politicians continue to push for more government funds for the agency. The Treasury Department would receive $14.3 billion as part of Congress's massive $1.5 trillion omnibus plan, revealed Wednesday. The IRS would receive $12.6 billion. This would be the tax agency's highest funding boost since 2001. Republicans, on the other hand, have questioned the need for increased financing. The IRS's funds and workforce would be reduced in half, according to Florida Senator Rick Scott's "11 Point Plan to Rescue America," which was announced in February. However, Scott's proposition has been resoundingly rejected by the White House and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Related Article: China Stocks Crash: Alibaba, Other Chinese Tech Companies Suffer After US SEC Reveals Possible Delisting @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The crisis in Ukraine and the Northern Ireland Protocol will be high on the agenda as Irish premier Micheal Martin meets Boris Johnson in the UK this weekend. On Saturday, the Taoiseach will watch the Six Nations match between Ireland and England at Twickenham alongside the Prime Minister following a bilateral meeting. The leaders are expected to discuss Irish and British relations and the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine as Mr Martin visits the UK as part of a programme of events to mark St Patricks Day. The leaders are expected to discuss Irish and British relations (James Manning/PA) Mr Martin told reporters on Friday: We will have some discussions, obviously, because right throughout the weekend the plight of Ukraine is upmost in our mind. The relationship and the very constructive partnership between the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States has been vital for standing up for democracy, freedom of speech and opinion the very basic standards that we share. I welcome what has been very constructive engagement between the UK, the European Union and the United States. I will take the opportunity to say that to the Prime Minister tomorrow and I think the British Government deserves credit for its leadership role on this issue internationally and thats been well reflected in the responses of eastern European countries. Mr Martin met the Lord Mayor Of London on Friday evening (James Manning/PA) A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: The Prime Minister has been speaking to many world leaders about the ongoing situation in Ukraine and you can expect that to be raised as well as the ongoing talks around the Northern Ireland Protocol. It was added that Mr Johnson will support England during the rugby match, with Mr Martin joking he hopes Ireland emerge victorious as the pair watch together. The Taoiseach will also attend an Enterprise Ireland business event and roundtable at the Embassy of Ireland. The day will conclude with a dinner at which Mr Martin will be guest of honour of the St Patricks Day Ball Committee. On Sunday, the Taoiseach will attend Londons St Patricks Day festival and parade, which this year will celebrate community and key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Taoiseach will then travel to Washington DC for a series of engagements. Boris Johnson and Irish premier Micheal Martin have discussed their deep concern about the intensification of hostilities near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in a bilateral meeting in London. The Prime Minister said this was a critical moment for Ukraine, as well as for wider European and international security, when he joined the Taoiseach for talks on Saturday afternoon. Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said fighting to the north-west of Kyiv continued, with the bulk of Russian ground forces about 25 kilometres from its centre. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government said a mosque in the city of Mariupol had been shelled by the Russian military. (PA Graphics) The mosque was said to be sheltering more than 80 people. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Mr Johnson and Mr Martin spoke about the crisis in Ukraine and the Northern Ireland Protocol before watching Ireland beat England in the Six Nations at Twickenham. A Downing Street spokesperson said both leaders discussed their deep concern around the intensification of hostilities near Kyiv and condemned the attacks by Russian forces on civilians. The Prime Minister said this was a critical moment for Ukraine and for wider European and international security, the spokesperson added. They agreed on the vital importance of continued unity in the face of Russian aggression, including through humanitarian relief, defensive military support to the Ukrainian government and further sanctions to target the Putin regime. Pleased to meet Prime Minister @BorisJohnson before the Ireland v England game. We discussed brutal invasion of #Ukraine by Russia and the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Welcomed the close collaboration between the EU, U.K. and our partners to hold Russia to account. pic.twitter.com/hDmzTfeIkL Micheal Martin (@MichealMartinTD) March 12, 2022 Mr Johnson was said to have told Mr Martin he hoped the same spirit of co-operation the UK and EU had shared during the Ukraine crisis could be applied to protocol discussions. A spokesperson for the Taoiseachs office said the pair discussed the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine and the profound global security, economic and humanitarian consequences. They welcomed the close collaboration between the EU, UK and other partners to hold Russia to account and to address the humanitarian needs of the Ukrainian people, the spokesperson said. The crisis in Ukraine and the protocol were expected to feature high on the agenda as the leaders met this weekend. The Irish premier is visiting the UK as part of a programme of events to mark St Patricks Day. Taoiseach Micheal Martin with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the stands ahead of a Six Nations match (Irish Government/PA) Prior to the bilateral meeting on Saturday, Mr Martin said he was not there to tell the Prime Minister what to do with regard to refugees. Asked if he would encourage Mr Johnson and the British Government to take in more people fleeing the war in Ukraine, he told reporters at the Embassy of Ireland: Well to be fair Im not here to tell Boris Johnson what to do. I have to acknowledge the leadership of the UK Government in terms of the sanctions it has imposed on Russia. And also the support it has given to Ukraine and indeed to many of the eastern European countries of the European Union who value the support that theyve received from the United Kingdom and who have said this. Mr Martin met the Lord Mayor of London on Friday evening (James Manning/PA) On Sunday, the Taoiseach will attend Londons St Patricks Day festival and parade, which this year will celebrate community and key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Russian forces continued their relentless attack on Ukraine Saturday, making an all-out assault on the city of Mariupol. Troops also continued to push toward the capital of Kyiv and batter other parts of the nation, but Mariupol is bearing the worst of the carnage in Vladimir Putins unprovoked war against Russias western neighbor. Ukrainian officials said Russians shelled a mosque where 80 people had gathered to take refuge from the assault. The Russians also pillaged a convoy trying to bring humanitarian aid to the besieged city. Police officers and residents stand next to a shell crater in front of a house damaged by recent shelling, on Saturday. Police officers and residents stand next to a shell crater in front of a house damaged by recent shelling, on Saturday. (DIMITAR DILKOFF/) They are bombing it 24 hours a day, launching missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address. It is hatred. They kill children. Mariupol is the 10th-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of about 430,000. It has strategic importance as a port on the Azov Sea. The mayors office said more than 1,500 people have been killed in the city since Putin started the war on Feb. 24. The fierce shelling has thwarted efforts to bury the victims in mass graves. A Mariupol hospital came under fire, and people seeking shelter lined the hallways. One of them was Anastasiya Erashova, who held a sleeping child as she detailed how her other child and her brothers child had been killed in the attack. We came to my brothers (place), all of us together. The women and children went underground, and then some mortar struck that building, Erashova said. We were trapped underground, and two children died. No one was able to save them. A Ukrainian serviceman exits a damaged building after shelling in Kyiv on Saturday. A Ukrainian serviceman exits a damaged building after shelling in Kyiv on Saturday. (ARIS MESSINIS/) Russian attacks have hit at least two dozen hospitals and medical facilities, the World Health Organization said. Satellite images released Saturday revealed stark scenes of devastation, with fires burning in several parts of Mariupol and heavy damage to homes, apartments, homes and other structures. An emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, Alex Wade, told CNN that Mariupol has been without clean drinking water for a week. Theyre using snow and rain water, theyre breaking into heating systems to access the water in heating systems, Wade said. But for many, water has already run out and so has the food for many people. The only people left with food are those who have stocks that theyre rationing, he added. I think we can say were in the disaster phase now. The invaders continued their move on Kyiv. Russian forces that had been massed north of Kyiv had moved to within 15 miles of the city center and spread out, likely in a move to encircle the capital, Britains Defense Ministry said. As the Ukrainian military and civilians continued their fight, their president said there is only one way Russia could capture Kyiv. They will come here only if they kill us all, Zelenskyy said. If that is their goal, let them come. Russian forces shelled a a convoy of hundreds of people fleeing Peremoha, about 12 miles northeast of Kyiv, killing seven people, including a child, Ukraines defense ministry said. In the Kyiv suburb of Irpin, bodies lay out in the open Saturday on streets and in a park. When I woke up in the morning, everything was covered in smoke, Irpin resident Serhy Protsenko told a reporter. Everything was dark. We dont know who is shooting and where. Zelenskyy also accused Russia of employing a new stage of terror by kidnapping Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, a city of 150,000 in the southeastern part of Ukraine. Russians control Melitopol, and Fedorov was reportedly hauled off by soldiers on Friday for refusing to cooperate with the occupying forces. During the abduction, they put a plastic bag over his head, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraines interior minister, told the news agency Interfax Ukraine. The enemy detained him in the city crisis center, where he dealt with the life support of the Ukrainian city. Residents took to the streets of Melitopol on Saturday to protest Fedorovs abduction. A man plays with a child before she boards a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, on Saturday. A man plays with a child before she boards a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, on Saturday. (VADIM GHIRDA/) Please hear in Moscow! Zelenskyy said. Another protest against Russian troops, against attempts to bring the city to its knees. A new mayor, Galina Danilchenko, was installed, CNN reported. Zelenskyy said Saturday that 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers had died since the fighting began last month. At least 2.5 million people have fled the country, the United Nations refugee agency reported. President Biden approved an additional $200 million in arms and equipment for Ukraine, the White House said Saturday. Meanwhile, the Kremlin revealed that Putin spoke Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. On the 90-minute call, Putin talked about issues related to agreements under discussion to implement the Russian demands for ending the war, the Kremlin said without giving specific details. Putin previously has demanded that Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO and accept Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which Putin annexed from Ukraine in 2014. A Russian news agency reported that a Russian official cautioned Sweden and Finland that Moscow would take retaliatory measures if those countries tried to join NATO. A Swedish official dismissed Russias rant. Russia has nothing to do with our independent decisions, Foreign Minister Ann Linde told Swedish news agency TT on Saturday. In addition to appealing to the West for more aid, Zelenskyy is seeking ways to stop the fighting. He told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Saturday that he would be open to meeting Putin in Jerusalem, but Russia would first have to institute a ceasefire. Putin thus far has rejected Zelenskyys offers to talk. With News Wire Services The Government is intending to further ramp up pressure on the Kremlin with plans to ban exports of luxury goods to Russia in the latest move to isolate Vladimir Putin. Details of the plans will be set out in the coming days, Downing Street said. It came as Boris Johnson joined with other G7 leaders on Friday to commit to further increase the pressure on the Russian presidents regime. The group agreed to take steps to deny Russia most favoured nation status on key products, which No 10 said would significantly reduce the ability of Russian businesses to export. Sharing the news on Friday evening, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK stood united with our G7 partners, and would continue strengthening our response to put a halt to Russias aggression against its neighbour. But Labour said the ban on luxury goods should not have taken this long. Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labours shadow international trade secretary, said: Labour has been calling for weeks now for a ban on luxury goods being sent to Russia, so it is welcome that the UK Government have finally listened but it should not have taken this long. We stand united with our G7 partners and we will continue strengthening our response to stop Putins invasion of Ukraine https://t.co/LO89n5QeuR Liz Truss (@trussliz) March 11, 2022 We cannot allow Putin, and his cronies in Moscow, to live a Mayfair lifestyle while they kill innocent people in their illegal invasion of Ukraine. The announcement follows Britains sanctioning of nearly 400 Russian parliamentarians, with ministers seeking to tighten the screw on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine. Earlier on Friday, Ms Truss said 386 members of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, would be banned from travelling to the UK and any assets they had in the country would be frozen. The Government originally announced its intention to sanction the parliamentarians last month over their support for the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Jeremy Hunt argued the Russian invasion of Ukraine was the biggest failure of Western foreign and security policy in our lifetimes (Aaron Chown/PA) Meanwhile, former Tory foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt argued the Russian invasion of Ukraine was the biggest failure of Western foreign and security policy in our lifetimes. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he said: It happened because we forgot the most fundamental lesson of the Cold War: the power of deterrence. He added: Instead of peace through strength we caused war through weakness. Mr Hunt also suggested the UK should increase spending on defence, aid and soft power to at least 4% of GDP over the next decade. The Government was also reported to have come under fire from French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday for its policy on taking in Ukrainian refugees. According to the Guardian, at the end of an EU summit in Versailles Mr Macron said insisting visa applications to the UK were made in person in Brussels and Paris had further exacerbated circumstances for those fleeing the war. On Thursday, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that from Tuesday people will be able to apply online for a visa and will no longer have to go to a processing centre to give their biometrics. In response to Mr Macrons reported remarks, the Home Office pointed to previous comments from Ms Patel, which stated: We are now making the process quicker and simpler by removing the need to physically visit visa application centres for many of those who are making the perilous journey across Europe. The Government is said to have come under fire from French President Emmanuel Macron, right, for its policy on taking in Ukrainian refugees (Alastair Grant/PA) In an update on Friday evening, the Ministry of Defence said in the past 24 hours Russian air and missile forces had conducted strikes against the western Ukrainian cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk. Earlier, the UKs permanent representative to the United Nations accused Russia of bringing about wild, completely baseless and irresponsible conspiracy theories. It came as the UN security council met at Russias request to discuss claims levelled by Moscow about biological activities in Ukraine. Dame Barbara Woodward said Russia must not be allowed to abuse its permanent seat on the council to spread disinformation and lies. POLITICS Ukraine Prime Minister Johnson has previously expressed fears Russia is spreading a fake story that the US or the Ukrainians have chemical weapons in Ukraine as a pretext for an atrocity. The Ukraine crisis is expected to be a topic for discussion when Mr Johnson meets Irish premier Micheal Martin for talks on Saturday. The sanctioning of nearly 400 Russian parliamentarians in the Duma on Friday followed the announcement on Thursday that seven more oligarchs linked to Vladimir Putin, including Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, were being subjected to similar measures. The Duma move was first announced on February 22 and ministers are yet to target all the members of the Federation Council, the Russian parliaments upper house. The UK has now sanctioned more than 500 high-value individuals and entities since the invasion of Ukraine began, while Russian aircraft including oligarchs private jets are banned from the UK. A British businessman says he has arrived in Ukraine with medical supplies and found the refugee crisis much worse than he expected as people are terrified Russia is turning its attention to the west of the country. Richard Dass, 55, said medics at the hospital he visited on Saturday morning cheered when he brought in the boxes of supplies he had packed into his 25-year-old Mazda Bongo motorhome earlier this week in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. But he said air raids sirens have been sounding for the first time in the town where he is staying, south of Lviv, which has become a hub for thousands of refugees heading from the east, many arriving with serious injuries. (PA Graphics) Mr Dass said he is turning his attention to sourcing the one piece of kit wanted by every doctor he has spoken to vacuum therapy apparatus which surgeons use to pull together the wounds of severely injured bomb victims. He said he was shocked at what he found in the west of the country after crossing the Slovakian border on Friday. Mr Dass told the PA news agency: The refugee situation is a lot worse than I had thought. Theyre sleeping on the concrete floor of the train stations and bus shelters on the way and all sorts of things. In the train station, its like seeing hundreds and hundreds of homeless people not knowing what to do next. The ones here have not got anything to sleep on. Theyve just got a day pack and a change of clothes. They dont want clothes, though. They want carry mats and sleeping bags. (PA Graphics) Mr Dass said he stayed at a friends apartment in the town, which he does not want to name, along with a mother and a six-year-old boy who had travelled from the area of the battered city of Kharkiv. He said the boy was so traumatised after his nine-day journey he just seemed to be a in a trance. Somebody showed us a picture of their house but its a pile of rubble, everythings gone, he said. He said five or six trains a day are arriving in the town from the east, each with a minimum of 250 refugees on board looking for help. A group of six of his friends have housed 300 to 400 people in the last three weeks. Mr Dass set off from Huddersfield earlier this week with a plan to take medical supplies to the hospital where his doctor friend works and then return with a van full of refugees to the school house he is renovating in central Slovakia. Richard Dass reached the Germany-Poland border on Thursday (Richard Dass/PA) He said: The hospitals are just full. They were over the moon with all the stuff we brought but we need to get more. We got out some drawing-up needles and they were just cheering. But these vacuum therapy machines are absolutely vital. Theyre telling me every 20 minutes and theyre messaging me all the time. Every doctor says the same thing. Mr Dass said the area where he is staying had its first air raid warning on Saturday morning since the Russian invasion began. He said: Weve not seen any planes, but were told the planes are flying west. We were told there were two explosions near to the hospital where we went this morning but we havent had that confirmed. Things are moving west and the fear is building here. Mr Dass gave up his job in sales and marketing 20 years ago to focus on worldwide travel which has taken to him to almost 100 countries. He now runs his own business organising bespoke tours of the Himalayas and the Andes. Details of his appeal for Ukraine are at at gofundme.com/f/aid-for-refugees-ukraine-hospital< BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday that Washingtons dedication to the collective defense of NATO is ironclad as she visited allied Romania, which has experienced a flood of refugees from neighboring Ukraine amid Russias invasion there. We take seriously, and are prepared to act on, the words we speak when we say, An attack on one is an attack against all, Harris said during a news conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. Harris also thanked Romania, a Balkan country of 19 million residents, for welcoming tens of thousands of displaced people from Ukraine as of earlier this week. The Ukrainian refugee crisis is expected to only become more challenging in the days and weeks ahead, and Harris said the Romanian people have been extraordinary in the generosity and the courage you have shown in this moment. US Vice President Kamala Harris holds a press conference following a meeting with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at Cotroceni Palace in Otopeni, Romania, Friday, March 11, 2022. US Vice President Kamala Harris holds a press conference following a meeting with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at Cotroceni Palace in Otopeni, Romania, Friday, March 11, 2022. (Saul Loeb/) She warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no signs of engaging in serious diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine. And she reiterated that Americans should be prepared to endure higher gas prices as the U.S. and its allies punish Russia, a major global oil supplier, with economic sanctions for the invasion. There is a price to pay for democracy. Gotta stand with your friends, Harris said, adding that sometimes its difficult, often it aint easy. Iohannis said that NATO needs to fundamentally rethink its approach to its eastern flank, and he spoke with Harris about enhancing the alliances presence there. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis greets US Vice President Kamala Harris as they attend a welcoming ceremony at Cotroceni Palace, the Romanian Presidency headquarters, in Bucharest, Romania, March 11, 2022. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis greets US Vice President Kamala Harris as they attend a welcoming ceremony at Cotroceni Palace, the Romanian Presidency headquarters, in Bucharest, Romania, March 11, 2022. (DANIEL MIHAILESCU/) NATO will act without hesitation to defend each and every allied state, including, obviously, Romania, Iohannis said. It is a scenario that all of us want to avoid. The southeastern European country of Romania had taken in more than 84,000 displaced people as of Tuesday, according to United Nations data. Other countries on NATOs eastern flank, including Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia, have also welcomed tens of thousands of refugees. The Pentagon announced last month it was deploying a Stryker squadron of about 1,000 additional soldiers to Romania, a NATO member, as the Biden administration looks to bolster the military alliances presence on NATOs eastern flank. U.S. officials remain concerned about Romanias vulnerability in the midst of Russian activity in the Black Sea. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Online Access for Print Subscribers. Do you have a print subscription with the Argus-Press? If yes, then click here to enjoy complimentary access to our Online Content! India claims it launched a missile into Pakistan by mistake on Wednesday, citing a "technical malfunction" during routine maintenance as the cause. It was "very regretful," according to Delhi, which expressed satisfaction that no one was killed. According to Pakistan's military, a "high-speed flying object" crashed near the eastern city of Mian Channu, endangering passenger aircraft. India Admits Accidentally Firing Missile Into Pakistan Islamabad cautioned Delhi to be wary of the unfavorable implications of such carelessness and to avoid repeating the mistake. According to the report, the missile was launched from Sirsa in the state of Haryana. According to Pakistan's air force, the missile traveled 124 kilometers (77 miles) through Pakistani territory at Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound, at a height of 12,000 meters (40,000 feet). Pakistan's foreign ministry said on Friday that it has summoned India's charge d'affaires to lodge a complaint over the event. Pakistan has demanded that India reveal the results of its inquiry into the incident, as per BBC News. The statement came hours after Islamabad's foreign ministry condemned an "unprovoked violation of its airspace" by an Indian-made "super-sonic flying object," which damaged some civilian property but was "certainly unarmed," according to Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations, a wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The rash launch had caused property damage on the ground and placed human lives and planes in Pakistani airspace in jeopardy, it claimed, accusing India of being unconcerned about regional peace and stability. In Indian-administered Kashmir, where rebel groups have fought for decades for the region's independence or union with Pakistan, New Delhi has around 500,000 troops stationed. Read Also: Deltacron COVID-19 Variant Detected in US, Europe: Should People Be Concerned? Experts Tell How a Missile Launch Mistake Could Lead to Worse Scenario According to Daily Mail, New Delhi accuses Islamabad of supporting the rebels, which the Pakistani government denies. After a suicide attack claimed by a Pakistan-based militant organization killed 40 Indian troops, Indian jets targeted what New Delhi said as a terrorist training site deep within Pakistan in 2019. At least one Indian plane was shut down and its pilot arrested by Pakistan in aerial clashes over Kashmir the next day, but Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered him freed as a "peace gesture." The inadvertent hit, according to Michael Kugelman, senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center in Washington, demonstrates how rapidly an event like this may evolve into something worse. The incident might have resulted in a massive aircraft tragedy as well as human deaths on the ground, according to General Iftikhar. Iftikhar said that Pakistan's air defense system intercepted the surface-to-surface missile as soon as it took off from Sirsa, India, some 104 kilometers from the Pakistani border, and "continuously tracked" its whole flight path. The missile was flying at a height of 12 kilometers and lingered in Pakistani territory for 204 seconds before landing 124 kilometers within Pakistan, according to the general. He refused to reveal if the Indian missile had been shot down. According to VOA, both India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed foes that have fought three wars since winning independence from British control in 1947. In recent years, bilateral relations have worsened, disrupting formal negotiations over the partitioned Kashmir area, which both nations claim in its entirety. Related Article: US Claims North Korea Is Testing Long-Range Missiles, Warns More Coming "Potentially Disguised as a Space Launch" @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Pakistan summoned Indias Charge dAffaires and conveyed its strong protest over violation of its airspace Pakistan sought a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident which, it said, could have resulted in a serious aviation accident. (Representational image: PTI) New Delhi: India said on Friday that due to a technical glitch it accidentally fired a missile that landed in Pakistan and said that it "deeply regretted" the incident. India's defence ministry said that the accident occurred on Wednesday evening due to a technical malfunction during a routine maintenance check. India regretted the accident and said that there has been no loss of lives. A high-level inquiry has been ordered. "On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Inquiry," India's ministry of defence said in a statement. "It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident," it added. Pakistan military had, in a press conference on Thursday night, said that an unarmed Indian supersonic missile intruded 124 kilometres into Pakistani territory in three minutes and 44 seconds and hit a private property near Mian Channu. Pakistan on Friday summoned Indias Charge dAffaires and conveyed its strong protest over violation of its airspace by an Indian-origin super-sonic flying object. Pakistan warned India to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of such violations in future. It sought a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident which, it said, could have resulted in a serious aviation accident. Both India and Pakistan are nuclear armed nations. Pakistan said that the missile originated near Sirsa in Haryana and was an unarmed surface-to-surface supersonic missile which travelled at a speed of Mach 3.0. During the course of the missiles flight, Pakistan claimed that it passed close to airliners from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and India in Indian airspace and the flight courses of two international and a domestic flight in Pakistani airspace. The statement from India didn't give any information regarding the missile. But going by the details given by the Pakistan military, it comes close to India's BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. However, there is no official confirmation. Pakistan military said that the missile was not shot down and fell by itself. The North Atlantic Treaty organisation (Nato) brought into existence in April 1949 with the United States as its fundamental linchpin The post World War-II rivalry between the United States and the erstwhile USSR inaugurated a Cold War or rather an icy peace in Europe that became the principal battleground of this confrontation that soon enveloped the rest of the world as well. (representataional image/ AFP) Europe witnessed unprecedented devastation during both the First and Second World War. It grappled with the spectre of the rise of Fascism, Nazism and Stalinist Terror in the interregnum between the two Wars. It bore mute testimony to the holocaust in which millions of Jews were put to death with clinical efficiency in the most horrendous manner possible. Post 1945, the victorious Western Allied Powers, principally the United States and Great Britain, set about creating a new international system with the founding of the United Nations in October 1945. No sooner had this process commenced that an Iron Curtain descended across Europe. In the words of Winston Churchill, From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow. The post World War-II rivalry between the United States and the erstwhile USSR inaugurated a Cold War or rather an icy peace in Europe that became the principal battleground of this confrontation that soon enveloped the rest of the world as well. However, with the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) as the key theological foundation of a nuclearised world, the peace in Europe, by and large, held. While there were conflicts like the one in Northern Ireland that were violent, things generally remained tranquil. This calm was shattered from 1991 to 2001 by what is loosely referred to as the Yugoslav Wars or the Balkan Wars. However, the horrors of this conflict got drowned in the larger euphoria of the collapse of the erstwhile Soviet Union and East Europe. Even as wars and conflicts continued to rage across large parts of Asia, Africa, Latin and South America, the Europeans concentrated on building institutions that would integrate the nations of Europe much more closely with each other. Beginning with the European Economic Community in 1957, it soon led to a range of structures, the European Union, European Parliament, Euro as a currency and the European Council, to name but a few. However, what was missing was a common and unified European Security architecture. The North Atlantic Treaty organisation (Nato) brought into existence in April 1949 with the United States as its fundamental linchpin continued to be the security guarantor of the first and last resort even after the Soviet threat temporarily receded post its dismemberment in 1991. Buoyed by the end of history rhetoric penned by Francis Fukuyama in which he stated what we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankinds ideological evolution and the universalisation of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government, Nato started expanding eastwards and in three large waves accommodated within its ambit many of the erstwhile Soviet republics and satellites that Moscow once regarded as its own sphere of influence. While Germany retained membership of Nato post its reunification, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined the alliance in 1999. In 2004, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia hitched themselves to this treaty organisation. In 2009, Albania and Croatia were assimilated, in 2017, Montenegro was accommodated and in 2020, it was also North Macedonia which jumped onto the bandwagon. Way back in 2008, when Ukraine and Georgias Nato aspirations were formally recognised by the Alliance at its Bucharest summit, Vladimir Putin had warned, No Russian leader could stand idly by in the face of steps toward Nato membership for Ukraine. That would be a hostile act toward Russia. Russia reiterated its concerns repeatedly and far more emphatically ever since Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko replaced a Moscow acolyte Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych as President of Ukraine in the wake of the Maidan revolution of February 2019. Moscows misgivings got further exacerbated when Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy replaced Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko as President in 2019. It, in part, also had to do with the rather sharp satire that Mr Zelenskyy used against Mr Putin in his very popular sitcom, Servant of the People, aired between 2015 and 2019 that propelled him to power. However, the West chose to ignore these warnings, the latest one articulated very publicly in the Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the Peoples Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable development issued in Beijing on February 4, 2022. With a hundred and fifty thousand odd Russian troops backed by a formidable war machine surrounding Ukraine on three sides Presidents Putin and Xi Jinping warned explicitly, The sides are gravely concerned about serious international security challenges The sides reaffirm their strong mutual support for the protection of their core interests, state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and oppose interference by external forces in their internal affairs. Then came the nailer: The sides oppose further enlargement of Nato and call on the North Atlantic Alliance to abandon its ideologised Cold War approaches, to respect the sovereignty, security and interests of other countries, the diversity of their civilisational, cultural and historical backgrounds, and to exercise a fair and objective attitude towards the peaceful development of other States. However, the European Powers were unwilling to invest in their own security, a fact that Donald Trump repeatedly reiterated at the cost of much opprobrium. They rather chose to rely upon an exhausted and depleted United States, opting to overlook the warnings imprinted on the wall. They collectively believed that Mr Putin would, notwithstanding his portentousness, not disturb the long peace of Europe. As a consequence, they, too, to a great degree, do also bear responsibility for the unbridled human catastrophe unfolding in Ukraine. This, in no manner, should be construed as absolving Russia that would for a long time bear the cross for its reprehensible conduct qua Ukraine. A new world order has stated evolving rather rapidly. Underpinned by the autocratic and authoritarian regimes of Russia, China and Iran and supported by their myriad proxies, this world order has thrown the gauntlet to the liberal and, to a certain extent, rules-based global order that has held sway for the past seven decades. The case was to be heard today. Last night there was an attack on one of the prime witnesses of the case, Mr Bhushan told the court On October 3, 2021, four farmers were mowed down by an SUV that was allegedly being driven by Ashish Mishra. (AP file image) New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on March 15 a plea by the relatives of the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri, challenging the grant of bail to main accused Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra Teni as lawyer Prashant Bhushan told the court that on Thursday evening one of the prime witnesses was attacked. On October 3, 2021, four farmers were mowed down by an SUV that was allegedly being driven by Ashish Mishra. Making a mentioning, Mr Bhushan on Friday told a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana that the matter was to be heard on Friday but is not in the list and urged the court to take it up on Monday (March 14). It was to be heard today. Last night there was an attack on one of the prime witnesses of the case, Mr Bhushan told the court. CJI Ramana then said that it will be listed on Tuesday (March 15), adding that the plea could not get listed on Friday due to a mistake by the office. It is an office mistake. This will be listed on Tuesday, CJI said. Following a mentioning by Mr Bhushan on March 4 for an urgent listing of the plea challenging grant of bail to Ashish Mishra by Allahabad high court, CJI Ramana had said that the matter will be listed on March 11. The trial court had in November 2021 rejected Mr Mishras plea for bail. However, he was granted bail by the high court on February 10, 2022. The family members of the deceased farmers who were mowed down by a car belonging to Ashish Mishra approached the top court on February 21, challenging the bail. In their plea the family members of the deceased farmers say that they have been forced to approach the top court, since the Uttar Pradesh government has not challenged the high court order granting bail to Ashish Mishra. After Mishra was arrested, the Uttar Pradesh Polices special investigation team (SIT) filed a 5,000-page chargesheet before a local court, naming Mishra as the prime accused in the case. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has won, while the Congress has become a virtual presence, as has the BSP The election results in the five states indicate that the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now Indias only national party because the Congress has been rejected almost everywhere and the Bahujan Samaj Party has excluded itself from the fight. In the vacuum created by the Congress and the BSPs wilful abdication of effective leadership, a small party and a regional party have filled the space and emerged as independently operating bulwarks against the BJPs homogenising and hegemonist politics. It was a verdict that was waiting to be delivered. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has won, while the Congress has become a virtual presence, as has the BSP. The Samajwadi Party is now the torch bearer of the opposition to the BJP and the alternative. For the BJP, it was not an easy victory, because in far too many seats the final number will be known only by the weeks end it has won or lost by margins that vary from a few hundreds to a couple of thousand votes. In Uttarakhand, even though the BJPs chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, lost his seat, the party has won but by a reduced margin. In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party has won a spectacular victory and the Congress has been routed, as have the Akali Dal and the BJP. In Manipur, the BJP will form the government as it will in Goa. The reaffirmation of Prime Minister Modis appeal to voters and his capacity to win elections is very evident, as is the BJPs organisational capability in reaching out to disgruntled voters and managing the anger of voters seriously impacted by the ever-worsening economic situation resulting in job losses, spiralling prices, losses for small and medium businesses and the farmers, who led a fight for the repeal of the pernicious farm laws. It is also very evident that the Congress could not channelise the anger of voters, even though it talked about their distress and the policy failures of the BJP. It is also very evident that the AAP and the Samajwadi Party have succeeded in presenting themselves to voters as the alternative. The results point to a new dynamic because the political space in India is reshaping itself. The BJP is the dominant party and there is no real alternative Opposition or challenger. The Opposition or the challengers are many, including the Congress. The multiplicity of Opposition parties comprise either small parties like the AAP and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front, or regional parties like the Samajwadi Party in UP, the Trinamul Congress in West Bengal, the DMK in Tamil Nadu, the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana, the YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh, or the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party combine in Maharashtra. The Congress as the ruling party in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and the principal Opposition party in Haryana is a part of this multiplicity. The challenge this multiplicity presents to the BJP from now and up till the 2024 general election, when Narendra Modi will seek a mandate to lead India for the third term, is ideological. Mr Modi and his party firmly believe that India is best governed by One Party-One Nation and its corollary, the double engine sarkar. The multiplicity of parties as ruling parties in the states and challengers to the BJP exist in defiance of the homogenising and hegemonist concept of One Party-One Nation. For the regional and small parties, working out how to establish a collective Opposition, whatever be its name, is not going to be easy, because the collective will need to articulate a political message as an alternative to the Rashtravad-Vikas-Sushasan formulation (Nationalism-Development-Governance) of the BJP. With every regional and small party interpreting these loaded ideas with different inflections, because they must in order to challenge the BJP, there is every possibility that the babel will reduce their endeavour of presenting themselves as the alternative and the Opposition will seem incoherent and unreliable to voters. There is also the problem of the reassuringly familiar face of Mr Modi as the leader and the Prime Minister, whereas the fragmented Opposition has, as of now, two potential faces to lead it Arvind Kejriwal of the AAP and Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamul Congress in West Bengal. The spectacular triumph of the AAP in Punjab has transformed it from running a limited government in the National Capital Territory into a ruling party in the full-fledged border state. While there is no competition between Mr Kejriwal and Ms Banerjee as of now, both nurse prime ministerial ambitions. In a contest like the 2024 general election with over 900 million voters, the BJPs formulation of Rashtravad-Vikas-Sushasan, which can be spun in different registers to appeal to core voters and ardent supporters of Hindutva and the noncommittal voter with concerns about stability of government, has a clarity that is appealing. In contrast, the multiplicity of opposition parties have not been able to put together a message that defines who they are and what they will do. The election results of March 10 indicate that there are millions of voters who are angry with the BJPs policies and performance, its ideology and its leadership. The results also reveal that the challengers to the BJP in UP, in Uttarakhand, in Manipur and in Goa, were not able to convert this anger into a significant share of votes that would put them in place to form governments. The BJP was successful in questioning the credentials of the leadership of the parties in the Opposition, in attacking them as family businesses, as narrow caste-based entities, as advocates of communal polarisation, even as it calibrated its campaign to appeal to caste, community and identities. These state election results suggest that the BJP has succeeded in packaging its hard right, polarising politics and selling it to the majority of voters, over 45 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, as the politics of the middle ground, that is, the broad space that is bounded on the one end by ultra-right ideas and by extremist-left ideas on the other. It has done so by combining Vikas-Sushasan with Rashtravad, thereby broadening its appeal and acceptability. The anti-BJP Opposition, made up of the collective of small and regional parties, including the Congress, has no agenda that has the same clarity and broad appeal. It is unlikely to find ways to distil the dissatisfaction into a clearly articulated call that will appeal to voters in time for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. by Silvina Premat The children and grandchildren of those who arrived in South America at the time of the Second World War are gearing up to help their compatriots 13,000 kilometres away. Like Brazil, Argentina has agreed to grant humanitarian visas. Rev Miraz Piczaka, pastor of the Orthodox parish in Berisso, said that his community is holding ecumenical prayers and collecting aid for those fleeing war. Buenos Aires (AsiaNews) Faced with the humanitarian disaster caused by war, Brazil and Argentina are the first Latin American countries to offer facilities to receive refugees; however, their governments are keeping a balance between condemnation and neutrality with respect to Russias invasion of Ukraine. Although reception and accommodation facilities have not yet been set up, local Ukrainian communities are expected to host refugees. In both countries, Ukrainian immigration goes back more than a century. At the request of the Ukrainian embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentinian authorities will grant three-year humanitarian visas, at no cost, to Ukrainians who wish to enter the country as refugees after which they can apply for permanent residence. The measure applies to Ukrainian migrants and their immediate families, regardless of their nationality. Brazil adopted a similar step in early March but only for two years. For its part, the Argentine Congress plans to examine a request by the Argentinian President to set up a programme called the "Argentina-Ukraine Fraternity Bridge". In addition to facilitating the arrival and settlement of Ukrainian refugees in Argentina, the project would have the authorities organise flights from Ukraine, about 13,000 km from Argentina, through the state airline, plus offer temporary economic aid to those who need it. The plan includes sponsorships through different organisations, public or private, taking charge of refugee reception and accompaniment during the settlement process, a request to lawmakers made by Ukrainian groups in Argentina. Bringing relatives to the country is very expensive, not only because of the airfare, but also because of entry fees, Congresswoman Graciela Lena told AsiaNews. She tabled a proposal that has the support of about 40 Members of Congress. Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr Gabriel Miraz Piczaka, pastor at the United Ukrainian Orthodox parish in Berisso, Buenos Aires province, said that 3,000 Ukrainians live in that town, 98 per cent Argentinians with Ukrainian parents or grandparents. My mother is Ukrainian and she was seven years old when she came to Argentina with my grandparents and six other refugees because of the Second World War, said Fr Piczaka, who remembers when, in his youth, the parish he now leads welcomed victims of the Chernobyl explosion. Rev Miraz Piczaka noted that taking families in Argentina "will surely rest on local Ukrainian communities. The clergyman sits on the board of directors of the Ukrainian Association Renacimiento (Renaissance). Founded in 1933, it has about 3,000 members. Notwithstanding my difference of opinion with Argentina's policy vis-a-vis Russia, I cannot fail to observe that the governments humanitarian gesture is based on the deep-rooted concept that Argentina is a melting pot of races. While mentioning that he has relatives in Ukraine, Miraz Piczaka also noted that the community has held Masses and taken part in ecumenical prayers, as well as collected various objects blankets, warm clothes, first aid material and more for transfer to refugee centres in Ukraine or Poland, paid by the Ukrainian embassy in Argentina. Another collection is underway in Buenos Aires, led by the Representacion Central Ucrania en la Republica Argentina (Central Ukraine Representation in the Argentine Republic), a federation of about thirty associations of Ukrainians in Argentina. Their first consignment of humanitarian aid will be ready next week for shipment to Warsaw by the Argentine White Helmets where they will be distributed. The federation is also vetting the possibility of helping potential refugees. China imports nearly half of the gas, mostly in liquified form from Australia and the US. Only one gas pipeline connects Russia to China at present, but three are under construction. This will help China, but wont be enough to compensate Russia for its loss of European markets. Beijing (AsiaNews) China is eyeing Russian gas to reduce its growing dependence on supplies from the United States and Australia and avoid the situation of Europe which is at odds with Russia following the latters invasion of Ukraine while depending on Russian gas, an informed source told Nikkei Asia. China imports about 40 per cent of the natural gas it consumes, the biggest portion as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia while just over 10 per cent comes from the United States. Last year, it overtook Japan as the world's largest gas importer. Currently, the only gas pipeline between Russia and China is Power of Siberia, which has an annual capacity of 38 billion cubic metres (bcm), but sent only 10 billion last year because of limited transportation capabilities on the Russian side. To boost supply, Beijing and Moscow are planning new pipelines. One will soon connect the Russian island of Sakhalin with the northwestern Chinese province of Heilongjiang. A second pipeline, the Power of Siberia 2, would see a pipeline pass through Mongolia. A third project, the Altai gas pipeline, would go through Xinjiang, Chinas autonomous region home of the Uyghur people, currently subjected to repression by Beijing, a situation under close scrutiny of the international community. Overall, these new pipelines would in principle see Russian gas supplies to China reach 100 bcm per year, helping China diversify but doing too little to allow Russia to compensate for losses in Europe, whose average annual imports range between 170 and 200 bcm. What is more, shifting from European markets to China would require heavy investments in infrastructure. The gas exported west to Europe comes from different fields than those that would supply China, and there are no pipelines connecting them. The World Health Organization (WHO) urged Ukrainian authorities to destroy high-threat pathogens they have stored inside health labs amid Russia's continued invasion of the region to prevent disease spread if they are accidentally or purposely destroyed. Ukraine, similar to many other nations, has public health laboratories that are responsible for researching ways to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases that can affect both animals and humans. The list of viruses includes, most recently, the coronavirus, which has crippled the world for nearly three years. High-Threat Pathogens The country's laboratories have long been supported by the United States, the European Union, and the WHO. Many biosecurity experts have warned that Russia's movement of forces into Ukraine and attack of the cities in the region could result in the escape of disease-causing pathogens if any of the housing facilities are damaged or destroyed. In an email on Thursday, the WHO said that it has collaborated with the Ukrainian public health labs for several years in promoting security practices. These procedures include ways to help prevent the "accidental or deliberate release of pathogens," as per Reuters. The health agency's statement said that WHO was strongly recommending Ukraine's Ministry of Health and other responsible bodies to destroy what they considered high-threat pathogens to avoid "potential spills." However, authorities did not reveal details regarding its recommendation nor did it mention what pathogens or toxins were stored in Ukraine's laboratories. Read Also: Volodymyr Zelensky Slams Russia for Cruel Strike of Ukraine Children's Hospital; Pentagon Sees Signs of Russian 'Dumb Bombs' The situation comes as many fear that Russia could begin using biological and chemical weapons in its already aggressive invasion of Ukraine. The White House said that Moscow could be planning how to use bioweapons in its current war with Ukraine, warning that the whole world should be on "the lookout." According to BBC, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called Russia's claims that the U.S. had biological weapons labs and chemical weapon development in Ukraine "preposterous." The official called the unfounded claims a ruse in order to justify further unprovoked attacks. Chemical or Biological Weapons However, prominent social media users and conservative voices have echoed the baseless theory. The conspiracy theories come with no evidence to support the claims which have been unequivocally denied by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department. Fox News host Tucker Carlson and many others have misleadingly cited remarks from American officials, arguing they were proof of the labs producing or conducting research on biological weapons. On Thursday, Carlson said that United States President Joe Biden confirmed the theories. The undersecretary of state, Victoria Nuland, was also involved in the string of misleading information when she testified in Congress. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida questioned her about Ukraine potentially having chemical or biological weapons. Nuland said that Ukraine had biological research facilities that were at risk of falling into Russian control. The official noted that the American government was working with the European nation to prevent the materials from falling into the hands of Moscow. The State Department said Nuland was referring to Ukraine's diagnostic and biodefense laboratories, which are different from biological weapons facilities, the New York Times reported. Related Article: Russia-Ukraine War: Pentagon Admits Poland Jet Proposal Shows "Difficult Logistical Challenges" @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Athens, TX (75751) Today Cloudy this morning followed by isolated thunderstorms this afternoon. High 87F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low 69F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Gabby Petito's parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt filed a lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents, Chris and Roberta Laundrie, arguing that the couple was aware of their son's murder crime and tried to help him escape justice. The lawsuit claims that Chris and Roberta's willfulness and maliciousness. Joseph and Nichole were forced to suffer pain, mental anguish, inconvenience, and loss of capacity for enjoyment of life after the death of their daughter. Lawsuit Against Laundrie Family Petito, 22 years old, and Brian, 23 years old, left New York in early July to go on a cross-country road trip in Petito's white Ford transit van. The couple was reportedly able to make it as far as Jackson Wyoming by late August. But on Sept. 1, Brian pulled into his parents' driveway located in North Port, Florida, driving his partner's van and Petito nowhere to be seen. The civil complaint claims that Brian murdered Petito on Aug. 27, 2021, during their travel alone together. Brian then sent fake text messages between his mobile phone and Petito's cell to try and hide the fact that she was already dead, said court documents and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as per Fox News. Read Also: David Bennett Dead: Man Who Got Heart Transplant From Pig Passes Away After "Condition Began Deteriorating" Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that Brian confessed to his parents on Aug. 28 about the crime that he committed. Petito's parents also claim that the Laundrie family hired Steve Bertolino, a lawyer and longtime friend, on Sept. 2. The legal expert said that he has been representing the Laundries for many years and called the civil lawsuit "baseless." The lawsuit said that, while Petito's parents were desperately trying to look for information concerning their daughter's whereabouts, Chris and Roberta were keeping crucial information from authorities, including where their son was hiding and that they were already trying to get him out of the country. Disappearance and Murder According to CNN, while a coroner initially ruled Petito's cause of death as manual strangulation, the lawsuit added blunt force injuries to her head and neck as her cause of death. The filing noted that Schmidt's last communication with Petito was on Aug. 27. They also cited a text message from Petito's phone sent later that day where she called her grandfather, "Stan," something that they said she would never have done. After months-long criminal investigation into Petito's disappearance and subsequent murder, the FBI determined in January that Brian was the one who killed her. Authorities stated that they found a written confession the suspect owned where he confessed to his crimes before taking his own life. Early into the investigation of Petito's disappearance and death, Chris and Roberta faced widespread criticism and scrutiny. At the time, authorities revealed that the couple had not been cooperative with their questions, claims that Joseph and Schmidt echoed in their lawsuit. Petito's parents are reportedly seeking at least $100,000 in damages for the pain and mental anguish that they suffered due to the Laundries' actions. Lawyers for either family did not immediately respond to requests for comments regarding the controversy, People reported. Related Article: Former Proud Boys Leader Indicted, Charged With Conspiracy in Jan. 6 Capitol Hill Insurrection @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. EV Say hello to NASA's X-57 Maxwell, named after the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell. It's a sustainably fueled, ultra-low-emission electric transport plane we bet nobody saw coming. The fact it exists at all may be somewhat of a newsflash for those who don't follow EVs closely. With its first test flight due to take place any day now, let's take a deep dive into the lightcargo plane promising zero-emission aviation like never before.For clarity's sake, the idea of an electrically powered aircraft is actually older than the advent of heavier-than-air powered flight itself. Check out our in-depth feature showing all the crazy requirements an EV aircraft has to meet before it can even lift off the ground if you want to learn more.But what this meant for NASA was simple. Perhaps it's best to start with an existing airframe and retrofit it with electric motors instead of futzing around with an entirely new design. We're sure American taxpayers and NASA's accountants agree with that decision.It's a design that's been due to be tested under the Leading Edge Asynchronous Propeller Technology (LEAPTech) initiative first unveiled by NASA in 2014. The derivative aircraft in question is not American in origin but rather Italian. A twin-engined Tencam 2006T.A rugged, high-winged private passenger and cargo plane by trade, NASA engineers deemed the forgiving and stable nature of such a modest airframe perfect for developing EV battery technology that may or may not be ready for sustained flight at this juncture. As it hasn't flown yet, that's still up in the air.As a prerequisite for service with NASA, the twin four-cylinder, air-cooled aircraft engines are gone. In their place is a series of 18 electric motors paired like fine wine and cheese to a bank of lithium-ion phosphate batteries that Elon Musk may or may not be jealous of. A number of different engines, propellers, and wing arrangements have been proposed for testing under the X-57 program.Those of us who've been lucky to catch glimpses of the X-57s ground testing online caught glimpses of its standard-looking twin-propeller configuration. But plans are currently in the works to test designs utilizing different propeller setups, including an array of smaller props mounted across the front of the wing from end to end with wingtip mounted main propellers at each wingtip where the fuel tanks would normally sit.With a wing-mounted propeller setup numbering as many as 12 at a time, it's hoped the added lift will help the aircraft maintain an excellent stall speed of around 58 km (107 km/h, 66.75 mph).That's even less than some Second World War fighter planes. Color us impressed. Seeing as electric motors are smaller and lighter than jet engines of the equivalent power, at least usually, this shouldn't be a surprise at all.The X-57 seats two, one pilot, and one co-pilot and is expected to have a range of around 100 miles (160.9 km) with max-powered flight times in the one-hour range. Granted, those performance numbers aren't all that impressive.But as we said, getting an all-electric aircraft off the ground is one heck of an accomplishment all by itself. The optimized cruising wings provide just enough lift to maintain flight at slow speeds but are also light enough to give the electric motors a fighting chance of flying reliably at high and low speeds. At least, in theory, that is.For a bit more context, the P2006T that the X-57 is based upon had a maximum cruising speed of 250 km/h (155 mph, 135 km) and a stall speed of 87 km/h (54 mph, 47 km). Granted, most of these stats eclipse the projected performance of the X-57.But remember, these are only the projected performance figures at the current moment. Once the X-57 takes to the skies for the first time, expect NASA engineers to start pushing the envelope as much as they possibly can.In the end, the X-57 is essentially a proof of concept vehicle intended to show that affordable, utilitarian electric air transportation is indeed possible and maybe even economically viable sometime in the not-so-distant future.The X-57s first flight was scheduled to take place on February 24th, 2022, but has since been moved to later this spring. If successful, it will join the Rolls Royce Spirit of Innovation in a rapidly increasing group of the finest EV aircraft ever to fly. In the same way that the Spirit of Innovation's speed showed electric aircraft could be fast, it's hoped the X-57 Maxwell can prove that they're practical as well.Check back soon for more from EV month here on autoevolution. The images reveal that the two trucks' maiden trip was from Nikolas headquarters in Phoenix up to Ontario, California. That voyage made the trucks run 360 mi (579 km). What we did not know until this point was that Biagi Bros was involved with everything much earlier than we thought.The first stop of the prototypes was at the Biagi Bros warehouse close to Phoenix, where each of them caught a trailer to make a more representative journey until Ontario. They then unloaded the trucks, which stayed at this depot with the Biagi Bros to start their pilot activity.The logistics company put their logo on the truck, which Nikola saw as a sign of trust. One of Biagi Bros best drivers said that the Tre FCEV was one of the best machines she has ever driven. Other drivers said the fuel cell truck made it extremely easy to operate: they just had to step on the accelerator pedal, and it would do as they told them to do.The video presents the Tre FCEV prototypes visiting a Shell hydrogen station that uses light-duty vehicle hardware, probably with lower pressures than Nikola intends to use. According to Livio Gambone, the truck startup aims for 700-bar (10,153-psi) refueling. That would give it parity with diesel refueling times: 100 kg of hydrogen in 10 to 15 minutes.The video also shows the Nikola prototypes carrying their first load of beer from AB InBev. Ever since that started, Nikola said the two Tre FCEV vehicles had already run more than 3,500 mi (5,633 km) until February 24. At this point, they must have traveled a lot more than that. If everything goes according to plan, the new distances are what we are going to hear about these two machines. When you think of Paris Hilton, besides a huge fortune and parties, you must think pink. The socialites favorite color is a stamp of her public persona, and its present everywhere, including her custom Bentley Continental GT But the one were going to talk about now is her BMW i8 Roadster, which fits Paris like a glove. In fact, she said in the past that If I were a car, this would be me. Paris wrapped her $165,000 BMW i8 Roadster in a holographic material, and its now the star of her latest collaboration with Quay for her sunglasses line.Posing in the BMW makes Paris look exactly what youd expect: rich and famous. She posed in different outfits, matching her expensive convertible, and she couldnt look more comfortable.The vehicle was also the centerpiece of the party to promote her most recent sunglasses line. On top of that, the items' packaging also resembles the holographic wrap of the BMW. The Australian sunglasses brand Quay, with which she collaborated, went as far as calling it a "slivmobile," which is a word Paris invented, a blend between slaying and living (your best life).Introduced in 2018, the German brand put a 1.5-liter L3 engine at its core which delivers 228 horsepower (231 ps), that works alongside an electric motor, the two putting out a total of 369 horsepower (374 ps), and a maximum torque of 420 lb-ft (569 Nm).The BMW i8 Roadster can accelerate from zero to 62 mph (0-100 kph) in 4.6 seconds,and it has a capped top speed of 155 mph (250 kph).Production for the BMW i8 Roadster stopped in 2020, but Paris was right on time and debuted the holographic roadster in early 2020.And, given the fact that shes had her custom pink Bentley Continental GT for over a decade, we can see that the socialite has a deep loyalty for her cars. And, over two years later, she is still very much in love with her holographic BMW. EV The Polestar O2 looks to me like a vehicle thats meant to showcase the future of this company. It ticks all the boxes: it looks cool, its an, comes in roadster form, the fitment looks like it was adjusted by enthusiasts, and it promises some cool accessories that come with the car. It got my attention, and because Im not a Volvo fan, this made me look for further details.Thats how I stumbled upon a customers review of the company and its operations. Needless to say that under anonymity, everyones a gangster. We know how the internet works. Theres no mystery here. What got my attention was his rant. It was long, and he seemed keen on telling others about the experience. He spoke about how after having two Teslas, a decision was made to switch to Polestars 2.This guy put a deposit down and, since then, hasnt felt stress-free for a while. It all started with the vehicle not showing on his account, but customer support assured him the system takes a couple of days to update. After a week of nothingness, this person rings the Polestar people yet again. Hes told that his order hasnt been confirmed yet. Another two weeks go by, and he decides an answer is needed. He calls again, but instead of an answer, he's transferred to other employees who, like the others, knew nothing about his car. Customer support, sales, the workshop Nobody knew anything about this mans car. The last Polestar person he spoke to said he will receive an e-mail with all the details in three days. He got the e-mail: it was a link to the companys Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).It's understandable to feel rage at this point, but he didn't give up. He called again, and customer support recommended him to go in person to the dealership and sort it out. He wanted the car, so he picked up the phone again and asked the dealership what could be done if he'll appear at their doorstep. The answer he got was that they don't know anything about his order and the solution they had was to call customer support. Now, after this last answer, the man gave up. In the end, he ordered another Tesla instead.This got me thinking about the carmaker. Whats up with it? Is Polestar to blame for situations like this?The short answer is no. No, we cannot blame Polestar for situations like these. Even though the company is trying its best to remain relevant and its pushing the boundaries further in EV making, stories like these will pop up, and potential customers will be discouraged from buying Polestars. Its a shame, really.The thing is, theres not much Polestar can do in this regard. The blame, right now, sits with dealerships the middlemen nobody wants to deal with anymore. Tesla proved it can be done, and others want to follow suit too. Thats why Fords splitting its business and why weve seen pieces of legislation like the one in Oklahoma that proposed dealerships becoming mandatory.For now, Polestars prospective customers will have to deal with the middlemen. Thats why therell be a lot of complaints along the way. The dealerships control their area and are experts in getting what they want. These entities are separate companies, but how they do business ultimately impacts the carmaker. Another person that wanted a Polestar 2 shared his experience with me and said that the entire process was a hassle. As an example, he spoke about how he used the online configurator, but when he met with the salesperson, it had to be done again.This is clearly a silent confrontation that, at least for now, seems like its kept under the rug.No carmaker should ever have to face dealers that work in their disadvantage, but the reality is seldom as we wish to be.This brings us to a frustrating conclusion: for now, its easy to see that Polestar has a designer in the role of the CEO. There are not that many people in the industry like Elon Musk, Mary Barra, or Peter Rawlinson to go around. Polestars cars look great, reviews of its products are acceptable, and they know how to make you interested in their vehicles. Somehow, in the U.S., at least, they tend to fail where its the most important: the sale. Customer care is practically non-existent.Furthermore, the Polestar 1 didnt really impress anyone. It looks like a very expensive Volvo S90 in coupe form as it starts from $155,000 in the U.S. Moreover, it packs so many technologies that automatically make you wonder: whats going to fail first? How can one be convinced that a turbocharged, supercharged, electrified, gas-powered unpractical, and heavy car with manually adjustable dampers can be the one that you will happily take home? Especially when you get inside and feel like youre just in a Volvo, not in something that's exceptional. Its hard to imagine someone would pay that much for a plug-in hybrid.But lets be clear on one thing: Thomas Ingenlath has a hard job to do, and Im not saying hes doing it badly. Looking at how Polestar has evolved, its clear this man and his team are trying to do their best. Like Cupra or Alpine, Polestar has become an international brand. Its easily recognizable everywhere, and its cars look distinctively Swedish. They just have to get their internal affairs in order. Something must change quickly, or Polestar will ultimately fail to reach its goals.I, for one, will follow the carmakers journey and, at some point, maybe Ill even become an owner. I still believe Polestar shows a lot of promise. It just needs a proper, clear strategy. It happened on Friday in Italy, with the local police confirming the superyacht belonging to billionaire Andrey Melnichenko is now in storage in Trieste.The decision to freeze the vessel at the northern port of Trieste comes after the European Union decided earlier this month to sanction Melnichenko for his connections with Russian President Vladimir Putin.European authorities have announced a series of sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, and seizing the assets of Russian oligarchs is seen as a measure that could help increase the pressure on the Russian President and cut the money supply which could be used to fund the war.Melnichenko has recently been added to the list of Russian oligarchs targeted by the sanctions, as its believed hes part of the closest circle of Vladimir Putin. The EU council claims Melnichenko personally met with Putin to discuss the impact of the sanctions announced by both the European Union and the United States.As of March 2022, Andrey Melnichenko, 50, is considered the 7th richest person in Russia, with a net worth estimated at $15.8 billion. Hes the founder of fertilizer producer EuroChem Group and coal energy company SUEK. Sailing Yacht A is an impressive vessel, with manufacturer Nobiskrug calling it one of the worlds largest and most advanced superyachts. It measures 143 meters (469 feet) and has a gross weight of 12,558 gt, sporting 8 decks, a hybrid propulsion system, and even a touch-and-go helipad.The superyacht can reach a top speed of 21 knots, with the range estimated to be just shy of 5,400 nmi (thats about 10,000 km).This isnt Italys first impressive catch. Just earlier this month, Italian police managed to seize $153 million worth of assets belonging to Russian billionaires, including two iconic superyachts, the Lena and Lady M. kW Named a soft kit proposal for the Italian supercar by the controversial tuner in their social media posts, it features an abundance of attachments, made of carbon fiber, that dont do justice to this otherwise fine exotic.Taking a look at the front end reveals a big apron, with side winglets. You may want to remember the latter word, because it is the defining feature of the whole build, with similar parts all around. The front and side air intakes, front hood, fenders, mirror caps, and side skirts havent escaped Mansorys wrath either, and neither has the back end. Here, they have given it a ducktail spoiler, many more add-ons, and a third F1-like brake light.The wheels seem to be a bit bigger than the standard offering from the Maranello auto brand , and on a more positive note, the ground clearance hasnt been readjusted. This means that the suspension is likely stock, though the tuner didnt say anything about it. Completing the looks of the red car are a few yellow accents applied to key elements of the so-called soft kit, but dont go anywhere yet, because a power upgrade is on the menu too.Mansory says that by replacing the turbos and tuning the intake and exhaust, they have obtained 880 ps (868 hp / 647) and 960 Nm (708 lb-ft) of torque. This enables a 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) in 2.6 seconds, the tuner says. The stock F8 Spider , whose twin-turbo 3.9-liter V8 makes 720 ps (710 hp / 530 kW) and 770 Nm (568 lb-ft), is 0.3 seconds slower and can keep pushing up to 340 kph (211 mph). Queen Elizabeth II, who has just recently recovered from COVID-19, will not attend a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey next week, according to Buckingham Palace. It would have been her first significant public appearance in weeks. The queen, who returned to work on March 1, met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week for the first time since her positive test result. On Monday, the palace shared a photo on Twitter of the queen, who is also monarch of Canada, greeting Trudeau for a one-on-one visit at Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth's Reason For Skipping Commonwealth Day Service According to Reuters, Queen Elizabeth's decision to forego the Commonwealth Day service was based on concerns about her comfort while traveling to and from the ceremony. Last October, Queen Elizabeth, 95, was sent to hospital for unknown reasons and told by her doctors that she needed to rest for at least two weeks. The event, which will take place on Monday, will honor the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists primarily of former British Empire nations. In a statement, the palace claimed that Queen Elizabeth had asked Prince Charles to represent her. The service will be attended by Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall; Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; and Princess Alexandra, the queen's cousin. However, in yet another case of the royal family coping with COVID-19 inside its ranks, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, another queen's cousins, recently tested positive for COVID-19, and the palace announced that he would not be attending the event. In areas of Europe, a highly transmissible subvariant of Omicron known as BA.2 has become the prevalent strain. Researchers in England discovered that it takes less time on average for someone infected with BA.2 to infect another person, speeding up the spread of the virus through communities. Officials believe it's too early to tell if it's the cause of the recent increase in cases in the United Kingdom, as per The New York Times. Read Also: Elon Musk, Grimes Reportedly Break Up Again After Welcoming Second Child via Surrogate Her Majesty's Health On Feb. 20, Queen Elizabeth tested positive for the coronavirus, with minor symptoms, according to the palace. The queen canceled several virtual engagements in the days following but continued with "light duties," according to the palace. The news comes after she met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this week to resume in-person activities. The head of state was not spotted with the walking stick she had been using recently during her meeting with Trudeau. According to Daily Express, Her Majesty was said to have suffered mild symptoms, comparable to a cold, after contracting COVID-19. The 95-year-old met her eldest son, Prince Charles, the week he was infected with the illness. Concerns over the Queen's health were raised earlier this year when she spent a night in hospital, skipping a series of engagements and being encouraged by royal physicians to do minimal tasks. Commonwealth Day is an annual event held by people in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Americas, the Pacific, and Europe across the Commonwealth. Because 2022 is the Queen's Jubilee year, a special emphasis is being placed on the role of service in people's lives and communities across the Commonwealth. From 2:40 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., commemorative events will be held in Westminster Abbey. Related Article: Prince Andrew Pays Settlement with Virginia Giuffre Using 'Family Money'; Can Duke Return to Royal Duties? @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. President Biden on Saturday authorized $200 million in defense assistance for Ukraine. Driving the news: Biden in a memorandum authorized Secretary of State Antony Blinken to use the aid for military education and training and to "provide assistance to Ukraine and to make the determinations required." The Biden administration previously approved a $350 million aid package after Russia invaded Ukraine, which included weapons from U.S. stocks, Reuters reports. Congress this week also approved a bill that contains $13.6 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine, split between humanitarian and security assistance. $4 billion of the bill passed by Congress will go to the Department of State "to provide humanitarian support for refugee outflows from Ukraine." Nearly $3 billion is going to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Go deeper: President Biden has a message for members of Congress: the U.S. response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine will be in coordination with U.S. allies. Why it matters: Biden used the first part of his appearance before House Democrats on the last day of their retreat in Philadelphia Friday to defend his decisions on Russia and the timing and scope of his actions. What he's saying: "Literally I spend hours and hours and hours and hours keeping our alliance together. You, NATO, our allies including our Asian allies," Biden said. The president acknowledged that Congress wanted to revoke Russia's most favored nation trade status earlier, but defended his decision to consult key allies before moving ahead with such a decision. "But folks, I know I've occasionally frustrated, but more important than moving when we want to is making sure all of NATO is together," he added. "They have different vulnerabilities than we do. Just like in the oil embargo. [...] Without Russian oil, they're going to find themselves choked off in ways that far exceeds anything we do. So it took a long time sitting with my counterparts." "I said look, w'ere going to block oil, but I'm not going to ask you to do it [...] You do what you can, and we're going to help you get energy." The big picture: Over the past three weeks, Congress has largely been a step ahead of the Biden administration in terms of calling for punitive actions against Russia. The bottom line: "I want to be clear though, we're going to defend every inch of NATO territory," Biden said leaning into the podium. "But we will not fight a Third World War." "The idea that we're going to send in offensive equipment and planes and tanks and trains with American pilots and American crews don't kid yourself, no matter what you all say that's called World War III. Ok?" Go deeper: Indigenous people across North America are rallying around Ukrainians, seeing in them the spirit of their own ancestors who resisted powerful invaders seeking land grabs. The big picture: Tribes in the U.S. and Canada are condemning Russia's invasion, launching relief funds and food and clothing drives, and educating members about their own histories and little-known connections to Ukrainians. Details: The Cherokee Nation, one of the largest tribes in the U.S., said it stands by Ukraine because the tribe has "at times been deniedthe ability to chart our own destiny as a people." The Yakama Nation of Washington formally condemned Russias invasion and likened it to attacks on tribal nations by non-tribal people upon their arrival in 1492. The tribe then donated $5,000 to the Red Cross. The Oneida Indian Nation of New York launched a Ukrainian War Relief Fund and encouraged tribal members to donate clothing, non-perishable food and first-aid supplies. The British Columbia Assembly of First Nations strongly denounced the Russian invasion and the threat of nuclear war in a tweet. What we're watching: Some Indigenous women have been posting selfies with colorful scarves along with the hashtag #solidaritywithukraine. The backstory involves a shared history of marginalization between Ukrainians and tribes in Canada. More than a century ago, Ukrainian immigrant settlers in Alberta and members of the neighboring Saddle Lake Cree Nation forged friendships that spanned generations and included the exchange of scarves called "kokum," as NBC News reported. The floral artwork on the traditional Ukrainian scarves was similar to Indigenous art. Tania Cameron, a member of the Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation in Ontario, Canada, told Axios members of her tribe have worn the kokum for decades. Tania Cameron and the Ukrainian scarves she is selling to raise money for Ukraine. Photo: Courtesy of Cameron. Cameron purchased scarves from Ukrainian shops in Winnipeg and started selling them online at cost to raise money during the viral movement. She also organized a raffle and has raised $1,500 for the Red Cross so far. The Canadian government said it would match all Red Cross donations until March 18. What they're saying: "By no means am I going to say that some of our struggles are the same because we aren't in wartime," Cameron said. "But certainly, we do have a connection because of the relationships of the past." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of "a new stage of terror" in a video posted to Telegram on Friday night, referencing the abduction of the mayor of Melitopol by Russian forces. Driving the news: The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the kidnapping of Mayor Ivan Fedorov a war crime, according to a statement posted to Facebook on Friday. "It is a democratic world here therefore the capture of the mayor of Melitopol is a crime not only against a particular person. Not only against a particular community. And not only against Ukraine. This is a crime against democracy," Zelensky said in his own video message. "Obviously, this is a sign of the weakness of the invaders," the Ukrainian president added. "They did not find collaborators who would hand over the city and the power to the invaders. Therefore, they have switched to a new stage of terror when they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of the legitimate local Ukrainian authorities." Go deeper: The U.S. Treasury announced Friday it has sanctioned additional Russians, including Kremlin elites and political leaders who support Russian President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Why it matters: The new wave of sanctions is part of a larger strategy aimed at crippling the Russian economy and leaders who have enabled Russia's unprovoked attacks. The Biden administration had previously imposed a series of sanctions that included sweeping export controls and a freeze on billions of dollars in Russian assets. Details: Those targeted include Russian parliamentarians who lobbied for Putin's recognition of two separatist republics, a Russian Security Council official, family members of Putin's spokesperson, billionaire Viktor Vekselberg and the management board of the sanctioned VTB Bank. The sanctions mean their property and interests in the U.S. are now blocked and must be reported to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). U.S. transactions involving the individuals are also barred unless authorized by the OFAC. What they're saying: "Treasury continues to hold Russian officials to account for enabling Putins unjustified and unprovoked war," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. "Todays actions also further isolates the severely damaged Russian economy by prohibiting trade in products that are key to the economic and financial interests of all Russian elites." "We welcome the strong partnership and unity we have built with our allies and partners across the globe in the face of the Russias aggression against Ukraine," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a Friday statement that summed up recent actions against Russia. "Together, we are supporting the people of Ukraine and imposing severe costs and consequences for the Kremlins war of choice." The big picture: President Joe Biden has also taken action to cut off Russia's access to the SWIFT international banking system, ban imports of Russian oil, reimpose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 and revoke Russia's "most favored nation" trade status with the U.S. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that state officials do not have the ability to enforce the state's six-week abortion ban, effectively ending providers' case challenging the law. Driving the news: Because the law was written so private citizens could enforce it, the court wrote, "Texas law does not grant the state-agency executives named as defendants in this case any authority to enforce the Acts requirements, either directly or indirectly." "Senate Bill 8 provides that its requirements may be enforced by a private civil action, that no state official may bring or participate as a party in any such action, that such an action is the exclusive means to enforce the requirements, and that these restrictions apply notwithstanding any other law." The law will remain in place in the state. Catch up fast: In January, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the challenge after the Supreme Court allowed for the abortion providers' lawsuit against state officials to continue. The state argued that they were immune to the lawsuit because the Texas law does not grant them authority to enforce it. The appeals court transferred the challenge to the state's supreme court, asking it to answer the question on whether the state officials named as defendants in the case, including the attorney general and those tasked with doctor licensing, could take action against those who violate the ban. to the state's supreme court, asking it to answer the question on whether the state officials named as defendants in the case, including the attorney general and those tasked with doctor licensing, could take action against those who violate the ban. The Texas Supreme Court's decision means abortion providers cannot sue state officials in order to challenge the law. What they're saying: "We are in a moment of crisis not only for reproductive rights but for our justice system and the rule of law. With this ruling, the sliver of this case that we were left with is gone," said Nancy Northup, CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, one of the organizations representing the providers in the case. "An unconstitutional ban on abortion after six weeks continues unchecked in the state of Texas. The courts have allowed Texas to nullify a constitutional right." Texas Right to Life, an anti-abortion organization in the state, called the decision "a huge victory for Texas." "We're grateful that the law will continue saving thousands of lives," said Kimberlyn Schwartz, the organization's media director. How it works: Texas' S.B. 8 effectively bars nearly all abortions as soon as embryonic cardiac activity is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy and before many people know they are pregnant. The law provides no exceptions for rape or incest. What we're watching: The Texas Supreme Court's ruling is focused on a procedural question, not on whether the law is constitutional. Go deeper: Texans overwhelmingly traveled out-of-state to get abortions after ban took effect Editor's note: This article has been updated with comments from the Center of Reproductive Rights and Texas Right to Life. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will end a Trump-era order that expelled unaccompanied child migrants, the agency announced late Friday night. Why it matters: Title 42, enacted in March 2020, was introduced as a public health policy to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The controversial bill is currently being litigated with the ACLU calling it "inhumane." The "expulsion of unaccompanied noncitizen children is not warranted to protect the public health," the CDC said in a statement. The agency cites a "robust network of care facilities that provide testing, vaccinations and medical care" as part of the reason for the change in policy. "These measures sufficiently mitigate the risk posed by unaccompanied noncitizen children prior to the children being discharged to vetted sponsors in U.S. communities," the CDC said. Catch up quick: The ACLU and other civil rights groups sued the Biden administration over Title 42, and a district judge ordered the government to halt expulsions in September. In March, a federal appeals court panel ruled unanimously that the Biden administration can continue expelling migrant families but only to countries where they don't risk persecution or torture. Worth noting: Border officials can still expel adults and families traveling with children under Title 42. What they're saying: Four Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), said in a statement on Saturday that the CDC "made the right choice" in the change, but criticized the Biden administration's decision to uphold Title 42. Fans of the Super Mario series can enter the Mushroom Kingdom themselves soon. Universal Studios recently announced that its Nintendo-themed land, Super Nintendo World, will officially be open at Univer Studios Hollywood to the public in 2023. What's to See? #SuperNintendoWorld is opening in 2023 at Universal Studios Hollywood! Level up with exclusive merch at the Feature Presentation store, opening soon. pic.twitter.com/4qh0bDACGN Universal Studios Hollywood (@UniStudios) March 10, 2022 According to Universal Studios' announcement, fans of the highly-popular Super Mario series can look forward to the experience of being transported into the world of Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach. Park-goers can also expect to see an "immersive land" of visual spectacle, vibrant colors, and architectural ingenuity featuring rides and interactive areas to be enjoyed by the whole family. Simply put, Super Mario fans and families can probably look forward to attractions similar to the Super Nintendo World found in Universal Studios Japan, even though Universal Studios didn't specify what park-goers can expect. As a refresher, the attractions in the Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan consist of attractions inspired by Mario kart and Mario's dinosaur partner, Yoshi, per CNET. Read Also: Peloton Bikes Can Now be Rented For a Limited Time - But For How Much? The Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan opened in 2021, with the theme park expecting a Donkey Kong expansion in 2024. Additionally, Universal Studios Hollywood will soon unveil a takeover of its Feature Presentation retail store with Super Nintendo World theming to celebrate the theme park's opening. Park-goers will have a chance to buy Super Mario-themed merchandise, such as Mario and Luigi-themed apparel and their iconic character hats and plush characters of various sizes of Mario, Bowser, Yoshi, and Luigi. Opening Day Details Universal Studios Hollywood didn't specify in its release when the theme park would open to the public, despite saying it would open in 2023. However, a good guess for the park's opening day would be March 10 - Mario Day. March 10 was named Mario day due to the abbreviated month and the day forming the word "Mario," or "MAR10" in this case. Other Super Nintendo World Theme Parks Aside from Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan, there is one other Super Nintendo World in America that is in the works. According to an Arch Paper report, Universal Studios Orlando was working on adding a Super Nintendo World of their own called "Epic Universe" when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, delaying its opening until 2025 instead of the originally planned date of 2023. However, Polygon reported that the theme park's construction has recently been restarted and is on schedule for its opening day in 2025. According to Discover Universal's post, construction on "Epic Universe" was immediately restarted on March 3, but it expects that construction will take several months before reaching full speed. Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, which owns Universal Studios, mentioned that the company is excited to begin work on Epic Universe again, adding that the company's confidence in its collective future is "as strong as ever." Related Article: Mario Day: McDonald's Brings Back Happy Meal Promotion, Nintendo Offers Discontinued Mario Games The 17th day in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling a "war of annihilation" saw rising casualties, Russian forces coming within roughly 15 miles of the capital and the continued battering of the strategically important Southern port city of Mariupol. Driving the news: Newly released satellite imagery showed the fires and significant damage to residential buildings in Mariupol where, earlier on Saturday, Russian forces shelled a mosque that was sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said. The big picture: The United Kingdom's Defense Ministry also said earlier on Saturday that the "bulk" of ground forces are now about 15 miles from the center of Kyiv. Zelensky said that Russian forces will have to destroy Kyiv to take control of the capital city. "How Ukrainian people have resisted these invaders has already gone down in history," Zelensky said in a recent address. "But we have no right to reduce the intensity of defense, no matter how difficult it may be for us." Satellite imagery of fires in the industrial area of a Primorskyi neighborhood in western Mariupol, Ukraine. Photo: Maxar Technologies Rising casualties: The United Nations on Saturday said that since the invasion began on Feb. 24, there have been 1,581 civilian casualties 579 killed and 1,002 injured. Forty-two of the dead have been children. Fifty-four children have been injured. Zelensky said Saturday that approximately 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed by Russian forces in what he is calling a "war of annihilation," according to the New York Times. U.S. sends more defense aid: President Biden on Saturday authorized $200 million in additional defense assistance for Ukraine. Congress this week also approved a bill that contained $13.6 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine, split between humanitarian and security assistance. Protesting kidnapping: Hundreds of protesters in Melitopol in southern Ukraine took to the streets on Saturday to protest the detention of the citys mayor on Friday by Russian forces, CNN reports. Zelensky warned of "a new stage of terror" on Friday, referencing the abduction of the mayor of Melitopol by Russian forces. Diplomatic affairs: Zelensky proposed meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Israel, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett can act as an intermediary. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged Putin to call an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine during a 75-minute call with the Russian leader, CNN reports. Lawmakers arrive in Poland: A bipartisan delegation of senators arrived in Warsaw on Saturday. Republicans Rob Portman of Ohio and Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Democrats Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut met with U.S. Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski and with U.S. troops from the 82nd Airborne Division in Rzeszow. The senators intend to also "meet with senior government officials and visit refugee sites to affirm the United States' commitment to Poland, Ukraine, and other allies," Wicker's office said in a press release on Saturday. Go deeper: Editor's note: This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Cavusoglu and Mirzoyan met on the sidelines of an international security forum in the Turkish resort city of Antalya following two rounds of negotiations held by special envoys of the two neighboring states. We had a very productive and constructive meeting, Cavusoglu told reporters. Everyone will benefit from the establishment of peace and stability in the region, and we will continue to make efforts in that direction, he said. I and Mr. Mirzoyan agreed on this issue. During the meeting we reaffirmed the readiness of the two sides to continue, without any preconditions, the normalization process for the purpose of establishing [diplomatic] relations and opening border, Mirzoyan said, for his part. Our two representatives are working on this. Neither minister announced concrete understandings reached by them. Mirzoyan last month voiced cautious optimism over the success of the Turkish-Armenian dialogue welcomed by the United States, the European Union and Russia. Cavusoglu said on Saturday that Azerbaijan is also content with the dialogue. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov was also attending the Antalya conference. Ankara has for decades linked the establishment of diplomatic relations with Yerevan and the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border to a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. Cavusoglu has repeatedly made clear that his government will coordinate the Turkish-Armenian normalization talks with Baku. If it weren't for Bakersfield College's Delano campus, Joanna Aguirre isn't sure whether she would be on track to transfer or her cousin would Bluefield, WV (24701) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 70F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 49F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. NASA's astronaut Mark Vande Hei might not be able to land on Earth after Roscosmos's Director-General threatens to leave him in the International Space Station. Due to the ongoing dispute in Russia and Ukraine, Russia might retaliate to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. by not bringing back American astronaut Mark Vande Hei. NASA's Astronaut Mark Vande Hei Astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who currently holds the world record for the longest space flight, is scheduled to return to Earth in just three weeks after spending 355 days in space. Mark Vande Hei is in the International Space Station along with two Russian cosmonauts. All three of them are bound to return to Earth through a Russian spacecraft that will land in Kazakhstan. However, according to ABC News, Vande Hei's return may be delayed as a result of unprecedented sanctions against Russia. When the aggression broke out in Ukraine, President Joe Biden addressed the media stating it will impose serious sanctions. Among these sanctions is a wide-scale ban on more than half of Russia's high-tech imports. President Biden stated, "It'll degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program." However, NASA's statement was contradictory to what was stated by President Biden. NASA stated that the civil cooperation of the agency towards Russia remains the same and there are no changes planned. NASA will still continue its support to all of the space operations ongoing both in the ground and in space. Unfortunately, the Director-General of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, received the statements of President Biden differently. He proceeded to respond to Biden with a series of hostile tweets. His video, posted on February 26 in Russian, threatened to leave Vande Hei behind in space and to completely detach Russia's segment of the space station. Read Also: Russia Issues Additional Demands for OneWeb, Will Not Launch Satellites Unless They're Met Russia Draws Back From OneWeb Obligations Russia seems to be taking its space relations seriously. Recently, Roscosmos halted its partnership with U.K.'s OneWeb. OneWeb is an internet satellite company. OneWeb has a long-standing relationship with Russia's Roscosmos, who was supposed to launch 36 satellites of OneWeb in the Soyuz rocket. However, Russia made surprising demands days before the launch. It seemed like retaliation from the sanctions imposed by the west over the country. The Russian space agency demanded to oust the British government as a major stakeholder of the company and demanded that OneWeb gives assurance that the satellites will not be used for military purposes. None of the demands were met, and OneWeb's satellite launch ended up being halted thereafter. International Space Station Russia's space agency is called Roscosmos and U.S.' space agency is popularly known to be NASA. NASA and Roscosmos have had a long-standing relationship. Both space agencies have worked extremely closely for the ISS. The International Space Station (ISS) is a large spacecraft that is currently in orbit around the planet. It is used as a base for astronaut and cosmonaut crews to live and work in space. The ISS serves as a unique science laboratory as well. Several countries collaborated on the construction and operation of the space station. The space station is made up of components that were assembled in space by astronauts during the construction process. Related Article: Anonymous Continues Hacking of Russia, Targets Streaming Services Bluefield, WV (24701) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 70F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 49F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Central Oregon Coast's Heceta Head Light Celebrates 128 Years, March 30 Published 03/07/22 at 5:52 PM PST By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Florence, Oregon) Way back in 1892, construction began on what would become a major icon for the Oregon coast. On March 30, 1894, the Heceta Head Lighthouse was finished and lit up for the first time, spending the next 80 or so years guiding mariners away from a dangerous reef and serving as marker for the entrance to Florence's Siuslaw River. (Photo courtesy US Forest Service) At the end of this month, the legendary Oregon coast light, gift shop and Keeper's House that is also a BnB celebrate 128 years in action, with food, music, whale watching and a whole lot of outdoor fun. The Heceta Head Lightstation celebration goes from 4 to 7 p.m. on March 30, a family-friendly and free event that takes place at the Heceta Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast in the Keeper's Home. Courtesy Heceta Head Lightstaion Taylor's Sausage will be grilling up free hot dogs as live musicians perform. Local experts will answer questions from the public about the natural features and history of the lighthouse, along with volunteers from the Heceta Lighthouse Interpretive Center at the Keeper's House and Oregon State Parks volunteers at the lighthouse tower. The park is located on the central Oregon coast, just off of Hwy 101 and about 13 miles north of Florence. Parking is available at the Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic View Point and parking is $5 per vehicle. This party also kicks off a special raffle held by the Keepers of the Heceta Head Lightstation, happening all summer long. Donate to the non-profit for a chance to win prizes from Heceta Lighthouse B&B, Ona Restaurant and Lounge, and Sea Lion Caves, plus many others. The last big celebration of the lighthouse was 2019 when they had events happening at Heceta Head as well as a parade in Florence. For more information contact Heceta Lighthouse B&B at (866) 547-3696 or keepers@hecetalighthouse.com. Fun Heceta Head Lighthouse Facts Courtesy Heceta Head Lightstaion The groups running the lighthouse had to stop giving tours to the top several years ago because the spiral staircase was becoming unduly stressed by all the foot traffic. Back in 2019, officials told Oregon Coast Beach Connection that the staircase was not built for that kind of wear and tear. Beyond that, it's a unique spiral stairway in that it's only connected at the top, with no landings along the way. A long-standing rumor about the Oregon coast icon is that you can feel it move in really big wind storms, but officials say that's not true. The staircase itself may get a little jiggly with people on it, so that is likely part of the source of that legend. As one ranger told Oregon Coast Beach Connection: when the wind is really blowing, and theres puffs of air that come through, you swear its moving. The lighthouse is actually still used for navigation, even with GPS and satellite technologies normally in use. While mariners are not completely dependent on it, it serves enough of an official capacity that maritime agencies are to be notified if the light goes out. Hotels in Yachats - Where to eat - Yachats Maps and Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted N. Oregon Coast's Indian Beach at Cannon Beach, Historical and Film Fame Published 03/11/22 at 6:45 PM PST By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Cannon Beach, Oregon) - At the northern end of Cannon Beach's Ecola State Park, another 1.5 miles after the main section of the park, you'll find a crescent-shaped beach filled with cobblestones, where an engaging view of Tillamook Rock Lighthouse and plenty of rocky shapes stand fast and get slammed by large waves. The parking lot and a viewpoint slightly below are your first introduction to this amazing spot. Look for the signs to Indian Beach. This north famed Oregon coast semi-circle is enclosed by two headlands, with maybe a quarter mile worth of walking area to it. There's much in the way of views here, but there's history as well. Some of it is Hollywood history. From here, Goonies Rock is obvious the big rock out there with the gaping hole in it, made famous by, well, a misunderstanding or something. That iconic scene in the film where the ship wanders through a giant hole was not actually filmed on the Oregon coast though enormous chunks of the movie were. That scene with the massive gap was from a rock structure in California, where that whole scene was actually done. The rock here in Cannon Beach got the name Goonies Rock because, well, it just stuck for some reason. There were plenty of iconic moments in Goonies filmed at Ecola State Park, including the giant main lookout where you look down on Crescent Beach, and it's where the lighthouse and home for the Fratelli's was built by the film crew (yet neither structure existed there before or after the film.) Cannon Beach's famed Haystack Rock is actually used in the film a few times, and probably should be called Goonies Rock as well as its real name. Actual forested path down to Indian Beach Truly caught on celluloid at Indian Beach was the final scene of the original Point Break flick, where it's purportedly a famed surfing beach in Australia. Movie editing magic is used in an interesting way in this scene, where it starts out with Keanu Reeves' character walking at the train tracks in Wheeler, then down a forested path. From here it cuts to him emerging at Indian Beach, which makes for an interesting whoa moment for those familiar with both spots. Indian Beach was also made famous in the first Twilight movie, where a surfing scene set in Forks, Washington is actually the parking lot of this beach. Goonies Rock is visible in the scene. Higher tides at Indian Beach leave it a small and dangerous spot, with not much in the way of sand to traverse. Even so, it's mesmerizing, and it's a good spot to watch storms from above. Lower tides find Indian Beach a decently wide stretch of sandy fun, and you can peer into some interesting secretive sections at the very northern tip. To get to Indian Beach, drive into Ecola State Park and follow the signs. Some of the best of Oregon coast history is practically screaming in your face as you look westward: the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, or Terrible Tilly as she's been called. This is the closest you'll ever get to the atmospheric and slightly eerie beauty, a remote, jagged rock that started its life as a lighthouse in the 1880s and continued until the 1950s. After that, it went through several periods of decay, interspersed with being a columbarium a place to hold ashes of the dead. See The Misty Mysteries of an Oregon Lighthouse: Tillamook Rock Historically, Ecola State Park has been through the ringer at times. Massive landslides have cut it off from visitors every five to ten years it seems, with a particularly catastrophic one in the early '60s, where a girl went missing. The area also saw a murder in the late 1990s when a couple had an argument and the woman accidentally shoved her boyfriend to his death along a trail here. The park really got its start in the 1930s as Highway 101 was getting finished up, but the state wasn't quite hip to promoting the Oregon coast until many facilities were installed, usually by the Civilian Conservation Corps. That finally happened about 1937, and that's when an article in The Oregon Daily Journal written by Herbert Lundy describes an early visit to Ecola State Park. Back then, Highway 101 was not quite completely connected, as the bridge near Short Sand Beach still had to be built. He had to go up and around Highway 53 to get to Cannon Beach (which had only had that name for not even 20 years at this point). Lundy describes winter waves thrashing the lighthouse offshore still in use with waves sometimes as high as the main viewpoint at Ecola. He writes of a much more rugged, untamed place back then, and some sights you can't see now but plenty that are familiar, even timeless. Nearer the coast line were rocks almost covered with brown, bulky sea lions, lazying in the sun. Tillamook Head, to the north, lies mostly within the boundaries of Ecola State Park. Spruce and hemlock grow profusely throughout the area, their branches twisted into grotesque shapes where exposed to the wind. Hotels in Cannon Beach - Where to eat - Cannon Beach Maps and Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Pathos and action are found in equal parts in The Adam Project, the latest attempt by Netflix to create the kind of throwback blockbuster that you might have paid to see in movie theaters. Starring Ryan Reynolds as a time traveling pilot and directed by Shawn Levy, the movie takes the old cliche about what youd tell your younger self and adds PG-13 snark, space action, Guardians of the Galaxy energy, a megalomaniac businesswoman, a dead father and a lost love to the mix. And its pretty satisfying popcorn fare with some genuinely affecting beats. All thats missing is some Harry Chapin. This is a project that has been around for a decade at one point Tom Cruise was attached. But it languished in development and rewrites (there are four screenwriters credited and Jonathan Tropper is the last to have touched it) until Netflix acquired it and in less than two years its a finished product. In The Adam Project, were introduced to a 40-something Adam (Reynolds) in the middle of a space chase. Hes quick-witted and unflappable, so its supposed to be jarring to cut back to see middle school Adam (Walker Scobell in his debut) as the little guy with the big mouth who is prone to getting in fights and losing. Adam and his mom (Jennifer Garner) are hanging on by a thread in the year after they lost his dad (Mark Ruffalo) in an accident. But before things get too real, adult Adam shows up in the past at their house and breaks all the known time travel rules when he accidentally runs into young Adam. This is a movie universe in which Back to the Future 2 exists. Adult Adam isnt there for young Adam, he just needs to treat his wound before going to look for his wife (Zoe Saldana). The older self is dismissive, the younger one is desperate to know when hell start getting ripped and having luck with girls. Reynolds and Scobell are a good match. And of course, adult Adam is on a journey to make peace with his younger self and his parents Mom takes five minutes at a bar (its a good scene) and Dad takes the rest of the film. This is ultimately a film about boys and their dads. Levy is a director who has found a successful lane in studio-made crowd-pleasers like Date Night, Night at the Museum and Free Guy, which also starred Reynolds. While they might not be the kind of things that are taught in film school, they do have their place as uncynical, nostalgic and rewatchable popcorn fare (even Amblin-esque, if we must) with just enough heart to make you feel like you havent consumed junk food. But nostalgia can be a tricky game for people outside of the dominant group and The Adam Project filmmakers could benefit from a little post-game introspection about the fact that theyve made a loving film about family and forgiveness and made the villain a highly successful businesswoman (Catherine Keener) whose origin story stems from her bitterness about having no husband or children because she devoted her life to work. Keener looks like shes having enough fun among the special effects and a de-aged version of herself. But its hard to shake the feeling that weve somehow gone back to another staple of 1980s films that should have stayed in the past: When single, childless career women were the threats to marriages and domesticity. This, Im certain, is not part of the retro vibe they were going for but unfortunately they did. Levy has said he wants his films to have ideas in them, and while there are some nice ones in The Adam Project, the existence of Keener's character signals that ladies better find time for kids and mates before its too late. In other words, The Adam Project should have taken a note from one of its own lessons: The only way to save the future is to reconcile with the past. The Adam Project, a Netflix release out Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for Language, violence, action and suggestive references. Running time: 106 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four. Jefferson County will soon look to decide how to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars obtained through an opioid settlement with three major distributors. The County Commissioners Court earlier this month approved the first part the settlement with - McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc. and Amerisource Bergen Corporation. Jefferson County is one of the first to begin to see the worldwide problem rectified. I can't speak for the other 49 states. I'm sure they will reach an agreement, said Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick. Texas is the first to reach an agreement with them. Related: Texas to receive $1.167 billion in global opioid agreement The settlement covers the whole state, and Jefferson County is poised to receive some $1.1 million over the next up to 15 years, with $182,514 of it arriving by May. Should the defendants give a bigger settlement to another state with a similar population, the agreement stipulates that Texas will receive the difference to match that other states payout. In addition, the county can apply for roughly $60 million in grants to combat local opioid usage. We've already had conversations with the county auditor about looking for opportunities to make those applications, but they haven't even come out with any rules for making an application for that money yet, so it'll probably be several months in the future before we're even eligible to apply for those, said Branick. The Big 3 Distributors, together with Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals, are being held responsible for fraudulent and/or reckless marketing as well as distribution of opioids that have led to addiction and overdoses as well as significant financial costs to government bodies. Branick believes that West Virginia and Northern California suffered more than Jefferson County, but he has seen significant local issues as well. He said he sees the problem everywhere. Related: Police raid of Vidor home nets powerful opioid drugs We do a substantial amount of mental health commitments here and (in) probably a half to three-quarters of those cases, there are addiction issues involved, he said. Of course, our law enforcement will tell you that a lot of the people that are in the jail have significant addiction issues that are involved in them acting the way they did, causing them to end up being in jail. We always see health issues from illicit drug use, whether it be opioids that theyre buying off the street or meth or PCP or whatever - we deal with that on a regular basis, said Jefferson County Sheriff's Department Chief John Shauberger. We actually have a 24-hour medical contractor out here that identifies those people and we have detox protocols that we have to go through. Sometimes they have to be transported to the emergency room. Its an everyday occurrence. International trafficking is another problem Branick cited. (Opioid abuse) is a problem everywhere and has become more of a problem as fentanyl and other drugs come through Mexico up into the United States, Branick said. So we're hoping to use that money in a way that will stem the tide of that. Related: Port Arthur man sentenced to lengthy federal prison term for drug trafficking Trafficking across the border is not the direct issue at play in the settlement, but it is one that becomes an issue once an individual becomes addicted to opioids. If their drug of choice is not available or the effects of that drug on their system don't have the desired effect, they'll switch to other things that are stronger, and so you got heroin, fentanylman, a lot of things, Branick said. Just as Branick noted that other states likely have faced steeper challenges related to opioids than Jefferson County has, Licensed Professional Counselor Heather Champion noted that Southeast Texans seem to have different drugs of choice. Opioids really haven't been as pervasive a problem in our area as, say, alcohol or methamphetamine abuse. Those two things probably have a higher prevalence, said Champion, who serves as director of business development and quality assurance at local mental healthcare facility Spindletop Center. We see more folks reaching out to us for help with those addictions than we do with opioids. Opioids would probably be further down the list of things that we treat. In order of frequency, she says Spindletop sees people suffering from addictions to alcohol followed by methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine and then opioids. According to her, methamphetamine usage has been a significant local problem for years, and alcohol abuse is more socially accepted, which makes it more pervasive. Related: Jefferson Co. man sentenced for drug trafficking, firearms violations That being said, Champion welcomes settlement dollars for another purpose outlined in the legal documents. I was looking at the settlement documents and the list of services that these funds can underwrite. I think prevention programs would be ideal for Southeast Texas, she said. If we don't have a major, prevalent problem, then let's prevent one. Would use a lot of those dollars towards prevention. There could also be research. I think within that very big list of categories where the funding can be used, there's definitely a lot of good places where those dollars could make a difference in Southeast Texas. The county is still throwing around ideas for use of the money. It ultimately will go into the general fund and can be spent however the court sees fit. But Branick highlighted one potential avenue the court may choose to pursue. We are working on a diversion center for our jail to bring those non-violent criminals, mentally ill and substance abusers to that facility as opposed to bringing them to jail, he said. That might be an appropriate use for the funding. Related: Spindletop grant next step to new certification In the meantime, whatever and whenever the court decides, Champion says that the Spindletop Center is available to help anybody suffering from substance abuse and/or mental health issues, and they do take self-referrals. We serve anybody who seeks our help, regardless of their ability to pay, she said. We also accept insurance. The toll-free number to get started with Spindletop is 1-800-317-5809. The toll-free Crisis Hotline number is 1-800-937-8097. Anybody who's looking for help, reach out to us anytime, Champion said. rachel.kersey@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/ontheREKord NASA will be flying names to the moon along with the first Artemis mission. As NASA launches the rocket to fly to the moon, a flash drive will be sent containing names of space enthusiasts who can be virtual guests. The first out of three installments of the Artemis mission will launch uncrewed to the moon this year. Fly Your Name Through the Artemis I Mission NASA is flying names through the moon as the agency is aiming to get back again to the moon again. NASA hopes to land back and explore more about the moon by a series of launches the Artemis mission will have. Through the first Artemis mission, NASA will be flying names along with the Orion spacecraft. As reported by CNN, NASA spokesperson Kathryn Hambleton stated, "We hope this is a way to get people excited and to bring them along and inspire the next generation, the Artemis generation". NASA will collect the names to be put into a flash drive; the flash drive must be loaded onto the spacecraft approximately one month prior to the scheduled launch date. NASA has already received more than 1 million names since launching the submissions earlier this month. Hambleton added, "We're hoping to keep up this momentum of just a little over a week ago ... to gather many more names and generate more excitement from people around the globe that are going to virtually ride along." Those who signed up will be rewarded with their own "virtual boarding pass," which will include their name and other details about the mission. They will also see Orion travel around the moon and back again. As an added bonus, participants will receive a QR code that will allow them to view NASA launches as virtual guests. Space enthusiasts can still participate in getting their virtual boarding pass here. Anyone interested can go to NASA's website and sign up for free. Read Also: Life on Mars? NASA Discovers Abundant Water Source In The Red Planet Artemis I Launch: 1 of 3 Artemis, the Space Launch System rocket, and the Orion spacecraft will be tested for the first time without a crew during this mission. The Artemis mission will pave the way for the first woman and the first person of color to set foot on the Moon. Artemis I is formerly known as the Exploration Mission-1. Taking place at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, it will be the first integrated test of NASA's deep space exploration systems, which include the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the ground systems. Within four to six weeks, it will have traveled more than 280,000 miles from Earth and thousands of miles beyond the Moon on its way to the International Space Station. The spacecraft will remain in space for six days to collect data and provide mission controllers with an opportunity to evaluate the spacecraft's performance. The spacecraft will be traveling around the moon retrograde from the direction the Moon travels around Earth. This is how NASA will lead the next steps of human exploration in deep space wherein the astronauts can build and test systems needed to be able to land safely in the next lunar surface mission. The data to be gathered will be used in building human presence both on the Moon and on Mars. The second flight will take the crew on a different trajectory and will allow them to test Orion's critical systems while they are on board together with the Artemis crew. As of the latest news release of NASA, the launch date of the first Artemis flight is still unknown. However, NASA will launch another media teleconference on Monday, March 14 as they roll out the rocket to Launch Pad 39B. Related Article: NASA's Astronaut Might Be Left in the International Space Station Due to U.S. and Russia's Conflicting Partnership Bedford, PA (15522) Today Light rain this morning. Breaks of sun this afternoon. High around 70F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Ubisoft admits to a cybersecurity incident that disrupted its internal systems. The group behind the hacking is Lapsus$, the same ransomware gang that hacked NVIDIA and Samsung. Ubisoft reported that the personal information of their players was not exposed during the hack. Ubisoft Hacking According to The Verge, Ubisoft released a statement stating their system has experienced a cybersecurity incident. Ubisoft is a French video game company, popularly known as the makers of Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Assassin's Creed. On Thursday, March 11, the company reported that the breach has temporarily affected numerous games, functions, and services in their internal systems. Ubisoft did not mention any further information as to how it happened and who was behind the hacking in the statement they released. For a few hours, there were no groups that came forward abruptly taking recognition of the hack and asking for demands. However, the Lapsus$ hacking group hinted a message that they might have caused the cybersecurity incident. Ubisoft assured its audience that their IT team with leading external experts are looking into the hack and investigating the vulnerabilities. Ubisoft assured its gamers that all its games and services are functioning and fully operational. However, for additional security measures, the company encourages its users to have a site-wide password reset. The company added that as of the moment, there was no evidence proving that any player's personal information was compromised and exposed as a byproduct of this cybersecurity incident. Lapsus$ came to the public eye just recently after it made a massive breach inside NVIDIA and Samsung. Nvidia Hacking Lapsus$ gained notoriety for hacking NVIDIA, an American multinational technology company. Players, artists, and crypto miners popularly know this company as one of the best in creating graphic processing units. Lapsus$ breached NVIDIA's system on Feb. 28. The group reportedly succeeded in stealing 1 TB of information from the tech giant. It was revealed by NVIDIA that the company is aware that threat actors obtained sensitive information such as employee credentials and proprietary information from the company's computer system. The hacking took place a day before the political onslaught in Russia and Ukraine happened. Numerous people believed that this was somehow correlated with the aggression in Eastern Europe. However, NVIDIA clarified that it has nothing to do with it. NVIDIA also added that they were aware of the hacking that took place and made measures to counter the breach in their systems although their efforts were deemed unsuccessful. The reason behind the Lapsus$ attack against NVIDIA is that they want to help the gaming and mining community by calling on NVIDIA to release an update for all GeForce RTX 30 Series Firmware, which will remove any restrictions placed on the cards by the company. Read Also: Anonymous Continues Hacking of Russia, Targets Streaming Services Samsung Hacking Ubisoft and NVIDIA are not the only company compromised by the cyber group, Lapsus$ also hacked Samsung. After the group hacked NVIDIA, the second company they came after was the South Korean tech giant, Samsung. Lapsus$ leaked a total of 190 GB of data from Samsung and made it all available to the public via free, downloadable torrent. The ransomware gang was able to infiltrate Samsung's TrustZone environment used for sensitive operations and leaked the following data and source codes: Algorithms that will be used for all of the biometric unlock operations. The source code for the bootloader on all recent Samsung devices can be found here. The confidential source code that is given by Qualcomm. The source code for Samsung's activation servers. Complete source code for the technology that is used for authorizing and authenticating Samsung accounts, as well as APIs and other services The breach was able to collect several Samsung Github repositories, including "mobile defense engineering, Samsung account backend, Samsung pass backend/frontend, and SES (Bixby, Smartthings, store)," according to the reports. Related Article: Lapsus$ Group Leaks Alleged Samsung Confidential Data Bennington, VT (05201) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High 57F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers delivers his State of the State address virtually as members of the Assembly watch from the Assembly Chambers at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Jan. 12. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming Wisconsin is on the verge of decertifying the results of the 2020 presidential election based on the findings of a former state Supreme Court justices interim report to state lawmakers. You are the owner of this article. If you need to hire employees during a labor shortage, you must be prepared to give them what they want workplace flexibility, writes Eagle columnist Allen Harris. The Checkup for March 12, 2022: Lowest level of COVID-19 spread since last August The Hubble Space Telescope has snapped yet another stunning photo and this time it features a laser-like jet of gas blasting from a very young star. The image features a Herbig-Haro object known as HH34, which is located 1,250 light-years from our planet. It can be found within the Orion Nebula. Hubble Space Telescope Snaps a Photo of Jet of Gas From a Young Star The Hubble Space Telescope has captured another awe-inspiring image from space and this time, it features a very young star blasting a laser-like jet of gas. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), "This stellar tantrum - produced by an extremely young star in the earliest phase of formation - consists of an incandescent jet of gas travelling at supersonic speeds." The image was captured using the Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, one of the five scientific instruments that the space telescope has. The ESA goes on to explain that once this jet of gas comes into contact with the material found around the infant star, the material heats up and glows. This results to what is known as a Herbig-Haro object. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), "Herbig-Haro objects are a rarely seen type of nebula that occurs when hot gas ejected by a newborn star collides with the gas and dust around it at hundreds of miles per second, creating bright shock waves." Which Herbig-Haro Object Has Been Captured? There are a number of Herbig-Haro objects in space, but the one that the Hubble Space Telescope has captured in the image above is specifically known as HH34. According to the ESA, this is not the first time that the Hubble photographed this particular Herbig-Haro object. In fact, it was photographed three in the past; the first time was in 1994 and the second time was in 2007. The third time was in 2015. The HH34 is located 1,250 light-years from our planet and resides in the Orion Nebula. Read Also: Orion Photo Reveals Spectacular Fiery Ribbon Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope has been snapping jaw-dropping photos one after the other in its 31 years of service. But what exactly is it? The Hubble is large orbiting telescope that was launched on April 24, 1990 by a space shuttle called Discovery. The telescope is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble. What makes him particularly notable is that he discovered that the Milky Way galaxy is just one of the many galaxies in the universe. The space telescope is currently located around 547 kilometers above Earth. It is moving ata speed of five miles per second. The Hubble has five scientific instruments on it that it uses for its observations and even for its photographs. These are the Wide Field Camera 3, Advanced Camera for Surveys, Cosmic Origins Spectograph, Space Telescope Imaging Spectograph, and Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer. Related Article: NASA Hubble Images: Advanced Camera Captures Heavenly Photo of Orion Nebula! Edward Chapman, a 54-year-old Pittsfield man, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston to 11 years in prison and eight years of supervised release for drug trafficking charges. Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data. A COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 led to the deaths of 78 veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home, above, and 31 veterans at the Chelsea Soldiers' Home. LEWISTON - Nez Perce County Magistrate Judge Michelle M. Evans, of Lewiston, has announced she is running for the Second District Judge position, currently held by Jay Gaskill and chambered in Nez Perce County. Gaskill is planning to retire. Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman announced his candidacy for Second District Judge on February 24. Idaho's Second Judicial District includes the counties of Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis, and Nez Perce. The primary election is on May 17. 56-year-old Evans took the bench as a Magistrate Judge in 2014, replacing Judge Jay Gaskill when he moved into the District Judge position. Judge Evans previously worked as a deputy prosecuting attorney for twenty years, serving one year in Lewis County for then-Prosecutor Mike Wasko, and 19 years in Latah County for Prosecutor William Bill W. Thompson, Jr., nine of those years as Senior Deputy. In 2007 she was chosen Prosecutor of the Year by the Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association. Evans currently presides over the Nez Perce County Mental Health Court. She is an Advisory Team Member and a Commitments Workgroup Member of the Idaho Behavioral Health Council. Evans also serves on the Domestic Violence Advisory Team and was a member of the Misdemeanor Sentencing Committee and Child Protection Advisory Team for the Idaho Supreme My goal for several years has been to move into a District Judge position. I have loved being a Magistrate Judge and find the work very fulfilling. However, I want to move to the next level because I believe I have considerable knowledge, integrity, and experience necessary to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a District Judge which greatly impact our community. I have been a public servant for my entire career, and my legal experience and community involvement combined with my experience as a Judge make me the ideal candidate," said Evans in a statement released Saturday morning. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BIG RAPIDS TOWNSHIP Spectrum Health has moved one step closer to establishing a new clinic in Big Rapids Township. The Big Rapids Township planning commission approved the site plans for the project during its meeting this week, contingent on receipt of updated and revised plans. Spectrum Health West Michigan announced in January its intention of building a 33,000 square foot facility to house the Big Rapids Family Medicine Clinic, as well as outpatient rehabilitation, occupational health, lab services and urgent care. Spectrum is purchasing the lot south of Menards on 215th Avenue in Big Rapids Township for construction of the new facility and possible future expansion, a representative for the organization said. The project is part of a $151 million investment by Spectrum Health to expand its outpatient services and provide increased access to primary and specialty throughout West Michigan. David Burd, planning and design architect for Spectrum Health, said the move to this location will reserve the Oak Street Campus for hospital related patients and traffic. This is a big move for Spectrum to keep care close to home in Big Rapids and the surrounding community, he said during a public hearing on the plans. The efficient layout will improve patient experience and staff circulation, while providing flexibility for future expansion at the location. During the public meeting for a special land use permit request for the project in February, residents in the area expressed concerns about the impact of the construction on neighboring properties. Resident Jean Cousineau said she was concerned about storm water drainage because Winters Creek runs under 215th Avenue flowing toward her property. Project manager for Wade Trim Architects, Veronica Clark, stated that there are two drainage detention ponds that channel water toward the wetlands at the southwest corner of the property. Others expressed concerns about increased traffic in the area, to which planning and design architect for Spectrum Health responded, that they are expecting 20 to 30 staff on a daily basis with no more than 200 patients throughout the day. This facility will ease parking and traffic congestion at the main campus on Oak Street, Burd said. Most of the employees at the new location will be relocated from the main Spectrum campus. The special use permit was approved during the February meeting, however, the site plan was tabled until further information could be provided to the planners addressing the concerns that were voiced and approvals from the fire department, the drain commissioner, public works and other utilities could be provided. During the meeting this week, Clark told the planners plans were sent to the county and they had received storm water approval and approval from the fire marshall. The public works department said we should consider changing from a three-inch water line to a four-inch line, but that was their only comment, Clark said. They are sending approval of the plans. Our revised plans will be submitted to you after this meeting. I wanted to hear back from the storm water and the city before I submitted them to you. Mike Oezer, an engineer with ProgressiveAE told the planners he would like to take a look at the revised plans to make sure they have addressed all the concerns that had been talked about, but that engineering wise, the project plans look really good. I was asking for a little more information about the utilities along that Menards drive, right off of 215th, to show a little more accurately where the water and sewer are, he said. There was a slight change to the ditch outlet. But those things were pretty minor. Oezer suggested they approve the site plan contingent on receipt and review of the revised plans, to which the planners agreed. We are looking forward to your addition to the community, township trustee Carmen Bean said. I think it will provide a great service. The project is expected to be completed in spring of 2023. Lian has more than 20 years of international leadership experience in product commercialization, strategic business development and capital market operations on a global level Pulnovo Medical Limited, a globally recognized OTM innovative platform, recently announced the appointment of Jessie Lian Jia as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Board. Lian has more than 20 years of international leadership experience in product commercialization, strategic business development and capital market operations on a global level. Prior to joining Pulnovo Medical, she worked at Johnson & Johnson, progressing from front-line sales to Director positions across various business units, as well as laterally managed operations and supporting functions. Ms. Lian subsequently moved to Cardinal Health to take on the position of General Manager of China and Vice President of Strategic Marketing for Asia Pacific. After Cordis was independently spun off, she served as their President of China and Asia Pacific. While at Cordis, leveraging Lian's in-depth understanding of the Chinese and Asia Pacific medical devices market, she played a key role in the marketing and commercialization of the world's first drug-eluting stent in China. In addition, Lian spearheaded Cordis's business transformation to achieve significant business breakthroughs and commercial results, fully demonstrating her strong business acumen and wealth of management experience. She also pioneered best-in-class models for domestic and international distribution cooperation with Chinese companies. Her many efforts enabled Cordis to successfully and timely deploy its resources in the global capital market and strengthen its leadership position across multiple dimensions. Lian has a Bachelor of Science (Biology) degree from Peking University, and an EMBA degree from China Europe International Business School. U.S. to revoke Russia's most-favored nation status amid Ukraine crisis Xinhua) 10:13, March 12, 2022 U.S. President Joe Biden walks on the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington, D.C. March 11, 2022. The U.S. government will revoke Russia's most-favored nation trade status amid the Ukraine crisis, the White House said Friday, noting that it will work with Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union to roll out new sanctions. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government will revoke Russia's most-favored nation trade status amid the Ukraine crisis, the White House said Friday, noting that it will work with Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union to roll out new sanctions. U.S. President Joe Biden and the other G7 leaders "will announce new economic actions" to "further isolate Russia from the global financial system," the White House said in a statement. The sanction followed an energy embargo on Russia announced by Washington on Tuesday, among a series of moves against Russia over the Ukraine crisis, even though analysts have warned of huge potential consequences and spillovers. On the same day, leaders of the European Union agreed on imposing new sanctions against Russia in an informal summit in Versailles, France. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the new sanctions aim to further isolate Russia from the global economic system. She also announced a plan to find alternatives to Russian fuels by 2027 in order to reduce EU's dependence on Russia. "There's the law of unintended consequences," U.S.-China Business Council President Craig Allen told Xinhua earlier this week, commenting on the potential economic impact of Western sanctions on Russia. "What you intend to do, perhaps is punish Russia, but there are unintended consequences to every action. And it's too early to be able to say, what are the unintended consequences of this," Allen said. U.S. President Joe Biden walks on the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington, D.C. March 11, 2022. The U.S. government will revoke Russia's most-favored nation trade status amid the Ukraine crisis, the White House said Friday, noting that it will work with Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union to roll out new sanctions. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) U.S. President Joe Biden walks on the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington, D.C. March 11, 2022. The U.S. government will revoke Russia's most-favored nation trade status amid the Ukraine crisis, the White House said Friday, noting that it will work with Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union to roll out new sanctions. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) (Web editor: Peng yukai, Bianji) Jordan, Jesse, Go!s Jordan Morris and Go! join Keith and Chemda as they discuss being an adult, virtual reality with children, Jussie Smolletts jail sentence, and the first January 6th Insurrection trial. HOT SOUP: Chemdas back with Movie Corner! March 11, 2022 Faced with another round of load shedding and SA's energy availability factor (EAF) once again dipping below the 60% mark, the South African Wind Energy Association (Sawea) is calling for power generation from renewables to be accelerated. Source: Supplied Increasing SA's energy availability factor Increase investor confidence The association is specifically referring to opportunity to build private generation plants by independent power producers in Mpumalanga.Eskom first announced its intention to initiate an auction process that will unlock and make land alongside its power stations available to private investors for renewable power plants toward the end of last year, said Niveshen Govender, CEO of Sawea.Govender explains this proposed option will remove significant barriers and increase the countrys energy availability factor quicker than alternative options as it will drive the production of much-needed new clean power in a corner of the country that has not been looked at as a feasible destination for renewable energy in the past.This move to deploy renewable power in Mpumalanga can facilitate faster power deployment and help South Africas just energy transition, considering that this area will become a priority area for green investment, thereby increasing the countrys clean energy portfolio, added Govender.Considering that load shedding continues to increase running costs as well as reduced productivity and profitability in businesses, it is vital to explore and implement options that will drive up energy availability. Furthermore, on a macro scale, South Africas economy continues to be negatively impacted and will need increased power generation that is cost effective in order to increase investor confidence.With this option, renewable energy IPPs, will have the opportunity to work alongside the systems operator to get more green electrons on the grid relatively quickly as the maximum amount of electricity generation capacity per project will be capped at 100MW, thereby negating the need for additional licensing, concluded Govender. Access to quality and affordable healthcare remains one of South Africa's biggest challenges. Roughly 84% of the population relies on public healthcare services, often queuing for medical care in an under-resourced system. Source: Supplied. Accessible and affordable healthcare Continuity of care South Africas healthcare system is severely understaffed. Estimates suggest there is one doctor in the public healthcare sector for every 2,400 patients, while there is around one doctor for every 500 patients in the private healthcare sector..But other factors make accessing healthcare challenging for the average South African. Private healthcare services often come at an unsustainable cost, there are inadequate and poorly managed resources at State facilities, and too few healthcare providers particularly in the primary healthcare space, says Dr Sam Fee, clinical director of Primary Care of Epione Health Village Rosebank.This challenge needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Our socio-economic divide is starkly represented in our fractured healthcare space. The Covid-19 pandemic has only made things worse - laying bare the already inadequate State medical system, a burnt-out workforce, and highlighting a private healthcare system further out of reach, says Fee.To address the challenge of access to healthcare, Epione Health Village Rosebank (EHVR) has launched the Second Saturday Basic Health Screening initiative.The Second Saturday Basic Health Screening initiative will see the Epione Health Village Rosebank opening its doors to those who cannot afford private healthcare. They will be able to have a free consultation with Fee, Dr Sian Basnett and Dr Darren Nyoni.The initiative aims to provide accessible, affordable, sustainable, and quality healthcare to the surrounding community.Doctors and volunteers will register attendees as members of our health village, record necessary history and health concerns, and conduct several basic health checks, including blood glucose, BMI, blood pressure, and sexually transmitted infections (STI) screening. We will provide the basic consumables required from our day-to-day operations budget, but we are hoping to partner with CSI programs to expand and sustain this offering, says Fee.Where required, patients will be referred to higher levels of care or State facilities for further treatment or diagnosis.For continuity of care, patients can return to Epione Health Village Rosebank for a follow-up the next month or sooner at a reduced consultation fee.At Epione Health Village Rosebank, we believe that providing healthcare is the highest expression of humanity. We believe that everyone should have access to a welcoming and inclusive space where they can express vulnerability without judgement and receive appropriate care regardless of their ability to pay. Our primary healthcare doctors are committed to providing the best healthcare they can to all members of our community, and we are looking at various business models to make this vision sustainable, says Garikai Govati, director at EHVR. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has obtained a search and seizure warrant from the Kimberley Magistrate Court in the Northern Cape to raid the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) offices. The warrant, which was obtained on Tuesday, authorises the SIU to search and seize evidence from the NLC Kimberly offices, in relation to the funding of non-profit organisations (NPO) meant to uplift communities in the province.Accompanied by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Prevention (Hawks), SIU investigators are currently raiding NLC offices to seize evidence that might assist with an ongoing investigation.The SIU was reliably informed by whistle-blowers that NLC officials had allegedly enlisted the services of runners, who were tasked with the responsibility of scouting NPOs in the province and encourage them to apply for NLC funding.Immediately after the funding was approved and released to NPOs, it is alleged that the runners, together with NLC officials, would share approximately 30% of the funding.Fearing that the normal procedure of requesting documents, in accordance with the SIU Act 74 of 1996, might result in crucial evidence being compromised, the SIU approached the court for a search and seizure warrant to raid the NLC offices.The SIU is looking to seize documents, laptops and computer hard drives.The SIU was, in terms of Proclamation R32 of 2020, authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of the NLC and the conduct of its officials.The proclamation covers offences which took place between 1 January 2014 and 6 November 2020, the date of publication of this proclamation, or which took place prior to 1 January 2014.It also covers any offences after the proclamation date that are relevant to, connected with, incidental to the matters or involve the same persons, entities or contracts investigated under authority of Proclamation R32 of 2020. The South African Breweries (SAB), the country's largest beer brewer, has signed a power purchase agreement with Bio2Watt, a Black-woman-owned industrial-scale biogas waste-to-energy company. The renewable energy will be supplied from the Cape Dairy Biogas Plant once it reaches commercial operation. Source: Supplied 23% contracted renewable electricity Although the plant is still in the process of being built, it will make use of waste collected from one of South Africas largest dairy farms. Over 7,000 cows residing on the farm will see the plant make use of slurry manure with a mix of other wastes from the surrounding region to produce renewable electricity.SAB procurement director for Africa, Kyle Day says, We have made a global commitment to explore renewables to reduce carbon emissions and reach 100% contracted renewable electricity by 2025. We also believe we have a duty to ease the pressure on the national grid. Through this partnership, we are proud to progress on both fronts as we make our way to a cleaner, greener and more self-sustainable future.The move is in line with holding company Anheuser-Busch InBevs global 2025 sustainability targets for climate action 100% of its purchased electricity will come from renewable sources and carbon emissions will be reduced by 25% across its value chain.Under this power purchase agreement and installed renewable electricity, SAB will achieve 23% contracted renewable electricity, says VP of procurement and sustainability in Africa, Conor Ruff.All of SABs Breweries in South Africa already use solar power, which we are currently expanding and the Alrode brewery in Johannesburg is also making use of a biogas facility. As we accelerate our sustainability strategy, we are looking forward to collaborating with more partners in the renewable energy space, Ruff concludes. The French government has moved South Africa to the 'Green' country list for France. The regulations will ease travel restrictions previously placed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, making it easier for tourists from South Africa to travel to France. The new entry regulations Vaccinated passengers do not require a negative PCR/antigen test to enter. They are only required to present proof of vaccination.Unvaccinated passengers no longer need a compelling reason to travel to France. They must, however, present a negative PCR test less than 72 hours old or a negative Antigen test less than 48 hours old prior to departure.From 14 March, it will no longer be necessary to obtain a Pass Sanitaire in order to access certain leisure activities for vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers.The above is subject to visa requirements as has always been the case. Air France wishes to remind passengers that these requirements are specifically for those travelling to France as their final destination. For those transiting, the entry requirements of the country of final destination must be adhered to.Passengers are advised to check the French government website to familiarise themselves with or https://airfrance.traveldoc.aero. updated information Neoliberal social engineers in Europe lament the rise of the so-called "far right." In their rhetoric, the corporate media hysterically conjures the specter of the excesses of the 20th-century axis powers. It's full-on moral panic. Just as the US corporate press obsesses over the MAGA-white-supremacist-racist-Nazi-bigot boogeyman to discourage criticisms of their policies, the European corporate press uses the same tactics. If one were to consume this media exclusively, one would assume the Fourth Reich is one election cycle away. The central question here is: why, given their opposition to the "far right," do neoliberal policymakers insist on pouring fuel on the fire in the form of unchecked immigration when, as we'll show, it clearly drives the "far right's" success? It's almost like they revel in social conflict they themselves instigate (more on that later). Neoliberal "experts" desperately search for alternative explanations for the explosive growth of far-right political parties in Europe. They scapegoat their leaders as mere hatemongers. They caricature their followers as unenlightened goons. They'll do any rhetorical trick to avoid acknowledging the elephant in the room: unchecked immigration. And, worse, immigration largely from the Third World, largely from cultures incompatible with that of their Western European destinations. Occam's razor posits that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. The 'Clash of Civilizations' Theory in International Relations The most plausible explanatory theory for European immigration-fueled social conflicts (and the resulting electoral success British and French "far right" political parties) is Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations." Civilizations especially those as disparate as Middle Eastern Islamic vs. Western ones -- are "differentiated from each other by history, language, culture, tradition and, most important, religion." Increasing forced interactions between a native population and immigrant groups fosters greater awareness of what he calls "civilization-consciousness": "The interactions among peoples of different civilizations enhance the civilization-consciousness of people that, in turn, invigorates differences and animosities stretching or thought to stretch back deep into history." In the case of the Christian European West and the Islamic Middle East, those animosities in particular indeed stretch deep into history. What is unfolding in Europe, and has been since at least the early 2010s, is a slow-burning civilizational cold war. What Public Polling Says The people of Western Europe, however much its politicians and the unelected EU bureaucrats in Brussels wish otherwise, have had enough immigration. Via a 2015 poll of the British public*: 78% believed that "immigrants coming to this country should embrace the British way of life rather than hold on to the lifestyle they had at home"; only 8% disagreed. 60% said immigration had caused a net negative impact on crime; only 11% believed it had a net positive impact on crime. 66% said immigration had a negative net impact on welfare/benefits; 12% said it had a net positive impact. 52% agreed that immigration exerted a net negative impact on social values while only 23% believed it had caused a net positive impact. 79% answered "yes" to when presented with the question "following recent events involving Islamist extremists, do you believe British Muslims should make a special effort to state their allegiance to Britain?". 22% said "no". Asked "do you think they are better than five years ago, worse, or about the same?," 47% said "worse"; just 21% said "better". Terrorism (58%) and immigration (53%) were two of the top three issues that respondents said they were most worried about. *This poll is not an outlier. The same responses in the same proportions polling data across multiple Western European states tell the same story: the natives don't want more immigration on the scale and in the current style that threatens their cultural integrity. The Diversity Lie Is a Tool For Social and Economic Transformation At the same time that the social engineers insist "diversity is our greatest strength," they shunt the populations they preside over into a global corporate-state monoculture. Hence the Great Reset: "COVID-19 lockdowns may be gradually easing, but anxiety about the worlds social and economic prospects is only intensifying. There is good reason to worry: a sharp economic downturn has already begun To achieve a better outcome, the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a 'Great Reset' of capitalism." They don't actually support "diversity" (whatever that overly broad and amorphous means, anyway); it's merely a cynical rhetorical weapon deployed to justify mass immigration. In turn, the immigration is intended to collapse the vestiges of the native culture of the West so that the corporate monoculture is easier to install. This is the same dynamic that works to break down the individual in the initial stages of indoctrination into a new social group in the military, fraternities, etc. But instead of personal identities, national ones are the target. The invasive ideology must first destroy and degrade the national character, to be replaced with the supranational.** **This is why nationalists (and their symbols) in the US as well as Western Europe are the top target of the corporate state. They represent the greatest threat to its expansion. The "end of capitalism," "the global community," and other utopian language understandably appeals to simple-minded, well-meaning leftists and even to some people with no ostensible political ideology who just want to live in a better world. The indoctrination victims don't understand the forces arrayed against them, manipulating their better impulses to install a neo-feudal global corporate state. If being a "citizen" with a "civic duty" means anything, it's that the job for us who can see the writing on the wall is to make our neighbors understand, so that we can resist together. BEN BARTEE IS A BANGKOK-BASED AMERICAN JOURNALIST WITH OPPOSABLE THUMBS. FOLLOW HIS STUFF VIA HIS BLOG, ARMAGEDDON PROSE, SUBSTACK, PATREON, GAB, AND TWITTER. BITCOIN PUBLIC ADDRESS: 14GU3AHBXKNQ8BDQMIBFNUBV7KSJQFX5LX "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett leaves the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago, Feb. 24, 2020. Smollett began a 150-day jail sentence for staging a hate crime against himself in protective custody. AP-Yonhap Jussie Smollett began a 150-day jail sentence for staging a hate crime against himself in protective custody, separated from other detainees and watched by security cameras and an officer, jail authorities said Friday. Sheriff's deputies immediately took Smollett to the Cook County Jail, Thursday night, after Judge James Linn sentenced the Black and gay actor to 30 months of felony probation starting with a five-month term in jail for lying to police that he had been the target of a racist and homophobic attack. Smollett loudly maintained his innocence and suggested he could be killed in jail. ''Your honor, I respect you and I respect the jury, but I did not do this,'' Smollett said Thursday. ''And I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself.'' Smollett's sentence may put an end pending appeals to more than three years of legal drama following the actor's report to police that two men wearing ski masks beat him, and hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him on a dark Chicago street and ran off. Smollett's attorneys filed an emergency injunction Friday seeking Smollett's release pending his appeal. An appellate court judge ruled prosecutors have five days to respond to the emergency motion, WMAQ-TV reported. His attorneys also filed a notice of appeal in Cook County Criminal Court. They had said Thursday night that they plan to appeal both the jury's guilty verdict and the judge's sentence. One day earlier, a judge sentenced Smollett to 150 days in Cook County Jail following his conviction for lying to police about being the victim of a "hoax" hate crime in 2019. Smollett was also sentenced to 30 months of felony probation, ordered to pay more than $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago and was fined $25,000. He began his sentence immediately after learning his fate Thursday. In a statement on Friday, the Cook County Sheriff's Office said Smollett is being held in protective custody typical for people ''who may potentially be at risk of harm due to the nature of their charges, their professions, or their noteworthy status.'' Smollett has his own cell, monitored by security cameras and an officer stationed at the door and wearing a body camera, the sheriff's office said. Smollett is able to have ''substantial time'' in common areas to use the phone, watch TV and interact with staff but other detainees won't be in common areas with him. Smollett faced up to three years in prison for each of the five felony counts of disorderly conduct the charge filed for lying to police of which he was convicted. He was acquitted on a sixth count. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot praised the sentence, saying it sends a message that ''false claims and allegations'' would not be tolerated. ''The city feels vindicated in today's ruling that he is being held accountable and that we will appropriately receive restitution for his actions,'' she said in a statement. Smollett's sentence includes a payment of $120,106 in restitution to the city and a $25,000 fine. Smollett was convicted in a December jury trial, where witnesses included two brothers who told jurors Smollett paid them to carry out the attack and gave specific directions on what to do and say. Smollett, who knew the men from his work on the television show ''Empire'' that filmed in Chicago, testified that he did not recognize them and did not know they were the men attacking him. (AP) A visibly anxious and panicked Biden tweeted [1] yesterday, March 11: I want to be clear: We will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full might of a united and galvanized NATO. But we will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine. A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III. And something we must strive to prevent. The string of rambling tweets betrayed the apprehensive mental state of a raving executive who was under tremendous pressure from certain quarters to significantly escalate the conflict with the arch-foe and wanted to console himself and the listeners that by not committing American ground and air forces to Ukraine, specifically for enforcing the no-fly zone, he was making the right decision. Despite Russias massive nuclear arsenal, several Pentagon officials, full of hubris and evidently suffering from misplaced superiority complex, have recently made their misconceived institutional logic public that they no longer regard Russia as an equal military power, instead they contemptuously dubbed it a second-rate regional power, and if given an opportunity, they wouldnt hesitate to take Russia head-on, even if the risk is as perilous as the conflict spiraling into a catastrophic nuclear war. Its noteworthy the national security and defense policies of the United States are formulated by the all-powerful civil-military bureaucracy, dubbed the deep state, whereas the president, elected through heavily manipulated electoral process with disproportionate influence of corporate interests, political lobbyists and billionaire donors, is only a figurehead meant to legitimize militarist stranglehold of the deep state, not only over the domestic politics of the United States but also over the neocolonial world order dictated by the self-styled global hegemon. All the militaries of the NATO member states operate under the integrated military command led by the Pentagon. Before being elected president, General Dwight Eisenhower was the first commander of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander of Allied Command Operations has been given the title Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), and is always a US four-star general officer or flag officer who also serves as the Commander US European Command, and is answerable to the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff. CNN reported March 6 [2] Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley visited a week before an undisclosed airfield near the Ukraine border that has become a hub for shipping weapons. The airport's location remains a secret to protect the shipments of weapons, including anti-armor missiles, into Ukraine. Although the report didnt name the location, the airfield was likely in Poland along Ukraines border. US European Command (EUCOM) is at the heart of the massive shipment operation, using its liaison network with allies and partners to coordinate in real time to send materials into Ukraine, a second Defense official said. EUCOM is also coordinating with other countries, including the United Kingdom, in terms of the delivery process to ensure that we are using our resources to maximum efficiency to support the Ukrainians in an organized way, the official added. In Europe, 400,000 US forces were deployed at the height of the Cold War in the sixties, though the number has since been brought down [3] to almost 100,000 after European powers developed their own military capacity following the devastation of the Second World War. The number of American troops deployed in Europe now stands at 50,000 in Germany, 15,000 in Italy and 10,000 in the United Kingdom. During the last year, the United States has substantially ramped up US military footprint in the Eastern Europe by deploying thousands of additional NATO troops, strategic armaments, nuclear-capable missiles and air force squadrons aimed at Russia, and NATO forces alongside regional clients have been provocatively exercising so-called freedom of navigation right in the Black Sea and conducting joint military exercises and naval drills. The Biden administration approved on Feb. 24 an additional 7,000 US troops [4] to be deployed to Germany, bringing the total number of American forces sent to Europe to 15,000 this month, including troops previously deployed to Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. In Poland alone, the US military footprint now exceeds 10,000 troops as the majority of 15,000 troops sent to Europe last month went to Poland to join the 4,000 US troops already stationed there. We have 130 jets at high alert. Over 200 ships from the high north to the Mediterranean, and thousands of additional troops in the region, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN [5]. A spokesman for US European Command told CNN the United States was sending two Patriot missile batteries to Poland, and was also considering deploying THAAD air defense system, a more advanced system equivalent in capabilities to Russias S-400 air defense system. Besides providing 2,000 surface-to-air missiles and 17,000 anti-armor munitions, including Javelins and NLAWs, to Ukraines security forces and allied militias, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said [6] that the UK was considering sending the laser-guided Starstreak shoulder-fired anti-aircraft system, a significant upgrade from the Stinger missiles sent by the US, Germany and other allies. The weapon has a range of over four miles and can take down fighter planes more effectively than the Stinger. Although NATO powers did provide Stingers to their jihadist proxies that helped turning the tide in the Soviet-Afghan war in the eighties, since then, despite providing anti-tank munitions and rest of weapons to militant groups in the proxy wars in Libya and Syria, Western powers have consistently avoided providing MANPADS to proxy forces, because such deadly anti-aircraft munitions could become a long-term threat not only to military aircraft but also to civilian airlines. In the sheer desperation to inflict maximum material damage on Russias security forces, however, NATO appears to have breached its own long-standing convention of curbing the proliferation of anti-aircraft munitions. Following Russias intervention in Ukraine, Germany alone has proudly bragged [7] of dispatching caches of 500 US-made surface-to-air Stinger missiles and 2,700 Soviet-era, shoulder-fired Strela missiles to Ukraines conscript military. Who would be responsible for the myopic and vindictive policy of providing anti-aircraft munitions to Ukraines irregular militias once Kyiv falls and those MANPADS are found in black markets posing grave risk to civilian airlines across the globe? In fact, Russias seasoned Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov alluded to the grave risk posed by the proliferation of anti-aircraft munitions in the peace talks with the Ukrainian counterpart in Turkey. Russias reluctant and delayed military intervention in Ukraine is fundamentally a war of power projection, a shot across the bow to perfidious former allies, the East European states, whove been joining the EU and NATO in droves since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, that the collective security of Eurasian nations is a shared responsibility, and NATOs eastward expansion along Russias western flank not only imperils the security of resurgent Russia but also compromises the balance of power in the multipolar world. Its worth recalling that before the Biden-Putin summit at Geneva last June, Russia had a similar troop build-up along Ukraines borders. Extending the hand of friendship, Russia significantly drawdown its forces along the western border before the summit last year. Instead of returning the favor, however, the conceited leadership of supposedly worlds sole surviving super power turned down the hand of friendship and even snubbed Putin. Despite losing the empire in the nineties, as far as military power is concerned, Russia with its enormous arsenal of conventional as well as nuclear weapons still more or less equals the military power of the United States, as is obvious from the unfolding Ukraine war where all the NATO could do is watch it from distance, and not even attempting to enforce a no-fly zone lest the conflict spirals into a mutually destructive nuclear war. But its the much more subtle and insidious tactic of economic warfare for which Russia has no antidote, as the global neocolonial order is being led by the United States and its Western European clients since the signing of the Bretton Woods Accord in 1945 following the Second World War. Because any state, particularly those pursuing socialist policies, that dares to challenge the Western monopoly over global trade and economic policies is internationally isolated and its national economy goes bankrupt over a period of time. Despite having immense firepower at its disposal that could readily turn the tide in conflicts as protracted as Syrias proxy war, the Russian advance in Ukraine has been slower than expected according to most estimates because Russia is only targeting military infrastructure and doing all it can to minimize collateral damage, particularly needless civilian losses in the former Soviet republic whose majority population is sympathetic to Russia. Rather than mitigating suffering of Ukraines disenfranchised masses held hostage by the Zelensky regime, the self-styled champions of human rights are doing all they can to lure Russia into their bear trap project, a term borrowed from the Soviet-Afghan War of the eighties when Western powers used Pakistans security forces and generous funding from the oil-rich Gulf States for providing guerrilla warfare training and lethal weaponry to Afghan jihadists to bleed the security forces of former Soviet Union in the protracted irregular warfare. The Congress recently announced [8] $1.5 trillion package to fund the federal government through September would boost national defense coffers to $782 billion, about a 6 percent increase. On top of the hefty budget increase, the package is set to deliver $13.6 billion in emergency funding to help Ukraine, nearly twice the assistance package initially proposed, including $3 billion for US forces and $3.5 billion for military equipment to Ukraine, plus more than $4 billion for US humanitarian efforts. Of the $13.6 billion humanitarian and military assistance for Ukraine announced by the Biden administration, the top brass of the Pentagon is reportedly making preparations for disbursing $3.5 billion for providing military training and arms to millions of refugees who have fled Ukraine following the war. The Machiavellian plan of NATOs military strategists is to establish refugee settlements with the humanitarian assistance in the border regions of Ukraines neighboring countries Poland and Romania, and then provide guerrilla warfare training and lethal arms to all able-bodied men of military age in order to mount a war of attrition against Russias security forces. Although NATOs military strategists are drawing parallels with the Soviet-Afghan War of the eighties and the two-decade occupation of Afghanistan by the US forces from Oct. 2001 to August 2021 when the ragtag Afghan insurgents defeated two super powers of the era, and are betting on the success of Ukraines potential insurgency against Russian forces from border regions of Poland and Romania, those were two very different wars. The former Soviet Union and the US never lacked resources to subdue insurgency in Afghanistan. What they lacked was the will to pour infinite military and economic resources into a meaningless war lacking clear strategic objectives over an indefinite period of time. By contrast, the Vladimir Putin government is fully committed and Russias national security establishment regards Ukraine as an integral part of Russia, eastern Ukraine with its large Russian-speaking population in particular, and would go to any extent to integrate Ukraine into Russias sphere of influence and forestall NATOs further eastward expansion along Russias vulnerable western flank. If we take a cursory look at the insurgency in Afghanistan, the Bush administration toppled the Taliban regime with the help of the Northern Alliance in October 2001 in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attack. Since the beginning, however, Afghanistan was an area of lesser priority for the Bush administration. The number of US troops deployed in Afghanistan did not exceed beyond 30,000 during George Bushs tenure as the American president, and soon after occupying Afghanistan, Washington invaded Iraq in March 2003 to expropriate its 140 billion barrels proven oil reserves, and American resources and focus shifted to Iraq. It was the ostensibly pacifist and noninterventionist Obama administration that made the Afghanistan conflict the bedrock of its foreign policy in 2009 along with fulfilling then-President Obamas electoral pledge of withdrawing American forces from Iraq in December 2011, only to be redeployed a couple of years later when the Islamic State overran Mosul and Anbar in Iraq in early 2014. At the height of the surge of the US troops in Afghanistan in 2010, the American troops numbered around 100,000, with an additional 40,000 troops deployed by the rest of the NATO members, but they still could not manage to have a lasting impact on the relentless Taliban insurgency. Citations: [1] Biden: Confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III: [2] Mark Milley visited an undisclosed airfield near the Ukraine border: [3] What the US Gets for Defending Its Allies and Interests Abroad? [4] An additional 7,000 US troops to be sent to Germany: [5] Pentagon shores up its NATO defenses in Europe: [6] How Biden scuttled Polish aircraft deal: [7] Germany to ship anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine: [8] $13.6 billion military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine: About the author: Nauman Sadiq is an Islamabad-based geopolitical and national security analyst focused on geo-strategic affairs and hybrid warfare in the Af-Pak and Middle East regions. His domains of expertise include neocolonialism, military-industrial complex and petro-imperialism. He is a regular contributor of diligently researched investigative reports to alternative news media. A top Russian diplomat said Saturday that Moscow has informed U.S. officials that it views Western arms shipments to Ukraine as "legitimate targets" for military attacks, heightening fears of a direct confrontation between the nuclear-armed powers. "We warned the United States that the orchestrated pumping of weapons from a number of countries is not just a dangerous move, it is a move that turns these convoys into legitimate targets," Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, told a state television outlet Saturday morning. Ryabkov added that Moscow emphasized to Washington "the consequences of the thoughtless transfer to Ukraine of weapons like man-portable air defense systems, anti-tank missile systems, and so on." While U.S. President Joe Biden has vowed not to involve American troops directly in any conflict with Russia, the administration has been pouring arms and advanced weaponry into Ukraine for months, shipments that ramped up after Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24. On March 4, as the New York Times reported, "some 14 wide-bodied aircraft transported a bristling array of Javelin antitank missiles, rocket launchers, guns, and ammunition to an airfield near Ukraine's border." "The top U.S. military adviser to President Biden inspected the weapons transfer operation in an unannounced trip, meeting with troops and personnel from 22 countries who were working around the clock to unload the armaments for transport by land to the Ukrainian forces," the Times continued. "The American weaponry, which included the Javelins as well as small arms and munitions, was part of a $350 million package that Mr. Biden authorized." "Within two days, one official said, the deliveries were landing at an airfield near the border that can process 17 airplanes a day," the Times added. "What began as a tricklewith only two or three planes arriving a dayis now a steady flow, the official said, with 14 loads from one airfield alone." The Washington Post reported Friday that the Biden administration is currently "working with European allies to expedite more sophisticated air-defense systems and other armaments into the war zone." Ryabkov's remarks Saturday came after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that a Russian attack on supply lines of countries providing weapons to Ukrainewhich is not a NATO memberwould constitute a dangerous escalation. "The allies are helping Ukraine uphold their right for self-defense, which is enshrined in the U.N. Charter," Stoltenberg said in an interview with CBC News. "Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is defending itself. If there is any attack against any NATO country, NATO territory, that will trigger Article 5," Stoltenberg added, referring to the self-defense clause of NATO's founding treaty. The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill argued in a column on Thursday that the rapid acceleration of arms shipments into Ukraine represents "a significant escalation of Western involvement" in the deadly conflict. "It is understandable and reasonable that people across the U.S. and Europe are demanding their governments send more weapons to support Ukraine in resisting the Russian invasion," Scahill wrote. "Without the Western-supplied weapons Ukraine already possessed, it is very likely Russia would be in control of much larger swaths of the country." "It is also vital," Scahill added, "that people advocating such a policy consider whether a sizable increase in U.S. and NATO weapons transfers will prolong the conflict and result in even more civilian death and destruction." A deleted web article recovered by The National Pulse reveals that former President Barack Obama spearheaded an agreement leading to the construction of biolabs handling especially dangerous pathogens in Ukraine. Originally posted on June 18th, 2010, the article Biolab Opens in Ukraine details how Obama, while serving as an Illinois Senator, helped negotiate a deal to build a level-3 bio-safety lab in the Ukrainian city of Odessa. The article, which also highlighted the work of former Senator Dick Lugar, was additionally included in Issue No. 818 of the United States Air Force (USAF) Counterproliferation Centers Outreach Journal. Lugar said plans for the facility began in 2005 when he and then-Senator Barack Obama entered a partnership with Ukrainian officials. Lugar and Obama also helped coordinate efforts between the U.S and Ukrainian researchers that year in an effort to study and help prevent avian flu, explained author Tina Redlup. 2011 report from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Committee on Anticipating Biosecurity Challenges of the Global Expansion of High-Containment Biological Laboratories explained how the Odessa-based laboratory is responsible for the identification of especially dangerous biological pathogens. MUST READ: The British Government Believes COVID-19 Came From the Wuhan Lab: Report. This laboratory was reconstructed and technically updated up to the BSL-3 level through a cooperative agreement between the United States Department of Defense and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine that started in 2005. The collaboration focuses on preventing the spread of technologies, pathogens, and knowledge that can be used in the development of biological weapons, the report continues. The updated laboratory serves as Interim Central Reference Laboratory with a depozitarium (pathogen collection). According to Ukrainian regulations, it has a permit to work with both bacteria and viruses of the first and second pathogenic groups, explains the report. A separate document detailing Ukraines biolab network from the BioWeapons Prevention Project outlines in greater detail the scope of pathogens the facility has conducted research with. Among the viruses the lab studied were Ebola and viruses of pathogencity group II by using of virology, molecular, serologica and express methods. Additionally, the lab provided special training for specialists on biosafety and biosecurity issues during handling of dangerous biological pathogenic agents. The unearthed biolab facility follows intense scrutiny over the U.S. governments decision to fund risky, gain-of-function research in Wuhan at a Chinese Communist Party-run lab with military ties. "No reason to get excited" The thief, he kindly spoke "There are many here among us Who feel that life is but a joke But you and I, we've been through that And this is not our fate So let us not talk falsely now The hour is getting late" Buckle up. This is going to be a long one, but I think the topic deserves a deep dive. What a mess. Are there any grownups in the house? This is what happens in a world in which no one trusts anyone anymore, integrity is treated as an obsolete concept, both information and legacy media have become weaponized to such an extent that what passes for official reality becomes just a funhouse hall of mirrors, and the experience, intellect and maturity of those entrusted to manage these matters is just not up to the task. Yesterday I published a substack article titled All Along the Watchtower, which posed the question Would the Russian invasion of Ukraine be justified if it were for biodefense?. Since then, we have had a flood of new information drop: 1) Testimony of Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to Senator Marco Rubio, in which she admits that Ukraine has biological research facilities. 2) Epoch times report US State Department Denies Russian Allegations of Biological Weapons in Ukraine. 3) US Is Protecting Biological Research Facilities in Ukraine From Russia: Official. Another excellent article by Epoch times, which has seemingly become one of the last remaining bastions of old school journalism in a major print news format. 4) And an insightful interpretation by journalist Glenn Greenwald via his often brilliant and occasionally sarcastic substack, entitled Victoria Nuland: Ukraine Has "Biological Research Facilities," Worried Russia May Seize Them with the subheading The neocon's confession sheds critical light on the U.S. role in Ukraine, and raises vital questions about these labs that deserve answers. Oh what a tangled web we weave When first we practice to deceive (Sir Walter Scott, 1808) Just to recap why you may (or may not) care about what I have to say about this whole situation, and to establish my relevant bona fides: In addition to being a physician, vaccinologist, virologist, molecular biologist, person who made discoveries as a young man yielding nine domestic patents which disclose the ideas and reduction to practice of using mRNA as a drug including for vaccination purposes and all that, I have worked in biodefense and medical countermeasure development for decades now. This includes close cooperation through multiple infectious disease outbreaks with scientists at USAMRIID and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). I know these people, how they think, what they are concerned with, what they do, etc. My comments below reflect only my own opinions, and in no way represent any official positions of DoD, DTRA, or the US Government. I have intentionally not called up any of my contacts to ask them what they think about all of this. However, one did spontaneously volunteer some information. There, got the disclaimer out. Now, let me set the stage a bit. In the back seat driving home from a trip to Nashville to testify to the Tennessee legislature regarding various COVID-related bills. Hoping to get back to the house before a scheduled interview with Mr. Beck. DC traffic being what it often is, I ended up having to take the interview from the car. My preparation was less than comprehensive, but I did what I could using the cell phone, GETTR, and whatever links I could pick up from what people had posted since my original Watchtower substack. Glenn Beck had asked me to spend an hour with him on his Radio program today, and to discuss an in-studio podcast that I recorded with him about a week ago. The latter will drop tonight for Blaze TV subscribers, and then on Saturday for the general public. I expected him to want to focus on our podcast, but current events had overtaken him, and he really wanted to explore this whole issue of the Ukraine biolabs and what that meant. I ended up having to do more speculating than I like (the acronym SWAG comes to mind) and was concerned that what I had said might just contribute yet more to the fear. Then I got a call from another reporter that works for a mid-sized conservative media outlet, she let on that her editor was quite wary of this story, and we talked for a while sharing notes and trying to make sense out of all of this. And I kept on thinking after she hung up. Pondering on how different people seem to be asking the same questions. Probably many people. And wondering what I could do to help to start to make sense of this. Finally getting to the point. With this particular substack, I seek to develop and publish a current best case working hypothesis concerning this unfortunate matter, and to provide you, an interested reader, with information and references so that you can make your own assessment and determination. Lets start with the facts as I believe them to be, to the best of my ability, so help me God. 1) The US Government (DoD Defense Threat Reduction Agency) has funded biolabs in Ukraine. The US Governments Embassy in Ukraine has posted a statement to that effect, including the following text: The U.S. Department of Defenses Biological Threat Reduction Program collaborates with partner countries to counter the threat of outbreaks (deliberate, accidental, or natural) of the worlds most dangerous infectious diseases. The program accomplishes its bio-threat reduction mission through development of a bio-risk management culture; international research partnerships; and partner capacity for enhanced bio-security, bio-safety, and bio-surveillance measures. The Biological Threat Reduction Programs priorities in Ukraine are to consolidate and secure pathogens and toxins of security concern and to continue to ensure Ukraine can detect and report outbreaks caused by dangerous pathogens before they pose security or stability threats. Current executive agents of the Biological Threat Reduction Program in Ukraine are the Ministry of Health, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, and the Ministry of Defense. 2) Factcheckers have asserted that claims of US biolabs located in the Ukraine are false. These include USA Today (Fact check: False claim of US biolabs in Ukraine tied to Russian disinformation campaign), Politifact (There are no US-run biolabs in Ukraine, contrary to social media posts), and a very well referenced piece from Factcheck.org (Social Media Posts Misrepresent U.S.-Ukraine Threat Reduction Program). 3) Andy Weber, who should know what is going on (but has very high security clearance, and is very unlikely to say all that he knows), has stated to Factcheck.org that the Biological Threat Reduction Program has provided technical support to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health since 2005 to improve public health laboratories whose mission is analogous to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 4) The Chinese Foreign Ministry has asserted that "The US has 336 labs in 30 countries under its control, including 26 in Ukraine alone. It should give a full account of its biological military activities at home and abroad and subject itself to multilateral verification." 5) The official Russian News Agency TASS has reported the following in an article titled Ukraine worked on development of biological weapons near Russian borders statement: During the special operation in Ukraine, Russia obtained documents proving that Ukrainian biological laboratories located near Russian borders worked on development of components of biological weapons, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement Tuesday. "We confirm the facts, discovered during the special military operation in Ukraine, of the emergency cleanup by the Kiev regime of traces of the military biological program, carried out by Kiev with funding from the US Department of Defense," the statement reads. "Documents were obtained from employees of Ukrainian biological laboratories about emergency disposal of particularly dangerous pathogens of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases, carried out on February 24. In particular, we are talking about the Ukrainian Health Ministry order on prompt disposal of all stockpiles of dangerous pathogens, sent to all bio laboratories." "The obtained documentation is currently being scrupulously analyzed by specialists of Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Protection troops. However, it is already possible to make a conclusion that the laboratories located in direct proximity from Russian borders worked on development of components of biological weapons," the diplomat noted. The emergency disposal of particularly dangerous pathogens, carried out on February 24, was necessary in order to prevent the revelation of facts of violation of Article 1 of the Biological Weapons Convention by Ukraine and the US, Zakharova said. "This information confirms the validity of the complaints that weve made repeatedly within the context of implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention in regards to the military biological activity of the US and its allies on the post-Soviet territory," she noted. "In order to alleviate these concerns, we consider engaging mechanisms, outlined in Articles 5 and 6 of the Biological Weapons Convention, which stipulate that member states must consult with each other in resolving all issues regarding the goal of the Convention or implementation of its clauses, and cooperate in investigation of all possible violation of obligations under the Convention," Zakharova added. 6) Regarding those who assert that this Russian storyline regarding Ukrainian biolabs was concocted after the invasion started and is therefore just post-fact propaganda (otherwise they would have said something about this issue before they invaded). I note that, in fact, there were Russian articles about this issue prior to the shooting war. See for example the older (Feb 08, 2022) article from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists entitled Russian media spreading disinformation about US bioweapons as troops mass near Ukraine. 7) Readkova News has published an article entitled Russian Defense Ministry: Americans were able to take out most of the documentation from biological laboratories from the territory of Ukraine which asserts that The Americans have already managed to evacuate most of the bioresearch documentation from laboratories in Kyiv, Kharkov and Odessa. This was reported in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. On the afternoon of March 10, according to the Ministry of Defense, it became known that a coronavirus infection was being developed in the biological laboratories of Ukraine. All this was done with the support of the US authorities. In the biolaboratories created and funded by the United States in Ukraine, experiments were carried out with samples of coronavirus from bats. This is shown by the [found] documents , the ministry said in a statement. According to the official representative of the department, Major General Igor Konashenkov , Russian specialists from the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces have studied documents on the transfer of human biomaterials taken in Ukraine to foreign countries at the direction of US representatives. In the near future we will publish the next package of documents received from Ukrainian employees of biological laboratories and present the results of their examination , the general added. On the evening of March 10, the military department published supporting documentation: Transfer of biomaterials from Ukrainian laboratories to Australia and Germany; Bat Research Project; Migratory Birds Project UP-4 and protocol for capturing birds from Ukraine in Russia; Acts of destruction of evidence in biolaboratories. The article provides some screenshot and power point slide images, and then asserts It is also reported that the ultimate goal of development is the spread of deadly pathogens. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that the US authorities wanted to work in Ukraine in 2022 on pathogens of birds, bats and reptiles that were supposed to carry African plague and anthrax. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation - on the development of biological weapons in Ukraine: Materials on the UP-8 project to study the Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus and hantaviruses in Ukraine refute the US public assertion that only Ukrainian scientists work in the Pentagon's biolaboratories in Ukraine without the intervention of American biologists; The fact of payments directly from the Pentagon for participation in research is confirmed. Pays a modest, by American standards, wages. This indicates a low assessment of the professionalism of Ukrainian specialists; There is information about a US project in laboratories in Ukraine to study the spread of dangerous infections by migratory birds; The Americans have already managed to evacuate most of the bioresearch documentation from the laboratories in Kyiv, Kharkov and Odessa; It is possible that a part of the collection of American bioresearch materials will be moved from Ukraine to Poland; The United States, Ukrainian and Georgian laboratories near the borders of Russia are implementing a project where bats are considered as carriers of bioweapons; The analysis of materials confirms the fact that more than 140 containers with ectoparasites of bats were transferred from the biological laboratory in Kharkov abroad; Research in biolaboratories was carried out in the immediate vicinity of the borders of Russia - in the regions of the Black Sea coast and in the Caucasus; Research similar to the American one in Ukraine was carried out during the Second World War by the infamous Detachment 731 from Japan; With a high degree of probability, we can say that one of the tasks of the United States and its allies is the creation of bioagents capable of selectively affecting various ethnic groups of the population. 8) Great Game India published US Embassy Removes All Evidence Of Ukraine Bioweapons Labs. Here Is All The Data 9) Great Game India also published Documents Expose Barack Obama Ordered Construction Of Biolabs In Ukraine To Create Dangerous Pathogens Then we have these documents which are purported to have been removed by the US Embassy- a) Kharkiv Diagnostic Laboratory, Kharkiv Oblast Laboratory Center, Pomirky region, Kharkiv- Fact Sheet b) State Regional Laboratory of Veterinary Medicine, Luhansk Regional Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory (Luhansk RDVL) 9a, Krasnodonnaya Str. Luhansk- Fact Sheet c) Dnipropetrovsk Diagnostic Laboratory, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Laboratory Center 39/A, Filosofska str., Dnipropetrovsk- Fact Sheet d) Vinnytsia Diagnostic Laboratory (Vinnytsia DL) Vinnytsia Oblast Laboratory Center 11, Malinovskogo str., Vinnytsia- Fact Sheet e) Kherson Diagnostic Laboratory Kherson Oblast Laboratory Center 3 Uvarova Str., Kherson- Fact Sheet f) Ternopil Diagnostic Laboratory, Ternopil Oblast Laboratory Center 13 Fedkovycha str., Ternopil- Fact Sheet g) Zakarpartska Diagnostic Laboratory, Zakarpartska Oblast Laboratory Center 96, Sobranetska Street., Uzhgorod- Fact Sheet h) Lviv Diagnostic Laboratory, Lviv Oblast Laboratory Center 27, Krupyarskaya Str. Lviv- Fact Sheet i) State Regional Laboratory of Veterinary Medicine, Lviv Regional Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory 7, Promislova Str. Lviv- Fact Sheet j) Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System (EIDSS) k) Pathogen Asset Control System (PACS) l) Dnipropetrovsk State Regional Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory, (Dnipropetrovsk RDVL) 48, Kirova ave., Dnipropetrovsk- Information Summary m) Institute of Veterinary Medicine of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences- Fact Sheet One explanation provided to me by a US colleague (that is in position to have insights into these matters) follows: As for the Ukranian labs, you should look at the actual DoD agreement and other associated open source materials. The Ukranian labs put out published reports on a variety of public health and agricultural threats, including Swine Fever from China and Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) are some of the more recent ones, as well as public health messaging on topical items that you can watch on youtube. Unannounced inspections of these laboratories by DoD personnel are allowed. These labs fulfill a vital mission in global surveillance of emerging infectious diseases. Similar to US APHIS program, State public health labs, etc. Most work is low biosafety (BSL 2) although some places have Class III cabinets for things like CCHF. I think one place has a small hood line. There are no micronizers, spray dryers, aerosol test chambers, particle size counters, etc. needed for biowarfare research and aerosol stabilization testing. All the mainstream media pundits that suddenly became overnight COVID experts have now suddenly become overnight national foreign policy experts. It is aggravating to watch them cloud the issue and add fuel to the current Russian Chinese propaganda. Plus, its a huge waste of everyone's time having to correct their BS. Outside of some small seed stock cultures in liquid nitrogen or held in -70 cryofreezers, the Ukranians have nothing in these public health or agriculture labs that the Russians do not already have in their own still very active and sophisticated BW program that nobody talks about. Biolabs is a very generic term. A biolab could be anything from the room with a kitchen sink, microscope, incubator and centrifuge that we use for shipping semen from our stallion all the way to a high-containment BSL-4 bioweapon research laboratory housing non-human primates. The term Biolabs could be applied to many high schools, and to virtually all medical school research facilities. It means almost nothing. So Senators, please do not let those testifying to you get away with that. Marco Rubio, I am looking at you. Get specific information please. What we do seem to have is a DTRA-funded program, run by a group that Andy Weber used to manage, that has invested in some way in a group of Ukrainian laboratory facilities of some sort. I can confirm that Hantavirus and Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus isolates from this region would be of great interest to DTRA and the US Biodefense enterprise. There does appear to have been funds transferred from DTRA to biologic research facilities in the Ukraine. This funding appears to have come from the threat mitigation branch, rather than the Chem-bio research branch. Threat mitigation has previously and apparently (according to my sources) continues to fund the infamous Wuhan laboratories. For further background, the Chem-bio research branch is focused on development of a wide range of countermeasures ranging from protective clothing to drugs, antibodies, diagnostics and vaccines designed to prevent and treat the effects of chemical and biological weapons that might be deployed against our warfighters. So here is my assuming best intention current working hypothesis concerning this hot mess: USA DoD/DTRA partnered with the government of Ukraine to (at a minimum) support collection, storage and monitoring of infectious biological agents and toxins by researchers in Ukraine, and there seems to have been some component of personnel training and facilities engineering involved with this. US State Department via the Embassy in Ukraine announced this DoD/DTRA effort in a transparent manner via a readily available web page. If I were working as an analyst for the Russian government, paid to perform and enable risk assessment, I would be skeptical that the US DoD/DTRA effort was limited to just collecting and archiving biological samples, and I would have to conclude that there is significant risk that these facilities were involved in (at a minimum) dual purpose research. Dual purpose is a euphemism for could be used to develop defensive capabilities or could be used to develop offensive capabilities. Clearly, whether in sincerity or for propaganda purposes (time will tell if they provide the documentation and receipts), the Russian government is stating that the activities of these laboratories included bioweapon research which was coordinated with US DoD/DTRA. Prior to invasion of Ukraine, the government of Russia signaled that the presence of these DTRA-sponsored biolabs in this region was perceived as a threat to Russian national security and biosecurity. Again, if I were a Russian analyst, I would likely conclude that these laboratories represent a threat to national security. Based on information available to me, the US Government does not seem to have made any attempt to assure the government of Russia that these laboratories were performing benign activities. One action which might have mitigated Russian concerns would have been to allow unannounced inspections, much as US and NATO have insisted on in the case of foreign nuclear enrichment or reactor programs. In my professional opinion, based on the language employed by Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, I believe that there is a significant risk that the Russian government has obtained documents or other evidence that (at a minimum) one or more of these laboratories have had biological materials the existence of which is likely to prove embarrassing to the United States. The language used appears to my ear to imply that there are biological materials the existence of which could damage US strategic and tactical geopolitical interests. It is likely that the chain of custody or veracity of any evidence which the Russian government may present to support their case will not be clean, and that there will be a strong effort by western media and information sources (social media, tech) to delegitimize any communication by Russia (as a government) and by any persons (Russian or otherwise) who present or attempt to discuss such communication. Including myself. It is highly likely that management of any information concerning this topic is already being globally handled by the Trusted News Initiative organization, and that obtaining or discussing unfiltered and unprocessed raw information will soon not be possible. In other words, in my opinion, this is another topic that we will never be able to get to the bottom of, and we will never be able to discern something akin to objective truth. Best we can hope for is some sort of approximation of truth that is sort of like a kalidescope image viewed in a hall of mirrors. In conclusion In my opinion, the partnership relationship between DoD/DTRA (as historically structured) and the current government of Ukraine (which has functionally become a client state of the USA) was ill advised. At a minimum- this relationship has provided some semblance of political cover for military actions which the government of Russia believes are in its strategic interests, and which are of such importance that the Russian government was willing to take significant geopolitical and financial risk. At a minimum, congressional testimony on this topic by a relevant US official representing DoD/DTRA should include a detailed description of the nature and capabilities of each of the facilities which have been funded, and a summary of the activities taking place therein. DoD inspection reports should be disclosed both to congressional investigators and the general public, with redaction if necessary for sensitive information. This would go a long way to dispelling concerns which the US public and global community may have, might help to reduce tensions, and at a minimum might mitigate the blowback which may damage the reputation of DoD/DTRA and the USG if not managed appropriately and intelligently. Given the lack of faith engendered with the US public and global community after the demonstration of coordinated public health-related propaganda activities during the last two years (clearly involving USG-legacy media-social media-big tech coordination), mounting yet another propaganda campaign attempting to discredit all information and discussion of this topic is unlikely to be effective, and may boomerang. In my opinion. Finally, the (mis)management of this whole mess personally reminds me of the mismanagement of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. I have no opinion or insight regarding whether the shooting war and subsequent cascade of tragic events could have been avoided, given the multiple geopolitical factors which provide motivators for Russian aggression in this context at this time. But focusing on the specifics of the biological laboratories in question, assuming that the intent and activities associated with the DoD/DTRA- Ukranian cooperation/collaboration (my term and quotes) was as benign as my deep state colleague asserts, the risk that the purpose and intent of these facilities would be misinterpreted by the government of Russia should have been assumed, and risks stemming from such misinterpretation should have been anticipated and mitigated. Assessing whether or not there was adequate planning, risk evaluation, and risk mitigation for the obvious potential for Russian concerns and reaction, particularly given the historic tendency of the Kremlin to be a bit (understandably) paranoid, is absolutely a topic that merits investigation by Senate and House of Representative committees. I hope that this is something that both political parties can agree on. But lets please stop the propaganda/media war response to every crisis. This increasingly strikes me as very immature, and a horrible way to run a country. Grow up, own your mistakes, and stop trying to obfuscate them with a barrage of flying feces. The USA is supposed to be the dominant political, military, and economic power in the world at this point. So act like it. This reminds me of a young child that keeps seeking to blame everything bad that happens on someone or something else. Just stop it. Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly changing Facebook and Instagram's rules to "temporarily allow calls for violence against Russians," Reuters reports. EXCLUSIVE Facebook and Instagram to temporarily allow calls for violence against Russians https://t.co/dhcObdoDk6 pic.twitter.com/QVokunNzyx Reuters (@Reuters) March 10, 2022 Facebook owner Meta is also temporarily allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Putin or Belarusian President Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to internal emails to its content moderators https://t.co/0joPML3sxw Reuters (@Reuters) March 10, 2022 From Reuters: Meta Platforms (FB.O) will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters on Thursday, in a temporary change to its hate speech policy. The social media company is also temporarily allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to internal emails to its content moderators. "As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as 'death to the Russian invaders.' We still won't allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. Zuckerberg in 2019 changed their rules to allow calls for "high-severity violence" against "dangerous individuals" like Alex Jones, Paul Joseph Watson and Louis Farrakhan, though they reversed the policy after getting backlash. Just last month, Facebook removed the "neo-nazi" Azov Battalion from their "Dangerous Individuals and Organizations" list so they could be showered with praise. Whereas Russian media outlets have been censored on Facebook and Russians are no longer going to be protected under their "hate speech" rules, the Ukrainian military is allowed to openly announce their plans to commit war crimes. Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds, Parler and Telegram. The latest updates on the new normal chronicling the lies, distortions, and abuses by the ruling class. The public health house of cards vis-a-vis COVID has collapsed at freefall speed in the last month or so. Even the governments of deep-blue states have tossed out forced school masking the crown jewel of arbitrary and cruel social control measures. Taking advantage of the fact that humans are forward-looking, resilient organisms, the social engineers count on us getting up, licking our wounds, limping along, and letting the guilty escape justice. Barack Obama used the same strategy when, upon taking office, he refused to prosecute any of the Wall Street bankers responsible for nuking the US economy and then holding the treasury hostage at gunpoint to demand a bailout despite campaign promises to legally pursue them. (In fact, to add insult to injury, Obama then spit in the eye of the marks he duped into voting for him by appointing Timothy Geithner, the bankers favorite pet. to the position of Treasury Secretary. Geithner previously served as the New York Fed president during the meltdown, and Obama nominated him as a reward for his loyalty to the Wall St. interests that funded his campaign.) Move along, nothing to see here. But we cant forgive and forget the COVID overlords crimes go for fundamental reasons: Justice demands that we hold the criminals accountable for the literally incaculable, vast physical and psychological damage theyve done to the civilian victims of their war crimes. We have to set the precedent that similar future crimes will be met with harsh punishment - or better yet, ensure they are never attempted in the first place. In criminology this is called deterrence theory: Deterrence is the theory that criminal penalties do not just punish violators, but also discourage other people from committing similar offenses. Many people point to the need to deter criminal actions after a high-profile incident in which an offender is seen to have received a light sentence. Continued survival requires that we reject the budding biomedical technocracy (which COVID restrictions were a Trojan horse for) and restore the foundational Enlightenment principles of bodily autonomy and privacy protections as espoused in the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution, among other landmark legal documents in the Western legal tradition. Given the fact that technological progress has made maintaining Constitutional civil liberties protections an uphill fight, medical-technocratic tyranny might become the rule in the rest of the world in the coming decade. But if it has a chance of being successfully defeated anywhere, that place is the West (although things admittedly havent been going super great on that front in much of the West, particularly Australia, Canada, and many Western European states.) Without effective restraints, the social engineers will not stop innovating creative new ways to insert their biotech into our bodies. The particular virus or other public health threat used as the excuse will evolve over time it might be COVID today, but tomorrow it will be weaponized smallpox or some other emerging pathogen. Perhaps above all, our children are watching. Future generations will look back both in moral judgment and for guidance on how we treated the criminals who perpetrated the lockdowns and vaccine mandates once their enormous social and economic costs became clear. People and the systems that they operate, for better or worse, tend to operate largely on precedent. Past events inform how future events unfold. We cant normalize the forced drugging of an entire population at economic gunpoint. We cannot abide government or corporate (increasingly one and the same entity) mandates to submit to an experimental gene therapy just to find meaningful employment or even to buy food at a grocery store all while the government and corporate media covers up its side effects in an unprecedented censorship campaign, and all to protect from a virus with a 99+% survival rate. Posteritys generations, again, will rightly judge us for how we respond to these assaults on human dignity here and now, before they become acceptable precedent. The last point, arguably, is the most salient as well as the most morally compelling. Above all, we cant forgive what theyve done to the most vulnerable among us: the kids. Every single public health official responsible for (often permanently) damaging childrens mental and physical well-being with experimental mRNA gene therapy mandates, cruel forced masking in schools, social isolation, and propaganda down to the county level deserves the full weight of the legal system pressed on their neck. Lets briefly survey the damage they have done to childrens health, how theyve undermined the right of parents to make medical determinations, and how theyve transformed the institutions intended to nurture childrens development into virtual reeducation camps. And then ask yourself what moral obscenity would we commit to just let this go and move on? Especially in light of the extensively documented near-zero health risk that the virus poses to children. Canadian Adult Vaxx Enthusiasts Secretly Ferrying Children to Vaxx Sites Via RT: Jenn Psaki cheerleads forcing kids to eat lunch outside in the middle of winter cold for the Science CHILD ABUSE: Kindergartners are forced to eat lunch outside in 40 degree weather at Capitol Hill Elementary School in Portland, Oregon. They sit on buckets to social distance from their classmates. pic.twitter.com/KqFcliTFYf Katie Daviscourt (@KatieDaviscourt) December 8, 2021 Jenn Psaki defending kids being forced to eat outside in the bitter cold while socially distanced is absolute insanity. Theres no science at all that supports this. Its pure madness. pic.twitter.com/7vK0wSSwOD Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) December 11, 2021 Just at the moment the reporter mentions children forced to eat outside, infamous Swamp creature Jen Psaki cant contain her pleasure. Dr. Peter McCollough: Sanjay Gupta via Sesame Street seduced children into getting the vaccine This is Rogans best interview ever. https://t.co/CU7XcN4bic Dr. Joseph Mercola (@mercola) December 15, 2021 Pfizer tests third vaccine dose in children under five, says two doses are not strong enough Via Sky News: UK Vaccine Advisers: Risks of COVID Shots for Children Outweigh Benefits, Child Vaxxing Not Recommended Via Reuters: Britains vaccine advisers said they were not recommending the vaccination of all 12- to 15-year-olds against COVID-19 the JCVI said it wanted more information on the long-term effects of rare reports of heart inflammation, known as myocarditis, in young people following vaccination with Pfizers shot. UK Vaccine Minister: Were Vaxxing the Children Anyway, Parental Consent For Medical Treatment Now Irrelevant Via the Guardian: Healthy 12- to 15-year-olds could override their parents decision on vaccination in the right circumstances, a minister has said, as the UK government prepares to overrule advice and extend jabs to younger teens . What happened to respecting the Science? Pennsylvania Teacher Tapes Mask to Students Face Via New York Post: Warlord Fauci: Inject toddlers with 3 shots NEW Dr. Fauci suggests that children under 4 years of age be vaccinated with 3 injections in the United States.pic.twitter.com/Q4Id1rj4aT Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 27, 2022 COVID Lockdowns Lowered Childrens IQ COVID lockdowns wrecked childrens development: In the decade preceding the pandemic, the mean IQ score on standardised tests for children aged between three months and three years of age hovered around 100, but for children born during the pandemic that number tumbled to 78. Speech therapist: clinic has seen 364% increase in patient referrals of babies and toddlers A speech therapist says her clinic has seen a "364% increase in patient referrals of babies and toddlers". "It's very important kids do see your face to learn, so they're watching your mouth." What the hell have we done?! End this cruel insanity. pic.twitter.com/DN6J4yQfju Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) January 26, 2022 Unvaxxed parents in Western Australia barred from visiting hospitalized children Western Australia bans unvaccinated parents from seeing their sick children in hospital. The media applauds exploiting desperate parents in their darkest hour. pic.twitter.com/bVQjoUYGQX Caldron Pool (@CaldronPool) February 1, 2022 Ben Bartee is a Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs. Follow his stuff via his blog, Armageddon Prose, Substack, Patreon, Gab, and Twitter. Bitcoin public address: 14gU3aHBXkNq8bDqmibfnubV7kSJqfx5LX Challenge: March 3: Zelensky says 16,000 foreigners have volunteered to fight for Ukraine against Russian invasion Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said that 16,000 foreigners have volunteered to fight for Ukraine against the Russian invasion. In an emotional video posted to his Telegram channel, Zelensky referred to the international legion of 16,000 foreign volunteers he has sought to join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world. The country earlier this week temporarily lifted visa requirements for foreign volunteers who wish to enter the country and join the fight against Russian forces. March 8: 450 Arab and foreign extremists from Idlib arrive in Ukraine Close to 450 extremist Arab and foreign nationals have arrived in Ukraine from Idlib to fight against Russia's forces, less than only three days after they left Syria, passing through Turkey. Relatives of extremists that have arrived in Ukraine told Sputnik that senior fighters from terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (the rebranded version of Jabhat Al-Nusra, i.e Al-Qaeda) have held a number of meetings with senior leaders in the Turkistan Islamic Party group and Ansar Al-Tawhid and Hurras al-Din groups, and agreed on allowing a number of all their fighters to enter Ukraine through Turkish soil. Response: March 11: President of Russia: Meeting with permanent members of Security Council Sergei Shoigu: We are receiving a huge number of requests from all manner of volunteers from different countries, who would like to come to the Lugansk and Donetsk peoples republics to take part in the liberation movement, as they say. The largest number of requests, over 16,000, has come from the Middle East. We believe that we should grant these requests, especially since the matter does not concern money but a genuine desire of these people. We know many of them; they helped us fight ISIS in the most difficult period, during the past 10 years. ... Vladimir Putin: All right, thank you very much. Regarding the mobilisation of mercenaries from all over the world and sending them to Ukraine. We can see that Ukraines Western sponsors and the Ukrainian regime are not concealing this fact. They are doing this openly and neglecting norms of international law. So, if you see that some volunteers would like to come and help the people in Donbass, especially without pay, then we should meet them halfway and help them relocate to the war zone. I am sure that the fighters from Syria and elsewhere who will fight on Russia's side will get some pay from this or that sponsor, most likely Iran. Some Russian billionaire may also be willing to chip in. But it is important for Putin to show that these are not mercenaries like those on the other side - thus no official pay. There was an additional challenge-response pair with regards to Ukraine. Shoigu also mentioned all the foreign weapon deliveries the Ukraine has received. He told Putin that the Russian forces had captured large amounts of heavy and light weapons including U.S. derived Javelin and Stinger missiles. He proposed to give those to the militia of the Donbas republics. Putin agreed with that. A third challenge-response is the immense number of forces NATO currently mobilizes and moves towards its eastern border. Shoigu thinks that NATO plans for those troops to stay there forever. He will soon propose a new arrangement of Russian forces to potentially counter them. Putin said that he would decide that separately. A few hours later he had a meeting with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. The two likely discussed the stationing of Russian troops and weapons like air defense and missile artillery systems in Belarus. That would make any potential NATO move more complicate. In the above challenge-response pairs the Russian response is symmetric to the challenge. Foreign fighters versus foreign fighters, weapon deliveries versus weapon deliveries, and troops movements versus troop movements. The challenges Russia has not yet responded too are the myriad sanctions the 'west' has enacted against it. There the responses can only be asymmetric. I wonder why Putin is waiting to make them public. Does he want to keep them in reserve? A police officer detains "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler at a Bank of America branch in Atlanta, in this January image made from Atlanta Police video. AP-Yonhap Movie director Ryan Coogler was briefly handcuffed by Atlanta police after he was mistaken for a robber when he passed a teller a note while trying to withdraw a large amount of cash from his account, police said Friday. The ''Black Panther'' director, who is Black, walked into a Bank of America branch Jan. 7 and passed the teller a withdrawal slip with a note written on the back asking her to ''be discreet when handing him the cash,'' according to a police report. He was trying to withdraw more than $10,000, and the teller ''received an alert notification'' on her computer and quickly alerted her manager that Coogler was trying to rob the bank, the report says. The bank employee is a Black woman, the report says. Police responding to the bank branch in the upscale Buckhead neighborhood saw a black Lexus SUV parked out front with the engine running. An officer talked to the male driver who said he was waiting for Coogler, who was inside the bank. A female passenger gave police the same information. A description of Coogler given by the driver matched the description of the man reported to have been trying to rob the bank, the report says. The officer detained both the driver and passenger in the back of a police vehicle but they were not placed in handcuffs. Two other officers had gone inside the bank and led Coogler out in handcuffs. Body camera video released by police shows officers approaching Coogler from behind as he stands at the counter wearing a light gray hooded sweatshirt, a black cap, sunglass and a white mask. As an officer pulls his gun and another tells him to put his hands behind his back, Coogler says, ''Whoa, whoa, what's going on?'' As he's led from the bank, Coogler tells them he's just trying to pull money out of his own account. Police determined the whole thing was a mistake by the teller and Coogler ''was never in the wrong,'' the report says. The handcuffs were immediately removed and the other two people were released from the back of the patrol vehicle. Police can be seen on body camera video explaining to Coogler that they were responding to a call of a bank robbery and had to take appropriate precautions. Still sitting in the back of the police SUV, Coogler is seen on video looking down and shaking his head as the officer explains. Coogler explained to the officers that a medical assistant who works for him prefers to be paid in cash. When he withdraws a large sum to pay her, he said, he passes the teller a note because he doesn't want the cash run through a money counter right there because it attracts attention and makes him feel unsafe. ''I don't know who made what call, who did what, but I just had guns drawn on me for taking money out of my own account,'' Coogler told police. The teller never indicated there was a problem and when she went to talk to her manager, other bank employees kept asking if he was being taken care of, he told officers. The next thing he knew, he heard guns being pulled from their holsters. Another body camera video shows the teller explaining that Coogler gave her the withdrawal slip and after he inserted his debit card and asked to make a withdrawal, he pointed at the note instead of answering her questions. When she asked for his ID and he gave her a California ID, she said the transaction seemed odd and her ''stomach started turning.'' When her computer notified her that it was a high-risk transaction, she went to speak to her manager. When she explained Coogler wanted $12,000 and the transaction made her feel uncomfortable, her manager suggested going to talk to him, she told officers. But she refused because she was pregnant and did not know if he had a gun, she said. She called 911. ''This situation should never have happened,'' Coogler said in a statement to The New York Times, but he added that Bank of America ''worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.'' A representative for Coogler did not respond to messages from The Associated Press. ''We deeply regret that this incident occurred. It should never have happened and we have apologized to Mr. Coogler,'' a statement from Bank of America says. Released in 2018, the Marvel superhero film ''Black Panther'' became the year's biggest film release, earning more than a billion dollars worldwide and inspiring ''Wakanda Forever'' salutes everywhere. The film was nominated for best picture; Coogler shared in the honor as one of the film's producers. Work on the sequel has been happening in Georgia. The film is scheduled for release in November 2022. While the director is best known for ''Black Panther,'' he also co-wrote the ''Rocky'' spinoff ''Creed.'' His breakout movie was writing and directing ''Fruitvale Station,'' about the last day of Oscar Grant, who was fatally shot by police in the Bay Area in 2009. (AP) Unlimited website access 24/7 Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more! With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. From left, actor Jin Goo, director Jo Nam-hyun, actors Lim Hwa-young and Lee Won-geun pose during an online press conference for the new thriller series "A Superior Day," Friday. Courtesy of OCN By Lee Gyu-lee Actor Jin Goo is set to return to the small screen with OCN's new thriller series, "A Superior Day," about three years after he played the lead in the courtroom series "Legal High." "I've played tough characters that go through all kinds of struggles in my previous works. But when I read the script for this series, my role seemed to be by far the toughest one," the actor said during an online press conference for the series, Friday. "So I wanted to put myself up for the challenge before I get older." Based on the popular webcomics of the same name, the thriller action series follows the 24 hours of firefighter Lee Ho-cheol's life (Jin) as he fights to save his kidnapped daughter. Ho-cheol is an ordinary man with a loving wife and a daughter. One day, he receives a message from a contract killer named Bae Tae-jin (Ha Do-kwon) who tells him that he has kidnaped his daughter. In order to save her, Ho-cheol must kill his next-door neighbor and a serial killer, Kwon Shi-woo (Lee Won-geun), who thinks he is superior to anyone else. The series is directed by Jo Nam-hyun, whose previous work is tvN's fantasy series, "Tale of the Nine-Tailed" (2020), and is written by Lee Ji-hyeon who is the co-scripter of the SBS action series "Taxi Driver" (2021). Scenes from the series "A Superior Day" / Courtesy of OCN There were four declared candidates for the Conservative Party of Canadas leadership race as of Friday with another set to enter the race this weekend, but Brandons MP isnt ready to endorse anyone just yet. Advertisement Advertise With Us There were four declared candidates for the Conservative Party of Canadas leadership race as of Friday with another set to enter the race this weekend, but Brandons MP isnt ready to endorse anyone just yet. Pierre Poilievre was the first person to declare their candidacy for leader of the party following Erin OTooles ouster. He was joined in the last week by past leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis, former federal Progressive Conservative Party leader and former Quebec premier Jean Charest and independent Ontario MPP Roman Baber. On Thursday, the National Post reported that former Ontario Opposition Leader Patrick Brown is likely to announce his candidacy on Sunday, which would bring the total number of candidates above the four that ran last time. Back home during a break week from duties in Ottawa, Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire told the Sun Friday that hes encouraged by a diverse field of candidates but is waiting to see who else might throw their hat in the ring before making any endorsements. "I think its a real plus for our party that there is diversity in the candidate mix thats there, and I think there may be a few more to come in yet," he said. "I dont think we need 11 [candidates] like we did in 2017, but four, five, six is a good number, a manageable number." In the last two leadership contests, Maguire backed OToole. Whomever party members choose to succeed interim leader Candice Bergen, Maguire wants someone that can accomplish two important tasks: unify the party and lead it toward defeating Justin Trudeau and the Liberals whenever Canadians head to the polls next. "Weve got a divisive prime minister right now in Canada and so we need leadership in the country, and the kind of leadership that can unite the country is a big issue for our party," Maguire said. "Its an opportunity for our party to grasp that leadership and have a leader that understands all of the issues across every region of the country." With those criteria in mind, Maguire spoke highly of two candidates: Poilievre and Charest. "I know Mr. Poilievre has experience in those areas, hes very good in question period," he said. "Mr. Charest has the statesman-like ability of having been a Progressive Conservative leader in the 90s and begged to go be the premier of Quebec and left it with a balanced budget after nine years in government. He has nine years of international consulting experience now." He has firsthand experience with both men Poilievre a current colleague of his and Charest the leader of the Progressive Conservatives in 1993 when Maguire ran for the party in his first stab at federal politics. In that election, Liberal candidate Glen McKinnon eked out a victory with the right-leaning vote split between the PCs and the Reform Party. Since OToole lost a leadership review earlier this year, media outlets like The Globe and Mail have run opinion pieces discussing potential fractures between the social conservative wing of the party represented by people like Poilievre and the old-style Progressive Conservative wing with social views closer to the centre. Despite this chatter, Maguire doesnt believe his party splitting into different entities as it did in the 90s is likely to occur. "The reason is, all that does is allow Mr. Trudeau and the Liberals to win another majority government," he said. "People here are looking for leadership that would lead to a change in government. Splitting the party, as has been done in some other areas and at some other times, only allows the Liberals to stay in power uncontested, basically. Thats why its so important to have a unified party going forward." Strong leadership, he said, is needed right now given the ongoing events in Ukraine and the knock-on agriculture and energy problems they are causing alongside other pressing issues like affordability and housing. Maguire said he believes agriculture is a key issue for this area and Canada should prepare to be called upon to step up food production with the disruption of Ukrainian and Russian products due to the war. The local MP praised the federal government for instituting a two-year work visa program for people fleeing the war in Ukraine. Hed also like to see Canada provide countries like Germany and Ukraine with its energy products as they try to lessen their dependency on Russian exports. Candidates for the Conservative leadership race must declare by April 19 with the new leader to be announced on Sept. 10. Those wishing to join the party to vote in the contest must secure their membership by June 3. cslark@brandonsun.com Twitter: @ColinSlark Seven Westman restaurant locations are taking part in the 10th annual Stone Soup fundraiser, which is slated to run from Monday to Sunday next week. Advertisement Advertise With Us Seven Westman restaurant locations are taking part in the 10th annual Stone Soup fundraiser, which is slated to run from Monday to Sunday next week. Throughout this time, $1 from every signature bowl of soup sold will be donated to the Child Nutrition Council of Manitoba (CNCM) to help support various meal and snack programs in kindergarten to Grade 12 schools. Plus, members of the public will also get the chance to cast a vote for their favourite soup online. While this initiative has traditionally been relegated to Winnipeg, the CNCM decided to expand its boundaries to include the rest of the province this year, since the demand for nutritious foods and snacks has spiked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. "Half of the programs we support are located outside of Winnipeg," CNCM chairperson Wendy Bloomfield said in a Wednesday news release. "We know these communities value these programs and would welcome the opportunity to support the continued work of the Council in their local schools." The Brandon School Division is no stranger to working with the council, since 21 of its 24 institutions have breakfast, snack or lunch programs supported by the organization. On a province-wide scale, BSD has the highest ratio of CNCM involvement outside of the Flin Flon School Division (four out of four schools) and the Seven Oaks School Division (22 out of 25 schools). Knowing this, Lady of the Lake manager Kaleigh Stobbe told the Sun that taking part in the 2022 Stone Soup fundraiser was an easy decision, especially since the BSD board is making major staffing reductions for the next academic year. "I just think its a very worthy cause," Stobbe said on Friday, specifying that the funds generated by Lady of the Lake will go directly to Ecole New Era School. KYLE DARBYSON/THE BRANDON SUN Lady of the Lake manager Kaleigh Stobbe showcases the restaurants Hungarian mushroom soup during a busy lunch rush on Friday afternoon. Lady of the Lake staff will submit this soup in the 2022 Stone Soup fundraiser, which is designed to raise money for the Child Nutrition Council of Manitoba. "I noticed there were some cuts already to the school division, and I just think these kids need all the support they can get." Chez Angela Bakery and Cafe co-owner James Chambers was eager to sign up for this years expanded fundraiser as well, given that his restaurant staff are already familiar with these local nutritional programs. "We donate loaves of bread for making sandwiches and providing meals to students," he said. "So this is just kind of extending that opportunity to support the schools who are participating in programming that makes sure kids get really good food in front of them." On top of supporting school programs, this expanded fundraiser also presents smaller Westman restaurants with the opportunity to generate some extra business after enduring two years of pandemic restrictions. Mumzz Kitchen manager Ryan Huynh has had to deal with this kind of hardship at the ground level, with his family deciding to open up a second location in Minnedosa in the spring of 2020. "So it never really had its full opportunity to get established and settled, compared to our other location [in Gladstone] which weve had in operation for about 10 years now," Huynh said. "The location in Minnedosa its been a very tough go, just based on the shut downs and staff shortages and all those kinds of things that have been going on in the past couple years." Cafe Trocadero owner Marisa Philippe also decided to expand her business during the pandemic, opening up a second Dauphin location last July. While this experience has been full of challenges, Philippe told the Sun that she is optimistic heading into next week, believing that all the restaurant owners who signed up for this years Stone Soup fundraiser have a lot to offer on their respective menus. "Because the businesses that are supporting this, those are the people who are cooking real food. Its not frozen buns and ingredients that are warmed up," she said. "So I have an appreciation for all businesses for making the effort to bring in real and fresh food." Anyone interested in learning more about the 2022 CNCM Stone Soup fundraiser can visit childnutritioncouncil.com/stone-soup-2022. kdarbyson@brandonsun.com Twitter:@KyleDarbyson With the expected announcement of special immigration programs designed to aid Ukrainians seeking refuge from Russian invasion, Westman Immigrant Services is preparing for a potential influx of newcomers to the region. Advertisement Advertise With Us With the expected announcement of special immigration programs designed to aid Ukrainians seeking refuge from Russian invasion, Westman Immigrant Services is preparing for a potential influx of newcomers to the region. Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is not expected to classify those fleeing the war-torn country as refugees, said Westman Immigrant Services community outreach manager Hannah Holt, because the process to become a refugee is lengthy and laborious. "They understand that the situation is dire and they need to help people quickly," Holt said. The government is introducing plans to potentially give Ukrainians coming to Canada a two-year open work permit, visitor visas or a special permanent residency pathway. All three processes will be expedited, she said, and more information on the initiatives will be revealed in the coming weeks. It is not possible to project the true number of Ukrainian newcomers expected in Westman until the details of these programs are released by the IRCC. Westman Immigrant Services has seen an incredible response from the community in terms of helping newcomers from Ukraine when they arrive. "Weve had people offering houses. Brandon Bus Lines offering buses to bring people from Ukraine to Brandon," Holt said. "Theres just so many community members wanting to help. Manitoba has such strong Ukrainian roots." Westman Immigrant Services expects to see Ukrainians settle throughout the region because of the Ukrainian community and familial ties in Westman, Holt said. She noted the agency has already had people reach out to different offices in Westman to try and get their family here or offer support to those in need. She expects the Ukrainian people who do choose Westman to live in will have a high chance of success in their settlement due to the strong ties present in many communities. There are Ukrainian churches, dance groups, community groups and other organizations that can all aid in the settlement process. She noted many newcomers will also have family ties to provide aid as well. Newcomers who visit Westman Immigrant Services will first receive an initial needs assessment to learn about their background, current situation and needs. From there, a tailor-made settlement plan is crafted to help them settle into their chosen community. "Well help them find a job. Weve got English classes, we can do English assessments to see where their English level is at. Weve got family programming, weve got family for kids in school and youth . Theres a variety of different things to help them get settled into the community." As a community, Westman is "very ready" for the arrival of those fleeing the war zone, Holt said, based on the number of people who have already stepped up to help. "Its incredibly humbling that people are so generous and wanting to help," Holt said. "Its just unbelievable the support." Brandon University political scientist Richard Baker said the impacts of the war in Ukraine are already being felt in Westman. The conflict hits close to home with both through family relations and community members wallets serving as constant reminders. Canada is home to the largest diaspora of Ukrainians in the world. As a community with these Ukrainian ties, Baker said, Brandon has already seen a robust community, social and humanitarian response when it comes to the conflict. These factors are driving people to do whatever they can to provide aid during the humanitarian crisis. Some community members can experience feelings of helplessness due to the social implications of the war, he said, but they are also feeling stress due to rising costs of fuel brought on by sanctions against Russia. "Everybody thinks with their pocketbooks, so when they see the cost of gas, its hard this is a massive increase that theyre just not anticipating," Baker said. "There is a [frustration] there, but the vast majority of us can see that connection [to Ukraine] and they see the importance of starving [Russian President Vladimir] Putins regime of cash and of power." These sanctions are part of Western collective action against the invasion of Ukraine, and citizens are participating in these actions with each visit to the gas pump. Baker said over long term, Canadians and the federal government have been playing a role in offering sanctuary and aid during the crisis to those in need. There have been passionate second- and third-generation Ukrainians who are doing everything they can to stay connected with relatives and play a role in getting them out of Ukraine and Russia to safe havens like Canada. The United Nations has reported more than 2.5 million people have already fled the war-torn country. There is no clear sense of the numbers to expect yet when it comes to the displaced newcomers, Baker added, but because of the nature of local community members, many are ready to welcome those fleeing the Ukraine with "arms wide open." "As private citizens, people in our community, people across Canada, are sending money and they are doing everything they can to try and help people, and as a government, we are sending money to try and help out." ckemp@brandonsun.com Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp The fact that so-called ghost guns have been found by police in the city of Brandon is not all that surprising, given the fact that such 3D-printed firearms and their components were already found two hours down the road in Winnipeg in 2020. The fact that so-called "ghost guns" have been found by police in the city of Brandon is not all that surprising, given the fact that such 3D-printed firearms and their components were already found two hours down the road in Winnipeg in 2020. Any kind of crime or social ill that affects Winnipeg will eventually without doubt make its way to Manitobas second largest city at some point. And Brandon is a ripe target, like any other urban population in Canada. Whats really more surprising and rather daunting was the international nature of the operation that was underway in our community. Earlier this week, Brandon police issued a video press release announcing the force had busted an alleged operation to create the printed weapons in the city. Last April, the FBI in Los Angeles contacted BPS about two people reportedly conducting cyberattacks, one of whom was believed to be living in Brandon. "This has been going on for the last 11 months, and we believe that these two individuals are conducting DDos attacks on different systems and networks within Canada and the U.S.," a BPS police press release read. As we reported, a DDos attack sends an abundance of web traffic to a target, which makes it unreachable and shuts it down, police say. The cyberattacks were allegedly being conducted for a fee with an online service. While executing a warrant on Pacific Avenue on Tuesday in conjunction with a separate search warrant in Texas, police say they witnessed a 3D printer actively printing what officers believe was the lower receiver of a handgun. The discovery of cannabis prompted police to conduct another search for weapons and drugs, which turned up a quantity of cocaine and more cannabis, as well as a complete firearm with a high-capacity magazine made of mostly printed parts, as well as several other printed firearms. Police said in a press release, it appears one of the two people arrested, 18-year-old Dayne Parrott-Jones, was allegedly manufacturing Glock firearms without serial numbers using a 3D printer. It appears he was also manufacturing high-capacity magazines and ammunition. The second person arrested, Rolanda Chaske, 24, was charged with several counts of handgun and drug possession. These kinds of printed weapons are termed ghost guns because none of them have serial numbers and are essentially untraceable. Such weapons have become a huge problem in cities across North America. They are a growing concern in the United States, where more and more they are used in mass shootings. Just last month, a California man who shot and killed his three daughters, as well as a chaperone who was supervising a visit with the girls and then killed himself, was armed with a semi-automatic rifle-style ghost gun. Though Californias elected officials are working on enacting prohibitions to the sale and possession of unserialized guns, U.K. publication The Guardian reports that violence prevention advocates say such efforts offer only a Band-Aid solution until the U.S. federal government creates policies that would regulate ghost guns, "and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) closes the legal loophole that has allowed ghost gun makers to evade federal gun guidelines like background checks and serial numbers." U.S. President Joe Biden declared last month a plan to crack down on these homemade guns, which he claims have fuelled a surge in gun crimes. "If you commit a crime with a ghost gun, not only are state and local prosecutors going come after you, but expect federal charges and federal prosecution as well," Biden said. Here in Canada, ghost guns, like all firearms, fall within three classes non-restricted, restricted and prohibited, with different regulations applying to different classifications. Under Canadas Firearms Act, it is illegal to manufacture or possess 3D-printed firearms without the proper licensing or registration certificates. Nevertheless, use of 3D-printed weapons is proliferating in Canada as well, even though our laws are already a step above those of the U.S. As of Thursday, Brandon police public information officer Sgt. Kirby Sararas said police were still working to determine if any guns had been sold by the accused, but that police had never previously seized one in the city. Unfortunately, this is not likely going to stay an isolated case, particularly as the Canadian government continues to crack down on more conventional firearms coming into Canada illegally across the U.S.-Canada border. As a 2020 report by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy noted, the fact that criminals are resorting to the use of homemade hand guns "may be an indication of the success of cross-border interdiction of firearm trafficking." But such weaponry is becoming more sophisticated, as are the crime rings attempting to utilize the technology. The ongoing question for law enforcement and elected officials in this country, is what can be done to exorcise these ghosts from our streets. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Helena Kam used to love seeing and hearing the black cockatoos flock around Balmoral Village, in the Southern Highlands. But over the 22 years shes lived there, their calls have become few and far between. Its not only the birds that have disappeared: lizards, stick insects and wild orchids have all gone too, she says. It hasnt helped that bushfires and back-to-back floods have swept through the area, destroying the habitat and Kams home. But the natural disasters and loss of biodiversity have one thing in common: they are anxiety inducing. To say that I am anxious about climate change is an understatement, she says. Helena Kam and her son Gabriel at their Balmoral home destroyed by the Green Wattle Creek fire in December 2019. Credit:Kate Geraghty Without stronger action, Kam worries we wont have a world to live in. The planet has heated by 1.1 degrees and Australias land mass has warmed by an average of 1.4 degrees since 1910, according to the CSIRO. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on climate change last year issued a code red for humanity. The groups most recent report on March 1 said climate change will cost Australias economy hundreds of billions of dollars in coming decades. Advertisement All the facts are there. We dont have the time to sit and ponder, Kam says. Various terms have been coined to describe the psychological distress which accompanies climate change. Theres climate anxiety and eco-anxiety, as well as solastalgia (from the Latin solacium for comfort and the Greek root -algia for pain, coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2003 to describe a homesickness you have when you are still at home). Although its use dates back to the 1940s, perhaps the most apt term for the modern state of affairs is eco-grief. Thats the grief that people are feeling as we watch our planet die around us, explains Dr Kate Wylie, chair of the Royal Australian College of GPs climate and environmental medicine group. Wylie says GPs are seeing an increase in people of all ages presenting with psychological distress they attribute to concern for the climate. One of the interesting things about it is not really an anxiety disorder: its an extremely rational response. It makes sense to be sad, Wylie says. In its position statement on climate change, the Australian Psychological Society says it believes the phenomenon involves serious and irreversible harm to the environment and to human health and psychological wellbeing. Advertisement The society first released a handbook for managing climate anxiety in 2017. Its president, Professor Tamara Cavenett, says in the past five years climate change has shifted from being something a certain subset of concerned individuals cared about to one of the most common issues psychologists discuss with their clients. Before, it was future oriented. People were talking about something that sounded far off and like it wouldnt necessarily happen, which meant it was something people could dismiss quite easily, she says. But with the fires and the flood, people are realising it is here and now. It is not really an anxiety disorder: its an extremely rational response. It makes sense to be sad. Dr Kate Wylie, chair of the Royal Australian College of GPs climate and environmental medicine group Professor Will Steffen, a climate expert and councillor with the Climate Council, agrees. While scientists have been researching and warning of climate change for more than 30 years, for the public the theoretical concept has only become a reality in the past few years. For him, the biggest concern is timing. You cannot stop the worsening of climate change in a couple of years. We are locked into worsening conditions until 2050, he says. It is going to be much worse. Advertisement Concern for the climate becomes climate anxiety when it interrupts a persons life. Varsha Yajman, 19, and Tiger Perkins, 21, are anxious about climate change. Yajman was involved in organising the School Strike 4 Climate protests in her final years of school. Perkins is one of the leaders of the environment collective at the University of Sydney. Credit:Steven Siewert It is the degree of distress youre feeling with your thoughts and how long you are spending on those thoughts, Cavenett says. Varsha Yajman, a 19-year-old climate activist who was involved in organising the School Strike 4 Climate protests in her final years of school, says the floods have thrust climate back to the forefront of peoples minds. During the pandemic, climate change definitely went under the radar in the news, the university student and paralegal from Asquith, in Sydneys north, says. She feels conflicted about her climate anxiety: aware she is not as affected as those directly impacted by recent weather events but also conscious that she does experience stress and guilt as a result of the climate crisis. You might not think about it in the moment, but then afterwards you are like, Oh, no: why did I catch a plane? Advertisement As a woman with South Asian heritage, she is particularly concerned when thinking about the impact of the climate in that region. There are lots of voices that arent being heard at all. When the news is overwhelming, you remember: this isnt even all of it. The climate crisis has led some young people to reconsider what their futures should look like, including whether they should bring children into the world, Professor Cavenett says. A 2019 survey of about 1600 young people aged 14 to 23 found 82 per cent believed climate change would diminish their quality of life and 80 per cent reported being somewhat or very anxious about climate change. Macheon Smeaton, a 24-year-old university student from Sydneys inner west, says he struggles to imagine what the world will look like when he is 50. I have two nieces and Im already thinking about their future and how difficult parts of their future will be because of whats already set in motion, he says. Asked what form the mental stress he experiences from climate change takes, Smeaton says it is more sadness for himself but anxiety for his nieces. Advertisement She knows now of the link between alcohol use and worsening anxiety and depression (something discussed by celebrity chef Nigella Lawson) and can see, in retrospect, why she became quite suicidal. I had lost interest in everything, she says, including my kids and husband, Id blown up a few relationships Id behave in ways that were not me. The depression and anxiety was being driven by alcohol and I had suicidal ideation: that was enough for me to go, holy shit, this is ... just no. I didnt want to stuff around with moderation, only drinking on a Friday or whatever, the [suicidal thoughts] scared the shit out of me. Kayte Murphy says now every part of my day is the best part of my day after eliminating alcohol following a stint in rehab. Credit:Louie Douvis Ms Murphy stresses she does not judge anyones alcohol consumption and is clear that she is no wowser. My whole thing is, I dont want other women to feel alone. But having realised alcohol was derailing a life in which her wit and warmth had helped make Mrs Woog one of the best-known online presences in her demographic, it clicked with the former publishing executive that she needed to be admitted to rehab. Loading Now well and truly sober after three weeks treatment, and months in which she can now taste food, sleep properly and wake up feeling good rather than feeling the effects of a bottle-plus of wine a night, Ms Murphy wants to discuss the issue, so others feel they can also find support. She was struck when she arrived in rehab to see many women around her from very similar backgrounds. Researcher and clinical addiction psychiatrist Dr Shalini Arunogiri works at Australias leading national addiction treatment, training and research centre, Turning Point, as well as Cabrini Hospitals women-only mental health service, where clinicians are seeing the acute impact of the pandemic on womens mental health. What we see in both units and through the direct [phone] line is unprecedented numbers of women contracting these services for help with substance use problems, particularly alcohol, says Dr Arunogiri. Particularly in rehab what we are seeing is women who have been trying to keep it together in the pandemic ... in which isolation and economic pressures have brought everything to a bit of a head. Alongside that, some of the coping mechanisms women normally use [group] exercise, social connection, seeing friends [which] is so important went offline in the pandemic. If you are having a drink every day, that is likely some level of dependence psychologically, but also in the brain. Dr Shalini Arunogiri, addiction psychiatrist, Turning Point and Cabrini Health Women who would have described themselves as social drinkers pre-pandemic, have transitioned to drinking at home; often alone and often drinking to soothe whats happening internally anxiety, for some, stress around stuff to do with family and financial pressures. Dr Arunogiri is among the clinicians seeing a change in pattern, or focus, of drinking from reward and pleasure, to it being about what I need to wind down, relax, get to sleep. I also hear I need a drink because thats my special time, time I can spend by myself not thinking about everyone else, she says, adding that drinking while cooking dinner is also frequently raised. When women associate drinking with a sanctuary or self time, it sets off warning bells for practitioners, and means alcohol is serving a particular function and makes it a habit that is hard to break. If you are having a drink every day, that is likely some level of dependence psychologically, but also in the brain, Dr Arunogiri says. Loading Flinders University medical researcher Dr Belinda Lunnay, who has published on class and womens drinking and womens alcohol consumption during COVID-19, says some women increased their drinking during the pandemic as a nearest port in a storm to get through the day, and some started drinking earlier in the day. Middle-aged women were already the biggest drinking age group before the pandemic, Dr Lunnay has found. Midlife women are consuming [alcohol] more than any generation of women before them and currently more than any other age group. Potential causes include the gendered responsibilities of caring for both their children and their parents, alongside working in paid and unpaid [domestic] roles, she says. Alcohol provides women with time out/away from these responsibilities and producing ... instant relaxation, and women describe this as a reward which helps them to cope in the absence of a literal break in time away from these responsibilities. Women say alcohol allows them to manage feelings and emotions, especially loneliness, as children grow and transition out of more dependent care needs, and as relationships change including separation, divorce or change in work relationships: Amongst these complexities and demands of midlife drinking alcohol is a form of self-care. Society needs to understand that stress for women is coming from every direction ... alcohol is the friend that never lets you down. Sarah, a 49 year-old Melbourne chef who left rehab last week. Dr Lunnays research found drinking was socially normal in the lives of middle-class women and a perfectly acceptable, regular way to cope, which Kayte Murphy also notes. This message is reinforced to women through alcohol marketing and social media, where mummy wine-time memes are common. Sarah* a 49-year-old Melbourne chef who lost her job during the pandemic, left rehab at Cabrini Healths new women-only mental health clinic last week and says the experience was literally life-changing. Alcohol is like a best friend that never lets you down; through the stress of job loss, elderly parents and physical illness, there is always the comfort of the sedation found in a bottle of vodka, she says. But with that comes the terrible shame of drinking alone, hiding the bottles and lying to your spouse. There is so much comfort in the numbing effect of alcohol. Until it wears off, and you have to deal with reality plus a hangover. Psychiatrist Jayashri Kulkarni is helping women with alcohol use disorders to understand and treat their condition. Credit:Penny Stephens In rehab, under psychiatrist Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, she learned about the stressors on women in middle age, including menopause and hormonal and parenting issues, and says she now believes society needs to understand that stress for women is coming from every direction. Sarahs 17-day rehab stay helped her kick vodka and Valium and turned her life around. She also wants other women to understand there are options available to help them. Professor Kulkarni says Sarah typifies everything were seeing. This is what we see in a lot of high-functioning women. Alcohol use disorders have always been talked about as a male disorder ... but women with alcohol misuse is catching up fast and thats not a good place for equality to be. A lot of programs for alcohol disorder treatment are not geared towards women. Researcher Mia Miller from The George Research Institute for Global Health, who has also studied middle-aged womens alcohol habits examined long term, risky drinking among women this year and found one in five women are consuming alcohol at levels considered binge-drinking. I thought more insidious daily drinking would be more common, she says, but we were quite surprised to see the binge-drinking was so high among 40 to 65 year-olds. Women aged 40 to 55 were more likely than women in the older age group to be drinking at that level. The established link between alcohol and nine cancers, notably breast cancer, makes the finding even more worrying, she says. Kayte Murphy also believes it is vital women are better informed about alcohol use, and can access life-saving help. Having gone through rehab, its not because youre a failure, you need someone to help you kick it. Its very difficult to give up alcohol on your own, and there is not a lot of support out there for people. Happily for Ms Murphy, who took up painting while in the facility and is selling many of her brightly coloured works, the stay returned the sunshine to her life, without it needing to come in liquid form: I dont want to sound like a bore, she says. But now every part of my day is the best part of my day. A man watches a TV screen at a train station in Seoul, showing a news program reporting about North Korea's missile program with file footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, March 11. AP-Yonhap The United States imposed sanctions on five Russian entities, including two Russian nationals, Friday, for aiding North Korea's ballistic missile programs. "The DPRK continues to launch ballistic missiles in blatant violation of international law, posing a grave threat to global security," Brian Nelson, undersecretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, was quoted as saying, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "Today's actions respond to this threat by targeting a network of Russia-based individuals and entities complicit in helping the DPRK procure components for its unlawful ballistic missile systems," he added, according to the Treasury Department. The department said the two Russian individuals and three Russian companies have been helping Park Kwang-hun, a North Korean representative based in Vladivostok who was designated by both the U.S. and the United Nations in 2018 as procuring supplies for the North's illicit weapons programs. "As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the individuals and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC (office of foreign assets control)," the department noted in a press release. The move comes one day after the U.S. said the North had tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system in its recent missile launches, conducted Feb. 27 and last Saturday (KST). A senior administration official here also said the North may be preparing to stage a "full range" ICBM test. North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear weapons and ICBM testing since November 2017, but said in January that it may consider "restarting all temporarily-suspended activities." Sources in South Korea earlier said the North appeared to be repairing a nuclear test site that it purportedly demolished in 2018 to show its willingness to denuclearize amid leader Kim Jong-un's dialogue with then U.S. President Donald Trump. (Yonhap) Resilience NSW director of partnerships and engagement Kylie Bryden Smith said the big charities and the government co-ordinated their efforts to ensure there was no double-up. Ms Bryden Smith said there was no harm to the personal and community fundraisers as long as they are doing it reputably and well and not scamming, but donors needed to be careful. You need to do your research, and make sure that youre confident with the questions that you can ask and the research that you can do to ensure that the moneys getting to the people that need it, she said. She suggested using sites such as Givit, which is taking pledges of donations of time, money and goods, and working with the Queensland and NSW governments to ensure help is directed where it is needed. Eddie Lloyd, a former councillor on Lismore City Council, has organised a fundraiser for the North Lismore community on mycause.com.au that has raised nearly $30,000 so far. Ms Lloyd said the money will go directly to people in North Lismore who have lost their homes, vehicles and other property, especially the local heroes who risked their lives to save their neighbours. People realise you have to jump through so many hoops and so much red tape to access government money or to access help through [charities], Ms Lloyd said. Bruno Temporini has stage four cancer and has been unable to clean his Wardell home after it was inundated with flood waters, but family, friends and volunteers have stepped in to help. Credit:Janie Barrett I think people are really not trusting the government in terms of the amount of financial assistance that will be forthcoming based on the bushfires and their experience with the government, so people are just doing what our community does we get up and fundraise for ourselves and rescue ourselves. She pointed to criticism of the Red Cross in 2020 for holding on to so much of the money raised for bushfire relief for future disasters, an issue highlighted at the time by former south coast MP Andrew Constance. Vanessa Byrne, head of fundraising products at Australian Red Cross, said 96 per cent of the money raised for the bushfires had been given out, and its approach of staggering spending over different stages of the recovery was endorsed by the charities regulator. As a charity, we do really rely on trust and we can gain that trust by being really open and transparent and consistent in our reporting of what we do, Ms Byrne said. Save the Children acting chief executive Mat Tinkler said he applauded the incredible generosity of crowdfunding campaigns and individuals lending a hand. Loading However, he said: The Black Summer bushfires demonstrated that while set up with the best of intentions, crowdfunding efforts may not always reach children and families who need it most. During the 2019-2020 bushfires, comedian Celeste Barber raised $51.2 million through a Facebook fundraiser to benefit the NSW Rural Fire Service. She originally sought just $30,000 but was prevented from sharing with other charities by strict donation rules. Ms Lloyd said most people in North Lismore were not insured for floods because it cost up to $30,000 a year. The Insurance Council of Australia said insurance companies had received 126,511 claims worth an estimated $1.89 billion related to the South-East Queensland and NSW floods, as of Friday. It did not provide estimates for how many people lacked flood insurance, but the Financial Rights Legal Centre said it was a common exclusion. Loading Shane Stone, the head of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, has called for an end to building on flood plains and says inundated homes should not be rebuilt. Twenty-two people have died directly from the recent floods across south-east Queensland, northern New South Wales and Sydney. The head of the Defence Forces flood-recovery taskforce in both states, Major-General David Thomae, on Saturday paid tribute to the families of those killed in the floods. Army personnel help clean up St Lucia on Saturday following the floods. Credit:Tony Moore Major-General Thomae was in the Brisbane suburb of St Lucia after spending several days in the hard-hit Lismore region in northern New South Wales. As far as we know, the number of people who have died in this flood event is 22, Major-General Thomae said. Three members of the Queensland police and two other people are all in a serious condition following a car crash and stabbing. The Queensland Police Service members were called to Moon Street in Caboolture South, to the north of Brisbane, at about 2.45pm on Saturday after they received reports that a man had been stabbed. At 2.50pm, the police vehicle was involved in a two-car crash on River Drive, less than two kilometres from the location of the alleged stabbing. Three members of the police and the male driver of the other car, who police said they believe is linked to the stabbing, were all taken to hospital in a serious condition. Australian Ukranians have reunited with loved ones who fled the war in Eastern Europe, leading to tearful scenes at Melbourne Airport on Saturday. Chrestyna Kmetj held a large blue and yellow Ukrainian flag as she wrapped her arms around her cousin Iryna Balvan and niece Nastya Balvan in the international arrivals terminal. Chrestyna Kmetj (second from right) reunites with her cousin Iryna Balvan (left), niece Nastya Balvan and another family member. Credit:Nine News Im lost for words, Ms Kmetj told Nine News. The emotions that were going to go through over the next few days will be extraordinary. And when I take them home, and they meet more family, its just going to be tears of joy that theyre safe. Using Ms Kmetj as a translator, Ms Balvan said she and her daughter had left constant bombing, constant alarms in their home town, before making it to Poland, from where they left for Australia. Wentworth MP Dave Sharma has defended sending out political communications in the same teal colour as his independent rival Allegra Spender without mentioning his membership of the Liberal Party. Ms Spender, one of the high-profile climate independents supported by Simon Holmes a Courts Climate 200 campaign, is challenging Mr Sharma for the previously safe Liberal seat in Sydneys eastern suburbs. Ms Spenders brochure highlights her support for a new economy built on decarbonisation and sustainability and six policy areas stemming from that climate action, honest politics, accessible education, first-class healthcare, inclusive society and natural environment. Mr Sharmas brochure uses the same colours and features a picture of Mr Sharma at Bondi Beach. The text emphasises Mr Sharmas life story his immigrant roots, his perfect tertiary education rank of 100 and study at Cambridge, his work for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade including as ambassador to Israel, and his wife and three daughters. There is no mention of the Liberal Party. Bipartisanship is not dead you just have to squint a bit to see it. On Thursday the state Labor MP for Lismore, Janelle Saffin (who was the federal member for Page from 2007 to 2013), met Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce at the Lismore council chambers to discuss the devastating floods. Joyces electorate of New England crosses over with Saffins and the two know each other a bit from the corridors of Parliament House. I do hold a mop: Prime Minister Scott Morrison dries a flood-damaged court in Brisbane on Thursday. Credit:Getty Also present were Lismore mayor Steve Krieg (a recently elected independent, and small business owner) and Nationals MP Kevin Hogan, the current member for Page. Prime Minister Scott Morrison had left Lismore by then. As much as some people wanted to blame his government for not declaring a national disaster soon enough; for not giving out enough taxpayer-funded assistance Morrisons presence for a few hours was symbolic more than practical, and he knew it. Madrid: Children and babies could be responsible for up to a quarter of prehistoric rock paintings, a study has found, suggesting it was often a family-oriented group activity rather than the exclusive high-art form it is seen as today. Researchers from Spains University of Cantabria and Cambridge University looked at 180 examples of art involving outlines of hands - made by blowing pigment through a hollow reed or bone - from more than 20,000 years ago in Spanish caves. When they analysed the hand sizes, they found that, in some caves, up to 25 per cent of prints seemed to involve children no more than 12 years old. These hand tracings are at the El Castillo Cave in Spain and are thought to be more than 40,000 years old. Credit:AP/Pedro Saura From the real hand to the one on the wall there are always a few centimetres of error, because the silhouette comes out larger. We calculated that error and many more childrens hands came out than we expected, said Veronica Fernandez-Navarro, the leader of the study, which is published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. People wait in line for a COVID-19 test at a makeshift testing center in Seoul, March 11. Yonhap South Korea's daily COVID-19 infections hit another record high of over 380,000 for Friday amid the continuing Omicron surge, with the death toll surpassing 10,000. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 383,665 new cases, including 383,590 local ones, raising the total caseload to 6,206,277. This was the largest-ever daily count, surpassing the previous high of 342,446 cases tallied for Tuesday. Total cases also reached 6 million, rising from 5 million in just three days. The more transmissible Omicron variant-fueled surge in infections has led to more COVID-19 deaths, and severe and critical cases. The country confirmed 269 more deaths, breaking the previous record of 229 set Thursday and bringing the accumulated toll to 10,144 with a fatality rate of 0.16 percent. Diageo-controlled United Spirits Ltd (USL) on Saturday said it will acquire a minorirty 22.5 per cent stake in Nao Spirits for Rs 31.5 crore. India will also have a call option to acquire the remaining shares on "pre-agreed principles" in Nao Spirits & Beverages Private Ltd, a joint statement said. Launched in 2016 by Anand Virmani, Nao Spirits is an emerging craft gin company in India, with brands 'Greater Than' and 'Hapusa'. "Nao Spirits provides India with an opportunity to strengthen its participation in the fast-growing premium gin segment in India," it said. India MD and CEO Hina Nagarajan said, "As a company built from founder-led brands, we are excited to make our first move in India to support bold and path-breaking entrepreneurs. Over the last three years, the Indian market has witnessed the emergence of multiple craft gin players and Nao Spirits has been a game changer in the category." While Nao Spirits & Beverages Co-Founder CEO Virmani said, "As we look to chart the next phase of growth of Nao Spirits, the investment from Diageo India will help scale our business, improve efficiencies, and access mentorship from an industry leader, which will be immensely valuable. The investment will be funded through Diageo India's internal cash resources, it added. Diageo India is the subsidiary of global beverage alcohol company Diageo PLC, which owns premium brands including Johnnie Walker, Black Dog, Black & White, VAT 69, Antiquity, Signature, Royal Challenge, McDowell's No1, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan. (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.) Ltd is looking at alternative markets for imports of coal as it faces uncertainties with its Russian suppliers and bankers, amid the Russia- conflict, a company official said on Saturday. The geopolitical situation after Russia's invasion of has also opened up steel export opportunities in Europe, following a supply vacuum of 45 million tonne of the metal left by and in the continent, Managing Director T V Narendran said. will look at alternative markets for to de-risk. There is a lot of uncertainties with Russian suppliers and bankers at present, Narendran said on the sidelines of CII eastern region's annual meeting here. The steelmaker used to buy 10-15 per cent of its coal requirements from for use in pulverised coal injection, he said. Pulverised coal injection (PCI) is a process that involves injecting large volumes of fine coal particles into a blast furnace. "For our Europe operations, we have to buy more from North America and India buys coal mostly from Australia, he said. The 45-million tonne supply vacuum left by and Ukraine also opened up export opportunities for Indian steel producers, resulting in spot prices going up by EUR 1,000, Narendran said. Tata Steel will look at exporting more to southern Europe, as compared to Asian markets, from India for better margins, he said. Exports from Tata Steel Europe could cross one million tonne in 2022-23 fiscal, while Indian operations could ship out around 15 per cent of its output, the official indicated. The geopolitical crisis has spurred input costs but in the short run with its inventory, the company's margins will improve as the price increase is higher than the rise of raw material costs, Narendran said. If the conflict prolongs for the next couple of months, the increase in cost will start hitting everyone, he 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.) Three children and a pregnant woman were among the seven killed in a massive blaze that gutted shanties in northeast early Saturday, with preliminary probe suggesting that the fire could have started from a burning cigarette butt or a bidi. There were some cardboards behind one of the shanties and it is suspected that someone could have thrown a burning cigarette or bidi there, causing the fire, forensic officials said. Roshan (13) and his sister Dipika (9) and five of a family -- Babloo (32), Ranjit (25), Reshma (18), Priyanka (20) and Shahansha (10) -- were killed in the blaze in Gokulpuri village, information about which was received at 1:03 am, an official of the Fire Services (DFS) said. Relatives of Priyanka said that she was five months pregnant. Those injured in the incident are being treated, police said. President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths, while Chief Minister has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the adults killed in the incident and Rs 5 lakh in case of the deaths of the children. The Delhi government will give Rs 25,000 as financial assistance to those whose shanties were gutted. Thirteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the DFS official said, adding that the blaze was brought under control around 4 am. "Our world turned upside down within a few minutes. Not only did we lose our loved ones but also money and jewellery that we had saved," said one of the deceased's family members. Roshan and Dipika's grandfather Santu said, "We went to sleep around 10.30 pm and the incident took place around 12.30 am on Saturday. We have no idea how and from where the fire started." "Though family members managed to escape, Roshan and Dipika got trapped in the blaze," the 58-year-old said. Seven charred bodies have been recovered from the site, the DFS official said, adding that of about 60 shanties, 30 were completely gutted. The reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Devesh Kumar Mahla said, adding that a team from the Rohini-based Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has examined the spot. Police said a case under Indian Penal Code sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and 304A (causing death by negligence) has been registered at the Gokulpuri Police Station. Further sections will be added after reports of the fire department and the FSL team, a senior police officer said. Residents claimed that the fire first engulfed 19 shanties on a plot of land and then spread to another 13 shanties on another plot across a wall. The details of the plot owners are being ascertained, police said. FSL Director Deepa Verma said, "When we received information regarding the blaze, a team led by the head of the forensic science division, Sanjeev Gupta, was immediately dispatched. The exhibits (collected from the spot) have been preserved and handed over to police. When it will come for laboratory testing, the case will be a top priority." Information was received around 4.15 am and a seven-member forensic team reached the spot around 5.15 am, a senior FSL official said. "Evidence has been handed over to the investigating officer (police). It seems like the fire broke out from behind the shanties where there were some cardboards. It is possible that someone left a burning cigarette or bidi, which caused the fire. However, laboratory testing will ascertain the exact cause of fire," he said. Preliminary findings suggest that people got trapped as the fire engulfed shanties rapidly even those at the main entry gate, the official said. Police said bodies were handed over to family members for last rites after post-mortem at the GTB hospital. Expressing grief over the incident, President Kovind said in a tweet in Hindi, "The news of many casualties in the fire accident in Gokulpuri, Delhi, is extremely sad. I express my condolences to all the bereaved families and wish the injured a speedy recovery." In a tweet, Prime Minister Modi described the incident as heart-rending while conveying his condolences to the families of the victims. Kejriwal visited the site of the incident and took stock of the situation and interacted with the affected people. "When I woke up this morning, I came to know that a fire here killed seven people and many shanties were burnt. I am deeply saddened with this incident. I pray to God that the deceased rest in peace," he said. The chief minister said he has issued orders for swift release of the compensation amounts. "I will try to release this (compensation) very soon, in one to two days, so that you get the money soon," Kejriwal said. BJP Northeast Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari also visited the site and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. "This is a very sad and a heart-rending incident. I urge the CM to immediately announce a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of the deceased and those who have been injured should be given the best treatment," 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.) An Alliance Air flight from Delhi carrying 55 passengers overshot the runway while landing at the Jabalpur airport on Saturday afternoon, officials of aviation regulator said. None of the passengers or crew members were injured, they said, adding that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has started an investigation. The Delhi-Jabalpur flight was operated using an ATR-72 aircraft, they mentioned. It departed from Delhi at around 11.30 AM and landed in Jabalpur in around 1.15 PM. There were 55 passengers and five crew members on board and they safely disembarked after the incident without any injuries, they said. The airport at Dumna, where the incident took place, is located around 21 km from Jabalpur city. Airport director Kusum Das told PTI that operations at the airport have been suspended for four to five hours. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US will continue to support India with equipment and other things it needs along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, a top American admiral has told lawmakers, asserting that Washington and New Delhi share a "tremendous partnership". Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Military Posture in the Indo-Pacific Region' this week, Admiral John Aquilino, Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, said that the military-to-military relationship between the two countries is probably at its highest point. He was responding to a question from Senator Gary Peters. My question for you, Admiral, is can you speak to the relationship you have with our Indian counterparts and what more can we do to strengthen our security relationship between our two countries? Peters asked. Senator, to start, I have no concerns. Our partners in India are tremendous partners, and the military-to-military relationship is probably at its highest point. We continue to do more together, Admiral Aquilino said in response. But when you talk about tremendous partnership, it's there. What more can we do? Continue the information sharing, continue to support them with the equipment they need upon the Line of Actual Control, and continue to partner and operate together throughout the region. His remarks assume importance as India and on Friday held another round of high-level military dialogue to resolve the 22-month-long standoff in certain remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh. The eastern Ladakh border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Aquilino also mentioned military exercises between the US and India. The Malabar exercise with Japan, Australia, the United States, and India is critical. Increased mini lateral and multilateral engagements with the Indians, and ultimately continue to sell them equipment so we can be more interoperable and more effective together in the military sphere, he said. On Wednesday, Ely Ratner, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, told members of the House Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on the Indo-Pacific region that he perceives the US-India defence relationship as one with incredible momentum. He also said that the much awaited 2+2 dialogue between the two countries will take place here in early April. The last meeting of the 2+2 dialogue was held in New Delhi in 2020 and the next meeting is to be hosted by the US in Washington. The 2+2 ministerial dialogue takes place between foreign and defence ministers of both sides. India and the United States held a bilateral 2+2 Inter-sessional meeting at the official level on 1 September 2021 in Washington DC. They reviewed progress made since the last 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in October 2020. The Malabar exercise started in 1992 as a bilateral drill between the Indian Navy and the US Navy in the Indian Ocean. Japan became a permanent member of the exercise in 2015. This annual exercise was conducted off the coast of Guam in 2018 and off the coast of Japan in 2019. The exercise was hosted in two phases in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea in 2020. There have been mounting global concerns over China's growing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. India, the US, Australia, Japan and many other like-minded countries are working towards ensuring a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. The US recognised India as a "Major Defence Partner" in 2016, a designation that allows India to buy more advanced and sensitive technologies from America at par with that of the US' closest allies and partners, and ensures enduring cooperation into the future. claims nearly all of the disputed South 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. (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.) Mainland reported more than 1,500 new local COVID-19 infections on Saturday, the most since the first nationwide outbreak in early 2020, as the variant prompted Beijing to introduce self-testing kits for the first time. China's current case count is far fewer than those of many other countries, but the growing number could complicate Beijing's "dynamic-clearance" ambition to suppress contagion as quickly as possible. The National Health Commission on Saturday said it had found 476 locally transmitted cases for Friday, including five people initially classified as asymptomatic who developed symptoms later. There were 1,048 domestically transmitted asymptomatic infections, which does not classify as confirmed cases, up from 703 a day earlier. Beijing has ordered its localities to stick to the "dynamic clearing" policy and to prevent a large-scale rebound, prompting several cities to take measures such as cancelling group events, launching rounds of mass testing and cutting face-to-face classes in school. At the same time the country is tweaking its testing regime in response to the spread of the variant, after having in the past two years required medical workers to swab members of the public using nucleic acid tests that require labs to process samples. Health authorities said they would allow the general public to buy such kits in stores and online for the first time and on Saturday they approved five COVID-19 antigen kits made by local companies to be used for self-testing. "In order to deal with how spreads, we need to promote a model of antigen screening and nucleic acid tests, enable the public to purchase tests by themselves, which is conducive to early detection," Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as telling a government meeting on Saturday. The capital of Beijing was among cities that took steps to tighten measures. The city government said that people entering the city should take nucleic acid tests and avoid joining in group meals or gatherings in the first seven days. In the financial hub of Shanghai, the Disneyland resort said it would reduce its guest capacity and from Sunday require visitors to present negative nucleic acid test results taken within 24 hours. The venue for the Canton Fair, China's oldest and biggest trade fair, in the southern province of Guangzhou has been temporarily closed as it was recently visited by a suspected confirmed case, local authorities said. The northeastern province of Jilin said on Saturday it had dismissed the mayor of Jilin city and a district head in the capital, Changchun. The province has been one of the hardest-hit regions in the latest outbreak. Changchun has ordered all but essential businesses to halt operations and banned its 9 million residents from leaving their residential compounds for non-essential reasons. Similar measures have been applied in urban areas of Jilin city. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister and the Indian government for evacuating four Nepali nationals from war-torn under 'Operation Ganga'. "Four Nepali nationals have just arrived in from via India. Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Government of India for the assistance in repatriating Nepali nationals through the #OperationGanga," tweeted Deuba. Notably, amid the ongoing Ukraine- war, Indian authorities, along with rescuing Indian citizens in the war-torn country, are also extending their help to the foreign nationals stranded there. Earlier, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had also expressed gratitude towards PM Modi for rescuing Bangladeshi nationals stranded in under 'Operation Ganga', according to government sources. As per the sources, India had rescued nine Bangladeshis from Ukraine. Further, a Pakistani student, Asma Shafique, who was also rescued by the Indian authorities, had thanked the Indian embassy in Kyiv and PM Modi for their support. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday lauded authorities who facilitated the smooth conduct of 'Operation Ganga' launched by the Government of India to bring back students from war-hit Ukraine. Notably, India has evacuated over 20,000 of its citizens from war-hit Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga'. (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 Mumbai cyber police have issued a notice to senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, asking him to appear before them on Sunday in connection with a case of alleged illegal tapping of phones, an official said on Saturday. Fadnavis, however, said that a senior police officer called to inform him that police will visit his residence to take the required information and there was no need for him to visit the BKC cyber police station. Phones of political leaders, including state Congress chief Nana Patole, minister Bachchu Kadu, former MLA Ashish Deshmukh, former MP Sanjay Kakade and others were tapped illegally by IPS officer Rashmi Shukla, when she was the state intelligence chief, Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil had alleged last month. "In the notice issued to Fadnavis, police have said that questionnaires were earlier sent to him in sealed envelopes in connection with the case, but he did not respond to them. Besides, notices were also issued to him twice to seek his reply, but he had again failed to reply," the police official said. In addition to this, three letters were sent to Fadnavis, reminding him to appear before the police. However, he failed to give any reply. In the fresh notice, he has been asked to appear before the cyber police on Sunday, he said. A case was registered under the Official Secrets Act at the BKC cyber police station in Mumbai last year against unidentified persons for allegedly illegally tapping phones and leaking confidential documents. The complaint was lodged by the State Intelligence Department (SID). However, before the FIR was registered, the then Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte had alleged in his inquiry report that IPS officer Rashmi Shukla had leaked the confidential report. Shukla is accused of tapping phones of political leaders and senior officials illegally when she was chief of the SID. She found herself at the centre of controversy after Fadnavis cited a letter purportedly written by her to the then Maharashtra Director General of Police about alleged corruption in transfers in the police department. The letter also had details of intercepted phone calls, leading to an uproar with leaders of the Shiv Sena-led ruling coalition alleging that Shukla tapped phones without permission. In April last year, the had summoned Shukla for interrogation before the BKC cyber cell. She did not turn up citing the coronavirus pandemic. In May, a team from the Mumbai cyber police recorded her statement in Hyderabad in connection with the leak case. Earlier in the day, Fadnavis, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, told reporters that he had received the notice and he would visit the police station at 11 am on Sunday as being asked. Later, he tweeted saying, Just received a call from joint CP (Crime) informing me that there is no need to visit BKC cyber police station. They will come to my residence to take the required information. I will be at my residence. I have cancelled all Pune programmes for tomorrow. They can come anytime. The former chief minister said the notice was served to him because he had exposed the MVA government of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress. "I demand that the investigation of this ( case) should be handed over to the (CBI). The state government cannot conduct a proper probe in such cases," he said. "The state is trying to pressure me because I had exposed the scam of transfer in the state police force...I have more proofs with me, which I will hand over to the CBI only. I will cooperate with the in tomorrow's probe as well," he said. The leader of opposition in the assembly alleged that the state government and the police department have panicked, which is why the notice has been issued to him. Walse Patil had also claimed that a high-level probe had found that senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla had tapped phones illegally. On Saturday, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil said that party workers would burn the photocopy of the notice served by the to Fadnavis. Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, Patil said, It is wrong and illegal for the Maharashtra Police to issue a notice to . Whatever information was revealed by Fadnavis was in the public interest. "He can give additional information to the CBI, the probe agency. But Fadnavis is not under any obligation to disclose his source, he said. When asked about the submission of a pen drive by Fadnavis in the Assembly which allegedly contained videos of "conspiracies hatched by MVA leaders to implicate BJP MLA Girish Mahajan and others", Patil said, The MVA government has issued a notice to Fadnavis regarding the allegations levelled by him against the MVA government some months back. What Fadnavis exposed in the ongoing budget session about these video clips is not even used for filing an FIR in this case. The Ramayan of the fresh allegations is yet to start. All wrongdoings of the MVA government are piling up and it would crash under that burden for sure, he 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.) Prime Minister on Saturday lamented that hardly any reforms were carried in the security apparatus of the country post-Independence despite the need for it. He said that common people's perception, especially of the police force, that it is better to stay away from them, needs to be changed. Modi was addressing the convocation ceremony of the Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) near here after inaugurating its new building. "Post-Independence, there was a need to reform the security apparatus of the country, but hardly any reforms were carried out," Modi said while calling for an "overall training" of those involved in providing security. The prime minister said he has great expectations from the RRU. "A college or university can contribute a lot in the development. I will tell you two instances - one pharmacy college was established in Ahmedabad by businessmen 60 years ago, which led Gujarat to be a leader in the pharma industry. Similarly, IIM was also established at that time, which is now giving world business leaders. In the same way, I expect RRU to create leaders in the security sector," Modi 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 Indian side on Friday pushed for the resolution of remaining friction points in Ladakh, during the 15th round of Corps Commander level talks that lasted for around 13 hours, Army Sources said. The sources said the Indian side pushed for a resolution to address the military standoff which started in April-May 2020. The latest round of talks took place at Chushul in Eastern . India and have been holding talks on the 'Line of Actual Control (LAC)' in the Eastern area to resolve the standoff. The talks held till now have resulted in the resolution of the North and South Bank of Pangong Tso, Galwan and Gogra Hot Spring areas. Both sides are holding discussions for the resolution of the remaining friction areas, according to sources. Recent statements by both sides to find a mutually acceptable solution have been encouraging and positive in nature. (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 this November 2021 photo, Na Yun-bin, then-chief of the Busan city government's public welfare and labor policy bureau, debriefs journalists about the city's new smartphone app for food delivery service that she initiated. Courtesy of Busan City Government By Ko Dong-hwan Na Yun-bin has been in the spotlight since earlier this month when she became the Busan Metropolitan City's first female spokesperson in her 40s, who is much younger than her predecessors. But she wasn't comfortable with being noticed mainly for her gender and comparatively young age that some questioned might have given her an advantage in her appointment to the new position. She wants to clarify that it was her skill set that got her the job. "I believe the mayor of our city has appointed me for the position not just because I'm a woman but based on my policy execution, communication and leadership skills," Na said in an interview with The Korea Times. Some doubted that the city government appointed her as part of its bid to introduce more women in its workforce that had been observed as having a small number of female workers. She denied that view and said the city already has the country's highest rate of level-5 female public servants among local governments (38.1 percent as of last January). "We also have many female officials with level 3 to 4 classifications who are working in diverse fields from planning and finance to fishery, labor, start-ups and welfare," Na said. Born and raised in the country's second-largest city, Na became the city government's employee in 2008 and has risen through its ranks. While serving her previous role as the chief of the public welfare and labor policy bureau, she learned the importance of communication with members of the public. Without such efforts, she said she could never have rolled out the city's local voucher program and a smartphone app for a food delivery service released last January, both of which became popular among local citizens. "Since COVID-19 broke out, I talked a lot to people in various economic fields, from small business owners to street market vendors, laborers in vulnerable working conditions and entrepreneurs," Na said. "You must become the 'ears' of the people before becoming the city government's 'mouth' to communicate best between the government and the public." Busan has a lot to look forward to. More young adults are staying instead of leaving the city as the city government launched policies to support this specific age group looking for their own homes, business venture opportunities and more outdoor activities. But one of the city's biggest goals is hosting the 2030 Busan World Expo. Beyond the city government, the bid is supported on a national level. The country's new president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol announced a scheme to upgrade the city the day after he was elected on March 9, which included hosting the expo and building a new airport on Gadeok Island south of the city. "We believe the expo project is important not just for the country's southern region, but for the entire nation," said Na. "Busan will contribute its part for this major national bid." The city also expects Yoon to execute his pledge to move KDB Industrial Bank's headquarters currently in Yeouido, Seoul, to Busan so that the city will have a leverage to become an international financial hub in East Asia. Yoon visited the city twice during his presidential campaigning, each time pledging to move the bank as well as the headquarters of government agencies to the city. "The bank's relocation is an essential requirement for an economic boost not just in Busan but the country's entire southeastern region where the manufacturing industries for ships and automobiles are concentrated," Na said. "The city government is now searching for a new site for the bank, as well as looking into other strategic measures required to successfully welcome the bank." India would make alliances according to its history and neighbourhood, but as a general principle allowing Russian President to do what he is doing in is "dangerous" for all, German Ambassador to India Walter J Lindner has said. He also called out the United Nations for its "outdated" Security Council structure and said India, the voice of 1.3 billion people, should be there as a permanent member. "Every country has its own right and its own reasons to make a decision, whether abstention, vote in favour or against, no problem with this," Lindner told PTI at the sidelines of the 15th edition of Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF). "India of course would make their own alliances according to their history and neighbourhood, we are just saying as a general principle it would be dangerous to allow Putin what he is doing." India has abstained during voting on two resolutions on in the 15-nation UN Security Council and one in the 193-member UN General Assembly. According to Lindner, allowing to not respect borders or the UN charter would set a bad precedent for the future and will be a danger for every country. "...We need to respect borders, we need to respect the UN charter, and if we start allowing one country not to do this because it has a veto right in the UNSC or because it is strong, or because he (Putin) is lying openly. That's a bad precedent for the future and that's a danger for every country in the world," he said. "That's why we have so many countries voting against Russia, and even many countries who abstained deep down they would never accept this behaviour of Putin," he said. The 65-year-old German diplomat also talked about making reforms in the "outdated" UNSC's membership to improve it, and said India is in the forefront to do that and has Germany's full support for its permanent membership. India is at present one of the 10 non-permanent members of the UNSC. "The whole situation of shows how outdated Security Council memberships are. India, the power of 1.3 billion people, should be there (as a permanent member) ... So the system of the UN has to be reformed and it has to start with the Security Council. "We are very much on the same wavelength as India because if people lose their faith in the UN then that would be a loss because it is the only international global organisation which we have. Rather than saying these are useless people we have to improve it, we have to improve it and India is in the forefront to do that and India has our full support," he added. Calling himself a big fan of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, Lindner praised the civil disobedience shown by the people of Ukraine and said this just shows how wrong Putin was in miscalculating Ukrainians. Putin thought that the Ukrainian people would give up, run away or their military will run away and the population would say: Thank you Putin, you liberated us!'" he remarked. "Nonsense." "I wouldn't say against Russian tanks, Gandhiji's method would always be successful but we have already seen in Ukraine scenes where civilians, old ladies went in front of tanks and said 'stop it, stop it, stop it'," he noted. The other thing, which according to Lindner, Putin was wrong at, was in his thinking that the world was "totally divided". The truth is completely contrary to that, he said. "In the NATO, the European Union and even the western world, and the rest of the world, if you see 148 states voted against Russia, condemned in clear voices against . So this means a whole big group of world leaders are against such kinds of things so this is a good development but of course before a backdrop of a very tragic situation," he explained. The 15th edition of the JLF, which kicked off on ground at Hotel Clarks Amer on Thursday, is being held in hybrid format for the first time since its inception in 2006. It was held virtually from March 5 to 9. Turkish bestselling novelist Elif Shafak, American writer and 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist Jonathan Franzen, South African novelist and 2021 Booker winner Damon Galgut, Australian author and 2003 Booker winner D.B.C. Pierre, English actor-writer Rupert Everett, and eminent Jamaican poet Kei Miller are among the 250 authors participating in the JLF this year. (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 a 17-member Parliamentary Delegation from Austria is expected to visit the Indian scheduled on March 14, the officials of the have made seating arrangements for all the members in the chambers galleries, said a press release on Friday. Seats have been earmarked for Prime Minister, ministers and party leaders, lone members and other Independent members outside any alliance. A delegation from Austria led by Wolfgang Sabotka, President of the National Council of Austria, will be on an official visit to India from March 13 to 17. The delegation will witness the proceedings of from 'Special Box' on Monday. (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 Saturday said there was a need for reforms in the apparatus after Independence, but the country lagged behind in this area. Addressing the first convocation of Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) at Lavad in Gandhinagar district, he said during British rule revolved around instilling fear among the masses, which needed to be changed. After Independence, there was a need for reforms, but unfortunately sufficient work was not done in this direction and we lagged behind," he said. "Even now, the perception about police is that one should stay away from them...," the prime minister said. More than increasing the number of personnel, what was needed was trained officials who understand technology, human psyche, know how to communicate with the young generation and deal with the leaders of mass agitations, the prime minister said. Due to the lack of trained manpower, security forces lose the capacity for "negotiation" and "things go wrong at the last moment, sometimes due to a few words," he said. Police and other security personnel should be able to deal strongly with anti-social elements and softly with society and instill "a sense of friendship and confidence among people", he said. This would require a change in training modules and that was why Rashtriya Raksha University was set up, the prime minister added. Modi also noted that police personnel find it hard to deal with stress due to the shrinking of traditional support networks like joint families, and said there is a need for experts, including Yoga teachers, who can help them fight stress and relax. Technology was important for the security forces but its use also needs proper training, Modi said. "The sphere of security is not only about the morning parade and physical fitness. (Even) A divyang person, who is physically unfit, can still contribute to security through mental training," the PM added. He also called for regular interaction between various institutions located in Gandhinagar such as Forensic Sciences University, Gujarat Law University and RRU. RRU should also focus on training in jail management and how to deal with convicts and undertrials so that they leave the prison reformed persons, Modi said. The prime minister also spoke about the growing field of private security and related start-ups. Students trained at RRU could become part of such start-ups, he added. "If you have not studied mob and crowd psychology scientifically, you cannot handle it. We want to prepare such people through RRU who are capable of controlling the situation even in such circumstances," the prime minister said. He also noted that there has been greater participation of women in the defence sector now. "Even NCC is witnessing (greater) participation of women... Be it Olympics, science, education or security, women are leading from the front, he said. "While retaining the influence of uniform, one should never leave the values of humanity behind," Modi advised the students. As many as 1,090 students were conferred degrees at the first convocation. RRU was set up in 2020 to meet the need for trained manpower in policing, criminal justice and correctional administration. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel were among those present on the occasion. (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 who is on a two-day visit to held a roadshow in Gandhinagar's Dahegam. Riding in an open jeep decked with floral garlands, PM Modi was seen waving at people during his roadshow which attracted a huge crowd in the city. The roadshow culminated in Gandhinagar's Lavad area where the Prime Minister will deliver the first Convocation address of the Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) as the Chief Guest. The PM tweeted this morning that a building in the university will be dedicated to the nation. Today evening he is scheduled to declare open the 11th Khel Mahakumbh and deliver an address on the occasion according to the Prime Minister's Office. PM Modi's visit to the poll-bound state kicked off on Friday with a mega roadshow from the airport to the BJP office, Kamalam, followed by a meeting with the party leaders in Ahmedabad. Further, the Prime Minister addressed a Maha-Panchayat Sammelan at GMDC Ground in Ahmedabad and then met his mother Heeraben Modi at her residence in yesterday. He also chaired a meeting of the Shree Somnath Trust to discuss the ongoing infrastructure up-gradation measures in the district. The PM's visit comes in the wake of the victory of the BJP in four out of the 5 states in which Assembly elections was held. The party retained power in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand. BJP and its allies won 255 seats in 403 assembly constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, while in Uttarakhand it won 47 seats out of 70 seats; in Goa it won 20 seats out of 40 and in Manipur the ruling BJP coalition won 31 seats out of 60. In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party swept to victory on 92 out of the 117 assembly seats is heading into Assembly elections later this year. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister-designate on Saturday said that the swearing-in ceremony of the new government will be held on March 16 at the native village of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, Khatkar Kalan. Mann on Saturday met Governor Banwarilal Purohit at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh to stake claims to form the government in the state. Speaking to reporters today after meeting Purohit, Mann said, "I met Governor today. I handed over the letter of support from our MLAs and staked claims to form a government. The Governor asked us for the place and time of the oath ceremony." "It will be held at the native village of Bhagat Singh, Khatkar Kalan, at 12.30 pm on March 16," he said. Mann said that historic decisions will be taken soon after the government is formed after the oath-taking ceremony. He said, "People from across Punjab will come to the ceremony, and they will also pay tribute to . We will have a good cabinet, and historic decisions, never made before, will be taken by the new government. So, you will have to wait." Mann has invited Delhi Chief Minister and convenor Arvind Kejriwal for the oath-taking ceremony. Mann and Kejriwal will hold a roadshow in Amritsar on March 13 over the party's victory in the Assembly polls. The (AAP) registered a landslide victory in the Punjab polls with 92 seats, pushing most of its rivals to the margins. Congress won 18 seats in the 117-member Assembly. (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.) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Saturday thanked External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar for bringing back safely the Indian students, including those from Tamil Nadu from . Stalin called Jaishankar after receiving the last batch of students from at the Chennai airport. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister thanked Jaishankar and the central government for bringing back to India the students in . began its military operation against Ukraine several days back and the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the student rescue operations. --IANS vj/shb/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) is the biggest threat to the digital transformation and is estimated to cost economies about USD 10 trillion by 2025, a senior Microsoft India official said on Saturday. Microsoft India President Anant Maheshwari during the ET Global Business Summit said that the growth of every company will depend on intensive adoption of technology in their business and it is happening across the sectors. "Cyber security is the biggest threat to digital transformation and to the planet. costs economies more than USD 6 trillion each year today and that is expected to reach nearly USD 10 trillion by 2025. As industry scales, organisations will really need to invest in cyber security and trusted tech by design. It is important to remember that people will only use technology that they trust," Maheshwari said. He said India is adopting cloud first approach in its journey for digital transformation. "India cloud market is expected to reach USD 10.8 billion by 2025 growing at roughly 24 per cent in five years from 2020 to 2025. The end users spending on the public cloud is expected to grow by 35 per cent just in 2025. We are also anticipating this and expect higher demand in the future," Maheshwari said. To cater to the cloud requirement, Microsoft has announced that it will set-up its fourth data centre in Hyderabad which will be the biggest in India. Telangana Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao has said Microsoft has plans to invest over Rs 15,000 crore over a period of 15 years in the data centre. (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 is analysing the sectoral impact of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and is holding consultations with the industry bodies to understand the pain points, a senior government official said. We are analysing the sectors that will be impacted. We have already held a couple of meetings on that. The conflict will have a negative impact on the economy. On the other hand, it will create some opportunities for industry to substitute finished goods earlier supplied by Russia and Ukraine. We have had one round of discussion with the industry to assess the impact. We have ... The Russia-Ukraine war is likely to push Indian students to explore the options for in the countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Spain, Germany, Kyrgyzstan and the UK because of the lower cost of medical course there. Ukraine is a popular destination among aspirants partly due to the cost-effectiveness. Both Russia and Ukraine attract a substantial number of students from India for the MBBBS and BDS courses. But now all Indian students in Ukraine are forced to return home in the middle of their courses. According to the National Medical Commission's (NMC) regulations for Foreign Medicine Graduates (FMGs) issued in 2021, transfer from a foreign university to an Indian university in the middle of an programme is not permitted because the entrance guidelines and selection criteria differ. NMC's regulations for Foreign Medicine Graduates provide a 10-year window for students to obtain their degrees, complete their internships (one year in Ukraine and India respectively) and apply for Foreign Medicine Graduates Examination to receive their licenses. Since an MBBS degree in Ukraine takes an average of six years to complete and taking into consideration the additional two years required for internships, it therefore leaves the candidates with only two years to apply for their license in the 10-year window. However, given the current crisis, there is no way of knowing when these students will be allowed to return to Ukraine to finish their studies. As a result, the 10-year window may pose a difficulty for them, as they will no longer be able to apply for a license to practice medicine in India if they do not complete the courses within that time frame. With the situation between Russia and Ukraine escalating every day, a decision regarding relaxations for MBBS students can be expected. Pavan Choudhary, Chairman, Medical Technology of India said, "The Russia-Ukraine war is likely to push Indian students to explore other options for MBBS abroad as these two countries attract a substantial number of students from India for the course. Countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Spain, Germany, Kyrgyzstan and the UK, among others, may gain popularity because of the lower cost of the courses there". It is heartening to note that some states are stepping up to help the displaced students viz, the Consortium of Deemed-to-be Universities of Karnataka has offered to take one thousand medical students returning from Ukraine. Further Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also urged the private players to expand in the medical sector. Choudhary said, "This of course needs a systemic examination and serious policy reframing. If we can make the required alterations to our Medical policy and facilitate the necessary ecosystem, then India can aspire to become an important hub for preparing doctors and healthcare workers." Sanjay Bhutani, Director, Medical Technology Association of India said, "The uncertainty a war brings is taking a toll on the returned Indian students who were studying medicine in Ukraine. But with The National Medical Commissions (NMC) easing the requirements for medical graduates on the 12 month necessary internship program in their respective institutes by allowing them to continue their remaining internship in India by assigning additional 7.5 per cent seats in Indian medical colleges for Foreign Medical Graduates. We are hopeful that the fate of approximately 18,000 students will also be in their favour to ensure that there is no delay for these future healthcare providers to serve our already burdened healthcare system due to the existing pandemic and now the political unrest." Dr Rimy Dey, Committee head Post Graduate Studies, IMA-JDN (Indian Medical Association - Junior Doctors Network) said, "The Ukraine situation has garnered a state of dubiety upon the future of thousands of Indian students who were pursuing their medical courses from Ukraine. Such unprecedented situations demand unusual solution. Rehabilitation of these medical students should be given utmost priority. Absorption into the current Indian medical schooling system may not be possible in a trice, but some effective solution in the form of medical student exchange programme or off-campus or online classes to continue medical should be sought. As a state of uncertainty looms over the careers of these students in different phases of their medical career, instead of burdening them further, the Government, competent medical authorities, NMC, IMA, Association of medical students and teachers should come together proactively to thwart the doubts and come up with a strong and effective solution." Dr Pravin Dhage, President, Association of Resident Doctors said, "it shouldn't go in vain. The Indian Government must take into account the sufferings of these medical students and should also make provisions to admit them in medical colleges of India. They can be adjusted as a one time measure in the existing medical colleges of our country using appropriate distribution systems. And it is possible only by amending the current provisions in the National Medical Commission. --IANS gcb/skp/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Disenchantment against established political parties, coupled with populist measures and leadership clarity, was among the primary reasons for the AAP's thumping poll victory in Punjab, but the party did not get the same traction in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh as the discontent was not high against the existing parties there, political analysts observed. The AAP swept the Punjab assembly polls, results of which were announced on Thursday, bagging 92 seats in the 117-seat assembly. Several top leaders from the ruling Congress and opposition Shiromani Akali were trounced. Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, former chief ministers Parkash Singh Badal and Amarinder Singh, SAD leaders Sukhbir Singh Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia and Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu lost the polls. The AAP bagged 42 per cent of the total votes polled, while the first runner-up Congress and second runner-up SAD were way behind the AAP securing 23 and 18 per cent votes respectively. However, the AAP could not replicate its success of Punjab and Delhi in other states. In Uttarakhand, it drew a blank and won two seats in Goa. The BJP posted a handsome victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, secured a simple majority in Manipur and was the largest party in Goa. Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, said it is the combination of several factors that contributed to the AAP's stupendous performance. He said the percentage of votes bagged by the AAP in Punjab shows that there was massive disenchantment against the ruling Congress and the SAD. But factors such as populist measures and leadership were also major determinants that led to the AAP's victory in Punjab, Kumar noted. The AAP has promised 300 units of free electricity, education and health reforms on the lines of Delhi. On the leadership front, the party projected AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal as the party leader and as its chief ministerial candidate for Punjab. This is not for the first time that the AAP tried to sell the Delhi model of governance. In 2017, it tried hard to sell the model in Punjab but could only bag 20 seats. It contested Goa and Gujarat assembly polls in 2017, Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls in 2019 but failed to win even one seat. Political scientist Suhas Palshikar said leadership or populist measures were not the primary factors behind the AAP's victory in Punjab. Disenchantment against the existing ruling parties was the major reason behind AAP's feat, he said. Palshikar pointed out that 2022 was the AAP's second attempt to secure power in Punjab. For the first time, AAP's four MPs got elected to Lok Sabha in 2014 from Punjab, not Delhi. In 2017, the AAP secured 20 seats and 23 per cent votes, bagging the honour of becoming an opposition party in its very first attempt. So the party was not starting from scratch in Punjab, said Palshikar, who is a former professor of political science at the Savitribai Phule University, Pune. He noted that Delhi has a large section of people who have connection with Punjab. A lot of Sikh population from Delhi also hails from Punjab, so there is a natural connect in what happens in Delhi and Punjab, Palshikar added. The AAP secured a second term in Delhi, bagging more than two-thirds seats in the national capital in 2020. However, the AAP could not tap on to the anti-incumbency in Goa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Perhaps, the levels of discontent in Goa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh were not as high as Punjab, Palshikar observed. Plus, the AAP had not contested in other states with the party using its full strength in Punjab, he added. Uttara Sahashrabuddhe, a political science professor at the Mumbai University, echoes Palshikar. The kind of disillusionment against the established parties which was seen in Punjab was not seen in Goa, Sahashrabuddhe said. She said there were other factors behind AAP's performance in Delhi and the leadership crisis in the opposition parties was definitely a major one. "The way Amarinder Singh was sacked as the chief minister and internal squabbles too contributed to the Congress defeat, she said. On the other hand, the AAP looked united. Researcher, political analyst and journalist Sandesh Prabhudesai said the AAP may have won power in Punjab, but it failed to understand the electorate in Goa. "It tried to flaunt (in Goa) the Delhi model of education, but then the literacy in Goa is high. Dayanand Bandodkar, the first chief minister of Goa, ensured that schools were there in every village. The healthcare system in Goa is much better than other parts of the country, he said. More importantly, the AAP failed to understand Goan politics, he said, noting that it declared Amit Palekar, belonging to the state's dominant Bhandari caste, as its chief ministerial candidate. Goa has never voted on the lines or caste or religion, Prabhudesai added. As AAP now focuses to be a national party, the next state on its list is Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, a senior AAP leader added. "People in these states need an alternative and AAP is the one, the leader 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.) A sketch of Chinese soldiers robbing Koreans along the Yalu River in the mid-1890s Robert Neff Collection By Robert Neff In the late 19th century, the region around the Yalu River was the Wild West of the Korean Peninsula. At night, it was not uncommon for tigers to prey upon the unwary traveler or snatch farm animals and children from isolated villages. Its great natural resources, especially timber and gold, attracted a danger even greater than tigers it attracted men willing to murder in order to fill their own pockets. Chinese smugglers and pirates occasionally occupied the small islands near the mouth of the river engaging in their illegal activities until chased away by the Chinese navy. In the past, a great swath of land on the north bank of the river, nearly 100 kilometers wide and 500 kilometers long, was a no man's land a great wall of stakes defined the boundary of this unpopulated and uncultivated zone. However, in 1875, the Chinese government claimed the region to the banks of the Yalu. Koreans caught on the Chinese side of the river were to be summarily executed while Chinese caught on the Korean side were to be apprehended by the Korean authorities who would then hand them over to their Chinese counterparts for execution. In 1883, a group of Korean woodcutters frequently crossed the river and poached Chinese timber. One day, a Chinese constable gave chase and followed the poachers back across the river and confronted them. This brave (or audacious depending on your view) act cost him his life. For the next four years the constable's family through the Chinese authorities sought justice. They urged the Korean authorities to have the poachers who murdered him arrested and punished but their pleas fell upon deaf ears at least in the Korean courts. Fate, however, seems to have been paying attention. Logging operations on the Yalu River circa 1910-1920s Robert Neff Collection In 1887, a group of Chinese woodcutters crossed the river and poached timber from Korean territory. According to the Peking Gazette, the Chinese woodcutters were enjoying fairly good business, unmolested by the local Korean population. However, this all came to an end when a Korean magistrate learned of the poaching and, accompanied by a group of soldiers and lower officials, confronted the Chinese woodcutters. The confrontation resulted in violence and the Chinese overpowered the Koreans, tied them up and carried them back across the river into Chinese territory. The guard station was closed so the Korean captives were taken to a nearby house where they would be held until the matter could be settled by a Chinese magistrate. Unfortunately for the Koreans, the house was the residence of the Chinese constable who had been killed four years earlier. The dead constable's son "refused to release them until his father's murderers were given up, and to quicken their efforts he promised to kill every one of them, from chief magistrate to common soldier, unless his demands were complied with." The captured Korean magistrate sent urgent messages to his subordinates on the other side of the river and, on the following day, two Korean men were sent over one man confessed his guilt. The constable's son summarily executed the self-confessed murderer with an axe-blow to the head. True to his word, the constable's son then released his captives and was subsequently arrested by a Chinese magistrate. The Chinese magistrate invited his corresponding Korean peer to participate in the trial "but the latter begged to be excused, on the ground of other judicial engagements." The trial dragged on for nearly three years the delay attributed to the death (and/or lack of witnesses). The constable's son was found guilty of murdering his father's murderer and was sentenced to death. However, he received an "amnesty" for agreeing to pay about $50 towards the dead Korean's funeral expenses. As for the "valiant woodcutters" who carried the captured Korean magistrate and his soldiers into Chinese territory, they all escaped punishment and (at least for a short time) "prudently removed themselves from the banks of the Yalu." This was not the only revenge murder to occur along the river. An 1889 map of the northern part of the Korean Peninsula Robert Neff Collection Days after the retained power for the second consecutive term in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister is scheduled to visit Delhi on Sunday to discuss the new cabinet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. National President JP Nadda, Amit Shah and BL Santosh in Delhi will be present at the meeting. The swearing-in ceremony date will also be discussed during the meeting. As per sources, the is also considering several new faces in the Cabinet along with the new Deputy Chief Minister. State President Ratan Dev Singh, Minister Sunil Bansal, state in-charge Radha Mohan Singh will also accompany Adityanath to Delhi on Sunday. It is being speculated that the leadership has prepared a basic list of probable Deputy Chief Ministers and Ministers on the basis of qualification, caste and regional equations because BJP gives place to every caste in its cabinet. The Central leadership will have the final say on the list. For the post of Deputy Chief Minister, the names of Swatantra Dev Singh, Baby Rani Maurya, Brijesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya are in talks. Swatantra Dev Singh was the Transport Minister, apart from this he was the BJP state president. Keshav Prasad Maurya has definitely lost from Sirathu seat in the elections this time but he is the face of OBC. As Deputy Chief Minister, he has governed the state well, so once again he can be made the Deputy Chief Minister. Baby Rani Maurya has been the Governor of Uttarakhand and is a well-known face of Jatav society in Uttar Pradesh. Brijesh Pathak, of the Brahmin community, has been a law minister in the Uttar Pradesh government. UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh, who is also a Kurmi leader, was one of the prominent faces behind BJP's big win in Uttar Pradesh. Law Minister Brijesh Pathak, who won from Lucknow Cantonment seat, may get the role of Deputy Chief Minister in the Yogi government to maintain the Brahmin equation. In Yogi Sarkar 2, the leadership is also considering the inclusion of two former police officers in the new cabinet- Rajeshwar Singh and Asim Arun. The newly-elected MLA from Sarojini Nagar seat of Lucknow, Dr Rajeshwar Singh was an officer of Uttar Pradesh Police. BJP MLA Aseem Arun has won from Kannauj (Sadar) seat. Asim Arun was an officer of the rank of ADG. Before being the first police commissioner of Kanpur, Asim Arun's father late Ram Arun was twice the DGP of Uttar Pradesh. Many Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have won by a huge margin of votes. In this, the candidate from the Noida Assembly seat and Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh has won by a margin of 1,81,513 votes. The BJP senior leaders are also discussing Pankaj Singh getting a place in the Yogi cabinet. Till now, no one from Noida had got a place in the Yogi cabinet, so it is expected that this time Pankaj Singh, who has performed brilliantly in 2017 and now in 2022 too, can be made a minister in the Yogi government. Shalabh Mani Tripathi, a Brahmin young face close to Yogi and an experienced journalist, can be made a minister in the Yogi cabinet. Shalabh has also been in ABVP earlier. Allies Apna Dal and Nishad Party would also get a place in the Cabinet-MLC Ashish Patel and Sanjay Nishad can get important roles to play. Besides the new faces, old leaders like Suresh Khanna, who won with a landslide victory from the Shahjahanpur seat for the ninth consecutive time, can also be made a minister. Brijesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya can also be part of the cabinet again. The swearing-in of the Yogi government is likely to be held on March 15 or 21. Adityanath on Friday tendered his resignation to Governor Anandiben Patel at the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow. Following the massive victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Adityanath on Friday held a meeting with his ministerial colleagues at the party office in Lucknow. Adityanath, a monk-turned-politician, won his first-ever Assembly election by a margin of 1,03,390 from Gorakhpur Urban constituency, defeating the Samajwadi Party candidate Subhawati Upendra Dutt Shukla, who secured 62,109 votes in the recently-concluded . Adityanath will be the first Chief Minister in the last 37 years to return to power after completing a full term in the state. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves rose by $394 million to $631.92 billion in the week ended March 4 led by a sharp jump in foreign currency assets, the (RBI) data showed. The forex reserves had declined by $1.425 billion in the previous week. The foreign currency assets, which is the biggest component of the forex reserves, jumped by $634 million to $565.466 billion during the week under review, according to the RBI's weekly statistical supplement. The foreign currency assets had dropped by $2.228 billion in the week ended February 25. Expressed in US dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-dollar currencies like Euro, UK's Pound Sterling and Japanese Yen held in the foreign exchange reserves. All other components of the forex reserves posted declines during the week under review. The value of gold reserves dropped by $147 million to $42.32 billion, the data showed. The value of India's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) declined by $59 million to $18.981 billion. India's reserve position in the IMF dropped by $34 million to $5.153 billion. (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.) Ahead of the no-confidence motion against his government, Prime Minister on Friday used derogatory language for Opposition leaders and threatened them with consequences once the motion fails, local media reported. launched a scathing attack on the troika of opposition figures, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif, the three leaders who are spearheading the no-trust move against him while addressing a public meeting at Dir Scouts Ground in Balambat, the Dawn reported. Khan referred to the trio of Opposition leaders as "Showbaz Sharif, Diesel and Dakoo". Khan, however, kept his choicest slur for the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) [JUI-F] chief, brushing aside advice that he himself said had been received from the head of the country's armed forces, the report further said. "I was just talking to Gen Bajwa (Chief of Pakistani Army) and he told me not to refer to Fazl as 'diesel'. But I am not the one who is saying that. The people have named him diesel," Khan reportedly said referring to JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Maulana Fazlur Rehman lashed out at Pakistani Prime minister and told him to "keep his fight political," after the Pakistani PM's verbal assault He was speaking at the press conference organized by JUI-F chief along with Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif in Islamabad, Pakistani broadcaster Geo News reported. Imran Khan, in his address also threatened that a sea of Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers would storm Islamabad a day before voting on the no-confidence resolution tabled by the opposition in the National Assembly against him. The prime minister reiterated that opposition leaders would face his wrath after the no-trust motion failed. "It was my dream that the opposition submits a no-confidence resolution against me in the NA (National Assembly)," he said, adding that the move would fail and the opposition would meet a shameful defeat, the report further said. Khan went on to talk about his government's achievements including the announcement of the recent 'relief measures' which reduced the prices of fuel and electricity tariffs by Rs 10 and Rs 5 respectively. The comments come a day after Islamabad Police stormed Parliament Lodges and made 19 arrests including key opposition members of the National Assembly. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Home Minister on Saturday flagged off 'Dandi Cycle Yatra' on the occasion of the 92nd anniversary of the Dandi March in . The Dandi Cycle Yatra, organised by Gujarat Vidyapeeth, left for Dandi from Kocharab Ashram in . The Dandi March or Salt Satyagrah was organised by Mahatma Gandhi from the Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat's to the village of Dandi in the state's coastal area. The Salt Satyagrah was a part of Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent movement against British rule. The movement was started on March 12, 1930, and ended on April 5, 1930. (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 President is authorising the State Department to provide additional aid to of up to USD 200 million. The funds would cover weapons as well as military services, education and training as Ukrainians seek to repel a Russian invasion. The aid is part of broader U.S. support in the form of aid and sanctions. When Russia invaded in late February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that USD 1 billion in aid had been provided to . The ongoing warfare has led to additional support with Congress this week approving USD 13.6 billion in additional aid, a sum that includes USD 6.5 billion for the costs of sending troops and weapons to Eastern Europe and USD 6.8 billion for refugees and economic aid. Biden plans to sign the spending bill with the additional aid when he receives it next week. (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.) Detected in the Brazilian reached a record high for the month of February following a similar record the prior month. Satellite alerts of in February corresponded to 199 square kilometers (77 square miles), the highest indicator for that month in seven years of record-keeping and 62% more than in the same month in 2021, according to preliminary data from the Brazilian space agency's Deter monitoring system that were released on Friday. Deter data last month showed January registered 430 square kilometers of deforestation, more than quadruple the level in the same month last year. January and February are among the months that register the least amount deforestation, and pale in comparison to levels seen in the Southern Hemisphere's summer months. Still, some have argued the uptick could be a worrisome sign for months to come, with loggers and legislators eager to make headway before a possible handover of presidential power next January. has soared under President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been an outspoken champion of development in the and whose administration has defanged environmental authorities. Early polls show him trailing his rival Luiz Incio Lula da Silva in October presidential elections. Imagine what will happen when months of greater deforestation incidence arrive, even more so in an electoral year, Mrcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a network of environmental groups, told The Associated Press. We know that many who are deforesting, and even lawmakers who approve bills that favor deforestation, are betting on all or nothing, now or never, for forest destruction and reduction of forest protection through legislation. Earlier this week, thousands of Brazilians answered the call of artists and nonprofits, gathering outside Congress to protest bills they say threaten the rainforest by encouraging deforestation and industrial activity on protected Indigenous lands. Deter data is considered a leading indicator for complete calculations released near yearend from the more accurate system, Prodes, which is based on clearer images. According to Prodes data related to the 12-month reference period from Aug. 2020 to July 2021, deforestation in Brazil's Amazon reached a 15-year high after a 22% jump from the prior year. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US-based Colgate-Palmolive has suspended the importation and sales of all its products barring essential health and hygiene products in in response to the country's invasion of . An official statement issued by Colgate-Palmolive CEO Noel Wallace said that the company has also ceased all capital investments, media, advertising and promotional activities in . "Many of you have also asked about our operations in . We have suspended the importation and sales of all products other than essential health and hygiene products for everyday use. We also have ceased all capital investments, media, advertising and promotional activities. Going forward, we will continue to assess the situation to take actions in a way that aligns with our values and reflects our commitment to Colgate people and the communities where they live and work," said the statement. Earlier, the US beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola along with fast food major McDonald's and coffeehouse chain Starbucks had announced the suspension, temporarily, of their businesses in Russia. Further, credit card and payment giants Mastercard and Visa announced that they were suspending operations in Russia and that their cards issued by Russian banks will no longer work outside the country The slew of sanctions and suspensions of businesses came following Russia's invasion of after recognizing the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics. However, Russia continues to maintain that it started the "military operations" in to save the residents of eastern Ukraine and "demilitarise" and "denazify" the political leadership of the country. (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.) Enforced disappearances is endemic to as there are reports of a fresh wave of "missing persons" in the country. In 2011, following orders from the Supreme Court, the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances was formally constituted and tasked with a mandate to "trace the whereabouts" of missing persons and "fix responsibility on the individuals or organisations responsible". Asfand Yar Warraich, writing in Dawn said that since its inception, it has received over 8,279 complaints, out of which at least 6,047 have been 'disposed of' -- a phrase that makes it sound as though some sort of justice has been dispensed in final form. But in fact, signifies only that the person who forms the subject of the complaint is either -- confirmed dead, returned home, located at an internment centre, or in jail. It also includes any complaints 'deleted' due to technical faults, like an incorrect name or address, and cases that have been ruled not to be instances of enforced disappearance. The missing person may be dead, their mutilated body dumped into a ditch. They may be interned, locked in some detention centre of dubious legality. They may be subjected to torture or maltreatment at the hands of ruthless interrogators. Over the past decade, it has tracked hundreds of missing persons to various detention facilities, at times years after they were reported missing. Tracing people down is only part of the puzzle. Sadly, to date, not a single perpetrator has been publicly identified and prosecuted. In light of this pitiful performance, the International Commission of Jurists has fittingly noted that in its current form, the body has "enabled and entrenched impunity" instead of "providing redress to victims". UN experts have also voiced similar concerns. Not surprisingly, as the inquiry commission cheerfully keeps on ticking people off of its list, more keep surfacing. The latest is Hafeez Baloch, a student of Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, who was abducted by unidentifiable actors in his hometown of Khuzdar a few weeks prior. His disappearance follows on the heels of two others -- Faseeh and Sohail, both students of Balochistan University who vanished at the end of last year. Moreover, the law cannot protect them, because the state (the very body responsible for ensuring that protection) has deliberately placed the person beyond its reach. Plausible deniability ensures that any fingers that are pointed at public functionaries rest, at best, on circumstantial evidence, and at worst, on mere conjecture. And so, they suffer on, as do their families, trapped in a perpetual limbo of hope and dread, said Warraich. (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 Mark Trevelyan LONDON (Reuters) - owner Meta Platforms said Friday that a temporary change in its content policy, only for Ukraine, was needed to let users voice opposition to Russia's attack, as opened a criminal case after the company said it would allow posts such as "death to the Russian invaders." Russian prosecutors asked a court to designate the U.S. tech giant as an "extremist organisation," and the communications regulator said it would restrict access to Meta's Instagram starting March 14. The company said the decision would affect 80 million users in . "A criminal case has been initiated ... in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, which owns the social networks and Instagram," Russia's Investigative Committee said. The committee reports directly to President Vladimir Putin. It was not immediately clear what the consequences of the criminal case might be. Meta Global Affairs President Nick Clegg responded after the Russian government action with a tweeted statement saying that the company aimed to protect rights to speech as an expression of self-defense reacting to the invasion of and that the policy only applied to . "If we applied our standard content policies without any adjustments we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces, which would rightly be viewed as unacceptable," Clegg wrote. "We have no quarrel with the Russian people. There is no change at all in our policies on hate speech as far as the Russian people are concerned," he added. Two weeks into Russia's war in Ukraine, a Meta spokesperson said on Thursday the company had temporarily altered its rules for political speech, allowing posts such as "death to the Russian invaders," although it would not allow calls for violence against Russian civilians. Meta said the temporary change aimed to allow for forms of political expression that would normally violate its rules. Its oversight board said on Friday that it had been briefed by the company on Ukraine-related policies and that context was important for content policies and enforcement. Internal Meta emails previously seen by Reuters said the temporary policy changes on calls for violence to Russian soldiers had applied to the markets of: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and . A Meta spokesperson declined to provide comment other than Clegg's statement. The emails seen by Reuters also showed the U.S. company had temporarily allowed posts that call for the death of Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. "We hope it is not true because if it is true then it will mean that there will have to be the most decisive measures to end the activities of this company," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. INFORMATION WARS has for more than a year been striving to curb the influence of U.S. tech giants including Alphabet Inc's Google and Twitter, repeatedly fining them for allowing what it deems to be illegal content. But the invasion of Ukraine - met by a storm of condemnation and unprecedented sanctions - has sharply raised the stakes in the information war. Social media provide an opportunity for dissent against Putin's line - loyally followed by the tightly controlled state media - that Moscow was forced to launch its "special military operation" to defend Russian-speakers in Ukraine against genocide and to demilitarise and "denazify" the country. The Investigative Committee said the move could violate articles of the Russian criminal law against public calls for extremist activities. "Such actions of the (Meta) company's management not only form an idea that terrorist activity is permissible, but are aimed at inciting hatred and enmity towards the citizens of the Russian Federation," the state prosecutor's office said. It said it had applied to a court to recognise Meta as an extremist organisation and prohibit its activities in Russia. Meta's other services also are popular in Russia. Facebook last year had an estimated 7.5 million users and WhatsApp 67 million, according to researcher Insider Intelligence. Last week, Russia said it was banning Facebook in the country in response to what it said were restrictions of access to Russian media on the platform. Instagram is a favoured tool of jailed Putin opponent Alexei Navalny, who used it in a message posted via his lawyers and supporters on Friday to call for Russians to join protests against the Ukraine war and "mad maniac Putin" this weekend. WhatsApp will not be affected by the legal moves, Russia's RIA news agency cited a source as saying, as the messaging app is considered a means of communication not a way to post information. (Editing by Susan Fenton, Mark Potter, Louise Heavens, Peter Henderson, Nick Zieminski and Cynthia Osterman) (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.) Conflict raged northwest of Kyiv on Saturday and other cities were encircled and under heavy shelling, while Ukrainian officials said fighting and threats of Russian air attacks were endangering attempted evacuations. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk had said the government planned to use agreed humanitarian corridors out of the besieged southern port city of Mariupol as well as towns and villages in the regions of Kyiv, Sumy and some other areas. But the governor of the Kyiv region said fighting and threats of Russian air attacks were continuing during evacuation attempts and the Donetsk region's governor said constant shelling was complicating bringing aid into Mariupol. An adviser to the Ukrainian presidency said earlier that 79 evacuation buses and two trucks with humanitarian cargo had left for Sumy on Saturday. Buses and trucks also left Zaporizhzhia for Mariupol, a video released by the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration on social media showed. At least 1,582 civilians in Mariupol have been killed as a result of Russian shelling and a 12-day blockade, the city council said in an online statement on Friday. It was not possible to verify casualty figures. Air raid sirens blared across most Ukrainian cities on Saturday morning urging people to seek shelters, local media reported. Russian rocket attacks destroyed a Ukrainian airbase and hit an ammunition depot near the town of Vasylkiv in the Kyiv region on Saturday morning, Interfax quoted Vasylkiv Mayor Natalia Balasynovych as saying. Ukraine's foreign ministry said a mosque in Mariupol where more than 80 people had been sheltering had also been shelled, without saying whether anyone had been killed or wounded. Moscow has denied targeting civilians what it calls a special operation to demilitarise and unseat leaders it refers to as neo-Nazis. It has not responded to Ukrainian challenges to provide evidence. said it expected a new wave of attacks on the regions around the capital Kyiv, the country's second city Kharkiv and Donbass in the east, where Russian-backed separatists have expanded their control. Britain's defence ministry said on Friday that Russian forces could target the capital Kyiv in a few days. In an update on Saturday, it said fighting northwest of the capital continued, with the bulk of Russian ground forces 25 km (16 miles) from the centre. The cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol remained encircled under heavy Russian shelling, it said. Russian President launched the invasion on Feb. 24 in an operation that has been near universally condemned around the world and that has drawn tough Western sanctions on Russia. The bombardment has trapped thousands of people in besieged cities and sent 2.5 million Ukrainians fleeing to neighbouring countries. Sanctions Efforts to isolate Russia economically have stepped up, with the United States imposing new sanctions on senior Kremlin officials and Russian oligarchs on Friday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would on Saturday suspend Moscow's privileged trade and economic treatment, crack down on its use of crypto-assets, and ban the import of iron and steel goods from Russia, as well as the export of luxury goods in the other direction. Moscow said on Saturday the European Union would end up paying at least three times more for oil, gas and electricity. "I believe the European Union would not benefit from this - we have more durable supplies and stronger nerves," Russian foreign ministry official Nikolai Kobrinets told Interfax. As the Russian invasion entered its third week, its forces kept up their bombardment of cities across the country on Friday. Satellite images showed them firing artillery as they advanced on Kyiv. As hundreds sheltered in Kharkiv metro stations, Nastya, a young girl lying on a makeshift bed on the floor of a train carriage, said she had been there for over a week, unable to move around much and ill with a virus. "I'm scared for my home, for the homes of my friends, very scared for the whole country, and scared for myself of course," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Courtesy of Tima Miroshnichenko By David A. Tizzard Fighting raged near Kyiv on Saturday and heavy shelling in other areas threatened new attempts to evacuate trapped civilians as France said Russian President Vladimir Putin showed no readiness to end the war in . Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow was sending in new troops after Ukrainian forces put 31 of Russia's battalion tactical groups out of action in what he called Russia's largest army losses in decades. It was not possible to verify his statements. He also said about 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed so far and urged the West to get more involved in peace negotiations. The president suggested Russian forces would face a fight to the death if they sought to enter the capital. "If they decide to carpet bomb (Kyiv), and simply erase the history of this region, the history of the Kyivan Rus, the history of Europe, and destroy all of us, then they will enter Kyiv. If that's their goal, let them come in, but they will have to live on this land by themselves," he told a news conference. Zelenskiy discussed the war with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron, and the German and French leaders then spoke to Putin by phone and urged the Russian leader to order an immediate ceasefire. A Kremlin statement on the 75-minute call made no mention of a ceasefire and a French presidency official said: "We did not detect a willingness on Putin's part to end the war". Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused the United States of escalating tensions and said the situation had been complicated by convoys of Western arms shipments to that Russian forces considered "legitimate targets". In comments reported by the Tass news agency, Ryabkov made no specific threat, but any attack on such convoys before they reached would risk widening the war. Responding to Zelenskiy's call for the West to be more involved in peace negotiations, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said: "If there are diplomatic steps that we can take that the Ukrainian government believes would be helpful, we're prepared to take them." Humanitarian Corridors Air raid sirens blared across most Ukrainian cities on Saturday morning urging people to seek shelters, local media reported. Russian rocket attacks destroyed a Ukrainian airbase and hit an ammunition depot near the town of Vasylkiv in the Kyiv region on Saturday morning, Interfax Ukraine quoted Vasylkiv Mayor Natalia Balasynovych as saying. The exhausted-looking governor of Chernihiv, around 150 km (100 miles) northeast of Kyiv, gave a video update in front of the ruins of the city's Ukraine Hotel, which he said had been hit. "There is no such hotel any more," Viacheslav Chaus said, wiping tears from his eyes. "But Ukraine itself still exists, and it will prevail." Britain's defence ministry said fighting northwest of the capital continued, with the bulk of Russian ground forces 25 km (16 miles) from the centre of Kyiv, which it has said could attack within days. Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol remained encircled under heavy Russian shelling, it said. Putin launched the invasion on Feb. 24 in an operation that has been almost universally condemned around the world and that has drawn tough Western sanctions on . The Russian bombardment has trapped thousands of people in besieged cities and sent 2.5 million Ukrainians fleeing to neighbouring countries. Zelenskiy said the conflict meant some small Ukrainian towns no longer existed. Moscow has denied targeting civilians in what it calls a special operation to demilitarise Ukraine and unseat leaders it refers to as neo-Nazis. It has not responded to Ukrainian challenges to provide evidence. Ukrainian officials had planned to use humanitarian corridors from Mariupol as well as towns and villages in the regions of Kyiv, Sumy and some other areas on Saturday. The governor of the Kyiv region, Oleksiy Kuleba, said fighting and threats of Russian air attacks were continuing on Saturday morning though some evacuations were proceeding. The Donetsk region's governor said constant shelling was complicating bringing aid into the southern city of Mariupol. "There are reports of looting and violent confrontations among civilians over what little basic supplies remain in the city," the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. "Medicines for life-threatening illnesses are quickly running out, hospitals are only partially functioning, and the food and water are in short supply." Makeshift Burials People were boiling ground water for drinking, using wood to cook food and burying dead bodies near where they lay, a staff member for Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) in Mariupol said. "We saw people who died because of lack of medication," he said, adding that many people had also been wounded or killed. "Neighbours just dig a hole in the ground and put the dead bodies inside." At least 1,582 civilians in Mariupol have been killed as a result of Russian shelling and a 12-day blockade, the city council said on Friday. It was not possible to verify casualty figures. Moscow has previously blamed Kyiv for failed evacuations. Ukraine has accused Russian forces of kidnapping the mayor of the southern city of Melitopol, which controls. Zelenskiy called on Saturday for his release and more than 2,000 residents protested outside the city administration building to demand the release of mayor's release, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president's office, said. Russia has not commented on the fate of Fedorov. Efforts to isolate Russia economically have stepped up, with the United States imposing new sanctions on senior Kremlin officials and Russian oligarchs on Friday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would on Saturday suspend Moscow's privileged trade and economic treatment, crack down on its use of crypto-assets, and ban the import of iron and steel goods from Russia, as well as the export of luxury goods in the other direction. (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 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday informed that the humanitarian situation in is deteriorating at an alarming pace. An estimated 1.9 million have been internally displaced and more than 2.3 million people have crossed international borders out of Ukraine, according to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. Between February 24 and March 9 at the end of the day, 1,506 civilian casualties were recorded and this includes 549 people killed, 41 of them children, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The real figure could rise considerably as reported casualties are confirmed. "Three things are critical in the short term, as Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has stressed: civilians, whether they stay or leave, must be respected and protected; safe passage is needed for humanitarian supplies; and we need a system of constant communication with parties to the conflict," the OCHA said in a daily briefing. In terms of response, humanitarian organizations are deploying additional staff across the country and are working to move supplies to warehouses in different hubs including in to serve people in need. So far more than 500,000 people are being reached by the UN and partners with some form of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, including life-saving food, shelter, blankets, and medical supplies. "If humanitarian access is secured, the UN and partners are set to reach much higher numbers given the scope and scale of the humanitarian operation being deployed," OCHA said. The UN Refugee Agency reports that by March 9, it had delivered 85 metric tons of humanitarian assistance to reception and transit centres in Vinnytsia in central Ukraine, which is hosting people who have fled hostilities further east. (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.) Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow confirmed facts revealed during the military operation that prove the Kyiv regime is destroying evidence of military biological programmes. "We confirm facts revealed during the special military operation in Ukraine, which prove that the Kyiv regime has been destroying the evidence of military biological programmes Kyiv was implementing. They were funded by @DeptofDefense," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. She said that the Western states are posing a threat to the citizens of Russia, Ukraine, and all of Europe by supporting the nuclear facilities. "Carrying out attacks against their own nuclear facilities is already becoming a hallmark of the Ukrainian leadership. Kyiv, as well as the American masters of Vladimir Zelenskyy and the US vassals in NATO, are the ones to blame for this. Without such support, these provocations would be pointless," the diplomat said, according to TASS News Agency. "The Western political adventurers, who encourage Zelenskyy's actions, endanger the lives of not only the citizens of and but of all of Europe," the spokeswoman said, as per TASS. (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 President Joe Biden said he has moved 12,000 troops along the borders with Russia, such as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania while asserting that will not be victorious in the war he has waged against . Addressing members of the House Democratic Caucus on Friday, Biden stressed over "not fighting a third World War in Ukraine" but avowed sending an "unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of NATO territory". The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a group of 30 North American and European nations. According to NATO, its purpose "is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means." Biden said the people of have demonstrated remarkable bravery and courage in the face of a Russian military offensive but the security assistance that the US provides has been critical in their defence. "And as we provide support to Ukraine, we're going to continue to stand together with our allies in Europe and send an unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of NATO territory with a united galvanized NATO," the US president said. "That's why I've moved 12,000 American forces along the borders with -- Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania et cetra... Granted, if we respond, it is World War three. But we have a sacred obligation on NATO territory... although we will not fight a third World War in ." 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 idea that we're going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews, just understand -- and don't kid yourself, no matter what you all say -- that's called World War Three," he said. The US president said that he spent hours the alliance together -- the EU, NATO and including all those in Asia. "As a result, we've been able to ramp up our economic pressure on Putin and further isolate on the global stage," he said. Biden said the G7 nations -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States -- made a move to remove the favoured nation status for . He claimed that as a result of the US-led sanctions, the economy of Russia is badly impacted. "The totality of our economic sanctions and export controls are crushing the Russian economy. The Ruble has lost more than half its value." "Moscow Stock Exchange is closed... why is it closed? Because the moment it opens, it will be disbanded. Credit rating agencies have downgraded Russia's government to junk status," Biden said. He said that democracies are rising to the moment rallying the world for peace and security. "We are showing strength and we will never falter. Putin's war against Ukraine will never be a victory." "I want to thank you for showing a unified front to the world. When Putin unleashed his assault, he thought he could divide NATO. "He thought he could divide this country in terms of the parties. He thought he could divide Democrats and Republicans at home, but he failed," Biden told the members of the House Democratic Caucus. (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.) Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday said that the Opposition would hit the street, bringing anarchy in the country, if the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister fails, local media reported. would not be able to rule the country even if the no-confidence resolution against his government fails, The News International quoted the PDM chief. Rehman said that though there are apprehensions of failure of the no-confidence motion, government should not think about continuing its regime as the Opposition was waging 'Jihad' against the premiere by moving a no-trust move. "A person can be mad and its higher degree is insane as he had nothing to do with nobility and he had an inherent absence of noble character and no one knows in which society he has been brought up," the media outlet quoted Rehman as saying. He added that Imran Khan did not fit in the slot of the Prime Minister as he called others names, used abusive language and did immoral things. "Whether we come or not, Imran Khan should go and we will use every democratic and Constitutional manner for his ouster," he stated. He also said that the civil or military bureaucracy should keep away from politics and asked the Election Commission of to restrain Imran Khan from holding public rallies as a no-trust motion has been moved against him. Notably, the Opposition parties in are jettisoning mutual hatred to oust Imran Khan as they submitted the no-trust motion in the National Assembly secretariat on Tuesday. However, the Imran Khan government has exuded confidence to defeat the no-trust motion. (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.) Ukraine's border guard service has said that Poland's and Krakow can no longer accept refugees from . Since Russia's military operation began in Ukraine, thousands and thousands of people of are fleeing to different countries. Most of the border-sharing countries have warmly accepted refugees from . Over the course of two weeks, about 100,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Krakow, and 200,000 in . But now, both of the cities are not able to accept refugees. Even, in Romania, a total of 343,515 Ukrainian citizens have entered the country, of which 258,844 have since proceeded onward to other countries, while over 84,000 Ukrainians are currently staying in Romania, American Broadcaster CNN citing Romania official reported on Thursday [local time]. Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24. (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 top official of the Russian Defence Ministry said that the country's armed forces on Saturday disabled the main radio intelligence centre of Ukraine's military with a high-precision strike. "On the morning of March 12, a high-precision long-range weapon was struck at the military infrastructure of . The military airfield in Vasilkovo and the main centre of radio and electronic intelligence of the Armed Forces of in Brovary were put out of action," RT News quoted Major General Igor Konashenkov, the Ministry's official representative, as saying. Since started its invasion of Kiev on February 24, 3,491 military facilities in have been disabled, Konashenkov claimed. According to the official, 123 drones, 1,127 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 115 multiple launch rocket systems have also been destroyed. also announced that military airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk were put out of action by high-precision weapons. Aviation and air defence of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down five unmanned aerial vehicles and one tactical missile of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a day. --IANS san/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.) executed 81 people Saturday convicted of crimes ranging from killings to belonging to militant groups, the largest known mass execution carried out in the kingdom in its modern history. The executions carried out surpassed even the toll of a January 1980 mass execution for the 63 militants convicted of seizing the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979, the worst-ever militant attack to target the kingdom and Islam's holiest site. It wasn't clear why the kingdom choose Saturday for the executions, though they came as much of the world's attention remained focused on Russia's war on Ukraine. The number of death penalty cases being carried out in had dropped during the coronavirus pandemic, though the kingdom continued to behead convicts under King Salman and his assertive son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The state-run Saudi Press Agency announced Saturday's executions, saying they included those convicted of various crimes, including the murdering of innocent men, women and children. The kingdom also said some of those executed were members of al-Qaida, the Islamic State group and also backers of Yemen's Houthi rebels. A Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Iran-backed Houthis since 2015 in neighboring Yemen in an effort to restore the internationally recognised government to power. The report provided no breakdown for those executed, not say where the executions took place. The accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process, which found them guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes that left a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers dead, the Saudi Press Agency said. The kingdom will continue to take a strict and unwavering stance against terrorism and extremist ideologies that threaten the stability of the entire world, the report added. It did not say how the prisoners were executed, though death-row inmates typically are beheaded in . An announcement by Saudi state television described those executed as having followed the footsteps of Satan in carrying out their crimes. The kingdom's last mass execution came in January 2016, when the kingdom executed 47 people, including a prominent opposition Shiite cleric who had rallied demonstrations in the kingdom. In 2019, the kingdom beheaded 37 Saudi citizens, most of them minority Shiites, in a mass execution across the country for alleged terrorism-related crimes. The 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque remains a crucial moment in the history of the oil-rich kingdom. A band of ultraconservative Saudi Sunni militants took the Grand Mosque, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that Muslims pray toward five times a day, demanding the Al Saud royal family abdicate. A two-week siege that followed ended with an official death toll of 229 killed. The kingdom's rulers soon further embraced Wahhabism, an ultraconservative Islamic doctrine. Since taking power, Crown Prince Mohammed under his father has increasingly liberalized life in the kingdom, opening movie theaters, allowing women to drive and defanging the country's once-feared religious police. However, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the crown prince also ordered the slaying and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, while overseeing airstrikes in Yemen that killed hundreds of civilians. (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.) Ongoing talks between and the International Monitory Fund (IMF) have so far remained inconclusive due to "deviations" from agreed terms, media reports said on Saturday. This uncertainty remains as Pakistan's precarious financial condition under the government continues. The two sides have failed to reach a consensus amid the country's budget deficit and current account deficit. Last month, Pakistan's former finance minister and well-known economist Dr Hafeez A Pasha disclosed that the current account deficit was heading towards a historic record by touching the USD 20 billion mark or 6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the current fiscal year. Pasha said the international prices of various commodities were witnessing skyrocketing trends and now the Current Account Deficit (CAD) would witness more pressure with the possibility of touching a historic high. "For God's sake, the political parties must shun their differences because the country is heading towards a serious financial crisis," he had appealed. Amidst such downward trends, is announcing one economic package after another. On March 2, he launched an interest-free loan programme worth Pakistani Rupee (PKR ) 407 billion under the "Kamyab Programme", which he claimed would contribute to making the country's low-income groups self-reliant. The News International reported that the has raised serious objections over Imran Khan's Relief Package for slashing down petrol, diesel, and electricity prices as well as granting tax amnesty for the industrial sector. According to the newspaper, the had imposed the condition that will not grant any tax amnesty and it is part of a continuous structural benchmark. Despite these conditions, the government breached this continuous structural benchmark which now requires a waiver from the IMF's Executive Board for completion of the 7th review, the report added. Against this backdrop, the global lending body has asked Islamabad to jack up the discount rate, allow free movement of the exchange rate, slash down Kamyab Pakistan Program (KPP) and reverse relief package measures. The review talks between and Pakistan are expected to conclude on Wednesday. (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.) authorities have told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that technicians have started repairing damaged power lines in an attempt to restore electricity supplies to the site of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant that were entirely cut a few days ago, said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. Earlier, Ukrainian authorities have reported that the repairing work began on the evening of March 10 and they had also repaired one section but off-site electrical power was still down, indicating there was still damage in other places. The repair efforts would continue despite the difficult situation outside the NPP site. The Agency also informed that the emergency diesel generators have been providing backup power to the site since 9 March, and the regulator has reported that additional fuel had been delivered to the facility but the staff still has not been able to rotate. Adding to the challenges in managing the Chornobyl NPP, reported that the regulator lost all communications with the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant on 10 March, a day after the Russian-controlled site lost all the external power supplies. As a result, it cannot provide information to the IAEA about the radiological monitoring at the facility. Despite this, the regulator has continued to receive information about the situation there through senior off-site management of the plant. Earlier, the agency also informed that Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia NPP which is also under the control of is not in a position to deliver the necessary spare parts, equipment and specialized personnel to carry out planned repairs. While is reporting all the problems related to Chornobyl NPP, indicating NPP is in danger, on other hand, denied all Ukraine's claims that the Chernobyl NPP is in danger after being captured by Russian forces. On March 3, Ukraine informed the IAEA that Russian forces had taken the control of the site of the country's Zaporizhzhia NPP. (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 volunteer of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces walks through the debris of a car wash destroyed by Russian bombing in Baryshivka, east of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 11. AP-Yonhap Russia's airplanes and artillery widened their assault on Ukraine, Friday, striking airfields in the west and a major industrial hub in the east, as Moscow's forces tried to regroup from recent losses and their onslaught fast reduced crowded cities to rubble. American intelligence officials offered an assessment of the Russian air campaign, estimating that invading pilots are averaging 200 sorties a day, compared with five to 10 for Ukrainian forces, which are focusing more on surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and drones to take out Russian aircraft. New commercial satellite images appeared to capture artillery firing on residential areas between Russian forces and the capital. The images from Maxar Technologies showed muzzle flashes and smoke from the big guns, as well as impact craters and burning homes in the town of Moschun, outside Kyiv, the company said. In a devastated village east of the capital, villagers climbed over toppled walls and flapping metal strips in the remnants of a pool hall, restaurant and theater freshly blown apart by Russian bombs. Russian President Vladimir Putin ''created this mess, thinking he will be in charge here,'' 62-year-old Ivan Merzyk said. In temperatures sinking below freezing, villagers quickly spread plastic wrap or nailed plywood over blown out windows of their homes. ''We are not going away from here,'' Merzyk said. On the economic and political front, the U.S. and its allies moved to further isolate and sanction the Kremlin. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. will dramatically downgrade its trade status with Russia and also ban imports of Russian seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The move to revoke Russia's ''most favored nation'' status was taken in coordination with the European Union and Group of Seven countries. ''The free world is coming together to confront Putin,'' Biden said. On the ground, Russia's forces appeared to be trying to regroup and regain momentum after encountering heavier losses and stiffer resistance than anticipated over the past two weeks. Britain's Ministry of Defense said Russia is trying to ''re-set and re-posture'' its troops, gearing up for operations against Kyiv. ''It's ugly already, but it's going to get worse,'' said Nick Reynolds, a warfare analyst at Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank. An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian army tanks opened fire in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 11. AP-Yonhap With the invasion in its 16th day, Putin said there had been ''certain positive developments'' in Russia-Ukraine talks, but gave no details. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Ukrainian forces had ''reached a strategic turning point,'' though he did not elaborate. ''It's impossible to say how many days we will still need to free our land, but it is possible to say that we will do it,'' he said via video from Kyiv. Zelenskyy said authorities were working on establishing 12 humanitarian corridors and trying to ensure food, medicine and other basics get to people across the country. Thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been killed in the invasion, along with Ukrainian civilians. He accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of one city, Melitopol, calling the abduction ''a new stage of terror.'' The Biden administration, citing American intelligence but no evidence, warned before the invasion of Russian plans to detain and kill targeted people in Ukraine. Zelenskyy himself would be a likely top target. So far, the Russians have made the biggest advances on cities in the east and south while struggling in the north and around Kyiv. Russia said it used high-precision long-range weapons to put military airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west ''out of action.'' The attack on Lutsk killed four Ukrainian servicemen, the mayor said. Russian airstrikes also for the first time targeted Dnipro, a major industrial hub in the east and Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about 1 million people. One person was killed, Ukrainian officials said. In images of the aftermath released by Ukraine's emergency agency, firefighters doused a flaming building, and ash fell on bloodied rubble. Smoke billowed over shattered concrete where buildings once stood. The bombardment continued in Mariupol, where a deadly strike on a maternity hospital this week sparked international outrage and war-crime allegations. Unrelenting attacks have thwarted repeated attempts to send in food and medicine and evacuate civilians from Mariupol, a city of 430,000. In a statement, the Mariupol mayor's office said Friday that the toll of people killed during the now 12-day siege had risen to 1,582. Local residents walk to be evacuated from a damaged residential area during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, March 11. Reuters-Yonhap Italian financial police has seized a Russian-owned superyacht valued at 530 million euros (USD 578 million) in the port of Trieste as part of seizures of oligarch wealth to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt the war on . The Sy A yacht was identified by Italian police as belonging to belonging to billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, who made a fortune in fertilizer production and coal energy. It was seized Friday evening. Video shows police in cars with flashing lights approaching the triple-mast yacht and officers boarding it. Italian authorities last week seized some 143 million euros (USD 156 million) in luxury yachts and villas belonging to Russian billionaires in such picturesque retreats as Sardinia, the Ligurian coast and Lake Como. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Google-owned streaming platform has said it is now blocking Kremlin-backed media outlets globally -- not just in Europe where two state-affiliated channels, Today (RT) and Sputnik, along with their subsidiaries, were sanctioned by the European Union last week. According to TechCrunch, this goes above and beyond any legal mandates to block this content -- but is not entirely unprecedented; last week Apple pulled RT and Sputnik's apps from its global App Stores following a request by Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov. That said, YouTube's wording suggests it may be going further than barring the six (in total) RT and Sputnik entities the EU has sanctioned -- as the company writes that it is now "blocking access to channels associated with Russian state-funded media globally", the report said. While the expanded blocks on Russian state media are "effective immediately", per an update to the policy the platform just tweeted out, it also warns it may take time for the change to take effect -- writing that "we expect our systems to take time to ramp up". In another new step, YouTube said it will be carrying out Ukraine-focused enforcement of certain existing policies from its Community Guidelines -- which prohibit content that denies, minimises or trivialises "well-documented violent events". --IANS vc/svn (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.) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling on Russian forces to heed the calls of residents in the occupied city of Melitopol who protested to demand their mayor be freed. Zelenskyy, who spoke earlier Saturday with the leaders of Germany and France, said the detention of Mariupol Mayor Ivan Fedorov was an attempt "to bring the city to its knees. He said that expects the leaders of the world to show how they can influence the liberation (of) a man who personifies Ukrainians who do not give up. Zelenskyy also encouraged Ukrainians to keep fighting, saying it was impossible to say how many days we will still need to free our land, but it is possible to say that we will do it. (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.) Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he's open for talks with Russian President in ,but only if there is a cease-fire in place. Zelenskyy said Saturday he told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that he would be ready to meet Putin in Jerusalem. Bennett visited Moscow for a meeting with Putin and spoke repeatedly with Zelenskyy and the leaders of France and Germany as he sought to help mediate an end to the war. Zelenskyy said Bennett informed him about his talks with Putin, adding that he can't share details. Putin has ignored numerous previous offers of talks from Zelenskyy. Speaking at a news conference, Zelenskyy said the Russians could take the Ukrainian capital "only if they kill us all. If that is their goal, let them come," he said. "If they carry out carpet bombings and wipe off the historic memory of the entire region, the history of Kyivan Rus, the history of Europe, they could enter Kyiv but they will have to leave on that land alone, certainly without us. Even if they bring a million Russians here, they can't occupy Ukraine, he added. Zelenskyy again deplored NATO's refusal to declare a no-fly zone over despite its repeated pleas. He said that has sought for ways to procure air defense assets, but he wouldn't mention any details. (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.) Ukrainian authorities have claimed that has "kidnapped" Ivan Fedorov, the Mayor of Melitopol city which has fallen to Moscow. The announcement was first made by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of the President's Office, in a social media post on Friday night. Later, the Ukrainian Parliament also confirmed the development, saying in a tweet on Friday that a "group of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol... He refused to cooperate with the enemy". Condemning the abduction, the country's Foreign Ministry called on the "international community to respond immediately to the abduction of Ivan Federov and other civilians, and to increase pressure on to end its barbaric war against the Ukrainian people". On February 25, the second day of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops entered the southeastern city. In his latest video address, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused of holding the Mayor hostage, saying that Moscow was now resorting to terror tactics as the invasion continued for the 17th day. He said "the actions of the Russian invaders will be equated with the actions of terrorists", reports the BBC. --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 Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday that millions of Yemeni people are at risk of as a result of the country's years-long military conflict and sharp deterioration of its economy, calling for urgent action. "Children in are starving not because of a lack of food, but because their families cannot afford food," the said in a statement posted on Twitter, Xinhua news agency reported. The UN organization said that "the impact of the economic collapse on the humanitarian crisis in cannot be understated." "Without urgent action, millions could be plunged into famine," it warned. According to the mission in Yemen, nearly 400,000 children under the age of five are slipping from acute malnutrition to severe acute malnutrition. has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. The UN is trying to end the civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million people, and brought the country to the brink of . --IANS int/pgh (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) American online video sharing and social media platform on Friday (local time) said that it is blocking Russian state-funded media channels globally "effective immediately." "Our Community Guidelines prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events, and we remove content about Russia's invasion in Ukraine that violates this policy. In line with that, effective immediately, we are also blocking channels associated with Russian state-funded media, globally," said in a statement, CNN reported. Taking to Twitter, the tech company said that it began blocking RT and Sputnik's YouTube channels across Europe, adding that it has already taken other steps since began its military operations in Ukraine. "We paused monetization and significantly limited recommendations for Russian state-funded media channels. Both actions are global & indefinite. Our Trust & Safety team has worked to quickly remove violative content. We've removed hundreds of channels & thousands of videos for violating our Community Guidelines, including our policies around deceptive practices and misinformation," it said on Twitter. YouTube added that when people search for topics on and Ukraine, "our systems prominently surface authoritative news content in both our Top News and Breaking News shelves, and will continue to as needed." It also displays information panels underneath videos from news publishers with government funding. Earlier, YouTube blocked Russian state media outlet RT from Ukraine only and also suspended its ability to monetize content globally. (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.) Jubilant FoodWorks said that the board of directors of the company has accepted the resignation of Pratik Rashmikant Pota as the CEO and wholetime director of the company as he wishes to pursue opportunities outside the firm. He will continue in his current role till Wednesday, 15 June 2022. The board has initiated the process of identifying his successor. Jubilant Foodworks is a foodservice company. It holds the exclusive master franchise rights from Domino's Pizza Inc. to develop and operate the Domino's Pizza brand in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. JFL also enjoys exclusive rights to develop and operate Dunkin' restaurants in India and Popeyes restaurants in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. In 2019, JFL launched its first owned-restaurant brand 'Hong's Kitchen' in the Chinese cuisine segment. In 2020, it launched Ekdum! another new owned-restaurant brand which serves Biryani category. The company has recently forayed into the ready-to-cook segment with its 'ChefBoss' range of sauces, gravies and pastes. The QSR chain operator reported 9.8% growth in net profit to Rs 1,373 crore as revenue from operations rose by 12.9% to Rs 11,935 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21. The scrip gained 3.85% to end at Rs 2864.10 on the BSE. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Surya India announced the resignation of Mr Satyaprakash Gaur who served as the chief financial officer of the company, effective from Friday, 11 March 2022. Further, the company intimated that as per the resignation letter on 17 February 2022, Mr Satyaprakash Gaur had stated that he has resigned from the company due to certain personal commitments and to pursue other professional endeavors. The net profit of Surya India soared 164.29% to Rs 0.37 crore in the quarter ended December 2021 as against Rs 0.14 crore during the previous quarter ended December 2020. Net sales jumped 30.69% to Rs 1.32 crore in the quarter ended December 2021 as against Rs 1.01 crore during the previous quarter ended December 2020. Shares of Surya India rallied 4.48% to close at Rs 15.85 on BSE on Friday, 11 March 2022. Surya India is a part of the Haldiram Group. It is a listed NBFC company engaged in the business of providing loans and advances, investment in shares of other companies. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The IT company on Saturday announced that it has approved the proposal to acquire 100% equity shares in Thirdware Solutions. Thirdware, headquartered in Mumbai, is a global player in Enterprise Applications focused in the areas of ERP, BIA, Cloud and business technologies. Thirdware offers consulting, design, implementing, and support of enterprise applications services with a focus on the automotive industry. For the financial year ended 31 March 2021, Thirdware had revenue of Rs 210.62 crore. Tech Mahindra said that the acquisition will bolster company's digital solutions and services in automotive consulting, design, development and implementation in areas like ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), EPM (Enterprise Performance Management), RPA (Robotic Process Automation), and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things). Thirdware's capability to provide end-to-end implementations and global rollouts of ERP solutions will give Tech Mahindra an edge in the manufacturing space. Tech Mahindra will pay a total cash consideration of up to $42 million including earnouts. Shares of Tech Mahindra closed 0.13% higher at Rs 1,486.95 on Friday. In last one month, the counter rose 4.39% as compared to a 4.28% fall in Nifty 50 index. Tech Mahindra is focused on leveraging next-generation technologies including 5G, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and more, to enable end-to-end digital transformation for global customers. The IT services company reported 6.82% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,378.20 crore on 18.69% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 11,450.80 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shanghai moves classes online as more COVID-19 cases emerge Xinhua) 10:37, March 12, 2022 SHANGHAI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- All primary and secondary schools in Shanghai will switch to online classes from Saturday in response to the city's current COVID-19 situation, the municipal education commission said Friday. To ensure the safety and health of teachers and students, kindergartens and nurseries in Shanghai will be temporarily closed from Saturday, and no training or childcare institution is permitted to provide offline services, the commission said. The municipal education commission has formulated online teaching guidelines for basic education and secondary vocational education. The length of each class, the total number of class hours each day and teaching capacity vary based on the physical and mental development of students at different ages. According to the commission, students can attend classes through Shanghai's large-scale intelligent learning platform, Shanghai Education TV and other platforms, some of which also provide course videos for download. Students who have difficulty studying at home can apply to attend online classes from schools, where supervision services and lunches will be provided. The commission said that follow-up arrangements will be adjusted promptly depending on the development of the COVID-19 situation. Shanghai on Thursday reported 11 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 32 imported cases, the National Health Commission said Friday. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Bianji) El Salvador's former President Alfredo Cristiani attends a Nationalist Republican Alliance, or Arena, general assembly in San Salvador, Oct. 10, 2008. A judge ordered preventive detention for Cristiani, March 11, after he was charged in the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests. AP-Yonhap A court in El Salvador ordered the arrest of former President Alfredo Cristiani, Friday, in relation to the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests and two others by soldiers. Prosecutors allege that Cristiani knew of the military's plan to eliminate the priests and did nothing to stop them. In a statement released by Cristiani's daughter, the former leader denied the allegations. ''The truth is I never knew of the plans they had to commit those killings,'' Cristiani said. ''They never informed me nor asked for my authorization because they knew that I would never have authorized that that Father (Ignacio) Ellacuria or his brothers be harmed.'' Cristiani and a former lawmaker, Rodolfo Parker, had been summoned to the court Tuesday, but did not appear. ''There is nothing left but to decree the detention against those persons because they did not appear in court and did not send lawyers,'' the court's resolution said. Cristiani left El Salvador in June 2021 after appearing before a special congressional panel investigating overpayments to former government officials. When prosecutors reopened the priests' case, his daughter, Claudia Cristiani, published some photos of her father and said they were in the land of the grandfather, meaning Italy, but it was unknown if he is still there. El Salvador's Attorney General's Office has accused Cristiani, Parker and a number of former high-ranking military officers of being behind the murders. A general amnesty passed in 1993 during Cristiani's administration had prevented pursuit of those involved in war crimes until it was repealed in 2016. Students at the Central American University in San Salvador, El Salvador, hold a portrait of the Jesuit priest Father Ignacio Ellacuria prior to a procession, Nov. 11, 2017, commemorating the 28th anniversary of the murder of six Jesuit priests and two employees, who were killed by government military forces during the Salvadoran civil war. Reuters-Yonhap The killings during the country's civil war spurred international outrage. On Nov. 16, 1989, an elite commando unit killed the six priests five Spaniards and one Salvadoran along with their housekeeper and the housekeeper's daughter in the priests' residence. The killers tried to make the massacre appear as though it had been carried out by leftist guerrillas. Nine members of the military were initially put on trial, but a court absolved seven of them. Two officers served short sentences, but were released in 1993 under the amnesty. After the Supreme Court found the amnesty unconstitutional, a judge ordered one of those officers, Col. Guillermo Benavides, back to prison where he remains. While the case stalled at home, a Spanish court in 2020 sentenced former Salvadoran Col. Inocente Orlando Montano to 133 years for the priests' killings. The court called the massacre ''state terrorism'' carried out by powerful interests, including Cristiani, aimed at ''holding onto their positions of privilege within the power structures.'' (AP) Rajasthan chief minister on Saturday accused the of winning the assembly elections in four states by polarising votes and making clever statements. Addressing a gathering at Gandhi Circle here after participating in a peace march on the 92nd anniversary of the Dandi March, Gehlot also said the people need to maintain harmony in today's atmosphere of tension in the country. Hitting out at the after the peace march on Jawahar Lal Nehru Road, Gehlot said, They won elections by giving statements cleverly in the name of Hindutva and polarisation. The situation is serious in the whole country, in states. Everyone knows how was the management of the corona pandemic in UP. Such questions are left behind because they speak cleverly, he said. In the atmosphere of tension in our country today, we need to maintain harmony by following the path of truth, non-violence and peace as shown by Mahatma Gandhi, he said. Gehlot hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the way he delivers tactful speeches, people believe his words as they feel that stated by the country's PM, they must be true. Reacting to allegations that was defaming central agencies, Gehlot said the whole country is watching what is happening in the judiciary, Income Tax department besides ED and . "The Prime Minister accuses the opposition of defaming the agencies. The whole country is watching what is happening in the country. What is happening in the judiciary, Income Tax department, ED and The world is watching how raids are being conducted inside the country, everyone knows on one side that they are defaming the opposition about that too, he said. The chief minister asserted that the truth will win ultimately. We will have to reach out to the people to tell them the truth, only then people will be exposed and the truth will come out. We will bring the truth by following the path of Mahatma Gandhi, he said. His message of non-violence becomes more relevant in the current situation of unrest in Ukraine today, he said. Earlier, Gehlot also offered flowers to the statue of . Along with the Chief Minister, several ministers, MLAs and other public representatives attended the programme. Gehlot also said the media is under pressure and supports them (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.) The Working Committee will meet on Sunday to discuss the outcome of the assembly elections, even as the opposition party reeling from the latest electoral debacle refuted reports that the Gandhi family members will resign from all organisational posts. Sources said president will chair the meeting of the party's top decision-making body at its headquarters here at 4 PM on Sunday. The lost Punjab to the AAP and could not wrest any of the four other states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur - from the BJP. While has not been actively campaigning for some time, Rahul Gandhi has been the star campaigner for the Congress besides Priyanka Gandhi, with the brother-sister duo also playing a major role in key decisions of the party. Despite a high-pitched campaign led by AICC general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress could manage to win only two of the 403 assembly seats with the vote share plummeting to a meagre 2.33 percent and most of its candidates losing security deposits. Rahul Gandhi had resigned as Congress president after the party suffered its second consecutive defeat in general elections in 2019. who took over the reins of the party again as interim president had also offered to quit in August 2020 after an open revolt by a section of leaders, referred to as G-23, but the CWC had urged her to continue. Sunday's CWC meeting is likely to see some fireworks as the G-23 dissident leaders, who have questioned the leadership and pressed for organisation overhaul, have indicated that these issues will be raised again. However, party spokesman Randeep Surjewala on Sunday dismissed as "wrong and mischievous" reports claiming that the Gandhi family members will resign from all party positions, thus ruling out any major tectonic shift in the party. The reports of alleged resignations are unfair, mischievous and incorrect, he said on Twitter. "It is unfair for a TV channel to carry such unsubstantiated propaganda stories emanating from imaginary sources at the instance of ruling BJP," Surjewala said. Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said, "All those rumourmongers will have egg on their faces tomorrow." Party president Sonia Gandhi has, meanwhile, convened a meeting of the party's parliamentary strategy group at her residence on Sunday morning to discuss plans for the remainder of the budget session. The second part of the budget session starts on Monday after a recess. Gandhi is also the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary The G-23 leaders had suggested corrective measures after the previous round of assembly polls, when the Congress lost Puducherry and failed to make a mark in Kerala, Assam and West Bengal, but there had been little movement on that front. These leaders had met on Friday evening at the residence of senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to evolve their strategy ahead of the crucial CWC meeting. They expressed shock at the party's defeat, the sources said, adding the leaders discussed the way forward and steps for the revival of the Congress which has become even "more marginalised, weakened and isolated". Azad and senior leader Anand Sharma are the two leaders of the group who are part of the CWC. Mukul Wasnik, also a member of the CWC, had initially signed a letter from the group to Gandhi but has since kept his distance. The leaders also expressed dismay at the Congress leadership not taking any corrective steps to revive the party, the sources said. Some leaders were concerned that the report of the committee formed to evaluate the party's losses in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry was not even discussed. In a telephonic interview with PTI, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury conceded the Congress lost due to organisational weakness but said there was no need for a change in the party leadership. "There is an organisational weakness in our party and that is the reason we have lost," Chowdhury told PTI. He said party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have been doing their best. "Who will be the next leader? If a change in leadership is meant to remove Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi, then one has to ask who will replace them. Both Rahul and Priyanka have been trying wholeheartedly, there is no doubt about their effort," he said. Following the poll debacle, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is among the G-23 leaders, on Thursday said it is clear that change is unavoidable. The Congress' organisational elections are already underway and the party will get a new president between August 21 and September 20. Thereafter, elections to the CWC will be held by October at the All India Congress Committee Plenary session. The party launched an enrolment drive for members on November 1 and it will continue till March 22. Thereafter, the District Congress Committees will publish the list of members and the eligible candidates for various party bodies between April 1 and April 15, followed by the election of the president and executive committees at the block level. This process would be completed between April 16 and May 31. The elections at the Congress District Committee level for deciding local presidents, vice presidents and treasurers will take place between June 1 and July 20. The PCCs will face elections between July 21 and August 22. Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi called for "reconfiguration" throughout the party to achieve results in future elections, though he did not call for a change at the top. "It always comes back to leadership. They have never hesitated to face the bullet, nor have they ever escaped. They are ready to own up to everything. We do need reconfiguration from the bottom of the party," he said. "I am confident of finishing the (intra-party) elections in August. If someone out of the existing leadership or related thereto is re-elected by a clear majority, then on what democratic basis will you negate them? So this intra-party election is needed. ''We must have this election and thereafter that top-level thing has to settle down irrespective of who is there on the top," he said. Taking to Twitter on Saturday, Congress leader Pawan Khera urged party members not to get disheartened by the assembly poll results and continue the fight with the same vigour and zeal. "Do the roots of a tree surrender to Autumn?" he asked. Noted historian and political analyst Ramchandra Guha has said that Gandhis must "retire from politics" immediately for the good of the party and democracy in the country as they are unable to revive the Congress. (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.) Days after the retained power for the second consecutive term in Uttar Pradesh, the swearing-in ceremony, sources said, of the new government is likely to take place after . Uttar Pradesh's acting Chief Minister will visit Delhi on Sunday, sources added. He will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the president Jagat Prakash Nadda. Adityanath on Friday tendered his resignation to Governor Anandiben Patel at the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow. Following the massive victory in the Assembly elections, Adityanath on Friday held a meeting with his ministerial colleagues at the party office in Lucknow. Adityanath, a monk-turned-politician, won his first-ever Assembly election by a margin of 1,03,390 from Gorakhpur Urban constituency, defeating the Samajwadi Party candidate Subhawati Upendra Dutt Shukla, who secured 62,109 votes in the recently-concluded UP Assembly elections. Adityanath will be the first Chief Minister in the last 37 years to return to power after completing a full term in the state. The has retained power in by winning 255 out of 403 constituencies, securing a 41.29 per cent vote share. (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.) Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 12 (ANI/PNN): The Blanckanvas Media Private Limited unveiled a unique calendar 'Glam Onn 2022' along with its title partner SUGAR cosmetics to celebrate the ideology of boldness and royalty in the lives of the women of the erstwhile Royal era in India. Glam Onn 2022 has SUGAR Cosmetics onboard as its Title Partner and exclusive makeup partner this year. SUGAR Cosmetics, as a brand, believes in creating state-of-the-art premium products that make a woman look bold and free. Hence, SUGAR Cosmetics presents GLAM ONN 2022 will portray the ideology of boldness and royalty in the lives of the women of the Royal Era, sending the women of our generation the message that they can rule the world one look at a time. The celebrities including World Rohit Khandelwal, Shibani Kashyap, Smita Gondkar, Ulka Gupta, Himanshu Malhotra, Vikramjeet Virk, Poonam Pandey, Rohit Reddy, Mrunal Jain, and Jaan Kumar Sanu remained present at the unveiling ceremony of the Glam ONN 2022 calendar at the glamorous setting at Kingsman in Mumbai's Juhu. The Glam Onn 2022 calendar is appealing and based on the Royal theme dedicated to each month of the year. The majestic calendar's cover page depicts the prowess of the women in the Royal era, sending the present generation women in India the message that they can rule the world. Parimal Mehhta, the founder of Blanckanvas Media Pvt. Ltd. said, "The unveiling event of the Glam Onn 2022 calendar was decorated with sparkles and wonders brought by the celebrities and supermodels on various royal cultural looks and its beautiful depiction in an upcoming music video" "The list of celebrities in the calendar include Sangeeta Bijlani, Arti Singh, Asmita Sood, Smita Gondkar, Ulka Gupta, Sakshi Dwivedi, Vikramjeet Virk, Mrunal Jain, and Himanshu Malhotra. The calendar also features supermodels such as Vaibhav Maurya, Shree Radhe, Kavita, Sunny Kamble, Iris Maity, Urvi Shetty, Riya Subodh, and Parul Bindal" added Mehhta. Glam Onn 2022 also had its 'skin glow partner' Skinworks Clinic, working their magic with Dr. Priti Shenai guiding the supermodels and celebrities with her expertise that kept their skin glowing with royalty throughout the calendar. "The calendar was shot on Panasonic Lumix with its majestic portrayal of 2022 has indeed given us a marvelous year to look upon. Content partner, Suzad Iqbal Khan (SIK Films), designer, Gagan Kumar, and photographer Priyankk Nandwana worked hard to make the calendar a huge success. We look forward to more of such alluring creations from Blanckanvas Media Pvt. Ltd" said Mehhta. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh [India], March 12 (ANI/NewsVoir): SRM University-AP, the choice destination of next-generation, has taken a unique initiative, one-of-its-kind in higher education, to launch a National Talent Hunt Hackathon in collaboration with Dare2Compete. The competition aims to reach out to talented GenZ with a flair for coding. It is scheduled to be held online with two stages including a quiz and a coding round. The quiz contest will be held from March 14, 2022, 12.00 PM IST to March 27, 2022, 11.59 PM IST. The shortlisted participants will be eligible for the online coding challenge to be held on March 29, 2022, from 12.00 PM IST to 06.00 PM IST. The SRM-AP National Talent Hunt is open to Class 12 PCM students of CBSE and ICSE boards. Students will be tested on their knowledge of Class 12 PCM syllabus in the quiz, and upon qualifying it, their basic coding skills will also be put to trial. Grab the opportunity to showcase your expertise and become part of the SRM AP family with 100 per cent scholarship offers. Participation certificates are also given away to the students. The last date of registration is March 27, 2022, at 11.00 PM IST. Visit to register or dare2compete.com SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, is a multi-stream research-intensive university with a focus on diverse fields. From Engineering to Basic Sciences and from Liberal Arts to Management, SRMAP's vision is to emerge as a world-class university that is globally connected, nationally relevant, and regionally transformative and builds the nation by making the leaders of tomorrow. For the establishment of this University, SRM University-AP has partnered with the world's best names for educational method and philosophy, campus design and infrastructure, learning and living spaces, and faculty and leadership recruitment. Perched on acres of greenery, designed by renowned Perkins & Will, the campus is adorned with state-of-the-art labs equipped with cutting edge technology, 6 wifi enable hostels for 1500 students, a dining area with 1000 seating, an auditorium with 1000 seating capacity and many more. SRM University-AP is known for its transformative education with a modernised interdisciplinary approach. SRM University-AP offers best in class education with; Inter-Disciplinary Experiential Active Learning; (IDEAL) curriculum, & Undergraduate Research Opportunities Project (UROP), Capstone Projects and Industry Internships. In view of the latest trends and industry demands, SRM University-AP's pedagogical system was initially designed in partnership with MIT and has evolved to meet the changing needs of education. For more details about the university, please visit www.srmap.edu.in. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Local authorities have tightened movement restrictions and added more Covid-19 testing for residents of the capital during the five-day Labor Day holiday. Restaurant dining was suspended from Sunday to Wednesday, while three more rounds of nucleic acid tests are to be conducted in 12 districts from Tuesday to Thursday. A growing number of public venues have closed in the city, including exhibitions at the Palace Museum. The capital reported 62 local cases Monday May 03, 2022 04:07 PM Some of the best years of my life I miss those people. Good times and memories, but I have moved on. Not my best days, but I have made peace with them. Glad to be away from those people I dont miss the high school experience. Vote View Results Kathy Slane, owner of Michael Thomas Floral, makes blue and yellow ribbons as a show of solidarity and support for Ukraine on Friday, March 11, 2202, in Allentown. She is giving the ribbons away for free. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call) Back in the 1990s, when American troops were fighting in Iraq as part of the first Gulf War, florist Kathy Slane made yellow ribbons for customers who wanted to show support for the troops overseas. Slane had that in mind as she began to chat with other florists recently on a Facebook page. They were all discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement We were chatting back and forth and saying What can we do? said the Alburtis resident. Someone brought up the yellow ribbons and it dawned on me. The Ukrainian flag is blue and yellow and I thought Why not? The owner of Michael Thomas Floral in South Whitehall Township is making blue and yellow ribbons and giving them away for free for Lehigh Valley residents to display their support for Ukrainian citizens. Advertisement Everything is complimentary to create solidarity, she said. Kathy Slane, owner of Michael Thomas Floral, makes blue and yellow ribbons as a show of solidarity and support for Ukraine on Friday, March 11, 2202, in Allentown. She is giving the ribbons away for free. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call) Yellow ribbons date back farther than the Gulf War of course, with some experts believing they go back as far as the Civil War. The Library of Congress, however, attributes the rise of the yellow ribbon to the well-known song by Tony Orlando and Dawn: Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree, which topped the charts in 1973. The flag of Ukraine is blue and gold blue representing the sky, streams, and mountains of Ukraine, and yellow symbolizes Ukraines golden wheat fields and the richness of the earth. Slane started making the blue and yellow ribbons about a week ago and put the word out on her floral shops Facebook page. She estimates shes given away about 200 so far. Slane also posted about her ribbon campaign on an Alburtis community page on Facebook. I just starting making ribbons at home and meeting people in my driveway, she said. Kathy Slane, owner of Michael Thomas Floral, makes blue and yellow ribbons as a show of solidarity and support for Ukraine on Friday, March 11, 2202, in Allentown. She is giving the ribbons away for free. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call) First Call Daily Leading local stories delivered on weekday mornings > Anyone interested in picking up a ribbon or two can stop by her florist shop, which is at 1825 Roth Ave. Allentown. If you want a large amount of ribbons, its best to call in advance and place an order. Advertisement She is also accepting donations that will go to defray some of the cost of her ribbon supplies. You can call or stop in. We are trying to keep up and hopefully well have enough, she said. Kathy Slane, owner of Michael Thomas Floral, makes blue and yellow ribbons as a show of solidarity and support for Ukraine on Friday, March 11, 2202, in Allentown. She is giving the ribbons away for free. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call) How to get a ribbon Where: Michael Thomas Floral, 1825 Roth Ave., Allentown (South Whitehall Township) Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday; 9 am. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday; closed Sunday Contact: 610-821-1051 Info: https://www.michaelthomasfloral.com/ CAMEROUN :: FOLIGAR LANG: LEADER OF CAMEROON REFORMATION CONDEMNS THE BRUTAL ASSASSINATION OF THE FUN OF ESU Foligar Lang: Leader of Cameroon Reformation Party (CRP) Condemns the Brutal Assassination of the Fon of Esu : HRH Fon Kum Achuo Kawzuh Because our worst fears have now come very true, and all our predictions have proved tragically accurate. The Herdsmen (Bororos) has unleashed a brutal attack by assassinating in cold blood the Fon of Esu. He was attacked and killed without any provocation and without any credible excuse. The Cameroon Reformation Party and the Cameroon Government MUST not allow this just to be snuffed out. We cannot and will not just look away. We condemn in the strictest terms, and we will not relent our efforts to call the authorities to put a bounty on the heads of those who carried out this devilish act. Every Cameroonian should be alarmed with this gruesome killing and rethink of what our country has become. I cannot believe this is being happening in Cameroon a country we trusted for peace in the yesteryears. The president, Paul Biya must address this situation as I say to the Esu People and well-wishers in this moment of agony, we are with you, we are praying for you and your families, and The CRP Party are on your side I still repeat to the people and all who have heard about this Assassination to support towards bringing the Killers to justice. I call on the Cameroon Government do everything necessary to bring about peace and justice within days and to keep our country safe and to reassure the people of Esu. We should be joined in our outrage by all political Parties and human right organisations within the entire country This killing might be about the right and fight over land boundaries within the village with Baba Alhaji Danpulo. We therefor call for full investigation otherwise we will take further action to international intervention. This is a right thing that the CRP under My leadership will always defend the people of this Nation. FILE - People attend the Women's March ATX rally, Oct., 2, 2021, at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday paved the way for the nation's toughest abortion law to remain in place in a ruling that again deflated clinics' hopes of stopping or even pausing the restrictions anytime soon. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman, File) Glen, NH (03838) Today Periods of rain. High around 50F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 43F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%. LOAD CATTLE FOR TRIP: Twenty-one registered Hereford were shipped from Manning Tuesday to Spain. The consignors are, from left, top picture, Sam, Les and Gene Wiese, Manning; Dale Dudley, the manager of Kenyon Farms, Tama; Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Kenyon, West Des Moines; Phil Higgins, Earlham; G Photo: The Canadian Press Michael MacDonald, chair, flanked by fellow commissioners Leanne Fitch, left, and Kim Stanton, releases their decision regarding which additional witnesses will be called to testify at the Mass Casualty Commission inquiry into the mass murders in rural Nova Scotia on April 18/19, 2020, in Halifax on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan A close relative of the man who disguised himself as a Mountie and fatally shot 22 people in Nova Scotia says the killer was a lifelong scammer and opportunist raised in a deeply dysfunctional family, newly released documents say. Chris Wortman, a former Mountie who was the gunmans uncle, told police soon after the killings in April 2020 that he wasnt surprised when he learned his nephew, Gabriel Wortman, was responsible for Canadas worst mass shooting. I knew he was always capable of killing somebody or (causing) serious harm, he told RCMP Sgt. Cory Kilborn during an interview in Invermere, B.C., on April 28, 2020 nine days after the killings. I always thought, well maybe (he would kill) his parents or maybe (Lisa Banfield, his common-law wife) I just didnt think hed go on a rampage. The federal-provincial inquiry investigating the tragedy released the documents on Friday. Its public hearings, which started last month, have been adjourned until March 28. During the police interview, Chris Wortman said he was about seven years older than his nephew, and he recalled how the pair practically grew up together in eastern New Brunswick. He was always kind of a strange little guy, never known to have a friend, he said. He had a difficult upbringing . (His parents), theyre very bizarre, very strange. And, as a result, Gabriel was, too Theres a lot of dysfunction. The former Mountie confirmed an ugly story that Lisa Banfield shared with police after the killings, saying he recalled how Gabriels father had once placed a .22-calibre gun in his seven-year-old sons hand and told him: Shoot me! Gabriel didnt fall far from the tree, he said. Yeah, hes like that for a reason. As well, he said he was aware of Gabriel Wortmans previous plans to kill his parents, which werent carried out, and his severe beating of his father during a trip to the Dominican Republic years ago. Chris Wortman said his nephew was estranged from the rest of his family and didnt have any friends, though he was good with people and had made a small fortune as a denturist in Dartmouth, N.S. But he also corroborated published reports suggesting his nephew was a low-level career criminal who sold smuggled U.S. cigarettes and alcohol to pay for his education, but was never caught. He said he learned of the crime after he retired from the national police force. The former RCMP officer said he had visited his nephew and his longtime girlfriend several times when he and his wife were living in P.E.I., between 2014 and 2018, but he said the couple decided to leave the region to avoid ongoing family infighting. I was the only one he associated with, and then when he and I went flat, he had nobody, he said, adding that Gabriel Wortman had not spoken to his parents for the past six or seven years. Its just my sixth sense that spider sense of a police officer. I just knew that I had to get my distance. He recalled how his nephews mother once showed up at the denture clinic, where she asked her son to fix her dentures. He said, Ill do it, (but) after that I never want to see you again,' Chris Wortman said in the police interview. Asked by Kilborn if he had been following news about the killings, Chris Wortman said he was aware of what had happened, including reports that his nephew had set fire to several homes in Portapique, N.S., after killing 13 people there. I thought thats totally him, he said. I just know how he plans things and how meticulous and thorough he would be ... It just seems like he was finalizing everything. Although Bethlehem industries did not attract many African American workers during World War I, one earlier migrant, Joseph Luther Ray, achieved financial success and national prominence in the 1920s. The financial success was the result of his valued work for steel magnate Charles Schwab, and the national prominence through his marriage to Nora Holt, who has been deemed a Jazz Age goddess. Advertisement Ray served as valet and personal assistant to Schwab, and conductor of his private railroad car. It is likely that he met Holt while traveling with Schwab. Ray, born in 1867 in Charlottesville, Virginia, graduated from Howard University and joined the Carnegie Steel Co. in Pittsburgh, after serving five years as the manager of the Florida estate of Andrew Carnegies sister-in-law. Advertisement In 1901, Ray was featured in an article in the business-oriented Chicago Inter Ocean that was run in numerous newspapers. Schwab, now president of the newly formed United States Steel, entrusted Ray to oversee the design and construction of a luxurious private railcar. Before taking on this job, Ray was head of the information bureau, where he had been deemed a velvet buffer between Schwab and the public. As the article noted, Of the many thousands of employees of the huge corporation perhaps he stands closest to its president. John K. Smith (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) Joseph Luther Ray, a Bethlehem Steel employee, was Charles Schwab's personal assistant from the 1890s until both men died in 1939. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) Ray moved to Bethlehem in 1906 to organize the company restaurant for Schwab, who had left U.S. Steel and taken over Bethlehem Steel. In addition to traveling with Schwab, Ray frequently organized extravagant banquets for him. In 1916 Schwab sent Ray to Baltimore to address an African American banquet about the newly acquired Sparrows Point plant. Ray told the audience Schwab was willing to give a chance to African Americans at anything they were capable of doing. And that: I can assure you that colored men who have learned the skilled trades will be given every opportunity of employment, and that at the same wages as paid white men for the same work. The Bethlehem Steel Corporation and other big concerns can only then rely on Negro labor, and that is where the chance for our race comes in. Thousands of colored men have immigrated from the South in last few months, and have secured employment at decidedly better wages than they received in that section of the country. I would say that the colored people of the North should take kindly of their brethren in the South. They should do everything possible for their uplift. Better wages and better homes are what many from the South desire. He concluded that it spelled good things for the race in the way of industrial employment. Advertisement During World War I, Ray was general manager of the restaurants run by the company at its various plants and shipping yards. After the war Ray hosted on Schwabs railcar two heroes of the war, Ferdinand Foch, former chief of staff of the French Army, and British Adm. Viscount John Jellicoe. Rays obituary stated he also hosted Winston Churchill and that he knew intimately probably more millionaire industrialists than any other race man in the country. While enjoying his professional achievements, Ray married Holt in 1923 in, as a newspaper noted, one of the grandest weddings ever held by the colored people of Chicago. The next day the couple left for a grand tour of Europe, a gift from Schwab. The Rays then settled into a spacious house at the corner of Linden and Locust Streets in Bethlehem. Ray was earning $4,000 per year ($60,000 today) and owned considerable real estate. As one African American newspaper noted, he and his big Stutz sedan were well known in this vicinity. Holt did not hesitate to take advantage of Rays wealth. When he reprimanded her for buying a $5,000 mink at Philadelphias Wanamakers department store, she replied, Why marry if you only want socks? Instead of settling down in Bethlehem, the Pittsburgh Courier predicted the small industrial city will never be able to monopolize the talent of Chicagos most beloved hostess and ambitious musical prodigies. This prediction soon came true when the couple separated after one year. Advertisement Their divorce proceedings splashed headlines across the big city African American newspapers for five years. One reporter stated that Holt provided the best newspaper copy in the world. While Holt parlayed the publicity into an international performing career, the New York Age noted the affair left Ray wiser in the ways and wiles of women, but definitely leaner in purse. On Jan. 1, 1931, Ray retired from Bethlehem Steel, but continued to serve as conductor of Schwabs railcar. Schwab squandered countless millions during the 1920s and fell into debt. One of Rays last tasks was selling the contents of Schwabs Bethlehem house. Ray died suddenly at his own home at 1512 Broad St. on Aug. 19, 1939. Schwab died one month later. John K. Smith, a Bethlehem resident, is a professor emeritus of history at Lehigh University. Photo: The Canadian Press Supporters gather near the legislature to protest during a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022. Protests planned for outside of the B.C. Legislature over COVID-19 restrictions has drawn sharp criticism from the province's premier.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito A protest planned for around the British Columbia legislature over COVID-19 mandates has drawn sharp criticism from the province's premier. Video posted on social media says a convoy of vehicles is on the way from Ottawa to Victoria where people are preparing to stay for months to conduct multiple rolling protests. The video said some of the protesters could be expected in Victoria as early as Monday. In response, Premier John Horgan said those involved need to "get a hobby" and "give their head a shake." "Find a better way to take your energies (out) and put it to positive outcomes, that's my recommendation," he said while addressing reporters on Friday. "I'm hopeful that some of the people planning to come take that to heart and do the right thing." B.C. lifted its mask mandate on Friday and plans to stop its COVID-19 vaccine passport program in April, although the province's top doctor said the measures could be reinstated if there is a surge in cases. Horgan said Victoria police have learned lessons from how Ottawa's police force handled the protest and that "asking nicely" doesn't work. Many downtown Ottawa businesses and roads were shut down or impacted by the three-week protest by a convoy of big-rig trucks and other vehicles. Ottawa's police chief resigned amid intense criticism over how his force handled the downtown occupation, while the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act only to revoke it again when the convoy ended in a police crackdown and arrests. "They were not met with an appropriate response," said Horgan. "I know that law enforcement in Victoria ... will encourage people to make their point and disperse. That's the normal course of action in civil disobedience. He added that the protesters' freedom "is not greater than anyone else's." Victoria police Chief Del Manak said in a video statement that officers have heard concerns from residents about the impact of protests and "any dangerous acts" will be met with de-escalation and enforcement. "As (Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth) has stated, legal protests in Canada are part of our free and democratic society. Occupations are not," he said. Horgan said citizens have a right to protest but they cannot blockade an area when they are upset. Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - Demonstrators gather on the steps to the State Capitol to speak against transgender-related legislation bills being considered in the Texas Senate and Texas House, Thursday, May 20, 2021 in Austin, Texas. A Texas judge on Friday, March 11, 2022 blocked the state from investigating as child abuse gender confirming care for transgender youth. District Judge Amy Clark Meachum issued a temporary injunction preventing the state from enforcing Republican Gov. Greg Abbotts directive to compel the Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate.(AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) A Texas judge on Friday blocked the state from investigating as child abuse gender confirming care for transgender youth. District Judge Amy Clark Meachum issued a temporary injunction preventing the state from enforcing Republican Gov. Greg Abbotts directive to compel the Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate. The injunction broadens Meachums earlier order blocking the states investigation of the parents of one transgender teenager. The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal sued on behalf of the parents of the 16-year-old girl over the investigation and Abbotts directive. Meachum scheduled a trial for July 11 on the challenge to Abbott's directive. Meachum ruled that by issuing the directive without a new law or rule, the governor and officials' actions violate separation of powers by impermissibly encroaching into the legislative domain." The lawsuit marked the first report of parents being investigated following Abbotts directive and an earlier nonbinding legal opinion by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton labeling certain gender-confirming treatments as child abuse. DFPS said it had opened nine investigations following the directive and opinion. The groups also represent a clinical psychologist who has said the governors directive forces her to choose between reporting clients to the state or losing her license and other penalties. The governors directive and Paxtons opinion go against the nations largest medical groups, including the American Medical Association, which have opposed Republican-backed restrictions on transgender people filed in statehouses nationwide. Arkansas last year became the first state to pass a law prohibiting gender confirming treatments for minors, and Tennessee has approved a similar measure. A judge blocked Arkansas law, and the state has appealed that ruling. (Abbotts directive) singles out these families for targeted scrutiny, it stigmatizes them, invades their privacy and it interferes with the fundamental right of parents to make the decision of whats best for their child," Paul Castillo, an attorney for the parents, said toward the end of the daylong hearing before Meachum. Meachum's ruling came the same day that dozens of major companies including Apple, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Meta and Microsoft criticized the Texas directive in a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News. The recent attempt to criminalize a parent for helping their transgender child access medically necessary, age-appropriate healthcare in the state of Texas goes against the values of our companies, read the ad, which used the headline DISCRIMINATION IS BAD FOR BUSINESS. Meachum issued her ruling after several hours of testimony in the parents' lawsuit challenging Abbott's directive. A child protective services supervisor testified Friday that she resigned from the department because of concerns about the directive, and said cases involving gender confirming care were being treated differently than others. Megan Mooney, a clinical psychologist also represented by the groups in the lawsuit, said the governor's directive has caused outright panic among mental health professionals and families of transgender youth. Parents are terrified that (child protective services) is going to come and question their children, or take them away, Mooney testified. Mental health professionals are scared that were either violating our standards and professional codes of conduct, or in violation of the law. Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - This undated selfie photo provided by family members Don Bryant and Paula Bryant shows Ma'Khia Bryant. The 16-year-old Bryant was shot and killed by police as she swung a knife at two other people on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, in Columbus, Ohio. Prosecutors have announced that a grand jury declined to charge the police officer who fatally shot Bryant. (Ma'Khia Bryant/Don Bryant and Paula Bryant via AP, File) The Columbus police officer who shot and killed 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant last year has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, Ohio prosecutors announced Friday. Bryant was killed in April by Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon as she swung a knife at a young woman, just seconds after pushing another woman to the ground. Bryant was Black and Reardon is white. Police were responding to a 911 call made from Bryant's foster home about a group of girls threatening to stab members of the household. The killing led to a Justice Department review of the police department in Ohios capital city. Bryant was shot four times and died from her injuries. The coroner listed the cause of death as a homicide a medical determination used in cases where someone has died at someone elses hand, but not a legal finding. It doesnt imply criminal intent. Bryants killing further heightened tensions in Ohio's capital city over fatal police shootings of Black people, and also cast a light on the states foster care system. In announcing the grand jury decision, special prosecutors Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer noted, Under Ohio law the use of deadly force by a police officer is justified when there exists an immediate or imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another. They said the decision followed a full review of the shooting. The woman Bryant was attacking, Shai-onta Craig, had formerly lived at the home but had returned and argued with her that day, according to Craig's statement to police released Friday. Reardon told investigators he didnt think using mace or a hands-on approach would have worked because of the knife in Bryants hand, because he thought he was the only officer on scene and because Bryant appeared much bigger than him. At the time I fired my weapon, I was in fear for the life of the female in pink, Reardon said, referring to Craig. The city will now conduct an internal review to determine whether Reardon's actions followed department policy, the Columbus Public Safety Department tweeted. Bryant's family expressed disappointment that Reardon wasn't charged and said in a statement: There should have been other non-deadly options available to deal with this situation. Her family also called for full-scale changes" to Ohio's foster-care system to prevent similar tragedies. Ohios foster care system is failing our children and we cannot stand by and allow this to continue, the statement said. As the one-year anniversary of MaKhias death approaches, her family is resolute in their fight for justice on her behalf." Foster parent Angela Moore told investigators that neither Bryant nor her sister, who was also in the home, had ever displayed violence, but all the girls in the home periodically argued. A week after Bryants death, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther invited the Justice Department to review the police department for possible deficiencies and racial disparities. The U.S. Justice Department accepted, and last fall agreed to review practices of the police department, saying its Office of Community Oriented Policing Services would conduct a review of what the department called technical assistance in such areas as training, recruitment including a focus on diversity and creating an early intervention system for officers. Columbus the countrys 14th largest city has recorded several contested police shootings, including the 2021 killing of 27-year-old Miles Jackson in an emergency room; and the 2020 shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill. The white police officer who fatally shot Hill has pleaded not guilty to a number of charges brought against him by the state attorney generals office. California Department of Education News Release California Department of Education News Release State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Names Alice Waters Newest California Education Ambassador SACRAMENTOState Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today proudly recognized Alice Waterschef, author, restaurateur, food activist, and educatoras an Ambassador to California Education, during National School Breakfast Week. Waters and Thurmond visited Michelle Obama School in the West Contra Costa Unified School District earlier this week, where they helped launch Project Cereal , an initiative with partner Conscious Kitchen, that is one of the nations first programs to feed students organic foods daily. Waters joins distinguished Education Ambassadors Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dolores Huerta, Dr. Karen Korematsu, and Betty Reid Soskin in demonstrating outstanding dedication and contributions to support the education of Californias students. Im grateful to have a role model like Alice Waters, who has for decades championed edible schoolyards and educating students about sustainable agriculture and our climate crisis, Thurmond said. Shes proof that our food and food systems can be used as tools for educating our youth and to create positive change in our communities. Im honored to be named an Ambassador to California Education, said Waters. My complete focus is on Edible Education in the state of California. Children deserve to be nurtured in body and mind, treated with dignity, and shown that they are valued. Waters has been a champion of local sustainable agriculture for over four decades. In 1995, she founded the Edible Schoolyard Project , which advocates for a free, regenerative, organic school lunch for all children and a sustainable food curriculum in every public school. Her work with the nonprofit combines her perspectives as a trained Montessori teacher, fervent activist, gifted chef, and champion of sustainable agriculture. Waters has been Vice President of Slow Food International since 2002. Her honors include election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007; the Harvard Medical Schools Global Environmental Citizen Award, which she shared with Kofi Annan in 2008; induction into the French Legion of Honor in 2010; and induction into the National Womens Hall of Fame in 2017. In 2015, she was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama, proving that eating is activism and that the table is a powerful means for social justice and positive change. Waters was most recently awarded the honor of Cavaliere dellOrdine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Order of Merit of the Italian Republic) in 2019. Waters is the author of 16 books, including New York Times bestsellers The Art of Simple Food I & II;The Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea; and a memoir, Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook. Her newest book is We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto. The culmination of Waters lifetime of work is the founding of the Alice Waters Institute for Regenerative Agriculture and Edible Education (AWI) in partnership with the UC Davis School of Education . Waters and the AWI seek to profoundly change the way food is conceived, sourced, and served in our public schools to better nourish our children and to address our climate crisis through school-supported regenerative agriculture. # # # # Tony Thurmond State Superintendent of Public Instruction Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100 Last Reviewed: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 Burley, ID (83318) Today A mix of clouds and sun. High 64F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A clear sky. Low around 40F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions Chatham, VA (24531) Today A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 56F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Bishop Richard F. Stika has appointed Deacon Hicks Armor as interim Head of School for Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga. Deacon Hicks is the right person to lead Notre Dame at this time, Bishop Stika said. He is a Notre Dame alumnus, and I am pleased that he graciously accepted my invitation to guide the school and the Notre Dame community until we can select a permanent Head of School. Deacon Hicks will be utilizing the talents and advice of many individuals in his new position, including Dr. Sedonna Prater, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Knoxville; Dr. Caroline Carlin, principal of Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Chattanooga; Dickie Sompayrac, president of Knoxville Catholic High School; and other individuals in Chattanooga education circles and the Diocese of Knoxville, Bishop Stika said. Deacon Armor is a product of Catholic education, having graduated from St. Jude School and Notre Dame. He was instrumental in forming the Notre Dame Alumni Association and other school-related alumni activities in the early to mid-1980s. He was ordained as a deacon in the Diocese of Knoxville in 2018. In addition to recently assisting Bishop Stika as an adviser to NDHS, Deacon Armor serves as chairperson for a major planning initiative for the Chattanooga Catholic schools. In 2020, Deacon Armor was appointed by Bishop Stika as director of stewardship and strategic planning for the Diocese of Knoxville. He will continue in this role while he serves as interim Head of School at Notre Dame. Deacon Armor graduated from UT-Chattanooga with a degree in business administration. Prior to his career with the Diocese of Knoxville, Deacon Armor, a Chattanooga native, had a successful career in health care. He held executive positions in government claims, sales and marketing, and corporate projects for Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Tennessee. He also served as the founding CEO of Galaxy Health Alliance, an alliance of 15 hospitals that focused on operational savings, clinical effectiveness, and network contracting. He was also a member of the regional executive committee and directed the property and casualty operations of First Tennessee Banks commercial insurance division in Chattanooga. This is an important role, and I am eager to help guide Notre Dame High School during this transition period, Deacon Armor said. I know the school, the Notre Dame community, and I have a great love for the Chattanooga community. This is an exciting time for Catholic schools in Chattanooga. We have a long, successful history educating and forming students in a Christian environment, and we are making plans to build on that tradition. I am humbled to accept Bishop Stikas invitation to lead this process at this time. A woman told police that while she was waiting in line at EZ- Pawn, 5712 Lee Hwy., she felt that an unknown black male touched her rear. She said she turned around and asked the man, "Did you just touch my butt?'' She said the man did not acknowledge her and left the store. She said that there were no witnesses to this and she did not know who the man was. She said she just wanted to report it in case anything happens. She said the man was wearing a red jacket. * * * An employee at the City Cafe Diner, 7641 Lee Hwy., told police that a white male was inside being rude and loud. He said he wanted the man out of the building. Officers escorted the man out of the store. * * * Employees at the Family Dollar, 511 Market St., told police that a black male took several items from the store and also opened items while in the store. Employees were able to snap a photo of the man. The man had left before police arrived. * * * While an officer was typing reports on Northpoint Boulevard, a man approached him and asked if the officer could take him to the Speedway off Highway 58. The officer took the man to the Speedway off Highway 58. * * * A woman on West Bell Avenue told police she parked her vehicle on the side of the street at approximately 7:30 p.m. the day before. She said she went to leave at approximately 10 p.m. and noticed her front passenger side mirror had been busted out. She did say her purse was in her vehicle. Her purse and the other items were stolen from her vehicle. * * * A man on Dorris Street told police that an unknown person has been contacting him through Skype and he wants them to leave him alone. The man said he does not want to press charges or go further with an investigation. He asked police for their opinion on how he should handle this situation and they suggested he should block the people that were contacting him and discontinue any and all conversations with them. * * * A man on Pawnee Trail told police he started his car up to warm it up and left it running outside while he retrieved his coffee at 6 a.m. Shortly after, he said a skinny black male (or three) entered the vehicle and drove away towards Shallowford Road. The keys are in the vehicle (only one set) and vehicle information is a 2014 white Ford Focus with TN tag. The man said he wants to press charges. The vehicle was documented as stolen under NCIC. * * * A man on Asbury Drive told police his vehicle had been stolen. He said he went outside and started his 2004 Volvo XC90 and put some of his work belongings in it. He said he then went back into the house to get his daughters and take them to school. He said he heard his neighbor yelling at a young black male who was attempting to get into his Volvo. He said the neighbor said she saw the man, who was wearing a mask, but looked startled. He said the man left with his vehicle and then the vehicle owner contacted police. Police entered the vehicle into NCIC. Inside the vehicle were three laptops, but the man said he did not have serial numbers for them. * * * A suspicious vehicle was reported outside a business at 1400 East 40th St. Police found an abandoned truck that was parked on the side of the road, and noticed the driver's side window busted out. Police ran the VIN #, which came back stolen out of East Ridge. ERPD was notified and removed the vehicle out of NCIC. The owner was notified and responded to the scene. Police released the vehicle to him. * * * An anonymous caller told police that a white Chevy Impala was parked on West Henderson Drive. Police found the vehicle to be unoccupied. The vehicle had damage to the front and the front driver's side tire was flat, but still on the vehicle. Police placed an unattended sticker on the vehicle. * * * A woman on Wilcox Boulevard told police that sometime during the night her mailbox was knocked over. She said that this is the fourth time this has occurred in the last five years. The woman has nothing to go on, other than the fact she believes a car could have hit it. The estimated value to replace the mailbox is around $200. * * * A disorder was reported at a residence on Hickory Valley Road. A man told police that he and his brother were getting into an argument over card games. The brother was already getting his stuff together to leave and said he wanted no problems. He left the scene with no issues. Fannie Flagg was born (August 31, 1944) Patricia Neal in Birmingham, Alabama, and spent her childhood in the Birmingham area. Encouraged by her father, Flagg became interested in writing and performing at an early age, writing her first stage play when she was only 10 years old. As a teen, she entered the Miss Alabama pageant, where she won a scholarship to a local acting school for one year. As her acting career began, Flagg could not use her birth name professionally, as there was already a well-known actress named Patricia Neal registered with Actors Equity. Having only an hour to choose a stage name, she selected the first name "Fannie" at the suggestion of her grandfather, who recalled it being used by many comediennes in the vaudeville circuit, and "Flagg" at the suggestion of a friend. Perhaps her best-known novel, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe was published in 1987 and remained on The New York Times bestseller list for 36 weeks. (Wikipedia) FANNIE FLAGGS BEST QUOTES * -- Remember if people talk behind your back, it means you are two steps ahead of them. * -- A heart can be broken, but it keeps on beating, just the same. * -- There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. * -- Don't give up before the miracle happens. * -- The ones that hurt the most always say the least. * -- Are you a politician or does lying just run in your family? * -- There's not enough darkness in the entire universe to snuff out the light of just one little candle. * -- If there is such a thing as complete happiness, it is knowing that you are in the right place. * -- Im too young to be old and too old to be young. * -- Kindness and forgiveness is always right, hate and revenge is always wrong. * -- Being a successful person is not necessarily defined by what you have achieved, but by what you have overcome. * -- In America, no matter how poor you started out or where you came from, you could go as high as you wanted if you were willing to work for it. * -- To Toot Ones Own Horn Is Unattractive. * -- I just think humiliation really causes more harm than maybe being physically beaten. * -- You just dont know how bad it feels to have people who dont even know you hate you, and for something you had nothing to do with. * -- History is being rewritten by the minute. Heroes are now being viewed as villains, their lives judged in hindsight by the current fad of political correctness. * * * THE PAY-CHECK MISTAKE A man goes to get his pay check and he discovers that his employer has overpaid him by $2,000. He decides not to tell anybody and keeps quiet. At the end of the following month when he gets the check, he sees that he's been underpaid by $2000. Fuming, he goes to have it out with his employer. "Sir, I think you've made a mistake on my check." "And how do you figure that?" his employer asks. "It seems I've been underpaid by $2,000." "So?" "No disrespect Sir, but I want my money." "Last month I overpaid you by $2,000 and you didn't complain so why now?" "Well Sir, thing is I don't mind if you make a mistake once but if it becomes a habit I have to say something." * * * THE PLIGHT OF THE PIG FARMER There was a farmer who had a herd of pigs. A man came to the farm and asked the farmer: What do you feed your pigs?" "Well, I give them scraps, leftover food and things like that. Why?" "Because I am from the ASPCA and I think you don't feed them like you should, they shouldn't eat wastes." Then he fined the farmer. Some days later, another man arrived and asked the same question. The farmer answered: "Well, I feed them very well. I give them salmon, shrimp, steak, vegetables... why?" "Because I am from the United Nations Organization and I think it's unfair that you feed your pigs like that when there are people dying with nothing to eat." And he fined the farmer. Another man came and asked the same question. The hesitant farmer answered: "Well, I give five dollars to each pig so they can buy whatever they want." The man said, The President just signed a law the minimum wage is $15. And he fined the farmer. A few days later the man came back to see if the farmer was following the law, but didn't see any pigs. He asked the farmer what happened to the pigs. I sold them, said the farmer. I heard about a new federal program. Now the government pays me not to raise pigs. * * * CAN I TAKE MY DOG? A woman called our airline customer-service desk asking if she could take her dog on board. "Sure," I said, "as long as you provide your own kennel." I further explained that the kennel needed to be large enough for the dog to stand up, sit down, turn around, and roll over. The customer was flummoxed: "I'll never be able to teach him all of that by tomorrow!" * * * A PAIR OF MISSED SHOTS A biologist, a chemist and a statistician are out hunting. The biologist shoots at a deer and misses 5 feet to the left. The chemist takes a shot and misses 5 feet to the right. The statistician yells, "We got him!" * * * ABOUT THE LETTER W "The letter 'W' is the most dangerous alphabet in the world. Because all worries start with 'W'.... Who, Why, What, When, Which, Whom, Where, War, Wine, Whiskey, and Wealth." "You're forgetting one." "Really? Which one?" "Wife!" * * * THIS WEEKS FUN VIDEOS * -- The Boy from OZ: Once Before I Go by Hugh Jackman CLICK HERE. * -- Frank Sinatra: Heres to the Winners CLICK HERE. * -- Johnny Mathis - Remember When CLICK HERE. * -- Ronald Reagan tells Soviet Jokes CLICK HERE. royexum@aol.com Two legislative staff members suspended since an FBI raid on the Cordell Hull Building in January 2021 are being fired, just days after Rep. Robin Smith resigned her post and pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Speaker Cameron Sexton confirmed Thursday the two employees whove been on suspension with pay for 14 months will no longer be employed: Nadine Korby, who worked in Rep. Kent Calfees office, and Carol Simpson, who worked for former House Speaker Glen Casada. The charging document against Smith, a Hixson Republican and former state party chair, identified two others the House speaker from January 2019 through August 2019 and his former chief of staff, Casada and Cade Cothren as conspirators in the scheme in which they made more than $200,000 on the House Republican Caucus and House members taxpayer-funded mailers. Smith, a member of the House Republican Caucus campaign finance team, and Casada pressured the caucus and members to use Phoenix Solutions for political work, a New Mexico-based company created by Cothren with their knowledge to make money on House Republicans and give them kickbacks. A break in the case came when the House Speakers Office told Smith that Phoenix Solutions needed to file a W-9 form in order to keep doing work because of a new policy in which third-party vendors would be required to work directly with the Speakers Office, a change in policy for constituent mail. Cothren then provided an IRS W-9 form with the signature Matthew Phoenix stating that he was an American citizen, according to Smiths plea filing. Connie Ridley, director of Legislative Administration, said Thursday a W-9 has always been required for anyone doing business with the Legislature. Asked Thursday if the feds requested him to do that, (potentially an effort to fish Cothren out by getting him to sign a federal document illegally and transmit it by wire), Sexton declined to answer because of the ongoing investigation and referred reporters to the charging document. The facts of what they put in Robin Smiths charging documents was that the policy was changed in June of 2020, and so well stick with that, and as to the investigation, when it closes, then well be able to answer those questions, Sexton said. The documents say that took place in January, but regardless of the month, Cothren bit. Casada did not respond Thursday to a text message asking him if he is cooperating with federal prosecutors. Smith said in a statement after her guilty plea Tuesday she will be testifying for the federal government in the case. Korbys daughter, Ava, is said to be the person who identified herself as Candice in documents in which she and Matthew Phoenix corresponded about the companys work, the Tennessee Journal reported. Irate over betrayal Sexton has been cooperating with the FBI since taking the Speakers post in mid-2019 after Casadas shamed departure amid a racist and sexist texting scandal involving Cothren, as well as complaints about his management style. Its likely the entire House Republican leadership had a window into the schemes mechanics. Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison noted Thursday all vendors will be scrutinized heavily from now on and will have to be an established firm with a long track record. He acknowledged the caucus received a phone number for Matthew Phoenix, contacted him on the phone, obtained employment documents, yet still got fooled. When you have someone who can look at you and sit at a table with you and straight dog-face lie like that , Faison said. Yet, nobody in the caucus sat down with Phoenix. Caucus Whip Johnny Garrett spoke to a man on the phone and thought he was talking to Matthew Phoenix. Instead, they trusted Smith, who vouched for Phoenix Solutions and pushed business his way, then profited from it. House Majority Leader William Lamberth remains bothered by the whole deal. It makes me livid that we were lied to, that we were taken in and we paid a company that we thought was legitimate, that we required W-9s for and everything else and we were bold-face lied to on how that company even the fact they existed was made up apparently, from what weve seen in this plea, he said. A Tillis sighting Former Rep. Rick Tillis showed up Tuesday at Smiths guilty plea hearing in federal court. He didnt come to gloat exactly. Lets just say he was in an upbeat mood. Tillis, who hails from Lewisburg, lost the 2018 election to Republican Rep. Todd Warner, R-Chapel Hill, whose home and office were raided by the FBI, along with those of Casada and Smith. Tillis was a political enemy of Casada and Cothren and was critical of their behavior on an anonymous Twitter feed before being forced out of his role as Republican Caucus whip in 2018. Tillis campaign treasurer accused Warners campaign of illegal coordination with a political action committee called the Faith Family Freedom Fund, which has also been investigated by the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance. So far, Warner has avoided penalties from the Registry board. But the board wants to know more about the Faith Family Freedom Fund, which was run by Cothren using a $7,000 donation from a North Carolina restaurant owner who cant be found, according to testimony. A former girlfriend of Cothrens, Sydney Friedopfer, told the Registry in January she formed the PAC at Cothrens request, then let him run it. Cothren didnt want his involvement in Faith Family Freedom Fund or Phoenix Solutions to get out because of the embarrassing way he left Casadas administration in 2019. Those two entities shared the same postal code, 383, as Dixieland Strategies, yet another new company that did work for Warner. More than likely, Tillis will be making more trips back to the federal courthouse as more indictments come out. Look for it to take place before the Legislature adjourns this year. But dont look for Tillis to run for a House seat again. Hes enjoying life. What ammo sales? The Senate confirmed Gov. Bill Lees appointment of Knoxville businessman Jordan Mollenhour to the Tennessee Board of Education Thursday morning. The Republican-controlled vote came despite complaints that Mollenhour was sued after his company, LuckyGunner.com, sold more than 100 rounds of shotgun and handgun ammunition to Dimitros Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old who killed 10 people and wounded 13 more at a Santa Fe, New Mexico high school, without checking his ID. The company also had another case of lax sales. Senate Democratic Leader Jeff Yarbro raised questions about Mollenhours appointment, noting he remains tied up in a lawsuit over the deadly shooting. Yarbro pointed out the state school board is in charge of the welfare and safety of some 1 million students. The Tennessee Senate confirmed Gov. Bill Lees appointment to the Tennessee Board of Education, a man who sold ammunition to the shooter who killed 10 people in a 2018 New Mexico high school shooting. There are almost 7 million people in Tennessee. Su Higher ed crackdown As if it werent enough to quell any teaching in K-12 schools about race and Americas role in perpetuating slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow laws and segregation for 400 years, the Legislature is doing the same in universities. Under House Bill 2670, which passed the House this week on a party-line vote, no divisive concepts can be taught on Tennessee campuses. No race can be declared inherently inferior or superior to another, nor can the United States be called fundamentally racist or sexist and so on. Some might consider this a violation of the First Amendment. But if youre on salary at a state university, youd better toe the line and quit blaming white folks for everyone elses woes. Rep. Ron Gant, a West Tennessee Republican who carried the bill in the House, argued that it does not stifle free debate in the classroom. So its not the legislative intent to rewrite history? Democratic Rep. Bo Mitchell responded. Obviously, Gant responded in the negative. But as one onlooker viewed it, soon well be teaching that George Washington, the father of our nation, really did chop down that cherry tree. He needed it for new teeth, instead of borrowing his slaves teeth. And Nazism? We can only teach that thousands of Americans died in an attempt to crush Adolph Hitler, not that he was a bad man for exterminating hundreds of thousands of Jews and pulling the entire world into war. Its going to be Joe Friday at the chalkboard: Only the facts maam. Whose facts will be another question? Baby, you can drive my car And while youre at it, fill up the tank. Democratic Reps. Mitchell and John Ray Clemmons of Nashville sent Gov. Bill Lee a letter Tuesday urging him to suspend Tennessees 27-plus-cent fuel taxes for 90 days to give people a break at the pump amid Russias war on Ukraine. Since the invasion started two weeks ago, prices have jumped about a dollar per gallon to more than $4 in Tennessee, even though Russia supplies only 3% of Americas oil. While this may require a financial sacrifice temporarily on behalf of our state, we think this is a signal and a strong investment in democracy abroad, Clemmons said in an impromptu press conference this week. The moratorium would cost the state about $224 million in fuel tax revenues that would go back to motorists. It could be done by executive order, through the budget or a standalone bill. By Wednesday morning, Gov. Lee said he had not discussed the proposal. Weve certainly seen fuel taxes rise over the last year, said Gov. Bill Lee. The last time the gas tax in Tennessee was raised was in 2017 when the IMPROVE Act passed. Instead, when asked if he would consider it, he blamed higher gas prices on the policies of President Joe Biden, a popular tactic among Bidens political foes. Lee missed the mark a little bit on his answer, however. Weve certainly seen fuel taxes rise over the last year as well as prices of everything. Theres a number of reasons for that, Lee said. (If anyone knows of fuel taxes going up in Tennessee over the last year, please let me know. Our legislators would like to know if they raised taxes.) Lee added, Ive spoken publicly about our countrys decision to stop drilling, to shut down pipelines, to move from energy independence and thats the result of it in this country, he said. Well look at any opportunity in our state to improve the impact of that on Tennesseans, that was proposed yesterday, I havent had any conversations about it. Lee takes the view that America should be energy independent. But according to my reading, shutting down the Keystone Pipeline development had little, if any, impact on prices. Oil prices, which are affected by market forces, import agreements with countries such as Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as supply lines and consumption, are hard to figure out. But from a relatively elementary angle, gas prices go up immediately when a disaster happens, then take forever to come back down. Some people call it gouging. Check your bags at the state line rely to God we could find one person to serve on the state board of education, Yarbro said, rather than someone caught up in a lawsuit over illegal ammo sales. Republican leaders argued that Mollenhour is a respected businessman and that some of the litigation against him was dismissed with prejudice. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said the matter didnt put a black mark on Mollenhours Still Public Enemy No. 1 Legislators on both sides of the aisle have been vouching for the sweetness and purity of their hometown school librarians over the last two weeks while others have been calling them perverts and pornographers. Either way, the Republican-dominated Legislature appears ready to put a target on them, making them criminally liable for any obscene books and magazines that show up on their shelves. I suppose if a kid sneaks a Hustler into school and leaves it in the library, theyre gone. Anyway, the House Criminal Justice Committee passed the bill on to the Education Administration Committee, so well have to listen to this again next week. It contains an amendment requiring a challenged book to come off the shelf for 30 days before a school board could consider the matter. Under current rules, books under investigation remain in the library until the matter is decided. Of course, its already illegal for obscene or pornographic books to be in school libraries. This bill by Rep. Scott Cepicky, though, would remove exceptions for librarians and teachers and hold them criminally liable. Lawmakers kept tiptoeing around that point this week, even though its the crux of the legislation. They make it seem as if librarians are slipping pictures of Debbie Does Dallas into the pages of their books. Rep. Bill Beck, a Nashville Democrat and attorney, contended the bill is constitutionally suspect because it automatically removes books for 30 days before a decision, a violation called prior restraint. Democrats also argue that instead of emphasizing book removal, the state needs to find a better method to keep questionable books out of libraries in the first place. Republicans, in contrast, appear bound and determined to push this bill to passage, putting the blame on librarians and teachers for the ills of Tennessee. Theyd better start scanning every page for dirty words because its gonna pass. 1883 star Faith Hill had the honor of portraying Margaret, the matriarch of the Dutton family. Margaret had to be tough to survive the dangerous journey from Texas to Montana. Hill recently discussed her 1883 character and said Margaret reminds her of a very important person in her life. Faith Hill as Margaret of the Paramount+ original series 1883 | Emerson Miller/Paramount+ Faith Hill discusses women on the perilous journey west Faith Hill acted alongside her husband Tim McGraw while on the set of 1883. The pair portrayed an onscreen couple trying to move their family west in the hopes of a better life. Margaret herself was a nurse in the Civil War. She is familiar with life-or-death situations and not afraid to do whats necessary to protect her family. Hill discussed how women had to adapt on the journey west in order to survive in an interview with Reel School. I think for the women, you basically had to then take on the responsibilities of what at that time a man would do. Pick up a gun and use it, and if you had never used it before you learned on the spot, Hill said. Thats just the way it was because it was about life or death protecting your family. 1883 star Faith Hill says Margaret reminds her of her mother Faith Hill portrayed an exceptionally tough woman in 1883. The actor discussed her character in an interview with Variety. She reminds me of my mom, Hill said of Margaret. I was adopted and she was one of the strongest women I ever have encountered in my life. She died a few years ago, but her strength was just nothing compares to it. Hill continued to praise her mothers strength and discuss how hard she worked. She was really, really smart and worked three jobs. My dad couldnt read. Hes since passed too, but she was raising my two older brothers and me during a rough time. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill | Emerson Miller/Paramount+ She came from Philadelphia, Mississippi, right in the middle of the whole civil rights war going on there, right in the midst of it. She also picked cotton and worked so hard and had such a strong faith and belief that everyone should be treated equally. She believed to never judge someone until you walk in their shoes. Hill thought about her mother a lot while filming the Yellowstone prequel In the same interview, Faith Hill explained that her mother was a kind of inspiration while filming 1883. I thought about my mom a lot when I was playing Margaret, along this journey that we were on with immigrants from around the world, Hill told Variety. I thought, when you love your family, you fight. You do whatever it takes to keep them safe. And obviously, I would do that in real life if anyone messes with my kids, I will hurt you. Hill continued, discussing the perilous journey undertaken in 1883. It was remarkable what people did, but that the common theme is the fact that we were all fighting for the same thing, protecting our family trying to find a better life for our family. When you come together, the things that you can do when you come together, you witness that on the trail. All episodes of 1883 are currently streaming on Paramount+. RELATED: Yellowstone: What Happened to John Duttons Wife? Many Kourtney Kardashian fans dont feel bad for her former partner Scott Disick amid reports that he is upset over the news of her engagement to Travis Barker. Here are some examples of Disicks past behavior that make it hard for fans to sympathize with him. (L-R) Scott Disick, Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian | Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic; Udo Salters/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images 1. Scott Disick allegedly cheated on Kourtney Kardashian multiple times Fans watched Scott Disick engage in shady behavior while dating Kourtney Kardashian in the early seasons of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. In the pilot episode, Kris Jenner warned her oldest daughter that she had heard rumors about Disicks infidelity, which set the tone for the rest of their years-long on-and-off relationship. Kourtneys sisters, Khloe and Kim Kardashian, looked through Disicks phone in a later episode and saw he was texting another woman. In the messages, Disick said he wished he could take a week to visit the woman and not tell Kourt. In another cheating scandal, Disick was spotted getting close to his ex, Chloe Bartoli, while partying on a yacht without Kourtney. Teenager Sophia Richie Spotted Sunbathing With Her Boyfriend, 34-Year-Old Scott Disick https://t.co/39VxxGHUYl pic.twitter.com/25lFEUCHR4 Kiss 100 Kenya (@Kiss100kenya) November 7, 2017 2. Scott Disick has had several controversial relationships with significantly younger women Scott Disicks dating life outside of his romance with Kourtney Kardashian did little to endear him to fans. The reality star has been widely criticized for his relationships with significantly younger women. After a breakup with Kardashian, Disick dated 19-year-old model Sofia Richie. When they broke up, Disick started dating another teenager, 19-year-old Amelia Hamlin. While single, Disick has been spotted with a bevy of very young models, many of them Kardashian-Jenner lookalikes or even friends of the two youngest members of the family, Kendall and Kylie Jenner. P.s anyone who has to much to say probably had to much to eat. #fatasses Scott Disick (@ScottDisick) March 11, 2013 3. Scott Disick criticized Kourtney Kardashians weight after she gave birth to their second child Fans cant get over an episode of Kourtney & Kim Take Miami in which Scott Disick criticized Kourtney Kardashians weight shortly after she gave birth to their second child. Five-foot-tall Kardashian stepped onto a scale and revealed that she weighed 115 pounds. She then told Disick that she probably weighed 95 pounds when she met him, to which he responded (per Us Weekly), I feel like 93 is the dream. Your body was banging when I first saw you on the beach with that little a. Disick continued to make negative remarks about Kardashians weight until she finally broke down in tears at the end of the episode. You are so crazy, she told Disick. Im trying to do this the healthy way. He replied, Do it the healthy way, just do it faster. After facing backlash the night the episode aired, Disick doubled down on his comments by tweeting, Never realized how upset people get when a person makes a comment about weight. He followed that up with another tweet that read, P.s anyone who has to much to say probably had to much to eat. #fataes. Not Scott Disick sliding into Younes DMs about Kourtney! (: Backgrid) pic.twitter.com/EMVOjsGRCa TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) August 31, 2021 4. Scott Disick tried to gossip about Kourtney Kardashian to her ex-boyfriend Another reason fans dont have sympathy for Scott Disick is that he tried to gossip about Kourtney Kardashian with her ex-boyfriend while she was dating Travis Barker. In August 2021, Younes Bendjima, who once dated Kardashian, shared DMs he received from Disick about the mother of his three children. Yo is this chick ok!???? Broooo like what is this. In the middle of Italy, Disick wrote to Bendjima, sending a photo of Kardashian and Barker kissing. Bendjima responded, Doesnt matter to me as long as shes happy PS: i aint your bro. The model posted screenshots of the DMs to his Instagram Stories for the world to see. RELATED: Fans Are Furious at Kim Kardashian For Telling Them to Get Your Fing A Up and Work No one walks the runway like British celebrity supermodel Naomi Campbell. Known for her cat-like prowess, Beyonce was inspired to replicate her iconic moves in the Crazy in Love music video. Campbell has been a leader in the fashion industry for the past several decades. The future star of the Apple TV+ docuseries, The Supermodels, has walked for all the major brands, including Versace, Chanel, Prada, and Christian Dior. At 51 years of age, the legendary beauty has appeared on more than 500 fashion and beauty magazine covers, 66 of which were for Vogue. Now it appears Campbells 9-month-old daughter is following in her famous mothers footsteps, recently appearing on the cover of British Vogue, proving she is truly a model baby. Was the supermodels baby adopted? Naomi Campbell, at age 50, says she has become the mother of a baby girl. https://t.co/1sPypdVOe5 The Associated Press (@AP) May 19, 2021 It has been almost a year since Campbell announced on Instagram that she was a mom. In May 2021, the supermodel posted a picture of her daughters feet cradled in the palm of her hand. Fans were shocked by the news, mainly because the Empire actor was extremely private throughout the entire process. Many were left speculating if the baby was the product of in-vitro fertilization, surrogacy, or adoption. In an interview with British Vogue, Campbell set the record straight, saying, She wasnt adopted shes my child. The inspiration for Hollaback Girl shared, I can count on one hand the number of people who knew that I was having her. But she is the biggest blessing I could ever imagine. Campbell claimed, Its the best thing Ive ever done. The model baby is already living a jet-setting life Supermodel @NaomiCampbell stars on the March issue cover introducing her daughter to the world for the very first time. She wasnt adopted, Naomi tells British Vogue, shes my child. Read the full story: https://t.co/iAKOVZMVNb pic.twitter.com/VVbIhUkT6s British Vogue (@BritishVogue) February 14, 2022 As a global ambassador for the Queens Commonwealth Trust, Campbell is never in one place for very long, and neither is her daughter. In the interview with Vogue, Campbell explained the mother-daughter duo are citizens of the world. She has hired an amazing lady to work as her nanny and help with the daily care of her child. The Zoolander 2 actor explained that her daughter goes everywhere with her. For instance, Christmas was spent in the south of France with family, then they jetted to Qatar for New Years Eve, followed by London for a matter of hours, before heading to LA for a few days and on to Paris. Campbell admits to feeling like a kid again, saying that she enjoys playing, reading nursery rhymes, and discovering the world with her child. She loves all the innovative new toys at her disposal, especially the dolls. The young girl also has a closet full of designer clothes that would make most models swoon. The celebrity mom has a new project in the works for the clothes, but she has not yet revealed the details. Campbell told Vogue, My daughter comes first. Everything I do, I do for her thats it. Its so completely selfless, isnt it? When asked if she wants more, she quipped, Why not? Naomi Campbell has not revealed the babys name or paternity Naomi Campbell | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Campbell has decided not to share the name of her daughter. She has not yet shared the paternity either, for that matter. While she was willing to appear on the new Vogue cover with her bundle of joy, she was cautious about revealing too much about the childs identity. The Vogue cover is the first glimpse anyone has gotten of her daughter. People reported that when the girl was two months old, her famous mom posted a photo of her wearing a designer Versace onesie. The babys face was not visible. Campbell will obviously share on her own terms, but one thing is for sure, she loves being a mom. When she announced the newborns arrival, she said on Instagram, A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother. So honoured to have this gentle soul in my life there are no words to describe the lifelong bond that I now share with you my angel. There is no greater love. RELATED: Who is Naomi Campbell Co-Parenting Her New Baby Girl With? Just before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the U.K. and moved across the pond there were rumblings that the duke and duchess werent easy to work for. In fact, one photographer, who has toured the world with many members of the royal family, refused to do so with the Sussexes because of how miserable they were. Heres what longtime photographer Arthur Edwards had to say about what it was like being around Harry and Meghan. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle photographed attending a formal engagement at the British Ambassadors residence | Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage Photographer has close relationship with the royal family hes covered for 40 years Edwards is a British photographer who has taken pictures of the royal family for four decades. He began working for The Sun in 1977 and was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his outstanding service to newspapers. Over the years, the renowned photog has toured with several members of Britains most famous family and always had a good relationship with senior royals, however, he didnt want to work with Prince Harry after he met Meghan. The British royal family standing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Trooping the Colour parade | James Devaney/FilmMagic Edwards admitted that Meghan and Harry were always miserable and depressing to work with Edwards spoke about how the Duke of Sussex became miserable behind the scenes after he started dating Meghan and working with them was depressing, so Edwards opted out of covering the couples tours. During a chat on news.com.aus Ive Got News For You podcast, Edwards dished on what many of the royals are like. Camilla would always say hello, Kate says hello, William, yeah, theyre all very friendly and so was Harry until he met Meghan, and then he became very very distant and he became almost, well, it was miserable. I just find it very depressing with them. They just hated the media and it was miserable In fact in the end I didnt do Harrys tours. I didnt do Harrys tour of Australia, not with Meghan. I didnt do Harrys tour of South Africa with Meghan. I ducked out of them and sort of went with Charles to New Zealand and you know places like that. Prince Harry has called the British media toxic and on Feb. 23, the duke launched another libel lawsuit against the British media company Associated Newspapers which is the publisher of the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday, and MailOnline. This is the eighth legal filing by the Sussexes since September 2019 at the High Court in London. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle dressed casual and seated during a visit to a local farming family in Australia | Chris Jackson Pool/Getty Images Another royal has rubbed members of the press the wrong way on tours in the past Its not just Prince Harry and Meghan who members of the press have spoken out about. Another royal and his wife were previously called out for their cold behavior when touring abroad. In the documentary Reinventing the Royals, several royal correspondents were asked about Prince William and Kate Middletons public engagement in Australia in 2014 and their impressions of them werent great. Daily Telegraph Australia columnist Sarrah Le Marquand described the Duke of Cambridge as a very standoffish character. And ITN royal correspondent Tim Ewart claimed William and Kate refused to even acknowledge him. These are the first people Ive ever covered who will not speak to me at all, Ewart said. More than that, the people who represent them will brief me about their movements, about where I can go and where I stand, but they wont tell me anything about what these people think. RELATED: 3 Times Prince Harry Lost His Cool in Public Reportedly, filming for Paramount+ new reality TV competition series, The Challenge: CBS, is slated to begin soon. In Feb. 2022, CBS and Paramount+ announced its rollout for American and international versions of The Challenge to air on the streaming service in respective markets culminating in the winners competing against each other for the ultimate title in global series, The Challenge: War of the Worlds. Paramount+ logo | Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images The Challenge: CBS spoilers claim filming will begin soon According to popular spoiler PinkRose, the first season of CBS version of The Challenge is scheduled to begin filming shortly. The account reports that the rumored cast will fly to Argentina, the filming location, the weekend of March 11. Check out the cast of THE CHALLENGE: CBS currently filming in Argentina! The cast includes players from Big Brother, Survivor, The Amazing Race & Love Island. Apart from maybe 2-3 duds I think this is a brilliant cast and hoping for a good season. As always credit to @GamerVev pic.twitter.com/u09feLrSV3 Locky (@happygolocky) March 11, 2022 RELATED: The Challenge 38 Reportedly Featuring 8 MTV Cast Members: Heres Who Fans Want to See While CBS hasnt confirmed the competitors yet and some listed reality stars are alternates in case someone else cant perform, here are the fan-favorites the spoiler account claims have left for Argentina. The cast reportedly includes Big Brother, Survivor, and Amazing Race winners Enzo Palumbo (Big Brother 12, season 22 runner-up) Christmas Abbott (Big Brother 19, 22) Angela Rummans (Big Brother 20) Alyssa Lopez (Big Brother 23) Azah Awasum (Big Brother 23) Derek Xiao (Big Brother 23) Kyland Young (Big Brother 23) Tiffany Mitchell (Big Brother 23) Xavier Prather (Big Brother 23 winner) Kyra Green (Love Island USA 1) Cely Vazquez (Love Island USA 2 runner-up) Justine Ndiba (Love Island 2 winner) Cashay Proudfoot (Love Island 3) Cinco Holland Jr. (Love Island 3) Korey Gandy (Love Island 3 winner) Congratulations to Korey & Olivia, the WINNERS of #LoveIslandUSA! pic.twitter.com/0UKyQFzok9 Love Island USA (@loveislandusa) August 16, 2021 Olivia Kaiser (Love Island 3 winner) Shannon St. Claire (Love Island 3) Javonny Vega (Love Island 3) Josh Goldstein (Love Island 3) Tyson Apostol (Survivor 18, 20, 40, season 27 winner) Sarah Lacina (Survivor 28, 40, season 34 winner) Tasha Fox (Survivor 28, season 31 runner-up) Ben Driebergen (Survivor 35 winner, season 40) Desi Williams (Survivor 35) Domenick Abbate (Survivor 36 runner-up) Danny McCray (Survivor 41) Shantel Smith (Survivor 41) Leo Temory (Amazing Race 23) James Wallington (Amazing Race 32 winner) Cayla Lee (Amazing Race 33 runner-up) Its currently unclear if MTVs The Challenge host T.J. Lavin will host the new series or if the new franchise will include a different entertainer for the job. The Challenge: CBS winner will face off for the international title In Feb. 2022, Paramount+ and CBS announced its plans to renew several reality TV series, including RuPauls Drag Race: All-Stars and The Real World: Homecoming. Additionally, it revealed the May 11 premiere date for The Challenge: All Stars 3. The Challenge: CBS, The Challenge: Australia, The Challenge: Argentina, The Challenge: UK & The Challenge: War of the Worlds are all filming in Argentina pic.twitter.com/DvsAPRbT7J The Challenge MTV (@Challengemtv___) February 17, 2022 The streaming giant also unfolded a new project that included its version of the long-running MTV competition series, The Challenge: CBS, in which memorable reality stars from its lineups will face off for the title. Paramount+ will also take it internationally, launching it in Argentina, Australia, and the United Kingdom for those markets. After winners are determined from each, they will battle for the grand prize and international title in another new global reality competition series from Paramount+, The Challenge: War of the Worlds. RELATED: The Challenge Star Cory Wharton and Taylor Selfridge Expecting Another Child Its safe to say that Marvel fans were satisfied with the result of Spider-Man: No Way Home. The film bridged the gap between three generations of onscreen Spider-Man adaptations. It placed current star Tom Holland at the forefront, but it also brought back multiple villains from the franchises past, not to mention former Spider-Men Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire. While Holland has been nothing but effusive in praising both Holland and Maguire, he did have one regret about the film involving Garfield. Lets take a closer look at how Marvel brought this incredible trio together and what Holland said was his main regret. Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield both hold a special place in the Spider-Man universe (L-R): Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland attend the 2021 GQ Men of the Year Party at the West Hollywood EDITION on November 18, 2021 in West Hollywood, California. | Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for GQ Holland is the MCUs current version of Peter Parker, and hes a big hit with fans. He first popped up in 2016s Captain America: Civil War. Tony Stark recruited him to join his superhero versus superhero battle in that film. After Disney and Sony worked out a deal to share the character, Spider-Man officially joined the MCU. Subsequently, Holland appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Garfield was the second actor to take on the Spider-Man mantle. He first appeared as the web-slinger in 2012s The Amazing Spider-Man. He also appeared in a sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Sony had plans for a trilogy that fell through. This shelved many Spider-Man projects, including a rumored Sinister Six spinoff. Sony continues to move forward with multiple Spider-Man-related projects such as the Venom series, Morbius, and a planned Madame Web adaptation. Tom Hollands Spider-Man regret involving Andrew Garfield Fans may love Hollands take on the character now. But the talented and versatile Garfield was also a popular choice as Spider-Man. Holland and Garfield seem to get along great if this last films press tour is any indication. However, Holland did have one regret regarding Garfield. Holland regretted not calling Garfield after being cast as Spider-Man. Something I can look back on now with a little bit of clarity and regret is that I never called [Garfield] when I took over as Spider-Man, he told The Hollywood Reporter. Holland added he later put himself in Garfields shoes, thinking of how he would feel if he were in the same position. Had someone said to me after my second movie that I was done and this other kid was taking over, I wouldve been heartbroken. While Holland wished he had the chance to make amends with [Garfield], he saw No Way Home as his opportunity to do that. Spider-Man: No Way Home gave fans the chance to see Garfield and Holland together So how does Spider-Man: No Way Home let Garfield and Holland share a connection? From a storytelling perspective, it was quite satisfying. Garfields abrupt exit from the series left one plot thread unresolved: his character watches his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) die at the end of the second film, unable to save her. In No Way Home, a third act scene sees Garfields Parker saving MJ (Zendaya) from perishing in a similar situation. Its a satisfying resolution for Garfields character. It gave him one more chance to be a hero and gain closure for that aspect of his emotional arc. Holland may not have said anything to Garfield when he first got the role. But by sharing the screen with him, he was able to let him finish what he started. RELATED: Spider-Man: No Way Home: Andrew Garfield Fangirled Over Doing the Pointing Thing With Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland Native American artist and Tulsa business owner Tate Steinsiek teaches a special effects technique to student Kylie Dirtseller during the Introduction to FX Gore and Blood Gags for Film course, which was sponsored by the Cherokee Nation Film Office. This May 8, 2017, file photo, shows Arch Canyon within Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. National Park Service Director Chuck Sams says he and other federal officials are committed to boosting the role Native American tribes can play in managing public lands. He said Tuesday, March 8, 2022, during a congressional hearing that part of the effort includes integrating Indigenous knowledge into management plans and recognizing that federal lands once belonged to the tribes. Chickasha, OK (73018) Today Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 69F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Variable clouds with strong thunderstorms. Low 58F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 I am on the verge of walking across the stage at my graduate school and receiving my masters degree diploma. I am honored to have been a part of my program and grateful for the opportunity. Still, I find that I have almost traveled back in time, looping back to the same place I was in my twenties, asking God, what in the world am I supposed to do with my life? I have been in ministry for twenty years, on the mission field in Zambia for part of those years, and now serve in church planting, writing, speaking and preaching, and communications. Yet, I am still here asking the question: God, what am I supposed to do with my life and with this new degree? When graduation comes rolling around and that long awaited diploma is finally in hand, it can feel thrilling to drop the stress of assignments, the pressure of deadlines, and experience the thrill of finishing. But it can also be paralyzing to figure out what to do next. The options seem limitless in this generation: grad school, missions, community development, human resources, justice initiatives, a startup, and so forth a seemingly endless list of choices. Yet the noise of every clamoring opinion and the dizzying feeling of so many options can keep us from stepping into Gods will for us. How do we decide or better yet, discern what God wants for our future? Most of us want a very clear sign from God, a calling, or an obvious open door. We envision God handing us a detailed plan and brochure, outlining the path we should follow, and what each of our choices might lead to. Sometimes the fear of choosing wrong can keep us from choosing at all. Or it can make us hedge our bets on the safest choice in hopes that we protect ourselves from any unexpected twists and turns that life can throw our way. But God doesnt necessarily call us to the safe choice or even a clear choice. Sometimes we have to take a step and see what we discover. Sometimes we have to faithfully fail forward. So how can we discern what next step to take? While there is no actual formula in determining what exactly we should do, Romans 12:2 gives us insight into how we should go about deciding: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will ishis good, pleasing and perfect will. In this short verse, the apostle Paul gives three steps when it comes to figuring out Gods will: 1) Choose not to conform; 2) Allow our minds to be transformed; 3) Test to determine Gods perfect will for our lives. And all of this discernment can and should be done in community, with others who can affirm your calling and next steps. We do not have to do this alone. Choose not to conform: When it comes to taking the next step in a career or in any life decision, it can be easy to turn to worldly ideas about success. For most graduates, there can be a pressure to simply follow the expected path post-graduation. Find the best paying job. Put in long hours and invest in your career even if that means sacrificing meaningful relationships and physical or mental health. The worlds pattern is to earn your worth and value by climbing the ladder of success, by doggedly fighting your way to the top. This cultural moment tells us to choose our lifes path based on external factors such as pay or status, and to disregard the internal cost of conforming to the blueprint of the world. The pattern of Christ, on the other hand, is antithetical to the pattern of the world. Rather than looking for the markers of success based on whats in your bank account or how many plaques decorate your wall, Christ looks at the heart. Jesus said, What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Mark 8:36) Gaining wealth, status, or accomplishment is not the mark of victory in the eyes of Christ. Instead, Jesus looks to the heart of what we are doing and why we are doing it. Now, this certainly does not mean that our decisions should always go against the better paying job or the career with more status, but it does mean we have to dig deep into our why. Even when it comes to good things, patterning our lives on worldly methods of deriving meaning for our existence will ultimately erode our soul. What does that look like then when it comes to choosing our next step in life? Take some time to determine what is underneath your desires. While going on a long-term mission trip is great, believing that doing so will earn favor in Gods eyes is not. Choosing the career path that you think will bring you adoration and affection is patterning our lives on something other than Jesus. Picking the job because it has more figures on the paycheck is not necessarily the right choice. Spend some time praying about your why and asking others to speak into your desires will truly get to your heart and help you keep from conformity to worldly patterns. Allow your mind to be transformed: If we are not to conform to the worlds ideas and patterns, the way we go about doing that begins in our minds. As Christians, our thinking and thought processes are to look markedly different from the culture. The way we arrive at our answers about our future will seem like we are completing an entirely different math problem than our neighbor. We not only need to think differently, but we need an entirely different imagination about human existence one thats rooted in the deeper story, deeper love, and a deeper identity found in the gospel. How do we change our thoughts? Simply put, by being in Gods word and by praying for his guidance. Through reading Gods thoughts, the Holy Spirit can begin to change our mind about what matters most, what we should value and what decisions we should make. As our thinking transforms into a holy imagination, we will begin to see that God has less to say about what we do and more to say about how we go about choosing what we do. With a mind that patterns its decisions on that of Christs, the doors we choose to open and walk through might not always make sense to those watching. It could mean saying no to the option with benefits and a 401k in exchange for a job that uses our skillset to help the least of these. It could look like going to the lesser-known graduate school in order to be surrounded by a healthy community, instead of the one that will help us get in the door at our first-choice employer. The factors going into making a choice may seem absurd to our friends or family members who are basing their lives on the worlds patterns and yet, this is Gods plan and Gods encouragement in making decisions. Test to determine Gods will: It is only after the rejection of the cultures formula for a good life and a complete overhaul of our thinking that we will be able to determine if we are in Gods will. Until we stop following the ways of the world and stop thinking like the world, we cannot have the clarity given to us by the Holy Spirit to choose what God has for us. When we know the character of God and how he moves, we can test whether or not an opportunity is something he would approve of. As we study his word and give it the chance to truly change us from within, we can determine what aligns with what we know to be true about him and what does not. It can feel scary at times to walk across the graduation stage into the next season God has for us, but as we maneuver through the process of seeking Gods will, there is comfort in knowing that no matter what we decide, God can use our lives, even missteps and wrong choices, for his glory. There is no perfect formula for making hard decisions when it comes to our future, but there is a perfect God who is willing to walk us through the decision-making process, every step of the way. Applications for the 2022-23 school year are due by March 15. The Better Samaritan blog is produced by the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College, which offers a M.A. in Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership and a Trauma Certificate. To learn more and apply, visit our website Aubrey Sampson co-hosts The Common Good podcast Monday through Friday from 4 to 6pm (CT) on AM1160 Hope for Your Life. Aubrey is the author of The Louder Song: Listening for Hope in the Midst of Lament and her latest release, Known: How Believing Who God Says You Are Changes Everything. She co-planted Renewal Church in West Chicago, Illinois and is passionate about civility, compassion, and unity in a divided world. Indias Christians fear rise in violence by Hindu extremists as BJP wins 4 states Christians in India fear that persecution of their communities will intensify after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won elections in four states, which will be seen as an overwhelming endorsement of the partys anti-minority stance. As per the results announced this week for elections in five states, the BJP retained power in four states, including the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, the northern state of Uttarakhand, the southwestern state of Goa and the northeastern state of Manipur. In northern Punjab state, the BJP lost the election. Uttar Pradesh state witnessed at least 102 incidents of violence against Christians in 2021, according to a report by the United Christian Forum. Days before the announcement of the results, Hindu nationalists had warned some Christians that the community in the state might face extermination, The Telegraph reported. A Hindu leader has already threatened us that they are waiting for the election results and after that they will exterminate Christians from Uttar Pradesh, a local Christian, Emmanuel Singh, from the states Jodhikapur village, was quoted as saying. Nandu Nathanael Singh, Singhs father and a Christian minister, was attacked recently. As he was reading a chapter from the Bible at a prayer meeting with 25 other Christians, he heard chants of Bring the traitor out. A mob of Hindu nationalists, accompanied by the police, had gathered outside his home, accusing them of forced conversions of Hindus. The mob also chanted, Free India of Christian priests. Within hours, Nathanael Singh and his wife, Savita, were arrested and falsely charged with unlawful conversion, criminal intimidation and intentionally insulting religion. They were released five months later. Ten states in India, including Uttar Pradesh, have passed anti-conversion laws, which presume that Christians force or give financial benefits to Hindus to convert them to Christianity. While some of these laws have been in place for decades in some states, no Christian has been convicted of forcibly converting anyone to Christianity. These laws, however, allow Hindu nationalist groups to make false charges against Christians and launch attacks on them under the pretext of the alleged forced conversion. The law states that no one is allowed to use the threat of divine displeasure, meaning Christians cannot talk about Heaven or Hell, as that would be seen as forcing someone to convert. And if snacks or meals are served to Hindus after an evangelistic meeting, that could be seen as an inducement. The return of the BJP to power means more trouble for us," Emmanuel Singh was quoted as saying, about Uttar Pradesh. "With the BJP in power, the attacks on Christians will increase in the next five years. We are worried because they hate our faith, our religion. The BJP government doesnt tolerate any other faith except Hindu. Open Doors USA, which monitors Christian persecution in over 60 countries, has also reported that persecution against Christians and other religious minorities has increased since the BJP took power at the federal level in 2014. For Indias Christians, 2021 was the most violent year in the countrys history, according to the report by the UCF, which recorded at least 486 violent incidents of Christian persecution in the year. The UCF attributed the high incidence of Christian persecution to impunity, due to which such mobs criminally threaten, physically assault people in prayer, before handing them over to the police on allegations of forcible conversions. Police registered formal complaints in only 34 of the 486 cases, according to the UCF. Often communal sloganeering is witnessed outside police stations, where the police stand as mute spectators, the UCF report states. Hindu extremists believe that all Indians should be Hindus and that the country should be rid of Christianity and Islam, an Open Doors fact sheet explains. They use extensive violence to achieve this goal, particularly targeting Christians from a Hindu background. Christians are accused of following a foreign faith and blamed for bad luck in their communities. Christians make up only 2.3% of Indias population and Hindus comprise about 80%. New World Health Organization guidance calls for abortion to be fully decriminalized The World Health Organization has released a 200-page document calling for the full decriminalization of abortion worldwide, which it describes as lifesaving care. The WHO published an updated Abortion care guideline Wednesday, replacing guidance from 2012. In a statement, Craig Lissner, WHOs acting director for sexual and reproductive health and research, asserted that [b]eing able to obtain safe abortion is a crucial part of health care. Nearly every death and injury that results from unsafe abortion is entirely preventable, he stated. Thats why we recommend women and girls can access abortion and family planning services when they need them. The new guidance condemns efforts by governments to restrict abortions. Dr. Bela Ganatra, the head of WHOs Prevention of Unsafe Abortion Unit, said that Abortion care needs to respect the decisions and needs of women and girls, ensuring that they are treated with dignity and without stigma or judgment. No one should be exposed to abuse or harms like being reported to the police or put in jail because they have sought or provided abortion care, she stated. The evidence is clear if you want to prevent unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions, you need to provide women and girls with a comprehensive package of sexuality education, accurate family planning information and services, and access to quality abortion care. An entire chapter of the new guidance features recommendations for abortion regulation, which proclaims that Abortion should be fully decriminalized, calling for the removal of barriers that hinder access to and timely provision of quality abortion care. Examples of such barriers listed include gestational age limits, mandatory waiting periods, third-party authorization requirements and provider restrictions. "Treaty monitoring bodies have called for the decriminalization of abortion in all circumstances," three guideline document reads. While abortion is legal in the United States, many states have enacted laws that WHO would classify as barriers to abortion access. Several states have made efforts to ban abortion once a heartbeat can be detected. Most notably, Texas has a ban on abortions as early as six weeks gestation. Texas law has so far not been struck down by courts at the state and federal levels. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to rule whether Mississippis 15-week abortion ban violates the U.S. Constitution. A ruling in favor of the state of Mississippi, which is seeking to uphold the ban, would weaken the precedent set by Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The WHO guidance also recommends "using telemedicine approaches as an alternative to in-person interactions for provision of medical abortion." WHO relied on abortion advocacy groups when formulating its updated abortion guidance. The list of external experts and WHO staff involved in guideline development includes Laura Castleman of Planned Parenthood Michigan, Dhammika Perera of Marie Stopes International, Karthik Srinivasan of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and Christina Zampas of the Center for Reproductive Rights. Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the U.S., while Marie Stopes International is a pro-abortion advocacy group based in the United Kingdom. "As governments in countries such as the United States and Poland act to further restrict abortion access, the WHO guideline provides concrete, evidence-based proof that access to abortion is fundamental to ensuring health as well as a human right and should be more, not less, accessible," Center for Reproductive Rights President Nancy Northup said in a statement. WHOs advocacy against abortion restrictions reflect a push to make abortion an international human right. WHOs abortion care guidelines include a reference to the United Nations Global Strategy for Womens, Childrens and Adolescents Health, which includes evidence-based interventions for abortion and post-abortion care as one effective way to help individuals thrive and communities transform. Under the Trump administration, the U.S. signed the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which declared there is no international right to abortion. In addition to the U.S., 31 other countries signed the document. Shortly after taking office in January 2021, President Joe Biden issued a Memorandum on Protecting Womens Health at Home and Abroad, which indicated that his administration would withdraw co-sponsorship and signature from the Geneva Consensus Declaration. Last November, the U.S. State Department included a sub-section on reproductive rights in its annual human rights report, highlighting foreign countries laws and programs regarding abortion and contraception. Pro-life advocates called the inclusion of reproductive rights in the human rights report inappropriate. Last week, the World Health Organization faced criticism for sending out a tweet recognizing World Birth Defects Day. The Twitter thread listed Down syndrome as one of the most common severe birth defects, prompting backlash from pro-life activists and parents of children with Down syndrome. Today is World #BirthDefects Day! Most birth defects can be prevented and treated with access to quality maternal and newborn care. Yet, every year, they cause the deaths of close to 250,000 babies ???? within just 1 month of birth. ????https://t.co/gqvpXik1glpic.twitter.com/aJqzdiuucP World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 3, 2022 Rachel Campos Duffy, a Fox News contributor and the mother of nine children including a daughter with Down syndrome, took to Twitter to ask why the U.S. continues to support discredited, China-run #WHO. She insisted that Down Syndrome is NOT a birth defect. Its a chromosomal variation. Why do we financially support discredited, China-run #WHO. Down Syndrome is NOT a birth defect. Its a chromosomal variation. My baby w/ Downs is as human & valuable as any of my other kids. These comments lead to discrimination & abortion. Celebrate, dont eliminate differences https://t.co/eQuyhiP7z0pic.twitter.com/AAVOTw8DBM Rachel Campos-Duffy (@RCamposDuffy) March 6, 2022 My baby w/ Downs is as human & valuable as any of my other kids, she wrote. These comments lead to discrimination & abortion. Celebrate, dont eliminate differences. Kurt Kondrich, whose daughter Chloe has Down syndrome, shared her response to the WHOs characterization of Down syndrome on Twitter. Her reply read, I am Chloe Emmanuelle Kondrich and I am NOT a severe birth defect. In 2020 and 2021, contributions from the U.S. accounted for nearly one-quarter of all contributions to WHO, with net contributions over the two-year period amounting to more than $230 million. In response to the criticism, WHO edited a Facebook post that initially looked identical to the tweet announcing March 3 as World Birth Defects Day. The tweet, which remains unedited, still maintains that Most birth defects can be prevented and treated with access to quality maternal and newborn care and every year, they cause the deaths of close to 250,000 babies within just 1 month of birth. The revised Facebook post changes the word most to some. WHO has edited its original post which, in conflating two distinct messages, unintentionally implied that Down syndrome was preventable through antenatal and newborn care, the Facebook post reads. We sincerely apologize for any offence caused by our statement to people living with Down syndrome and their families. WHO commits to providing continued support for all those affected by Down syndrome, including appropriate healthcare, access to specialized services and respectful treatment. We appreciate your feedback on our post and will endeavour to ensure that our channels share information on Down syndrome moving forward, that respects the needs and desires of those affected. 4 Lessons from the Jussie Smollett saga Former "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett has finally been sentenced. The three-year Smollett saga has truly been a wild one with jokes by Dave Chappelle(warning: contains profanity) and Charles Barkley, an emotional interview,laughable legal motions, and claims about suicidality. I have followed this whole drama from day one and I have compiled four lessons that we as individuals and society at large can and should take away from this. 1. All people lie. One thing that has truly shocked me ever since the height of the #MeToo era began was the number of people who dont understand the concept of lying. So many people ridiculously asked and continue to ask questions like Why would a person lie? Why would someone claim to be a victim? Why would someone lie about something so serious? A fact of life is: human beings lie. This is something that Psalm 116:11 and Romans 3:4 tell us. But even if you arent religious, we can all relate to lying at a very young age. It is a natural defense mechanism that we learn and use as we live our lives. Humans also have plenty of reasons to lie: maybe it is to harm an enemy; to take revenge; to gain fame or money; maybe just fear, or other reasons. Our judicial system is predicated on the fact that people lie and there must be thorough and accurate investigations to find out the truth so that way justice can take place. The mentality of just believing a person who makes a claim is really stupid and more importantly, it hurts our civilization. What we should do is investigate the claims and not pick sides. A persons race, gender, age, sexuality, income, job, or any other aspect are irrelevant. All people lie and we need to protect ourselves against that. 2. False claims need to be harshly punished. To be clear, I do believe that Smollett can and should be forgiven. This is something that Christ teaches in the last half of Matthew 18. People who have done far worse have been forgiven and received second chances. I dont know if Smollett is saved, but if he isnt, I hope that he builds a relationship with Jesus Christ. With that said, according to the Daily Mail in 2019, Smollett was once facing nearly 50 years in prison! While I believe that 50 years is really steep for what he did, the punishment that was handed down was not nearly severe enough. Not only was he acting defiant and displaying narcissistic behavior throughout the entire process, he was late to his own sentencing. While watching the proceedings, I was hoping that he would be made an example of and receive between 5 and 10 years in federal prison. Sounds harsh, doesnt it? Thats the goal. There are so many people out there like Paul Nungesser, Saifullah Khan, Brett Kavanaugh, and others who have their lives and reputations ruined by false allegations. Yet liars like Adwoa Lewis,Breonna Talbot, Virginia Burns, or Julie Swetnick who make false allegations sometimes arent punished at all, or at most, they receive a slap on the wrist. Those who lie about being victims need to be severely punished. As a society, if we truly care about real victims, we need to severely punish those who waste resources such as tax dollars, investigative resources, and time. One thing that Judge James Linn scolded Smollett on was that the City of Chicago has a crime problem and real crimes were put on the backburner for his shenanigans. The harsh and swift punishment of notable prison time will dissuade wannabe victims and allow for real victims to be helped. 3. The mainstream media wants to divide Americans. I remember the day that this story broke. I had just woken up in my dorm and my roommate/friend asked me who Jussie Smollett was. I explained who he was and he told me to check social media. I saw tons of hashtags and tweets about him. I also followed the story from the major networks that day. A great deal of the posts was about how racist, oppressive, and evil America is. President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and conservatives were blamed for the hate-filled rhetoric and atmosphere that was going on in the country. The vast majority of mainstream media ate up his story when it broke. The story of a gay, black man being assaulted by white, racist, and homophobic Trump supporters was a perfect way of pouncing and proving their narrative. Ever since Donald Trump came down that escalator on June 16, 2015, the mainstream media did everything they could to portray him as an old, racist, sexist, xenophobic, man who wanted to get rid of anyone who did not look like him. They desperately wanted it to be true so that way they could boost their ratings and portray the Right as bigotted zealots. The mainstream media loves pushing the idea that America is a very racist, homophobic, xenophobic, oppressive, and evil country. In regards to Smollett, once the tide began to change and the truth was coming to the surface, they didnt want to talk about it anymore. They completely ignored the story and tried to pretend they didnt believe it or didnt know what happened. 4. America is not a xenophobic nation. America is a phenomenal country and the narrative that America is a place that is only for straight, white people is just not true. Smollett wanted to push that narrative that certain types of people dont belong in this country and are greatly mistreated and discriminated against. But here is some data to put that nonsense through the shredder. The United States of America is the top destination for immigrants. The rate of interracial marriage has been seeing a consistent upward trend. In 1967, 1 in 33 newlywed couples was interracial. In 2015, that number became 1 in 6. According to Gallup, in 1958, only 4% of Americans approved of interracial marriage. That number as of last year is 94%. In 1980, only 5% of babies were multiethnic, but that number nearly tripled to 14% in 2015. When it comes to the acceptance and approval of homosexual relationships, that number jumped almost 30 points in 2 decades. In 2000, the approval was at 40% and in 2021 that number was 70%. In conclusion, I dont know if Smollett will ever be honest. I dont know if he will ever explain why he orchestrated this hoax. But ultimately what happens concerning him doesnt matter. What does matter is how we as a society learn from this saga. When we take these lessons, learn from them, and apply them to life, we build a greater America. How Christians enabled Putin Most evangelical Christians denounce Putins actions in Ukraine. A Washington Post-ABC News poll taken February 20-24, 2022, as the Russians invaded Ukraine, found that White evangelical Christians were just as negative toward Russia and supportive of sanctions as Americans overall." "Among White evangelicals, 47% said Russia is an enemy of the United States and another 33% said it is unfriendly. Similarly, 68% supported sanctions and 51% said they would still support them if energy prices went up. Franklin Graham has said, This is a war. I dont support war and I dont know of any Christian that supports war. We pray for peace, not war. We pray for peace, not war. I dont support this at all. As evangelical Christians, together with the whole Western world, praise Ukrainian resistance against Russian invasion, it is prudent to recall the unfortunate praise previously lavished on Vladimir Putins authoritarian regime. The Russian Orthodox church has taken on a foundational cultural role in Putins Russia by mustering pro-Putin sentiment and channeling absurd propaganda. Patriarch Krill has said (apparently with a straight face), Listen carefully: Russia is now leader of the free world and can offer an example to other countries. Moreover, an Orthodox cathedral dedicated to the Russian military will feature mosaics of Putin and Stalin, among others. In a particularly deplorable showing of state loyalty, the Russian Orthodox church granted its tacit support to the infamous Yarovaya laws, meant to stamp out any and all proselytization. According to Paul Goble, writing for the Religious Freedom Institute, the Moscow Patriarchates leadership clearly expected to benefit if the state punishes and closes down its religious competitors. Less well-known are overtures made, embraces offered, and long-standing connections developed between some American evangelicals and the Russian Orthodox church. The chairman of the Russian Orthodox Churchs Department of External Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion, visited the U.S. and was welcomed into the pulpit in 2011 by Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, as well as visiting Dallas Theological Seminary and other evangelical leaders and institutions. More concerning still was the relationship between the Russian Orthodox church and the World Congress of Families. This article treats the subject in further detail, but the important matters to note are that the WCF worked with the Russian Orthodox church on various events, had financial backing from Russian oligarchs, was welcomed by the Russian government, and sought to portray Russia as a leader of the pro-family movement. The WCF arranged for its 2014 conference to take place in Moscow, and then was forced to suspend those plans as the situation in Crimea unfolded. As further proof that Putin was seeking to capture the attention of American Christians, Russian agent Mariina Butina sought to exploit the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast in order to build connections between attendees and various Russian officials and businessmen. Sadly, some American Christians were eager to express positive views of Putin, allowing his public stance on homosexuality and gender issues to cover over his multitude of glaring faults. I cant point to any country of the world today that is a model for the rest of the world, except perhaps for Russia, which has just taken the very important and frankly necessary step of criminalizing homosexual propaganda, said a 2013 post by Abiding Truth Ministries Founder Scott Lively, an activist engaged in advocacy for traditional marriage. Franklin Graham also spoke highly of Putin. In the leadup to the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, Graham called Russias standard on morality higher than our own, saying, In my opinion, Putin is right on these issues. Obviously, he may be wrong about many things, but he has taken a stand to protect his nations children from the damaging effects of any gay and lesbian agenda. Graham later visited Russia and gave an interview on Russian television, more than a year after Russias annexation of the Crimean peninsula. In this interview, Graham stated, Democracy is not for all people. In some parts of the world, it just doesnt work. He also lauded Putins protection of Bashar al-Assads regime in Syria. Finally, when asked about international sanctions against Russia, he declared, I have never been a supporter of sanctions. In 2016, Graham had planned for the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians to convene in Moscow. The event was eventually held in Washington, D.C. in 2017. Ironically, the change in venue was necessitated by Russias imposition of the anti-proselytization Yarovaya laws. Andrey Shirin states the obvious that Putins high ratings in 2019 among Republicans could be attributed to those who perceive Putin as a protector of traditional Christian values and a bulwark against the onslaught of secular political correctness. But before his invasion of Ukraine, Putin was sometimes successful in a concerted effort to become more popular with some conservative Christians, establishing an image of himself as a guardian of their values. Its not hard to imagine that the pro-Russia posture of Graham and some evangelicals played a crucial role in this phenomenon. Putin wanted to be perceived, both in Russia and around the globe, as an influential moral and even spiritual leader, and notable Christian voices helped him achieve that goal. Most distressing of all is the support for Putin and his policies within Russia itself. Mark Elliott writes for Christianity Today, Evangelicals in Russia have become ardent fans of President Vladimir Putin because of Russias efforts to maintain its influence in Ukraine, its takeover of Crimea in 2014, and the widespread Russian belief that the West is to blame for the present economic woes on the home front. An illustration of this fact is the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (RUECB), which in 2014 condemned the uprising in Ukraine against Viktor Yanukovychs government an uprising in which Ukrainian Baptists supported. The RUECB also praised Putin as a champion of civil peace and harmony in Russian society. Another Russian evangelical figure who has lent legitimacy to Putins regime is Vladimir Ryakhovsky, director of the Slavic Center for Law and Justice (SCLJ). In fairness, Ryakhovsky has provided legal defense for some persecuted Christians in Russia. However, he has also served on Putins Council for Civil Society and Human Rights. Additionally, the SCLJ has been an apologist for increased Russian state censorship in some areas, including anti-blasphemy regulations, about which the SCLJ said, It is by increasing the effectiveness of legal regulation in religious matters that it is possible to prevent many such phenomena that are shaking and dividing our society, which is especially dangerous now, in a period of political change. The celebration and legitimization of Putins leadership serve as a lesson for Christians going forward. A supposed pro-family ethic has no meaning under a leader who will tear young childrens homes apart as they flee their homeland, leaving fathers and grandfathers behind to fight. Jail, assassination, and censorship are not the weaponry of the fight against secularism. Moral laws require enforcement by people with moral compasses. No political agenda has ever been worth sacrificing basic freedoms of expression and self-governance to achieve. Authoritarians are not messiahs and will never be trustworthy rulers. Christians must be defenders of democracy. Christians must trust that their voice will have an impact in a free society, rather than waiting for the right strongman to revere. Originally published at Juicy Ecumenism. Real men dont bomb women and children. They protect them Throughout his career, Russian President Vladimir Putin has cultivated the image of a strong man, in both the political and physical sense. He has projected a powerful masculine image for himself while reasserting Russian influence on the world stage. Numerous photos published by the Kremlin show a shirtless Putin doing stereotypically manly outdoorsy things. Images of him hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and submerging himself in icy waters for the Orthodox observance of the Epiphany are accompanied by the Russian state medias glowing reports of how physically fit the president is. Sure, Putin knows international audiences poke fun at these stunts, but he says he sees no need to hide. Yet, with Putins unprovoked invasion into peaceful neighboring Ukraine, the humor of Putins self-made macho image is fading. Writing for WORLD, Andrew Walker points out, Putins masculinity is one of cavalier ruthlessness and vainglory one using raw strength to self-aggrandize, bully, destroy, denigrate, and suppress. Standing in stark contrast to the Russian presidents shirtless wilderness photoshoots is comedy actor turned politician, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Before the Russian invasion, Zelensky was a relatively unknown figure on the world stage. But now, he has risen to the task of being a wartime leader with determination, good humor, and fearlessness. Standing in the dark streets of Kyiv as the invasion was underway, Zelensky recorded a video on his smartphone reassuring his people and warning his adversaries that We are here. The risks to his own life are great, but thus far, Zelensky has refused to leave. In an address from his office, he said, I stay in Kyiv. On Bankova Street. Im not hiding. And Im not afraid of anyone. As much as it takes to win this Patriotic War of ours. This is a strength and courage that Putins vacation pics cant replicate. Zelenskys unwavering and passionate communications to his fellow Ukrainians and the outside world have earned him countless comparisons to Winston Churchill. His leadership has rallied Ukrainians to fight back against the Russian onslaught and stirred the hearts of world leaders to act. Neither Zelenskys politics nor his lifestyle are a perfect model of masculinity. Yet, as he leads his countrys struggle to fight back against one of the most powerful militaries on earth, people around the world are drawn to his powerful example of what masculinity can look like when channeled in the right direction. He has shown he is willing to sacrifice his life for the good of his people and country after being offered an easy way out. Instead of modeling sacrificial leadership, Putin chose to put the lives of his troops on the line for some, perhaps even unknowingly to assault a neighboring sovereign country without a legitimate cause. At home, Putins state media obscures the truth about the war he started in Ukraine, and authorities are severely cracking down on the Russians who are brave enough to protest it. Meanwhile, Russian forces are ruthlessly targeting residential areas for missile attacks. Over the weekend, Russian forces fired mortar shells toward a bridge civilians were using to flee. Four people died, including an eight-year-old child. Thats what Putin is doing to his own soldiers and the innocent people of Ukraine. This is not masculine strength its cruelty. While Putins military indiscriminately harms women and children, Ukraine is making provisions for their safety. Ukraine instituted a policy that allows women and children to flee across the border but expects men to stay and fight. Extra concern for women and children will be all the more important as some fear increased vulnerability for women in the wake of Russias invasion and reports of abuses by Russian soldiers. Of course, many Ukrainian women have been courageously volunteering to fight. Grandmas, members of parliament, teachers, and many others have taken up arms to defend Ukraine. Even so, the Ukrainian government isnt placing the bulk of the burden to fight onto women, and that is appropriate. A culture expecting men to protect and defend women and children is an impactful display of healthy masculinity. Zelensky, like the Ukrainian people, has inspired the world with unexpected bravery and resolve in the face of a seemingly impossible situation. In doing so, he provides a clear alternative to Putins faux, destructive masculinity. Real men dont bomb women and children. They protect them. Originally published at the Family Research Council. Nearly eight years after his death, the legacy of country superstar Merle Haggard, who did time in San Quentin Prison before going on to become the face of a music genre and be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, is still thriving in his hometown of Bakersfield. A road and a post office now bear his name. His distinctive features stare out from several murals across the city. And the Kern County Museum is preparing an exhibit on the distinctive sound that Haggard created, complete with the boxcar home he grew up in. Its all a long way from Haggards humble beginnings as a restless youth who frequently got in trouble with the law. The origins of the Bakersfield sound On Sept. 29, 1969, Merle Haggard released a track protesting the protesters of the Vietnam War called Okie from Muskogee. The song and the accompanying live album of the same name pushed him into the stratosphere of country music legend and icon an instant hit that came to define not only his career but the sound he helped pioneer. Okie not only clearly surrounds the legend of Haggard but is largely credited with being one of the tentpoles of the Bakersfield sound, a brand of country most associated with electric guitars along with an infusion of hard-edged blues and early rock n roll beats. The Bakersfield sound has an unvarnished veneer that relies heavily on hard times and folklore, the antithesis of the well-produced sheen and rhinestone glitter out of Nashville. Haggard grew up in Oildale, California, an enclave of 34,000 about 3.5 miles north of downtown Bakersfield. His father, James Francis, died at 47 of a brain hemorrhage when Merle was only 9 years old. His older brother Lowell had passed down his guitar, and young Merle taught himself by listening to country greats like Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell, the latter, though from Texas, widely credited as providing early inspiration for the Bakersfield sound. By the time Haggard was 13, he had grown restless, and his interest in things like passing bad checks and petty theft caused his mother, Flossie Mae, to send him to a weekend in a juvenile facility, hoping to scare him straight. But that experiment only made matters worse, and Haggard was back committing petty crimes at a furious rate in the wake of the visit. That same year he was caught shoplifting and sent to a juvenile hall, for real this time. He spent much of his youth hitchhiking, hopping trains, including to Texas for a stint, and was jailed at 14 on suspicion of armed robbery. Out of school and in and out of jail, dead-end jobs and general trouble, Haggard got the chance to see Frizzell in a concert in Bakersfield and started singing along to an opener while standing backstage. Legend has it Frizzell said he wouldnt go on unless Haggard, then only 16, could go up before him, and he did. After that, Haggard started playing bars at night while working in the oil fields during the day. But Haggard didnt walk the straight and narrow for long as his music career didnt take off and money issues started to pile up. In 1957, Haggard attempted to rob a roadhouse and was caught and thrown into Bakersfield Jail. On Feb. 21, 1958, after one of his reported 17 attempts to escape jail, he was transferred to San Quentin still months shy of his 21st birthday. While in San Quentin, Haggard continued to struggle mentally, being fired from several prison jobs. He survived his own missteps and side hustles, including running booze with his cellmate and doing time in solitary confinement for being drunk. It was in solitary Haggard met Caryl Chessman. Chessman, who wrote four books, including the memoir Cell 2455, Death Row: A Condemned Mans Own Story, and made a lasting impression on the young inmate. Between getting to know Chessman and seeing Johnny Cash perform at the prison on New Years Day 1959, Haggard decided to do better. He earned his high school diploma and was released from San Quentin on parole in 1960. Haggards struggles have only made him more relatable. You know trauma will make a young man do things like hopping a train or do little crimes, Bakersfield local Eric Warnock, a docent at the Kern County Museum, noted. I think Merle means a lot to people because weve all endured some kind of trauma. He got into trouble. He said some things and sang some things he didnt mean. He atoned for them. A career takes flight, Okie takes hold Fresh out of prison with a set of stories to tell, newfound motivation and a cleaned-up act, Haggard started to play honky-tonks, bars and small venues up and down California. He caught the eyes and ears of record producers Lewis Talley and Charles Fuzzy Owen and their small Bakersfield-based label Tally but was eventually signed away by Ken Nelson of Capitol Records. Haggards first album, "Strangers," was released on Sept. 27, 1965, on Capitol and topped out at No. 9 on the Billboard country albums chart. From there, it was an [insert movie montage] whirlwind of touring matched with a prolific songwriting and recording run averaging two studio releases a year for the remainder of the decade. Haggards first No. 1 came with Swinging Doors, and the Bottle Let Me Down, released in October 1966. He made 10 studio albums in all for Capitol by the decades end. But it was the release of Okie, his first live album, at the beginning of 1969, that would define the rest of his career and rewire everything, including his own point of view several times. I dont feel now the way I did when I wrote Okie from Muskogee, Haggard told columnist RJ Smith in 2000. I still sing it because it describes a period of time. I write from common knowledge, current knowledge, collective intelligence. At the time I wrote that song, I was just about as intelligent as the American public was. And they was about as dumb as a rock. His most steady collaborator and closest confidant, Willie Nelson, had this to say about Haggard and the song: I loved singing Okie from Muskogee with him. He wrote that song straight from the heart. But as he lived, his thinking progressed, Nelson wrote in Rolling Stone in the wake of Haggards death. The last time we did it, it was tongue-in-cheek, and the audience knew it. Thats the way he was he always evolved. Remembering Merle Haggard in Bakersfield At the Kern County Museum, workers are preparing a Bakersfield sound exhibit, slated for an early summer opening. Its being set up in a small flat-faced frontier building just about 200 yards from the museums clock tower entrance. There's excitement in the air as the exhibit will resemble the interior of Trouts nightclub, another Oildale honky-tonk Haggard frequented that currently sits empty after the owner left town under mysterious circumstances in 2017. The Bakersfield sound exhibit will feature some Trouts memorabilia, including a recreation of the bar, museum historian Rachel Hads told me during my visit. This is about the whole Bakersfield sound, she said, So therell be Buck [Owens] memorabilia, too, along with Lefty and several others. But Bucks got the Crystal Palace, which is a sort of museum of itself. From what were hearing and what we know, people will come here primarily for Merle. How does she know? One of the museums most popular exhibits is the boxcar home that Haggards father bought and refurbished and turned it into the family dwelling where Merle himself was born. He had 38 No. 1's, Hads continued. So this is a kind of, I guess, [a] pilgrimage people make. The home Flossie made for them was simple, but it was always clean; she had nice things. I think in spite of all the stories about Merle, he had a loving mother and a small, quiet home. People connect with that here. The house is tiny. To walk in it and stretch your arms and legs out means you can touch the kitchen, the bedroom, and the front sitting area all at the same time. A couple from Dayton, Ohio, were standing outside taking pictures when I was there. Though they didnt want to be named, they said Haggard led them to Bakersfield. Its a nice town, with nice people, the wife said. Merles part of the fabric. Im a fan. Always will be. And Id rather come here than someplace thats been recreated to look like something its not. No, this is the real deal. His lyrics, they last, Warnock, the museum docent, told me. History shows us the same problems keep coming about and he was there to write about it. Isnt that some kind of legacy? MANISTEE COUNTY The following includes reports made to the Manistee County Sheriffs Office from Feb. 17-22. All calls may not be reported. This is part of a lengthy report and is compiled by assistant editor Arielle Breen. Feb. 17 Deputies responded to a child protective services referral at 2:55 a.m. in the county. Deputies responded to a child protective services referral at 12:20 p.m. in Brown Township. Animal neglect was reported at 10:52 a.m. in Springdale Township. Animal neglect was reported at 11:26 a.m. in Springdale Township. Trespassing was reported at 11:30 a.m. in Cleon Township. A property damage crash was reported at Meijer in Manistee. Harassment was reported at 8:01 p.m. in Norman Township. A domestic incident was reported at 9:02 p.m. in Brown Township. Feb. 18 A person was reported to have been driving without insurance at 1:24 a.m. in Kaleva. Deputies conducted a mental health transport at 12:01 p.m. to Munson Healthcare Manistee Hospital. A property damage crash was reported in Cleon Township. A suspicious situation was reported at 6:01 p.m. in Maple Grove Township. Feb. 19 Deputies assisted Michigan State Police at 7:19 a.m. Deputies conducted a well-being check at 11:50 a.m. in Norman Township. Contraband was reported to have been found at the Manistee County Jail at 5 p.m. in Manistee Township. Feb. 20 A domestic incident was reported in Kaleva. A felony warrant arrest was made in Kaleva with the Traverse Narcotics Team. A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 6:56 p.m. in Norman Township. Feb. 21 A suspicious situation was reported at 3:47 p.m. in Manistee Township. Deputies conducted a well-being check at 12:01 p.m. on Cleon Township. A suspicious situation was reported at 8:40 a.m. in the Village of Kaleva. A property damage crash was reported at 9:20 a.m. in the county. A person was reported to have been suicidal at 9:06 a.m. in Norman Township. Threats were reported at 8:34 a.m. in Norman Township. Deputies assisted another agency at 11:46 a.m. in Dickson Township. A suspicious situation was reported at 12:47 p.m. in Stronach Township. Deputies conducted a well-being check at 9:36 a.m. in Brown Township. A person was reported to have been driving with a suspended and revoked license at 3:39 p.m. in Bear Lake Township. Trespassing was reported at 4:53 p.m. in Norman Township. Animal control was called to Maple Grove Township for a complaint at 5:06 p.m. A verbal domestic incident was reported at 5:23 p.m. in the county. Deputies assisted Mobile Medical Response EMS at 8:16 p.m. A person was reported to have been driving while intoxicated, with open intoxicants and no insurance at 10:11 p.m. in Filer Township. Feb. 22 Deputies assisted a motorist with a vehicle that slid off the road at 12:26 p.m. in Stronach Township. Deputies assisted a motorist with a vehicle that slid off the road at 5:44 a.m. in Manistee Township. A property damage crash was reported at 9:01 a.m. in Onekama Township. A property damage crash was reported at 11 a.m. in the Days Inn Hotel parking lot in Filer Township. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited the state where she was governor for eight years Friday to promote clean energy and energy independence. Granholm, a Democrat who served as Michigan governor from 2003-11, toured the Hemlock Semiconductor plant with U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, after which they both spoke and answered questions from media members for about 20 minutes. Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC), about 20 miles southeast of Downtown Midland, is the largest American producer of polysilicon, which is used in the manufacturing of solar cells, among other products. Granholm and Kildee also toured battery manufacturer XALT Energy in Midland earlier Friday morning. Kildee is the main sponsor of a bill introduced last September in the U.S. House called the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act, which would provide tax credits for U.S. manufacturers at every stage of the solar manufacturing supply chain. A similar bill has been introduced by Georgia's two Democratic senators in the Senate. Kildee and Granholm laid out what they see as urgent reasons for the bill to be passed, especially in light of President Joe Biden's recent decision to discontinue importing oil from Russia due to its invasion of and ongoing war with Ukraine. "According to the Department of Energy, half of our electricity by the year 2050 could come from solar energy," Kildee said to a gathering of media and HSC employees. "This will save money, and it's good for the planet. "Now is the time for us to invest in energy independence," Kildee continued, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war. " ... We have to choose this future, and make it happen." Granholm then took the podium and said that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress last November will help bring supply chains for solar energy back to Michigan, and the Solar Energy Manufacturing bill will take things a step further. "If we take this next step, the sky's the limit," Granholm said. "We have great hope that we're going to get this (bill) through Congress." When asked how lawmakers from both parties can be convinced to support the solar energy legislation, Granholm commented: People respond to price. As an illustration, Granholm said she drives an electric car that she figures would cost $65 to fill with gas at current prices, but costs only $12 for her to charge in her garage, where she has solar panels that generate electricity. "Money talks. Regardless of political stripes, people can agree on something like this," she said. Granholm said Biden has set a goal for the U.S. to use 100% clean energy by 2050. "Solar is the cheapest form of energy. It's free," Granholm said. Kildee, who is running for re-election in the new 8th Congressional District that includes the city of Midland, acknowledged that passing his bill will take some work. "I'm optimistic, but we still have to build public support," he said. While much of the national Republican discourse pushing book bans in school libraries has centered on Critical Race Theory and race education, Texas GOP politicians have recently honed in on a single, slippery word to describe the literature in classrooms they deem offensivepornography. The word featured prominently in a March 2 letter penned by Republican state Rep. Jared Patterson that was sent to school districts across Texas. Signed by 26 fellow Republican state legislators, Patterson's missive suggested a pledge to not buy books from vendors that supply "pornography" and specifically pointed to the graphic novel "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by author Maia Kobabe as an offending example. "Both local districts and the Legislature will be working diligently on policies to prevent such books from being allowed on campus in the future," Patterson wrote. "However, we also acknowledge school districts have a lot [of] power in the market when purchasing books and that if we stand together against explicit materials for children, book vendors will be forced to adjust." The book in question has recently become one of the most challenged works by conservatives in the U.S. Its narrative depicts Kobabe's journey with gender identity and sexual orientation and at points features graphic illustrations of LGBTQ sexual experiences. In November, Gov. Greg Abbott cited "Gender Queer" during a call for investigations into whether students should have access to what he described as "pornographic books" in Texas schools. So why are some books that address LGBTQ issues being called pornographic? We asked Abbott, Patterson and several other GOP members who signed his letter to offer their definition of the term. Of the 28 lawmakers we attempted to contact, only four responded, including Patterson, the author of the letter. Of those that responded, none offered a clear definition of pornography, with some pointing to existing Texas laws on "obscenity." Here's what they said: Rep. Jared Patterson: "The work I have been doing in the past several months, which includes the letter recently sent to Texas superintendents, is in regards to prohibiting explicit and obscene materials from being made available to school children through public school libraries. The book 'Gender Queer' is a good example of explicit and obscene material, as it graphically illustrates two young boys engaging in oral sex. This book, or anything similar, is absolutely inappropriate and should be removed from public school library shelves immediately." Rep. Dustin Burrows: "The standard is set forth by the Supreme Court and the book 'Gender Queer' clearly meets that definition." Rep. Matt Shaheen: "Texas Penal Code Sec. 43.21. defines obscene materials as 'patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, including sexual intercourse, sodomy, and sexual bestiality.' Specific examples found in public schools that align with the above definition include graphic images of women being raped by demons and little boys performing sexual acts on each other. Anyone who believes this is acceptable is mentally ill. We will be going after the vendors that sold this trash to Texas children." Rep. Jeff Leach: You know it when you see it. And if you see it and you know it, those images must be swiftly removed from any and all public school classrooms in Texas. Leach's response is a reference to a quote by Justice Potter Stewart in the 1964 Supreme Court case Jacobellis v. Ohio, in which he could not describe obscenity, but explained "I know it when I see it." Shaheen says the example he cited was from the dark fantasy series "Goblin Slayer" by Kumo Kagyu, but he did not say which Texas schools had the title in their book collection. Abbott's office responded by directing us to his November letter in which he referenced the Texas Penal Code. However, the section he points to never actually mentions the word pornography. The term has been difficult to define, even for the country's highest court. Dr. Bryant Paul, a professor at the Media School at Indiana University who focuses on speech regarding sex and sexuality, says the legal definition of pornography has been difficult to pin down for courts for the last several centuries. While pornography gets First Amendment protection, obscenity does not, he explains. "Since the invention of the printing press, [pornography] used to be basically anything that the church didn't like and that was considered obscene, so people needed to be protected from it," Paul says. "They really weren't worried about sexual content as much as they were worried about any kind of content that made the church look bad." The world's first law criminalizing pornography was the Obscene Publications Act of 1857, which was passed in the United Kingdom on similar grounds and rhetoric argued by Texas GOP members. "The legislature basically said anything that could hurt children, or that children shouldn't be exposed to, should be banned," Paul explains. This idea was expanded in Regina v. Hicklin (1868), a British legal case during which a judge offered a broad definition of obscenity by questioning "whether the tendency of the matter charged as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences." This legal test for obscenity became known as the Hicklin test. The standard was eventually replaced in Miller v. California (1973), which outlined three tests for obscenity still used today. The first is "whether the average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest." "So it wasn't whether you or I find it offensive," Paul explains. "It's whether the people in the community think it's offensive. There's no national standard. It's a local issue." The second part of the test asks "whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law." The last questions "whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." "That is still the standard of what counts as obscenity, but not necessarily pornography," Paul explains. In Ginsberg v. New York (1968), the courts came up with the concept of "variable obscenity" material that could be considered obscene when viewed by children, though not when viewed by adults. This is the issue that Texas Republicans are dealing with, Paul explains, not pornography. Additionally, this movement on behalf of conservatives indicates a shift back to the Hicklin standard. "They're saying that any kind of content that has the potential to harm a child is something that should be taken out of libraries in schools," Paul says. "What makes this even sadder is they're overtly saying anything that is non-heteronormative is going to be harmful to children." Paul argues that such attacks violate the First Amendment and likely wouldn't stand up to scrutiny in front of federal courts. "The courts have ruled that pretty much everything get protection unless it is seen as without having serious literary, social, political or scientific value," Paul says. Banning content on the periphery of what is acceptable sets a frightening precedent, Paul says. "When people that support banning start to chip away at people's right to consume certain types of information, you are but seconds in terms of history away from hitting something that those same people support," he says. "This is what should scare these people to death." We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Wilkes Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy this morning with showers during the afternoon. High 69F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low around 50F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan on Saturday urged regions experiencing severe epidemic outbreaks to clear COVID-19 cases among the general public in the shortest time possible. Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at a national teleconference of the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19. Oklahoma City, OK (73106) Today Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 67F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Low 59F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Gail Marsha Malitz, age 83, of Beachwood, was born June 11, 1938, in Cleveland, and passed away on May 2, 2022. Arrangements under the direction of Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz Memorial Chapel. Columbia, SC (29201) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. The National Weather Service in State College issued a winter storm warning for southern Centre County, including the State College area, from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday. According to the NWS forecast, State College will receive anywhere from 5-7 inches of snow, with winds gusts as high as 45 mph, and travel could be "very difficult." Blowing snow could reduce visibility, and gusty winds could bring down tree branches, the NWS State College said, and the snow will be heaviest between 5 a.m. and noon. MORE BOROUGH COVERAGE Port Matilda man pleads guilty after allegedly raping 4 Penn State students A Port Matilda man who allegedly raped four Penn State students between 2010 and 2017 pleade Health care sharing ministries have surged in popularity in recent years, with supporters describing them as cheaper alternatives to insurance and opponents calling them misleading scams. Now, the Colorado legislature is tackling the issue. Introduced last month, House Bill 1269 would require non-insurance entities that cover health care costs to submit annual reports to the state, including how much money members pay versus how much in medical bills the entities cover. What were trying to do is get a better picture of how these programs are operating in our state, said Adam Fox, deputy director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, which helped to draft the bill. There are many consumers who play hundreds of dollars a month into these programs and yet theres no guarantee that any of their medical costs will be covered by these entities. When it leaves somebody exposed to massive medical debt, thats a significant concern for us, Fox added. Health care sharing ministries, also called faith-based health care, are nonprofit organizations that share health care costs among a group of people. The members who are usually part of the same church or religion pay monthly dues to the ministry, and, when one of the members receives a medical bill, the ministry can use the collected money to cover the costs. Health care sharing ministries are not insurance and do not guarantee payment for medical claims. The ministries say they can reject bills for any number of reasons, including moral objections to medical issues resulting from premarital sex, smoking, alcohol use or obesity. They are also not required to cover essential care and can deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions or religious beliefs. The ministries say that theyre a less expensive, belief-driven and community-orientated way to address medical expenses, comparing themselves to credit unions. Opponents to health care sharing ministries say the issue is that many members are unaware that the entities dont have to cover their medical bills until it is too late. Angelique Espinoza, policy director of Good Business Colorado, said businesses often fall victim to this misunderstanding. In some cases, a health care sharing plan may suit someones needs. Many consumers, however, including small business employers, believe they are getting health insurance for themselves and their employees at a low cost, Espinoza said. If something happens and the sharing plan is unwilling or unable to pay, they or their employees find themselves uninsured and facing huge medical bills." Fox said the state doesn't know how many health care sharing ministries are in Colorado or how they operate, including how much of their members money actually goes towards paying medical expenses. The proposed bill, he said, would provide information to determine if the state needs to take further action. Health care sharing ministries have existed in the U.S. for decades. When the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, it grandfathered the entities in, exempting uninsured people from paying tax penalties if they are part of health care sharing ministries. This, as well as rising unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in many people losing employer-provided insurance, has resulted in a boom in membership. In 2010, less than 200,000 people were part of health care sharing ministries. Today, around 1.5 million people are members, according to the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries. In Colorado, between 50,000 and 60,000 people use health care sharing ministries, the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative estimates. Some supporters of the sharing ministries argue that the proposed bill overrides the religious exercise" of the faith communities that use health care sharing. This bill potentially subjects these communities to unfair and unwarranted bureaucratic examination, surpassing the scrutiny applied to health insurers, and tramples the First Amendment rights of every Coloradan, said Katy Talento, executive director of the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries. (It is) a grant of unlimited power to the Division of Insurance over religious ministries. Evelio Silvera, spokesperson for Christian Care Ministry that operates Medi-Share, said the bill would "make our ministrys ability to serve our members unnecessarily difficult and fail to prohibit or deter deceptive or abusive misconduct from bad actors that are not legitimate health care sharing ministries. Under the proposed bill, health care sharing ministries would have to report to the Division of Insurance the number and location of all members, how much money is collected from members and how much money is used to cover medical expenses, among other requirements. If they dont comply, the ministries could be served with an emergency cease and desist order from the Division of Insurance. Rep. Susan Lontine, the bills sponsor, said she was inspired to take action after she heard about the lawsuit filed against Trinity Healthshare, with members claiming the health care sharing ministry refused to cover bills from routine checkups to life-saving surgeries. They were using this model to basically rip people off, Lontine, D-Denver, said. They were taking peoples money and keeping a huge portion for administrative costs and only using a small portion to pay any medical bills, if any. Lontine introduced a similar bill on health care sharing ministries in 2020, but it died when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and caused the legislature to shift priorities. She tried again in 2021, but killed the bill when she learned it would have prevented a lawsuit against one of the entities from going forward. Lontine said she doesnt think all health care sharing ministries are bad, but she wants to protect Coloradans from the ones that are. She said, in addition to individual members being misled to think their medical bills will be paid, leaving bills unpaid results in higher health care prices for everyone. Its not fair to the patients, its not fair to the providers, its not fair to the facilities to have to cover that burden, Lontine said. Consumers often dont understand the risk that theyre taking. We just are trying to ensure that people understand, if theyre buying these products, that they realize theyre not insurance and what it means for them. HB-1269 is not the only bill regarding health care sharing ministries this session. Republican-backed House Bill 1198 would require the ministries to make it clear theyre not insurance by providing a public notice that they might not cover some medical expenses and that members are responsible for their own bills. The ministries would also have to get written acknowledgement from members. This bill is supported by the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries. HB-1269 and HB-1198 are both scheduled to be voted on by the House Health & Insurance Committee on March 23. Are you a current print subscriber to Columbia Gorge News? If so, you qualify for free access to all content on columbiagorgenews.com. Simply verify with your subscriber id to receive free access. Your subscriber id may be found on your bill or mailing label. Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Possible meeting between Putin, Zelensky not ruled out -- Kremlin Xinhua) 13:10, March 12, 2022 BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues on Saturday as relevant parties are working to broker a peaceful solution. Following are the latest developments of the situation: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not ruled out. "Yes, it is indeed possible in theory," Peskov told reporters. "But first, both delegations and ministers must do their part so that the presidents do not meet for the process and for the sake of conversation, but meet for the result." - - - - Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of social networks Facebook and Instagram, said on Thursday that it has allowed posts with violent speeches towards Russians in response to Russia's military operation in Ukraine. Instagram has distributed materials which call for committing violent acts against Russian citizens, including military personnel, Russia's telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor said Friday in a brief statement. Peskov said Friday that Russia will investigate if the social media platforms allowed publications of calls for violence against Russians, and it will be necessary to ban the applications if they allow hate speech. - - - - The U.S. government will revoke Russia's most-favored nation trade status amid the Ukraine crisis, the White House said Friday, noting that it will work with Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union to roll out new sanctions. U.S. President Joe Biden and the other G7 leaders "will announce new economic actions" to "further isolate Russia from the global financial system," the White House said in a statement. - - - - In a meeting on Friday with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said as the West imposed restrictions on Russia, "this is indeed a time of opportunity when we must strengthen our technological and economic sovereignty." "The Soviet Union indeed always lived in conditions of sanctions but developed and achieved enormous success," Putin said, stressing that "we have of course become stronger in this respect." - - - - Putin said Friday that he supported the idea of allowing volunteers from abroad to provide military assistance to Donbass. Western countries and Ukraine do not disguise the fact that they are gathering mercenaries and sending them to Ukraine, Putin said at a meeting with permanent members of Russia's Security Council. - - - - Ukraine established 12 humanitarian corridors in four regions on Friday to allow civilians to leave the conflict-torn areas, the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency reported, citing Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. The humanitarian corridors were set up to evacuate people from some cities and towns in eastern Donetsk and Kharkiv, southern Zaporizhzhya and north-central Kiev, Vereshchuk said. - - - - At an informal meeting held on Thursday and Friday in Versailles, France, leaders of the European Union (EU) member states have agreed to intensify the sanctions pressure on Russia, and pledged to "continue to provide coordinated political, financial, material and humanitarian support" to Ukraine. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Bianji) Video: The U.S. government will revoke Russia's most-favored nation trade status amid the Ukraine crisis, the White House said on March 11, 2022, noting that it will work with Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union to roll out new sanctions. (Xinhua) - U.S. President Joe Biden and the other G7 leaders "will announce new economic actions" to "further isolate Russia from the global financial system," the White House said in a statement. - Leaders of the European Union agreed on imposing new sanctions against Russia in an informal summit in Versailles, France. WASHINGTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government will revoke Russia's most-favored nation trade status amid the Ukraine crisis, the White House said Friday, noting that it will work with Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union to roll out new sanctions. U.S. President Joe Biden and the other G7 leaders "will announce new economic actions" to "further isolate Russia from the global financial system," the White House said in a statement. The sanction followed an energy embargo on Russia announced by Washington on Tuesday, among a series of moves against Russia over the Ukraine crisis, even though analysts have warned of huge potential consequences and spillovers. EU leaders pose for a group photo ahead of the informal European Council meeting in the Palace of Versailles, near Paris, France, March 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) On the same day, leaders of the European Union agreed on imposing new sanctions against Russia in an informal summit in Versailles, France. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the new sanctions aim to further isolate Russia from the global economic system. She also announced a plan to find alternatives to Russian fuels by 2027 in order to reduce EU's dependence on Russia. "There's the law of unintended consequences," U.S.-China Business Council President Craig Allen told Xinhua earlier this week, commenting on the potential economic impact of Western sanctions on Russia. "What you intend to do, perhaps is punish Russia, but there are unintended consequences to every action. And it's too early to be able to say, what are the unintended consequences of this," Allen said. Industrys stake in the system is clear: Companies gain the expertise of renowned university experts and the credibility that comes with that. Whats not so clear is how the public benefits. 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 Today Areas of fog early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 62F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Increasing clouds with showers arriving overnight. Low 46F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Tomorrow Periods of rain. High near 55F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. March brings us a solid set of updates from Microsoft for Windows, Microsoft Office, Exchange, and Edge (Chromium), but no critical issues requiring a Patch Now release schedule (though Microsoft Exchange will require some technical effort this month). We have published some testing guidelines, with a focus on printing, remote desktop over VPN connections, and server-based networking changes. We also recommend testing your Windows installer packages with a specific focus on roll-back and uninstall functionality. You can find more information about the risk of deploying these Patch Tuesday updates with this useful infographic. And, if you are looking for more information on .NET updates, there is a great post from Microsoft that highlights this month's changes. Key testing scenarios There was at least one high-risk reported change to the Windows platform for March. We have included the following rough testing guidelines based on our analysis of the changed files and contents of this months Windows and Office updates: ( High Risk ): Test your networked printers over the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Microsoft has not published any functional changes for this month's update as modifications are due to security concerns. V4 Printer Driver, print using remote, and network based redirected printer(s). Test your backup and restore processes when using Encrypted Files Systems ( EFS ). Validate that your VPNs authenticate correctly over the Point-to-Point tunnelling protocol ( PPTP ). Test your Windows Error reporting processes with Create/Read/Update/Delete ( CRUD ) for all log files. Locate application references to NtAlpcCreatePort on your Windows servers and validate your application results. If you have time, it may be worth testing UNC paths to DOS boxes (due to several changes to the networking and authentication stack). There's also been an update to the FastFAT system driver and how End User Defined Characters (EUDC) are handled. Microsoft has now included deployment and reboot requirements for this March 2022 update in a single page. Known issues Each month, Microsoft includes a list of known issues that relate to the operating system and platforms included in this cycle. There is more than usual this time, so I've referenced a few key issues that relate to the latest builds from Microsoft, including: After installing this update, when connecting to devices in an untrusted domain using Remote Desktop, connections might fail to authenticate when using smart card authentication. You might receive the prompt, "Your credentials did not work." Like last month, Microsoft has released a number of GPO files that resolve this issue, including: Windows Server 2022 and Windows 10 . After installing updates released Jan. 11 or later, applications that use the Microsoft .NET Framework to acquire or set Active Directory Forest Trust Information using the System.DirectoryServers API may fail or generate an error message. There was an outstanding issue from January's update cycle where the executable DWM.EXE crashes after installing KB5010386. This issue has now been resolved. If you are looking for more data on these types of reported issues, one great resource from Microsoft is the Health Center specifically, you can find out about Windows 10 and Windows 11 known issues and their current status. Major revisions Though there is a much smaller list of patches for this patch cycle, Microsoft released several revisions to previous patches, including: CVE-2021-3711 : This is a Visual Studio update from November 2021. A new version has been updated to include support for the latest versions of Visual Studio 2022. No additional actions are required. CVE-2021-36927 : This updated patch addresses a TV Tuner codec issue in 2021. Microsoft has helpfully published an updated documentation set for this, noting that the fix is now official and fully resolves the reported issue. No further actions required. Mitigations and workarounds This month, Microsoft has not published any mitigations or workarounds for the Windows, Microsoft Office, browser or development platform updates and patches. There is an ongoing list of mitigations and updates related to known issues for Microsoft Exchange (they're included in our Exchange-related section). Each month, we break down the update cycle into product families (as defined by Microsoft) with the following basic groupings: Browsers (Microsoft IE and Edge); Microsoft Windows (both desktop and server); Microsoft Office; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Development platforms ( ASP.NET Core, .NET Core and Chakra Core); Adobe (retired???, maybe next year). Browsers Following a trend set by Microsoft over the past few months, only the Chromium Edge browser has been updated. With no critical updates, and 21 reported vulnerabilities rated as important by Microsoft, this is another easy update cycle. Other than working through potential issues with the Brotli compression engine, you should be able to deploy the browser updates on your normal release schedule. Windows Following the trend of fewer (in number and in nature) updates this month, Microsoft released just two critical updates (CVE-2022-22006 and CVE-2022-24501). Neither update is likely to affect core platforms as each patches a singular video codec and a Microsoft Store component. The remaining 40 patches are all rated as important by Microsoft and update the following core Windows components: Remote Desktop client (RDP); Windows Error log (this has been updated every month this year); Networking (SMB and PTPTP); Windows Update and Windows Installer. You may want to add a Windows Installer test to your testing regime this month. Add these Windows updates to your standard release schedule. Microsoft Office If you were ever looking for a "low-risk" patch profile for Microsoft Office, this month's updates are a very good candidate. Microsoft has released six patches to Office, all of which are rated as important. Most importantly, they either affect Skype (which is not so important) or the "Click to Run" (CTR) installation of Office. The CTR version is the virtualized, self-contained version of the Office install that is streamed down to the target system. By design, these installations have little to no effect on the operating system and given the nature of the changes made this month, there is very little deployment risk. Add these Office updates to your standard deployment schedule. Microsoft Exchange Server Finally, a critical vulnerability from Microsoft. No..., wait! Darn, it's for Exchange. Microsoft Exchange is in the bad books this month with one of the few critical-rated vulnerabilities (CVE-2022-23277). Of the two Exchange-related patches for March, the other (CVE-2022-24463) is rated as important and could lead to a potential credential spoofing scenario. The critical issue is rated as highly likely to be exploited, but does require that the attacker is authenticated. This is not a "worm-able" vulnerability, so we recommend you add the Microsoft Exchange updates to your standard server deployment. This update will require a reboot to your servers. There have been several published issues with recent Microsoft Exchange updates, and so we have included a list of known issues when updating your Exchange Servers, including: When you try to manually install this security update by double-clicking the update file (.MSP) to run it in Normal mode (that is, not as an administrator), some files are not correctly updated. Exchange services might remain in a disabled state after you install this security update. To resolve this issue, start the update process as an Administrator. When you block third-party cookies in a web browser, you might be continually prompted to trust a particular add-in, even though you keep selecting the option to trust it. When you try to request free/busy information for a user in a different forest in a trusted cross-forest topology, the request fails and generates a "(400) Bad Request" error message. Microsoft has published a workaround for the "400 Bad Request" error. Microsoft development platforms Microsoft released just four updates to its development platforms for March, all rated important. Two patches are for the .NET platform (CVE-2022-24512 and CVE-2022-24464), both of which require user interaction to deliver their payload, at worst resulting in an elevation-of-privilege attack. The Microsoft patch that may give you a headache was raised by Google in 2020 (hence it's CVE identifier of CVE-2020-8927). This Patch Tuesday update to Brotli may affect how your web pages are compressed (notice I did not say zipped). Before you deploy this update, take a quick look at your internal web pages and browser-based applications using Brotli for adverse effects on decompressing CSS and JavaScript (hint, hint). Otherwise, add these updates to your standard patch schedule. Adobe (really just Reader) Just like last month, Adobe has not released any updates or patches to the Adobe Reader product lines. This is good news, and hopefully part of a larger trend. I'm hoping that Adobe Reader updates follow the same patch as Microsoft's browser patches (ever decreasing numbers of critical updates), and then, as with the Microsoft Chromium browser, we see only a few security issues rated as important by both the community and Microsoft. Adobe has released a few patches to its Photoshop, After Effects and Illustrator products. However, these are product-focused updates and should not affect your general desktop/server patch roll-out schedules. CHANGSHA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Junaid Iqbal, a Pakistani medical student in China, has got a chance to ask a Chinese political advisor about the country's drive to build a healthy China. Having lived in China for eight years, Iqbal has been paying close attention to events and news in China, including this year's annual "two sessions" that concluded Friday -- the annual sessions of China's top legislature and political advisory body. Iqbal got a chance to speak to CPPCC National Committee member Xu Ziqiang, who is also the director of the emergency department of Chenzhou First People's Hospital in Hunan. To better build a healthy China and promote the people's well-being, which was mentioned in the government work report on Wednesday, "the first is to strengthen the build-up of all practitioners and improve their overall capabilities," Xu answered in terms of community-level healthcare systems. "The second is to improve the facilities of community-level healthcare systems, as well as medical equipment and medicine supplies, facilitating people's access to medical treatment," Xu said via video with Iqbal. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Ipdizhi.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 24 Jan 2014, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. The total number of people who shared the ipdizhi homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the ipdizhi homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if ipdizhi has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the ipdizhi homepage on Twitter + the total number of ipdizhi followers (if ipdizhi has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the ipdizhi homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the ipdizhi homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. Basic Information PAGE TITLE ,http proxy ,ip,,ip -ip DESCRIPTION ip,,httpIPIP,iptxt KEYWORDS , ip, , ip, , http, OTHER KEYWORDS ipdizhi, com 113, 7808colocrossing, 7808colocrossing 113, 8080 ipdizhi, com 113 iphttp, adsl 113 111 The title found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. Domain and Server DOCTYPE HTML 5.0 CHARSET AND LANGUAGE DETECTED LANGUAGE SERVER nginx/1.2.7 OPERATIVE SYSTEM Character set and language of the site. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Operative System running on the server. Type of server and offered services. The language of ipdizhi.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for ipdizhi.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND The URL of the found Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The type of Facebook page. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Texas filed an amended lawsuit against the Biden Administration Wednesday claiming that the federal government does not have the authority to withhold federal funding to states who are of the stance that transgender youth health care equates child abuse. Stay up to date on COVID-19 Get Breaking News Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. Today Generally cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 73F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low 62F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Tomorrow Variable clouds with strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Are you searching for an ecomerce platform to help you build an online store and sell products? In this Sellfy review, we'll talk about how this eCommerce platform can let you sell digital products while keeping full control of your marketing. And the best part? Starting your business can be done in just five minutes. Let us then talk about the Sellfy platform and all the benefits it can bring to your business. What is Sellfy? Sellfy is an eCommerce solution that allows digital content creators, including writers, illustrators, designers, musicians, and filmmakers, to sell their products online. Sellfy provides a customizable storefront where users can display their digital products and embed "Buy Now" buttons on their website or blog. Sellfy product pages enable users to showcase their products from different angles with multiple images and previews from Soundcloud, Vimeo, and YouTube. Files of up to 2GB can be uploaded to Sellfy, and the company offers unlimited bandwidth and secure file storage. Users can also embed their entire store or individual project widgets in their site, with the ability to preview how widgets will appear before they are displayed. Features Sellfy includes: Online Store Sellfy is a powerful e-commerce platform that helps you personalize your online storefront. You can add your logo, change colors, revise navigation, and edit the layout of your store. Sellfy also allows you to create a full shopping cart so customers can purchase multiple items. And Sellfy gives you the ability to set your language or let customers see a translated version of your store based on their location. Sellfy gives you the option to host your store directly on its platform, add a custom domain to your store, and use it as an embedded storefront on your website. Sellfy also optimizes its store offerings for mobile devices, allowing for a seamless checkout experience. Product hosting Sellfy allows creators to host all their products and sell all of their digital products on one platform. Sellfy also does not place storage limits on your store but recommends that files be no larger than 5GB. Creators can sell both standard and subscription-based products in any file format that is supported by the online marketplace. Customers can purchase products instantly after making a purchase there is no waiting period. You can organize your store by creating your product categories, sorting by any characteristic you choose. Your title, description, and the image will be included on each product page. In this way, customers can immediately evaluate all of your products. You can offer different pricing options for all of your products, including "pay what you want," in which the price is entirely up to the customer. This option allows you to give customers control over the cost of individual items (without a minimum price) or to set pricing minimumsa good option if you're in a competitive market or when you have higher-end products. You can also offer set prices per product as well as free products to help build your store's popularity. Sellfy is ideal for selling digital content, such as ebooks. But it does not allow you to copyrighted material (that you don't have rights to distribute). Embed options Sellfy offers several ways to share your store, enabling you to promote your business on different platforms. Sellfy lets you integrate it with your existing website using "buy now" buttons, embed your entire storefront, or embed certain products so you can reach more people. Sellfy also enables you to connect with your Facebook page and YouTube channel, maximizing your visibility. Payments and security Sellfy is a simple online platform that allows customers to buy your products directly through your store. Sellfy has two payment processing options: PayPal and Stripe. You will receive instant payments with both of these processors, and your customer data is protected by Sellfy's secure (PCI-compliant) payment security measures. In addition to payment security, Sellfy provides anti-fraud tools to help protect your products including PDF stamping, unique download links, and limited download attempts. Marketing and analytics tools The Sellfy platform includes marketing and analytics tools to help you manage your online store. You can send email product updates and collect newsletter subscribers through the platform. With Sellfy, you can also offer discount codes and product upsells, as well as create and track Facebook and Twitter ads for your store. The software's analytics dashboard will help you track your best-performing products, generated revenue, traffic channels, top locations, and overall store performance. Integrations To expand functionality and make your e-commerce store run more efficiently, Sellfy offers several integrations. Google Analytics and Webhooks, as well as integrations with Patreon and Facebook Live Chat, are just a few of the options available. Sellfy allows you to connect to Zapier, which gives you access to hundreds of third-party apps, including tools like Mailchimp, Trello, Salesforce, and more. Pricing and Premium Plan Features Get Sellfy 14 day free trail from here Free Plan Price: $0 The free plan comes with: Up to 10 products Print-on-demand products Physical products Starter Plan Price: $19/month Starter plan comes with: Everything is Free, plus: Unlimited products Digital products Subscription products Connect your domain 2,000 email credits Business Plan Price: $49/month The business plan comes with: Everything in Starter, plus: Remove "Sellfy" branding Store design migration Cart abandonment Product upselling 10,000 email credits Premium Plan Price: $99/month The premium plan comes with: Everything in Business, plus: Product migration Priority support 50,000 email credits Sellfy Review: Pros and Cons Sellfy has its benefits and downsides, but fortunately, the pros outweigh the cons. Pros It takes only a few minutes to set up an online store and begin selling products. You can sell your products on a single storefront, even if you are selling multiple product types. Sellfy supports selling a variety of product types, including physical items, digital goods, subscriptions, and print-on-demand products. Sellfy offers a free plan for those who want to test out the features before committing to a paid plan. You get paid the same day you make a sale. Sellfy doesn't delay your funds as some other payment processors do. Print-on-demand services are available directly from your store, so you can sell merchandise to fans without setting up an integration. You can conduct all store-related activities via the mobile app and all online stores have mobile responsive designs. Everything you need to make your website is included, including a custom domain name hosting, security for your files, and the ability to customize your store The file security features can help you protect your digital property by allowing you to put PDF stamps, set download limits, and SSL encryption. Sellfy provides unlimited support. Sellfy provides simple and intuitive tax and VAT configuration settings. Marketing strategies include coupons, email marketing, upselling, tracking pixels, and cart abandonment. Cons Although the free plan is helpful, but it limits you to only 10 products. Payment plans often require an upgrade if you exceed a certain sales amount per year. The storefront designs are clean, but they're not unique templates for creating a completely different brand image. Sellfy's branding is removed from your hosted product when you upgrade to the $49 per month Business plan. The free plan does not allow for selling digital or subscription products. Conclusion In this article, we have taken a look at some of the biggest benefits associated with using sellfy for eCommerce. Once you compare these benefits to what you get with other platforms such as Shopify, you should find that it is worth your time to consider sellfy for your business. After reading this article all of your questions will be solved but if you have still some questions let me know in the comment section below, I will be happy to answer your questions. Note: This article contains affiliate links which means we make a small commission if you buy sellfy premium plan from our link. With snow blanketing the state one day and mid-March temperatures hovering at 60 degrees the next, its hard to imagine what the heat index in our schools might be in a few short months. That is, unless you spend your days in a classroom. Connecticuts aging school buildings many of them constructed more than 50 years ago typically have outdated, poorly maintained or nonexistent heating, ventilation and cooling systems. Classrooms often have windows that dont open. Some have no windows at all. Students and teachers know that by the end of the school year, indoor air temperatures will likely reach a sweltering 85 or 95 degrees. Even less obvious than the heat and humidity (but no less problematic) is the incidence of mold, dirty air ducts, rodent droppings and other health hazards making our school communities sick. Make no mistake these problems existed before the pandemic. Today, however, COVID-19 highlights the urgency regarding concerns about air quality and air circulation in schools, where children spend the vast majority of their days. Last spring, my colleagues and our students found ourselves in second-floor classrooms with temperatures and humidity levels at dangerously high levels. We were not alone. By early June, any given day was seeing dozens of Connecticut school closures due to oppressive heat. While the rooms in my school were hitting 95 degrees on a regular basis, several were in the triple digits. Some recorded temperatures of 108. We want our schools to be places where students feel safe, comfortable and cared for, but that is simply not the reality. With indoor air temperatures consistently reaching unsafe levels at the beginning and end of every school year, students are hit with a double whammy: learning is next to impossible, and we see a greater incidence of heatstroke, dehydration, migraines and asthma-related illness. For perspective, Connecticut has laws on the books regulating minimum and maximum temperatures at pet stores 65 to 78 degrees. Remarkably, no such protections exist for children at school. Connecticut lawmakers have an opportunity to change that, and we urge them to act now. A proposal before the Legislatures Labor Committee SB 423: An Act Improving Indoor Air Quality in Public School Classrooms would establish minimum and maximum school temperature and humidity levels for schools and provide bond funding for remediation and installation of modern HVAC systems. The quality of our educational facilities matters. For better or worse, school environments impact everything from our students physical and mental health to their behavior, memory and academic performance, and how much or how little we invest in them sends a message. What does it say about how we value our students when we send them into buildings with mold in the ceilings, or roofs that leak? What does it say when we expect them to bundle up in coats indoors all winter, or send them home in the heat? What does it say about how children from low-income, minority or rural families are valued when they are far more likely to attend underfunded schools? What are the odds of retaining teachers in a district that neglects their work environment? We cannot achieve true health or education equity or excellence when we send children to crumbling, understaffed schools. Bringing school facility standards in line with those weve established for pets is a start. Ensuring that they remain the safe, comfortable environment our students deserve will require an ongoing commitment. Our elected officials have an opportunity to make that commitment this legislative session. We urge them to act now. Kate Dias is president of the Connecticut Education Association. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When I was a student at Immaculate High School in Danbury, I spent the summer of 2017 teaching English in Ghana, and was criticized by my woke comrades on the left for this expedition, which I consider a pilgrimage. Having graduated from The New School in December, I returned home to Newtown in January after a 6,000-mile trek across the Trans-Siberian railway, from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, another pilgrimage, to make up for a lost study abroad semester due to COVID. On the three-day stretch from Yekaterinburg to Irkutsk, I shared a train compartment with three Russian soldiers in their 20s, like me. They spoke no English. They were fans of the same rap music I listened to in high school as I drove around Danbury, songs I hadnt heard in years that seemed to just be getting traction there. They fed me homemade vodka, and I treated them to Greek salads dressed with soy sauce from the dining car. They made gay jokes, and I laughed with them, because they didnt know me. This secret gave me such power over them. On the second day of the invasion of Ukraine, I wrote to them on WhatsApp. We are doing well so far, we are serving, writes Andrei, the redhead (Ive changed names to protect their privacy). In Vladivostok, we are waiting for the order. My instinct turns to the sea, and I ask him about the order. Will it be 100 bucks? Borrow, nothing to eat. I tell my friend I am American. We do not support this war. We dont support it either, he replies quickly, but since we serve, we have to follow orders. This is a soldier who told me he hated Putin straight to my face, via Yandex translator. It is true that many who serve under Putins closed fist dont want to, and it is true that his troops are starving. They are sent to kill their brothers, for food. In St. Petersburg, my bus was stopped by riot police to allow the presidential Aurus Senat limousine to pass. A small Russian flag stood at attention on the hood. Putin ordered a summit with the Commonwealth of Independent States, hosting distinguished guests, including the leaders of Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Noticeably, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, did not get the invite. My friend Pyotr is three years younger. I approached him outside a pub near the State Hermitage and asked if I was allowed to walk on the frozen canals, which I was not. He tells me Putin is like a ghost, wears a cloak of mystery, and the topic of which church he was baptized in is a nuclear-grade debate. I give him a wooden nickel from my wallet, carved with the headdress of a Native American and the inscription, Beware of imitations. In Moscow, I got my coat back after 10 minutes of hell. It contains my passport, my migration papers, 25,000 rubles, my Chase debit card, and a New York metro card. Yaroslav, a new pen pal from the bar on New Years who saved my items from getting stolen, writes, I was born under Putin and I will die under him. Hes 25. His dream is to play electric guitar and come to America. Bro, they dont tell us anything, people have gone crazy and are withdrawing cash from the banks, no one wants war, all people in Russia dont understand why such a decision was made to attack! At times it seems that we live in North Korea. Lina, an older woman who teaches Russian literature at the university in Irkutsk, has a different view. She sends me links to propaganda. She tells me many people in Siberia are nostalgic for communism, when they were employed. Her words resonate the most, for underneath her confusion, she declares herself a pacifist, saying: Creative people are always interested in people of any culture, and their attitude comes from love and friendship, understanding and sympathy, leads to fair conclusions. People of art have their own world, different from the world of racial arrogance and imperial ambitions. Of the Russian citizens I dared to talk politics with over drinks, they all said the same: that they hate Trump, but they think hes funny, and while they barely knew of a man named Biden, they loved Obama. If I am to be criticized for my pilgrimage to Russia, my defense is that I wanted to draw my own conclusions, and Im a more conscious man because of it. Seeing the enemy through my own eyes, not FOXs or CNNs, has shown me that at home and in Russia, it is the oligarch class that seeks to capitalize on human life, latch onto the means of production by way of militarism and censorship, leaving the rest of us to fight for our homes and what to eat. The answer is not to isolate ourselves from the world at large, but to unite as pilgrims against our common enemy, and to use the tools at our disposal to amplify Ukrainian voices, and communicate our values of autonomy, peace, and the curiosity to understand. Newtown resident A.J. Vitiello is a recent graduate of The New School. 99 cent introductory offer Includes everything we offer online for 24-7 news. This option allows you to read unlimited stories at ctnewsonline.com, and access our e-Edition (digital replicate of the daily newspaper). $7.99 per month after the introductory offer. This service comes with a complimentary CT Select Card allowing for local discounts. Rates are subject to change. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MIDDLETOWN Victoria Zakhidna and her preschool-aged children arrived in Connecticut this week after escaping war-torn Ukraine in a long and cold journey, leaving behind her husband who stayed to fight for their country. It was hard, but it was our decision, Victoria Zakhidna said of being separated from her husband. I love him, but I can live with that. It was harder for the children, however, because they love him and need him very much, she said Thursday in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media Group. Zakhidna, 27, escaped with her children, Daniel, 5, and Elizabeth, 4, and arrived this week in Middletown where she is staying with her younger sister Mariana, 26. Zakhidnas parents and nieces and nephews remained in Ukraine. They left Ternopil, a city in the eastern part of the country as refugees, carrying few possessions and had the choice of fleeing to either Poland, Romania and Slovakia, Zakhidna said. A harrowing journey The wait to cross the Ukrainian border into Poland was a fraught one, Victoria Zakhidna said. Once refugees arrived, Russian soldiers check every vehicle that enters and leaves the city, which makes traffic absolutely horrible, Mariana Zakhidna said. After a 12-hour bus ride, the family waited in a long line in harsh conditions, Victoria Zakhidna said. She saw mothers with disabled children who had to walk all night for nearly five miles to safety in 30-degree temperatures. I saw a child in a wheelchair. The mom had one bag and diapers. Its a little unbelievable, she said. She learned that her college friends son froze to death as they were crossing the border. For some, the journey took three days, Victoria Zakhidna said. Zakhidna knew it was time to go when her childrens day care and preschool were no longer able to operate. I have to know that tomorrow will be a safe day, Victoria Zakhidna said. She soon realized the situation had escalated. [The Russians were] bombing everything hospitals, day cares and killing civilians, she said. The Russians arent interested in the western part of Ukraine, but its dangerous everywhere, Mariana Zakhidna said. The grocery store shelves in Ukraine are wiped out, Victoria Zakhidna said. People in certain cities in the eastern portion of the country died of dehydration and starvation, Mariana Zakhidna said, because the Russians bombed the bridges, trapping them. The Zakhidnas said the Russians did not honor safe zones that had been designated for people to pass supplies. The idea, Mariana Zakhidna said, was for Ukraine to designate a territory where nobody is going to be shooting or throwing bombs and missiles. Prior to the Russian invasion, Victoria Zakhidna said she had been monitoring the news. The news already said everybody has to get out of Ukraine because something started, she said. Nobody believed that can happen in the 21st century. Mariana Zakhidna said she was nagging her sister to leave Ukraine. One recent morning, Victoria Zakhidnas husband came home from work at 8 a.m. and asked why she was sleeping. The war has started, he told her. She didnt believe him. That night was the hardest for me, because we had to go to the shelter or a basement or something underground, she said. Others hid in subways with blankets and yoga mats, creating makeshift beds, she said. Mommy, be careful In Ternopil, deafening sirens filled the air, she said. People who traveled back and forth from the shelter and home learned conditions were far more dangerous there, where Russian helicopters were dropping bombs. This is hard. I was scared, Victoria Zakhidna said. Sometimes its semi-peaceful, because most of the bombing is done at night, she added. A lot of Ukrainian children have been killed as if it were nothing, said Victoria Zakhidna, who pointed out how a prenatal center with infants, expectant mothers and staff was destroyed Wednesday. Her daughter is too young to grasp what was happening, Victoria Zakhidna said. It was like a game for her, she said. Despite his young age, Daniel fully grasps the situation, his mother said. He cried often in the shelter, asking if they could go home. When she left the bus to use the bathroom, he said, Mommy, be careful. The Russian soldiers can kill you. He understands, she said. They arrived Tuesday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in a tearful reunion. The children, who had never flown before, were exhausted from the eight-hour flight and the entire journey. They are now staying with Mariana Zakhidna and her 4-year-old daughter. The sisters picked up clothing and other supplies at the Ukrainian National Home in Hartford. Mariana Zakhidna said she was surprised when several people came up to her, saying, I just want to give you a hug. I was able to meet so many people and received so much support, Mariana Zakhidna, a local photographer, said of the Hartford facility. Im not just talking about materialistic support. Communicating with family back home has been difficult since there is often no cell service. The sisters mother created a Facebook chat group and gets anxious if she doesnt hear from family, sometimes staying up until she knows everyone is alive. Theyll say, Its OK. Were alive, Victoria Zakhidna said. Her husband, who joined the military after the Russian invasion, is being paid for his service, but is unable to send the family money, because cash transfer businesses got cut off, she said. Mariana Zakhidna said her sister and her children are welcome to stay as long as they need. My home is your home, Mariana Zakhidna told her sister. Youre my sister. We grew up together. Now that she and her children are safe, Victoria Zakhidna said she is on a mission. My mission is to tell everyone the truth about whats really going on there, she said. BRIDGEPORT - The retirement this month of state prosecutor C. Robert Satti Jr. marks the end of a generation of hard-nosed prosecutors appointed in the 1980s in answer to the demands for being for tough on crime. Compassion was not an element of the job at that time and in his 41 years as a prosecutor, Satti built a reputation as a stern, direct and unrelenting advocate for the State of Connecticut. Hes a bulldog, a description Im sure many lawyers would use for him, said criminal defense lawyer Frank Riccio II. Hes stern but fair and reasonable. He clearly is passionate for the job he does and takes the responsibility for representing the people of the State of Connecticut very seriously. Satti proudly proclaims he modeled his role after his late father, legendary New London prosecutor C. Robert Satti, whose photograph hangs on the wall of his Main Street office. Satti Sr. successfully prosecuted serial killer Michael Ross in the 1980s of the rape and murder of seven young eastern Connecticut women. Ross was the last person executed in the state. Satti Jr. successfully prosecuted Richard Roszkowski, of Trumbull, for the 2006 murders of a mother, her young daughter and a Milford landscaper in Bridgeport. Roszkowski would be the last person to be sentenced to death in the state. His sentence was later commuted to life after the state legislature abolished the death penalty. The younger Satti made a name for himself early on, prosecuting the states first televised trial in 1984. On Jan. 19, 1983, North Carolina truck driver Charles Kluttz crashed his tractor-trailer truck into a line of cars at the former Stratford toll plaza on I-95. Seven people were killed in the fiery crash. The case received national attention and the state Judicial Branch, as an experiment, agreed to televise it gavel to gavel as it proceeded in the Golden Hill Street courthouse. Kluttz was found guilty of seven counts of negligent homicide and sentenced to six months in prison. Since that time, Satti has prosecuted 172 cases that have gone to trial. Most would make a list of the most notorious criminals in Fairfield County. These include the successful prosecution of Bridgeport drug dealer Russell Peeler Jr. for the murder of a rival drug dealer in a Bridgeport barbershop and the conviction of drug dealer Luis Galarza, accused of fatally shooting two men outside a North End, Bridgeport, home in 1999. I enjoy trial work, he said. I have dealt with very serious matters that impact victims and defendants in an urban setting. As part of that work, I had to deal with crimes of drugs and violence on a regular basis and competing interests of those accused of crimes and those who are victims of crimes. Riccio said when he graduated law school he got to second-chair his father, the late Bridgeport criminal defense lawyer Frank Riccio, on murder cases Satti prosecuted. I learned to be a trial attorney from two people, my father and, although he may not have intended it, Bob Satti, Riccio said. In 2017, Satti was selected to serve on a hearing at Guantanamo Bay Navy base in Cuba for an al-Qaida commander in Afghanistan, Abd al Hadi al-Iraqi, who allegedly led insurgents who set roadside bombs and carried out suicide attacks and ambushes that killed American troops and CIA contractors, and targeted other U.S.-allied troops and civilians. But it was really a fluke that Satti became a prosecutor in the first place. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame and Suffolk University Law School, Satti planned to be a lawyer in the U.S. Coast Guard. When I graduated law school I was very interested in admiralty law and hoped to do that, Satti said. I really find it fascinating and it was also attractive because of the possibility of traveling around the country wherever Coast Guard bases are located. But he continued that he was denied a position in the Coast Guard because he had no prior military experience. At that time, there were a lot of lawyers with military experience and they were given priority, he said. So instead, in 1978 Satti took a job as an assistant temporary clerk in Bridgeport Superior Court. On Sept. 5, 1980, he was appointed a deputy assistant states attorney at the Golden Hill Street courthouse and four years later was promoted to assistant states attorney in the Fairfield County Courthouse. He retires as second in command of the Bridgeport prosecutors office, one of the largest in the state. I have been honored to work with Bob Satti for nearly 25 years, said States Attorney Joseph Corradino. Bobs retirement is a great loss to the states attorneys office and for me personally. He does the work of at least three people, is an amazing trial lawyer, and is utterly unflappable. His 40 years of wisdom and experience are an immense asset which he has shared generously with me. He is the institutional memory of the office as well as the voice of reason. I will miss his wise counsel and friendship. I can fill the vacancy but I cannot replace Bob Satti. This past week Satti spent time in the same courtroom where he began as a prosecutor this time mentoring another generation of prosecutors. Being a prosecutor was an experience that most people dont get the chance to do and I was blessed to do it, he said. He said there are a lot of people he will miss when he leaves. I am very appreciative of the defense bar I met in my service here in Bridgeport. The talented lawyers, zealous advocates for their clients and who held the states attorneys office to the appropriate burden of proof. Im also appreciative of the efforts and work that law enforcement on the federal, state and local level provided to our office. Satti also serves on the Milford zoning board and although he will no longer serve in state service, he said he intends to continue being involved in the community. A malnourished child lies on a bed at the malnutrition treating ward in a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, March 13, 2022. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday that millions of Yemeni people are at risk of famine as a result of the country's years-long military conflict and sharp deterioration of its economy, calling for urgent action. According to the UNICEF mission in Yemen, nearly 400,000 children under the age of five are slipping from acute malnutrition to severe acute malnutrition. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua) ADEN, Yemen, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday that millions of Yemeni people are at risk of famine as a result of the country's years-long military conflict and sharp deterioration of its economy, calling for urgent action. "Children in Yemen are starving not because of a lack of food, but because their families cannot afford food," the UNICEF said in a statement posted on Twitter. The UN organization said that "the impact of the economic collapse on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen cannot be understated." "Without urgent action, millions could be plunged into famine," it warned. According to the UNICEF mission in Yemen, nearly 400,000 children under the age of five are slipping from acute malnutrition to severe acute malnutrition. Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. The UN is trying to end the civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million people, and brought the country to the brink of famine. Health workers get a malnourished child weighed at the malnutrition treating ward in a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, March 13, 2022. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday that millions of Yemeni people are at risk of famine as a result of the country's years-long military conflict and sharp deterioration of its economy, calling for urgent action. According to the UNICEF mission in Yemen, nearly 400,000 children under the age of five are slipping from acute malnutrition to severe acute malnutrition. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua) A man weighs his malnourished child at the malnutrition treating ward in a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, March 13, 2022. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday that millions of Yemeni people are at risk of famine as a result of the country's years-long military conflict and sharp deterioration of its economy, calling for urgent action. According to the UNICEF mission in Yemen, nearly 400,000 children under the age of five are slipping from acute malnutrition to severe acute malnutrition. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua) A malnourished child lies on a bed at the malnutrition treating ward in a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, March 13, 2022. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday that millions of Yemeni people are at risk of famine as a result of the country's years-long military conflict and sharp deterioration of its economy, calling for urgent action. According to the UNICEF mission in Yemen, nearly 400,000 children under the age of five are slipping from acute malnutrition to severe acute malnutrition. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua) The state agency representing the interests of utility ratepayers is calling for an investigation amid claims that Connecticuts two largest public utility companies sued customers for unpaid bills during the height of the pandemic. The state Office of Consumer Counsel on Friday filed a petition with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, requesting an investigation into Eversource Energy and Avangrid. The OCC said it obtained information showing that at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the utility companies sued consumers for nonpayment and sought and received wage garnishment in court. Tricia Modifica, an Eversource Energy spokesperson, said company officials are reviewing the OCCs petition. We just received the petition from the OCC and are reviewing it. We have and continue to empathize with customers struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic and have fully complied with the PURAs directives in this area, said Modifica, whose company owns Eversource, Yankee Gas Services and Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut. In addition to imposing a moratorium on service disconnections, out of an abundance of caution, we voluntarily suspended all new legal collections beginning March 13, 2020, which have not restarted. We look forward to fully participating in this review and providing additional information to PURA related to this matter. Gage Frank, a spokesperson for Avangrid, said the companys subsidiaries were some of the first utility companies in the region to suspend turn-offs due to nonpayment at the start of the pandemic. Avangrid is the corporate parent for United Illuminating, Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern Connecticut Gas. As the pandemic continued, we helped customers take advantage of the numerous products, government assistance and services designed to help them pay for their energy use in a flexible and customer-friendly manner, Frank said. This includes options such as interest-free pandemic payment plans, suspension of late payment charges, and referrals to assistance programs. Currently, Avangrid is reviewing the petition submitted by the Consumer Counsel and will await further action from PURA. In March 2020, Attorney General William Tong filed an emergency petition, ordering electric, natural gas and water supplies to not shut off utilities for customers who hadnt paid their bills. The OCC said these utilities actions were contradictory to the intent of PURAs multiple orders seeking to assist vulnerable and low-income consumers during the unprecedented financial challenges that COVID-19 inflicted upon the people of Connecticut. Interim Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman said she is deeply disturbed by the accusations. Coleman said several state agencies and others worked diligently over the course of the pandemic to ensure that consumers facing financial hardship receive the assistance they need to keep the lights on and the heat running. To learn that our utilities, and to the greatest extent United Illuminating, were pursuing judgments against consumers in court during the COVID-19 state of emergency rather than directing them to the many assistance and relief programs available during this time is shocking, she continued. I welcome a full investigation into this matter. Attorney General William Tong this week announced the state reached a $4.8 million settlement with a California toxicology lab that he said overcharged Connecticuts Medicaid program. But settlements with medical providers accused of overcharging or falsely billing Connecticuts Medicaid program are not uncommon with the state reaching at least six in the past seven months worth a total of about $82 million, including one that yielded $75 million, according to Tongs office. State and federal authorities accused Redwood Toxicology Laboratory of violating Connecticuts most favored nation regulation. The Santa Rosa, Calif., organization allegedly charged the Connecticut Medical Assistance Program $38 for certain urine drug tests anywhere from three to 19 times the price charged by other third parties for substantially similar urine drug tests, the settlement reads. The settlement, signed last month, included $4.3 million in restitution, along with almost $500,000 in interest. That case followed a settlement in February when a Hamden psychiatrist agreed to pay nearly $311,000 for employing a former physician who lost his license in 2006 following a health care fraud conviction in Florida. The attorney generals office said the former physician, Eric Ressner, was employed by Geriatric and Adult Psychiatry LLC between February 2016 and June 2021. During that time, the practice received payments from Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE and RR Retirement, Tongs office said in a statement. Those payments were then used in part to pay for Ressners salary, despite his conviction, which prohibited him from working in government health care programs. The Hamden settlement came after the attorney generals office in December announced a nearly $740,000 settlement with Manchester Pediatric Associates and its owner, Dr. Swathanthra Melekote, who were accused of over-billing the state Medicaid program for more than five years. Tongs office and the Department of Social Services Special Investigations Unit began investigating the practice following a whistleblower complaint. The investigation found the practice would bill twice for maternal depression screenings and vaccine administration, and would up-code bills for medical services as if a physician had provided the services, instead of a physician assistant or nurse practitioner, Tongs office said at the time. Last August, the attorney generals office announced a state and federal settlement for nearly $679,000 with L.A. Vision and optician Lisa Azinheira in Hartford. The provider was accused of over-billing the states Medicaid program, including billing the program for multiple pairs of eyeglasses for children, who were allegedly encouraged to pick out several pairs, despite not being medically necessary. The vision care provider was also required to undergo training and education programs, and submit to an audit of its Medicaid claims, Tongs office said. That same month, the office also announced a $75 million settlement with the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company over allegations it overcharged the states Medicaid program for drugs. The state alleged the company failed to give Connecticut its full rebate on drugs, which pharmaceutical companies are required to pay back under federal law. The whistleblowers complaint alleged that Bristol-Myers Squibb improperly treated certain fees paid to wholesalers as discounts, and improperly failed to include certain price appreciation amounts it received from wholesalers in the price calculation, the attorney generals office said. Also in August, the state announced a $350,000 settlement with the Cornell Scott Hill Health Corporation in New Haven, over claims the provider over-billed the Connecticut Medicaid program for dental services. The government alleged the Federally Qualified Health Center required Medicaid patients to receive cleanings and exams on separate days, allowing the organization to be paid its $162 encounter rate more than once for services that could have been done during the same visit. This weeks settlement also closely mirrored one from June 2019 when Clinical Science Laboratory Inc. agreed to pay $1.5 million over billing for urine drug tests. An investigation found CSL was charging the state $38 per urine drug test, while substance abuse clinics were only charged $2 per test. Connecticut received nearly $905,000 in the settlement, Tongs office said at the time. MILFORD A local man is due in court Tuesday after a jury deadlocked while deliberating his fate in a sexual assault trial last month. It was the second time a judge declared a mistrial for Loren Manes, 52, who was first charged in the case in March 2016. His lawyer, Donald Cretella, said Friday he doesnt know if there will be a third trial or not. He said he hopes the case gets dropped when Manes returns to court. If its anything other than a dismissal, were going to file a motion to dismiss, he said. According to an arrest warrant, a girl Manes knew said that Manes sexually assaulted her, beginning when she was 3 to 5 years old. The alleged victim, who was born in 2001, revealed the incidents when she was 15, after her high school health teacher became concerned about questions she was asking in class, according to the warrant. A social worker from the girls school reached out to her mother, after which she disclosed the alleged incidents, the warrant said. She subsequently took part in a forensic interview with a social worker at the Family Advocacy Center in New Haven, according to the warrant. The assaults allegedly took place between 2004 and 2010, as well as in 2015. A six-member jury heard evidence in the case for three days last month before passing a note to the judge saying they were deadlocked after a day of deliberation. Judge H. Gordon Hall asked them to deliberate some more. But after listening again to the recorded trial testimony of the victim and a police officer who investigated the case, they said in another note that the deadlock had not been broken, so the judge declared a mistrial. It was the second mistrial in the case, with the first coming after a 2018 trial resulted in a hung jury. Manes faces four counts of illegal sexual contact with a minor, a Class B felony, and two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault. He is free on $150,000 bond. Prior to the trial, he declined an offer from prosecutors of a 10-year prison sentence to be suspended after three years, followed by 10 years of probation. Cretella said he hasnt discussed the case in detail with prosecutors or his client since last months trial. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media BRIDGEPORT A Bristol woman was charged with operating a drug factory Thursday night after police found her with more than 150 pills of MDMA, as well as various pills, crushed ecstasy and cocaine, according to the Bridgeport Police Department. Police stopped a tan Buick with heavy tinted windows around 9 p.m. Thursday after it failed to stop at a stop sign at Norman and State streets. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STRATFORD The towns house could be getting a new roof for the first time in 136 years. The Sterling House Community Center is set to receive $1.5 million in funding from the federal government after the House of Representatives passed its spending bill Wednesday. This spending bill is yet to be passed by the Senate. The money, coming as a part of $13.6 million in spending on local projects in the 3rd Congressional District, is going to be put toward renovations for the community center, according to a release from U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro. It has been an incredible two COVID-years of determination, resilience, and heart as we worked together to serve the urgent needs of our community, Amanda Meeson, Sterling Houses executive director, said in the release. ...With the restoration of the failing exterior shell of our beloved 136-year-old home, we will ensure Sterling House stands proudly to welcome and serve the generations to come. Meeson said that Sterling House is still determining the full cost of the renovations, but the final figure will be significant as a historical building. She said everything from the roof to the gutters on the outside needs restoration in order to stay aligned with the integrity of the building and its original tenants and keeping an eye on preservation. And then theres out buildings and ground improvement, environmental upgrades and things that we're hoping will support this as well, she added. The center also received $2 million in state funding through the state Department of Economic and Community Development last July, which means this funding would bring the total to $3.5 million raised so far. Meeson said the center wanted to wait for clarity on these two grants before pursuing any further funding. These renovations will help address challenges the center has faced. Meeson said they have had to operate programs while portions of the building were sectioned off with caution tape because of water-damaged floor tiles. A full restoration will not only ensure the building stands strong, but that we can continue to operate fully inside, Meeson said. The organization has mainly focused on the investigative work necessary so far, including getting drone footage of the house and a slate assessment of the roof, but have begun some minor restorations. In total, Meeson said this would be a four to eight month renovation once it gets underway. Dedicated groups and organizations across Connecticut are working hard to boost our economy, support hardworking families, and keep our communities safe, they simply needed the funding to succeed, DeLauro said Wednesday. For the first time in 10 years, the federal spending package I introduced and helped pass today includes funding for community projects across Connecticut. These investments support our local communities, small businesses, and working families. They go to local governments and nonprofits that serve our communities, not to big companies. DeLauro visited the site in August after this portion of funding was announced in late July. She was met with hundreds of campers cheering her name. mike.mavredakis@hearstmediact.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STRATFORD The town has opened an online fundraiser in support of Ukraine after announcing it at a vigil Wednesday, according to a town release. The town of Stratford stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, particularly Ukrainian Americans here in Stratford, in the face of this abhorrent, unprovoked attack on their freedom, their country and their lives, Mayor Laura Hoydick said Wednesday. The fundraiser is in partnership with a Stamford-based non-profit, Americares, which has an emergency response team set up in Krakow, Poland and is sending three tons of critical medicine and medical supplies to an organization in Ukraine, according to its website. Our health-focused humanitarian aid for Ukrainians both inside Ukraine and those taking refuge in neighboring countries will focus on Medicine Security, Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs), and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, the fundraising website says. The fundraiser will be active through April 1 and it is accepting donations of $5 or more. At this time, the fundraiser has received over $750 in support. There is no donation match associated with this fundraiser. The fundraiser also allows for anonymous donations and those who do not wish for their information to be shared with third-party fundraising vendors can email info@americares.org, according to the fundraising website. Ukraine has been facing an invasion attempt from the Russian military since Feb. 24. More than 2.5 million people have crossed the Ukrainian border to leave the country, the United Nations said in a press briefing Friday. The United States imposed economic sanctions on Russia on Feb. 24. President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports on March 8. mike.mavredakis@hearstmediact.com Kohler Credit Union Marketing Coordinator Katie Rammer (left) and On Tap Credit Union Vice President of Marketing and Business Development Janelle Herrera. For credit unions to run successful social media accounts, there must be a balance between using them for branding and as a source of revenue. Sales shouldnt be the sole focus of social media, says Katie Rammer, marketing coordinator at $566.3 million asset Kohler Credit Union in Sheboygan, Wis. Your social media presence should be built around storytellingof your credit union, your members, and your community. By sharing your story on social media, your followers will find content thats relevant to them and that shares their values, theyll engage, and, when they need financial services, theyll turn to you. Janelle Herrera, vice president of marketing and business development at $362.2 million asset On Tap Credit Union in Golden, Colo., agrees, adding that social media coordinators should test out a variety of platforms and types of content. Jump in, she says, speaking alongside Rammer at the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Conference Thursday in Los Angeles. Dont be afraid try things. Youre never going to learn unless you try it. Funeral Service for Garry Dwight Knopp, age 66, of Cullman, will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Cullman Heritage Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 1-3 p.m. prior to the service. Cullman Heritage Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Mr. Knopp passed away on Sunday, May 1, BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games scheduled on the evening of March 13, at the National Stadium. The ceremony will be broadcast live by China Media Group, and xinhuanet.com will provide live broadcast in photos and text. BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Assets under the management of public offering funds in China topped 25.87 trillion yuan (about 4.1 trillion U.S. dollars) by the end of January, data from the Asset Management Association of China shows. This marks an increase of 310 billion yuan compared to the end of 2021. Of the total, the volume of money market funds and bond funds posted growth, while the volume of equity funds dropped 6.8 percent from the end of last year. At the end of January, a total of 9,428 public offering funds were operated by 151 fund management entities in the country, according to the association. Dalton, GA (30720) Today Some sunshine with a thunderstorm or two possible this afternoon. High 83F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Some clouds. Low 56F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Paul Andrews, ARC Market CEO, speaks after the announcement of ARC opening a facility at the former Our Lady of Bellefonte hospital on Tuesday in Ashland. Andrews will be administrator of the location. MATT JONES | THE DAILY INDEPENDENT WINDHOEK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Namibian President Hage Geingob on Saturday sent condolences to the government and people of Zambia after the passing of their former leader Rupiah Banda. Banda passed away at his home on Friday at the age of 85 after a short battle with colon cancer. "Indeed, with his passing, Namibia has lost a dependable friend. But, we are comforted by his indelible contributions to the liberation movements of our region and the socio-economic development of its people. During this hour of grief, I extend sympathies to his wife, Mrs Thandiwe Banda, the children and the fraternal people of Zambia. May his soul Rest In Peace," said Geingib. Geingob said that President Banda played a pivotal role in advancing the cause of Independence for the Namibian People The late Banda served as Zambia's fourth president who was in power from 2008 to 2011. He was diagnosed with cancer two years ago and had been receiving medical treatment. Natalie Kolb/Commonwealth Media Services Jennifer Smith, secretary for the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, continues to contend the states drug oversight agency was not responsible for confusion that wrongly barred some people from addiction treatment. Never in our lifetimes has the world been in such a dark and dangerous place. Ukraine has fallen. Russian troops are massed on the borders of the Baltic states, and Poland and Moldova are said to be next. The President of the United States threatens nuclear Armageddon. A third world war could be only hours away. Yet in Britain, as millions of people watch in ashen-faced horror, our Prime Minister blames Nato for this crisis and urges world leaders to appease our friends in Moscow. This, then, is the world in March 2022, with Donald Trump in the White House and Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street. It is, of course, tempting to wonder if things could have been different. What if Joe Biden had won the presidency in 2020? What if, fantastical as it sounds, Jeremy Corbyn had lost the 2019 election? But things didnt work out that way. As we all know, Trump eked out a close victory, with a helping hand from the courts. The President of the United States threatens nuclear Armageddon. A third world war could be only hours away. Yet in Britain, as millions of people watch in ashen-faced horror, our Prime Minister blames Nato for this crisis and urges world leaders to appease our friends in Moscow. This, then, is the world in March 2022, with Donald Trump in the White House and Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street And we all remember how Boris Johnson self-destructed under the pressure of an election, enabling Corbyn to defy the polls and scrape a narrow majority. What happened next, though, will go down as one of the most shameful chapters in the history of Western diplomacy. When the first pictures emerged of the Russian military build-up on the borders of Ukraine, Trumps initial reaction was to deny anything untoward. I know Putin. Hes a very smart guy, he told reporters. So what if he wants to have some military exercises? Id like to have some too, but our so-called Nato allies are too cheap to pay for them. In Britain, meanwhile, Corbyn knew exactly who to blame for the current tension. I appeal to all sides to work together for peace, our Prime Minister said earnestly. I understand Russias very genuine security concerns, and I urge my Nato colleagues to treat them with more respect. In the next few months both men became increasingly irritable. On an awkward visit to Kyiv, Corbyn publicly endorsed Putins call for the demilitarisation and neutralisation of Ukraine, blaming instead Ukrainian neo-Nazis, the British media and the international arms industry for mounting tensions. Meanwhile, even many Republicans were appalled by Trumps attacks on his own intelligence service. You hear all this fake news about some Russian invasion, he told a Florida rally. But the CIA have been wrong about everything for 20 years. Everything! Id believe Putin before I believed them. Against this background, it was no wonder the Ukrainians seemed increasingly demoralised. By early February, President Volodymyr Zelenskys warnings of a Russian attack were ever louder. When the first pictures emerged of the Russian military build-up on the borders of Ukraine, Trumps initial reaction was to deny anything untoward. I know Putin. Hes a very smart guy, he told reporters. So what if he wants to have some military exercises? Id like to have some too, but our so-called Nato allies are too cheap to pay for them' So were his desperate appeals for Western aid. But nobody listened and of course the Kremlin used this as its pretext for war. When the first Russian missiles slammed into Ukrainian cities in the early hours of February 24, the Western reaction could hardly have been more chaotic. The French, the Germans and other EU countries issued immediate condemnation but couldnt agree on a package of sanctions. Trump veered first one way, then another. Putin is making a BIG MISTAKE! he tweeted at 3am, before deleting it an hour later. There followed hours of silence, before he surfaced in a bizarre call to a Fox News breakfast show. Putins a very, very savvy guy, he told the presenters. He declares a big portion of the Ukraine as independent, and says hes going to help out and keep the peace. Maybe we should do that with these Nato countries who dont pay their share. As for Corbyn, his reaction was utterly predictable. I urge the Ukrainians to lay down their arms and work for peace, he declared in the Commons. And I can assure the House that we wont let this distract us from our mission to build a Palestinian state and tear down the Israeli occupation. As Putins tanks crashed through the disheartened Ukrainian defenders, the EU publicly begged Britain and the U.S. to consider sanctions. But Trump was having none of it. American interests always come FIRST! he tweeted after a blazing telephone row with French President Emmanuel Macron. Ukraine is a faraway country and we know NOTHING about it! On the Saturday after the invasion, even as the Russians launched their ground assault on Kyiv, Corbyn made his feelings quite clear at the Stop the War rally in Trafalgar Square. I condemn all forms of war, and I will work with friends on all sides for peace, he told the crowd. And I want to be very clear about where the blame lies with the expansion of Nato, and with the Tory billionaires and their friends in the media. By the second week of the invasion, the Western alliance had totally disintegrated. Macron told journalists that Nato was finished, while Polands president accused Corbyn of taking dictation from his handlers at the Kremlin. Thats very, very inappropriate, Corbyn told an interview for Russia Today. Yes, I speak to Vladimir Putin every day. I speak to lots of world leaders. I spoke to the President of Iran just now, and Ill be speaking to Palestinian community leaders this evening. On surged the Russians. Kyiv was lost. Dnipro fell too, then Odessa. Then came the first Kremlin claims of so-called provocations against Russian-speakers in the Baltic republics. With troops moving towards the borders of Latvia and Estonia, Putin staged a televised meeting, asking his Security Council if he should intervene to help Russians in Nato-occupied, Nazi-led states. Their answer, of course, was yes. So here we are. Deprived of Western aid, abandoned by the leaders of the free world, the Ukrainians have fought valiantly, but their cause seems doomed. Meanwhile, intelligence reports suggest a Russian attack on Latvia and Estonia could come within hours. Moldova is next, a senior figure in British intelligence told the Daily Mail this morning. On surged the Russians. Kyiv was lost. Dnipro fell too, then Odessa. Then came the first Kremlin claims of so-called provocations against Russian-speakers in the Baltic republics Trumps reaction to all this hardly inspires confidence. In a spectacular reversal of his previous position, he spent last night firing off increasingly furious tweets, accusing Putin of being a Loser driven Mad by his own BOTOX! I too have a Nuclear Button, read one broadside, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his. And I have a much Longer Table!!! Then, just hours ago, came Trumps final message, announcing that he was putting U.S. nuclear forces on Defcon 2, the highest level short of war itself. We are ready for action! he wrote. And if I have to reduce Russia to a Nuclear Wasteland, I WILL! It looks like one already! In London, Stop the War demonstrators are gathering for yet another march as I write these words. Once again, Jeremy Corbyn will be the star attraction. I call on Nato countries to stand down their troops and work with the Russians for a peaceful resolution, he declared in a video message this morning. Above all, I urge the White House to stop the warmongering and recognise our Russian friends very real security concerns. So much, then, for Britains bulldog spirit. World War III could be only hours away, and almost unbelievably, our Prime Minister is taking the Russians side. And the people forgotten in all this? The Ukrainians, abandoned by their so-called friends to defeat and occupation. There was poignant footage of Zelensky yesterday, led into a Russian courtroom to face baseless war crimes charges. Standing in the dock, the valiant Ukrainian president had one last message for the world. America! Britain! he said hoarsely. We believed in you. And you betrayed us. Well never forget. Then the Russians cut off his microphone, and the rest was silence. All this is, of course, a flight of fancy. Far from being the leader of a disintegrating democratic world, Donald Trump is holed up in his Florida bolthole, Mar-a-Lago. And Jeremy Corbyn is no longer even a Labour MP, having had the whip withdrawn after he claimed that anti-Semitism in the party had been overstated for political reasons. But there can be little doubt how hed have handled the war in Ukraine, since hes already told us. Only days before the Russian invasion, Corbyn put his name to a Stop the War statement calling on the West to recognise Russias security concerns, blaming Nato for its eastward expansion and attacking Britain for inflaming tensions by sending aid to Ukraine. Eleven Labour MPs also signed that statement, but after the Russian invasion they withdrew their signatures. Corbyn didnt. Only three years ago this man was the leader of Her Majestys Opposition; and today he blames the West for Russias campaign of slaughter. So if you ever doubted that political leadership makes a difference, heres your proof. Bleak and bloody as the world seems today, just imagine how much worse it would be if Trump and Corbyn were calling the shots. Im well aware, of course, that Joe Biden and Boris Johnson are far from perfect. Mr Biden spent his first year in office floundering from one crisis to another. At times he appeared more like an escapee from some maximum-security retirement home than a dynamic commander-in-chief. But to his credit, Mr Biden has responded to the Russian invasion with impressive calm. Hes been firm in his condemnation and steadfast in his support for Ukraine, but also measured and sensible in his determination not to provoke nuclear Armageddon. Even among Bidens critics, I cant believe there are many people who would seriously prefer Trumps leadership at such a perilous moment. As for Boris, just a month ago he seemed finished. But you dont hear much about birthday parties and cakes these days. Its true that the Home Offices failure to help more Ukrainian refugees is a national disgrace, an abomination that should be corrected immediately. Even so, every Ukrainian will tell you that our PM has been their most resolute Western supporter. Not only were our intelligence warnings unerringly correct, not only have we consistently led the way in measures against the Russian regime, but we have been the single largest European humanitarian donor, having pledged 400 million in aid alongside our shipments of guns, ammunition and anti-aircraft weaponry. Tellingly, a poll of 1,000 Ukrainians found while 49 per cent think the EU should do more to help them, only 35 per cent think Britain should do more. Thank you, Boris, President Zelensky said in his address to the Commons and he meant it. Trump was, I admit, correct about one thing. From the start of his first presidential campaign, he accused Natos European members of being unwilling to spend enough money to defend their own continent and he was quite right. Corbyn, however, was right about nothing. He was wrong about Nato, wrong about Russia and wrong about Ukraine. He was wrong about Britain, too. He completely misjudged the attitudes of ordinary British people, whom he imagined to share his own infantile anti-Western view of the world. Well, we dont. So while the terrible scenes in Ukraine have been a grim lesson in the horrors of war and mans capacity for evil, theyve also been a lesson in the importance of choosing the right leaders. Since the end of the Cold War, its become fashionable to say that politicians are all the same, and that youre a mug if you bother to care or to vote. But leadership really matters. It mattered in 1940, when Britain turned to Winston Churchill in its darkest hour, and in 1941, when Franklin D. Roosevelt rallied the American people against the horrors of fascism. It mattered in 1962, when John F. Kennedy held his nerve in the Cuban Missile Crisis; and in the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher sounded the clarion call of freedom to the peoples of Eastern Europe. And it matters again today. I dont say that Joe Biden and Boris Johnson are getting it completely right. And no doubt theyll make plenty of mistakes in the future theyre only human, after all. But in this, the greatest challenge since the end of the Cold War, they have trodden a desperately dangerous road with assurance and resolution. To put it simply, we could have done an awful lot worse. And in rejecting the claims of Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn, who would have led us to the brink of destruction, the people of Britain and America might just have saved the world. I shall never see it again now but I always loved a particular quiet, modest street in southern Moscow. For once, there were no gigantic buildings or tower blocks, just low, graceful old houses, trees and churches, especially one movingly called The Consolation of All Sorrows which, I expect, is pretty full just now. There, you could just believe that the old, kindly Russia, raped and murdered by Communists, might one day come back. How I wish it could have done. That belief is all gone now. Yet for years, I thought I owed that hope to the people I had known and liked in Russia, where I spent two of the most astonishing years of my life. Do not forget the most basic rules, that the first casualty of war is truth and that the only mercy in war is that it ends quickly. Resist attempts to get you to stop thinking Living in a foreign country, especially a remote and exotic nation, is a great gift. For the rest of your life it informs everything else you ever see or feel. I am stuck with that now. I am forced to care about Russia and the Russians. I dont ask you to do the same, only to understand that it is, to me, a duty. And if you think, as some spiteful people do, and have said, that I do all this because I am in Russian pay, or a Putin supporter, or because I am not a British patriot, then you are terribly mistaken. Generations of my family have faced real danger in the Armed Forces. My father (who hated Stalin and all his works) ferried tanks to the Soviet Union on the terrible Murmansk convoys, pausing on the way to help sink a German battlecruiser. My daughter served with the 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards as an Intelligence officer, in a forward base in Helmand, in Afghanistan. Her husband, my son-in-law, fought the Taliban face-to-face and was wounded in combat. I am impossibly proud of them all. I say what I say about this conflict especially that Western stupidity helped to bring it about because I believe it to be true The truth about patriotism, by the way, is that you feel it far more intensely if you have lived abroad than you do if you have not. And I find the thing about those who have actually faced danger is that they are the least noisy, and the most genuine, about their love of country. I say what I say about this conflict especially that Western stupidity helped to bring it about because I believe it to be true. I also say it because my forebears fought, among other things, for my freedom to say what is unpopular. So I would be betraying their legacy if I did not use that freedom. I will not dwell on it. The important thing at the moment is to stand against the wild hysteria that is raging among us. It is almost funny that music by Peter Tchaikovsky has been removed from a concert because he was Russian. But it is not funny when individual Russians are shunned, as one hears they have been. It is genuinely tragic when sanctions are imposed which will, as usual, ruin the lives of the poor while doing little to harm powerful villains. And it is deadly serious when unthinking hysteria grips politics and the media. Too many people think that it is somehow noble and good to call for more war, more weapons and more fighting. Have they seen war? This conflict must end at some point. For those caught up in it, the sooner it ends the better. I had the bizarre experience last week of being attacked for not being compassionate enough, by one Kelvin Mackenzie, who was the editor of The Sun newspaper during its not-very-compassionate Gotcha period. Too many people seem to find war attractive. More serious still are continuing calls to widen the war with no-fly zones and other unhinged follies. If your concern is (as it should be) for the innocent Ukrainian victims of the war, give and do all you can to help them. But do nothing to extend or prolong war, for the longer and deeper the war is, the more people will die and be maimed. Do not forget the most basic rules, that the first casualty of war is truth and that the only mercy in war is that it ends quickly. Resist attempts to get you to stop thinking. Perhaps the single biggest thing we have learned from this attack is that Russia is (as I have long argued) not very big, not very rich and not very strong. Its army cannot achieve its aims. Putin has, without meaning to, destroyed the Russian bogeyman which we have been told to fear for so long. It would be good if somebody learned something from that, but I dont suppose they will. Luminous Lucy is lighting up the screen The new ITV version of The Ipcress File is far better than Len Deightons rather strange book and the confusing 1965 film starring Michael Caine. For once, it captures the recent past almost effortlessly without forcing all the characters to smoke themselves to death. Every member of the cast is more or less perfect in his or her role, and Lucy Boynton is luminous and subtly witty. Like so many other things going on at the moment, it makes me long for the enjoyable certainties of the Cold War. Every member of the cast is more or less perfect in his or her role, and Lucy Boynton is luminous and subtly witty If dope is such a soft drug, why was Kim murdered? Meanwhile, normal folly continues. I note that, for the third time in 20 years, the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee is to conduct an inquiry into drugs policy. I have no doubt that it will do as before and take the fashionable line. It will claim that the non-existent war on drugs has failed. It will praise various disastrous attempts around the world to soften the law on drugs. It will ignore the success of Japan and South Korea in discouraging drug abuse by prosecuting abusers. It will be beguiled by the slick smiling marijuana lobby into sympathising with calls to be even weaker in dealing with that terrible drug. Yet in real Britain, the fruit of these stupid policies, in place for decades, is easily seen. In a recent case of a type which is increasingly common, Charles Dearden, 31, admitted the manslaughter of his mother, Kim Dearden, 63. Everyone knew he was dangerous. Everyone knew he was a dope smoker. Nobody connected the two, or did anything serious about it. The day before the crime, he had been taken to a mental hospital after attacking his mother. Police called to the scene found him stark naked and her with a bloodshot eye and scratch marks on her neck. She told anyone who would listen that she blamed his marijuana use. Soon afterwards he was (of course) let out, went home again and stabbed her to death with a kitchen knife, before trying to strangle the family dog. Kims last words, heard by a neighbour, were: Please leave me alone. Please dont do it, Charles, dont do it. Despite the grim tally of its users who have gone violently mad among us, and the many more who have just lost their minds, marijuana is still crazily viewed as a soft drug. Some people even think it is a medicine. Its possession is barely prosecuted. So now Kim is dead and all the police, judges and psychiatrists in the world cannot bring her back to life. Worse, they and Parliament and much of our media will do nothing to save the many others who will suffer similar fates in the years to come. Shame on the lot of them. To comment on Peter Hitchens click here A young mother-of-two has revealed how a painful disorder may have saved her life after it led to the detection of a killer disease before it was too late. Chani Bokody, from Sydney, has had endometriosis since the age of 18 and always thought it was an annoying burden. But if it wasn't for the condition, doctors may never have diagnosed Chani with ovarian cancer at age 31. Thankfully the cancer was low-grade and 'slow moving', meaning it was less aggressive and wasn't likely to spread to other parts of the body. Chani, now 34, encourages all women to be aware of the symptoms which often go missed. Sydney mum Chani Bokody (pictured) was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in October 2019 The mum-of-two has been living with endometriosis since the age of 18, which ultimately led to the detection of a cancer After giving birth to her first son Adrian, now 7, Chani experienced pelvic, back and bowel pain, as well as fatigue, which she brushed off as symptoms of endometriosis. 'As a mum I thought I was just rundown, but I needed to go to the doctor to check my endo,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Her doctor suggested keeping an eye on the symptoms as more surgery could make it harder to conceive children. About 18 months after the birth of her second child, Alexander, Chani went for further routine checks for her endometriosis. 'I had a very deep, thorough ultrasound done and had a lot of pain, but no signs of cancer showed up on the results. Looking back, that's terrifying,' she said. Chani's physician conducted a laparoscopy - a medical procedure used to assess inside the abdomen and pelvis through the stomach. After giving birth to her first son Adrian, now 7, Chani experienced symptoms of pelvic pain, back and bowel pain, and fatigue, which she brushed off and deemed the cause to be her endometriosis A few years later after giving birth to her second son, doctors removed a growth from her abdomen, which was thought to be endometriosis but was cancer A 'huge' growth was found in Chani's abdomen and was later removed by doctors. At first glace the extracted adhesion looked to be part of the endometriosis, but after a closer inspection a biopsy determined it to be ovarian cancer. In the proceeding days Chani received a call asking her to return to the doctor with a 'support person'. 'At that point I knew something was very wrong and I bought along my best friend of 20 years to the appointment,' she said. 'I thought it was cancer but my mind went straight to cervical cancer, not ovarian.' Chani went into shock after being diagnosed and described it as 'like being under water'. 'I was sobbing and my first thought was: "I don't want to leave my kids",' she said. At the time her eldest son Adrian was just five and going to start kindergarten the following year, while her youngest son Alexander was two. Chani went into shock after being diagnosed and described it as 'like being under water'. 'I was sobbing and my first thought was: 'I don't want to leave my kids',' she said What surprised doctors is that her cancer wasn't detected through ultrasounds or PET scans, nor through cervical screening tests. 'I wonder if I hadn't had that large growth, or if I didn't ask doctors to check, would my cancer have been picked up?' she said. Chani considers herself lucky doctors detected the cancer early and that it's a slow-growing 'lazy' cancer. While the cancer was hard to detect, it was harder to treat because it's resistant to chemotherapy. What surprised doctors is that her cancer wasn't detected through ultrasounds or PET scans, nor through cervical screening tests While the cancer was hard to detect, it was harder to treat because it's resistant to chemotherapy. Two months later in December she had life-changing surgery to remove her entire reproductive system Two months later in December she had life-changing surgery to remove her entire reproductive system, appendix, some of her stomach lining, the omentum and scraped back a section of her diaphragm. She was then put on maintenance drugs and takes daily medication to prevent the cancer from returning by decreasing estrogen levels in the body, as the cancer was estrogen sensitive. Chani also now get a blood test every three months as a precaution to prevent relapse. 'Endo definitely saved my life,' she said. What are the symptoms of ovarian cancer? There are often no obvious signs of ovarian cancer, but they include: abdominal bloating difficulty eating or feeling full quickly frequent or urgent urination back, abdominal or pelvic pain constipation or diarrhoea menstrual irregularities tiredness indigestion pain during intercourse unexplained weight loss or weight gain Advertisement At the time Chani didn't know how to live her regular life with cancer and reached out to communities for assistance. 'They removed what they thought was endo, but it ended up being cancer,' she said. Ultimately if it wasn't for the endometriosis or if Chani didn't follow her intuition to visit a doctor, the cancer may not have been detected. 'They would've found it eventually but it would've been much later than it did,' she said. 'When they removed my ovaries, the right one looked fine but the left one, most of it was a tumour.' Doctors estimated that Chani had cancer for at least five years - and through her second pregnancy. Chani also now get a blood test every three months as a precaution to prevent relapse According to Cancer Australia , it's estimated that 1,720 women have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021 According to Cancer Australia, it's estimated that 1,720 women have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021. While it's not as common as breast cancer, ovarian cancer is more difficult to catch as there are often no obvious symptoms. Chani believes ovarian cancer isn't talked about enough and not enough is being done to educate women about the symptoms. 'I want women to know to put themselves first as they would with their children,' she said. 'With anything that's wrong with our children, we take them to the doctor, but we don't do this with ourselves. 'Don't ever be afraid to have that conversation with your doctor.' If you would like to donate to help ovarian cancer research, please click here. Her unforced interest in places and her ability to put interviewees at ease makes Joanna Lumley a compelling travel show host. Her new series, Great Cities Of The World, takes her to Paris, Rome and Berlin, and Joanna, 75, says, For people whove never visited before, itll be an exciting introduction as we show you the great landmarks. But for those who know them well, itll be like the opening of a secret cupboard door, looking into different and unseen parts of it. The series starts in the French capital where, despite being terrified of heights, Joanna goes up in a hot-air balloon to get a birds-eye view of the city. When the team said to me, Youre going in a balloon, I said, Oh no Im not. Joanna Lumley, 75, from London visits Paris, Rome and Berlin in her new travel show Great Cities Of The World. Pictured in Paris outside Moulin Rouge 'But they cajoled me into it, and it was thrilling to see Paris from the air. I couldnt have loved it more. She also joins in that typical French pastime, a strike, where she meets a group of women in Marigolds campaigning for womens rights. She then talks to a lady whos having an affair so Parisian to find out what its like. When the woman asks if she fancies trying it, Joanna suddenly comes over all English. Continuing to delve into the citys racier side, she visits the infamous Moulin Rouge and meets the dancers. The next stop is Rome, where she rides on the back of a Vespa scooter and dines with film legend Gina Lollobrigida. But the highlight is a tour of the Vatican with the man who looks after the museums nearly 3,000 keys. Ill never forget wandering through jewelled caskets with treasures on each side. It felt a like a fairy story. For her final trip she visits Berlin. Its constantly reinventing itself, she says. Its a kind of rebel city. Joanna rides on the back of a Vespa scooter and dines with film legend Gina Lollobrigida while visiting Rome. Pictured: standing in front of Rome's ancient forum in episode two She joins Berlins all-female motorcycle club The Curves and meets Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander. Hearing first-hand what it was like really stayed with me, says Joanna, who left Berlin full of admiration for the people who live there. Its had its back broken by the war and the ruthless division of the Berlin Wall. They had to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and face their past. Joanna is hoping to travel more soon. You dont just do a city by going there once, she says. Ive lived in London for more than 50 years and Im finding out new things about it all the time. Thats what makes cities so thrilling. Joanna with The Rosies' on a Women's Rights march in Paris Joanna Lumleys Great Cities Of The World starts on Thursday, 9pm, ITV. Before there was Oliver Twist there was Fagin, his underling the Artful Dodger and their gang of child pickpockets. And while Oliver eventually escaped grinding poverty to live in middle-class heaven with his newly discovered grandfather, the hell of Dickensian London was to continue for the rest of them. It's perhaps surprising that in the more than 20 screen versions of the Charles Dickens novel to date, the world of Fagin's gang has never been properly explored. But that is set to change with the BBC's new series Dodger, which is essentially Oliver Twist without Oliver. Made by the BBC's children's wing CBBC, it was such a hit on that channel that it's now getting an airing on BBC1. BBC's new series Dodger delves into the lives of Fagin's child pickpockets, without Oliver. Pictured left to right: Polly Crackitt, Crossing Sweeper, Tang, Fagin, Jack Dawkins / Dodger, Charley Bates We first meet Dodger far from his London home after he's been bought from his orphanage and taken up North to work in a cotton mill. But he's desperately unhappy and pines for the only place he's ever felt a smidgeon of love. He manages to run away but when he gets back to London, he finds the orphanage has burnt down. He has nowhere to go until he's introduced to Fagin and is incorporated into his gang of waifs and strays picking pockets and evading the police. The cast includes Christopher Eccleston, David Threlfall, Alex Kingston and Frances Barber but the real star is charismatic youngster Billy Jenkins as Dodger. It's quite a change for Billy, whose first role was as a young Prince Charles in The Crown when he was seven. Now 14, Billy says Dodger is a lot closer to his personality than Prince Charles. 'He's mischievous and cheeky,' says Billy. 'But I think he has a heart of gold. He wears this battered old hat which I just love and odd boots, which was my idea. We do see him get up to all sorts of stuff but he does have a moral compass and he's more good than bad. It's just that he's also trying to survive.' For Christopher Eccleston, who plays Fagin, Dodger's focus on his gang redresses a balance. 'The musical Oliver! was one of my favourite films as a child, but I never engaged with the character of Oliver,' he says. Billy Jenkins, 14, (pictured), who plays Dodger, reveals the orphan's mischievous and cheeky personality is similar to his own 'Dickens created the story as a vehicle to visit the underclasses and I think that's why Dodger, Fagin and Nancy are more engaging. He had more empathy for them.' And while Christopher's Fagin is as forbidding as you might expect from the acclaimed actor, he also raises a few laughs along the way. 'I'm seen as the most miserable actor on the planet,' he admits. 'I've played a lot of very serious roles so I've never had an opportunity to develop any comic bones. But I love the idea of doing that, it feels like a breath of fresh air to try to learn new skills.' Ron Moody's Fagin in Oliver! left a big impression on him when he was a young boy in a working-class family in Lancashire. 'His performance was magical. You could see this man is lonely, he's sad. He has lost tragically and suffered racism and bigotry.' Christopher Eccleston, 57, (pictured) plays Fagin Fagin is Jewish of course, and Christopher took the role at a time when there's been heated debate over whether minorities should be played only by people from that minority. And Fagin isn't just any Jewish character; along with Shakespeare's Shylock he's seen as one of the key antisemitic creations in British literature. 'I'd never have taken the role if I detected any antisemitic themes in our version,' says Christopher, 57. 'And I don't think our writers would write it that way. We have a character who wears a yarmulke skullcap and is proud of his Jewish background.' To prepare for the role he delved into the experiences of British Jewry, reading books and talking to historian Simon Schama. 'I don't think there should be a limitation upon the imagination; non-Jewish actors should be able to play Jewish roles. I became an actor in order to play anything. And I think it's fair to say this Fagin is a complete retelling.' Dodger, tomorrow, 3.15pm, BBC1. The series is also available on iPlayer How does it feel to have a British legend as an ancestor is it a millstone round your neck or does it help open doors? The descendants of four iconic figures tell Andrew Preston what living with their forebears' legacies has meant to them, as they pose for photographer Drew Gardner's glorious re-creations of original portraits. WINSTON CHURCHILL Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was twice prime minister and a noted writer, artist and historian. His great-grandson Randolph, 57, lives near Winston's former home Chartwell in Kent with his wife Catherine. They have four children. He works in finance and is involved in the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, which encourages people to discover new ideas around the world to bring about change back home. Sir Winston Churchill (pictured) was twice prime minister and a noted writer, artist and historian. His great-grandson Randolph, 57, lives near Chartwell in Kent with his wife. Randolph (pictured as Winston) says that 'standing up for freedom and democracy, that is the message from him that rings through being able to stand up for your beliefs, for humanity and our way of life' 'I was born on 22 January 1965 and my great-grandfather died on the 24th, so my birth was announced in the papers on the same day as reports of his death. I have a charming Osbert Lancaster newspaper cartoon a nanny is pushing a pram, and a journalist pokes a microphone in and says, 'Mr Churchill, please let us know your intimate memories of your great-grandfather.' 'This 1916 portrait by William Orpen shows my great-grandfather at his lowest point [in 1915 he'd been forced to resign as First Lord of the Admiralty after the failed attack on the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli campaign]. His wife Clementine said she thought he'd die of grief with the burden of all the world on him. 'It's very moving and shows the pain he was feeling at the time. None of our family can anywhere near live up to him and all that he achieved. 'So it was very humbling to dress as him, and gave me a real admiration for how the artist struck that portrait. Not a day goes by when I'm not inspired by Winston Churchill. 'To see the leadership that he gave through the country's dark days, and how he picked himself up from all the challenges, difficulties and failures he had over the years, is remarkable. Standing up for freedom and democracy, that is the message from him that rings through being able to stand up for your beliefs, for humanity and our way of life. 'I think people need to remember that we're privileged to have the vote and live in a country where proper respect is given to the law. The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust has been such a success and it absolutely thrills our family to see how many people it supports, going out and bringing back lifechanging opportunities for their communities or their professions. 'Having the Churchill name does take away the joy of anonymity, but it is a great privilege. One year, we were arriving on holiday in Antigua and being ushered into the terminal. 'Claudia Schiffer was in front of us and the man at the passport counter didn't bother looking up as she went through. His colleagues said, 'You just had the most beautiful woman in the world there and you didn't even look up.' 'Then I presented myself and the chap raised his head and said, 'Good day, Mr Churchill, did you bring your cigars with you?' MALCOLM CAMPBELL Sir Malcolm Campbell (1885-1948) held land and water world speed records, and was the first person to travel at 300mph on land. His son Donald, also a speed record breaker, died in a crash on Coniston Water in 1967. Sir Malcolm's grandson Don Wales, 61, a photographer and father of two who lives in Surrey, holds the world speed record for a steam-powered car. Malcolm Campbell held land and water world speed records, and was the first person to travel at 300mph on land. His son Donald, was also a speed record breaker. His grandson Don Wales, 61, from Surrey holds the world speed record for a steam-powered car Don (pictured as Malcolm) never met his grandfather but hopes that he would be proud of him for carrying on with speed racing 'In 2015, I drove my grandfather's Sunbeam Blue Bird on Pendine Sands in Wales, where he got his first land speed record in 1924. I drove it at 50mph, wearing just a leather flying hat and goggles for protection in an open cockpit, as he had. 'I thought it wouldn't have taken much to be flung up from the beach to knock me out. His record was 146.16mph that day, which showed his incredible bravery. 'And to think that a hat and goggles were his only protection when he went at 301mph in 1935 is quite unbelievable. 'My grandfather had an extraordinary life, including involvement with the Special Operations Executive during the war. I believe at one stage he shared an office with Ian Fleming. 'I like to think that a little bit of James Bond was invented in that office. People say I look very like Malcolm, but I think that as a child I more resembled his son Donald, my uncle, when he was young. 'I never met my grandfather but I met Donald a few times and remember the day he died in 1967. I was just six and sitting at the breakfast table when my mother, Donald's sister, got a phone call. 'She cried out, 'Donald's had an accident!' I didn't understand, as I thought she was talking about me. Later in the day I remember seeing a newsflash about it on TV. 'I got into speed record-breaking in my 30s. I still hold the world steam car one just over 148mph and would like to set an electric car record. I hope my uncle and grandfather would applaud me for having a go.' WALTER RALEIGH Sir Walter Raleigh (1552- 1618) was an explorer, soldier and writer. Tim Mander, 61, his ten-times-great grandson, is a local government officer in Somerset and father of two. Walter Raleigh (pictured) was an explorer, soldier and writer. Tim Mander, 61, from Somerset is his ten-times-great grandson and works in local government Tim (pictured as Walter) says that he has mixed feelings about his ancestor, as although he was a great writer he was involved in unpleasant business in Ireland 'Sir Walter was from East Budleigh in Devon and we're related to him through my paternal grandmother, Mary Raleigh. I have Raleigh as a middle name, as do my two sons. 'We've both got long noses and I get seasick, as did he. He was at sea for weeks on expeditions but never seemed to find his sea legs. 'I have mixed feelings about him. He went to the Americas and got to know the ways of the people he was trading with. 'He was interested in science and a great writer. But he was also involved in pretty unpleasant business in Ireland. 'The court was a dangerous place to be in those days and he was executed by James I for treason. A lot of family assets he had Sherborne Castle in Dorset were then taken away. 'I'd like to visit places he went to in America, and I think I could use my name to my advantage.' ADA LOVELACE Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), the daughter of Lord Byron, was a mathematician and pioneer of computing who inspired Alan Turing. Isabelle Kate Solly, 29, her great-great-great granddaughter, works in financial marketing and lives in London. Ada Lovelace (pictured) the daughter of Lord Byron, was a mathematician and pioneer of computing. Isabelle Kate Solly, 29, from London, is her great-great-great granddaughter and works in financial marketing Isabelle (pictured as Ada) says that she feels proud to be related to such a pioneer and brilliant mind 'It was a lot of fun dressing up as Ada, but also rather strange. I believe there are physical resemblances, assuming the painter didn't take too much artistic licence. 'I feel proud to be related to such a pioneer and brilliant mind. I've been told that, like Ada, I have intuition and that I'm analytical, but also artistic and creative in equal measure. 'I'd always known we were related but hadn't realised how significant a person she was until I started exploring further. Her life was extraordinary for a mid-1800s woman. 'That was in part down to her mother's desire to prevent the development of any of the tempestuous traits shown by Lord Byron, Ada's father. 'She's been an inspiration for many, including programmers and women involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). I really admire her dedication to her passion. 'I feel inspired by her, and think a message that her life teaches us is to invest in your education because it unlocks so much potential.' Prince Andrew's ex Lady Victoria Hervey has been spotted in West Hollywood today. Photographs show the socialite, 45, looking pensive as she ambled down the street, clutching an Apple laptop and her phone in one hand, and a brightly coloured paper gift bag in the other. She dressed to impress in black trousers and a white knee length coat for the occasion, paired with black studded boots and a matching shoulder bag. Lady Victoria - who weeks ago shared bizarre social media rants about the now notorious photo of Prince Andrew with accuser Virginia Giuffre - opted to keep her make-up light and natural, and she finished off her look with loose, wavy blonde locks. The new sighting follows claims made by the socialite over the weekend, regarding the conflict in Ukraine, in which she said the country is not only being bombed by Russia but also by the neo nazi far right group Azov which is supported by Zelensky. Lady Victoria Hervey, 45, was snapped looking pensive in West Hollywood today (pictured) The socialite dressed to impress in black trousers and a white knee length coat for the occasion, paired with black studded boots and a matching shoulder bag Lady Victoria, who dated Prince Andrew in the 90s, shared several posts on her Instagram page last week, alleging that the 'Ukrainian army is bombing its own people'. She posted one story featuring a tweet which read: 'Truth bomb MSM. Journalist and war correspondent Anne-Laure Bonnell, who is in the Ukraine, shocks everyone: 'I do not defend Putin, but the truth is, I am close to civilians. What I say is that the Ukranian army is bombing its own people.' The quote was attributed to Anne-Laure Bonnell, who lives in Donbass but has denied being a journalist. She made the comments during an appearance on French news channel C News last week. The clip of Anne-Laure was first broadcast at the start of the month and in it, she claimed she was denouncing the 'conflict hat had been going on for eight years.' While appearing on RT news and French news channel C News she claimed: 'It is something serious, which has obviously escaped [the Europeans]: the Russian-speaking population of the Donbass has been targeted by its own government...was bombed by the Kiev government. '[] Today, on the side where I am, the abuses are Ukrainian. [] On the Donbass side, near the front line, it is the Ukrainian army. [] 'The film I made in 2015 is proof of these crimes against humanity [].' Lady Victoria made headlines earlier this week, after going on a bizarre social media rant at the weekend, during which she claimed the Ukraine conflict is a 'conspiracy She then claimed there had been 13,000 deaths since 2014. The view presented by the commentator is very similar to the line held by Russian authorities and their supporters. Moscow-backed separatists have controlled the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, known collectively as Donbas, for almost eight years. It is an area of Eastern Ukraine where misinformation and Russian propaganda is rife. According to Liberation.fr, in 2020 she said she 'refused to be called a journalist' , since she had gone to the Donbass to report, because 'extremely disappointed by the profession' and 'ashamed of the media coverage of this conflict'. In a second Instagram post, Lady Victoria wrote: 'Getting back to Ukraine. Sorry if I'm jumping. If in fact that local journalist is correct, then who do you think is providing these soldiers with weapons to bomb their own country.' The socialite went on to make two further posts about Ukraine, suggesting 'totalitarians' had 'switched to a new fear tool' after Covid In a third post, she added: 'Thoughts: The totalitarians have switched to a new fear tool, the Russians. They have moved the Cult of Covid members seamlessly into the Cult of Russia like they just flipped a switch inside their heads. 'My Cult of Covid members on Facebook changed their 'I'm vaccinated' monikers to 'I support Ukraine' while I was watching. It is amazing to watch.' The former 'It Girl', who is the daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol, has made a series of outlandish allegations in the last few weeks, including stating the notorious image of the Duke of York and Virginia, which was reportedly taken in March 2001 at Ghislaine Maxwell's London apartment, was faked. Prince Andrew's ex-girlfriend Lady Victoria Hervey recently claimed photographs from Naomi Campbell's birthday party were 'faked' after previously saying they were used to create the notorious image of Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre (pictured) The notorious snap with the Duke of York, which was reportedly taken in March 2001 at Ghislaine Maxwell 's London apartment, has been reproduced countless times around the world after Ms Giuffre - known before her marriage as Virginia Roberts - shared it with The Mail on Sunday in February 2011 In a series of Instagram stories posted to her page, the socialite said 'nothing added up' in the story of Prince Andrew and Virginia Lady Victoria has claimed in recent weeks it was pieced together using a photo taken at Naomi Campbell's birthday party on board a yacht in St Tropez in May 2001, in which Virginia can be seen wearing the same white tank top with colourful patterned jeans. However taking to Instagram last week, Victoria appeared to contradict herself by questioning the validity of those photos, saying: 'At this point I wouldn't be surprised if these photos are also fake because they only surfaced in 2019.' In a separate story posted to Lady Victoria's page, the socialite wrote: 'Nothing adds up at all. It's the LIE that keeps on giving.' Dear Bel, As I sit here in my warm Devon home, watching the horrors of the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfold on television from a thousand or so miles away, I ask myself: where is God in all this? Sitting idly by, drumming his fingers? Insouciant? Indolent? Couldn't give a monkey's? It's at times like these when you recognise the futility of believing in a supernatural power. Anyone who thinks otherwise is patently deluded. Perhaps your readers would welcome your thoughts on this? Peter This week Bel advises a reader who asks 'where if god in all this?' as the crisis continues in Ukraine You ask for my 'thoughts' when I am just like you and millions of others feeling overwhelmed with anger and despair at what is happening in Ukraine. So much so that there are times when there is a black hole where once I cherished thoughts. Yes, then I can only shed tears, knowing it is just pathetic and no good to anyone. (But at this point donating to the Mail's appeal for the refugees felt at least something good to do.) Born in 1946, growing up in a Liverpool damaged by war, reading the terrible history of our age as well as watching it unfold on newsreel (Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Cold War, Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Bosnia, 9/11, Syria, and all the rest) and then piling all that hideousness upon endless, tragic centuries of human suffering . . . Well, what alternative is there but despair? Thought of the day Yes, I will laugh despite my tears, Ill sing out songs amidst my misfortunes; Ill have hope despite all odds, I will live! Away, you sorrowful thoughts! from Contra Spem Spero! (I hope against hope!) by Lesia Ukrainka (Ukrainian poet and feminist, 1871 - 1913) Advertisement I used to be an optimist, but that candle started to gutter long ago. Now I am a committed student of the ancient Seven Deadly Sins (Anger, Gluttony, Covetousness, Pride, Lust, Envy, Sloth) because there is no doubt that their powerful grip still has humanity by the throat. The monsters of fairy tale and fable stalk our earth, and still we look round for saints and heroes to defeat them. Thus it has been and always will be. In the myths of ancient Greece and Rome the gods were directly responsible. Your short, sharp email is rooted in anger and despair and many readers will be right there with you. So why do I still say prayers? And to whom? Sometimes I wonder and yet I persist in calling myself a Christian, after years of agnostic doubt not to mention the convinced atheism of my teenage angst, which still lurks beneath the surface. But you see, the important thing is my conviction that the message of Jesus Christ, teachings readily available to read, admire and love within the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, expresses the very best of what humanity is capable of. It's all there. It doesn't change. It is the eternal affirmation. The counterbalance to those perennial sins. Of course, we also know the worst symbolised for all time by the torture and death of Christ on the cross. So simultaneously those two things the message of love, tolerance and forgiveness and the proof of cruelty and hate handed on for centuries forever teeter in the balance. The cosmic scales can seem to mock us, and terrify when they lurch downwards. But then . . . up they go in the other direction. Then we see that they can also right wrongs. When I light candles and close my eyes I start with thanks (gratitude for the smallest good in your life is essential) and then pray, 'Please God, please Lord Jesus, help him/her/us/them . . .' There is always somebody or something to pray for. But I am not in fact praying 'to a supernatural being' but to my persistent (despite all the odds) faith in the Great Counterbalance. That goodness is always in the fight. This prayer responds to the grim awareness of sin and suffering by defiantly clinging to the hope that in the end it will be overcome. This prayer recognises the countless, immeasurably powerful living proofs of love and courage that are also shown in all the terrible videos we are watching from Ukraine. This prayer holds the hands (metaphorically) of angels. Years ago, the night before my teenage daughter was to endure the eight-hour operation we had been warned unequivocally would be life-threatening, I stood outside our home in the summer night and yelled at the starry sky, 'Look after my child!' It was not a prayer, it was an instruction. And now, through the prayers, requests, pleas, instructions and wishes of millions, an unfathomable energy is bundling itself up, trying to reach the people of Ukraine, willing them to win, willing this horror to be over. Is this 'patently deluded'? I have no idea, John but I can see why you will judge it so. If delusions and illusions are two sides of the same coin, surely you would not wish to deprive people of ideals they cherish and which keep them going? And to address the old, bleak question, 'Where was God in Auschwitz?' people have long pointed out that the real question should be, 'Where was humanity?' So let us pray that the evil that is Putin is overcome, that this conflict will not escalate but end. It's all we can do. And if you dislike the notion of 'prayer' just stick to hope. What else is there? Trapped by my depressed husband Dear Bel, I have been married for 40 years. We have two adult children and one grandchild, all with some learning difficulties and medical conditions. Our daughter and her husband and son live more than 200 miles away. I support her via the phone and visits. Our son, who lives nearby in a supported-living setting, also copes pretty well. Life has been hard as you can imagine. My husband John and I worked until about five years ago. We are both now retired. I have an elderly mother in a care home dependant on me. His parents are dead but he has had upsetting conflicts with his siblings. He has become almost a recluse, spending all his time online apart from four sessions a week with a trainer in a gym. He says she's the only one who understands him. Our family and friends all feel he is severely depressed. He refuses to talk although he does see a counsellor who I have even tried to approach to help him/us. I've made him appointments with a doctor who prescribed him tablets but he won't take them. How do you help someone in denial? He says he's sick of me 'having a go at him.' I'm still overseeing my children, my mother and running the house. My GP has now said that if someone refuses help, all you can do is look after yourself. I've stopped doing his washing, ironing and cooking. He leaves bills until the last minute. I've told him I'll seek legal advice as I can't take any more of this life and feel I've tried my best. Do I stay, carry on this miserable life or leave, at 63, to try to start my life again? I do want him to get better and us to go back to how we were. He says he's too tired to do anything. But he still has enough energy to go to the gym four times a week. I ask him if he's committed to us, he says he doesn't know. I'm sure he's ill but how do I leave when I have always been the caring one? GEORGINA As your longer letter made quite clear, this has been going on too long. You have sought help, and even your son (with so many problems of his own and upset at the thought of his parents parting) sees that you have had enough and the situation cannot continue. But even now you express doubts about staying or going even though it seems clear you have already decided that living in unhappiness and frustration is no life at all. You and your friends believe John is probably suffering from depression. If that is indeed the case you will not be able to help him get appropriate advice or help unless he acknowledges the problem and wishes to do something about it. Its a good sign that he is seeing the counsellor, yet you explain in the longer letter that his stock answer to all your attempts at conversation about whats wrong with him (and between the two of you) is I dont know. At the same time, he pays for a private personal trainer four times a week, and is obsessive about the sessions and the teacher. Have you suspected this? He might well have an on-going crush on the woman, but, even if he hasnt, the gym activity seems a strange contrast with his passive-aggressive attitudes to his home and marriage. Whatever the truth, it seems clear (I repeat) that you wish to leave this marriage and start a new life. You say you have always been the caring one and surely it is that characteristic which should help you decide. You have the rest of your family still to care for, which will be impossible if you reach a stage of depression yourself. At 63, you have plenty of time to be happy again. In your place, I would see a solicitor about a judicial separation and tell John that its time. And finally... Hoping for harmony in our nest! The eagle has landed which is to say two eagles and their two chicks have descended on our nest, to be accommodated for about three months. Theres a lot of squawking of course, and some jockeying for position as two strong-minded women, two long-suffering and accommodating men, one girl, nine, one boy, six, and four dogs (one visiting) settle down to co-exist in the old farmhouse. Yes, my daughter has moved back home for a while with her family, while they have major work done on their house five miles away. They pushed the boat out to buy it four years ago but no money was left for essential works, like replacing antiquated wiring and heating. Contact Bel Bel answers readers' questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT, or email bel.mooney@dailymail.co.uk. Names are changed to protect identities. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Advertisement Naturally they also want to replace the old kitchen and bathroom. After saving up theyve essentially moved out while all the work is being done. At least theyll be saving on bills. Since my mothers front door is 40 paces (my small ones) from ours, and my sons is just a few steps further on, we are all here living in a sort of family compound in the style of many families in different cultures. Will it be harmonious? I hope so but theres no guaranteeing my daughter and I wont annoy each other from time to time, as mothers and daughters will. Im usually the one to make up. Somebody must, as in the family problems which form the bulk of my postbag. Of course the old cliche remains true, that you choose your friends but you dont choose your family. And you get to be maddened and full of love at the same time. You have to realise that communication doesnt necessarily mean honesty. You often have to button your lips and skirt around the truth. Approach dissent with self-control rather than rage. Not accusing with, YOU did this or that but saying quietly, Id love you to understand how Im feeling about what happened. Does that sound impossible? It does take self-control. So wish us luck. NAIROBI, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Raila Odinga, the 77-year-old Kenyan veteran opposition leader was on Saturday endorsed by an alliance of more than 20 political parties to contest for presidency during the country's August polls. Among the parties that pledged support for Odinga's quest for presidency in the East Africa's largest economy was the ruling Jubilee which is headed by President Uhuru Kenyatta. For the first time in the history of Kenya, the ruling party headed by 61-year-old Kenyatta declared support for an opposition leader, a reaffirmation the country's nascent democracy was maturing. Kenyatta in his speech at Odinga's coronation ceremony held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi said he had faith in his former rival, whom they shook hands in March 2018, after a vicious contest, setting the stage for an era of peace and tranquility in the country. "I have faith in Odinga's ability to transform this country and ensure it remained peaceful, united and a key player in regional affairs," said Kenyatta, adding that Odinga had sacrificed personal interests to promote peace and stability in the country. Odinga's endorsement to run for presidency under the Azimio La Umoja (Resolution for Unity) coalition of more than 20 political parties set the stage for intensive campaigns ahead of Aug. 9 national polls. The son of the late doyen of Kenyan opposition politics, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who is also the African Union (AU) High Representative for Infrastructure Development, will have a fifth stab at the presidency in the August polls. Other political heavy weights who announced they will back Odinga's presidential race included Kalonzo Musyoka, a one-time foreign minister and vice president who is the leader of opposition Wiper Party. In his acceptance speech, Odinga pledged to transform the country's economy, promote unity, cohesion and Kenya's relations with neighboring countries if he clinches presidency. Odinga promised to create a stand-alone ministry for the youth, roll-out tax holidays to spur growth of youth led enterprises and promote use of technology to transform agriculture in the country. He at the same time vowed to fight graft in the public service, allocate adequate resources to devolved units, create a civil service that is efficient and accountable and manage public debt. Odinga said that under his administration, Kenya would become a manufacturing powerhouse unrivalled in the African continent. You might think the secret to weight loss is counting calories, cutting carbs or spending hours on a treadmill. But I have discovered it could be as simple as deconstructing that lunchtime tuna sandwich so you eat the salad first, then the tuna, and the bread last. Or resisting the urge to have a chocolate brownie with your afternoon coffee and eating it after a meal for dessert instead, ideally with a dollop of full-fat Greek yoghurt or double cream. Who would have thought that changing the order in which you eat whats on your plate, or actually adding calories, could drive your body to burn fat more effectively? But that is precisely what I have found after looking at just how much our mental and physical health is affected by how our blood sugar levels rise and fall during the day. I have discovered it could be as simple as deconstructing that lunchtime tuna sandwich so you eat the salad first, then the tuna, and the bread last With degrees in mathematics and biochemistry under my belt, I used a continuous glucose monitor (which reads glucose levels in the blood through a very thin wire piercing the skin on the upper arm) to investigate the peaks and troughs of my own blood glucose levels. I became fascinated by the ways food influenced my blood glucose levels, as well as the link between this and how stressed, tired or active Id been. Quite quickly I started noticing strange patterns: nachos on Monday, big spike. Nachos on Sunday, no spike. Beer, spike. Wine, no spike. Chocolates after lunch, no spike. Chocolates before dinner, spike. Tired in the afternoon: glucose had been high at lunch. Lots of energy all day: glucose was very steady. Big night out with friends: glucose rollercoaster through the night. Stressful presentation at work: spike. Cappuccino when I was rested: no spike. Cappuccino when I was tired: spike. Bread: spike. Bread and butter: no spike. Uncontrollable cravings always correlated with a glucose rollercoaster spikes and dips in quick succession. I sifted through the data, re-ran many experiments, and checked my hypothesis against published studies. To feel my best, it became clear that I had to avoid big spikes and dips in my glucose levels. Better still, I began to devise ways to flatten the peaks and troughs without denying myself bread, pasta, rice and sugary treats. The key, I found, was to consume them in a different way. The starchy or sweet foods we eat are broken down by our digestive system and converted into glucose, which is released into the blood then delivered around the body to cells where it is used for energy. If theres more glucose circulating than our cells need, the hormone insulin is released to take that glucose out of the blood and store it as fat for possible future use. These graphs, using data taken from a glucose monitor before and after eating, plot the impact of different foods and drinks on glucose levels. The steeper the climb and the higher the peak of that spike, the more damage it is likely to be causing. A dip below the baseline on the graph indicates a blood sugar trough which would prompt cravings, fatigue and low mood. Eating the same food while incorporating one of my glucose-stabilising hacks flattens the curve It is a carefully calibrated system that works well when blood glucose levels are relatively stable. However, our modern way of eating (such as unrestrained snacking on highly processed and sweet foods) can cause dramatic spikes in glucose which can damage the body and brain. This, in turn, triggers the release of huge quantities of insulin which can be equally damaging. Insulin makes the route to our fat cells a one-way street, so weight loss becomes doubly tricky. But if our glucose levels, and therefore our insulin levels, are steady, we shed pounds. In a 2021 study of 5,600 people, Canadian scientists showed that weight loss is always preceded by insulin decrease. Numerous studies show repeated glucose spikes can affect everything from our mood, our sleep, our weight and our skin to the health of our immune system and our risk of heart disease. Short term, you might notice hunger, cravings, fatigue, more extreme menopause symptoms, migraine, poor sleep and brain fog. In the long-term, see-sawing glucose levels contribute to signs of ageing and to the development of conditions such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, arthritis, Alzheimers disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. Glucose spikes lead to hormonal imbalances that can wreak havoc on libido. Add that to the fact that glucose highs and lows also trigger a lack of energy, poor sleep and depressive moods, and you can see why steadying your glucose levels and avoiding the spikes can greatly improve your sex life. Other factors impact the glucose curves, too. Any one food can create a completely different blood glucose response in different people. This is because the speed at which you convert that food into glucose, and your bodys response to rising glucose levels, might depend on the amount of baseline insulin you have naturally. This can be affected by your muscle mass (the more muscles you have to draw glucose out of your blood) and also populations of gut microbes (some guts break down food or release chemical messengers more effectively). It also depends on whether you are well hydrated or dehydrated, how tired or stressed you are (both can trigger the release of stress hormones that affect metabolism), or if you were active. Studies have even found that if you think youre about to eat something sugary, your body helpfully sets off various chemical cascades in anticipation, which can trigger a bigger spike than if you werent expecting to be offered a biscuit. In this exclusive series, which runs today, tomorrow in The Mail on Sunday, and in Mondays Daily Mail, I will share with you my hacks for flattening the curve by changing the way you eat. Not only will you feel better, you will lose weight as your body learns how to work far more efficiently. Save carbs until last at every meal What we eat matters. How we eat it in which order, combination and grouping matters, too. Studies show that two meals consisting of the same foods (and therefore the same nutrients and calories) can have vastly different impacts on our body, depending on how their components are eaten. The key is separating out the vegetables, proteins and carbohydrates on your plate, then eating them in that order: veggies first, proteins second, carbs last. Thats because if starches or sugars are the first thing to hit your stomach, they get to your small intestine very quickly and are broken down into glucose, creating a glucose spike. The more carbs you eat and the quicker you eat them, the bigger the glucose spike will be. However, consuming vegetables first (followed by proteins and fats) and leaving your carbs until last, and you really change what happens. Vegetables contain plenty of fibre which isnt broken down into glucose by our digestive system but passes straight through the gut. Fibre has three superpowers: first, it reduces the action of an enzyme called alpha-amylase which breaks starch down into glucose molecules. Second, it slows the digestive process. Finally, it creates a viscous mesh in the small intestine which makes it harder for glucose to reach the bloodstream. The protein and fats you eat next are digested slowly, so help to slow the process further. Eating in this order means carbs will have a reduced effect we get all the pleasure from eating but with fewer consequences, and are less likely to feel hungry for hours. Eat starches and sugars first and your hunger hormone (ghrelin) will return to pre-meal levels after just two hours, but eat the starch part last and ghrelin stays suppressed for much longer. Whats more, when we eat foods in the right order we produce less insulin, which helps us return to fat-burning mode more quickly, so that we are more likely to lose weight. Tricks to swerve a sugar crash If you do give in to a sweet treat, particularly if eating it on an empty stomach, there are ways to reduce the impact on your glucose levels. Eat a hard-boiled egg, a handful of nuts, a few spoonfuls of 5 per cent fat Greek yoghurt or a head of broccoli before the cake or biscuit. Or use your muscles and move within the next hour. Go for a walk or do some squats. Your muscles will happily take up excess glucose as it arrives in your bloodstream, and youll lessen the glucose spike, reduce the likelihood of weight gain, and avoid an energy slump. Jessie Inchauspe tests all the science-backed hacks on her own body and shares the results on her Instagram account @GlucoseGoddess Calories are not all equal Judging a food by its calorie content is like judging a book by the number of pages: its not useful. One hundred calories of fructose, glucose, protein or fat might release the same amount of heat when burnt (this is how calories are calculated), but have different effects on the body. Studies show that people who focus on flattening their glucose curves can eat more calories and lose more fat more easily than people who eat fewer calories but do not flatten their glucose curves. In fact, we can ignore calories and still lose weight if we eat sensibly and just focus on reducing our glucose levels. It means we can add calories to a meal if they help curb the glucose spike (if the molecules are fibre, fat or protein). Adding a dressed salad to a meal, for instance, means the extra calories help keep our glucose and insulin levels low and even help us absorb fewer calories from what we eat after the salad. This is due to the gastric mesh that fibre creates. We stay full for longer, burn more fat and put on less weight. Studies show that people who focus on flattening their glucose curves can eat more calories and lose more fat more easily than people who eat fewer calories but do not flatten their glucose curves Judging a food by its calorie content is like judging a book by the number of pages: its not useful Take our quiz and find out if you re a victim of the glucose rollercoaster Golden rules Say no to the bread basket in restaurants. Starting a meal with starch will lead to a glucose spike, then a crash later on, which will intensify cravings for more food. So avoid eating bread before anything else. If you take sugar or syrups in your coffee, use full-fat milk or cream to slow the absorption, or nut milks rather than oat (which contains more carbs). Advertisement Odds are that you, and nine out of the ten people closest to you, are on a glucose rollercoaster without knowing it. Ask yourself the following questions: Have you been told by a doctor that you need to lose weight? Are you trying to lose weight but finding it difficult? Is your waist size above 40 in (man) or 35 in (woman)? Do you have extreme hunger pangs during the day? Do you feel agitated or angry when hungry (hangry)? Do you need to eat every few hours? Do you feel shaky, lightheaded or dizzy if meals are delayed? Do you crave sweet things? Do you feel sleepy mid-morning or mid-afternoon, or are you tired all the time? Do you need caffeine to keep you going throughout the day? Do you have trouble sleeping or wake up with heart palpitations? Do you have energy crashes where you break out in a sweat or get nauseous? Do you suffer from acne, inflammation, or other skin conditions? Do you currently experience anxiety, depression, or any mood disorders? Do you experience brain fog? Is your mood variable? Do you frequently get colds? Do you experience acid reflux or gastritis? Do you have hormonal imbalances, missed periods, PMS, infertility or PCOS? Have you been told that your glucose levels are elevated? Do you suffer from insulin resistance? Do you have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes? Do you have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease? Do you have heart disease? Do you find gestational diabetes hard to manage? Do you have difficulty managing type 1 diabetes? Do you think that you could feel better than you do now? If YOU answer Yes to any of these questions, theres every chance you are among the 88 per cent of adults who have dysregulated glucose levels, and suffer the consequences every day without knowing it. The hacks in Glucose Revolution can help you rebalance your levels. Do you suffer from low blood sugar? Many of us know someone (or indeed, are someone) who doesnt feel well if they dont eat at very specific intervals. If they dont, their blood sugar dips and they might feel hunger, cravings, shakiness, light-headedness or tingling in the hands and feet. You might think this is how youve always been. In fact, it is a common and reversible condition called reactive hypoglycaemia. Usually, when insulin ushers glucose out of the blood after a spike, it does so gradually, bringing glucose levels steadily to a fasting level. Sometimes, however, the pancreas releases too much insulin, which means more glucose is stashed away, and blood sugar levels can crash below normal for a while. If youre prone to crashes, doctors might suggest you snack every few hours to ensure your glucose doesnt drop too low. But this can make the problem worse. If you grab a sweet or starchy snack, your glucose levels will just shoot back up again, triggering the release of insulin and precipitating another crash. A better solution is to flatten your glucose curve. With smaller spikes, youll release less insulin and suffer smaller dips. The body will also learn to not expect starchy and sweet snacks every few hours and, with less insulin around, will start burning fat reserves for fuel. Better ways to start the day If you cant resist cereal, look for those with a high-fibre and low-sugar content. Serve with 5 per cent Greek yoghurt instead of milk, which adds fat. Top with nuts, hemp seeds and/or chia seeds to add protein. If you need to sweeten it, do so with berries not sugar. Granola may seem healthier, but its usually just as full of sugar as other cereals. If you love it, look for a low-sugar granola with a high nut and seed content. Beware the fruit smoothie your body will struggle to process the glucose from three apples or three bananas in one speedy gulp, and the blending process pulverises the fibre into tiny particles that cant fulfil their protective duties. A healthy smoothie should incorporate protein, fat and fibre. Start your smoothie with protein powder, then add a combination of linseed or flaxseed oil, coconut oil, avocado, seeds, nuts and a cup of spinach. Finally, add berries. Avoid sweet pastries. Pick from avocado on toast, an egg muffin, a ham and cheese sandwich, Greek yoghurt, tofu, meat, cold cuts, fish, cheese, cream cheese, protein powder, nuts, nut butter, seeds and, yes, eggs (scrambled, fried, poached or boiled). Add fat, too. That means scrambling your eggs in butter or olive oil, or adding slices of avocado. If you love porridge, stir in nut butter, protein powder, yoghurt, seeds and berries instead of sugar or honey. Stop your breakfast fuelling cravings The best way to set yourself up for a day of uncontrollable glucose spikes and troughs is by sitting down to a big bowl of cereal for breakfast. Just one bowl could be enough to push your glucose, fructose and insulin levels into damaging ranges, which can generate swarms of free radicals, tax your pancreas, inflame your cells, increase your fat storage and trigger a day of cravings. Cereal looks harmless, but its not. And dont even think about toast and jam, croissants, granola, pastries, sweetened porridge, breakfast biscuits, fruit juice, Pop-Tarts, fruit smoothies, acai bowls or banana bread all are composed of mostly sugar and starch and contain a ton of glucose. First thing in the morning, when we have been fasting all night, your body is at its most sensitive to glucose. Your stomach is empty, so anything that lands in it will be digested extremely quickly. If your breakfast is sweet, then you will be heading towards the biggest spike of the day, followed by a huge surge of insulin which will trigger an energy slump and cravings. That sugary breakfast so badly deregulates your glucose levels that lunch and dinner are also likely to create big spikes. First thing in the morning, when we have been fasting all night, your body is at its most sensitive to glucose. Your stomach is empty, so anything that lands in it will be digested extremely quickly The higher the spike, the more intense the crash will be. With a big spike, you will set off a chain reaction of cravings, hunger and lagging energy right through until the evening. And unless you change your breakfast habits, these chain reactions compound day after day. Big glucose spikes can impair memory and cognitive function, and studies show the effect is worst first thing in the morning, after fasting throughout the night. So, if you have a 9am meeting in which you want to impress, eat a breakfast that will keep your glucose curve flat. An ideal breakfast for steady glucose levels contains a good amount of protein, fibre, fat and optional starch and fruit (which would be eaten last). Choose your breakfast well, and you will feel better throughout the day with more energy, curbed cravings, a better mood and clearer skin. Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe will be published by Short Books on March 31. 2022 Jessie Inchauspe. You can pre-order a copy from WHSmith for only 6.49 (RRP 12.99). Shop at whsmith.co.uk and use code 60440617. Valid until April 6, 2022. Excludes delivery. Terms apply. Why did I say yes? I am sitting in a chair in Jo Hansford's luxury Knightsbridge salon suffering from a sudden fear of scissors. Perhaps it's not so irrational. After all, for most of my adult life I have hidden behind my hair, it's been my protective veil against the world, the final frontier of my ageing vanity. The last reminder of my carefree youth. And, as such, never to be trifled with. A terrifying car accident several years ago that left me hospitalised and unable to move made me confront the ageing process head-on. I wrote a book, How Not To Get Old, in which I took on a series of challenges designed to boost my cognitive skills and physical strength. In a bid to remain healthy and independent for as long as possible, I learnt how to box, ballroom dance, speak French and meditate. But could a new hairstyle and a fresh sense of identity also play a part in winding back the years? There was only one way to find out: to part with the look I have barely changed since the last century and embrace the Power Bob, the unforgiving, jaw-skimming cut that's being hailed as the big trend of the year. There was only one way to find out: to part with the look I have barely changed since the last century and embrace the Power Bob, the unforgiving, jaw-skimming cut that's being hailed as the big trend of the year Unlikely as it was that I could even dream of emulating the likes of Beyonce, 40, and J.Lo, 52, who've both unveiled their razor-sharp cuts this spring, the chance to try was too tempting to resist. True, I was more than a decade older than both icons, but there was something about their defiant looks jaws jutting forward and framed to precision with steadfast sleek strands that appealed. Or maybe I could pull off a Rosamund Pike, an English rose who's also recently had a purposeful prune, and be left with a look that's businesslike but unthreatening? Away from the red carpet, the Power Bob is being hailed as a 'return to the office' post-pandemic trend, an empowering antidote to the two-year period of WFH, when style went AWOL and appearances counted for nought. It is a sign, fashion commentators suggest, that women are 'back in business', imparting a boardroom attitude even in those of us who are 'a certain age'. There is no doubt that my hairstylist today, Pasquale Bifulco, means business. The Italian precision cutter, who has been based in London for nine years, appraises my hair in a rather intimidating and clinical way, which only adds to my fear of making such a radical change to my look. 'When women reach their 50s, they do one of two things. They decide to go short or they do what you have done, they stick to the comfort zone of the style that worked when they were 20 but definitely won't suit them by the time they reach 60.' The fact that what suits a woman at 20 won't work when she is 60 isn't just down to the way in which her face changes, he tells me. It is also linked to the way in which the texture and thickness of the hair changes during menopause. The hair and beauty industry, a market worth approximately 10 billion a year, is just waking up to the changes menopause can make to our hair, including thinning due to hormonal imbalance. Witness the current advertising campaign for Pantene's Hair Biology Menopause collection, which is being marketed on a promise to give women 'great hair even in menopause'. Pasquale asserts that it is important to work on the condition of your hair as you age with regular treatments and less reliance on the things that can damage it, such as products containing 'toxic chemicals' and over-using styling aids such as high-powered dryers and hair straighteners. But a good cut that 'fits with the contours of the head' can act, he adds, as a 'frame for the house' that can revitalise a woman. But dressed in the kind of shoulder-padded red jacket that I wore back in the 1980s, it is almost as if I have taken on an exciting new identity. Pictured: Rosamund Pike, who Jane was inspired by With my hair washed and conditioned I braced myself, wincing as Pasquale makes the first cut. 'It is important for the outcome that you stay still,' he says sternly. 'The mechanic cannot fix the car if the car can't stop moving.' For the next hour I sit still, transfixed by the changes taking place in the mirror, suddenly aware of an unfamiliar draught around my newly-exposed neck. But, amazingly, by the time Pasquale has started to blow-dry his creation, I am beginning to feel like a new woman. Just as he promised. In fact, I can't imagine why I held on to my locks for so long. My new cut may take a little getting used to. I find myself unconsciously going to flick back the hair that covered my shoulders for so long, only to find that there is nothing there to flick. But dressed in the kind of shoulder-padded red jacket that I wore back in the 1980s, it is almost as if I have taken on an exciting new identity. It gives me a dizzying feeling of rejuvenation that goes way beyond vanity. I almost forget that I am a granny in her 60s and not a power-dressed woman of 30. I've cast off the anchor of my old self. The sensation is both uplifting and invigorating. But what to do with my new look? My family bring me down to earth. Back at home on a FaceTime call later with my elder daughter and eight-year-old granddaughter, I am reassured, to paraphrase J.Lo, they 'aren't fooled by the locks that I got, I am still Granny from the block' . . . Albeit one with a liberating new zest for life. A man has revealed how his mischievous mutt ended up trashing his home after he popped out, leaving her home alone. Sam Roberts, 30, of Conwy, north Wales, says he only left his Great Dane Nelly alone for a few hours. But when returned home, he discovered she had created a trail of destruction in his absence. According to the HGV mechanic, Nelly had covered the cream carpet in soil, by tearing up a plant and upending its pot. In addition, she had chewed up several trinkets, which lay scattered around the room alongside leaves from the destroyed plant. 10-month-old Great Dane Nelly looked sheepish after tearing up her house, while she was left along by owner Sam Roberts for a few hours The pooch managed to cover the cream carpet in soil, by tearing up a plant and upending its pot, as well as chew up several trinkets, and remove a sofa cushion, which she was sitting on The 10-month-old puppy had also managed to overturn a sofa cushion, upon which she was proudly sitting, when a shocked Sam arrived home. According to the 30-year-old: 'We left Nelly on her own for a couple of hours. 'She had fun to say the least.' He added: 'We were that shocked that we just laughed to be honest 'We have been leaving her quite a bit for four hours ish and she's good as gold, and last Saturday we left her for three hours and that's what happened.' Luckily, Sam saw the funny side, and found it easy enough to clean up the mess. While tidying up the carnage, he wrote Nelly's name in the soil, and took a snap. After the room was restored to its original condition, Sam took another image of the sheepish pooch sitting on the sofa. Images of the carnage show chewed-up toys, as well as the decimated plant pot, and items strewn around the floor Nelly isn't the only Great Dane to have destroyed a room, and other owners of the dogs shared their stories of 'atomic poo-poos' and 'house tornados'. One woman said: 'Been there, done that and after his total destruction he had absolute atomic poo-poos all through the house. 'One look at his adorable face and all was forgiven, had me totally wrapped around his giant paws.' Another added: 'I'm so pleased she's OK and survived the house tornado.' A third said: 'That lampshade/cone obviously did all the damage. 'Great job on cleaning up! Glad to see the sofa and carpet survived so well!' Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden looked cheerful today during the celebrations to mark her name day. The occasion marked the first full return to the celebrations since 2019, after the event was cancelled in 2020, and pared back in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. According to Swedish tradition, various names are associated with certain dates, and Crown Princess Victoria's is celebrated on 12th March. The Swedish heir-to-the-throne, 44, was joined by her husband Prince Daniel, 48, and their children Princess Estelle, 10, and Prince Oscar, 6 at Stockholm's Royal Palace. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden beams at her husband Prince Daniel, during her name day celebrations today, while son Prince Oscar, 6, seems distracted The Swedish heir-to-the-throne looked delighted to be marking her name day with a full ceremony - the first since 2019, after Covid affected the celebrations in 2020 and 2021 The family seemed in good spirits as they enjoyed the celebrations (pictured, L-R Prince Daniel of Sweden, Princess Estelle, Prince Oscar and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden) As in pre-pandemic times, the day was marked with a series of celebrations, with the arrangements revealed in a post on the official court website. According to the post, the festivities opened at 10:45am, when the South vault opened to the Inner Courtyard. That was followed by the Army Music Corps, the Guard of Honour, and the Main Guard from K 3 marching into the Inner Courtyard. At 11:45am, the Army Music Corps played a tribute concert, which was followed at midday by a music program by the Army Music Corps. The Crown Princess then received flowers and congratulations from representatives from Swedish Armed Forces. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden stepped out with her family earlier today, to take part in traditional celebrations for her name day Both the crown princess and her husband were seen bending down to chat to six-year-old Prince Oscar, who at times looked nervous during the appearance The family were snapped clapping during the event, which included a military parade and a concert performed by the Army Music Corps Crown Princess Victoria stepped out in a chic all-grey ensemble, donning a knee-length wrap coat, grey gloves, and a scarf. Her hair was swept back into her signature smart bun, and her make-up was natural. Husband Prince Daniel complemented her look with his own dapper outfit comprising a grey coat and scarf, over a dark suit. The children were also matching in their grey clothes. The appearance follows rumours - which have been publicly and strenuously denied by the couple - that they are facing marital struggles. At the end of last month, Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel - who she met in the mid-2000s at the fitness centre he used to run before joining the royal family - strongly denied 'unfounded' rumours of divorce via a post on Instagram. The day's events - the first full celebration since 2019 - included marching and music, performed by the country's military personnel After the military parade and music, Crown Princess Victoria was handed a bouquet of flowers by high ranking military personnel While six-year-old Prince Oscar looked nervous at times during the event, his sister, Princess Estelle (pictured, left) who recently turned 10, was spotted beaming and waving to crowds The royal couple took to the social media platform over the weekend to 'protect their family' and make clear 'once and for all' that the rumours are not true. They shared an image, and wrote: 'It has come to our knowledge that there is an extensive negative rumor spread regarding our private relationship. 'Allegations are spreading about betrayal in the relationship and an impending divorce. 'In normal cases, we do not comment on rumors and speculation. But in order to protect our family, we want to make it clear, once and for all, that the rumors that are now spreading are completely unfounded.' A few weeks ago, the chief communication officer of the Swedish royal house, Margareta Thorgren, already denied the rumours in a statement. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband Prince Daniel took to social media last month to deny divorce rumours Posting the denial on Instagram was a rare move for the couple (pictured here at a ceremony to pay tribute to the 2021 Nobel Prize laureates at the Stockholm City Hall) The royal couple pictured on their wedding day on 19 June 2010 said Speaking to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet on 19 February, she said that normally, the palace would not comment on such matters, but that the rumours had been 'tenacious' enough to impact the royal family. 'This is exceptional, and we have not encountered this before,' Thorgren said. Swedish royal journalist Jenny Alexandersson wrote for Aftonbladet: 'Believe me, we have done a solid journalistic job. Had there been a divorce going on, we would have reported on it.' Fellow publication Expressen claimed they were tipped off that the couple would file for divorce at the Solna District Court, however, they said that information proved to be incorrect. Margareta Thorgren said the rumours were born from a 'frivoulous' publication, thought to be the tabloid magazine Stoppa Pressarna (Stop the Press in English) and that the mainstream Swedish media fact-checked the claims after they were heavily circulated online. Some truly fur-bulous dogs have been spotted in Birmingham today as Crufts returned for the event's third day. Pooches had been decked out in elaborate outfits, or been given fancy hair cuts, by their humans as they took to the NEC arena to take part in a number of displays. More than 20,000 canines are taking part this year, many of whom sported stylish outfits, including animal print onesies, leg warmers, and cosy, colourful jumpers. The animals, from around the world, will compete in agility and obedience competitions over the next three days with one being named best in show tomorrow. Among today's categories are utility and toy dog groups. These poodles were among the hundreds of dogs who arrived at Birmingham's NEC arena today to take part in Crufts Crufts returns this year after it was cancelled last year due to the Covid pandemic. Toy dogs - like this Toy Poodle - are being judged today Well coiffed: it takes a lot of effort to get show-ready, with this pooch waiting patiently as his fur is trimmed into shape With toy dog breeds facing the judges today, many of the pooches on show were looking well coiffed and smart, including this Poodle This pair of Pomeranians were looked extra fluffy in their matching jumpers Two more Standard Poodle dogs rock up to the event, sporting different hair styles These Moyen poodles were also spotted entering the exhibition centre A Pomeranian is seen on the third day of the Crufts Dog Show in Birmingham, A poodle decked out in blue leg warmers makes his way towards the arena Several of the dogs were sporting elaborate outfits - like these animal print onesies, which look smart and keep the animals warm in the cool March weather Best paw forward: with their coiffed dos, this trio of Poodles makes their way to the show This Papillon looks perky and fresh, as he takes some time out to relax during the event Locks up: someone has styled this Toy Poodle's fur into bunches Getting show ready involves being combed and coiffed for this toy poodle A dog owner looks pleased as she readies her Standard Poodle ahead of competition time With poodles being among the breeds in the toy dog category, which is being judged today, many of the pooches were on show, including this Standard Poodle Crufts, which is the world's biggest dog show, kicked off on Thursday, and will run over the weekend, ending tomorrow. This year has been particularly anticipated by dog show enthusiasts as it comes after being cancelled in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dogs of more than 200 breeds will be competing to be crowned Best in Show this year. There are also other competitions and categories, including agility and obedience. This year, there will be a record-breaking 16 hours of broadcast, so Crufts lovers who can't watch these categories in person can keep up with the event on Channel 4 and More4. Dog owners and their Standard Poodle take some time out A dog owner hairsprays her Miniature Poodle on the third day of the Crufts Dog Show These pooches - a sleepy-looking Maltese dog is groomed before being judged Looking good! This magnificent Chow Chow waits patiently backstage A well-coiffed Miniature Poodle is examined by his owner during day three of the show Last minute checks: a woman gives her Standard Poodle the once over backstage There isn't a fur out on place on this Standard Poodle, who is standing patiently while being groomed This Standard Poodle has a more natural look - but is no less coiffed than the others Give me a kiss: this woman is licked by her adorable Toy Poodle Meanwhile, this Miniature Poodle is blasted with hairspray, to keep every hair in place This Coton de Tulear is one of the breeds making an appearance at Crufts on day 3 Dog tired: women take a break with their Greyhound, amid the hectic environment These Toy Poodles are carried around by their human, ahead of their competition today Snip! Another patient pooch waits as their human takes scissors to their coat It's almost showtime for this Yorkshire Terrier, who is having a last minute groom Meanwhile, this Smooth Coat Chihuahua is looking calm and patient ahead of the judging A woman grooms her Havanese dog on the third day of the event, the largest dog show in the world This year, the event will feature several breeds which have returned from near extinction, including the Harrier. This specialist breed was recognised by The Kennel Club in 2020, after Harriers had all but disappeared in the UK in the 1920s. In 2021, the Kennel Club registered 38 Harrier puppies and there are 19 competing at Crufts 2022 for the Best in Show crown for the first time in over 120 years. Meanwhile the Smooth Faced Pyrenean Sheepdog will compete for the Best in Show title at Crufts for the first time ever, after being recognised as the 222nd breed by The Kennel Club last year. There are just two competing for Best in Show at Crufts 2022. A woman draws the attention of her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dogs These three Italian Greyhounds were decked out in fancier outfits than many of the humans A Long Coat Chihuahua attends day three of the event, which judge toy dog and utility breeds A woman cuddles her Italian Greyhound dog, giving the animal a quick hug and a peck Women stand with their adorable Papillon dogs, as they wait for the judging to start These two dogs avoided walking, and instead were pushed by pram to the venue Another pair of pooches - these two Chinese Crested dogs - were seen sitting in their cage backstage Another Chinese Crested dog sits behind spectators viewing a judging ring Show time: A dog owner competes with her Standard Poodle With toy dogs being judges today, all eyes were on this Standard Poodle A Maltese practices on the third day of the Crufts Dog Show As well as toy dogs, utility breeds were judged on day 3, including these Dalmatians It's not just dog show lovers who are pleased the show is back after its two-year hiatus. This year has seen Paralympics presenter Sophie Morgan take her place as host for Crufts on Channel 4. Speaking earlier this week, as the event launched, she said: 'I'm so happy Crufts is back! Every dog has its day at this amazing event and these three breeds making history are among them. 'I can't wait for the show to officially begin on Thursday and to be a part of it, and meet lots more dogs!' San Francisco suffered a surge of deaths among homeless people during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study finds. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, found that the number of deaths among people 'experiencing homelessness' doubled in the year-long span from March 17, 2020 to March 17, 2021, up to 311. A surge in deaths caused by drug overdoses in particular accounted for nearly all of the increase. None of the deaths were attributed to the virus itself. Ancillary deaths during the pandemic have been well reported on, but homeless people are generally left behind in many studies as gathering data regarding them is generally harder. Researchers found that deaths of homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic doubled, though the virus itself made up none of the deaths Researchers say that while lockdown orders were successful at preventing transmission of the virus, they also closed resources homeless people could have used to deal with drug overdose. The lockdown order was the start of when homeless deaths began to surge 'No deaths in our data set were due to COVID-19 itself, which may speak to the success of San Franciscos efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus in vulnerable populations,' researchers wrote. 'However, the pandemic had far-reaching effects on outreach, health, and social services ... that may have contributed to increased mortality from nonCOVID-19 causes.' Researchers, who published their findings Thursday in JAMA Network Open, gathered data from the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner from 2016 through the pandemic year. Deaths generally do not change year to year among any group, no matter the cause, barring some sort of massive event - like a global pandemic. Homeless deaths slightly increased year-to-year from 2016 to 2019. from 128 in 2016 to 147 in 2019. San Francisco's homeless population has had well documented growth in recent years. The number of homeless people increased 17% from 2017 to 2019 These increases could just be normal fluctuation, or they could speak to the growing homeless population in the city. From 2017 to 2019, it is reported that the city's homeless population jumped a staggering 17 percent. Deaths more than doubled during the first year of pandemic-imposed measures in the city, eclipsing the 300 mark. The deaths per 100,000 residents figure surged as well, up from just under 2,000 deaths per 100,000 homeless residents to over 4,000 during the pandemic. Interestingly enough, the virus itself did not count for a single death included in the data. Instead, drug overdoses made up almost the entire year over year differential. In each of 2016 and 2017, under 40 drug overdose deaths were recorded among the city's homeless population. The figure jumped up to 66 in 2018, and jumped once again in 2019. This is consistent with the overall surge of opioid deaths that struck the nation in the late 2010s. In 2020, drug overdose deaths among the homeless nearly double, with 178 recorded by city officials. Opioids (black) make up nearly 80% of drug overdose deaths in the U.S., and synthetic opioids like fentanyl (brown) make up a large portion of overall opioid deaths Drug overdoses surged in the overall U.S. population last year, with a record of more than 104,000 being logged from September 2020 to September 2021. 'This disruption to services coincided with increasing unintended overdose deaths in San Francisco, driven by the growing presence of fentanyl,' the researchers wrote, blaming the synthetic opioids for the surge in deaths. Opioids account for around 80 percent of drug overdose deaths in America, with synthetic drugs like fentanyl making up around 70 percent in particular. 'COVID-19 mitigation policies may have affected how, when, and where people used drugs and the chances a passerby could intervene in case of an overdose,' the research team added. 'COVID-19related effects on the health system may have led to decreased access to treatment. 'We found that a low proportion of decedents had recent contact with behavioral health services, including office-based substance use disorder treatment programs.' It has been one of the most enduring Covid conspiracy theories: that the 'gold standard' PCR tests used to diagnose the virus were picking up people who weren't actually infected. Some even suggested the swabs, which have been carried out more than 200 million times in the UK alone, may mistake common colds and flu for corona. If either, or both, were true, it would mean many of these cases should never have been counted in the daily tally that the ominous and all-too-familiar figure, which was used to inform decisions on lockdowns and other pandemic measures, was an over-count. And many of those who were 'pinged' and forced to isolate as a contact of someone who tested positive causing a huge strain on the economy did so unnecessarily. Such statements, it must be said, have been roundly dismissed by top experts. And those scientists willing to give credence such concerns have been shouted down on social media, accused of being 'Covid-deniers', and even sidelined by colleagues. But could they have been right all along? Today, in the first part of a major new series, The Mail on Sunday investigates whether 'the science' that The Government so often said they were following during the pandemic was flawed, at least in some respects. In the coming weeks we will examine if Britain's stark Covid death figure was overblown. We will also ask if lockdowns did more harm than good. LISTEN TO THE DEBATE NOW ON MEDICAL MINEFIELD Were the pandemic infection figures deliberately sexed up to scare people in complying with lockdown rules? But this week, we tackle the debate around Covid tests, and examine whether there is any truth to the claims that they were never fit for purpose. Last month a report by the research charity Collateral Global and academics at Oxford University concluded as much, stating that as many as one third of all positive cases may not have been infectious. If they are right, that's a potentially staggering number roughly six million cases. The Oxford scientists branded the UK's testing programme which cost an eye-watering 2bn-a-month as 'chaotic and wasteful'. It is, say these critics, not simply important that we learn from our mistakes. For while testing will now only be routine offered to patients when they come into hospitals, or in other clinical settings, and to the vulnerable, PCRs will still be used to track the spread of the virus in the community. And should there be a resurgence, that number will once again inform policy. Today, in the first part of a major new series, The Mail on Sunday investigates whether 'the science' that The Government so often said they were following during the pandemic was flawed, at least in some respects. Pictured: Professor Chris Whitty, Boris Johnson and former Health Secretary Matt Hancock at a Coronavirus press briefing It has been one of the most enduring Covid conspiracy theories: that the 'gold standard' PCR tests used to diagnose the virus were picking up people who weren't actually infected (stock photo) Nearly two years on from the first lockdown, how sure can we be that cases weren't, as some have argued, overstated? As ever with anything Covid-related, it's a complex and nuanced picture, and there is far from a consensus on this point. Collateral Global's figure has been disputed, and other scientists say that if non-infectious positives did distort case numbers, it was by a minimal amount. Others dismiss any notion that testing played anything other than a vital role in our fight against Covid. But as Professor Francois Balloux, director of University College London's Genetics Institute, told The Mail on Sunday: 'Many people may not have been infectious, despite getting a positive test.' Key to understanding the issue lies in how PCR tests work and the Government decisions that dictated how they were used. PCRs detect tiny fragments of Covid genes, known as RNA, in samples taken from the nose and throat. To do this, swabs are treated in a lab with chemicals to extract the genetic material. Nearly two years on from the first lockdown, how sure can we be that cases weren't, as some have argued, overstated? There is such a tiny amount of RNA on the swabs that it has to be amplified in a machine before it can be detected. This is done by repeating a cycle of heating and cooling, which encourages the genetic material to make copies of itself. The more times the cycle is performed, the more copies are made and the more likely it is the machine will detect the virus. This technique has been used successfully for non-Covid viruses, such as HIV and hepatitis, and in crime scene forensics when looking for DNA. It's very good at working out whether minuscule amounts of genetic code are there or not. But when it comes to Covid, there is a problem. The very small amounts could either be from a live virus which means someone is potentially infectious or dead fragments left over from a previously cleared infection. And these dead fragments can linger for up to 90 days, according to studies. COVID FACT The UK spent more than 2 billion on Covid testing in January alone, according to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Advertisement Experts also say some people who got Covid but were asymptomatic or barely affected and, the evidence shows, less likely to transmit it might also test positive and have to isolate. Another concern lies in how the PCR tests were performed. At the start of the pandemic, when only NHS staff and those admitted to hospital were being tested, the hospitals and a select few laboratories run by the now-disbanded Public Health England were processing them. In early April 2020, the Government announced that it wanted to perform 100,000 tests a day, and farmed out the work to its newly established network of Lighthouse Labs. Dubbed 'Covid mega-labs', as each had the capacity to process upward of 50,000 swabs a day, they were run by the Department of Health and Social Care in partnership with financial firm Deloitte, bringing on board academics. Professor Alan McNally, a University of Birmingham microbiologist who helped set up the Lighthouse Lab in Milton Keynes, said the decision meant PCR testing methods were 'largely standardised'. The labs performed 90 per cent of PCR testing for most of 2020, with the remaining ten per cent carried out by NHS trusts on staff and patients. But the problems came in early 2021, when testing was scaled up further and more was farmed out to the private sector. 'There appears to have been little or no oversight of these new labs, and with different PCR methods and equipment being used,' says Prof McNally. 'In Milton Keynes, every test we performed was scrutinised and checked by experts, the quality was poured over every day and we were held to account. 'Clearly in some of the newer labs, that didn't happen. Cynically, one might say it almost turned into a money-making exercise for the private sector as we had lateral flows by then and everyone knew how do them. 'Why did we need expensive PCRs? The test results basically became meaningless.' The Immensa labs scandal, in late 2021, was the biggest casualty of this decision. It was discovered the Wolverhampton lab had given 43,000 people negative results when, in fact, they had Covid. It led to a sharp rise in cases in the South West of England. But it's unlikely to have been the only example. 'I've been contacted a couple of times about other examples,' says Prof McNally. 'There will always be errors in labs, usually they're caught quickly. Immensa was only the worst one.' In early April 2020, the Government announced that it wanted to perform 100,000 tests a day, and farmed out the work to its newly established network of Lighthouse Labs (stock photo) The Collateral Global report found there were huge variations in the methods being used to conduct PCR tests at labs across the country. It analysed more than 300 Freedom of Information requests and found there were 80 to 85 different types of testing machines in use. Each must be used according to the manufacturer's instructions, which recommend how many cycles of amplification should be conducted before a test is considered positive. In some cases it was as little as 25 cycles, in others as many as 45. Some experts argue this is an important distinction. If someone tests positive at a low cycle threshold they are likely to have a lot of viral fragments present in their sample because it doesn't have to be amplified too many times to be detected and very likely infectious. The reverse is also true a high cycle threshold can mean a positive result even if very little virus is present in the original sample. The worry is that if some machines are running more cycles, they will picking up more 'positives' than others and that many of those won't be infectious, or 'live' cases. Dr Tom Jefferson, who led the analysis, believes 30 cycles is a good cut-off. COVID FACT On January 6, there were more than 698,000 PCR tests carried in England the most recorded in a single day, according to Government figures. Advertisement However the report found about one third of positive PCR results in some labs had undergone more than that this number of cycles. Dr Jefferson claims this means these individuals who were subsequently told they had Covid were no danger to anyone. 'Covid press conferences were all about cases, hospital admissions and making comparisons with other countries,' Dr Jefferson said. 'In reality, comparisons even between hospital trusts may be difficult because the results depends on what test you use, what machine, what chemicals. 'The reason we wanted to spend billions identifying infectious cases was to stop or delay transmission. What the Government actually did was roll out tests on an industrial scale and found huge numbers of positives which is hardly surprising if some are being run through 45 cycles.' Other scientists reject Dr Jefferson's argument. Among them is Professor Richard Tedder, a former virologist for Public Health England who helped pioneer PCR tests. He says focusing on cycle thresholds is 'absolute stupidity'. He says some machines need to perform more cycles than others to detect the same viral fragments, and this depends on a number of factors including which chemicals are used, how the genetic material is extracted from the swab and how diluted the sample is. It means you cannot compare or standardise cycle thresholds. PCR tests also have to be sensitive to pick up early-stage infections, when the amount of virus in a swab might be low but likely to increase, making people more infectious. This was an essential tool for combating the major challenge at the start of the pandemic spotting the virus and isolating patients before it could spread. 'A lot of swabs which only go positive after 35 cycles are perfectly real infections,' Prof Tedder argues. 'By some methods, the patient would be told they're negative. Yet they may have been incubating the infection, and if you sampled them again two days later their test would go positive after only 25 cycles. 'You cannot therefore dismiss the samples that only show a positive result after 35 cycles. To say you can't use these test results is errant nonsense and dangerous we need to destroy this damned myth.' Dr Alexander Edwards, associate professor in biomedical technology at the University of Reading, acknowledges PCR tests 'aren't perfect' but adds: 'Yes, it can pick up tiny amounts of virus, but those who say that means it isn't enough to be infectious are missing the point. 'If you don't [make the test highly sensitive and] pick up these tiny amounts you'll miss people who happen not to get a lot of virus on their swab. 'You can talk all you like about Machine A being more sensitive than Machine B, but the truth is every time you put a swab up people's noses you get a variable amount of virus. 'And for the overwhelming majority of people who test positive, their swabs will turn positive after only a small number of cycles so it doesn't matter what machine you use.' Dr Edwards admits there will be 'small variations' in the number of positives depending on the machine. 'If you have a machine which is ten times more sensitive at picking up virus, you'll pick up about five to ten per cent more people.' The million-dollar question is whether those who test positive after a high cycle threshold are infectious and there is no consensus on this, Dr Edwards says. 'The argument about cycle thresholds and infectiousness is an unfortunate distraction,' he adds. 'The majority of people who test positive on a PCR, no matter how many cycles it has been through, are likely to be infectious. The best you can do is use a positive test as a red flag for likely infectiousness and ask people to stay inside.' Despite this, a growing number of experts now say that PCR testing could have been scrapped completely in early 2021 as the vaccines were rolled out. They say it was badly needed in 2020 to get a handle on soaring Covid deaths and stop people unknowingly passing on the virus, but by last summer, with the majority vaccinated, it was 'pointless'. Professor Allyson Pollock, clinical professor of public health at Newcastle University, argues that rolling out PCRs to greater numbers of people was 'one of the biggest mistakes' of the UK's pandemic response. Testing on such a vast scale made it impossible to know what proportion of swabs had actually just picked up dead virus fragments, she argues. Some people may have sought a PCR test after developing symptoms that were due to the common cold. But PCR tests may have picked up fragments of Covid from a prior infection, resulting in a positive result and unnecessary isolation. 'We could have scrapped PCR altogether and this might have avoided the pingdemic, when millions of people were told to stay at home after being in contact with a positive case,' Prof Pollock says. She points to the conclusion of a Public Accounts Committee report, published in October, which stated that the entire Test & Trace system had little effect on the spread of Covid. 'We wasted billions,' she says. 'Meanwhile, schools, transport and health services were closed or suspended and people were stopped from seeing their relatives in care homes and hospitals.' Prof McNally agrees testing could have been scaled back earlier. 'Once we started to vaccinate and gave everyone access to lateral flow tests, you could have stopped reporting case numbers from PCR tests,' he says. 'It is hard to see how we justified continuing mass PCR testing in 2021.' But as a source close to the Government's testing strategy explains: 'The reason we continued PCR testing last year is because long-term contracts had already been signed with the labs and the money had changed hands. The Government couldn't do anything about it. 'It's no coincidence PCR testing [for the general population] is ending on March 31 that's when the contracts end.' So what has the impact of all this testing been? Were cases numbers really overstated? The answer is, undoubtedly, yes. But it's hard to tell exactly by how much. Each person who tests positive will have been infected by Covid at some point, which is why traces of the virus's RNA were detected. And there is some evidence our Covid total may even have been underestimated. A report into NHS Test & Trace found only a minority of people with Covid symptoms between 18 and 33 per cent got tested. Other research tracking Covid infections, including the Office for National Statistics survey, which is widely considered to be the most accurate of the various case tracking studies, also suggests the number of people who had Covid at any one time generally tallied with the Government's daily totals. The obvious counter to this is that everyone involved in the survey is screened weekly... using a PCR. But the point on which most experts now agree is this: the end of mass Covid testing is long overdue. Disabled Britons are still being trapped inside care homes for weeks as a result of 'inappropriate' and outdated Covid rules put in place at the start of the pandemic, campaigners warn. Experts say the strict isolation rules are not necessary for the majority of disabled people who are not vulnerable to the virus and The Mail on Sunday has learned of a number of residents, some in their 20s and 30s, who have developed serious health problems as a result of the continued isolation. One 29-year-old woman became so distressed while isolated for three weeks that she developed depression and stopped eating and drinking, according to her mother. And twice in the space of two months, a 33-year-old man was forced to stay inside a single room for a two-week stretch, barely able to move from his wheelchair, which has damaged his mobility. 'Before, he could put one foot in front of the other and stand up while he waited for us to arrive,' says his mother. 'Now he just topples over on the floor his muscles have wasted, and he can't hold his weight any longer.' Disabled Britons are still being trapped inside care homes for weeks as a result of 'inappropriate' rules designed to protect those in old people's homes from Covid, campaigners warn. Pauline (left) says her daughter Gabriella has become 'a shell of herself' after having her daily activities at her care home ended Currently there are few legal pandemic restrictions on care homes. Indeed, the Government recommends trips outside and says visits should be encouraged for an unlimited duration as long as the visitor presents a negative lateral flow test and calls ahead to arrange the visit. There is also guidance for outbreaks when two or more people test positive for Covid. While visitors in general are not allowed inside the home for 14 days, one named person for each resident is permitted to come in, to offer companionship or help with care needs. The named person is known as an essential care-giver. There is no guidance on isolation for residents during an outbreak, apart from movements outside the home being kept to a minimum. But The Mail on Sunday has learnt of cases where care homes are taking the rules to extremes confining residents to a single room and banning even their essential care-giver from visiting. Some residents of homes have physical disabilities and others have learning disabilities, such as autism. One mother told of her 47-year-old autistic son, who is 'fit and well', being subjected to a two-week isolation last month in which he wasn't even allowed out for walks. 'A mother I know who has an autistic son in a care home for learning disabled people nearby told me that during an outbreak, she can only visit through a window.' IT'S A FACT Disabled people spend roughly 583 a month more than the average person due to costs related to their disability. Advertisement While accepting that a standard five-day period of Covid isolation is reasonable, she argues that the additional time 'locked-down' is unnecessary, and unfair. She says: 'These men should be allowed to live a normal life, to go to the pub and see friend, just like everyone else.' Gemma Harpum, of charity The Challenging Behaviour Foundation, said: 'We know some people with learning disabilities are subject to strict restrictions during Covid outbreaks. Where multiple people contract Covid, this may mean families are unable to see their relative for a significant period.' Diane Mayhew, co-founder of the Rights For Residents campaign group which has fought since Covid began for the right of people in care homes to see loved ones, said: 'We are still hearing from families who are struggling to see their young, disabled relatives in care.' And Julia Jones of Johns Campaign adds: 'These young people don't understand why they're being left trapped inside, subjected to rolling lockdowns, while everyone else gets back to normal.' The Mail on Sunday is aware of cases where residents deemed vulnerable were not allowed to leave the home for everyday activities, such as going shopping, even when no one had tested positive for Covid. One mother of a 29-year-old woman says: 'I asked the home if I could take my daughter out bowling and to the cinema, but I was told no, we have to wait. But they are all vaccinated what are we waiting for?' Experts say subjecting learning disabled people to harsher restrictions than the rest of the population is unwarranted. Professor Keith Neal, infectious disease expert at the University of Nottingham, calls the situation 'scandalous'. He adds: 'We are inflicting serious mental health problems on people because of a perception that, just because you are considered a vulnerable adult, you are automatically vulnerable to Covid. 'In fact, the risk of death from Covid for many adults with disabilities is not much higher than the average middle-aged man. With vaccination, there is no reason why they shouldn't be subject to the same rules as the rest of us which is no rules.' There are exceptions. Studies show that people with Down's syndrome are 12 times more likely to die from Covid that the average person, even after two doses of the vaccine. But Down's syndrome represents only a very small proportion of the 1.2 million Britons with learning disabilities. And only a small proportion of people with physical disabilities suffer problems with the immune system that mean they won't respond well to the vaccine. Experts say the strict isolation rules are not necessary for the majority of disabled people who are not vulnerable to the virus (stock photo) Damian Field from Sense, a charity that supports people with complex disabilities, says: 'There will be some disabled people who are still vulnerable, despite vaccination, but a large number are not.' Research from Sense shows that feelings of isolation among young disabled people have risen since last December. The findings come in the same week that MP Gillian Keegan, Minister for Care and Mental Health, is said to have dismissed campaigners' calls to make visitation in care homes a legal right. The Mail on Sunday was among the first to reveal the distress suffered by disabled people trapped in care homes without visitors for up to a year, in the first year of the pandemic. Some had become so traumatised by the isolation that they had begun to self-harm. In January 2021 we told the story of one 42-year-old disabled man, Sam Shepherd, who had seen his mother just a handful of times since January 2020 due to visiting restrictions. He had taken to biting himself, shouting and banging doors to express his despair. One young adult who has seen his health deteriorate as a result of multiple lockdowns is 33-year-old Thomas Graham, who lives in a care home for learning disabled people in the South East. IT'S A FACT There are seven million disabled people in the UK and two per cent of working-age people become disabled every year. Advertisement Thomas, who is non-verbal and requires 24-hour care, has endured two lots of 14-day lockdowns in the past two months, after other residents tested positive. On both occasions he was forced to isolate in his room and spent most of the time sitting in his wheelchair with only a nurse for company. His parents were only permitted to visit at the window contrary to Government advice. 'It's just ridiculous,' says his mother, Sandra, a 64-year-old former nurse. 'There was no reason why some of them couldn't have just sat together in the living room. Instead he's left sitting in a chair all day like an elderly person, getting more and more frustrated and fed up.' Before Covid, Thomas enjoyed going swimming every week, as well as regular bus rides out. Since the pandemic struck, he's been on the bus once and all other activities have been stopped. Carers rarely take him out of his room. When Sandra and her husband were reunited with their son after one of the home's lockdowns, his eyes were 'heavy' with misery and he was 'just not with it', she says. 'It is difficult to know exactly what Thomas is thinking, but I know he doesn't like going back to the home. 'Sometimes when he has to go back, he starts biting his arm and I can tell he is stressed. It's like he's saying, "I don't want to go back there."' For 29-year-old Gabriella Bardon it's the ending of her beloved daily activities that has turned her into 'a shell of herself', according to her family. Prior to Covid, Gabriella, who has a genetic disorder that causes impairments in language development, physical growth and co-ordination, was a 'vibrant, happy girl' who would spend most days shopping, at her beloved music group or in hydrotherapy. 'She's always been really happy because she could have a sense of independence,' says her mother, Pauline, a 57-year-old telecom business owner who lives in North London. But for two years now, all indoor activities outside the home have been banned for residents. Pauline recently asked the care home if she could take Gabriella bowling, or to the cinema during the week when it was quiet. The care home said no. Two members of staff tested positive in December, and residents were put into isolation. Pauline was allowed to visit under essential care-giver status but hydrotherapy stopped, and Gabriella could only walk around the grounds of the home. A week later, Gabriella went home for a day and Pauline noticed she had lost weight. 'She refused to eat or drink anything at all. She'd just turn her head away, look down and push her lips together. 'She'd gone from 8am to 10pm without eating or drinking anything. It wasn't like her.' In February, two staff members tested positive again. Gabriella was put into a second round of isolation this time for three weeks, due to a third staff member testing positive a week into the two-week isolation. 'What's ridiculous is that the staff only have to isolate for five days and then they can come back to work and go about their business again,' says Pauline. 'So why does my daughter have to stay inside for three weeks?' At the end of February, Pauline went to visit and noticed her daughter had lost even more weight. 'She's very slim anyway, so she doesn't have a lot to lose. I think she's about a stone lighter.' A fortnight ago, Pauline went to the GP to ask for a prescription for antidepressants for her daughter, with the hope of improving her mood and reviving her appetite. 'This is my happy, energetic, bubbly girl. I can't believe that I'm now seeing her like this,' she says. 'I am not in the least bit afraid of her catching Covid, but I am scared of her being stuck in that room.' Last week two staff members tested positive again. The care home had previously agreed for Pauline to take Gabriella to a friend's party, but the plans must now be cancelled as all residents are self-isolating. 'There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for these young people,' says Pauline. Families speaking to The Mail on Sunday are reluctant to blame the care home for the situation. Both supported living services and care homes for disabled people must adhere to Government guidance and advice from local public health chiefs. Official guidance states that 'local health protection teams, clinical commissioning group infection control leads and other partners can provide advice to care homes to help them' with risk assessments in an outbreak. Campaigners say that, in many cases, local health chiefs are using 'extreme' interpretations of the Government guidance. 'We're seeing that as soon as Covid gets into the care home, local public health teams clamp down on everything,' says Diane Mayhew of the Rights For Residents campaign group. Meanwhile, Dan Scorer, head of policy and public affairs at Mencap, said such situations are often the result of over-zealous and overly cautious risk assessments performed by the care provider. 'It is the responsibility of the care home to look for potential risks associated with visits to places outside the home, and decide if it is safe for residents. 'If a person is vulnerable to Covid, I can see why a home might deem it unsafe to venture out if there are high rates in the local community. But I see no reason why a young learning disabled person without those needs should be subject to restrictions.' Some charities suggested care homes may be adopting extreme interpretations of the rules in fear of pricey insurance premiums for Covid-related claims. 'Insurers came down hard on care homes because of Covid,' says Damian Field from Sense. Yet Ms Mayhew says: 'I understand that many of them [care homes] went through hell in the first wave, so they are cautious,' she says. 'But that was then and this is now. 'I have heard from a family member who overheard staff at one large care provider whispering, "It's so much easier without visitors coming in." That says it all.' Additional reporting: Erin Dean THE PROMISE by Damon Galgut (Vintage 8.99, 320pp) THE PROMISE by Damon Galgut (Vintage 8.99, 320pp) Before her death in 1986, Rachel Swart extracted a promise from her husband, Manie. A three-roomed shack on the familys estate in Pretoria, South Africa, is home to their servant, Salome, and her son. Rachel insists that Manie gives Salome the deeds to her house. Reluctantly he agrees, without any real intention of doing so. But the promise has been overheard by Manies youngest daughter, Amor. Over the next four decades, as Amors family each die in their turn, Amor remains determined that her mothers wishes will be honoured. Damon Galguts moving Booker Prize-winning novel sets the story of a troubled family against the tensions of their countrys violent history, as South Africa emerges from Apartheid and every certainty is called into question. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next SCI-FI PSYCHO THRILLERS Share this article Share A TOWN CALLED SOLACE by Mary Lawson (Vintage 8.99, 304pp) A TOWN CALLED SOLACE by Mary Lawson (Vintage 8.99, 304pp) For the inhabitants of the small town of Solace, the consolation implied by their communitys name is sadly in short supply. Eight-year-old Claras parents are distraught since her older sister, Rose, ran away. Clara waits at the window for Rose to return, leaving only to feed Moses, the cat belonging to her elderly neighbour, Mrs Orchard, who is in hospital. From her sickbed, Mrs Orchard looks back on her loving but childless marriage and the tragedy that disturbed its happiness. Once she loved a child, and that child, Liam, now grown up, returns to Solace in the aftermath of a bitter divorce. With echoes of Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Strouts finely drawn portraits of domestic life , Mary Lawsons observant novel weaves together three stories of people whose loneliness unexpectedly finds solace. THE REPAIR SHOP: TALES FROM THE WORKSHOP OF DREAMS by Karen Farrington (BBC 10.99, 256pp) THE REPAIR SHOP: TALES FROM THE WORKSHOP OF DREAMS by Karen Farrington (BBC 10.99, 256pp) Everything that has a past can have a beautiful future too, writes Jay Blades, the presenter of the BBC series The Repair Shop. The heirlooms lovingly restored by the series roster of experts are priceless in their emotional value to the people who cherish them, even in their broken state. Every piece has a story, and some of the most remarkable are collected in this book. A teddy-bear was one of the first gifts bought for Lesley by her adoptive parents, who found her abandoned on their doorstep. The bicycle on which Rachel Rawlence, 18, rode to work as a cryptanalyst at Bletchley Park in 1941 is still regularly ridden by her son. And the fragments of a ceramic bowl turn out to contain not one, but two extraordinary stories of young Jewish women who escaped from Nazi Germany. Those wanting to buy a dog or cat online are urged to be on the lookout for scammers, after a spike in pet purchase fraud. The number of scams involving the sale of pets rose by 39 per cent between 2020 and 2021, according to data from Nationwide. During the last six months of 2021, the average amount lost to reported scams involving pets was around 1,400. It comes at a time when pet ownership has rocketed due to lockdown and changing work habits. Two thirds of all pet scams involved dogs, according to Nationwide's research During the first 12 months of the pandemic alone, a total of 3.2 million households in the UK purchased a pet, according to the Pet Food Manufacturers' Association. Nearly three in ten Britons admitted they had been the victim of a pet scam, or knew someone who had. The incidence was even higher among those aged 16 to 24 (45 per cent) and nearly a third for those aged between 25 and 34. Dogs were most commonly used in these types of scams, with people often willing to spend a significant amount of money to secure the breed they want. Two thirds of pet scams involved dogs, according to Nationwide, while nearly a quarter involved cats. Some fraudsters targeted other animals, with fish, rabbits, birds and even horses also having been the focus of scams. Nearly a quarter of all pet scams involved cats, according to Nationwide's research How do the scams work? These criminals typically operate via social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, but they also appear on buying and selling websites such as Gumtree. They use fake photos or videos pf the pet to lure people into handing over their money in advance of any collection. The fraudsters may also try to get the victim to cover other unforeseen costs such as insurance or vaccinations after they have made the initial payment. The scammers rely on pet buyers being blinded by their excitement and emotions, and not taking enough precautions prior to purchase. Ed Fisher, head of fraud policy at Nationwide Building Society, said: 'Criminals are constantly looking for new opportunities to scam people out of their money. 'Over the last couple of years we've seen these types of scams grow, although while the stories change, the underlying scam follows a similar pattern.' How many people are in danger of being duped? The good news is that most Britons would opt to buy from a reputable breeder or organisation, according to Nationwide's analysis. Close to six in ten Britons would purchase a pet via the website of an animal organisation, such as the RSPCA or Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, while 45 per cent say they would buy through a reputable breeder. What would make Britons suspicious of a pet advert? Request % of people who would be suspicious Pay a deposit before meeting the animal 63% Lack of information about the animal 59% Cost of the pet seems too good to be true 59% Seller wants you to meet the pet at an alternative location (e.g. not the sellers home) 59% Puppies and kittens are not seen with their mother and the rest of litter 55% However, worryingly more than one in ten would use a social media site, such as Facebook, to look for a pet, and one in ten would look to purchase an animal on a classified site such as Gumtree. Being asked by a seller for a deposit before meeting the animal would be a major red flag for many, but not all. Nearly a third of people said they would be willing to pay a deposit before they actually met the animal, rising to more than half of those aged 16 to 24. It's important that people go and visit the animal before they part with any money, because just seeing a photo doesn't necessarily mean the animal is owned by the seller or is for sale Ed Fisher, head of fraud policy at Nationwide Nationwide also found that only six in ten Britons would be suspicious if the cost of the pet seemed too good to be true, and a similar number would be suspicious if the seller wanted them to meet the pet at a location other than the seller's home. 'We urge people to be cautious when they are looking for a pet and to stick to trusted animal websites or use reputable breeders or outlets,' Fisher added. 'It's important that people go and visit the animal before they part with any money, because just seeing a photo or a listing doesn't necessarily mean that the animal is owned by the seller or is for sale. 'And pay attention to how the seller or advert is making you feel. A pet may be a wonderful companion, but if you're feeling like you need to act quickly to secure the perfect pet that seems almost too good to be true, then make sure you check it thoroughly first.' BEIJING, March 12 -- The 15th round China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side on 11th March 2022. The two sides carried forward their discussions from the previous round held on 12th January 2022 for the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western Sector. They had a detailed exchange of views in this regard, in keeping with the guidance provided by the State Leaders to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest. They reaffirmed that such a resolution would help restore peace and tranquility along the LAC in the Western Sector and facilitate progress in bilateral relations. The two sides also agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector in the interim. They agreed to maintain dialogue via military and diplomatic channels to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest. WASHINGTON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Two women were killed and nine others injured after a vehicle plowed through an outdoor seating area of a restaurant in northwest Washington, D.C. at lunchtime Friday. A preliminary investigation shows that an elderly man lost control of his SUV while driving alone, and "he's remained cooperative," Commander Duncan Bedlion of the Second District within the Metropolitan Police Department told reporters. "All indications are this was truly accidental," Bedlion said. "There were no indications this was intentional." Eight people were taken to hospitals with various injuries, and five of them were in critical condition, including the two women who later died. Three others were treated and released on scene, according to D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services officials. "This is rare, we haven't had an incident like this in many years," D.C. Fire Chief John A. Donnelly said. "Hitting a crowd of people is a very serious event that results in a lot of injuries, that's what we're dealing with right now." The tragedy occurred around 12:18 p.m. (1718 GMT) when all the victims were dining outside Parthenon, a Greek restaurant and adjacent lounge in the Chevy Chase neighborhood near the Maryland state line. There was no structural damage to the building and no one was entrapped in the crash. Morrisons' finance boss is leaving just months after its private equity takeover. Michael Gleeson joined the supermarket group eight years ago and has been chief financial officer since 2020. He said that as the takeover by New York-based Clayton, Dubilier and Rice was complete it was 'a good time to take on a fresh challenge'. New direction: Michael Gleeson joined the supermarket group eight years ago and has been chief financial officer since 2020 New York-based CD&R bought Morrisons in October for 7billion after a tense bidding war with rival private equity firm Fortress. The deal was orchestrated by ex-Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy, who works for the private equity group and has taken over as Morrisons chairman. Gleeson cashed in on the takeover, earning 2.5million from shares he owned as well as undisclosed payouts from future incentive schemes. Morrisons chief executive David Potts said: 'Michael has made a significant contribution to the business over the last eight years.' Trawling through the works of her late father's life, Elizabeth Barber was reminded about the scars war leave on a mind. Mrs Barber, who knows the meaning of true anguish herself, is the daughter of former war hero and award winning author Ivan Southall. As bombs continue to fall upon the people of Ukraine, Mrs Barber couldn't help but ponder the tragic consequences of war. War hero and award winning author Ivan Southall wrote of his horror at being called upon to 'murder' men during World War II A young Ivan Southall went to visit a surrendered U-Boat at port. He is seen to the right in the conning-tower Aged 23, Mr Southall was called upon to captain his British Sunderland flying boat patrol fighter on a seek and destroy mission in the Bay of Biscay. It was the night of August 11, 1944. With German U-boat 385 - a naval submarine - in the crosshairs, the brave captain dropped his payload. The vessel was crippled from beneath the surface from the plane's depth charges and left dead in the water. Flying above, Mr Southall circled overhead as the Navy moved in to collect more than 40 survivors. 'It was terribly deliberate,' he later wrote of the attack in a book titled 'They Shall Not Pass Unseen'. 'It was premeditated murder ... their white faces in the moonlight, looking up at me.' The Captain was promoted to Flight Lieutenant a few months after. 'Suddenly you understood what it meant to defeat a U-boat,' Mr Southall wrote. 'Through circumstances over which you had no personal control, you have been given the chance to justify your crew and yourself.' Upon landing safely, the future award winning author detailed his pure dread of the experience in the form of a poem. During World War II, servicemen were forbidden from writing home about their battles. 'Dealing death when least expected. To lonely merchantmen,' he wrote in a letter to his mother. 'Suddenly from utter blackness comes the aircraft spitting madly.' 'Hate for hate with savage purpose, death for death with bell-like fury.' 'Bombs away upon the enemy.' Mr Southall was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944 for his command of Squadron 461 Sunderland, based at Pembroke Dock, and spent the rest of the war working in the RAAF's history section. In the years that followed, Mr Southall returned to Australia and began what would become a successful writing career. Just this week, 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. Then veteran UK broadcaster Jeremy Vine sparked shock after suggesting Russian soldiers fighting for Putin 'probably deserve to die'. A poem written by Ivan Southall directly after he dropped bombs on enemy sailors during World War II A continuation of Ivan Southall's poem Ivan Southall (front centre) carried the burden of war for the remainder of his life Mrs Barber, who herself wrote a book titled 'Perfect Victim' about the murder of her daughter, told Daily Mail Australia she felt for those caught-up in the war in Ukraine. 'Particularly of military personnel often forced into a position they would prefer not to be,' she said. 'I think people have short memories and the young do not know from experience. These few words of dads are so telling.' Mrs Barber said the war had left a profound impact on her father despite his subsequent success as an author. 'He and his crew were not dismayed that there were 42 survivors, but I know the death of those he killed stayed with him,' she said. By the time of his death in 2008, Mr Southall had written dozens of books, including a swag of award winning children's books. Told that he had only a short while to live, he had famously replied: 'I survived the war. I was given a life denied to many young men and I am grateful for that life.' Mrs Barber, who is in the process of editing the autobiography her father wrote while suffering dementia, said she had time to reflect on her father's life after the war given the current conflict in Ukraine. 'Reading his poem and the excerpts from his book it makes me so sad that we never learn,' she said. 'And I think in those words there is so much - and I cant believe what is happening again.' 'We were sent as cannon fodder. We're killing peaceful people': Weeping Russian POWs say they had no idea they were being sent to war and were made 'to attack people defending their territory' A Texas judge on Friday temporarily blocked the state from investigating parents of transgender children who provide them with gender-transitioning medical treatments that Gov. Greg Abbott calls 'child abuse.' District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum imposed a statewide temporary injunction on investigations by the Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS), saying it would remain in place until the case is fully litigated and settled by a judgment or other means. She scheduled a trial in the case to start July 11. The ruling came the same day that 60 companies - including Google, Apple, Microsoft and Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram - criticized the governor's directive in a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News and called on state leaders to 'abandon efforts to write discrimination into law.' 'The recent attempt to criminalize a parent for helping their transgender child access medically necessary, age-appropriate healthcare in the state of Texas goes against the values of our companies,' reads the ad, which has the headline 'Discrimination is bad for business.' 'This policy creates fear for employees and their families, especially those with transgender children, who might now be faced with choosing to provide the best possible medical care for their children but risk having those children removed by child protective services for doing so. It's not just wrong, it has an impact on our employees, our customers, their families, and our work.' Apple CEO Tim Cook also took to Twitter noting he was 'deeply concerned' about the directive and other alleged anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being passed across the U.S. 'As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, I am deeply concerned about laws being enacted across the country, particularly those focused on our vulnerable youth,' he tweeted. 'I stand with them and the families, loved ones, and allies who support them.' Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta and dozens of other businesses criticized the governor's Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott's directive launch child abuse investigations into families who sought gender confirming care for their transgender children in a newspaper ad Friday. They also called on state leaders to 'abandon efforts to write discrimination into law' Apple CEO Tim Cook also took to Twitter noting he was 'deeply concerned' about the directive and other alleged anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being passed across the U.S. Meachum heard hours of testimony Friday in the lawsuit filed by the parents of a 16-year-old girl who were investigated over gender-confirming care their daughter received. The parents sued over the investigation and Abbott's February directive that DFPS investigate reports of transgender youth receiving gender-confirming care. The probe could remove trans children from families and jail parents who give them what he called procedures that 'constitute child abuse.' The directive also called on doctors, nurses and teachers to report such care or face criminal penalties. The lawsuit marked the first report of parents being investigated following Abbott's directive and an earlier non-binding legal opinion by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton labeling certain gender-confirming care as 'child abuse.' Abbott and his supporters claim he is trying to keep impressionable youngsters safe from potentially irreversible medical treatments, but critics say said treatments are rare, and that denying such help to transgender children can cause mental anguish. DFPS has opened nine investigations since Abbott's directive and Paxton's opinion. The ad was published the same day Texas District Judge Amy Clark Meachum held a hearing (pictured) temporarily blocked the state from investigating parents of transgender children who provide them with gender-transitioning medical treatments that Governor Greg Abbott calls 'child abuse' The parents sued over the investigation and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's (pictured) directive that DFPS investigate reports of transgender youth receiving gender confirming care as child abuse Lone Star State launches crackdown on transitioning procedures for children Texas child welfare agency officials have started investigating parents of transgender children for possible child abuse charges. Republican Governor Greg Abbott ordered the state's Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate reports of 'gender-transitioning procedures,' such as puberty-blocking drugs, late last month. It came a day after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is also a Republican, issued an opinion declaring that such procedures are child abuse under existing Texas law. Abbott's plan - which has been harshly criticized by LGBTQ activists - has already hit a legal snag, with a Texas judge last week issuing a temporary order halting a probe by the Department of Family and Protective Services into the parents of a 16-year-old girl undergoing gender confirmation treatments. Medically accepted treatments include giving patients puberty-blocking drugs. Legislation has been introduced in over 20 states seeking to ban gender-affirming procedures for teenagers, according to the New York Times. No such bills have made it through their respective legislative sessions, however, including one in Texas seeking to redefine child abuse to include gender-affirming treatment for transgender children. Last summer, Abbott directed the state's protective services agency to investigate whether such medical procedures would constitute child abuse. Around the same time, the agency bowed to pressure from one of Abbott's Republican primary opponents, Don Huffines, by removing a list of LGBTQ resources and a suicide prevention hotline from its website. Advertisement A child protective services supervisor testified Friday that she has resigned from the department because of concerns about the directive, and said cases involving gender-confirming care were being treated differently than others. Randa Mulanax testified that DFPS is not allowed to determine that a report involving a transgender child was 'likely not, in fact, a case of child abuse' and that investigators are not able to close the cases, The New York Times reported. 'I've been told about that directly,' Mulanax told the judge Friday. 'You cannot priority-none these cases.' 'These are not being treated the same. We had to be investigating these cases.' Mulanax also said investigators were instructed not to put information about the gender-confirming care cases in email or text messages. She alleged that these instructions were 'highly unusual.' 'Have you ever been told not to put information on cases in writing?' Brian Klosterboer, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), asked. The ACLU and Lambda Legal sued on behalf of the parents. 'No,' Mulanax replied. 'What did you make of the instruction to not put anything in writing?' Klosterboer questioned. 'It was very unethical,' the former DFPS supervisor said. Courtney Corbello, an attorney for the state, asked Mulanax if any major steps - such as children being taken from their parents - had been taken as a result of these investigations. 'To my knowledge, no,' Mulanax testified. Corbello asked if any child had been taken off a medication prescribed by a doctor as a result of the investigations and Mulanax replied: 'I'm not aware of that.' The supervisor reiterated that she resigned because of Abbott's order, claiming she doesn't feel it is in the best interest of the children. 'I have always felt that the department has the children's best interest at heart,' she said. 'I no longer feel that way with this order.' After nearly 75 minutes of testimony, Meachum asked Mulanax one question: 'Once an investigation is opened into a family for abuse and neglect, is there a way for that to ever go away in the system, or does it stay in the database forever?' The supervisor said if abuse is ruled out, most cases are eventually removed from the system automatically, but if investigators are unable to rule out abuse, the cases 'never get purged.' Megan Mooney, a clinical psychologist also represented by the groups in the lawsuit, said in court Friday that the governor's directive has caused 'outright panic' among mental health professionals and families of transgender youth. 'Parents are terrified that [child protective services] is going to come and question their children, or take them away,' Mooney testified. 'Mental health professionals are scared that we're either violating our standards and professional codes of conduct, or in violation of the law.' The groups also represent a clinical psychologist who has said the governor's directive is forcing her to choose between reporting clients to the state or losing her license and other penalties. The governor's directive and Attorney General Ken Paxton's opinion go against the nation's largest medical groups, including the American Medical Association, which have opposed Republican-backed restrictions on transgender people filed in statehouses nationwide The suit was filed by parents - one of whom worked for DFPS - of their 16-year-old transgender daughter. The employee - identified as Jane Doe - works on the review of reports of abuse and neglect. She was placed on administrative leave the day after Abbott's order and has since been asked by agency officials to turn over medical records related to her child, who was identified in the lawsuit as Mary Doe. The court filing seeks to block the agency's request for medical records and challenge the constitutionality of both the investigation and the governor's order. 'We are terrified for Mary's health and well-being, and for our family,' Jane Doe wrote in a declaration filed with the lawsuit. 'I feel betrayed by my state and the agency for whom I work. Not providing Mary with the medically necessary health care that she needs is not an option for us.' Jane Doe, who refused to voluntarily turn over her daughter's medical records, spoke to her supervisor at DFPS the day after Abbott issued his order, the lawsuit reads. It is unclear if she disclosed any information about her transgender child, but that same day she was placed on administrative leave. 'The issuance of the Paxton Opinion and the Abbott Letter, along with DFPS's implementation of these, has terrorized the Doe family and inflicted ongoing and irreparable harm,' her lawsuit reads. Mary Doe has long been under the care of Dr. Mooney, a licensed psychologist in Houston who is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, the document reads. Mooney diagnosed Mary with gender dysphoria and referred the family to other medical professionals who confirmed the diagnosis, according to the lawsuit. Gender dysphoria is designated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders as someone's 'marked incongruence between their experienced or expressed gender and the one they were assigned at birth.' It could lead to 'symptoms of depression and anxiety, substance use disorders, a negative sense of well-being and poor self-esteem, and an increased risk of self-harm and suicidality,' and could be treated with psychiatric support, hormonal therapy and surgical therapy 'depending on the individual case and patient needs,' according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Following Mary's diagnosis, her doctors recommended that she be provided with medical care that has included prescription puberty-delaying medication and hormone therapy 'to initiate puberty consistent with her female gender,' the lawsuit reads. 'Mary was worried about having to undergo a puberty that would result in permanent physical characteristics not in alignment with her female gender. Jane and John observed how the prospect of beginning this puberty caused Mary significant distress and exacerbated her dysphoria,' the lawsuit reads. 'Being able to be affirmed as who she is, including through the course of treatment prescribed by her doctors, has brought Mary significant relief and allowed her to thrive,' it adds. Abbott issued the order in a letter last month to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services The employee has since sought legal action in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and LGBTQ civil rights group Lambda Legal The court filing seeks to block the agency's request for medical records and challenge the constitutionality of the governor's order The governor's directive and Paxton's opinion go against the nation's largest medical groups, including the American Medical Association (AMA), which have opposed Republican-backed restrictions on transgender people filed in statehouses nationwide Last week, President Joe Biden tore into Texas' 'cynical and dangerous' plan to investigate the parents of transgender children seeking gender-affirming medical treatments, saying it amounted to 'weaponizing child protective services against loving families.' 'This is government overreach at its worst,' Biden said in a statement last Wednesday night, adding that Abbott's directive came about 'just to score political points.' Abbott was on the Republican primary ballot Tuesday - and handily won his race against a number of challengers to his political right. 'Today, the Department of Health and Human Services has announced several actions to keep transgender children in Texas and their families safe - putting the state of Texas on notice that their discriminatory actions put children's lives at risk,' the president had said. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra announced last week that the agency was releasing guidance to state child welfare systems that makes clear those governmental agencies should be used 'to advance safety and support for LGBTQI+ youth, which importantly can include access to gender-affirming care.' HHS also released guidance on patient privacy that clarified that health care providers are not required to disclose information about gender-affirming care to state authorities. Additionally, the federal agency made clear that patients cannot be denied health care based on their gender identity. Becerra said he ordered HHS to look into other ways the federal agency can protect transgender children and their families. 'These announcements 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,' Biden said at the time. The president pointed out that respected medical organizations have said that access to gender-affirming care for transgender youth can have mental health benefits, lower the suicide rates and improve other health outcomes. Legislation has been introduced in more than 20 states seeking to ban gender-affirming procedures for teenagers, according to The New York Times. No such bills have made it through their respective legislative sessions, however, including one in Texas seeking to redefine child abuse to include gender-affirming treatment for transgender children. Last summer, Abbott directed the state's protective services agency to investigate whether such medical procedures would constitute child abuse. Around the same time, the agency bowed to pressure from one of Abbott's Republican primary opponents, Don Huffines, by removing a list of LGBTQ resources and a suicide prevention hotline from its website. Navy SEAL Rob O'Neill served his country in 400 combat missions over 16 years and shot and killed Osama Bin Laden during arguably the most famous, deadly raid in modern American history. The Montana native knows more than most about facing off with terrorists and the grim realities of war. But as he has watched bloodthirsty Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine from afar, he has seen soldiers dying for a leader who's 'lost his marbles' with an endgame to cement his place in the history books, and has witnesses the U.S. responding with what he perceives as weakness. In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, the decorated veteran criticized the Biden administration for cancelling a nuclear missile test last weekend while Russian forces started to attack Ukrainian citizens and how the Pentagon is more concerned with their climate change agenda than trying to deter Putin. 'You don't defeat a crazy man with nuclear weapons, with weakness. It's like trying to stop a schoolyard bully by appeasing him, it's nonsense. 'When I was in the service, the main concern was whether you could perform the task at hand. Now they (the Pentagon) are wasting time and resources making warships green. The unfortunate truth is Russia and China are laughing at us when we talk about climate change in the military.' He said he doesn't care about his legacy, despite slaying the founder of Al Qaeda after a decade-long hunt, and is only focused on making sure his children are cared for. O'Neill also said politicians like Lindsey Graham shouldnt be talking about assassinating Vladimir Putin for TV ratings, but insisted he wouldn't be against someone in the Kremlin's inner circle taking Putin out 'like Julius Caesar'. Navy SEAL Rob O'Neill, who shot Osama Bin Laden, criticized the Biden administration for cancelling a nuclear missile test while Russian forces started to attack Ukrainian citizens and how the Pentagon is more concerned with their climate change agenda than trying to deter Putin 'The level of corruption is as high as it has ever been in the United States. These politicians talk from both sides of their mouths. They say one thing and vote for the other. They need handlers'. He was a member the SEAL Team Six that took out the 9/11 mastermind in the deadly raid in Abbottabad in 2010 and has been portrayed on the big screen in Zero Dark Thirty, Captain Phillips and Lone Survivor. He has now published a book with Medal of Honor winner Dakota Meyer called 'The Way Forward' about lessons from their lives and military careers. The SEAL was decorated 52 times, leaving as senior chief petty officer. His decorations include two Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars with Valor, a Joint Service Commendation Medal with Valor, three Presidential Unit citations, and two Navy/Marine Corps Commendations with Valor. ONeill admitted that initially he didnt think Putin would invade Ukraine because he 'made the mistake of trying to make sense of an insane mans decision. He believed the Russian leader would manipulate the West into spending more money on defenses by stationing hundreds of thousands of troops on the border, but never going in. He acknowledges he was wrong. With the Ukrainian resistance shooting down helicopters and jets, he fears Putin will move to heavy, long-range artillery. Pentagon officials have already indicated it is happening with Russian strikes in western Ukraine, just 60 miles from the Polish border. He said the U.S. is 'crushing' Russia with crippling economic sanctions, but they still need a 'posture of strength'. Thats when it gets extremely bloody. Thats when s*** gets real, he said about Russian rockets coming from over the horizon and landing in Ukrainian cities full of civilians. We havent seen anything as bad as this since 1939. We used to joke about movies where they said a virus would cause a lockdown. We thought that was crazy. I am a big believer in normalcy bias, that nothing bad can ever happen because it never has. When the United States starts talking about climate change being the 'number one concern for national security', he says, the rest of the world starts to mock us. 'They're worried about making their warships green and then their, and I've had people that are still in the military that are getting out at special operators because instead of going to the range or to the weight room and training for war they're taking classes on gender studies white rage. He called climate initiatives 'ridiculous', especially with mounting fears Putin could turn to nuclear weapons during the conflict. 'The United States has decided we are going to be the "good guys" by 'saving snapping turtles', and the planet will get a 'a lot hotter, quicker' with a nuclear war. O'Neill also said politicians like Lindsey Graham shouldnt be talking about assassinating Vladimir Putin for TV ratings, but insisted he wouldn't be against someone in the Kremlin's inner circle taking Putin out 'like Julius Caesar' He said he hopes the invasion will reach a point where the Russians are 'getting their butts kicked so badly' that the West and Ukraine will make a deal with Moscow to give them a way out. 'I'm an optimist and thats my hope. But my prediction was so bad at first, I am. I'm just going off what I hope happens. 'Most people in the world can agree. There's one person that can to stop this. All he needs to do is stop it.' He has now published a book with Medal of Honor winner Dakota Meyer called 'The Way Forward' about lessons from their lives and military careers. He says the gets upset when videos of Russian helicopters getting shot down are shared all over social media. There are Russians on those planes and I've had friends dying helicopter crashes, and there's nothing cool about it. 'Most of the soldiers dont want to be there. Its all because one guy in the Kremlin has lost his marbles.' O'Neill said there was no way the U.S. could do to Putin what he did to Bin Laden by killing him in a SEAL raid and most Americans are getting their ideas of war from TV and social media. 'We'd have to know where he is and hit him with an airstrike. You would have to figure out how we get into Russia, how they don't see us and what we do when we land' 'Leave your video game tactics at home, because they don't work.' 'You can't correct the past. You can definitely learn from the past and if it didn't work, you could change it. The only thing that we have in common is that the clock keeps ticking. So you can live in the past or you can move forward and you can, you can try to do it the best you can now and look forward to tomorrow. 'We've all had our first day somewhere. We've all been scared, but eventually you get used to it and it's, it's what you can do now. What is the way forward? We are all cut from the same cloth. He asks why do we constantly end up 'fighting each other' in overseas conflicts and says most soldiers from opposing sides would get along if they 'sat down over a coffee in a Paris cafe'. 'And how does a fat kid from Montana who doesn't know how to swim, become the Navy seal in Osama's bedroom. If I can do it, anyone can'. Rob O'Neill and Dakota Meyer's The Way Forward is available to purchase here. O'Neill said there was no way the U.S. could do to Putin what he did to Bin Laden by killing him in a SEAL raid and most Americans are getting their ideas of war from TV and social media Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue claim it rips off parts of their track Oh Why Jamal Edwards did not remember thinking there was a similarity between an Ed Sheeran song at the heart of a High Court copyright claim, court documents have revealed. Mr Sheeran is involved in a legal row with two songwriters, Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue, who claim his 2017 hit Shape Of You rips off parts of their 2015 track Oh Why something he and his two co-writers deny. Late music entrepreneur Mr Edwards wrote and signed a witness statement on September 27 last year in support of his 'very good friend' Mr Sheeran ahead of of the trial which began last week. In the statement, Mr Edwards said he knew both Mr Sheeran and Mr Chokri but did not know about the court case or that he was mentioned in it until shortly before giving his witness statement. According to Mr Chokri and Mr O'Donoghue, Mr Edwards commented a 'shifty eyes' emoji on one of Mr Chokri's Facebook posts shortly after the release of Shape Of You. However, in his written evidence, Mr Edwards disputed this. He said: 'I have no recollection of posting, or deleting, a "shifty eyes" emoji on Sami's Facebook page, as he says I did.' Mr Edwards continued: 'This, ie that there was a similarity between the "Oh Why/Oh I chorus", is not a view that I recall having, indeed I do not recall ever having heard 'Oh Why', and therefore do not believe that this is a view I had.' Jamal Edwards did not remember thinking there was a similarity between an Ed Sheeran song at the heart of a High Court copyright claim, court documents have revealed Ed Sheeran (pictured outside the Hugh Court on Friday, March 11) is involved in a legal row with two songwriters, Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue, who claim his 2017 hit Shape Of You rips off parts of their 2015 track Oh Why something he and his two co-writers deny Sam Chokri and his singing partner Ross O'Donoghue (right, also seen arriving at the High Court on Friday) claim Sheeran copied aspects of their work Mr Chokri and Mr O'Donoghue's lawyers argued in written submissions that it is 'highly likely' Mr Edwards had listened to Oh Why. They have also argued that it is 'unequivocal' that Mr Edwards posted the 'shifty eyes' emoji as Mr Chokri claimed, arguing that 'limited weight' should be given to the entrepreneur's evidence. In court on Monday, Mr Sheeran said that Mr Edwards, who he described as his 'best friend', did not share music with him in 2015 and 2016, explaining that he had only recently done so. Andrew Sutcliffe QC, for Mr Chokri and Mr O'Donoghue, previously said this argument was 'not credible'. In his statement, Mr Edwards said that it was only 'in the last couple of years' that he had shared any music with Mr Sheeran. Mr Edwards later said it was 'very strange' that he was not told about the High Court claim. He said: 'Neither Sami nor anyone else on his behalf has ever spoken to me about the claim, including before using my name to suggest that I thought Ed had done something 'doubtful or nefarious'. 'I think Sami has not called me about this because he knows it is ridiculous. Either way, I am very surprised by the whole situation.' In the statement, Mr Edwards said he knew both Mr Sheeran (pictured arriving at court on Friday) and Mr Chokri but did not know about the court case or that he was mentioned in it until shortly before giving his witness statement Mr Edwards gained fame from setting up new music platform SB.TV helping to launch a string of UK music careers including Ed Sheeran SBTV founder Mr Edwards gained fame after setting up the music platform in 2006 and was credited with helping to launch a string of UK music acts to stardom, including Dave, Jessie J and Mr Sheeran. Mr Edwards died last month after a sudden illness, leading to an outpouring of tributes from the British music industry and beyond including from the Prince of Wales, Sir Richard Branson and former prime minister David Cameron. Mr Sheeran and his co-authors launched legal proceedings in May 2018, asking the High Court to declare they had not infringed Mr Chokri and Mr O'Donoghue's copyright. In July 2018, Mr Chokri and Mr O'Donoghue issued their own claim for 'copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement'. The trial before Mr Justice Zacaroli continues, with judgment expected to be reserved until a later date. Jamal Edwards wished his friend Ed Sheeran a happy birthday from Marbella, Spain, three days ago. His death aged 31 has been put down to a sudden illness Emmett Till's relatives joined with supporters Friday in asking authorities to reverse their decision to close an investigation into the black teenager's 1955 lynching - and instead prosecute a white woman at the center of the case. Till was just 14 when he was kidnapped and murdered in Mississippi in August 1955, after witnesses said he whistled at a woman at a grocery store. The death shocked the nation and helped spur the Civil Rights Movement. Authorities have known for decades that Carolyn Bryant Donham, now in her 80s and living in North Carolina, played a key role in Till's slaying, and Deborah Watts, a cousin of Till, said on Friday they need to act immediately to bring her to justice. 'She lied, and Emmett died,' Watts, who lives in Minnesota and heads the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, said during a Friday news conference at the Mississippi Capitol, adding: 'Time is not on our side.' Following the news conference, relatives presented Mississippi authorities with a petition signed by about 250,000 people seeking a renewed probe of the killing, the Clarion Ledger reported. They are also asking for an official apology from the federal government, the Department of Justice, the State of Mississippi and local law enforcement. 'We hold the State of Mississippi responsible for bringing justice forward,' Watts said to a member of Attorney General Lynn Fitch's office. 'You have the opportunity. You just need the will and the courage to make that happen.' But Michelle Williams, chief of staff for Fitch, cast doubt on the possibility of a renewed investigation, saying the Justice Department has already worked with a local district attorney's office in a re-examination of the case that ended in December. 'This is a tragic and horrible crime, but the FBI, which has far greater resources than our office, has investigated this matter twice and determined that there is nothing more to prosecute,' Williams said. Emmett Till (pictured) was kidnapped, tortured and hanged after witnesses alleged they heard him whistle at a white woman in August 1955 Carolyn Bryant, now known as Carolyn Bryant Donham, had claimed Till grabbed her, whistled and made sexual advances while she was working in a store in the small community of Money. She later allegedly recanted her statement Deborah Watts, second from right, a cousin of Till, handed Mississippi Attorney General Office representative Wayne Lynch, a poster and accompanying thumb drive that allegedly has almost 300,000 signatures on a petition seeking a renewed probe of the 1955 lynching Deborah Watts, right, and Priscilla Sterling, displayed a document used by Mississippi Attorney General Office representative Wayne Lynch, to indicate receipt of the poster and accompanying thumb drive Following the supposed whistle incident, Donham told her husband, Roy Bryant, that Till grabbed her and made advances at her. Days later, Till's body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, where it had been tossed after being weighted down with a cotton gin fan. His face was unrecognizable, but his mother, Mamie, insisted he have an open casket funeral to publicly display what had happened to the boy. About a month after Till was killed, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam were tried on murder charges, but an all-white Mississippi jury acquitted them. Months later, they confessed in a paid interview with Look magazine. The Justice Department announced it was reopening the investigation in 2017 after a book quoted Donham as saying she lied when she claimed that Till grabbed her, whistled and made sexual advances while she was working in a store in the small community of Money. Relatives have publicly denied that Donham, who is now in her 80s, recanted her allegations about Till. And Donham told the FBI she had never recanted her accusations and there is 'insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she lied to the FBI,' the Justice Department said in a news release. Officials also said that historian Timothy B. Tyson, the author of 2017's 'The Blood of Emmett Till,' was unable to produce any recordings or transcripts in which Donham allegedly admitted to lying about her encounter with the teen. But in announcing there would be no new charges in Till's case, a spokesperson for the Justice Department said: 'In closing this matter without prosecution, the government does not take the position that the state court testimony the woman gave in 1955 was truthful or accurate. 'There remains considerable doubt as to the credibility of her version of events, which is contradicted by others who were with Till at the time, including the account of a living witness.' Roy Bryant, right, and his half-brother, JW Milam, admitted to killing Till in a magazine article. They are seen here conferring with their attorney Till's body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, where it had been tossed after being weighted down with a cotton gin fan The Justice Department had previously opened an investigation into Till's killing in 2004, after it received inquiries about whether charges could be brought against anyone still living. The department said the statute of limitations had run out on any potential federal crime, but the FBI worked with state investigators to determine if state charges could be brought. In February 2007, a Mississippi grand jury declined to indict anyone, and the Justice Department announced it was closing the case. Bryant and Milam were not brought to trial again, and are now both dead. But the Justice Department also said it found Bryant and Milam were not the only people involved, and estimates on the number of people who might have played a role in Till's killing range from from a half-dozen to more than 14. The FBI in 2006 also began a cold case initiative to investigate racially motivated killings from decades earlier. Its investigation included a talk with Parker, who previously told the AP in an interview that he heard his cousin whistle at the woman in a store in Money, Mississippi, but that the teen did nothing to warrant being killed. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., speaks during a news conference about the 'Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act' on Capitol Hill in February Although it's unlikely a governor would have a role in deciding whether to reopen an investigation, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves was asked during a Friday news conference about Till's family seeking justice for the teenager's lynching. 'The lynching of any teenager is of significance and certainly something that we as a society should do anything in our power to make sure that we bring anyone that committed that crime, or any other, to justice,' said Reeves, a Republican. On Monday, Congress gave final approval to legislation that for the first time would make lynching a federal hate crime, sending the bill to President Joe Biden. Years in the making, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act is among some 200 bills that have been introduced over the past century that have tried to ban lynching in the U.S.ve An anti-vaxxer wrestled with a woman after she gatecrashed their protest and demanded they move their vehicles off a footpath. The protestor had been delivering his speech to a small crowd gathered outside the ABC Studio in Canberra on Friday. He claimed his sister was 'complicit' in a vaccine conspiracy with NSW Health before saying he would be glad if her head 'explodes' when authorities 'round her up and take her to jail'. The speechmaker was surrounded by several trucks and heavy vehicles parked on the front lawn while rally-goers waved the Australian and Union Jack flags in support. His speech was interrupted when a fed-up woman stormed onto the grass and demanded the protestors move on. An anti-vaxxer wrestled with a woman after she gatecrashed their protest and demanded they move their vehicles off a footpath His speech was interrupted when a fed-up woman stormed onto the grass and demanded the protestors move on A bystander filmed the ensuing the argument before it spiralled into a rough-and-tumble with another protestor joining in and shouting at her through a megaphone. 'I want you to get off the footpath,' the woman says. 'Get off the footpath. Get off the footpath. You're not allowed to be on the footpath.' The woman then runs in front of a truck that goes to park on the front lawn before she wildly waves her arms. 'Get the f*** off the footpath,' she screams. 'Get out of here. Get off the footpath and park in the carpark like civilised people.' The anti-vaxxer who was delivering his speech then grabs the woman by the arm. The pair briefly wrestle with each other before the woman spins around and pushes him away. His friends jump in to defend the anti-vaxxer before one of them yells through a megaphone. 'How dare you touch a veteran,' he shouts. 'Get the hell away from him.' The woman tries to explain she was only trying to defend herself but her explanation is drowned out by the megaphone. The protestor who was seen grabbing the woman by the arm was earlier filmed putting down the Covid vaccine in a bizarre speech. A bystander filmed the ensuing the argument before it spiralled into a rough-and-tumble with another protestor joining in and shouting at her through a megaphone 'I want you to get off the footpath,' the woman says. 'Get off the footpath' 'I'll tell you a personal story about me,' he said. 'I've got a younger sister who's in Sydney with two young kids. 'They're in secondary school now. I've been trying to turn her around for two years. 'She's complicit in this. She's actually owned by NSW Health and right now she's helping to run a vaccination clinic at Westmead Hospital in Sydney. 'Well congratulations sis. She thinks Rick Bozy and I are both nutcases. That's fine. Her head's going to explode when they come and round her up and take her to jail. I can't wait to see that day because she f***ing well deserves it.' Daily Mail contacted ABC Canberra and ACT Police for comment. The U.S. Government slapped new sanctions on people close to Vladimir Putin's inner circle Friday this time targeting the ice dancing wife of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Putin's 'person banker' who funded his alleged gymnast lover. The White House on Monday announced 'full blocking sanctions' on Russian elites and family members, including Yuri Kovalchuck, who is known as 'Putin's banker.' The oligarch is close to Putin, and holds shares in the National Media Group, which is chaired by Alina Kabaeva, long rumored to be Putin's gymnast lover. She allegedly met Putin in 2001, when she was an 18-year-old gymnast. She won Gold in Individual All-Around for Rhythmic Gymnastics at the Athens Olympics before becoming a pro-Putin member of the state Duma, then later earning big bucks as head of a media giant. The Insider reported in 2020 based on a leaked tax database that her official income was about $10 million. The Kremlin has long denied an affair. The White House announced the sanctions as being imposed by the U.S., the European Union, and other G7 nations to impose 'further economic costs on Russia,' whose economy has been hammered since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The White House announced sanctions on Yuri Kovalchuck, who is known as 'Putin's banker,' and who owns shares in a media company chaired by Alina Kabaeva. Putin and Kabaeva during a meeting between the Russian president and Olympic team at the Kremlin in 2004 The sanctions came down on a day when President Biden announced the removal of Russia's Permanent Normal Trade Status, amid still more reports of attacks on civilians in Russia's two week old invasion of Ukraine. They also came down as the New York Times reported U.S. authorities were examining a $700 million mega yacht in dry dock in Italy that had links to Putin. Last week, Italian authorities boarded the Scheherazade and examined certification documents, seeking to learn more about the ship's ownership, and Captain Guy Bennett-Pearce said earlier this week that he would provide the Italian police with documents that would disclose the yacht's owner. Italian authorities have now said they are taking a deep look at the Scheherazade, with Italy's financial police saying it will gather evidence and present it to a government committee, which will then decide whether the ship is connected to anyone on the US's sanctions list. That connection could be outright ownership of a significant portion of the ship, or evidence that a friend, underling or associate lent his or her name to hide the sanctioned person's ownership, or the funds used to buy the ship came from illegal profits. If the committee finds that the evidence meets the threshold, the financial police can impound the Scheherazade. But Bennett-Pearce, the Scheherazade's captain, said earlier this week that Putin was not the owner of the superyacht and the Russian president had never stepped foot on it. And the Italian Sea Group, which owns the shipyard where it is docked, said in a statement on Thursday that based on documents it had and 'checks carried out by the relevant authorities,' the Scheherazade 'is not attributable to the property of Russian President Vladimir Putin.' Still, under recently published Commerce Department rule changes, if more than 25 percent of a plane or yacht is made of US-manufactured parts, it cannot go to Russia without a license. So if US officials determine that the Scheherazade, with its full-size gym, two helicopter deck and gold-plated fixtures, is even just one quarter US-made, the American government can work with their Italian counterparts to prevent it from moving into Russian waters. Meanwhile, Page Six reported last week that Alina Kabaeva, 38, has gone into hiding in a Swiss chalet along with four children, alleged to be Putin's, citing a source. She has been dubbed 'Russias most flexible woman.' The glamorous Alina Kabayeva athlete has appeared on the cover of Russian Vogue - pictured here at the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St Petersburg in 2008 Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Russian gymnasts Alina Kabayeva (centre) and Svetlana Khorkina ahead of the Olympics in 2004 Tatiana Navka, former Russian figure skater and now wife of Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov poses for the media on red carpet prior closing ceremony of 41st Moscow International Film Festival at Pushkinsky cinema center in Moscow, Russia, 25 April 2019. The government says she has real estate worth $10 million Russian President Vladimir Putin (c) and Tatiana Navka Turin 2006 Figure Skating Olympic Champion Give Chocolate Candies to Children at a Skating Rink On the Red Square in Moscow Tuesday 26 December 2006 Treasury said oligarch Viktor Vekselberg was worth $6 billion A sanctions statement called Peskov the Kremlin's 'lead propagandist.' He continued to justify the invasion Friday, while calling it a 'special military operation' Putin allegedly met Alina Kabaeva in 2001, when she was an 18-year-old gymnast. Here she performs during a gymnastic gala at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, September 26, 2000 Treasury valued Vekselberg's jet at $90 million The government said his yacht, Tango, is also worth $90 million. It is owned by Russian tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin This multispectral satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destroyed homes, impact craters and fires in town of Moschun, Ukraine, during the Russian invasion, Friday, March 11, 2022 The U.S. had already imposed sanctions on Dmitry Peskov, a key Kremlin figure who continued to justify Russia's invasion on Friday. The State Department called him the regime's 'lead propagandist' when announcing sanctions on him days ago. Newly announced Treasury Department sanctions announced Friday go after Peskov's family members, who all live 'luxurious lifestyles' that the agency release says were 'incongruous' with Peskov's salary as a civil servant 'and are likely built on the ill-gotten wealth of Peskovs connections to Putin.' His wife, Tatiana Aleksandrovna Navka (Navka), owns property worth more than $10 million, according to Treasury, with holdings in a Moscow suburb where Putin lives, a Moscow apartment, and another in Crimea which Russia invaded in 2014. 'She first gained notoriety when she won a gold medal in ice dancing representing Russia at the 2006 Winter Olympics and later hosted an ice dancing show on Russias state-owned pro-Kremlin Channel One,' the Department noted. The Russian citizen, she lived and trained for more than a decade in the U.S. The couple both have children from previous relationships, and a daughter born in August 2014. Treasury also designated Peskovs two adult children, Nikolay Peskov (Nikolay) and Elizaveta Dmitriyevna Peskova (Liza) as being people whose property was blocked due to their relationship with Peskov. Nikolay grew up in the UK, later serving in the Russian Army and working for RT the Kremlin-backed outlet that social media companies placed restrictions on following Russia's invasion. She 'travels on private aircraft and yachts,' according to Treasury. Liza 'has tens of thousands of followers on social media, where she displays her luxurious lifestyle' and publicly supported Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Elizaveta Peskova posted the phrase "no to war" to her Instagram Live account, according to reports in Russia, only to quickly delete it. Treasury estimates Vekselberg's wealth at $6 billion, and he has long been reported to be close to Putin. His holdings 'span multiple sectors of the Russian Federation economy.' The government designated two of his holdings valued at $90 million each as 'blocked property': an Airbus A319 jet, and a yacht, Tango, which is flagged in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Treasury also designated 10 officials with Russia's second largest bank, VTB Bank. A former small-town Pennsylvania police chief has been convicted of raping a child in a case that has languished for years after the victim first came forward in 2012. The victim of former Weissport police chief Brent Robert Getz, 30, said that he began abusing her when she was six years old and he was 16. She said it happened hundreds of times, several times a week, until she was 11. The girl first told her elementary school substitute teacher that Gregory E. Wagner Jr., 31, had raped her. That abuse began when she was four and Wagner was 14. At one point, she recorded a video of Wagner forcing her to her watch pornography because nobody believed her. Police revisited the case in 2018. That's when the victim revealed that Getz, Wagner's friend, had also participated. Wagner later implicated Getz. Authorities have not described the girl's relationship to Wagner. In addition to the rape count, the jury found Getz, of Lehighton, guilty Thursday of one count each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child and indecent assault of a child under 12. His bail was immediately revoked and he was taken to jail. He has not yet been sentenced. After his 2019 arrest, Getz was fired from his job as police chief in Weissport, a town of 413 residents about 77 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Brent Robert Getz, 30, was convicted of child rape and other crimes on Thursday Gets was a police chief in Weissport, a town of 413 residents, until he was fired in 2019 after his arrest. Above, a police station in Lehighton, a nearby small town that operates, like Weissport, under Carbon County law enforcement The victim, who has not been identified, was first abused by Gregory E. Wagner Jr., 31, when she was four and he was 14. Getz joined in two years later, when he was 16 and the victim was 6 A message seeking comment was left for his lawyer, Brian J. Collins. Co-defendant Wagner Jr. pleaded guilty to child rape in November 2020 and agreed to testify against Getz. Both men, who were adolescents when the abuse began, await sentencing. According to Getz's 2019 arrest affidavit, the victim told a substitute teacher at her elementary school in early 2012, when she was 11, that Wagner had raped her. The Carbon County child welfare agency became involved, and the victim was interviewed by a child advocacy center in Scranton. A nurse concluded the child's symptoms and accounts were consistent with sexual abuse. Leslie Slingsby, executive director of Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center in East Norriton, an organization that helps respond when child abuse allegation are made, said the victim 'went through more than she or he ever needed to, absolutely.' 'These are cases that are heartbreaking because it has taken this child so long to get justice as well as for this child to ensure they were safe, for children in the community to be safe,' Slingsby said. Pennsylvania enacted drastic changes in handling of child sexual abuse cases in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal, Slingsby said, 'but it seems like this should have certainly been resolved before that.' Authorities first interviewed Wagner, the first perpetrator, in 2012, but he didn't plead guilty until 2020 as the case languished during the investigation phase. Above, a police car for Lehighton, the nearby town where Getz lives A Franklin Township police officer spoke with Wagner in May 2012, but Wagner stopped the interview after a few minutes and obtained a lawyer, according to the affidavit. More than a year later, in June 2013, the same officer again questioned Wagner, this time with his lawyer present, the affidavit said. Wagner denied allegations and no charges were filed. The victim recorded a brief cellphone video of Wagner having her watch pornography 'a few months after the initial complaint was made against Wagner, because nobody believed her and she wanted to show people proof,' Sean McGlinn, an agent with the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, wrote in Getz's arrest affidavit. Three years later, in 2015, a criminal complaint was prepared against Wagner but was dismissed by a district judge because of what the attorney general's office has described as a paperwork error. A Franklin Township officer 'revisited' the case in 2018, at which time the victim revealed that Getz, a friend of Wagner's, also had sexually assaulted her, the attorney general's office has said. She said that two years after the assault began, when she was 6, Getz joined in, according to WFMZ. Getz would have been around 16 years old. Getz and Wagner raped her in Wagner's room while pornography played, the victim said. Wagner would also make her watch porn depicting teens with him. 'The defendants terrorized this young victim by assaulting her hundreds of times over seven years,' Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at the time. She said both men had sexually assaulted her hundreds of times, several times a week for about seven years, according to the arrest affidavit. Franklin Township Police Chief Jason Doll declined to comment, referring questions to state prosecutors. In September 2018, the Carbon County district attorney's office referred the matter to the attorney general's office regarding Getz, and in January 2019 regarding Wagner, according to the charging affidavit. Wagner confessed in March 2019 to sexual assault of the child and implicated Getz. A FIFO worker who attacked his colleague before he died believed he was an agent for ASIO and that his family was going to be harmed, a court heard. Troy Adam Hausler, 32, was in the midst of a psychotic break when he launched his attack against Toby Richter, 40, the Western Australia Supreme Court heard. Mr Richter was found dead near a rock crusher at Pilbara Mineral's Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project, 120km south of Port Hedland, in November 2019. He was a father-of-two who had served with the armed forces and received a medal for bravery. Hausler was due to stand trial over Mr Richter's death shortly after the incident but the start of the proceedings was pushed back to February 2022. The court heard Hausler believed he was working as an agent for ASIO and that he could telepathically communicate with his workmates who were telling him that Mr Richter was a paedophile who was going to harm his family. Troy Hausler (pictured), a FIFO worker who attacked his colleague before he died believed he was an agent for ASIO and that his family was going to be harmed, a court heard Troy Adam Hausler, 32, was in the midst of a psychotic break when he launched his attack against Toby Richter, 40 (pictured), the Western Australia Supreme Court heard The court heard Hausler confronted Mr Richter in a tunnel at the mining site, grabbed him and then wrestled him to the ground. Hausler then looked for a pulse on Mr Richter, but could not find one, before he wrapped his body in a tarpaulin, secured it with ropes and attempted to load it onto the back of a four-wheel drive, the court was told. A colleague walked into the tunnel, noticed the tarpaulin, and was told by Hausler, 'it's rubbish... it's sh**, we have to get rid of it.' He then left and brought back another colleague before the pair reported the incident to police. Prosecutor Les Hobson said a coroner's report had found Hausler's DNA on Mr Richter's neck and collar, and bruising to his head, neck, torso and limbs. Despite their severity, the coroner found the injuries were not the cause of death. Widespread hardening was found in Mr Richter's arteries as well as signs of a previous coronary condition. The court heard the exact cause of death remains unknown. Psychiatric reports from two psychiatrists were presented to the court. One found Hausler suffered from either schizophrenia or a schizo-affective disorder, while the other said he was bipolar with psychotic features. Mr Richter was a father-of-two who had served with the armed forces and received a medal for bravery Mr Richter's sister Vanessa read in court a victim impact statement written by her mother Mr Richter's sister Vanessa read in court a victim impact statement written by her mother. 'I am broken, numb, dead inside,' she read. 'There is no heart left to break as it is already in pieces.' 'Tobias's kids will have to live knowing what was done to their dad.' Ms Richter revealed she had lost her two-year-old daughter to cancer six months before her brother's death. Hausler was raised in Ballarat and dropped out of high school before he completed extensive on-the-job training certificates. Defence lawyer Rebekah Sleeth said his mother described him as a 'loving son' who was 'quite a logical and practical man who enjoyed boating, fishing and making things with his hands'. Hausler submitted a plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter. He will be sentenced at the Supreme Court on March 17. KIDNEY patients continue facing challenges such as the high cost of treatment despite many interventions made by non-governmental organisations to reduce the costs of dialysis. Speaking to NewsDay Weekender on the backdrop of the World Kidney Day commemorations held on Thursday, consultant physician and nephrologist Martin Odwee said improvements were being made on kidney treatment in the country. Odwee said he envisaged a bright future as better solutions and kidney regimens were continuously being introduced. In the 1980s, dialysis was only limited to acute care. Since then, several government and private units offer chronic dialysis programmes. Similarly, kidney transplant did not exist. Today, many patients have undergone kidney transplants. Better medications now exist to reverse or reduce kidney disease. Costs for the entire above still remain a stumbling block, he said. Odwee said there was need for more education on kidney diseases. World Kidney Day was set up to improve awareness of kidney disease but this awareness should be done every day. Zimbabwe has about 2 000 patients with chronic kidney diseases. The only treatment for kidney ailment is dialysis. Most public hospitals charge about US$80 per each dialysis session, while private hospitals charge as much as US$240 per session. A kidney patient requires three sessions per week. Newsday The white Columbus police officer who fatally shot shot a 16-year-old black girl last year has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, Ohio prosecutors announced on Friday. Ma'Khia Bryant was killed last April by Nicholas Reardon after she swung a knife at another young woman. Reardon was 23 years old at the time. Police have said they were called to Bryant's foster home on April 20, 2021, because a group of girls was threatening to stab other members of the household. Body camera footage showed Reardon, who was 23 at the time, asking what was going on when he arrived at the scene. Just seconds later, Bryant could be seen lunging at an older woman with a knife. Bryant was then shot four times and died from her injuries. The coroner listed the cause of death as a homicide - a medical determination used in cases where someone has died at another's hand. It does not imply criminal intent. Her killing further heightened racial tensions as it came just moments before the Derek Chauvin verdict. It also cast a light on the state's foster care system - and ultimately led to a Justice Department review of the police department in Ohio's capital city. But on Friday, a grand jury issued a 'no bill' - meaning they did not find probable cause for murder charges was committed. In announcing the grand jury decision, special prosecutors Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer noted: 'Under Ohio law the use of deadly force by a police officer is justified when there exists an immediate or imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another.' They said the decision followed a full review of the shooting. Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon (pictured) was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by a grand jury on Friday for the April shooting of a 16-year-old black girl Ma'Khia Bryant was killed by a Columbus police officer on April 20, 2021 as she swung a knife at another member of her foster home The incident occurred when Ma'Khia and her sister, Ja'Niah, were at their foster home with Tionna Bonner, 22, a former resident of the home. Ja'Niah has said that the older woman was berating them for not being clean enough and for disrespecting their foster mother, The New York Times reported, but as the argument escalated, Ja'Niah called her grandmother, Jeanne Hammonds, for help. Hammonds had previously cared for the sisters after they were taken from their mother over claims of abuse and neglect, but said she lost custody when her landlord kicked her out of her home and she had nowhere permanent to live. In interviews last year, Hammonds described arriving at the foster home, and trying to keep her grandchildren separated from Bonner and another former foster child who joined the fray. Hammonds said she urged her granddaughters to pack up their belongings, and was planning to take them back to her house. But as the shouting continued, Ma'Khia grabbed a steak knife from the kitchen and Bonner grabbed a pink knife from her car. Bonner later told investigators on the scene that she had put the knife back into her car. Meanwhile, inside the house, Ja'Niah called 911 saying that 'grown girls' were 'trying to 'stab us' and tried to hurt her grandmother. Bryant could be seen in body camera footage later lunging toward another girl, Shai-onta Craig, who fell to the ground. Ma'Khia then stepped over her, before moving toward Bonner. At that point, an Attorney General's report released Friday reveals, Reardon yelled at Ma'Khia to 'get down' four times before he opened fire. Ma'Khia Bryant is seen holding a knife while lunging toward another girl in police bodycam footage taken in Columbus, Ohio, on April 20 Bryant is pictured on the ground after the shooting In the aftermath, Reardon told investigators he didnt think using mace or a 'hands-on' approach would have worked because of the knife in Bryants hand, because he thought he was the only officer on scene and because Bryant appeared much bigger than him. 'At the time I fired my weapon, I was in fear for the life of the female in pink,' Reardon said, referring to Craig. Jeff Simpson, the president of the union that represents Columbus police officers, said he sat with Reardon and his family for four hors on Friday as they awaited the grand jury decision. He said Reardon was relieved by the decision, but was still grappling with having killed a teenage girl, in what he said was an attempt to save the life of Craig. 'He wishes he never would've been put in that position,' Simpson said of Reardon, adding that Reardon, who has been on desk duty since the incident, hopes to return to patrolling. Reardon has previously served in the Air National Guard, where he earned an earned 'expert marksman' badge. The city will now conduct an internal review to determine whether Reardon's actions followed department policy, the Columbus Public Safety Department tweeted. Bryant's family, meanwhile, expressed disappointment that Reardon wasn't charged and said in a statement: 'There should have been other non-deadly options available to deal with this situation.' Her family also called for 'full-scale changes' to Ohio's foster-care system to prevent similar tragedies. 'Ohios foster care system is failing our children and we cannot stand by and allow this to continue,' the statement said. 'As the one-year anniversary of MaKhias death approaches, her family is resolute in their fight for justice on her behalf.' Foster parent Angela Moore told investigators that neither Bryant nor her sister, who was also in the home, had ever displayed violence, but all the girls in the home periodically argued. But since Ma'Khia's death, it has been revealed that there have been several 911 calls made from the foster home over the past four years. Most of the 911 calls made from the home were made by Angela Moore - the home's foster mother - looking for help with foster girls who left without permission or didn't return after being out, according to documents and 911 calls obtained by The Associated Press through a records request. But on March 28, Ja'Niah, 15, told a 911 dispatcher 'I don't want to be here no more,' according to records obtained by the Associated Press. She told police she wanted to be placed in a different home. Informed that wasn't something police could do, 'The victim then became irate and stated that if she does not get to leave, then she was going to kill someone in the home,' a police report said. The girl was later taken to a hospital for an evaluation. Ma'Khia Bryant, right, had been living in the foster home with her sister, Ja'Niah One week after Bryants death, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther invited the Justice Department to review the police department for possible 'deficiencies and racial disparities.' The U.S. Justice Department accepted, and last fall agreed to review practices of the police department, saying its Office of Community Oriented Policing Services would conduct a review of what the department called technical assistance in such areas as training, recruitment including a focus on diversity and creating an early intervention system for officers. Columbus - the countrys 14th largest city - has recorded several contested police shootings, including the 2021 killing of 27-year-old Miles Jackson in an emergency room; and the 2020 shooting death of 47-year-old Andre Hill. The white police officer who fatally shot Hill has pleaded not guilty to a number of charges brought against him by the state attorney generals office. The estate lawyer for Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins who was shot and killed when a gun Alec Baldwin pointed at her on set went off called out the actor for his claims that she told him to point the weapon at her and fire. Attorney Brian Panish claimed Baldwin, 63, was trying to minimize the role he played in the October 21 incident that killed Hutchins, 42, as Baldwin appeared to pass the blame onto the victim in an arbitration demand filed on Friday. Baldwin also claimed that his contract shielded him from any financial responsibility related to Hutchins' death and that the lawsuit against the actor filed by the victim's family was what prevented the $7 million Western movie's completion. Despite the tragedy, Baldwin had attempted to convince cast and crew to finish filming Rust in Hutchins' honor in the weeks after the shooting and have the proceeds from the movie go toward a settlement with the woman's husband, Matthew Hutchins, and nine-year-old son, according to the filings that also revealed Baldwin had been texting Matthew. 'Alec Baldwin once again is trying to avoid liability and accountability for his reckless actions before and on October 21st that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins,' Panish told Deadline. 'Baldwins disclosure of personal texts with Matt Hutchins is irrelevant to his demand for arbitration and fails to demonstrate anything other than Hutchins dignity in his engagement with Baldwin. 'It is shameful that Baldwin claims Hutchins actions in filing a wrongful death lawsuit derailed the completion of Rust,' Panish added. 'The only action that ended the films production was Baldwins killing of Halyna Hutchins.' Baldwin was spotted Friday in New York City walking with his family. Attorney Brian Panish, who represents the late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins' estate, slammed Alec Baldwin for his claims that Hutchins order him to fire the gun pointed at her on October 21. Baldwin is pictured walking with his family on Friday On Friday, Baldwin claimed he was protected from financial liability from the shooting. Later in the day, he went on a stroll with wife Hilaria (left) and two of their kids Alec Baldwin and Halyna Hutchins (center), along with other cast, are pictured on the Rust set. Baldwin had wanted to keep filming the movie following the fatal shooting According to documents filed in court on Friday, Baldwin ultimately blamed the fact that Rust went unfinished on the lawsuit filed against him by Hutchins' family Hutchins' estate lawyer said the only one to blame for the film's failed launch was Baldwin The actor made the allegation about Hutchins in an arbitration demand that his lawyers filed on Friday with the JAMS arbitration system against his fellow producers. The document maintains that the terms of Baldwin's contract shielded him from carrying any financial responsibility related to Hutchins' death, or paying legal fees. Baldwin has been named as a defendant in multiple lawsuits that have been filed in connection with the fatal shooting. Baldwin, who was also a producer on Rust, was pointing the a Pietta Long Colt 45 at Hutchins inside a small church during the setup for the filming of a scene for the Western in New Mexico on October 21 when it went off, killing Hutchins and wounding the director, Joel Souza. 'This is a rare instance when the system broke down, and someone should be held legally culpable for the tragic consequences. That person is not Alec Baldwin,' according to the filing. 'October 21 was also the worst day in Alec Baldwins life. That day has and will continue to haunt Baldwin.' Friday's filing repeatedly argued that the actor was not responsible for the cinematographer's death because he had been assured that the gun he was using in the scene did not contain live bullets, and also because he was not responsible for checking the ammunition, as The New York Times first reported. 'An actor cannot rule that a gun is safe,' the filing said. 'That is the responsibility of other people on the set.' Baldwin was paid $250,000 to star in and produce the low-budget Western, but he gave $100,000 of that sum back as an investment in the film. His lawyers maintained that as a producer, he was involved only in creative decisions, but was not responsible for hiring staff or gun safety on set. Alec Baldwin's attorneys stated in a new court filing that the actor was following Rust cinematographer's directions when he pointed a gun at her and pulled the trigger, killing her The actor said he said he remains 'hopeful when the facts come out we will not be held criminally responsible' for the shooting that killed 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins (pictured) Lawsuits filed against Alec Baldwin and Rust production members The Hutchins Family: Matthew Hutchins, husband of late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and about two dozen other defendants - including armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director David Halls - in February, claiming they disregarded standard industry practices meant to keep movie sets safe. The complaint alleges 'reckless behavior and cost cutting led to the senseless and tragic death of Halyna Hutchins'. Script Supervisor Mamie Mitchell: Mamie Mitchell filed a lawsuit against Baldwin in November 2021 arguing he should have checked the Colt 45 revolver he was holding to make sure it did not include live ammunition. Mitchell, who said she was in the line of fire during the shooting, alleges assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and deliberate infliction of harm and is seeking unspecified damages. Chief Electrician Serge Svetnoy: Serge Svetnoy also filed a suit against the actor, Gutierrez-Reed and Halls in November 2021 alleging negligence. Svetnoy accused the producers and others of failing to implement safety standards and of allowing 'a revolver loaded with live ammunition to be pointed at living persons on the Rust set.' He alleged there was 'no reason' for a live bullet to be placed in the gun or even present on set. Key Medic Cherlyn Schaeffer: Cherlyn Schaeffer filed a lawsuit against Gutierrez-Reed and Halls in February 2022 claiming their negligence lead to actor Baldwin being handed a gun with a live round. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, also included the movie's production company and others like prop master Sarah Zachry. Schaeffer alleges the incident caused her so much emotional distress that she cannot work, claiming she's, 'medically prevented from returning to the profession or any other job.' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed: Gutierrez-Reed in January sued the supplier of the ammunition used on the set of the Western film, PDQ Media Arm & Prop owner Seth Kenney, claiming the company led to 'live rounds to be introduced on the New Mexico movie set' after selling blank and live rounds packaged together. Lawyers for the armorer also allege that she was not present when Baldwin had been practicing the cross-draw move, and that no one told her that was going on. They claim that had she 'been called back in, she would have re-inspected the weapon, and every round again, and instructed Baldwin on safe gun practice with the cross-draw, as was her standard practice'. Advertisement The arbitration demand offered a detailed account of what Baldwin said took place during the scene in the church, which called for the actor's character, Harland Rust, to fire a Colt. According to the document, Hutchins instructed Baldwin how to hold the gun. 'She directed Baldwin to hold the gun higher, to a point where it was directed toward her,' the filing stated. 'She was looking carefully at the monitor and then at Baldwin, and then back again, as she gave these instructions. In giving and following these instructions, Hutchins and Baldwin shared a core, vital belief: that the gun was cold and contained no live rounds.' Baldwin then asked Hutchins if she wanted him to pull back the hammer on the Colt, and she allegedly said yes. The actor pulled back the hammer 'but not far enough to actually cock the gun,' the filing said. When Baldwin let go of the hammer, the gun discharged. Baldwin's lawyer wrote that it was not until the actor was shown a photo of the bullet that had gone through Hutchins and Souza's bodies that he 'recognized the object as a live bullet.' 'He was shocked,' attorney Luke Nikas added. Hutchins' husband, Matthew Hutchins, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and about two dozen other defendants - including 'Rust' armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director David Halls - last month, claiming they disregarded standard industry practices meant to keep movie sets safe. These included failure to use a prop gun rather than a live weapon, a lack of individuals qualified to handle weapons on set at the time of the shooting, and lack of protective equipment for crew. The complaint alleges 'reckless behavior and cost cutting led to the senseless and tragic death of Halyna Hutchins'. Matthew's attorney, Brian Panish, said his firm has conducted an independent investigation that uncovered 'numerous violations of industry standards' by Baldwin and the other defendants named in the complaint. A 10-minute video created by Matthew's attorneys showed a 3D animated recreation of the shooting during a rehearsal in a church. It shows a computer-generated avatar representing Baldwin accepting the Colt gun from Halls, pointing it in Hutchins' direction, and firing. The animation shows that the bullet in the chamber was live and not a 'dummy' with a hole drilled into it. The round strikes Hutchins, who clutches her chest and collapses in the video. The lawsuit also states: 'Halyna Hutchins deserved to live, and the Defendants had the power to prevent her death if they had only held sacrosanct their duty to protect the safety of every individual on a set where firearms were present instead of cutting corners on safety procedures where human lives were at stake, rushing to stay on schedule and ignoring numerous complaints of safety violations.' The attorneys also claimed Baldwin had 'refused' training for the kind of gun draw he was doing when he shot Hutchins. The complaint also claims that Baldwin never checked the gun himself for ammunition before using it. The suit also included a copy of a text message where a local camera operator made safety complaints to producers that there had been three unsafe weapons discharges and that the set was 'super unsafe'. The unit production manager responded 'with callous sarcasm', according to the lawsuit. He said in response that it was 'awesome' and 'sounds good'. In response to the civil suit filed by Hutchins' family, Baldwin's lawyer Aaron Dyer said the actor should have been able to rely on the film's armorer, prop department and assistant directors to ensure the gun was safe to use. In Friday's filing, his lawyer wrote that Gutierrez-Reed had told him that 'it was her job to check the gun not his.' It also disputes that Baldwin had refused to attend 'cross-draw' training, saying that he had asked about lessons before arriving on set, and that he had received the necessary training. Baldwin is pictured above in a 3D video simulation that shows the moment he fired the shot that killed Hutchins Matthew has also publicly shared his frustrations with the actor's refusal to take responsibility for his role in the shooting. 'He said essentially he felt grief but no guilt. Almost sounds like he was the victim,' Matthew said in a TODAY interview last month. 'The idea that the person holding the gun a/nd causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me.' In the arbitration demand, Baldwin's lawyer said that in the days and weeks after the shooting, the actor and Matthew Hutchins remained on good terms, and even had breakfast together. On that occasion, the filing claims, the widower hugged Baldwin and told him: 'I guess were going to go through this together.' The two men continued exchanging text messages over the next few months, but the tone of their communications grew colder after Baldwin did an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, during which he publicly denied responsibility for Halyna's death. A professor has called one of Britains most prestigious universities an orgy of debauchery after alleging he was sexually harassed by two female colleagues. Dr Theodore Piepenbrock told a tribunal there was a culture of heavy drinking and affairs between academics at the London School of Economics (LSE). He claims he was the victim of a campaign of vengeance there after making complaints. The economist, who is seeking more than 4million in compensation, said LSE destroyed his career after he complained he had been sexually harassed by Joanne Hay, now LSEs deputy chief operating officer. Dr Piepenbrock, 57, said he was in a lift in his first week as a fellow and deputy dean at the department of management when Miss Hay entered and appeared to be very drunk. Dr Theodore Piepenbrock, 57, a top economist, is seeking 4million in compensation from the London School of Economics (LSE), claiming he was the victim of sexual harassment by two female colleagues He said: After the doors closed, the woman approached me, put her hand on my chest, spoke close enough to me to smell alcohol on her breath. 'Miss Hay told me, Please dont hesitate to let me know if there is anything I can do to make your stay more pleasurable. I asked Miss Hay to take her hand off my chest and please to leave me alone. The Times reported how he filed a grievance report against her at LSE for sexual assault, harassment and defamation. My rejection of Miss Hay appears to have caused a multi-year campaign of vengeance against me, he added. Dr Piepenbrock also alleged a female teaching assistant became obsessed with him on a work trip. He said he had to dismiss the woman, Miss D, after she opened her hotel room naked from the waist down. He told LSE officials he was being harassed by her but was unaware Miss D also complained about him, alleging he told her she had a beautiful body and threatened to ruin her reputation. He denies her allegations. He went off work after suffering from depression. His LSE contract was not renewed. Joanne Hay, now the LSEs deputy chief operating officer, allegedly sexually harassed Dr Theodore Piepenbrock Dr Theodore Piepenbrock told a tribunal there was a culture of heavy drinking and affairs between academics the LSE Based on my personal experience of Miss Hays drunken sexual assault Miss Ds indecent exposure and the LSEs systemic refusal to investigate my grievances... I can only describe LSE as an orgy of debauchery, he told the tribunal. He is claiming victimisation, unfair dismissal and disability discrimination because LSE allegedly failed to take account of his autism and depression. LSE denied wrongdoing. It said there was no basis for extending his three-year fellowship given the nature and extent of [his] grievances. In a separate case, Piepenbrock lost a 4 million compensation claim against LSE at the High Court in 2018 for errors in the handling of a complaint against him by a young female teaching assistant. The court found that his conduct towards her was 'inappropriate...inept...unprofessional and wrong'. A farmer has told how he has decided to grow wheat on land that was not due to be planted on until next autumn as he expects demand to soar. Dan Wallis, who runs Rookery Farms in Newbury, Berkshire, said he made the decision as he anticipated shortages of wheat and barley in the short term. 'Given the current crisis in Ukraine the demand for food is ever increasing,' he told the BBC. 'There's going to be a shortage of wheat and barley, predominantly wheat, so today we are planting spring wheat into some fallow land which should have remained fallow until next autumn.' Dan Wallis (pictured), who runs Rookery Farms in Newbury, Berkshire, said he made the decision as he anticipated shortages of wheat and barley in the short term The Government has downplayed claims that there will be food supply issues due to the war in Ukraine. Commons leader Mark Spencer told MPs this week: 'There is no prospect of food shortages at any point in the future, and Defra are working with Treasury to try and make sure that that continues to be the case.' In Ireland farmers have been urged to grow more crops to offset food supply issues something unheard of since the Second World War. Some 60 per cent of grain is imported there. The UK bought a record 2.6billion of goods from Russia the month before Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine. Januarys imports included 911.5million of fuel, according to Office for National Statistics data 32million of coal, coke and briquettes, 590.4million of oil and 289.1million of gas. Now countries including the UK and the US have committed to wean themselves off Russian oil and gas. The UK bought a record 2.6billion of goods from Russia the month before Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine. Pictured: LNG tanker ship 'Arctic Discoverer' seen arriving at the National Grid's Grain facility in Kent last month Britain's imports from Russia included 590.4million of oil and 289.1million of gas. Pictured: The Bovanenkovo gas field on the Yamal peninsula in the Arctic Circle, the source of liquid natural gas Britain pays billions for each year The UK's imports from Russia reached record levels in January 2022 - doubling from 1.3billion in December 2021 to 2.6billion just one month later But this is pushing up prices even further, as demand for fuel sourced from elsewhere has soared. The 2.6billion spent in January which also included 3million of animal feed, 24.9million of chemicals, 11million of steel and 22.1million of other metals was double the 1.3billion of Russian imports in December. and far higher than the previous record, set at just under 1.4billion in December 2020. Last year, Britains imports from outside the EU overtook those from within it for the first time since 1997. Exports to the EU slipped 3billion month-on-month to 11.6billion in January. Heartbroken relatives of those lost to America's opioid crisis branded pharmaceutical bosses 'scum of the earth' to their faces. In an extraordinary court confrontation, those whose lives have been blighted by the painkiller OxyContin told their harrowing stories to members of the Sackler family, which owns the drug's maker Purdue Pharma. One mother who became hooked, Kara Trainor, told how her baby son was born addicted. 'If you have ever heard the screams of a newborn in withdrawal they will haunt you for the rest of your life,' she told the specially convened virtual hearing. Another mother told the three members of the Sackler family: 'You murdered my daughter and destroyed my family.' The hearing took place in a courtroom in White Plains, New York, which is handling the bankruptcy of Purdue Pharma. One mother who became hooked, Kara Trainor, (pictured) told how her baby son was born addicted The company and its executives are accused of pushing OxyContin to patients even though they knew it was highly addictive. The result was arguably America's biggest public health crisis which led to more than 500,000 deaths over the past two decades. More than 140,000 have filed legal claims against Purdue and are due to split a compensation pot of 570million. The court heard from around two dozen relatives of those who overdosed or were addicted to the painkiller. One after another, victims gave accounts of surgeries or illnesses that led to OxyContin prescriptions, followed by dependency, despair, rounds of drug-abuse treatment, personal and financial ruin and, all too often, death by overdose or suicide. Delivering her gut-wrenching testimony, recovering addict Miss Trainor addressed the drugmakers she holds responsible for a lifetime of suffering. She described giving birth to her son, Riley, while she was taking methadone for her addiction in harrowing detail. Riley, now 11, has autism and still uses a baby cup and wears nappies. Miss Trainor said: 'He will need care for the rest of his life'. One after another, victims gave accounts of surgeries or illnesses that led to OxyContin prescriptions, followed by dependency, despair, rounds of drug-abuse treatment, personal and financial ruin and, all too often, death by overdose or suicide (stock image) Attending the hearing was Dr Richard Sackler, 77, a former Purdue president who listened off camera a decision which caused fury among the victims. His son David Sackler, 41, a former board member and Dame Theresa Sackler, 73, the British-born third wife of Dr Mortimer Sackler, one of the company's founders, were also there. Kirsty Nelson, who found her son Bryan, 20, dead of an overdose, said: 'You have truly benefited from the death of children. You are scum of the earth'. Purdue has twice pleaded guilty to criminal charges, but no Sacklers have been charged with crimes. Earlier this week Judge Robert Drain gave tentative approval to key elements of a plan to settle thousands of lawsuits against Perdue. If finally approved, the deal will generate 7.6billion or more to fight addiction and overdoses. Through family charities, the Sacklers are estimated to have given almost 170million to British museums, arts organisations and universities in the last decade. A bill that would abolish the need for a background check or a license to carry a gun in public passed the Georgia House on Friday, moving a step closer to the 'constitutional carry' that Gov. Brian Kemp and other Republicans have promised to deliver in an election year. House Bill 1358 passed 94-57, moving to the Senate for more debate. The Senate passed a similar measure last month. Republicans said it was needed to allow people to more easily protect themselves from crime, citing civil unrest seen in some 2020 protests over racial injustice in Atlanta. They also argued that the current process infringes on Second Amendment gun rights. People who want to conceal carry have to apply for a permit, get their fingerprints taken, pass a background check and pay a fee, usually about $75. Gov. Brian Kemp praised the House for passing the bill in a tweet Friday, adding that he's committed to helping 'Constitutional Carry across the finish line!' Twenty-one states no longer require a permit to conceal carry, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether New York's permitting process, one of the most restrictive in the country, violates the Second Amendment. Experts have said they expect New York will be forced to rewrite its rules. The Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill that would abolish the need for a license or background check to conceal carry in the state. Above, a gun rights advocate touches his pistol while participating in a rally across from the Georgia State Capitol on March 2 Gov. Brian Kemp praised lawmakers for their efforts on Friday. Above, Kemp and his wife Marty (left) at the March for the 2nd Rally' at Liberty Plaza in Atlanta on March 2 'It's great to see so much support for the 2nd Amendment, as the General Assembly considers bills to uphold this fundamental right,' Kemp wrote in his tweet. Currently, those who want to conceal carry in Georgia have to have a Weapons Carry License or WCL. They have to apply in their county's probate court, pass a background check, provide their fingerprints and pay an average fee of $75. Republicans argue that there's too much bureaucracy involved in carrying a gun, something that should theoretically be allowed under the Constitution. 'All of our other constitutional rights issued to us don't require a fee to the government to exercise,' said Rep. Mandi Ballinger, the Canton Republican sponsoring the bill. 'We can say what we want; we can assemble; We can worship as we please. All of these rights, none of them we have to pay for. This bill gets the government out of our way and allows us to do what we need to do in these precarious times.' Sen. Jason Anavitarte, a Republican co-sponsor, pointed out that anyone hoping to buy a gun would still undergo a background check, which are triggered at the point of sale at gun stores. 'The requirement to have a permit does not deter nor disincentive a criminal from carrying a firearm concealed,' he said before the Judiciary committee passed the bill, according to WAGA. 'They will do it regardless. Permitless carry gives criminals a reason to fear that any potential victim could be armed.' Those who want to conceal carry must currently apply for a license in court, get their fingerprints taken, pass a background check and pay an average fee of $75. Above, demonstrators at the March for the 2nd Rally at Liberty Plaza on March 2 Democratic state Sen. Elena Parent says the bill would 'remove one of the very small' ways of keeping guns from criminals Sen. Elena Parent, a Democrat, pressed Anavitarte about the loss of a background check, and argued that the bill would 'remove one of the very small' ways of keeping guns from criminals. Anavitarte said that was best addressed by investing in law enforcement and policing, WAGA reports. Democrats said the measure would fuel gun deaths by encouraging more guns, increase crime, and putting police officers' lives in danger. 'It is going to mean more crime, more shootings,' said Rep. Matthew Wilson, a Brookhaven Democrat. 'More guns equal more shootings. It's not complicated. It's very simple in fact.' More than 20 other states allow concealed weapons in public without a permit, according to Stateline, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts. Georgia currently requires people to obtain a license to carry a loaded handgun outside their own homes, businesses or cars, although people can carry rifles and shotguns in many places without a permit and carry unloaded guns in cases. To obtain a weapons license, residents must submit an application and fee and undergo fingerprinting in addition to a background check. Convicted felons and people who have been hospitalized for mental health problems or received treatment for drugs or alcohol in the years preceding the application aren't eligible. Democrats said the process leads to thousands of people with criminal records or mental illness being denied licenses each year in Georgia. 'You're wanting to relax what little check we have and why, what for?' asked Rep. Shea Roberts, an Atlanta Democrat. 'Because it's inconvenient for law-abiding citizens to fill out a form?' State Rep. Heath Clark says the bill 'does not change who can carry or where you can carry' Republicans, though, said people would still have to pass a federal background check to buy a gun. The permits would still exist, as well, because they allow people to carry guns outside Georgia under interstate agreements. 'This bill does not change who can carry or where you can carry,' said Rep. Heath Clark, Republican from Warner Robins. 'It simply says that if you meet all of the qualifications that the state has laid out to be able to carry a firearm in this state, that you can carry that firearm without having to ask permission and pay what is essentially a tax.' Some said that delays in issuing licenses when courthouses were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic led them to change their mind and support the measure.' 'What good is owning a gun, a firearm, if you can't carry it to protect yourself?' Clark said. When he ran for governor in 2018, Kemp promised to support constitutional carry, but little progress was made on the issue before this year. Kemp is pushing harder this year to abolish permit requirements, facing a primary challenge from Republicans including former US Sen. David Perdue. Kemp says Georgia residents should have their constitutional rights protected and be able to protect themselves and their families amid a spike in violent crime. 'We now have a governor who has said that he will support permitless carry,' said Rep. Alan Powell, a Hartwell Republican who said he has long supported the move. 'That's the difference, ladies and gentlemen.' But Democrats, warning of public opinion polls citing opposition, vowed to make Republicans pay for the move. 'We've all witnessed the pressures that the majority party is under, the pressure to cater to far-right activists that are so disconnected from reality that they cannot be reasoned with,' Wilson said. 'Almost every session you give them a nibble of what they want. But this is a whole lot more than just a nibble.' Last week, Kemp's re-election campaign condemned progressive activist Stacey Abrams for comparing her fight to change her state's election laws to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky leading his country against a Russian invasion. Progressive Georgia activist Stacey Abrams was criticized by Republicans from her state for comparing her fight against Georgia election laws to Ukraine's fight against a Russian invasion 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 A spokesman for Kemp's (center) 2022 campaign told DailyMail.com that Abrams' comparison is 'disgusting' and suggested she was using the unfolding tragedy for her own gain. Speaking to the Daily Show with Trevor Noah, 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. 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 lost to Kemp in 2018 in a close race for governor of the Peach State. Listening to classical music makes wine taste better because it enhances our perception of taste, researchers have found. The more exciting a piece of music, the more exciting drinkers find what is in their glass, the study revealed. By contrast, wine enthusiasts should avoid drinking their favourite tipple in silence if they want to get the best out of it. Wine expert Susan Lin who conducted the study found that playing music while sipping champagne makes it taste fruitier, bubblier and more complex. Miss Lin, a Master of Wine, conducted a blind taste test in which she had participants taste wine from five different glasses while playing a piece of music for each one. Listening to classical music makes wine taste better because it enhances our perception of taste, researchers find after conducting a blind taste test with and without background music. Stock image of a couple enjoying champagne The participants did not know that each glass was filled with the same champagne, a Veuve Clicquot non-vintage yellow label brut. Miss Lin, who is also a classically trained pianist, selected four contrasting pieces of music and then asked people to taste their fifth glass in silence. Participants were asked to rank each glass for complexity, fruitiness, how bubbly it was, freshness and how much they enjoyed the wine and music. Music universally improved perception of taste when compared with silence and of her 71 participants, 70 believed they were tasting five different wines. Miss Lin, based in San Francisco, US, told Decanter magazine that even participants who disliked classical music still preferred a tipple with music instead of silence. When listening to classical music, participants in the study said they found the same champagne bubblier, fruitier and more complex. Pictured: French violinist Renaud Capucon performing on stage Speaking to the GuildSomm wine podcast, Miss Lin said: When people thought the music was exciting, they also felt the wine was exciting. And the more exciting it was, the bubblier the wine was perceived to be. Wine liking ratings for all four musical selections were higher than silence. A 19-year-old man was stabbed to death in broad daylight today in front of horrified onlookers. Police received a report of a stabbing on Market Street in Bury town centre shortly before 4pm on Friday. Emergency services attended to the man at the scene before he was taken to hospital where he later died. Greater Manchester Police received a report of a stabbing on Market Street in Bury town centre shortly before 4pm on Friday (File image) Police asked anyone with information to contact them after the 19-year-old died from his stab wounds Greater Manchester Police appealed for information after the teenager died from his wounds. Detective Superintendent Lewis Hughes, of the force's Bury district, said an investigation was now underway over the incident and urged anyone who may have information to come forward. He said: 'Detectives are leaving no stone unturned. 'It is without doubt that this news will have an impact on the community. 'This incident happened in Bury town centre so we know there may be witnesses and members of the public who may have mobile phone footage. 'If you were in Bury town centre at this time and saw any disturbance in or around the Millgate Shopping Centre then we ask that you contact Greater Manchester Police.' Detective Superintendent Lewis Hughes, of the force's Bury district, said: 'Detectives are leaving no stone unturned' Police said there would be an increased uniform presence in Bury town centre, and 'where appropriate powers of stop search will be utilised'. Anyone with information is asked to contact Greater Manchester Police quoting incident reference 1940 of 11/03/22 via 0161 856 0027 or gmp.police.uk. Alternatively, the independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111. Smart CCTV using artificial intelligence should be deployed to spot terrorists on public transport and at major events, a counter-terrorism review has said. It suggested the cameras could be used to automatically flag suspicious behaviour. Yesterday it emerged that Network Rail has explored using cameras with artificial intelligence techniques and London Underground is also considering a pilot scheme to test the technology. Smart CCTV using artificial intelligence should be deployed to spot terrorists on public transport and at major events, a counter terrorism review has said Potentially, CCTV cameras could be programmed to 'flag up anomalous behaviours', like loitering on a train platform or leaving a bag unattended In the report into Londons preparedness for a major terrorist attack, Lord Toby Harris said: Consideration should also be given to how CCTV capabilities could harness emerging artificial intelligence techniques to automatically flag anomalous behaviours. He went on: An individual on a train station platform for much longer than is usual could represent a security threat, or alternatively could indicate a person considering an attempt on their own life either situation warrants intervention. We always want to know what's happening in our local community. Don't hesitate to send us a tip about any and all news relating to UCF and Orlando. SUBMIT Former Conservative foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has said the UK should boost its defence spending to American levels. He said the war in Ukraine was 'the biggest failure of Western foreign and security policy in our lifetimes'. Mr Hunt suggested the UK should increase spending on 'defence, aid and soft power' to at least 4 per cent of GDP over the next decade. It came as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy slammed Moscow for 'torturing' civilians who have spent more than a week without vital supplies in besieged cities as Vladimir Putin widened his onslaught of Ukraine yesterday. The Ukrainian premier accused Russia of refusing to allow evacuees to escape the city of Mariupol, which has been cut off from food, water and electricity, and defiantly insisted vital supplies would be delivered there tomorrow despite it being surrounded by Russian troops. Member of the Ukrainian armed forces stand amid the wreckage of houses damaged by Russian rockets on the outskirts of Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured) has said the UK should boost its defence spending to American levels 'It happened because we forgot the most fundamental lesson of the Cold War: the power of deterrence,' he wrote in the Telegraph. Mr Hunt said: 'Instead of peace through strength we caused war through weakness. 'Peace comes from strength, not luck.' The Kremlin-owned Tass news agency painted a damning picture for those stuck in the city after quoting Russian Colonel Mikhail Mizintsev as saying all bridge into the city were destroyed and roads had been laid with mines. 'Russian troops have not let our aid into the city and continue to torture our people... tomorrow [Saturday] we will try again, try again to send food, water and medicine' Zelenskiy said. The crisis in Mariupol deepened yet further last night as the death toll passed 1,500 and the deputy mayor claimed his besieged city had been 'totally destroyed'. Pictured: The aftermath of Russian artillery shelling on a residential area in Mariupol where a rocket hit a house A Russian army tank moves on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine today as the beseiged city is without water and electricity An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian's army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine today Ukrainian officials revealed on Friday that Russian soldiers had kidnapped Melitopol's mayor Ivan Fedorov from the city's crisis centre after he 'refused to co-operate with the enemy'. 'This is obviously a sign of weakness of the invaders... They have moved to a new stage of terror in which they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of legitimate local Ukrainian authorities,' President Zelensky said. 'The capture of the mayor of Melitopol is therefore a crime, not only against a particular person, against a particular community, and not only against Ukraine. Rescuers work at the scene of an airstrike in Dnipro during the first shelling of the Ukrainian city that killed a security guard Service members of pro-Russian troops in uniforms without insignia are seen next to a tank with the pro-Russia letter 'Z' painted on it outside a damaged residential building in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha, Donetsk A view of a destroyed building after airstrikes hit civil settlements as Russian attacks continue on Ukraine in Dnipro 'It is a crime against democracy itself... The acts of the Russian invaders will be regarded like those of Islamic State terrorists,' he said. In hellish scenes not witnessed on the continent since the Second World War, residents have resorted to fighting one another for food and bodies are buried in mass graves as more than 1,500 people have now died in the city. Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted: 'Besieged Mariupol is now the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the planet. 1,582 dead civilians in 12 days, even buried in mass graves. Firefighters spray water on a destroyed shoe factory following an airstrike in Dnipro after civilian targets came under Russian shelling People taking refuge at the Kharkiv Metro Station in Kharkiv after shelling from Russian troops around the city Trenches are prepared by the side of the road as a precaution amid Russian attacks in the capital city of Kyiv Russia attacked the Lutsk aircraft plant leading to large explosions in the Ukrainian city 'Unable to defeat the Ukrainian army, Putin bombs the unarmed, blocks humanitarian aid. We need planes to stop Russian war crimes!' A total of 7,144 people escaped four Ukrainian cities on Friday using humanitarian corridors, President Zelensky said in a televised address, a sharply lower number than managed to leave in each of the two previous days. For Britain to equal the United States's level of defence spending, tens of billions of pounds would need to be pumped into the armed forces, an action Chancellor Rishi Sunak is thought to be opposed to. Scott Morrison has said Australia is entering Phase D of the Covid pandemic, as he pushes for close contact rules to be scrapped. The Prime Minister labelled the requirement for close contacts to isolate for a week 'redundant' on Saturday while also ruling out the return of old hated restrictions. 'We believe we are in phase D now. Phase D means living with the virus like the flu,' Mr Morrison said. 'Airports are open again, there are waivers on quarantine for people returning, so we are pretty much in phase D.' Scott Morrison has said Australia is entering Phase D of the Covid pandemic, as he pushes for close contact rules to be scrapped He added that Western Australia was about a month behind in their response, but most of the other states and territories were on the same track. 'The other big change we talked about yesterday is getting rid of the close contact rule, which makes a lot of sense,' he said. 'It is important that we remove this close contact rule because it is starving businesses of staff, hospitals of staff. 'That rule is becoming, we believe as leaders, redundant, so we tasked the medical expert panel to say what your urgent advice is on this as soon as possible. 'We would like to say goodbye to that rule as quickly as we can.' The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee will need to provide further advice before any changes to the rules are made. The Prime Minister has asked them to urgently review the changes. Mr Morrison also said it was unlikely any of the old Covid rules Australians faced in the peak of outbreaks would ever be brought back The Prime Minister is hopeful old restrictions will not be reintroduced (pictured nail technician in Sydney in June, 2020) Mr Morrison declared a national emergency in NSW late on Friday in relation to floods which ravaged parts of the state (pictured is the PM and wife Jenny meeting flood-affected locals in McGrath's Hill in Sydney) Mr Morrison also said it was unlikely any of the old Covid rules Australians faced in the peak of outbreaks would ever be brought back. 'I certainly hope not. I can't see that,' he said. He added that while there was no way to tell the severity of future variants, the focus was on hospitalisations and not the number of cases. 'I have had it (Covid), and I isolated for a week, and I am back in on my feet, and it wasn't that pleasant but what I would say is this - make sure you get your booster,' he said. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard earlier shut down recommendations from the health organisation that more restrictions be brought in, amid fears Covid cases will grow to 25,000 a day. Indoor face masks, bans on singing and dancing, density limits and working from home are among the changes recommended by the state's health department. The suggestions were put forward to the health minister in an internal presentation amid forecasts of a horror winter season with Covid cases set to double, a new BA.2 strain to dominate and a deadly flu season. Mr Hazzard dismissed reintroducing the restrictions before claiming they would be taken as a 'last resort', The Sydney Morning Herald reported. 'As Health Minister I am not at all keen to be heading back the path that has exhausted everybody with all the restrictions,' he said. 'All that would be a last resort from my perspective.' Mr Hazzard said rising cases were 'a major issue that the whole health team is watching very closely.' The federal government is splitting a $250 million housing package with the NSW government which also includes rent relief as people are left homeless NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard earlier shut down recommendations from the health organisation that more restrictions be brought in, amid fears Covid cases will grow to 25,000 a day His biggest concern was 'the failure of about 45 per cent of eligible people not having had a booster'. NSW Health revealed in its presentation it was concerned about a 'substantial rise' in Covid cases between March and early May. 'We should plan for health system impacts of around 2.5 times what we are currently experiencing,' the slides read. 'This includes planning for an increase of around 2.5 times in staff furloughed, Covid-19 hospital admissions, ICU admissions and deaths'. NSW Health said in its presentation the department wants the state government to continue to enforce isolation compliance among Covid cases. The measures have been ditched elsewhere in the world including the UK. 'For the community, recommend reintroduction of indoor masks, and reintroduce other mitigations that were in place in schools,' the slides read. Their recommendations came as the state posted a further decline in Covid-19 cases on Saturday, with 12,850 new infections and a further four virus-related deaths. Scott and Jenny Morrison are seen visited flood affected homes in Sydney's north west on Saturday. He earlier said Australia was in Phase D of the Covid pandemic The new numbers follow 14,000 new cases on Friday and more than 16,000 on Thursday. Health officials say there are 966 coronavirus patients in hospitals across the state. Of these, 40 are in intensive care. It comes as Mr Morrison visited those ravaged by floods in Windsor, in Sydney's north-west. Mr Morrison declared a national emergency in NSW late on Friday, triggering additional resources for the state and allowing the federal government to access stockpiled resources and remove red tape in terms of business and welfare support. But the prime minister said locals would naturally be able to respond faster in disaster areas. 'That has always been an important part of our natural disaster response, and always will be,' Mr Morrison said as he toured the flooded Windsor region on Saturday. Mr Morrison walks around a home devastated by floodwaters in Sydney's north-west He also said 20 mobile home units had been set up in the Lismore area, with more than 100 more on the way, in a region where it's estimated two-in-three flood damaged homes will need to be demolished or undergo substantial repairs. The federal government is splitting a $250 million housing package with the NSW government which also includes rent relief as people are left homeless. 'It's going to be a long road back,' Mr Morrison said. The national emergency declaration comes as assistance is extended to a further 12 local government areas in NSW following severe flooding and storms throughout March. The LGAs include Cessnock, Cumberland, Dungog Shire, Goulburn-Mulwaree, Lithgow, Maitland, the mid-western region in the Central Tablelands, Muswellbrook Shire, Queanbeyan-Palerang, Singleton Shire, Snowy-Monaro, and Upper Hunter Shire. Advertisement Thousands of college students and party-goers have descended on Florida this week to celebrate what's expected to be the largest Spring Break ever, now free of COVID-19 restrictions. While 2020 saw a dismal 1,500 people a day flying to Florida and 2021 saw a crowd of about 65,000 Spring Breakers, the Tampa Bay Times estimated that 570,000 students will be on holiday in the Sunshine State to party on the beaches this year. The majority of Spring Breakers are estimated to come out this weekend, with Friday seeing sunny weather and temperatures in the low 80s. Saturday is expected to bring showers in the afternoon before fair weather returns on Sunday and Monday. The most hectic period of Spring Break, which is expected to last until March 20, comes as six college students, five of whom are West Point cadets, overdosed on fentanyl-laced cocaine on Thursday. Miami beaches were absolutely packed on Friday as throngs of students soaked up the sun and kicked off the weekend. The majority of Spring Breakers are estimated to come out this weekend, with Friday seeing sunny weather and temperatures in the low 80s as party goers kicked off what's expected to be the biggest Spring Break weekend yet in Miami About 570,000 students will be on holiday in the Sunshine State to party on the beaches as they enjoy their first spring break without any COVID-19 restrictions in place after poor showings in 2020 and 2021 Florida officials are on high alert to keep the partying safe as thousands descend upon the Miami beaches on Friday Friday and Saturday kicks off the most hectic period of Spring Break, which is expected to last until March 20 Party goers enjoyed the sun on Friday as Saturday is expected to bring light showers before clearing up on Sunday The celebration began on a morbid note after six students, five of which were west point cadets, overdosed on fentanyl-laced cocaine in Wilton Manors, Florida on Thursday This year, Fort Lauderdale officials are readying themselves by enforcing safety measures into place before the expected arrival of Spring Breakers from all across the country, starting this weekend. Police and fire rescue officials in Fort Lauderdale, often dubbed as 'Spring Break Central,' told reporters at a news conference on Friday that they expect to reach unprecedented levels since the coronavirus pandemic. 'We absolutely expect at least double if not triple what we saw last year as far as attendance,' Fort Lauderdale Police Maj. Bill Schultz told NBC Miami. Schultz added that the city is already welcoming a good amount of 'early birds' and that it is ready to anticipate the arrival of many more partygoers over the next few weeks, starting with this upcoming weekend's surge. AAA Tampa spokesman Mark Jenkins said that while AAA does not track Spring Break travel, the organization has seen an surge in travel for the event. 'People are feeling more confident about taking a trip and that's really what we're seeing on bookings,' Jenkins told ABC Tampa. 'AAA travel bookings right now are much stronger than they were this time last year so we're expecting a very strong Spring Break season,' Jenkins explained. Florida police are expecting Spring Break crowds to double and even triple over the weekend AAA said travel booking to Spring Break locations are much stronger as people enjoy the event for the first time since the partying scene was left devastated by the coronavirus pandemic A group of beach goers in Fort Lauderdale, considered 'Spring Break Central,' are pictured carrying a cooler to party The streets in Miami are packed with visitors on their way to the beaches to enjoy Spring Break on Friday Early birds enjoyed their time on the beach on Friday as Saturday is expected to bring a bigger wave of party goers Many were already on the beach earlier this week, but this weekend marks the largest expected outcome in Spring Break The upgraded security around tourist areas was key in the quick response after six students overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl on Thursday night, including five West Point cadets. Two of the cadets had not ingested the drugs but were overcome by the effects of fentanyl when they attempted to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on their sickened friends, Orlando Sun-Sentinel first reported on Friday. DailyMail.com reached to the U.S. Army Academy at West Point and was told by a representative that the college was 'aware' of the incident in Florida involving its students. 'The U.S. Military Academy is aware of the situation involving West Point cadets, which occurred Thursday night in Wilton Manors, FL,' a West Point spokesperson said in an email. 'The incident is currently under investigation and no other details are available at this time.' News helicopter video shows paramedics converging on the front yard of a short-term vacation rental home on NW 29th Court in Wilton Manors, where multiple people were found in cardiac arrest at 5 p.m. Thursday. Footage from the scene shows first responders administering first aid and placing several individuals onto stretchers. Fort Lauderdale Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Gollan told Local10 that two of the people who overdosed were sickened because they tried to perform CPR on the initial four overdose victims. He said the opioid-overdose-reversing drug naloxone, which is sold under the brand name Narcan, was administered to revive the victims. Four of the patients were taken to Broward Health Medical Center, and the remaining two were transported to Holy Cross Hospital. By Friday, one of the patients had been released from the hospital, two remained in critical condition after being intubated, and three were in stable condition. A suspect believed to be connected to the incident was arrested in Florida, police confirmed to WSVN Friday night. It is also unclear if the suspect was staying at the rental property with the Spring Breakers. Officials say four college students staying at a vacation rental home in Wilton Manors ingested the drug and went into cardiac arrest, and their two friends fell ill after coming into contact with the fentanyl by performing CPR on the patients A first responder in a HAZMAT suit is seen working at the scene of the mass overdose in Wilton Manors on Thursday night The six patients are college students who traveled to Fort Lauderdale for spring break. Five are cadets of West Point The overdosed vacationers were treated with nalaxone at the scene before being taken to a hospital, where one of them was listed in critical condition Paramedics are seen removing one of the overdoses college kids from the home on Thursday Gulf Shore, Florida, officials said the Miami incident was not an isolated case and warned that more overdoses could occur throughout the Spring Break season. Gulf Shore Fire Department Battalion Chief Melvin Shepard said Florida first responders have become well-equipped with administering Narcan nasal sprays or injectables to save those suffering an overdose. 'It's a reality of our culture,' Shepard told NBC 15. 'You can't just isolate it to Miami, it could very well happen here or the city next to us, so we have to do everything we can to be prepared for whatever comes our way.' The parents of an investment banker who was sexually abused as a teenager by his paedophile counsellor have demanded his private school give back the $85,000 they paid in tuition fees. Jim and Rosemary Welsh claim their son David was forced to leave a $1million-a-year role with Goldman Sachs due to psychiatric conditions stemming from abuse he suffered at the hands of Brisbane Grammar School counsellor Kevin Lynch in the 1980s. The former student, now 52, has himself launched a $30million lawsuit against the school over the abuse. His parents said despite the former banker now living on a disability pension which gives him a very limited quality of life, the school had 'arrogantly' rejected their claim for the school fees to be refunded. The parents of David Welsh (pictured left), who was sexually abused by a notorious paedophile counsellor, have demanded the private school repay the $85,000 tuition fees they paid Mr Welsh, 52, pictured as a teenager. He was abused at 15 by notorious paedophile Kevin Lynch in the 1984 while Lynch was working as a school counsellor. Now 52, he has launched legal action looking to recoup $30million in lost earnings 'He should have been a man with a good job and a family of his own but instead hes on a disability pension and a cocktail of medication... David's life is a total mess,' his mother Rosemary Welsh told The Sunday Mail. 'Grammar has to realise that David is not going to let them go, and neither are we,' Mrs Welsh said. Lynch, who was believed to have had 130 victims, took his own life in 1997 after being charged with child sex offences. His crimes were also committed at St Paul's School in Bald Hills in the city's north. St Paul's refunded fees to parents in 2015 after a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse delivered its findings. But Brisbane Grammar said its board had decided to instead offer a personal apology as part of its 'existing approach to redress and compensation'. His parents wrote to the school twice with their claim for the return of the school fees, claiming the abuse destroyed their son's life. Pictured: Kevin Lynch, who took his own life when he was charged with multiple child sex offences The school said its policy included a personal apology, which the parents said was of little value. Mrs Welsh accused the school of failing to offer a reasonable settlement which would avoid legal proceedings, and added refunding the fees was the least Brisbane Grammar could do. The school attempted mediation and made an offer to Mr Welsh which was rejected as 'derisory'. Lynch, who was believed to have had 130 victims, committed suicide in 1997 after being charged with child sex offences, committed at Brisbane Grammar (pictured) and St Pauls School in Bald Hills He said an impartial accountancy company calculated his potential loss of earnings based on the million-dollar annual salary he earned with Goldman Sachs before his career ended. Mrs Welsh said the choice of Brisbane Grammar for David 'haunted' them. Her son left his $1million-a-year job as an investment banker in London in 2002 due to psychiatric conditions caused by the sexual abuse. Three psychiatrists who assessed Mr Welsh - including one paid for by the school - said his professional and personal troubles were 'directly attributable' to the sexual abuse. The school said that since mediation failed, the fastest resolution was for the former student to launch legal proceedings. Last year it emerged, Mr Welsh's former classmates refused to support his public fight for $30 million compensation. Mr Welsh said an impartial accountancy company calculated his potential loss of earnings based on the million-dollar annual salary he earned with Goldman Sachs before his career ended Mr Welsh thought the Old Boys' Association - a 152-year-old legacy group of graduates - would support his legal flight, but on Tuesday he was disappointed. Mr Welsh said he was one of 130 victims of Lynch, who raped teenage boys while they were in the school's care. The elite private school was established in 1868 and houses day students and borders from years five to 12. On May 31, a recent graduate of the school shared a link on the association's Facebook page to a crowdfunding campaign set up by Mr Welsh to cover his legal costs. Minutes later, the post was deleted by Adam Franklin, a site administrator who graduated in 1997. When the recent graduate asked Mr Franklin whether the post was offensive, he replied: 'The truth is the truth, and awful what has happened. And at the same time the OBA must support BGS as a school,' according to The Courier-Mail. The crowdfunding campaign has raised $34,845 - including only $3,000 since last June. Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr said he did not believe Donald Trump would win a 2022 presidential election bid because he's petty and divisive, and that his former boss is not his pick for commander-in-chief. Barr, 71, criticized the former president during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Friday, admitting that he knew Trump was going to lose in 2020 because of his temper. 'He's not my idea of a president,' Barr said. 'I felt he was going to lose the election because he was not controlling himself. 'He was allowing this pettiness to come through, and I feel it's one of his great failings.' He added that while he believed Republicans could win the presidency in 2024, it could only be accomplished without Trump. 'I think the Republicans can win a decisive majority, but I don't think we can do it with Trump,' he said. 'He's just too divisive a candidate.' Scroll down for video Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr said Donald Trump is 'not my idea of a president,' and would lose a 2024 presidential election bid Barr criticized Trump (left) for being 'petty' and letting his temper take control. Barr said the Republican party could lose its change of winning the presidency if Trump is their candidate Barr also condemned Trumps claims that the 2020 election was stolen and said he knew the former president would lose because 'he was not controlling himself' He's not my idea of a president and I felt he was going to lose the election because he was not controlling himself. Former Attorney General Bill Barr joins @jaketapper to discuss his memoir highlighting his role in helping confront former President Trump. pic.twitter.com/6vPrRRNCai CNN (@CNN) March 11, 2022 Barr's comments come after he published his memoir, 'One Damn Thing After Another,' earlier this week, in which he described Trump's behavior as 'erratic and manic.' The former AG noted that while many saw Trump as a strong candidate, his behavior has become something to put up with rather than celebrate. 'I think a lot of people agree with his policies. They like his strength and his directness,' Barr said, 'But to the extent they support them, it's despite these - this kind of obnoxious behavior, it's not because of it.' Although Barr has said he would support Republicans who challenge Trump, he said he would ultimately back his former boss if he wins the GOP nomination. He also stood by unsubstantiated claims that mail voting was vulnerable to fraud in the 2020 presidential elections while also continuing to condemn the claims Trump made about the election being stolen by rampant voter fraud. Barr went on to discuss an episode at the White House during a protest in the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020, where the president yelled at his staff, yelling 'You're all losers,' as he was fed up with the protests and violence going on in the U.S. In response to the interview, Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington told CNN that 'it's not surprising Barr would try to work against the will of the people, that's what he did in 2020.' Although Barr has said he would support Republicans who challenge Trump (above), he said he would ultimately back his former boss if he wins the GOP nomination During the CNN interview, Barr recounted an episode where Trump snapped at his staff over the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd's murder In his memoir, Barr makes the case for why he does not believe Trump should be allowed to run for president again in 2024 Friday's interview is the latest row between the two after Barr said he holds Trump 'morally responsible' for the January 6 riot but would not prosecute him if he were still the attorney general. In a wide-ranging interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt, which aired in full on Sunday night, Barr dished on his last days in office and the debunked claim that the presidential election was fraudulent. 'I do think he was responsible in the broad sense of that word, in that it appears that part of the plan was to send this group up to the Hill,' Barr told Holt in an interview promoting the former AG's new memoir. 'I think the whole idea was to intimidate Congress. And I think that that was wrong.' But Barr would not prosecute Trump if he were still the top law enforcement official in the U.S. 'I haven't seen anything to say he was legally responsible for it in terms of incitement,' he told NBC News. The National Archives and Records Administration recently discovered that Trump had taken home 15 boxes of classified records, but Barr shrugged it off when asked if the former AG would prosecute him for that. 'To tell you the truth, I probably wouldn't,' Barr said. 'The whole classification system is done under executive order. It's the president. The president decides everything.' In an excerpt of the memoir, Barr recalled the dramatic moment when former President Trump slammed his hand on his desk and ordered him to go home without delay after he disputed election fraud claims. During a tense meeting with Trump in the White House, Barr told him: 'Our mission is to investigate and prosecute actual fraud. The fact is, we have looked at the major claims your people are making, and they are bullsh***.' Barr told The Associated Press that the Justice Department had investigated the claims but found no wide-spread issues that would overturn the outcome. 'But you did not have to say that!' Trump barked, according to Barr. 'You could have just said, ''No comment.'' This is killing me - killing me. This is pulling the rug out from under me.''' The president then said, speaking in the third person, 'You must hate Trump. You would only do this if you hate Trump.' Barr resigned his post shortly before Christmas in 2020, just weeks before the end of Trump's term - in an event that has since been revealed to be a sign of inner White House turmoil over Trump's efforts to push his fraud claims even after they were thrown out of a succession of courts. 'And, you know, it was wrong to be shoveling it out the way his team was. And he started asking me about different theories. And I had the answers. I was able to tell him, 'This is wrong because of this,' Barr said. The president got angrier and angrier as he spoke. 'I said, Okay, well, look, I understand you're upset with me. And I'm perfectly happy to tender my resignation,' Barr recalled telling the ex-president. In an interview earlier this week with NBC's Lester Holt in an interview, Barr said he holds Trump 'morally responsible' for the January 6 riot That prompted a furious outburst from Trump, Barr told Holt. 'And then, boom! He slapped the desk, and he said, 'Accepted!' Accepted!'' 'And then, boom! He slapped it again,' Barr said, slapping his own hand for emphasis. 'Accepted! Go home. Don't go back to your office. Go home. You're done.,' he says Trump told him. The former president told NBC News that he fired Barr for not doing the job of AG properly and called him 'lazy' and a 'coward.' 'Former Attorney General Bill Barr wouldn't know voter fraud if it was staring him in the face - and it was,' Trump said in a statement on Friday evening. 'The fact is, he was weak, ineffective, and totally scared of being impeached, which the Democrats were constantly threatening to do. They ''broke'' him.' A television journalist was reporting live on air about a deadly hit-and-run this week when he was interrupted by yet another collision. KTLA reporter Gene Kang was reporting live from the intersection of Hoover and 84th streets in South Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, where a 42-year-old man had been struck and killed in a crash late last month. The police have recently offered a $50,000 reward for any information about the driver in the crash that killed Jemmy Chavaria on February 26 - and Kang took the opportunity on Thursday to discuss the rise in crashes at the intersection. He is seen in video saying, 'You see Hoover Street here, it's one of the dangerous streets in all of Los Angeles.' Just moments later, a black sedan comes into view from the left, as another car approaches the crosswalk on Hoover Street. The black sedan then proceeds to T-bone the blue car that was coming to a designated crosswalk, before turning into an apparent parking lot and driving away, as its front bumper could be seen dangling and parts fell off of it. 'What the - ?' Kang could be heard asking as he watched the scene unfold. He later tweeted out the video calling it a 'crazy crash.' KTLA reporter Gene Kang was reporting live from the intersection of Hoover and 84th Streets in South Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, where a 42-year-old man was killed last month, when a black sedan comes into view from the left, as another car approaches the crosswalk on Hoover Street The black sedan then T-bones the blue car, as Kang tried to continue to report The KTLA news crew filmed it pulling into an apparent parking lot before driving away Kang later tweeted out the video calling it a 'crazy crash,' and saying they called 911 after 'Our security guard Walter Mann yelled "get back" and we moved as the car came racing toward us,' he later told his station. 'It veered away at the last second and T-boned the car.' Kang said the news crew on the scene immediately called 911 to report the crash, and when officers arrived, they told Kang they suspect that the driver of the black sedan was involved in a previous crime and was trying to get away. They took a license plate that fell off the car during the collision as evidence. Nobody in the other vehicle, which did stop, appeared to be injured. An investigation into the crash is said to be ongoing. Jemmy Chavaria, 42, left, was stuck and killed at the intersection last month His wife Angelica Chavarria told how he was able to get her and their 2-year-old son out of the way before the car struck him on February 26 Police are now offering a $50,000 reward for any information about who was driving the car (pictured) that struck Chavarria The crash came as Kang was reporting on a hit-and-run collision that killed a 42-year-old father as he was crossing the same street with his wife and son at around 7:15 p.m. on February 26. Police have said the family was guided to cross the street by a crossing guard who was wearing a bright yellow vest and carrying a stop sign, when an 'impatient' driver went into opposing lanes to skip past cars that were stopped for the family. Jemmy Chavaria was able to get his wife and two-year-old son out of the way before he was struck by a light-colored gray or gold sedan - possibly a Nissan Altima. He succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital. 'My life completely changed due to a reckless driver,' the victims wife, Angelica Chavarria, told reporters at a news conference Thursday, when police announced a $50,000 reward for anyone who could provide information about the driver's identity. 'Before being struck at a high speed, my husband was able to show my son and I his unconditional love,' Chavarria said through tears. 'He saved our lives.' Police said at the news conference that Hoover Street has been the site of many accidents lately, with double the number of crashes occurring since the pandemic began. And Kang got to see that firsthand, saying the hit-and-run he witnessed on Thursday is 'just more evidence to how scary it is here on Hoover Street.' A mother has issued a desperate warning to other parents about the dangers of the Japanese encephalitis virus after her four-month-old baby caught the deadly illness on a camping trip. Bec Kinross, 39, was staying a caravan park at Ebden, in north-east Victoria on Australia Day with her partner Luke and son Sam when the youngster was bitten by a mosquito. The little boy showed no signs of a mosquito bite at the time but developed serious symptoms, including a seizure and a high fever, two weeks later. Ms Kinross frantically called triple-zero, unware Sam had contracted the potentially fatal and emerging virus, also known as JEV. A mother has issued a warning to other parents after her four-month-old baby was hospitalised with the deadly Japanese encephalitis virus passed on from a mosquito bite (pictured, baby Sam with his parents Bec and Luke) The four-month-old suffered a seizure two weeks after a family holiday in remote Victoria 'I was absolutely numb,' she told 7Life. 'The ambulance took 20 to 25 minutes to get here and I honestly didn't think they would make it in time.' Sam was rushed to The Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne and admitted to the intensive care ward, where he was initially diagnosed with viral meningitis. On March 2, doctors confirmed the baby had tested positive to JEV - which spreads through infected mosquitos. 'I was dumbfounded... I didn't even notice a mozzie bite on Sam,' Ms Kinross said. 'There were no bites seen on him in the two weeks leading up or after at all.' On February 14 - the night Sam was taken to hospital - he had a temperature of 38C, stiff arms and limp lower limbs. When Sam then started convulsing, Bec and her partner Luke were terrified. Ms Kinross - whose baby has now made a full recovery - urged other parents to take preventative measures to avoid going through the same situation. Following the ordeal, Bec Kinross has recommended being vigilant when outdoors, dressing children in long sleeved clothing and to use insect repellent Ms Kinross recommended being vigilant when outdoors, dressing children in long sleeved clothing and using insect repellent. In another lesson for parents, she and her partner were left with a hefty medical bill due to the fact they didn't have ambulance cover for young Sam. They have since established a GoFundMe page to assist with their medical bills. Two people in Australia have died from Japanese encephalitis - a NSW man in his 70s and a Victorian man in his 60s. A kickboxer and alleged senior Hells Angels member has been accused of taking part in the brutal assault of another bikie who wanted to leave the gang. Melbourne athlete Kane Montebello was one of three men charged over the alleged assault and extortion of a man in his 20s in the city's northern suburbs. The man was allegedly cornered at the home of Angels president Luke Moloney after being summoned to the home at Reservoir so he could return his club clothing. Kane Montebello (pictured) was one of three men arrested over the alleged assault and extortion of a Hells Angels bikie member in his 20s in Melbourne's northern suburbs Melbourne Magistrate's Court heard Montebello (pictured centre) asked the cornered man to 'provide him with a reason as to why he shouldn't wrap the bat around his face' When he arrived it is alleged the man was confronted on a deck at the property by two Hells Angels including Montebello, the Herald Sun reported. Montebello allegedly asked the man to 'provide him with a reason as to why he shouldn't wrap the bat around his face', Melbourne Magistrates Court heard. Montebello, of Ferntree Gully, allegedly 'backhanded' the man who then opened his eyes to see Moloney brandishing a hunting knife, the court heard. The man was allegedly left with serious upper body injuries. Montebello, Moloney and and their co-accused Julian Assafiri were arrested by Echo Taskforce detectives in February over the alleged incident and have since been bailed. Melbourne's Magistrate's court heard the man who was allegedly bashed asked to leave the Hells Angels and was told to return clothing to a home at Reservoir, where club president Luke Moloney (pictured left) allegedly confronted him Montebello faces charges of recklessly causing serious injury, assault and extortion Moloney was charged with intentionally causing serious injury, recklessly causing serious injury, assault, assault with a weapon, extortion, possessing a schedule four poison and committing an indictable offence while on bail. Victoria Police have carried out a series of raids related to the alleged assault, including at a bikie clubhouse in Seaford in Melbourne's south-east. US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said he's concerned efforts to politicize the court or add additional justices may erode the institution's credibility, he said at an event hosted by former Republican US Senator Orrin Hatch's foundation. Thomas, 73, the most senior justice on the nine-member court, said he often worries about the long-term repercussions of trends such as 'cancel culture' and a lack of civil debate. 'You can cavalierly talk about packing or stacking the court. You can cavalierly talk about doing this or doing that. At some point the institution is going to be compromised,' he told an audience of about 500 people at an upscale hotel in Salt Lake City on Friday. 'By doing this, you continue to chip away at the respect of the institutions that the next generation is going to need if they're going to have civil society,' Thomas said. 'You cant keep taking chips out of your institutions and not expect it to, at some point, be compromised. At some point, it cant keep withstanding the efforts to undermine.' Rulings for the upcoming year will set laws on hot-button political issues, including abortion, guns and voting rights. The court has leaned increasingly conservative since three justices nominated by former President Donald Trump joined its ranks. Progressives have in turn called to expand the number of justices on the court, including during the 2020 presidential primary. Democrats in Congress introduced a bill last year to add four justices to the bench, and President Joe Biden has convened a commission to study expanding the court. 'Lets be honest. This is really about the results they want. They havent been able to make the institutions do what they want, to give them what they want. Thats no court at all. Thats no rule of law,' he said on Friday. He also commented on cancel culture, and said people need to 'learned to engage as we did when I grew up.' Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, 73, condemned the idea of 'packing or stacking' the Court at Senator Orrin Hatch's foundation event on Friday The Justice avoided hot-button upcoming cases, such as the case that could overturn Roe v. Wade and gun rights 'I'm afraid, particularly in this world of cancel culture attacks. I don't know where you're going to learn to engage as we did when I grew up,' he said. 'If you don't learn at that level in high school, in grammar school, in your neighborhood, or in civic organizations, then how do you have it when you're making decisions in government, in the legislature, or in the courts? 'I dont know how we are going to survive as a society if we continue to exalt people who have bad manners, are insulting and negative. This is a civil society, and you need civility to make it work,' he said. In addition to condemning 'cancel culture,' Thomas also blasted the media for cultivating inaccurate impressions about public figures - including himself, his wife and late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Ginni Thomas, Justice Thomas' wife and a longtime conservative activist and leader of the Council for National Policy, has faced scrutiny this year for her political activity and involvement in groups that file briefs about cases in front of the Supreme Court, as well as using her Facebook page to amplify partisan attacks. 'She is a good person,' Thomas said at the event, but avoided digging deeper into the controversy, instead blaming the media and cancel culture. 'Its one of the things you have to accept in these public jobs, that the media paints an image of you as an abstract thing. Its not you. Its their perception of you and what they want the world to think of you,' Thomas said. As Congress prepares to hold confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Thomas recalled his 1991 confirmation process as a humiliating and embarrassing experience that taught him not to be overly prideful. During congressional hearings, lawmakers grilled Thomas about sexual harassment allegations from Anita Hill, a former employee, leading him to call the experience a 'high tech lynching.' Thomas said that he 'would not be here' without Hatch (pictured), who defended him during his judiciary hearing. Hatch said Anita Hill's sexual harassment story against Thomas 'just does not add up' Thomas also briefly mentioned his wife Ginni (pictured together in September), who has faced recent backlash for her political stances. All the Justice said about her was that she was a 'good person' Hatch had even defended Thomas during his judiciary hearing, saying that Hill's 'story just does not add up.' 'What people dont realize is that he has been fighting for me since 1981,' Thomas said at the event. 'But for him, I would not be here.' If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman on the court, and would join Thomas as its second Black justice. Ketanji Brown Jackson will become the second black Justice on the Court Thomas, who grew up in Georgia during segregation, said he held civility as one of his highest values. He said he learned to respect institutions and debate civilly with those who disagreed with him during his years in school. Based on conversations he's had with students at his university lectures in recent years, he said he doesnt believe colleges are welcoming places for productive debate, particularly for students who support what he described as traditional families or oppose abortion. Thomas did not reference the future of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that extended abortion rights throughout the country. The court this year is scheduled to rule on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization and whether Mississippi can ban abortions at 15 weeks. While the court deliberates over the case, lawmakers in Florida, West Virginia and Kentucky are advancing similar legislation hoping the court overturns Roe and establishes new precedent. Western sanctions against Russia may cause the 500-tone International Space Station to 'fall' or 'land', the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned today. Calling for 'illegal' sanctions to be lifted, Dmitry Rogozin said the operation of Russian vessels servicing the ISS could be disrupted. As a result, the Russian segment of the station - which helps correct its orbit - could be affected, causing the 500-tonne structure to 'fall down into the sea or onto land'. In Telegram posts calling for 'illegal' sanctions to be lifted, Dmitry Rogozin (pictured) said the operation of Russian vessels servicing the ISS could be disrupted Listing the Russian segments' utilities in Telegram posts, Rogozin said it 'provides duplication of the life support systems of the American segment', including those for obtaining oxygen, removing carbon dioxide, and removing harmful impurities from the atmosphere. 'Also, Russian means provide backup of voice and telemetry communications of the American segment of the station with ground control points,' he added. In one of the posts Rogozin presented a map, saying it was 'created by American astronomers arguing with me' but 'just shows that Russia would least endangered by the destruction of the ISS'. He warned other countries, 'including those led by the "dogs of war"' should 'think about the price of the sanctions they initiated against Roscosmos'. Western sanctions against Russia may cause the 500-tone International Space Station (pictured with Endeavour) to 'fall' or 'land', the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned In one of the posts Rogozin presented a map, saying it was 'created by American astronomers arguing with me' but 'just shows that Russia would least endangered by the destruction of the ISS' He added: 'The price of international space cooperation maniacally destroyed by the West. Crazy.' Rogozin also said that the reasons and content behind Western sanctions against Russian contractors for work in the interests of the ISS was never explained 'despite repeated demands from the Russian side'. He added: 'The State Corporation for Space Activities 'Roscosmos' sends written appeals to partners in the International Space Station - the leadership of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the European Space Agency ( European Space Agency, ESA; Agence spatiale europeenne, ASE) demanding that illegal sanctions be lifted from our enterprises.' Oscar-winning filmmaker Graham Moore wanted to bring new style to the mobster movie genre. The Columbia University graduate makes his directorial debut with The Outfit, a crime drama about a Chicago tailor whose primary customers are merciless gangsters. Advertisement The story came together after Moore and co-writer Johnathan McClain took interest in Londons famed Savile Row tailoring district and started researching the industry for a potential film. Moore molded the lead character after his grandfather, whom he described as an upstanding man who ran a small-town medical practice where notorious Genovese mobster Jerry Catena was a patient. Advertisement The first bug that the FBI ever planted in its history was to get at the mob, and they planted it in Chicago in 1956 inside a tailor shop, Moore told the Daily News. Once we read that, we lit up. It was like, Oh, this is the movie! Its about a man like my grandfather: a sort of gentle soul who makes these clothes for vicious killers. Coming to theaters Friday, The Outfit stars Mark Rylance as a former Savile Row tailor named Leonard who operates a high-end shop in Chicago where the deep-pocketed gangsters who buy his suits are the only ones keeping him in business. Graham Moore on the set of "The Outfit." (Courtesy of Rob Youngson / Focus Features/Courtesy of Rob Youngson / Focus) All he wants to do is lock himself in his shop and make these beautiful objects, and he wants to pretend the outside world doesnt exist, Moore, 40, said of the character. He wants to pretend that some of the violence and the danger that lurks just outside the door isnt there. The problem with that is it doesnt work. You cant do that. Bad people are out there, and violent people are out there, and at some point theyre going to come knocking on your door, and then Leonard, like everyone, has to make a decision about what hes going to do about it. [ The Godfather star James Caan reflects on Sonnys iconic moments as film returns to NYC theaters for 50th anniversary ] Moore, who was born in Chicago, won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay in 2014 for the World War II-era drama The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley. The filmmaker said he wanted The Outfit to the pay homage to classic Alfred Hitchcock thrillers such as 1948s Rope and 1954s Rear Window. We wanted to make a movie that would keep audiences guessing until the very end, Moore said. Its a puzzle piece, but not quite a whodunit. We talk about it a lot as a chess match. Every character in the film has their own agenda. Every character in the film is lying about something. Mark Rylance (left) with Graham Moore on the set of "The Outfit." (Courtesy of Nick Wall / Focus Features/Courtesy of Nick Wall / Focus Fe) Moore was thrilled by the chance to work with Oscar-winning Rylance, whom he praised as the best actor in the world. Advertisement Mark is an expert craftsman himself, Moore said of the actor who won his Academy Award for Bridge of Spies. As our lead character has devoted decades and decades of his life to perfecting the craft of tailoring, I think Mark has devoted decades and decades of his life to utterly perfecting the craft of acting. Moore, who now lives in Los Angeles, spent 10 years in New York, and says his time studying at Columbia helped him become a thorough researcher. I tend to work on these historical pieces, or pieces like this one that are inspired by a real event, Moore said. I learned so much from my time there about how to approach doing research on a huge topic. Jeremy Kyle is taking legal action against the creators of an upcoming Channel 4 documentary that is set to claim his axed daytime show 'exploited' and 'duped' guests. The show was axed in May 2019 after Steve Dymond, 63, took his own life less than a week after failing a lie detector test while filming an episode - an inquest is set to take place later this month. Now, former employees have revealed horrific behind-the-scenes secrets of the ITV series in a bombshell hour-long documentary, which is set to air on Sunday night. They have lifted the lid on alleged sickening tactics used by the programme to heighten guest's distress to entertain viewers. This included telling addicts they were in competition with other participants for a single rehabilitation bed, even though there was allegedly room for them all. Such was the goading of guests on the show, one former worker described turning a 'shy, quiet' girl into a 'fireball' before she went on air. Ex-staff also revealed how they would receive regular calls from guests threatening to kill themselves but tried to talk them out of it so the show went on air and did not 'waste any money'. However, the star has said he does not want to 'discuss' the 'false and damaging' allegations made due to an 'ongoing legal process'. Kyle stated that he had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder after the daytime show was axed and reportedly doesn't have any TV projects lined up as hopes to revive his career appear to be failing. It comes despite ITV's director of television Kevin Lygo claiming a new show was being made with Kyle - but wouldn't air in the same timeslot as the star's axed daytime show. Jeremy Kyle is taking legal action against the creators of an upcoming Channel 4 documentary that is set to claim his axed daytime show 'exploited' and 'duped' guests The show was axed in May 2019 after Steve Dymond, 63, (pictured) took his own life less than a week after failing a lie detector test while filming an episode of the show and an inquest is set to take place later this month In a statement, Kyle told The Sun: 'I would like to reiterate my deepest sympathies to the friends and family of Mr Dymond. 'I've consistently maintained it would be inappropriate to discuss the tragic death of Steve Dymond before the legal inquest into it has concluded. 'Likewise, the false and damaging allegations made against me by Channel 4 are with the lawyers now. 'No doubt ITV will address the issues raised by Channel 4 around ITV's production of The Jeremy Kyle Show themselves, it would be wrong for me to speak on their behalf. 'Now is not the time to debate or discuss what is an ongoing legal process. When I can respond, I will.' The long-running show, which was helmed by Kyle for 14 years, was canned following a public outcry prompted by the tragic death of Mr Dymond. Former staff on the show told of how they 'made up' the test's accuracy and claimed it was '99.9 per cent' and '97 per cent' accurate. However, a Commons select committee heard evidence from academic research that the test was at best '66 per cent to 70 per cent' accurate. An ex-employee told the upcoming Channel 4 documentary: 'I felt like I had blood on my hands. We felt like we had killed someone.' Former staff members voiced by actors in the documentary also told of their concern at speaking out against the programme. 'The number of secrets we kept was frightening,' one said. 'If I was found to be speaking out it would be career suicide. It is scary to go against ITV a massive corporation when I am just me.' They also spoke of the deliberate tactics used to get the most extreme behaviour from show guests. On Sunday, TV presenter Jeremy Kyle was pictured on holiday in Barbados with third wife Vicky Burton. One said: 'They would love seeing a girl turn up, you know shy, quiet, scraggly and you would be put with that girl all day and you would turn her into this fireball.' The former staff revealed how they too had been exploited and put under huge pressure to book guests, no matter how unsuitable. 'Everybody was exploited without even knowing it and if you went along with it you were fine and if you didn't you were sacked,' one past worker said. Another said: 'We were literally like rats in a lab, each in our little cages in there. You never left your desk sometimes, 14, 15 hours at that desk.' They said they became 'desensitised' and drank after work to 'decompress'. They also spoke of how they would play down some of the participants' mental health concerns in a bid to get them on the show. Former employees also took aim at Kyle himself. One said: 'Jeremy was incredibly nasty, really just demeaning.' ITV said: 'More than 20,000 people took part in the show seeking help to resolve relationship issues, or to address drug or alcohol related problems and the show achieved many positive outcomes' Another said: 'And he would make comments to us about the guests, insinuating that they were thick or that they were scruffs. 'This is quite disturbing because you just get the sense that he didn't care about these people and if you don't care about them you shouldn't be doing that job.' Later in the documentary a former employee said: 'To him people are just things. They're objects that he can exploit. He takes from them the little good they have had in their lives. 'If there was someone who had mental health issues, he didn't care and he would rip into them.' Another ex-employee described working on the programme as being 'like a black stain on my soul', while a backstage cameraman said he had witnessed 'back-to-back psychological carnage'. Senior Tory MP Damian Collins said he believed ITV bosses knew what was going on. He added: 'People at the top of the company should have asked more questions. It's impossible to believe that no-one within the company raised concerns about this.' Former staff on the show told of how they 'made up' the test's accuracy and claimed it was '99.9 per cent' and '97 per cent' accurate. However, a Commons select committee heard evidence from academic research that the test was at best '66 per cent to 70 per cent' accurate ITV said: 'More than 20,000 people took part in the show seeking help to resolve relationship issues, or to address drug or alcohol related problems and the show achieved many positive outcomes. 'The show had a dedicated guest welfare team of mental healthcare professionals. Guests were supported prior to filming, throughout filming and after filming. 'ITV does not accept the central allegation of this programme of a 'bad culture' within the production team. ITV would never condone any of its production staff misleading or lying to guests.' ITV said all the guests were 'aware of the nature of the show and the presenter's style' and gave written consent. Channel 4 said: 'Jeremy Kyle was approached for a response to the series. He did not provide a statement for broadcast. We will reflect his position in the film.' The two-part series, Jeremy Kyle Show Death on Daytime, starts on Sunday night at 9pm. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded the release of Melitopol's mayor after his alleged kidnap by Russian troops, which sparked local protests. The Ukrainian President said the capture was an 'attempt to bring the city to its knees' and demanded the immediate release of Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of the besieged city. Zelensky also called on Russian forces to heed the calls of residents in the occupied city of Melitopol who protested to demand that Ivan Fedorov be freed. At a press conference, Zelensky said: 'The demand is simple - to release [Fedorov] from captivity immediately'. Ukrainian officials and Zelensky claimed on Friday that 10 Russian soldiers had kidnapped Ivan Fedorov from the city's crisis centre while he had a bag over his head. CCTV footage, posted on Telegram by the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, appears to show a group of men escorting Mr Fedorov out of a building and across a square. Zelensky, who spoke earlier Saturday with the leaders of Germany and France, described the alleged detention of Fedorov as an attempt 'to bring the city to its knees'. Shocking video footage purports to show Melitopol's mayor Ivan Fedorov being kidnapped by Russian troops after he 'refused to co-operate with the enemy' At a press conference, Zelensky said: 'The demand is simple - to release [Fedorov] from captivity immediately'. He also said Ukraine expects 'the leaders of the world to show how they can influence the liberation (of) a man who personifies Ukrainians who do not give up'. Following the alleged kidnapping, Ukrainian officials said 2,000 people took to the streets of Melitopol to protest. Video footage, shared by officials, appeared to show crowds of defiant residents carrying Ukrainian flags as they gathered near an occupied administration building. Ukraine's parliament claimed Mr Fedorov was kidnapped by 10 armed men, who placed a plastic bag over his head. Russia has not commented on the fate of Mr Fedorov. The clip, which has been shared widely by Ukrainian media, is believed to have been filmed in Melitopol's Victory Square in southeastern Ukraine. President Zelensky on Friday described Mr Fedorov's alleged abduction as a 'crime' against 'democracy' as he said the acts of Russian invaders would be treated as 'terrorism'. 'The capture of the mayor of Melitopol is therefore a crime, not only against a particular person, against a particular community, and not only against Ukraine. It is a crime against democracy itself... The acts of the Russian invaders will be regarded like those of Islamic State terrorists,' he said. Ukrainian officials claimed that Melitopol's mayor had been kidnapped after he 'refused to co-operate with the enemy'. Zelensky also accused Vladimir Putin's troops of 'moving to a new stage of terror' due to a lack of support for the invasion in Ukraine. CCTV footage, posted on Telegram by the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, appears to show a group of men escorting Mr Fedorov out of a building and across a square President Zelensky on Friday described Mr Fedorov's (pictured) alleged abduction as a 'crime' against 'democracy' as he said the acts of Russian invaders would be treated as 'terrorism' Video footage, shared by officials, appeared to show crowds of defiant residents gathering near an occupied administration building to protest the alleged kidnapping of Mr Fedorov 'This is obviously a sign of weakness of the invaders... They have moved to a new stage of terror in which they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of legitimate local Ukrainian authorities,' he added. Zelensky hailed Mr Fedorov as a mayor who 'bravely defends Ukraine' and his community as he said the resistance of Ukrainians would not be changed by 'putting pressure on mayors or kidnapping mayors'. The prosecutor's office of the Luhansk People's Republic, a Moscow-backed rebel region in eastern Ukraine, said on its website there was a criminal case against Mr Fedorov. The office accused him of 'terrorist activities' and of financing the nationalist militia Right Sector to 'commit terrorist crimes against Donbass civilians'. Ukraine's ministry of foreign affairs described the alleged abduction as a war crime, adding: 'We call on the international community to respond immediately to the abduction of Ivan Fedorov and other civilians, and to increase pressure on Russia to end its barbaric war against the Ukrainian people.' Russian forces captured Melitopol, which has a population of 150,000, on February 26. Elsewhere in Ukraine, Zelensky accused Russia of refusing to allow evacuees to escape the city of Mariupol, which has been cut off from food, water and electricity, and defiantly insisted vital supplies would be delivered there tomorrow despite it being surrounded by Russian troops. The Kremlin-owned Tass news agency painted a damning picture for those stuck in the city after quoting Russian Colonel Mikhail Mizintsev as saying all bridge into the city were destroyed and roads had been laid with mines. 'Russian troops have not let our aid into the city and continue to torture our people... tomorrow [Saturday] we will try again, try again to send food, water and medicine' Zelensky said. Elsewhere in Ukraine, the crisis in Mariupol deepened yet further last night as the death toll passed 1,500. Pictured: The aftermath of Russian artillery shelling on a residential area in Mariupol where a rocket hit a house An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian's army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine today In hellish scenes not witnessed on the continent since the Second World War, residents have resorted to fighting one another for food and bodies are buried in mass graves as more than 1,500 people have now died in Mariupol. Here's how YOU can help: Donate here to the Mail Force Ukraine Appeal Readers of Mail Newspapers and MailOnline have always shown immense generosity at times of crisis. Calling upon that human spirit, we are supporting a huge push to raise money for refugees from Ukraine. For, surely, no one can fail to be moved by the heartbreaking images and stories of families mostly women, children, the infirm and elderly fleeing from the bombs and guns. As this tally of misery increases over the coming days and months, these innocent victims of this conflict will require accommodation, schools and medical support. Donations to the Mail Force Ukraine Appeal will be used to help charities and aid organisations providing such essential services. In the name of charity and compassion, we urge all our readers to give swiftly and generously. TO MAKE A DONATION ONLINE Donate at www.mailforcecharity.co.uk/donate To add Gift Aid to a donation even one already made complete an online form found here: mymail.co.uk/ukraine Via bank transfer, please use these details: Account name: Mail Force Charity Account number: 48867365 Sort code: 60-00-01 TO MAKE A DONATION VIA CHEQUE Make your cheque payable to 'Mail Force' and post it to: Mail Newspapers Ukraine Appeal, GFM, 42 Phoenix Court, Hawkins Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 8JY TO MAKE A DONATION FROM THE US US readers can donate to the appeal via a bank transfer to Associated Newspapers or by sending checks to dailymail.com HQ at 51 Astor Place (9th floor), New York, NY 10003 Advertisement Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted: 'Besieged Mariupol is now the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the planet. 1,582 dead civilians in 12 days, even buried in mass graves. Unable to defeat the Ukrainian army, Putin bombs the unarmed, blocks humanitarian aid. We need planes to stop Russian war crimes!' A total of 7,144 people escaped four Ukrainian cities on Friday using humanitarian corridors, President Zelensky said in a televised address, a sharply lower number than managed to leave in each of the two previous days. It comes as Putin struck areas in central and western Ukraine, some hundreds of miles from the capital Kyiv and huge explosions illuminated the night sky in Dnipro and Lutsk as residents experienced Russian artillery attacks for the first time. In Ivano-Frankivsk, a triple strike hit at first light, said to be targeting an airfield on the edge of the city. Indiscriminate shelling at 4am UK time yesterday left tower blocks and a factory ablaze in Dnipro, killing a security guard. Meanwhile, the 40-mile convoy of tanks, troops and artillery that had been bearing down on Kyiv in recent days is understood to have moved into strategic firing positions ahead of an all-out assault on the capital. Fears have been mounting that Moscow could attempt a repeat at the barbaric bombing used on besieged cities such as Mariupol, with Russian troops now just nine miles from the city. Satellite images showed howitzer weaponry and suspected rocket launchers being readied, prompting remaining Kyiv residents to take up arms and erect barricades. Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned Russia the city was a fortress. It comes as military experts say they are baffled by the ineptitude of the tactics displayed by Russia's armies after drone footage yesterday showed a column of tanks getting picked off one-by-one in an ambush carried out by Ukraine's forces. Analysts have said Russian tank commanders allowed the Ukrainians to ambush their unit by driving down the middle of a main road leading into Kyiv - and straight into a death trap. By multiple counts, President Vladimir Putin's forces have lost more tanks than are operational in the entire German army. The failure to establish control of Kyiv could force Putin to negotiate a settlement sooner than expected. Yesterday, he said there had been 'positive changes' from the talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials as he welcomed Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to Moscow. Some Russian units are now just nine miles from Kyiv. There are fears they will attempt to repeat the barbaric tactics used on other cities including Mariupol, which is surrounded with those inside suffering starvation and dehydration. Russian forces bombed a maternity hospital there this week. Three police officers have been seriously injured following a horrific head-on crash between their squad van and a ute. The van collided with the ute just before 2.45pm on Saturday afternoon as officers responded to a serious stabbing attack in Caboolture South, north of Brisbane. The ute's driver is suspected of being involved in the stabbing, the Courier Mail reported. Three police officers have been injured following a horrific head-on crash between a police van and a ute in Brisbane's north The collision occurred in Caboolture South, north of Brisbane, on Saturday afternoon just before 3pm (pictured, the damaged ute and police vehicle) Photos taken at the scene showed the mangled wreckage of both vehicles. Two men are in a critical condition in hospital with serious injuries after the collision, according to a Queensland Ambulance spokesman. One of them is a police officer, who is undergoing emergency surgery. The driver of the ute is believed to be the other man in a critical condition, having suffered leg and chest injuries. Two other officers who were inside the police van were also seriously injured. Police said they had not yet established if the man deliberately drove into the police van. 'It certainly will be a line of inquiry to establish the cause of the accident, which is what we do normally anyway,' Moreton District Police Inspector Craig White said. Anyone who witnessed the collison is urged to contact Queensland Police. Parents are furious at the 32,650-a-year American School in London for allegedly teaching their children there are 64 genders and standing by its 'woke agenda' despite a damming Ofsted report. The school watchdog downgraded the private day school from 'outstanding' to 'requires improvement', saying there were 'failures' in education and leadership after it placed more weight on teaching 'social justice' than on learning 'subject-specific knowledge and skills'. Interim head at ASL Sacha McVean defended the school to parents saying its programmes had the backing of schools leaders and the watchdog's inspection was 'unusual'. Over 100 parents, who signed a letter to Ms McVean, were shocked that the private school is standing by its 'woke' agenda in light of the devastating rebuke according to the Times. Meanwhile some pupils told Ofsted their views were 'suppressed' in lessons. Because of this, the school failed a number of Independent School Standards, which ban the 'promotion of partisan political views' and demand 'respect for those with other beliefs'. A damming report said the 32,600-a-year American School in London (ASL) is now rated 'requires improvement' because of 'failures' in education and leadership after it placed more weight on teaching 'social justice' than on learning 'subject-specific knowledge and skills' Interim head at ASL Sacha McVean defended the school to parents saying its programmes had the backing of schools leaders and the watchdog's inspection was 'unusual' One parent told the Times: 'The tone of the school's email was not well received at all. It came across as defiant and unapologetic. 'Parents were shocked to see that the school was standing by its programmes.' There are also allegations from parents that pupils were taught the Olympic transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard should compete in female competitions in PE classes and there were 64 genders in health classes. A parents said: 'We have seen controversial views about which public debate is still raging in society being taught as truth to these children.' A letter, before the Ofsted inspection, also also alleged that a recent decision to create racially segregated after-school clubs, in which pupils mix solely with peers of the same ethnicity, was illegal as it breaches the Equality Act. The accusations rocked the prestigious school, near Regent's Park, whose alumni include Hollywood star Kathleen Turner and Police drummer Stewart Copeland. Coreen Hester will be the new head this month after interim head at ASL Sacha McVean steps down Inspectors visited the previously outstanding-rated school in December after parents complained pupils were being 'indoctrinated'. Families said non-white pupils had been recruited to 'discriminatory' affinity groups for after-school clubs and children were taught about 'white fragility'. Former head Robin Appleby, who introduced the agenda, resigned in November, saying she wanted to 'focus on her own wellbeing'. Ofsted's report said: 'Teaching places much more weight on the school's approach to social justice than on learning subject-specific knowledge and skills.' It added: 'Not everyone felt that they are able to express their views freely in class.' Ofsted said that in the lower school curriculum for social studies, pupils 'spend much time repeatedly considering identity (including analysing their own characteristics) rather than learning, for example, geographical knowledge.' In middle school, pupils were having to focus on 'social issues' rather than 'skills' in subjects such as English. The report concluded: 'While recognising the importance of promoting equalities, a significant minority of parents and pupils told inspectors that a culture has developed where alternative opinions are not felt welcome.' Former head Robin Appleby, pictured resigned in November, saying she wanted to 'focus on her own wellbeing' A current parent said: 'As the report shows, teachers have been indoctrinating students with extreme, partisan views, academic teaching has been shoved out of the way by excessive teaching about 'social justice', and most students are afraid to express their views in class.' ASL said it does not teach students there are 62 genders or critical race theory and is reviewing its curriculum. A spokesman said on Ofsted's decision: 'ASL has been rated outstanding in all of our previous inspections. 'This review, however, was unusual in scope and substance, with a narrow focus on some aspects of our programme. 'Despite meeting 96 per cent of the Independent School standards, our rating was downgraded two levels. We do not think this rating reflects the quality of our school or excellence of our teaching.' Coreen Hester will take over from Ms McVean as the new head this month. A Moscow microbiologist has accused the Kremlin of 'pure lies' and 'propaganda' in claiming Ukraine had secret US-funded biowarfare labs which they claim could attack Russia. On Tuesday Russia repeated its accusation of several years that Ukrainian laboratories are developing biological weapons, spearheading claims that diseases like plague, or the Black Death, and anthrax were illegally researched in Ukraine. They also alleged a plot by Ukraine to use birds, bats and reptiles to carry coronaviruses or African Swine Fever into Russia. These claims in Russian media increased during the run-up to Russia's military invasion on Ukraine, with Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova making the assertion as recently as Wednesday. Zakharova claimed that Russia was in possession of documents which showed that the Ukrainian health ministry had ordered the destruction of samples of plague, cholera, anthrax and other pathogens before 24 February, when Russian forces made their move into Ukraine. But Moscow State University microbiologist Dr Yevgeny Levitin analysed the documentation allegedly seized by the invasion force - and strongly criticised the Russian claims. From a scientific perspective, he says the claims are 'absurd fakes' and 'a deliberate lie, which is not justified in any way'. Moscow microbiologist Dr Yevgeny Levitin (pictured) has accused the Kremlin of 'pure lies' and 'propaganda' in claiming Ukraine had secret US-funded biowarfare labs which they claim could attack Russia In a sign of rising dissent in Moscow over the war, he went public with his critique and wrote an open letter with other unnamed graduates of his top university to major state and other pro-Kremlin media outlets in Russia which had trumpeted the bioweapons allegations from the country's defence ministry. 'They published pure lies. This is a deliberate lie, which is not justified in any way,' he said of the bio-weapons. 'This will become obvious to any person who takes the trouble to simply carefully read the documents attached to the allegation of the creation of biological weapons in Ukraine.' He suggested other Russian scientists were scared to speak out on the propaganda, but agreed with him. On Thursday Russia accused the United States of experimenting with 'bat coronavirus samples' and developing of biological weapons in Ukraine, without providing evidence, as Moscow continued its attempts to justify its brutal invasion. The Kremlin's accusation came after the White House warned on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin could deploy chemical or biological weapons in the country. Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a televised briefing (pictured) that 'the purpose of this - and other Pentagon-funded biological research in Ukraine - was to establish a mechanism for the stealthy spread of deadly pathogens' Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a televised briefing that 'the purpose of this - and other Pentagon-funded biological research in Ukraine - was to establish a mechanism for the stealthy spread of deadly pathogens.' In the broadcast, Konashenkov said: 'Russian specialists from the radiation, chemical and biological protection troops studied documents about handing over - at the US representative's order - human biomaterials to foreign states. 'Special interest was raised by detailed information about the plan by the USA to study carrying pathogens from Ukraine by wild birds migrating between Ukraine, Russia and other neighbouring countries. 'The American side planned to carry out works in Ukraine in 2022 on birds, bats and reptiles' pathogens, to then study the possibility of the carying the African Swine Fever and anthrax. 'As the documents show, the laboratories in Ukraine [financed by the US] held experiments on bat coronavirus. Dr Levitin said there was nothing in the documentation at all to back up Russian claims that the plague, anthrax, tularemia, or cholera were being researched as bio-weapons (Russian President Vladimir Putin, pictured, chairing a meeting in Moscow last week) 'The purpose of this and other Pentagon-financed biological research in Ukraine was the creation of a mechanism for the secret spread of deadly pathogens.' The paperwork attatched to the Russian allegations show laboratories existed in Poltava and Kharkiv, but they were not involved in bio-warfare, contrary to the claims of Konashenkov, Russia's frontman on the war, Dr Levitin said. The pathogens under research were not potential bio-weapons. 'They are used in any epidemiological institute, in any microbiological laboratory, even in any sanitary and epidemiological station where samples are sown,' he said. Dr Levitin said there was nothing in the documentation at all to back up Russian claims that the plague, anthrax, tularemia, or cholera were being researched as bio-weapons. He added: 'This is a complete lie, in its purest form. 'Plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera - none of this is in the published documents. 'The calculation is simply that people do not read either Ukrainian or Latin and do not know the names of pathogens. 'That's how propaganda works. The Ministry of Defence made a false, unfounded statement - and now, if I talk to people, 90 per cent of them will say: "Bioweapons were made in Ukraine"... The documents outlined by Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov in his televised briefing reportedly come from Ukraine and detail the country's plans to study biological weapons, which would which would flout International law It was impossible to immediately verify the authenticity of the documents, which the Russians say they are still studying 'All this is propaganda in its pure, distilled form. Lies without any basis.' Russia claimed their pathogens were destroyed ahead of the war to stop Moscow seeing what biowarfare agents were being prepared. Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov expressed this claim in his televised briefing: 'We have received documents from Ukrainian bio-lab employees on the urgent destruction on 24 February of particularly dangerous pathogens of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other lethal diseases. 'It is clear that with the launch of the special military operation, the Pentagon was seriously worried about disclosure of secret biological experiments in Ukraine. 'Ukrainian bio-laboratories in the immediate vicinity of Russian territory were engaged in developing components of biological weapons. 'We are publishing instructions by the Ukrainian Health Ministry to destroy pathogens and the certificates of destruction at bio-laboratories in Poltava and Kharkiv.' But Dr Levitin said it was normal to get rid of strains every six months but none of these were dangerous. He explained that it was not sinister, but a matter of international medical research that some labs in Ukraine would be funded by the US. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday accused Russia of trying to stage a 'false flag operation' by pushing claims the US was creating bioweapons in Ukraine In contrast, 'hundreds of laboratories in Russia have official permission to work with anthrax'. It was not sinister but a matter of international medical research that some labs in Ukraine would be funded by the US, he said. The White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called the Russian claims 'preposterous' in a series of Tweets, adding that it is all an 'obvious ploy' to try and justify the attack on Ukraine. 'Its Russia that has a long and well-documented track record of using chemical weapons, including in attempted assassinations and poisoning of Putins political enemies like Alexey Navalny,' Psaki wrote on Twitter. 'Its Russia that continues to support the Assad regime in Syria, which has repeatedly used chemical weapons. Its Russia that has long maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law. 'Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them. Its a clear pattern. ' The Russian propaganda onslaught also claimed that Ukrainian labs had developed bio-weapons to be especially effective against Slavic DNA, meaning they will selectively target Russians as an ethnic group. Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson Zakharova claimed that Russia was in possession of documents which showed that the Ukrainian health ministry had ordered the destruction of samples of plague, cholera, anthrax and other pathogens before 24 February, when Russian forces made their move into Ukraine (pictured in Moscow at a press briefing on foreign policy issues in February) Igor Kirillov, head of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops of theRussian Armed Forces, said on Thursday: 'It can be said with a high degree of probability that one of the objectives of the United States and their allies is the creation of bio-agents capable of selectively hitting various ethnic groups of the population. 'The Americans have already managed to remove from the laboratories in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa a large amount of documents, including databases, biomaterials and equipment to the Lviv Research Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene and to the U.S. consulate in Lviv. 'The probability of the transfer of part of the collection to Poland has not been ruled out.' Top Russian biologist Dr Levitin squashes these assertions: 'The claim of "Slavic DNA" is just nonsense for anyone who remembers a high school biology course. 'Such statements go back to the theories of the German National Socialists with their cult of the "Aryan superior race". 'The fact is that people as genetic communities do not exist at all. 'It is a pity that in Russia it is now possible to publish such absurd fakes. 'In other times it was impossible to imagine anything like this. 'I will explain with a simple example. Imagine you come to an office and see a writing in one of the rooms - "Instruction for the cleaner. Clean the room with a wet wipe twice a day". 'From this you conclude that Ukrainian nationalists dismember people alive in this room twice a day and sacrifice them [...] and then cover up the traces. 'The statement from the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Igor Konashenkov, in combination with the documents attached to this statement, produces just such an impression.' Ukraine, like many countries, has public health laboratories researching on how to mitigate threats of serious diseases that can affect the human population as well as animals. A Ukrainian presidential spokesperson said: 'Ukraine strictly denies any such allegation.' A Saudi blogger who spent a decade behind bars and whose 'cruel and inhuman' public flogging for insulting Islam shocked the world, has been freed from jail but will not be able to leave the Arab country for 10 years. Raif Badawi, now 38, was set to have 50 lashes a week for twenty weeks but after his first flogging in Jeddah square nearly killed him, he was not hit again. The Saudi punishment shocked the world and was described by the United Nations as 'cruel and inhuman'. In 2012, the winner of the Reporters Without Borders was arrested and charged with 'insulting Islam' and later was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His wife Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Canada with their three children and held a vigil every Friday for his release, told AFP, 'Raif called me. He is free'. Mr Badawi's release was also confirmed by a Saudi security official, who said on condition of anonymity that 'he was released today.' He will not be able to leave the country for 10 years under the Arab country's ban on foreign travel. Raif Badawi's wife and mother of his three children Ensaf has been advocating his release In 2014 Raif Badawi was given 10 years for 'insulting Islam' by Saudi Arabia Colette Lelievre, a Montreal-based campaign organizer with Amnesty who has worked on Badawi's case, said his release was 'a great relief' One of his daughters, Nawja Badawi, 18, told AFP: 'I jumped when I found out. I couldn't believe it. I can't wait to see my dad, I'm so excited.' 'Raif Badawi, human rights defender in Saudi Arabia, has finally been released!' Amnesty International tweeted. 'Thousands of you have mobilized alongside us in the defense of Raif Badawi for 10 years. A big thank you to all of you for your tireless support.' Colette Lelievre, a Montreal-based campaign organizer with Amnesty who has worked on Badawi's case, said his release was 'a great relief.' 'Ensaf was at a loss for words,' Lelievre said Friday. 'She worked so hard to free her husband that emotions overwhelmed her. Mrs Haidar - who fled to Canada after Mr Badawi's arrest and has since become a Canadian citizen - told AFP in late February at the 374th vigil that she'd been able to maintain contact with her husband, speaking with him 'up to three times a week' by telephone. In 2014 Raif Badawi was given a sentence of 10 years and a 1,000 lashes for 'insulting Islam' by Saudi Arabia Mr Bawadi was flogged in front of a crowd of hundreds of people in Jeddah. Pictured: leaked video footage taken on a mobile phone showed the beating in January 2015 Canada's Quebec province has paved the way for Mr Badawi to come to the country if he chooses by placing him on a priority list of potential immigrants for humanitarian reasons. 'Finally!' Quebec Premier Francois Legault tweeted Friday about his release, adding: 'I keep thinking about the children who will finally see their father!' Amnesty said in an email to AFP that it would 'actively work to have any conditions lifted.' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that he was 'relieved that Raif Badawi has finally been released.' 'Our officials are now working to seek clarity on the conditions of his release,' he added. Mr Badawi will not be able to leave the country for 10 years under the Arab country's ban on foreign travel 'Raif called me. He is free,' his wife Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Canada with their three children and had been fiercely advocating for his release, told AFP Irwin Cotler, a former Canadian justice minister and Badawi's international legal counsel, said in a statement he hoped that 'Saudi authorities will compassionately allow for his reunification with his wife and young children in Canada.' International non-governmental groups and the United Nations continue to denounce the repression of dissenting voices and the imprisonment of activists in Saudi Arabia, despite the kingdom's efforts to improve its image by undertaking certain reforms. Mr Badawi's sister, Samar Badawi, as well as activist Nassima al-Sadah, released in 2021, remain stranded in the kingdom. A Sunni Muslim like most Saudis, Raif Badawi studied economics and ran an institute for learning English and computer skills, according to his wife. Known for his writings in support of freedom of expression, the blogger won the 2014 Reporters Without Borders prize in the net-citizen category. He was also awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom by the European Parliament in 2015, and in 2015 and 2016, he was among the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. A man in his fifties is fighting for his life in hospital following a north-west London car crash which killed a pedestrian. One man in his forties has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, after a white BMW smashed into a house in Neasden last night. He was taken to hospital where his condition was described as 'non life-threatening'. A man in his fifties is left fighting for his life in hospital following a north-west London car crash which killed a pedestrian The pedestrian, said to be a man in his thirties, was hit by the car before it crashed into the house on the the eastbound A406, the North Circular Road. The Metropolitan Police has said 'enquiries are ongoing to trace his family, believed to be overseas'. The force added the collision caused 'significant' structural damage to the building. One man in his forties has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, after a white BMW smashed into a house in Neasden last night The man arrested was taken to hospital where his condition was described as 'non life-threatening' Lane closures remain in place on the A406 while emergency workers remove the car and make sure the building is safe. Police are appealing for anyone with any information about the incident to call the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 020 8246 9820, ref 7729/11mar. A man has been arrested in Poland on suspicion of raping a 19-year-old refugee at a camp by luring her in with the offer of shelter after she had just escaped from war-torn Ukraine. On Thursday Police in Wroclaw, Poland, detained a 49-year-old suspect on rape charges after he allegedly assaulted a 19-year-old Ukrainian refugee he lured with offers of help over the internet. The suspect could face up to 12 years in prison for the 'brutal crime,' authorities said. 'He met the girl by offering his help via an internet portal,' police said in a statement. 'She escaped from war-torn Ukraine, did not speak Polish. She trusted a man who promised to help and shelter her. Unfortunately, all this turned out to be deceitful manipulation.' Concerns are growing on how to protect the most vulnerable refugees from being targeted by human traffickers or becoming victims to other forms of exploitation. This comes as official figures reveal close to 1.6 million people (1.596 million) have fled Ukraine to Poland since the war began, according to the Polish Border Guard. Since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, a total of 2.5 million people, including more than a million children, have left Ukraine. Another man at a refugee camp in Poland was overheard offering work and a room to a 16-year-old girl before authorities intervened. On Thursday Police in Wroclaw, Poland, detained a 49-year-old suspect on rape charges after he allegedly assaulted a 19-year-old Ukrainian refugee (not pictured) he lured with offers of help over the internet. (Pictured, people fleeing Ukraine at temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland) At Poland's Medyka border, another case at a refugee camp raised suspicions when a man was offering help only to women and children. When questioned by police, he changed his story. It is almost entirely women and children making up the millions who are fleeing across Ukraine's borders in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Europe and its fastest exodus since World War II. 'Obviously all the refugees are women and children,' said Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams, the UNHCR's head of global communications, who has visited borders in Romania, Poland and Moldova. 'You have to worry about any potential risks for trafficking - but also exploitation, and sexual exploitation and abuse. These are the kinds of situations that people like traffickers . look to take advantage of,' she said. In countries throughout Europe, including the border nations of Romania, Poland, Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia, private citizens and volunteers have been greeting and offering help to those whose lives have been shattered by war. Police in Berlin warned women and children in a post on social media in Ukrainian and Russian against accepting offers of overnight stays, and urged them to report anything suspicious. Tamara Barnett, director of operations at the Human Trafficking Foundation, a U.K.-based charity which grew out of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking, said that such a rapid, mass displacement of people could be a 'recipe for disaster.' 'When you've suddenly got a huge cohort of really vulnerable people who need money and assistance immediately,' she said. 'It's sort of a breeding ground for exploitative situations and sexual exploitation. 'When I saw all these volunteers offering their houses, that flagged a worry in my head.' People fleeing Russian invasion of Ukraine, rest at a temporary accommodation centre, in Korczowa, Poland, The suspect could face up to 12 years in prison for the 'brutal crime,' authorities said. 'He met the girl (not pictured) by offering his help via an internet portal. She trusted a man who promised to help and shelter her. Unfortunately, all this turned out to be deceitful manipulation' Security officials in Romania and Poland told The Associated Press that plain-clothed intelligence officers were on the lookout for 'criminal elements'. In the Romanian border town of Siret, authorities said men offering free rides to women have been sent away. Human trafficking is a grave human rights violation and can involve a wide range of exploitative roles. From sexual exploitation, such as prostitution, to forced labor, from domestic slavery to organ removal, and forced criminality, it is often inflicted by traffickers through coercion and abuse of power. The Migration Data Portal notes that humanitarian crises such as those associated with conflicts 'can exacerbate pre-existing trafficking trends and give rise to new ones' and that traffickers can thrive on 'the inability of families and communities to protect themselves and their children.' A 2020 human trafficking report by the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, estimates the annual global profit from the crime is 29.4 billion euros ($32 billion). It says that sexual exploitation is the most common form of human trafficking in the 27-nation bloc and that nearly three-quarters of all victims are female, with almost every fourth victim a child. Madalina Mocan, committee director at ProTECT, an organization that brings together 21 anti-trafficking groups, said there are 'already worrying signs', with some refugees being offered shelter in exchange for services such as cleaning and babysitting, which could lead to exploitation. 'There will be attempts of traffickers trying to take victims from Ukraine across the border. 'Women and children are vulnerable, especially those that do not have connections - family, friends, other networks of support,' she said, adding that continued conflict will mean 'more and more vulnerable people' reaching the borders. At the train station in the Hungarian border town of Zahony, 25-year-old Dayrina Kneziva arrived from Kyiv with her childhood friend. Fleeing a war zone, Kneziva said, left them little time to consider other potential dangers. 'When you compare... you just choose what will be less dangerous,' said Kneziva, who hopes to make it to Slovakia's capital of Bratislava with her friend. 'When you leave in a hurry, you just don't think about other things.' A large proportion of the refugees arriving in the border countries want to move on to friends or family elsewhere in Europe and many are relying on strangers to reach their destinations. 'The people who are leaving Ukraine are under emotional stress, trauma, fear, confusion,' said Cristina Minculescu, a psychologist at Next Steps Romania who provides support to trafficking victims. 'It's not just human trafficking, there is a risk of abduction, rape... their vulnerabilities being exploited in different forms.' At Romania's Siret border after a five-day car journey from the bombed historical city of Chernihiv, 44-year-old Iryna Pypypenko waited inside a tent with her two children, sheltering from the cold. She said a friend in Berlin who is looking for accommodation for her has warned her to beware of possibly heinous offers. 'She told me there are many, very dangerous propositions,' said Pypypenko, whose husband and parents stayed behind in Ukraine. 'She told me that I have to communicate only with official people and believe only the information they give me.' People fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, receive food from volunteers at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland. Police in Berlin warned women and children in a post on social media in Ukrainian and Russian against accepting offers of overnight stays, and urged them to report anything suspicious (None of those pictured are of the victims outlined in this story) Ionut Epureanu, the chief police commissioner of Suceava county, told the AP at the Siret border that police are working closely with the country's national agency against human trafficking and other law enforcement to try to prevent crimes. 'We are trying to make a control for every vehicle leaving the area,' he said. 'A hundred people making transport have good intentions, but it's enough to be one that isn't . and tragedy can come.' Vlad Gheorghe, a Romanian member of the European Parliament who launched a Facebook group called United for Ukraine that has more than 250,000 members and pools resources to help refugees, including accommodation, says he is working closely with the authorities to prevent any abuses. 'No offer for volunteering or stay or anything goes unchecked, we check every offer,' he said. 'We call back, we ask some questions, we have a minimal check before any offer for help is accepted.' At Poland's Medyka border, seven former members of the French Foreign Legion, an elite military force, are voluntarily providing their own security to refugees and are on the lookout for traffickers. 'This morning we found three men who were trying to get a bunch of women into a van,' said one of the former legionnaires, a South African who gave only his first name, Mornay. 'I can't 100% say they were trying to recruit them for sex trafficking, but when we started talking to them and approached them - they got nervous and just left immediately.' 'We just want to try and get women and kids to safety,' he added. 'The risk is very high because there are so many people you just don't know who is doing what.' Back at her tent on the Siret border, Pypypenko said people were offering help - but she wasn't sure who she could trust. 'People just enter and tell us that they can take us for free to France,' she said. 'Today we are for three hours here . and we had two or three propositions like that. I couldn't even imagine such a situation, that such a big tragedy could be the field of crime.' Roman Abramovich's 430m superyacht docked in Montenegro this morning as the under-fire oligarch apparently sought to protect his prize assets from being seized under sanctions. The luxury 460ft vessel arrived just before 8am UK-time in the port of Tivat after hurriedly leaving Barcelona on Tuesday two days before Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government. It is believed that he wanted to move his yacht out of western European waters because of the risk of him being sanctioned by the EU over alleged links to President Putin. Roman Abramovich's 430m superyacht Solaris (pictured) docked in Montenegro this morning The Solaris, which boasts its own helipad and missile detection system, was reportedly rushed out of a Spanish shipyard before repairs were finished. Staff are said to have been told to tear down scaffolding so the yacht could make a quick getaway. Montenegro is not in the EU, although it is expected to join in 2025, so it could be seen as a safer haven by Abramovich who is trying to sell Chelsea FC. It was announced last week that Montenegro had signed up to EU sanctions against Russia, but in practice it has so far only involved the country banning Russian flights. The port where Solaris was heading was unknown until about 4.20am today when its destination of Tivat suddenly became visible on ship tracking apps. It is believed that the destination was only entered into its tracking system by the Solaris crew in the early hours. Montenegro is not in the EU, although it is expected to join in 2025, so it could be seen as a safer haven by Abramovich (pictured) who is trying to sell Chelsea FC Ship tracking sites such as Marine Traffic had earlier shown the yacht heading around Sicily and into the Ionian Sea, with its final destination being unclear. Abramovich's second superyacht Eclipse, which is even bigger at 533ft and reportedly worth more than 750m, could also be heading for Tivat which has a superyacht marina The Eclipse usually spends much of the winter in the Caribbean where Abramovich has a home on the billionaire playground island of St Barts. But the yacht has been in international waters since leaving St Maarten, around 20 miles from St Barts, on February 21 as the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine loomed. Satellite tracking this morning pinpointed it as entering the Straits of Gibraltar and possibly en-route to the Mediterranean after sailing up the west coast of Africa. Superyachts owned by other oligarchs are said to have been dispersed to locations including the Maldives, Seychelles and Turkey to prevent them being seized. It comes as Italian authorities are currently probing whether a mysterious superyacht docked in a northern port should be seized under sanctions against Russia, following speculation that it could belong to Vladimir Putin himself. The $700 million yacht, Scheherazade, is one of the largest and most expensive superyachts in the world, and since its launch in 2020, its true ownership has been cloaked in absolute secrecy. Currently docked for repairs at the Italian Sea Group shipyard in Marina di Carrara, Italy, the Scheherazade is protected by measures that are extreme even by the ultra-private standards of the superyacht world, with covers hiding its nameplate and a metal barrier erected to partially block the vessel from public view. For more than a year, workers at the shipyard have speculated that the ship belongs to Putin himself, a source there told DailyMail.com this week. 'All the whispers were it belonged to Putin,' the person said. Solaris at Barcelona Port in Barcelona, Spain, earlier this month. Staff are said to have been told to tear down scaffolding so the yacht could make a quick getaway The source said that the Scheherazade's crew appear to be Russian, and that a team of Germans working on repairs to the vessel were recalled by their home office after the EU announced its sanctions last week. However, the ship's British captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, denied that Putin owns the Scheherazade or has ever been on board, telling the New York Times: 'I have never seen him. I have never met him.' Bennett-Pearce declined to identify the Scheherazade's owner, citing a strict non-disclosure agreement, and would not rule out that the owner is Russian. He did however insist that the owner is not on any sanctions list. The captain said that Italian investigators had come aboard on Friday and examined some of the ship's certification documents, and that he planned to hand over documents identifying the true owner on Tuesday, telling the Times that he had 'no choice.' 'I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this will clear the vessel of all negative rumors and speculations,' Bennett-Pearce told the outlet. French and Italian authorities last week seized three yachts worth more than 170m on suspicion that they were ultimately owned by associates of Putin. France detained Amore Vero, a 280ft superyacht said to be owned by Igor Sechin, in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat. Sechin, who is also facing sanctions, is the chief executive of the Russian oil producer Rosneft and a close ally of Putin. Amore Vero, which means 'true love' in Italian, can accommodate 14 guests and 28 crew. French police, who boarded the vessel at night said the crew had been 'making arrangements to leave in a hurry, without having completed the planned work'. Italian authorities in Samremo impounded Lena, a 134ft yacht owned by Putin associate Gennady Timchenko, who has an estimated $21bn fortune held in Russian raw materials companies. The luxury 460ft vessel arrived just before 8am UK-time in the port of Tivat after hurriedly leaving Barcelona on Tuesday Lady M, a 209ft yacht owned by Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov who is the main shareholder of Russia's largest steel and mining company, was seized in the nearby Ligurian port of Imperia. Dilbar, the world's largest superyacht by gross tonnage, which is said to be owned by former major Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov, was reported to have been seized in Hamburg. But German authorities later clarified that the 511ft vessel, which has been valued at $600m, had not been impounded but required an export waiver to leave the port. UK transport secretary Grant Shapps has said the UK government will detain any yachts suspected of being Russian-owned if they entered UK waters The Bermuda-flagged Solaris was built for Abramovich by German yard Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven and was only launched last year. The yacht which has a crew of 60 with eight decks, cabins for 36 guests, a gym, sauna, jacuzzi and a swimming pool that can be converted into a dance floor. It also has a flotilla of 20 high-speed jet-skis and at least one helicopter to ferry guests from ship to shore, and a rumoured personal submarine. Both Solaris and Eclipse are thought to have a series of security measures to protect against pirates, kidnappers or special forces from hostile states. Eclipse is even said to have a special anti-paparazzi system with the capacity to target the photosensitive elements on digital cameras, and disable them with a laser. As well radar-controlled missile detection systems, the yachts are also thought to have bulletproof windows and armoured protection around their wheelhouses and main cabins. The travel ban means the Russian-Israeli billionaire, who is worth about 9.4 billion and also has stakes in mining firm Norilsk Nickel, will not be permitted to enter the UK. Jets and yachts owned or chartered by Mr Abramovich can be seized, the sanctions say. They are currently all out the UK. He is understood to have a fleet of cars in the UK, but are likely to be in storage. The Government could seize them all - but they are understood to be in 'freezing not seizing' mode. Funds in a bank account continue to belong to the sanctioned person but Abramovich cannot withdraw funds without a licence. Shares in UK companies continue to be held by a sanctioned person but they will not receive dividends and they will not be able to exercise most rights they possess as a result of holding the shares. Any entity anywhere in the world owned 50 per cent or more by a sanctioned person is itself automatically to be treated as sanctioned. Even if the holding is less than 50 per cent the entity will still be deemed sanctioned if the sanctioned person has control It will be near impossible to legally sell or transfer shares and a licence would be required. This may not be granted. Mr Abramovich is the biggest shareholder in Evraz - a FTSE100 listed miner in which he owned a near-29 per cent stake in February. The Financial Conduct Authority said that it would temporarily suspend trading in Evraz's shares 'in order to protect investors pending clarification of the impact of the UK sanctions'. British former soldiers and volunteers heading into war torn Ukraine have backed a Coldstream Guardsman who has gone AWOL to join the fight. The unidentified 19-year-old solider vanished last week from his unit after telling family and friends he was fed up with standing around and is now thought to be at the front line. As a serving soldier he faces court martial after PM Boris Johnson announced British armed forces personnel who travel to fight the Russians will be punished on their return. But at the Medyka border crossing with Ukraine, the teenager - and at least three others who have gone AWOL to join up - were backed by former soldiers including two from London. A 19-year-old member of the Queens Guard (left and right), whose identity has not been revealed for security reasons, dropped his ceremonial duties as a Coldstream Guardsman and signed up for Ukraines International Legion of foreign volunteer fighters Former soldier Claudius Scott, 28, (pictured) served six years with 5th Battalion The Rifles, at Bulford, Wiltshire Pictured, members of Ukraine's international legion. Volunteers from the US, UK, Sweden, Lithuania and Mexico have joined (Pictured) Four active members of the British Army are believed to have abandoned their posts and shipped off the Ukraine to fight the Russian invaders, including one teenager who is a serving member of the Queen's Guard (stock image) Claudius Scott, 28, who served six years with 5th Battalion The Rifles, at Bulford, Wiltshire, said: I can see why those guys wanted to go. They wanted to do what they thought was right and fight the enemy. Thats what they are trained to do, thats what I was trained to do and although I didnt go on any battle tours I did plenty of military exercises in Estonia, Canada and Latvia. Ive got the experience and the skill that the Ukrainians could use, I dont have any family commitments so Im happy to go Ive got my helmet and body armour with me and I know what Im doing. The British Army is one of the best trained military forces in the world so I want to put all that training to use and help because what is going on in Ukraine is wrong. Im Ok I served, did my time, Im out and so I can go but I can see why those guys who went AWOL wanted to go and do their bit by helping out. I stand with them and fully support them. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy slammed Moscow for 'torturing' civilians who have spent more than a week without vital supplies in besieged cities. Pictured: Russian tanks in Donetsk Shelling continues across the country with a school reduced to rubble in Kharkiv (pictured). Ukraine's emergency services reported Saturday that the bodies of five people - two women, a man and two children - were pulled from an apartment building that was struck by shelling in the city A Ukrainian serviceman exits a damaged building after shelling in Kyiv as Russian forces close in on the city His friend, who asked not to be named, and had a fierce combat knife on his belt, said: We are seeing war crimes being committed in Ukraine and as a solider you cant just stand by and see that happening. Thats why those guys who went AWOL went, they were probably a bit fed up hanging around not doing and proper soldiering and so wanted to get stuck in. I did my time with Claudius in 5 Rifles, Im trained and I know what Im doing, Ive done exercises and I know how to use a weapon and I have tactical knowledge. Im sure those guys who went AWOL felt like us, they wanted to put up some resistance against what is going on in Ukraine and take the Russians on. Im happy to give it a go. He added:Ive got a 13-year-old son at home, yes I had him when I was young at 15, so Id like to get back and see him, apart from that I have no commitments. Of course the lad and my family are worried but Ive told them not to because I intend to come back. An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian's army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine today Here's how YOU can help: Donate here to the Mail Force Ukraine Appeal Readers of Mail Newspapers and MailOnline have always shown immense generosity at times of crisis. Calling upon that human spirit, we are supporting a huge push to raise money for refugees from Ukraine. For, surely, no one can fail to be moved by the heartbreaking images and stories of families mostly women, children, the infirm and elderly fleeing from the bombs and guns. As this tally of misery increases over the coming days and months, these innocent victims of this conflict will require accommodation, schools and medical support. Donations to the Mail Force Ukraine Appeal will be used to help charities and aid organisations providing such essential services. In the name of charity and compassion, we urge all our readers to give swiftly and generously. TO MAKE A DONATION ONLINE Donate at www.mailforcecharity.co.uk/donate To add Gift Aid to a donation even one already made complete an online form found here: mymail.co.uk/ukraine Via bank transfer, please use these details: Account name: Mail Force Charity Account number: 48867365 Sort code: 60-00-01 TO MAKE A DONATION VIA CHEQUE Make your cheque payable to 'Mail Force' and post it to: Mail Newspapers Ukraine Appeal, GFM, 42 Phoenix Court, Hawkins Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 8JY TO MAKE A DONATION FROM THE US US readers can donate to the appeal via a bank transfer to Associated Newspapers or by sending checks to dailymail.com HQ at 51 Astor Place (9th floor), New York, NY 10003 Advertisement Several other Britons who claimed to be former soldiers also crossed over but refused to speak or be photographed with one saying he was going because he had emailed the Ukrainian Embassy in London about fighting and had not heard back so was going anyway. Meanwhile the AWOL Brit squaddies have been warned not to try and join the Georgian National League of foreign fighters. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Commander Mamuka Mamulashvili, of the Georgian National League, which accepts foreign fighters, and is expecting around 150 British volunteers, said:If those four guys come anywhere near my Legion they will be sent home. I will personally buy them their plane tickets. We check everyone who comes and signs on with us and they are all either volunteers who will be trained or retired members of the military we do not take deserters or people who have gone absent without leave. If one of those four guys joined me it would create a political storm and I dont want that. I do everything by the rules, anyone who joins me is not paid we are not mercenaries. Commander Mamulashvili revealed how he had already sent one serving British army solider back to the UK. He said:A couple of days before the Russians invaded a British guy turned up saying he wanted to fight, he was interviewed and it quickly came out that he was still serving and he had left his unit without permission to come out here. He had arrived in Kyiv saying he wanted to join the Georgian National League but as soon as we found out he had deserted his unit I sent him back to Britain. We dont want any trouble. Dozens of volunteers and ex-servicemen from Britain are thought to have headed to Ukraine and earlier this week MailOnline spoke exclusively to two James and Thomas who had flown out to join the Georgian National Legion. Thomas, 26, from London, had served in the army for four years while James, 22, from Manchester, had no previous experience but said he was receiving excellent training from UK and US instructors. Last month just days after the invasion Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she would absolutely support those who wished to travel from the UK and fight against the Russian army in Ukraine but the government quickly distanced itself with Downing Street saying it strongly advised against travelling. Serving members of the British Armed Forces have been banned from accepting an invitation from the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to join an International Brigade set up specially for foreigners. Around 20,000 volunteers from around the world are thought to have signed up to fight in Ukraine but commander Mamulashvili added:I only want those who are eligible to join coming to support us. Anyone who fails the selection criteria because he is already serving will be sent home, you have been warned. We are taking the battle to Putin, we will win and we will do it with but I will not have extremists, racists or blood thirsty guys who just want to kill in my battalion. We have seen what the Russians are doing, bombing civilians and hospitals but we will win, Putin will be defeated. To address a surge of roadway deaths, the city needs control over the cameras that automatically issue speeding tickets, city Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said Friday. At least 53 people have been killed in New York City car crashes so far in 2022 the most recorded at this point in the year since 2013. Advertisement The surge follows a bloody 2021 on city streets, when 273 people were killed by motorists, the most in a calendar year since before former Mayor de Blasio took office in 2014 and launched his Vision Zero program, which had the goal of ending traffic deaths in the city. New York City DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez at speaks a press conference announcing the pilot program for protected bike parking on W. 14th St. in the Meat Packing District Friday, March 10, 2022 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News) Cracking down on dangerous drivers is made harder by lawmakers in Albany who have for years limited the hours when the speed cameras can be active, Rodriguez said at a news conference. Advertisement [ Outdoor diners killed when SUV drives over Washington, D.C., sidewalk ] A law passed by the Legislature in 2019 allowed New York City to roll out hundreds of speed cameras in 750 areas near schools. The cameras issue $50 fines to motorists who go more than 10 mph over the limit but are only allowed to operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays. Rodriguez said 70% of fatal crashes near schools occur during times when the speed cameras are off. He called for state lawmakers to give the city home rule over the program. [ OPINION: NYC must wrest control of its red-light and speed cameras from Albany ] New York City deserves to have the control and decide everything related to automatic enforcement anything related to speed cameras, said Rodriguez. I want all New Yorkers to support New York City to get home rule... This should be a bipartisan issue. Rodriguez also pointed to plans announced earlier this year by the Department of Transportation to redesign 1,000 intersections as a way to improve safety for pedestrians. So far this year, 25 pedestrians have been killed in vehicle crashes in the city. [ SEE IT: Cars crash behind reporter talking about dangerous intersection ] Rodriguez said there will also be a higher level of coordination on enforcement between the DOT and NYPD, because most of those drivers that have involved in those crashes are drivers that have suspended licenses, they have been driving while theyre drunk, they have been driving over the speed limit. A man has been killed by police in Marseille, France, after he attacked three officers with a knife. Authorities said he repeatedly ignored warning shots and the reason for the attack, which took place at the town hall that was also a donation collection point for Ukraine, was unclear. The Mayor of Marseilles, Benoit Payan, praised the police intervention, saying: 'This is a heroic act, I dare not imagine what could have happened if they weren't there.' Authorities said he repeatedly ignored warning shots and the reason for the attack, which took place at a donation collection point for Ukraine, was unclear A man has been killed by police in Marseille, France, after he attacked three officers with a knife City officials at the scene said that three officers were injured and one was hospitalised Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin described a 'violent attack with a knife' and said police were able to 'neutralize the victim and avoid the worst.' Speaking from the site of the incident, Mr Darmanin said the man, of French nationality, was not known to police and had no police record, La Provence reports. He added that officers tried to warn him in various ways, which were unsuccessful, and 'then they opened fire and stopped him.' The Chief of Police of Bouches-du-Rhone Twitter account has in a post asked people to avoid the area as emergency services work The national antiterrorism prosecutor's office said it is examining what happened before determining whether to open an investigation into terrorism City officials at the scene said three officers were injured and one was hospitalised. The national antiterrorism prosecutor's office said it is examining what happened before determining whether to open an investigation into terrorism. France has been hit by several deadly extremist attacks in recent years. The attack took place in the Old Port of Marseille on the Mediterranean, not far from a site that is collecting aid for victims of the war in Ukraine, but authorities said there was no immediate sign of any link between the collection site and the attack. The Chief of Police of Bouches-du-Rhone Twitter account has in a post asked people to avoid the area as emergency services work. Australians returning to Bali as the island re-opens to tourists after two years of Covid border closures have been warned their cheap drinks could come with deadly side effects. Western Australian Colin Ahearn said travellers to the Indonesian island should be wary of spirits bought on the island, as they could be laced with methanol. Methanol is a normal byproduct of distillation, but low-cost manufacturing processes can lead to the harmful chemical being left behind in alcoholic drinks. In January 2013, Perth teenager Liam Davies died on Indonesian party island Gili Trawangan after drinking what he believed were imported vodka-lime mixers. Australians are returning to Bali this month as the island re-opens to tourists after two years of Covid border closures Indonesia, and especially Bali, has been severely impacted by the pandemic's impact on global tourism. Pictured is file image of a young tourist on Bali Liam Davies died on party island Gili Trawangan after drinking what he believed were imported vodka-lime mixes Mr Ahearn has created a Facebook page to warn holidaymakers they could die if they buy spirits on the island. He fears some venues won't be to afford genuine liquor after being crippled by the Covid pandemic over the past two years. 'My fear is people are going to go back there like it's their first time in Bali,' Mr Ahearn said on his page. 'Cocktails are going to be cheap and they're going to get on the p*** like it's their first time they've ever drunk and they're going to end up dead.' Methanol poisoning can occur when tourist bars cut costs and introduce bootleg liquors. Symptoms include drowsiness and vomiting, and victims may become unsteady on their feet. Mr Ahearn recommends buying duty-free spirits at the airport or pre-sealed mixers. Since the death of Liam Davies in Bali in 2013, Perth man Colin Ahearn (pictured) has been spreading the message to not drink spirits on the island Indonesia, and especially Bali, has been severely impacted by the pandemic as the island nation's economy relies heavily on tourism dollars. More than 70 per cent of Balinese residents work in tourism. The industry accounts for 52 per cent of the island's GDP. At least 90 per cent of tourism-related businesses and restaurants at the island have shut their doors due to the miniscule number of international arrivals over the past two years. Just 45 overseas visitors reportedly holidayed at the island in 2021, with many resorts closing during the pandemic either for good or to renovate. Australians can also now travel quarantine free to Bali as long as they are fully vaccinated - it follows a highly anticipated announcement from the Indonesian government on March 7. Crippling sanctions have been introduced following Putin's invasion of Ukraine On Tuesday, he said it is criminal offence for Russian plane to be in UK airspace Transport Secretary said he would make sure it was not in breach of sanctions Grant Shapps said he is holding private jet at London's Luton Airport on Tuesday Grant Shapps today said he has held a private jet at London's Luton Airport after he declared it would be a criminal offence for any Russian aircraft to infringe on UK airspace. The UK Transport Secretary, 53, said he would not be letting the private jet take off again until he was satisfied that it was not in breach of the Government's sanctions, which were introduced in response to Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine. Taking to Twitter, he wrote: 'This morning I have held a private jet at Luton until I am satisfied that letting it fly would not be in breach of our Russia sanctions. 'Important to note that no Russian-linked aircraft is permitted to fly in the UK and that this is being vigorously enforced.' It is not known whether the aircraft is still being held at Luton airport. Grant Shapps (pictured) today said he has held a private jet at London's Luton Airport after he declared it would be a criminal offence for any Russian aircraft to infringe on UK airspace The UK Transport Secretary, 53, said he would not be letting the private jet take off again until he was satisfied that it was not in breach of the Government's sanctions It comes after Shapps this week declared that it will be a criminal offence for any Russian aircraft to infringe on UK airspace. 'I have made it a criminal offence for ANY Russian aircraft to enter UK airspace and now HMG (Her Majesty's Government) can detain these jets,' Shapps said in a tweet posted on Tuesday. 'We will suffocate Putin's cronies' ability to continue living as normal while thousands of innocent people die,' he added. The tweet was accompanied by an image of a Department for Transport (DfT) document signed by Shapps, which detailed the scope of the new legislation and explained it was designed to bolster sanctions placed on Russia in other sectors. 'UK air traffic control and UK airports are not to provide access to any aircraft which they have reason to believe is a Russian aircraft, being: 1. an aircraft registered in Russia, 2. an aircraft owned, operated or chartered by an individual designated in respect of the aviation sanctions under the legislation, 3. an aircraft owned, operated or chartered by persons connected with Russia,' the document read. The document posted by Shapps took aim at Russia's 'unprovoked attack' against Ukraine and declared the new measure would reinforce sanctions designed to target Russia's elite. It comes after Shapps this week declared that it will be a criminal offence for any Russian aircraft to infringe on UK airspace The tweet was accompanied by an image of a Department for Transport (DfT) document signed by Shapps, which detailed the scope of the new legislation 'Russia's assault on Ukraine is an unprovoked, premeditated attack against a sovereign democratic state,' it read. 'The UK government has shown there would be massive consequences and a severe cost for any Russian military incursion into Ukraine, and, in coordination with our international allies and partners, we are developing an unprecedented package of further sanctions. 'The aviation sector is fundamental to connectivity and international trade and we must play our part in restricting Russia's economic interests and holding the Russian government to account. 'In these circumstances the Department for Transport does not consider it appropriate for Russian aircraft to continue to enter UK airspace or land at UK airports. 'With effect from 25th February there has already been legislation in place to prohibit Russian aircraft from UK airspace. UK air traffic control and UK airports are not to provide access to any aircraft which they have reason to believe is a Russian aircraft. 'From 1700 today, air traffic control now have powers to issue directions to a pilot or operator of a Russian aircraft not to enter UK airspace, or to leave it by a certain route. 'Airport operators can direct those persons to take off, or not take off, from one of their airports, or not land there.' The UK Government hit seven oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich (pictured), with a wave of crippling sanctions as the government continues to tighten 'the vice' around Putin's cronies Shapps also said in the document he will grant the Civil Aviation Authority the power to refuse to register any aircraft on the UK register if its owner, charterer or operator is targeted by sanctions. Here's how YOU can help: Donate here to the Mail Force Ukraine Appeal Readers of Mail Newspapers and MailOnline have always shown immense generosity at times of crisis. Calling upon that human spirit, we are supporting a huge push to raise money for refugees from Ukraine. For, surely, no one can fail to be moved by the heartbreaking images and stories of families mostly women, children, the infirm and elderly fleeing from the bombs and guns. As this tally of misery increases over the coming days and months, these innocent victims of this conflict will require accommodation, schools and medical support. Donations to the Mail Force Ukraine Appeal will be used to help charities and aid organisations providing such essential services. In the name of charity and compassion, we urge all our readers to give swiftly and generously. TO MAKE A DONATION ONLINE Donate at www.mailforcecharity.co.uk/donate To add Gift Aid to a donation even one already made complete an online form found here: mymail.co.uk/ukraine Via bank transfer, please use these details: Account name: Mail Force Charity Account number: 48867365 Sort code: 60-00-01 TO MAKE A DONATION VIA CHEQUE Make your cheque payable to 'Mail Force' and post it to: Mail Newspapers Ukraine Appeal, GFM, 42 Phoenix Court, Hawkins Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 8JY TO MAKE A DONATION FROM THE US US readers can donate to the appeal via a bank transfer to Associated Newspapers or by sending checks to dailymail.com HQ at 51 Astor Place (9th floor), New York, NY 10003 Advertisement 'I would like to thank you for supporting the Government with these new aviation sanctions and playing your part as the UK supports Ukraine in the fight against the Russian invasion,' Shapps concluded. The Transport Secretary's announcement comes three days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an 'action plan' to thwart Russia's aggression amid accusations that Britain was not acting strongly enough in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Johnson called for: the creation of an international humanitarian coalition for Ukraine; a boost to Kyiv's military self-defence; a ratcheting up of sanctions on Moscow; concerted diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis; and 'a rapid campaign to strengthen security and resilience across the Euro-Atlantic area'. The UK Government hit seven oligarchs with a wave of crippling sanctions as the government continues to tighten 'the vice' around Russian leader Putin's cronies. Roman Abramovich was among the seven oligarchs to be hit with an asset freeze and travel bans. The government has announced that the owner of Chelsea FC will also be prohibited from transactions with UK individuals and businesses. The government could still grant him a licence to sell the club, but will need to be assured that he will not benefit financially and any proceeds would remain frozen. Mr Abramovich's one time business partner, Oleg Deripaska, has been hit with the same measures - as have Rosneft chief Igor Sechin and four more described as being in Putin's 'inner circle'. The Foreign Office said the Economic Crime Bill coming into force next week 'will allow UK Government to move further and faster than ever on sanctions'. Boris Johnson said the government will keep 'tightening the vice' around Putin's cronies. 'There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin's vicious assault on Ukraine,' he said. 'Today's sanctions are the latest step in the UK's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.' The Foreign Office said the oligarchs have a collective net worth of around 15billion. Following the brutal sanctions, Abramovich was also today disqualified as director of Chelsea by the Premier League. 'The boards decision does not impact on the clubs ability to train and play its fixtures, as set out under the terms of a licence issued by the Government which expires on 31 May 2022,' the league said. The Government claims the Russian oligarch, who has owned Chelsea since 2003, received financial benefits from the Kremlin, including tax breaks for his companies, the buying and selling of shares from and to the state at favourable rates. Empire actor Jussie Smollett says he was handed a heftier jail sentence because he is black and that he made sure to mention he is not suicidal in court in order to avoid getting 'Jeffrey Epstein'd' On Thursday Smollett - once a darling of the music and TV world for his success on the show Empire - was sentenced to 150 days in jail. The star was convicted last year of five felony counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police repeatedly when he claimed he was the victim of a race hate attack in January and February 2019. Judge James Linn granted Smollett 'day for day' eligibility which means if he behaves himself behind bars, he will likely be released within 75 days - just over two months. Scroll Down For Video: Smollett told the judge: ''If anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not to it to myself, and you must all know that' Smollett told his attorneys before his Thursday court appearance that he would get a harsher sentence than most people convicted of a non-violent offence because he is black After he was sentenced Smollett told his legal team his prediction was correct and said the 150 day sentence was 'unfortunate' and 'sad' and blamed it on the judge's animosity towards him But despite his light sentence, TMZ reported that Smollett told his attorneys before his Thursday court appearance that he would get a harsher sentence than most people convicted of a non-violent offence because he is black, calling it proof of systemic racism in the court system. After he was sentenced Smollett told his legal team his prediction was correct and said the 150 day sentence was 'unfortunate' and 'sad' and blamed it on judge Linn's animosity towards him, TMZ.com reported. In court on Thursday Smollett protested 'I am innocent! I am not suicidal' as he was led away in handcuffs. He said it was a ploy to ensure if something happened to him in jail, the public would know it was foul play - a reference to Jeffrey Epstein's jail cell hanging that many claim was an 'inside job', TMZ reported. Smollett will serve his sentence in the Cook County Jail, a stone's throw from the court and one of the biggest jail complexes in the country under protective custody. The Cooks County Sheriff's Office confirmed on Friday that the 39-year-old will be housed in his own cell where he will be under video monitoring at all times, per the request of Smollett and his legal team, the New York Post reported. 'Mr. Smollett is being housed in his own cell, which is monitored by security cameras in the cell and by an officer wearing a body-worn camera who is stationed at the entrance of the cell to ensure that Mr. Smollett is under direct observation at all times,' the Cooks County Sheriff said in a statement. Inmate number 20220310140 in Chicago's Cook County Jail, Jussie Smollett Smollett's family posted his quote to Instagram hours after he began serving his sentence Smollett faced up to three years in prison and his attorneys made one last attempt for a non-custodial sentence, but it wasn't enough to persuade Judge James Linn against imposing jail time. After patiently listening to Smollett's attorneys blame the jury, the media and the prosecutors for his conviction, Linn imposed a 150-day sentence and blasted Smollett's 'astounding hypocrisy'. The actor has claimed throughout that he is the victim of a racist and homophobic campaign by the Chicago Police Department and prosecutor's office. He blamed former Chicago Police Chief Eddie Johnson - who is black - for going after him, and his brother yesterday fumed at assistant special prosecutor Samuel Mendenhall - who is also black - that they didn't need a 'lecture in racism'. He and his supporters say he is being unfairly punished because of his celebrity and that anyone else would have spared jail for the crimes he was convicted of. He still maintains that he was telling the truth when he claimed to have been beaten up by two white Trump supporters in January 2019. An aerial view of the enormous Cook County Jail complex where more than 6,000 inmates are spread across more than a dozen units, awaiting sentencing or trial dates or serving sentences Judge James Linn is pictured sentencing Smollett to 150 days in Cook County jail The worst of the jail: A solitary confinement cell in the Cook County Jail. Jussie is not likely to be placed in one of these cells A jury unanimously convicted him of lying. They found that the evidence showed he had in fact paid his two black friends, brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo, to rough him up in a staged attack. Police at the time suggested it was to raise his celebrity profile. The two brothers testified at trial that Smollett walked them through exactly how to go about the attack. Smollett's defense attorneys claimed they were liars throughout, but couldn't explain why they would have lied to him. The brothers were never charged because they never lied to police - the first time they were questioned about it, they told cops what had happened, according to Judge Linn. Smollett has never relented on his defense and instead insists he was victimized by the City of Chicago. Judge Linn has ordered him to pay $120,000 in restitution which reflects the $130,000 the city is suing him for, minus $10,000 that Smollett has already surrendered as part of a now canceled-out deal with the State's Attorney's Office. As he was sentenced, Judge Linn blasted Smollett as a 'charlatan' Judge Linn was damning in his verdict, noting how Smollett on the stand reprimanded someone who, quoting him, used the N-word, and yet himself sabotaged the work of activists for equality. 'The hypocrisy is just astounding. I believe that you did damage to actual hate crime victims. These are people who have a difficult time coming forward. There may be some trepidation. 'I don't know if they are going to be accused of acting like you, pulling a stunt like you. I don't know if first responders are going to be more hesitant. I hope it's not the case.' 'You're just a charlatan, pretending to be a victim of a hate crime.' Inside the Cook County jail where Jussie Smollett will serve at least two months along with 6,000 inmates: Cramped dorms, riots in the mess hall and limited visits are what disgraced star can expect Because of the low-level, non-violent nature of Smollett's crimes, he will not serve his time in a state prison. He is being housed instead for the two-and-a-half months in the Cook County Jail, a stone's throw from the court and one of the biggest jail complexes in the country. He is currently being held in Division Eight - which is predominantly reserved for inmates with injuries or illness. It remains unclear if he will serve the duration of his sentence there, or if he will be moved after undergoing health checks. Inside the prison, there are cramped dorm rooms where hundreds of non-violent offenders sleep side by side in bunk beds. Smollett was convicted of five, non-violent felonies. It is unclear if he will have to sleep in a dorm, or if he'll be put in a cell An exterior view of Cook County Jail, where Smollett has begun his 150-day sentence. He will likely be let out after 75 days, if he behaves, and is currently being held in Division 8 - the medical unit. The prison has 6,000 inmates who are either serving sentences of under two years, or are awaiting trial An aerial view of the enormous Cook County Jail complex where more than 6,000 inmates are spread across more than a dozen units, awaiting sentencing or trial dates or serving sentences Smollett will not receive visitors today. Visitation for inmates in Section 2E of Unit 8 - where records show he is now - begins tomorrow, at 2.30pm. Division 8 is what is known as a Residential Treatment Unit. It is a two-wing facility and made headlines recently for a COVID outbreak which killed three inmates. Cook County Jail mostly houses suspects who are awaiting trial or convicts awaiting sentencing so there is a variety of violent and non-violent suspects and convicts in the population. Those whose their sentences there have been given considerably light ones of two years or less. Several sections of the jail have enormous dormitories where hundreds of men sleep in bunk beds lined up, row to row. There are individualized cell blocks, for more violent or at-risk offenders. During a New York Times visit to the jail for a 2017 feature on how it had been upgraded, one inmate repeatedly stabbed two others. A cell block in another portion of the jail. The locked cells are reserved for more violent offenders These are the cells in Division 8- the medical unit where Smollett is currently being held In this Sept. 29, 2011 file photo, inmates at the Cook County Jail in Chicago wait to be processed for release. Jussie will have to spend at least half of his 150 day sentence In this Sept. 29, 2011 file photo, inmates at the Cook County Jail in Chicago, line up to be processed for release In 2018, a violent brawl erupted in the mess hall where dozens of inmates started viciously fighting at the bottom of the stairs A plea for help is written on a window of the maximum security unit of the Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois, USA, 10 April 2020. In January 2022, more than 800 inmates and staff tested positive for COVID The COVID-19 quarantine tier with single cells at Division 11 of the Cook County Jail in Chicago on May 20, 2020 HBO's Real Time host Bill Maher delivered a monologue Friday night that criticized both parties for what he felt was making the Russian invasion of Ukraine about themselves, except notably for those who blamed President Joe Biden. Maher pointed out that Republicans blamed the war on Biden, while Democrats blamed it on ex-President Donald Trump but then seemed to suggest it was worth considering if Putin took advantage of Biden. 'If Putin thought Trump was really that supportive of him, why didn't he invade while Trump was in office? It's at least worth asking that question if you're not locked into one intransigent thought.' The comedian presented his 'New Rules' at the end of the show as he does every week and delved into the war, which he says is solely about Vladimir Putin. 'Don't take this personally but don't take everything personally. Ukraine is not mostly about your pet grievances, it's about Vladimir Putin's,' he said. He cited several examples of people turning the situation into what he called 'World War Me.' HBO's Real Time host Bill Maher delivered a monologue Friday night that criticized both parties for what he felt was making the Russian invasion of Ukraine about themselves Maher pointed out that Republicans blamed the war on Biden, while Democrats blamed it on ex-President Donald Trump but then seemed to suggest it was worth considering if Putin took advantage of Biden Maher then went after Trump, whom he referred to as the 'worst president ever.' 'Now, one guy we know is locked into one thought is Donald Trump, who would ask what went wrong with Ukraine said, 'Well, what went wrong was a rigged election.' Kanye thinks less about Pete Davidson than Trump thinks about the rigged election,' Maher joked. The monologue continued on, pointing out people on both sides of various culture war issues were making the war about their pet cause. He then went after the ex-president's son, Donald Trump Jr., for his own fascination with making the war about the current president's son, Hunter Biden. 'For whatever reason, Don Jr. seems obsessed with Hunter, so when Ukraine happened, Don tweeted: 'Will it ultimately be Hunter's lucrative and shady as f--- business dealings in Ukraine that gets us into a war with Russia?' Uh, let me field that one for you mini-Mook: No.' Maher took Donald Trump Jr. to task for making the war about his obsession with Joe Biden's son Hunter Nikole-Hannah Jones, author of the controversial 1619 Project, was also criticized for bringing race into the discussion Maher also took '1619 Project' author Nikole-Hannah Jones for bringing up race as an issue in the invasion. 'Maybe it should be a reminder that pain does not have a monopoly on race. Racism is bad but other things are bad, too. It's not an avocado, you don't have to put it on everything.' Conservatives like Nikki Haley, Pat Robertson and Monica Crowley were then made fun of for suggesting that American self-loathing and the impending apocalypse, respectively, were to blame. Maher ultimately came down on the side of keeping the war down to the man who started it. 'Putin is bad, very, very, very, very bad but he's still better than the guy who brings every conversation around to Bitcoin,' he said. 'My pet cause is PETA, but I don't think Ukraine got invaded because we haven't neutered enough cats.' A pile of destruction left after a bombing of a market, just opposite of the city's large military academy in Zhytomyr, Ukraine Destroyed buildings left after a bombing and the destruction of a school Three Russian generals out of 20 have been killed so far in Putin's botched invasion, which has also seen the loss of 173 tanks, 12 aircraft and 345 troop carriers. In an address to the nation today, Volodymyr said Ukraine has inflicted Russia's heaviest losses in decades, claiming 31 battalion tactical groups have been rendered incapable of combat. The president also demanded the release of the kidnapped mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, who was seized after he 'refused to cooperate with the enemy', sparking protests in the southern city. Putin also held a 75-minute call with Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz today, who pleaded with him for a ceasefire which he resisted, before the Kremlin accused Ukraine of 'flagrant violations' of international law, despite Russian shelling of schools, hospitals and residential buildings. It comes as Russian attacks are continuing throughout the county today despite a supposed ceasefire to allow trapped citizens to escape in evacuation routes. An elderly Ukrainian couple bravely confronted four Russian soldiers who broke onto their property and fired gunshots - before personally escorting them out their gates. The unidentified couple can be seen coming out of their modest home in Mykolayiv Oblast - around 80 miles outside of Odessa and near the hospital Russian forces bombed earlier this week - upon seeing Russian soldiers entering their driveway after they picked the gate's lock and walked in. Security footage shows the soldiers entering the property with guns drawn while a fourth stays behind to guard the entrance, which appears to be the only exit on the property. A gunshot is heard as they enter the property. It didn't deter the couple, who came outside and approached the soldiers, yelling angrily at them. The elder man, dressed in a blue sweater, waved his fist at the soldiers as his wife appears to run toward the soldiers as she shouts, causing one soldier to fire a warning shot into the air, but they didn't retreat. The soldiers begin yelling back at the couple and the fourth soldier, by the gate, wanders in a little to see what was happening, but eventually retreats. The couple continued to yell that the soldiers should leave. Eventually, the woman walks up to one of the soldiers and appears to lightly push him in the right direction. The other two soldiers admit defeat and turn around as well. The elderly couple walk them to the gate before locking it tightly behind them. An elderly Ukrainian couple confronted three Russian soldiers who had broken onto their property The couple ran out onto their lawn yelling at the soldiers to retreat as the armed soldier made their way across the driveway Eventually, the older woman began escorting one of the soldiers off the property, causing the other two to turn around. The elderly couple walked them to gate, locking it tightly behind them The US Embassy in Kyiv recognized the couple's brave actions, writing on Twitter: '#UkrainianHeroes. Today we salute this elderly couple, who stood up to three Russian soldiers.' Yesterday, Russia blew up a disabled care home near the city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials have said, as Vladimir Putin's troops stoop to a new low just 48 hours after shelling women as they gave birth in a maternity hospital. Oleg Sinegubov, an official from Kharkiv which has been under siege by Russian forces for days, accused Putin's men of committing a 'war crime' by launching air strikes against the facility in the town of Oskil which had 330 residents inside at the time the bombs hit. The Russian soldiers peered over the thin gate before picking the lock and trespassing Three soldiers walked onto the property, guns drawn, while a fourth stayed behind to block the only exit on the property Sinegubov said 63 care home residents have since been evacuated, but could not give an update on the other 267. Ten of those living at the home require wheelchairs, he said, while another 50 have reduced mobility. Ihor Terekhov, mayor of the city, said another 48 schools have been destroyed by Russian missiles. Just 48 hours before the care home was destroyed, Russian jets had bombed a maternity hospital in the southern city of Mariupol as women gave birth inside. The Kremlin has sought to paint those wounded in the attack as 'crisis actors' as part of a vile propaganda attempt to dismiss allegations its troops are attacking women and children. Ukraine says Russian attacks have now killed more civilians than soldiers - without giving an exact figure for either - as the Kremlin's generals pivot from shock-and-awe-style precision strikes to 'medieval' siege warfare. Dnipro, hundreds of miles to the south of Kharkiv, was hit by three strikes early Friday that damaged a kindergarten, a civilian apartment block, and a shoe factory - killing at least one person. But Ukrainian forces continue to fight back, saying successful counter-attacks around the northern city of Chernihiv has recaptured five villages after Russian units took such heavy casualties that they were no longer able to attack effectively. It comes after another successful counter-attack in the same region on Thursday, and a counter-attack to the west of Kyiv which ground a Russian offensive to a halt. In addition, a former NATO official has said she is 'skeptical' that Russian forces will 'gain much success' from an expected brutal onslaught of Kyiv, as Ukrainians warned Putin to prepare for his own Stalingrad battle in the capital. The elderly couple live in Mykolayiv Oblast, roughly 80 miles from Odessa, near the hospital Russian forces bombed earlier this week Russian armored vehicles are still slowly advancing on the city's northeast after being stalled for days, and a military airfield south of the city in Vasylkiv has been hit by missiles, destroying the runway, a fuel depot and an ammunition store. The bulk of Russian ground forces are now around 15 miles from the center but elements of the large column have dispersed in a bid to encircle the city, after pummeling the northwest suburbs including Irpin and Bucha. A column of thick black smoke was seen rising from the eastern suburbs of Kyiv this morning, but there is still no sign of ground forces moving into the outskirts. Former deputy Secretary General of NATO, Rose Gottemoeller, says she believes current tactics betray a sign of weakness from Putin's forces, saying she is 'skeptical' of any success in the capital. Russian forces have been invading several towns and cities in the country, driving tanks decorated with the Z symbol (pictured: driving through the Donetsk region) Russian forces have launched full-blown attacks on a maternity hospital, a disability center, and warehouse (pictured) and several more as they move to Kyiv The Vasylkiv Air Base was covered in thick, heavy smoke after it was hit by five rockets She slammed their poor logistics saying she does not believe they have enough fuel supply for battle in the city which has faced constant shelling but is still bracing for an all-out assault. Three Russian generals out of 20 have been killed so far in Putin's botched invasion, which has also seen the loss of 173 tanks, 12 aircraft and 345 troop carriers. In an address to the nation today, Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine has inflicted Russia's heaviest losses in decades, claiming 31 battalion tactical groups have been rendered incapable of combat. The wartime leader also demanded the release of the kidnapped mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, who was seized after he 'refused to cooperate with the enemy,' sparking protests in the southern city. Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has warned the US and NATO that deliveries of weapons to Ukraine will be seen by Russia as legitimate targets in a potential escalation of the conflict. He said: 'Pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isn't just a dangerous move, it's an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets.' Advertisement Russia's wealthiest are trying to quietly sell their Manhattan properties, it has been claimed, amid fears that they could soon face sanctions. As oligarchs' yachts are impounded around the world and their assets frozen in a bid to pressure Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, some Russians are preemptively trying to cash in on their New York property. Russian real estate investments are worth at least $1 billion, according to reports. Some 61 properties have already gone on the market or dropped prices, according to Fox Business, and at least another 70 are considering so-called 'whisper sales' - getting rid of a property privately, without putting it on the market. Russia's wealthiest are trying to quietly sell their Manhattan properties, it has been claimed, amid fears that they could soon face sanctions 'Everybody's putting feelers out there,' said Dolly Lenz, a real estate agent. She told Fox that her firm received calls from Russian clients looking to potentially 'whisper list' between 50 and 70 properties, mostly in Manhattan, within the last week. 'They're not pulling the trigger yet. They're getting ready to pull the trigger. 'Meaning, 'Yes, I'll take whatever the best offering can get me'. 'That could be what comes down the pike. So really, depending on sanctions, and you know where we are with everything, that's all we see potentially is playing out.' Alexei Kuzmichev, 59, an owner of Alfa-Bank - Russia's largest private bank, which has been slapped by US sanctions has listed his $41 million Manhattan quadruplex (pictured) Kuzmichev's luxurious home is listed for $41 million, on the Upper East Side Alexei Kuzmichev, 59, an owner of Alfa-Bank - Russia's largest private bank, which has been slapped by US sanctions has listed his $41 million Manhattan quadruplex Watch the latest video at foxbusiness.com Fox Television Privacy Policy Many of the listings were on Manhattan's 'Billionaire's Row', Fox reported. Not all of the listings have been private. Alexei Kuzmichev, 59, an owner of Alfa-Bank - Russia's largest private bank, which has been slapped by US sanctions has listed his $41 million Manhattan quadruplex. He bought the Upper East Side property, at 33 East 74th Street, in 2016 for $42 million. Forbes estimates that the financier is worth $6.2 billon. Another looking to sell is Valery Kogan, the billionaire owner of Moscow's Domodedevo Airport, and his wife Olga. The pair are quietly shopping their apartment at The Plaza for $50 million, according to sources who spoke to The New York Post. There have been 16 new listings of apartments at the Plaza, worth between one and $28milion, since the war began. They are also selling their other Upper East Side home, at 515 Park Avenue, plus an Upper West Side residence at 15 Central Park West. The couple also intend to sell a Greenwich, Connecticut estate, The Post reported. Valery Kogan is looking to sell his property inside The Plaza, according to reports There have been 16 new listings of apartments at the Plaza, worth between one and $28milion, since the war began. The Palm Court in The Plaza Hotel in New York City The Plaza includes the stunning hotel downstairs and luxury apartments upstairs Kogan (pictured) is the owner of Moscow's main airport and reportedly close to Putin Lenz said she had a large number of Russian clients a decade ago, but in recent years they have been replaced by those fleeing Hong Kong or Taiwan. 'They kind of went quiet,' Lenz said. 'And they're only out there now because they want to liquidate ahead of a crisis. 'If you ask me to guess because obviously not everybody's telling you everything they're thinking, nor should they. 'I think that they're more afraid of what's coming in the future than it is any absolute knowledge of what's coming in the future. 'They're trying to get ahead of it.' Two Democratic state lawmakers, Senator Brad Hoylman and Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, who represent Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively, introduced legislation last week aimed at combating 'secretive patterns of real estate investment in New York City among international elites through anonymous LLCs and the use of New York LLCs by wealthy Russian nationals in New York state to purchase luxury homes.' The bill would require LLCs to disclose their owners to the New York Department of State and would create a public database of which LLCs share common ownership. Russians are estimated to own over $1 billion in Manhattan real estate, many of which on Billionaire's Row (pictured) but some have listed their New York properties amid fear of asset freezes Valery Kogan, the billionaire owner of Moscow's Domodedevo Airport, and his wife Olga. The pair are quietly shopping their apartment at the Plaza Hotel for $50 million, according to sources who spoke to The New York Post . They are also selling their other Upper East Side home, at 515 Park Avenue (right), plus an Upper West Side residence at 15 Central Park West (left) It asserts that anonymous LLC landlords have caused code violations for years in the Hudson Valley, prompting a 2019 state senate investigation, as well as tens of thousands of pandemic-era rental assistance applications to be unnecessarily delayed. But the use of LLCs to purchase high-end real estate is a common practice, so it's unclear if the proposed legislation will be considered. 'Every single purchaser we've ever had created a new LLC for each and every property. I think the majority of wealthy people purchase an LLC for every reason in the world,' Lenz said. 'We would welcome any transparency to every transaction. We personally go the extra yard to make sure we know who we're dealing with. 'Even though we don't have (know-your-client) rules in real estate like they do in banking have to vet everyone they talked to we don't have to, but we do. 'We don't want to talk to anybody we think is unsavory,' she added. 'It's not because they're unsavory, it's because they're afraid of being tied to this situation.' Advertisement Italian police have seized a superyacht from Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, the prime minister's office said on Saturday, a few days after the businessman was placed on an EU sanctions list following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The 470-foot Sailing Yacht A, which has a price tag of 450m has been sequestered at the northern port of Trieste, the government said. The yacht has been placed in a special dry dock which has been emptied to prevent the vessel from being taken away. Triesete was mentioned in Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech of March 5, 1946, when the war time leader outlined the front line of the Cold War. Melnichenko's yacht was designed by Philippe Starck and built by Nobiskrug in Germany. It is the world's biggest sailing yacht. Andrey Melnichenko had his 450 million vessel Sailing Yacht A seized in Cold War frontier port Trieste this morning. The vessel, pictured this morning, is the world's largest sailing yacht Sailing Yacht A, was registered in the UK by its owner. Melnichenko denies he has any political affiliations and suggested there is 'no justification' for placing him on the EU sanction list Melnichenko's yacht had been earlier photographed in Venice on March 5 Andrey Melnichenko, pictured with is wife Aleksandra, right, was placed on the EU sanctions list on Wednesday because he attended a televised meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine HOW DOES MOTOR YACHT A STACK UP AGAINST SAILING YACHT A? Billionaire Andrey Melnichenko owns two of the world's largest superyachts. Here's how they stack up: Motor Yacht A Launched: 2008 Builder: Blohm + Voss (Hamburg, Germany) Designer: Philippe Starck Cost: 240million Length: 119 metres (390ft) World's 21st largest superyacht Guests: 14 Crew: 42 Maximum speed: 23 knots (26 mph) Cruising speed: 19.5 knots (22 mph) Flag: Bermuda Sailing Yacht A Launched: 2017 Builder: Nobiskrug (Rendsburg, Germany) Designer: Philippe Starck Cost: 360million Length: 142.8 metres (468.5ft) World's 9th largest superyacht Guests: 20 Crew: 54 Maximum speed: 21 knots (24mph) Cruising speed: 16 knots (18 mph) Flag: Bermuda Advertisement Sanzioni contro la Russia: A Trieste, nel rimessaggio del porto, e stato sequestrato dalla Guardia di Finanza lo yacht a vela piu grande del mondo, del valore di 530 milioni di euro. Lo "SY A" e riconducibile all'imprenditore russo Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko. pic.twitter.com/xj0V728Qsa Tg La7 (@TgLa7) March 11, 2022 Melnichenko owned major fertiliser producer EuroChem Group and coal company SUEK. The companies said in statements on Thursday that he had resigned as a member of the board in both companies and withdrawn as their beneficiary, effective Wednesday. A spokesperson for Melnichenko, Alex Andreev, said the businessman had 'no relation to the tragic events in Ukraine. He has no political affiliations'. He said: 'There is no justification whatsoever for placing him on the EU sanctions list. 'We will be disputing these baseless and unjustified sanctions, and believe that the rule of law and common sense will prevail. Last week Italian police seized villas and yachts worth 120m from five high-profile Russians who have been placed on the sanctions list. The police operations were part of a coordinated drive by Western states to penalise wealthy Russians they say are linked to President Vladimir Putin. Sailing Yacht A, pictured, has an underwater observation pod for looking at the sea life The European Council on Wednesday published the names of 14 oligarchs along with Mr Milnichekno The European Council on Wednesday published the names of 14 Russian businessmen it was placing on the EU sanctions list, as well as 146 politicians who publicly supported the war with Ukraine. According to the official communique: 'Melnichenko belongs to the most influential circle of Russian businesspeople with close connections to the Russian Government. 'He is therefore involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine.' The European Council claims Melinchenkko was among a group of 36 oligarchs who met with Vladimir Putin on February 24 to discuss the ongoing situation in Ukraine. The European Council said Melnichenko was at a meeting with Putin on February 24 showing his importance to the regime The statement said: 'The fact that he was invited to attend this meeting shows that he is a member of the closest circle of Vladimir Putin and that he is supporting or implementing actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, as well as stability and security in Ukraine. 'It also shows that he is one of the leading businesspersons involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of Russia, which is responsible for annexation of Crimea and destabilisation of Ukraine.' Fellow oligarch Roman Abramovich today saw one of his superyachts arrive safely in Montenegro where it is beyond the reach of UK, EU or US authorities. Abramovich, 55, is on a UK sanctions list over his links to the Kremlin. His yacht Solaris anchored off the city of Tivat shortly before 8am, having fled Barcelona on Tuesday. His biggest yacht, Eclipse, slipped through the Strait of Gibraltar at 1.30pm today, ensuring it remained outside the territory's waters. Over the past fortnight his staff are said to have been ready for viewings at his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than 150m, and a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront, worth an estimated 22m. These now cannot be sold off and cannot be rented unless tenants are already in. His two superyachts may already be out of reach. 430million Solaris after it arrived in Tivat, Montenegro at 8am on Saturday. The 540million Eclipse passed through the Straits of Gibraltar at lunchtime yesterday. The billionaire recently bought a 264m Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet. The 50-seater aircraft is the world's most expensive private jet with a base cost of 188m and a rumoured 76m of additional equipment to the billionaire's taste, Forbes reported, citing industry sources. It was last tracked to Dubai six days ago. Meanwhile, his 50m Gulfstream G650ER jet - registration LX-Ray - arrived in Moscow earlier this morning. His 80m private jet nicknamed The Bandit, left Stansted Airport on February 25 the day before a blanket ban on Russian aircraft in EU and UK airspace was imposed. It then landed in Switzerland. It is not clear if he or any of his family were on board. He also owns a fleet of supercars valued at more than 16million, believed to be in the UK. Among the high end vehicles are a Porsche 911 GT1 Evo, a Ferrari FXX, a Aston Martin Vulcan and a Maserati MC12 Corsa. The fleet also includes a Pagani Zonda R, of which only 15 have ever been produced and come with a price tag of 2.5m. Roman Abramovich cannot sell any of his UK assets including Chelsea FC without a special licence that can only be granted by ministers and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI). Any cash he holds in the UK is frozen in accounts if he has not been able to transfer funds abroad, while his shares on the London Stock Exchange cannot be sold and will pay no dividends. But despite these serious allegations, the law doesn't allow ministers to take away Chelsea, properties, yachts, planes, shares and cash. Currently the Government has powers to freeze UK assets like houses, but it cannot seize them and put them to a different use. The rules in place prevent oligarchs from renting out or selling property they own, hiring someone to clean it or even paying a power company to connect it to the electricity supply or pay a bill. A Russian soldier captured by Ukraine has claimed Vladimir Putin has 'death squads' that kill deserters who refuse to take part in the brutal war. The terrified 22-year-old said there 'really is' a team trained to pick off any troops fleeing the invasion for home - adding that it led many to surrender. He warned anyone thinking about deserting the military they 'won't make it' as he revealed the latest tactic in the ever sickening conflict. The man, who has not been named, also said Russian soldiers had their phone taken from them so they could not see international news coverage of the war. His comments come after a raft of other prisoners of war in Ukraine outlined horrific tasks they were forced to endure during the fighting. One claimed commander said he was told to shoot civilians and was part of a unit sent to capture the city of Kharkiv in just three days. Others added they were falsely told they were entering the neighbouring country as 'peacekeepers' to 'free Ukraine from Nazis'. A captured Russian soldier has claimed that Putin's military forces have a special squad set up for killing deserters who don't want to take part in the invasion of Ukraine The latest Russian soldier to open up about the war said troops had tried to ask their commanders 'why the hell are we doing this'. In a filmed questioning by the Ukrainian Security Service, he said: 'As we came in we realised the situation, that we're not going into a peacekeeping mission, but to fight. 'There were questions to commanders, sort of like ''why the hell are we doing this'', but to turn back and leave? We won't make it home. 'Echelons in the back, they kill deserters... it seems, with people I've spoken to, we're all military, they told them the same thing. 'There really is a squad that kills people who try to run home.' Adding he probably won't be able to return, the soldier claimed the troops were 'lied' to by the military. He said: 'I understand... the trouble I got involved with at the place where I worked. I probably won't return. 'Well, not probably. I won't return to that place where I worked, in the army. They lied. They threw us a piece of meat. 'When people understood with their own heads... they took away our phones so we didn't see the news about the situation in Ukraine, what's happening. 'They were telling us, at every populated point, that there were no peaceful dwellers there, for example. But they were there.' The soldier also said that he was thrown into military action, and 'they weren't particularly concerned if we wanted to take part in this or not'. He added: 'When we surrendered, by around 15 kilometres, we understood that the rockets which were flying, they weren't flying into some military thing, they were flying to a peaceful population. Normal, ordinary, populated places. 'By the time we understood the situation, they didn't let us go back. They told us they'd kill us if we went back. The only thing we could really do, was surrender.' Members of Pro-Russian separatists walk near a tank in front of a heavily damaged apartment in the pro-Russian separatists-controlled Donetsk, Ukraine yesterday A man walks through debris in the aftermath of an aerial bombing, as Russia's advance on the Ukrainian capital continues, in the village of Byshiv outside Kyiv It is the latest claim that senior Russian military commanders have threatened to kill deserters after a soldier from the 2nd Motor Rifle Division said they were afraid of death by firing squad is they returned home. The soldier, speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday, said captured Russian soldiers 'are already considered dead'. 'I was given the opportunity to call my parents and they told me that a funeral for me had already been arranged,' he said. 'If we are exchanged, then we will be shot by our own people.' Another captured Russian soldier described on Tuesday how he was shot at by his fellow troops when they tried to protect Ukrainian civilians. His comrade, a lieutenant, was killed by his own side when trying to save a woman in her 20s, and her mother, after Russian soldiers were given orders to fire on civilians on February 24 in Kharkiv. The captured soldier claimed he was shot in the foot, and the lieutenant killed, when other troops realised the pair weren't shooting at the civilians. Eleven Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces make a press statement on March 5 in Kyiv A captured Russian soldier tells a press conference that he started to question what he'd been told after seeing his favourite boxers Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko signing up to fight Ukrainian forces detain servicemen of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic who were captured during the morning attack on the town of Schast'ye on February 24 Captured Russian soldiers speaking on March 2 said the invasion of Ukraine was in 'complete disarray', according to voice recordings obtained by a British intelligence company. The intercepted radio messages indicated that troops are refusing to obey central command orders to shell Ukrainian towns and are complaining about running out of supplies of food and fuel. Parts of the Russian military still use analogue 'walkie talkie' two-way radios, making them more vulnerable to interception. The recordings are among around 24 hours of material obtained by intelligence firm ShadowBreak since the invasion of Ukraine began last week. Other video recordings are said to show Russian soldiers retreating back into Russia after becoming frustrated. It comes as Russia has made dire threats to the West that any military shipments to Ukraine will be seen as 'legitimate targets', prompting fears there could be an escalation of conflict that could suck in other countries. Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov warned the US 'that pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isn't just a dangerous move, it's an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets'. The warnings came after Joe Biden personally intervened to stop a shipment of Polish MiG fighter jets to Kyiv, fearing the move could lead to 'World War Three'. A Russian army tank move on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, pictured yesterday as the invasion continues A crater created by the impact of an aerial bomb that destroyed a cultural center and an administration building in he village of Byshiv, outside Kyiv today Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has slammed the West for its inaction, saying today he 'doesn't see any bravery from NATO' as he pleaded for more involvement from allies in peace negotiations and offered to pay for more anti-missile systems. In response, the US made lukewarm promises of taking 'diplomatic steps' to help the Ukrainian government. Zelensky, who claimed 1,300 Ukrainian troops have been killed so far and 500 Russians surrendered yesterday, also said Putin's forces can only take Kyiv if they 'raze the city to the ground', with Kremlin troops inching closer to the capital and conflict raging nearby today, endangering attempted evacuations. But there appear to be signs of slight progress in negotiations, with Zelensky saying the warring countries have begun discussing 'concrete' proposals rather than just 'exchanging ultimatums', although he said any negotiations must begin with a ceasefire. The conciliatory tone was not resonating in the Kremlin though, with Putin raging after a 75-minute call with Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz that Ukraine was guilty of 'extrajudicial reprisals against dissidents, taking civilians hostage, using them as human shields, [and] putting heavy armaments in civilian areas near hospitals, schools, kindergartens'. Scholz and Macron implored Putin to end the war and stop the brutal siege of Mariupol but a French official said he did not show any willingness for calling off his inhumane invasion. Russian armoured vehicles are still slowly advancing on Kyiv's northeast after being stalled for days, and a military airfield south of the city in Vasylkiv has been hit by missiles, destroying the runway, a fuel depot and an ammunition store. Advertisement A Russian Instagram blogger has been slammed after she sobbed to her fans fearing for her influencer income after Vladimir Putin banned Western social media in Russia - as the indiscriminate shelling of Ukraine continued. Moscow has opened a criminal case against Facebook owner Meta, branding it an extremist organisation when the US tech giant allowed posts such as death to the Russian invaders on its sites after the Kremlin launched its illegal war on Ukraine. Meta claims that more than 80million users in Russia are now set to be cut off from Instagram, plunging the income source of influencers into uncertainty. NEXTA, a media platform used to expose Russian life under Putins despotism, shared a viral clip of a Russian beauty blogger who broke down in tears over the Instagram blackout. Speaking to fans in a video livestreamed on Telegram, she sobbed: Do you think that for me, as an Instagram influencer, this is [a] source of income? 'To me, its [Instagram] just all life, its the soul. Its the one with which I wake up, fall asleep, f**king five years in a row. The young woman then told her fans that she is in the first stage of grief over the news of the Instagram ban. But she faced furious criticism online and was accused of caring more about her pay packet rather than 'thousands of dead people, including her compatriots.' Responding to her video, NEXTA jibed: She does not care at all about the thousands of dead people, including her compatriots. Obviously, her biggest worry right now is that she wont be able to post pictures of food from restaurants. Her comments came on the same day that the besieged city of Mariupol entered its 13th day without food, water and electricity. More than 1,582 civilians have died there over the past 12 days, with looters fighting on the streets over vital supplies and corpses being buried in mass graves. Media platform NEXTA, used to expose Belarusian and Russian life under Putin's influence, shared a clip of a Russian blogger who was livestreaming on Telegram, a Russian social media app The blogger, who was very upset about the Instagram blackout, said to her fans in the teary video: 'Do you think that for me, as an Instagram influencer, this [Telegram] is [a] source of income?' In her final Instagram post before the ban goes ahead on Monday, Liza Lukasheva, who has one million followers, wrote her goodbyes: 'My dear friends, Instagram will be closed in our country in the near future... in the next few hours' Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Russian government via teleconference in Moscow, March 10, 2022 Russia bans Instagram and accuses Facebook owner Meta of being an 'extremist' organisation for allowing users to call for 'death to the Russian invaders' in Ukraine Russia has banned Instagram and opened a criminal case against Facebook's owner Meta as it accused it of being an 'extremist' organisation. Russian prosecutors asked a court to designate Meta as an 'extremist organisation' after the the US tech giant temporarily allowed posts such as 'death to the Russian invaders following Vladimir Putin's ruthless invasion of Ukraine, now entering its third week. The latest clampdown also saw access restricted to Instagram and comes after Roskomnadzor, which oversees Russian mass media, blocked Facebook and Twitter amid Moscow's war propaganda campaign. Russia's Investigative Committee, which reports directly to Russian president Vladimir Putin, confirmed that a criminal case had been started against Meta for allowing what it deemed to be illegal content. 'A criminal case has been initiated ... in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram,' the committee said. It was not immediately clear what the consequences of the criminal case might be. No comment was immediately available from Meta in response to a Reuters request. The Investigative Committee said Facebook's change in hate speech rules could violate articles of the Russian criminal law against public calls for extremist activities. Advertisement The viral clip has been seen on Twitter over 1.3million times, with Britains health secretary Sajid Javid retweeting the post on his own profile. Putins crackdown on social media is part of a broader attack on liberty in Russian society, after last week passing laws that threaten to jail dissidents who publish fake news about the war for 15 years. As the definition of fake is set by the Russian government, in practice it means any and all criticism of the Kremlins actions is likely to be regarded as criminal. Other Instagram 'models' based in Russia, such as Liza Lukasheva and Anna Ivanova have already begun sharing parting messages with their fans ahead of the social media app being banned in the country. Russian influencers have focused on how to continue their source of income by asking their fanbase to follow them elsewhere, such as Telegram and VKontakte, which is the Russian equivalent of Facebook. In her final Instagram post before the ban goes ahead on Monday, Liza Lukasheva, who has one million followers, wrote her goodbyes: 'My dear friends, Instagram will be closed in our country in the near future... in the next few hours. 'I will be happy to stay in touch with you and continue to make content for you. Subscribe to my Telegram channel and my VKontakte community. I promise to communicate with you in English and tell you the events of my life! Thank you for everything.' In her stories, she said: 'Guys. My beloveds, just like you I've read all the news and I'm very upset that we could be lost, not to be found again. 'I'm basically hopeless.' Anna Ivanova, with 4.4 million following her on Instagram, said in a final post: 'Millions of stories, thousands of posts, thousands of happy moments that were shared with you, your support, love, music that I could have shared with you, all of this united us into one big insta-family. 'Almost 5 million people and 10 years... I am sure that everything will get better and there will be even more of us, but for now I wish us all only peace and strength to survive all difficulties. 'I am waiting for you in my Telegram channel and in the VK group.' On Friday, Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor said it would restrict access of Instagram by Monday 14 March because of 'calls to commit violent acts', after Meta confirmed a temporary easing of its rules to allow messages of violence against Russian forces and leaders like 'death to Russian invaders'. Meta's global affairs president Nick Clegg responded to the escalation from Putin by explaining that the 'loosened rules' were only to apply to those posting from inside Ukraine. He added: 'We will not tolerate Russophobia or any kind of discrimination, harassment or violence towards Russians on our platform.' Russia also blocked access to Meta-owned Facebook last week. Telegram, is a multi-platform messaging app which allows users to exchange texts, photos and videos in groups of up to 200,000 people. Pavel Durov, a Russian-born billionaire, founded both Telegram and VKontakte (VK), but he was fired from the company and forced to leave Russia by national security agency FSB after he refused to provide private data of Ukrainian users of VK. In an post on Telegram, which has been viewed over 1.2 million times, Durov stressed that he has family from Kyiv in Ukraine and his mother's maiden name is a Ukrainian one. 'That's why this tragic conflict is personal both to me and Telegram. Some people wondered if Telegram is somehow less secure for Ukrainians, because I once lived in Russia. Let me tell these people how my career in Russia ended. Instagram 'models' living in Russia posted their parting pictures with fans, including Liza Lukasheva and Anna Ivanova, who said in a final post: 'Almost 5 million people and 10 years... I am sure that everything will get better and there will be even more of us, but for now I wish us all only peace and strength to survive all difficulties' A view of a destroyed shoe factory in the aftermath of a missile attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, March 12, 2022 A woman walks between barriers placed on street in downtown Odessa, Ukraine, March 12, 2022 The Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and MailOnline UKRAINE REFUGEE APPEAL Readers of Mail Newspapers and MailOnline have always shown immense generosity at times of crisis. Calling upon that human spirit, we are now launching an appeal to raise money for refugees from Ukraine. For, surely, no one can fail to be moved by the heartbreaking images and stories of families mostly women, children, the infirm and elderly fleeing from Russia's invading armed forces. As this tally of misery increases over the coming days and months, these innocent victims of a tyrant will require accommodation, schools and medical support. All donations to the Mail Ukraine Appeal will be distributed to charities and aid organisations providing such essential services. In the name of charity and compassion, we urge all our readers to give swiftly and generously. TO MAKE A DONATION ONLINE Donate at www.mailforcecharity.co.uk/donate To add Gift Aid to a donation even one already made complete an online form found here: mymail.co.uk/ukraine Via bank transfer, please use these details: Account name: Mail Force Charity Account number: 48867365 Sort code: 60-00-01 TO MAKE A DONATION VIA CHEQUE Make your cheque payable to 'Mail Force' and post it to: Mail Newspapers Ukraine Appeal, GFM, 42 Phoenix Court, Hawkins Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 8JY TO MAKE A DONATION FROM THE US US readers can donate to the appeal via a bank transfer to Associated Newspapers or by sending checks to dailymail.com HQ at 51 Astor Place (9th floor), New York, NY 10003 Advertisement 'Nine years ago I was the CEO of VK, which was the largest social network in Russia and Ukraine. In 2013, the Russian security agency, FSB, demanded that I provide them the private data of the Ukrainian users of VK who were protesting against a pro-Russian President. 'I refused to comply with these demands, because it would have meant a betrayal of our Ukrainian users. After that, I was fired from the company I founded and was forced to leave Russia. I lost my company and my home, but would do it again without hesitation. 'I smile with pride when I read my VK post from April 2014, which shows the scanned orders from the FSB and my trademark response to them a dog in a hoodie. When I defied their demands, the stakes were high for me personally. 'I was still living in Russia, and my team and my old company were also based in that country. Many years have passed since then. Many things changed: I no longer live in Russia, no longer have any companies or employees there. But one thing remains the same I stand for our users no matter what. Their right to privacy is sacred. Now more than ever.' Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor also 'restricted access' to social media network Twitter, Russian news agencies reported last Friday. According to Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies, access to Twitter was restricted on the basis of a request of the Prosecutor General from February 24. Russia has for more than a year been striving to curb the influence of US tech giants including Alphabet Inc's Google and Twitter, repeatedly fining them for allowing what it deems to be illegal content. But Putin's ruthless invasion of Ukraine, met by a storm of international condemnation and unprecedented sanctions, has sharply raised the stakes in the information war. Social media provides an opportunity for dissent against Putin's claims - followed by the tightly controlled state media - that Moscow was forced to launch its 'special military operation' to defend Russian-speakers in Ukraine against genocide and to demilitarise and 'denazify' the country. Instagram is a favoured tool of jailed Putin opponent Alexei Navalny, who took to the social media site - via his lawyers - on Friday to call for Russians to join protests against the Ukraine war and 'mad maniac Putin' this weekend. WhatsApp will not be affected by the legal moves, Russia's RIA news agency cited a source as saying, as the messaging app is considered a means of communication, not a way to post information. It comes one day after a Meta spokesperson said the company had temporarily eased its rules for political speech, allowing posts such as 'death to the Russian invaders,' although it would not allow calls for violence against Russian civilians. Meta said the temporary change aimed to allow for forms of political expression that would normally violate its rules. Its oversight board said on Friday that it was closely following the war in Ukraine, and how Meta is responding. Internal Meta emails seen by Reuters showed the US company had also temporarily allowed posts that call for the death of Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. It was said posts that call for Mr Putin's or Mr Lukashenko's death will only be removed if they target other individuals or if there are indications the threat is credible. Pavel Durov, a Russian-born billionaire, founded both Telegram and VKontakte (VK), but he was fired from the company and forced to leave Russia by national security agency FSB after he refused to provide private data of Ukrainian users of VK 'We hope it is not true because if it is true then it will mean that there will have to be the most decisive measures to end the activities of this company,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The temporary policy change applied to Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Facebook said calls for violence against prisoners of war will not be allowed. The United Nations human rights office said the potential change in Facebook policy was worrying. 'It is a very concerning issue because it does have a certain risk to generate and encourage and allow hate speech that is directed at Russians in general,' spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell said. Several social media companies previously announced new content restrictions after the Ukraine invasion including blocking Russia state media RT and Sputnik in Europe. Russia blocked Facebook for 'discrimination towards Russian media' after it banned Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik in the UK at the request of the British government. The Investigative Committee for Russia had already stated that they were launching an investigation of Meta, with prosecutors branding it as 'extremist'. New York City school students have been through enough over the last two years without adding to the mix uncertainty over whos in charge of their learning, Mayor Adams said Friday. Anything less than a four-year extension of mayoral control over the nations largest school system would only add to their trauma, Adams said. He wants the extension plan to be included in the state budget. Advertisement Given its vital importance to the nearly one million students in our education system and the fact that parents right now do not know who will be responsible for their schools in mere months, it would be disappointing for mayoral accountability to be omitted from the budget, Adams said in a statement. Mayor Eric Adams (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News) Since 2002, when state lawmakers passed a law dissolving the citys Board of Education and granting sole control over a centralized city Education Department to the mayor, the citys chief executives have returned regularly to Albany to negotiate extensions of that authority the most recent of which was a three-year extension in 2019. Advertisement Gov. Hochul included a four-year extension of mayoral control in her state budget proposal. But some state legislators have questioned whether a policy issue like mayoral control of city schools should be buried in the budget arguing its not a fiscal matter, and that including it in the budget dilutes their ability to make tweaks or reforms. Adams advocacy hinges on stability, especially after a 24-month pandemic nightmare that included remote learning, mask mandates and Zoom classroom sessions. We have a long way to go before a final budget is approved and our broad coalition will continue to wage this fight on behalf of our citys children, Adams said. The bottom line is that we should be proactively supporting our children by giving them the certainty they need as soon as possible particularly after the trauma theyve experienced over the past two years. Earlier this week, Adams took his bid for an extension to the steps of his alma mater, Bayside High School in Queens. We cant go backwards, Adams said at that event. We have to build on accountability and moving our city in the right direction. Saudi Arabia has carried out the biggest mass execution its history as it killed 81 men in one day for terror offences, as the country's state television says criminals that included members of Al Qaeda 'followed the footsteps of Satan'. The state-run Saudi Press Agency announced the executions, more than the 69 people killed in the whole of 2021 by the kingdom, saying they included people 'convicted of various crimes, including the murdering of innocent men, women and children'. A total of 73 Saudis, seven Yemenis and one Syrian with some being part of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State group and backers of Yemen's Houthi rebels died in the mass execution. The number of executed surpassed even the toll of a January 1980 mass execution where 63 militants died after being convicted of seizing the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest site, in 1979, the worst-ever militant attack to target the kingdom. It is unclear how the men died but Saudi Arabia tends to behead people under its death penalty. Crown Prince Mohammed said a 'high percentage' of executions had been halted but said the death penalty had to stay for certain crimes because it is written in the Islamic holy book, the Quran. The announcement by Saudi state television described those executed as having 'followed the footsteps of Satan' in carrying out their crimes. The biggest mass execution in Saudi Arabia's history sees 81 people killed in one day for terror offences, as country's state television says militant criminals which included members of Al Qaeda 'followed the footsteps of Satan' Since taking power, Crown Prince Mohammed under his father has increasingly liberalised life in the kingdom, opening movie theaters, allowing women to drive and defanging the country's once-feared religious police The kingdom's last mass execution came in January 2016 with 47 people including a prominent opposition Shiite cleric who had rallied demonstrations. It wasn't clear why the kingdom choose Saturday for the executions, though they came as much of the world's attention remained focused on Russia's war on Ukraine. According to SPA, 13 judges and a three-stage judicial process sentenced the 81 men to the death penalty. 'The accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process, which found them guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes that left a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers dead,' the Saudi Press Agency said. 'The kingdom will continue to take a strict and unwavering stance against terrorism and extremist ideologies that threaten the stability of the entire world.' Soraya Bauwens, the deputy chief of human rights charity Reprieve, said: When Mohammed Bin Salman promises reform, bloodshed is bound to follow. We fear for every [prisoner] following this brutal display of impunity. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to visit Saudi Arabia soon, to beg for Saudi oil to replace Russian gas. We cannot show our revulsion for Putins atrocities by rewarding those of the Crown Prince. Johnson must speak up and condemn these killings. However, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the crown prince also ordered the slaying and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, while overseeing airstrikes in Yemen that killed hundreds of civilians Meanwhile Ali Adubusi, the head of the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, said: These executions are the opposite of justice. Some of these men were tortured, most trials were carried out in secret. This horrific massacre took place days after Mohammed bin Salman declared executions would be limited. It is the third such mass killing in the seven-year reign of King Salman and his son. During the pandemic, the number of death penalty cases being carried out in Saudi Arabia had dropped, though the kingdom continued to behead convicts under King Salman and his assertive son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In 2019, the kingdom beheaded 37 Saudi citizens, most of them minority Shiites, in a mass execution across the country for alleged terrorism-related crimes. Since taking power, Crown Prince Mohammed under his father has increasingly liberalised life in the kingdom, opening movie theaters, allowing women to drive and defanging the country's once-feared religious police. However, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the crown prince also ordered the slaying and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, while overseeing airstrikes in Yemen that killed hundreds of civilians. In the Atlantic magazine, the crown prince discussed the death penalty, saying a 'high percentage' of executions had been halted through the payment of so-called 'blood money' settlements to grieving families. 'Well about the death penalty, we got rid of all of it, except for one category, and this one is written in the Quran, and we cannot do anything about it, even if we wished to do something, because it is clear teaching in the Quran,' the prince said. 'If someone killed someone, another person, the family of that person has the right, after going to the court, to apply capital punishment, unless they forgive him. 'Or if someone threatens the life of many people, that means he has to be punished by the death penalty.' He added: 'Regardless if I like it or not, I dont have the power to change it.' China, according to Amnesty International, remains the world's top executioner with 483 recorded in 2020 which does not included the thousands of executions believed to have been carried out in the state. Excluding China, 88% of all reported executions took place in just four countries Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The State Department says its paying more than $2million per month to provide 24-hour security to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and another $175,000 for another former top aide, both of whom face 'serious and credible' threats from Iran. The department told Congress in a report that the cost of protecting Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian Hook between August 2021 and February 2022 amounted to $13.1million. The report, dated February 14 and marked 'sensitive but unclassified,' was obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday. It is costing the department roughly $2million a month to protect Pompeo and an additional $175,000 for Hook, according to the Washington Examiner. Pompeo and Hook are not the only ones under threat. US intelligence have discovered that there may be an assassination attempt on John Bolton, reportedly by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but the Biden Administration is not acting on it, as it discusses the nuclear deal with Iran. The State Department reveal it is paying $2million a month to protect Mike Pompeo but Iranian threats In addition, it is also spending $175,000 a month on former Iran envoy Brian Hook (pictured). Pompeo and Hook led the Trump administration's 'maximum pressure' campaign against Iran and the report says US intelligence assessed that the threats to them have remained constant since they left government and could intensify and their protection will probably extend past June President Joe Biden is hoping to resume the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Iran nuclear accord after Former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement and Iran in turn suspended its compliance and began work on developing nuclear weapons. A new nuclear deal with Iran is currently nearing completion from negotiations in Vienna, Austria. The DOJ source claimed that the Biden administration will not publicly indict the two men who have been planning the assassination because it could derail the near-done Iran nuclear deal. However, Pompeo and Hook led the Trump administration's 'maximum pressure' campaign against Iran and the report says US intelligence assessed that the threats to them have remained constant since they left government and could intensify. The threats have persisted even as President Joe Biden's administration has been engaged in indirect negotiations with Iran over a US return to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. US intelligence have learned that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force may attempt an assassination attempt on John Bolton (pictured) As a former secretary of state, Pompeo was automatically given 180 days of protection by the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security after leaving office. But that protection has been repeatedly extended in 60-day increments by Secretary of State Antony Blinken due to 'a serious and credible threat from a foreign power or agent of a foreign power arising from duties performed by former Secretary Pompeo while employed by the department,' the report said. Hook, who along with Pompeo was often the public face of the Trump administration's imposition of crippling sanctions against Iran, was granted the special protection by Blinken for the same reason as Pompeo immediately after he left government service. That has also been repeatedly renewed in 60-day increments. The latest 60-day extensions will expire soon and the State Department, in conjunction with the Director of National Intelligence, must determine by March 16 if the protection should extended again, according to the report. It is likely that protection will be extended 'based upon [the] current threat reporting and the need for additional protective measures since January 2021,' the Washington Examiner reported. Two members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force (pictured) have been plotting an assassination against Trump-era National Security Advisor John Bolton The report was prepared because the special protection budget will run out in June and require a new infusion of money if extensions are deemed necessary. Current US officials said the threats have been discussed in the nuclear talks in Vienna, where Iran is demanding the removal of all Trump-era sanctions. Those sanctions include a 'foreign terrorist organization' designation of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that Pompeo and Hook were instrumental in approving. The Vienna talks had been expected to produce an agreement soon to salvage the nuclear agreement that President Donald Trump withdrew the US from in 2018. But the talks have been thrown into doubt because of new demands made by Russia and a small number of unresolved US-Iran issues, including the terrorism designation, according to US officials. A 90-year-old Ukrainian Holocaust survivor has arrived safely in the UK to join her London-based granddaughter after fleeing from Russian bombing in Ukraine. Kateryna Razumenko left her home in the city of Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, with her daughter Larysa, 62, to escape shelling in the city - which earlier this week killed four people, two of them children. After spending a week in Poland waiting to be processed by the UK Home Office, Ms Razumenko and her daughter, who is disabled, were finally granted visas. The mother and daughter landed at Heathrow airport on Saturday to join their UK-based family - Ms Razumenko's granddaughter Katya and her husband Zac Newman, who live in Mill Hill, north London. A sweet photograph showed Ms Razumenko, who has dementia, arriving at Heathrow, where she was welcomed by her loved ones and was seen clutching a bouquet of yellow flowers. Ms Razumenko, who was born in Kharkiv in 1931, left her home country for the first time in her life and became a refugee following Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine, The Telegraph reported. Holocaust survivor Kateryna Razumenko, 90, has landed safely at Heathrow airport (pictured on arrival) after fleeing Ukrainian city of Kharkiv with her daughter Larysa, 62 It was when shelling hit just metres from the 7th floor apartment that Ms Razumenko shares with her daughter that they decided to flee the country, according to ITV News. The 90-year-old survived the 'Holodomor', which was a famine that hit Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 as a result of Stalin's forced collectivisation policy and killed millions. She also endured the horrors of the Nazi invasion and the Holocaust during the Second World War, as well as the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ms Razumenko and her daughter fled Ukraine by train, carrying just one handbag each and their 15-year-old cat Solomon, before arriving in Poland. Ms Razumenko's granddaughter Katya, who lives in north London after leaving Ukraine in 2015, still had contacts in the country and was able to help them to make the journey west. But their journey was halted in Poland for around a week as they waited for their UK visas to be processed, so they could join their family in London. Ms Razumenko (pictured), who was born in Kharkiv in 1931, left her home country for the first time in her life and became a refugee following Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine Kharkiv has come under heavy bombardment amid Russia's invasion. Pictured: Emergency rescue work is seen underway after an attack After their family's pleas, Home Office escalated and fast-tracked their case, with their visas being granted within 24 hours, according to reports. Katya's husband Zac travelled to the Polish town of Otwock to help Ms Razumenko and Larysa make the journey back to London, where they finally landed safely on Saturday. Speaking before their arrival in London, Katya told ITV News that she knew it wouldn't 'be easy' for her family to make it back to the UK but was 'staying positive'. 'I just want to see them here, I want them to come and I want to give them love. I want to stay with them,' she added. It is believed that their beloved cat Solomon has still not been able to make it to the UK, and cannot leave Poland until May, in line with DEFRA guidelines. The United Nations said more than 2.5million people have now fled Ukraine. More than 1.5million refugees crossed into Poland, but about 40 per cent of them are thought to have subsequently left for other countries. Unlike the European Union - which is allowing Ukrainians three-year residency without a visa - the UK has retained controls on entry for refugees, saying they are essential for security. After spending a week in Poland waiting to be processed by the Home Office, Ms Razumenko and her daughter (both pictured with Ms Razumenko's daughter's husband Zac Newman), who is disabled, were finally granted visas The United Nations said more than 2.5million people have now fled Ukraine. Pictured: Residents stand next to a bus as they prepare to evacuate Kharkiv on March 12 The current visa route for people fleeing the war in Ukraine is restricted to family members of people settled in the UK. Earlier this week, Boris Johnson defended the nation's response to the crisis and said an upcoming scheme will allow Britons to take citizens from the war torn country into their homes. The scheme will enable Britons to put people fleeing the war up in a spare room, or perhaps give them a job. However, it is expected that anyone offering to house a Ukrainian refugee will have to pass Disclosure and Barring Service checks, which will slow the process further. Scores of Ukrainian families were turned away at Calais with just 760 people granted visas under the Home Office' Family Support Scheme despite tens of thousands of applications. Following mounting criticism, Priti Patel announced on Thursday major changes to the visa regime - but charities said they did not go far enough. Another promised route, allowing individuals and companies to sponsor Ukrainians with no ties to the UK to come to the country, is expected to be launched on Monday. Tony Stein, chief executive of Healthcare Management Solutions, suggested on Saturday Ukrainian people fleeing the war could find jobs and a place to live through the UK care sector. A view of a cafe damaged by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday Asked if his business might be interested in taking part in the Government's new sponsorship scheme for refugees, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Absolutely. I mean, we have a national shortage in the care sector of people. We have many vacancies up and down the country. 'A lot of operators have job-related accommodation. And there must be a way, I think, of putting the two things together and helping some of the refugees coming over, who may well have the skills that we're looking for they may be nurses or people who've cared before who would be perfectly suited to roles in this country. 'But I think it's not a simple thing to do. You know, clearly there are some issues that we need to address so if people are coming over with children, for example the accommodation may not be suited for families, and indeed local authorities might not allow us to house families in some of that accommodation. 'The start point is: have we got accommodation, do we have vacancies? Yes we do. We just now need to work together with local authorities and Government to find out how we can do this.' Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford told peers that 1,305 visas for Ukrainian refugees had been issued as of Thursday morning, adding: 'Those figures are going up rapidly and that is a good thing.' The Delaware computer repair shop owner who alerted feds of incriminating emails, text messages, photos and financial documents on Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020 says he's since lost his store and now faces bankruptcy, after being victimized in an intimidation campaign once his findings went public. 'I was getting a lot of death threats,' John Paul Mac Isaac, owner of The Mac Shop in Wilmington, told The New York Post Saturday. The paper broke the story of the contents of the laptop in October 2020, which came into Mac Isaac's possession after an 'inebriated' Biden brought it in for repairs in April 2019 and never picked it back up, the 45-year-old store owner says. Files found in Biden's personal computer included emails showing shady business dealings by the current US president's son with foreign officials, and texts that showed him repeatedly using the 'N-word' and accidentally overpaying a prostitute $25,000 from an account linked to his dad. It also uncovered a 2015 effort by Biden to set up a meeting between Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser at a Ukrainian energy firm, and then-vice President Joe Biden, and other instances of Biden looking to cash in on his family connections. After the Post broke the story of the laptop's contents, Mac said the in-person threats got so bad, that he had to enlist local police to provide him with round-the-clock protection. 'There were multiple situations where people came in and you could tell they were not there to have a computer fixed,' Mac Isaac said. 'If there were not other people in the shop, I don't know what would have happened,' he told The Post. 'I was having vegetables, eggs, dog st thrown at the shop every morning. 'I had to have a Wilmington trooper parked in front of my shop all the time,' he revealed to the paper. Scottish-American John Paul Mac Isaac, owner of The Mac Shop in Wilmington, Delaware, says he received death threats after handing over a laptop left by an 'inebriated' Hunter Biden in his store to feds in April 2019, spurring him to flee the state and lose his business The store, founded by Mac Isaac in 2010, went under after reports of incriminating content on the laptop surfaced in October 2020 forced the computer repairman to flee the state and collect unemployment in Colorado - payments he did not receive for over a year Eventually, after weeks of being approached and harassed by multiple mysterious figures, Mac Isaac was forced to close down the shop and flee the state in November 2020. He subsequently spent nearly a year holed up in Colorado with his family, during which time he lost his decade-old business. In December 2020, Mac Issac applied for unemployment, and said he was met with pushback from government officials that left him unable to get his entitled benefits. 'I would open up a case, wouldn't hear anything, then open another case, then open another case - and then I was told to stop opening up cases,' Mac Isaac said. 'And they would keep closing these cases.' As bills piled up, Mac Isaac, unable to obtain his benefits, was forced to dip into his 401K, he told the outlet in an interview Saturday. A year later, after still not receiving any cash, the computer whiz sent a strongly worded letter to Delaware State Senator Chris Coons, asking the politician if the state's refusal to pay him out was the result of a politically motivated attack, possibly from the federal level. 'I would hate to think that I was singled out in a politically motivated attack. If a state agency was weaponized to punish a perceived political enemy, the country has a right to know,' he told Democrat Coons. Mac Isaac says he received his backlogged benefits soon after, but told The Post that the sum he received still ended up short several thousand dollars. Files found in Biden's personal computer included emails showing shady business dealings by Viden, with foreign officials, and texts that showed him using the 'N-word' and accidentally overpaying a prostitute $25,000 from an account linked to his dad Three months prior, in September 2021, Mac Isaac also received what he perceived as threats from the IRS, demanding a supposedly overdue $57 from a 2016 tax return. 'I got an invoice on September 6, 2021, for a tax return in 2016. I took it to an accountant friend of mine who said they don't go back that far unless they're looking for something,' Mac Isaac said. He told the Post that he sent the agency the $57 almost immediately. 'We have all seen how weaponized the IRS has become over the last decade, so I wasn't about to pick a fight,' he said. Speaking to The Post, Mac Isaac refused to accuse the Biden family directly, but conceded that he the actions by the government agencies felt retaliatory. 'I think it looks rather fishy,' Mac Isaac, a Scottish-American who often dons a green Balmoral cap, said. 'I have been punished for my actions on so many levels both to hurt me personally and to set an example for anyone else that might try to blow the wrong whistle.' Mac Isaac then revealed that the situation worsened after he sued Twitter in December 2020, after the social media had censored initial reports concerning the contents of the laptop, deeming them to be misinformation. Facebook also allegedly suppressed posts that shared reports of Mac Isaac's findings. The defamation suit filed in federal court demanded Twitter execs fork of half a billion dollars for falsely deeming the reports to be inaccurate - consequently harming the computer fixer's reputation - and was ultimately dismissed by a Florida judge with prejudice six months later. John Paul Mac Isaac, pictured here in a 2016 Facebook photo, only received his backlogged benefits after writing to his state senator and suggested that he may have been the victim of a politically motivated attack by the federal government As part of the court's ruling, Mac Isaac was ordered to pay the Twitter's legal bills for the proceedings, which amounted to an astronomical $175,000. Mac Isaac told The Post that he does not believe he will be able to accumulate such a sum, and that 'bankruptcy looks like my only option.' He also told the paper that even after social media began allowing reports regarding the laptop - which have all been deemed authentic - he remained censored on other big tech platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. Mac Isaac accused YouTube of 'shadow-banning' his content covering his findings, meaning they allowed the computer man's videos to remain on the site, but effectively hid them from users by not including the videos in their normal algorithms.Mac Isaac, Mac Isaac also received what he perceived as threats from the IRS, demanding a supposedly overdue $57 from a 2016 tax return. Mac Isaac refused to accuse the Biden family directly, but conceded that he the actions by the government agencies felt retaliatory He also said that throughout last year, all of his posts been censored on Facebook, which resulted in him being handed a 30-day suspension in September by the social media giant - which he successfully appealed. Mac Isaac says he has since written a book about his experiences since reports regarding the laptop went public, but has struggled to find a publisher to get the book off the ground. Mac Isaac said he now sustains himself doing odd jobs. 'A buddy of mine does estate clean outs, manual labor. I helped a neighbor redo their porch and I'm trying to do more with woodworking.' Despite his current situation, Mac Isaac told The Post that if given the chance to go back and not report the laptop to the feds, he would still have blown the whistle on Biden, 52. 'If I had the choice to do it again, I would absolutely do it again,' he told the paper Saturday. 'I was raised since 9/11 to believe if you see something, you say something.' Emails on Hunter's abandoned laptop, obtained by DailyMail.com in 2021, reveal how Joe Biden's son and his colleagues leveraged their US government connections and plotted a propaganda campaign for the grafting Romanian tycoon. A December 2018 text message exchange found on the laptop obtained by DailyMail.com shows Hunter asking corporate attorney George Mesires: 'How much money do I owe you. Becaause (sic) n***a you better not be charging me Hennessy rates' In another exchange the following month, Hunter flippantly addressed Messires as 'n***a' again and cracked jokes saying 'I only love you because you're black' during a seemingly somber conversation Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), anyone advocating for foreign entities to US government officials, or acting as a publicist for a foreign entity in the US, must add themselves to a Department of Justice public register. However, an exception applies for attorneys representing a client in a foreign court case, who are not required to register under FARA. Emails show Hunter's colleagues, partners in law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, Christopher Boies and Michael Gottlieb, seeking to set up meetings with the US Ambassador to Romania, after discussing among themselves whether he would intervene in Popoviciu's case. Hunter brought in political heavyweight and family friend Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI, to use his US law enforcement contacts for Popoviciu's advantage, and was offered a referral fee as a result. Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI and close family friend of the Bidens Hunter and his colleagues also discussed a media campaign, including to major U.S. publication the Wall Street Journal, to support their client who was later found guilty of bribery. None of them were required to register for this work under FARA, due to various exemptions including those for lawyers of foreign defendants. The FOIA also seeks information on Rudy Giuliani, who was dispatched by former President Trump to dig up dirt on Hunter Biden's business relationships with Ukraine. Giuliani tipped off the New York Post about the bombshell Hunter Biden laptop. In 2020, Senate Republicans investigated Hunter Biden's $50,000-a-month seat on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, then mired in corruption, while his father helped shape policy toward Kiev. The matter was at the center of former President Trump's first impeachment - Trump had pressured Ukrainian officials to investigate Hunter's business dealings. Giving the appearance of a conflict of interest, Hunter's board seat alarmed some State Department officials. The elder Biden leveraged $1 billion in aid to Ukraine to force the country to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma at the time. But the then-vice president's office said the U.S. wanted Shokin gone because he was not investigating corruption among the country's politicians. Newly unearthed emails show Joe Biden did indeed meet with his son's Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakhstani business associates while he was vice president after Hunter organized a dinner at a Georgetown restaurant in April 2015 But while the investigation found no evidence that Biden as vice president improperly manipulated policy in favor of his son. The Republicans' investigation also found that Hunter had received massive sums of money - some in the seven-figure range - from foreigners in China, Russia and elsewhere while his father was in office. Politico reports that the FOIA request threatens to revive an old feud between the Biden White House and the Times' money and influence reporter Ken Vogel, who has spearheaded coverage of the president's son. Then-deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield wrote to the Times' executive editor Dean Bacquet and accused Vogel of 'egregious journalistic malpractice.' Then-rapid response director Andrew Bates has also sparred with Vogel on Twitter. 'SCOOP from Philadelphia: KEN VOGEL (@kenvogel) is a COWARD,' Bates tweeted in Feb. 2020. The laptop, one of three to be 'lost' by Biden, contained embarrassing - and in some cases, incriminating - pictures, videos and communications of the president's son Bates claimed that Vogel's report on Hunter Biden's Ukraine dealings in May 2019 'for the first time amplified this misinformation campaign into the mainstream.' Emails found on the laptop pointed to an effort by Hunter to set up a meeting in 2015 between Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser at a Ukrainian energy firm. The FBI had since seized the laptop from the Delaware computer repair shop owner, who says Hunter dropped it off to him in 2019 and never came to retrieve it. In an article on reporting on the Federal Election Commission's decision that Twitter had not violated election law in restricting sharing of the Post piece, the Times initially called the Post report 'unsubstantiated.' Later in the day, the September 2021 report was quietly updated to remove the word 'unsubstantiated.' The Biden campaign at the time denied the meeting between the then-candidate and Ukrainian officials ever took place, saying it was not on his official calendar. Emails found on the laptop pointed to an effort by Biden to set up a meeting in 2015 between Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser at a Ukrainian energy firm Meanwhile, mainstream left-leaning media outlets were silent when Dailymail.com revealed text messages, exchanged in late 2018 and 2019, recovered from Hunter's laptop showing him repeatedly using the n-word in conversations with his white lawyer George Messires. The salacious and embarrassing texts were revealed in June 2021. The president's son joked in a January 2019 text to corporate attorney George Mesires about a 'big penis', and said to the lawyer: 'I only love you because you're black' and 'true dat n***a'. In another text a month earlier he wrote to the Chicago lawyer saying: 'how much money do I owe you. Becaause (sic) n***a you better not be charging me Hennessy rates.' The laptop's contents showed instances of Biden looking to cash in on his family connections, such as these correspondences between him and WFP USA founder Rick Leach and Kazakhstan banker Marc Holtzman Mesires replied: 'That made me snarf my coffee.' Hunter added: 'That's what im saying ni', cutting off the racial slur mid-word, then texted a picture to Mesires. The picture was not downloaded on Hunter's laptop, from which the text exchange was recovered by DailyMail.com. But Mesires replied: 'Why are you so tan?' 'I'm sorry for sexting you accidentally that was meant for another friend named Georgia,' Hunter replied. Liberal-leaning media outlets were again silent when texts obtained by DailyMail.com and the New York Post revealed that Hunter had allegedly overpaid an escort by $25,000 during a drug-filled bender at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, from which texts show he was later banned for drug use after the hotel found a whole in the wall of a room where he had stayed. Secret Service agents showed up at his door to tell him the card he'd used was linked to his father, according to the texts. The United States' most popular left-leaning publications and news networks including The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and MSNBC made no mention of the story in the days after it was broken by the Post, and confirmed by DailyMail.com. The laptop was just one of three owned by Biden that have come out of his possession and contained sensitive information. The second was seized by federal agents in October, shortly after reports first surfaced regarding the contents of the first, a 2015 MacBook Pro, and a third, which is still missing, taken by Russian drug dealers after they partied with Biden in Vegas, he told a prostitute in a conversation caught on camera. Each hold sensitive information on President Joe Biden and embarrassing photographs, videos and communications of his son. Leaked from the third laptop, is footage of a naked Biden seemingly doing drugs with an also nude prostitute in a Las Vegas hotel room. Hunter Biden claims Russian drug dealers stole another one of his laptops for blackmail while he was close to overdosing in a Vegas hotel room in 2018. Video obtained by DailyMail.com shows Hunter with a naked hooker in 2019, explaining how he believed his laptop was stolen After filming himself having sex with the woman using his laptop in January 2019, Hunter left the camera rolling as he recounted a Vegas bender in which he spent '18 days going round from penthouse suite to penthouse suite,' sometimes costing $10,000 a night Throughout the video Hunter and the unidentified hooker appear to be doing drugs off the bedside table Hunter said it was after that debauched night he realized his computer was missing. 'I think he's the one that stole my computer,' he said The alleged incident would mean Hunter lost a total of three computers, each likely to hold sensitive information on President Joe Biden After filming himself having sex with the woman using his laptop in January 2019, Hunter left the camera rolling as he recounted a Vegas bender in which he spent '18 days going round from penthouse suite to penthouse suite,' sometimes costing $10,000 a night. 'I spent f***ing crazy amounts of money,' Hunter said. 'I was with these guys. The one guy was, not like you anyway each night he'd be like 'there's going to be so many people here, crazy f***ing party' and each night it's nobody.' Biden claimed Russian drug dealers stole the laptop for blackmail while he was close to overdosing in the Las Vegas hotel room, DailyMail.com revealed last year. Biden's claims raise the possibility that he was targeted as a vulnerable conduit to his father, as part of a foreign intelligence operation. President Joe Biden on Saturday authorized $200 million in weapons and other assistance for Ukraine, the White House said, as Ukrainian officials said heavy shelling by Russian forces were endangering attempted evacuations. The decision brings total U.S. security aid provided to Ukraine over the past year to $1.2billion, a senior administration official said. In a memorandum to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden directed that up to $200million allocated through the Foreign Assistance Act be designated for Ukraine's defense. The funds can be used for weapons and other defense articles from the Defense Department's stock, as well as military education and training to help Ukraine. The fresh funds come days after the U.S. Congress approved $13.6billion in emergency aid for Ukraine as part of a $1.5trillion measure to fund the U.S. government through September. President Joe Biden on Saturday authorized $200 million in weapons and other assistance for Ukraine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks face camera in a street of Kyiv on March 11, 2022 man sits in a bomb shelter, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Irpin, Ukraine, March 12, 2022 The debris of damaged houses lies on the ground near the spot where a cultural center and administration building once stood, destroyed during an aerial bombing as Russia's advance on the Ukrainian capital continues, in the village of Byshiv outside Kyiv This comes after Biden ignored desperate pleas from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and pressure from lawmakers at home and killed the Polish plan to transfer MiG-29 jets to Ukraine, fearing the deal might be viewed as an escalation of tensions by Vladimir Putin. The diplomatic blunder that began with a top European Union diplomat promising the jets to Ukraine ended when Poland suggested it would give the jets to the U.S. to deliver to Ukraine, and the U.S. said that was Poland's responsibility. Then, U.S. defense officials killed the project entirely, saying they would not support either transferring the jets themselves or backing up Poland in doing so. 'We do not support the transfer of the fighters to the Ukrainian air force at this time and have no desire to see them in our custody either,' Press secretary John Kirby told reporters Wednesday, as he described the sentiment of a call between Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin and his Polish counterpart. He said that the Pentagon had assessed the warplanes would not materially improve Ukraine's defense posture, while it would escalate the prospects of drawing NATO, of which both the U.S. and Poland are a part, into direct conflict. Critics have noted that the U.S. has already delivered hundreds of millions in lethal aid to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to US lawmakers over the weekend and asked them help facilitate the transfer of jets, including MiG-29s, to Ukraine. Ukraine currently has between 37 and 70 MiG-29s. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the U.S. and Poland of playing games with people's lives. 'Listen,' the Ukrainian leader pleaded, 'We have a war! We do not have time for all these signals. This is not ping pong! This is about human lives! We ask once again: solve it faster.' Despite desperate please from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and pressure from lawmakers at home, President Biden killed the Polish plan to transfer MiG-29 jets to Ukraine The Pentagon has poured cold water on Poland's offer to hand all its MiG-29 fighter jets to the US, apparently as part of an arrangement to deliver the warplanes to Ukraine 's armed forces where they are desperately needed to fight off invading Russian forces Poland said it was ready to deploy 'immediately and free of charge' all its MiG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the 'disposal of the Government of the United States of America' 'Do not shift the responsibility. Send us planes,' Zelensky demanded. Zelensky spent 45 minutes on the phone with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, where he begged her too for more jets. But skeptics within the Biden administration pushed back on the idea, and Biden himself agreed, according to Politico. 'POTUS will do what the military advises here and the advice now is not to do this and instead send the Ukrainian government more things they can make good use of,' a senior administration official told Politico. Ukraine has 'many planes they already don't fly much because of Russian air defense.' The official added that it's 'not clear what sending more planes achieves.' However, both Republicans and Democrats called on the Biden administration to heed Zelensky's calls for more aircraft. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said it was time to make Putin 'fearful.' 'It's time for Putin to be fearful of what we might do. This is war. People are dying. We need to get aircraft to President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine immediately,' he wrote on Twitter. Senate Foreign Relations chair Bob Menendez, D-N.J., wrote to Blinken and Austin this week calling on the U.S. to commit to replacing any aircraft donated by Poland and other NATO countries to Ukraine with American planes. 'The Ukrainians are getting bombarded, and they do not have at least as their country's leaders suggest and assert the wherewithal to compete in the sky,' Menendez said during a committee hearing Thursday with defense officials. 'I understand why NATO and the United States are not engaged in a no-fly-zone that it has potential direct conflict with Russia but I don't understand why we are not working expeditiously to facilitate planes to Ukraine.' Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, questioned why the U.S. felt comfortable sending Javelins and Stinger missiles but felt providing planes was too escalatory. 'So you're saying that we would like to send something that's more effective that should offend Vladimir Putin more than the airplanes, and yet we cannot send the airplanes? What's the logic behind that,' said Portman during the hearing. The U.S. had a long list of logistical concerns in transferring the aircraft - and as Biden has promised not to put boots on the ground in Ukraine, U.S. pilots could not fly the planes into the war zone. The administration also considered the transfer of fighter jets to be a more aggressive move than providing Ukraine anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles. Officials also said that the transfer may have been possible if it had been kept under wraps, Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign affairs and security policy chief, rendered a secret mission impossible when he announced to reporters that the European bloc would provide the jets, to the shock and dismay of many U.S. and European officials. Kyiv was only interested in handful of aircraft that its air force is familiar with, (which excludes U.S. jets) - the MiG-29, the Su-25, and the MiG-21. These aircraft are currently used by Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, and Slovakia. Medical evidence that a passenger had suffered a psychotic break before he told airline staff about a bomb was not accepted by a court in Abu Dhabi, it has emerged. A report obtained by Mail Online shows that Steve Long was diagnosed with acute psychosis and delirium days after he was arrested. The former soldier had told staff with Etihad Airlines that he feared there was a bomb on board his return flight to Manchester. His wife says despite his obvious distress he was arrested, jailed for three days and convicted of making a bomb threat. Army veteran Steve Long (pictured with wife Heloise) faces up to 13 years in jail unless he can pay a 100,000 fine imposed by the court The 39-year-old paramedic faces up to 13 years in jail unless he can pay a 100,000 fine imposed by the court. Doctors a the Sheikh Khalifa Medical Centre in Abu Dhabi examined Long on February 4th after he was admitted for treatment. The report says:' On assessment he was agitated, confused and lacks capacity. 'Currently he is still ongoing psychiatric assessment with possible diagnosis of mania or psychotic disorder. The report was presented to a court in Abu Dhabi where Long's lawyer had tried to argue he had suffered a breakdown and was not making a terrorist threat. But according to his wife Heloise the judge did not accept the report at his first hearing and a later appeal. Heloise, 43, a nurse, said her husband suffered a mental breakdown caused by undiagnosed PTSD as he was about to board a flight back to Manchester on January 28 Heloise said:' Anyone reading the report carried out by doctors in Abu Dhabi can seen that Steve was not well. 'He had suffered a breakdown and did not know what he was saying. There is a big different to someone who is making a bomb threat.' Heloise, 43, fears her husband of six month could die in prison with conditions making his mental state even worse. He is being held at the Al Wabtha desert prison where conditions have been condemned by human rights groups. Heloise hopes that Etihad Airlines will make a representation to the court to drop the charges once they understand there was no malice on her husband's part Heloise hopes that Etihad Airlines will make a representation to the court to drop the charges once they understand there was no malice on her husband's part. A spokesman for Etiihad, sponsors of Manchester City, said they cannot comment due to the ongoing nature of the investigation. 'It is obvious that Steve was unwell when he tried to board the flight. We were told some staff realised this, but instead of taking him to one side the police were called and he was arrested. 'Such is his state of mind he does not even remember what he was saying or what took place.' Emmanuel Macron has condemned the UK for not living up to 'grand statements' it made on helping Ukrainian refugees and claimed that Britain's visa policy made it harder for those fleeing war. Speaking at the end of an EU summit in Versailles on Friday, Mr Macron reportedly criticised Britain's visa policy which required applicants to make them in person in Brussels or Paris. Mr Macron said this further exacerbated circumstances for those fleeing the war, according to The Guardian. He added: 'Despite all the grand statements... the British government continued to apply current rules that meant they did not welcome Ukrainian refugees who wanted to reach British soil saying they have to travel hundreds of kilometres in order to apply for a visa.' Emmanuel Macron has condemned the UK for not living up to 'grand statements' it made on helping Ukrainian refugees and claimed that Britain's visa policy made it harder for those fleeing war The Home Office responded to Mr Macron's reported remarks by pointing to previous comments from Home Secretary Priti Patel which said: 'We are now making the process quicker and simpler by removing the need to physically visit visa application centres for many of those who are making the perilous journey across Europe.' Ms Patel announced on Thursday that from Tuesday onwards people will be able to apply online for a visa and will not have to go to a processing centre to give their biometrics. Meanwhille, Tony Stein, chief executive of Healthcare Management Solutions, suggested on Saturday morning that Ukrainian people fleeing the war could find jobs and a place to live through the UK care sector. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'A lot of operators have job-related accommodation. And there must be a way, I think, of putting the two things together and helping some of the refugees coming over, who may well have the skills that we're looking for... they may be nurses or people who've cared before who would be perfectly suited to roles in this country.' Speaking at the end of an EU summit in Versailles on Friday, Mr Macron reportedly criticised Britain's visa policy which required applicants to make them in person in Brussels or Paris. Pictured: PM Boris Johnson at the Six Nations Match at Twickenham Stadium today The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in an update this morning that fighting to the north-west of Ukraine's capital Kyiv continued, with most of Russian ground forces now around 25 kilometres from the centre. Elements of the large Russian column north of Kyiv have dispersed, the MoD added, which it said is likely to support an attempt by the aggressors to encircle the city. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government said a mosque in the city of Mariupol had been shelled by the Russian military. The Home Office responded to Mr Macron's reported remarks by pointing to previous comments from Home Secretary Priti Patel which said: 'We are now making the process quicker and simpler by removing the need to physically visit visa application centres for many of those who are making the perilous journey across Europe' The mosque was sheltering more than 80 people and there were no reported casualties. President Volodymyr Zelensky also accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of Melitopol, a port city in the South of Ukraine. Meanwhile, to further ramp up pressure on the Kremlin, the UK Government is planning to ban exports of luxury goods to Russia in the latest move to isolate Vladimir Putin. Downing Street said that details of the plan will be set out in the coming days. President Volodymyr Zelensky also accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of Melitopol, a port city in the South of Ukraine It came as Boris Johnson joined with other G7 leaders on Friday to commit to further increase the pressure on the Russian president's regime. The leaders agreed to take steps to deny Russia 'most favoured nation' status on key products. No 10 said the move would significantly reduce the ability of Russian businesses to export. Speaking last night on the news, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK stood 'united with our G7 partners' and would 'continue strengthening our response' to put a halt to Russia's aggression against its neighbour. Meanwhile, to further ramp up pressure on the Kremlin, the UK Government is planning to ban exports of luxury goods to Russia in the latest move to isolate Vladimir Putin However, Labour said the ban on luxury goods 'should not have taken this long.' Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour's shadow international trade secretary, said: 'Labour has been calling for weeks now for a ban on luxury goods being sent to Russia, so it is welcome that the UK Government have finally listened - but it should not have taken this long. 'We cannot allow Putin, and his cronies in Moscow, to live a Mayfair lifestyle while they kill innocent people in their illegal invasion of Ukraine.' The announcement came after Britain sanctioned nearly 400 Russian parliamentarians, in a bid to 'tighten the screw' on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine. Speaking last night on the news, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK stood 'united with our G7 partners' and would 'continue strengthening our response' to put a halt to Russia's aggression against its neighbour Also yesterday, former Tory foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt argued that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was 'the biggest failure of Western foreign and security policy in our lifetimes'. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he said: 'It happened because we forgot the most fundamental lesson of the Cold War: the power of deterrence.' He added: 'Instead of peace through strength we caused war through weakness.' Labour's shadow international trade secretary, said: 'Labour has been calling for weeks now for a ban on luxury goods being sent to Russia, so it is welcome that the UK Government have finally listened - but it should not have taken this long Mr Hunt also said the UK should increase spending on 'defence, aid and soft power' to at least 4 per cent of GDP over the next decade. The Treasury responded by saying that the MoD had received 'the largest sustained spending increase since the end of the Cold War - with a 24 billion uplift in cash terms over the four-year Spending Review period'. 'The UK is the second largest Nato defence spender and we have always met our funding obligations - going well above Nato's 2% spending target,' a spokesperson said. Also yesterday, former Tory foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt argued that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was 'the biggest failure of Western foreign and security policy in our lifetimes' (file image) The UK's permanent representative to the United Nations earlier accused Russia of bringing about 'wild, completely baseless and irresponsible conspiracy theories.' It came as the UN security council met at the request of Russia to discuss claims levelled by Moscow about biological activities in Ukraine. Dame Barbara Woodward said Russia must not be allowed to 'abuse its permanent seat' on the council 'to spread disinformation and lies'. Boris Johnson has previously expressed fears Russia is spreading a 'fake story' that the US or the Ukrainians have chemical weapons in Ukraine as a pretext for an atrocity. The UK has now sanctioned more than 500 high-value individuals and entities since the invasion of Ukraine began, while Russian aircraft, including oligarchs' private jets, are banned from the UK. A Queens man with a history of assaulting children was charged for flipping over a stroller, leaving a two-year-old girl with stitches on her face. Police arrested 31-year-old Christopher Elder on Friday after he allegedly screamed at Maria Zamora, 48, who was walking her two-year-old granddaughter Sophia in Flushing. The grandmother, who does not speak English, went to throw out garbage when Elder overturned the stroller in the middle of the street, injuring the toddler. The brazen attack left young Sophia with cuts and bruises on her head and face, which required stitches. Police caught Christopher Elder, 31, (pictured) he was later charged with felony assault, reckless endangerment, acting in a manner dangerous to a child, and harassment 'She's very scared, she has too much pain in her face,' Sophia's uncle Juan Loja said 'She's very scared, she has too much pain in her face,' Sophia's uncle Juan Loja told NBC New York. Loja said the family is living in fear because they have seen the 31-year-old around and a resident in their building already has an order of protection against him. Police caught Elder and took him to a local hospital for a psych evaluation. He was later charged with felony assault, reckless endangerment, acting in a manner dangerous to a child, and harassment. The charges add to Elder's already lengthy rap sheet that include at least eight prior arrests, many for similar unprovoked assaults, the New York Post reported. Police said last month Elder allegedly hit a 30-year-old man in the head with a glass bottle at a U-Haul location off the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and following his arrest he was charged for that incident as well, the Post reported. Loja said the family is living in fear because they have seen the 31-year-old around despite the fact that a resident in their building already has an order of protection against him Police arrested Christopher Elder, 31, after he allegedly screamed at Maria Zamora, 48, (pictured) who was walking her two-year-old granddaughter Sophia in Queens In fact, this is not Elder's first alleged attack against a child, on December 11 the 31-year-old was charged for throwing a nine-year-old girl on the ground in the same Queens neighborhood, the Post reported. 'He took away the confidence I had as a woman and a single mother with two kids to go out there. Now I don't feel comfortable walking alone, like I used to with my kids. I'm constantly watching my back,' the mom of that alleged December assault told NBC New York. She said she was also hit by Elder when she instinctively shielded her daughter from an attack from the 31-year-old. 'He hit me mostly in the back of my head, my back. He ended up hitting my daughter too, in the face,, on the forehead,' she said. 'Afterwards, when he was done hitting us on the floor, I was just so upset that nobody helped, nobody stopped him and I'm even more mad that he did it again.' The frightened mother questioned why a man with so many charges for violent attacks was out free and able to hurt more children. 'I think you guys should wake up and make changes. Or maybe you guys are just waiting for something to happen to your loved ones in order for change to be made,' she said, calling out lawmakers. 'Or you guys just want him to kill someone in order for him to go to jail. He's not gonna stop and all these other individuals are not gonna stop as well. I think enough is enough.' The brutal attack against a toddler comes as the city is reeling from a February crime wave that saw a nearly 60 percent spike in incidents over last year. The city's latest crime figures show 9,138 incidents in February, as opposed to 5,759 during the same period in 2021 with double-digit surges in nearly every major category. There were 32 murders in February three more than the same month last year. Multiple other categories saw shocking jumps, including car theft, which soared by nearly 105 percent; grand larceny, which jumped nearly 80 percent over the previous year; robberies, which surged 56 percent; a 44 percent bump in burglaries and a 22 percent spike in assaults. Rapes also saw a terrifying 35 percent rise in February. Christian Jeffers is pictured being arrested on Wednesday evening, on suspicion of attacking a man with a hammer During the month of February, the NYPD reported a 58.7 percent increase in total crime. The latest figures showed 9,138 incidents as opposed to 5,759 in 2021 - with double-digit surges in nearly every major category Residents have also reacted with horror to a string of high-profile incidents, including the vicious battering of a woman with a hammer by a homeless man in Queens and the smearing of feces on another woman in the Bronx - after which the alleged perpetrator, a violent criminal with a history of 44 arrests, was released without bail. These incidents were in addition to the murder of Asian woman Christina Yuna Lee, 25, who was tailed to her apartment by another homeless man, Assamad Nash, 35, and stabbed to death. On Wednesday, Christian Jeffers, 48, who identifies as a woman, was arrested for allegedly assaulting the 29-year-old victim at the 14th Street subway station in Manhattan on Tuesday. Her charges were of assault, aggravated harassment, menacing, all as hate crimes, and one count of criminal possession of a weapon. Prosecutors said that Jeffers' alleged attack was done with 'little to no provocation'. The on-camera attack shows Jeffers, wearing a black wig and purple lipstick, smashing the victim in the head with a hammer just after the strangers had bumped into one another. The crime wave comes during Mayor Eric Adams' first few months in office. The former NYPD cop has vowed to crack down on the influx of incidents on the city's streets and subway system - which has seen a rash of violent incidents in recent weeks. Former Mayor Bill De Blasio's policies contributed to the current crime wave, experts said. In response to the crime wave, Adams has plead with lawmakers in Albany recently to consider a controversial bail reform law that would allow judges to consider whether a person is dangerous before releasing them from jail. Adams wants to see changes in bail reform laws and other criminal justice measures, saying they will bring down crime rates in the city and reduce gun violence. In February Adams, who campaigned last year on getting people to get back to work amid the pandemic and cleaning up the crime-ridden subway system, outlined his plans for city bail laws, which can allow for suspects to roam the street often within hours of an arrest. 'Let's remove the cash bail system, because one should not be able to get out of jail just because you can pay bail. Let's take that away. Judges should look at the case in front of them and say, "This person has two gun arrests, and he's continually saying to the people of the city that I don't care about the safety of you."' the mayor said. 'That judge should have the right to make the discretion that this person just be held.' The groom will wear a specially made Vivienne Westwood tartan kilt in honour of his Scottish roots. The bride will wear a full-length wedding dress with one of the designers signature corsets. But a quarter of the wedding party will be maximum-security prison guards and one of the cameras recording the occasion will be part of the CCTV inside HMP Belmarsh in South London. This is the extraordinary secret wedding planned by the WikiLeaks publisher and his fiancee, lawyer Stella Moris, for March 23. Before she says I do, the bride will be searched multiple times, including inside her mouth, behind her ears, under her feet and in her hair. She will pass through security scanners and be checked by a metal detector and possibly sniffer dogs. A quarter of the wedding party will be maximum-security prison guards and one of the cameras recording the occasion will be part of the CCTV inside HMP Belmarsh in South London. This is the extraordinary secret wedding planned by the WikiLeaks publisher and his fiancee, lawyer Stella Moris, for March 23 She will also be patted down in her wedding gown and fingerprinted four times. After a civil ceremony and a blessing by a Catholic chaplain in the presence of their two young sons, the new Mr and Mrs Julian Assange will be escorted back into the prisons general visiting hall. Its not the wedding we would have planned in a church in the outside world, surrounded by family and friends, Stella, 39, admits. But were choosing to take control of our lives. Were doing it for love, for each other, for our sons and because Julians life has been put on hold for long enough, robbing him of years with his family, and that is unacceptable. The couple got engaged during Assanges seven-year exile in the Ecuador Embassy in London while avoiding extradition to America. Now that the 50-year-old is facing the third anniversary of his remand in Belmarsh in April, they have decided to press ahead with their wedding behind bars. Stella, who shares Gabriel, four, and Max, three, with the publisher, said the prison authorities have done the bare minimum to help and have stalled on their request for a wedding photographer to be allowed into the prison, which has previously opened its doors to a documentary crew. She is also distressed they have been banned from having their blessing in the prison chapel where Assange worships, even though the room designated for their civil ceremony is right next door. After a civil ceremony and a blessing by a Catholic chaplain in the presence of their two young sons, the new Mr and Mrs Julian Assange will be escorted back into the prisons general visiting hall In addition, Belmarshs Governor Jenny Louis is ordering the couples four guests and two witnesses out of the prison the minute the service is over. Last night Stella said: All we want is to have a photographer we trust to take proper pictures of us on our wedding day, like any other couple. I think the Ministry of Justice and Belmarsh are extremely nervous about strong images which show Julian as a normal man getting married, just being human. I feel as if they are just trying to make Julian disappear from the public eye. If people see him at his own wedding, theyll be reminded he is still on remand and that what is being done to him cant be considered fair or humane. I feel this is an attempt to remind Julian on his wedding day that his life is being needlessly disrupted. Belmarshs Governor Jenny Louis is ordering the couples four guests and two witnesses out of the prison the minute the service is over The United States wants to extradite him to face allegations of conspiracy to obtain and disclose American defence information following WikiLeaks publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. He was dragged out of his embassy exile in 2019, arrested, and locked up in Belmarsh where his mental and physical health is known to have deteriorated. He had a mini-stroke last year. The couple met a decade ago when Stella became a WikiLeaks lawyer. They have been attempting to marry in prison since May last year, and in October launched legal action against Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, challenging the obstacles to their wedding request. They still do not know whether or not Stella will be allowed a bridal bouquet. One thing which is settled is permission for Vivienne Westwood to send Assanges wedding outfit into the prison. A long-time supporter of Assange, the designer has made his kilt and Stellas gown as a wedding gift. The couple hope to have a wedding reception when Assange is a free man. As for a honeymoon? Being together at home one day is the most exotic destination we can imagine, said Stella. A Prison Service spokesman said last night: All weddings in prisons are arranged according to established Prison Service policy. A young climber who plunged 1,000ft to his death off Ben Nevis during a deadly descent has been identified as a young father-to-be from Northern Ireland. Samuel Crawford, 28, fell in 'ferocious' and icy conditions on Tuesday some 3,000ft up Britain's tallest peak, in the Scottish Highlands. The climbers he had ascended with and another group, believed to be made up of 12 Army soldiers from Edinburgh, attempted to rescue him. However in chaotic scenes, all 17 also became stuck, sparking an eight-hour rescue mission which saw several airlifted by coastguard helicopters. Mr Crawford married his wife just 18 months ago, and the couple had been expecting their first child together, his minister explained. The Reverend Garth Wilson, from Sandown Free Presbyterian Church in east Belfast, expressed his 'heartfelt sympathies' for the family and praised Mr Crawford for being a 'fantastic husband' who 'would have been the best father'. In a tribute shared to the church's social media pages, Rev Wilson said: 'He was one of the brightest lights in our congregation in Sandown and we will miss him terribly'. Samuel Crawford, 28, of Belfast, Northern Irelnd, was an expectant father who fell in 'ferocious' and icy conditions on Tuesday some 3,000ft up Ben Nevis in the Scottish Highlands Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team pull an injured climber to rescue during wintry and 'ferocious' conditions on Ben Nevis this week - which saw a 28-year-old and two others killed The young climber fell around 1,000ft at Red Burn, on the west side of Ben Nevis on Tuesday. He had been descending with a group having reached the 4,413ft summit. The Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team said in a social media post: 'The past five days have been especially busy for the team', revealing there had been 26 casualties and three deaths (Pictured: One of rescue missions sees a climber pulled on a stretcher to safety) Tuesday's fatality was the third death in the Highlands in a week - while hopes for another missing walker are fading. (Pictured: Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team during one of its Ben Nevis missions this week) Members of Lochaber and Glencoe mountain rescue teams (MRTs) - together with members of a police mountain rescue team - were sent to Ben Nevis after the alarm was raised at around 2.15pm. A total of 40 rescuers had to be sent to the mountaintop from Prestwick and Inverness, with some of the climbers being walked off the hill to safety. Tragic climber Mr Crawford had plunged around 984ft at Red Burn on the west side of the mountain. He and his party had been descending Ben Nevis after reaching the summit. 'The conditions were classic Alpine conditions - springlike in the glen but above the snow line everything is solid and an ice axe and crampons are essential and knowing how to use them,' said Donald Paterson, deputy team leader of Lochaber MRT. 'But this chap had fallen conservatively about 300 metres (984ft). Then others went to help him and they too ended up in trouble. One had a broken ankle and another multiple abrasions. 'As the night wore the conditions got worse. Members of the party could have been better prepared for the conditions. 'We would like to express our condolences to the deceased's family and friends.' Brian Bathurst, deputy team leader of Glencoe MRT, said the conditions were 'ferocious'. 'The snow fields are glazed over with ice and are quite lethal,' he said. 'One slip and you will go a long way. 'The conditions last night were very difficult - as well as the ice there were very strong winds and rain. The helicopters did an amazing job.' Two of the rescued were taken to the Belford Hospital in Fort William. They are not believed to be in a critical or serious condition. Mr Crawford fell in icy conditions some 3,000ft up Britain's tallest peak on Tuesday, leading a dozen-strong military group from Edinburgh to attempt a rescue. (Pictured: Coastguard helicopter taking place in a previous rescue mission a day earlier) A Police Scotland spokesman said: 'Around 2.15pm on Tuesday, 8 March, police were made aware of concerns for a number of people in difficulty on Ben Nevis. 'Emergency services and mountain rescue colleagues attended to assist 17 people off the mountain. 'We can confirm that a 28-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, whilst a further two men, aged 29 and 27, were treated for minor injuries in hospital. 'There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a full report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.' Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team said in a social media post: 'The past five days have been especially busy for the team. 'Since Saturday we've had 12 callouts and recovered 26 casualties. Unfortunately three of these shouts resulted in fatalities and we'd like to extend our heart felt condolences to the friends and family of those involved at this difficult time. 'It would be remiss if we didn't stress just how important it is to be adequately prepared for winter in the hills. What equipment and knowledge do mountaineers need to climb Ben Nevis in winter? At 4,413ft, the conditions on the summit of Ben Nevis will always be much colder and more treacherous than they are at sea level. That means that yesterday the summit of the mountain was experiencing winds of 80mph and a minus 20C wind chill while conditions at sea level were a relatively benign minus 4C with 40mph winds. On the summit it will have been difficult for the students to stand, and their feet would quickly have started to suffer frostbite in trainers. White out conditions would also have made keeping their bearings almost impossible. Outdoor experts say that even experienced mountaineers would think twice about going out onto Ben Nevis in such conditions. Those that do will be equipped with crampons, ice axes, thick mountain boots and several layers of high-tech clothing. They will also have a map or GPS system and the ability to navigate at night and during a whiteout. Advertisement 'Having the ability to competently navigate with map and compass as well as having and being able to use crampons and axe are vital skills to have if you're venturing into the hills.' An Army spokesperson told MailOnline: 'A small number of soldiers provided support to stranded walkers on Ben Nevis on Tuesday. 'They assisted the party until emergency and mountain rescue services were able to reach them.' Tuesday's fatality was the third death in the Highlands in a week - while hopes for another missing walker are fading. Neil Gillingham, 43, from Kilmarnock was last seen around 1.30pm on Sunday, near the summit of 3632ft high Stob Coire Nam Beith. He had planned to walk a route from the Hidden Valley car park to Bidean Nam Bian and Stob Coire Nam Beith before descending to the Lost Valley. Searches on Monday involving the Glencoe, Lochaber, Oban, RAF and Police Scotland mountain rescue teams and a coastguard search and rescue helicopter failed to find Mr Gillingham. However his spaniel dog Cooper was located safe and well. Tuesday's search for Mr Gillingham was also unsuccessful. Mr Gillingham is described as 5ft 8in tall, of stocky build with receding fair hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue Rab waterproof jacket, black thermal trousers and brown walking boots. Sergeant Leigh Brown of Fort William Police Station said: 'Neil did not return as planned from a walk in Glencoe and extensive search activity is now ongoing to locate him. 'I would urge anyone who believes they may have seen or spoken to him at any time since he was last seen near the top of Stob Coire Nam Beith on Sunday afternoon to get in touch urgently. 'Anyone with information can call 101, quoting reference 3012 of 6 March, 2022.' Meanwhile Lochaber MRT were called out three times on Monday. 'With alpine conditions on the hills over the last few days, there has been plenty of people out enjoying what Lochaber has to offer,' said a team spokesman. 'Another three call outs for us yesterday seen visits from all our Scottish based helicopters and just for good measure Helimed joined in transferring one casualty on for further care.' The spokesman added that the pilots had all displayed 'very admirable' flying skills and wished the 'best of luck to the casualties for a speedy recovery'. It comes after mountain rescue teams searching for an experienced hillwalker who went missing 'out of character' in Glencoe found a body last Friday. The family of the man, since named as David Low, were informed. The 47-year-old from Bridge of Allan was a keen walker but the details of his route were unknown. A 54-year-old man died while on a walk on a mountain in Wester Ross on March 1. Police said emergency services were alerted to an injured walker on An Teallach, near Dundonnell, at about 2.45pm that day. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Police Scotland said: 'There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a full report will be forwarded to the procurator fiscal.' The out-of-control driver vaulted the curb and barreled his silver Nissan Altima into the northern end of Claremont Park in Morrisania about 6:50 a.m., horrified witnesses told police. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News) An out-of-control motorist tore through a Bronx park early Saturday, striking a 58-year-old woman walking her dog, cops said. The out-of-control driver vaulted the curb and barreled his Nissan Altima into the northern end of Claremont Park in Morrisania about 6:50 a.m., horrified witnesses told police. Advertisement The out-of-control driver vaulted the curb and barreled his silver Nissan Altima into the northern end of Claremont Park, pictured here. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News) He zipped through the 38-acre park, slamming into the woman. She was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where she was expected to recover. The driver exited the park near Clay and Belmont Aves., where he ditched his auto and ran off on foot. Advertisement The location in the park where the woman was struck. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News) Cops alerted to the incident tracked him down and took him into custody nearby. Charges were pending. Motorists arent allowed to drive through Claremont Park, which has an outdoor city pool, playground, picnic areas and a farmers market. Fears were growing among courtiers last night that the Queen may be forced to pull out of the thanksgiving service for Prince Philip at the end of the month. It comes after Buckingham Palace announced she was not fit enough to attend tomorrow's Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey. While the Queen 'still hopes' to attend Philip's service, which will be held at the abbey on March 29, she may not be mobile enough to do so. The Mail on Sunday understands she has ruled out the option of using a wheelchair at this stage and remains determined to continue to walk for as long as possible. This is despite the Monarch reportedly being too frail to walk her beloved corgis over the last six months. The Queen, who turns 96 next month and has recently recovered from Covid, was last week moving around Windsor Castle without a walking stick and is not suffering from a new illness. Nevertheless, her mobility issues remain at the heart of a 'regretful' decision taken late on Friday to pull out of the annual Commonwealth Service, which is usually a highlight in her calendar. Instead, she will be represented at the service by the Prince of Wales. The Queen will deliver a message to the Commonwealth and will watch the service on television from Windsor Castle. While the Queen 'still hopes' to attend Philip's service, which will be held at the abbey on March 29, she may not be mobile enough to do so. Pictured: Britain's Queen Elizabeth receives Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Windsor Castle, in Windsor on March 7 But the news has raised concerns in Palace corridors about engagements later this year. Detailed plans are being configured to find a way in which the Queen may comfortably attend the service for Philip, Britain's longest-serving consort and the beloved husband she once referred to as 'my strength and stay'. His funeral was held last April at Windsor Castle when pandemic rules stipulated that only 30 people could attend. It had been hoped that this year's thanksgiving service would provide an opportunity for more friends and dignitaries to mark his lifetime of duty. The thanksgiving service has already been cut down to a relatively brief 50 minutes and to save the Queen from the long walk down the aisle to reach her seat, a side door may be deployed. Yet even that may prove too much. Penny Junor, a royal biographer, said: 'The Queen is extraordinary. She has gone on with great vigour for years but we have to remember she is 95 and not superhuman. 'In other respects, she is on great form. The Queen is fantastic on Zoom calls, but I think events where she is required to walk or go up any steps are not going to be feasible any more. Detailed plans are being configured to find a way in which the Queen may comfortably attend the service for Philip, Britain's longest-serving consort and the beloved husband she once referred to as 'my strength and stay' PHILIP'S VALET ON HIS FINAL ORDERS He is not known to the wider public but during Prince Philips lifetime David Berwick was indispensable to the Royal Family. Now the Duke of Edinburghs long-serving aide has agreed to carry out a final act of service for his late master. The loyal valet, who joined Philips staff in 1975 and served for 46 years, has had his contract extended and been given the herculean task of sorting through Philips many uniforms and formal suits. A source said: Its a big job and David is not a young chap but he is absolutely the right man for it. Prince Charles has been overseeing where his fathers uniforms will go but theres such a lot to get through. Some uniforms have already been donated to museums and others are set to feature in Platinum Jubilee exhibitions. Advertisement 'And fortunately we have the technology that means she is not going to disappear from view altogether.' But reports said she has been unable to walk her corgis over the last six months and there are fears she may never again. A source told the Sun: 'She is not well enough. 'The Queen usually turns to her beloved corgis in time of crisis and stress and took them out almost every day after Philip fell ill and then died last year. 'They are an enormous source of solace, so it is a real shame.' Last month, while receiving the incoming and outgoing Defence Services Secretaries, the Queen quipped: 'I'm here. Good morning. Well, as you can see I can't move.' She gestured at her feet before shuffling forward slightly to greet the pair. A Palace source later said her comments referred to feeling stiff rather than being unwell. The Queen has not appeared at a formal public engagement since October 19. Yet she has carried out numerous video calls and last Monday met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Windsor Castle. It seems increasingly unlikely, however, that she will make many appearances during this summer's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. A Palace source said: 'Unlike previous jubilees, the Queen won't be at every event, but she will be at the significant moments.' 'He can go to the Netherlands but not to see his own grandmother': Prince Harry clowns around in orange for video plugging Invictus Games event to be held in Holland next month - hours after announcing he will miss Philip's memorial service Prince Harry has released a comedy promo video for this year's Invictus Games In the clip, which seems to show his Montecito mansion, he tries to learn Dutch He celebrates the games being held in the Netherlands, by wearing orange Some criticised his timing, as he just revealed he won't attend Philip memorial Prince Harry has been criticised for releasing a video promoting this year's Invictus Games just hours after confirming he won't attend Prince Philip's memorial service later this month. The light-hearted footage was released just hours after he announced he would not travel to Britain to attend Prince Philips thanksgiving service this month. While the Prince will not be at Westminster Abbey on March 29, his spokesman said he would attend the sports competition for wounded servicemen and women in The Hague from April 16. The clip shows the Duke of Sussex learning Dutch ahead of the games, before ripping off his hoodie top to reveal an all-orange outfit. During the promo piece, which appears to have been filmed in the $14 million California mansion he shares with wife Meghan Markle and his children Archie, 2, and Lilibet, 9 months, Harry is seen telling his team he 'really wants to get this right', as he asks them how to say various phrases in Dutch. After mastering some words, he puts on orange sunglasses and a hat, before tearing off his hoodie to reveal an orange t-shirt. Pointing down into the camera, he tells his Invictus colleagues he is 'ready' for the games. Former royal chef Darren McGrady, who cooked for Harrys mother, Princess Diana, said: His grandfather would have given him a clip around the ear and told him to grow up. The Queen will be devastated, and Princess Diana would, too, if she were here. A source told The MoS that the Queen very much wants to see Harry and Meghans children, including nine-month-old Lilibet the Monarchs childhood nickname whom she has never met. Harrys decision not to attend Philips service comes after he took the Government to court over its decision not to provide full police protection when he visits Britain. The 'awkward' Invictus Games video shows Prince Harry (pictured) tear off his hoodie to reveal an all-orange outfit in celebration of the games which will be held in the Netherlands next month In the promotional video Harry puts on orange sunglasses and a hat, before tearing off his hoodie to reveal an orange t-shirt The clip shows the Duke of Sussex learning Dutch ahead of the games, which will take place in the Netherlands in April, before ripping off his hoodie top to reveal an all-orange outfit The Duke of Sussex stands up to reveal he is also wearing orange trousers in honour of the Netherlands in a promotional advert for the Invictus Games which has been branded 'awkward' Pointing down into the camera, Prince Harry tells his Invictus colleagues he is 'ready' for the games. Commentators have left mixed feedback on the video (pictured) with some branding it 'awkward', but many others saying they love it During the promo piece Harry is seen telling his team he 'really wants to get this right', as he asks them how to say various phrases in Dutch Prince Harry's Invictus Games promo in full: 'One more time guys, please, you know I need to get this right and I really want to get this right as well. So how do you say 'Good afternoon, you have done a great job' in Dutch.' Prince Harry's team tell him the Dutch - 'Goedemiddag, je hebt het geweldig gedaan' - repeating it twice before he copies them. 'I'll take that', he exclaims after repeating the phrase. 'And what else? Anything else I need to know?' One of the Duke's team says 'can you say stroopwafel?' - a thin, round waffle cookie first made in Gouda, the Netherlands. 'Stroopwafel, love those', Harry says. 'I get a double thumbs up from Fenne, I get a slightly bizarre looking face from Jelle. Are you a teacher in your spare time? Jelle responds: 'I was, before I...' 'Ah, that's why,' Harry says. 'What else, what else do I need to know?' 'Scheveningen', he is told before repeating the phrase and receiving a 'very good'. 'Do you think I'm ready?', Harry asks. 'We think you're ready!,' the team responds. 'Thank you, see you soon in The Hague', the Duke says in Dutch before he is warned 'don't forget your hat'. Harry then puts on an orange hat and pair of glasses before ripping off his hoodie top to reveal an all-orange outfit. 'Let's go, we're ready!' Advertisement The clip garnered mixed responses on Twitter, with one user branding it 'awkward'. They wrote: 'Forced humour is always awkward. And forced infantile humour for adults is worse.' Others noted the timing of the clip, with some seemingly annoyed that Harry will not be returning for Prince Philip's memorial service later this month, but will attend the games. One wrote: 'He can go to the Netherlands but not to see his own grandmother, something is not right with him.' Another added: 'Harry is refusing to attend his grandfather's memorial/suing the UK Gov. for armed security but will go to the IG in the NL.' However, numerous fans of the both the Duke and the Invictus Games were among the respondents, and they praised the clip. One wrote: 'Orange is definitely his colour. Harry is fabulous!' Another added: 'My family and I are looking forward to the #InvictusGames with friends we will be cheering you on. The Invictus Games is one of Prince Harry's best gift to the world.' And a third wrote: 'This will be great! I look forward to the games and have friends who will attend! Yay!!!!' The video came just hours after a spokesperson for Harry confirmed on Friday he would not be attending his grandfather's Service of Thanksgiving which is due to be held at Westminster Abbey on March 29. Experts had predicted this, after Harry's lawyers last month told a court the prince does 'not feel safe' in the UK without the protection of Scotland Yard officers, during his ongoing legal battle over security. Royal biographer Angela Levin has slammed the Duke as a 'child stamping his feet' over the decision and said the move was tantamount to 'blackmail', warning the Duke could use dropping out of major events at the last minute as leverage to secure personal protective security in the UK. Levin warned that although Harry 'has snubbed the Duke of Edinburgh but really he is snubbing the Queen' who is still 'grieving the loss of her husband of 73 years' - and was only given 15 minutes advance notice of Harry's announcement on Friday evening. 'He has got this all wrong. If he comes over for a royal event he gets police protection. What they won't do is, if he goes out with his friends he gets security. He'll probably use this same excuse to try to get out of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations,' she said. 'It's all about 'me, me, me' rather than going out of his way for his grandmother and showing her he cares. He's behaving like a child stamping his feet'. The Duke of Sussex has faced some criticism from social media viewers over the video, with some noting that he won't come to the UK for Prince Philip's memorial service, but will fly to the Netherlands for the games Many Twitter users were quick to criticise Harry, asking why he couldn't travel to the UK for his grandfather's memorial, but could travel to the Netherlands Many of the respondents on Twitter had positive things to say about both Harry and the Invictus Games A royal expert on Saturday claimed that The Queen is 'unlikely' to see her great-granddaughter Lilibet in person - as Prince Harry is slammed for 'snubbing' the monarch after he announced on Friday that he will not be returning to the UK later this month to attend the high-profile memorial marking the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh. Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams, who has written extensively about the royal family, said it was a 'great pity' the monarch, 95, had not yet met the nine-month-old daughter of Prince Harry, 37, and Meghan Markle, 40, who live in California, in the flesh. So far, it is believed the Queen, who celebrates her Platinum Jubilee this year, has only met her 11th granddaughter, who is yet to travel to the UK, via video link. Mr Fitzwilliams told The Sun: 'I think this was expected because of the issue with security, obviously, he would have wanted to come if he could. I think it's a great pity, what this means is it regrettable the rift will remain unhealed.' Opening up about the Queen meeting her great-granddaughter, who is named after the monarch's own family nickname Lilibet, he added: 'It's increasingly unlikely. If they don't bring Lili over, then obviously that won't happen. 'It's all something that's clearly not going to be resolved in the foreseeable future. And it doesn't seem like they're going to come over.' The family of a US astronaut who faces being stranded in space by the Russians last night warned: 'Our son does not scare easily.' Nasa's Mark Vande Hei is due to return from the International Space Station (ISS) with two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on March 30. But Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, has threatened to leave the 55-year-old father-of-two in space or even send the space station crashing back down to Earth in retaliation for the US supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion. Last night Mr Vande Hei's mother Mary, 77, told The Mail on Sunday: 'It's a terrible threat. When I first heard it I did a lot of crying. It's very troubling. We are just doing a lot of praying.' Her son is due to return to Russia-supporting Kazakhstan after 355 days in orbit the longest time a Western astronaut has spent in space but Rogozin, an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, posted a video on Twitter that threatened to leave Mr Vande Hei in space and detach Russia's segment of the ISS, which would send it spiralling down to Earth. Nasa's Mark Vande Hei (far right) is due to return from the International Space Station (ISS) with two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on March 30. But Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, has threatened to leave the 55-year-old father-of-two in space or even send the space station crashing back down to Earth in retaliation for the US supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion It came in response to US President Joe Biden announcing sanctions against Russia which would 'degrade their aerospace industry, including their space programme'. Rogozin said: 'Do you want to destroy our co-operation on the ISS? If you block co-operation with us, who will save the ISS from an uncontrolled de-orbit and fall into the United States or Europe?' In an exchange with retired US astronaut Scott Kelly, Rogozin repeated his threat, writing: 'Get off, you moron! Otherwise, the death of the ISS will be on your conscience.' In fresh threats last night, Rogozin claimed that 'illegal' sanctions could cause the 500-ton ISS to crash down over Western countries. He said: 'The populations of other countries, especially those led by the 'dogs of war', should think about the price of the sanctions against Roscosmos.' In fresh threats last night, Rogozin (pictured) claimed that 'illegal' sanctions could cause the 500-ton ISS to crash down over Western countries Mrs Vande Hei, a retired teacher from Minneapolis, Minnesota, pleaded for calm, adding: 'It is really a shame that it's been politicised like this. It's quite a shock. His wife, Julie, is very worried in Texas. It's very hard for her right now.' Recalling how she and her husband Tom had joined their son in Kazakhstan in 2017 when he was launched to the ISS for his first six-month tour of duty in space, Mrs Vande Hei said: 'It was wonderful to see people from all different countries work together. Mark has great relationships with all the astronauts and cosmonauts.' Mr Vande Hei, 80, a retired information systems executive, added: 'These threats are just one person speaking and, though it's the head of the Russian space agency, all the other people within the space agency seem very co-operative. Our son does not scare easily.' Elon Musk has offered to send his SpaceX rocket to rescue the US astronaut if the Russians abandon him. Nasa said it was confident Mr Vande Hei will return as planned. Snoozing peacefully, one-month-old twins Sai and Amaya Parmar are a picture of contentment although according to proud father Metaish, they are already making their personalities known. 'Amaya may be smaller but she's already the feisty one,' he smiles. 'Sai is a bit more laid back.' 'And when they want feeding, they both let you know about it,' adds mum Manisha. Their precious twins may now be slumbering safely in the calm of the family home in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, but just days ago the couple were thousands of miles away, huddled with their fragile newborns in a basement as sirens sounded. Their escape, when they dared to make it after days trapped underground, came in the form of a hair-raising 17-hour car journey cross-country, followed by a desperate trudge on foot in sub-zero temperatures with their babies clasped to their chests. For the twins were born last month in Ukraine, just days before the country was plunged into war. In what felt like a heartbeat, the couple's 13-year quest for a family of their own with numerous heart-breaking miscarriages and finally surrogacy had flipped from a dream realised into an unimaginable nightmare. Their precious twins may now be slumbering safely in the calm of the family home in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, but just days ago the couple were thousands of miles away, huddled with their fragile newborns in a basement as sirens sounded. Pictured: The family Trapped in the chaos of war after the Russian army began its savage assault, the couple, along with Metaish's elderly parents who had travelled with them to share in the joy, spent days alongside terrified Ukrainians below a Kyiv apartment building. Escape from the capital was possible only via a treacherous road journey west to Lviv and on to the Polish border. It was a trip that the Parmars felt they had no option but to undertake last week. 'It had got to the point where we felt that if we stayed one more day, we would all die,' says 44-year-old Metaish. Their dilemma is, of course, one that is being played out daily in Ukraine, where citizens have the devastating choice of facing Putin's army or fleeing their homes for an uncertain future. The bombing of the maternity and children's wards of a hospital in Mariupol last week has only underlined the mercilessness of the Russian onslaught. Little wonder that the Parmars are profoundly grateful to be back at home. And their thoughts are with their surrogate with whom they remain in touch and the countless Ukrainians whose terror they briefly shared and who showed them nothing but kindness. 'Old ladies were offering to give up their seats for us in the basement bunker,' recalls Metaish. 'We were humbled by their selflessness. Thinking of what they are going through still when we are home is heart-breaking. Every night we thank God we got to safety and pray for those still there.' DELIGHT: The couple with their twins at their flat in Ukraine before realising the danger they were in It is no wonder that Metaish and Manisha are struggling to process what they have been through. 'We keep watching scenes on TV and it's surreal, because we lived through some of that,' Manisha, 43, tells me. 'I think in many ways we're still in shock.' It's also another turbulent chapter in their journey to parenthood. Married for 17 years, the couple suffered the heartbreak of repeated miscarriages, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy. Yet despite endless tests, doctors couldn't pinpoint a reason. 'In a way that was worse as we wanted there to be a problem that could be fixed,' says Manisha, her eyes filing with tears at the memory. 'It's hard not to feel like a failure.' Metaish adds: 'I think at various stages we each felt like giving up, but we would keep each other going. It became us against the world.' But by 2019, when yet another pregnancy ended, they realised they needed to try something different. 'We sat down one day and talked about the fact that we were now 40, and if we wanted a family something had to change. That's when we started to look into surrogacy,' says Manisha. As they did not have problems falling pregnant, they chose 'gestational surrogacy' meaning the surrogate is a 'host' womb for their own embryo created from Metaish's sperm and Manisha's egg. The initial plan was to opt for a British surrogate, but they quickly ruled it out. 'Under UK law, there is potential for the surrogate to keep the baby even if genetically it isn't theirs,' says Metaish. 'We couldn't take that chance.' Research led them to Ukraine, which has become an international centre for commercial surrogacy since the practice was legalised there in 2002. Some 2,500 children are born through surrogacy in Ukraine annually, with surrogates paid an average of 10,000. 'We did a lot of research and it felt like the right place for us,' says Manisha. After settling on an agency in Kyiv, the couple flew to the capital in early 2020 for initial tests and chose their surrogate. 'She had a healthy child of her own and we liked her profile,' says Metaish. It was agreed that they would not meet in person. They returned to the UK just a couple of days before the first Covid-19 lockdown, and it seemed fate had dealt the Parmars yet another cruel blow. In fact, they were able to return to Ukraine in September 2020 to undergo IVF, and in spring 2021 the couple heard that their surrogate was pregnant with their embryos. Week after anxious week unfolded as the pregnancy milestones were ticked off. At the 12-week scan, the couple learned they were expecting twins, and shortly afterwards that it was a boy and a girl. But the next day the family woke to the terrifying sound of gunfire, explosions and air raid sirens. Pictured: A house destroyed during a rocket attack by the Russian occupants in Dnipro, Eastern Ukraine today 'We were ecstatic at every bit of good news, but at the same time we were scared to be too happy,' recalls Manisha. 'Every day we feared a call saying something had gone wrong.' At six months, the couple finally felt able to share their news with their families. By early February, both had taken leave from work Manisha as an import co-ordinator, Metaish as an NHS cyber security manager and were waiting with packed bags for the summons. The call came on February 7 and the following day the couple with Metaish's parents Urmila and Bhupendra, who are in their 70s flew to Kyiv, where their surrogate was already in hospital. Talk of war was bubbling following the build-up of Russian troops on the border, but the Parmars weren't worried. 'No one we spoke to over there seemed concerned,' says Manisha. On February 11 at 10.53am, baby Amaya the Hindu name means Angel of God was delivered by Caesarean, weighing 4.7 lb. A minute later, her 6 lb brother, Sai, whose name means Divine of God, followed. Within minutes, they were in the arms of their parents. 'I remember thinking 'Are these really my babies?' After everything we had been through it didn't feel real,' recalls Manisha of the moment she first cradled her son and daughter. 'I can hardly put into words the joy we felt,' Metaish adds. 'It was the most amazing feeling after everything, we were a family.' Phone calls from frantic relatives soon filled them in: Ukraine was at war with Russia. 'Our families were telling us to get the hell out but we couldn't,' says Metaish. 'We had no paperwork for our babies. We had no choice but to stay.' Pictured: Mariupol after an air strike on a children's hospital on March 9 The twins were kept under observation for four days as a precaution and the Parmars remained at the hospital, unperturbed by events in the wider world. 'Relatives were ringing us telling us we needed to get home, but everyone around us was saying there was nothing to worry about,' says Metaish. 'We were in a bubble, really.' They could not bring the twins home without getting passports issued, something they could only obtain with their birth certificates, a process that usually takes four to six weeks. To that end, the agency had rented an apartment for them, in Kyiv but on February 23, Metaish and Manisha were surprised to be told the birth certificates were ready to be picked up. But the next day the family woke to the terrifying sound of gunfire, explosions and air raid sirens. 'It was like all hell had broken loose. We phoned the agency but there was no answer. We didn't know what was going on,' he says. Phone calls from frantic relatives soon filled them in: Ukraine was at war with Russia. 'Our families were telling us to get the hell out but we couldn't,' says Metaish. 'We had no paperwork for our babies. We had no choice but to stay.' What followed was five days of hell. With air-raid sirens wailing, the family spent the hours between 6pm and 10am in the basement of their apartment block, with other shell-shocked families. Pictured: Markhalivka, Ukraine after a shelling on March 5 What followed was five days of hell. With air-raid sirens wailing, the family spent the hours between 6pm and 10am in the basement of their apartment block, with other shell-shocked families. Conditions were rudimentary, to say the least it was freezing, and if anyone needed the lavatory, they would have to risk their lives by going back to their flat. 'The Ukrainians were wonderful, offering us food and water, but it was incredibly distressing,' says Manisha. Not least for the babies, who cried constantly.'We had some baby food and nappies, but at one point I had no choice but to go to the one supermarket that was open,' says Metaish. 'I couldn't leave my babies without food.' He says that his heart was in his mouth as he navigated the deserted streets to a backdrop of gunfire. The risk of leaving the bunker was underlined one morning when, having returned to their apartment for a few hours' respite, the building was rocked by an explosion. 'Two missiles had hit the block next door,' says Metaish. 'There was smoke everywhere. We grabbed the babies and fled back to the bunker.' It reinforced their growing concern that they were sitting ducks. 'Our baby food was running out and Manisha and I had barely eaten,' Metaish says. 'We had to get out.' After hours on the phone to the British Embassy, he knew that emergency travel documents had been issued for the twins. But by then the embassy had moved to Lviv, almost 400 miles away. Conditions were rudimentary, to say the least it was freezing, and if anyone needed the lavatory, they would have to risk their lives by going back to their flat. Pictured: A destroyed hotel after an air strike in Chernihiv, Ukraine 'It was a case of 'We've got the documentation, but you have to come and get it',' says Metaish. More frantic phone calls followed to find a driver prepared to undertake the perilous journey, but by the time they found someone for a 5,000 (4,200) fee the city was under curfew. Anyone who ventured outside risked being shot. 'It felt again like everything was against us,' says Manisha. Finally, on February 28, the curfew was lifted and Metaish and Manisha, each clasping a twin to their chest, huddled alongside Metaish's parents in a tiny Peugeot 308. Save for a ten-minute break, their driver didn't stop other than at the military checkpoints, the journey unfolding amid destroyed apartment blocks and cratered roads. 'Our hearts were in our mouths the whole time,' says Metaish. 'We were exhausted, particularly Mum and Dad. None of us had had anything to eat for a couple of days, either.' Finally, the family arrived at the British Embassy in Lviv, where they were issued with the papers needed to cross into Poland at the border town of Krakovets. But it was a two-and-a-half-hour drive away and with no cash left, they had to plead with their driver to take them, promising they would reimburse him once back in the UK. 'Luckily, he trusted us,' says Metaish. Finally, on February 28, the curfew was lifted and Metaish and Manisha, each clasping a twin to their chest, huddled alongside Metaish's parents in a tiny Peugeot 308. Pictured: Dnipro after a missile attack today He could only take them so far, however, and, deciding to leave their luggage behind, the family made the final half-hour journey on foot in temperatures of minus 7C. 'We were all freezing and Mum and Dad could barely put one foot in front of another. But they never complained. Their only thought was for the babies,' says Metaish. The family arrived at the border to scenes of chaos: hundreds of people were gathered there, many having waited for 24 hours. 'My heart sank,' says Manisha. 'It felt like so near, yet so far. I didn't know how much more we could take.' Luckily, an official took pity on them, and the family were ushered to the front of the queue. They crossed into Poland 30 minutes later, where they ate their first full meal in days, provided by refugee charities gathered there. By then Manisha's sister and brother-in-law had flown to Warsaw to meet them, and finally, last Wednesday, the couple and their twins flew to the UK. It was the end of their extraordinary journey and of course the start of another one. 'We know how lucky we are to have finally become the family we always wanted,' says Manisha. 'We are grateful every minute, but our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine. ' Sean Penn was spotted getting pulled over by a sheriff while driving through Malibu in his customized car this week. The 61-year-old appeared to get cited by the officer after driving along the Pacific Coast Highway, though it was unclear if he was handed a speeding ticket. DailyMail.com has reached out to Penn's representatives for comment. Penn has recently returned to America after escaping Ukraine, where he was filming a VICE documentary up through the first days of the Russian invasion. He was driving his charcoal vehicle that he has had customized with a bull-bar resembling those used by police cars. The Fast Times At Ridgemont High star kept his mask on while speaking with the law enforcement officer and giving him his details, though the sheriff was mask-free. Not so fast: Sean Penn was spotted getting pulled over by a sheriff while driving through Malibu in his customized car this week Last week Penn had to abandon a different car in Ukraine and flee to Poland on foot as refugees poured out of the war-torn country, he wrote on Twitter. The Oscar winner said both he and his film crew decided to leave their vehicle and walk, after seeing the thousands of Ukrainian residents fleeing for safety, which left lines of vehicles stretching for miles. While tweeting last week, Sean described how cars were filled with women and children, with their only valuable being the vehicle they were traveling in. Back home: The 61-year-old has recently returned to America after escaping Ukraine, where he was filming a VICE documentary up through the first days of the Russian invasion Details: The Fast Times At Ridgemont High star kept his mask on while speaking with the law enforcement officer and giving him his details, though the sheriff was mask-free Escape: Last week Penn had to abandon a different car in Ukraine and flee to Poland on foot as refugees poured out of the war-torn country, he wrote on Twitter Sharing a picture dragging a taped up suitcase, Sean 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.' Sean had been filming the documentary about the escalating tension in Ukraine since November last year. Meanwhile Sean has called Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine a 'brutal mistake'. Perspective: While tweeting last week, Sean described how cars were filled with women and children, with their only possession of value being the vehicle they were traveling in In the past: Sean wrote: 'Myself & two colleagues walked miles to the Polish border after abandoning our car on the side of the road' Meanwhile: Sean has called Russian President Vladimir Putin 's war on Ukraine a 'brutal mistake' He wrote over the weekend: 'Already a brutal mistake of lives taken and hearts broken, and if he doesnt relent, I believe Mr. Putin will have made a most horrible mistake for all of humankind. President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle.' He added: '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.' Penn flew into the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, and was seen sitting front and center at a government press briefing mere hours into the invasion as he represented VICE for a documentary being filmed about the war, which Putin deemed a 'special military operation.' The documentary is a VICE Studios production, 'in association with VICE World News and Endeavor Content,' according to a spokesman for the media group. His view: Penn has said: 'Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams,' adding: 'If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost' By the way: After returning safely to Los Angeles, Penn was seen last Wednesday enjoying a dog-walk with his estranged wife Leila George, 29 In a translated Facebook post, the Ukrainian government said it was grateful for Sean being there and he was lauded as being more courageous than Western leaders. 'An American actor and filmmaker, Oscar winner Sean Penn arrived to Ukraine,' the statement read. 'The director specially came to Kyiv to record all the events that are currently happening in Ukraine and to tell the world the truth about Russia's invasion of our country. '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. Details: George, whose parents are the actors Vincent D'Onofrio and Greta Scacchi, is younger than Penn's daughter Dylan, 30 Relationship history: Penn and George married over the summer of 2020 after dating for five years, but she filed for divorce this past October 'This morning the director visited the Office of the President and visited the press briefing of the advisor of the head of the Office of the Head of State Mikhail Podolak and the Vice Prime Minister - the Minister of the Reintegration of temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk. 'He spoke to journalists, to our military, saw how we defend our country. 'Sean Penn demonstrates the courage that many others, especially western politicians lack.' Listening: Sean has been filming the documentary about the escalating tension in Ukraine since November last year, pictured with President Volodymyr Zelensky last week He then met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who posted a video of their meeting on his Instagram account. Their conversation was muted but Zelensky, a former comedian and actor himself, wrote in a caption: 'The more people know about the war in the Ukraine, the higher the likelihood of stopping Russia!' After returning safely to Los Angeles, Penn was seen last Wednesday enjoying a dog-walk with his estranged wife Leila George, 29. At the press conference: In a translated Facebook post, the Ukrainian government said it was grateful for Sean being there and he was lauded as being braver than Western leaders George, whose parents are the actors Vincent D'Onofrio and Greta Scacchi, is younger than Penn's daughter Dylan, 30. Penn and George married over the summer of 2020 after dating for five years, but she filed for divorce this past October. However the pair celebrated New Year's together and have been seen multiple times over the past few, setting off rumors about the present state of their relationship. Addison Rae put her toned abs on display after attending a Pilates class in Los Angeles on Friday. The actress, 21, rocked a fitted beige crop top and a pair of loose fitting black pants for her afternoon workout session. The TikTok star's comfy pants had 'I'm Sorry' printed on the posterior, and she toted her essentials in a white purse slung over her left shoulder. Looking good: Addison Rae put her toned abs on display after attending a Pilates class in Los Angeles on Friday Adding some funky flair to her look, Rae hid her honey-toned locks beneath a colorful knit cap. She was captured exiting her Pilates class with two knitted garments in her hand, one white and one purple. She accessorized with some dark sunglasses with red frames aimed at protecting her eyes from the harsh Southern California sun. Earlier this week, it was announced that Rae will appear in a new series for Snapchat. The series is titled Addison Rae Goes Home and will follow the star as she leaves her busy life in Los Angeles for her home in Lafayette, Louisiana, where she attempts to reconnect and revisit her roots. Perfect pairing: The actress, 21, rocked a fitted beige crop top and a pair of loose fitting black pants for her afternoon workout session Funky: Adding some funky flair to her look, Rae hid her honey-toned locks beneath a colorful knit cap A trailer for the 10-episode program shows the former Louisiana State University student revisiting her childhood haunts and hanging out with her family and old friends. In a voiceover, she said: 'I'm Addison Rae, but before I was a social media star with 80 million followers, I was just Addy from La. As in, Louisiana. The Snap Original series will launch Saturday and new episodes will be released every other day beginning with the debut on March 12 and continue through March 30. Last year, the young actress signed a multi-movie deal with Netflix following the successful premiere of her first full-length feature 'He's All That.' The romantic comedy ranked No. 1 on the platform in 78 countries, including Brazil, France and Saudi Arabia. Sassy detail: The TikTok star's comfy pants had 'I'm Sorry' printed on the posterior, and she accessorized with a small white bag slung over her left shoulder March madness: The 10 episode series debuts on March 12. A new episode will be released every other day through March 30. In the trailer, the social media sensation confessed she wanted to catch up with family and friends and reconnect with her roots In publicity for the movie, the star claimed she had to work 'much harder' in order to make it as an actress because of her social media fame. Addison explained: 'In this industry, when you come in and get labelled as one thing ... people like to keep you there. Which is understandable, and I get it, but what people don't realize is I've always wanted to do acting, I've always wanted to do music. I've always wanted to do all these other things that they didn't really get to see or know, because I just started being known when I was 19 years old.' 'People haven't really seen the background, or the classes I used to take and things like that. So I try to tell myself, "You have to work that much harder to get people to take you seriously."' In addition to the new series and Netflix deal, Addison was recently signed to headline the movie Fashionista. ALISON BOSHOFF: When he was cast as Prince Charles in The Crown , the naysayers had a field day. Dominic West was too muscular, had too much hair and was far too sexy to play the role. The Strictly professionals are reportedly divided on whether the show's Russian stars should continue to appear following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Russian natives Katya Jones, 32, and Luba Mushtuk, 32, were both born in the country's city of Saint Petersburg. According to The Sun, the programme's dancers are divided on whether the pair should stay for the next series, with claims the pros are calling on producers to make a decision. Division: The Strictly pros are allegedly divided on whether Russian stars Katya Jones, 32 (pictured), and Luba Mushtuk, 32 should appear following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine Two of the professionals - Nikita Kuzmin, 24, and Nadiya Bychkova, 32 - are both of Ukrainian descent. A Strictly Come Dancing source told the publication: 'Tensions are high and theres a lot of strong feeling about this, some of the dancers would want producers to make a decision and say, "You cant come back for the next series."' 'Some of the professionals feel its in bad taste to have them on the show, its been discussed among a group of them and they are concerned about it affecting the programme and causing a backlash. Birthplace: Russian natives Katya Jones and Luba (pictured) were both born in the country's city of Saint Petersburg Homeland: Two of the professionals - Nikita Kuzmin, 24 (pictured with 2021 celebrity partner Tilly Ramsay), and Nadiya Bychkova, 32 - are both of Ukrainian descent Poignant: Professional dancer Nikita is a native of Ukraine and recently shared a photo of its flag to Instagram, alongside the word 'Heartbreaking' Difficult times: Nadiya is also a Ukrainian national who dances as a professional on Strictly (pictured in January) 'Given theyre on the biggest show on television they are already open to criticism and they worry that this would only invite controversy.' However, it is said some dancers feel it is unfair for them to be excluded based on their nationality as they cannot help where they were born, with the insider adding Katya and Luba have done 'nothing wrong' and are 'gutted' at the situation in Ukraine. MailOnline has contacted representatives for Katya, Luba and Strictly Come Dancing for comment. It comes after former Strictly professional James Jordan, 43, called on the show's Russian dancers to comment on the unrest in Ukraine. Message: Russian dancer Katya, who was paired with Adam Peaty in last year's series, recently took to her Instagram story with the message: 'Praying for peace and love in the world' He tweeted: 'I dont see many of the Russian dancers I know, and have even shared the Strictly dance floor with, openly speaking out about the war against Ukraine. 'But they are still promoting themselves on social media? Very disappointed.' However, Katya, who was paired with Adam Peaty in last year's series, took to her Instagram story recently with the message: 'Praying for peace and love in the world [prayer emoji, heart emoji]'. Irked: James pictured with wife and fellow former Strictly pro Ola Jordan in 2012 Opinion-raising: Former Strictly pro James Jordan, 43, said he was 'very disappointed' many Russian dancers had remained tight-lipped about the ongoing situation Other stars of the BBC dance show have used their platforms to raise awareness, including those with direct ties to Ukraine. Nikita shared a photo of his native Ukraine's flag on Instagram, alongside the word 'Heartbreaking'. The post was immediately met with supportive messages from colleagues and fans. And judge Motsi Mabuse updated her concerned followers with news of her in-laws, who were stranded in the country. Sharing a photo with her Ukrainian husband Evgenij Voznyuk last month, the dancer wrote on social media: 'We stand with the people of Ukraine and we are against racism at the border against our brothers and sisters!!!!! If the people are not safe, we also not safe #standwithukraine'. Heartbroken: Motsi Mabuse has revealed her husband's parents are stranded in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion (Pictured with Ukrainian husband Evgenij Voznyuk in 2018) Tough: The South African-German dancer shared a harrowing image of her mother-in-law in a bunker when the war broke out Some 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, according to the United Nations. Russian forces bearing down on Kyiv yesterday moved into strategic firing positions ahead of an all-out assault. A 40-mile convoy of tanks, troops and artillery that had been lying in wait redeployed to nearby forests and towns in an attempt to surround the capital. Scary: Civilians erect barricades of tires topped with bags of sand as a precaution amid Russian attacks on Kyiv Satellite images showed howitzer weaponry and suspected rocket launchers being readied, prompting remaining Kyiv residents to take up arms and erect barricades. Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned Russia the city was a fortress. On Thursday volunteers were digging trenches in the outskirts to try to stop Russian troops. Bracing themselves for a bloody fight, others joined soldiers in erecting makeshift barricades with old tyres and sandbags. Some Russian units are now just nine miles from the city. There are fears they will attempt to repeat the barbaric tactics used on other cities including Mariupol, which is surrounded with those inside suffering starvation and dehydration. War: Ukrainian troops prepare to take positions near Kyiv ahead of the expected Russian assault on the city Russian forces even bombed a maternity hospital there this week. Troops are approaching the capital from the north west and the east, engaging in firefights with Ukrainian soldiers in Kukhari 56 miles from Kyiv and Demydiv, 25 miles away. The convoy initially stalled as it approached Kyiv amid reports of fuel and food shortages as well as resistance from the Ukrainian forces. Gunfire: Ukrainian military fighting Russian forces in village near Kyiv as the invading forces prepare a new assault on the city Actor Benjamin Bratt is out on the promotional trail ahead of the release of his newest project, the HBO Max miniseries DMZ, which also stars Rosario Dawson in leading lady role. But during a stop on Today, Bratt opened up about his wife's breast cancer diagnosis just after COVID-19 was deemed a pandemic. Normally, Bratt and his wife, actor and former model Talisa Soto, would have kept such private news close to the vest, but in this case they thought they should go public to raise awareness about the importance of regular breast screenings. Family matters: Benjamin Bratt, 58, opened up about his wife Talisa Soto's breast cancer diagnosis during a promotional stop on Today 'This is something I typically would keep close-held, but through the pandemic, through self-exam and then by going to her yearly mammogram, she discovered that she was positive for breast cancer,' the actor, 58, said. The Law & Order alum revealed that his wife urged him to share her story in hopes that it would remind and inspire women about the importance of getting yearly screenings. 'You have to self-advocate for yourself and take care of yourself,' he said of women being proactive about their well-being. 'Not just eating well, but you have to get to the doctor and make these exams a part of your regular life.' Bratt went on to share that Soto, 54, is 'doing great' after treatments, although he confessed there have been some side effects. Making a difference: The actor, who's out promoting his new series DMZ, said his wife urged him to go public with her breast cancer diagnosis in hopes it will inspire other women to get regular breast screenings Getting personal: 'This is something I typically would keep close-held, but through the pandemic, through self-exam and then by going to her yearly mammogram, she discovered that she was positive for breast cancer,' the actor, 58, said. 'The medication rocks the hormonal system a little bit, but the good news is, she was found to be cancer-free at this point. So we're just on guard to make sure it doesn't come back.' Soto's diagnosis and subsequent treatments have actually inspired Bratt to keep up with his own health and well-being checkups. 'I immediately got on getting my colonoscopy, which I had held off for too many years,' the Demolition Man star admitted, adding, 'So its something to be thoughtful about.' According to the American Breast Cancer Foundation, women should learn how to do proper self-exams and then begin examining their own breasts in their 20s. The organization also recommends women in their 20s and 30s have their breasts clinically examined as part of their yearly health check-up, while ladies over 40 should have an annual mammogram. Inspired: Soto's diagnosis and subsequent treatments have actually inspired Bratt to keep up with his own health and well-being checkups. Gift of life: Bratt went on to share that Soto, 54, is 'doing great' and 'cancer free' after treatments, although he confessed there have been some side effects to the treatments Bratt and Soto, who are the proud parents of daughter Sophia, 19, and son Mateo, 16, are closing in on a major milestone: they'll be celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary on April 13. 'My wife Talisa is very easy to love. First of all, she is, like, from another planet beautiful,' he said of her striking looks, before sharing that she actually 'vogues in her sleep.' 'Ill wake up in the morning and I wipe the drool off my face, and I look over at her on the pillow and shes like this,' he joked, while striking a model-like pose. He went on to add that Soto is 'truly an amazing woman' and that she's 'as beautiful inside as out.' Milestone: Bratt and Soto are going to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on April 13 Bratt's leading lady: Soto is a former model and actress, who starred as Bond girl Lupe Lamora in the 1989 007 film Licence to Kill (1989), and as Kitana in Mortal Kombat (1995) and the sequel (1997); she's pictured in New York City in May 2014 For the upcoming series DMZ, which is based ion the comic book series of the same name by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli, Bratt stars opposite of Dawson, who plays Alma Ortega, a medic in New York City who becomes a symbol of hope in a demilitarized Manhattan Island. All this is happening as Ortega is trying to find her lost son during the Second American Civil War. DMZ, which also stars Freddy Miyares, Hooon Lee, Jordan Preston Carter, Venus Ariel, Jade Wu, Rey Gallegos, Agam Darshi and Juani Feliz, is set to begin streaming on HBO Max on March 17. A host of stars are set to take part in a televised telethon on Saturday to help raise money for those whose lives have been torn apart by the floods that have devastated Queensland and New South Wales. Australia Unites: Red Cross Flood Appeal sees the country's three major commercial networks forget about their traditional rivalries for a night to jointly present the special event. Kym Pfitzner, Australian Red Cross CEO, said: 'Red Cross is delighted and grateful to join with the major TV networks to raise money for flood-affected areas.' United: Sunrise host David Koch (right) and Natalie Barr will join their anchor-rivals on networks Nine and 10 to help raise money for flood victims in tonight's special event Australia Unites: Australian Red Cross Flood Appeal 'We have all seen the enormity of the flood damage across large parts of New South Wales and Queensland, and these communities now face a long and tough road to recovery,' he said. Money raised will help enable volunteers to help in relief aid and support those impacted by the floods and help communities recover. A powerful roster of musical talent are on board to support the cause including Guy Sebastian, Delta Goodrem, veteran rockers Hunters and Collectors, Kasey Chambers and The Wiggles. Top roster of musical talent: Delta Goodrem (pictured) will be performing in order to help flood victims and re-build shattered communities during tonight's telethon Those keen to phone in and offer their support will have the chance to chat with a large cast of TV favourites including Home and Away's James Stewart and Ada Nicodemou, top comedians Magda Szubanski, and Dave Hughes and Married at First Sight's Johnny. Larry Emdur (Channel 7's Morning Show), Renee Bargh (Channel Nine's The Voice Australia) and Daniel Doody (Channel 10, News) have formed a trio to do a special report from inside the flood zone at Brunswick Heads, bringing stories of resilience and courage. They will be joined by two local residents, actor Bridie Carter (Dancing with the Stars) and Mick Fanning (Surf Champ), who will be talking about the courage of the selfless volunteers who done so much to bring some relief to flood victims. Help needed: Australian Army aircrewman Sergeant Rick Scott from the School of Army Aviation surveying flood waters from a Taipan helicopter over the northern New South Wales city of Lismore during Operation Flood Assist 2022 Devastation: The town of Lismore in NSW at the peak of the flooding - tonight's telethon promises to bring some relief to victims of the disaster Talent: Gang of Youths (pictured) will join veteran rockers Hunters and Collectors and other musical guests in performing on tonight's telethon The lineup: Guy Sebastian (pictured) will join Kasey Chambers, The Wiggles and a great roster of other musical guests in tonight's telethon Mark Ferguson (Channel Seven, News), Karl Stefanovic Today, (Channel Nine) and Lisa Wilkinson (Channel 10's The Project) are doing their bit with segments filmed inside the flood evacuation centres so viewers can learn about more about what's being going on behind the headlines. The Seven, Nine and Ten networks have rolled out their top on-air anchor talent to host the night. Channel Seven's team includes Natalie Barr, David Koche and Sonia Kruger. Joining them on desk duties will be Scott Carn, Sylvia Jeffreys, Ben Fordham and Peter Overton from Nine. Carrie Bickmore, Dr Chris Brown, Amanda Keller and Osher Gunsberg will be stepping up from Channel 10 to join the 'hosting ensemble.' Australia Unites will got to air on all three networks at 7.30pm tonight, Saturday March 12. After more than three decades in front of the camera, Heidi Klum knows how to make a grand entrance - even on the bustling streets of Midtown Manhattan. The longtime supermodel, 48, caught the attention of admiring photographers and ogling fans when she stepped out of the 50th Street subway station, decked out in a retro 1960s-era ensemble, en route to her appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. And with all the bold colors, mixed with her infectious enthusiasm, and big beaming smile, the former catwalk queen was hard to miss as she strutted her stuff alongside husband Tom Kaulitz. Scroll down to video Bold colors for bold lady: Heidi Klum, 48, caught the attention of fans and admirers when she stepped out of the 50th Street subway station decked out in a 1960s-inspired ensemble Kaulitz, 32, was the first to come out the exit doors and on to the sidewalk, looking like a rock star in his own right. But trailing just a few steps behind, Klum eyes lit up when she took notice of all the attention and adulation, which was a perfect match for her glowing outfit. She wore a bold purple velvet jacket that appeared to get even brighter up under the harsh lights of all the photo-taking. While it was thick and heavy for warmth in the winter months, it was designed to look like a blazer. Hard to miss: The longtime supermodel donned a purple velvet jacket with patchy flared jeans, a golden scarf over a black top, and leopard-print boots; husband Tom Kaulitz was the picture of cool in a black ensemble with a dark blue overcoat The German native also donned flared blue jeans that were altered with a matching purple, black and white patterns along the front, from the waist down to the top of her knees, along with patches of white. In keeping with the bold color scheme, she also donned a large belt that was some sort of shade of purple, had a gold-patterned scarf around her neck, all while she carried a bold red purse over her right shoulder. The fashionista rounded out the ensemble with pointed leopard-print boots, and had her blonde tresses styled long and flowing to the middle of her back, with plenty of added volume and soft waves Bold: Klum also added a bold red purse and a glowing smile to the colorful ensemble Kaulitz, who's a guitarist for the German rock band Tokio Hotel, oozed cool in black slacks with a matching top and slip-on shoes. With the winter chill in the air, he also added a gorgeous dark blue overcoat to the ensemble and had his long brown locks hanging below his shoulders with plenty of natural waves. Later, Klum also gave her 9.1 million Instagram fans and followers a glimpse inside, and outside, their limousine ride to the Tonight Show studios, as her first-ever song played in the background. Rocking ride: Klum also gave her 9.1 million Instagram fans and followers a glimpse inside their limousine ride to the Tonight Show studios, as her first-ever song - Chai Tea With Heidi - played in the background Lighting it up: The former catwalk queen shifted the camera from herself to her husband, all while adding a pink heart shape to the clip Feeling bold: While rocking out to her song, which is a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, she stuck her outside of the window of the limo 'I am on my way to you @jimmyfallon,' she captioned a short video that had a large pink heart in the center of the image, adding, 'Having some #chaiteawithheidi,' which is a reference to her collaboration with Snoop Dogg titled Chai Tea With Heidi. A few hours later she would update her fans on Instagram with a photo of herself inside the General Electric Building, better known as 30 Rockefeller Plaza. 'On tonight with the one and only @jimmyfallon @fallontonight #FallonTonight,' she wrote in promotion of her guest spot on The Tonight Show. Klum and Kaulitz celebrated their third wedding anniversary on February 22. Wardrobe change: Klum would change out of her retro outfit for her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which airs on Friday Leggy: The television personality slipped into a golden minidress that was adorned with fringe that was paired with matching knee-high boots Glam squad: The longtime cover girl got some help with her beauty preps One of two men who held up a Bronx woman and her 3-year-old autistic son have been arrested in a daring daylight robbery where the barrel of a gun was pressed against the innocent tots head, police said Saturday. Carlos Guzman, 23, was taken into custody without incident Friday night after he was identified as one of the two suspects wanted for the 8:20 a.m. robbery inside the lobby of a building near Sedgewick Ave. and W. Kingsbridge Road in Kingsbridge Heights Wednesday. Advertisement Police have arrested one of the two men who held up a 35-year-old Bronx woman and her 3-year-old autistic son during a daring daylight robbery where the barrel of a gun was pressed against the innocent tots head, (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News) Guzmans partner remained at large Saturday. The two crooks confronted Maxie Feliz, 35, and her son Max as soon as they stepped into the lobby. I dont know why they targeted me, Feliz told the Daily News. Ive never done any harm to anybody. Im dedicated to working hard and to my son. I dont know why. Advertisement Feliz had never seen the two men in the building before. They opened up a duffel bag and they took out a gun, pushed me against the wall, pushed the gun in my belly, she recounted. Police released surveillance footage which showed two crooks remove a child car seat from a Range Rover authorities say the pair stole at gunpoint from a Bronx woman. (NYPD) As one of the two crooks focused on Feliz the other set his eyes on young Max. The other guy had a gun on top of the babys head, she said. They were searching for the babys bag. They searched me. They found the keys, house keys, car keys, wallet. The muggers then ran off, using the fob on her car keys to find the familys Range Rover. They drove off with the SUV, but ditched it a short distance away and were caught on surveillance video fleeing the scene with Maxs car seat. Guzman was identified as the man on the video carrying the car seat. Police charged him with robbery and criminal possession of a loaded firearm. Lara Worthington has been famous for her bold fashion ever since she reinvented herself from swimsuit model to chic socialite. And the 34-year-old says that she has no regrets about some of her more daring choices in the style department. Speaking to Stellar magazine, Lara said: 'I wear whatever the hell I want and I don't care!' 'I wear whatever the hell I want': Lara Worthington has opened up about her unique style in an interview with Stellar magazine Despite her defiant attitude, the former reality star admitted that she'd made some fashion mistakes in the past. 'I've definitely had some bad times, I tell you,' she said, before adding: 'But whatever! You evolve. That's my thing.' Lara overhauled her personal style after marrying actor Sam Worthington and moving to New York City. She's known for wearing lots of black, and often adds a tomboy twist to her ensembles with oversized blazers and sneakers. Fashion: Lara has been famous for her bold fashion ever since she reinvented herself from swimsuit model to chic socialite. (Pictured at two events in 2019) Lara is featured on the upcoming cover of Stellar magazine, with the publication offering a sneak peek on Instagram on Thursday. The 34-year-old model showed off her fashion-forward style in a high-waisted beige skirt, which was paired with a black turtleneck crop top. Her impressive abs were on full display as she beamed at something just off camera, and she accessorised with a simple gold knot bangle. Masculine: The model is known for wearing lots of black, and often adds a tomboy twist to her ensembles with oversized blazers and trousers Rebranding: Lara overhauled her personal style after marrying actor Sam Worthington and moving to New York City (pictured together) Last year, it was revealed that she and husband Sam had sold their Hollywood Hills home for $8.2million after moving back to Australia in January. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph last April, Lara said she was relishing being back home in Australia. 'If I can steal a moment I love an early morning or night ocean swim, as the sun goes down,' she said at the time. 'Also spending time with my family at the beach is something I am cherishing. These moments at the beach are special and remind me of my childhood.' Benedict Cumberbatch learned to castrate bulls in preparation for his role as a cowboy in The Power of the Dog. The actor, 45 - who played volatile ranch owner Phil Burbank in the film - spent two weeks learning the tricks of the trade on a ranch with a 'real deal' Montana cowboy, Randy Rieman. Speaking about Benedict, Randy said in an interview with The Times: 'He was a really great sport. He was clearly quite intimidated because it was so far removed from his normal environment. But he was brave and he was game. He was just as bloody and dirty as the rest of us by the end.' Dedicated: Benedict Cumberbatch learned to castrate bulls in preparation for his role as a cowboy in The Power Of The Dog 'It is a hot iron,' Randy said of the branding tool, adding that Benedict told him it was making him feel nauseous. 'It sure is not a tattoo parlour. But he didnt let on at the branding that any of it was intimidating at all. He received instruction well and took it to heart.' It comes after Benedict revealed he helped to rescue a family from a herd of cows after also learning how to wrangle cattle for his role in the film. Committed: It comes after Benedict revealed that he helped to rescue a family from a herd of cows after learning how to wrangle cattle for his role in the film The actor, who has landed an Oscar nomination for his role in the Netflix western, told Graham Norton he managed to 'part the waves' of animals in the field after returning from shooting the film in August. Benedict explained: 'Jane encouraged me to stay in character. She was very secure about all the things I was insecure about and said, ''Do whatever you have to do to feel ownership of this very different lived experience.'' 'So, I went off to Montana for two months to find out what it is like to live on a ranch and to experience all those things you see in the film. It was incredible and so far from anything I have ever done.' The Avengers star then revealed his newfound herding skills were put to use when he discovered a family trapped in a field thanks to an intimidating herd of cows. Star: The actor, who has landed an Oscar nomination for his role in the Netflix western, told Graham Norton he managed to 'part the waves' of animals in the field He explained: 'I came back from shooting the film in August and we were off to the beach. To get there we had to cross a field and in the field was a petrified family who just couldn't move, they were frozen because of a herd of cows with calves. ' 'I thought, ''I can do this,'' and I just sort of parted the waves of cattle. The family was like, ''That was incredible. Hey, aren't you Sherlock?'' It was very un-Sherlock activity!' Benedict also briefly touched on his Oscar nomination for Best Actor, after The Power Of The Dog received a staggering 12 nods ahead of the ceremony next month. He said: 'Whatever happens on the night the whole raft of those nominations are so richly deserved and obviously I am thrilled that the four of us as a cast are nominated. 'We are going to be awesome on that dancefloor its going to be great no matter what happens.' In the psychological drama Benedict plays a secretive and cruel rancher whose brother brings home his new wife and her son to the families 1920s Montana ranch. Kodi Smit-McPhee takes on the role as Peter Gordon who is tormented by Benedict's conflicted cowboy character, Phil, while Kirsten Dunst plays Phil's sister-in-law Rose, who descends into alcoholism thanks to the rancher's torment. The Power Of The Dog landed nominations for Best Actress, Achievement in Sound, Original Score, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Film Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, Best Actor, Director and Best Picture. Kristen Stewart was seen attending a screening of her newest film, Spencer, at 92Y in New York City on Friday evening. The 31-year-old actress was first seen arriving at the function, and she flashed a wide smile while greeting her fans. The Twilight star later took to the venue's main stage and addressed the event's attendees during a conversation with film critic Thelma Adams. Showing up: Kristen Stewart was seen attending a screening of her newest film, Spencer, at 92Y in New York City on Friday evening Stewart donned a black zip-up jacket on top of a matching pair of pants during the screening. The Academy Award-nominated performer also sported a partially transparent white t-shirt, underneath which she wore a black bra. The performer wore white socks that contrasted perfectly with a set of dual-tone Vans, and she accessorized with several necklaces. Her beautiful blonde hair was tied up into a tight bun for the duration of the event. Keeping it consistent: Stewart donned a black zip-up jacket on top of a matching pair of pants during the screening There it is: The Academy Award-nominated performer also sported a partially transparent white t-shirt, underneath which she wore a black bra Stewart also wore a lengthy gray overcoat while making her way to the screening. Development on Spencer began in 2020, when it was announced that Pablo Larrain would direct the feature. The movie is centered on Diana, Princess of Wales, as she debates divorcing Prince Charles while spending time with the royal family at Sandringham House during the 1991 Christmas season. Staying warm: Stewart also wore a lengthy gray overcoat while making her way to the screening. Development on Spencer began in 2020, when it was announced that Pablo Larrain would direct the feature Jack Farthing portrayed the Prince, while Stella Gonet played Queen Elizabeth II. Other cast members include Sally Hawkins, Richard Sammel and Elizabeth Berrington, as well as Amy Manson, who portrayed Anne Boleyn. Physical production on the feature primarily took place in Germany, and the team moved to the United Kingdom for additional scenes. Talented costars: Jack Farthing portrayed the Prince, while Stella Gonet played Queen Elizabeth II On set: Physical production on the feature primarily took place in Germany, and the team moved to the United Kingdom for additional scenes Spencer eventually had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, which took place this past September. The feature was toured around several other film festivals before it had its wide release on November 5th of last year. The movie received primarily positive reviews from critics, and it currently holds an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Doing well: The movie received primarily positive reviews from critics, and it currently holds an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes Stewart's performance in the film was particularly well-received, and she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress last month. She has also won the Best Actress award during numerous other awards ceremonies, including the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards and the Women Film Critics Circle Awards. The actress has also been put up for a Golden Globe, a Critic's Choice Movie Award and a Satellite Award for her work in the movie. Megan Blake Irwin has confirmed that she is dating handsome model Matt Parvizyar. The 27-year-old Australian model told The Daily Telegraph on Saturday that when she's linked with the likes of pop star Justin Beiber or billionaire pub baron Justin Hemmes, she gets the giggles. 'I don't search the stories,' the curvy blonde, an ambassador for hair-product Fudge, said. Happy Together: Model Megan Blake Irwin (left) has confirmed that she is dating handsome Matt Parvizyar (right) 'But someone will see it and send it to me and I will have a little laugh' she added. The notoriously private Adelaide girl, who nonetheless enjoys a big profile on social media, now lives in New York. Her new man's professional background remains a mystery, though it appears the 29-year-old was once a model. Holding on tight: Millionaire film producer David Mimran (pictured) dated Megan 2018 after they met at the Cannes Film Festival - he is 22 years her senior 'Matthew is the sweetest,' she said. 'He has never really been in the media before, so when we started dating he was surprised to see himself in the press.' Megan's previous romances include businessman Nicolo Knows, and billionaire David Mimran, who is 22 years her senior. She also once enjoyed an on-and-off relationship with Kourtney Kardashian's ex Scott Disick. Ex: She once enjoyed an on-and-off relationship with Kourtney Kardashian's ex Scott Disick (pictured) History: Justin Beiber (pictured in 2020) was rumoured to be one of Megan's boyfriends over the last five years however she says when she hears the stories of these romantic entanglements she 'gets the giggles' The pair were first linked in 2016 before reconnecting in 2020. Prior to rekindling with the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, Megan dated American actor Skeet Ulrich, for three months before splitting in August 2020. The pair have since unfollowed each other on Instagram and also removed photos of one another. Megan has also reportedly dated AFL player and model Tom Derickx. Lynda Carter showed out in support of Diane von Furstenberg, who was honored with the coveted Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women of Leadership Award during a ceremony held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. on Friday evening. The 70-year-old Wonder Woman star flashed a wide smile while posing for a few photos on the event's red carpet, which she chose to walk barefoot. Carter slipped into a sensational sequin dress with long sleeves and modest slit up one leg. Big night: Lynda Carter showed out in support of Diane von Furstenberg, who was honored with the coveted Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women of Leadership Award during a ceremony held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. on Friday evening. The 70-year-old Wonder Woman star flashed a wide smile while posing for a few photos on the event's red carpet, which she chose to walk barefoot The actress also accessorized with several pieces of jewelry that added some extra sparkle to her already eye-catching outfit. Carter's lovely brunette locks cascaded onto her shoulders in voluminous curls. During the star-studded ceremony, she was captured mingling with fellow actor Sylvester Stallone, who looked dapper in a navy blue tuxedo. Dazzling: Carter slipped into a sensational sequin dress with long sleeves and modest slit up one leg Catching up: During the star-studded ceremony, she was captured mingling with fellow actor Sylvester Stallone The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women of Leadership Award is bestowed upon women who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of society. The award was established by the late Supreme Court associate justice, as well as Chairman of the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation, Julie Opperman. Past recipients of the distinction are Queen Elizabeth II and philanthropist Agnes Gund. Von Furstenberg, 75, issued a statement where she expressed via PR Newswire that she was very grateful to receive the distinction. The right qualities: The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women of Leadership Award is bestowed upon women who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of society. The award was established by the late Supreme Court associate justice, as well as Chairman of the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation, Julie Opperman (pictured) Admiration: 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg represents everything I admire. She was the embodiment of justice, strength, and character. To get an award in her name is a great honor,' said Diane, 75, in a statement ahead of Friday's ceremony 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg represents everything I admire. She was the embodiment of justice, strength, and character. To get an award in her name is a great honor,' she said. Opperman herself also noted that she had 'admired Diane von Furstenberg my entire adult life' in her own statement. The philanthropist also added that she and her collaborators had gained a newfound regard for the fashion industry personality. 'What I have learned about her as a result of our selection process, I now respect von Furstenberg beyond what words can express,' she said. Legend: Opperman herself also noted that she had 'admired Diane von Furstenberg (pictured) my entire adult life' in her own statement Opperman concluded by noting that the designer 'serves as an inspiration to all who know her, and to all who will learn about her for generations to come.' David M. Rubenstein made a statement at the event where he expressed that he and his collaborators were proud to bestow the award on the designer. 'On behalf of the RBG Award Voting Council and Nominating Committee, I congratulate Diane von Furstenberg on this exceptional honor. It is well deserved,' he said. Tammy Hembrow is a self-made multi-millionaire who is expecting her third child soon. But in the lead-up to her arrival, the fitness app owner treated herself to a designer Birkin bag, by Hermes. Posting to her Instagram on Saturday, the 27-year-old shared a picture of her purchase, which retails between $12,000-$400,00 AUD. Forking out! Multi-millionaire fitness app owner and influencer Tammy Hembrow (pictured) revealed she purchased her very first Birkin bag by Parisian designer Hermes on Saturday 'My first Birkin... she's so pretty,' Tammy captioned her new accessory. Tammy's expensive purchase comes after she revealed she experienced an impoverished childhood. Despite, having a net worth of $2million and a $2.9million Gold Coast mansion in her name, the blonde beauty told admitted in October that her family struggled when she was growing up. Newest purchase: Posting to her Instagram on Saturday, the 27-year-old shared a picture of her purchase, which retails between $12,000-$400,00 AUD From rags to riches: In October last year, Tammy revealed she grew up poor, took baths outside and didn't even have a bedroom 'I grew up in a house where we had to take baths outside even in the middle of winter,' she began at the time. 'We didn't have bedrooms so made our own by putting tables on their sides to build walls.' Despite her family's struggles, Tammy said they were still happy. 'Things weren't always easy but we always had fun. Life is what you make it,' she said. Ballin': - She now owns a $2million Gold Coast mansion and a $460,000 Bentley thanks to her incredible Instagram success 'Things weren't always easy but we always had fun' she said. Tammy and her sisters Emilee and Amy sisters are pictured in 1996 Tammy then went on to reflect on how far she has come in life. 'Now I own a beautiful home, two multimillion dollar businesses, a family I adore and amazing friends. So this is your little reminder to celebrate your wins, judge no one, love all, work hard & keep winning!' Tammy currently lives in her $2million Gold Coast home with her children, son Wolf, six, and Saskia, five, whom she shares with her ex Reece Hawkins. In December, she revealed she was expecting her third child - and her first with fiance Matt Poole. At home: Tammy currently lives in her $2million Gold Coast home with her children, son Wolf, six, and Saskia, five, whom she shares with her ex Reece Hawkins. Pictured with her children Ashton Kutcher was spotted running errands in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon. The 44-year-old actor was dressed in a white long sleeve shirt and a pair of chocolate brown trousers. During his outing, Kutcher swung by Jayde's Market in LA's affluent Bel Air neighborhood to grab a refreshment. Errand run: Ashton Kutcher was spotted running errands in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon He completed his errand run ensemble with some coordinating Nike sneakers. With the COVID-19 pandemic still at large, the Butterfly Effect star masked up while in public. Kutcher's outing comes after he and his Ukrainian-born wife Mila Kunis revealed that they've now raised over $20 million for the people of Ukraine following the unprovoked attacks from Russia. The couple announced the news in a video posted to Kutcher's Instagram. Fueling up: During his outing, Kutcher swung by Jayde's Market in LA's affluent Bel Air neighborhood to grab a refreshment Major milestone: Kutcher's outing comes after he and his Ukrainian-born wife Mila Kunis revealed that they've now raised over $20 million for the people of Ukraine following the unprovoked attacks from Russia 'We want to give you a little update on our campaign to stand with Ukraine,' Kutcher began in the video. 'We have raised over $20 million in less than a week. And I say we because it's all of us together. Some people didn't have the means to give, and they've done an unbelievable job of getting the word out and sharing it. But we're not done. Our goal is $30m, and we're going to get there.' The Friends With Benefits star then took over for her husband, saying, 'But we do want to say thank you to the 56,000 of you who were able to donate and supported us. Whether it was the $5, the $10, the $1,000, whatever it was it means so much to us because it does bring in a community and a sense of belonging and an ability to help.' 'Let's keep pushing. Let's keep spreading the word, and we, together, can hit our goal of $30million,' Kutcher said. 'The first humanitarian aid is already on the ground. Flexport's already delivering planes that are delivering humanitarian aid to these NGOs, and Air BnB is already taking in refugees. Very grateful: The stars thanked everyone who donated in a video shared to Instagram, as well as those who didn't have the means to donate but still go the word out about the fundraiser Not done yet: The Hollywood couple say they are not done fundraising yet and are hoping to hit their goal of $30 million Giving the numbers: Kutcher said that there have 'been over one million children...that are in refugee status right now' 'There have been over one million children, this is just children, that are in refugee status right now, and so every bit that we can do helps, and we appreciate you.' Kutcher captioned the post, 'Thank you to everyone that got us to $20m in less than a week. We can do this. We can hit our goal. Together. Because we stand together with Ukraine. #standwithukraine.' Kunis was born in Ukraine and moved to the United States in 1991 when she was just eight years old. Kutcher and Kunis launched the GoFundMe page last Thursday when she appeared alongside Kutcher in a video shared to his Instagram account. In the video, she spoke publicly for the first time about the 'devastating' conflict in her native country. Proud to be Ukrainian: In a video last week, Kunis said she was a proud America, but she's 'never been more proud to be a Ukrainian' Calling out Russia: Kunis went on to say, 'The events that have unfolded in Ukraine are devastating. There is no place in this world for this kind of unjust attack on humanity' (pictured 2021) 'I was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine in 1983. I came to America in 1991. I've always considered myself an American,' the actress began. 'A proud American. I love everything this country has done for myself and my family. But, today, I have never been more proud to be a Ukrainian.' Kunis later said: 'The events that have unfolded in Ukraine are devastating. There is no place in this world for this kind of unjust attack on humanity.' Kunis and Kutcher have been married since 2015. They share two children, daughter Wyatt, seven, and son Dimitri, five. Advertisement Lily Collins and husband Charlie McDowell looked every inch the beaming newlyweds while attending a special screening of their upcoming film Windfall together in West Hollywood, California on Friday night. The lovebirds, who tied the knot during an intimate wedding ceremony in Colorado five months ago, were nearly inseparable at the premiere as they posed for photos with their arms wrapped around each other. The Emily In Paris actress, 32, oozed effortless glamour in a plunging pinstripe suit, which belted to accentuate her trim waist, while strutting down the black carpet in a pair of heels. Beaming: Lily Collins and her husband Charlie McDowell looked every inch the beaming newlywed while attending a special screening of their film Windfall together in West Hollywood, California on Friday night She completed her chic look with a not-so-perfect, trendy bun and her French Girl bangs slightly parted as well as a simple gold necklace. McDowell, 38, who directed his wife in the Hitchcockian home invasion thriller, wore a grey blazer, matching pants and turtleneck. The couple were seen mingling with actors Jason Segel, Jesse Plemons, and Omar Leyva, who all star in the thriller. Group shot: The couple were seen mingling with actors Jason Segel, Jesse Plemons, and Omar Leyva, who all star in the thriller BFFs on-screen and off: Collins' Emily In Paris costar Ashley Park came to support her pal in an oversized green blazer, black minidress and thigh-high snake print boots Handsome: McDowell, 38, who directed his wife in the Hitchcockian home invasion thriller, wore a grey blazer, matching pants and turtleneck Dapper: How I Met Your Mother's Jason Segel looked handsome in a long grey jacket and burgundy tie Family affair: McDowell's mother Mary Steenburgen and stepfather Ted Danson were in among the stars in attendance Collins' Emily In Paris costar Ashley Park came to support her pal in an oversized green blazer, black minidress and thigh-high snake print boots. Additionally, McDowell's mother Mary Steenburgen and stepfather Ted Danson were in among the stars in attendance. During an interview with Vogue Australia late last year, Collins raved about getting to work with her spouse, which she said was easier than expected. The best in-laws: Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson came to support the couple Movie night! Omar Leyva wore a grey blazer, navy trousers and a light purple button-down 'I thought it would be harder, I have to say. I thought it would be more stressful to have to work with him, but it honestly was really amazing and freeing,' she told the outlet. She continued: 'It was great, and I'm really, really proud of the movie and I'm proud of him. It's a different type of role for me.' The Abduction actress also joked: 'Honestly, it was so easy working together. I would forget that it was him.' Funny: During an interview with Vogue Australia late last year, Collins raved about getting to work with her spouse, which she said was easier than expected 'I thought it would be harder, I have to say. I thought it would be more stressful to have to work with him, but it honestly was really amazing and freeing,' she told the outlet Coming soon: She continued: 'It was great, and I'm really, really proud of the movie and I'm proud of him. It's a different type of role for me' The couple first met while working on the set of McDowell's movie Gilded Rage. The filmmaker had previously been romantically linked to figures such as Emilia Clarke and Rooney Mara. Collins and her now-husband went Instagram official in 2019, and they made their first public appearance as a couple the following year. Highly-anticipated: The involvement of Collins and McDowell in the production of Windfall was initially revealed last July, when several sources reported that they were working on the feature Home invasion thriller: The movie will follow a young couple who make a last-minute trip to their vacation home only to find it being robbed by a stranger Star-studded: The cast of the modern-day noir movie, described as a Hitchcockian thriller, also includes Segel and Plemons The actress went on to announce that she had become engaged to the filmmaker with a post that was shared to her Instagram account in October of 2020. The involvement of Collins and McDowell in the production of Windfall was initially revealed last July, when several sources reported that they were working on the feature. The movie will follow a young couple who make a last-minute trip to their vacation home only to find it being robbed by a stranger. Angelina Jolie spent some quality time with her daughter Shiloh, 15, on a shopping trip to The Container Store at The Grove in Los Angeles on Friday. After browsing through storage and organization products together, the 46-year-old Oscar winner was seen texting as her teen carried a medium-sized white basket with handles back to their car. For their laid-back outing, the Mr. & Mrs. Smith star looked timeless in an all-black ensemble, consisting of a black dress and Christian Dior bag. Out and about: Angelina Jolie spent some quality time with her daughter Shiloh on a shopping trip to The Container Store in Los Angeles on Friday Meanwhile, her mini-me sported a white sweatshirt with a bunny on it and a pair of distressed, light-wash jeans with holes in the knees. While Los Angeles County ended its indoor mask mandate earlier this month, they both stayed extra safe by wearing face coverings. Earlier in the day, Jolie shared a post announcing that the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization was passed by Congress. Chic as ever: For their laid-back outing, the Mr. & Mrs. Smith star looked timeless in an all-black ensemble, consisting of a black dress and Christian Dior bag 'Today, I think of all the children and families who will now have a better chance of a life free from violence. I also think of all those women and children for whom this legislation came too late,' the mom-of-six wrote. She continued: 'Thank you Congressional leaders, VAWA co-sponsors, committee staff, advocates, and survivors for your persistence in reauthorizing VAWA with vital improvements, including non-radically biased forensic evidence collection, Kayden's Law's judicial training and protections for children, and tribal sovereignty. She captioned the slideshow: 'Next step: President Biden's signature.' Humanitarian: Earlier in the day, Jolie shared a post announcing that the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization was passed by Congress 'Today, I think of all the children and families who will now have a better chance of a life free from violence. I also think of all those women and children for whom this legislation came too late,' the mom-of-six wrote The shopping trip also comes just two weeks after the pair's recent trip to Cambodia. In the image, her teen was seen resting her hand on her face while sitting barefoot on a chair, with the teen seen grinning from ear-to-ear. The Maleficent actress also grinned broadly as she gazed down and placed her hand over her heart and explained in the caption that being around the people in the Southeast Asian nation always picks up her spirits. Heartfelt: She continued: 'Thank you Congressional leaders, VAWA co-sponsors, committee staff, advocates, and survivors for your persistence in reauthorizing VAWA with vital improvements, including non-radically biased forensic evidence collection, Kayden's Law's judicial training and protections for children, and tribal sovereignty' Shiloh was seen resting her hand on her face while sitting barefoot on a chair, with the teen seen grinning from ear-to-ear. Angelina also grinned broadly as she gazed down and placed her hand over her heart and explained in the caption that being around the people in the Southeast Asian nation always picks up her spirits. She wrote to her 12.3million followers: 'A few days in Cambodia among the warm local people, and I feel my soul is recovering. This has always been a special country for me and our family.' Bonding time: The shopping trip comes after Angelina took to Instagram two weeks ago to share a sweet snap of herself smiling alongside daughter Shiloh in Cambodia Jolie's family has strong ties to the country as she adopted eldest child Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt, 20, from the country and even founded a non-profit charity organization dedicated to environmental security, improving health, and creating peace and stability in all communities in his name called the Maddox Jolie-Pitt (MJP) Foundation. She also shared an image of herself during a meeting with men in both business and military attire and also addressed the image in the caption as she wrote: 'Happy to be reunited with friends and colleagues at MJP Foundation in Samlot district. 'The entirely local team runs programs for health and education and conservation. I spent some time with forest rangers discussing land encroachment, poaching and mapping patrol routes.' Meeting: The A-lister also shared an image of herself during a meeting with men in both business and military attire, writing the caption: 'Happy to be reunited with friends and colleagues at MJP Foundation in Samlot district' She wrote to her 12.3million followers: 'A few days in Cambodia among the warm local people, and I feel my soul is recovering. This has always been a special country for me and our family' Angelina first witnessed the effects of the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Cambodia while filming 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. She later bought a home in the country in 2003 in order to connect son Maddox with his heritage in an area which had become infiltrated with poachers and threatened endangered species so she purchased it and turned it into a wildlife reserve paving the way for the MJP foundation. Angelina shares Shiloh and Maddox, 20, with ex-husband Brad Pitt, with the former couple also parents to Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 15, and Vivienne and Knox, 13. Custody battle: The ex couple have been locked in an ugly battle over their children. Angelina is seen here with (L-R) Knox, Vivienne, Pax, Shiloh, Zahara, and Maddox in February 2019 The pair, who wed in 2014 and split in 2016, have been entangled in the legal system amid battles on multiple issues over the past five years-plus. Brad and Angelina met and by their own admission 'fell in love' while filming Mr and Mrs Smith in the summer of 2004 while he was still married to Jennifer Aniston. After a controversial start, they quickly became Hollywood's golden power couple and quickly grew their family. They eventually married in 2014 at their Chateau Miraval in France in front of all six of their children. But by August 2016, their high-profile romance had collapse and Angelina filed for divorce and requested primary custody of their children, marking the beginning of the long and ugly legal war. In 2019, Pitt revealed that he turned to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) after his split from Angelina because his drinking had got out of control. She certainly knows how to make an entrance. Irina Shayk turned heads in an all-black ensemble as she arrived at Burberry's aftershow dinner at private members club The Twenty Two in London on Friday. The 36-year-old model donned a long-sleeved, black mesh dress - flashing her upper torso and cleavage with a matching bandeau. Making an entrance: Irina Shayk turned heads in a racy LBD as she arrived at Burberry's aftershow dinner at private members club Twenty Two in London on Friday Irina paired the dress with a pair of black tights, adding black sandal-style heels and a small complementing clutch. The brunette kept her look sleek with a tight bun, showcasing her model facial features in a natural makeup look. Showing less is more, she kept accessories stark with the minimalistic look - lowering her head down to keep a lower profile as she entered the exclusive Grovesner Square hotspot. Gorgeous: She donned a long-sleeved sheer black dress - flashing her upper torso and cleavage with a matching bandeau All-black: Irina paired the dress with a pair of black tights, adding black sandal-style heels and a small complementing clutch Model features: The brunette kept her look sleek with a tight bun, showcasing her model facial features in a natural makeup look The outing comes after Irina stunned in the Burberry 2023 Womenswear fashion show earlier in the day. She had a more layered look as she stormed the catwalk, working a pair of black leather trousers and heeled boots - which she teamed with a large leather handbag for one of her many outfits. Irina was joined at the star-studded show and it's following dinner by runway superstars Bella Hadid, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. Less is more: She kept accessories stark with the minimalistic look Layering: She had a slightly different look as she stormed the catwalk earlier on, working a pair of black leather trousers and heeled boots Low-key: She kept a low-profile as she entered the exclusive club in Grovesner Square Arriving to exclusive Twenty Two, Bella matched Irina with a slick back hairdo', but went for a bold outfit with a longline denim skirt and a suede corset top. Meanwhile, nineties supermodels Kate and Naomi stunned in brown outfits, as they joined the newer models. Kate went for an animal print dress, showing off her toned legs with the side slit, while Naomi donned a cut-out jumpsuit with the iconic Burberry pattern, layering a blazer on top. Gothic look: Bella matched Irina with a slick back hairdo', but went for a bold outfit with a longline denim skirt and a suede corset top Nineties icons: Irina was joined at the star-studded dinner by runway superstars Bella Hadid, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell Russia-born Irina recently expressed her support for the people of Ukraine during the current conflict between the country and Russia via Instagram, saying she would be donating money to the country. The beauty posted a picture of a peace sign, captioning: 'I will be donating to @unicef and @redcrossukraine - Please check my stories for donation links and resources, give what you can. Praying for peace.' The model grew up in small Russian town Yemanzhelinsk, telling Vogue earlier this year that it was 'a very simple life'. Irina explained: 'I was born and raised in a town called Yemanzhelinsk, in the middle of nowhere in Russia. My father was a coal miner and my mom was a pianist she couldnt find a job, so she played for kids in kindergarten. It was a very simple life: one main street, no movie theatre, no restaurants.' An unholy vandal was caught on camera smashing the windows of a Queens church in a devilish act of unprovoked destruction, cops said Friday. The suspect, wearing camouflage pants, a hooded sweatshirt and black boots, was recorded storming up to the Community Church of Christ on 108th Ave. near 167th St. in Jamaica about 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday carrying a thin, two-foot long plank of wood, video recovered by the NYPD shows. Advertisement The man repeatedly smacks the facade of the church with his stick, smashing the front window frame by the main entrance and destroying a window by a handicap-access ramp before storming off, the video shows. Security video released by police shows man smash windows at Queens church. (NYPD) A call to the church Friday was not immediately returned. Advertisement Police released the surveillance video in the hopes that someone recognizes the vandal. Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. Strictly's Nikita Kuzmin was reunited with his grandma in Poland on Friday after she escaped the war in Ukraine. The dancer, 24, took to Instagram to share a slew of snaps and explained how his grandma had walked more than five miles (eight kilometres) in the freezing cold and hadn't slept for two nights. He drove from Frankfurt, while his mum flew from Rome, and the family were reunited in Krakow. Reunited: Strictly's Nikita Kuzmin was reunited with his grandma in Poland on Friday after she escaped the war in Ukraine Unfortunately, his aunt and other grandparents remain in Kiev. He wrote: 'REUNITED picked up my grandma from Poland! She is so incredibly brave & strong, 2 nights without sleeping, walking 8km+ in the freezing cold, when on a normal day, she can barely walk! 'She traveled from Kiev, my mom flew from Rome and i drove from Frankfurt and we all reunited in Krakow! Just so happy to be together.' Nikita continued: 'When I was waiting for my mom and grandma at the train station, ive been immersed in this situation for the first time in real life. Great escape: The dancer, 24, took to Instagram to share a slew of snaps and explained how his grandma had walked more than 8km in the freezing cold and hadn't slept for two nights 'Although I know I should have been happy for my family, I couldnt. Just had tears on my eyes, because of how sad the situation is. How many thousands of kids and women doing their absolute best to stay strong. 'Ive seen people arriving from the border, people waiting for the next train to go somewhere, anywhere in hope that somehow things would be ok, people not knowing what to do, since all what they have known as home, its not there anymore.' He concluded: 'So many emotions, but here is a small part of today.' Family: He drove from Frankfurt, while his mum flew from Rome, and the family were reunited in Krakow It comes after Nikita shared how his family in Ukraine check on each other every morning due to 'heartbreaking' war with Russia that continues to rage on. He said that his grandparents and the rest of his family ring each other as soon as they wake up to ask 'are you alive?'. Nikita told how he contacts them regularly to try and 'uplift' their spirits but that their reality is 'heartbreaking' and 'difficult'. Speaking on Morning Live, he said: 'My grandparents, they try to uplift each other, their morning starts with them calling each other, that's the first thing they do. 'They are just asking on the phone 'are you alive' and they reply 'yes, I'm alive are you alive?'. It has been the same as that for the last 12 days. This is their reality now. 'It is hard on the people, hearing my grandmother's voice, every single day it is just getting harder obviously trying to uplift them but obviously this is just difficult. The war is going on and it is all just heartbreaking.' Upset: Nikita has shared how his family in Ukraine check on each other every morning due to 'heartbreaking' war with Russia that continues to rage on It comes after last week Nikita shared his heartbreak over his grandmother being trapped in Ukraine amid the devastating Russian invasion. During an appearance on Thursday's Lorraine, the dancer 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 part of his family relocated to Italy when he was just nine years old. Love: Nikita told how he contacts them regularly to try and 'uplift' their spirits but that their reality is 'heartbreaking' and 'difficult' Speaking via video link from Germany, he told Lorraine, 62, that he's been calling his relatives 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. 'She's actually trying to protect us from being scared. Everytime we can hear gun shots or explosions in the background, she's always telling us that it's a movie that she's put on TV and only afterwards, a couple of hours later, she's confessing that actually it's a real bomb, real gun shots - it's 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. 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 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.' 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 continued: 'They are just asking on the phone 'are you alive' and they reply 'yes, I'm alive are you alive?'. It has been the same as that for the last 12 days. This is their reality now' 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.' 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. Fears: It comes after during an appearance on last Thursday's Lorraine, the dancer expressed his anguish about the troubles his family is facing, admitting that things are 'incredibly scary' 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. The post garnered plenty of positive and supportive comments from his fans and Strictly co-stars. Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) has revealed how she and her husband, actor Sam Worthington, are a 'team'. In this week's Stellar Magazine, the model, 34, she shared a rare insight into the private couple's family life, and says that Sam, 45 has her back at all times. 'As a family unit, we're all very close. We've only got each other. Sam and I are a good team. We're both Australians and we have the same values. We come at our children as a team and I think that's really important,' she said. Support: Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) has revealed how she and her husband, actor Sam Worthington, are a 'team'. Pictured in Stellar Magazine Lara went on to say that she and her family are 'all very close' and that she isn't too strict a parent. 'They always make me feel so good, especially Sam. I don't want that to ever go; I hope it doesn't,' she said. 'But being able to be a mum and [to] work definitely stems from your partner. Sam and I are on the same page, so I feel like he's 'got me' when I'm working and vice versa,' she added. 'As a family unit, we're all very close. We've only got each other. Sam and I are a good team. We're both Australians and we have the same values. We come at our children as a team and I think that's really important,' she said. Pictured with Sam The beauty said that Sam is a 'a strong father figure' who supports her in her creative endeavors. 'The fact my husband allows me to be creative and have dreams and aspirations that's really important,' Lara said. Lara and her husband of eight years share three young sons, Rocket, six, Racer, four, and River, one. On her side: The beauty said that Sam is a 'a strong father figure' who supports her in her creative endeavors. Lara and her husband of eight years share three young sons, Rocket, six, Racer, four, and River, one The Worthington clan recently returned to the US after a long stint in Australia. Before heading to New York, Lara, her husband Sam and their brood were in Los Angeles. The family first moved back to Australia in January, after spending the better part of a decade living in New York and Los Angeles. The fiercely private couple tied the knot in December 2014 in a low-key ceremony, saying 'I do' in front of just 10 people at a private house in Melbourne. Reese Witherspoon has revealed that she looks to her mother and grandmother for advice on how to age gracefully - and turns to her daughter, Ava, for makeup ideas. Speaking to this week's issue of Body+Soul Magazine, the 45-year-old says that skincare makes her feel good, but so does accepting the natural passing of time. 'I was lucky to have women in my life who loved ageing and getting older like my mother and grandmother and I saw it wasn't something that should be looked at like a setback,' Reese told the publication. Graceful: Reese Witherspoon (pictured) has revealed that she looks to her mother and grandmother for advice on how to age gracefully 'There's something empowering about ageing gracefully.' Reese went on to say that watching her mother do her skincare and makeup routine taught her that self-esteem can be gained from self care. 'I like to feel confident that I'm taking care of myself and that I have the best skin quality that I can have' she added. 'I was lucky to have women in my life who loved ageing and getting older like my mother and grandmother and I saw it wasn't something that should be looked at like a setback,' Reese told the publication The Cruel Intentions star also explained that her makeup tips these days come from her lookalike daughter, Ava, 22. 'She actually teaches me. She's so knowledgeable about skin care and make-up. She comes from a generation of YouTube tutorials and these kids are very savvy about product and application. So I learn a lot from her' Reese said. Ava is the oldest of two children shared by Witherspoon and her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, who also parent 18-year-old son Deacon. Knows a lot! The Cruel Intentions star also explained that her makeup tips these days come from her lookalike daughter, Ava, 22. 'She actually teaches me. She's so knowledgeable about skin care and make-up' Reese said. Pictured with Ava in 2021 Ryan, 47, and Reese, who starred in the thriller film Cruel Intentions together in 199, were married that same year, and split in 2008. Reese also shares son Tennessee, nine, with her husband, talent agent Jim Toth, 51, who she married in 2011. The star recently opened up about her children growing up in the spotlight, telling InStyle that Ava is having a very different experience to her. 'She comes from a generation of YouTube tutorials and these kids are very savvy about product and application. So I learn a lot from her' Reese added 'It's an odd situation because I didn't grow up famous. So [Ava is] living an experience that I did not have, and so are my sons,' Reese said. 'We are lucky enough to have friends who grew up in Hollywood and can help give them advice on how to navigate.' 'Ava is so down-to-earth. She wants to do great things in the world. She's studying and learning and trying to find herself. It's a big thing in life to try different things and figure out what is really your path' she added. She's the Australian model who welcomed her second baby with NASCAR driver fiance James Kirkham in February. And on Saturday. Jessica Hart enjoyed getting dolled up as she stepped out to attend the QUAY x Paris Hilton launch party in Los Angeles. The 35-year-old donned a light-brown power suit, made up of straight cut trousers and an over-sized blazer. Mama's day out! After recently welcoming her second child with her NASCAR driver fiance James Kirkham, Australian model Jessica Hart (pictured) enjoyed getting dolled up as she stepped out to attend the QUAY x Paris Hilton launch party on Saturday Jessica added a touch of edge to her structured look with a race-car graphic printed on her T-shirt. Naturally, she wore a pair of oversized shade to celebrate the launch of the new sunglass collection by the Hilton heiress. Jessica also accessorised with a watch, drop earrings and black pointy kitten heels. At one stage at the event, she posed by a prop car which was filled with pink and purple flowers, showcasing the Quay shades. So chic: The 35-year-old donned a light-brown power suit, made up of straight cut trousers and an over-sized blazer. Jessica added a touch of edge to her structured look with a race-car graphic printed on her T-shirt Model moves: At one stage at the event, she posed by a prop car which was filled with pink and purple flowers, showcasing the Quay shades The blonde beauty's outing comes a month after giving birth to her second child. In February, she shared a series of photos alongside her one-year-old daughter Baby-Rae to Instagram and revealed she was officially a big sister. 'And just like that, this big girl is a big sister,' she wrote at the time. New arrival: Jessica announced the birth of her second child with her NASCAR driver fiance James Kirkham (left) in February Exciting! The model, 35, shared a series of photos alongside her one-year-old daughter Baby-Rae to Instagram and revealed she was officially a big sister Jess announced her baby news back on June 9 2021, confirming she was six weeks pregnant - with the news arriving just seven months after she and James welcomed their daughter Baby-Rae. She shared a video to Instagram in which she admitted she was nervous about having two children under the age of two. 'The announcement is that I've just found out I'm pregnant again,' Jessica said. 'And just like that, this big girl is a big sister,' Jessica wrote, alongside a photo of Baby holding a doll 'It's exciting, after the initial shock of having two babes under two.' She explained that daughter Baby will be 14 months old when she welcomes her newborn. Jessica and James, who became engaged in October came engaged in October 2020, welcomed their first child together on November 17. Molly-Mae Hague turned heads in her latest behind-the-scenes social media snaps on Saturday from her work trip to Tulum, Mexico. The 22-year-old posted a slew of beachy snaps from the trip in an Instagram carousel of posts. In the first snap, she donned a triangle string bikini, showing off her toned figure as she added a pair of open denim shorts and a white coverup with red dragon print detail. Gorgeous: Molly-Mae Hague turned heads in her latest behind-the-scenes snaps on Saturday from her work trip to Tulum, Mexico - donning a skimpy white bikini Molly-Mae accessorised with a silver belly chain, clutching a brown straw handbag as she posed for the camera. She also showcased her bronze tan in the images, after spending the last week in the Mexican town. She also showed off her slim silhouette as she posed for a snap in a window, bikini-clad on the Tulum sands. Yum! The 22-year-old posted a slew of beachy snaps from the trip in an Instagram carousel of posts - posing in a beige bikini as she enjoyed nachos for one snap Toned: She also showed off her slim silhouette as she posed for a snap in a window, bikini-clad on the Tulum sands In another, she enjoyed nachos and guacamole, sporting a nude bead bikini and layering with a brown shirt. The Creative Director also showcased her bronze tan as she sat by a pool in a Prada towelling short and shirt co-ord, matching a Prada beach bag with the look. Molly-Mae captioned the mix of images 'out takes' as she took a look back on her trip, which she returned from on Thursday - as she was spotted heading to the airport. Home comforts: One image showed her beloved teddy Ellie-Belly on her shoulder as she walked across the Mexican beach Showing fans that a part of home was still with her, as one image showed her beloved teddy Ellie-Belly on her shoulder as she walked across the Mexican beach - the teddy which also came with influencer to Love Island. She shared behind the scene shots from numerous shoots whilst away, with one image in her recent post showing her pose with stylist, Georgie Gray. Whilst Molly-Mae has been enjoying the trip, she has recently received another wave of backlash over her working life. Couture: The PrettyLittleThing Creative Director also showcased her bronze tan as she sat by a pool in a Prada towelling short and shirt co-ord, matching a Prada beach bag with the look She was accused of making another 'tone deaf' blunder after she detailed her 'overwhelming' workload in a video tracking her daily routine at work with PrettyLittleThing. The video wasn't well received by many fans as several viewers left baffled by the content, claiming it was a ploy to prove how 'hard' she works after her previous controversial comments. The influencer has suffered a wave of abuse since taking on the job of PLT's Creative director, with many accusing her of being 'out of touch' with the public. Paris Hilton was the epitome of glam as she posed at the launch party for her new sunglasses collaboration with QUAY Australia in Los Angeles on Friday. The socialite, 41, donned a full-diamante ensemble - which featured a blue mini dress with criss-cross string side detail, silver fingerless gloves and a matching choker. The beauty added blue court heels to the look, showing off her toned legs for the snap as she documented her launched party on social media. Glamorous: Paris Hilton was the epitome of glam as she posed in a blue mini dress at the launch party for her new sunglasses collaboration with QUAY Australia in Los Angeles Paris opted for a half-up and half-down hairstyle on her pearl blonde locks, leaving one front section of hair down to frame her face. She showed off a pair of sunglasses from her new collection, posing in front of an iridescent BMW i8, surrounded by pink and purple flowers. The party celebrated the launch of the QUAY x Paris Hilton collection, which launched on Thursday - featuring a range of glasses, from sunglasses to blue light and prescription glasses. Shimmering: The socialite, 41, donned a full-diamante ensemble - which featured a blue mini dress with criss-cross string side detail, silver fingerless gloves and a matching thick choker Custom decorations: The party displayed a personalised outdoor bar which had a sign honouring the new collection Extravagant: The celebration featured an iridescent BMW i8, decorated in pink and purple flowers which circled the supercar In the details: Waiters were snapped as they carried food for guests, which sat in fast food-style packaging with the QUAY X Paris logo on it No expense was spared for the event, which was held at a Beverly Hills mansion - featuring a gigantic pool. The former star of The Simple Life stunned as she posed in front of a massive pink, black and white balloon display and one of the many extravagant QUAY X Paris signs. Paris also shared inside snaps of the party to her story, showing the house filled with QUAY X Paris merchandise - including personalised pool floats and a large sign over the bar. Pals: LeLe Pons was among the famous faces at the collaboration bash Balloon galore: The star stunned as she posed in front of a massive pink, black and white balloon display and one of the many extravagant QUAY X Paris signs Famous guests! Australian model Jessica Hart (pictured) also enjoyed getting dolled up as she stepped out to the bash Chic: Jessica donned a beige power suit and white t-shirt as she posed in front of the supercar Waiters were snapped as they carried food for guests, which sat in fast food-style packaging with the QUAY X Paris logo on it. Paris posed in front of a large display of the glasses collection, which featured posters of her alongside the glasses. Famous faces such as Jessica Hart, Lele Pons, Ross Butler and Chantelle Jeffries also attended the star-studded bash. Try before you buy: Guests got the chance to try on glasses from the collection while at the event Mansion: No expense was spared for the event, which was held at a Beverly Hills mansion - featuring a gigantic pool Kourtney Kardashian and her fiance Travis Barker stepped out in Malibu to have dinner with their children at the steakhouse Lucky's Malibu on Friday. The reality television star, 42, donned a long, black coat that appeared fur-like over a black spandex shirt and leggings. She wore black dress shoes and her dark hair, which matched the rest of her ensemble perfectly, was parted in the middle with thick strands framing her face. Grabbing a bite: Kourtney Kardashian and her fiance Travis Barker stepped out in Malibu to have dinner with their children at Lucky's Malibu, a steakhouse, on Friday. She held a small clutch in her left hand and did not appear to be rocking a minimal makeup look. Kardashian's fiance, 46, wore a black leather jacket over a gray T-shirt and black pants. He finished off the look with black and white sneakers and a black beanie. Not one to shirk his duties as a soon-to-be stepfather, Barker held Kardashian's youngest son Reign, seven, in his arms as the little one appeared all tuckered out from the day's excitement. Fashionable look: The reality television star, 42, donned a long, black coat that appeared fur-like over a black spandex shirt and leggings Exhausted: Not one to shirk his duties as a soon-to-be stepfather, Barker held Kardashian's youngest son Reign, 7, (pictured here in a photo posted by dad Scott Disick) in his arms Up and at it: While the pair seemed to enjoy their evening, Kardashian was up bright and early on Saturday morning to make breakfast Cooking: The next snap showed the ingredients all mixed up into a yellowish-liquid, though what she ultimately made is unclear Reign wore a leopard print coat to dinner which appeared to keep him nice and warm. The pair were also joined at dinner by Barker's son Landon, 18, who is currently working on his rap career. While the pair seemed to enjoy their evening, Kardashian was up bright and early on Saturday morning to make breakfast. She posted two snaps to her Instagram story of the process. The first showed ingredients including an egg and what appeared to be flour. The next snap showed the ingredients all mixed up into a yellowish-liquid, though what she ultimately made is unclear. Sharing some beach snaps: The couple's night out came Kardashian shared snaps of their getaway to Laguna Beach, many of which showed off her pert backside Embracing: She shared several pictures and videos to her Instagram that focused on her sandy cheeks, and one in which she embraced her future husband passionately Getting handsy: Barker couldn't keep his hands to himself as he reached down and grabbed his future wife's derriere Going for a dip: The pair ran into the water for a quick swim before coming back out and drying off The couple's night out came Kardashian shared snaps of their getaway to Laguna Beach, many of which showed off her pert backside in a skimpy thong bathing suit. She shared several pictures and videos to her Instagram that focused on her sandy cheeks, and one in which she embraced her future husband passionately. Kardashian captioned the snaps with a single water droplet emoji while Barker commented on the post, 'Oh how I love thee.' The pair became engaged in mid-October when Barker got down on one knee at the Rosewood Miramar Hotel in Montecito, California after 10 months of dating. Kourtney was with Scott Disick, 38, for nine years until their split in 2015; they share three children: Mason, 12, Penelope, nine, and Reign. Travis was married twice before to Melissa Kennedy for nine months in 2002 and to Shanna Moakler from 2004 until they finally divorced in 2008. He and Shanna share Landon and Alabama, 16. Kaia Gerber showed off her chic style as she stepped out for dinner with her boyfriend Austin Butler in Los Angeles on Friday night. The 20-year-old model donned a long black leather jacket and wide-legged cropped black slacks as she and the 30-year-old actor chatted with a group of friends that included Maya Rudolph after their meal. The runway star wore her jacket open over a black button-down V-cut top and sported black leather boots. Stylish: Kaia Gerber showed off her chic style as she stepped out for dinner with her boyfriend Austin Butler in Los Angeles on Friday night The brunette beauty wore her long hair down around her shoulders and toted a black crossbody bag. Austin was clad in an ensemble that was similar to that of his girlfriend. He had on a cropped black jacket over a white t-shirt and wide-legged black trousers. The Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star's short brown hair was styled in tousled waves and he rocked a pair of brown leather boots. Chic: The 20-year-old model donned a long black leather jacket and wide-legged cropped black slacks as she and the 30-year-old actor chatted with a group of friends that included Maya Rudolph after their meal The two stood side by side as they talked with Maya and their pals outside of the restaurant. The Bridesmaids actress, 49, bundled up in a white fleece jacket over green pants with brown shoes. She shared a laugh with Kaia as the catwalk queen glanced to the side and flashed a wide smile. Monochromatic: . The runway star wore her jacket open over a black button-down V-cut top and sported black leather boots Kaia and Austin have been frequently seen out walking her adorable rescue dog Milo. Earlier this week, they were seen walking hand-in-hand during a hike at the TreePeople park in Los Angeles. The duo were first linked romantically last December, when they were seen leaving a Yoga class together. Their excursion came about a month after she split from Euphoria star Jacob Elordi after a year of dating. Austin has been linked to several actresses in the past, including Lily-Rose Depp, Vanessa Hudgens and Olivia DeJonge. Cover star: Kaia, who is the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and entrepreneur Rande Gerber, has made a name for herself in the modeling world and recently returned from Paris Fashion Week Kaia, who is the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and entrepreneur Rande Gerber, has made a name for herself in the modeling world and recently returned from Paris Fashion Week. She appeared on this month's cover of Vogue China in a flowing green dress and purple chiffon dress. Austin first made waves in Hollywood when he appeared in several series for Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel as a teenager, including Hannah Montana (2006-2007), Ruby & the Rockits (2009) and Zoey 101 (2007). Rising star: Gerber is the first model born in the 2000s to achieve The Big Four of Vogue covers In more recent years he starred in the drama fantasy miniseries The Shannara Chronicles (2016-2017), and the Quentin Tarantino comedy-drama film Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (2019). He will have some big shoes to fill for his next feature film, Elvis, in which he plays the King Of Rock 'N' Roll himself, Elvis Presley. The movie chronicles Elvis from his humble beginnings as a youngster in the American South, to his rise to fame, and working relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker, who's played by Tom Hanks. Austin, who has his blonde hair died black for the role, has been sharing clips and promo photos of the film ahead of its June 24 premiere. Big shoes to fill: Butler takes on the role of Elvis Presley in the upcoming biographical musical drama film Elvis The Rev. Claire Brown was called as rector to St. Pauls in Athens in 2021, and previously served at St. Pauls Chattanooga and St. Augustines Nashville. She is a graduate of Lee University, Vanderbilt Divinity School, the School of Theology at Sewanee, and has been trained as a retreat leader and spiritual director through the Shalem Institute and Still Harbor. Claire is co-author of Keep Watch with Me: An Advent Reader for Peacemakers, and New Directions for Holy Questions. A man accused of flipping over a stroller on a Queens street has a history of unprovoked assaults that include attacks on children, court papers say. Christopher Elder, 31, was arraigned Saturday on counts of assault, reckless endangerment, harassment and acting in a manner injurious to a child in what cops called an unprovoked attack early Friday on Robinson St. and 45th Ave. in East Flushing. Advertisement The child was being pushed in a stroller by her 48-year-old grandmother about 6:15 a.m. when Elder stormed up and began screaming at them, cops said. The woman, who doesnt understand English, had no idea what Elder was ranting about, she told police. Advertisement A moment later, Elder grabbed the sides of the stroller and flipped it over, cops said. The child tumbled out and cut her head on the pavement, and the panicked grandmother called 911. EMS rushed the toddler to Queens hospital, where she treated for the wounds, authorities said. Responding police found Elder at Kissena Blvd. and 45th Ave. and took him into custody. At an arraignment at Queens Criminal Court Saturday, Judge Stephen Antignani ordered Elder undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He was held on $10,000 cash bail, $10,000 bond or $30,000 partially-secured bond. Elders criminal history includes eight arrests, mostly for unprovoked assaults including a Dec. 22 attack on a 9-year-old girl and her mother on Kissena Blvd. in Queens, according to a criminal complaint. Elder was also accused in that incident of punching a 64-year-old man in the face. The mother of the child assaulted in December said Saturday she was shaken by news of the most recent attack. I broke down. I guess you can say a PTSD moment kicked in, said the mother, who asked that her name not be published. Advertisement The woman said she was with her daughter, walking back to her car, when Elder targeted them. I knew he was following me, she said, adding: The moment I turned, thats when he started screaming. The woman said as she turned to shield her daughter, Elder landed multiple blows on her face and body, leaving her with a pinched nerve and bruising. Her daughter avoided serious injury despite Elder throwing a glass bottle at her but was traumatized, the mom said. She said her daughter was so frightened she wouldnt wear one of her favorite sweaters, fearing Elder would recognize it on the street. The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > After a few days, she said Maybe you should donate it, the woman said, saying her daughter told her: I feel like if he sees me, hes going to do it again. He took a lot from me, and I dont know if Ill be able to get it back, the mom lamented. Advertisement I know jail is not the solution for this, she said. Somebody failed him along the way, and society keeps failing. Not just him, but these other individuals who are suffering from mental health [issues]. What are these politicians waiting for, are they waiting for it to happen to one of their family members? And then theyre really going to pay attention? Elders history also includes an arrest July 9 after he threw a bottle at a car in the same neighborhood. As the victim sped off, Elder allegedly chased after the car with a knife in hand, a criminal complaint details. Police quickly caught up with Elder, who allegedly wrapped his legs around the arresting officer and refused to get into a patrol car. He was hit with menacing, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. An award-winning political journalist, John L. Micek is editor-in-chief of The Pennsylvania Capital-Star in Harrisburg, Pa. Email him at jmicek@penncapital-star.com and follow him on Twitter @ByJohnLMicek This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DARIEN Weather uncertainty and Dariens penchant to flood during bad storms was on the mind of residents listening to plans to revamp a culvert near Interstate 95 in 2025. Frank Adelman, a member of the public works committee through the Representative Town Meeting but represented only himself at the informational session, questioned whether the state is keeping in mind Dariens history of problematic flooding when it blocks off and refurbishes the culvert. If the culverts rehabilitation causes more flooding issues or erosion downstream, the town would have to shoulder that burden years down the line, he said. I have posed questions to them about if theyre planning for the maximum storms to be larger in the future, Adelman said. We know storm intensification is going on, so should we be planning to over- engineer this? The state plans to revamp a critical culvert that runs along a stretch of I-95 in Darien, telling residents during a Wednesday informational session that the project will address structural deterioration and improve drainage. The Connecticut Department of Transportation identified the culvert, which starts via a catch basin at the southbound I-95 off-ramp at Exit 10, as being in fair condition, though it has sustained some damage. They are proposing to re-line the pipe with glass-reinforced polymer, which project engineers said would improve water flow and drainage. Around five homeowners near the area may be subject to temporary construction easements, meaning the state would need to use and occupy private property to accommodate construction. Project engineers said the state will need to discuss with affected homeowners whether or not a portion of their privately-owned property like fencing could sustain damage during construction. If on state-owned property, the state would not be responsible for damage incurred by contractors during the construction process but would give homeowners the chance to relocate fencing, the engineers said. Engineers said construction is slated for spring 2025 and would wrap up in the fall of the same year. As we progress further into the design, we will hopefully be able to identify the exact impacts, project engineer Jennifer Usher said, adding that homeowners would be compensated for the easement. However, we also understand that this area is obviously very sensitive .... we want to be good neighbors as the state of Connecticut and so we'll look for ways to either mitigate that or with any luck be able to entirely avoid. Project engineers said traffic flow on I-95 would not be affected, although some 500 feet of guardrail and 400 feet of noise barrier wall would need to be removed and replaced. A temporary construction access road on Exit 10 northbound will also be necessary. The project has an estimated price tag of $1.8 million but Darien will not be responsible for any costs, project engineers said. In case a high-intensity storm occurs during the project, the contractor will be responsible for clearing the area of any blockages and allowing the existing pipe to drain stormwater, Usher said. Built in 1955, the culvert runs 276 feet across I-95 and lets out at Exit 10 on both sides of the interstate. More than 123,000 vehicles pass over it daily, according to statistics from the DOT. The project will also need to be greenlit with two environmental permits in order to proceed. The culvert would be state-inspected every two years to ensure it was adequately performing. Darien can also flag the state in case of major flooding issues, officials said. Jenna Ramkhelawan,12, receives her first dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine from UM Health licensed practical nurse Delores Fye at the Center for Haitian Studies in Miamis Little Haiti neighborhood on May 18, 2021. Father Son and Friends, a Celtic-Americana Folk Band from Dayton, is getting ready to take the stage for their 33rd St. Patricks season. We couldnt be more excited to be back, playing music in our hometown! said Shawn Hall, Son of Father Son and Friends. Where it began After researching and connecting with their Scots-Irish roots, Father Son and Friends started playing music in and around the Miami Valley in 1989. Over the years, they have toured extensively playing festivals, theatres and pubs across North America, even earning themselves an Irish Music Award Nomination for Top Traditional Group in a Pub, Festival, Concert. They take folk tradition, add a dab of humor, and the rest is pure enjoyment! said Maureen Hendrick, of the Glasgow Highland Games. Playing at home. We have been very fortunate over the last 30+ years, Shawn said. We love coming home to play in Dayton. Whether is for the St. Patricks season, the Ohio Renaissance Festival or the AMAZING Dayton Celtic Festival, we are always very blessed to have the support of our family, friends and fans, he continued. Father Son and Friends has a robust tour scheduled for 2022, including a tour, this July, in Scotland. With many St. Patricks celebrations coming back online in 2022, Father Son and Friends can be found performing across the Dayton area with special guest McGovern Irish Dance. Saturday, March 12: Peach's Grill, Yellow Springs, OH, 4p-6p The Dublin Pub, Dayton, OH, 9p-12mid Sunday, March 13: Harrigan's Tavern, Kettering, OH, 6p-8p Thursday, March 17: Flanagan's Pub, Dayton, OH, 9:45a-1p The Dublin Pub, Dayton, OH, 2:30p-7:30p Woburn, MA (01801) Today Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 54F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Becoming partly cloudy after some evening light rain. Low 48F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Detectives have identified the man who knifed a McDonalds worker during a heated clash in the East Harlem eatery as a mentally ill homeless man, police said Saturday. Suspect Ezekiel Dunn, 28, was screaming at workers at the McDonalds on Third Ave. near E. 117th St. around 12:40 a.m. Wednesday when the 31-year-old employee came out from the kitchen with a broom handle to protect his colleagues. Advertisement A brawl broke out and Dunn repeatedly stabbed his victim in the back and arm with a box cutter, cops said. He also slashed the victim in the face. Ezekiel Dunn (NYPD / DCPI) Medics rushed the victim to Harlem Hospital, where he underwent surgery and was expected to recover. Advertisement The assault occurred around the corner from the Burger King on E. 116th St. and Lexington Ave. where worker Kristal Bayron-Nieves, 19, was fatally shot during a Jan. 9 holdup. Accused gunman Winston Glynn, 30, a former employee of the Burger King, was later arrested and charged with murder, robbery, assault and weapons possession for the young womans slaying. Dunn, who has been arrested for assault before and has a history of mental illness, was recorded on a surveillance camera running away from the scene. Hes believed to be homeless, police said. NYPD officers investigate a stabbing in a McDonald's at E. 117th St. and Third Ave. that occurred Wednesday in Manhattan. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News) Cops released the video of Dunn on Saturday. Hes described as dark skinned, about 5-foot-9, 160 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. At the time of the stabbing he was wearing a green jacket and a blue hat. Detectives have identified Ezekiel Dunn, pictured, as the man who knifed a McDonalds worker during a heated clash at the East Harlem eatery. (NYPD / DCPI) Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription and are still unable to access our content, please link your digital account to your print subscription If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. HYDERABAD: The Cyberabad police produced the seven accused in the conspiracy to murder minister V. Srinivas Goud in court which shifted them to judicial remand. The court had granted four days permission for questioning but the police said they had finished the exercise in three days. The accused allegedly purchased country-made weapons from Uttar Pradesh natives by paying huge amounts. The police are understood to have established the conspiracy hatched by the accused. Sources said the investigating officers obtained details regarding purchase of country-made weapons. Armed with call data details, the police officials asked the accused about the phone conversations made between the accused and others including two political leaders - BJP leaders D.K. Aruna and former MP Jitender Reddy. Sources said some of the accused were tight-lipped. VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh government has allocated 43,052.78 crore for agriculture and allied sectors in its 202223 budget presented in the State Legislative Assembly on Friday. Major allocations include 12,285.70 crore for agriculture, 11,450.94 crore for uninterrupted supply of irrigation water for rabi crop 202122, 8,328.89 crore for MGNREGS, 5,000 crore for YSR Uchita Vyavasaya Vidyut Pathakam, 1,027.82 crore for animal husbandry, 614.23 crore for marketing, 554.04 crore for horticulture, 421.15 crore for Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, 337.23 crore for fisheries, 248.45 crore for cooperatives, 146.41 crore for food processing, 122.50 crore for Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, 98.99 crore for sericulture, 59.91 crore for Dr YSR Horticulture University, and 50 crore for bore wells under YSR Jala Kala. The budget for agriculture and allied sectors had been 31,256.35 crore in 202122, revised to 27,993.93. Presenting separately the agriculture and allied sectors budget in the assembly, agriculture minister Kurasala Kannababu said, If the ruler thinks of giving priority for farmers welfare and there is also sufficient rainfall, farmers will reap a good harvest. He underlined that Rythu Bharosa Kendralu (RBKS) are drawing attention of entire nation, with appreciation from experts, scientists, political leaders of other states and even from NABARD and NIti Ayog. This is because RBKs are responding to demands of farmers from ploughing to harvest within 48 hours. These centres had distributed as many as 8.95 lakh quintals of subsidised seeds to 15.11 lakh farmers in 202122. Kannababu pointed out that AP recorded the highest food grain production of 175 lakh metric tonnes in 201920 against 165 lakh MT in 202021 despite facing natural calamities. They are expecting the production to be 179 lakh MT in 202122. The new paddy procurement policy helped procure paddy worth 44,000 crore in 33 months, against 43,000 crore worth paddy acquired by previous TD government during its five-year rule. Government announces MSP State government has announced minimum support price for six more crops including 7,000 per quintal for chillies, 6,850 for turmeric, 4,500 for groundnut, 2,500 for minor millets, 1,400 for sweet orange, 800 for banana, and 770 for onions. Further, it declared that it will set up second food processing units in all parliamentary constituencies, so that farmers could realise maximum income for their produce through value addition. When the agriculture minister said that their government is not interested in using rain guns to tackle drought and slammed the previous TD regime for issuing a GO on March 10, 2019 to waive off farm loans even as poll notification was issued the same evening, opposition Telugu Desam members raised a hue and cry. Animal husbandry minister Seediri Appalaraju presented the same agriculture and allied sectors budget in the State Legislative Council. Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, SC judges Hima Kohli and L Nageshwara Rao, IT minister K T Rama Rao, Law minister Indrakaran Reddy perform puja during the foundation laying ceremony for construction of IAMC International Arbitration and Meditation Centre Trust at Raidurg in Hyderabd (R. Pavan/DC) HYDERABAD: Chief Justice of India Justice N.V. Ramana laid the foundation stone and performed a ground-breaking ceremony of the construction of a building for the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre-Hyderabad (IAMC-H) at Raidurg in Hyderabad on Saturday. Speaking on the occasion, Justice Ramana thanked the state government for allocating a prime plot of land in the heart of the city and providing Rs.50 crore for the construction of the building for the IAMC-Hyderabad. He said the state government had been very proactive and cooperative in setting up of the centre which he hoped would find its place alongside reputed arbitration centres in London, Singapore and others abroad. He felt that the Hyderabad centre was attracting a lot of people seeking low-cost alternate dispute resolution systems. It will be promoted at the fourth edition of the international conference on Arbitration in the Era of Globalisation to be held in Dubai on March 19. "I am happy that we are moving ahead at one step at a time. On 17 and 18 of March we will be having an international conference in Dubai on behalf of Hyderabad. By hosting such conferences, we can showcase Hyderabad and by next year be on par with Dubai, London and Singapore. This project was initiated nearly two months ago and is moving fast to provide a world class facility and add glory to the city of Hyderabad," Justice Ramana added. IAMC-Hyderabad is Indias first arbitration centre for alternative dispute resolution. It is operating from a temporary campus at Nanakramguda, following its inauguration by Justice Ramana along with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao in December last year. Supreme Court judges Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Hima Kohli, Telangana High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, SC former judge Justice R.V. Raveendran, ministers K.T. Rama Rao, Mohd Mahmood Ali, A. Indrakaran Reddy, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, P. Sabitha Indra Reddy and V. Srinivas Goud, along with TS Planning Board vice-chairman B. Vinod Kumar, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and judges from the Telangana High Court were among the dignitaries who attended the ceremony. Pakistan sought a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident which, it said, could have resulted in a serious aviation accident. (Representational image: PTI) New Delhi: India said on Friday that due to a technical glitch it accidentally fired a missile that landed in Pakistan and said that it "deeply regretted" the incident. India's defence ministry said that the accident occurred on Wednesday evening due to a technical malfunction during a routine maintenance check. India regretted the accident and said that there has been no loss of lives. A high-level inquiry has been ordered. "On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Inquiry," India's ministry of defence said in a statement. "It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident," it added. Pakistan military had, in a press conference on Thursday night, said that an unarmed Indian supersonic missile intruded 124 kilometres into Pakistani territory in three minutes and 44 seconds and hit a private property near Mian Channu. Pakistan on Friday summoned Indias Charge dAffaires and conveyed its strong protest over violation of its airspace by an Indian-origin super-sonic flying object. Pakistan warned India to be mindful of the unpleasant consequences of such negligence and take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of such violations in future. It sought a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident which, it said, could have resulted in a serious aviation accident. Both India and Pakistan are nuclear armed nations. Pakistan said that the missile originated near Sirsa in Haryana and was an unarmed surface-to-surface supersonic missile which travelled at a speed of Mach 3.0. During the course of the missiles flight, Pakistan claimed that it passed close to airliners from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and India in Indian airspace and the flight courses of two international and a domestic flight in Pakistani airspace. The statement from India didn't give any information regarding the missile. But going by the details given by the Pakistan military, it comes close to India's BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. However, there is no official confirmation. Pakistan military said that the missile was not shot down and fell by itself. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath woke up at a Hindu temple, fed cows sweet jaggery cakes, performed a religious ceremony for Lord Shiva, then hit the trail on the last day of his election campaign this month. This blurring of religion and politics is what some supporters love and some opponents fear most about him, the firebrand monk who won a critical state election and a second term this week in Uttar Pradesh. His election victory and continued popularity, despite a heavily criticised government response to the coronavirus pandemic and a rise in hate speech and violence against Muslims under his watch, have cemented him as one of the most galvanizing figures in right-wing Hindu politics, and increasingly as an heir apparent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With the opposition in disarray, and with the support of a fervent Hindu base that appreciates his us-or-them appeals, Adityanaths election victory is widely being seen as evidence that Modis BJP has continued to shift the electorate away from the countrys founding secularism. Also read: Akhilesh Yadav relinquishes MLA post, to retain Azamgarh MP seat Despite the countrys growing economic woes and the poor state of public health and schools, Modi, Adityanath and the BJP are succeeding in keeping the conversation focused on Hinduism in public affairs, bolstered by popular social welfare programs and a sophisticated mobilisation of their supporters. And his election victory is likely to further raise Adityanaths increasingly national profile. Although he came to public attention as the founder of a Hindu youth brigade and was once imprisoned for hate speech against Muslims, Adityanath has more recently followed Modis lead and somewhat moderated his tone though without obscuring his Hindu-first message and policies to his right-wing base. In a TV interview in January, he cast the election in terms of 80 versus 20 a thinly veiled reference to the rough percentage of Hindus in the state compared with Muslims. On Twitter, he railed against his political opponents as worshippers of Jinnah a reference to Pakistans post-partition founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah for whom the predominantly Muslim Pakistan is dear. He also posted pictures of a visit to New Delhi, strolling down a marble walkway with Modi embracing him like a beloved protege. Since becoming prime minister in 2014, Modi has increasingly impassioned and emboldened far-right Hindus. And it is in this climate, that Adityanath, 49, has found the ability to rapidly climb. His popularity largely derives from his ability to speak directly to his fervent base, whether in big public rallies or through his active Twitter account. Whoever speaks the truth, people will stand up for him, said Pinki Patchauri, among a group of women at BJP headquarters in Lucknow on Thursday, cheering for Adityanath. Yogi and Modi worked for the people, she said. Thats why Yogi is all over the place. Also read: BSP's meltdown helped BJP recoup OBC losses to SP Indeed, pictures of Adityanath are plastered across Uttar Pradesh, from towering billboards on highways to the sides of tea shops in villages to the Gorakhnath Math Temple in Gorakhpur, where his political career took root. One of seven children born to a forest ranger, Adityanath, born Ajay Singh Bisht, found his vocation in college as an activist in the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindu organisation. He became a Hindu priest in 1994, as politics and religion converged across India. Gorakhnath Temple and other temples espousing right-wing Hindu nationalism produced a generation of activists dedicated to the rise of Hindu culture and increasingly focused on demonising the countrys Muslims. Adityanath won a seat in Parliament for the first time in 1998, becoming Indias youngest member of the national body at the time. From Gorakhpur, he founded the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a hard-line youth group, delivering an incendiary speech in 2007 after a Hindu boy was killed, calling for his supporters to kill Muslims. He was briefly jailed in Gorakhpur. Talat Aziz, a former leader of the opposition Samajwadi Party, has accused Adityanath of leading an attack on her political rally in 1999 during which her bodyguard was shot dead. A court dismissed the charge against Adityanath in 2019. The plant which was planted in 1999 has grown into a massive tree. Now the hatred, the polarisation, dominates everything, Aziz said. During his first term as chief minister in Uttar Pradesh, anti-terrorism, national security and sedition laws were increasingly used to jail critics and journalists. And the police have cracked down on dissent, fatally shooting nearly two dozen Muslim protesters during a demonstration in 2019 against a citizenship law that is widely seen as discriminatory. Also read: Muslims committed 'grave mistake' by voting for SP over BSP, says Mayawati Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan, a constitutional lawyer and a minority rights activist, rose to prominence after leading protests against the citizenship law. He ran an unlikely campaign challenging Adityanath for the Gorakhpur seat, finishing fourth with less than 8,000 votes. He always plays the religion card, and thats why he wins, Ravan said. He is making a fool of people, and the country is suffering for it. Yet voters perception that the streets of Uttar Pradesh have become safer, coupled with a bevy of social welfare programs and a clear commitment to Hindutva a devout Hindu culture and way of life have proved a winning combination. Modi greeted the election victory in Uttar Pradesh as a road map for the 2024 general elections. When we formed the government in 2019, experts said it was because of the 2017 victory in Uttar Pradesh for his BJP, he said in a speech Thursday. I believe the same experts will say that the 2022 election result has decided the fate of the 2024 national elections. The BJP won four of five state elections in polls that stretched from Uttarakhand in the north to coastal Goa. The Hindutva appeal that the BJP has been creating for the last seven years, this is really now come to stay, said Arati Jerath, a political analyst. Its strong Hindu leadership plus soft welfare measures combined really well to give the BJP that sweeping edge over the other parties, she said. Adityanath seems comfortable with being seen as a potential successor to Modi, who turned 71 in September. This is the blessing of 250 million people of Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath said at a victory speech at party headquarters in Lucknow, the state capital. We accept these blessings, and as per the expectations of common people and with the mantra of together with all, development of all, trust of all and efforts by all, we will carry forward continuously. Also read: BSP at its nadir as Dalits desert Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh Back in Gorakhpur on the final night of campaigning, the BJP went all-out for Adityanath with an extravagant procession, including a brass band, a troupe of male dancers wearing bells around their waists and ankles, a truck full of cameras, and boisterous supporters moshing to bass-heavy dance music and snare drums. From the balcony of a medical practice in downtown Gorakphur, Dr. Sharad Srivastava and his family flung handfuls of marigold and rose petals on Adityanath, adorned in a saffron turban over his typical saffron robe, giving a regal wave from his perch atop an orange BJP truck festooned with flowers. We want to restore this type of nationalism, Srivastava said. We want to regain our heritage. Yogiji is not anti-Muslim. Hes against those who are anti-national. The following morning, dozens of people waited at the Gorakhpur temple for a word with the maharaj, which means great king, but also refers to Adityanaths post as temple president. They stood as he silently strode past with a large entourage of monks in saffron robes and security forces armed with machine guns. Check out DH's latest videos Expecting an authentic portrayal of sex workers in Hindi films is akin to seeing mellow romance in Quentin Tarantino flicks. There are numerous tell-tale signs to support this. What is common among the following songs Ghaghra from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewaani (2013), Fevicol Se from Dabangg 2 (2012), and Kajra Re from Bunty Aur Babli (2005)? Perhaps the most obvious similarity is the setting of the item numbers, i.e., the customary kotha. Chandramukhi in Devdas (2002) famously said, Tawaifs dont have a destiny. Her opinion, however, would change if she watched Hindi films about the lives of sex workers, says Vivek, a Mumbai-based film appreciation professor. It doesnt matter whether theyre tawaifs, or courtesans or ordinary sex workers; on the screen, they are empowered women, often seen in Manish Malhotra outfits, adds Vivek. Unlike how you see them in films, sex workers arent women in expensive designer clothes. Neither do they sing and dance their way into a mans heart. Battle-hardened, yet tender, these are the women who survive in the underbellies of India. Showtime took two sex workers from Bengaluru for a show of Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022) to get their views on the film. While Rupa and Sushma (names changed) found the film to be an engaging affair, they admit that they are still in search of authentic representation of their lives in films, those that empathise with them. For instance, they ask, why are sex workers always witty seductresses with a particular body type, generally of fair complexion? Not all sex workers are victims as some choose the profession deliberately. But there are others to whom fate dealt a heavy blow. Rupa was introduced to the world of a brothel when she was still a teenager, struggling to cope with a tragic circumstance, she recollects. Brothels in cinema are shown as well-lit places with esteemed clientele and spacious rooms amid the buzz of a city. Bhansalis set in Gangubai Kathiawadi is so visually appealing that it sometimes takes the focus away from the misery of sex workers. According to Rupa, brothels are squalid cells of misery and torture that a sex worker must endure daily. A typical day brings in between 20 to 25 clients. The rooms are small and dingy. A sex worker works nonstop for 8-10 hours, says Sushma. Films such as Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Danny Boyles Slumdog Millionaire (2008) have accurately depicted this. In popular culture, female sex workers are strong and fearless boss-women with autonomy and agency. Gangus case is no exception. Gangu (played by Alia Bhatt) was up for any challenge, whether it was pimps or patrons. A brothel owner, she soars to the top and dismisses her hurdles. While thats inspiring, Rupa throws more light on the hardships faced in her job. One cannot simply get away if one misbehaves with a pimp. Pimps have their own methods of exacting a payback. All manner of harm is at their disposal. Pimps can tell our families about our profession despite us keeping it a secret, she explains. Filmmakers exaggerate and use larger-than-life characters to justify the escape promised by them to the public, feels Amrita Pratap, a Bengaluru-based lawyer, and a cinema aficionado. There is no way to accomplish that using straightforward representations. However, the movie audience leaves the theatre with a false impression, she expressed. Watch latest videos by DH here: An unhinged man with a history of assaulting children has been arrested for flipping over a stroller on a Queens street Friday injuring a 3-year-old girl seated inside, police said. Christopher Elder is accused of storming up to and screaming at a 48-year-old woman pushing her granddaughter in a stroller on Robinson St. and 45th Ave. in East Flushing about 6:15 a.m., cops said. Advertisement The woman, who doesnt understand English and had no idea what the unprovoked attack was about or why the man was ranting, she told police. A moment later, Elder, 31, grabbed the sides of the stroller and flipped it over, cops said. Advertisement The child tumbled out and cut her head on the pavement. EMS rushed the toddler to Queens hospital, where she was stitched up, authorities said. The panicked grandmother called 911. Responding police found Elder at Kissena Blvd. and 45th Ave. and took him into custody. He was taken to an area hospital where he was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation Friday. NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said Elder has been been arrested eight times, mostly for unprovoked assaults. On Dec. 11, he attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother on Kissena Blvd. in Queens, according to a criminal complaint. The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > Elder shoved the woman and her daughter to the ground and hit the child in the back of the head multiple times before punching her in the forehead, according to court documents. He was also accused of punching a 64-year-old man in the face. Elder was charged with assault, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child. On July 9, Elder was arrested after he threw a bottle at a car in the same neighborhood. As the victim sped off, Elder allegedly chased after the car with a knife in hand, a criminal complaint details. Advertisement Police quickly caught up with Elder, who allegedly wrapped his legs around the arresting officer and refused to get into a patrol car. He was hit with menacing, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. Ukraine's capital Kyiv has endured a century of sieges, terrible attacks and revolutions. We look at its tormented history: After the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in February 1917, Ukrainians wanted to break free of the Russian Empire of which they had been a part for two centuries. Ukrainian nationalists declared autonomy on November 20, 1917, and then independence in January 1918 with Kyiv as their capital. The Bolsheviks had meanwhile proclaimed the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the eastern city of Kharkiv. Red Army soldiers took Kyiv on February 8, 1918. With Russia losing World War I, the Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918, and Germany occupied Ukraine. Read | 'Don't send your sons to war': Zelenskyy to Russians It kicked the Bolsheviks out of Kyiv and backed a coup by a former general in the imperial Russian army. After Germany's eventual defeat, the nationalists retook the city in December 1918. Throughout 1919 Kyiv, like the rest of Ukraine, passed backwards and forwards between the warring Ukrainian nationalist, Tsarist "white" and the Soviet "red" armies. In May 1920, with almost all of Ukraine in the hands of the Red Army, the nationalists turned to Poland for help. They retook the city only to evacuate it a month later and let the Bolsheviks in. Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union along with other Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. The Soviet authorities stripped Kyiv of its status as capital in favour of Kharkiv as they sought to stamp out Ukrainian nationalism. Mostly Russian-speaking Kharkiv remained the capital until 1934, when Kyiv took over again. But seven years later it was devastated during World War II. In June 1941 Kyiv was surrounded and bombarded by the invading Axis powers -- Germany, Hungary and Romania. Live updates of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on DH Much of its historic centre was destroyed by the retreating Soviet army and after a fierce 80-day battle, the Nazis entered Kyiv on September 19. More than 30,000 people -- mostly Jews, but also prisoners of war -- were rounded up and shot at Babi Yar, close to Kyiv's present-day television tower. Tens of thousands more died during the occupation, with most of the city's Jews killed in death camps. In November 1943 the Soviets retook Kyiv but by then 40 percent of its buildings had been destroyed. In 1965 it was awarded "hero city" status by the Soviet Union. Although its industrial infrastructure was bolstered during its reconstruction, it remained in Moscow's shadow until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. That year Ukraine declared independence after a referendum with Kyiv again becoming a European capital. But stability was short-lived. Kyiv's vast central Independence Square, popularly known as Maidan, was the epicentre of the massive 2004 pro-democracy "Orange Revolution" as well as the long pro-European uprising of 2013/2014 that sparked Russia's annexation of Crimea. In November 2004, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians turned out over three weeks to protest fraud-tainted polls which saw Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovych elected president. The election was cancelled and pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko were elected. Then nearly 10 years later, in November 2013, hundreds of thousands of pro-European demonstrators occupied the Maidan after Yanukovych -- back in power since 2010 -- turned his back on an association treaty with the European Union in favour of a rapprochement with Moscow. The protests, which were marked by police violence, lasted day and night for three months. After a bloodbath on the Maidan between February 18 and 20 when police opened fire, Yanukovych was impeached and fled to Russia. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. As war rages in Ukraine, NATO and its partners will launch exercises in Norway on Monday aimed at coming to the rescue of one of its own. Some 30,000 troops, 200 aircraft and 50 vessels from 27 nations will take part in the Cold Response 2022 exercise, the largest exercise involving NATO troops this year. Kicking off on March 14, the manoeuvres will enable Western nations to hone their combat skills in Norway's cold climate, including in the Arctic, on the ground, at sea and in the skies. Also Read | 'Risk worth taking': US, NATO rush arms to Ukraine despite proliferation concerns The exercise will be held just a few hundred kilometres from the Russian border, and while it was planned long before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, it now has added significance because of the war. "This exercise is extremely important for the security of Norway and its allies. We will practice an allied reinforcement of Norway", Norwegian Defence Minister Odd Roger Enoksen told AFP. "It is not being held because of the Russian authorities' attack on Ukraine, but given the backdrop there is a heightened significance", he said. Follow live Ukraine-Russia crisis updates here The guardian of NATO's northern border in Europe, Norway is keen to test how it would manage Allied reinforcements on its soil, in line with Article 5 of NATO's charter, which requires member states to come to the aid of another member state under attack. Neighbouring Sweden and Finland, which are officially military non-aligned but increasingly close partners of NATO, will also participate in Cold Response, which will conclude on April 1. "I find it totally normal, perhaps now more than ever, to train together to demonstrate our capacity and our willingness to defend our values and our way of life", stressed General Yngve Odlo, head of Norway's Joint Headquarters and in charge of Cold Response. On the Russian side of the 196-kilometre Arctic border that separates it from Norway is the Kola Peninsula, home to the Northern Fleet and a large number of nuclear weapons and military installations. "There is no explicit military threat against NATO or Norwegian territory", Enoksen said, but "the situation in Europe is more unpredictable than it has been in a long time." To avoid any misunderstandings, Norway has informed Russia of the Cold Response exercise defined as "purely defensive" and will keep a respectful distance from Russia. General Odlo spoke to Vice Admiral Alexander Moiseyev, commander of Russia's Northern Fleet, at length about the exercise in order to provide reassurances. Russia declined however an invitation to send observers to the exercise. "Any build-up of NATO military capabilities near Russia's borders does not help to strengthen security in the region", the Russian embassy in Norway told AFP. In similar circumstances in the past, Moscow has expressed its discontent by jamming GPS signals or announcing missile tests, thereby blocking access to some international maritime and air space. Russia's offensive against Ukraine surprised experts, leaving some to wonder whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would try to go after other former Soviet states, such as the Baltics, in his quest to restore the old USSR. Cold Response "allows us to hone our training, demonstrate our unity, our willingness to work together in rugged conditions which may be conditions that are more familiar in the east", French General Yvan Gouriou of France's rapid reaction corps said. "So the exercise is very relevant in the current situation", he added. More than 40,000 troops were initially expected to participate in Cold Response, but the number has shrunk due to the Covid pandemic and geopolitical crises elsewhere. The US aircraft carrier Harry Truman and its escort ships have been kept back in the Aegean Sea, where they are helping monitor the skies near Ukraine. Check out latest DH videos here Islamabad has demanded a joint investigation with New Delhi after India admitted that one of its missiles had landed in Pakistan after being fired accidentally earlier this week. Though New Delhi already ordered a high-level Court of Inquiry, Islamabad pointed out that Indias internal probe would not be sufficient as the missile had fallen in the territory of Pakistan. It called upon the international community to take serious notice of the accidental firing of the missile from India, noting that any countermeasure by Pakistan could have had grave consequences. Pakistan also demanded that India should explain if the missile had been indeed handled by its armed forces or some rogue elements. It stated that the incident indicated many loopholes and technical lapses of serious nature in the handling of strategic weapons by India. Also Read | India to probe accidental missile firing into Pakistan India has not yet officially reacted to Pakistans demand for a joint probe into the incident. A source in New Delhi, however, said that it had taken note of Pakistans bid to use the accidental firing of the unarmed missile to malign Indias impeccable track record of responsible handling of nuclear weapons and systems capable of delivering them. A spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi stated on Friday that a technical malfunction during the course of a routine maintenance had led to the accidental firing of the missile on March 9. The missile had landed at Mian Chunnu city in Punjab in Pakistan just seven minutes after entering the territory of the neighbouring country. India stated that the incident was deeply regrettable, but noted that it was also a matter of relief it had not led to loss of life due to the accident. New Delhi did not divulge the details of the missile but said that it was one of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles manufactured in India in collaboration with Russia. Islamabad on Saturday demanded that New Delhi must explain the measures and procedures in place in India to prevent accidental missile launches and the particular circumstances of this incident, should clearly explain the type and specifications of the missile that fell in Pakistan, explain the flight path and trajectory of the accidentally launched missile and how it had ultimately turned and entered Pakistan. Was the missile equipped with self-destruct mechanism? Why did it fail to actualize?, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Pakistan questioned. Given the short distances and response times, any misinterpretation by the other side could lead to countermeasures in self-defence with grave consequences, it said, adding: Pakistan, therefore, calls upon the international community to take serious notice of this incident of grave nature in a nuclearized environment and play its due role in promoting strategic stability in the region. Check out DH's latest videos: As the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces continued into its third week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Poland for its support to the nation. Meanwhile, the UN dismissed Russia's claims of a bioweapons programme being jointly run by Ukraine and the United States Britain, France and Germany warned Saturday against moves to "exploit" the Iran nuclear negotiations -- a tacit warning to Russia which is accused of delaying an agreement to gain leverage in its invasion of Ukraine. Negotiators in Vienna said Friday they had halted talks despite having almost sealed a deal to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to contain Iran's nuclear activities. The setback came after Russia said it was demanding guarantees that the Western sanctions imposed on its economy following its invasion of Ukraine would not affect its trade with Iran. "Nobody should seek to exploit JCPOA negotiations to obtain assurances that are separate to the JCPOA," said a statement on Saturday from the spokespersons for the British, French and German foreign ministries -- the three European parties to the negotiations. Also Read: Russia envoy says Iran nuclear talks fate not dependent only on Moscow "This risks the collapse of the deal, depriving the Iranian people of sanctions lifting and the international community of the assurance needed on Iran's nuclear programme," they added. The current round of negotiations started in late November in the Austrian capital Vienna between Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia, with the US taking part indirectly. After the talks halted on Friday, the United States put the ball in Iran and Russia's court. "We are confident that we can achieve mutual return to compliance... (if) those decisions are made in places like Tehran and Moscow," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. Russia's ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, told reporters outside the talks venue that he rejected "attempts to put all the blame on the Russian Federation", insisting that other parties to the talks "need additional time". The JCPOA aimed to ensure Iran would not be able to develop a nuclear weapon, which it has always denied seeking. It unravelled when former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018. Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting it to start disregarding the curbs laid down in the deal on its nuclear activity. "A fair and comprehensive deal is on the table ready for conclusion," the European statement said on Saturday. "It is our understanding that Iran and the US have worked hard to resolve final bilateral issues and so we are ready to conclude this deal now." Watch the latest DH Videos here: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday called on the mothers of Russian soldiers to prevent their sons being sent to war in Ukraine. "I want to say this once again to Russian mothers, especially mothers of conscripts. Do not send your children to war in a foreign country," Zelenskyy said in a video address released on Telegram. "Check where your son is. And if you have the slightest suspicion that your son could be sent to war against Ukraine, act immediately" to prevent him being killed or captured, he said. "Ukraine never wanted this terrible war. And Ukraine does not want it. But it will defend itself as much as necessary," he added. On Wednesday, Russia for the first time acknowledged the presence of conscripts in Ukraine and announced that a number of them had been taken prisoner. Moscow had previously claimed that only professional soldiers were fighting there. Read | 'Risk worth taking': US, NATO rush arms to Ukraine The announcement came as posts from mothers without news of their sons sent to Ukraine multiplied on social networks. Kyiv last week invited mothers of Russian soldiers captured on its territory to come and pick their children up. The Ukrainian defence ministry published phone numbers and an email through which they could obtain information about them. Kyiv claims to have taken dozens of prisoners since the start of the Russian invasion. During the conflict between Moscow and Chechen separatists in the 1990s and 2000s, many young Russian conscripts were sent to the front, and some were taken prisoner. In a movement that fuelled anti-war protests in Russia at the time, women mobilised to try and bring their sons back alive or bring their bodies back -- even going to Chechnya themselves. Watch latest videos by DH here: The United States and NATO are shipping weapons into Ukraine at break-neck speed, including highly sensitive items such as shoulder-fired missiles called Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems (MANPADS) that can take down aircraft. The Western arms deliveries, another one of which is expected to arrive in the coming hours, have been vital to enabling Ukrainians to fight the invading Russians forces far more effectively and fiercely than US intelligence expected. But moving those amounts of weaponry into the largest conflict in Europe since World War Two carries with it risks that some could fall into the wrong hands -- a possibility the West has considered. "Frankly, we believe that risk is worth taking right now because the Ukrainians are fighting so skillfully with the tools at their disposal and they're using them so creatively," a senior US defense official said on Friday when asked about that danger. Read | Russia 'shows no sign of engaging in diplomacy': US Highly portable missiles such as Stinger surface-to-air missiles -- which are a type of MANPAD -- can help win wars, but in the past they have also been lost, sold, or wound up in the arsenals of extremist groups. For example, hundreds of Stingers supplied by the United States were seen as key to helping mujahideen rebels drive Soviet forces out of Afghanistan in a conflict that spanned the 1980s and 1990s. But the United States subsequently spent years trying to recover unused MANPADS from that country and from other conflict zones around the world. In a Pentagon-financed study in 2019, the RAND Corp. think-tank estimated that upwards of 60 civilian aircraft have been hit by MANPADS since the 1970s, killing more than 1,000 civilians. As of 2019, 57 non-state armed groups were confirmed to possess or suspected to possess MANPADS. Russia was "far and away the single largest exporter of MANPADS", RAND Corp. said, with more than 10,000 systems sold between 2010 and 2018 to countries including Iraq, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Qatar, and Libya. Read | Interpol restricts Russia's direct input on network The United States and NATO have not disclosed how many MANPADS have been transferred to Ukraine since the start of the invasion, which is now in its third week. So far, Russia has not targeted Western weapons convoys headed into Ukraine and the senior US defense official said the United States had not seen any Western-supplied inventory falling into Russian hands. But that could change. At a Friday meeting of Russia's Security Council, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu talked about potential future seizures of Western-made Javelin anti-tank weapons and Stingers. They should be handed to Russian-backed forces in the breakaway Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly backed the idea. "As to the delivery of arms, especially Western-made ones which have fallen into the hands of the Russian army - of course I support the possibility of giving these to the military units of the Lugansk and Donetsk people's republics," Putin said. "Please do this," Putin told Shoigu. Watch latest videos by DH here: Russian engineers have arrived to measure radiation at a Ukrainian nuclear plant, the seizure of which during Moscow's invasion of the country sparked international alarm, officials said. Russia occupied Zaporizhzhia, Europe's biggest atomic power plant, after its forces attacked it on March 4. Its reactors appeared undamaged after the assault despite a fire that broke out there after tanks bombarded it. Officials from Russia's nuclear firm Rosatom arrived at the site on Friday, the Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom said in a message on Telegram. The Russians told Ukrainian personnel they were there "to evaluate the radiation level" and "help to repair the plant" which was hit by shells, Energoatom said. At the time of the attack, Moscow's UN ambassador denied that Russia had shelled the plant. Read | Ready to negotiate, but will not surrender: Ukraine The Ukrainian agency said that the Russians had come directly to the site because Ukrainian personnel had refused to collaborate with them. It said one of the Russians who arrived at the plant had introduced himself as the new civil and military administrator of the area and declared the plant part of Russian territory, to be run by Rosatom. In a separate statement, Rosatom confirmed the dispatch of Russian specialists, but said the operation of Zaporizhzhia, like Russian-occupied Chernobyl, would be undertaken by Ukrainian staff. The Russian specialists would be there to "advise" the Ukrainian teams, the statement added. Advice would be given on "the restoration of power at the Chernobyl facility and the physical protection system at the Zaporizhzhia power station", the Russian nuclear operator said. "Operations to guarantee the safety of operations at Ukrainian nuclear facilities would be undertaken in contact with the IAEA." With six reactors, Zaporizhzhia can power up to four million homes and produces about a fifth of Ukraine's electricity. It opened in 1985. Watch latest videos by DH here: US Vice-President Kamala Harris on Friday said Russian President Vladimir Putin "shows no sign of engaging in serious diplomacy" as she accused Moscow of "atrocious and outrageous conduct" in Ukraine. "The US has been attempting sincerely to engage in diplomacy actively and from everything we know and witnessed Putin shows no sign of engaging in serious diplomacy," Harris said on a visit to Romania. "We maintain that diplomacy is the way to resolve issues, (but) that coexists with our commitment to ensure that our allies are strong and that there must be serious consequences and accountability for Russia's doings," Harris told a news conference in Bucharest with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. "That's why we engaged in historic sanctions," added Harris of the Western response to the February 24 invasion as she warned of "more actions that we will take to ensure serious consequences for what is atrocious and outrageous conduct". "We are clear that any intentional attack by targeting civilians is a war crime. Period," said Harris, alluding to a midweek attack on a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol which killed at least three people, including a child. The World Health Organization has to date logged 26 attacks, causing at least 12 deaths, on health facilities in Ukraine since the conflict began. Harris has been visiting NATO allies Poland and Romania this week to show US support as conflict rages over their respective borders with Ukraine. Washington last month redeployed a 1,000-strong unit US service personnel from Germany to Romania to a base near the Black Sea, all but doubling the US troop presence in the country. Watch latest videos by DH here: Saudi Arabia confirmed Saturday a 10-year travel ban for freed blogger and human rights activist Raif Badawi, who has become a symbol of freedom of expression around the world. Badawi, now 38, who was arrested and detained in Saudi Arabia in 2012 on charges of "insulting Islam", was released Friday. An interior ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Saturday: "The sentence handed down to Raif was 10 years in prison followed by a travel ban for the same length of time. The court ruling holds up and is final." "Therefore, he cannot leave the kingdom for another 10 years unless a (royal) pardon is issued," the official said. At the end of 2014, Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 50 lashes a week for 20 weeks. His first flogging in the kingdom's Jeddah square shocked the world and was described by the United Nations as "cruel and inhuman". After the outcry, he was not lashed again. On Friday, Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Canada with their three children, told AFP: "Raif called me. He is free." It was later confirmed by a Saudi security official, but details of Badawi's release were not revealed. Every Friday for years, Haidar -- who fled to Canada after Badawi's arrest and has since become a Canadian citizen -- held a public vigil for him. "I jumped when I found out. I couldn't believe it. I can't wait to see my dad, I'm so excited," one of his daughters, Najwa Badawi, 18, had told AFP. Amnesty International said on Friday it would "actively work to have any conditions lifted", noting that Badawi could face a 10-year travel ban. Raif Badawi's sister, Samar Badawi, as well as activist Nassima al-Sadah, released in 2021, also remain stranded in the kingdom. Canada's Quebec province has paved the way for Badawi to come to the country if he chooses by placing him on a priority list of potential immigrants for humanitarian reasons. "Finally!" Quebec Premier Francois Legault tweeted Friday about his release, adding: "I keep thinking about the children who will finally see their father!" Badawi studied economics and ran an institute for teaching English and computer skills prior to his arrest, according to his wife. Known for his writings in support of freedom of expression, the blogger won the 2014 Reporters Without Borders prize in the net-citizen category. He was also awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom by the European Parliament in 2015, and in 2015 and 2016, he was among the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. International non-governmental groups and the UN continue to denounce the repression of dissenting voices and the imprisonment of activists in Saudi Arabia, despite the kingdom's efforts to improve its image by undertaking certain reforms. A young Hawaii man accused of killing his elderly lover also poured cement over the body in a bathtub in order to make it look like a suicide, authorities said. Juan Tejedor Baron, 23, was charged with murder, theft and identity theft in the slaying of 73-year-old Gary Ruby. His body was found Tuesday in the bathtub of his Hawaii Loa Ridge gated community home in Honolulu after his brother had gone weeks without hearing from him and alerted local police. Advertisement Baron, who had made it back to the mainland, was discovered by authorities in the crawl space of a bus in Anaheim, Calif. that was heading for Mexico. U.S. Marshals Task Force and Los Angeles Police Departments Gang and Narcotics Division arrested Juan Tejedor Baron on murder charge. (@LAPDCARRANZA VIA TWITTER) Advertisement Baron allegedly used a belt to suffocate Ruby before placing him in a bathtub he then filled with concrete to conceal the body, according to an affidavit. A 34-year-old man who local authorities saw leaving the victims house when they talked to Baron earlier this week was also arrested. That man, who was determined to have not played a role in the crime, has since been released from custody. THIS NEEDS DETAILS. THIS GUY WAS WITH BARON The affidavit also accuses Baron of trying to acquire Rubys home and says that early last month, he tried to forge ownership papers for the title of his Audi. Baron is also accused of trying to acquire Rubys home and trying to forge ownership papers for the title of his Audi. Baron is being held without bail as he awaits extradition to Honolulu. With News Wire Services Saudi Arabia executed 81 men over the past 24 hours, including seven Yemenis and one Syrian national, on charges including terrorism and holding "deviant beliefs", state news agency SPA said on Saturday. The number dwarfed the 67 executions reported in the kingdom in all of 2021 and the 27 in 2020. "These individuals ... were convicted of various crimes including murdering innocent men, women and children," SPA said, citing a statement from the interior ministry. "Crimes committed by these individuals also include pledging allegiance to foreign terrorist organisations, such as ISIS (Islamic State), al-Qaeda and the Houthis," it added. Some travelled to conflict zones to join "terrorist organisations", SPA said. The men included 37 Saudi nationals who were found guilty in a single case for attempting to assassinate security officers and targeting police stations and convoys, the report added. Saudi Arabia's human rights records have been under an increasing scrutiny from rights groups and Western allies since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. It has faces strong criticism of its restrictive laws on political and religious expression, and the implementation of the death penalty, including for defendants arrested when they were minors. Saudi Arabia denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security according to its laws. SPA said the accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process. Watch the latest DH Videos here: Ukraine was ready to negotiate to end the war started by Russia more than two weeks ago, but would not surrender or accept any ultimatums, the country's foreign affairs minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Saturday. Speaking at a virtual event organized by the non-partisan, nonprofit organization Renew Democracy Initiative, Kuleba said civilian lives would be saved if Ukraine had fighter jets and more attack planes to destroy large military columns. Watch the latest DH Videos here: The United States accused Russia of using a UN Security Council meeting Friday for "lying and spreading disinformation as part of a potential false-flag operation by Moscow for the use of chemical or biological agents in Ukraine. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia was playing out a scenario put forth in the council last month by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that President Vladimir Putin would "fabricate allegations about chemical or biological weapons to justify its own violent attacks against the Ukrainian people." "The intent behind these lies seems clear, and is deeply troubling," she said. "We believe Russia could use chemical or biological agents for assassinations, as part of a staged or false-flag incident, or to support tactical military operations." Follow live Ukraine-Russia crisis updates here The United States has warned about such Russian operations in conjunction with an invasion, which began February 24. Russia had requested the meeting to address its allegations of US "biological activities" in Ukraine a charge made without any evidence and denied by both Washington and Kyiv. Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said its Defense Ministry had documents charging that Ukraine has at least 30 biological laboratories carrying out "very dangerous biological experiments" involving pathogens, and its work "is being done and funded and supervised by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency of the United States." Ukraine does have a network of biological labs that have gotten funding and research support from the US but they are owned and operated by Ukraine and are part of an initiative called the Biological Threat Reduction Program that aims to reduce the likelihood of deadly outbreaks, whether natural or manmade. \ The US efforts date back to work in the 1990s to dismantle the former Soviet Union's program for weapons of mass destruction. "The labs are not secret," said Filippa Lentzos, a senior lecturer in science and international security at King's College London, in an email to the Associated Press. They are not being used in relation to bioweapons. This is all disinformation. Britain's UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward, called the allegations utter nonsense and said "Russia is sinking to new depths today, but the council must not get dragged down with it." UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu told the council she was aware of media reports about the allegations of and said: "The United Nations is not aware of any biological weapons programs." Thomas-Greenfield also denied that Ukraine has a biological weapons program or biological weapons labs as Russia claimed, saying the public health laboratory facilities are used to detect and diagnose diseases like Covid-19, with US help. Thomas-Greenfield said that ever since Russia began building up forces near Ukraine's borders, Washington's strategy has been to counter Moscow' tactics and share what it knows with the world. "We're not going to let Russia get away with lying to the world or staining the integrity of the Security Council by using it as a venue for legitimizing Putin's violence," she said. "We do not sit in this chamber to be an audience for Russia's domestic propaganda," Thomas-Greenfield added. "And we should not allow Russia to abuse its permanent seat to spread disinformation and lies and pervert the purpose of the Security Council." She also accused Russia's ally, China, of "spreading disinformation in support of Russia's outrageous claims." China's UN Ambassador Zhang Jun expressed concern at Russia's accusations and urged an investigation to "provide a comprehensive clarification and accept a multilateral verification." Britain's Woodward said the Security Council must not be an audience for Russia's domestic propaganda and must remain focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Moscow's accusations "may actually point at Russia preparing another horrific false-flag operation. Noting that Russia has already used cruise missiles, multiple rocket launchers and heavy aerial bombardment, he addressed Putin by asking: "So what else are you going to use against Ukraine?" The UN human rights office, meanwhile, has received credible reports that Russian forces are using cluster munitions in Ukraine, including in populated areas which is prohibited under international humanitarian law, Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council. "Indiscriminate attacks, including those using cluster munitions, which are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction, are prohibited under international humanitarian law," DiCarlo said. "Directing attacks against civilian and civilian objects, as well as so-called area bombardment in towns and villages, are also prohibited under international law and may amount to war crimes." Nebenzia replied that the allegations are "refuted repeatedly by our Ministry of Defense". The Russian request for the Security Council meeting came from its first deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had made the accusation earlier this week. White House press secretary Jen Psaki called Russia's claim preposterous and tweeted: "This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also denied Russia's accusation, saying the accusation itself was a bad sign. Check out latest DH videos here An Alliance Air flight from Delhi carrying 55 passengers overshot the runway while landing at the Jabalpur airport on Saturday afternoon, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said. None of the passengers or crew members were injured, they said, adding that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has started an investigation. The Delhi-Jabalpur flight was operated using an ATR-72 aircraft, they mentioned. It departed from Delhi at around 11.30 AM and landed in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh around 1.15 PM. There were 55 passengers and five crew members on board and they safely disembarked after the incident without any injuries, they said. The airport at Dumna, where the incident took place, is located around 21 km from Jabalpur city. Airport director Kusum Das told PTI that operations at the airport have been suspended for four to five hours. Watch the latest DH Videos here: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Saturday issued a statement on the sidelines of the outfits three-day long annual meet at Gujarat, where he said that the contribution of spiritual leaders like Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda, Maharshi Aurobindo and others in Indias freedom struggle should not be forgotten. He also said RSS workers under founder KB Hedgewar, too, played their role in Indias freedom struggle. The saffron outfit has continually faced criticism from Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, over their lack of contribution in Indias freedom struggle. Hedgewar founded the RSS in Nagpur in 1925, and he passed away in 1940. This National Movement was all-inclusive and covered the entire Bharat. Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda, Maharshi Aurobindo and other spiritual leaders motivated the people and leaders of Bharat to offer sustained resistance to British subjugation, his statement read. Lal-Bal-Pal, Mahatma Gandhi, Veer Savarkar, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Velu Nachiyar, Rani Gaidinliu and other known and unknown freedom fighters further strengthened the feeling of self-respect and nationhood. The swayamsevaks also played their role under the leadership of staunch patriot Dr Hedgewar, it further read. Lal-Bal-Pal was the moniker given to freedom fighters Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal. The outfit, also facing continued criticism over the role of Savarkar in Indias freedom struggle with his mercy petitions to the British being brought up by Opposition parties, has been working at reviving his image. The statement comes as the RSS holds its three-day annual meet at Ahmedabad. At the meet, an annual report released by the outfit condemned the killing of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha in Shivamogga in February, and said that religious fanaticism has claimed the lives of several Hindus, and that the murders of activists of Hindu organisations in Kerala, Karnataka are an example. Series of dastardly acts revealing communal hysteria, rallies, demonstrations, violation of social discipline, custom and conventions under the guise of the Constitution and religious freedom, inciting violence by instigating meagre causes, promoting illegal activities, etc. is increasing, the report read. The RSS has also vowed to increase its footprint in the meet, resolving to open branches in every major town and city in the coming two years. In the annual report, the RSS has also said that the forced conversion of Hindus is continuing in states like Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh ... Of late, different newer ways of converting new groups are being adopted. It seems necessary to make joint and coordinated efforts in this direction in a more planned manner, the report states. Watch the latest DH Videos here: An ambitious coal block project in Deucha Pachami, in Birbhum district of West Bengal, that also found a mention in the state budget statement will be opposed, Suvendu Adhikari, BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly has said. The leader added that a major port development project that the Mamata-government intends to execute will never happen as it lacks feasibility due to unavailability of adequate land. The Deucha Pachami coal block development has faced resistance from a section of activists, Left-affiliated platforms. The state government has already announced compensation and rehabilitation for the affected families. The Mamata-government has, ever since coming to power, maintained that it will not acquire land forcefully in the state. The budget statement read and placed by Chandrima Bhattacharya, Minister of State (independent charge), finance, mentions that development of the block - one of the largest in the world - will provide energy to the rapid industrialisation of the state besides bringing in huge employment opportunities in the mining sector per-se as well as in allied and ancillary establishments. Also Read: Mamata Banerjee undermining people's electoral choice; failed to build consensus as PM nominee: BJP Suvendu has claimed that the BJP will stand by the tribals and forest-dwellers. No one, Mamata Banerjee or anyone else, has the power to violate the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The legislation gives the dwellers their land rights. If attempts are made to ignore the legislation, then the BJP will stand shoulder to shoulder with the tribal community and fight. We will not let Mamata Banerjee do this, he said. The state government has also proposed development of a port at Tajpur in south Bengal. The budget statement says that the initiative is for development of alternative sea ports and integration of port-rail-road infrastructure for creation of sustainable logistics infrastructure in the state. The state has already identified over 1,000 acres of land for the project. It will harness huge logistics potential, attract further investment in allied infrastructure and industrial development and provide employment opportunities to a large number of our youth, the statement adds. Suvendu has claimed that theres no land available for the project and the project will never see the light of the day. Regarding the already existing Haldia port, he said that 5,000 acres of land had been acquired in the (distant) past. He claimed that around 5,000 acres of land will be needed for the proposed project for establishing warehouses, ancillary facilities, and freight corridors comprising railways and roads. He challenged the government saying that let the government purchase a few thousand acres of land first, and then talk of the project. Watch the latest DH Videos here: The citizens of the country, if they wish, will be able to self-enumerate online in the upcoming census as the government has amended the rules that allowed the census schedule, which contains questions to be asked during the decennial exercise, to be both on paper and in electronic forms. According to the Census (Amendment) Rules, 2022 issued late on Friday night, the phrase "electronic form" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (R) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 -- any information generated, sent, received or stored in media, magnetic, optical, computer memory, micro film, computer generated micro fiche or similar device. Apart from allowing the provision of online self-enumeration, home visit by the enumerators for collecting census data will continue as in the past. Also Read | Centre to launch health census from March 20 The housing listing phase of the census and the exercise to update the NPR were scheduled to be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020, but got postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak. According to the earlier schedule, the census would have its reference date as March 1, 2021 and in snow-bound Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it would have been October 1, 2020. The census operation continues to be on hold and the government is yet to announce the new schedule. The new rules define self-enumeration as "filling-up, completion and submission of census schedule by respondents themselves". In Rule 5, which deals with publishing of the census statistics through publications of magnetic media, the word "media" has been replaced with "electronic or any other media". A clause has been added to Rule 6 to allow filling up of the census schedule through self-enumeration. "Without prejudice to any other provisions of these rules, a person may fill-up, complete and submit the census schedule through self-enumeration," according to the rules notified by the Union home ministry. Rule 8 has an addition: "print media, electronic media, social media", to the list of modes for ensuring wide publicity for the exercise. The earlier list only included radio, audio-visuals and posters. Rule 9 has been updated to allow the census schedules filled through self-enumeration to be kept along with the census schedules and the connected papers canvassed by the enumerators at the office of the director of census operations or at such other place that the census commissioner may direct for the processing of the data as collected. Check out latest DH videos here The 15th round of negotiations between the military commanders of India and China has not yielded any breakthrough in resolving the stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, although they agreed to continue dialogue. Though the meeting between the military commanders of the two nations went on for more than 12 hours on Friday, they could not immediately reach an agreement for mutual withdrawal of front-line troops from Hot Springs area (Patrol Point 15) as well as from other face-off points along the LAC. The 15th round of negotiations between the senior commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) started at around 10:00 am and continued till 11 pm. The Indian Army's delegation was headed by the commander of its XIV Corps, Lt. Gen. Anindya Sengupta, while the Chinese PLA's negotiators were led by the commander of its South Xinjiang Military District. A deal for mutual withdrawal of the front-line troops from the Hot Springs area was being perceived as a low-hanging fruit for the negotiators to yield for the past few months. The two sides, however, could not clinch the deal on Saturday, just as they had failed to do it on January 12, when the 14th round of negotiations was held. Also Read India, China 'effectively managed, controlled' eastern Ladakh frictions: Chinese FM Wang Yi The two sides agreed to maintain security and stability on the ground till the resolution of the ongoing military stand-off between the two nations along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. They agreed to maintain dialogue via military and diplomatic channels to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest, according to a joint press release issued by the both sides. Also Read | India-China tensions along LAC 'worst' in over 4 decades, says US admiral The two sides carried forward their discussions from the 14th round of negotiations for the resolution of the stand-off along the LAC. They had a detailed exchange of views in this regard, in keeping with the guidance provided by the State Leaders to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest, according to the joint press-release issued on Saturday. They reaffirmed that such a resolution would help restore peace and tranquillity along the LAC in the western sector and facilitate progress in bilateral relations. Protracted negotiations between the two sides earlier had deals for disengagement of troops from Galwan Valley in June 2020, from both banks of Pangong Tso in February 2021 and from Gogra Post in August 2021. Indias relations with China hit a new low over the two-year-long military stand-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. The stand-off started in April-May 2020 with the Chinese PLA amassing a large number of troops along the LAC in an apparent move to change the status quo along the disputed boundary between the two nations and push the line westward to encroach into the territory claimed by India. The Indian Army also deployed additional troops to counter the Chinese Armys move, leading to the stand-off. Watch the latest DH Videos here: The Congress Working Committee will meet on Sunday evening for a post mortem of the partys Assembly election debacle in which all eyes will be on what stand G-23 leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik will take. There was speculation that interim president Sonia Gandhi and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi would offer to resign but party chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala described it as completely unfair, mischievous and incorrect and at the behest of BJP. CWC Special Invitee Manickam Tagore tweeted, all rumour mongers will have egg on their face. Partys only two Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) and Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) have also been invited to the meeting. Both the states will go to the polls next year. Chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the meeting scheduled at 4 PM will be attended by 20 CWC members, 24 Permanent Invitees and nine Special Invitees. Also Read: Like a drowning boat in turbulent ocean: G23 leaders on Congress debacle Prior to the CWC, Sonia will also chair a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group to decide on the strategy and issues to be taken up in the second leg of the Budget Session starting Monday. Congress has been reduced to power in just two states, the worst record in its history, after 1998 when it had just three states under its control when Sonia Gandhi assumed the mantle. The party has not won a single Assembly election after its victory in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in 2018 and lost Kerala and Assam. On Friday, a group of G-23 leaders met at Azads residence and decided to raise the issue of reforms in the party while not fighting it out in the media. Questions are also likely to be asked about the reports prepared on the poll debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly elections and the action taken thereafter. Also Read | As G23 blames Rahul, Kerala Congress leaders target Venugopal for Assembly polls debacle A committee was formed under senior leader Ashok Chavan to study the loss in 2021 and a report was said to be submitted to Sonia but it has not been shared with the CWC yet. Though they will be outnumbered, the meeting will see sparks flying with G-23 leaders, who had in August 2020 written to Sonia seeking clarity on the leadership issue, pushing for accountability and clarity on the leadership. It will also be keenly watched who other than the G-23 leaders all will speak openly in the meeting. Sources said it is expected that the G-23 members will highlight the leadership vacuum and troubles in state units. They are also likely to question the strategies adopted in Punjab and Uttarakhand. It is to be seen whether Rahul and Priyanka would come under attack, especially for the Punjab fiasco. Also Read | Congress leadership brace for heated working committee meet The previous CWC meeting on October 16 had seen Sonia blunting the G-23 leaders' campaign for immediate change in party leadership and sent a clear message to the rebels by asserting that she is a "full-time and hands-on" party president and there is no need to speak to her through the media. It had then decided on an organisation election schedule, membership campaign and an agitation programme on price rise. A first-time Congress MP, who is not in the CWC, told DH, the gap between the people and party is increasing. We are in a terminal decline. We are behaving as if we are doing people a favour. I am not saying I am right. There has to be a clash of ideas, discussions at the party. That is not happening. He advocated the need for collective leadership and said, look at the BJP. Every ten years, they have a new leader emerging. We dont have new leaders. Watch the latest DH Videos here: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of the party's parliamentary strategy group at her residence on Sunday morning to discuss plans for the remainder of the budget session. The second part of the budget session, after a recess, starts on Monday and is scheduled to end on April 8. Also Read | Congress to hold working committee meet on March 13 to discuss poll debacle Gandhi is also the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP). She "has called the Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group meeting at 10, Janpath at 10.30 AM tomorrow," a party leader said. The party will discuss the issues to be raised during the session. Check out DH's latest videos: A woman intends to file a lawsuit against the City of San Francisco, alleging police officers violated her rights when they used DNA she provided through a rape kit to link her to a separate crime. Her lawyer, Adante Pointer on Thursday filed notice of a potential federal lawsuit, saying his client, who reported her sexual assault in 2016, felt violated again when she learned how San Francisco police came to have the evidence used to identify her as a suspect in a recent property crime. Advertisement It was a slap in the face, she told KTVU-TV. Its just unbelievable. Im still having a hard time wrapping my head around this right now. Its just not a good feeling. The felony charges she faced have since been dropped. Advertisement District Attorney Chesa Boudin last month condemned the controversial investigative practice and confirmed his office had launched a probe into officers use of evidence submitted by survivors of rape and sexual assault. Boudin added that when asked, the head of the San Francisco crime lab informed him its not uncommon for officers to comb through their DNA as part of separate investigations. A woman intends to file a lawsuit against the City of San Francisco, alleging police officers violated her rights when they used DNA she provide through a rape kit to link her to a separate crime. (Couperfield // Shutterstock) Police Chief Bill Scott said hes discovered 17 crime victim profiles, 11 of them from rape kits, that were matched using a crime victims database during unrelated probes. He added the departments lab stopped the practice shortly after receiving a complaint from the district attorneys office and has since changed their policy on the matter. Pointer said there is no expiration date or limit on how authorities use such evidence, which ultimately allowed them to create a Google-like database of crime survivors DNA, which they then use to investigate unrelated crimes. Whats more, victims are not being informed their DNA can be stored and later used against them in separate cases. This is the ultimate betrayal and re-victimization at the hands of authorities and people that she sought help and protection from, he added. Pointer declined to name his client. With News Wire Services The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said that they arrested six persons, including a man from Assam, who was operating a human trafficking racket from Bengaluru and was helping Rohingya refugees settle in India with forged documents. The NIA said "mastermind" of the racket, Kumkum Ahmed Chaudhury alias Asiqul Ahmed, a resident of South Assam's Cachar district was arrested from Bengaluru on Friday. The racket was active in areas in Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal sharing borders with Bangladesh. "Other active members of this racket are spread in various parts of the country," the NIA said in a statement. The NIA officer, however, did not disclose the exact place in Bengaluru from where Chaudhary was arrested. The agency also refused to divulge details about the modus operandi of the alleged network saying an investigation was underway to unearth details along with evidence. But police officials in Assam, who had arrested several Rohingya refugees in the past told DH that they illegally cross the India-Bangladesh borders in Tripura and then board trains from South Assam (Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi district). "There is a racket who help such people not only to cross the border through the unfenced stretches but help them make forged documents like PAN cards, Aadhar cards and fake refugee certificates similar to the ones issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. They are taken out by trains to cities like Bengaluru and New Delhi and are engaged in various works," said a police officer in Assam. Many Rohingya women are also engaged in flesh trade, he said. Thousands of Rohingyas fled the Rakhine state of Myanmar and took shelter in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh following ethnic clashes between the ethnic Buddhists and Islamic Rohingyas since 1997. Some even entered India through Indo-Myanmar borders in Mizoram and Manipur. The case related to the illegal entry of Rohingyas was handed over to the NIA in December last year after several of them were arrested in Assam, Tripura and Bengal. DH had also reported about the arrest of several Rohingyas by railway police in Assam and BSF in Tripura. Guwahati-based office of the NIA registered the case under Section 370 (trafficking) and 370 (A) (trafficking for sexual exploitation) of IPC. Police stepped up vigil against Rohingyas after the Union Home Ministry told the Parliament in July last year that all foreigners staying in India without travel documents, including the Rohingyas, would be considered as a "threat to national security." Five other persons arrested by the NIA are Sahalam Laskar alias Alam Laskar, Ahiya Ahmed Choudhury, Bapan Ahmed Choudhury, Jamaluddin Ahmed Choudhury, all from Cachar in Assam and Wanbiang Suting of East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. The NIA carried out searches at several places in Assam, Meghalaya and Bengaluru on Friday in connection with the case. "During the searches conducted, a large number of incriminating documents, articles and digital devices have been seized," said the statement issued by the NIA. Check out DH's latest videos: A 24-year-old woman was shot and critically wounded by a man, who then shot himself dead on the campus of a government college in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district on Saturday, police said. The incident took place around 10 am on the campus of a government college in Premnagar town of the district, where the victim was a student, sub-divisional officer of police Pankaj Kumar Soni said. According to the police, the accused, Sanjay Bhagat, took the step after the victim Anamika Sahu refused to enter into a relationship with him. As per preliminary information, Sahu, a student of BSc, was with her classmates, when Bhagat arrived at the campus on a motorcycle, he said. Bhagat asked the others accompanying her to leave the place and an argument ensued between the two. He suddenly took out a country-made revolver and fired at her abdomen, following which she fell. Assuming that she was dead, the accused then pointed the gun to his forehead and shot himself," Soni said. Sahu was rushed to a local hospital, from where she was shifted to Ambikapur Medical College in the neighbouring Surguja district. In view of her critical condition, she was later referred to the capital Raipur for further treatment, he said. It was a one-sided love affair. Bhagat, who hailed from Kedarpur village of the area, had been stalking the woman for a long time and she had rejected his proposals in the past. Apparently in a fit of rage, he shot her, the official said. A case has been registered in this connection and further probe is underway, he added. Check out DH's latest videos: The Delhi High Court has dissolved a marriage between a Hindu couple, saying that the wife filed a false criminal complaint against her husband which caused him immense mental cruelty and agony. A bench headed by Justice Vipin Sanghi said that false allegations in the present case amounted to a clear and categorical character assassination of the husband, as well as his family members. It said that the wife did everything to get the appellant and his family entrapped in the criminal case. The bench, that comprised Justice Jasmeet Singh, set aside a family court order that refused to grant divorce to the couple, stating that the family court ignored that visiting a police station must have caused mental harassment and trauma to the husband who did not know when a case would be registered against him and he would be arrested. The husband, represented by lawyer Sumeet Verma, had filed an appeal against the family court order and submitted that the complaint before the CAW cell was a counterblast to his petition seeking restitution of conjugal rights. The marriage between the parties was solemnized in May 2008. The court noted that after nearly two years of leaving the matrimonial home, and three years of the marriage, the wife had filed a complaint before the crime against women (CAW) Cell alleging dowry demands, abuse, physical and mental torture and harassment, amongst other cruelties, and all these allegations remained unsubstantiated. The appellant (husband) had to make 30-40 visits to the police station in connection with the said complaint. A police station is not the best of places for anyone to visit. It must have caused mental harassment and trauma each time he was required to visit the police station, with the Damocles Sword hanging over his head, and he not knowing when a case would be registered against him and he would be arrested, the court said in a recent order. The respondent-wife filed an unsubstantiated criminal complaint against the Appellant and his family members which caused them immense mental cruelty and agony, the court stated. Noting that the wife also failed to justify not returning to the matrimonial home and cohabiting with the husband, the court opined that the appellant was able to make out a case of being subjected to cruelty and desertion. The order further said that it did not agree with the family court's view that the burden of proving that he and his family had not subjected the wife to harassment or cruelty for dowry lay with the husband, and such an approach was palpably wrong and against all canons of justice and fair play. The court opined that the relations between the parties were sufficiently beyond repair. The parties have not lived together for the last 12 years and insistence to continue this relationship would only be inflicting further cruelty upon both the parties, it said. "Continuous separation between the parties for a long period should itself be a ground for divorce itself," it said. The marital discord between the parties at present is such that there is a complete loss of faith, trust, understanding and love between the parties. "The conduct of the Respondent has been such as to cause great mental anguish to the Appellant, and the parties cannot be reasonably expected to live with each other anymore, the court added. Check out DH's latest videos: Four militants, two each from Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) were killed in three separate overnight gun battles with security forces across Kashmir on Saturday. One militant was also arrested live from one of the encounter spots, police said. Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar said two JeM militants were killed in an overnight gunfight in the Chewaklan area of south Kashmirs Pulwama district. Police identified the slain militants as Kamaal Bhai alias Jatt, a Pakistani, who was active in Kashmir since 2018, and Aqib Mushtaq alias Usman Hyder a local. Both the slain ultras were affiliated with the JeM outfit, a police spokesperson said. In separate gunfights, one LeT militant was killed in the Serch area of central Kashmir's Ganderbal and Nechama, Rajwar area of Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara, he said. The slain militant at Handwara was identified as Suhail Ahmad Ganie while the one killed in Ganderbal was identified as Adil Ahmad Khan, both locals. A police spokesperson said the gun battles broke out after security forces launched operations at 4-5 locations across the valley on Friday night. Encounters are over in Pulwama and Handwara while operation at Ganderbal is going on, he said. Police said it recovered arms and ammunition, including two AK-56 rifles, one AK short barrel rifle, one Pistol, nine AK magazines, one grenade, eight pistol rounds and 32 AK rounds from the three encounter sites. The latest encounters came two days after three militants, including a Pakistani, were killed in two separate gun battles in Pulwama and Srinagar on Wednesday. Two sarpanches (Panchayat members) were also shot dead in the southern Kulgam district in the last three days by the militants. Following a brief lull, there has been a surge in violence in Kashmir in March, leading to the killing of five civilians, the highest figure for this year. The new year had started with a surge in encounters between militants and security forces with on average one militant killed almost every day in January. However, the encounters and civilian killings waned in February with only five encounters reported in which two soldiers, seven militants, a police official and a civilian were killed. Police and the Army believe that most of the attacks against security personnel and civilians in Kashmir are being carried out by hybrid militants, who are not listed as militants, but radicalized and trained enough to carry out terror attacks and then slip back into the routine life. Most of them are teenagers and highly motivated, and they do not cross the border for arms training nor do they go underground to commit violent acts. The word hybrid first emerged after militants believed to be affiliated with The Resistance Front (TRF), an affiliate of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), killed two non-Muslim teachers inside the premises of a government school in Srinagar on October 7 last year. Check out DH's latest videos Seven people were killed after a fire broke out in shanties in northeast Delhi's Gokulpuri area in the early hours of Saturday, officials said. A senior official of the Delhi Fire Services said information regarding the blaze near pillar number 12 of Gokulpuri village was received at 1.03 am. Thirteen fire-tenders were rushed to the site. Seven charred bodies were recovered, the official said, adding that around 60 shanties were affected and 30 of those gutted in the fire. The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained and the inferno was brought under control in four hours around 3.45 a.m. Furnishing details, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Devesh Kumar Mahla said that they received a call at Gokalpuri police station around 12.00 a.m. about the fire incident. "The police immediately rushed to the spot with all the rescue equipment. We also contacted the fire department which responded very well and with their help we were able to douse the fire by 4 am," he said. He further said that in the incident at least 30 shanties were reduced to ashes along with their belongings and seven lives have been lost."Food and shelter arrangements are being made for the evacuees," the official said. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed grief over the incident. "Heard the sad news early in the morning. I will go to the spot and meet the affected people personally," he said in a tweet in Hindi. (With inputs from IANS) Check out the latest DH videos here: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has incorporated Mahatma Gandhi's principles in the new National Education Policy (NEP) as well as in several government projects and schemes. Shah was speaking at Kochrab Ashram in the Paldi area of Ahmedabad, where he was present to flag off a bicycle rally till Dandi in south Gujarat to celebrate the 92nd anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March. Twelve cyclists would travel on the same Dandi March route to spread the message of Mahatma Gandhi. The minister said had India walked on the path shown by Gandhiji from the beginning, the country would not have been facing most of the issues that it is grappling with at present. "The problem is that we diverted from the path shown by Gandhiji. Also Read | PM Modi holds roadshow in Gujarat for second day in row PM Narendra Modi has incorporated Gandhiji's ideals in the new education policy, such as the importance of mother tongue and national languages as well as employment-oriented education. All these Gandhian principles have been weaved into the policy by the PM," Shah said in his address at the ashram. Kochrab Ashram was the first ashram in India established by Mahatma Gandhi. It was set up in 1915 as part of the Independence Movement. Gandhi then moved to the Sabarmati Ashram in the city. "During the salt march, Gandhiji understood the problems of common people during his night stays in villages. After understanding the issues, he came up with solutions and conveyed those solutions to the people through his speeches. Modiji talked about the same after becoming the PM," he added. Also Read | India's needs connected to countries involved in war; we're on peace's side: Modi on Ukraine "If you study the government schemes, such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, those related to provision of toilets, water and electricity connection in every home, projects for rural uplift and schemes to create self-reliant villages, you will see a reflection of Gandhian thoughts and principles in them," Shah said. Stating that he was visiting the ashram after a gap of nearly 10 years, Shah urged the participants of the cycle rally to try to interact with the people during their night halts to understand their problems, and then spread awareness about the Gandhian principles. On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi led a group of 80 people on a 24-day march against the British monopoly on the production of salt. This non-violent protest came to be known as the Dandi March or Salt March. Watch the latest DH Videos here: Kerala government has raised objections against the centre's stand disallowing a state government-owned entity in participating in disinvestment process of Kerala-based central public sector undertaking, HLL Lifecare. In a letter sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that preventing the state government from participating in the bidding process for HLL Lifecare was not in accordance with the principles of cooperative federalism. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management recently communicated to the state government that the norms did not allow government-owned agencies to take part in the disinvestment process as government equities could not be sold to government companies. Vijayan said in the letter to the Prime Minister that as per the bidding documents of HLL Lifecare, only central government-owned agencies were ineligible to take part in the bidding process. Vijayan also said that since the land for setting up HLL Lifecare was earlier acquired by the Kerala government and handed over to the Centre, the state government should be given the option to retain HLL Lifecare as state PSU or else it shall be allowed to take part in the bidding process. Thiruvananthapuram-headquartered HLL Lifecare was set up in 1966 as Hindustan Latex Limited. It is mainly involved in the production of health care products like condoms and contraceptives. The centre's decision to go for disinvestment of the Mini Ratna unit had triggered strong agitation by employees. Subsequently, the state government decided to explore the option of retaining the unit as a state public sector undertaking and entrusted the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation to participate in the disinvestment process. Check out latest DH videos here On the heels of complaints of sexual assault against a known tattoo artist in Kochi, several women raised similar allegations against a known makeup artist in the city. The Kochi city police registered three cases against Anez Anzare on Friday based on complaints initially raised through a #MeToo campaign on social media. More women were reported to have made social media posts raising sexual assault allegations against him. Anzare reportedly fled the country after the allegations surfaced. Women alleged that Anzare used to touch them inappropriately and make them remove tops while doing their makeup. A woman even accused Anzare of sexually assaulting her when she turned up her appointment for bridal makeup in 2019, while another woman alleged she was mistreated in 2015 before her engagement. Anzare ran makeup studios in Kochi over the past many years. Recently, a known tattoo artist Sujeesh was arrested by the police after six sexual assault cases were registered against him. Many women alleged over social media that he sexually abused them while tattooing. Check out DH's latest videos Long queues outside the screening of Bad Roads at a mall in Bengaluru last week was proof that the draw of a film festival lies in the movies it curates. Natalya Vorozhbits 2020 film reflects on the hostile relations between Russia and Ukraine, which have now turned into a war and a humanitarian crisis with global consequences. It proved to be a timely film at the recently-concluded Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes), chosen by curators and jury members who had just two months to watch, critique and prepare a catalogue of 250 films from the initial stock of very many. The menu of 54 films under Cinema of the World the most sought-after category in any film fest made up for the blips that marked the hurriedly-organised event. The government promised 100 per cent occupancy and gave a nod to the event at the 11th hour! Read | How online film festivals are organised However, the selection of regional films failed to impress. The success of a film festival depends on the period between the initial curation and the final selection. So the curators of BIFFes took me back in time to a month ago when they got down to the job. Curation takes 6-8 months, we had only 2 months to pull it off I interrupted Kannada film director P Sheshadris lunch to understand the process of curating a festival thats open to stalwarts, film aspirants and hobby watchers. How do you please them all? It usually takes six-eight months to curate the films, Sheshadri, also the chief festival coordinator, drew the comparison with the terribly short deadline they were given. Since this edition battled the uncertainties (over the Omicron scare), we started curating for Cinema of the World, a non-competition category, only from the last week of December, he said. Cinema buffs and experienced critics were consulted to form an internal team to curate. Then began the watch-a-thon. Each film has to get a clearance from the censor board. We have to watch all the films to be able to answer any questions the board may raise. I would watch as many as five films a day, he recalled. In Karnataka, we are in great need of a Directorate of Film Festivals. The body works throughout the year, following and contacting agents of the films that do well in reputed festivals at Cannes, Busan and Berlin, he talks of the disadvantage they had to work around. When I met H N Narahari Rao, a veteran historian and artistic director of BIFFes, he told me at least four months are needed to curate the films. On the opening day, he even asked Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to give them more time in the future. But it helped that I had a great team. We need to cater to all kinds of people and not just serious cinema lovers, he shared while talking about the process of curation. Sourcing and bargaining Narahari says, We check on the availability of international films through distributors. It takes 15-20 email interactions with the distribution agency to procure one film. Since they are also in the business of films, we receive a response in 30 minutes. Then begins the bargaining. A big film quotes about 1,000 euros (approx Rs 85,000). Since we keep an eye on different festivals and the pricing of every film, we try to bring it down to 300-400 euros (Rs 25,000-Rs 33,000). It requires a lot of time, he explained. Not all negotiations come through. The team, Sheshadri said, failed to acquire 2020 Chinese drama One Second, a critically-acclaimed film about a man who escapes from a farm-prison, which they very keen on. The agents did not lower the prices to meet our budget, he informed. They had an upper hand on some fronts. Bengaluru has many cultural exchange centres. So Alliance Francaise de Bangalore helped them source French films for the Country Focus category, and Max Muller Bhavan, a cultural institute of Germany, arranged a retrospective of German legend Volker Schlondorff. Plan in advance Thanks to a chance conversation with Harish Mallya, consultant curator of the festival, I learnt that curation can sometimes begin as early as a year in advance. For example, Klondike is a 2022 film about a Ukrainian family living on the border with Russia during the start of the war. It is a highly relevant film today and my job is to try and get the movie for the festival next year, he says. Jury process: Reluctance, upset, politics My chat with eminent director P Sheshadri at BIFFes was interrupted by a filmmaker from Kerala. Sir, you were recently a part of the jury at the Kerala Film Festival when my film was shown, he reminded Sheshadri. Yes. It was interesting but unfortunately, we couldnt select it, Sheshadri said. Thats alright, sir. My film got banned in Kerala after that, for five years, said the filmmaker with a smile so self-assured of his work. That brief exchange gave me a peek into the onerous responsibility the jury has and the criticism their decisions can attract. Its a draining job divided between selecting films for screening and choosing winners. Sheshadri began, We got 82 entries in the Kannada section this year. If a jury member in the preliminary panel had to watch all of them, he would need 25 days. Since we were short on time, we made two panels of seven and five members each. But constituting a jury panel is easier said than done. People are afraid to become jurors because it can affect their rapport with filmmakers. Sometimes, people could be connected to the film, so they stay away because of the conflict of interest, he said. Things can get sour at any point though. If good films get rejected for obvious reasons like they dont match the festival guidelines, it can affect the relationship between the jury member and the filmmaker. There are reasons for every rejection which we cant disclose, he explained. The vetting process must be cognisant of the social realities. In most Indian film festivals, three things are considered: aesthetic value, artistic value, and social content because of the diversity of the country. The films shouldnt insult the religious sentiments of people and they must encourage unity and integrity, he explained. But some directors dont take the rejection personally. Such as Sajin Babu, whose controversial Malayalam film Biriyaani on a Muslim woman was first rejected by the film festival of Kerala and picked up later. I didnt object because I knew the film is politically strong and some jury members would have found it hard to take up. Also, festival recognition is not the ultimate, he said. However, this time, the roles reversed at BIFFes as he came in as the jury. Burnout? Do they experience burnout from watching films back to back? How do they survive bad films and return to watch another title with the same vigour? What about working alongside a jury member you dont get along with? I wanted to know because one bad movie and I start cursing my job! I watched 68 films in 12 days. Thats at least five movies per day. I didnt find it challenging. When I was an aspiring filmmaker, I watched six films a day at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). Even otherwise, I watch 2-3 FDFS (First Day First Show) of commercial releases, said Sajin. I dont put pressure on myself because a jurors opinion is subjective. My observations need not be the same as my colleagues. We met and discussed before giving the final verdict, he said and went on to reveal that some filmmakers in the past have unfriended him on Facebook because he didnt pick their films. He said one needs to keep friendship, personal agenda and politics aside for this job. You have to always be in the right mood while watching the films. You cant fast-forward or quit mid-way, he added. Politics and economics As I broached the topic of politics in selecting films with a filmmaker, he asked me to talk in hushed tones and agreed to speak in condition of anonymity. The omission of Pedro, a Kannada film about an outcast who accidentally kills a cow, from BIFFes had stirred up a row. The film has been winning praises in the global circuit but did not even qualify here. Films that are cinematically-superior and thought-provoking need not be politically correct. But politics (of the country and the state) plays a big role in selecting films for the competition category, he said and went on to add, A pro-Hindu film isnt encouraged at Keralas film festival but a pro-left movie is. In Karnataka, its the reverse. In Delhi, the ideology of the ruling party is promoted. Many films at BIFFes were issue-based, depicting the victory of the righteous. That doesnt make for good cinema, he rued. The inclusion of mainstream films like Kannada Kotigobba 3 and Tamil Soorarai Pottru was panned by festival goers, who came looking for rare gems. The directors of massy films dont get the respect for their craft just because they make massy films. So its important to bring their films here for critical appreciation, he defended. Not to forget, it is the mainstream movies that bring money to the film industry, he added. Watch latest videos by DH here: Move over adults. Now kids are plunging into the world of entrepreneurship. For some, its an extension of their hobby. For others, a learning curve, which can benefit their academics and career prospects later in life. Nishanth Dhanasakeran, 14 - Makes artisanal soaps He wanted to build miniature robots to assist with household work but thanks to a turn of events, he is now making and selling artisanal soaps. He calls them Corino soaps, a business he started four years ago when he was all of 10. If I make soaps using chemical ingredients, what will be the difference between my company and others? Nishanth Dhanasakeran from Chennai, now 14, talks about his choice of business. He sells his brand of soaps in the range of Rs 40-Rs 300, which depends on the size of the order and the quality of materials used. His business is fairly established today as referrals from his classmates, friends and relatives continue to pour in. He has plans to expand his venture in the upcoming summer holidays. He is delighted to share that his entrepreneurial journey inspired his younger brother to start a small business of perfumes. And he has a word of advice for the kidpreneurs-to-be: Take the support of your parents and join an entrepreneurship club or class. Shreya Manjunath, 16 - Sells personalised gifts While scrolling on Instagram a few months ago, she realised that the customised gifts up for grabs there are quite expensive. So Heartily Crafted was born as an Instagram page for handmade customized gifts at an economical price. It also helped that Shreya, who lives in Bengaluru, has always been inclined to crafts. As a kid, she would make decor items for her fathers birthday celebration instead of buying them from stores. Today, she sells miniature boxes, decorative frames carved with memories, bouquets, greeting cards, hampers and more gifts between Rs 100 and Rs 3,000. Lately, she has adopted eco-friendly ways to make these gifts. Plastic waste is on the rise, she reasons. I also plan to launch my products on e-commerce websites, she shares. Shreya is a rank holder in her college. She says she balances her studies and business with a little help from her mother. S B Sharaan, 15 - Community building with music The Chennai boy gets people together at corporate companies, birthday parties and traditional ceremonies to drum and have a musical time. This is Drums Circle, a business he started when he was 11 years old and when he was a Grade IV drummer at the Trinity School of Music. Drumming is more than a leisure activity. He conducts fun 30-minute drumming sessions and workshops to bring teams together and enhance their listening skills. The clients approach him through his website and social media pages. I used to hear the term entrepreneurship a lot every time I travelled with my dad to an event or a place. I used to wonder what it meant, S B Sharaan recalls how forayed into the world of entrepreneurship. The support of his parents, friends and classmates has helped him strike a balance between his business, and school and extra-curricular activities, he says. Watch latest videos by DH here: Brian Laundries parents knew he killed Gabby Petito and kept it to themselves, Petitos parents claim in a new lawsuit. Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt allege Chris and Roberta Laundrie knew Brian murdered their daughter because he told them about it the next day, according to the lawsuit, filed in Sarasota, Fla. on Thursday. Advertisement Gabby Petito's mother, Nichole Schmidt, speaks alongside, from left, Tara Petito, stepmother, Jim Schmidt, stepfather, and Joseph Petito, father, during a news conference on Sept. 28, 2021, in Bohemia, N.Y. (John Minchillo/AP) On or about August 28, 2021, Brian Laundrie advised his parents that he had murdered Gabrielle Petito, the paperwork details. That same day, Chris and Roberta Laundrie spoke with a lawyer who they hired five days later, according to the suit. Advertisement Schmidt, Petitos mother, last heard from her daughter on Aug. 27, leading to the familys speculation that Laundrie killed her that day, the court documents state. The suit also claims that Brian Laundries parents were trying to arrange for him to flee the country. Laundries remains were discovered Oct. 20 in a Florida nature reserve not far from his familys home in North Port, about 60 miles south of Tampa. His parents allegedly told police earlier that week that they were going to search for their son at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Officers followed them on the trip and found Laundries belongings. The trail near the remains was reportedly one of his favorites. In a private journal found near his body, Laundrie admitted killing Petito, according to the FBI. Laundrie and Petito, 22, went on a cross-country trip last summer. When Laundrie, 23, returned to Florida without her in early September, a nationwide search ensued. Petito, who was born and raised on Long Island, was found dead Sept. 19 in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Her death was ruled a homicide by strangulation. Laundrie was named a person of interest but disappeared before speaking with police. The Petito familys lawsuit claims Chris and Roberta Laundrie acted with malice or great indifference by hiding the fact that their son confessed to the slaying. The Laundries have made few public statements throughout the case, and all communication has gone through the lawyer they hired, Steve Bertolino. Advertisement This lawsuit does not change the fact that the Laundries had no obligation to speak to law enforcement or any third party including the Petito family, Bertolino said Friday. This fundamental legal principle renders the Petitos claims to be baseless under the law. With News Wire Services The Congress party high command has reportedly decided to be cautious while addressing the problem of factionalism in the Karnataka unit after a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections in Punjab. Many leaders of the grand old party believe that the mistake in properly addressing factionalism within the party unit in Punjab cost heavily. Shivakumar has been insisting on the high command to declare him as the chief ministerial candidate for the 2023 Assembly polls. However, the high command is wary of declaring Shivakumar as the chief ministerial candidate, according to a leader. The projection of Shivakumar as the Chief Ministerial candidate may not go well with the supporters of the leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah. Such a move may land the party in crisis in the Southern state, the leader added. Despite opposition from some MPs and MLAs, the high command appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the state unit president in Punjab. Captain Amarinder Singh was unceremoniously made to resign as the Chief Minister. Many leaders believe that these moves played an important role in the partys defeat in the recently concluded polls. Read | Congress leadership brace for heated working committee meet Appointment of office-bearers to district and block units is pending. Supporters of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar tried to secure positions for their followers. However, it was stalled by the top brass. The high command is likely to consult both the leaders before taking any decision in this regard. The growing tussle between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for supremacy seems to be a major challenge for the Delhi leaders. The high command wanted a national role for Siddaramaiah to end the tussle. However, he turned down the offer. Though Mallikarjun Kharge, Hariprasad and Muniyappa back Shivakumar, the high command is fully aware of Siddaramaiahs strength. Shivakumar executed the Mekedatu foot march to display his strength. But Siddaramaiah is one of the leaders who have a mass base, the leader said. Watch latest videos by DH here: Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Saturday ruled out JD(S) entering into a pre-poll alliance with the BJP for the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections amid indications that both parties are getting pally. If we have to go with the BJP, isn't it laughable, Gowda, the JD(S) national president, asked at a news conference. We have 28 seats. Can they be asked to vacate? When I was the chief minister, we won 76 seats in the Old Mysuru region. I have lost that place, for which I will fight, he said. Also Read | Congress top brass likely to be cautious to address factionalism in Karnataka This is a party that ruled the country once. Due to envy, intolerance and other reasons, this party faced troubles. A Kannadiga becoming the PM was not digested by some people, Gowda said. My decision is to go before the people. I don't need to attack anyone. All I will tell them is the works we've done." Speculation has been rife for some time that the BJP and JD(S) may be headed towards a pre-poll truck. Earlier this week, the two parties were seen teaming up to attack the Congress in the Legislative Assembly. Gowda asserted that he wants to save the JD(S) at any cost. A public meeting has been scheduled on March 20 in Bengaluru where collective decisions will be made on how the party should plan for the 2023 polls in which it wants to win 123 seats. We wont fill up buses with people by giving them money. Those who genuinely want this party to stay alive will come, he said. The challenge in front of me is to save this party in the state. And, it's not that easy. Also Read | Deve Gowda dials KCR, announces support to 'fight against BJP's polarisation politics' Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gowda said the BJP's victory in the recent polls was because of him. "He is now camping in Gujarat. It shows his determination to bring the BJP to power, he said, imploring his party workers to have the same zeal towards the JD(S). According to Gowda, AAP won in Punjab because Congress did not resolve its internal issues. The Congress has become like a regional party. All secular regional parties, including Congress, should come together keeping national interests in mind. But, that's up to them. It doesn't concern me. Gowda recalled the fanfare when the JD(S)-Congress coalition was formed in Karnataka in 2018. Six non-BJP chief ministers and over a dozen leaders attended HD Kumaraswamys swearing-in ceremony. All that went in vain, he said. Watch the latest DH Videos here: Derry city centre will next week host one of its most spectacular events. Unboxed: Creativity in the UK and About Us, taking place from Tuesday next, March 15 until the following Monday, March 2,' will be the first of a number of events happening later in the year, including Green Spaces Dark Skies for which thousands of people will be recruited to create a large-scale outdoor artworks in areas of outstanding landscapes and Our Place in Space, an epic model of the solar system and a 10 kms sculpture trial which will be in before becoming permanent at the Ulster Transport Museum and North Down Coastal Path. Produced by some of the brightest minds in science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, Unboxed features ten major multi-site and digital creative projects that share new ideas and possibilities for the future. 'About Us' is described as a 'spectacular, never seen before' free open-air event that combines live performances and multimedia installations which celebrates the entire history of the universe from Big Bang to the present day. Featuring poems and Scratch animations from young people from schools, the 25-minute projection shows immerse audiences in an exhilarating journey through 13.8 billion years of history since the dawn of the universe in a celebration of the infinite ways in which we connect to the cosmos, natural world, and one another. About Us opened in Paisley in Scotland last week with audiences of over 50,000 people attending the week-long event. The Derry event, will see 59 productions transform the landmark Guildhall Square and Waterloo Place into a vast canvas. Acclaimed composer and musician, Nitin Sawhney, has composed the original score which will be performed as part of the live shows by Codetta, in association with the City of Derry International Choir Festival, directed by composer, Osnat Schmool, who has been working with the choirs this past week who will conduct alongside local choir leaders. Our Divisions Copyright 2022-23 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. Harrisonburg, VA (22801) Today Cloudy with light rain this morning...then becoming partly cloudy. High 79F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. The Ohio police officer who shot and killed MaKhia Bryant will not be charged with a crime. A grand jury decided Friday not to charge Columbus cop Nicholas Reardon, local CBS affiliate WBNS reported. Advertisement Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl, appeared to be attacking a young woman with a knife when Reardon opened fire on April 20, 2021. Body-camera video captured the shooting. In this April 20, 2021, image from body-camera video, 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant, foreground, holds a knife seconds before Nicholas Reardon kills her. (Columbus Police Department) Reardons killing of Bryant drew extra attention because it happened minutes before Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd. Advertisement Grand juries do not have to explain their decision-making processes. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, whose office investigated the shooting, released all files connected to the investigation. Reardon was the first officer to arrive on the scene after cops were called to a domestic disturbance outside a foster home in Ohios capital city. Almost immediately upon his arrival, Bryant is seen pushing a young woman to the ground and then turning and moving toward another young woman with a knife in her right hand. Bryant appears to raise the knife before Reardon shoots her four times at close range in less than one second. MaKhias younger sister, JaNiah Bryant, said she was the one who called 911 that day because grown girls (are) over here trying to fight us, trying to stab us. JaNiah later said in a Good Morning America interview that a young woman who used to live in the foster home had arrived and started a confrontation. She said MaKhia was sticking up for her. She was being a bigger sister, JaNiah told GMA. She was trying to protect herself. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Duncan, OK (73533) Today Variable clouds with strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 71F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Scattered strong thunderstorms. Low 62F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. A 22 year old man who repaid over 18,000 to a Polish company after his bank account was used as part of a money laundering scam, was last week warned he must do as he is told by the Probation Service, when his case was adjourned at Dundalk district court. Jack Hughes with an address at Millgrange, Greenore was before the court charged with engaging in possessing the proceeds of criminal conduct while being reckless as to whether or not the property was the proceeds of crime, at AIB, Clanbrassil Street, Dundalk between the 5th and 10th of December 2019. The court was told last October that the defendant had repaid almost 17,500 to cover the more than 15,000 lost by the company, and the cost of its lawyers in Poland and Dundalk.The Defence barrister added the firm subsequently withdrew its complaint but the DPP had sought that his client be interviewed. After hearing the 22 year old is a fourth year student at UCD, studying Commerce, Judge Eirinn McKiernan said he's a very smart young man and referring to the loss to the company being repaid, said it was a very serious matter and it was like someone robbing a bank and handing back the money". The case was adjourned to December for the preparation of a Probation report when Judge John Brennan put back the case for three months to allow the student complete drug awareness programme. Last Wednesday, after being told the 22 year old had not attended the final day of the course, Judge McKiernan warned him You have to do exactly as you're asked and said if he failed to do so, he could forget about the assistance of the Probation Service and she would deal with the case by another means. The case was then adjourned for an updated report on and finalisation on May 11th. Its a bracing message. The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine wore a small bracelet that read F--- you Putin while appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday. Advertisement Marie Yovanovitch, 63, was the ambassador from 2016 to 2019 and told Colbert that she bought the bracelets in bulk while in Ukraine in 2017. She handed them out to people who visited the embassy in Kyiv, sharing her thoughts on the Russian leader. Marie Yovanovitch is pictured in October 2019. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) Colbert prompted Yovanovitch to read the bracelet live on Thursday nights show, but Yovanovitch deferred, saying Im going to let you say it, because Im the diplomat. Never one to hold back, Colbert obliged. Yovanovitch responded by gifting him the bracelet. Advertisement Putins unprovoked war on Ukraine has moved slower than the he hoped, and the Russian military has responded by ramping up bombing campaigns deeper into central and western Ukraine. [ Russia broadens air assaults in Ukraine, splits up convoy outside Kyiv ] The Russians also bombed a maternity ward and childrens hospital in the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol earlier this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian leaders have vowed to continue the fight. If (the Russians) carry out carpet bombings and wipe off the historic memory of the entire region, the history of Kyivan Rus, the history of Europe, they could enter Kyiv, Zelenskyy said Saturday. Yovanovitch was on The Late Show to promote her new book, Lessons From the Edge, which focuses on her role in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump. By Steve Hansen The Staff of The News Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday she had signed into law a nearly $8.5 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year the biggest ever for New Mexico state government. Overall, Curry County received just over $26 million in capita... By Grant McGee The Staff of The News No more state tax on Social Security benefits for most New Mexicans. Thats one of the actions Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham approved by signing House Bill 163 into law Wednesday. The bill, sponsored by Democrats, also cuts New Mexicos gross... A compact SUV drove onto a Washington, D.C., sidewalk during lunchtime Friday, reportedly killing two women and injuring nine others where people were dining outdoors. D.C. police commander Duncan Bedlion said the crash appeared to be truly an accident and that the driver was cooperating with investigators, according to the Washington Post. A photo taken outside The Parthenon restaurant and its adjacent lounge indicates a gray Subaru crossed over a walkway before crashing into a storefront. Three of the people injured are said to be in critical condition. Advertisement Washington Metropolitan Police place crime scene tape around the outside The Parthenon, a popular Greek restaurant, Friday in Washington. (Carole Feldman/AP) The busy stretch of Connecticut Avenue NW where the carnage occurred, located not far below the Chevy Chase Circle, is sprinkled with businesses frequented by pedestrians, loungers and diners. Weather.com showed that it was 62 degrees in the nations capital on Friday afternoon. The Post reports that the SUV at the center of the chaos would have crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic if it was traveling in the northbound lanes. A witness in a nail salon said it appeared that the vehicle made it onto the sidewalk by shooting through an open parking spot, which is rare in that area in the middle of the day. Advertisement [ Ive done my bit, says Irish trucker who crashed through Russian embassy gates ] Witnesses also said the vehicle, which was being driven by a man roughly 80 years old, seemed to accelerate suddenly going super-fast, like police-car fast. That driver reportedly appeared scared upon exiting his vehicle. A group of about seven men helped lift the front of the SUV so the two or three people it had pinned-down could move about, according to the manager of a clothing store just a couple doors down from The Parthenons blue-and-white awning. In 2021, Washington, D.C., recorded its highest number of traffic deaths in nearly 15 years. WITH 100 volunteers at the helm of Tom Barry and 1,200 British troops, the Battle of Crossbarry on March 19, 1921, was one of the largest engagements of the Irish War of Independence. Ahead of the 101st anniversary of the engagement next Thursday, a radio play based on it will air on John Greenes C103 programme, Where The Road Takes Me, at 7pm tomorrow (Sunday March 12). Written by Lar McCarthy, The Battle Of Crossbarry was directed by Brendan Hayes and recorded by Sam Morgan. Stalwarts of the multi-award- winning Kilmeen Drama Group and others will bring the battle of Crossbarry to the airwaves. Donie Walshs dulcet tones bring Tom Barry to life as he strives to outwit John Hughess major Arthur Percival and Brendan Hayess portrayal of General Peter Strickland. The play follows on from the well received The Valiant Father O Connell and the Forget Not The Boys documentary. Donie Walsh is no stranger to the world of acting and said: Its fantastic to be back again on the acting scene and working with cast members and friends who adore the art of entertaining and story-telling. The production is commissioned by Cork County Council who are endeavouring, along with West Cork, artists to help educate people on the events of the war of Independence. Amazingly there were just three IRA fatalities and ten British in the hour-long battle as the lush green grass of Crossbarry sprayed with the clarat colour of war. But it would be the death of IRA commander Charlie Hurley that would deal the most devastating of blows to the freedom-fighting Irish. He had been recovering from wounds sustained at the recent Upton ambush and went out fighting with a gun in each hand upon being confronted by the British. A Cork woman, who developed renal disease in her 20s and who spent a number of years on dialysis before undergoing a kidney transplant, has spoken of the importance of mental health supports for people with kidney disease. Sheena McDonagh, who lives in Rochestown, was diagnosed with nephritis in 1997 when she was pregnant with her son. Sheenas kidney function returned after her son was born, and while over the subsequent years, she said she found herself feeling exhausted, she put it down to caring for her two young children. Sheena McDonagh, who lives in Rochestown, underwent a kidney transplant ten years ago this March. However, Sheenas renal function had started to decline, and in 2008 she needed to commence dialysis. The Rochestown woman tried two forms of dialysis treatment, which she underwent in her home; peritoneal dialysis which she underwent four times daily and then nightly dialysis treatment which she underwent for 8-9 hours at a time. Her declining renal function had a huge impact on her life. The biggest impact really is on your energy levels and the hardest parts of it is tiredness. And so many things come along with that tiredness and fatigue; the weakness, the planning your days. There might be an element of nausea. Following four years of treatment, Sheena underwent a kidney transplant, which she described as life-changing. She admits, however, that it was a time that was filled with mixed emotions. A live donor wasn't an option for me at the time for different reasons. So you're waiting for a deceased donor. There's an awful lot of emotions attached to that. So you know, my call, the call did come and it came in March 10 years ago, and it was like night and day. You're recovering from a big operation but your energy levels return straight away. You know, your kidneys kick in and it's such a fantastic gift to have received. Sheena said that she has always received excellent clinical care at Cork University Hospital but said that accessing mental health and peer supports are also vital. Importance of support At the time [when Sheena has diagnosed with renal disease], there was very little support as regards kind of mental health supports. A lot of it was about just kind of getting on with it and attending to your clinical appointments. It was really amazing support from CUH but that's regarding the clinical side of things, and the mental health side of things and kind of the awareness of what was going on with me- I didn't kind of register with me at all, she explained. It can be a lonely time. And very often, you know, your family ask you how you are, you are trying to protect them, you say, your grand,but inside, you're, you're kind of saying oh. It can be scary, worrying, all of that and that can just be so overwhelming. You know, there's an awful lot of losses that come around having any chronic disease and renal disease is no different. You're talking about potential loss of career, which brings loss of income. You worry about the future. There are an awful lot of mixed emotions, that if people can work through them, with the help of a trained counselor, that it can, maybe allay some of those fears. Sheena said that the Irish Kidney Association is also rolling out a peer support programme. Information event in Cork The Rochestown woman spoke about her experiences of living with renal disease to mark World Kidney Day which takes place today (Thursday, March 10). She will speak at an event taking place at UCC this afternoon, which has been organised by the Translational Medicine Society. Also speaking at the event is CUH Consultant Nephrologist Dr Sarah Moran. Translational Medicine Society, educational officer Mark Vesey said that all are welcome to attend. The event is about raising awareness for both students who might be going into the area of kidney medicine research, and just for the general public to be aware of kidney disease, he explained. The event takes place at Brookfield Health Sciences Centre at 5pm. Awareness campaign To mark World Kidney Day, the Irish Kidney Association (IKA), in association with the HSEs National Renal Office (NRO), is also running an awareness campaign to highlight the importance of early screening for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Diabetes Ireland is supporting the campaign to ensure that the core messaging about looking after your kidneys reaches one of the most common at-risk groups, i.e., people living with diabetes. The IKAs campaign aims to highlight that it is possible to prevent or slow down the progression of kidney disease through lifestyle changes and medication and that it all starts with simple blood and urine tests done through your GP to measure and monitor your kidney health. CORK Humanitarian Aid Irelands convoy was last night forced to turn back from the Ukrainian border in Poland after Polish border officials refused them permission to bring humanitarian aid into the neutral zone between the two countries. The group had hoped to give six tonnes of aid to a Kyiv-based cardiologist who had made the hazardous journey to Poland. However, border officials, who had been letting Polish vehicles into the neutral zone, refused to let them through. The group, which is made up of 10 volunteers from Cork charities Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery (CCMPSAR) and Cork Penny Dinners, had brought five vans each containing approximately three tonnes of humanitarian aid donated by the people of Cork to Poland, to help Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country. The convoy left Cork on Tuesday afternoon and drove across Europe. Yesterday evening, the Cork volunteers arrived at the Medyka border crossing near the city of Przemysl, where they had planned to give Dr Anastasia Volkova, a Kyiv-based cardiologist, six tonnes of humanitarian aid in the neutral zone between the two countries. Border officials, who were said by local sources to have doubled security at the crossing in recent days, told the volunteers they could not enter the neutral zone but were welcome to cross the border into Ukraine. However, the officials said they could not guarantee how quickly the volunteers would be allowed back into Poland. Cork Humanitarian Aid Ireland early on Thursday morning at Charleroi, Belgium. The convoy of five vans is bringing 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees on the Polish Border. All being well, the volunteers are hoping to reach their destination by the early hours of Friday morning. (Left to right) Tomas Kalinauskas, Felipe Pombinho, David Varian, David Feeney, David Shine, Chris ODonovan, Caitriona Twomey, Dan Kerins, Kieran Coniry and Tony Gardiner. Picture (in shadow) Donal OKeeffe. Cork Penny Dinners co-ordinator Caitriona Twomey, who is travelling with the convoy in a personal capacity, said the group felt they had little choice but to turn back. We are absolutely heartbroken for Anastasia and we are hoping to find some other way to get aid to her, but we were left with no choice in the short term. Ms Twomey said it had been distressing to see so many people waiting at the border in sub-zero temperatures and she said the group intended to return to the border in the coming days with aid for refugees at the border. The people of Cork have shown incredible generosity in supporting our appeal and these are the people they wanted us to help, Ms Twomey said. Read More Cork convoy diary: Refugees fear for their children at makeshift camp She added that the group planned to meet with Redemptorist priests working in Ukraine and hoped to give them several tonnes of humanitarian aid. Left to right: David Varian, secretary, Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery (CCMPSAR), David Shine, chairman CCMPSAR, Kieran Coniry, Magda (volunteer). Chris ODonovan, treasurer CCMPSAR, Agata (volunteer) and Dan Kerins. Front (crouching) Filipe Pombinho. Picture: Donal O'Keeffe Earlier yesterday, the Cork volunteers arrived at Medyka, near the city of Przemysl. At Tarnow, a city of 107,500 people in south eastern Poland two hours from the Ukrainian border, the group had delivered medical supplies, childrens clothing, nappies, and food to a makeshift refugee reception centre at Tarnow train station, At the makeshift refugee reception centre , The Echo spoke with a family of refugees who had left the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro earlier in the day. The adults had no English, but Yarek, aged 12, said he and his 10-year-old sister Anna had arrived in Tarnow with his grandad, his two grannies, and their mother. It was very scary when we were leaving Dnipro, but now it is not so scary, Yarek said, adding that he and his family know nobody in Poland but they felt safer to be away from the bombs. Shortly after Yarek spoke with The Echo, three airstrikes on Dnipro, which left at least one person dead, were reported. Ukrainian authorities said one of the strikes was near a kindergarten. One city official in Tarnow said they were encouraging refugees to stay in their city, which is a major stop on the main train line from Lviv to Krakow, as they were in a better position to help people than some of the larger cities, which she described as overwhelmed. Yesterday morning, the Cork volunteers met Jonah Lowenstein, a 21-year-old student from London who travelled to the Ukrainian border with his 57-year-old father, Paul. Jonah Lowenstein, who said he had fond memories of childhood holidays in Crookhaven, said they had come to Medykja from the UK with a van of humanitarian aid to show it could be done. He said that, for his father and him, it was a matter of family honour to help people fleeing tyranny. We are German Jews, and the trauma of 1945 looms very large over my family, as all of my great-grandparents were murdered at Auschwitz. We felt we could not sit idly by as people were driven from their homes by the invading forces of a dictator, so we organised what supplies we could and came out to Poland to help them in their hour of need. The student said he and his father were on their way home to the UK, having delivered their van load to Medyka. They had met huge numbers of refugees at the Ukrainian border, mainly women and children, who were traumatised by what they had experienced, he said. With night-time temperatures along the border dipping to -10C, cold is a concern for aid workers attending to refugees. We saw a lot of people huddling in the cold, pushing supermarket trollies full of their belongings and trying to pass food through the fence to people on the other side of the wire, and its just chaos there, Jonah Lowenstein explained. Its so slow and cold and people are existing in soul-crushing boredom at the border crossings. Stay up to date on COVID-19 Get Breaking News Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. Sponsored By: St Anthony's Hospital First it was quarantines, then it was masks and video meet and greets. Now, two years into the coronavirus pandemic people are still trying to figure out how to socialize with friends and loved ones safely if they want to see them at all. I think it really has put me in a position where I was rethinking the importance of a lot of relationships in my life. Whos important, whats important, said Andy Hirschfeld, 29, of Brooklyn. Advertisement The last 24 months of birthday parties and happy hours over Zoom have left Hirschfeld craving in-person meetups, but the pandemic has made it more complicated to navigate some of those get-togethers. A face mask in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News) I went on a date with this girl who I learned only had one of her two shots. What does that say? Is this the kind of person I want to associate with? Advertisement Lisa Smid, a freelance writer who plans to move back to New York City after the pandemic is definitely over, agreed that those values make a big difference in helping her decide where, how, and if to meet up with people. If a friend is anti-vax or anti-mask, I dont want to know that about them if I dont already, and the subject inevitably comes up at an in-person meetup. I will meet friends who stand where I do on those issues outside, she said. Im really not meeting anyone but ride or die best friends offline right now. Chris Kocher with daughters Arabella, 8, and Nora, 3. . (Courtesy of Chris Kocher) Whitney Goodman, 31, a licensed psychotherapist who works with people between 25 and 35 years old, says her clients almost seem like theyre on two different tracks. Ive seen a wide spectrum of behaviors. I think on one end there are the people who are very much ready to be back out in the world theyre ready to jump back into things, engaging in prepandemic behaviors with very little anxiety, she told the Daily News. I also have people who are much more cautious and have also developed social anxiety symptoms from having been inside so long during the pandemic. People enjoying a spring day at Gantry State Park in Long Island City, Queens on May 18, 2020. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News) Among the anxious group are the people with health conditions that make COVID-19 especially dangerous, Goodman explained. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > A lot of them want to get back out there, but theyre not sure how to interpret the guidance. For those folks, virtual meetups can be a godsend allowing them to take part in activities while not risking exposure to the virus and its variants. Advertisement People gather in Brooklyn's McCarren Park on July 4, 2021. (KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images) Even as coronavirus rates wane in the five boroughs, Zoom gatherings are still a popular way to bring together those who would not be able to meet face-to-face, even in prepandemic times. For Chris Kocher, the executive director of the nonprofit COVID Survivors for Change, video chats have provided a unique opportunity allowing him to support people dealing with pandemic trauma from all over the U.S. I think its a great example of some of the silver linings that have come from that social disruption, the fact that people from across the country are able to be together each week. Kocher, 43, lives in Sunnyside, Queens and says nearly all of the organizations activities have taken place virtually. From weekly meetups with mental health professionals to a few Survivor Summits, the technology has allowed people to connect over shared grief, despite geographical boundaries. Now two years into the pandemic, I feel that people are hungry for in-person social interaction, but my hope is that even in the future well carry forward the positives of virtual communications. Its been an important part of peoples healing. Athens, AL (35611) Today Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 79F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 59F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Authorities in Belarus have arrested and detained Mark Bernstein, one of the top editors of Russian Wikipedia, according to local publication Zerkalo. Bernstein was reportedly accused of violating the "fake news" law Russia passed in early March by editing the Wikipedia article about the invasion of Ukraine. Under the new law, anybody found guilty of what the country deems as false information about the Ukraine invasion remember, the Kremlin calls it a "special military operation" could be imprisoned for up to 15 years. It was the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption of Belarus (GUBOPiK) that had arrested Bernstein, The Verge reports. The publication says his social media accounts, Wikipedia handle and workplace were shared on GUBOPiK's public Telegram channel before he was taken in. A video of his arrest was also posted on the channel, along with a photo that accuses him of "distributing fake anti-Russian information." Belarus played a key role in the invasion of Ukraine by hosting Russian troops, which deployed from the country when the attacks began. As The Verge notes, it's unclear what exactly Bernstein is being charged with and which of his edits broke Russia's fake news law. Bernstein has over 200,000 Wikipedia edits under what's believed to be his account, which has now been blocked indefinitely. Russia has been scrambling to suppress sources of information that goes against its official narrative regarding the war in Ukraine, and its new law had forced local independent media outlets to shut down. Dmitri A. Muratov, the editor-in-chief of Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, told The New York Times that "[e]verything that's not propaganda is being eliminated." Meta employees scheduled to return to the office on March 28th will have to find another place to take their dirty laundry. Facebooks parent company is cutting its free laundry and dry-cleaning service and pushing back dinnertime to a later hour, reported the New York Times. Its a change in response to the new hybrid work schedule at Meta, where most employees will still be working from home at least a few days of week. Fewer time in the office equals fewer office perks, or at least thats the logic of Meta leadership. But for many employees at Facebook, Instagram, Reality Labs and other Meta companies, its an unwelcome hassle at what is normally a grueling work environment. As we return to the office, weve adjusted on-site services and amenities to better reflect the needs of our hybrid workforce, a Meta spokesperson wrote in a statement to the Times. Meta will also begin serving dinner at 6:30 pm PT, a full half-hour after the last shuttle departs campus. Meaning that employees will have to choose between a free meal or a free ride home. Decisions, decisions! While some Meta employees interviewed by NYT are unhappy about the change, many others have seen such perks as a ploy to keep employees working long hours. Tech companies are famous for providing incredible office perks to compensate for a strenuous workload, such as free meals, laundry, fitness classes, backup childcare and more. But a shift to a hybrid work environment means fewer employees will be in need of these things. To Metas credit, the company is fattening up annual employee wellness stipends from $700 to $3000 per year to account for the change. At least for Metas Mountain View employees, free, unlimited food was already a thing of the past. After Google and Metas free, round-the-clock food service for employees left local businesses in the dust, the city passed an ordinance that banned tech companies from offering unlimited free food. But Facebooks other Bay Area offices have access to free meals, as well as an unlimited snack larder if you get hungry between mealtimes. According to Eater, Facebooks Bay Area office routinely stores about $300,000 worth of food in its snack pantry. Since the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine, more than 2.5 million people have fled the country, making it Europes worst refugee crisis since World War II. In trying to find shelter in neighboring countries like Romania, some Ukrainian refugees have turned to an unexpected place for help: Tinder. The New York Times recounts the tale of one such individual, Anastasia Tischchenko. She and her friend Natalia Masechko posted their plight to the dating app when they fled their home of Ivano-Frankivsk, a city of approximately 230,000 located in western Ukraine, south of Lviv. Im thinking there are a lot of honest people in the world, and some of them are on Tinder, Tischchenko told The Times. She was right. Several people swiped right on her profile to offer help, including one man who put Tischchenko and Masechko in touch with a friend of a friend of a friend who found a monastery the two could sleep in while in Siret, a Romanian city on the southern border of Ukraine. It was very inspiring, she said. After their stay in Siret, Tischchenko traveled to Poland, while her friend Masechko stayed in Romania to help the next wave of refugees. South American hacking group Lapsus$ is claiming responsibility for another high-profile hack. On Thursday, Ubisoft said it underwent a cyber security incident last week that saw some of its games, systems and services temporarily disrupted. At the time, the company didnt identify who may have been responsible for the incident, but just one day later, Lapsus$ began to seemingly take credit. The Verge After The Verge published a story on the incident, a Telegram channel allegedly run by the group posted a link to the article and a smirking face emoji, suggesting it was claiming responsibility for what had happened. It also said that it had not targeted user data in the breach. Our IT teams are working with leading external experts to investigate the issue, Ubisoft said Thursday. We can confirm that all our games and services are functioning normally and that at this time there is no evidence any player personal information was accessed or exposed as a by-product of this incident. Two years after COVID-19 tore through New Rochelle, local resident Gladys Vivanco stands outside the public library sporting a face mask and a feeling of optimism. Vivanco, who moved into the Westchester County city two decades ago, believes pandemic year No. 3 will bring a bounce-back for the 80,000 residents of the leafy suburb that emerged as the epicenter of a then-nascent virus in March 2020. Advertisement Things are changing, its not like it was before, said Vivanco, 63, a Peruvian immigrant who works cleaning houses. People are going out, going to work. You can see that a lot of restaurants are opening, and many of them are doing parties and reunions. But her good will is a bit tempered: Shes only now returning to some semblance of regular work in the northern suburb. And she wonders why some fellow residents remain reluctant to keep wearing their masks. Advertisement "For Rent" sign in a vacant storefront on New Rochelles Main Street. (Brittany Kriegstein/New York Daily News) The virus is still around, she said, sounding a note of lingering concern. And when you go out in the streets like that, you can get sick. It was March 3, 2020, when New Rochelle resident Lawrence Garbuz was diagnosed as the second New Yorker to test positive for coronavirus, bringing the new and unknown plague to the city and his local synagogue. Quarantine orders ensued, with a section of the city once best known as the fictional 1960s sitcom home of Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore sealed off as a containment zone. The National Guard was summoned and Garbuzs house of worship shuttered as the virus washed over the city like a malignant wave. In a particularly strange twist, there was even a New Rochelle mention during a Saturday Night Live skit. But reality in those early pandemic days was routinely surreal. I remember looking out the window of City Hall and seeing 20 camera crews camped on the front lawn, said Mayor Noam Bramson. Thats not something that were used to. A mother and child on New Rochelle's Main St. (Brittany Kriegstein/New York Daily News) Bramson said the memories remain fresh after 24 months that felt much longer. Like a lot of traumatic incidents, two years can seem like a lifetime, he said. And the early days were so vivid and intense, theyre still the top of the line when I reflect on New Rochelles experience. Everything about it was bizarre. Local resident Alan Schogel, 87, took a stroll with his wife Ellie through town last week. The octogenarian couple said theyve spent much of the last two years as shut-ins, but noticed the changes in New Rochelle since venturing out. Advertisement During the pandemic, many stores have closed, said Alan. And many are starting to open again ... I guess because of all the high-rise buildings going up. New stores. Old buildings are being torn down, new ones are being put up. Some of them are starting to be rented. Joison Manavalan, 45, at his Express Deli on Huguenot St. in New Rochelle. (Brittany Kriegstein/New York Daily News) Schogel says people were pretty good about wearing their masks, and the mayor notes the vaccination rates across the citys three zip codes ranges from a low of 77% to a high of 98% for at least one shot. Bramson offered an positive assessment of the coming year. Its more than guarded optimism, its unvarnished optimism, he said. The good news for us is even through the pandemic, we kept making strides on our major priorities economic especially. Our construction boom did not slow down, somewhat to our surprise. Despite the upbeat forecast and the passage of time, the memories of March 2020 remain hard to shake for some. A bus on New Rochelles Main St. still requires masks. Behind it, a glimpse of the construction that has become a familiar sight around the city. (Brittany Kriegstein/New York Daily News) It was really ugly, recalled Vivanco. When I went outside the second week, I saw that everything was silent, everything was closed. People were barely in the streets or anything. Advertisement Westchester County Health Commissioner Sherlita Amler, at a recent memorial service marking the second anniversary, spoke before a backdrop of purple ribbons as she declared COVID-19 memories will never disappear for many suburbanites. Nearly every family felt the impact of this pandemic, she said. Everyone has their personal stories to tell, and well be sharing those stories and the memories of those we lost for decades to come. Kay Kim, a South Korean immigrant and 23-year New Rochelle resident, said the pandemic shut down his Main St. photo shop for four months until he reopened with an eye on helping other locals. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > I put a sign in the window: If you have an emergency, Im gonna help, he recounted. Because some customers, they need a passport picture. The good-will gesture aside, he recalls the last two years as an economic roller-coaster ride. He received a $27,000 small-business loan, but much of the money went to cover his rent and taxes. While things are looking up of late, the 63-year-old Kim frets over the future. Kay Kim, 63, at his photo shop on Main St. in New Rochelle, Westchester County. (Brittany Kriegstein/New York Daily News) A struggle, he said. A little bit better than last year. Advertisement The citys new construction helped bodega owner Joison Manavalan keep his doors open as disappearing pedestrian traffic was replaced with work crews from an adjoining building site. The married father of three, who also owns a local restaurant, keeps plugging away and hoping for the best. The small-scale business is very hard, he explained. The price of everything has gone up, thats the main problem. ... Last year was a loss. Well wait and see. For Bramson, the mayor since 2006, the pandemic past is never far away even as he remains bullish on New Rochelles future. He became choked up when recalling one enduring bright memory from the early dark days. There was a local Girl Scout troop, and they all walked through a neighborhood tying purple ribbons around every tree, he recalled. Every neighbor was important, and it was just such a lovely gesture ... to have these Girl Scouts highlighting this love, support and community spirit was inspiring. Weather Alert ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM CDT THIS MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible. * WHERE...Portions of Oklahoma and northern Texas, including the following counties, in Oklahoma, Alfalfa, Atoka, Blaine, Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Cleveland, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Garfield, Garvin, Grady, Grant, Hughes, Jefferson, Johnston, Kay, Kingfisher, Lincoln, Logan, Love, Major, Marshall, McClain, Murray, Noble, Oklahoma, Payne, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Seminole, Stephens and Tillman. In northern Texas, Archer, Clay, Wichita and Wilbarger. * WHEN...From 6 AM CDT this morning through Thursday morning. * IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. Low-water crossings may be flooded. Extensive street flooding and flooding of creeks and rivers are possible. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Showers and thunderstorms will develop Wednesday morning over a broad swath of the watch area. Another round of rain and thunderstorms is expected later in the afternoon and will last much of Wednesday night before ending Thursday morning. Storm total amounts of 2 to 5 inches are expected. Given recent rainfall, these additional amounts may cause flooding. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop. && There are serious apprehensions that post initial public offering, the Life Insurance Corporation of India would have to change its very business model, whereby it will have to push for the sale of more non-participatory policies as 100% of profits from such policies will flow to the shareholders. Thet neglect of the rural business will hurt the interests of the lower-middle and poorer sections who look at LIC policies as an instrument of social security. The union governments decision to list the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) through an initial public offering (IPO) evoked mixed response and has generated widespread debate. The big business and industry have welcomed this decision calling it a commitment to reforms that would inspire confidence in the investors. The well-meaning citizens and trade unions are opposing the LIC IPO saying that the structure of the biggest financial institution in the country is being disturbed just to raise resources to meet the fiscal deficit target. This would seriously undermine the very objectives of establishing the LIC. They argue that the LIC has played a most important role in the industrialisation of the country and its social development. The LIC IPO is being compared to the sale of family silver to meet immediate needs. Incidentally, P Chidambaram, former finance minister, had termed the LIC as the Jewel in the Crown and the late Arun Jaitley, finance minister in the National Democratic Alliance-I had called it the most valuable company for the Indian economy. The government for the past two years has been making hectic preparations for the LIC IPO. The finance minister while presenting the union budget for 202021 had announced the decision to list the LIC in the stock markets. The reasons given in the justification for this decision were that it will bring greater efficiency and transparency in the functioning and help in accessing the markets for resources. The trade unions argue that the efficiency of a life insurance company has to be measured in terms of its claim settlement record and bonus payout to the policyholders. Here, the LIC has the best record in claim settlement with very low repudiation levels compared to the private sector. It has rewarded policyholders with competitive rates of bonus. Since the LIC makes public disclosure of its financial statements every quarter and its accounts are scrutinised by Parliament every year, it makes its functioning transparent. The LIC also generates between `4 lakh crore and `5 lakh crore investible surpluses annually and therefore has no need to access capital markets for funds to expand business activities. This makes it clear that the disinvestment in the LIC is part of the agenda of the government as laid down in the policy on public enterprises. This policy has categorised public sector enterprises into strategic and non-strategic sectors. The policy recommends the outright sale of all non-strategic public units and to have a bare minimum presence in the strategic sector. Financial services, including insurance, are classified as a strategic sector. Who could be next? As Russias invasion force grinds further into Ukraine, other post-Soviet countries also have reason to fear for their future. Five countries besides Ukraine Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Moldova are classified by the European Union as its neighbors in the Eastern Partnership. Three of them marked the thirtieth anniversary of their accession to the United Nations on Wednesday, 2 March. Yet they are still stuck in a grey zone, outside the EU and NATO. There is much to be said about the failures of governance and flawed institutions in all these countries. But three decades after the fall of the USSR, they are all fully-fledged sovereign states. The hideous paradox is that even in the worst days of their fragile statehood in the 1990s, none of these countries faced the challenge to its very existence that Ukraine confronts in 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin is no longer just revisiting 1991, he is sending us back to 1939, or even 1918, when an imperial power could roll its army into a neighboring state. Overnight the EU has to change a neighborhood policy focused on incremental reform into one that is about the survival of these countries as states. Its worth considering the vulnerabilities of these five countries and how each can be supported. In Belarus, the Russian takeover has already happened. It is Moscows full military partner in the new war. Amid the carnage in Ukraine it is easy to overlook that Russia has now effectively swallowed Belarus whole and that it is lost to Europe for the foreseeable future. A country of nine million people has now surrendered its independence. Yet just eighteen months ago it experienced a democratic uprising that almost toppled President Alexander Lukashenko. How different would it be if those mass protests had succeeded? The EU must continue to support Belaruss brave democratic opposition, but it is a very long haul. Russia wields an awful lot of power in Armenia, which is a member of Russian-led military and economic blocs, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union. Russia now also effectively runs the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorny Karabakh after the end of the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan came to power wanting to move Armenia toward Europe. In his quixotic populism, he resembles no one in the post-Soviet space so much as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. But Ukraine and Armenia are on different sides of the geopolitical divide. It was an achievement that Armenia even managed to abstain in the United Nations General Assembly vote denouncing Russias invasion of Ukraine on 2 March. One Armenian expert describes the prime minister as being a useful trophy for Putin as the man who committed to implementing the Russian-imposed ceasefire agreement that ended the 2020 war. But Russia has many longer-term economic and political levers in Armenia it can use and many useful friends such as former president and opposition leader Robert Kocharyan. The EU, through its Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), and also the Armenian diaspora organizations that opposed Pashinyan because of the 2020 war, should now move to explicitly support the countrys democratically elected government. Azerbaijan balances uncomfortably between Russia and Ukraine. President Ilham Aliyev traveled to Kyiv in January. Then he was summoned to Moscow just two days before the Russian invasion to sign an already drafted cooperation agreement with Putin. The optics were horrendous for Aliyev, but it did provide him with some guarantees. The first point of the agreement talks of territorial integrity and adherence to the principles of non-interference in each others internal affairs. (Note how brazen it is to use this normative language given what Putin did two days later). This, together with a much tighter agreement with Turkey, has bought Aliyev an insurance policy of sorts. But Azerbaijan is more vulnerable in the economic sphere. The agreement binds Baku to Moscow more closely, containing a lot of language about economic cooperation, which could make Azerbaijan an escape hatch for Russian companies trying to avoid Western sanctions. And there is a pledge to refrain from carrying out any economic activity that causes direct or indirect damage to the interests of the other Party that, on paper at least, seems to give Moscow a say in Azerbaijans future energy projects. Finally, to the two countries most in danger. In Moldova, geography is destiny. It is close to the EU and far from Russia, though constitutionally neutral and formally bound not to join NATO. The pro-European government of Maia Sandu still faces a fairly strong pro-Russian opposition and a short-term crisis as tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees enter Moldova. The nightmare scenario now is if the Russian advance continues along the Black Sea coast to Odessa and troops link up with those in Transdniestria, the breakaway province of Moldova financed and armed by Russia for thirty years. The de facto administration in Transdniestria currently wants to keep its head down and have it both ways: getting political support from Moscow and keeping a small Russian military force on its soil while relying on Moldova and the EU as its economic partners. Russia has little interest in Transdniestria for itself, but it could have a strong interest in it as a new forward military base. Moldovans will have been terrified to see Alexander Lukashenko inadvertently rolling out an invasion map that showed an arrow pointing into Moldova from the south. Meanwhile, Georgia is in many ways Ukraines twin. The Bucharest declaration of 2008 committing both countries vaguely to NATO membership left them in the worst of both worlds: without a formal membership plan and with Russia more antagonistic. Tbilisi has seen mass demonstrations in support of Ukraine for several days now. The president, Salome Zurabishvili, is reflecting the public mood, backing Ukraine and touring European capitals. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili his is the more powerful position has been lamentable and cowardly in comparison, refusing to condemn Russia explicitly and earning a rebuke from his Ukrainian counterpart in the process. The Georgian Dream governments once quite successful policy of managing Russia is in tatters. Tbilisi has fallen out with both Brussels and Washington over its backsliding from democracy. With mild appeasement to Russia while not reaching out to its traditional Western allies Georgia could get the worst of both worlds. Moreover, the war has galvanized the opposition and is exacerbating the countrys protracted political crisis. Should Putin harbor ambitions to take over Georgia in one way or another, he has even less to work with than in Ukraine. Support for Russia stops definitively at the de facto boundaries of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The younger generation barely speaks Russian. No political party advocates union with Russia. Yet we see in Ukraine that Putin can conjure a casus belli from thin air. On 3 March, first Georgia and then Moldova made the historic decision to bring forward its application to join the EU. The EU talks a lot about resilience. Now is the time to work quickly to strengthen it not just in Georgia and Moldova, but in Armenia and Azerbaijan as well. Darkness Looms Over Ukraines Neighborhood Commentary by Thomas de Waal Carnegie Europe. The Commentary can be downloaded here A protester in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg was shown being beaten on the ground by police in riot gear as more than 4,300 people were detained in Russia-wide demonstrations against President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces pounding the port city of Mariupol shelled a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said Saturday. Fighting also raged on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, as Russias expanding invasion bombarded cities into rubble. There was no immediate word of casualties from the shelling of Mariupols elegant, city-center mosque. The encircled city of 446,000 people has suffered some of the greatest misery from Russias war in Ukraine, with unceasing barrages thwarting repeated attempts to bring in food and water, evacuate trapped civilians and to bury all of the dead. Advertisement This photograph taken on Saturday shows an abandoned doll next to a car riddled with bullets in Irpin, north of Kyiv. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images) An Associated Press journalist witnessed tanks firing on a nine-story apartment building in the city and was with a group of hospital workers who came under sniper fire on Friday. A worker shot in the hip survived, but conditions in the hospital were deteriorating: electricity was reserved for operating tables, and people with nowhere else to go lined the hallways. Among them was Anastasiya Erashova, who wept and trembled as she held a sleeping child. Shelling had just killed her other child as well as her brothers child, Erashova said, her scalp crusted with blood. Advertisement We came to my brothers (place), all of us together. The women and children went underground, and then some mortar struck that building, she said. We were trapped underground, and two children died. No one was able to save them. Firefighters extinguish a fire on a house after shelling on the 17th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Kyiv on Saturday. (ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images) Ukraines military said Saturday that Russian forces captured Mariupols eastern outskirts, tightening the armed squeeze on the strategic port. Taking Mariupol and other ports on the Azov Sea could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy encouraged his people to keep up their resistance. The fact that the whole Ukrainian people resist these invaders has already gone down in history, but we do not have the right to let up our defense, no matter how difficult it may be for us, he said. Zelenskyy also accused Russia of employing a new stage of terror with the alleged kidnapping the mayor of Melitopol, a city 192 kilometers west of Mariupol. After residents of the occupied city demonstrated for the mayors release Saturday, the Ukrainian leader called on Russian forces to heed the calls. Please hear in Moscow! Zelenskyy said Saturday. Another protest against Russian troops, against attempts to bring the city to its knees. In multiple areas around the capital, artillery barrages sent residents scurrying for shelter and air raid sirens wailed. Britains Defense Ministry said Russian ground forces massed north of Kyiv for most of the war had edged to within 15 miles of the city center and also spread out, likely to support an attempted encirclement. This photograph taken on March 12, 2022 shows a destroyed tram depot in Kharkiv. (SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images) As artillery pounded Kyivs northwestern outskirts, black and white columns of smoke rose southwest of the capital after a strike on an ammunition depot in the town of Vasylkiv caused hundreds of small explosions. A frozen food warehouse just outside the capital also was struck in an apparent effort to target Kyivs food supply. Advertisement Ukraines military and volunteer forces are preparing for a feared all-out assault. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said that about 2 million people, half the metropolitan areas inhabitants, have left and that every street, every house is being fortified. Russias slow tightening of a noose around Kyiv and the bombardment of other population centers with artillery and air strikes mirror tactics that Russian forces have previously used in other campaigns, notably in Syria and Chechnya, to crush armed resistance. The Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey said 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, were among the people who had sought safety in Mariupols mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roksolana, which was modeled on one of the most famous and largest mosques in Istanbul. A Ukrainian serviceman exits a damaged building after shelling in Kyiv, on Sarturday. (ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images) Before Mariupol became a target of the biggest land conflict in Europe since World War II, the city promoted the white-walled building and its towering minaret as a scenic attraction. The death toll in Mariupol passed 1,500 on Friday, from 12 days of attack, the mayors office said. With electricity, gas and water supplies knocked out, aid workers and Ukrainian authorities described an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the surrounded and shelled city. Aid group Doctors Without Borders said residents are dying for lack of medication and draining heating pipes for drinking water. Russian forces have hit at least two dozen hospitals and medical facilities since they invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the World Health Organization. Ukrainian officials reported Saturday that heavy artillery damaged a cancer hospital and several residential buildings in Mykolaiv, a city 304 miles west of Mariupol. Advertisement The hospitals head doctor, Maksim Beznosenko, said several hundred patients were in the facility during the attack but no one was killed. A family reunites at the Medyka border crossing, after crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border, southeastern Poland on Saturday. (LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP via Getty Images) Russias invaders have struggled far more than expected against determined Ukrainian fighters. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraines Interior Ministry, said Saturday that a Russian general was killed in fighting for Mariupol. Maj. Gen. Andrei Kolesnikov would be the third Russian general reported killed in action since the war started. Kolesnikovs death was not confirmed by the Russian military, which has kept a lid on information about its losses. Still, Russias stronger military threatens to grind down the defending forces, despite an ongoing flow of weapons and other assistance from the West for Ukraines westward-looking, democratically elected government. A senior Russian diplomat warned that Moscow could target foreign shipments of military equipment to Ukraine. Speaking Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow has warned the United States that pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isnt just a dangerous move, its an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets. Russias troops are likely to see their ranks bolstered soon from abroad. Denis Pushilin, the Russia-backed head of a separatist region in eastern Ukraine, said Saturday that he expects many thousands of fighters from the Middle East to join the rebels and fight shoulder-to-shoulder against the Ukrainian army. Advertisement People walk past the wrapped statue of Diana, sitting atop a fountain, near the city council in Lviv, western Ukraine, on Saturday. (YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP via Getty Images) Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Friday that Russian authorities received requests from over 16,000 people from the Middle East who are eager to join the Russian military action in Ukraine. He added that many of them previously fought together with Russia against the Islamic State group. Thousands of soldiers on both sides of the war in Ukraine are believed to have been killed along with many civilians. At least 2.5 million people have fled the country, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > The Ukrainian chief prosecutors office said Saturday at least 79 children have been killed and nearly 100 have been wounded since the start of the war. most of the victims were in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Sumy, Kherson and Zhytomyr regions, the office said, noting that the numbers arent final because active fighting continues. Police officers and residents stand next to a shell crater in front of a house damaged by recent shelling, on the outskirts Kyiv on Saturday. (DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images) As the conflict drags on, the United Nations is seeking agreement with Ukraine and Russia for establishing aid delivery corridors in Ukraine. Amin Awad, the UN.s crisis coordinator for Ukraine, told The Associated Press that progress was being made but he expressed frustration over slow implementation. Earlier attempts to establish evacuation routes from Mariupol failed under ongoing sheling. Russian forces are also blockading Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city. Ukraines emergency services reported Saturday that the bodies of five people - two women, a man and two children - were pulled from a Kharkiv apartment building struck by shelling. Russian forces also stepped up attacks on Mykolaiv, 292 miles south of Kyiv, in an attempt to encircle that city. Advertisement A child reacts as refugees rest in a temporary shelter at a gym of a primary school in Przemysl, near the Polish-Ukrainian border on Saturday. (LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP via Getty Images) On the economic and political front, the U.S. and its allies have moved to further isolate and sanction the Kremlin. President Biden announced that the U.S. will dramatically downgrade its trade status with Russia and ban imports of Russian seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The move to revoke Russias most favored nation status was taken in coordination with the European Union and Group of Seven countries. The free world is coming together to confront Putin, Biden said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Spring break is here for most colleges and universities in San Antonio, but many students say priorities have changed after two years of pandemic what was once the time to get wild on the beach is now a mix of fun, family, rest and work. Call it a hangover of sorts. The beach may be back as a destination for some, but after so many postponed or cancelled trips while dodging the coronavirus, many area students said they dont feel ready to carpool to surfside celebrations with large groups of friends. Traveling was a huge part of my life before the pandemic, said Sammie Driggers, a freshman at the University of Texas at San Antonio who is preparing for her first spring break trip to Colorado with her father next week. I was supposed to be going to D.C. when the pandemic started, but we had to cancel that, she added. Im really excited to be on a plane again. For Driggers, who said shes never really been drawn to the traditional beach bacchanal, the pandemic added another reason to avoid wild parties. And she is not alone. I was expecting it to be more crowded, but it wasnt, said Mark Szczesny, a sophomore at Trinity University who recently returned from South Padre Island. We werent worried about COVID-19, but we did stay mostly in our little groups (of friends). This year also brought cooler March weather, which has kept some students away. Trinity is among several institutions whose week of spring break ended Friday. UTSA, the Alamo Colleges District and St. Marys University will be enjoying their break starting Monday. Hotel receptionists on South Padre Island said their occupancy numbers are higher than the pandemic years, but not as high as pre-pandemic spring breaks. Requests for comment from the city, its chamber of commerce and convention and visitors bureau went unanswered. Isla Grand Beach Resort was 97 percent occupied, much improved from last year but before the pandemic, spring break meant 100 percent, said a front desk worker who asked for anonymity because of the hotels media policy. Other hotels on the island reported being anywhere from 50 percent to 70 percent full. Most students interviewed in the days leading up to their break said they planned for a somewhat toned-down experience. Some said their priorities for how to spend their time have changed. I definitely want to be more social, because everything shut down last year and I stopped being social, and I want to be outdoors more, said Brittani Rasmussen, a business student at UTSA who was considering splitting her break between Austin and North Carolina to visit friends. But theres no concrete plans. Its all low-key, low-pressure, Rasmussen said. Safety precautions are still very much part of the conversation for most students, as they debate whether to fly, drive, test and even finally get vaccinated before taking any trips. Getting in a car seems more reasonable than flying to Europe right now, because there could be restrictions right there now, said Sonja Lisonski, a Trinity University junior. Most of her peers were going out and celebrating spring break without much concern for COVID-19, she said, but they were staying closer to home. Most are packing up in their cars and heading out for a few days, Lisonski said. We are all pretty sick of (the pandemic). Most students who shared their plans were mixing work, study and family time with their travel and socializing. I lack funds to travel, said Rei Ikemotl, a senior at Trinity who is from Japan. I also have too much homework and I wanted to get it done during the break. Ikemotl is worried about the potential spread of the coronavirus when his peers come back from spring break. Trinity University recently lifted its indoor mask mandate for most buildings. Priorities and concerns have changed throughout the pandemic, said Francisco Ibarra, a freshman engineering student at UTSA. His senior year of high school in the Rio Grande Valley was done mostly virtually, without any rites of passage like prom or graduation parties. I think theres going to be a huge change from what we used to do, Ibarra said. We got used to communicating differently this is all new to us, even though weve done it before, its just coming back to us. Ibarra lost his mother to the pandemic and is still adjusting to his life as a college student away from home. His family owns local markets in the Valley and his plan is to travel there to lend a hand and take a few days for himself to visit South Padre. Im a person who likes to enjoy what we have around us, Ibarra said. Being able to go to the Valley, being with my family, (going) to the island and kind of going out and not having to worry about anything for a bit, that is great. danya.perez@express-news.net | @DanyaPH This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Bexar County grand jury has indicted a 37-year-old San Antonio woman on a murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of her husband in December. Authorities accused Krystal Margaret Jessica Rodriguez of killing her husband, Jared Rodriguez, 40, in a domestic violence incident. The case was among more than 197 felony indictments returned this week by two grand jury panels, the Bexar County District Attorneys Office said Friday. Multiple people called 911 the morning of Dec. 17 to report gunshots in the 5700 block of Pine Country Street on the Northeast Side. On ExpressNews.com: Woman arrested in fatal domestic shooting in Fox Run neighborhood Jared Rodriguez died at the scene. A San Antonio police spokeswoman said officers had responded once before to a disturbance at the home in the Fox Run neighborhood and that the couple appeared to be going through a breakup. Krystal Rodriguez was detained by police after she contacted them from another location to turn herself in, according to reports. Her case is being prosecuted by the Family Violence Division in the 399th District Court. If convicted, she faces five to 99 years or life in prison. On ExpressNews.com: MEs office identifies woman killed in collision after a Northeast Side pursuit In another case, Esteban Zamarripa was charged in two indictments related to a high-speed chase by Bexar County Sheriffs Office deputies that led to the death of Cynthia Ann Demps, 49. According to reports, deputies pursued Zamarripa after observing his Ford Focus speeding and repeatedly hitting the curb around 1 a.m. March 21 on Walzem Road. Zamarripa allegedly sped through red lights and drove in the wrong direction before he slammed into a semitrailer and a Toyota Camry, driven by Demps, at the intersection of Rittiman and Fratt roads. Top hits: Get San Antonio Express-News stories sent directly to your inbox Demps was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the semi was not injured. Zamarripa was indicted on a charge of evading arrest/detention causing death, and a separate manslaughter charge. His case is being prosecuted by the Criminal Trial Division in the 226th District Court. Both charges are second-degree felonies. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge. ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate I taught a course on the Holocaust at the University of the Incarnate Word before retiring last May after 33 years. Students usually came into the course having a vague sense of what the Holocaust was. On the first day of class I would ask, What do you know about the Holocaust? The answers were usually, Hitler, Auschwitz, Anne Frank. Anything else? Id ask. The common answer was no. Our memory of the Holocaust is growing dimmer with time as the number of Holocaust survivors shrinks every day. Holocaust awareness is receding. In fall 2020, the Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, a 71-year-old organization, released its latest report on Holocaust awareness in the U.S. The results are troubling. A majority of those born from 1981 to 2012, millennials and Generation Z, could not name a single concentration camp or ghetto. And its not as though there were only a few places. According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Nazis and their allies ran more than 44,000 camps, ghettos, and other sites of detention, persecution, forced labor, and murder during the Holocaust. One of the most infamous sites was Dachau concentration camp, 10 miles outside Munich. It opened 89 years ago this month, less than two months into Adolf Hitlers reign. More than 41,000 people were killed in Dachau. Despite the large number of deaths, the Claims Conference reports that only 6 percent of millennials and Gen Z could correctly identify Dachau. I have been to Dachau twice. Its entrance gate is emblazoned with the same slogan as that at Auschwitz Arbeit macht frei, meaning Work sets you free. Of course, overworking prisoners often led to their deaths, not their freedom. In the early days, Dachau held primarily political prisoners. In time, the whole range of Nazi victims were sent to Dachau Jews, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, Communists and others. Dachau also held more than 2,700 Christian clergy, 95 percent of them Catholic. Dachau did have a gas chamber, but there is little evidence it was used. Most prisoners died of overwork, starvation or sickness, or were shot. I remember my first visit to Dachau. Outside the entrance were 100 German schoolchildren, ages 12 to 15. They were playing, chasing one another and making a lot of noise. Then they entered through the gate. Their voices dropped to a whisper. Dachau has that effect. Evil haunted the grounds. Death lurked everywhere. I remember, too, my first visit to Treblinka, in Poland, where 925,000 were exterminated in 16 months. I was with a human rights group students and university faculty, mostly. As the group was milling around a large outdoor area, where 17,000 stones stand as memorials to people who perished there, I noticed a student who walked away from the group. She stood in an open clearing facing the forest, her arms folded, her head bowed. For 10 minutes she was as stationary as the stones. I asked the group leader if one of us should walk over and see if shes OK. No, he said. Ive seen this before. Five minutes later, I looked back and she was gone. She had melted back into the larger group. None of us asked her what she had been thinking in her moments alone between the stones and the forest. But we knew it was powerful and personal. The Claims Conference documents that 70 percent of Americans say fewer people care about the Holocaust than they used to. Greg Schneider of the Claims Conference said, There remain troubling gaps in Holocaust awareness while survivors are still with us; imagine when there are no longer survivors here to tell their stories. One doesnt have to visit Dachau or Treblinka to learn about the Holocaust; two books I have found helpful are Christopher Brownings Ordinary Men and Primo Levis Survival in Auschwitz. And dont forget the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio is located at 12500 NW Military Highway. Pay it a visit. Roger C. Barnes is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of the Incarnate Word. Texas has long been known as the energy state. I, and many others, have long supported an all of the above approach to energy development here. This has been fairly easy given the abundance of varied resources found within Texas. Yet one resource, geothermal energy, has not historically been widely considered, talked about or utilized. The time has come to embrace a new approach: all of the above and below. Besides providing heating and cooling directly to industrial, commercial and residential consumers, geothermal power is clean, renewable, reliable, dispatchable and baseload, and lies right below our feet. Owing to technological advances, geothermal energy is increasingly available and considered cost-effective in many areas of Texas and should become more of a focus for industry, policymakers and energy consumers. Historically, geothermal energy production was limited to locations where very hot water or steam naturally came to, or close to, the surface: Indonesia, parts of Iceland and California. Research and development breakthroughs, honed with an extremely skilled workforce in the oil and gas industry, now allow us to drill for heat at depths far below the Earths surface. Today, electricity is primarily made by burning fossil fuel to boil water, thereby producing steam, which then spins a turbine generator. Geothermal energy is similar to that process except that instead of burning fuel to generate steam, geothermal technologies tap directly into hot temperatures below the Earths surface. Geothermal development has the potential to produce clean, abundant and reliable baseload energy while taking advantage of Texas oil and gas workforce. Yes, oil and gas production has hit records recently as a result of high prices in a global economy recovering from the pandemic; however, many of us understand the cyclic nature of the oil patch and the loss of jobs when prices are low. Geothermal energy can leverage the oil and gas workforce during ups and downs. Texas is not immune to occasional energy challenges. During the week of Feb. 15, 2021, unusually cold weather caused more than 4.5 million people in Texas to lose power, some for many days. Hundreds of people died during this winter event, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimated between $80 billion and $130 billion in direct and indirect losses to the Texas economy. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the North American Electric Reliability Corp., every type of energy resource gas, coal, nuclear, wind, etc. experienced a forced outage as a result of prolonged subfreezing weather. Because geothermal energy relies on the heat of the Earth, not the vagaries of Mother Nature, it has the potential to be an invaluable, reliable energy resource, especially during extreme weather events. While Texas dabbled in geothermal energy about 30 years ago, recent technological advances have led to the development of new companies and alliances of companies. Given the excitement and potential for geothermal energy, the Texas Geothermal Alliance, or TxGEA, has recently launched to coordinate, educate and promote the development of geothermal energy, and its associated technologies, across our great state. A forthcoming study due out this spring, Future of Geothermal in Texas, will inform TxGEAs mission. The research report will provide a road map for progress for geothermal. Early results are promising, and the excitement around geothermal power in Texas is as hot as the energy we hope to capture. With the crisis in Ukraine putting surging gas prices front and center, rapid advances in geothermal power can strengthen the Texas economy and help return America to energy independence. Cindy Taff, a 36-year veteran of the oil and gas industry, serves as the chief operating officer of Sage Geosystems, a Texas-based geothermal energy company. Thousands of Texans could not vote in the March primary election because their mail ballots were rejected under the states new voting law. The primaries were the first election since the GOPs sweeping voting legislation took effect, instituting new ID requirements for mail-in ballots and the applications for them. As counties finalized their election results on Thursday and Friday, local officials reported unprecedented rejection rates for mail ballots an outcome that voting rights advocates had feared. Everything that people warned about has come to pass, that there would be an enormous jump in both the application rejection rate and the ballot rejection rate, said James Slattery, a senior staff attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project. More than 18,000 ballots were tossed across 15 of Texas 20 most populous counties, according to tallies posted by Friday afternoon. Elections administrators said nearly all the ballots were rejected because voters had submitted newly required identifying information either a drivers license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number that did not match what the county had on file. Republicans who championed the election bill say the legislation makes it easier to vote and harder to cheat. But critics say the new ID requirements havent made mail-in voting more secure. BACKGROUND: Texas Secretary of State scrambles to address mail ballot application problems as deadline looms Voters with flagged ballots had the opportunity to correct them, but thousands missed the deadline and were unable to cast ballots. The curing processes were not sufficient to save every eligible vote, Slattery said. Republicans have said they expect to see the mail ballot rejection rates drop as voters grow accustomed to the new requirements. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who helped craft the voting bill and formerly oversaw the Harris County voter rolls as tax assessor-collector, last month attributed the high rejection rates to a learning curve. He also predicted the initially reported rates, which totaled as high as 40 percent early on in Harris County, would fall. In all, 7,750 mail ballots were flagged in Harris County specifically due to ID issues, according to the county elections administrators office. Less than 11 percent of voters resubmitted ID information and got their ballots corrected, despite efforts by Harris County that included sending letters instructing them how to correct their ballots and doubling the number of staff assigned to help handle voter questions. The total of 6,888 ballots that were ultimately rejected accounted for nearly one in five of all mail ballots received by Harris County. The total far outpaced the 135 mail ballots rejected during the 2018 primary, or about 0.3 percent of the more than 48,000 received. Other counties saw similar issues. In Bexar County, about 22 percent of more than 18,000 mail ballots were rejected. In Travis County, about 2 percent of mail ballots were rejected in 2018 but this year, the final number was 8 percent, or roughly 900 ballots. Initially, about 16 percent of all mail ballots there had been flagged, but half of those voters were able to fix the mistakes. A majority of finally rejected ballots had ID issues, said county spokeswoman Victoria Hinojosa. In nearby Williamson County, officials reported a nearly 12-percent rejection rate, mostly linked to ID requirements. In total, 379 ballots were not counted there because of the new mandate. And in El Paso County, local officials told El Paso Matters that 15 percent of mail ballots were rejected over the ID requirements, amounting to 683 voters. In previous elections, about 5 to 10 percent of ballots were not counted. The ID requirements came under criticism from Democratic state lawmakers last year as they embarked on their quorum-breaking trip to Washington, D.C., in an unsuccessful bid to stop the voting bill. Democrats in both chambers of the Legislature, along with voting rights advocates, argued that the ID provision would create a dilemma for the nearly 2 million Texas voters who used only their Social Security or drivers license number but not both when registering to vote. Last month, the Harris County elections administrators office began advising voters to include both pieces of identifying info when submitting their ballot, in case they were unsure or had remembered incorrectly which number was on file. About 3.2 million Texans voted in the primaries, accounting for roughly 18.3 percent of the states registered voters. Its slightly higher than 2018s turnout of 17.2 percent, as more Republican voters turned out to the ballot box. There are nearly 17.2 million registered voters in Texas. cayla.harris@express-news.net The Biden administration has seized record amounts of a synthetic opioid called fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border, made fighting opioids a major piece of the State of the Union address last week and issued new executive orders targeting the criminals trafficking the drugs. Still, Gov. Greg Abbott is blasting the administration at nearly every campaign speech for not doing more. On Thursday, Abbott, a Republican running for a third term in office, spoke to a conservative group in Washington, D.C., and later to law enforcement on the Texas border and accused Biden of ignoring the problem. I dont know if the Biden administration even cares about it, Abbott said in Weslaco near the Mexico border. The president of the United States is doing nothing about it. Abbott says Texas law enforcement deserves the credit, after seizing more than 1,300 pounds of fentanyl in the last year. Texas is having to step up and do the federal governments job, he said at the forum hosted by the Heritage Foundation. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid originally developed to help cancer patients. It can be nearly 100 times more potent than morphine, which has led to abuse. Sellers often add fentanyl to heroin to make it more potent or hawk it as heroin to people who dont know what they are buying. INVESTIGATION: fentanyl deaths are soaring in Texas, and officials arent taking key steps to stop them More than 100,000 people die annually from drug overdoses, and opioids are a factor in 7 out of every 10 of those deaths, according to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics. Biden has been bringing up the opioid crisis often in his speeches, as well. On Thursday in Washington, he talked about fentanyl and earlier this week in Fort Worth the president assured a crowd of veterans that battling opioids is a central part of his Unity Agenda outlined in his State of the Union address. Biden is also touting the Border Patrols work in stopping the flow of illegal drugs coming through ports of entry. At our border, weve installed new technology, like cutting-edge scanners, to better detect drug smuggling, Biden said in his address to the nation. According to the White House, Customs and Border Protection has been seizing more than 800 pounds of fentanyl along the U.S.-Mexico border per month double what it was stopping in 2020 as the Trump administration ended, and four times as much as it blocked in 2019. The Biden administration has also touted new prevention and education programs, and its efforts to get more medications like naloxone into communities to treat overdoses before emergency personnel arrive. Still, Abbott is making clear the flow of fentanyl is a major campaign piece. During his primary election night victory party in Corpus Christi, Abbott made fentanyl seizures and deaths a part of his speech. And when Democratic opponent Beto ORourke was holding a campaign event in Austin last month, Abbotts campaign team distributed empty fentanyl pill bottles to people with the words: Beto Biden Open Border Crisis and it included a number of fentanyl deaths in 2021. Caution: Open borders have increased the amount of fentanyl deaths. jeremy.wallace@chron.com (The Center Square) - President Joe Biden could lower prices at the pump for consumers if he would remove some of the barriers to oil and gas projects, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said. "Alaska is awash in energy, but not able to capitalize on it," Dunleavy said in a news release. The governor's comments come as oil prices rose to $134 a barrel days after Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports. Gas prices are averaging $4.33 a gallon nationwide and are higher in Alaska, where a gallon of gas costs $4.72, according to AAA. Dunleavy criticized the Biden administration for not defending a federal court ruling that stopped the Willow Master Development Plan, which is being led by ConocoPhillips Alaska. The company first discovered oil in the area in 2017 and the project was approved. It was stopped by a court order last year. The Bureau of Land Management reopened the comment period for the project, which ended Wednesday but its fate has not been decided. More from this section They're Paneling Paradise to Put Up Solar -- a Lot "It is nearly shovel ready, could be built by 2025-2026, and would supply some 160,000 barrels of oil per day," the governor said of the project. Dunleavy also derided a decision by the Biden administration to request a U.S. District court to suspend right-of-way on the Ambler Road project, a "211-mile private industrial access road from the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District in the Northwest Arctic Borough," Dunleavy said. The area contains deposits of minerals and other elements that could have created jobs and revenue once the mines were started, he said. Another project, the Alaska Gasline has permits and federal loan guarantees already and LNG prices would be "lower than that of other U.S. projects competing for the same Asian market," according to Dunleavy. "Your administration can stop issuing anti-fossil fuel statements to encourage investment in domestic energy production," the governor said. Dunleavy also asked the Biden administration to lift the pause on federal oil and gas lease sales, including ones in the the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "The U.S. should not be begging for oil from dictatorships such as Iran and Venezuela," Dunleavy said. "We can produce it at home with the highest of standards for environmental protection, if you will simply let us. Ukrainian-Democratic coordination traces back to 2014, when then-Obama Vice President Joe Biden helped install Petro Poroshenko in Kiev. Then came collusion against Trump. By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations March 10, 2022 Six years ago, before Russias full-scale invasion of their country, the Ukrainians bet that a Hillary Clinton presidency would offer better protection from Russian President Vladimir Putin, even though he had invaded Crimea during the Obama-Biden administration, whose Russian policies Clinton vowed to continue. Working with both the Obama administration and the Clinton campaign, Ukrainian government officials intervened in the 2016 race to help Clinton and hurt Donald Trump in a sweeping and systematic foreign influence operation that's been largely ignored by the press. The improper, if not illegal, operation was run chiefly out of the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, where officials worked hand-in-glove with a Ukrainian-American activist and Clinton campaign operative to attack the Trump campaign. The Obama White House was also deeply involved in an effort to groom their own favored leader in Ukraine and then work with his government to dig up dirt on and even investigate -- their political rival. Ukrainian and Democratic operatives also huddled with American journalists to spread damaging information on Trump and his advisers including allegations of illicit Russian-tied payments that, though later proved false, forced the resignation of his campaign manager Paul Manafort. The embassy actually weighed a plan to get Congress to investigate Manafort and Trump and stage hearings in the run-up to the election. As it worked behind the scenes to undermine Trump, Ukraine also tried to kneecap him publicly. Ukraine's ambassador took the extraordinary step of attacking Trump in an Op-Ed article published in The Hill, an influential U.S. Capitol newspaper, while other top Ukrainian officials slammed the GOP candidate on social media. At first glance, it was a bad bet as Trump upset Clinton. But by the end of his first year in office, Trump had supplied Ukrainians what the Obama administration refused to give them: tank-busting Javelin missiles and other lethal weapons to defend themselves against Russian incursions. Putin never invaded on Trump's watch. Instead, he launched an all-out invasion during another Democratic administration one now led by President Biden, Barack Obama's former Vice President, whose Secretary of State last year alarmed Putin by testifying, We support Ukraine's membership in NATO. Biden boasted hed go toe to toe with Putin, but that didn't happen as the autocrat amassed tanks along Ukraines border in response to the NATO overtures. The Ukrainian mischief is part of Special Counsel John Durhams broader inquiry now a full-blown criminal investigation with grand jury indictments into efforts to falsely target Trump as a Kremlin conspirator in 2016 and beyond. Sources say Durham has interviewed several Ukrainians, but its not likely the public will find out exactly what he's learned about the extent of Ukraines meddling in the election until he releases his final report, which sources say could be several months away. In the meantime, a comprehensive account of documented Ukrainian collusion including efforts to assist the FBI in its 2016 probe of Manafort is pieced together here for the first time. It draws from an archive of previously unreported records generated from a secret Federal Election Commission investigation of the Democratic National Committee that includes never-before-reviewed sworn affidavits, depositions, contracts, emails, text messages, legal findings and other documents from the case. RealClearInvestigations also examined diplomatic call transcripts, White House visitor logs, lobbying disclosure forms, congressional reports and closed-door congressional testimony, as well as information revealed by Ukrainian and Democratic officials in social media postings, podcasts and books. 2014: Prelude to Collusion The coordination between Ukrainian and Democratic officials can be traced back at least to January 2014. It was then when top Obama diplomats many of whom now hold top posts in the Biden administration began engineering regime change in Kiev, eventually installing a Ukrainian leader they could control. On Jan. 27, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt phoned Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland at her home in Washington to discuss picking opposition leaders to check the power of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, whom they believed was too cozy with Putin. Weve got to do something to make it stick together, Pyatt said of a planned coalition government, adding that they needed somebody with an international personality to come out here and help to midwife this thing. Nuland responded that Bidens security adviser Jake Sullivan had just told her that the vice president who was acting as Obamas point man in Ukraine would give his blessing to the deal. Bidens willing, she said. But they agreed they had to move fast and bypass the European Union. Fuck the EU, Nuland told the ambassador, according to a leaked transcript of their call. Nulands role in the political maneuvering was not limited to phone calls. She traveled to Kiev and helped organize street demonstrations against Yanukovych, even handing out sandwiches to protesters. In effect, Obama officials greased a revolution. Within months, Yanukovych was exiled and replaced by Petro Poroshenko, who would later do Bidens bidding including firing a prosecutor investigating his son Hunter. Poroshenko would also later support Clinton's White House bid after Biden decided not to run, citing the death of his older son Beau. The U.S. meddling resulted in the installation of an anti-Putin government next door to Russia. A furious Putin viewed the interference as an attempted coup and soon marched into Crimea. Nuland is now Bidens undersecretary of state and Sullivan serves as his national security adviser. Whispering in their ear at the time was a fiery pro-Ukraine activist and old Clinton hand, Alexandra Ali Chalupa. A daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, Chalupa informally advised the State Department and White House in early 2014. She organized multiple meetings between Ukraine experts and the National Security Council to push for Yanukovychs ouster and economic sanctions against Putin. In the NSC briefings, Chalupa also agitated against longtime attorney-lobbyist Manafort, who at the time was an American consultant for Yanukovych's Party of Regions, which she viewed as a cats paw of Putin. She warned that Manafort worked for Putins interests and posed a national security threat. At the same time, Chalupa worked closely with then-Vice President Bidens team, setting up conference calls with his staff and Ukrainians. Another influential adviser at the time was former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who provided Nuland with written reports on the Ukrainian crisis and Russia that echoed Chalupas warnings. Nuland treated them as classified intelligence, and between the spring of 2014 and early 2016, she received some 120 reports on Ukraine and Russia from Steele. 2015: The Move Against Manafort Commences In April 2015, the DNC hired Chalupa as a $5,000-a-month consultant, according to a copy of her contract, which ran through the 2016 election cycle. (Years earlier, Chalupa had worked full-time for the DNC as part of the senior leadership team advising Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.) After Trump threw his hat in the ring in June 2015, Chalupa grew concerned that Manafort was or would be involved with his campaign since Manafort had known Trump for decades and lived in Trump Tower. She expressed her concerns to top DNC officials and the DNC asked me to do a hit on Trump, according to a transcript of a 2019 interview on her sisters podcast. (Andrea Chalupa, who describes herself as a journalist, boasted in a November 2016 tweet: My sister led Trump/Russia research at DNC.) Chalupa began encouraging journalists both in America and Ukraine to dig into Manaforts dealings in Ukraine and expose his alleged Russian connections. She fed unsubstantiated rumors, tips and leads to the Washington Post and New York Times, as well as CNN, speaking to reporters on background so a DNC operative wouldnt be sourced. I spent many, many hours working with reporters on background, directing them to contacts and sources, and giving them information, Chalupa said. But no reporter worked closer with her than Yahoo News correspondent Michael Isikoff. He even accompanied her to the Ukrainian Embassy, where they brainstormed attacks on Manafort and Trump, according to FEC case files. Chalupa was also sounding alarm bells in the White House. In November 2015, for example, she set up a White House meeting between a Ukrainian delegation including Ukraine Ambassador Valeriy Chaly and NSC advisers among them Eric Ciaramella, a young CIA analyst on loan to the White House who later would play a significant role as anonymous "whistleblower" in Trumps first impeachment. In addition to Putins aggression, the group discussed the alleged security threat from Manafort. Chalupa was back in the White House in December. All told, she would visit the Obama White House at least 27 times, Secret Service logs show, including attending at least one event with the president in 2016. January 2016: High-Level Meetings With Ukrainians in the White House On Jan. 12, 2016 almost a month before the first GOP primary Chalupa told top DNC official Lindsey Reynolds she was seeing strong indications that Putin was trying to steal the 2016 election for Trump. Emails also show that she promised to lead an effort to expose Manafort whom Trump would not officially hire as his campaign chairman until May and link him and Trump to the Russian government. That same day, Chalupa visited the White House. A week later, Obama officials gathered with Ukrainian officials traveling from Kiev in the White House for a series of senior-level meetings to, among other things, discuss reviving a long-closed investigation into payments to American consultants working for the Party of Regions, according to Senate documents. The FBI had investigated Manafort in 2014 but no charges resulted. One of the attendees, Ukrainian Embassy political officer Andrii Telizhenko, recalled Justice Department officials asking investigators with Ukraines National Anti-Corruption Bureau, or NABU, if they could help find fresh evidence of party payments to such U.S. figures. (Three years later, Democrats would impeach Trump for allegedly asking Ukraine to dig up dirt on a political rival, Joe Biden.) The Obama administrations enforcement agencies leaned on their Ukrainian counterparts to investigate Manafort, shifting resources from an investigation of a corrupt Ukrainian energy oligarch who paid Bidens son hundreds of thousands of dollars through his gas company, Burisma. "Obamas NSC hosted Ukrainian officials and told them to stop investigating Hunter Biden and start investigating Paul Manafort." Ex-NSC Official Obamas NSC hosted Ukrainian officials and told them to stop investigating Hunter Biden and start investigating Paul Manafort, said a former senior NSC official who has seen notes and emails generated from the meetings and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Suddenly, the FBI reopened its Manafort investigation. In January 2016, the FBI initiated a money laundering and tax evasion investigation of Manafort predicated on his activities as a political consultant to members of the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian politicians, according to a report by the Justice Departments watchdog. The White House summit with Ukrainian officials ran for three days, ending on Jan. 21, according to a copy of the agenda stamped with the Justice Department logo. It was organized and hosted by Ciaramella and his colleague Liz Zentos from the NSC. Other U.S. officials included Justice prosecutors and FBI agents, as well as State Department diplomats. The Ukrainian delegation included Artem Sytnyk, the head of NABU, and other Ukrainian prosecutors. Ciaramella was a CIA detailee to the White House occupying the NSCs Ukraine desk in 2015 and 2016. In that role, Ciaramella met face-to-face with top Ukrainian officials and provided policy advice to Biden through the then-vice president's security adviser Michael Carpenter. He also worked with Nuland and Chalupa. Ciaramella was carried over to the Trump White House. As RealClearInvestigations first reported, he would later anonymously blow the whistle on Trump asking Ukraines new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to help get to the bottom of Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election, a phone call that triggered Trumps first impeachment by a Democrat-controlled House. Ciaramellas former NSC colleague Alexander Vindman leaked the call to him. Vindman, a Ukrainian-American, is also aligned with Chalupa. (Vindman is now back in the news for his demands that the United States provide more active military support to Ukraine and his insistence that Trump shares great blame for the war.) February 2016: Obama White House-Ukraine Coordination Intensifies On Feb. 2, two weeks after the White House meetings, Secret Service logs reveal that Ciaramella met in the White House with officials from the U.S. Treasury Departments Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, which would later provide the FBI highly sensitive bank records on Manafort. (In addition, a senior FinCEN adviser illegally leaked thousands of the confidential Manafort records to the media.) On Feb. 9, less than a month after the White House summit, Telizhenko, who worked for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met with Zentos of the NSC at a Cosi sandwich shop in Washington, according to emails obtained by the Senate. It's not known what they discussed. In addition, on Feb. 23, the two emailed about setting up another meeting the following day. OK if I bring my colleague Eric, who works on Ukraine with me? Zentos asked Telizhenko, apparently referring to Ciaramella. In the emails, they discussed the U.S. primary elections, among other things. Telizhenko would later testify that Ambassador Chaly had ordered him then to start an investigation [into the Trump campaign] within the embassy just on my own to find out with my contacts if theres any Russian connection that we can report back. He suspects the Ambassador delivered that report to Chalupa and the DNC. Chalupa visited the White House on Feb. 22, entrance records show, just days before the second meeting Telizhenko had planned with Zentos. March 2016: Chalupa Engineers Manafort Messaging Assault With Ukrainians On March 3, Zentos and Telizhenko planned to meet again, this time at a Washington bar called The Exchange. According to their email, Zentos wrote, Ill see if my colleague Eric is up for joining. The pair also met the next day at Swings coffee house in Washington. After the meeting, Telizhenko emailed Zentos seeking a meeting with senior Obama NSC official Charlie Kupchan, an old Clinton hand who was Ciaramellas boss on the Russia/Ukraine desk. Kupchan is an outspoken critic of Trump who has made remarks suggesting what countries can do to stop him and protect the international institutions weve built. Zentos and Telizhenko also met on March 10, patronizing the Cosi coffee shop again. On March 24, 2016, four days before the Trump campaign announced that it had hired Manafort, Chalupa met at the Ukrainian Embassy with Ambassador Chaly and his political counselor Oksana Shulyar, where they shared their concerns about Manafort, according to Politico. When news broke on March 28 that Manafort was joining the Trump campaign, Chalupa could hardly contain herself. This is huge, she texted senior DNC officials. This is everything to take out Trump. She immediately began circulating anti-Manafort memos, warning the DNC of the threat he posed of Russian influence. The next day, March 29, she briefed the DNC communications team about Manafort. They, in turn, hatched a plan to reach out to the Ukrainian Embassy to get President Poroshenko to make an on-camera denunciation of Manafort and feed the footage to ABC News, where former Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos works as a top anchor. On March 30, Chalupa fired off an email to Shulyar, her contact at the Ukrainian Embassy: "There is a very good chance that President Poroshenko may receive a question from the press during his visit about the recent New York Times article saying that Donald Trump hired Paul Manafort as an adviser to his campaign and whether President Poroshenko is concerned about this considering Trump is the likely Republican nominee and given Paul Manaforts meddling in Ukraine over the past couple of decades, Chalupa wrote. "It is important President Poroshenko is prepared to address this question should it come up. In a manner that exposes Paul Manafort for the problems he continues to cause Ukraine." Within minutes of sending the email, Chalupa wrote the DNCs communications director Luis Miranda, The ambassador has the messaging. Then she reached out to a friend in Congress, Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, about holding hearings to paint Manafort as a pro-Kremlin villain. April 2016: Chalupa Solicits Ukrainian Dirt on Trump, His Campaign, and Manafort American presidential campaigns aren't supposed to work with foreign governments to dig up dirt on their political opponents. Geneva Convention rules bar diplomats from becoming entangled in their host countrys political affairs, particularly elections. There are also federal laws banning foreign nationals from engaging in operations to influence or interfere with U.S. political and electoral processes. In 2018, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals on charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government for that purpose. But just weeks after Manafort was hired by the Trump campaign, the Ukrainian Embassy appeared to be working with the Clinton campaign to torpedo him and the campaign. Emails reveal that Chalupa and Shulyar, a top aide to Ambassador Chaly, agreed to meet for coffee on April 7, 2016, at Kafe Leopold, a restaurant near the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington. (Chalupa had paid a visit to the White House just three days earlier.) One of the purposes of the meeting, according to FEC case files, was to discuss Manafort and the danger he allegedly posed. They were joined at the cafe by Telizhenko, who said he was working on a big story on Manafort and Trump with the Wall Street Journal. In a sworn 2019 deposition taken by the FEC, Telizhenko alleged that Chalupa solicited dirt on Trump, Manafort, and the Trump campaign during the meeting. Telizhenko also testified that Chalupa told him that her goal was basically [to] use this information and have a committee hearing under Marcy Kaptur, congresswoman from Ohio, in Congress in September and take him off the elections." Telizhenko later approached Ambassador Chaly about the DNC representative's overtures and he responded: Yes. And I know that this is happening. You should work with her." After speaking with Chaly, Telizhenko claims that he went back to Shulyar, who instructed him to help Chalupa. I went to Oksana and said, Like what are we doing? he testified. " And she told me, You have to work with Chalupa. And any information you have, you give it to me, Ill give it to her, then well pass it on later to anybody else we are coordinating with. Less than a week later, on April 13, Telizhenko met again with White House official Zentos, email records reveal. Telizhenko said he resigned the next month because of concerns regarding his embassys work with Chalupa and the Clinton team. In her sworn account of the meeting, Chalupa acknowledged discussing Manafort and the national security problem he allegedly presented, but denied asking the embassy for help researching him. She allowed that she could have mentioned the congressional investigation that I had talked to Marcy Kaptur, but maintained she couldn't recall trying to enlist the embassy in the effort. Shulyar, however, clearly recalls that Chalupa sought the embassys help warning the public about Manafort including pitching stories to the press and lobbying Congress, according to a 2020 written statement to the FEC. An idea floated by Alexandra Chalupa was that we approach a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus to initiate a congressional hearing on Paul Manafort, Shulyar said, though she denied the embassy acted on the idea. Around the same time, two Ukrainian lawmakers Olga Bielkova and Pavlo Rizanenko visited the U.S. and met with journalists, as well as a former State Department official with close ties to Sen. John McCain David Kramer of the McCain Institute. Kramer would later leak the entire Steele dossier to the media. The meeting was arranged by major Clinton Foundation donor Victor Pinchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch who lobbied Clinton when she was Obamas secretary of state. Bielkova was also connected to the Clinton Foundation, having once managed a Clinton Global Initiative program for Ukrainian college students. While Clinton was at Foggy Bottom from 2009 to 2013, Ukrainians gave more money at least $10 million, including more than $8 million from Pinchuk to the Clinton Foundation than any other nationality including Saudis. Pinchuk's donation was a down payment on an astounding $29 million pledge. On April 12, 2016, Bielkova also attended a meeting with Ciaramella and his NSC colleague Zentos, head of the Eastern Europe desk, according to lobbying disclosure records. In late April, Chalupa helped organize a Ukrainian-American protest against Manafort in his Connecticut hometown. Activists shouted for Trump to fire Manafort, whom they called Putins Trojan Horse, while holding signs that read: Shame on Putin, Shame on Manafort, Shame on Trump and Putin, Hands Off the U.S. Election. Chalupa also organized social media campaigns against Manafort and Trump, including one that encouraged activists to share the Twitter hashtags: #TrumpPutin and "#Treasonous Trump." Also that month, Chalupa reached out to Yahoo News reporter Isikoff to pitch a hit piece on Manafort. She connected him with a delegation of Ukrainian journalists visiting D.C. Isikoff would later be used by Steele to spread falsehoods from his dossier. May-June 2016: Manafort Dirt Spreads In a May 3 email, Chalupa alerted DNC communications director Luis Miranda and DNC opposition research director Lauren Dillion that there was a lot more [dirt on Manafort] coming down the pipe[sic]. Chalupa told them the dirt has a big Trump component and would hit in the next few weeks. Its not clear if she was referring to the notorious "black ledger smear against Manafort, who was promoted to campaign chairman on May 19, but a story about it was brewing at the time. On May 30, Nellie Ohr, an opposition researcher for the Clinton-retained firm Fusion GPS, emailed her husband, Bruce Ohr, a top official at the Justice Department who would become a prime disseminator of the Steele dossier within the government, and two federal prosecutors to alert them to an article indicating NABU had suddenly discovered documents allegedly showing Manafort receiving illicit payments. Amid the flurry of anti-Manafort activity, Zentos met again with Telizhenko on May 4, records show. And Chalupa visited the White House for a meeting on May 13. Chalupa paid another visit to the White House on June 14, Secret Service logs show. On June 17, Ciaramella held a White House meeting with Nuland and Pyatt of the State Department to discuss undisclosed Ukrainian matters. In late June, the FBI signed an evidence-sharing agreement with NABU, less than two months before the Ukrainian anti-corruption agency released what it claimed was explosive new evidence on Manafort. July 2016: Ukrainian Officials Attack Trump Publicly Chalupa continued to pow-wow with the Ukrainian Embassy and got so cozy with officials there that they offered her a position, which she declined, as an embedded consultant in the countrys Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That same month, high-ranking Ukrainian officials openly insulted Trump on social media in an unusual departure from normal diplomacy. It was clear that they were supporting Hillary Clintons candidacy. They did everything from organizing meetings with the Clinton team to publicly supporting her to criticizing Trump." Andriy Artemenko, Ukrainian lawmaker For instance, Ukraine Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov tweeted that Trump was a clown who was an even bigger danger to the U.S. than terrorism. In another July post, he called Trump dangerous for Ukraine. And on Facebook, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk warned that Trump had challenged the very values of the free world." (After Trump upset Clinton, Avakov and other officials tried to delete their statements from their social network accounts, saying that they had been wrong and had rushed to conclusions.) It was clear that they were supporting Hillary Clintons candidacy, Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Artemenko told Politico. They did everything from organizing meetings with the Clinton team to publicly supporting her to criticizing Trump." While attending the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, Chalupa spread the scurrilous rumor that Manafort was the mastermind behind the alleged Russian hacking of the DNC and that he stole" her and other Democrats emails. She later told her sisters podcast that she had reported her conspiracy theory to the FBI, eventually sitting down and meeting with agents in September to spin her tale of supposed espionage (the Senate has asked the FBI for copies of her interview summaries, known as FD-302s). Chalupa also prepared a report for the FBI, as well as members of Congress, detailing her Russiagate conspiracy theories, which Mueller later found no evidence to support. In addition, Chalupa helped spread a false narrative that Trump removed a reference to providing arms to Kiev from the Republican platform at the party's convention earlier that month. Internal platform committee documents show the Ukraine plank could not have been weakened as claimed, because the lethal weapons language had never been part of the GOP platform. The final language actually strengthened the platform by pledging direct assistance not just to the country of Ukraine, but to its military in its struggle against Russian-backed forces. August-September 2016: The Phony Manafort Ledger Leaks In another attempt to influence the 2016 election, Ukrainian lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko leaked to the U.S. media what he claimed was evidence of a secret handwritten ledger showing Manafort had received millions in cash from Yanukovychs party under the table. He claimed that 22 pages of the alleged ledger, which contained line items written by hand, had mysteriously appeared in his parliament mailbox earlier that year. Leshchenko would not identify the sender. A fuller copy of the same document showed up later on the doorstep of a Ukrainian intelligence official who passed it to NABU, which shared it with FBI agents stationed in Kiev. Leshchenko and NABU officials held press conferences declaring the document was proof" of Manafort corruption and demanding he be interrogated. The Clinton campaign seized on the story. In an Aug. 14 statement, campaign manager Robby Mook stated: We have learned of more troubling connections between Donald Trump's team and pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine. He demanded Trump "disclose campaign chair Paul Manafort's and all other campaign employees' and advisers' ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities." But there was a big hole in the story. Though Manafort was a consultant to Yanukovych's party, he was paid by wire, not in cash, casting serious doubt on the ledgers authenticity. Another problem: the ledger was alleged to have been kept at party headquarters, but rioters had destroyed the building in a 2014 fire. Leshchenko admitted that he had a political agenda. He told The Financial Times at the time that he went public with the ledger because a Trump presidency would change the pro-Ukrainian agenda in American foreign policy. He added that most of Ukraines politicians are on Hillary Clintons side." Leshchenko also happened to be "a source for Fusion GPS, as Nellie Ohr confirmed under questioning during a 2019 closed-door House hearing, according to a declassified transcript. Fusion was a paid agent of the Clinton campaign, which gave the private opposition-research firm more than $1 million to gin up connections between Trump and Russia. Fusion hired Steele to compile a series of intelligence memos known as the dossier. As a former MI6 operative, Steele gave the allegations a sheen of credibility. "The ledger and the dossier are both Fusion hit jobs. The two items shared a common origin: the Hillary campaigns oppo research shop." Mark Wauck, ex-FBI official FBI counterintelligence veteran Mark Wauck said the dossier and the black ledger both appear to have originated with Fusion GPS, which laundered it through foreigners who hated Trump Steele and Leshchenko. "The ledger and the dossier are both Fusion hit jobs, Wauck said. The two items shared a common origin: the Hillary campaigns oppo research shop." In an August 2016 memo written for Fusion GPS, The Demise of Trumps Campaign Manager Paul Manafort, Steele claimed he had corroborated Leshchenkos charges through his anonymous Kremlin sources, who turned out to be nothing more than beer buddies of his primary source collector, Igor Danchenko, a Russian immigrant with a string of arrests in the U.S. for public intoxication, as RealClearInvestigations first reported. Danchenko had worked for the Brookings Institution, a Democratic think tank in Washington that Durham has subpoenaed in connection to its own role in Russiagate. Danchenko was indicted last year by Special Counsel Durham for lying about his sources, including one he completely made up, as RCI reported. YANUKOVYCH had confided in PUTIN that he did authorize and order substantial kick-back payments to MANAFORT as alleged, Steele claimed in the unsubstantiated report, citing a well-placed Russian figure with knowledge of a "meeting between PUTIN and YANUKOVYCH allegedly held in secret on Aug. 15. As a paid informant, Steele had long reported to the FBI about alleged corruption involving Yanukovych. The FBI used his Clinton-funded dossier as a basis to obtain warrants to spy on former Trump adviser Carter Page, including the false claim that Page acted as an intermediary between Russian leadership and Manafort in a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation that included sidelining Russian intervention in Ukraine as a campaign issue. Steele also falsely claimed that Page had helped draft the RNC platform statement to be more sympathetic to Russias interests by eliminating language about providing weapons to Ukraine, according to a report by the Department of Justice's watchdog. In fact, Page was not involved in the GOP platform. The misinformation came from Danchenkos fictional source. Fusion co-founder Glenn Simpson worked closely with the New York Times on the Manafort ledger story. In his book, Crime in Progress, Simpson boasts of introducing Leshchenko to the Times as a source, who ended up providing the paper some of the dubious ledger records. On Aug. 19, Manafort stepped down from the Trump campaign the day after the Times reported what it had been fed by the anti-Trump operatives. In effect, Ukrainian government officials tried to help Clinton and undermine Trump by disseminating documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and telling the American media they were investigating the matter. In 2018, a Ukrainian court ruled that Leshchenko and NABUs Sytnyk illegally interfered in the 2016 U.S. election by publicizing the black ledger. Among the evidence was a recording of Sytnyk saying the agency released the ledger to help Clintons campaign I helped her, Sytnyk is recorded boasting. But the damage was done. The Ukrainians, along with Chalupa and the Clinton camp, achieved their goal of undermining the Trump campaign by prompting Manaforts ouster though they never proved he was colluding with the Russians. Neither did Special Counsel Mueller. In fact, Mueller did not use the ledger to prosecute Manafort after a key witness for the prosecution told him it was fabricated. Mueller ended up dropping it like a hot potato, Wauck said. Ukraines neutrality in the election was also called into further question that September, when Poroshenko met with Clinton during a stop in New York. He never met with Trump, who appeared to get the cold shoulder from the Ukrainian leader. In statements following Trumps surprise victory over Clinton in November, Ukraines embassy has denied interfering in the election and insisted that Chalupa was acting on her own. Epilogue After Trump won the election in spite of her efforts to sabotage him, Chalupa predicted: Under President Trump, the Kremlin could likely invade U.S. allies in Europe without U.S. opposition. Not only did Russia not invade Europe under Trump, it didnt even invade Ukraine. Rather, the invasion came under Biden, whose campaign Chalupa supported. Yet she continues to blame Trump. Recent tweets show a still-obsessed Chalupa has not dialed back her extremist views about Trump or Manafort, whom she believes should be prosecuted for treason." In a Feb. 28 post on Twitter, for example, Chalupa claimed that Putin installed a puppet regime in the U.S. with the help of Paul Manafort. The previous day, she tweeted, We had a Putin installed Trump presidency. A day before that, she wrote: Now would be a good time to release the Putin-Trump treason calls. And on Feb. 25, Chalupa tweeted another wild conspiracy theory: "Its important to note that Putins imperial aspirations are of a global criminal empire, as we saw when he installed Donald J. Trump president and tried to turn the U.S. into a Russian satellite state." California, Washington and Colorado are the top states of origin for people who moved to Montana in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to tax filing data presented to a legislative interim committee this week. The study, produced by the Legislative Fiscal Division in an effort to understand how migration patterns will affect the states long-term tax revenues, provides some of the first-available hard data on pandemic-era migration trends. Widespread anecdotal evidence already indicates that the pandemic and a subsequent shift toward remote work has brought waves of new arrivals to Montana, bolstering local economies and driving up housing prices across the state. The fiscal analyst who prepared the study, Sam Schaefer, also used the tax form data to identify where in the state new taxpayers are moving and compare the incomes of new and existing Montanans. In total, partial-year residents moving into Montana filed 18,077 state tax forms, compared to 11,416 forms filed by residents who left the state over the course of the year a net gain of 6,661 filers. Because many taxpayers file on behalf of other people in their household, that figure is probably lower than the total number of people who moved into Montana in 2020. Citing non-tax-filing data, the report says Montanas population grew by 1.1% overall in 2020 and is thought to have accelerated to extremely strong 1.6% population growth in 2021. The tax data studys key takeaways include the following: MOST NEW MONTANANS ARE COMING FROM THE WEST COAST AND COLORADO Of Montanas new tax filers in 2020, the greatest share, about 2,500, came from California. Washington and Colorado were also major states of origin, followed by Oregon and other states in the western U.S. Montanans who moved out of state were most likely to head to Washington, followed by Idaho and Arizona. SOUTHWEST, NORTHWEST SAW MOST IN-MIGRATION ON A PERCENTAGE BASIS Montanas urban centers counties encompassing Bozeman, Kalispell, Missoula, Billings and Helena saw the most in-migration in terms of absolute numbers in 2020. On a percentage basis, however, the picture is slightly different. Gallatin County, including Bozeman, ranked highest in the state with 5.2% growth in tax filings in 2020. Behind it were Madison County, including Ennis and the Yellowstone Club (4.8% growth), and Flathead County, which includes Kalispell and Whitefish (4.5% growth). Several rural counties in northwest Montana saw high growth rates as well: Sanders (4.4%), Lincoln (4.3%) and Mineral (4.3%). Those northwest Montana counties also stood out as the top-ranked counties in the state for growth specific to taxpayers over the age of 65. AT LEAST SOME NEW ARRIVALS ARE HIGH EARNERS The amount of wealth flowing into Montana with new arrivals has been a particular point of concern in discussions about pandemic migration, particularly among residents worried about income inequality and new arrivals outbidding existing residents for limited housing supplies. The study indicates new arrivals in 2020 had significantly higher incomes on average than existing Montana residents: about $110,000 for new arrivals versus about $82,000 for current residents. In contrast, the median income for new arrivals, $42,557, was lower than the median for current residents, a statistical quirk that indicates the average figures may be skewed upward by high earners. The study says the top 10% of new residents had an average income of about $599,000 nearly double the average income reported by the equivalent slice of Montanas highest income earners. The median income for existing Montana residents in 2020 was about $50,000. Those figures represent federal adjusted gross income, which includes capital gains and business income in addition to wages, and is sometimes adjusted downward to account for things like retirement contributions or student loan interest. LITTLE EVIDENCE THAT NEW ARRIVALS ARE PAYING A SCENERY TAX Montanas wages, which are comparatively low by national standards, have long been discussed as a sort of scenery tax that residents pay in exchange for the pleasure of living amid world-class landscapes. The tax study, however, indicates that may be a thing of the past for new arrivals. Montana taxpayers who arrived in 2019 and stayed in the state through 2020 typically didnt see their annual income decrease, the study notes. Instead they saw it increase by 5% for working-age residents, who earned almost $74,000 on average in 2020. They came here and got similar-paying jobs or they brought their jobs with them. It wasnt a scenario where they took a 10% pay cut to live in Montana, Schaefer said. While Montanas pandemic-era migration trends continued into 2021, similar tax data for last year isnt currently available because many residents havent yet filed their 2021 taxes. Schaefer said this week that he expects 2021 data to be available in late fall. Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from killings to belonging to militant groups, the largest known mass execution carried out in the kingdom in its modern history. The number of executed surpassed even the toll of a January 1980 mass execution for the 63 militants convicted of seizing the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979, the worst-ever militant attack to target the kingdom and Islams holiest site. Advertisement It wasnt clear why the kingdom choose Saturday for the executions, though they came as much of the worlds attention remained focused on Russias war on Ukraine and as the U.S. hopes to lower record-high gasoline prices as energy prices spike worldwide. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly plans a trip to Saudi Arabia next week over oil prices as well. The number of death penalty cases being carried out in Saudi Arabia had dropped during the coronavirus pandemic, though the kingdom continued to behead convicts under King Salman and his assertive son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Advertisement The state-run Saudi Press Agency announced Saturdays executions, saying they included those convicted of various crimes, including the murdering of innocent men, women and children. The kingdom also said some of those executed were members of al-Qaida, the Islamic State group and also backers of Yemens Houthi rebels. A Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Iran-backed Houthis since 2015 in neighboring Yemen in an effort to restore the internationally recognized government to power. Those executed included 73 Saudis, seven Yemenis and one Syrian. The report did not say where the executions took place. The accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process, which found them guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes that left a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers dead, the Saudi Press Agency said. The kingdom will continue to take a strict and unwavering stance against terrorism and extremist ideologies that threaten the stability of the entire world, the report added. It did not say how the prisoners were executed, though death-row inmates typically are beheaded in Saudi Arabia. An announcement by Saudi state television described those executed as having followed the footsteps of Satan in carrying out their crimes. A Saudi flag is seen at King Abdullah Square, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. (Amr Nabil/AP) The executions drew immediate international criticism. The world should know by now that when Mohammed bin Salman promises reform, bloodshed is bound to follow, said Soraya Bauwens, the deputy director of Reprieve, a London-based advocacy group. Advertisement Ali Adubusi, the director of the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, alleged that some of those executed had been tortured and faced trials carried out in secret. These executions are the opposite of justice, he said. The kingdoms last mass execution came in January 2016, when the kingdom executed 47 people, including a prominent opposition Shiite cleric who had rallied demonstrations in the kingdom. In 2019, the kingdom beheaded 37 Saudi citizens, most of them minority Shiites, in a mass execution across the country for alleged terrorism-related crimes. It also publicly nailed the severed body and head of a convicted extremist to a pole as a warning to others. Such crucifixions after execution, while rare, do occur in the kingdom. Activists, including Ali al-Ahmed of the U.S.-based Institute for Gulf Affairs, and the group Democracy for the Arab World Now said they believe that over three dozen of those executed Saturday also were Shiites. The Saudi statement, however, did not identify the faiths of those killed. Shiites, who live primarily in the kingdoms oil-rich east, have long complained of being treated as second-class citizens. Executions of Shiites in the past have stirred regional unrest. Saudi Arabia meanwhile remains engaged in diplomatic talks with its Shiite regional rival Iran to try to ease yearslong tensions. Advertisement The 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque remains a crucial moment in the history of the oil-rich kingdom. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > A band of ultraconservative Saudi Sunni militants took the Grand Mosque, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that Muslims pray toward five times a day, demanding the Al Saud royal family abdicate. A two-week siege that followed ended with an official death toll of 229 killed. The kingdoms rulers soon further embraced Wahhabism, an ultraconservative Islamic doctrine. Since taking power, Crown Prince Mohammed under his father has increasingly liberalized life in the kingdom, opening movie theaters, allowing women to drive and defanging the countrys once-feared religious police. However, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the crown prince also ordered the slaying and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, while overseeing airstrikes in Yemen that killed hundreds of civilians. In excerpts of an interview with The Atlantic magazine, the crown prince discussed the death penalty, saying a high percentage of executions had been halted through the payment of so-called blood money settlements to grieving families. Well about the death penalty, we got rid of all of it, except for one category, and this one is written in the Quran, and we cannot do anything about it, even if we wished to do something, because it is clear teaching in the Quran, the prince said, according to a transcript later published by the Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al-Arabiya. Advertisement If someone killed someone, another person, the family of that person has the right, after going to the court, to apply capital punishment, unless they forgive him. Or if someone threatens the life of many people, that means he has to be punished by the death penalty. He added: Regardless if I like it or not, I dont have the power to change it. Albania Since February 2020, when Albania made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and MONEYVAL to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime, Albania has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by finalising the registration of real estate property and completing a long-term project to reduce the informal economy. Albania should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by: (1) establishing more effective mechanisms to prevent criminals from owning or controlling DNFBPs, including by implementing new laws on the regulation of real estate intermediaries and notaries; (2) ensuring that there are effective mechanisms for timely access by authorities to company beneficial ownership information, as well as appropriate penalties for non-compliance or the provision of false information, including by implementing new laws to increase the population of the beneficial owners registry and raise the level of administrative sanctions; (3) increasing the number of prosecutions for ML, especially in cases involving foreign predicate offences; and (4) demonstrating seizures and confiscations of assets linked to third-party and professional money launderers. The FATF encourages Albania to continue to implement its action plan to address the above-mentioned strategic deficiencies as soon as possible as all deadlines have now expired. Barbados Since February 2020, when Barbados made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and CFATF to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime, Barbados has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by improving its understanding of vulnerabilities related to legal persons and legal arrangements. Barbados should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by: (1) demonstrating an effective application of risk-based supervision of DNFBPs (except TSCPs); (2) taking appropriate measures to prevent legal persons and arrangements from being misused for criminal purposes, and ensuring that accurate and up-to-date basic and beneficial ownership information is available on a timely basis; (3) ensure its FIUs financial intelligence products further assist law enforcement authorities in investigating ML or TF; (4) demonstrating that ML investigations and prosecutions are in line with the countrys risk profile and result in sanctions, when appropriate, and provide statistics or case studies demonstrating a reduction of any backlog of cases; (5) further pursuing confiscation in ML cases, including by seeking assistance from foreign counterparts. Burkina Faso Since February 2021, when Burkina Faso made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and GIABA to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime, Burkina Faso has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by adopting and implementing follow-up mechanisms for monitoring actions in the national strategy. Burkina Faso will work to implement its action plan, including by: (1) updating its understanding of ML/TF risks, including through the revision of the national risk assessment in line with the sectoral priorities identified in its national strategy; (2) seeking mutual legal assistance (MLA) and other forms of international cooperation in line with its risk profile; (3) strengthening of resource capacities of all AML/CFT supervisory authorities and implementing risk based supervision of FIs and DNFBPs; (4) maintaining comprehensive and updated basic and beneficial ownership information and strengthening the system of sanctions for violations of transparency obligations; (5) increasing the diversity of STR reporting; (6) enhancing the FIUs human resources through additional , hiring, training and budget; (7) conduct training for LEAs, prosecutors and other relevant authorities; (8) demonstrating that authorities are pursuing confiscation as a policy objective; (9) enhancing capacity and support for LEAs and prosecutorial authorities involved in combatting TF, in line with the TF National Strategy; and (10) implementing an effective targeted financial sanctions regime related to terrorist financing and proliferation financing as well as risk-based monitoring and supervision of NPOs. Cambodia In February 2019, Cambodia made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime and address any related technical deficiencies. Cambodia should take urgent action to fully address remaining measures in its action plan as all timelines have already expired. Cambodia should therefore continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by: (1) enhancing disseminations of financial intelligence to law enforcement authorities in connection with high-risk crimes; (2) demonstrating an increase in ML investigations and prosecutions in line with risk; (3) demonstrating an increase in the freezing and confiscation of criminal proceeds, instrumentalities, and property of equivalent value; (4) demonstrate that implementation of TFS related to PF is occurring by providing training to strengthen the skills of competent authorities to implement PF TFS, and enhance the understanding of sanctions evasion. The FATF again expresses significant concern that Cambodia failed to complete its action plan, which fully expired in January 2021. The FATF strongly urges Cambodia to swiftly demonstrate significant progress in completing its action plan by June 2022 or the FATF will consider next steps, which could include calling on its members and urging all jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence to business relations and transactions with Cambodia The Cayman Islands In February 2021, the Cayman Islands made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and CFATF to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. The Cayman Islands should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by: (1) imposing adequate and effective sanctions in cases where relevant parties (including legal persons) do not file accurate, adequate and up-to-date beneficial ownership information in line with those requirements; and (2) demonstrating that they are prosecuting all types of money laundering cases in line with the jurisdictions risk profile and that such prosecutions are resulting in the application of dissuasive, effective, and proportionate sanctions. Haiti (Statement from June 2021) In June 2021, Haiti made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and CFATF to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Haiti will work to implement its action plan, including by: (1) developing its ML/TF risk assessment process and disseminating the findings; (2) facilitating information sharing with relevant foreign counterparts; (3) addressing the technical deficiencies in its legal and regulatory framework that impede the implementation of AML/CFT preventive measures and implementing risk-based AML/CFT supervision for all financial institutions and DNFBPs deemed to constitute a higher ML/TF risk; (4) ensuring basic and beneficial ownership information are maintained and accessible in a timely manner; (5) ensuring a better use of financial intelligence and other relevant information by competent authorities for combatting ML and TF; (6) addressing the technical deficiencies in its ML offence and demonstrating authorities are identifying, investigating and prosecuting ML cases in a manner consistent with Haitis risk profile; (7) demonstrating an increase of identification, tracing and recovery of proceeds of crimes; (8) addressing the technical deficiencies in its TF offence and targeted financial sanctions regime; (9) conducting appropriate risk-based monitoring of NPOs vulnerable to TF abuse without disrupting or discouraging legitimate NPO activities. Jamaica Since February 2020, when Jamaica made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and CFATF to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime, Jamaica has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by implementing on-going risk based supervision of DNFBPs and wider reforms increasing the use of financial intelligence in ML investigations and charges. Jamaica should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by: (1) including all FIs and DNFBPs in the AML/CFT regime and ensuring adequate, risk-based supervision in all sectors; (2) taking appropriate measures to prevent legal persons and arrangements from being misused for criminal purposes, and ensuring that accurate and up-to-date basic and beneficial ownership information is available on a timely basis to competent authorities; (3) taking proper measures to increase ML investigations and prosecutions, in line with the countrys risk profile; and (4) implementing a risk-based approach for supervision of the NPO sector to prevent abuse for TF purposes. The FATF encourages Jamaica to continue to implement its action plan to address the above-mentioned strategic deficiencies as soon as possible as all deadlines have now expired. Jordan (Statement from October 2021) In October 2021, Jordan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and MENAFATF to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Since the adoption of its MER in November 2019, Jordan has made progress on a number of the MERs recommended actions to improve its system, including by finalising their National Risk Assessment (NRA). Jordan will work to implement its FATF action plan by: (1) completing and disseminating the ML/TF risk assessments of NPOs, legal persons and virtual assets; (2) improving risk based supervision and applying effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions for noncompliance; (3) conducting training and awareness raising programmes for DNFBPs on their AML/CFT obligations, particularly with regard to filing and submitting STRs; (4) maintaining comprehensive and updated basic and beneficial ownership information on legal persons and legal arrangements; (5) pursuing money laundering investigations and prosecutions, including through parallel financial investigations, for predicate offences in line with the risk identified in the NRA; (6) creating a legal obligation for confiscating instrumentalities used or intended to be used in ML crimes; (7) developing and implementing a legal and institutional framework for targeted financial sanctions; and (8) developing and implementing a risk-based approach for supervision of the NPO sector to prevent abuse for TF purposes. Mali (Statement from October 2021) In October 2021, Mali made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and GIABA to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Since the adoption of its MER in November 2019, Mali has made progress on a number of the MERs recommended actions to improve its system, including by adopting its National Risk Assessment (NRA). Mali will work to implement its FATF action plan by: (1) disseminating the results of the NRA to all relevant stakeholders including by conducting awareness raising activities with the highest risk sectors; (2) developing and starting to implement a risk based approach for the AML/CFT supervision of all FIs and higher risk DNFBPs and demonstrating effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for noncompliance; (3) conducting a comprehensive assessment of ML/TF risks associated with all types of legal persons; (4) increasing the capacity of the FIU and the LEAs and enhancing their cooperation on the use of financial intelligence; (5) ensuring relevant competent authorities are involved in investigation and prosecution of ML; (6) strengthening the capacities of relevant authorities responsible for investigation and prosecution of TF cases; (7) establishing a legal framework and procedures to implement targeted financial sanctions; and (8) implementing a risk-based approach for supervision of the NPO sector to prevent abuse for TF purposes. Malta In June 2021, Malta made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and MONEYVAL to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. At its February 2022 Plenary, the FATF made the initial determination that Malta has substantially completed its action plan and warrants an on-site visit to verify that the implementation of Maltas AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future. Malta has made the following key reforms: (1) continuing to demonstrate that beneficial ownership information is accurate and that, where appropriate, effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions, commensurate with the ML/TF risks, are applied to legal persons if information provided is found to be inaccurate; and ensuring that effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions are applied to gatekeepers when they do not comply with their obligations to obtain accurate and up-to-date beneficial ownership information; (2) enhancing the use of the FIUs financial intelligence to support authorities pursuing criminal tax and related money laundering cases, including by clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the Commissioner for Revenue and the FIU; and (3) increasing the focus of the FIUs analysis on these types of offences, to produce intelligence that helps Maltese law enforcement detect and investigate cases in line with Maltas identified ML risks related to tax evasion. The FATF will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and conduct an on-site visit at the earliest possible date. Morocco In February 2021, Morocco made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and MENAFATF to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Morocco has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by providing additional training and awareness raising to financial institutions and DNFBPs to detect suspicious cases and to file STRs. Morocco should continue to work to implement its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by: (1) improving risk-based supervision and taking remedial actions and applying effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for non-compliance; (2) ensuring that beneficial ownership information, including information of legal persons and foreign legal arrangements is adequate, accurate and verified; (3) increasing the diversity of suspicious transactions reporting; (4) cooperating and sharing relevant information on ML cases in a timely manner and establish asset seizing and confiscation procedures; and (5) monitoring and effectively supervising the compliance of FIs and DNFBPs with targeted financial sanctions obligations. Myanmar In February 2020, Myanmar made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime and address any related technical deficiencies. Myanmar has taken some steps toward improving its AML/CFT regime, specifically training on proliferation financing targeted financial sanctions, but the progress has been limited. Myanmar should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by: (1) demonstrating an improved understanding of ML risks in key areas; (2) demonstrating that onsite/offsite inspections are risk-based, and hundi operators are registered and supervised; (3) demonstrating enhanced use of financial intelligence in LEA investigations, and increasing operational analysis and disseminations by the FIU; (4) ensuring that ML is investigated/prosecuted in line with risks; (5) demonstrating investigation of transnational ML cases with international cooperation; (6) demonstrating an increase in the freezing/seizing and confiscation of criminal proceeds, instrumentalities, and/or property of equivalent value; (7) managing seized assets to preserve the value of seized goods until confiscation; and (8) demonstrating implementation of targeted financial sanctions related to PF. The FATF expresses concern with Myanmars limited progress with all deadlines having expired, and significant work remaining on the majority of its action plan including fundamental deficiencies that need to be addressed with respect to ML investigations and prosecutions and asset confiscation. The FATF again strongly urges Myanmar to swiftly complete its action plan by June 2022 or the FATF will decide the next steps for advising its members and jurisdictions on the AML/CFT concerns in Myanmar. Nicaragua In February 2020, Nicaragua made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and GAFILAT to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Nicaragua has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by putting in place mechanisms to ensure that beneficial ownership information of legal persons and arrangements is maintained and obtained in a timely manner. Nicaragua should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its remaining strategic deficiencies, including by taking appropriate measures to prevent legal persons and arrangements from being misused for criminal purposes. The FATF encourages Nicaragua to continue to implement its action plan to address the above-mentioned strategic deficiencies as soon as possible as all deadlines have now expired. Pakistan Since June 2018, when Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its AML/CFT regime and to address its strategic counterterrorist financing-related deficiencies, Pakistans continued political commitment has led to significant progress across a comprehensive CFT action plan. Pakistan has completed 26 of the 27 action items in its 2018 action plan. The FATF encourages Pakistan to continue to make progress to address, as soon as possible, the one remaining item by continuing to demonstrate that TF investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups. In response to additional deficiencies later identified in Pakistans 2019 APG Mutual Evaluation Report (MER), in June 2021, Pakistan provided further high-level commitment to address these strategic deficiencies pursuant to a new action plan that primarily focuses on combating money laundering. Since June 2021, Pakistan has taken swift steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime and completed 6 of the 7 action items ahead of any relevant deadlines expiring, including by demonstrating that it is enhancing the impact of sanctions by nominating individuals and entities for UN designation and restraining and confiscating proceeds of crime in line with Pakistans risk profile. Pakistan should continue to work to address the one remaining item in its 2021 action plan by demonstrating a positive and sustained trend of pursuing complex ML investigations and prosecutions. Panama In June 2019, Panama made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and GAFILAT to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Panama has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by strengthening its understanding of the ML/TF risk of legal persons, as part of the corporate sector. However, Panama should take urgent action to fully address remaining measures in its action plan as all timelines have already expired. Panama should therefore continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by: (1) ensuring effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions in response to AML/CFT violations; (2) ensuring adequate verification, of up-to-date beneficial ownership information by obliged entities and timely access by competent authorities, establishing an effective mechanisms to monitor the activities of offshore entities, assessing the existing risks of misuse of legal persons and arrangements to define and implement specific measures to prevent the misuse of nominee shareholders and directors; and (3) demonstrating its ability to investigate and prosecute ML involving foreign tax crimes and continuing to provide constructive and timely international cooperation for such offences, and continuing to focus on ML investigations in relation to high-risk areas. The FATF again expresses significant concern that Panama failed to complete its action plan, which fully expired in January 2021. The FATF strongly urges Panama to swiftly demonstrate significant progress in completing its action plan by June 2022 or the FATF will consider next steps, which could include the FATF calling on its members and urging all jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence to business relations and transactions with Panama. Philippines Since June 2021, when the Philippines made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime, the Philippines has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by increasing the resources of its FIU and utilising its TFS framework for TF, ahead of any relevant deadlines expiring. The Philippines should continue to work to implement its action plan, including by: (1) demonstrating that effective risk-based supervision of DNFBPs is occurring; (2) demonstrating that supervisors are using AML/CFT controls to mitigate risks associated with casino junkets; (3) implementing the new registration requirements for MVTS and applying sanctions to unregistered and illegal remittance operators; (4) enhancing and streamlining LEA access to BO information and taking steps to ensure that BO information is accurate and up-to-date; (5) demonstrating an increase in the use of financial intelligence and an increase in ML investigations and prosecutions in line with risk; (6) demonstrating an increase in the identification, investigation and prosecution of TF cases; (7) demonstrating that appropriate measures are taken with respect to the NPO sector (including unregistered NPOs) without disrupting legitimate NPO activity; and (8) enhancing the effectiveness of the targeted financial sanctions framework for both TF and PF. Senegal Since February 2021, when Senegal made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and GIABA to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime, Senegal has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by providing training to the investigative and judicial authorities on the use of financial intelligence to identify and investigate ML/TF cases. Senegal should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by: (1) ensuring consistent understanding of ML/TF risks (in particular related to the DNFBP sector) across relevant authorities through training and outreach; (2) seeking MLA and other forms of international cooperation in line with its risk profile; (3) ensuring that Financial Institutions and DNFBPs are subject to adequate and effective supervision; (4) updating and maintaining comprehensive beneficial ownership information on legal persons and arrangements and strengthening the system of sanctions for violations of transparency obligations; (5) continuing to enhance the FIUs human resources to ensure that it maintains effective operational analysis capacities; (6) demonstrating that efforts aimed at strengthening detection mechanisms and reinforcing the capability to conduct ML/predicate offences investigations and prosecutions activities are sustained consistently in line with the Senegals risk profile; (7) establishing comprehensive and standardised policies and procedures for identifying, tracing, seizing and confiscating proceeds and instrumentalities of crime in line with its risk profile; (8) strengthening the authorities understanding of TF risks and enhancing capacity and support for LEAs and prosecutorial authorities involved in TF in line with the 2019 TF National Strategy; and (9) implementing an effective targeted financial sanctions regime related to terrorist financing and proliferation financing as well as risk-based monitoring and supervision of NPOs. South Sudan In June 2021, South Sudan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. South Sudan has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime, including by designating a competent authority for AML/CFT purposes. South Sudan will work to implement its action plan, including by: (1) applying and engaging with ESAAMLG for membership and committing to undergo a mutual evaluation by ESAAMLG or other assessment body; (2) conducting a comprehensive review of the AML/CFT Act (2012), with the support of international partners, including technical assistance, to comply with the FATF Standards; (3) becoming a party to and fully implementing the 1988 Vienna Convention, the 2000 Palermo Convention, and the 1999 Terrorist Financing Convention; (4) ensuring that competent authorities are suitably structured and capacitated to implement a risk-based approach to AML/CFT supervision for financial institutions; (5) developing a comprehensive legal framework to collect and verify the accuracy of beneficial ownership information for legal persons; (6) operationalising a fully functioning and independent FIU; (7) establishing and implementing the legal and institutional framework to implement targeted financial sanctions in compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolutions on terrorism and WMD proliferation financing; and (8) commencing implementation of targeted risk-based supervision/monitoring of NPOs at risk of TF abuse. Syria Since February 2010, when Syria made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and MENAFATF to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, Syria has made progress to improve its AML/CFT regime. In June 2014, the FATF determined that Syria had substantially addressed its action plan at a technical level, including by criminalising terrorist financing and establishing procedures for freezing terrorist assets. While the FATF determined that Syria has completed its agreed action plan, due to the security situation, the FATF has been unable to conduct an on-site visit to confirm whether the process of implementing the required reforms and actions has begun and is being sustained. The FATF will continue to monitor the situation, and will conduct an on-site visit at the earliest possible date. Turkey (Statement from October 2021) In October 2021, Turkey made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Since the adoption of its MER in October 2019, Turkey has made progress on a number of the MERs recommended actions to improve its system, including by: promulgating an overarching national strategy for authorities in charge of combatting ML and TF; establishing a beneficial ownership registry; developing the strategic analysis capacity within the FIU; increasing the level of seizures of smuggled cash across borders; revising sentences available for terrorist financing to ensure there is an incentive for law enforcement to investigate TF activity independently and alongside terrorism offences; and eliminating the delays in implementing targeted financial sanctions under UNSCRs related to terrorist financing and proliferation financing. Turkey will work to implement its FATF action plan by: (1) dedicating more resources at the FIU to supervision of AML/CFT compliance by high-risk sectors and increasing on-site inspections overall; (2) applying dissuasive sanctions for AML/CFT breaches, in particular for unregistered money transfer services and exchange offices and in relation to the requirements of adequate, accurate, and up-to-date beneficial ownership information; (3) enhancing the use of financial intelligence to support ML investigations and increasing proactive disseminations by the FIU; (4) undertaking more complex money laundering investigations and prosecutions; (5) setting out clear responsibilities and measurable performance objectives and metrics for the authorities responsible for recovering criminal assets and pursuing terrorism financing cases and using statistics to update risk assessments and inform policy; (6) conducting more financial investigations in terrorism cases, prioritising TF investigations and prosecutions related to UN-designated groups and ensuring TF investigations are extended to identify financing and support networks; (7) concerning targeted financial sanctions under UNSCRs 1373 and 1267, pursuing outgoing requests and domestic designations related to UN-designated groups, in line with Turkeys risk profile; (8) to fully implement a risk-based approach to supervision of non-profit organisations to prevent their abuse for terrorist financing, conducting outreach to a broad range of NPOs in the sector and engaging with their feedback, ensuring that sanctions applied are proportionate to any violations, and taking steps to ensure that supervision does not disrupt or discourage legitimate NPO activity, such as fundraising. The FATF continues to monitor Turkeys oversight of the NPO sector. Turkey is urged to apply the risk-based approach to supervision of NPOs in line with the FATF Standards. Uganda In February 2020, Uganda made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and ESAAMLG to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Uganda should continue to work to implement its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by: (1) seeking international cooperation in line with the countrys risk profile; (2) developing and implementing risk-based supervision of FIs and DNFBPs; (3) ensuring that competent authorities have timely access to accurate basic and beneficial ownership information for legal entities; (4) demonstrating LEAs and judicial authorities apply the ML offence consistent with the identified risks; (5) establishing and implementing policies and procedures for identifying, tracing, seizing and confiscating proceeds and instrumentalities of crime; (6) demonstrating that LEAs conduct TF investigations and pursue prosecutions commensurate with Ugandas TF risk profile; (7) addressing the technical deficiencies in the legal framework to implement PF-related targeted financial sanctions; and (8) implementing a risk-based approach for supervision of its NPO sector to prevent TF abuse. The FATF continues to monitor Ugandas oversight of the NPO sector. Uganda is strongly urged to align the Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment for NPOs with the FATF Standards. This is needed to apply the risk-based approach to supervision of NPOs in line with the FATF Standards to mitigate unintended consequences. The FATF notes Ugandas continued effort across its action plan, however a number of its action plan deadlines have expired or will soon expire. The FATF encourages Uganda to continue to work on implementing its action plan to address the above mentioned strategic deficiencies as soon as possible. The United Arab Emirates In February 2022, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and MENAFATF to strengthen the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. Since the adoption of its MER in February 2020, the UAE has made significant progress across its MERs recommended actions to improve its system, including by finalising a TF Risk Assessment, creating an AML/CFT coordination committee, establishing an effective system to implement targeted financial sanctions without delay, and significantly improving its ability to confiscate criminal proceeds and engage in international cooperation. Additionally, the UAE addressed or largely addressed more than half of the key recommended actions from the MER. The UAE will work to implement its FATF action plan by: (1) demonstrating through case studies and statistics a sustained increase in outbound MLA requests to help facilitate investigation of TF, ML, and high-risk predicates; (2) identifying and maintaining a shared understanding of the ML/TF risks between the different DNFBP sectors and institutions; (3) showing an increase in the number and quality of STRs filed by FIs and DNFBPs; (4) achieving a more granular understanding of the risk of abuse of legal persons and, where applicable, legal arrangements, for ML/TF; (5) providing additional resources to the FIU to strengthen its analysis function and enhance the use of financial intelligence to pursue high-risk ML threats, such as proceeds of foreign predicate offenses, trade-based ML, and third-party laundering; (6) demonstrating a sustained increase in effective investigations and prosecutions of different types of ML cases consistent with UAEs risk profile; and (7) proactively identifying and combating sanctions evasion, including by using detailed TFS guidance in sustained awareness-raising with the private sector and demonstrating a better understanding of sanctions evasion among the private sector. Yemen Since February 2010, when Yemen made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and MENAFATF to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, Yemen has made progress to improve its AML/CFT regime. In June 2014, the FATF determined that Yemen had substantially addressed its action plan at a technical level, including by: (1) adequately criminalising money laundering and terrorist financing; (2) establishing procedures to identify and freeze terrorist assets; (3) improving its customer due diligence and suspicious transaction reporting requirements; (4) issuing guidance; (5) developing the monitoring and supervisory capacity of the financial sector supervisory authorities and the financial intelligence unit; and (6) establishing a fully operational and effectively functioning financial intelligence unit. While the FATF determined that Yemen has completed its agreed action plan, due to the security situation, the FATF has been unable to conduct an on-site visit to confirm whether the process of implementing the required reforms and actions has begun and is being sustained. The FATF will continue to monitor the situation, and conduct an on-site visit at the earliest possible date. Jurisdiction No Longer Subject to Increased Monitoring by the FATF Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced people to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighbouring countries at a scale and pace of refugee flow not seen in Europe since World War II. About 60% of Ukrainians have initially fled to Poland, making it a focal point of the crisis. What is exceptionally different about this refugee crisis is the widespread positive reception given to the Ukrainian refugees, coupled with the strong and swift financial support host countries are poised to receive. Together, these factors will significantly diffuse the burden of absorption on host counties. The impact on sovereign credit-and Poland is most relevant here given the extent of Ukrainian refugee inflows into that country-requires analysis of the shock through both a financial and political lens. By both metrics, KBRA believes the risks are manageable. We also note that the situation is fluid, and we are monitoring it closely for credit impacts, including a scenario where the Ukrainian refugees become permanent migrants to their host countries. 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. BYJUS, a Bangalore, India-based edtech company with 150 million learners globally, raised $800m in funding. Backers included Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners and BlackRock. Byju Raveendran, Founder & CEO of BYJUS, is also part of the funding round and has made a personal investment of $400m. BYJUS delivers learning experiences with tools that sit at the cross-section of mobile, interactive content and personalized learning methodologies. The companys geography-agnostic solutions and 12,000+ teachers make learning engaging, with visual and contextual programs that adapt to the unique learning style, skill level and pace of each student. In addition, the company has innovative partnerships with large companies, including Disney and Google, to drive engagement and help even more students become active and lifelong learners. The BYJUS family of brands includes Disney-BYJUS Early Learn, BYJUS Future School, Epic!, Osmo, Tynker, Toppr and WhiteHat Jr, along with its flagship product BYJUS The Learning App. Together, BYJUS solutions support Pre-K 12 education and a wide range of competitive exams. The company is backed by blue-chip investors including Aarin Capital, Alkeon Capital Management, BlackRock, Bond Capital, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, CPPIB, IFC, Prosus, General Atlantic, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Owl Ventures, Qatar Investment Authority, Sands Capital Management, Sequoia Capital, Silver Lake, Sofina, Sumeru Ventures, Tencent, Tiger Global, Times Internet, Verlinvest and Vitruvian Partners. Since 2017, BYJUS has completed more than 15 acquisitions, including companies in the U.S., UK, Austria, India and Singapore. FinSMEs 12/03/2022 Reejig, a Sydney, Australia and San Francisco, CA-based provider of a workforce intelligence platform, raised $21M in Series A funding. The round was led by Skip Capital, Airtree Ventures, and Culture Amps Didier Elzinga. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach. Led by CEO Siobhan Savage, CTO Mike Reed, and Chief Data Scientist Dr Shujia Zhang, Reejig is a workforce intelligence platform that provides an understanding of peoples skills, potential, passions and experiences, creating a central system for talent decisions. The company works globally with clients including AWS, KPMG, Allianz and more. Reejig integrates with an existing tech stack, aggregating people data and enriching it with public data to create live and dynamic skills profiles for all. With over 400 million career paths mapped, the system understands how skills relate to jobs, people and courses, giving visibility over all the skills a person has everything from their current skills and competence level, to predicting skill adjacencies and where their skills gaps lie. Its independently audited, Ethical Talent AI uses this skills intelligence to help teams instantly fill roles, track retention risks, mobilize talent to opportunities, pivot talent for reskilling and much more. As part of the companys first strategic move since funding, Reejig has appointed global talent leader Jonathan Reyes to spearhead growth in the US. Reyes brings 20-years experience growing leading teams in technology and banking organizations across the US, ANZ, UK and Latin America. He was previously the Global Head of Talent Mobility & Talent Acquisition Operations at Uber and led talent acquisition roles with Commonwealth Bank and IBM. Reyes will be based in the Silicon Valley and will be responsible for driving Reejigs expansion into the US market and building the team of local professionals to grow the platforms customer base. FinSMEs 12/03/2022 On the afternoon of February 6, 2022, at the Great Hall of the People, President Xi Jinping met with Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, who came to China to attend the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Xi Jinping asked Oyun-Erdene to convey his sincere regards to President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh. He pointed out that China and Mongolia are important friends and neighbors connected by mountains and rivers. Maintaining, consolidating and developing a good China-Mongolia relationship accord with the fundamental and long-term interests of both countries. China always upholds the neighborhood policy of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness towards Mongolia. China will work with Mongolia to deepen mutual trust, friendship and cooperation in a bid to bring the China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level. Xi Jinping stressed that both sides should respect each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect each other's choice of development path, accommodate each other's core interests, and firmly steer the proper development of China-Mongolia relations. China will maintain high-level exchanges with Mongolia and deepen exchanges on governance experience to diversify the content of bilateral relations. He hoped both sides will implement the joint statement made by the two governments to make early and more essential achievements. In the past two years, China and Mongolia reported remarkable cooperation in combating the pandemic, particularly including the widely praised "gifting one another with sheep and tea", which built up the friendship ties. China will continue cooperation with Mongolia and is ready to provide support and assistance to Mongolia in combating the pandemic, boosting economy and improving people's livelihood. The two sides should uphold true multilateralism, safeguard international fairness and justice, and protect regional peace and stability. Oyun-Erdene delivered President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh's sincere regards to President Xi Jinping. He said that China's overcoming of the difficulties brought by the pandemic and hosting of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 as scheduled have boosted the world's confidence in defeating the pandemic. He expressed that the Olympics is a symbol of peace and solidarity for humankind and Mongolia firmly opposes the politicization of sports. He extended sincere appreciation for China's timely supply of vaccines when Mongolia was in urgent need. China is a "more valuable than gold" neighbor of Mongolia. China's development into a great power makes the world attach more importance to Asian values and cultures. Mongolia will board the express train of China's development and deepen cooperation with China. Mongolia will well align its new revival policy with China's Belt and Road Initiative and 14th Five-Year Plan, elevate the Mongolia-China comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, and make the bilateral relations a model of relations between neighboring countries as well as in international relations. In the capacity of the Chairman of the Mongolian People's Party, Oyun-Erdene once again congratulated on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and wished the CPC's 20th National Congress a great success. He added that his party is willing to enhance communication and exchanges on governance with the CPC. Ding Xuexiang, Yang Jiechi, Wang Yi, He Lifeng and others were present at the meeting. Abortion should be legal in all circumstances Abortion should be legal in most circumstances Abortion should be legal in a few circumstances Abortion should never be legal in any circumstances Vote View Results Only about one-third of New Yorkers have received coronavirus vaccine booster shots, according to new data released on the heels of Mayor Adams rollback of the citys indoor vaccine mandate. The data, made public by the Department of Health on Friday, shows just 36% of city residents have gotten a booster. The rates are even lower among Black and Hispanic New Yorkers, 24% and 26% of whom have gotten boosted, respectively, the data shows. Advertisement By contrast, according to the data, 77% of city residents are fully vaccinated, defined as having received two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Dr. Yomaris Pena, Internal Medicine Physician with Somos Community Care in NYC extracts the last bit of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine out of a vial. (Mary Altaffer/AP) Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who chaired the Councils Health Committee before his BP election in November, said the low booster rates should be a source of concern. Advertisement This leaves us vulnerable to a future wave. We have to focus on this, Levine tweeted, noting that the booster rate stands at just 55% among city residents older than 65, who are especially vulnerable to suffering severe COVID-19 symptoms. Pointing to the disparities among Black and Brown New Yorkers, Levine added: We cant continue to accept this. We must do much more to close these gaps. An Adams spokeswoman said the administration is working to address disparities in booster doses by building trust in communities of color, though she did not list off any specific initiatives underway. We are working day after day to increase the number of New Yorkers boosted against COVID-19 and are beating back this virus due to vaccinations, the spokeswoman said. Vaccinations are unlocking our recovery, and we encourage all eligible New Yorkers who have yet to get boosted to do so immediately. This past Monday, Adams lifted the citys Key2NYC vaccine mandate for indoor activities like dining, drinking and fitness, arguing it was safe to do so thanks to a sharp decline in infection rates since the omicron peak earlier this year. The Key2NYC revocation means unvaccinated people can now patronize restaurants, bars and other indoor establishments in the city. According to State Department Health data, the citys average coronavirus test positivity rate was 1% on Thursday. Despite the low positivity rates, some public health experts have argued its premature to scrap public health precautions like Key2NYC out of concern for a potential new variant of the virus emerging in the future. Advertisement The low booster rates are making the need for continued public health restrictions even more pressing, said Dr. Jay Varma, former Mayor Bill de Blasios top pandemic adviser. NYCs health system remains at risk, because 57% of adults (!) have not received all eligible doses, Varma wrote in a tweet citing the new Department of Health data. In rescinding Key2NYC, Adams released a new color-coded alert system under which his administration would consider reintroducing the indoor vaccine mandate and other public health precautions in the event of a future spike. Quote: Sagnasty Originally Posted by This is one major reason why I will likley not buy a Ford product next go around. Between constant fighting for warranty work to be honored to the sheer amount of months it takes to get anything completed, I am pretty much done with them. I have never had a warranty issue not rectified in a timely manner by GM or Toyota. My current issue is a rubber roof trim piece that was broken from the factory and marked with yellow paint by the rear glass. It wasn't until I got it home and washed it for the first time that I saw the issue. That and there was a missing rubber body plug in the passenger rear door area and front passenger side window is being scratch from something inside the door when it goes up or down. Took it to the dealer the last week of May (Phil Long Ford) and was told Ford will not warranty the glass but ordered the rest of the parts. They stated they pulled the door panel and didn't see anything which left me scratching my head. Funning thing is, when I got the truck home the drivers side rear door panel was hanging by the wires when I opened the door. This leads me to believe they pulled the wrong panel to begin with. After never receiving a return phone call I finally got an appointed the last week of August after a half dozen calls to the dealer. All of this for a rubber plug and roof trim. This is our best offer! You get home delivery Monday through Saturday plus full digital access any time, on any device with our six-day subscription delivery membership. This membership plan includes member-only benefits like our popular ticket giveaways, all of our email newsletters and access to the daily digital replica of the printed paper. Also, you can share digital access with up to four other household members at no additional cost. Subscriptions renew automatically every 30 days. Call 240-215-8600 to cancel auto-renewal. Most subscribers are served by News-Post carriers; households in some outlying areas receive same-day delivery through the US Postal Service. If your household falls in a postal delivery area, you will be notified by our customer service team. The Biden administration has slapped stiff economic sanctions on a Russian oligarch who once worked with the citys international affairs commissioner. Viktor Vekselberg, a businessman with close ties to President Vladimir Putin who made his fortune in Russias energy and technology sectors, has gotten his private aircraft and yacht blacklisted by the U.S. government, the Treasury Department said in a statement Friday afternoon. Advertisement The vessels, which hold a combined value of $180 million, cant be operated and may get seized due to the sanctions. The action against Vekselberg was part of the Biden administrations latest volley of economic warfare against Russian business magnates and government officials who are enabling Putins unjustified and unprovoked war in Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. Advertisement Viktor Vekselberg (Alexander Zemlianichenko/ASSOCIATED PRESS) Vekselberg has business interests across the globe, including the U.S. Among the Americans Vekselberg formerly worked with is Edward Mermelstein, who was appointed as Mayor Adams international affairs commissioner earlier this year. Between 2004 and 2009, Mermelstein served as the U.S. director of The Link of Times, a foundation established by Vekselberg that repatriated cultural objects to Russia from other countries, including Faberge eggs, according to Mermelsteins website. New York City Mayor Eric Adams (Michael M Santiago/Getty Images /Getty Images) Before joining Adams administration, Mermelstein also worked as a foreign investment consultant and luxury real estate attorney with offices in Manhattan and Moscow. Mermelstein, whose current job involves serving as a liaison for foreign diplomats and attracting business to New York from overseas, has acknowledged that representing Russian oligarchs was part of his remit while working in high-end real estate. Oligarchs and their socialite wives are quick to purchase pricey pads, looking not to just fill that vanity void, but for as an investment opportunity too. Manhattan real estate continues to prove to be a safe long-term bet, he wrote in a 2017 op-ed published in Haute Residence entitled Edward Mermelsteins Vision For New York. Vekselberg has been under a separate set of U.S. sanctions since 2018 over his role in the the Russian governments malign activity around the globe, including its military annexation of Ukraines Crimea region. An Adams spokeswoman stressed that Mermelstein never represented Vekselberg in a personal capacity and only worked for his foundation. Advertisement No issues or concerns were ever raised while the commissioner represented the firm, the spokeswoman said, adding that there was nothing improper about Mermelsteins work and that Vekselberg was at the time seen in a positive light in international business communities. Mermelstein, who has engaged in outreach to the citys Ukrainian community since the Russian invasion began, condemns Vekselbergs alleged role in Putins war, the spokeswoman added. The current allegations against Vekselberg are disturbing and obviously the commissioner would not have represented him after the allegations came to light, she said. Furthermore, the commissioner has not had any contact with Mr. Vekselberg. Keep the conversation about local news & events going by joining us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Recent updates from The News-Post and also from News-Post staff members are compiled below. State officials are cautious but hopeful as the mask mandate in Oregon sunsets as Friday, March 11 becomes Saturday, March 12. During a virtual Friday briefing, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state epidemiologist, said recent data was encouraging. He warned Oregonians that the pandemic is not yet over. "We will continue to see new cases of disease, and we fully expect new variants to emerge," Sidelinger said. "But we believe the firewalls of immunity we currently have may keep the virus at bay." To date, Oregon has seen the third-lowest per capital case rate and the seventh lowest death rate since the onset of the pandemic, the Oregon Health Authority reported Friday. Ahead of the state mask mandate being lifted, OHA reported on Friday 411 new COVID-19 cases and 15 new coronavirus-related deaths. With the new confirmed and presumptive cases, Oregon's COVID-19 caseload to date now stands at 699,363 since the pandemic began. The newly reported deaths brings Oregon's total death toll to 6,869 people. The current seven-day average of 520 daily cases, Sidelinger said on Friday, is about 94% lower than Oregon's high of 8,209 cases on Jan. 20, or the lowest seven-day average since July. Benton County reported four new cases, bringing its total to 14,946 total. Linn County reported 17 new cases, for a total of 26,253. Neither county reported new deaths on Friday, so total COVID-19 deaths remain at 239 in Linn County and 64 in Benton County. 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. Friday's report comes ahead of the state lifting its mask mandate for most indoor settings on Friday night. Face masks must be worn in health care settings, such as hospitals and public transportation. Private businesses may continue requiring face masks at their discretion. Currently, the state is ninth in the nation for having the most recipients of coronavirus booster shots and 18th for fully vaccinated people. OHA officials recommend seniors 65 and older and immunocompromised people continue to wear face masks in most settings. People exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms are also encouraged to self-isolate for at least five days and to wear a mask in public for five days afterward. Hospitalizations: As of Friday, 261 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Oregon, 10 fewer than the prior report. Forty of them were in intensive care units beds. Hospitalizations have now fallen far below Oregon's three-month high of 1,130 patients during the peak of the case surge brought on by the omicron variant in January, according to OHA. Of 653 total, 91 ICU beds are unoccupied, a 14% availability rate, and 363 of 4,301 adult non-ICU beds are unoccupied, a 8% availability. There were 15 adult ICU beds open across the region that includes Linn, Benton, Marion, Polk, Lincoln and Yamhill counties (15%) and 34 adult non-ICU beds available (5%). Vaccinations: OHA reported 3,518 new doses of coronavirus vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry on Thursday, March 10. 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 2,820 doses per day. Coronavirus infection rates are four times higher in unvaccinated people than people who are fully vaccinated, according to OHA data. Nationally: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 42,566 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, making the U.S. case total more than 79 million. There were 1,288 new deaths recorded Friday, bringing the countrys death toll to 963,287 people, according to the CDC. Tim Gruver covers the city of Albany and Linn County. He can be contacted at 541-812-6114 or Tim.Gruver@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter via @T_TimeForce. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A Ukrainian woman who became internationally famous after photos captured her escape from a Russian-bombed maternity ward while very pregnant gave birth Friday to a baby girl. Mariana Vishegirskaya was spotted with blood on her face descending the steps of the bombed-out childrens hospital Wednesday after Russian missile strikes destroyed the building in Mariupol. Advertisement Mariana Vishegirskaya lies in a hospital bed after giving birth to her daughter Veronika on Friday. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) At least three people, including a child, were killed in the attack, and 17 were injured. Vishegirskaya became a symbol of Ukrainians suffering and determination in the face of the Russian onslaught. [ Russia bombs maternity ward in southern Ukraine as Putin scales up attacks ] But Russia attempted to throw a wrench in the story, with the countrys U.K. embassy claiming on Twitter that Vishegirskaya was an actor and the photographs were staged. They were not; Twitter removed the posts. Advertisement Vishegirskaya has chronicled her pregnancy for months on her popular Instagram page. The account even includes photos of her wearing the same pajamas she was wearing while escaping the hospital. Mariana Vishegirskaya walks downstairs in a maternity hospital damaged by shelling in Mariupol on Wednesday. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Vishegirskaya and other expectant mothers were transported to another hospital in Mariupol. The second hospital was in an even more dangerous location, but she gave birth to baby Veronika on Friday. Photographers with the Associated Press captured Vishegirskayas entire journey, providing firsthand evidence to rebut the Russian disinformation claims. Her husband, Yuri, was pictured holding their new daughter and staring lovingly into her eyes. Mariana Vishegirskaya lies in a hospital bed after giving birth to her daughter Veronika, held by her husband Yuri, in Mariupol on Friday. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) In recent days, Russia has expanded its air attacks across Ukraine, striking deeper into the battered nation and further west. [ Russia broadens air assaults in Ukraine, splits up convoy outside Kyiv ] Mariupol sits in Ukraines southeast corner and has been surrounded by Russian forces. City leadership said more than 1,500 civilians have been killed in the city since Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to invade on Feb. 24. Attempts to establish humanitarian corridors for residents to escape Mariupol have been thwarted by Russian forces who fired on the Ukrainian aid convoy. With News Wire Services 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. Vote View Results Gettysburg, PA (17325) Today A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 76F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Some passing clouds. Low 53F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Russia broadened its aerial bombardment of Ukraine, split up its menacing miles-long convoy outside the capital, Kyiv, and allegedly abducted the mayor of an occupied city, as the U.S. severed more ties with the Russian economy on Friday. On the 16th day of the bloody Russian invasion, President Vladimir Putin found his global reputation cratering to new lows, his countrys economy in free fall and his army reeling from a storm of setbacks and casualties. Advertisement An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian's army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) Putins answer to the developments appeared, once more, to be the escalation of a conflict believed to have killed thousands on both sides at a cost of billions of dollars for Russians. President Biden said the U.S. was moving in tandem with its European allies to strip Russia of its normalized trade status. America was also barring the import of Russian seafood, vodka and jewels, the president said. Advertisement Speaking in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Biden predicted the latest penalties would pose another crushing blow to the Russian economy. Putin is an aggressor, Biden said shortly after speaking with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. And Putin must pay the price. Putins war against Ukraine will never be a victory. He hoped to dominate Ukraine without a fight he failed, Biden said. The American people are united. The world is united. And we stand with the people of Ukraine. President Joe Biden announces a ban on Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/AP) Even as Biden scolded Putin, the Russian forces were intensifying the largest invasion in Europe since World War II. Ukraines Parliament said 10 occupiers abducted Mayor Ivan Fedorov of Melitopol, a small city in southern Ukraine, placing a bag over his head as they took him away. Russia captured Melitopol on Feb. 25, one day after starting the invasion. The city sits near the coast of the Sea of Azov, in a region where the often-stalled Russian Army has had more success, perhaps due to its seizure of Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula, in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 11, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev/AP) In the north of the country, Russia has hit roadblocks on the ground and resorted to pulverizing buildings from the air. Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, has seen its buildings hollowed out by attacks and its central square blasted into a tangle of rubble. Still, Kharkiv has not yet fallen, nor has Kyiv, the true prize for the Russians. The capital has endured intermittent and sometimes brutal bombing, but turned quieter in recent days while a 40-mile column of tanks and trucks loomed beyond city limits. The respite seemed to be ending. Advertisement Satellite imaging captured Thursday showed that the convoy had fanned out, and that armored vehicles had begun to roll through towns and forests outside of Kyiv, according to Maxar Technologies, a space technology company. Elderly residents hide in a basement for shelter, with no electricity, water or food in the center of the town of Irpin, some 25 km (16 miles) northwest of Kyiv, Friday, March 11, 2022. Kyiv northwest suburbs such as Irpin and Bucha have been enduring Russian shellfire and bombardments for over a week. (Efrem Lukatsky / AP) The moves could signal that Russia is revving up for an intense assault on Kyiv. They moved that convoy after two weeks of sitting in the sun and getting a nice tan, said Barry Pavel, a former top Pentagon official and a director at the Atlantic Council. I think youre going to start to see mass shelling and bombing, especially of Kyiv. Pavel, who described the Russian Armys execution to date as dreadful, also expressed concern about the expansion of Russian bombing to areas of western Ukraine, not far from the border with Poland. It was not entirely clear why Russia had aimed fresh fire at airfields in western Ukraine. But Pavel painted a grim picture of the direction of the war. Theyve changed tactics unfortunately, and theyre just going shell and bomb, Pavel said. Theyre just going to go Full Grozny. Advertisement Mariana Vishegirskaya lies in a hospital bed after giving birth to her daughter Veronika, in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. Vishegirskaya survived the Russian airstrike on a childrens and maternity hospital in Mariupol last Wednesday. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) Two decades ago, Russia conducted a cruel air assault on Grozny, the Chechen capital, that left the city in abject ruins and echoed through the annals of military history as a moment of extraordinary destruction. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said Friday afternoon night time in Kyiv that the Ukrainian capital was experiencing an air assault and that Russia was tightening its grip around the city, especially on its eastern edges. Theres Russian bombardment and shelling going on quite violently as we speak, Kirby told reporters. And we do assess that the Russians are beginning to make more momentum on the ground towards Kyiv. Putins war on Ukraine has already exacted a painful price on a 30-year-old sovereign democratic nation that sits in the former Soviet Union. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > The invasion has sent at least 2.5 million refugees scrambling from Ukraine, and displaced roughly 2 million people inside the country, according to the UN. Dozens of children have died, according to Ukraine, and hospitals have been decimated. According to U.S. estimates, between 2,000 and 6,000 Russian troops have also died in the war. The U.S. lost 2,461 soldiers in two decades of war in Afghanistan. Advertisement People who fled the war in Ukraine rest inside the old train station building that has been converted for a temporary refugee shelter on March 11, 2022 in Krakow, Poland. (Omar Marques/Getty Images) To maintain support at home, Putin has purged his country of independent news reporting, blocked Facebook and presented a preposterous explanation for the war the Kremlin does not use the word that falsely presents Ukrainian leadership as neo-Nazis. On Friday, the Kremlin said it was moving to block Instagram, too. The invasion has lagged far behind Putins timetable, according to American analysts. And the authoritarian Russian leader appears to have badly misjudged the Ukrainians willingness to fight fiercely for their homeland. Theyre fighting skillfully, bravely, quite creatively, Kirby said of the Ukrainian troops, noting that ordinary citizens are stepping up, too. The fighting isnt just by their armed forces, Kirby said, describing throngs of Ukrainians blocking city streets and stopping the Russian military in its tracks. The resistance resides on many levels. And its quite inspiring. 11 March 2022 Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Article 53 of SIX Exchange Regulation Listing Rules ONE swiss bank SA 2021 annual financial results in true and fair view 2021 was an intense and productive year during which ONE swiss bank accelerated its strategy of bringing together different entities to continue its growth and get closer to its profitability objectives. By putting together enthusiastic, like-minded and determined people, we successfully faced COVID-19s challenges and kept moving forward to reach several major milestones, such as: completing three complex transactions in various forms (merger, asset deal and acquisition) onboarding hundreds of clients and welcomed tens of new colleagues opening offices in Zurich and Dubai expending our asset management capabilities under the brand Dynagest by ONE defining a concrete pathway to become a more sustainable company. In terms of financial figures, the bank was able to engage its turnaround and return to a positive EBITDA. Nevertheless, the net result, although forecasted, remains negative as it mainly originates from goodwill amortisation expenses resulting from accounting rules. ONE is today in a better position to face tomorrows challenges with projects and ideas that should bring us on the path of sustainable profitability. Gregoire Pennone, CEO, ONE swiss bank SA 2021 KEY FIGURES 2021 HIGHLIGHTS 12 MONTHS OUTLOOK 2021 KEY FACTS Despite COVID-19s challenges, ONE reached several strategic milestones in its development plan and kept moving forward by doubling its client base, enhancing its service offering and implementing economies of scale. The merger between Banque Profil de Gestion and One Swiss Bank has been fully operational since 2021. The transaction was executed on 1 June 2021 (with retroactive effect from 1 January 2021) to become, a few days later, ONE swiss bank. Genevieve Berclaz remained Chair of the Board of Directors. New Board Members, all independent, were appointed during an extraordinary general meeting. The Swiss private bank remains listed on the Swiss stock exchange under the ticker: ONE. After several months of intense work, including an IT migration completed in one month, the integration and the reorganisation of the merged entity we finalised in 6 months with the reunion of all Geneva-based employees under one roof at Biotech Campus. One of the mergers underlying aim was to propose existing institutional asset management capabilities to private clients. The asset management teams have been regrouped under the name Dynagest by ONE, referring to the well-known asset management boutique. They manage henceforth all managed assets, including discretionary mandates, by offering robust and innovative systematic and quantitative investment services. Managed assets increased significantly since June 2021, particularly in the Banks unique high-yield quant strategy. ONE also strengthened its Swiss and international footprint by acquiring two entities in the major financial hubs Zurich and Dubai. These moves will boost the Banks development strategy and demonstrate confidence in the UAE regions capacity for growth and economic stability. Each and every employee played a huge part in this new banking venture, with the aim of providing even more services and expertise to our clients across our three business lines: Wealth Management, Asset Management and Asset Services. Finally, the Banks management decided to place sustainability at the heart of its organic development and defined a corporate vision and mission. Throughout 2022, concrete steps will be taken at all levels of the organisation to work collectively towards a better future and a more sustainable planet. 2021 ANNUAL RESULTS (true & fair view) Positive EBITDA. Expected net loss due to goodwill amortisation costs. Increase of regulatory capital ratio since the merger date. ONE swiss bank reports a positive operational result earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of CHF +0.45 million, in line with managements forecasts, compared to a negative amount of CHF -1.58 million in 2020. Total revenues soared by +168 % to CHF 27.58 million, relative to CHF 10.29 million in 2020. Operating expenses in 2021 amounted CHF 27.1 million, up by +128 % compared to 2020. 2021s net result amounts to CHF -4.77 million, mainly resulting from goodwill amortisation costs, and was anticipated. The difference between the net loss and the positive EBITDA stemmed mainly from goodwill amortisation and adjustment costs of CHF 5.24 million, including goodwill generated by the merger with One Swiss Bank SA (amounting CHF 10.48 million as of end 2021, after 1st year amortisation). Goodwill amortisation costs do not impact the Banks regulatory equity level, as goodwill is fully deducted from the regulatory equity at acquisition date. Total equity as of 31 December 2021 amounts to CHF 43.5 million. It has decreased by CHF -12.3 million, compared to 31 December 2020, as a result of the CHF 8 million extraordinary dividend payment, a capital increase of CHF 1.3 million and the annual net loss. Regulatory capital remains at a comfortable level at CHF 31.2 million as of 31 December 2021, which represent a regulatory ratio of 17.0%, compared to 13.8% at the merger date, which is way above minimum legal requirements of 10.5%. As of 31 December 2021, Banks total assets reaches CHF 870.1 million, compared to CHF 317.7 million at the end of 2020. This increase mainly results from the merger. Clients assets managed by the Bank and spread over three business lines Wealth Management, Asset Services and Asset Management, jumped to CHF 5.05 billion versus CHF 2.77 billion at year-end 2020. The liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) stood at 522% as of 31 December 2021, significantly above the 100% minimum requirement. These figures reflect the initial benefits from the economies of scales and cost synergies from the merger. The full synergies will be unlocked in 2022. INCOME STATEMENT OVERVIEW (CHF) 01.01.2021 31.12.2021 01.01.2020 -31.12.2020 Variation Net result from interest operations 4931208 2128643 Result from commission business and services 18629018 6344118 Result from trading activities and the fair value option 3745125 1816599 Result from ordinary activities 270777 1545 Total revenues 27576128 10290905 + 168% Operating expenses -27127112 -11877293 - 128% EBITDA 449016 -1586388 Depreciation, amortisation, extraordinary items and taxes (A) -5220951 - 970672 Net loss -4771935 -2557060 - 86% (A): The difference between net result and EBITDA is mainly due to goodwill amortisation expenses resulting from the merger with One Swiss Bank SA completed on 1 June 2021. 2021 ANNUAL REPORT The Bank's publication calendar has changed. The 2021 Annual Report will be published on Tuesday 15 March 7:00 (CET) and will be available on the Bank's website (oneswissbank.com) under the Investor relations section. 2022 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The invitation and the agenda of the Bank's 2022 Annual General Meeting will be published on Tuesday 15 March 7:00 (CET) and will be available on the Bank's website (oneswissbank.com) under the Investor relations section. For further information, please contact: Julien Delecraz Head of Marketing & Communication investorrelations@oneswiss.com +41 58 300 78 13 ONE swiss bank SA (SIX Swiss Exchange: ONE) ONE swiss bank is the result of a series of successful mergers of separate entities that have come together to offer a unique and modern private banking experience. The bank is a blend of private banking tradition and entrepreneurial spirit in a people-focused structure offering asset management and wealth management services to private and institutional clients. ONE has offices in Geneva, Lugano, Zurich and a subsidiary in Dubai. Itmanages around CHF 5 billion in assets. oneswissbank.com Attachment VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (CSE: REO) - Reservoir Capital Corp. ("REO" or the "Company") would like to provide an update on the ongoing dispute with a Nigerian shareholder (see the news release filed on the Company's SEDAR profile on May 7, 2021 for further details on the dispute and related litigation). As a result of this dispute, the Company has suffered partial payment of dividends from Nigerian hydro company Mainstream Energy Solutions Ltd (MESL) from late 2020 until the present. Of the Companys $4,850,621 in combined dividend income in 2020 and 2021, $2,450,600 has been withheld and accrued as a result of the dispute. The Company has received assurance from representatives of the disputing Nigerian shareholder that (i) litigation filed in Nigerian court will be dropped, and (ii) that all dividends due to the Companys wholly-owned subsidiary KPHL from MESL will be released, in line with any agreed terms of settlement, upon confirmation that the cease trade order under which Company has been operating since August 4, 2021 has been revoked. The cease trade order from the British Columbia Securities Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission was issued for failure to file financial statements and other continuous disclosure documentation. Having recently filed audited financial statements for the period ending December 31, 2020, interim financial statements for periods up to September 30, 2021 and other relevant continuous documentations on SEDAR, the Company believes it is making good progress in meeting the criteria necessary to be issued a revocation of the cease trade order, and by extension, resolving the Nigerian shareholder dispute and receiving the balance of dividend payments being withheld from the Company. About Reservoir Capital Corp. REOs asset portfolio comprises minority indirect economic interests in clean power assets (currently 4 hydro power plants) representing 46.3MW of net operating capacity. REOs Vision & Mission is to assemble a balanced portfolio of producing and near-production clean energy assets (with a current focus on Hydro & Geothermal) in growing economies (with a current focus on Africa). REOs strategy to achieve its Vision is to approach shareholders of privately held quality assets and offer them diversification, liquidity and exposure to a growing portfolio assembled following a disciplined investment policy. REOs investment policy consists essentially in taking carefully selected minority economic interests in quality clean power assets in key geographies, targeting regular dividend income over long periods, while offering the potential for capital gain in the medium term. Further Information For more information on the Company, please visit www.reservoircapitalcorp.com. Investors are cautioned that trading in the securities of REO should be considered highly speculative. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect the operations or financial results of REO are included in REO's CSE Listing Statement and most recently filed quarterly report, each of which is filed with applicable Canadian securities regulators and may be accessed through the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com). The CSE have neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. For any clarification, one may contact: Lewis Reford CEO, Reservoir Capital Corp. Telephone: 416-399-2274 Email: ceo@reservoircap.team NEITHER THE CSE NOR THE INVESTMENT INDUSTRY REGULATORY ORGANIZATION OF CANADA ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Forward Looking Statements Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements, and forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs regarding future events of management of REO. 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 as to management's expectations and the possible completion of intended future investments. These statements generally can be identified by use of forward-looking words such as "may", "will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", poised to, hope, "plans," "intends", "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law. Singapore, March 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Established in 2020 in Singapore to further elevate brands and individuals while preserving the legacy of it. International Brandings mission is to recognise outstanding organisations and individuals around the world for their contributions to the world and society while helping to preserve their legacy and achievements. For over 200 years, stamps have been key to a system that connects human beings by physical messages and postal items. Beyond their functional value as payment for the transportation of mail, stamps have also been used by various agencies to promote values by showcasing outstanding organisations and individuals. This March 2022, International Branding is proud to feature prominent Singapore Consultancy company, Yu Huang Xuan Xue on the stamps of 5 countries (Netherlands, New Zealand, Finland, Belgium, Luxembourg). This beautiful collection of commemorative stamps from 5 countries help to serve as testament of Yu Huang Xuan Xues outstanding achievements and their founders contributions to society. Yu Huang Xuan Xue was set up in 2003 by Founder Chew Hon Chin whose mission was to help those in need, and to propagate tradition Chinese arts such as Life chart plotting and space energy auditing. Since its founding, Yu Huang Xuan Xue has helped hundreds of thousands of people from around the world to overcome their obstacles and unlock the keys to success. Their clients come from all over the world and consists of members from all races as well as highly educated individuals. Its founder Chew Hon Chin has made it his lifes mission to help those in need using his unique Chinese cultural skills and metaphysics specialty. His many accomplishments have led to him being interviewed by various media outlets such as CNNGO, Koreas NBC, Germanys ZDF. South China Morning Post as well as nearly all of Singapores major Newspapers. He was also conferred the title of Dato by Indonesias Palembang Sultan for his cultural achievements, charity and humanitarian work in and around the region. Website: https://baziconsultation.destinyinlife.com/ Coveted producers including Louis Roederer Cristal, Domaine Meo-Camuzet, and Domaine Dujac offer up lots of wine for auction with the initial pre-auction value at $100,000 Each bottle sold includes access to an exclusive NFT that verifies authenticity, ownership history, vintage, vineyard location, varietal, and more LONDON, March 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The worlds top wine producers are responding to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine in an innovative way. Crurated, the London-based membership wine community designed to connect connoisseurs with world-class producers, has announced it is dedicating the week of March 14-20, 2022 for The All Heart Auction, an online event auctioning rare wines from world renowned producers to support humanitarian needs of the Ukrainian people. Selected producers donating wines for the auction include Louis Roederer Cristal, Domaine Meo-Camuzet, and Domaine Dujac among many others. The initial value of the more than 250 bottles of wine pre-auction totals $100,000. A full list of all producers participating is below. Members and non-members alike are encouraged to participate and bid. Interested bidders are invited to register for an account at www.crurated.com. Non-members can sign-up for a free Explorer membership, allowing anyone to submit bids on the Crurated platform and participate in the fundraising event. 100% of the funds raised from the auction will be distributed to Red Cross, Save The Children, UNHCR, and UNICEF. The team from Crurated has also developed a unique platform that offers clients an accompanying NFT with each purchase. Recorded forever on the blockchain, the NFT verifies authenticity of the bottle and provides other important details including ownership history, vintage, vineyard location, varietal, and other key details. The NFTs are easily accessible by tapping on an NFC or RFID enabled phone. The bottle history is also updated via a new blockchain recording anytime the wine is resold and the token moves from one client to another. The company uses Polygon technology for NFTs and blockchain. It has been amazing watching the world unite to help the people of Ukraine. Our auction initiative represents how I feel about wine and its ability to offer such a generous gift to the world, said Alfonso de Gaetano, Founder of Crurated. Our platform is also perfectly suited for this initiative because we automatically assign an NFT for every bottle that is brought into our warehouse and loaded onto the platform. We are anticipating an exciting auction with generous donors pitching in to help lessen the humanitarian crisis. We have had a special link to Ukraine for more than 20 years and have sponsored a charitable event to help young dancers and their families in Lviv. Weve also raised funds for the Lviv pediatric hospital, said Jean-Nicolas & Nathalie Meo, of Meo-Camuzet. Some of the children we had at home for summer vacation are probably old enough to be fighting now, and we dread the thought of their involvement in this war. We hope that the very special wines we have donated for the auction will receive an appropriate welcome and help support the needs of the Ukrainian civilians. Other world-class winemakers participating in the auction include: Larmandier-Bernier, Pascal Agrapart, Pierre Peters, Suenen, Bereche & Fils, Doyard, Mousse Fils, Salon, Vilmart & Cie, Billecart-Salmon, Geoffroy, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, Caroline Colin-Morey, Robert Groffier, Pere & Fils, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, Caroline Colin-Morey, Robert Groffier Pere & Fils, Georges Mugneret-Gibourg, Arnaud Baillot, Duroche, Fourrier, Denis Mortet, Dujac, Chateau Pavie, Tenuta Sette Ponti, Ceretto, Massolino, Poderi Aldo Conterno, Grattamacco, Casanova di Neri, Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona, Bartolo Mascarello, Biondi Santi, Argiano, Mascarello Giuseppe e Figlio, Il Marroneto, Giacomo Conterno, Montevertine, Tenuta di Trinoro, Elio Altare, Fontanafredda, Borgogno, and Roberto Voerzio. About Crurated Launched in 2021 with an emphasis on France and Italy, Crurated is a membership-based wine community designed to connect connoisseurs with world-class producers. A team of specialists provides personalized services and authentic experiences, while Crurated's seamless logistics service guarantees quality and provenance thanks to secure wine cellar storage and innovative blockchain technology. For more on Crurated, visit crurated.com. Contact: Michael Volpatt (415) 994-8864 michael@larkinvolpatt.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/55b86cad-5691-4932-825d-2db421ba1005 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4144ffac-f7ef-4b74-bcd0-cd2e5bb5ef78 PDF available: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/0f1d1375-a96e-4baa-9585-d3c7484b85f3 SAN FRANCISCO, March 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges Standard Lithium Ltd. (NYSE: SLI) investors with significant losses to submit your losses now. A securities fraud class action has been filed and certain investors may have valuable claims. Class Period: May 19, 2020 Nov. 17, 2021 Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Mar. 28, 2022 Visit: https://www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/SLI Contact An Attorney Now: SLI@hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895 Standard Lithium Ltd. (SLI) Securities Fraud Class Action: The litigation focuses on Standard Lithiums claims that its proprietary LiSTR technology has achieved proof of concept (POC) demonstrating its feasibility for extracting and processing lithium within hours instead of months and claims it will do so on a commercial scale at a plant built on the LANXESS AG bromine facility located in the southwestern region of Arkansas. According to the complaint, defendants made false or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that (1) the LiSTR technologys extraction recovery efficiencies were overstated, and (2) accordingly, the companys final product lithium recovery percentage at the plant would not be as high as the company had represented to investors. Standard Lithiums statements were brought into question on Nov. 18, 2021, when analyst Blue Orca published a scathing report based, in part, on production records filed by the company with the Arkansas Oil & Gas Commission. According to the report, Standard Lithiums repeated claims that its technology will achieve 90% lithium recovery rates at the project are contradicted by data submitted to the Arkansas regulator indicating an average lithium recovery rate of just 13%. Then, on Feb. 2, 2022, analyst Hindenburg Research published its own report accusing Standard Lithium of being little more than a stock promotion scheme, observing that CEO Robert Mintak had previously been involved with at least 9 publicly traded companies (8 of which used paid stock promotions) that lost on average 97% of their value, and concluding the company had engaged in undisclosed related party transactions. These events sent the price of Standard Lithium shares sharply lower. Were focused on investors losses and proving Standard Lithium lied about the viability of its technology and proposed project, said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation. If you invested in Standard Lithium and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firms investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman. Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Standard Lithium should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email SLI@hbsslaw.com. About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw. NEW YORK, March 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Rafael Holdings, Inc. (Rafael or the Company) (NYSE: RFL). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980. The investigation concerns whether Rafael and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On February 28, 2022, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the management and Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of Rafael Holdings, Inc. . . . concluded that the Companys previously issued unaudited consolidated interim financial statements as of, and for the quarter ended, October 31, 2021 (the Prior Period), should no longer be relied upon because the Company did not correctly allocate non-cash losses to its noncontrolling interests and incorrectly calculated the weighted average shares outstanding by including in the figure nonvested restricted stock in the Prior Period resulting in material misstatements of certain balance sheet, statement of operations and comprehensive loss and statements of equity items for, and as of the end of, the Prior Period. Rafael further advised that [m]anagement has concluded that, as of the end of the Prior Period, there existed material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting[.] On this news, Rafaels stock price fell $0.21 per share, or 6.67%, to close at $2.94 per share on March 1, 2022. Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com Gloucester, MA (01930) Today Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High near 50F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 46F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. MANSFIELD [mdash] Patricia Ann Thursby-Daniels, 77, of Mansfield, Texas, formerly of Elkhart, Indiana, died Sunday April 10, at Mansfield Hospital in Mansfield, Texas. She was born May 30, 1944, in Elkhart, Indiana, to Robert James and Opal Mae (Allison) Thursby. On Feb. 14, 1965, she marrie Former White House communications director Stephanie Grisham wrapped up a week-long mea culpa on ABCs The View Friday, where she again apologized for her role in the Trump administration and said the former president laughs at his followers in private. That claim came after panelist Joy Behar mocked Donald Trumps ongoing solicitation to get supporters to buy him a new plane. Grisham added that the former president is also cashing in on his time in office by selling a $74.99 picture book and other merchandise meant to appeal to fans who remain loyal to Trump and his brand. Advertisement I want those people to know he laughs at them behind closed doors, Grisham said. I want people to know that. I used to be there. Grisham says she understands why many people were drawn to Trump, who left office after a mob of rabid supporters some of whom are now in jail attacked the U.S. Capitol when he falsely told them the 2020 election had been stolen from him. It was after that Jan. 6 chaos that Grisham left her White House job. Advertisement I know its hard to believe, but I believed in him and half the country believed in him, and I think that when you keep attacking me, youre attacking a lot of people out there who might want an off ramp, she said. [ Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham sorry she served under con man leading cult-like thing ] The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > Over the past several days, Grisham has pleaded her case on The View, where the consensus was that it shouldnt have taken four years of working for both the former first lady and the president to reach her current conclusion that the administration was toxic. She argued that her reputation had been sullied to the point that she didnt think anyone else would hire her. Stephanie Grisham listens as President Donald Trump speaks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington in 2019. (Andrew Harnik/AP) Grishams claim that Trump is conning his devotees echoed that of SiriusXM personality Howard Stern, who said during the 2020 election that based on his decades of knowing and hosting Trump, he too thinks the Queens-born real estate developer believes his MAGA movement is fueled by suckers. One thing Donald loves is celebrities, Stern said. He loves the famous. [ Howard Stern to Trump supporters: He hates you and so do I ] Stern recalled Trump being a guest at his 2008 wedding, where he was seated alongside Joan Rivers. And the radio host said hes been a guest at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The oddity in all of this is the people Trump despises most, love him the most, Stern continued. The people who are voting for Trump for the most part... he wouldnt even let them in a f---ing hotel. Hed be disgusted by them. Go to Mar-a-Lago, see if theres any people who look like you. Im talking to you in the audience. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham listens to then-President Donald Trump talk to reporters on Nov. 8, 2019 in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) Actor George Clooney, appearing on Sterns show in December 2020, said that was his view of Trump as well. He wants to be hanging in Hollywood with us, Clooney told Stern. Thats who he is. Mercedes nestling itself in the underdog position. Nothing new, but this year it seems quite realistic to think that it is also the right place. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell already hinted that the team is trailing Red Bull and Ferrari. Andrew Shovlin also acknowledges that there are still steps to be made. Finding speed In a Mercedes press release, the trackside engineering director notes that things are not yet going smoothly, but that there are hopeful signs ahead of the first Grand Prix in also Bahrain. "It feels like we need to find a bit of pace if we want to be fighting for the win at the first race but we're learning and developing at a good rate so we'll just focus on those aspects and see where we stand in seven days' time," says Shovlin, who adds just to wait and see where the team stands in a week's time. Read more Russell grieves after tests: Red Bull and Ferrari are faster at the moment On the final day, Mercedes worked hard in many areas. Shovlin indicates that a little progress has been made in reducing porpoising and a step has been taken in finding the right setup. But perfect, it is all certainly not yet. For example, Mercedes is currently struggling to make the harder tires work in the first few laps. Good points too On another front, Shovlin is satisfied: "From a reliability point of view, the chassis and power unit have run without issue which is encouraging to see and testament to a lot of good work in Brackley and Brixworth." Yes, it's OK to forgive the loans now No, past borrowers paid their loans, so should today's borrowers Uncertain Vote View Results TALLAHASSEE Lawmakers could not reach agreement Friday on a plan to address problems in Floridas troubled property-insurance market, while also halting efforts to put additional requirements on condominium buildings after a deadly collapse last year in Surfside. Finishing most of the work in this years legislative session, the House and Senate could not work out differences on high-profile insurance and condominium bills. Advertisement The insurance debate came as homeowners face soaring premiums and lost coverage while insurers grapple with financial troubles. The Florida Department of Financial Services during the past two weeks went to court to be appointed a receiver for St. Johns Insurance Co. and Avatar Property & Casualty Insurance Co., describing the insurers as insolvent. Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican who pushed lawmakers to deal with problems in the industry, said Friday that financial rating agencies and reinsurance firms were waiting to see how the Legislature would address the issues. Without a bill passing, he said it could lead to more insolvencies and increases in costs for reinsurance, which is essentially backup insurance that insurers buy. Advertisement I think this gives the governor a perfect reason to call a special session, Brandes said. The House and Senate disagreed throughout the session about how far to go in making changes in the industry, with the Senate being more aggressive in trying to bolster private insurers. As an example, the Senate proposed allowing new deductibles of up to 2% on roof-damage claims an outgrowth of complaints by insurers that questionable, if not fraudulent, roof claims are driving up costs. As an example, under the Senate proposal, a homeowner with $300,000 in overall coverage could have faced a $6,000 deductible to replace a damaged roof. But the House rejected the idea, which would have led to increased out-of-pocket costs for homeowners who need to replace damaged roofs. A House bill addressed issues such as changes at the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., but House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, signaled early this month that the House wouldnt go much further. He cited a property-insurance bill that lawmakers passed last year. Brandes said the House didnt propose anything that moved the needle significantly. Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, said a special session on insurance was a possibility. We have many companies going out of business, Simpson said. Its certainly a crisis. Advertisement Like with the property insurance bill, the House and Senate differed throughout the session about how far to go in placing additional requirements on condominium buildings. That issue stemmed from the collapse last year of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside that killed 98 people. House and Senate bills dealt with issues such as required inspections and financial reserves that could be used to make building repairs. The House wanted to go further than the Senate on issues such as reserve requirements for condominium associations. The Community Announcements calendar publishes twice weekly on Thursday and Saturday. The submission deadline for Thursday announcements is noon on the previous Tuesday. The submission deadline for Saturday is noon on the previous Wednesday. There were more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases this week among Florida residents to bring the cumulative total to 5,824,728. With 863 more fatalities on record, 71,860 Florida residents have died. Starting next week, the Florida Department of Health will move from weekly to bi-weekly COVID-19 reports, spokesperson Jeremy Redfern said on Friday. Daily updates will still be available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tweeted Redfern. Advertisement The DOH currently shares public reports every Friday tracking Floridas deaths, cases, vaccine rates, county positivity rates and more. The DOH used to post daily reports, but stopped in June 2021, with spokespeople then attributing the shift to low case numbers and positivity rates. Floridas shift to bi-weekly reporting comes as cases and deaths continue to fall and COVID-19 spread is low throughout much of Central Florida. Advertisement There were 10,211 new coronavirus cases this week among Florida residents to bring the cumulative total to 5,824,728. With 863 more fatalities on record, 71,860 Florida residents have died. The Health Report Weekly A weekly update on health news in Florida. > This weeks death total reflects a decrease from the 1,207 reported last week, but deaths can take several days or weeks to be reported. The majority of the newly reported deaths are people who died before this week. The number of weekly cases decreased compared to the previous weeks 14,148. Positivity decreased to 2.4%. Thats for new cases only and excludes anyone who previously tested positive. Of note, the state reports deal only with Florida resident cases and exclude non-residents cases, which are no longer available. Across the state, 1,675 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 from March 2-8, according to the latest White House report. In comparison, 2,462 were hospitalized the previous week. The week before that, it was 3,661. Statewide, 15,430,167 residents, or 74% of people age 5 and up, have received at least one vaccination shot, including 8,222,070 who have completed their shot regimens but not received an additional dose through March 10. Meanwhile, 12,841 received an additional dose last week, bringing the total to 5,078,229. Central Florida added 2,149 resident infections this week, based on the actual date the state opened the case, for a total of 1,142,823: 854 more in Orange for 373,631; 247 more in Osceola for 112,755; 250 more in Polk for 199,081; 151 more in Lake for 84,293; 84 more in Sumter for 21,550; 188 more in Volusia for 115,986; 219 more in Brevard for 132,616; and 156 more in Seminole for 102,911. You can sign up for our Florida coronavirus updates by subscribing to The Health Report newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/newsletters. Cars wait in line for COVID-19 testing at Barnett Park, in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday, July 29, 2021. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS) Jonnie Melilla Clasen, of Columbus, Ga., is the daughter of a deceased member of Merrills Marauders and has for years served as the Merrills Marauder Liaison Officer. Greene County historian Tim Massey is an award-winning writer for Civil War News with more than 40 photos featured on various magazine covers. He has served on various boards and held positions in several historic organizations. He can be reached at horses319@comcast.net. The writer served three terms as U.S. representative for Connecticuts 5th District. Copyright 2022 Gary Franks. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. WATERBURY The Palace Theater will present Mister Wonderland, on March 26, a film that explores the life of the great theatrical impresario Sylvester Z. Poli who built the Palace Theater in 1922. A short ceremony will introduce the films producers and some of Polis descendants at 1:30 p.m., followed by the film 2 p.m. The documentary originally aired on PBS in 2021 and sets out to find what remains today of Polis theaters and the communities they used to serve. Waterburys Palace Theater is one of only two theaters left in Polis empire. This event is open to the public; tickets are free but required. Guests will enjoy free popcorn and a champaign toast. Everyone is invited. Mister Wonderland was produced by New York City-based Awen Films and was directed by Valerio Ciriaci and produced by Isaak Liptzin. When it opened in 1922, the Palace Theater was the center of downtown Waterbury. Since its renovation and reopening in 2004 the Palace continues to serve as the heart of performing arts and cultural activities in the greater Waterbury region, presenting Broadway series and iconic concerts. For COVID protocols, visit https://www.palacetheaterct.org/your-visit/covid19/ Awen Films is an award-winning, nonfiction production company based in New York, NY. The Awen Films team provides creative services from pre-production to post-production and works with clients to create mini docs and branded docs. Awen Films has produced independent documentary shorts and features that have been screened at top film festivals worldwide and broadcasted on television. Ciriaci was born in Rome and graduated with a major in Communication Sciences from La Sapienza University with a thesis on Jean Rouch and ethno-fiction. In 2011 he moved to New York City to attend documentary classes at New York Film Academy. In 2012 he developed and directed original content for i-Italy airing on NYC Life (WNYE-DT1). Since 2013 he has worked across the country as a freelance video journalist for international news broadcasters Rai, Sky, Mediaset, HRT and TVI. His first feature film, If Only I Were That Warrior, was awarded the 2016 Italian Golden Globe and aired on public television in Italy (Rai Storia) and Switzerland (RSI La2). His latest feature documentary, Mister Wonderland, won the Il Cinemino award at the 2019 Festival dei Popoli and aired on Connecticut Public Television and Rai 3. In 2020, he was awarded the Amerigo Prize in the under-35 category for his work covering U.S. stories for Italian audiences. Liptzin was born in San Francisco and lived in Italy until 2009, when he moved to New York to attend photography at classes at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Interested from a young age in visual journalism, his work has touched on topics in breaking news, history, education and the environment. As a photographer, he has worked with WNYC Radio, Centro Primo Levi, Peace Child India, and Transition Magazine. As a producer, he covered the 2016 presidential campaign for Italian national broadcaster Rai and worked for Endeavor Content on the Netflix Originals series First Team: Juventus. With Awen Films, which he co-founded in 2012, he has worked extensively as producer and cinematographer on commissioned projects for clients such as AJ+, MSNBC and Centro Primo Levi. He collaborated closely with director Valerio Ciriaci on independent documentary features including If Only I Were That Warrior (2016 Italian Golden Globe for best documentary) and Mister Wonderland (2019), and short films including Treasure - The Story of Marcus Hook and Iom Romi. Disney Imagineer Joyce Carlson, 83, one of the primary designers of the classic "it's a small world" attraction, surveys guests loading onto the ride , Tuesday, March 21, 2006. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) Joyce Carlson started out fetching coffee and delivering mail and art supplies at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California during World War II. The young Midwesterner would end up staying with the Walt Disney Co. for the rest of her career, becoming best known as a major artistic imagination behind the its a small world attractions in Orlando and elsewhere. Advertisement Without Carlson, the cheerful color-soaked land of dancing dolls would never have been the same. Before getting into attractions design for Disney, Carlson had been an inker for more than 15 years, with work on films including The Three Caballeros, Victory Through Air Power, Cinderella, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty. Advertisement Later, she had a hand in Walt Disneys Carousel of Progress, America Sings, The Haunted Mansion and countless other Disney projects. But shes best known for her role in creating the iconic boat ride through a cool, dark universe where only unity and innocence exist. Twenty-eight years ago on March 12, 1994, a front-page Orlando Sentinel article covered a celebration honoring the Imagineers 50 years with Disney, the first female employee to reach the milestone. On March 12, 1994, a front-page Orlando Sentinel article covered a celebration honoring Imagineer Joyce Carlson's 50 years with Disney, the first female employee to reach the milestone. Her red hair gone gray, Carlson, with her signature oversized eyeglasses, was photographed at a party thrown in her honor a few days before her 71st birthday. At the time, Carlson was not extremely well known to the general public, even though she was an icon to theme-park insiders. Her work on small world began in the 1960s, when she was part of a small team to set up the models for the attraction at the New York Worlds Fair. She and her coworkers used Styrofoam to create the models, and then festooned them with found items like plastic flowers, costume jewelry and glitter, she told Disney historian Jim Korkis in an interview decades later. Joyce Carlson retired from Walt Disney Imagineering, the company's theme park attraction design division. Carlson is known as the artist behind many of the singing, robotic dolls at the "it's a small world" attraction -- not just at the original show, but in every reproduction of "small world" since. Here she works on a doll. (Walt Disney Co.) I went all over Los Angeles to places to find these things cheaply at places similar to a PicNSave, Carlson told Korkis. It was a shock when I came out to Florida because they didnt have all these places and I couldnt find the things I needed. Advertisement Back in those days, the company paid to send top male executives to New York for the 1964 Worlds Fair but never thought to invite Carlson and other lower-level coworkers whose brains were actually the magic behind the creation. It was only after Carlsons colleague Mary Blair complained to Walt Disney himself that a plane ticket was purchased for Carlson and others, according to Korkis. They were put up near Shea Stadium and given $300 each in spending money the equivalent of about $2,700 today. Boy, that was quite a bit in 1964! Carlson told Korkis. I even had money when I came back. Oh, my, we had a lot of fun. Joyce Carlson created many of the dolls for Disney's "it's a small world" ride, which was a hit at the 1964 World's Fair. Disney honored her longtime service with an inscription on a second-floor shop window above the Emporium on Disney World's Main Street. It reads, "Dolls by Miss Joyce, Dollmaker for the World." (Associated Press) Carlson later played a key role in bringing small world to Disneyland and then to the Magic Kingdom, followed by Tokyo Disneyland. She retired from full-time employment in 2000, but stayed on at Disney part-time for another six years, into her early 80s. Advertisement She told the Sentinel in an interview that she liked to sneak backstage at Walt Disney World and watch children take in the small world she had birthed. You watch them going through, and theyre just all eyes, she said. Carlson died of cancer in her Orlando home in 2008 at age 84. Read more Central Florida history columns at OrlandoSentinel.com/features/central-florida-history It took a third try, but former Selectman John Toner has been officially installed as the grand marshal of the upcoming St. Patricks Day Parade. At the Greenwich Hibernian Associations dinner and dance March 5, Toner received his sash and the honors for leading the parade. The association had announced Toner would be the grand marshal for the 2020 parade, but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic as was the 2021 parade. The organizers say the parade is a go this year, and it will step off at 2 p.m. March 20 from Town Hall. Toner, the son of Irish immigrants Bartley and Rose Toner, was presented with his grand marshal sash by Haydn OShea, president of the association. Toner served as selectman from 2015 to 2019, first named to succeed the late David Theis and then reelected twice. The association is honoring Toner for his lifetime of civic and nonprofit volunteerism, including as a member of the Representative Town Meeting and with Greenwich Hospital, Call a Ride and the book exchange at Holly Hill. Toner also served in the Peace Corps. The parade will head north from Town Hall to West Putnam Avenue, turn east and then turn to march down Greenwich Avenue to Steamboat Road. Parking restrictions will begin at 10 a.m. March 20, with no parking on the east side of Greenwich Avenue from Greenwich Commons to Steamboat. Additionally Dayton Avenue will close at noon from Field Point Road to the supermarket entrance to allow the parade participants to assemble. Vehicles that are parked illegally will be towed. Road closures throughout the downtown will begin at 1:30 p.m., with detour signs in place and police officers on scene to direct traffic. West Putnam Avenue will be closed from Dearfield Drive to Lafayette Place from 1:45 p.m. until 3 p.m. Parade updates will be posted at www.greenwichhibernians.org. Byram The Board of Selectmen is seeking feedback from residents before making a decision on whether to remove four parking spaces from Talbot Lane in Byram. The selectmen discussed the issue at their March 10 meeting and heard a brief presentation from Deputy Police Chief Kraig Gray, who oversees the towns Parking Services Department. But they held off on making a decision until March 24 to give the public a chance to weigh in. Talbot Lane is a well-established residential dead-end road that has seen an increase in use over the years, Gray told the selectmen. Local residents voiced safety concerns over the speed and volume of traffic as well as the existing parking conditions. The Department of Public Works completed a parking study and made the recommendation, Gray said, based on national traffic engineering standards and guidelines. Parking Services reviewed it from an enforcement and public safety standpoint and agreed with the recommendation, he said. Letters were sent to residents in December about the proposed change, and the only response they got asked for more information, Gray said. First Selectman Fred Camillo said he hadnt heard from residents of Talbot Lane. Camillo indicated he was ready to vote March 10, but Selectwomen Lauren Rabin and Janet Stone-McGuigan said they preferred to wait to make sure the public was aware of the proposal. If you want to err on the side of caution thats OK, Camillo said. Cos Cob The Greenwich Historical Society will mark Womens History Month with a special tour of the Bush-Holley House that will focus on the immense contributions of women who were associated with the home and who made an indelible imprint on Greenwichs history. The tour from noon to 1 p.m. March 26 will focus on three women named Patience, Candice and Hester, who were enslaved servants in the household of David and Sarah Bush in the decades following the American Revolution. According to the Greenwich Historical Society, the Bushes were the leading enslavers in Greenwich in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with 15 enslaved people at various times. While supporting the Bushes and their businesses, Patience, Candice and Hester also raised their own families, looking ahead to a future rooted in freedom, the historical society said. The tour, led by Heather Lodge, manager of youth and family programs, will explore the spaces where these women lived and worked, and tell their stories of motherhood, resilience and the bonds that tie. The cost is $15 for members and $20 for nonmembers. Space is limited. To register, visit www.greenwichhistory.org. Greenwich Public and private students are invited to take part in the third annual essay contest held by the League of Women Voters of Greenwich. The contest is open to anyone in grades 8 through 12 who lives in town or goes to school in Greenwich. Participating students are asked to explore one of three prompts offered by the league. The first option is to write about a possible volume two of The Words That Made Us by Akhil Reed Amar. Students should consider how Reed could open the second volume in his trilogy about the countrys ongoing Constitutional conversation, which will be called The Words That Made Us Equal: 1840-1920. The second option is to write about voting rights by considering the question, What do we do next to strengthen voting rights and ensure free and fair elections? The third option asks, Why do elections matter in Greenwich? which asks students to write about elections for local officials such as the Representative Town Meeting and to also look at how elections work in town. A panel of LWV Greenwich members will review the essays anonymously and determine the winners. A top essay for each prompt will be picked, and one of the top three winning essays will win a $1,000 grand prize. For more information, visit www.lwvgreenwich.org/essay. The contest is free to enter. Essays must be submitted in a PDF form. Questions can be emailed to youthoutreach@lwvgreenwich.org. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media NEW BRITAIN A suspect was in custody after a church and a synagogue were damaged by fire in separate arson-caused fires on Friday night, officials said Saturday morning. Kimorah Parker, 30, was charged with third-degree arson and third-degree burglary. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH As the war in Ukraine rages following the Russian invasion, renewed attention is focused on the so-called Russian oligarchs. Supremely wealthy Russian businessmen, oligarchs notoriously make their homes at times aboard luxurious yachts, as well as in fabulous apartments in London, midtown Manhattan, the French Riviera and Israel. According to a 2017 study of Russian oligarchs published by the U.S.-based National Economic Bureau, as much as $800 billion is held by wealthy Russians in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Cyprus and other banking centers. That vast fortune is linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to international finance analysts, and he is believed to benefit from the billions in cash and overseas assets held by trusted friends and relatives. Wealthy Russians have also left a significant impression in Greenwich in recent decades. They tend to keep a low profile in town, but the oligarchs have drawn attention due to their lavish lifestyle and taste for grand residences. Russia multimillionaires Olga and Valery Kogan caused an uproar in 2008 when they proposed building an enormous mansion in midcountry Greenwich after demolishing the existing structure on their property. The proposed 27,000-square-foot structure was notable for its plans to feature a home theater, a gym and 28 separate toilets. A revised plan was eventually approved for the property. Frank Farricker, who was on the planning commission at the time, said he can recall the furor clearly. It was the only time he has ever been interviewed by the Russian media. I remember it exactly, said Farricker, a former chairman of the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee. The people (in the neighborhood) were apoplectic. (The Kogans) wanted to build a huge home with a recording studio, a full-sized gym, and the only one who was going to use it was a 26-year-old son on weekends. The proposal caused intense controversy in Greenwich and also made headlines in Russia. It was very strange, very international. The Moscow papers covered it, we were interviewed by Russian media, Farricker recalled. He said it was a vivid demonstration of how wealth from Russia had made a place in Greenwich. A scaled-down renovation of the 19,000-square-foot home was eventually approved by the planning commission in 2010, after the Kogans dropped the earlier plans to demolish the structure and re-build. According to media reports, Valery Kogan also built lavish homes in Israel. The Greenwich estate, which was purchased by Olga Kogan for $18.5 million in 2005, is listed under her name, according to the town assessors office. Valery Kogan, once ranked on Forbes top billionaires list, made his fortune as co-owner of Moscows Domodedovo International Airport. It is unclear if he has direct ties to Putin. Calls and messages left for the Kogan family were not returned. A bitter divorce case in 2009 also brought extensive attention to Shalva Chigirinsky, who made a fortune in Russian oil and real estate, and his former wife, Tatiana Panchenkova. The divorce, including disputes over custody and property, also involved a Greenwich police investigation. Chigirinsky was charged with risk of injury to a minor by Greenwich police in 2016. He maintained he was innocent, and the charges were later dropped. Chigirinsky was also previously ranked on Forbes top billionaires list. It is unclear if he has direct ties to Putin. Efforts to reach Chigirinsky, who resides in Great Britain, were unsuccessful. A lawyer who represented him when he lived in Greenwich, George Benaur, had no immediate comment. Tatiana Panchenkova still owns a residence in midcountry Greenwich, purchased for $11.1 million in 2011, according to the town assessors office. She also owned property in East Hampton, according to land-use records filed in the village of East Hampton, N.Y. The couple, before they divorced, once paid $17.3 million for a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan that measured nearly 4,000 square feet. Panchenkova did not respond to a request for comment. The ultra-wealthy A number of other wealthy and ultra-wealthy Russians have also lived in Greenwich over the past decade or two. Professor Christopher Ball, an expert on international macro-economics at Quinnipiac University, says the Russian oligarchs have to find ways to park their wealth outside of Russia, due to the unstable nature of the corrupt financial and judicial system there. If you are a Russian oligarch, then you dont want to hold much wealth in traditional investments because they can be seized or frozen at any time with a few computer keystrokes, said Ball. So in addition to enjoying expensive cars, yachts and homes, the additional motivation of owning physical assets is to keep them from being seized at any time. Secondly, you dont want to hold all them in your home country. Its safer to buy assets in foreign countries. If you buy a nice place in Greenwich, and then you buy some nice art, you have a pretty good set-up. Ball, director of the Central European Institute at Quinnipiac, said Russian oligarch are found in all of the nice places to live around the world. They want to keep their stuff in three or four countries, he said. They want a mix, just like a portfolio manager. And theres a barrier to going after them if they do it across multiple countries. Ultra-wealthy Russians and other Eastern Europeans who have made a fortune in Russia generally stay clear of publicity, Ball said. Theyre usually good citizens. Theyre law-abiding and keep a low profile. They dont want to call any attention to their properties its their wealth and their retirement account, he said. Since the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, authorities in the U.S. and Europe have been confiscating yachts and imposing financial penalties on Putins closest financial allies, who have been placed on a sanctions list, and more asset seizures are planned. The aim is to ensure that a business-as-usual approach cannot continue for Putin and his allies, and to change the risk calculus for Putin as the invasion of Ukraine continues, said a pro-Ukrainian activist, Jaroslaw Palylyk. Palylyk has been urging a more forceful response to the invasion by the Western bloc and says oligarchs should be targeted. Its the money. If they dont have access to their money, theyre going to start opting out, taking their investments out, deciding its not working any more, said Palylyk, a resident of Rye, N.Y., who also owns property in Greenwich and has family in Connecticut. Ordinary Russian immigrants should not be punished or stigmatized in the U.S., he said. We are not a hostile people, he said of the Ukrainian-American community. President of the New York and Westchester chapter of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Palylyk has also been representing the Ukrainian community in southern Connecticut. He said financial penalties on the oligarchs needed to be stepped up, along with other military, financial and diplomatic initiatives. We must impose more sanctions against Russian politicians, oligarchs, and others who openly support Putin, he said. Includes prior reporting by The Associated Press. rmarchant@greenwichtime.com An unknown OnePlus device bearing model code PGKM10 has been 3C certified with 160W charging. The PGKM10 was previously rumored to be a OnePlus tablet, but it's now listed on 3C as a 5G mobile phone. We don't know the commercial name of the PGKM10, but reliable tipster Digital Chat Station says this is OnePlus' Dimensity 8100-powered smartphone, which will pack a 4,500 mAh battery and support 150W charging. The tipster also claims that this OnePlus smartphone will arrive next month featuring a 6.7" centered punch hole screen sourced from BOE, with the triple camera system on its rear headlined by the 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor. However, OnePlus won't be the first brand under the BBK group to launch a smartphone with 150W charging. That honor will go to Realme since the company will launch the GT Neo3 with 150W charging later this month in China. The Realme GT Neo3 will have the Dimensity 8100 SoC at the helm and sport a triple camera setup on the back, which, according to TENAA, will consist of 50MP, 8MP, and 2MP units. Source 1, Source 2 (both in Chinese) | Via Guam artists TonyaJae and Carlo V.s album, Sweet Talk, has been nominated for the 31st San Diego Music Awards for Best RnB, Funk or Soul Album. Fans can vote for their album, which was recorded at New Waves Studios on Guam, online until Tuesday. Winners will be announced at an April 19 award ceremony at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay in San Diego. TonyaJae, also known as Tonya Jaemarie Terlaje Ascura, is a former Hagat resident. The 26-year-old won Best Pop Song for her track Leave The House last year at the San Diego Music Awards. Working behind-the-scenes, Carlo V., or Carlo Villegas, is a 23-year-old producer and mixing engineer from Dededo. Both musicians now live in San Diego, California, and collaborated on Sweet Talk, which was released June 7, 2021. The album radiates the theme of love in all forms, especially self-love. The albums message was just to have fun and to know your worth, TonyaJae said. I think it relates to our current generation because we struggle with loving ourselves a lot of the time. According to Carlo V., the creation of the album was a different experience for everyone involved. Its nice to get together in a creative space and make songs from scratch, especially when we have no lyrics, no melody or no idea what a song would sound like at the end, Carlo V. said. We slowly start to feed off of each others ideas and it has never failed us. As a producer, creating chords and melodies in relation to the theme of the album is sometimes difficult for Carlo V. Having TonyaJae in the same room made the whole process a lot easier, he said. We were constantly throwing ideas at each other letting each other know which sounds great and which sounds like trash, Carlo V. said. We also went out of our comfort zone and tried things we werent used to. For those seeking opportunities in the music industry, TonyaJae said to constantly create tracks, network and to not be afraid to put your art out in the world. She discovered the San Diego Music Awards Show through a good friend and director. This is a reason why work is spread around to different people who specialize in specific areas, Carlo V. said. Collaborating with other people will not only make your music sound better, but will also open doors to many other opportunities down the road. TonyaJae is excited at the prospect of winning another music award for Guam with Carlo V. I hope we can take home another award for you all and continue making you proud. Learning CHamoru is a worthwhile endeavor for anyone with a connection to Guam. For CHamoru people living on island and in the diaspora, it offers a vibrant connection to family, ancestors, and history. For non-CHamorus, learning the language shows respect for CHamoru culture, and provides profound insights to the people at the heart of Guam. Participating in the preservation of the CHamoru language by supporting teachers and speaking the language in daily life helps ensure that CHamoru children today and in the future will have access to their linguistic heritage. Learn the beauty and complexity of CHamoru through these virtual and in person offerings, taught locally and stateside. The Guam Bus This free, virtual weekly class offered by Michael Lujan Bevacqua is great for CHamoru students of all levels and is open to learners worldwide. Students benefit from Bevacquas previous experience teaching CHamoru in more formal educational settings, his love of the language, and his signature sense of humor. Students are assigned homework and given access to an online collection of worksheets, a WhatsApp chat and a weekly virtual practice group every Thursday to further support their learning. The class, which meets from 9 a.m. 12:30 p.m. every Saturday through June 11th, can be accessed by messaging @TheGuamBus on Instagram and requesting the Zoom link. Students are split into three levels Beginners at 9 a.m., Beginners II at 10 a.m., and Intermediate students at 11 a.m. Guam Community College Guam Community College offers two levels of in-person, immersive CHamoru language classes, as well as a course devoted to supporting CHamoru teachers as they learn to use immersion methods in their own classrooms. According to Simone Bollinger, Department Chair for Liberal Studies, there are additional courses in development that will expand their offerings. These classes are accessible to both full time Guam Community College students as well as community members interested in enrolling in a single class. For more information about registration and cost, prospective students can contact the Guam Community College Admissions and Registration office at 671-735-5531 or at gcc.registrar@guamcc.edu. More information can also be found at guamcc.edu/Apply. University of Guam Through their CHamoru Studies Program the University of Guam offers six levels of language classes in addition to classes that explore CHamoru Arts and Practices and CHamoru Studies at large. The Fanuchanan (Fall) 2022 course schedule and class formats have not yet been announced, but Elementary CHamoru I will be offered as a face to face course during Finakpo Session B, which runs from June 6 23, and will be taught by Teresita Flores. Community members are welcome to take these classes as non-degree students alongside part-time or full-time students. To register they will need to secure course instructor approval to enroll in the course and complete an undergraduate admissions application through the Office of Admissions & Records before registering for the course itself. For non-degree students the combined cost of application, registration, and course fees is roughly $1,000 depending on the number of credits the course is worth and when it is offered. For more information, prospective students can contact the Office of Admissions at 671-735-2201. Kutturan CHamoru Foundation The Kutturan CHamoru Foundation, located in Long Beach, CA has been offering free CHamoru language classes for several years. The spring session, taught online and beginning April 3, will be taught by longtime volunteer and foundation president Heidi Chargualaf-Quenga. The class is open to learners of all ages and levels worldwide. For more information about their organization, visit kutturanchamoru.org, and follow @KutturanCHamoruFoundation on Instagram for upcoming class announcements and registration information. Pilot Language Immersion Program Michael Lujan Bevacqua and Chief Hurao Academy founder Anne Marie Arceo will be leading an immersive CHamoru learning experience open to adults from June 15-25. The goal of the program is to deepen connections to language, culture and identity. It will include 10 days focused in the classroom and community as well as two days of heritage hikes. The program is being organized by volunteers and supported by partnerships with Guam Museum, The Guam Bus, Chief Hurao Academy, Kumision I Fino CHamoru Yan Finanaguen, and Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica. Deposits are due on March 15, and prospective students can email June Pangelinan at junepangelinan3@gmail.com for more information. The full cost of tuition is $1,100. A prewar view of Puntan Dos Amantes (Two Lovers Point) from the beach of Tumon Bay. In celebration of Mes CHamoru, the Pacific Daily News is partnering with the Guam Museum to share historical and cultural artifacts and images from the museums archives and collections. The information and photo are courtesy of Michael Bevacqua, curator at the Guam Museum. Raising Canes employees join General Manager David Martinez in presenting a $1,500 check to GAIN President Cyrus Luhr at the Raising Canes March 2, 2022, in the food court at Micronesia Mall. A man who went on a killing spree in 1983, gunning down seven people and later murdering two more in prison, is asking for compassionate release. Eligio Adriatico, who was 20 at the time of the killings, has served 38 years of 11 life sentences plus 150 years. On Sept. 28, 1983, he and Romeo Marquez shot and killed 23-year-old Anthony Ignacio at Club Maxims, a bar in Anigua, according to PDN archives. A day later, Adriatico and Marquez fired a volley of shots into the doorway of the Roadhouse Club, a Dededo bar, which left 29-year-old Fred Mereb dead in his chair with a cigarette still clenched between his fingers. Ekidilas Ngrahelsau also was killed. When 19-year-old Guam Police Department officer Raymond Sanchez and his partner attempted to pull over Adriatico and Marquezs vehicle on Sept. 30, 1983, both officers were shot. Sanchez died. Shortly before midnight the same day, Adriatico and Marquez, wearing masks and armed with automatic weapons, sprayed gunfire into the Philippines Scouts Club, where 20 people were present. Letitia Ignacio, 54, and Isidro Tinioso, 37, died in the attack. The search for the killers was a top priority for law enforcement. Evidence was gathered from the crime scenes and, eventually, Adriatico and Marquez were located at the Micronesian Hotel. Police and military law enforcement officers surrounded the hotel for nine hours. The men surrendered Oct. 5, 1983. Edgardo Sumabat, a man wanted in California on murder charges and in Alaska for jumping parole on a manslaughter conviction was Adriatico and Marquezs seventh victim. He was found dead with bullet wounds to the face after the stakeout, according to PDN archives. Adriatico and Marquez were brought to their first court appearances with brown paper bags over their heads. They were found guilty and given multiple life sentences. A year into their stay at the Department of Corrections, Adriatico and Marquez were charged with murdering two other inmates with guns that were smuggled into the prison. They were convicted for their crimes. Adriaticos prison time added up to 11 life sentences plus 150 years. He and Marquez were transported to a federal prison to serve their time, court documents stated. At the 1984 sentencing hearing for Adriaticos prison murders, a government attorney said he should have no future. Remorse In August 2021, Adriatico filed a motion, which he wrote himself, requesting compassionate release and sentence reduction. I am asking the court to give me a second chance and have mercy on me and grant me relief, Adriatico said in the motion. At a hearing before Superior Court of Guam Judge Vernon Perez, Adriatico argued his motion further. Ive had a lot of years to reflect on what I did. ... I take full responsibility, Adriatico said. Adriatico also is asking for release based on U.S. Supreme Court cases in which leniency was granted to young defendants. Scientific evidence shows an adolescent brain is not fully developed until age 25. I know saying Im sorry sometimes doesnt cut it but I truly am sorry and ashamed of what I did. I was a menace to society but having done a lot of time in prison changes how I think, Adriatico said. Now I am a better person and if I am granted release I would do my best to balance the scale, to demonstrate my goodness to the community, to my family, to myself. Aside from the remarks made by Adriatico, his motion asks for release due to the complications of his health by the COVID-19 pandemic. Response Assistant Attorney General Marianne Woloschuk argued Adriatico shouldnt be released because the motion cites federal laws that dont always apply to Guam. In federal prison, Adriatico doesnt have access to local Guam laws and wrote the motion based on laws available to him. Those laws dont always apply in the same way to U.S. territories. Woloschuk further argued that Adriatico shouldnt be released because of the seriousness of his crimes. After hearing the arguments, Perez said he would take the matter under advisement. He hasnt issued an order on the motion. Volunteers serve hot food to refugees fleeing the conflict from neighbouring Ukraine at the Romanian-Ukrainian border. (Renata Brito/AP) What can I do to help the people of Ukraine? Feed them, says Ricky Ly of TastyChomps.com. Advertisement And in conjunction with chef Jose Andres World Central Kitchen, hes putting together what he calls a love note to the refugees of Ukraine from Orlando. My mother was a boat refugee from Vietnam, explains Ly, who has set up a team page where Central Floridians can donate directly to the cause. Our family understands what it means to have to leave everything behind to find safety. Advertisement Andres, whose philanthropic work came in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, has since fed millions around the world. World Central Kitchen teams are already on the ground in Poland, Romania and Moldova, doing the same for the tens of thousands who have streamed across the borders to escape the war zones. At press time, the tally was at $671, but Lys goal is $10,000 and theres even a carrot for those who donate. Attention home cooks: You can contribute to this effort, as well. Were putting together a collection of recipes from chefs here in Orlando and anyone who wants to send in a recipe, Ly explains. To Ukraine with Love: Recipes from the Heart of Central Florida to the People of Ukraine will be a PDF-based book, a gift for everyone who donates to the cause. I will put together all the recipes and send the collection out to all the donors who contribute. Want to send a recipe? Visit the link to this Google page to fill out the form and submit yours for consideration. (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSersftjm5kgIVh-2RGglZwb7YT4pjrc7yg-Qhcei0_FNoRifg/viewform) Want to donate? All funds collected will go directly to World Central Kitchen to provide nourishing meals for the Ukrainian refugees. donate.wck.org/team/411729 Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. In early February, Florida wildlife officers visited a reptile dealer in Sunrise to investigate illegal possession of snakes, enforcing a new law designed to prevent further infestations of the state by non-native species. Advertisement Inside the house, in enclosures that resembled fish tanks, they found his collection. They confiscated 26 reticulated pythons, members of the worlds longest snake species, capable of growing to lengths of 20 feet, according to an incident report from the state wildlife commission. They seized nine Burmese pythons, the species that has colonized the Everglades, devastating populations of mammals. And they took a Burmese-reticulated python hybrid. The new rule, which set a deadline of last July 28, banned the private or commercial possession of 16 species, including some of the most notorious, such as the Nile monitor lizard, Burmese python, Northern African python, reticulated python, tegu lizard and green iguana. Current pet owners were allowed to keep their animals until they died. Advertisement [ RELATED: South Florida Lizard King charged with wildlife smugglin ] The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has issued about 25 citations for violations of the new rule, said Carli Segelson, spokeswoman for the commission. But in general, she said, owners of reptile companies have been obeying the law and moving out prohibited animals. Enforcement of the rule is going well with increased compliance and awareness moving forward, she said in an email. In most cases, FWCs law enforcement strives to educate and work with stakeholders as it relates to compliance prior to enforcement action. In another confiscation, this time in Collier County, officers seized two Burmese pythons, two reticulated pythons, four green iguanas, one tegu, and a red-eared slider turtle. The owner was issued five citations. Reptile dealers sell their animals at shows, through brick-and-mortar shops and over the internet, accepting credit card payments and delivering live animals via overnight mail. Prices range from $20 or less for small, common lizards and snakes to tens of thousands of dollars for python or boa morphs with sought-after patterns. The business has been blamed for the infestation of pythons in the Everglades, green iguanas in South Florida neighborhoods and other non-native species that have established new homes in the Florida sunshine. Eugene Bessette, owner of a reptile business near Gainesville, said the states rules are too strict, imposing difficult choices on law-abiding people. People are trying to comply, but theyre running out of time, so you have a cop, a law enforcement officer coming to your door, said Bessette, who sits on a panel advising the state wildlife commission on the issue. Its not right. Its not fair. This is going to drive people underground. The time frame they gave people is just unrealistic. You need six months to a year to find places for your animals. Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. > But Kate McFall, Florida director of the Humane Society of the United States, said the new rules represent a long-overdue crackdown on a trade that caused enormous damage to Floridas environment. Advertisement This was a very big deal, she said. These animals have a propensity to get out and breed and establish populations. Its important for our wildlife, for their habitat, for people visiting the state and for Floridians. [ RELATED: Python hunters chase down 80 slithering snakes ahead of Super Bowl ] The United States Association of Reptile Keepers, which represents busininesses and hobbyists, is fighting the law in court. He said it wasnt necessary for law enforcement officers to issue citations and confiscate animals from people struggling to comply. The dealer whose snakes were taken in Sunrise, for example, had filed an application with the state for a legal exemption to keep them. Its only because he was forthright enough to admit what he had, Goss said, that the states wildlife officers paid him a visit. The FWC did not have to do this, Goss said. Theres no reason they should have taken his snakes. Its overreaching. David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sunsentinel.com and 954-356-4535. Haiti - Economy : Disagreement with the DR on the functioning of the binational market of Ouanaminthe This week during an important meeting the Haitian and Dominican authorities concerned discussed issues of security, customs and the operation of the facilities of the binational market located in Ouanaminthe. On this last point, the differences arose when the Haitian side proposed that the two official binational market days (Monday and Friday) be shared, establishing that Mondays would be held on Haitian territory, closing trade in Dominican premises. and vice versa on Friday. A proposal that was rejected by Mayor Riveron and other border authorities who stated firmly that the Haitian authorities could not assert such a claim and proposed that the commercial exchanges take place simultaneously, as had been proposed by the representative of the European Union. Regarding security, the Haitian authorities have promised to ensure that Dominicans visiting this market do not encounter any difficulties, while the question of customs will be the subject of a commission that will visit Port-au-Prince, in order to ensure appropriate treatment for persons carrying out commercial activities in these facilities. The new market of Ounaminthe, in Haiti, built by the European Union https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33735-haiti-trade-minister-day-visited-a-site-in-ouanaminthe.html , which was scheduled to open on Friday March 11, 2022, did not take place due to a lack of agreement and its possible reopening remains in limbo for the moment. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33735-haiti-trade-minister-day-visited-a-site-in-ouanaminthe.html SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Diaspora Covid-19 : Daily Bulletin #722 GLOBAL SITUATION 2019-2022: Epidemiological situation: Saturday March 12, 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 455,653,450 to cases (+1,870,283 in 24 hours) , the day before (+1,891,097) Number of infected countries: 224 *Healings: 389,449,849 people have been cured of Covid-19 worldwide (+1,546,604 in 24 hours), the day before (+1,581,529) *Deaths: 6,058,812 people died of Covid-19 worldwide (+7,296 in 24 hours), the day before (+6,703) *Active cases (minus deaths and recoveries) in the world is currently 60,144,789 cases (+316,383 in 24 hours), the day before (+302,865) Average cure rate in the world: 85.47% (-) Average mortality rate in the world: 1.32% (-) World: Number of daily confirmed cases: (Day-1) Vaccination: 11.02 billion doses of vaccine injected (+20 million doses injected in 24 hours. Updated March 11, 2022 (latest data available). HAITI: Epidemiological situation: According to the Ministry of Public Health, +8 new cases of Covid-19 and its variants have been confirmed in Haiti as of March 8, 2022 (latest partial data available ) for a total of 30,438 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 (+30 cases as of March 5, 2022). Healings: 26,220 (+491) Cure rate: 86.14% (+) Deaths: 827 deaths (+0) () Death rate: 2.71% (=) 5th Wave (Omicron Dominant): Total of the 5th wave (starting December 27, 2021) amounts to 4,443 confirmed cases and 61 deaths Haiti: Active Cases Trend: (less recoveries and deaths) (Day-1) Screening since the start of the pandemic: 182,114 tests (+663 in 3 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: 734 (+0); Petion-ville 613 (+0); Port-au-Prince 405 (+0); Tabarre 285 (+0); Croix-des-Bouquets 233 (+1) Confirmed cases by department (2022 / 2021 / 2020): West: 2022: 2,524 cases; (2021: 9.890); (2020: 6,945 cases) North: 2022: 263 cases; (2021: 664); (2020: 677 cases) Center: 2022: 220 cases; (2021: 1.001); (2020: 508 cases) Artibonitis: 2022: 169 cases; (2021: 855); (2020: 593 cases) Northeast: 2022: 147 cases; (2021: 404); (2020: 314 cases) Southeast: 2022: 237 cases; (2021: 768); (2020: 274 cases) South: 2022: 213 cases; (2021: 891); (2020: 262 cases) North West: 2022: 249 cases; (2021: 383); (2020: 229 cases) Grand'Anse: 2022: 158 cases; (2021: 861); (2020: 176 cases) Nippes: 2022: 33 cases; (2021: 249) (2020: 149 cases) Cumulative deaths by department (2022-2021): West: 293 deaths (2020: 104 deaths) North: 54 deaths (2020: 34 deaths) Center: 78 deaths (2020: 13 deaths) Artibonite: 40 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: 31 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: 137 deaths Vaccination: 157,002 Haitians (1.35% of the population) +1,178 in 8 days have received a 1st dose of vaccine since July 16, 2021, date of the first injection through 149 open vaccination centers and 106,114 Haitians are fully vaccinated (2 doses, 0.91% of the population) +1.130 in 8 days. Update March 6, 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): 81,154,960 cases (+46,174 in 24 hours), the day before (+44.683) *Healings: 55,757,373 healings (+157,198 in 24 hours), the day before (+170,181) National Cure Rate: 68.70% (+) *Deaths: 993,044 deaths (+1,784 in 24 hours), the day before (+1,787) National death rate: 1.22% (=) *Active cases (minus deaths and recoveries): 24,404,543 (-112,808 in 24 hours), the day before (-127,285) Tests: 963,805,880 last data available. USA: Number of daily confirmed cases (Day-1) Vaccination: 556.61 million doses of vaccine injected since December 14, 2020, date of the first injection in the United States (+340,000 doses in 24 hours). Updated March 10, 2022 (latest data available). DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Confirmed cases since March 1, 2020: 576,656 cases (+66 in 24 hours) the day before (+81 in 24 hours). First case (March 1, 2020) Healings: 571,656 healings (+118 in 24 hours), the day before (+199) National Cure Rate: 99.13% (-) Deaths: 4,374 deaths (+0), previous (+2) Death rate: 0.75% (=) Positivity rate over 4 epidemiological weeks: 2.12% (-) Active cases: (excluding deaths and recoveries) 337 cases (-52 in 24 hours) the day before (-120) 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: Santiago: +26 new cases in 24 hours (-) National District: +13 new cases in 24 hours (+) Santo Domingo: +12 new cases in 24 hours (-) Valverde: 4 new cases in 24 hours () San Pedro de Macoris: 4 new cases in 24 hours () Tests (since the 1st case): 3,158,390 tests (+2,613 in 24 hours), the day before (+3,899) Vaccination: 15.35 million doses of vaccine injected since February 16, 2021, date of the first injection in the Dominican Republic (+20,000 doses injected in 24 hours). Updated March 11, 2022 (latest data available). QUEBEC: Confirmed cases since the first case (February 27, 2020): 934,622 (+1.179 in 24 hours), previous (+1.267) Healings: 907,358 people (+1,396 in 24 hours), previous (+980) Cure rate: 97.08% (-) Deaths: 14,154 deaths (+13 in 24 hours), previous (+15) Death rate: 1.51% (=) Active cases: (excluding death and recovery) 13,110 cases (-230 in 24 hours), previous (+272) Quebec: Trend of daily confirmed cases: (average weekly trend) Test: 16,850,668 people tested since the first case (+13,992 in 24 hours) Vaccination: 18,505,552 doses of vaccine injected since December 14, 2020, date of the first injection (+7,894 doses in 24 hours), latest data available - MSSS as of March 11, 2022) FRANCE: *Confirmed cases since the first case (January 24, 2020): 23,381,279 cases (+72,399 cases in 24 hours), previous (+74,818) *Healings: 22,087,797 healings (+76,489 in 24h), previous (+82,291) National Cure Rate: 94.46% (+) Deaths: 140,029 deaths (+149 in 24 hours), previous (+107) Death rate: 0.59% (-) Active Cases: 1,153,453 (-4,239 in 24h), previous (-7,580) Test: 246,629,975 (last data available February 27, 2022) France: Number of daily confirmed cases: (day-1) Vaccination: 141.24 million doses of vaccine injected since December 27, 2020, date of the first injection in France (+20,000 doses injected in 24 hours. Update March 11, 2022 (latest data available) Previous bulletin: https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36154-haiti-diaspora-covid-19-daily-bulletin-721.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... A policeman kidnapped and killed Thursday, March 10, the police officer Henry Marc Milians, assigned to the Brigade for the Fight against Vehicle Theft of the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ) was kidnapped from his home in the Canaan 2 area, (commune of Croix- des-Bouquets), by unidentified armed individuals who later shot him dead. His body was abandoned in the street, near the Bon-Repos Community Hospital. USA : 198 Haitians repatriated On Friday March 11, the United States repatriated via the Coast Guard to Cap-Haitien 198 of the 356 Haitians intercepted on March 6 before the Ocean Reef Club in North Key Largo https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36131-haiti-news-zapping.html . the International Organization for Migration (IOM) jointly, the National Office of Migration (ONM) and the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR) ensured the reception of Haitians. "Chile a source of inspiration for Haiti" On Thursday March 10, Acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry met with the new President-elect of Chile Gabriel Boric (36). During the discussions, Henry praised the Chilean democratic experience, which he said is "a source of inspiration for Haiti" in the grip of a recurring political crisis. A Montana Accord delegation to the Senate Friday, March 11, the Senate office met with a delegation from the Monitoring Office for the August 30 agreement (from Montana) composed of Leslie Voltaire, Jacques Ted St-Dic, Ernst Mathurin, Magalie Comeau Denis, Jeanty Joseph Raymond and Antoine Augustin. This meeting is part of the holding of an extraordinary summit, intended to find a consensual solution to the current crisis in Haiti, for a return to normal. Disclaimer of the PNH Following rumors circulating on social networks suggesting that armed individuals had attacked, Friday, March 11, 2022, the private residence of Frantz Elbe Director General ai of the PNH, the Press and Public Relations Coordination of the General Management of the PNH provides a formal denial of this information. However, detonations were actually heard in the surrounding areas of the residence of the Commander-in-Chief a.i. Therefore, appropriate measures are already taken by the police in order to restore order and serenity in the area. Women's Boxing : Haiti at the AMBC Championship Haiti will be represented at the AMBC continental championship to be held in Guayaquil, Ecuador from March 22 to April 2, 2022 by 3 Haitian boxers : Marie Kathreen Sterling (52kg), Saintelise Jean (57kg) and Blandina Salnave (64kg). Note that Thursday, March 10, Raymonde Rival the Minister of Youth and Sports accompanied by Pierre Eddy Daniel President of the Haitian Boxing Federation spoke at length with the boxing champion Saintelise Jean and her participation in the AMBC continental championship in Guayaquil in Ecuador and at the 12th World Women's Amateur in Istanbul, Turkey. HL/ HaitiLibre Quincy, IL (62301) Today Some early morning breaks in the overcast, otherwise cloudy. High 64F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 53F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Hastings, NE (68901) Today Cloudy early, then off and on rain showers for the afternoon. High 52F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Periods of rain. Low 46F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Hey, spring your clocks forward Sunday morning. A little heads up to anyone still using an analog clock, watch or any using microwaves not built with the time-jump setting as daylight saving time is scheduled to happen once again this Sunday. Advertisement Some are groaning, as they are sure to lose an hour of sleep, but some are happy with the extra hour of sunlight theyll gain in their days until the morning of Nov. 6, when daylight saving time ends and all these sleepy readers will joyously get their hour of sleep returned. Daylight saving officially begins at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, meaning it will be 3 a.m. Advertisement Anyone in need of a reminder of which way the clocks should move, a friendly expression exists to help keep track: spring forward, fall back. The original idea is to literally save daylight as it becomes more abundant during the winter transition to spring. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 15 There's never a true break from lawn care in Florida, but at least you have an extra hour of daylight. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel) Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. > The history of daylight saving time can chronologically be traced back to multiple icons, one being Benjamin Franklin and his An Economical Project, written in 1784, according to the Farmers Almanac. Another proponent would come in 1907 when William Willet addressed the issue of unused hours of morning sun. He was in turn addressed with ridicule as some argued Willets proposal was a practice in the sin of lying about true time. Germany was the first to officially adopt the light-extending system in 1915, as a fuel-saving measure during World War I. A year later, Britain would do the same. The United States would eventually adopt the idea after World War I in 1918, when Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which also established the time zones, the Farmers Almanac shows. This was met with strong opposition, and many lamenting that it was an attempt to make late sleepers get up early. The opposition toward daylight saving time has persisted over the years with action taken against it as recently as earlier as this week. On Tuesday Sens. Marco Rubio, Rick Scott and six others reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act which permanently springs the clocks one hour ahead across the country. Such a bill was already passed in 2018 in Florida, but in order for it to take effect a change on the federal level is necessary. Advertisement Until that happens, the annual spring-forward, sleepless grumble will tick on as reliably as the clocks that dictate it. Editor: Today I had coffee with the man who will probably be my candidate for US C Henderson, NC (27536) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Widely scattered showers or a thunderstorm this evening. Then partly cloudy. Low 58F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. MORE than 3,000 toads have been helped by the Henley Toad Patrol so far this year. Volunteers carry them across Marlow Road to their spawning pond on the Culden Faw Estate to avoid them being run over. So far, there have been 3,271 toads, 750 frogs and 62 newts following significant amphibian migration at the end of last week, when the weather was relatively mild and sometimes wet. But there were none to be found over the weekend or at the beginning of this week when it was colder. If the temperature is below about 8C few, if any, amphibians will be on the move. Professor John Sumpter, a volunteer who collects the data, said: Most of the toads and other amphibians collected by the volunteers in the last week were collected on just two nights. On one of these nights, more than 250 toads were carried across the road to the spawning pond and, on the other, 410 were similarly helped. Usually, migration continues throughout March, ceasing at the very end of the month, or even in early April. Thus, it is possible that significant numbers of toads and other amphibians are presently still migrating through Oaken Grove Wood, heading towards the barrier running alongside the main road. At the beginning of the migration in early February nearly all the toads arriving at the barrier were single males. As the migration proceeds, more females appear at the barrier. The interesting thing is that these females are usually not singles. Instead, they have already paired up with a male toad. The smaller male toads climb on the backs of the females and each male clasps their female very tightly, using their stout forelimbs, which develop rough nuptial pads in the breeding season to aid the males grip. Once paired, they are said to be in amplexus. Thus, many females carry a male to the spawning pond, often over a distance of many hundreds of metres. It is fortunate that the males weigh, on average, only about half the weight of most females. Very occasionally, a female has two males on her back. So far this year one triplet, as we call them, has been collected. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in several Florida counties that experienced severe weather Saturday, including a possible tornado in Ocala that damaged buildings and caused several traffic accidents. In an executive order, DeSantis said the state of emergency in Marion, Clay, Highlands and Putnam counties was necessary for the purpose of receiving assistance after a powerful cold front generated strong winds, thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes across the region, leaving widespread power outages and damages. Advertisement The governor also said the heavy rain has caused flash flooding in Northeast Florida, and some rivers are forecasted to rise and remain above flood stage for several days, according to the order. The order puts Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, as coordinator of response, recovery and mitigation plans to cope with the emergency. Advertisement Guthrie said on Twitter that he was in Ocala where a tornado damaged vehicles and property, including an apartment complex. The Ocala Police Department reported damage to buildings and vehicles near the 3900 block of State Road 200. Guthrie said the state agency is committed to supporting local response efforts. I am on the ground in Ocala, Florida where a tornado has damaged vehicles and property. These are photos of some of the damage in the Saddleworth Green apartment complex. The Florida Division of Emergency Management, @FLSERT is committed to supporting local response efforts. pic.twitter.com/rO00AeRouL Kevin Guthrie (@KevinGuthrieFL) March 12, 2022 Reports said the area experienced a wind gust of 73 miles per hour, according to Mallory Nicholls, a meteorologist with News 13, an Orlando Sentinel partner. The Ocala Star-Banner reported one of the damaged buildings was the Paddock Park Animal Care Center, 3931 SW 42nd St., where 49 cats and dogs had to be evacuated. Severe weather and possible tornado causes damage to building in Ocala, according to Ocala police. (Ocala Police Department) Authorities reported no injuries. Interstate 75 was shut down for a time because of overturned semi-trucks but has since reopened, the Marion County Sheriffs Office reported. The Florida Highway Patrol said both tractor-trailers were exposed to the tornado, which pushed them into a guardrail, leading one semi-truck to overturn around 8 a.m. near State Road 200. One of two semi-trucks pushed by a tornado on Interstate 75 after severe weather Saturday morning (Photo via Florida Highway Patrol). Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. > One of the truck drivers told the Star-Banner his truck overturned after a strong gust of wind and struck another truck which caused it to go down an embankment. Neither driver was injured, according to FHP. There were also multiple trees down and roads blocked in the Dunnellon area, MCSO said. Advertisement **UPDATE: Tarps are now available to those affected by the severe weather today! The tarps can be picked up from the... Posted by Marion County Sheriff's Office on Saturday, March 12, 2022 Officers urged residents to avoid the area, monitor weather alerts and prepare to seek shelter. Residents impacted by the severe weather can call an information line set up by the Marion County Division of Emergency Management at 352-369-7500 until 9 p.m., according to the sheriffs office. Blue tarps are also available for those impacted at the sheriffs office multi-purpose room next to the jail at 3300 N.W. 10th Street in Ocala. MCSO said the American Red Cross is also set up in the same location to provide assistance for those affected by the storm. Central Florida experienced a gusty day with thunderstorms throughout the region. On Sunday, Orlando will see a breezy and sunny day with temperatures reaching a high of 67 degrees and a low of 52 degrees. Greenville, TX (75401) Today Foggy this morning followed by thunderstorms during the afternoon. High around 85F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we've all known individuals who have done more than their share to help their neighbors and communities with food, comfort, care, companionship and dozens of other needs. If you know of such a person, you can nominate them to be featured in our upcoming H Another anti-Patricia Sigman mailer from the self-described "progressive" group Floridians for Equality and Justice, which was run by the son of a GOP political operative. An attorney representing a political committee that sent ads slamming a candidate in a key Central Florida state Senate race in 2020 is urging a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to depose the groups chairman and obtain bank records that would reveal its donors. Florida state Sen. Annette Taddeos suit alleges Floridians for Equality and Justice sent ads to voters in Seminole and Volusia counties ahead of the August 2020 primary attacking Patricia Sigman, a Democrat running in the highly competitive race to represent Senate District 9, without disclosing its contributors as state law requires. Advertisement The committee reported just one contribution to the Florida Division of Elections, a $249,925 starting balance from a dark money nonprofit organization of the same name, but did not reveal where the organization received the money. Taddeos complaint said she believes the committee received donations through or in the name of another, a violation of state election laws, which require groups to report itemized contributions and expenditures. Advertisement But Aliette Rodz, an attorney representing Floridians for Equality and Justice, described the suit as a fishing expedition during a hearing on Friday and asked Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jose Rodriguez to dismiss it. Rodriguez didnt decide on the motion, saying he would take Rodz request under advisement. The groups ads claimed the Democrats were stacking the deck against Sigmans rivals and touted one of them, Rick Ashby, as a justice warrior and the true progressive for state Senate. Sigman won the primary but ultimately lost to Republican Jason Brodeur. During the general election, the Central Florida race also was one of three in the state where independent candidates who did not campaign were promoted in a series of mailers funded by another dark-money nonprofit group run by political consultants working closely with Florida Power & Light executives. Former state Sen. Frank Artiles has been charged with violating election finance laws by paying a friend to run in a Miami-area race. Artiles has pleaded not guilty and nobody has been charged in connection with the Central Florida race. The Florida Elections Commission resolved a complaint in November that alleged several violations by Floridians for Equality & Justice last fall with a settlement agreement that included a $250 fine for breaking a law that involved information missing from one of its initial registration forms. The settlement agreement said an apparent legal loophole allowed the group to avoid disclosing its donors because it began engaging in election-related activities far enough in advance of the Aug. 18, 2020, primary election that it did not have to report its finances to the state. By the time the election drew close enough that the group had to start filing reports, it had already raised its money and thus the initial campaign finance report claiming a starting balance was in accordance with Florida laws, the groups lawyers successfully argued. Nonprofit 501(c)(4) organizations like the one that funded Floridians for Equality and Justice, which are not required to reveal their donors publicly, are habitually used to hide contributors, said Mark Herron, an attorney representing Taddeo, said during Fridays hearing. Advertisement Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. > He urged the judge not to dismiss the case, saying the information his client is seeking could justify another complaint to the Florida Elections Commission. Stephen Jones, the son of GOP strategist Stafford Jones, is the chairperson for the political committee, which listed its address as a box in a UPS Store in Miami. The elder Jones has worked closely with Data Targeting, a top Republican consulting firm that worked on Florida Senate races in 2020. Artiles was paid $15,000 per month by Data Targeting to work on South Florida Senate races in 2020, according to records released in the criminal case against him, though the records dont specify the scope of his work. Stephen Jones identity initially was a mystery. When Taddeo, a Democrat from Miami whose name and picture were used in some of Floridians for Equality and Justices ads, filed a civil lawsuit last summer against the group, her attorneys were unable to serve Jones, as UPS Store employees told process servers they had no box-holder agreement with Jones or the committee. Last fall, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Stafford and Stephen Jones are father and son, prompting Taddeos attorneys to ask for additional time to serve the suit. In a court filing, they argued Jones took steps to secret his true address in forming the political committee for the purpose of potentially avoiding responsibility for illegal acts. Advertisement anmartin@orlandosentinel.com Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - An environmentalist of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has called on governments and businesses to increase investments to safeguard land Khartoum, Sudan (PANA)- The United Nations on Saturday expressed deep concern following unrest in the Darfur region of Western Sudan that left tens of people dead and drove a huge number out of their homes This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Julia James lives in League City now, but her heart is with her beloved homeland of Ukraine. On Feb. 21, she arrived in Ukraine to bring her three children ages 8, 14 and 21 home to Texas. They were living with her parents in Ukraine as they attended school there to learn the Ukrainian language. They were into their second semester of studying when there was a drastic change in their plans in late February. On Feb. 24, Russian troops invaded Ukraine and the attacks have continued for approximately two weeks now. James was shocked to find the Ukrainian people were not panicked when she arrived on Feb. 21. On yourcouriernews.com: Drivers feel pain at the pump due to concerns over oil, Ukraine war I dont think they believed it, she said. Still she has friends in Russia who believe this is a military action because of what they are being told, and not a bloody attack on her native land. On Friday morning, she wore a flower crown like those traditionally worn by girls and young women in Ukraine and carried signs of support for Ukraine as she attended the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commissions Montgomery County Stands with Ukraine ceremony. The event took place at the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park in Conroe kicking off just as cold winds picked up from a passing cold front. James saw the event advertised on Facebook and joined Montgomery County residents and members of the Ukrainian community who came together to show support for the people of Ukraine. She was able to bring her children out of Ukraine on Feb. 25, but the journey was difficult as they faced long lines and lots of traffic. Her parents escaped on Feb. 27 having a US visa prior to the start of the war. But she worries for her aunt and her aunts children and grandchildren. They are underground somewhere, she said. I have not been able to communicate with her. I worry if she has food or water. It is her hope to work through the system to bring them here. Like many other Ukrainians gathered Friday, she had angry words for Russian President Vladimir Putin and she called for a stop to this war and for a fly-zone over Ukraine. Jimmie C. Edwards III, chairman of the Montgomery County Veterans Commission, told those gathered that Russia is not only at war with Ukraine, but Putin and Russia are at war with the world. Were here to stand up and were here to tell the Ukrainian people that we love you and we stand with you, Edwards said. As a part of the ceremony, six Ukrainian flags were presented to local elected officials who then placed them along the Sgt. Luther James Dorsey bridge leading into the park. The Montgomery County Sheriffs Honor Guard then lead local restaurant owner Joe Haliti, 16-year-old Ukrainian exchange student Anya Arseienko, Ukrainian native Dariya Dashutina and other representatives from the Ukrainian community across the bridge to the flag-lined Victory Row portion of the park as the Ukrainian national anthem played. On YourConroeNews.com: Ukranian exchange student trying to bring family to Texas Once all were gathered at the southern end of Victory Row, the American and Ukrainian flags were raised side by side and will fly in solidarity at the park. Dashutina, a native of Kharkiv, Ukraine, which had been under heavy attack in the last two weeks, was the featured speaker of the ceremony. She came to America at age 16 as a tennis player and went on to get a business degree from Lamar University. Its her dream to grow a tennis program for youth in the U.S. From the moment she received the call from her father about the bombarding of Kharkiv, she has been an advocate to amplify the voice of the Ukrainian community in Houston. I never thought that we as humans would allow something like this to happen in the 21st century, she said. Let me make it very clear, Ukraine has never been Russia and Ukraine will never be Russia. Three days ago Russian troops bombarded a Ukrainian hospital with mothers and newborn babies inside. What type of world are we living in today where we are allowing Russians to kill mothers and babies?, she said. Please close the sky over Ukraine. What else are we waiting for? Ukraine is just a border for Putin to expand his power. Which country is going to be the next one? Maybe Poland, Finland, Germany, France or maybe the United States of America? She said Ukraine is fighting a disproportionate war. Ukraines army is six times smaller, have four times less armored vehicles, 10 times less tanks and almost no military aircraft, she said. Our people are fighting with our bare hands because we have a lot to lose. Husbands, fathers, sons and brothers ages 18 to 60 have remained in Ukraine to fight. Her own father has joined the fighting. If the world unites together, Russia will not have a chance, but we need to work together and we need your support, she said. Im just a daughter whose father is out there fighting for his country and his family. He promised me that Ill see him again. I know that I might not recognize the place from my childhood when I return, but I believe that after all of this is over, my country and my city will rise from the ashes. My name is Dariya Dashutina and my voice matters and each and every one of you has a voice that matters. shernandez@hcnonline.com Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer A man was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison Friday for an incident in which he rammed a pick-up truck into the FBI's Houston office, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office Southern District of Texas. Nestor Batista, 24, remains in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, the press release stated. A Cuban citizen, Batista is expected to face removal after his imprisonment. A man was fatally shot Friday night inside a northwest Houston apartment, according to authorities. Officers responded to reports of a firearm discharge around 11 p.m. at the 7200 block of West Greens Road near Willowbrook Mall, Houston police Lt. Ronnie Willkens said. "They found an apartment that it was linked to and went inside and found one adult male that had been shot once in the leg and possibly in the abdomen with numerous casings inside," Willkens said. More on HoustonChronicle.com: Parents arrested after 4 children found abandoned in Spring home Witnesses told officers an argument could be heard inside the apartment before the shots were heard, he added. Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to contact the HPD homicide division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477 No other information is available at this time. Joel.Umanzor@chron.com The parents of four toddlers found abandoned at their Spring home faced a judge Saturday morning. The father was denied bond but the mother was released after posting bail, court records show. Markel Dorsey, 31, and Angela Huff, 27, both appeared before a Harris County judge facing multiple charges, according to court records. Huff is charged with four counts of felony child abandonment in the incident. Dorsey is charged with evading arrest and violating a protective order from a previous family violence case against Huff while out on bond for a prior misdemeanor charge of evading arrest, records state. More on HoustonChronicle.com: Man fatally shot at northwest Houston apartment The children ages 1 to 4 were found at their residence with no supervision at the 4000 block of Cypress Hill Road on Thursday night after Harris County deputies responded to a wellness check, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted out Friday. The couple was found and arrested at a motel on the 9100 block of Texas 6 North 14 miles away from where the children were discovered, Gonzalez added in a tweet Friday. A total of $50,000 bond was set for Huff, who posted it Saturday morning, court records show. Dorsey was denied bond as the judge cited he was a flight risk and posed a threat to Huff's safety, according to a report from KTRK. More from Joel Umanzor: Man suspected of breaking into several vehicles dies in Gulfton Dorsey is alleged by prosecutors to have choked Huff three times at a Baytown motel on Jan. 13 after she tried to go through his phone, according to the criminal complaint. During that incident, he also violated a November 2021 protective order arising from an incident in which he allegedly choked Huff four months prior. He posted a $40,000 bond in that incident and was released on March 3. Huff is scheduled to appear in court again on Monday. Dorsey is expected to be back in front of a judge on Friday. Joel.Umanzor@chron.com If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here A San Antonio man who received nude photos from a minor in South Carolina was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison. Lynn Maxwell Gerstner, 72, pleaded guilty in June 2020 to one count of distribution of child pornography, according to the Department of Justice. As part of his sentence, Gerstner must pay $20,000 in restitution and was ordered to undergo a lifetime of supervised release after prison. According to court documents, Gerstner befriended the minor in 2019. In their online relationship, Gerstner talked openly about sex and asked the minor to send nude photos. The minor shared sexually explicit videos with him for some time but then tried to end the relationship. In response, Gerstner contacted the minors employer, saying he had videos of the minor that were extremely sexual in nature and suggesting that the minor be fired, officials said. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio man accused of uploading child pornography to social media app Instead, the employer contacted law enforcement in San Antonio. On April 23, 2019, the Bexar County Sheriffs Office searched Gerstners residence and found cellphones containing numerous images of child pornography, including explicit photos of children as young as 4. This defendant spent the majority of his life as a predator, exploiting young children for his own sexual gratification, U.S. Attorney Ashley Hoff said in a statement. Hoff said that after law enforcement agents seized Gerstners devices, he immediately obtained a new one to continue accessing materials related to child sexual abuse. He not only sexually exploited minors, but he also actively attempted to cause additional harm if they didnt comply with his sexual demands, Hoff said. The court recognized the increased danger he presented to our society and sentenced him appropriately. jbeltran@express-news.net The FBI in Houston has arrested another person in connection to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol early last year. The agency arrested this week Raul Jarrin, who is accused of unlawfully entering the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021 and taking photos before leaving. A criminal complaint showed two charges being pursued against him Remaining in a Restricted Building With Intent to Impede or Disrupt Official Functions, and Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct on the Capitol Grounds, Parading in a Capitol Building. On HoustonChronicle.com : In first Jan. 6 verdict, Texas man who stormed Capitol, Guy Reffitt, found guilty of 5 felony charges Authorities served a search warrant on Google and got records indicating a mobile device tied to Jarrin was at the U.S. Capitol that day, according to a statement of facts document. He was arrested in Houston. An FBI special agent who interviewed Jarrin in July 2021 wrote Jarrin allegedly admitted to being in the U.S. Capitols vicinity Jan. 6, and going to the Save America rally, per the document. But Jarrin denied entering the U.S. Capitol building. Hed shown the agent photos from Jan. 6 on his phone. The last of the images on there showed the U.S. Capitol Building in the distance with bicycle rack barricades in the foreground, per the document. Jarrin stated that he decided to leave the area shortly after that photo was taken, the document read. He said he did not take any more photographs that day and did not delete any photographs or videos from that day. On HoustonChronicle.com : Federal agents arrest Texas man accused of civil disorder in Jan. 6 Capitol riot However, camera footage from day showed a person who is believed to be Jarrin entering the building, walking inside approximately 10 feet and apparently taking photos before turning to leave, according to the record. A lawyer representing Jarrin, Kent Schaffer, said they were disappointed that the government elected to file charges in this case. He said his client didnt participate in a riot. He did not confront anybody. He was not given any instructions that he failed to obey, Schaffer said. At worst what he did is he walked inside the Capitol building and was there for less than 20 seconds and when he saw the pandemonium, he turned around and left the vicinity immediately. He was not part of any type of insurrection or demonstration or rioting. leah.brennan@chron.com Prairie View A&M University President Ruth Simmons, a leader in higher education, announced Friday she will be stepping down from her role. Simmons who was appointed in 2017 to the position said in a message Friday she told Chancellor John Sharp about her desire to step down in a manner that facilitates the continued forward momentum of the University. I will remain in place, if he desires, until my successor is chosen, she wrote. Simmons experience in education and honors are extensive. She had originally taken on the job at Prairie View A&M in an interim capacity, emerging from retirement to do so. Before her time there, she served for over 10 years as Brown Universitys president. In doing so, she became the first Black president of an Ivy League university. Prior to her tenure at Brown, she had also served as president at Smith College, where she was inaugurated in 1995. The following year, she was named one of NBC Nightly News Most Inspiring Women. Talking Ruth Simmons into coming out of retirement to lead Prairie View A&M University is one of the things I am proudest of, Chancellor John Sharp said in a written statement sent to the Chronicle. In five years, she has transformed the university and set it on a path to success and I am thankful for her time as President. I know the faculty and the students, in particular, will miss her day-to-day inspirational leadership. In her statement Friday, Simmons who had anticipated a brief stint at the helm, and is now in her fifth year leading the historically Black college reflected on the gains made during her time with Prairie View A&M, while looking toward the work still needed. Even as I reflect on these and other changes, I am humbled by how much remains to be done. Prairie View A&M is nowhere near what it could ultimately achieve as an institution of the first class, she wrote. Our students deserve more, and we must provide it for them. As we undergo our strategic planning, it is evident to me that a new leader must assume responsibility for advancing the University to a new level of excellence in student outcomes, faculty achievement and research output, Simmons stated Even so, she wrote that stepping down is a very difficult and surprisingly emotional decision for me. Surprising because I have twice previously served as a president and therefore twice previously stepped down from such a role. But this is different, she wrote, citing various challenges and her gratitude in being able to lead the university through them, as well as for the university community. Simmons, 76, also noted that her work for the university wouldnt cease, even though she would be stepping down from her current position. She and I are discussing how best she can continue her service to the Texas A&M University System, Sharp stated. . I have no intention of allowing Ruth to leave the service of Prairie View and we will work hard to keep her here at a higher capacity. That said, I am so very thankful for her service and friendship. More information on plans to identify the universitys next president is expected [o]ver the coming weeks, per Simmons statement. Until then, I remain 100% committed to this amazing institution that has, throughout the decades since its founding, kept the dream of equality, justice and opportunity alive for so many, she wrote. I am proud of that legacy. It is one that I honor, and it is one that I will always continue to serve. leah.brennan@chron.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate State legislative leaders called Friday for investigative hearings into a foster care facility where employees are accused of exploiting sex trafficking victims, while the facilitys operators say the claims are being misrepresented. Lt. Gov. Patrick announced Friday afternoon the formation of a special committee that will pull no punches with agency leadership and consider changes in its oversight at the Department of Family and Protective Services. The work to reform DFPS has been ongoing for some time, but after this story, the Texas Senate could not wait any longer to address the serious issues at the agency, Patrick said. The Rangers investigation was ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday night following an emergency court hearing called by a U.S. District judge presiding over a decade-long class-action lawsuit alleging mistreatment of children in state care. At the hearing, state officials said there were allegations of sex trafficking of girls from The Refuge DMST, in Bastrop County, that began with a January 24 report that a former staff member had sold nude pictures of two of the girls, then used the money to provide them with drugs and alcohol. Seven more allegations came in over the following six weeks, according to a report from court-appointed monitors, yet the last girl at the facility was not removed until Wednesday, six weeks later. DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters told the judge Thursday night that she was not made aware of the situation until then. There is no excuse for why I didnt know, which is why several people are losing their jobs, she said. IN COURT: Texas foster care home was supposed to help sex trafficked kids. Instead, its accused of trafficking them. The leaders of the nonprofit say they are aware of two incidents, one involving the illicit pictures and another involving a girl who fled the premises with help from three staffers. They insisted Friday that they properly handled the allegations at every step, and denied that a director delayed reporting the abuse allegations, as state officials claim. Paul Yetter, lead attorney representing the foster care children in the lawsuit against Texas, said sex trafficking within the Texas foster care system is not a new development. This is a terrible example, but only one example, of what children face every day in the foster care system in our state, he said. And it needs to be fixed and it will never be fixed until the top leadership gets serious about actually making changes. Refuge CEO responds The Bastrop facility was closed under an emergency order issued by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on Friday. The order says that the state began three investigations against The Refuge from Jan. 26 to Feb. 25, and the licensing arm of the state government found controlling persons of the operation are accused of abuse, neglect and expoitation of the children. The state is investigating numerous employees, including administrative staff, the order says. Brooke Crowder, founder and CEO of The Refuge, told reporters Friday that the staffer involved in the sale of the photos was quickly fired. A lawyer for DFPS said Thursday at the hearing that the girls remained at the Refuge because the alleged abuser was no longer around. But state investigators said that as time passed, more allegations came forward and other employees appeared to be involved. The full scope of the sex trafficking accusations at the Refuge is unclear. Representatives of the state said in court Thursday that there was one arrest connected with the case, but Crowder said Friday that was inaccurate, and that a Refuge employee was arrested earlier this year for lying to law enforcement after one of the girls a witness in an upcoming federal trial fled the facility with the help of three staffers. That employee was arrested on charges related to deceiving investigators, Crowder said, and the other two staffers have been fired. That situation was not related to sex trafficking or sexual abuse, Crowder said. They're two different events. In the rush to get this out to the public, and to the press, we all have been mashing together separate investigations, said Steven Phenix, communications director for the Refuge, who declined to disclose the names of the employees involved. edward.mckinley@chron.com Regarding Uh oh, Silver: Houstons first bus rapid transit line carries only fraction of ridership Metro predicted, (March 7): I can feel nothing but frustration as our city leaders spend more of our tax dollars on useless, expensive and empty projects like buses with light-rail features. While other major cities, Dallas, Denver and Los Angeles build trains that fill with riders, Metro rearranges already traffic-filled bus routes. We lost our United Flight Training Center to Denver wasnt that enough to wake up our city leaders? As the density in our city grows each year, more concrete is clearly not solving the challenge of moving people around this massive metropolitan area. As long as we continue to waste money on outdated projects like the Silver Line, our mass transit system will continue to be a joke, on a good day. George Hawkins, Houston I live about a 10-minute walk from the Silver Line stop near the Uptown Center and have an office about a five-minute walk from the Lower Uptown Center. Recently, I rode to the office and back. It took me two to three times longer than driving each way. I arrived at the LUC, which was virtually empty, with an empty three-level parking garage. Most of my rides, in both directions, I was the only rider. Regardless, the bus stopped at every bus stop, while no one got on or off. I can think of no greater public service you could perform than publishing a report on how much this service cost to set up, and how much it loses each year. It would also be interesting to know how much pollution is produced by each of those 60-foot passenger buses running (virtually empty) every 12 minutes. And all the extra pollution produced while all that traffic is idling, waiting due to delays caused by the bus. Cole Thomson, Bellaire Welcome balance Regarding Opinion: Biden should learn from Reagan and pivot on energy security right now, (March 10): Thank you for running the piece co-authored by the former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, regarding Ukraine/energy policy. Reading it, I was taken to a bygone era, when Texas politicians, in disagreeing with those from the other party, could do so respectfully and with civility. Before critiquing President Joe Bidens Ukraine-related energy policy, Hutchison stated that his administration deserves much credit for its diplomatic efforts and military assistance thus far. Contrast that with today, when politicians of both parties see every policy disagreement regardless how serious the matter as just another opportunity to attack, undermine and fundraise. Exhibit A in this regard is the man who succeeded Hutchison Kay Bailey in the Senate, Ted Cruz, for whom the terms respect and civility seem to be foreign concepts. It is truly amazing that Cruz gets as much attention as he does, given how little he has accomplished as a senator. David Bradley, Spring Regarding Editorial: Sorry, Dems. Republicans aren't to blame for Harris County election woes, (March 9): As a conservative Republican, I almost always disagree with your editorials but thank you for this one. I appreciate that you can see things from more than one point of view. Larry Roland, Weston Lakes Nice for a change not to see any divisive equality stuff. George Will was right on. Bret Stephens (from the New York Times, no less) offered great insight. And your editorial on the Harris County voting screw up was nicely balanced. Shame, shame on the Bail Bond Board! Thanks for naming those involved. Chris Stauffer, Richmond Double standard Regarding At CERAWeek, climate czar John Kerry and oil and gas chiefs try to find common ground, (March 7): I see John Kerry was in town for CERAWeek where the main topic was probably Russias war with Ukraine and soaring energy prices. Does anyone have time to check to see if Kerry flew here commercial or on his private jet? Sheryl S. McNally, Houston Regarding Harris lands in Poland amid turbulence over jets for Ukraine, (March 8): Lets look at this situation. Vice President Kamala Harris can fly nine-plus hours from the United States to Poland an air travel distance of 5,000-plus miles but can't seem to find a plane that can fly from Washington, D.C., to Austin an air travel distance of 1,300 miles. In Poland she has to defend the United States role in the Ukraine crisis (good luck with that) but has no time to address the border crisis here in her own country. Dave Rainey, Houston The Houston Chronicle has reported that a Travis County judge on Friday temporarily blocked a new policy that requires Texas Child Protective Services to investigate reports of parents who help transgender children access gender-affirming care as potential child abuse. Below are readers response to this issue before the latest ruling. Add your voice to the discussion by using this form or sending a letter to viewpoints@chron.com Regarding Opinion: Texas Childrens, use your lawyers to fight for transgender patients, (March 9): Neil Giles has written a phenomenally well-reasoned op-ed calling on Texas Childrens Hospital to send a petition in intervention of or an amicus brief in support of the ACLU lawsuit against Gov. Abbott, Attorney General Paxton and Rep. Krause. In pursuit of extremist-Republican primary votes, those three politicians have threatened parents of trans children with charges of child abuse for working with doctors to figure out what is best for their children. Once upon a time, Texas Republicans espoused freedom for the citizens of our state. Now they promote state control over the bodies of children and women. The state of Texas vastly underfunds the child welfare system, which tries to rescue children who are actually abused. Children taken in by Child Protective Services have had to sleep in child welfare offices because of the shortage of foster care. We have to ask how children who have been through a careful discernment process funded by caring parents and overseen by medical professionals fit into the CPS paradigm. Shame on Abbott, Paxton and Krause. Listen up Texas Childrens lawyers. Sally Lehr, Houston Regarding Texas Childrens Hospital pauses hormone therapies for gender-affirming care after Abbott and Paxton directive, (March 4): I'm disappointed by Texas Children's Hospitals decision to suspend gender-affirming care for transgender children. Texas Childrens is a wonderful institution which does a lot of good in the community, but in this case, they have made a mistake. The governor and attorney general are not medical professionals and have no business deciding what is appropriate medical care and what is not. Texas Childrens, stand up for your patients and reverse this decision. Do not retreat from your professional responsibilities and cede medical decision making to unqualified individuals. Kathy Hughes Brooks, Houston Wrong focus Regarding 65 U.S. companies blast Abbotts push to investigate therapy for transgender kids as child abuse, (March 10): Kudos to these companies for making such a decision. Of course, Gov. Abbott chose a sparkling shiny object especially made to be clearly seen by his followers. Transgender children, their parents and their doctors are being targeted instead of a less politically attractive subject such as child gun violence in Texas. According to Texas Gun Sense, in 2019 there were at least 32 unintentional deaths of children 0-17 by guns in Texas. Is that not extreme child abuse? Many people would agree with me that this is a much more important and scary statistic to which Gov. Abbott should pay more attention. Toy Halsey, Houston I wholeheartedly agree with Neil Giles opinion piece about the war on transgender minors and their parents that is being waged by Gov. Greg Abbott. This attack on yet another vulnerable group is the worst kind of cynical politics of distraction. At a time when the real issues involve survival of ordinary lower-income families, Abbott chooses to raise a flag about a non-issue. To Abbott, Harvey relief, our grid vulnerability and abysmal health care statistics aren't nearly as important as demonizing loving parents and their children. Id vote for a yellow dog before I'd vote for Greg Abbott to be reelected. Susan Miller Jackson, Houston Regarding Texas foster care home was supposed to help sex trafficked kids. Instead it was trafficking them., (March 10): Lets see, Gov. Abbott is trying to weaponize CPS against families trying to do what is best for their trans children, but at the same time an agency under his control allows girls rescued from sex trafficking to be abused and trafficked again at a state-contracted facility. The level of incompetence is epic. Everything Abbott is in charge of ERCOT, CPS and the National Guard are used simply as weapons to further his political career while they collapse into disarray. Alan Jackson, Houston Parenting Regarding CPS worker testifies that she quit over Abbott's order on transgender therapy, (March 11): Gov. Abbott and Attorney General Paxton have demonstrated to me an ominous lack of parental skills. Why would these men expect a parent, whose child reported that he or she was in the wrong body and was thinking of suicide, to ignore the anguish of that child and fail to seek the medical and psychological help that is now approved and recommended? I fear for all of the children whose parents do not believe in listening to their children and taking appropriate action when their lives are threatened. Abbott and Paxton should stop advocating for this. Page S. Williams, Houston If an 800-kiloton nuclear bomb was detonated at the intersection of Congress and Texas in downtown Houston, 204,150 people would immediately die. Thats 2.5 times as many deaths as the total Texas death toll since the COVID pandemic began two years ago. The fallout, reaching all the way past Corpus Christi to Kingsville, would leave around 265,610 more people with devastating injuries. Of course, thats just a rough estimate based on a simulation. But as long as nuclear weapons exist, the potential for unimaginable mass destruction remains strikingly real. At the outset of his invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that other countries will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history if they intervened. A few days later, he ordered Russian nuclear forces to be put on a heightened alert status. Putins words and actions underscore the inherent dangers posed by the very existence of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are not abstract tools for global security. They are weapons of mass destruction. They create instability, enable horrific violence and risk all life on the planet. Its past time to abolish them. Putins nuclear threats are a wake-up call to some people who havent thought about nuclear weapons in a long time. But the danger of nuclear weapons isnt limited to these past few weeks. On Jan. 13, 2018, people in Hawaii had a wake-up call of their own, when they received an alert urging them to take cover from an incoming ballistic missile. The alert was false, but the threat is very real. This is one of the key messages of On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World), a new virtual reality documentary premiering in Austin at SXSW this week. I speak in the film about the urgency of nuclear abolition and am working with the producers to engage people who see it to take action against the bomb. The film puts viewers in the shoes of people who tried to prepare for a possible nuclear attack on that morning in Hawaii. As people all around the world now confront the reality of the volatile world of systemic nuclear risk we live in, it is all the more important to educate, advocate and take concrete action toward the abolition of nuclear weapons. As is clear from the above simulation, the use of even a single nuclear bomb would be absolutely devastating. In Houston alone, the petrochemical complex could turn into an inferno. The Texas Medical Center would not be able to provide help, as it would likely be destroyed, and at the very least would not have the beds, blood or burn units capable of providing for the citys population. Radiation would be unleashed, damaging human bodies, animals, plants, land, water and air for generations. If it escalates into a nuclear war, we will be facing an unprecedented catastrophe. Millions of people could die. The climate crisis will be exponentially exacerbated; there could be a disastrous decline in food production and a global famine that might kill most of humanity. More Information Chapters 2 and 3 of "On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World)" will be shown at SXSW from March 11-15. The documentary and associated impact campaign will be featured in a panel discussion about the power of creative storytelling in the nuclear abolition movement at 11:30 a.m. March 15. See More Collapse Its not just an issue of the Russian government having nuclear weapons. Three North Atlantic Treaty Organization members France, the United Kingdom and the United States also possess nuclear weapons, and U.S. nuclear bombs are stored on the territory of five other NATO members (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Turkey). China, India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea also have nuclear weapons. Each and every one of these bombs is a threat to peace and security. As long as these weapons exist, there is a risk that they will be detonated. As long as they exist, they will be used to threaten and intimidate. As long as they exist, they will continue to harm people where they are made and where they have been tested primarily Indigenous nations and communities of color. As long as they exist, they will extract billions of dollars toward their maintenance, modernization and deployment, when that money is so desperately needed to confront climate change and provide for the well-being of people and the planet. In 2020, the U.S. government spent more than $35 billion on its nuclear weapons. Facing Putins recent threats, elements of the U.S. nuclear complex are calling for more nuclear funding. Nuclear arms races are not part of the past. They are going on right now, and they are devastating us all. Its time to change course. We already have an international agreement that most countries in the world support. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons outlaws the use, threat of use, development and possession of nuclear weapons. So far, the nine nuclear-armed states including the U.S. have refused to sign the treaty, but pressure is mounting for them to do so. All countries should join this treaty and work urgently for the elimination of all nuclear weapons. Nuclear abolition is the only answer to the existential threat of nuclear weapons. As long as nuclear weapons exist, their presence, production and potential use will only lead to violence and destruction. But you have the power to shape the future of nuclear weapons policy. On the Morning You Wake is at the center of a long-term impact campaign launching in Austin this week, which provides a number of ways people concerned about the nuclear threat can get involved and work together to abolish nuclear weapons. One thing people in Houston and Austin can do is urge your city councils to join the ICAN Cities Appeal, which encourages the government to join the TPNW. You can also make sure your money isnt going to nuclear weapon production and get your bank to divest, too. We can all still change the story, not only for now, but for future generations. Acheson is an Impact Fellow for On the Morning You Wake. They are director of disarmament at the Womens International League for Peace and Freedom and a steering group representative of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. ADVERTISE Hypebot & MusicThinkTank With the internet and digital technologies driving rapid change within the music industry, articles about new releases and who has been hired and fired are no longer enough. Our up to the minute industry news alongside insightful commentary helps our readers sift through the rumors and developments to find the information they need to keep their businesses moving forward. Hypebot is read daily by more than 30,000 music industry professionals including executives and senior staff of music related tech firms, internet based music sites, every major label group and most indies as well as many managers, artists and members of the live music community: Contact us for the latesst stats, ad rates and sponosorship opportunites. We also offer combined rates with MusicThinkTank. Hong Kong: CE visits Chinese medicine centre Chief Executive Carrie Lam today visited the Chinese Medicine Telemedicine Centre Against COVID-19 of the Baptist University. She was briefed by the schools representatives on its consultation service for COVID-19 patients launched last month. It provides a free online advisory and consultation service, as well as Chinese medicine delivery service, for people undergoing home isolation or quarantine. Over 10,000 patients, close contacts and carers have benefitted from the service so far. Mrs Lam expressed her gratitude to the university for actively participating in the Chinese Medicine Services for Residential Care Homes for the Elderly programme co-ordinated by the Hospital Authority. It provides distance Chinese medical consultation service or outreach Chinese medical service for the infected residents and staff of 30 residential care homes for the elderly in order to ease the pressure on public hospitals. The Chief Executive said she is deeply encouraged by the participation of universities, the Chinese medical sector and related organisations in the anti-epidemic team. This story has been published on: 2022-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption of Belarus (GUBOPiK) has detained prominent Wikipedia editor Mark Bernstein, according to the Belarusian publication Zerkalo. The arrest comes after Bernsteins personal information was shared on GOBUPiKs public Telegram channel. Bernstein is one of the top 50 editors of Russian Wikipedia. The Verge was able to confirm that Bernsteins information including his social media, Wikipedia handle, and place of work had been shared in GUBOPiks channel on the messaging app. A video of Bernsteins arrest was also posted alongside his photo and personal details. In the photo itself, Bernstein is accused of distributing fake anti-Russian information. The channel has since been made private. In the Russian Wikipedia channel on Telegram, users in Belarus and Russia were also advised to hide personal data and to only edit articles about the war from other accounts. Belarus has offered logistical support throughout the Russian invasion of Ukraine, serving as a staging area for units moving towards the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Earlier today, Ukraine said that Belarus may be planning to join the invasion with its own military, alleging that Russia had staged a false-flag attack to provoke the countrys involvement. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that punishes people spreading fake news with up to 15 years in prison. Roskomnadzor, the countrys tech and communications agency, also threatened to block Wikipedia over the Russian-language page on the current invasion of Ukraine. At the time, the Wikimedia Foundation issued a statement in support of Russian Wikipedia editors. Reached for comment, a Wikimedia Foundation spokesperson said the group was watching the situation closely. The Foundations Trust and Safety and Human Rights teams have been monitoring the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, the spokesperson said, and are in close touch with our communities in the region to ensure their safety and respond to their needs. Source: https://www.thespuzz.com/a-top-wikipedia-editor-has-been-arrested-in-belarus/ Jewish Federation of the Berkshires Joins Ukrainian Support Effort PITTSFIELD, Mass. In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Jewish Federation of the Berkshires has joined the Jewish Federations of North America's (JFNA) $20 million emergency campaign to provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable Jewish populations living in Ukraine. Funds will be allocated through Jewish Federations' core partners, The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), The Joint Distribution Committee(JDC), and World ORT, who are on the ground in Ukraine providing critical welfare and support to Ukraine's Jewish community. The Berkshire Jewish community has raised over $20,000 to date. Federation's Executive Committee recently allocated an additional $10,000 from its emergency reserves. Funds will support urgent necessities of vulnerable Jewish populations, including food, transportation, temporary housing for displaced persons, emergency needs in schools, and emigration-related assistance. "This is an essential part of what we do as a Jewish community," said Elisa Schindler Frankel, the Federation's president. "We care for those in need, sustain Jewish life, and offer help not only across the Berkshires but also around the world, especially in embattled Jewish communities like Ukraine where robust Jewish life was decimated in the last century." According to a press release, approximately 200,000 members of Ukraine's Jewish community are dispersed over some 100 towns and cities. Since the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, Ukrainians have been profoundly affected by political and economic instability. Jewish Federations and their partners provided ongoing support to this vulnerable population for communal needs, programming, and humanitarian aid. Through JAFI, Jewish Federations have brought emissaries from Israel to Ukraine to support a significant wave of immigration requests. They have opened six processing stations in Poland, Moldova, Romania, and Hungary along the Ukrainian border. In addition, the Agency set up two emergency call centers that operate 24/7. Through JDC, Jewish Federations support hundreds of Jewish care centers serving the most vulnerable people of Ukraine, including remaining Holocaust survivors. In recent months, JDC and its volunteer corps expanded humanitarian aid, providing extra essentials and activated emergency hotlines in the face of rising food, medicine, and utility costs. In response to the significant movement of the population, JDC has secured shelters for fleeing or displaced individuals that provide necessities and welfare support. In addition, JDC set up transportation to these safe locations. Through World ORT, Jewish Federations have played a role in renewing Jewish life through Jewish day schools and vocational training in Ukraine. With schools closed across the region, the organization is reinforcing safety and security measures and providing emergency welfare support to its students, teachers, and families. "Jewish Federations are hard at work, day after day, year after year, in times of crisis and calm, to build flourishing Jewish communities," said Mark Wilf, chair of the Board of Trustees of Jewish Federations of North America. "And when an emergency erupts, we are positioned to meet the challenges of Jewish people and communities around the world." Springfield Attorney Running for Governor's Council SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Springfield attorney Jeffrey Morneau has declared a run for the 8th District seat on the Governor's Council. Morneau, a Democrat, took out nomination papers on March 1 following incumbent Mary Hurley's decision not to stand for re-election. Morneau had run against the former Springfield mayor in 2016, when she was first elected. He is a founding partner at Connor & Morneau, LLP, president of the Hampden County Bar Foundation and former president of the Hampden County Bar Association. "Mary has been serving our community well as governor's councilor and she had earned the right to continue doing so if she so chose," he said. Morneau believes that he is a perfect fit to be the next governor's councilor. In addition to his roles as Bar Foundation and Bar Association president, he served on the statewide Joint Bar Committee which is one of the last layers of review in the judicial nominating process and is charged with reporting to the governor on the qualifications of individuals under consideration for judicial nominations. Morneau has also served on the Board of Directors for Lawyers for Justice a non-profit entity dedicated to providing legal representation to the indigent. "When we are talking about long-term appointments to the judiciary, it is critical that we get it right and my experience as a lawyer and with the judicial nominating process makes me uniquely qualified to serve as governor's councilor," he said. "I understand the importance of maintaining the integrity and transparency of the judicial selection process. I have helped to organize seminars and informational meeting for potential judicial applicants and participated in public testimony hearings for judicial nominees in western Massachusetts. "As governor's councilor, I will continue those proactive efforts so that judicial vacancies in Western Massachusetts are filled quickly with the most competent and qualified lawyers from local communities." Morneau was born and raised in Holyoke and resides in East Longmeadow with his wife, Kate, an elementary school principal, and their two children. He earned his undergraduate degree from Providence College, his law degree from Western New England College School of Law, and a master of laws degree from Georgetown University. So far Morneau is one of two Democrats who have announced for Governor's Council; North Adams School Committee member Tara Jacobs took out papers earlier this month. No Republicans have so far taken out papers. iciHaiti - SCAM : Fake online visa application webpage for Brazil The Brazil Visa Application Center (BVAC) https://haiti.iom.int/fr/bvac informs the public in general and applicants in particular, that there is a fake online webpage for applications for humanitarian visas and family reunification. "The International Organization for Migration (IOM) formally and officially dissociates itself from this webpage which has no affiliation with our activities and recalls that for the moment, we only receive applications for family reunification visas commonly known as VITEM XI." What you need to know : All requests are received at the email address : iomhaitivrf@iom.int All appointments are free The fees for processing files are 100 US dollars and are only received by SOGEBANK. Phones to contact us : 2817 5900; 2817 5901 BVAC website : https://haiti.iom.int/fr/bvac In addition, please note that information will be provided in the coming days for the VITEM III humanitarian visa. IH/ iciHaiti ASUS Republic of Gamers is announcing the arrival of next generation of its best-selling esports gaming laptops the ROG Strix G. All-new hardware and signature styling combines into a powerful package that only ROG can deliver. Dominate the battlefield with cutting edge specs and esports performance The Strix G has a host of hardware features powered by the all-new AMD Ryzen 6000 Series CPUs, gamers can expect better performance in their games with Up to a Ryzen 9 6980HX CPU with 8 cores, 16 threads and up to a 5.0GHz boost clock as well as 2x faster graphics using the integrated Radeon iGPU with RDNA technology when you want to save battery. AMDs partnership with ASUS is built on a shared passion for technology and innovation, we are thrilled be involved in the launch of the ASUS ROG Strix G range, powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 6000 Series processors. said Dustin Beadle, Head of AMD Consumer for Asia-Pacific and Japan. Built on AMDs highly-efficient and extremely powerful Zen 3+ core architecture, combined with AMD RDNA2 on-chip graphics, AMD Ryzen 6000 Series processors were engineered to offer unmatched performance and efficiency for the optimal mobile gaming experience. Cutting Edge Gaming The all-new Strix G is also now powered with up to an NVIDIA RTX 3070Ti with 150W TGP with MUX Switch giving users the option to boost their graphics to the extreme or to save battery life with a simple toggle on ROGs Armoury Crate software. ROG Boost and Dynamic boost 150W helps the 7-phase power design GPU take advantage of thermal headroom on the fly, giving users higher frame rates and an edge over the competition. In addition, next-generation DDR5 RAM clocked to 4800 MHz and a PCIe Gen 4x4 SSD keep the machine feeling responsive and snappy even during intensive tasks. To keep track of the action in fast paced games, a high refresh rate display is key to staying one step ahead of opponents. The Strix G15 offers up to FHD 300 Hz refresh rate which is faster than even most competitive desktop gaming monitors, bolstered by a 3-ms response time. Dolby Vision HDR and Adaptive-Sync round out the specs on this impressive IPS display perfect whether youre aiming for crispy one-taps in Valorant or watching game highlights on YouTube. Play hard, stay cool Powerful components need powerful cooling, so ROG has further improved on its Intelligent Cooling suite of enhancements. The Strix G uses liquid metal on the CPU for improved heat transfer. This high-end thermal compound lowers temperatures by up to 16 C compared to traditional thermal pastes, delivering higher sustained boost clocks and preventing the fans from ramping up as quickly for reduced noise levels. The 84-blade Arc Flow Fans use variable thickness blades on all 2022 Strix G laptops to improve airflow while reducing turbulence and noise. Up to four exhaust vents allow for plenty of ventilation, and anti-dust tunnels eject dust from the system to prevent buildup over time. And ROGs 0 dB Ambient Cooling turns the fans off entirely during light workloads in Silent mode, for a truly noiseless experience. Flex Your Style The Strix G comes in unique colors with the Eclipse Gray model available first in the Philippines. The Strix G also comes with per-key RGB lighting on certain models customizable via Aura Sync A big 90 WHr battery compatible with Type-C fast charging ensures you have enough juice for the day, and Wifi 6E support allows you to take advantage of smooth connection without wires To round out the package, Smart Amp speakers paired with Dolby Atmos enhance spatial immersion with more nuanced, layered sound effects that you can optimize with preset modes for movies and games. Hi-Res audio ensures the highest fidelity sound when listening over headphones. Specifications The Strix G15 is available in the Philippines first with the following models: More information on the ROG Strix G can be found on this link: rog.asus.com/ph/laptops/rog-strix/rog-strix-g15-2022-series Head on over to your nearest ASUS and ROG Concept stores and get your next ROG 2022 Gaming Laptop here for the complete list of stores: asus.me/ASUSPHWhereToBuyLaptopsAndDesktops Eastsib Holding denies seizure of its shares as part of fraud case against former FSB officers RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 11:00 12/03/2022 MOSCOW, March 12 (RAPSI) Defense lawyers have refuted information on the seizure of the Eastsib Holdings (Eastsib) shares as part of a high-profile case against two former officers of Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) Dmitry Frolov and Andrey Vasilyev, who stand charged with large-scale fraud. The Preobrazhensky District Court of Moscow has yet again seized 100% of the shares of JSC RNG, which belong to the Cypriot Eastsib Holding. The shares of Eastsib itself have not been distrained, attorney Victoria Burkovskaya has told RAPSI. She also qualifies the criminal case summary distributed by several media outlets as erroneous. Investigators claim that the FSB officers allegedly told allegedly told Sergey Glyadelkin and his cousin Igor Tkach, who later were recognized as victims in the case, that certain officials, who were the members of the Moscow government in 2011, could block further implementation of a co-investment agreement between Yurpromconsulting (YPC) and Moscow authorities, and thus gave them an advice to temporarily re-register stakes in the company to somebody else. Defense lawyers call this investigators theory far-fetched and unsupported with well-known facts. There is a judgement against the former Moscow vice-mayor Alexander Ryabinin in the public domain. A court in that case found that the implementation of the said project was terminated in 2009. Glyadelkin's construction company was recognized as injured party; he was a witness and gave testimony. He agreed with the charges against Ryabinin, the attorney stated. The Moscow governments judicial position in the 2010-2011 commercial proceedings was based on the voidness of the contract with Yurpromconsulting a long time before the imputed episode of the YPC stake sale. Concurrently, another victim in the criminal case Igor Tkach, then head of Mosnadzor (Moscow government department), one of the defendants in a lawsuit filed by YPC against Moscow government authorities. The plaintiff sought to return an advance (exclusively on account of loan funds) under the investment contract and demanded recovery of losses from the city. In November 2011, the claimant had zero prospect to collect losses from the city of Moscow after federal Law No. 427-FZ adopted by the State Duma entirely ruled out the possibility of recovery of any losses associated with investment activity from the city authorities. Fifteen months after the sale of 49% of shares in YPC Moscows government decided to continue the development of a microdistrict by efforts of the municipal company CentrInvest, without the YPCs involvement and on the condition that the latter company would cede all its rights and obligations to CentrInvest. The lawyer also pointed out the fallacy of the expert findings which established the cost of 49% of the YPC ownership interest. Basing on this wrong value appraisal, investigators find crime elements and establish grounds for securing of the victims civil lawsuit by seizing the assets. During the court hearing held on March 1, 2022, a forensic expert with the experience of nearly 10 years, an expert with 45 years of work experience in valuation, who was engaged by the court, explained in detail that the investigation experts unreasonably included valuable securities (shares of a closed investment fund) worth 2.5 billion rubles, which the company sold back in 2008 for a significantly lower price and which were not on the balance sheet as of the date of assessment of the shares. In addition to the two main mistakes - ignoring of the existing loan obligations worth nearly 2 billion rubles by the experts and accounting of non-existent asset worth 2.5 billion rubles - arithmetic, methodological and logical errors committed by the investigation experts numbered in dozens. The forensic expert comment corresponds to the opinion of the Federal State Center for Forensic Examination of Russias Justice Ministry, which also qualified the investigation experts findings as mistaken. The investigation experts failed to assess the company's obligations as they were not provided with its accounting reports despite their request. However, investigators had those documents in possession, the attorney said. The lawyer reminded that a court had seized not only the shares of RNG but also other valuable assets, including those belonging to third parties, relatives of Vladimir Stolyarenko and Alexander Bondarenko. The seizure has been regularly extended by different courts for over 2.5 years, she added. Commercial courts have repeatedly held that companies and individuals associated with the so called victims had abused their rights in matters related to the activities of YPC and other projects. Alongside the YPC stake episode, the victims also filed other claims against Stolyarenko and Bondarenko concerning the alleged theft of 17 apartments and car parking spaces from them on New Arbat street, 27, in central Moscow. According to the defense, the claims are meritless and refer to the events which took place more than 15 years ago. As to the accrual of rights to each flat, there is a separate ruling of Moscows Presnensky District Court on these matters, the lawyer stated. All investors who had paid for the apartments obtained the ownership of property. Tkach and Glyadelkin did not enter into agreements with the company and failed to pay for the apartments, in stealing of which Stolyarenko and Bondarenko were accused of after all these years, in 2020. The preliminary investigation concerning these episodes against the 2 oilmen has been segregated and ongoing for more than 3 years. Since 1963, The Independent has helped create a great community! Since our founding in September of 1963, The Independent has been dedicated to giving Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol readers the news they need to be in-the-know about what's going on in the Tri-Valley region. remaining of Thank you for Reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Ukrainian authorities have claimed that Russia's military has shelled a mosque sheltering more than 80 people in the besieged city of Mariupol. A government statement issued did not have any immediate reports of casualties. The Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey reported earlier that a group of 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, were among those seeking refuge from an ongoing Russian attack on the encircled port city. AFP An embassy spokeswoman cited information from the city's mayor. Thousands of civilians have been trapped in Mariupol for more than a week with no food, water, heat or power amid freezing temperatures. Death toll rising As of Friday, the death toll in Mariupol passed 1,500 during 12 days of attack, the mayor's office said. A strike on a maternity hospital in the city of 446,000 this week that killed three people sparked international outrage and war-crime allegations. This comes as Russia is increasing the intensity of the war in Ukraine which is now in its third week. AFP Russian forces have hit at least two dozen hospitals and medical facilities since they invaded Ukraine on February 24, according to the World Health Organization. Ukrainian officials reported Saturday that heavy artillery damaged a cancer hospital and several residential buildings in Mykolaiv, a city 489 kilometers west of Mariupol. The hospital's head doctor, Maksim Beznosenko, said several hundred patients were in the facility during the attack but no one was killed. In Kyiv, an ammunition depot outside the city was shelled overnight, sending billowing black smoke into the sky, according to video provided by emergency workers. It was unclear immediately if were injuries or deaths. AP The capital is reportedly being encircled by the Russian troops. Ukrainians armed with portable missiles and Molotov cocktails have vowed to annihilate any Russian forces who enter the capital, but they themselves are likely to face days or weeks of murderous shelling before any tanks roll in. To the north, Russian forces were blockading Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, even as efforts have been made to create new humanitarian corridors around it and other urban centers. Ukraine's emergency services reported that the bodies of five people were pulled from an apartment building that was struck by shelling in Kharkiv, including two women, a man and two children. Maxar Technologies New commercial satellite images appeared to capture artillery firing on residential areas that stood between the Russians and the capital. The images from Maxar Technologies showed muzzle flashes and smoke from big guns, as well as impact craters and burning homes in the town of Moschun, 33 kilometers from Kyiv, the company said. For more on news, sports and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. After Meta Platforms temporarily tweaked its policies to allow calls for Russian President Vladimir Putin's death, it appears that Russia would restrict Instagram access and could even label Meta an "extremist group." Facebook had announced that the company would temporarily allow posts that call for violence against Russian soldiers and even calls for deaths to Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. AP/ File Why does Russia dislike Meta? Access to Facebook is already banned in Russia, and now Russia's prosecutor general wants to designate Facebook an "extremist" organisation owing to "illegal calls for the murder of Russian nationals" by employees of Meta. In addition, Russian prosecutors accused Meta-owned Instagram of serving as a platform that organises "riots, accompanied by violence." According to Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor, Instagram would be restricted in the country starting Monday. It said that "messages shared on Instagram encourage and provoke violent actions toward Russians." Vanity Fair Also read: Facebook Allows Content Calling For Violence Against Putin & Russian Soldiers So far, another Meta-owned app, WhatsApp has not been mentioned at all. But a ban seems imminent. Instagram's head Adam Mosseri responded to the ban on Twitter, saying it will "cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world." The move comes after Meta surprised everyone by saying that it would allow some hate speech on its platforms calling for violence against Russian soldiers from users situated in Ukraine, Russia, and a few other countries in eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Reuters Also read: How A Startup Founder Lost His Company And $100 Million By Relying On Facebook The company would still continue to remove calls for violence against Russian civilians. What do you think about Russia's move to restrict the world's two most well-known social media platforms? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com. References Russia plans to limit Instagram and could label Meta an extremist group. NPR. Dwoskin, E., de Vynck, G., & Telford, T. (2022, March 12). Silicon Valley companies have been rewriting their rules during the war in Ukraine. Russia is retaliating. Washington Post. Any business journey is like a roller-coaster ride and being a founder of the company doesn't prevent you from potentially getting fired. Recently, BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover has resigned from his own company and stepped down as a board member after he lost an arbitration that he had filed against the company. The Shark Tank judge had filed an arbitration with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre challenging BharatPe's decision to conduct a governance review. Ashneer Grover | Sonyliv His wife, Madhuri Jain was recently terminated from the company, and she called the ongoing governance review "an eyewash and means to an end". Grover took a voluntary leave of absence from the company on January 19, and after that, the Board appointed an independent audit of the firm's internal process. So if you think, its not a good thing that happened with BharatPe's MD and Co-founder Ashneer Grover, there are many other company founders, who were fired from their own company. Guys like Apple's Steve Jobs and Twitter's Jack Dorsey are some of the high-profile founders that once got pushed out by the board, one way or another. 1. Founder of Apple - Steve Jobs Founders Who Were Fired From Their Own Company | AFP Steve Jobs was a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer era. With Steve Wozniak, Jobs founded Apple Inc. in 1976 and transformed the company into a world leader in telecommunications. Widely considered a visionary and a genius, he oversaw the launch of such revolutionary products as the iPod and the iPhone. Why was Steve Jobs kicked out of Apple? Apple founder Steve Jobs was fired from his own company in 1985, almost 10 years after he started it in his parents' garage. Although he returned as Apple CEO in the late 90s. Jobs once said in his 2015 Stanford commencement speech, "I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life." While away from Apple, Jobs launched two very successful companies, NeXT and Pixar, and became a family man. "I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple," Steve Jobs added in his speech. 2. Founders of Flipkart - Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal | Forbes Flipkart was founded in October 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, alumni of the IIT, Delhi, and former Amazon employees. The company initially focused on online book sales with country-wide shipping. Flipkart slowly grew in prominence and was receiving hundreds of orders per day by 2008. Sachin Bansal had a fallout with the Board of Flipkart during the Walmart buyout talks in 2018. He sold his entire stake in the company for more than one billion dollars and exited the company. After that, Binny Bansal resigned from Flipkart in 2018, which is India's largest e-commerce company by market share, following an investigation by the parent company Walmart over the allegations of "serious personal misconduct". 3. Founder of Yahoo - Jerry Yang Jerry Yang | AFP Jerry Yang, a Stanford graduate who co-founded the search engine and web services provider Yahoo! and is currently the founding partner of the venture fund AME Cloud Ventures, has been elected chair of the Stanford University Board of Trustees. When did Jerry Yang leave Yahoo? In 2008, after resisting a buyout from Microsoft, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down from his role as CEO to return to his earlier position of "chief Yahoo." However, it was only four years later that Yang resigned from the company altogether when company shareholders were looking to put the company up for sale, a move that Yang opposed. 4. Founder of Groupon - Andrew Mason Founder of Groupon - Andrew Mason | AFP Andrew Mason is an American businessman and entrepreneur. He is the founder and former CEO of Groupon, a Chicago-based website offering users discounts on local businesses and scholarships. In 2013, Groupon co-founder and former CEO Andrew Mason was fired from the daily deals website four and a half years after its founding. Under Mason's leadership, the company's shares plummeted and the business faced serious financial challenges. Mason took responsibility for the company's poor financial state and after being fired, issued a statement to his employees that read: "After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding -- I was fired today." 5. Founder of Uber - Travis Kalanick Founder of Uber - Travis Kalanick | AFP Travis Cordell Kalanick is an American businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer of Uber. Why did Travis leave Uber? In 2017, eight years after he founded the ride-hailing company, Kalanick was forced to step down as CEO after a series of rows rocked Uber. The 43-year-old is now chief executive of City Storage Systems redevelops distressed real estate. 6. Founder of Twitter - Jack Dorsey Founder of Twitter - Jack Dorsey | AFP Jack Patrick Dorsey is an American technology entrepreneur and philanthropist who is the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, as well as the founder and CEO of Block, Inc., a financial payments company. Why was Jack Dorsey fired in 2008? Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass launched Twitter in 2006. In the beginning of the company, Jack Dorsey took the title of Twitter CEO, but it wasn't before long that discussion surfaced about his poor management style, lack of communication with board members and inability to fix its constantly crashing servers. In 2008, Jack Dorsey was fired by co-founder Evan Williams, who was the main investor of the company and the chairman. Dorsey returned to the company in 2015. In 2021 Jack Dorsey stepped down as Twitter CEO, he wrote, "I've decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders," Dorsey said in a statement released by Twitter. "My trust in Parag as Twitter's CEO is deep. His work over the past 10 years has been transformational. I'm deeply grateful for his skill, heart, and soul. 8. Founder of BlackBerry - Mike Lazaridis Founder of BlackBerry - Mike Lazaridis | AFP Mike Lazaridis Founded BlackBerry Limited (formerly known as Research in Motion Limited) in 1984. He grew the company by riding the widely successful Blackberry smartphone which was extremely popular with executives and celebrities in the mid-2000s. The company has struggled since then and Lazaridis relinquished leadership in 2012. In 2013, the co-founder of BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion retired as vice-chairman and director of the company he had co-founded in 1984. His quitting the company came as surprise since he had managed to turn it around. Lazaridis later started an investment fund. 9. Mozilla Corp - Brendan Eich Mozilla Corp - Brendan Eich | AFP The chief executive of Mozilla - the company best known for its Firefox browser - has stepped down, which he had co-founded in 2002. Brendan Eich had quit after facing backlash over his views against same-sex marriage. For the latest from trending, click here Five people were arrested by the Delhi police for an alleged robbery of Rs 1.1 crore in North Delhi's Civil Lines area. According to reports, the incident took place in broad daylight. The victims, employees of a businessman, were targeted by the alleged accused. Reports claim that the accused first hit their scooter and then robbed them at gunpoint. The police have taken five accused into custody nearly a week after the incident occurred. iStock (Representational image) They nabbed the accused with the help of the newly installed CCTV cameras near Chandni Chowk market. The accused also allegedly donated Rs 1 lakh of the stolen money at a temple, said a senior police officer. They were arrested from Northeast Delhi, reported The Indian Express. According to the police, the incident took place on March 3 when two employees of the Rohini-based businessman collected Rs 1.1 crore from a jeweller in Chandni Chowk and were on their way back to the office. Three men on a bike hit them, and before they could recover from the shock, the three men pulled out pistols and threatened the victims, and took the bags of money. One of the accused has been identified as a former employee of the jeweller who also provided the information about the money. The police found that the accused donated Rs. 1 lakh at Khatushyam temple. Dainik Jagran (Representational image) The police then scanned the CCTVs installed nearby - over 300 CCTV cameras have been installed in Chandni Chowk market. The men were spotted in the footage and identified. They were then were arrested from the trans-Yamuna area based on the evidence. DCP (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi told that the police also recovered the stolen amount. The police also recovered other stolen items such as gold. The accused confessed to the crime and also said that they vowed to donate money at a temple. TOI (Representational image) For more trending stories, click here. The internet is an endless wormhole of debates - from the blue and black vs white and gold dress to Yanny or Laurel, online debates really pull us in their realm. The latest one that has users on Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok going all berserk is whether there are more doors or wheels in the world. Who even comes up with this stuff? Where did the 'Doors vs wheels' debate come from? It is believed that a man named Ryan Nixon, or @NewYorkNixon on Twitter, started the doors vs wheels debate on the microblogging website on 5th March 2022. He tweeted, My mates and I are having the STUPIDEST debateAnd I am here for it. Do you think there are more doors or wheels in the world?. My mates and I are having the STUPIDEST debate... And I am here for it. Do you think there are more doors or wheels in the world? Ryan Nixon (@NewYorkNixon) March 5, 2022 His one tweet is believed to have unleashed this absolutely unnecessary debate, but as he said, we are also here for it! He added the poll feature to his tweet, and the post has racked up thousands of replies, 223,347 votes on the poll, and more than 18,000 likes. The final results on the poll show wheels taking the top spot but only by 7 percent. However, the debate is no longer limited to the poll now and has taken over the entire internet. Twitter users who took to the comments section of the original tweet are divided into two categories - Team Door and Team Wheels. Team Door believes that there are more doors than wheels in the world with one user saying, Doors by far. Most things with wheels have at least a 2:1 door-wheel ratio, and then you have all the other doors in the world. Doors by far. Most things with wheels have at least a 2:1 door-wheel ratio, and then you have all the other doors in the world. Pastor Alex (@PastorAlexLove) March 5, 2022 Another user wrote, Doors. Pretty much everything with wheels has doors, except bikes. Anyone who owns something with wheels will live in a building whose doors outnumber their wheels. Eg I own 10 wheels (2 cars, 1 bike) but 28 doors." Doors. Pretty much everything with wheels has doors, except bikes. Anyone who owns something with wheels will live in a building whose doors outnumber their wheels. Eg I own 10 wheels (2 cars, 1 bike) but 28 doors David Banks (@DBanksy) March 6, 2022 Now, let's see what Team Wheels has to say: One user wrote, Very solidly wheels. All cars have 4 wheels but 2-4 doors. An average home might have 6-10 doors but it also has 3 suitcases with 6-12 wheels. A collection of toy cars might have 400 wheels. Very solidly wheels. All cars have 4 wheels but 2-4 doors. An average home might have 6-10 doors but it also has 3 suitcases with 6-12 wheels. A collection of toy cars might have 400 wheels. Renkitt (@Widerife81) March 6, 2022 A second user wrote, I think shopping carts alone make wheels win. Ive been crunching numbersmy household has 26 doors, including vehicles, two lawnmowers, a wheelbarrow, blah, blah, blah. A large shopping centre must have like 3000 wheels. Its not close. I think shopping carts alone make wheels win. Ive been crunching numbermy household has 26 doors, including vehicles, two lawn mowers, a wheelbarrow, blah, blah, blah. A large shopping centre must have like 3000 wheels. Its not close. Sean Byerley (@buzzkill45) March 6, 2022 TikToker Count Daedalus concluded the debate and explained, Oh for crying out loud, its so obvious. Its wheels, and Im not sure people realise it. Think about it: cars, buses, trains, and Im not just talking about passenger trains, freight trains. Not the tiny ones in Britain, the ones in Asia and America that are over 150 carriages long. He added: Airplanes, lorries, skateboards, roller skates, dishwashers, draws, steering wheels, chairs, furniture, hospital beds, washer machines, tumble dryers, bicycles, trollies, and not to mention the hundreds and millions of toy cars out there made by Hot Wheels and Lego. Pexels So, are you Team Doors or Team Wheels? Let us know in the comments. For more trending stories, click here. It is reported that in recent days, Germany has successively approved the launch of a number of new crown self-test products. The German Federal Ministry of Health hopes to curb the new crown epidemic through a large number of free rapid screenings and self-inspections. The people call on the government to gradually relax the blockade based on the promotion of rapid antigen testing. In addition to vaccination, rapid testing is also an important part of curbing the new crown epidemic. The German health department supports more COVID-19 tests, believing that popularizing rapid tests and increasing the amount of tests can help people return to normal life as soon as possible. The Ministry of Health plan includes the provision of free rapid antigen testing services, implemented by trained personnel in testing centers, clinics or pharmacies. The specific implementation plan will be discussed in the anti-epidemic consultation between the federation and the states on March 3. Affected by the Germany launches rapid antigen screening, the sis2 market is changing rapidly. These changes are indicators of market growth. This year-on-year upward trend in the market indicates that the next February 2021-2026 will show an oval but steady growth. If you are looking for sis2 or buy sis2 in bulk, please send an email to: sales 2 @nanotrun.com . The price of sis2 continues to be affected by factors such as market growth momentum, various opportunities and challenges. However, during the forecast period from 2020 to 2026, the global sis2 sales market is expected to continue to be above average. The growth rate will continue to increase. It is expected that from today to next week, the price of sis2 will increase to a certain extent. Due to changes in consumer demand, import and export conditions, and various investigations on the development of sis2, the cost of sis2 is constantly changing. Taking into account the current market macroeconomic parameters, value chain analysis, channel partners, demand and supply, the cost of sis2 will also be affected to a certain extent. It is estimated that the cost of sis2 will increase slightly from today to next week. However, KMPASS provides high purity sis2 with steady price. In order to feedback to old customers, the company is still in full operations to provide sis2 with competitive price. said Aimee, sales manager of KMPASS. About KMPASS KMPASS is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials. As a leading nanotechnology development and sis2 manufacturer, KMPASS dominates the market. Our professional work team provides perfect solutions to help improve the efficiency of various industries, create value, and easily cope with various challenges. If you are looking for sis2, please send an email to: sales 2 @nanotrun.com OR go to the following link: https://www.kmpass.com/chemicals/Tungsten-Disulfide-WS2-Powder-.html https://www.kmpass.com/chemicals/Molybdenum-Disulfide-MoS2-Lubricating-Material-Powder-.html March and April are in the traditional peak season for downstream construction, and steel demand will continue to rise in April of previous years. Taking into account the rapid resumption of downstream work after the holiday this year, it is expected that the steel demand in April will continue the better situation in late March, but the room for growth may be limited. On the supply side: On the one hand, environmental protection supervision has become stricter this year, and the output growth of long-process steel mills has been suppressed. In particular, it is expected that environmental protection production restrictions in Tangshan will become normal. On the other hand, as the efficiency of steel mills has improved significantly, the enthusiasm for the production of short-process steel mills is on the rise. The supply side is expected to expand slightly in April. In terms of inventory: According to My steel\'s research, as of March 25, the total national steel inventory (factory warehouse + community warehouse) was 29,581,400 tons, a month-on-month decline for three consecutive weeks, down 15.9% from the same period last year. Steel inventory in March accelerated weekly decline, The fundamentals of supply and demand in the steel market continued to improve. Entering April, it is expected that the demand for steel will continue to be in a good situation, the output of short-process steel mills will increase or faster, the supply and demand fundamentals of the steel market are biased, and the inventory is expected to further decline, but the decline may be narrowed. Since the Spring Festival, domestic steel prices have risen significantly. Affected by Steel demand continued to grow in April ,the Nano diamond market is changing rapidly. These changes are indicators of market growth.This year-on-year upward trend in the market indicates that the next November 2020-2026 will show an oval but steady growth.If you are looking for Nano diamond or buy Nano diamond in bulk,please send an email to sales@ozbo.com . The price of Nano diamond continues to be affected by factors such as market growth momentum,various opportunities and challenges.However,during the forecast period from 2020 to 2026,the global Nano diamond sales market is expected to continue to be above average.The growth rate will continue to increase.It is expected that from today to next week,the price of Nano diamond will increase to a certain extent. Due to changes in consumer demand,import and export conditions,and various investigations on the development of Nano diamond,the cost of Nano diamond is constantly changing.Taking into account the current market macroeconomic parameters, value chain analysis,channel partners,demand and supply,the cost of Nano diamond will also be affected to a certain extent.It is estimated that the cost of Nano diamond will increase slightly from today to next week. However,Ozbo.com provides high purity Nano Nano diamond with steady price.In order to feedback to old customers,the company is still in full operations to provide Nano diamond with competitive price.said Olina,sales manager of Ozbo.com. About Ozbo.com Ozbo.com (aka.Tanki New Materials Co.Ltd.) is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials.As a leading nanotechnology development and Nano diamond manufacturer,Tanki New Materials Co.Ltd dominates the market.Our professional work team provides perfect solutions to help improve the efficiency of various industries,create value,and easily cope with various challenges.If you are looking for Nano diamond, please send an email to sales@ozbo.com The price of petrochemical products in Saudi Arabia continues to increase. Driven by oil prices rising by more than 30%, coupled with the optimism of global new crown pneumonia vaccine distribution for health needs, the average price of polymer products in the first quarter of this year increased by 4-15% from the previous quarter. According to data from Al Rajhi Capital Research, the recent supply disruptions caused by the winter blizzard in the United States, coupled with rising upstream costs and healthy downstream demand, have made spot prices 18-56% higher than the average price in 2019. "We predict that polymer prices will remain at a high level for at least most of the year, due to tight supply and gradual improvement in global demand. However, the average raw material price in the first quarter of this year increased by 30% year-on-year. It is mainly driven by rising oil prices, which may partially offset the improvement in spreads for most products." Al Rajhi said: "Nevertheless, due to seasonal factors, we expect the prices of key raw materials (propane and butane) for Saudi producers to gradually decline in the next few quarters." In general, Saudi oil producers are likely to benefit from the recent surge in oil prices, and profits may recover strongly in 2021 (close to the level of most companies in 2018), which means that there may be higher dividends this year. Affected by the eight Saudi petrochemical product prices rise, the product name market has changed rapidly. These changes are indicators of market growth. This year-on-year upward trend in the market indicates that the next November 2020-2026 will be oval but stable The growth. If you want to find the name of the product or the name of the product purchased in bulk, please send an email to: sales1@ozbo.com The price of Optoelectronic materialss continues to be affected by market growth momentum, various opportunities and challenges, and other factors. However, during the forecast period from 2020 to 2026, the global Optoelectronic materials sales market is expected to continue to be above average. The growth rate will be Continue to improve. It is expected that the price of the Optoelectronic materials will increase to a certain extent from today to next week. Due to consumer demand, changes in import and export conditions and various investigations on the development of Optoelectronic materialss, the cost of Optoelectronic materialss is constantly changing. Taking into account the macroeconomic parameters of the current market, value chain analysis, channel partners, demand and supply, products The cost of the name will also be affected to a certain extent. It is estimated that the cost of the Optoelectronic materials will increase slightly from today to next week. However, Ozbo.com provides high-purity nano Optoelectronic materialss at a stable price. In order to reward old customers, the company is still in full operation and provides Optoelectronic materialss at competitive prices.Ozbo.com sales manager Olina said. About Ozbo.Com Ozbo.com (also known as Tanki New Materials Co., Ltd.) is a reliable global supplier and manufacturer of chemical materials, with more than 12 years of experience in providing ultra-high quality chemical materials and nanomaterials. As a leading nanotechnology development and Optoelectronic materials manufacturer, PuYang Tanki Dominates the market. Our professional work team provides comprehensive solutions to help improve the efficiency of various industries, create value and easily respond to various challenges. If To find the Optoelectronic materials, please send an email to: sales1@ozbo.com Jacksonville, Florida. - With next week, the number of stimulus programs may impact millions of bank accounts of Americans . It is expected that the US House will vote on the 13 trillion US dollars on Wednesday. Although the House has no Republicans to support the bill, it is expected that the bill will continue. On Monday, President Joe Biden said that when the bill is sent to his desk, he will sign the bill. The rescue plan includes a $ 1,400 stimulus check, a couple who pays $ 75,000 or less than the annual income of $ 150,000 or less. This is the total income of your tax return, not your annual salary. Children\'s tax credits will also be included for the first time: people between children aged 6-77 will receive $ 3,000, and those under the age of 6 will receive $ 3,600. However, this money will pay $ 300 monthly from July until the end of this year. Example 1: A couple of income of no more than $ 96,000, there are two children aged 6 to 17. This family will be eligible to obtain four economic stimulus checks, with a total payment of $ 5,600. In addition, this family will get $ 3,000 for each child, in this case, two. This means that by the end of this year, the total expenditure will reach $ 1,1600. Affected by the number of stimulus programs may impact millions of bank accounts of Americans, the 72212c bearing market is changing rapidly. These changes are indicators of market rising. Bearings are an important part of modern machinery and equipment, and its downstream is widely used in industrial automation, high-end equipment, robotics, automobile manufacturing and other fields. In recent years, due to the decline in demand from downstream industries such as automobiles and machine tools, as well as the adjustment of industrial structure, the phase of transformation and upgrading, the phasing out of backward production capacity has changed the relationship between supply and demand. If you are looking for 72212c bearing or get more information about 72212c bearing, please send an email to sales@spark-bearing.com. The price of 72212c bearing continues to be affected by some kind of factors such as market rising momentum, various opportunities and challenges. However, during the forecast period from 2022 to 2027, the global 72212c bearing sales market is expected to continue to be above average. The growth rate will continue to increase. It is expected that In the second half of this year, the price of 72212c bearing will increase to a certain extent. Due to changes in the raw material price of bearings rising, consumer demand, import and export conditions, and various investigations on the development of 72212c bearing, the cost of 72212c bearing is constantly changing. Taking into account the current market macroeconomic parameters, value chain analysis, channel partners, demand and supply, the cost of 72212c bearing will also be affected to a certain extent. It is estimated that the cost of 72212c bearing will increase slightly from next year. The market trend of 72212c bearing? The cost of raw materials is still the biggest concern for manufacturers. Raw materials account for approximately 60-62% of bearing manufacturers revenue. The price of raw materials for bearings fluctuates continuously according to market economic conditions. Such fluctuations in raw material prices are becoming a real challenge for companies to maintain competitiveness and ensure sustainable profits. As high-grade steel and alloy steel are the main raw materials used to manufacture 72212c bearing, bearing prices are highly correlated with global steel price trends. Therefore, fluctuations in the price of raw materials have brought challenges for bearing manufacturers to compare prices and quality to manufacture bearings. In addition, the bearings require regular maintenance to avoid failures and extend their service life, which further increases maintenance costs. Therefore, factors such as raw material price fluctuations and regular maintenance costs are expected to hinder the growth of the bearing market. The market demand for 72212c bearing? The global bearing market value in 2020 is 123.34 billion U.S. dollars and is expected to reach 153.62 billion U.S. dollars by 2027, and the compound annual growth rate will also increase steadily. A bearing is a mechanical element that supports relative movement and helps reduce friction caused between moving parts. Bearings are widely used in various industries such as automobiles, wind turbines, construction machinery, mining machinery, agricultural equipment, and machine tools. It is used in automobiles to ensure smooth driving of automobiles, electric vehicles (EV) and other types of vehicles (such as light commercial vehicles and heavy vehicles such as trucks). Due to the increasing utilization of bearing 72212c bearing in various end-use industries, rolling mills and electric vehicles, the global 72212c bearing market has become more and more important. The development of technology has improved the overall efficiency of bearing products in the field and extended the product shelf life. About WSBC bearing Wuxi Spark Bearing Co., Ltd is a complete, one-stop 72212c bearing supplier and manufacturer. All bearings products are qualified and have passed the ISO 9001 certification. We have more than 12 years of experience in bearings, is a modern high-tech professional high-quality roller bearing manufacturer specializing in R&D, manufacturing, sales and service. In order to keep WSBC bearings in sync with the world, we have invested in many advanced CNC equipment and a complete set of precision testing equipment committed to building a high-quality workforce and introducing advanced manufacturing and management technologies. We have strict quality control and environmental protection. If you are looking for 72212c bearing or get more information about bearings, please send an email to sales@spark-bearing.com Or visit the following website: https://www.spark-bearing.com/ It is reported that the Russian New Crown Virus Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters released a message on the 25th that based on the principle of reciprocity, Russia will resume international flights with Germany, Venezuela, Syria, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka from April 1. The flights resumed with Germany are Moscow-Berlin, Moscow-Frankfurt, and St. Petersburg-Berlin and St. Petersburg-Frankfurt. Russia restored routes with Venezuela, Syria, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Sri Lanka are Moscow-Caracas, Moscow-Damascus, Moscow-Dushanbe, Moscow-Tashkent, and Moscow-Colombo. Affected by the Russia resumes flights with Germany and other 6 countries, the sis2 market is changing rapidly. These changes are indicators of market growth. This year-on-year upward trend in the market indicates that the next February 2021-2026 will show an oval but steady growth. If you are looking for sis2 or buy sis2 in bulk, please send an email to: sales 2 @nanotrun.com . The price of sis2 continues to be affected by factors such as market growth momentum, various opportunities and challenges. However, during the forecast period from 2020 to 2026, the global sis2 sales market is expected to continue to be above average. The growth rate will continue to increase. It is expected that from today to next week, the price of sis2 will increase to a certain extent. Due to changes in consumer demand, import and export conditions, and various investigations on the development of sis2, the cost of sis2 is constantly changing. Taking into account the current market macroeconomic parameters, value chain analysis, channel partners, demand and supply, the cost of sis2 will also be affected to a certain extent. It is estimated that the cost of sis2 will increase slightly from today to next week. However, KMPASS provides high purity sis2 with steady price. In order to feedback to old customers, the company is still in full operations to provide sis2 with competitive price. said Aimee, sales manager of KMPASS. About KMPASS KMPASS is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials. As a leading nanotechnology development and sis2 manufacturer, KMPASS dominates the market. Our professional work team provides perfect solutions to help improve the efficiency of various industries, create value, and easily cope with various challenges. If you are looking for sis2, please send an email to: sales 2 @nanotrun.com OR go to the following link: https://www.kmpass.com/chemicals/Tungsten-Disulfide-WS2-Powder-.html https://www.kmpass.com/chemicals/Molybdenum-Disulfide-MoS2-Lubricating-Material-Powder-.html Cyber security experts are warning anyone donating to Ukrainian causes to be on their guard against fraud. Beware text messages, emails, phone calls, and banner ads seeking support for victims. Instead, donate to established charities. Goal, Concern, Unicef and the Irish Red Cross are just four of the organisations accepting donations for those affected by the conflict. In addition, Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders, is setting up emergency response activities in Ukraine. Scams are like viruses, constantly mutating in response to new developments, always looking for new ways to divert money into the pockets of criminals. Alongside a rising incidence of Ukraine-themed scams, criminals continue to target banking customers. Last month, many AIB customers got a phishing text, purporting to be from AIB, warning them that their account had been compromised. In order to address the issue, you had to click on a link which then brought you to what looked like the AIB login page. Anyone who put in their details would quickly find that their account had now actually been compromised. Last week, I got a text from BOI stating: Attempts have been made on your account at 20:31. Please review this (next came a link). Failure to review may lead to suspension of services. And back in December, I got one from the same number which said that my account had been compromised. It looked like the real deal most of these scams do but always remember: your bank wont send you links, ever, so never click on them. Fraudsmart.ie is a great resource. It is a fraud awareness initiative developed by the Banking and Payments Federation, showcasing the different types of scams and frauds that are currently making the rounds. Romance fraud continues to be a big problem. The Fraudsmart site offers Sarahs story as typical of those who are targeted. She met the scammer on Facebook. They chatted for a number of months, and a relationship developed. He was based in the Middle East, but said that he would move to Ireland so that they could be together properly. He gave his flight details, times of arrival, connections, and so on to Sarah, and said that he had already sent his belongings. They would be arriving to Ireland shortly. Later that day Sarah got a call from Customs in Ireland, who told her that the belongings had arrived, but that the fees on them had been underpaid. These charges would need to be paid immediately or else the items would be returned. Customs said that they had tried contacting her partner, but he wasnt answering. This call came as he was supposedly in the air on the way to Ireland, so there was a plausible reason why he couldnt be contacted. Sarah was told that if she wished to pay, she would have to do it via transfer, and was given the bank details to do so. She paid almost 4,000. The next day, when her partners connecting flight was due, Sarah happened to tell a family member about the stress of getting the payment to Customs. They recognised immediately that something fishy was going on and told her to contact the bank and the gardai. When the man never showed, Sarah realised that she had fallen victim to a fraudster. The bank attempted to recall the payment, but the money had already been moved. It would emerge too that several smaller payments had been made over the months of the relationship, for things like iTunes and Amazon gift cards. This kind of fraud is as devastating as it is insidious. Fraudsmart advises anyone to be careful about what you share on social media and online dating websites. Protect your identity. Dont reveal your full name or home address. Always use a reputable dating site and use their messaging service. Dont move to social media or texting too quickly. Be wary of anyone asking lots of questions about you but not revealing much about themselves. Never send money or give your bank details to somebody you have never met, no matter how much you believe them, and dont buy flights or pay customs fees for them to visit you. Remember that anyone can pretend to be anyone they want to be online. If they send you a picture, Google the image to see if it comes up on other sites or profiles. Never provide copies of your personal documents such as passports or driving licenses, and if you think you may have fallen victim, contact your bank immediately. The quicker you act, the better chance of recouping any lost funds. Remember too that theres no shame in getting caught by a scam. Scammers rely on victims reluctance to talk about it to protect them. With the housing crisis showing no signs of abating, beware of accommodation fraud. When youre desperate to find a place to live, youll take way more risks than you would if it were a buyers market. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission says that there are a number of different methods that can be used to scam you. Frequently, the scammer uses the photos and details from a genuine rental property and creates a listing with their own email and phone number. They will have a reason for not being able to meet you to show the property. Theyll say they have work, or that they live out of the country. They will ask you to pay the deposit and first months rent upfront and may send you additional photos and even a set of fake keys. In another version, the scammer rents a house then advertises it as available to rent. They show potential tenants around while they live there. They will again ask for funds upfront and may provide you with a set of keys, but when you arrive, the keys wont work and the scammer has disappeared. Its not unusual for the scammer to use the same property to fool a number of people in this way. As well as scamming you out of your money, they may ask for a copy of your ID or proof of address as part of the application process. These can then be used to carry out further identity fraud. Remember if it looks too good to be true, it is. Facebook owner Meta Platforms said Friday that a temporary change in its content policy, only for Ukraine, was needed to let users voice opposition to Russia's attack, as Russia opened a criminal case after the company said it would allow posts such as "death to the Russian invaders." Russia opened the criminal case against Facebook's parent Meta Platforms on Friday after the social network changed its hate speech rules to allow users to call for "death to the Russian invaders" in the context of the war with Ukraine. Russian prosecutors asked a court to designate the US tech giant as an "extremist organisation", and the communications regulator said it was restricting access to Meta's Instagram. "A criminal case has been initiated ... in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram," Russia's Investigative Committee said. The committee reports directly to President Vladimir Putin. It was not immediately clear what the consequences of the criminal case might be. Meta Global Affairs President Nick Clegg responded after the Russian government action with a tweeted statement saying that the company aimed to protect rights to speech as an expression of self-defence reacting to the invasion of Ukraine and that the policy only applied to Ukraine. "If we applied our standard content policies without any adjustments we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces, which would rightly be viewed as unacceptable," Clegg wrote. We have no quarrel with the Russian people. There is no change at all in our policies on hate speech as far as the Russian people are concerned. Two weeks into Russia's war in Ukraine, a Meta spokesperson said on Thursday the company had temporarily eased its rules for political speech, allowing posts such as "death to the Russian invaders," although it would not allow calls for violence against Russian civilians. Meta said the temporary change aimed to allow for forms of political expression that would normally violate its rules. Its oversight board said on Friday that it was closely following the war in Ukraine, and how Meta is responding. Internal Meta emails seen by Reuters showed the US company had temporarily allowed posts that call for the death of Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. "We hope it is not true because if it is true then it will mean that there will have to be the most decisive measures to end the activities of this company," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. 'Extremist organisation' Russia has for more than a year been striving to curb the influence of US tech giants including Alphabet Inc's Google and Twitter, repeatedly fining them for allowing what it deems to be illegal content. But the invasion of Ukraine - met by a storm of international condemnation and unprecedented sanctions - has sharply raised the stakes in the information war. Social media provide an opportunity for dissent against Putin's line - loyally followed by the tightly controlled state media - that Moscow was forced to launch its "special military operation" to defend Russian-speakers in Ukraine against genocide and to demilitarise and "denazify" the country. The Investigative Committee said the Facebook move could violate articles of the Russian criminal law against public calls for extremist activities. "Such actions of the (Meta) company's management not only form an idea that terrorist activity is permissible, but are aimed at inciting hatred and enmity towards the citizens of the Russian Federation," the state prosecutor's office said. It said it had applied to a court to recognise Meta as an extremist organisation and prohibit its activities in Russia. The United Nations human rights office said the potential change in Facebook policy was worrying. "It is a very concerning issue because it does have a certain risk to generate and encourage and allow hate speech that is directed at Russians in general," spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell said. Meta's Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services are all popular in Russia, with 7.5 million, 50.8 million and 67 million users last year respectively, according to researcher Insider Intelligence. YouTube YouTube is immediately blocking access around the world to channels associated with Russian state-funded media, it said on Friday, citing a policy barring content that denies, minimizes or trivializes well-documented violent events. The world's most used streaming video service, which is owned by Alphabet Inc's Google, said Russia's invasion of Ukraine now fell under its violent events policy and violating material would be removed. YouTube spokesman Farshad Shadloo said the blocking of the Russian outlets was in line with that policy. Previously, YouTube had blocked leading Russian state-backed channels RT and Sputnik across Europe. Russian state media have called restrictions placed on them by distributors, which include app stores and other social media services, unjustified censorship. "The blocking by YouTube is nothing but a new turn of an atrocious attack on one of the fundamental principles of a democratic society - that is freedom of the press," Sputnik said in a statement on Friday. YouTube declined to specify which and how many channels had been blocked globally, or whether they ever would be restored. Its policy states channels may be permanently blocked for repeated violations, a single case of severe abuse, or when they are dedicated to violating content. Workers across Google had been urging YouTube to take additional punitive measures against Russian channels, accusing them of spreading false narratives about the Ukrainian leadership and civilian deaths during the war, according to three employees at the company. Last week, Russia said it was banning Facebook in the country in response to what it said were restrictions of access to Russian media on the platform. The communications regulator said on Friday it was also now restricting access to Instagram. Instagram is a favoured tool of jailed Putin opponent Alexei Navalny, who used it in a message posted via his lawyers and supporters on Friday to call for Russians to join protests against the Ukraine war and "mad maniac Putin" this weekend. WhatsApp will not be affected by the legal moves, Russia's RIA news agency cited a source as saying, as the messaging app is considered a means of communication not a way to post information. "I'm not asking for anything from the United States, just to be let in. All we need is to be safe. All we want is to keep our lives safe." Those are the words of a 34-year-old Ukrainian mother of three children (ages 14, 12, and 6) after US border officials denied the family the opportunity to seek asylum here earlier this week. The woman, who asked to be identified as Sofiia, was quoted this week by The San Diego Union-Tribune. Desperate parents have said the same thing as Sofiia countless times at the same border between Tijuana and San Diego. Often those words are spoken by people from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and many other places where the terrible truth is that leaving is safer than staying. They, too, have been turned away in their hour of need. After a public outcry in support of the family, Sofiia and her children were allowed into the country. The Associated Press reported that Homeland Security said it admitted the Ukrainian refugees after we reviewed the facts of their case and it continues to exempt particularly vulnerable people on a case-by-case basis. This scenario raises the question; who is deemed worthy of protection by the US, and how have Americans reached that rubric? It's been a stunning and horrific month for the people of Ukraine, with Russia's invasion shocking the rest of the world into action and creating a domino effect that will keep going far into the future. The US is almost 6,000 miles away from Ukraine, but the repercussions here are already vast and multi-faceted. Solidarity The US political reaction to Putin's aggression also reflects solidarity with the Ukrainian people. So far, the US has joined with Europe in imposing sanctions broader and deeper than ever before, including freezing the assets of Russia's central bank, banning people and businesses from dealings with the central bank, and removing several Russian banks from the international financial messaging system Swift. Joe Biden announces that along with the EU and the Group of Seven countries, the US will move to revoke 'most favored nation' trade status for Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Picture: AP/Andrew Harnik On Tuesday, President Joe Biden banned imports of Russian oil, gas, and coal, stating, "If we do not respond to Putin's assault on global peace and stability today, the cost of freedom and to the American people will be even greater tomorrow." On Wednesday, American lawmakers finalised a bill to send $13.6bn in emergency aid to Ukraine. The New York Times reported: "The bill would send $6.5bn to the Pentagon, to cover the costs of deploying American troops to Eastern-flank allies and providing Ukrainian forces with intelligence support, as well as to backfill weapons the United States has already sent to the government in Kyiv." Every day it seems like another American company stops doing business in Russia, including behemoths like McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Co, and Starbucks. Even American-based dating apps like Bumble, with a considerable presence across the region, have suspended their services in Russia and Belarus. The Kremlins spokesman accused the US of declaring an economic war against Russia, but there is a much deadlier form of war that the US is most certainly trying to avoid nuclear war. Despite repeated pleas from the Ukrainian government to establish a no-fly zone over their country, the US has declined. The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday: "For everything we're doing for Ukraine, the president also has a responsibility to not get us into a direct conflict, a direct war, with Russia, a nuclear power, and risk a war that expands even beyond Ukraine to Europe. That's clearly not our interest. What we're trying to do is end this war in Ukraine, not start a larger one." An extraordinary and still very much developing story coming from this terrible war is the story of displacement. Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, called this the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two. People protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine outside City Hall in San Francisco, last week. Picture: AP Photo/Olga Rodriguez The UN reports that more than two million people have fled Ukraine because of the Russian invasion. The situation changes by the day, even by the hour, but millions more Ukrainians are likely to be displaced within their own country or will need to leave. In countries bordering Ukraine, refugees have been welcomed with open arms. Countries such as Poland and Slovakia that have spent many years and millions of euros resisting attempts from people seeking asylum have reversed course fast enough to give you whiplash. Explanations for the disparities in treatment abound but despite euphemisms like 'neighbours' and 'brothers,' I think the difference in European reaction to black and brown refugees and the predominantly white Ukrainian refugees is rooted in white supremacy and the belief that white people's lives matter more than others. And how about here in the US? Sofiia and her childrens' case could happen again, of course, but it remains to be seen how the US would respond if the need arose for a large number of Ukrainian refugees to come here. There has been a pathway to asylum in the US for Ukrainians for some years already, not because of the burgeoning war but because of a provision specifically for citizens of countries that made up the former USSR. The Lautenberg Program is a family reunification program, decades-old, that allows Ukrainians already legally residing in the United States to bring their family members to the US through the US Refugee Admissions Program. The same program also carries a lower burden of proof for religious persecution than that set for other refugees, paving the way for many Ukrainian protestants to make a case that they are discriminated against and deserve asylum here. The Washington Post reports that in 2019, the final year of the Trump administration, notorious for its racist slashing of refugee numbers: "Ukrainians outnumbered Syrian refugee arrivals in the United States 8 to 1. They outnumbered Afghans nearly 4 to 1, Sudanese 12 to 1, and Somalis 19 to 1." There are new protections for Ukrainians here, too. Those who arrived here on or before March 1, 2022, can apply for temporary protected status (TPS) - offered with incredible speed by the Biden administration. "Russia's premeditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in an ongoing war, senseless violence, and Ukrainians forced to seek refuge in other countries," Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. "In these extraordinary times, we will continue to offer our support and protection to Ukrainian nationals in the United States." TPS status will allow them to legally live and work in the US for the next 18 months and extend if they cannot safely live back home in Ukraine. TPS is typically offered to citizens of countries suffering from natural disasters or armed conflict, and Ukraine now joins a roll call of nations including Haiti, Syria, and Somalia. Of course, its a sad list to be on, but it affords the citizens of the listed countries some measure of security and protection here. As Sofiia and her children learned this week, the US can be a safe harbour for those who need one. But for most, it is a fortress heavily guarded by people and policies, choosing who to protect and who to leave to their fate outside its walls. Asylum is a human right, no matter what country you are from. Denying that right to any one of us bludgeons all of our humanity. The United States has accused Russia of using a UN Security Council meeting on Friday for lying and spreading disinformation as part of a bid to justify attacks with chemical or biological agents in Ukraine. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia was playing out a scenario put forth in the council last month by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that President Vladimir Putin would fabricate allegations about chemical or biological weapons to justify its own violent attacks against the Ukrainian people. The intent behind these lies seems clear, and is deeply troubling, she said. We believe Russia could use chemical or biological agents for assassinations, as part of a staged or false-flag incident, or to support tactical military operations. Russia had requested the council meeting to address its allegations of US biological activities in Ukraine a charge made without any evidence and denied by both Washington and Kyiv. Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya speaks during a Security Council meeting (UNTV via AP) UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu told the council she was aware of media reports about allegations of biological weapons programmes and said: The United Nations is not aware of any biological weapons programmes. Ms Thomas-Greenfield said Ukraine does not have a biological weapons programme or biological weapons laboratories supported by the United States, as Russia claimed. Ukraine does own and operate its own public health laboratory facilities which make it possible to detect and diagnose diseases like Covid-19 which the US has assisted Ukraine in doing safely and securely. She said that ever since Russia began building up forces near Ukraines borders, Washingtons strategy has been to counter Moscow tactics and share what it knows with the world. Were not going to let Russia get away with lying to the world or staining the integrity of the Security Council by using it as a venue for legitimising Putins violence, she said. Indiscriminate attacks, including those using cluster munitions, which are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction, are prohibited under international humanitarian law Britains UN ambassador Dame Barbara Woodward said: We do not sit in this chamber to be an audience for Russias domestic propaganda. And we should not allow Russia to abuse its permanent seat to spread disinformation and lies and pervert the purpose of the Security Council. The UN human rights office has received credible reports that Russian forces are using cluster munitions in Ukraine, including in populated areas which is prohibited under international humanitarian law, undersecretary-general Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council. Indiscriminate attacks, including those using cluster munitions, which are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction, are prohibited under international humanitarian law, Ms DiCarlo said. Directing attacks against civilian and civilian objects, as well as so-called area bombardment in towns and villages, are also prohibited under international law and may amount to war crimes. Russias UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia replied that the allegations are refuted repeatedly by our Ministry of Defence. A mother who admitted taking her daughter to Ukraine against a court order has been spared jail so she can travel to Ukraine to rescue her from the conflict. A judge said simple humanity lead him to the decision not to send Olga Khomenko to immediate custody so she could retrieve her daughter from the war-torn Kyiv region. The court heard how the 37-year-old took the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to Ukraine in 2017 following the breakdown of her marriage to a man who she alleges was violent and abusive. At St Albans Crown Court on Friday, Khomenko entered a plea of guilty to abducting a child, and faced as many as five years behind bars. She was given a two-year suspended sentence. The court heard the girl is currently living in the region of the Ukrainian capital with her grandmother and can hear the bombs raining down. The judge was told the pair tried to escape the city by train but their attempt was thwarted when the railway station was bombed and they were turned back by Ukrainian soldiers. Khomenko was last week granted 72 hours bail by the court to travel to Ukraine but only made it as far as the Polish border before having to turn back to adhere to the time limit and was desperate to be sentenced quickly in the hope of getting back her passport to make another attempt. On Friday, Judge Michael Kay said I wish her every success after handing down the sentence. He said: This court is in an impossible situation. I cannot begin to understand what the situation is on the ground in the Kyiv region. I imagine the system has broken down in terms of authority and the enforcement of the rule of law. It is a desperate situation, only truly desperate measures can be taken. "I have never known a sentencing exercise in which the issue of saving a child in a foreign country has been a factor. Its a decision that I would be amazed if any crown court has made before. These are extraordinary times. The criminal justice system has to have humanity. He said he was aware of the arguments put forward by the prosecution, adding but simple humanity informs me that the only appropriate sentence is one of two years imprisonment which will be suspended for two years. Olga Khomenko (William Janes/PA) Khomenko, who stood in the dock wearing a white turtleneck jumper and blue jeans wept as the sentence was passed. Judge Kay ordered the immediate release of her passport, which is currently being held by authorities at Gatwick Airport, so she can travel overseas. Khomenko left the court with a suitcase and the intention of going straight to the Polish border to attempt to retrieve her daughter. The court heard how she divorced her husband in 2015 after an allegedly abusive marriage which led her to stay in womens shelters on a number of occasions. After settling in Ukraine with her daughter, she was eventually extradited to the UK in 2020 after being arrested the previous year in Paris under a European arrest warrant and has been awaiting trial since, the court heard Ahead of the sentencing, Stephen Vello QC, defending, pleaded with the judge to pass the suspended sentence. He said: In short, this defendant is [the daughters] best chance of escaping the warzone and if she fails to escape the warzone, I hope it isnt in any way over exaggerating that, [the daughters] life may or may not continue to exist for the months hence. It really is that important. Burma Junta Watch: Ministers Told to Save Fuel, Coup Leaders Mentor Makes Rare Appearance, and More Military coup leader Min Aung Hlaing speaks to NDC officer instructors and officer trainees via videoconferecing on March 9, 2022 / Cncds Former dictator seeks merit Former military dictator Senior General Than Shwe, his wife Daw Kyaing Kyaing and their families offered meals to senior Buddhist monks who attended a meeting of the 47-member State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, the highest Buddhist authority in Myanmar, on March 8, junta-controlled newspapers reported. It was the first official news of the 89-year-old former dictator this year. His activities have barely appeared in state-run newspapers since he stepped down as military chief and handpicked Min Aung Hlaing as his successor in 2011. Since Min Aung Hlaings coup in February last year, the former military dictator has appeared in junta-controlled newspapers twicethe first time was in November last year when he also offered meals to monks of the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee. In stark contrast to these offerings, the previous military regime carried out a brutal crackdown on Buddhist monks in 2007 under his leadership, resulting in a mass anti-regime protest movement known as the Saffron Revolution. Min Aung Hlaing reportedly notified his predecessor ahead of his planned coup last year. Than Shwe gave silent assent, but urged Min Aung Hlaing to exercise restraint. Fuel cuts await junta-appointed ministers Amid fuel price hikes in Myanmar, deputy coup leader Soe Win told cabinet members during a budget meeting for fiscal year 2022-23 on March 4 that their fuel entitlements would be cut as of April. The move is part of an economization drive and will affect Union-level and subnational ministers, he said. Before the coup, fuel prices were around 600 kyats per liter, but they are over 2,300 kyats now. Transportation costs have increased as a result of high fuel prices, and food prices have subsequently soared. Taxi drivers are also having a hard time. Businesses that rely on electricity are also struggling as power outages continue to disrupt lives across Myanmar. Union-level and subnational authorities such as the president, vice-president, Union ministers, Union Election Commission chairman, Union Attorney-General, and region and state chief ministers are entitled to four to six vehicles plus 60 gallons of gasoline per vehicle per month. Soe Win did not mention how much would be cut from their monthly fuel allowances, but preached that it is necessary to limit spending of US dollars on fuel imports. Min Aung Hlaing never tires of chiding NLD After disappearing from the public eye for more than a week, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing re-appeared on March 9, speaking to officers at the National Defense College via videoconferencing. He opened his speech by taking a swipe at the National League for Democracy, whose government he ousted in a coup in February last year. Min Aung Hlaing normally attends such events in person, and it is unusual for him to speak via videoconferencing. His face looked gaunt in the video, further fueling rumors that he has COVID-19. But he was full of energy when he repeated his narrative of how the NLD rigged the vote in the 2020 general elections and how badly the national economy declined under the NLD. Min Aung Hlaing has put almost the entire cabinet of the NLD government, including President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in jail. And while he has been critical of the NLDs performance, his own administrative competence is highly questionable. One year after his coup, Myanmars economy has shrunk significantly and its people are going through a period of prolonged crisis, facing unprecedentedly high food prices, job scarcity, and daily blackouts and water shortages, not to mention atrocities committed by junta soldiers. Junta blames PDFs for nationwide power outages Military coup leader Min Aung Hlaing speaks to NDC officer instructors and officer trainees via videoconferecing Instead of telling the public how the junta plans to address the power failures that have struck across Myanmar including in major cities like Yangon, an editorial published in junta-controlled mouthpiece Myawady Daily blamed the Peoples Defense Force (PDF) for the outages. The regime said the national grid has shrunk by 220 megawatts (MW) because a number of power lines have been blown up. That represents just one-fifteenth of the daytime national demand of 3,400 MW per day, while the regime can only generate 2.2 gigawatts (GW) per day at present. It is obvious that the regime is attempting to cover up its own failings by shifting the blame onto the PDFs. The regimes incompetence was further highlighted by the fact that it has not been able to repair power lines that were blown up months ago. The electricity ministry last week also said it would only be able to supply 873 MW per day from March 12 to 18, and warned people to expect 24-hour blackouts. The prospect of longer blackouts is already depressing people across the country. You may also like these stories: Funding Revolution Important for the Victory: Prominent Myanmar Activist Regime Artillery Strikes Kill Children and Senior Citizens in Upper Myanmar Yangon Suffers Water Shortages Amid Rolling Blackouts in Myanmar Member of Parliament from North East Delhi Manoj Tiwari on Saturday demanded a judicial inquiry into the Gokalpuri fire incident in the national capital which claimed seven lives, including that of an 11-year-old child. "Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the entire incident, a judicial inquiry should be conducted into it and an assistance of Rs 1 crore announced immediately to the kin of the deceased," Tiwari demanded. As many as seven people, including an 11-year-old child, were charred to death in a major fire that broke out in the slum area of Gokalpuri village in the city at 12 a.m. last night. Apart from the fatalities, at least 30 shanties were turned to ashes along with their belongings. Expressing deep sorrow, Tiwari said he stands firmly with the families that have been affected by this fire incident. "Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should make proper arrangements and grant proper compensation to all the victims," he said. The parliamentarian further informed that he has contacted the concerned authorities and directed proper arrangements for relief and rescue operations of all the victims. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Kejriwal also expressed grief over the incident. "Heard the sad news early in the morning. I will go to the spot and meet the affected people personally," the Chief Minister wrote on Twitter. Notably, this major incident, the biggest so far in 2022 in terms of casualties, comes just four days after a fire broke out at a plastic factory in outer Delhi's Bawana area. No injuries or casualties were reported then. This Week in Review A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. Jacksonville, TX (75766) Today Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Delhi Police has arrested a 21-year-old man for raping a 3-year-old girl child in the national capital, an official said here on Saturday. According to the official, the incident took place on Friday morning at the Punjabi Bagh area of west Delhi after which the girl child was admitted to a nearby hospital. "The 21-year-old accused man has been arrested," DCP Ghanshyam Bansal told IANS, adding he was known to the victim and used to reside in a nearby shanty. Accordingly, the police registered a case under sections 363 (Punishment for kidnapping) and 376 (Punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code and section 6 (Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act. "The accused was arrested on the same day of the incident," the senior official said. As per latest reports, the condition of the girl is stable and she has also been discharged from the hospital," the DCP said, adding further investigation is underway. According to the data compiled by Delhi Police, during the year 2021, as many as 1,969 women were raped in the national capital, 21.69 per cent more than the previous year. In 2020, the figure stood at 1,618. Not just rape, every figure of crime against women has an upward variation. The molestation of women rose by 17.51 per cent and eve-teasing by 17.51 per cent. However, the Delhi Police termed the rise in figures of crime as "due to conscious policy of Fair and Truthful Registration". But even as stringent laws are in place coupled with proactive approach of Delhi Police and a high solving rate of rape cases (95.48 per cent), molestation of women cases (90.98 per cent) and insult to modesty of women (85.75 per cent), the crime against women still ain't declining. One of the surprising reasons is that most of the time, the person committing a heinous crime is known to the victim, as was in the aforementioned case. Shockingly, during the year 2021, in about 98.78 per cent of rape cases, the accused were known to the victim while strangers were involved in only about 1.22 per cent cases. Delhi shocker: 3-yr-old girl raped, accused held For clarifications/queries, please contact IANS NEWS DESK at: Johnson City, TN (37604) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low near 50F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Joplin, MO (64801) Today Showers and thunderstorms likely - heavy rainfall is possible, especially during the morning. High 59F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch.. Tonight Rain likely. Low 59F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. As Ukrainians seek safe harbor, they fortunately have received an extraordinary outpouring of support from the international community. by Katrina vanden Heuvel In the time following Russias indefensible invasion of Ukraine, over two million people have fled the country according to the United Nations. The lines of refugees at the Ukraine-Poland border stretch for miles. Children cry in the freezing cold as wait times reach 60 hours. Refugees discuss the relatives they had been forced to leave behindsometimes without knowing whether their loved ones are alive or dead. And the United Nations predicts that these refugees could be followed by millions morepotentially resulting in the biggest refugee crisis this century. As Ukrainians seek safe harbor, they fortunately have received an extraordinary outpouring of support from the international community. The UN Refugee Agency, the International Rescue Committee, and other organizations have sent emergency teams and resources. People around the world, including in Russia, are taking to the streets to condemn the invasionand donating to organizations offering direct aid to the Ukrainian people. Though these efforts are vital, they also draw attention to our countrys cruelly inadequate infrastructure for aiding refugees from Ukraine and beyond. Instead of welcoming refugees with open arms, current efforts hold them at arms length. While the United States has offered aid to help other countries welcome Ukrainian refugees, our own annual refugee cap remains at just 125,000. Worse, the United States resettled only about 4,400 refugees in January a pace well below even the Trump-era annual cap of 15,000. And the U.S. approach to other recent refugee crises has been abysmal. In Haiti, over the course of just a few months, tens of thousands fled a calamitous earthquake, a deadly tropical storm and an explosive political climate following their presidents assassination. Instead of welcoming these migrants, the United States hounded them, literally chasing refugees at the border on horseback and deporting thousands back to unsafe conditions. In Nigeria, the Boko Haram conflict has displaced nearly 3 million people over the past 12 years leaving many malnourished, homeless and sick. The United States has had no trouble offering military and counterterrorism support in the fight against Boko Haram, yet never even offered temporary protected status to the people the terror group has imperiled. In Syria, the ongoing civil war created the largest refugee crisis of the 21st century so far. After a brief spike in admissions late in the Obama administration, the United States has once again slashed the number of Syrian refugees accepted to the hundreds. And in Afghanistan, the refugee crisis is in large part a consequence of the United States own actions. After waging war on their soil for 20 years, our leaders have allocated $13.3 billion to resettle Afghan refugees a dismal 0.6 percent of the $2.3 trillion we spent on the war as a whole. The fact is, too many U.S. institutions are structured to wage war, not foster peace. Our leaders waste trillions to impose Americas will on the world and, as an afterthought, quibble over what tiny fraction of that number should be spent to help those caught in the fallout. All the while, the United Nations estimates there are 84 million forcibly displaced people around the world, including 26.6 million refugees. And the escalating crisis of climate change is set to cause a wave of refugees unlike anything the world has ever seen. One report from the World Bank estimates as many as 200 million people could be displaced over the next three decades. Yet as David Miliband, the president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, reminds us, the refugee crisis is manageable, not unsolvable. We know what to do. Take people in. Help them get jobs. Help refugee children more than half of whom do not go to school get an education. Support families to get a new start in a new place. Some claim that this basic decency poses security threats, or costs too much. But while the improper vetting of refugees could indeed pose dangers, refusing to provide aid and thus leaving masses of desperate people with nothing to lose, some of whom will be enraged at those who contributed to their ruination creates its own risks. As for the price: With U.S. military spending at historic peacetime highs more than 12 times what Russia spends on its military why is it that the United States can always seem to find the money to intervene in world affairs, but never to help clean up the resulting messes? We would do well to start accounting for the human cost of our interventions before we make them. One way or another, the consequences of our actions will inevitably reach our shores. If we are to effectively defend against the kind of violence and aggression on display in Ukraine right now, we must also demonstrate what we are for: the right of all people to live in peace. As Miliband says of the refugee crisis, This is not just a crisis, its a test. Its a test of our humanity. Its a test of us in the Western world of who we are and what we stand for. Author Bio: Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editorial director and publisher of the Nation and is president of the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord (ACURA). She writes a weekly column at the Washington Post and is a frequent commentator on U.S. and international politics for Democracy Now, PBS, ABC, MSNBC and CNN. Find her on Twitter @KatrinaNation. This article is distributed by Globetrotter in partnership with The Nation. Not only is it possible to switch to renewables, but its also cheaper and would make economies less vulnerable. Yet, bizarrely, politicians and the fossil fuel industry, who are using the war on Ukraine to justify high gas prices, are now calling for more oil to be produced. by Sonali Kolhatkar Long used to cheap gas at the pump, Americans are experiencing serious sticker shock these days as gas prices rise to $6 or even $7 a gallon. News headlines are linking this sharp increase to Russias war on Ukraine. Guilt-inducing memes are cropping up on social media shaming people for complaining about the high gas prices in the face of Ukrainian suffering. Such logic is based on the idea that oil companies have no control over the price of oil and that high prices are stemming, almost naturally, from an imminent scarcity of oil as a result of a ban on Russian energy imports. Whether or not this is true, an economy based on a source of energy that is so fickle will always be vulnerable. So where are the calls for ending our dependence on oil and gas? Collin Rees, senior campaigner with Oil Change International, told me in a recent interview that there is a complex interplay of forces that determine prices, and in fact, the U.S. doesnt actually import that much Russian oil and gas. Only about 8 percent of all oil and gas imported into the United States comes from Russia. When accounting for domestic oil and gas production, the Russian contribution to American fossil fuel use is a paltry 2 percent. Rees explains that if Russias war on Ukraine had any effect, it was that increased fear among investors [has] driven up prices. So, no, the Russian war on Ukraine has little direct connection to the hike in gas prices at the pump. Rather, it is investor fear over losing out on current and future profits that is pushing prices up. Still, it is important to point out that oil has become a convenient ransom note in the war: the West threatens to stop importing Russian oil, while Russia threatens to cut off oil supplies to the West. Its a complex issue with a lot of leverage on both sides, says Rees. In the meantime, for those Americans struggling to make sense of what theyre seeing at the pump, prices actually began rising in 2021 as pandemic-related quarantines eased and Americans resumed commuting and travel . According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, last year [r]ising crude oil prices and increased gasoline demand contributed to the highest average nominal price since 2014. Additionally, [t]he average price for retail gasoline increased by more than $1.00/gal between the start and the end of 2021. The oil industry is a boom-bust industry, says Rees. This is an extremely volatile industry that goes through price spikes and price dips, and for that reason its not something that we want our economies to be hooked to in the future. But the fossil fuel industry is already using the price spike to make the case for generating more oil and gas and to demand the sale of more oil and gas drilling leases. If the logic of Russian oil scarcity as the reason for price increases is to be believed, then conversely, its easy to make the case that increasing supplies will bring down prices. The idea that supply and demand drives prices is an elegant one that fits well with the myths we have all been fed about capitalism. Ever the opportunist to ensure corporate profiteering, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted, Hate to say it, but we need to increase oil & gas output immediately. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures. But its not just Musk. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said recently, In this moment of crisis, we need more supply right now, we need oil and gas production to rise to meet current demand. In other words, Americans are being told we have to accept that the price of isolating Russia for its war on Ukraine is more expensive gas, and the price for ensuring cheaper gas is to increase reliance on fossil fuels. Only a few months ago, Granholm admitted that the energy industry is making enormous profits. Theyre back up above where they were before the pandemic started. Rees concurs, saying the industry is raking in massive profits amounting to obscene amounts of money. In fact, the top 24 oil and gas companies in the world made $174 billion in profits in the first nine months of 2021. The organization Earthjustice points out that with the windfall, these companies are buying back their own shares, funneling dividends to their shareholders, and paying lobbyists to demand cheap new federal leases so they can stockpile them for future profit. Its easy to mock Americans for paying more attention to the price of oil than the price of milk. But decades of artificially low oil prices, combined with out-of-reach electric vehicles, have created a dependence that is not the fault of ordinary people. Oil profiteers and their allies in Washington, D.C., are to blame for ensuring that our economy remains wholly reliant on a product that also threatens the survival of our species through resulting climate change. President Joe Biden during his March 1 State of the Union address could have used high oil prices to boldly tout his climate justice agenda. He could have linked the volatility of oil prices to the need for less reliance on oil. But he did neither. Instead, he assured Americans that there would be plenty of oil, saying the United States was releasing 30 million barrels from our own Strategic Petroleum Reserve, adding, we stand ready to do more if necessary. Biden, who ran for president on an ambitious climate justice platform, and who appointed the first Native American Interior Secretary, Deb Haaland, known for her climate activism, has betrayed his own agenda. The Washington Post in January pointed out how Biden has outpaced his pro-oil predecessor, Donald Trump, on issuing oil and gas drilling leases on public lands. Whats bizarre is that our continued reliance on oil and gas is no longer financially sensible even by the logic of capitalism. Leading environmental activist and founder of 350.org Bill McKibben wrote in the Guardian, scientists and engineers have dropped the cost of solar and windpower by an order of magnitude, to the point where it is some of the cheapest power on Earth. Big oil and gas [have] bought out our politicians, explains Rees about why there remains such a continued dependence on a destructive and dwindling resource, whose prices are volatile, and whose sources are politically fraught. Just as the fossil fuel industry and its political allies are using Russias war on Ukraine and resulting high prices to justify increased dependence on the resource, now is the time for advocates of sanity and safety to use this moment to instead pivot as far away from petroleum as fast as possible. Rees concludes, Its more critical than ever in these moments to recognize that this is a chance to free ourselves from that dependency, to free ourselves from that cycle of conflict and fossil-fueled harm and pain and death, and to build a better world, hopefully. This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of Rising Up With Sonali, a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. She is a writing fellow for the Economy for All project at the Independent Media Institute. If you already subscribe to our print edition, sign up for FREE access to our online edition. Thanks for reading the Wharton Journal Spectator. Living Reporter and Theatre Critic Tim covers leisure and arts, and he is also a theater critic. He interned for the JI in 2015, and was hired in 2016. Tim graduated from UConn, Central College of McPherson, Kansas, and American Musical & Dramatic Academy. His favorite movie is "Jaws." Today Showers early, then partly cloudy for the afternoon. High near 85F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 53F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 81F. Winds light and variable. In Japan, building standards for newly built buildings have been consolidated, however, no effective policy measures against existing buildings and homes has been implemented yet. The Center for Low Carbon Society Strategy (LCS), Matsuhashi Laboratory and Yoshida Laboratory of the University of Tokyo, and Platinum Society Network has formulated a joint project to induce more energy efficiency improvement in household and small business sectors. We have suggested a policy of Pay-AsYou-Save scheme for Japan, which targets to include electric appliances which has not been included in Green Deal in UK, and PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) scheme. The idea is to allow households and small businesses to implement appliances without initial cost, and monthly repayment will be paid by the electricity fee saved through replacing old appliances to the new and efficient ones. We have conducted a research to review similar policy scheme or business scheme inside and outside Japan, and designed the social experiments with our partners in 3 sites. These are, 1) Household refrigerators replacement with Shizuoka Gas Company, 2) Household refrigerators replacement with Shimokawa Town (in Hokkaido Prefecture), 3) Small businesss refrigerators replacement with Minamata City (in Kumamoto Prefecture). We have measured electricity consumption by the refrigerators at homes, and analyzed if it can be paid off within 10 years using our PAYS scheme. Among the households in the project with Shizuoka Gas Company, we have made recommendation to 5 households to replace the refrigerators among 20 households measured, and 2 households has decided to use Shizuoka Gass PAYS scheme. The households have replaced their old refrigerators without any initial payment, but they repay monthly fee which is equivalent to the estimated saved fee. Their electricity payment for the refrigeration has reduced by more than 60%. In the project with Shimokawa town, 1 household out of 12 households measured, replaced its refrigerator, and achieved around 65% electricity saving. In the project with Minamata city, a small restaurant has replaced its refrigerators using our PAYS scheme. According to the interview conducted by Shizuoka Gas Company to the households, it was very effective to increase the persuasiveness to see the actual measured data for the electricity consumption by refrigerators. On the other hand, leasing company which has provided the leasing scheme for the household refrigerators, electric appliances are movable, and they see possible higher risks to construct the leasing system for the refrigerators. Therefore, we consider it is very effective to implement less expensive, but high performance measurement technology which is lately utilized by using AI technologies. There are already several companies implemented measurement appliance to put master power distribution board, and attain very high resolution data, to separate to the electricity used by each appliance. We suggest to have a one-through system that the user will just put the appliance, and install the smartphone application, and all the electricity usage can be seen at the smart phone, and also the suggestion to become more efficient, and the price and recommended financial support would appear. Another bottle neck can be solved by supporting the risk of non-payment by the public sector, such as national or local government for the sake of transition to low carbon society. When the risk is not easy to estimate at the initial stage, it tends to be set higher, and block the implementation. Support by the government to cover when the risk realize will be a big support to reduce the uncertainty of the business. We assume old refrigerators older than the age of 15 account for 16 to 20 percent of all household refrigerators in Japan, and have a potential to save 7% of household CO 2 emissions (Scope 1 & 2). Also, we can expect to have economic impact of around 1.8 trillion yen if all refrigerators older than 15 years old are replaced. We still have a risk of lower electricity prices in the future, however, efficiency improvement in the household sector by replacing old appliances have a big potential not only for the CO 2 reduction, but also for the economic impact. 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US Vice-President Kamala Harris said Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of engaging in serious diplomacy to end the war he launched on February 24. Harris spoke in Bucharest, her latest stop on a tour of Ukraines EU and NATO neighbours, former Soviet satellites, to reassure them the transatlantic alliance is solid as Putin ratchets up his denunciation of NATOs eastward advance since communism collapsed in the 1990s. Keen to avoid a direct military intervention in non-NATO Ukraine that they fear could trigger World War III, the allies announced further steps to increase the economic pressure on the Kremlin to rein in its forces. President Joe Biden said Friday the US and its allies would end normal trade relations with Russia and announced a ban on imports of Russian vodka, diamonds and seafood. The US will also ban the export of US luxury goods to Russia and Belarus. Putin must pay the price. He cannot pursue a war that threatens the very foundation of international peace and stability and then ask for help from the international community, Biden said. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said that Brussels will ban the export of luxury goods to Russia, striking a direct blow to the Russian elite. US and European stock markets had risen earlier, buoyed by Putins comments about certain positive shifts in negotiations with Ukraine. Cant help anyone The first high-level talks between the two sides on Thursday failed to make a breakthrough, but Putin said negotiations are now being held on an almost daily basis. But Harris said Putin was not serious about diplomacy. Thats why we engaged in historic sanctions, with the effect of a free falling ruble, the Russian stock market is still not open, their credit ranking is now junk, the vice president said, warning of further sanctions against Russias atrocious and outrageous conduct. The situation is particularly dire in the southern port city of Mariupol where local officials said Friday more than 1,500 people have been killed during 12 days of Russian siege. There was also no let up in the bombardment, with three missiles hitting civilian buildings in the central city of Dnipro early Friday, destroying a shoe factory and killing a security guard. The industrial hub of one million inhabitants had been considered a relatively safe haven, a centre for coordination of humanitarian aid and those fleeing more severe fighting in the countrys east. But images of its charred or destroyed buildings including a kindergarten with windows blown out now join those from Kharkiv and Mariupol as testimony to the brutal conflict. Today, we were supposed to host people who need a lot of support, said Svetlana Kalenecheko, who lives and works in a clinic that was damaged. Now we cant help anyone. Syrian mercenaries Russia also announced the military airfields of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, in western Ukraine closer to the Polish border, had been put out of action. Local officials said four Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the attack. Ukraine claimed the widening of Russias targets followed its failure to secure cities already under siege, and insisted Moscow had made no significant progress in the last 24 hours. But the capital Kyiv risks being entirely surrounded, with presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak calling it a city under siege. He tweeted that it was ready to fight, with checkpoints prepared and supply lines in place, adding: Kyiv will stand until the end. The Ukrainian military warned on Thursday Russia was trying to block Kyiv by taking out defences to the west and north of the capital, adding that there was also a risk to Brovary in the east. The northwest suburbs, including Irpin and Bucha, have already endured days of heavy bombardment but Russian armoured vehicles are also advancing on the northeastern edge. Ukrainian soldiers described fierce fighting for control of the main highway leading into the capital, and AFP reporters saw missile strikes in Velyka Dymerka just outside Kyivs limits on Thursday. Turkey, one of the last countries to keep its embassy open in Kyiv, said Friday it had was beginning to evacuate staff. Britains defence ministry said Russian forces were committing more forces to encircle key cities, reducing numbers available to continue the advance. The Kremlin on Friday announced that Syrian fighters can fight for Russia in Ukraine after Putin backed plans to draft in 16,000 volunteers, mostly from the Middle East. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of hiring murderers from Syria, a country where everything has been destroyed like they are doing here to us. Military aid boost In a video message recorded outside his presidential office in Kyiv, Zelensky also demanded the European Union do more to help his country. Around 100,000 people have been able to leave the northeastern city of Sumy, the eastern city of Izyum, and areas northwest of Kyiv in the last two days, Ukrainian officials said. But the president warned living conditions were deteriorating fast, in the northeast, around the capital and in the east. EU leaders on Friday sought to double financing for military aid to Ukraine by an extra 500 million euros (around $550 million). Late Thursday the US congress passed a budget including $14 billion in humanitarian and military aid to the country. But the US has ruled out enforcing a no-fly zone, and rejected a Polish plan to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine via a US air base for fear of being drawn directly into the conflict. Severe price In Mariupol, Mayor Vadym Boichenko said Russian warplanes had targeted residential areas in the city every 30 minutes on Thursday, killing civilians, the elderly, women and children. Harris, the International Criminal Court in The Hague and the UN human rights office in Geneva all warned Friday that attacks on civilians were banned and could amount to war crimes. Zelensky accused Moscow of launching a tank attack targeting a humanitarian corridor to which he had dispatched a convoy to try to get food, water and medicine into the city. On Wednesday, he and top Western officials also accused Russia of a war crime for the bombing of a childrens hospital there that local officials said killed three people, including a young girl. Russias army claimed the bombing was a staged provocation by Ukraine. The International Committee of the Red Cross said some Mariupol residents had started fighting for food, and many had run out of drinking water. Later Friday, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting at Russias request, over its claims that the US is funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine. Both Washington and Kyiv have denied the allegations. burs-lc/rlp Meta Russian forces inched towards Kyiv and pounded civilian areas in other Ukrainian cities Friday, drawing warnings of unimaginable tragedy as the US and the EU moved to tighten the economic noose around the Kremlin. Sixteen days after Moscow shocked the world by invading Ukraine, the United Nations and others said it may be committing war crimes in cities such as Mariupol, which for days now has been besieged by Vladimir Putins forces. On Friday officials in the southern port said more than 1,500 people have been killed during 12 days of Russian siege. Survivors have been trying to flee Russian bombardment in a freezing city left without water or heating, and running out of food. The situation is desperate, a Doctors Without Borders official said. Hundreds of thousands of people are for all intents and purposes besieged, Stephen Cornish, one of those heading the medical charitys Ukraine operation, told AFP in an interview. Sieges are a medieval practice that have been outlawed by the modern rules of war for good reason. As Russia widens its bombardment and talks between Moscow and Kyiv seemingly go nowhere, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskys pleas for NATO to intervene have grown increasingly desperate. But on Friday US President Joe Biden again ruled out direct action against nuclear-armed Russia, warning that it would lead to World War III. Instead Washington added more layers of sanctions to those already crippling Russias economy, this time ending normal trade relations and announcing a ban on signature Russian goods vodka, seafood and diamonds. The US and the European Union also suspended the export of their luxury goods to Russia. Putin must pay the price. He cannot pursue a war that threatens the very foundation of international peace and stability and then ask for help from the international community, Biden said from the White House. He spoke as the United Nations said some 2.5 million people have now fled Ukraine and around two million more have been internally displaced by the war. Nobody buries them Yulia, a 29-year-old teacher who fled Mariupol, said her mother-in-law was still there, and told them the attacks dont stop. There are many corpses on the street and nobody buries them, she told AFP. In Ukraines second city Kharkiv, doctors at a hospital described spending two days pumping ash from the stomach of an eight-year-old child whose home was blasted by a Russian missile. He still has cinders in his lungs, Dima Kasyanovs doctor told AFP. Dnipro, an industrial hub of one million inhabitants, saw its image as a relatively safe haven shattered when three missiles hit civilian buildings Friday. Images of its charred or destroyed buildings including a kindergarten with windows blown out now join those from Kharkiv and Mariupol as testimony to the brutal conflict. Today, we were supposed to host people who need a lot of support, said Svetlana Kalenecheko, who lives and works in a clinic that was damaged. Now we cant help anyone. The attacks on civilians prompted a new flurry of warnings from the Hague and the United Nations Friday that Russia is committing war crimes. We are really heading towards an unimaginable tragedy, Cornish, of Doctors Without Borders, warned, insisting that there is still time to avoid it, and we must see it avoided. Catastrophe Meanwhile the Kremlin is slowly surrounding Kyiv, with Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak calling it a city under siege. He tweeted that it was ready to fight, with checkpoints prepared and supply lines in place, adding: Kyiv will stand until the end. The Ukrainian military has said Russia is trying to take out Kyivs defences to the north and west, where suburbs including Irpin and Bucha have already endured days of heavy bombardment. Russian armoured vehicles are also advancing on the capitals northeast. As the slow but steady advance continues, so has the tide of refugees. Around 100,000 people have been able to leave the northeastern city of Sumy, the eastern city of Izyum, and areas northwest of Kyiv in the last two days, Ukrainian officials said. Zelensky warned living conditions were deteriorating fast. In the Sumy, Kyiv and Donetsk regions, there is no more electricity. Yes, there are problems with heating. There is no gas, no water, he said. Its a humanitarian catastrophe. Murderers from Syria Foreign combatants have already entered the Ukrainian conflict on both sides, and on Friday the Kremlin ramped up efforts to bring in reinforcements, particularly from Syria. A furious Zelensky accused Russia of hiring murderers from Syria, a country where everything has been destroyed like they are doing here to us. The global ripple effects of the conflict continued elsewhere. Last-minute Russian demands related to the conflict threatened to derail the near-complete process of reviving the Iranian nuclear deal Friday. And the fighting spurred vows to bolster the European Unions defences, with EU leaders describing the invasion as a wake-up call. Theres no denying the fact that two weeks ago we woke up in a different Europe, in a different world, European Council chief Charles Michel said. Russia also moved Friday to block Instagram and launch a criminal case against its owner Meta, as Moscow fired back at the tech giant for allowing posts calling for violence against Russian forces. We will not fight Talks have so far made no progress towards ending the fighting. Putin has said that negotiations are being held almost daily, and US and European stock markets rose Friday on his comments that there had been certain positive shifts. But US Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking in Bucharest, said the Russian leader has shown no sign of engaging in serious diplomacy. At the United Nations, Western countries accused Russia of spreading wild conspiracy theories after Moscows envoy told diplomats that America and Ukraine had researched using bats to conduct biological warfare. The US envoy said Russia had made the claims as part of a false flag effort for using chemical weapons of its own in Ukraine. Biden warned Russia would pay a severe price if it used chemical weapons. But he again carefully steered clear of any indication that such an attack would be a red line that could draw direct US military action. We will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine, he said. burs-st/bgs Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday endorsed his former arch-rival for the countrys top job, weeks after their parties joined forces ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in August. We have chosen Raila Odinga without any opposition to be the fifth president of Kenya, Kenyatta told a cheering crowd numbering thousands in the capital Nairobi. The announcement brings together two of Kenyas top political dynasties, who have a long history of opposing each other at the ballot box. But in 2018, Kenyatta and Odinga stunned the country when they shook hands and declared a truce after post-election violence in 2017 left dozens of people dead. Last month, Kenyattas Jubilee party announced that it would join the Azimio la Umoja (Quest for Unity) coalition headed by Odinga. On Saturday, Kenyatta declared his backing for the veteran opposition leader, saying: We dont have any doubt that we have a team captain in Raila Amolo Odinga. Odinga, 77, responded, saying that the pairs journey from bitter electoral rivals to political partners has been the most unlikely in the history of our country. I accept the nomination with absolute gratitude and dedication to our people, he added. At a rally later in the day, the duo, both wearing matching blue caps, danced to a song by Odinga with the lyrics: Leo ni leo. Inawezekana (Today is the day. It is possible). The announcement came after Kenyattas previously anointed successor William Ruto, who also intends to contest the presidential election, was sacked from Jubilee. Ruto, 54, was initially anointed by Kenyatta as his successor but found himself marginalised after the 2018 pact between the president and his former foe. Ruto has positioned himself as a leader looking to upend the status quo and stand up for the hustlers trying to survive in a country ruled by dynasties a reference to the Kenyatta and Odinga families which have dominated politics for decades. Election violence The East African powerhouse has traditionally been ruled by presidents from the dominant Kikuyu tribe like Kenyatta or the Kalenjin tribe like Ruto. This years contest is shaping up to be a two-horse race between Ruto and Odinga, who belongs to the Luo tribe. A former political prisoner and prime minister, Odinga has secured the support of at least 26 parties which are now part of the Azimio la Umoja coalition. But his image as a fiery anti-establishment leader has taken a knock following the handshake with Kenyatta. The duo have unsuccessfully tried to introduce sweeping constitutional changes, claiming that the reforms would help to end repeated cycles of election violence. Although Ruto has said he will accept the election results, he has also brought up the possibility of state-backed vote rigging. During a visit to the United States last week, Ruto said: The biggest issue on the ballot is the democracy of our nation and whether we truly have the opportunity to make free choices devoid of blackmail, threats and intimidation. The only concern that many Kenyans have is the intrusion by agencies to try and manipulate decisions of people at different levels. Both Kenyatta and Ruto had been indicted by the International Criminal Court on crimes against humanity charges for their alleged role in orchestrating post-poll violence in 2007 that cost more than 1,100 lives. The cases later collapsed, with former ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda saying a relentless campaign of victim and witness intimidation made a trial impossible. The reforms pursued by Kenyatta and Odinga proposed expanding the executive and parliament to more evenly divide the spoils of victory. But they were seen by critics as a way to enable Kenyatta a two-term president who cannot run again to remain in power by establishing the post of prime minister. The government has appealed a court ruling that rejected the proposals and said Kenyatta could even be sued in a civil court for launching the process. France and Germany urged Russias Vladimir Putin Saturday to end the deadly days-long siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the French presidency said after three-way talks. The situation is very difficult and humanly intolerable in Mariupol, a source in the Elysee presidential palace said, after what it termed a very frank and difficult discussion with the Russian leader. The only decision President Putin must take is to lift the siege. French President Emmanuel Macrons office also accused Putin of lies for alleging that Ukrainian forces had committed human rights abuses by using civilians as human shields. The 75-minute three-way phone call with Macron, the Russian leader and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz focussed on France and Germanys call for an immediate ceasefire and steps towards a diplomatic solution, sources in the French and German leaders offices said. Macron told Putin the Russian armys abuses must cease, the source said, warning that its actions could qualify as war crimes. They said the two leaders spoke separately before the call with Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky, who asked them to call on Putin to halt the fighting. Russian forces are closing in on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and bombarding several other cities. The offensive has driven millions of Ukrainians from their homes. Zelensky also asked the leaders to help secure the release of the mayor of the city of Melitpol, who he said has been abducted by Russian forces. We are putting on maximum pressure and we will not let up, the French presidency said. Macron demanded very strongly that the conflict cease as quickly as possible in order to avoid the worst, including (Russia) resorting to illicit weapons or destroying cities, it added. US President Joe Biden on Friday vowed that Russia would pay a severe price if it used chemical weapons in Ukraine. Macron has taken a leading role in trying to engage with Putin over Russias offensive. The Elysee says he has had nine conversations with the Russian leader since meeting him at the Kremlin on February 7. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Russian troops shot at a group of women and children evacuees leaving a village near Kyiv, killing seven, one of them a child, Ukraines military intelligence service said on Saturday. During an attempt to evacuate from the village of Peremoga along an agreed green corridor, the occupiers opened fire on a column of civilians, consisting exclusively of women and children. The result of this brutal act was seven dead. One of them is a child, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said on Facebook. It added that the incident happened on Friday. Peremoga, which means victory in Ukrainian, is a small village around 36 kilometres (22 miles) from Kyivs northeastern suburbs, where Russian tanks are advancing towards the capital. The military intelligence service said that Russian troops forced the group of evacuees to return to their village after the attack, with the number of injured unknown. At present, it is almost impossible to establish contact with them, as well as provide humanitarian and medical assistance, the statement said. It did not give details of those killed or the time of the attack. It accused Russia of committing a war crime by deliberately targeting innocent civilians. bur/har Meta AutoDeal Steers PHL Automotive E-Commerce Forward with 13th Insights Report The automotive industry is going through a state of massive change from connectivity, electrification and digitization of the customer experience. Customers expect seamless digital experiences not only from ecommerce, but also when buying a car, where they expect a personalized and multi-channel journey. AutoDeal prides itself on being a key component in modernizing the customer experience for local car buyers in the Philippines. Since 2014, AutoDeal has provided buyers the ability to compare vehicles; find special offers; and, complete multiple stages of the car-purchase transaction online. Every month, the online automotive marketplace enables consumers to get the best price on brand new vehicles by comparing offers from multiple dealers by simply going to the AutoDeal website. This enables buyers to transact quickly with trained and vetted sales agents from a network of official partner dealers. AutoDeals CEO and Co-Founder Daniel Scott shares: As automotive retail propels towards digital, AutoDeal is receiving more customers every day, which translates to more sales for our partners every year. AutoDeal was able to deliver over P28B worth of sales to their partners in 2021 from 24,835 purchasers. AutoDeal Steers PHL Automotive E-Commerce Forward with 13th Insights Report AutoDeal also helps report consumer trends, insights, and feedback directly to key players in the automotive industry as a means of helping lift the standard of digital commerce. As AutoDeals Co-founder Christopher Franks explains: The platform offers improved accessibility to vast amounts of data which translates back to more money left in the pockets of consumers. These detailed insights on how automotive customers shop makes AutoDeal a core component in helping the auto industry evolve at a time when automotive brands are having to reshape business models and organizational structures to stay competitive in the market. Every year, the data collected via the AutoDeal platform is communicated through AutoDeal's Industry Insights Report. Launched in 2016, the report tackled the state of the automotive industry and presented data and analysis by experts to back-up AutoDeals view as to why innovation was required in the customer journey. In the years leading up to the report, AutoDeal had taken note of high levels of customer dissatisfaction that occurred through easily fixable frustrations such as dealers not responding to online inquiries or access to critical purchase information not being readily available until customers entered a showroom. In the years that followed, AutoDeal implemented technology that simultaneously improved dealership response times, transparency, and sales conversion. In 2016, the report served as a way for brands to compare their online commerce metrics compared to other industry leaders. Today, AutoDeals Insights Report is regarded by automotive executives as one of the most helpful, useful, reliable, and easily available sources of automotive market information as it also delves into industry-disrupting factors and situations. As the country begins to pull through the effects of the pandemic, AutoDeal is happy to announce that it has recently released AutoDeal Insights (Vol. XIII) 2021 Complete Insights. In this 13th issue, AutoDeal examines performance metrics connected to the recovery of the Philippine automotive industry. The report also provides must-have information for brands retailing vehicles in the digital space and includes a full rundown of consumer data collected via the AutoDeal and MotoDeal platforms in 2021. Some of the most remarkable findings in the report focused on leads by market segment; leads by location; leads by device; inquiring and buying trends; and most inquired for brands. To know how the local car and motorcycle market performed in 2021 and learn about improving metrics that are helping shed light on the industrys road to recovery, simply visit https://bit.ly/2021ADInsights or AutoDeal Industry Insights and download AutoDeal Insights (Vol. XIII) 2021 Complete Insights. Today, AutoDeal is stronger than ever. Currently, it is partnered with 16 automotive brands, encompassing more than 400 new car dealerships and more than 2000 sales agent partners. In addition, the website averages 2.7M visits/month, generates around 25,000 leads/month, and contributes to over 2000 industry sales/month. These figures show why AutoDeal is currently the largest automotive network as well as the no.1 online automotive marketplace in the Philippines. To learn more about AutoDeal, the #1 online automotive marketplace in the Philippines, visit their website at autodeal.com.ph Autodeal PH Like them on Facebook: Follow them on Twitter: @AutoDealPH Follow them on Instagram: @AutoDealPH Follow them on YouTube: @AutodealPH Follow them on LinkedIn: autodeal.com.ph "Squid Game" stars Lee Jung Jae, Park Hae Soo, Jung Ho Yeon will return on stage for the Critics Choice Awards 2022. Following the monumental win at the SAG Awards 2022, the South Korean stars will grace the ceremony and will serve as presenters at the annual event. 'Squid Game' Stars Lee Jung Jae, Park Hae Soo, Jung Ho Yeon to Present at Critics Choice Awards 2022 Per Maeil Business Star Today, a representative of Lee Jung Jae revealed that the award-winning actor "was invited to the awards ceremony and left for the United States the day before." Moreover, the insider also mentioned that the "Chief of Staff" star "plans to meet his fellow actors Park Hae Soo and Jeong Ho Yeon on the spot." As for the runway model turned actress, she is currently doing her activities overseas but confirmed her appearance for the upcoming ceremony, while Park Hae Soo is set to leave South Korea today, March 11. "Squid Game" director Hwang Dong Hyuk will also join the trio at the Critics Choice Awards 2022. Aside from Lee Jung Jae, Jung Ho Yeon and Park Hae Soo, the biggest names in Hollywood will also serve as this year's presenters. It includes Zoey Deutch, Serena Williams, Ava DuVernay, Carey Mulligan, Kristen Wiig, and more. 'Squid Game' Nominated for Three Awards at the Critics Choice Awards 2022 While the trio confirmed their attendance, the event's main highlight is earning three nods at the upcoming ceremony. Lee Jung Jae was nominated for Best Actor in a Drama Series alongside equally talented stars Sterling K. Brown (This is Us,) Billy Porter (Pose), Mike Colter (Evil), Jeremy Strong, and Brian Cox (Succession). The two other nominations include Best Drama Series and Best Foreign Language Series and will compete against French series "Call My Agent!" and "Lupin," Netflix Spanish blockbuster series "Money Heist," and American-produced Spanish-speaking shows "Acapulco" and "Narcos: Mexico." The 27th Critics' Choice Awards is scheduled for March 13 and will be held in two different countries. One is at Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, hosted by Nicole Byer and Taye Diggs, while the other is at London's Savoy Hotel. If the "Squid Game" team took home an award, this would be another pride to South Korea after the movie "Minari" bagged Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Young Actor for Alan Kim during the Critics Choice Awards 2021. Lee Jung Jae and Jung Ho Yeon's SAG Awards 2022 Win The upcoming ceremony comes weeks after the "Squid Game" lead stars Jung Ho Yeon and Lee Jung Jae made history at SAG Awards 2022. The award-winning actor won the trophy for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, while the rookie actress was emotional after winning the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. KDramastars owns this article Written by Geca Wills The webtoon-based romance drama "A Business Proposal" has been dominating the Hallyu world, receiving positive feedback from the public. Apart from its entertaining and romantic elements, the visuals and the wardrobe of the cast are also top tier. Here are some of the fashion pieces worn by Kim Sejeong that you definitely need in your wardrobe! 1. Luxurious Necklace and Hoop Earrings On Shin Ha Ri (Kim Sejeong) and Kang Tae Mu's (Ahn Hyo Seop) blind date, Shin Ha Ri's glamorous look is paired with the luxurious set of BVLGARI necklace and hoops earrings. This glamorous set of jewelry is perfect for every occasion, from birthday parties, late night dinner dates and more. It's subtle and perfect at the same time. 2. Sophisticated Mermaid Dress While driving away Jin Young Seo's (Seol In Ah) prospective husbands, Shin Ha Ri is clad with gorgeous, elegant dresses and beautiful jewelry pieces. On her date with a company successor, Shin Ha Ri dons a pink and white tweed mermaid dress from South Korean brand Avouavou. The outfit is perfect for a brunch date, tea parties and a day out travel because of its dainty and classic style. 3. Chic Plaid Mini Dress Kang Tae Mu confronts Shin Ha Ri after learning that she's just pretending to be his future wife. Despite the tension, she still looks good with her very chic plaid Virginia mini dress from Vivienne Eastwood. Her outfit is also paired with thigh-high boots from BRIANA that gives her outfit some attitude. Moschino's black purse just completes the look! 4. The Perfect Office Fit Shin Ha Ri works as a researcher at Kang Tae Mu's company. While she wears hundred-dollar items while on a date with her boss, she's preppy and simple in the office. In one of her working days, Shin Ha Ri wears a cropped jacket from LANVIN, matched with a khaki pants. She also carries a small crossbody bag from Burberry, managing a formally put-together look. Kim Sejeong Compared To Hollywood Star Emma Stone Because of her outstanding performance as Shin Ha Ri in "A Business Proposal," Kim Sejeong catches the attention of the international fans. Kim Sejeong surprises viewers who haven't seen her in dramas with her versatility. In the drama, she flaunts her acting chops as she lives her character's double life. The "A Business Proposal" actress' acting draws attention, praising and comparing her to the award-winning Hollywood actress Emma Stone, the lead star of the Oscars winner "La La Land." KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mully. Grassroots effort uses shortwave radio to broadcast VOA in Ukraine, Russia A grassroots funding effort is underway to raise money to transmit Voice of America programming into Eastern Europe through shortwave radio, a more dated form of technology that can circumvent Russias crackdown on tech companies. The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the parent agency for Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has chosen not to transmit the programming in the region through shortwave radio. But organizers behind a crowdfunding campaign have already secured one station in Florida to share VOAs daily English programming about Ukraine within days of the efforts launch. Shortwave radio may not be the most popular way for the public to gain information in the digital age, but supporters of the effort said that during a crisis like the war in Ukraine, its critical to use a method that can break through the Kremlins obstruction of outside media. In times of crisis if the content is compelling, the audience will go where they know the information is, said Gerhard Straub, the former director of the broadcast technologies division at USAGM. Straub, who retired from the USAGM last January, has been providing technical assistance to supporters looking to transmit Voice of America and Radio Free Europe programming into the Eastern European region. Within two days of launching an online fundraising campaign, the supporters of the group Shortwaves for Freedom raised $2,495 of the $10,000 goal and have transmitted VOA programming through a station in Florida. You can read more at The Hill https://thehill.com/policy/technology/597411-grassroots-effort-uses-shortwave-radio-to-broadcast-voa-in-ukraine-russia North Carolina Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn (left) recently called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) a "thug" and the Ukrainian government "incredibly evil," criticizing the country and its leader as Russia invades it. Supporters gather near the legislature to protest during a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022. Protests planned for outside of the B.C. Legislature over COVID-19 restrictions has drawn sharp criticism from the province's premier.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito Russias ongoing offensive in Ukraine reveals the Kremlins increasing willingness to use military force to manipulate conflicts and destabilize Europes security order. The lingering presence of the Russian military across the former states of the Soviet Union will only entice the Kremlin further. by John P. Ruehl The full effects of Russias invasion of Ukraine are yet to be seen, but they will have repercussions throughout the former Soviet Union, where central authority has remained weak since the Soviet collapse. Wherever low-level frozen conflicts persist (or could emerge), Russias potential to escalate the situation will cause further obstacles to Western integration and is likely to derail wider security efforts in the region. As the Soviet Union collapsed, numerous conflicts broke out based on ethnic divides. Some conflicts, like in Russias Chechnya and Moldovas Gagauzia, which emerged in the 1990s, were stabilized through military or diplomatic means. But several conflicts in Eurasiain Georgia, in Moldova, and between Armenia and Azerbaijanstill remain in limbo, without any peace agreement or path to reconciliation. Russia provides significant aid, such as free or heavily discounted energy imports, to sustain and control these regions and their independence movements. Russias Attempts to Leverage Power Over Post-Soviet States By keeping these conflicts ongoing, the Kremlin has deterred Western integration and leveraged its power over individual post-Soviet states. While Ukraines situation represents the most extreme example of conflict manipulationwith Russias recognition of Ukraines breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk being used as the flashpoint by the country to eventually invade Ukraineexploiting internal tensions in other post-Soviet states has helped the Kremlin gain political concessions and instigate unrest across the former USSR. Moldova and Georgia, which signed the EUs association agreements in 2014 to help deepen political and economic ties between the signatories, and formally applied for EU membership shortly after the 2022 Russian offensive in Ukraine, appear most vulnerable to being targets of the continued Russian meddling in post-Soviet states. Unlike in Ukraine, Russia did not start the conflicts in these countries but provided support to their burgeoning separatist movements amid the Soviet collapse. Conflict erupted in Moldovas Transnistria region in the early 1990s. The Russian-speaking Transnistrian separatists were given support by the Soviet 14th Guards Armylater renamed as the Operational Group of Russian Forces1,500 of which remain to this day in Transnistria. Transnistrias 250-mile border with Ukraines southwest has also helped Russia militarily encircle Kyiv. In addition to Russias military footprint, the Kremlin also maintains significant influence over Transnistrias political, economic and intelligence institutions. Russias success in Transnistria speaks to the Kremlins ability to exploit the complex ethnic divides in the former Soviet Union. Transnistrias Ukrainian population fought alongside Russians during the separatist conflict in the early 1990s. Attempts to build a distinct Moldovan identity since the Soviet collapse have further alienated the countrys Russian-speaking population, and even with the Ukrainian-Russian tensions at an all-time high, Transnistrias Ukrainians have continued to be largely supportive of the Kremlin since the early 1990s. Additionally, Moldovas territory of Gagauzia could similarly be used by Russia to pressure Moldovas central government. Gagauzia too has sought independence since the Soviet collapse, and the ethnically Turkic, Russian-speaking population have gravitated toward the Kremlin. In 2014, at the height of the previous Ukraine crisis, Gagauzian voters expressed overwhelming support for integration with the Russia-backed Eurasian Customs Union (later known as the Eurasian Economic Union, or EAEU) instead of the European Union. A crisis in either of the Moldovan regions could plunge the country into chaos, in tandem with a wider Russian military campaign. In early March, images began circulating online of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko appearing in front of a map that appeared to show invasion plans for both Ukraine and Moldova. Whether this was a plausible threat or simply a message to Moldovas currently Western-leaning leadership, Moldova has been made acutely aware of the Kremlins stance on westernization. Georgias South Ossetia and Abkhazia both declared their independence in the early 1990s, leading to open conflict in these areas. Though ceasefires were declared shortly after, sporadic violence has continued in both these territories. The steady, mass adoption of Russian passports by South Ossetians and Abkhazians, a process known as passportization, led to a diplomatic situation that created the need to protect Russian citizens as well as enforce order on the Russian border. Finally, after weeks of escalation on both sides, Russian forces invaded Georgia with separatist militant allies in 2008. The five-day Russian military campaign reached the outskirts of Georgias capital of Tbilisi, where, following a ceasefire, Russian forces withdrew to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. However, constant attempts to slowly expand separatist territory have since further undermined Georgian sovereignty. The war with Russia put Georgias NATO ambitions on hold, while Georgias government believes its EU membership remains a more viable goal. But as long as Russian forces remain prepared to escalate matters in this regard, Georgias Western-leaning political factions will struggle to reach the goal of being part of the EU. Since 1991, the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and surrounding areas has pitted both Armenia and Azerbaijan against each other, and has also led to the involvement of Turkey, with Israel and Iran having more limited stakes in the conflict. Russia, however, maintains the most influence in this dispute. It has balanced good relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, while leveraging Armenias dependency on Russian military support. This military aid has spurred Armenia to join the Russian-led EAEU and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military alliance, while an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Russian troops remain at the Russian 102nd military base and the Erebuni air force base, both located in Armenia. Together with the Russian peacekeeping force in internationally recognized Azerbaijani territory and the Russian forces in Georgia, the Russian military plays a substantial role in terms of security in the Caucasus. Russias Growing Influence in Central Asia and Beyond Meanwhile, the possibility of conflict is prevalent in Central Asia. Kazakhstan, which borders Russia, has a large Russian minority population. Shortly after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Putin traveled to Kazakhstan and congratulated then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev on creating a state in a territory where there had never been a state before. Though Putin made this thinly veiled threat, the Kremlin nonetheless appears more likely to leverage its security guarantees in Central Asia, as demonstrated by the CSTO-led intervention in Kazakhstan in January 2022 that put an end to the unrest in the country during protests against the Kazakh government. The Russian military also helped put down an Islamist insurgency in Tajikistan in the 1990s, which was part of wider efforts by the Kremlin to prevent Islamism from emerging near or within Russia. An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 Russian troops remain at the Russian 201st military base in Tajikistan. Additionally, clashes between ethnic groups across Central Asian states, primarily in border regions, have also been used by Russia to win political points with these states by managing their disputes. Exploiting these tensions could help the Kremlin pressure individual Central Asian states, as well as repel Chinas growing influence in Central Asia (and potential Western overtures there). But the Kremlins interest appears to be in demonstrating its commitment to upholding law and order in the region rather than undermining it. The likelihood of Russian-backed conflict breaking out elsewhere in the former USSR remains unlikely for now. The Baltic States have large Russian populations, but their NATO membership puts severe limits on the Russian military from initiating any unrest there. Belarus is already strongly allied to Russia, and, having alienated its European neighbors, it has increasingly turned to Moscow to shore up its position. But outside the former USSR, the Kremlins ability to foment unrest has spread to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Under the leadership of President Milorad Dodik, the countrys large Serbian minority has increased its calls for independence in recent months. Frequent visits by Russian militias to BiH in recent years reveal the Kremlins potential to escalate tensions in another region where independence movements are prevalent. A potential conflict in BiH would prevent it, and most likely Serbia, from joining NATO or the EU. Serbians are unlikely to join either institution if they are seen as suppressing Serbian independence in neighboring Republika Srpska. Mass pro-Russia and pro-Putin protests on March 4 in Serbia following the 2022 Ukrainian offensive reveal Russias popularity among the wider Serbian population in the region. Russia, a Challenge to the U.S. Global Security Order Russias ability to turn the frozen conflicts in the former Soviet Union into hot ones stems from years of attention and efforts through media penetration, political outreach, economic incentives and long-standing cultural links. Once conflict breaks out, the Russian military can be further augmented by militants and private military companies. The Kremlins success also points to the real grievances among minority populations in post-Soviet states. The escalating use of military force simply demonstrates that Russia cares less and less about the optics behind methods that prevent westernization, as long as their methods are effective and yield the desired results at the end. Russias focus on conflict management rather than conflict resolution has granted it resilient influence across the former USSR and supplemented its tools to halt westernization. Its invasion of Ukraine has reinforced doubts over the legitimacy of the U.S. global security order, vividly apparent since the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. The likelihood of Russia using its military elsewhere in the former Soviet Union will depend on its success in Ukraine and repercussions from the West. Other countries are likely to apply these lessons to their own territorial disputes, such as Beijings claims in the South China Sea. But the greater threat to Washington may be the blow to the U.S. global security order if Russia continues to challenge it in Europe. This article was produced by Globetrotter. John P. Ruehl is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, D.C. He is a contributing editor to Strategic Policy and a contributor to several other foreign affairs publications. He is currently finishing a book on Russia to be published in 2022. Ketchikan, AK (99901) Today Heavy rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 48F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight A steady rain in the evening. Showers continuing late. Low 39F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. For many health professionals, the past two years have been some of the most trying times in their careers. On the frontlines of a deadly illness, they faced supply shortages, overfilled hospitals, overworked staff, and countless other hardships. If you see a large number of emergency vehicles and police presence on Saturday, March 12, don't be alarmed. Several local, state, and national agencies are taking part in a full-scale training day at Mead High School to prepare for natural disasters, shootings, and other dangerous scenarios. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading. To subscribe, click here. Already a subscriber? Click here. Floridas COVID-19 cases for the week dropped to 10,288 and the statewide testing positivity rate dropped to 2.4%, both sinking to levels last reported in the fall of 2021 when the delta wave had retreated. Health experts say omicron generally caused milder symptoms than previous variants. But the death count, which lags intensive-care admissions, continues to rise. For the week ending Mar. 10, Florida health officials reported another 863 people died from COVID-19, slightly fewer than the 1,207 additional deaths reported last week. That brings the states overall death toll to 71,860. Advertisement Along with weekly data released by the Florida Department of Health, the newly updated CDC Community Levels measure shows South Florida among the 41 counties in Florida with low COVID transmission levels. Just 10 counties remain at high levels. Dr. Marissa Levine, a professor of Public Health Practice at USF Health, has warned that over the next month, as people travel to Florida for spring break, everyone needs to be cautious. Advertisement We are entering the time of year when we have lots of people together in crowds, she said. Florida has good weather so lots of activities can be done outside, which is less risky. But if you are not fully vaccinated and at risk or around people who are at risk, then be careful. Throughout the pandemic, a total of 5,824,728 people in the state have had a confirmed case of COVID-19. That does not include Floridians who learn their positivity status using rapid at-home tests. [ RELATED: Heres where to find coronavirus vaccines in South Florida ] New cases All three South Florida counties reported a significant decline in new cases for the week ending March 10. Palm Beach County reported 712 additional cases, a drop from 812 additional cases a week earlier. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 364,171. reported 712 additional cases, a drop from 812 additional cases a week earlier. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 364,171. Broward County reported 1,035 additional cases, a drop from 1,110 additional cases a week earlier. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 597,685. reported 1,035 additional cases, a drop from 1,110 additional cases a week earlier. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 597,685. Miami-Dade County reported 1,675 additional cases, a drop from 2,121 additional cases a week earlier. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 1,173,564. Testing positivity Health officials reported a drop in the statewide positivity rate 2.4%, a decline from 3.3% a week ago. Floridas test positivity climbed as high as 20.5% during the delta surge during the week ending Aug. 19 and 31.3% during the omicron surge in the first week of January. In South Florida, the new case positivity rate declined in all three counties. In Broward, it was 2.1%, down from 2.2% a week ago; in Palm Beach County, it was 2.6%, down from 3.1%, a week ago; and in Miami-Dade, it was 1.6%, down from 2% a week ago. Hospitalizations Hospitalizations for COVID are declining and intensive-care units have fewer patients than last week. On Friday, 1,810 people with COVID were hospitalized compared to 2,418 a week ago. COVID patients now occupy only 3% of Floridas hospital beds. During the height of the delta wave this summer, more than 17,000 COVID patients were hospitalized in Florida. Advertisement Florida hospitals intensive-care units saw a decrease in COVID patients this week. On Friday, COVID patients occupied 4% of ICU beds compared to 5.8% a week ago. In Broward County, COVID patients occupy 3% of hospital beds in the county, with 152 patients admitted. [ RELATED: COVID summer surge: Is the virus seasonal in Florida? ] Vaccines Floridians received 30,350 doses of a COVID vaccine during the week ending Mar. 10, a drop from 38,013 doses for the week prior. Of those, 8,398 were first doses of a vaccine. Of Floridians ages 5 and older, 74% now have at least one dose. Floridians received another 12,841 booster shots this week. That brings the total number of Floridians boosted to 5 million. More than 15.43 million people in Florida ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. Of those, 8.2 million have completed their two-shot series, 2.1 million people have received only a first dose, another 5 million have received an additional or booster dose. Advertisement [ RELATED: Back to the office during COVID. What are your rights? ] The most heavily vaccinated age group in Florida is 65 and older, which is 95% vaccinated with at least one dose. With the vaccine eligibility lowered, 22% of Floridas 1.68 million children between ages 5 and 11 now have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com or Twitter @cindykgoodman. NSAI (The National Standards Authority of Ireland) has recognised organisations from the commercial, public, and SME sectors across Ireland for their recent achievement in obtaining certification to world-class business standards. This includes Kilkenny businesses: Glanbia Ireland Belview I.S. EN ISO 50001:2018 Energy management Piltown Engineering Ltd I.S. EN ISO 9001:2015 - Quality Management NSAI Auditors independently audited all firms and entities that received certification to ensure they met the International Standards. They join an elite group of almost 4,000 companies that have received NSAI certification in areas like Quality Management, Environmental Management, Occupational Health and Safety Management, and Energy Management. Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English said: These companies represent the vibrant and innovative business community which exists right across the country. At a time of increased globalisation, it is essential for Irish industry to be as competitive as possible. Obtaining NSAI certification gives companies a major advantage over their competitors when it comes to winning new business at home and abroad. I congratulate every organisation for achieving certification to international standards and for leading the charge through their determination, dedication and drive towards excellence. According to NSAI Chief Executive Geraldine Larkin, obtaining certification to world-class business standards can help businesses in a variety of ways. Ms Larkin said: "Certification may assist an organisation's knowledge and abilities expand in a variety of areas, increasing efficiency and reducing risk." It is great to see the efforts that firms and organisations from around Ireland put into the certification process. I'd like to recognise the tremendous determination put in, especially this year when many of our audits had to be completed remotely. "It's heartening to see so many businesses devoted to achieving best practices. They continue to show that Irish-based businesses can compete on a global scale." For further information, visit NSAI.ie or follow us on Twitter @NSAI_Standards With studies showing that almost 75% of girls and 50% of boys have experienced some sort of emotional abuse in their dating lives, a new educational programme to highlight the signs of healthy and unhealthy teen relationships is being launched in Kilkenny. The StartSafe programme, in partnership with Ambers One Million Stars project, aims to support teens to develop and maintain safe, healthy relationships. Designed for local secondary school students and youth groups, StartSafe covers topics including consent, spotting the signs of abusive behaviour, dating abuse, coercive control and digital abuse. StartSafe was piloted in the Loreto Secondary School in late 2021. In feedback, 100% of the Transition Year students who participated said they would recommend the programme to other students. All participants also said the programme made them more aware of topics including the cycle of relationship abuse, consent and digital abuse, while helping them to have a better understanding of healthy and unhealthy relationships. The programme is now available to all local girls, boys and mixed post primary schools and youth groups in Kilkenny city and county. During the StartSafe programme, two experienced facilitators create a safe, gender neutral space for teens to explore the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships, demonstrating how unhealthy relationships can have an impact on their emotional, mental and physical wellbeing. Through the craft of weaving eight pointed stars, Ambers One Million Stars project promotes eight points of healthy love within relationships. The eight points are used as a framework throughout the StartSafe programme to invite students to weave a star, creating an open and safe environment where opinions and concerns can be shared. Students can in turn choose to create an exhibition of their stars to promote healthy, safe relationships in their school and/or community. We piloted the StartSafe programme with our Transition Year students last year. Confidential feedback supplied by the 167 students who participated showed that the programme was extremely well received. All who participated said they would recommend the programme to other students and schools. Bring this programme to every school, as I feel every young person should know about this was one of the points of feedback supplied by a student, which speaks to the effectiveness of the programme said Marguerite Kehoe, TY Co-ordinator, Loreto Secondary School, Kilkenny. Jean Murphy, Assistant Manager, Amber Womens Refuge According to UN Women, almost one in four adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 who have been in a relationship have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from their partner, while young men are also increasingly victims of intimate partner abuse. As the frontline local Domestic Abuse service in Kilkenny, we see how toxic gender stereotypes can lead to abusive behaviours and relationships. We firmly believe that early education and intervention is key. We proactively developed the StartSafe programme, in partnership with Ambers One Million Stars project, to support local teens to identify, develop and maintain healthy dating relationships. To learn more about the StartSafe programme or to book your school/youth group a place, contact Angela Davitt 085-2506304 / childcare@amberwomensrefuge.ie . Amber Womens Refuge provides emergency refuge accommodation, support and information services and a 24hr Helpline to women and children in Kilkenny and Carlow who are victims of domestic violence and abuse. Amber also provides safe, inclusive, community-based support services in Kilkenny city and county and throughout county Carlow to women and children living with or fleeing the serious crime of domestic abuse. Amber Womens Refuge works to achieve equality and the right to live a life free from violence and abuse for all in our community. 1 in 4 Irish women and 1 in 7 Irish men will experience abuse from an intimate partner in their lifetime. 1 in 2 women murdered in Ireland are murdered by an intimate partner. Donations can be made at www.amberwomensrefuge.ie. Amber Womens Refuge 0818 42 42 44 Mens Aid Ireland 01 554 3811 Emotions ran high on Friday night's RTE Late Late Show as Carlow student Racheal Diyaolu, who managed to this week escape wartorn Ukraine, appeared with her family. Racheal told Ryan about her harrowing experience before the host spoke to her sister and mother in the audience. Her mother said she was so worried and that she was "so emotional" when she finally saw her daughter home at Dublin Airport. "I feel so emotional to see my daughter come back home to me" #LateLate pic.twitter.com/pvpXNiNgwz The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) March 11, 2022 Racheal Diyaolu spent days trying to escape Ukraine amid the Russian invasion and was eventually helped out of the country by two Scottish rescuers Gary Taylor and Joseph McCarthy. Emotions were understandably high when the 19-year-old was finally reunited with her family at Dublin at Dublin Airport. Speaking to RTE News, Racheal said she was "Really overwhelmed but really happy". Moments after the tearful reunion Racheal told RTE News that she was really overwhelmed but really happy. *Final Update* RACHEAL IS FINALLY HOME. She arrived super late @ 11pm last night. After 15 sleepless nights and buckets of tears, my family and I are at peace knowing shes home and safe. A sincere Thank You to everyone for all the love, prayers and support shown to us. (1/3) https://t.co/9ajuzssd8c (@PrincxssTiana) March 11, 2022 Racheal had been studying medicine in university in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy along with other international students and was stranded there since the Russian invasion began on 24 February. Her family has described the last few weeks as a "nightmare". Speaking about his daughter, Racheal's father Taiwo Diyaolu said: "I'm proud of her. With the kind of stuff she's made of she's very resilient, very peaceful and very positive. "That's what saw her through and I'm very happy that she's back." The Carlow native endured a three-day cross country car journey to reach the border to Romania Racheal said: "It was a very anxious journey. "We had a lot of really bad roads, things went wrong along the way, but we stayed positive and knew that once we were out of Sumy, it was home strait. "We knew we just had to go a little bit further and we'd be back home soon." Racheal can now continue her studying here in Ireland, saying it was "such a relief." After her perilous journey, Racheal said the first thing she'll do once she's home is sleep. "I'm so tired. I'll spend as much time with the family as I can, try and catch up on the last three and a half months, and just get some rest." Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has responded after it was announced that the Limerick-based construction company Roadbridge has entered receivership. In a statement, the board of the firm said that as a result of "insurmountable financial challenges", Roadbridge Holdings has requested Bank of Ireland to appoint receivers. The receivers are Stephen Tennant and Nicholas ODwyer of Grant Thornton. Founded in 1967, and headquartered in the Ballysimon Road in Limerick, Roadbridge is a civil engineering and construction company which directly employs 630 people in Ireland, Britain and Sweden. It's understood approximately 150 staff are employed by Roadbridge in Limerick. Varadkar, who is also the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment described the news as "extremely concerning," addedin, "my thoughts are with the employees, many of whom I know dedicated their entire careers to the company." We are still gathering the full information. I have asked my officials and those in Enterprise Ireland to engage with the company as a matter of urgency. Again I am very aware of how disappointing this news is for the companys hundreds of employees and the wider community. The Government is on hand to help in whatever way it can," he concluded. Staff from Roadbridge are in the process of constructing the Coonagh to Knockalisheen Road in Limerick and are also involved in a project to deliver a number of modular units in the Moyross estate. It's understood construction equipment was removed from the site of the 58m roads project on Friday. Roadbridge chair Aidan Murphy stated: "We have been working tirelessly for the last number of months to find a solution to the grave challenges faced by the company. My fellow directors and I greatly regret having to take this step, but unfortunately, it was the only possible option at this time. "The board recognise the support of all our stakeholders, including our bank, Bank of Ireland, in difficult circumstances as the directors explored every opportunity to save the Company. We are committed to working closely with the Receivers now in order to get the best possible outcome for employees, creditors and stakeholders." National reports suggest Roadbridge owes an estimated 30m to 35m to Bank of Ireland, its main creditor, but also has mounting trade liabilities. At the same time, it has building contracts worth a total of 750 million over the next two-and-a-half to three years. Management hoped this would help attract investment or a buyer. Roadbridge specialises in large projects worth tens or possibly hundreds of millions of euro each. Insiders say that it has traded on very tight profits, between 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent, leaving little room for error or unforeseen risks. Founded and controlled by the Mulcair family, Roadbridge has operations in Ireland, Britain, Europe and has worked in the Middle East. The firm is also involved in the high-profile High Speed Two rail project in Britain, with trade publications cross-channel reporting its staff stopped working on one of these sites yesterday. A Ferrari driver caught driving at 193km/h in Donegal has been banned from driving the vehicle in the Republic of Ireland again. Businessman Niall Heaney (40), of Groarty Road, Derry appeared at Buncrana District Court charged in connection with an incident at Bohillion, Burt, on November 22, 2021. Sergeant Jim Collins said Gardai observed a black Ferrari FF passing three cars at a speed of 193km/h. Upon seeing the lights of the Garda patrol car, Heaney pulled in close to the Donegal-Derry border. Did he get to the sound barrier? Judge Alan Mitchell asked. The court heard that the location is around half-a-mile from the border. Solicitor for Heaney, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said his client, a father-of-two who employs around 30 people, made one split second stupid mistake. He accepts his wrongdoing, Mr Gallagher said, He has apologised profusely. This whole situation was totally out of character. He is very much involved in valuable organisations. He didnt think the Gardai were coming after him. He pulled in once he saw the blue lights. Mr Gallagher said the Ferrari in question, a special edition model, was with a specialised dealer in England and was up for sale with Heaney now driving a Ford Ranger. Sergeant Collins told the court that Heaney was fully co-operative and was very close to the border when the incident occurred. Judge Mitchell said: I am told time and time again that people are co-operative, but it seems to me as if the eleventh commandment is: Thou shalt not get caught. Judge Mitchell said it was in Heaneys favour that he had pulled in for Gardai. It is in his favour that he was so close to the border, Judge Mitchell said. If he wished to evade, he was very close. He could have kept going and that would have been the end of the matter. Judge Mitchell added that he was not impressed by the event. A charge of dangerous driving was reduced to one of careless driving. Heaney, who made a 1,500 donation to the Donegal Hospice, was fined 400. Judge Mitchell asked if Heaney would agree not to drive the car in the Republic of Ireland again and he agreed. Calvin Dumplings, the Instagram-born dumpling business Calvin Shea started in his Fort Lauderdale home while quarantining with his mother, Shirley, has gotten too big. His account @calvindumplings has surged to 81,000 followers in two years. His kitchen chest freezer was bursting with so many pickup orders for dumplings he couldnt keep the lid closed. And the fervor only intensified in early March when Shea started teasing a major announcement to come. Advertisement His Insta-fans, keen to gush about everything from Shirleys flattering silver bob to Calvins delicate hand-crimping of dumpling dough, began speculating wildly: Please be a cookbook, please be a cookbook, one commenter wrote, adding the prayer-hand emoji. Others nailed it on the first guess: Please say you are going to open up a restaurant! Your mom is such a beautiful lady. Shrimp dumplings from Calvin Dumplings with two dipping sauces are are on the menu at the new takeout restaurant inside 1315 Kitchen at Jack and Jill Childrens Center. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel) Yes, its a restaurant (and yes, the other part is also true): Starting this weekend, Shea will sell his dumplings to the public out of his new takeout-only space, Calvin Dumplings, at a commissary called the 1315 Kitchen at Jack and Jill Childrens Center in Fort Lauderdale. Advertisement In an unusual partnership for a nonprofit, the Jack and Jill Childrens Center on West Broward Boulevard, a campus sitting on prime real estate near downtown, is renting out its unused kitchen. Calvin Dumplings will take over the 750-square-foot kitchen along with a second independent food business sMiles Gourmet Pudding a shop dishing eight types of banana pudding owned by Plantation chef Brad Turetzky. The rent is significantly low, Calvin says, sizzling potstickers on a skillet during a recent kitchen walk-through. I didnt have to buy any equipment. It already has commercial-grade hoods and walk-in freezers and I can do 10 times the traffic. And on top of that, its keeping mom engaged and relevant. [ RELATED: In quarantine, a Fort Lauderdale mother and son find solace and Instagram success in dumplings | PHOTOS + VIDEO ] The kitchen is strictly for pickups, no dine-in, so customers can order exactly what they ordered from Sheas house: six varieties of dumplings along with tangy, scallion-based dipping sauces ($4 each). Dumplings fillings include pork, chicken, shrimp, turkey, shitake mushroom and jalapeno scallion cost $15-$26 per vacuum-sealed dozen. Customers, for now, can DM their orders on the @calvindumplings account, with a website to launch soon. After scheduling a pickup, customers must meet Calvin at a side gate on Northwest 14th Avenue for the handoff. (Jack and Jill wont allow customers on campus for the safety of the children.) Shirley Shea of Calvin Dumplings demonstrates how she shapes and pinches her dumplings at 1315 Kitchen, the Jack and Jill Children's Center's repurposed kitchen on their Fort Lauderdale campus. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel) Alana Wortsman, Jack and Jills director of business development, acknowledges the weirdness of her nonprofit getting into the restaurant landlord business. But with the centers new $11 million Madelaine Halmos Academy building that opened on the same campus last summer with its own state-of-the-art kitchen, no less Wortsman realized that Jack and Jill had an extra kitchen it didnt need. She thought: Why not give it to a restaurant owner? Id read all these ghost kitchens were booming because of COVID, and our kitchen would just sit here if I didnt do something about it, Wortsman says. Even the state of Florida thought it was weird. Wortsman went back and forth for a year with the states Department of Children and Families, Department of Health and Department of Business and Professional Regulation. None of them knew which agency, exactly, should regulate a public commissary that used to be a private nonprofit kitchen serving underprivileged kids. Finally, in February, Florida green-lit the space under a new name: 1315 Kitchen. Advertisement While Wortsman waited for approvals a coworker, Maria Meyer, told her she bought dumpling sauce all the time from a Chinese mother-and-son duo on Instagram. She told Wortsman they made dumplings together to rekindle a lost relationship. She told Wortsman that, on Instagram, pinching, folding and filling dumplings let them bond over a dish they hadnt made together for 30 years. Calvin and Shirleys story was so inspiring, it showed our staff that you can recover from any struggles, she says. And look at where they are now. We get to be little guinea pigs and taste their foods. Of course, Jack and Jill gets something out of the transaction beyond savory samples: an extra revenue stream. All rent money is funneled back into the center, which serves 203 children and sometimes their parents, often single mothers. For me, its kismet, says Calvin, by day a student recruiter for a London university. I see a lot of similarities with Jack and Jill because of what they do for single moms and their children. My mom was a single mom who raised three children. It just feels right. And Shirley, for one, is ecstatic about Calvins upgraded digs. When he was a kid, in the mornings we go to the market together, and I buy ingredients to make dumplings, and he learned, seeing me, Shirley, 82, says of their life in Taiwan. And now, look, hes here. Advertisement The dumpling provides. This is old nature food making you healthy. It makes families so happy. For Brad Turetzky, moving his sMiles Gourmet Pudding outfit into a proper kitchen and out of the family kitchen sure made his wife happy. Named after his 2-year-old Miles, Turetzkys pandemic business started after he was laid off from Chez Gourmet Catering in Boynton Beach. The Culinary Institute of America graduate said he started making over-the-top banana pudding, inspired by the recipe at New Yorks Magnolia Bakery, because no one was doing anything like that here, he says. I started getting 200 deliveries a week, all from Instagram, says Turetzky, 34, while folding condensed milk into a batter of Nilla Wafers and pecan-pie chunks. When people think of pudding, they might think of grandmas fridge pudding or hospital food. But when they try mine, they cant get enough. Bradley Turetzky, of sMiles Gourmet Pudding, tops his pecan pie pudding with pecan bar pieces at 1315 Kitchen, the Jack and Jill Childrens Centers repurposed kitchen on their Fort Lauderdale campus on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel) Turetzky dishes banana pudding in 16-ounce pints ($8-$10), and flavors include carrot cake (a mini-slice tops the dessert), cookies and cream and a version with Key lime pie chunks, which he served at the 2021 South Beach Wine and Food Festival. Calvin never intended to run a restaurant, but now that hes scaling up the business, hes happy he and Shirley can keep bonding over dumplings. I want to make mom the star, he says. To make this transition at her age, its critical that she feels like South Florida is her home. Western High School students walked out on Friday to protest Florida's Don't Say Gay bill, but a fight appears to have broken out when students showed up with a Trump 2020 banner. (Courtesy) DAVIE Students at Western High School in Davie joined high schools around the state in protesting Floridas so-called Dont Say Gay bill on Friday, holding what was meant to be a peaceful walkout. Videos on social media show it didnt quite go as planned, as some students carried pro-LGBTQ+ banners, others showed up with a Trump 2020 banner, and a tussle broke out. Advertisement Videos uploaded to TikTok and Snapchat show the walkout starting peacefully, with many students carrying gay, trans and bi pride flags and repeatedly chanting Gay! Gay! Gay! Gay! Gay! It didnt take long for tensions to rise after a group of students hoisted up the Trump banner in the parking lot. The videos show they eventually climbed up on parked cars to elevate the banner. Advertisement In one video, a water bottle flies through the air into the crowd, and a student in the crowd gestures with their middle finger toward the Trump banner. Other videos appear to show students shoving with each other, with some being thrown or knocked to the ground. Snapchat videos taken around 2 p.m. show a student with blood streaming down their face. Western High School students walked out on Friday to protest Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, but a tussle appears to have broken out when students showed up with a Trump 2020 banner. (Courtesy) Davie is a semi-rural town on the western edge of Broward County known for its horse and cattle pastures and rodeo grounds. A student who declined to provide their name said they went back to class before the melee, but their friends eventually walked into class sweaty and breathless from the experience. The student said their friends alleged that some of the kids holding the Trump banner used anti-LGBTQ slurs and at one point chanted white power. A Davie Police spokeswoman said no one was seriously hurt and officers did not take anyone into custody or make arrests. According to the police department, some students had tripped over parking curbs and officers treated them for minor scrapes. In a robocall sent to parents, Western principal Jimmy Arrojo thanked the vast majority of students who participated and acted appropriately. Our school supports the diversity of our students and their rights to make their voices heard, the call starts. Arrojo goes onto explain how the students walked out at 1 p.m., during the last class of the day, in a student-led protest against the Dont Say Gay bill. Students who chose to participate in this protest and behaved in a manner that does not comply with the Code of Student Conduct may receive disciplinary consequences, he said. Western High School will continue to be a place that supports diversity and promotes tolerance. Thank you for your support and as always, GO WILDCATS! Advertisement This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox. Brooke Baitinger can be reached at: bbaitinger@sunsentinel.com, 954-422-0857 or on Twitter: @bybbaitinger Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 58F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low around 50F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Fort Lauderdale That water flowing from the tap is about to get more expensive a lot more expensive. Fort Lauderdale may need as much as $450 million to replace Fiveash, the citys 68-year-old water treatment plant once described by the mayor as held together by spit and chewing gum. And someones got to pay for it. Advertisement It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out there has to be rate increases, Commissioner Steve Glassman told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. We have to pay for the new plant somehow. Some people were freaking out over the water rate increases, but that all has to be negotiated and approved by the commission. Fort Lauderdale is close to hiring a private company to build a new water treatment plant that would open as soon as 2025 and cost at least $385 million based on conservative estimates. The pricey plant would get built through a public-private partnership, with the team from the private sector not only building but designing, operating, managing and maintaining the new treatment plant and water system. Advertisement City leaders say the new plant would withstand the winds of a Category 5 hurricane and also fix a persistent problem thats plagued Fort Lauderdale for years the yellow-tinged drinking water pouring out of household faucets that get their water from Fiveash. Fort Lauderdales water customers like the idea of clear water, but not the prospect of skyrocketing rates. No one wants to pay more money, Mayor Dean Trantalis said. However, in order to improve upon our infrastructure and provide clean, clear water, we have to reinvest in our community. The cost of building a new plant is still being negotiated so the consumer will be least impacted by the cost of the new system. But water rates will have to go up to pay for the cost and construction of the new plant. Workers use a tree limb to plug a hole in one of Fort Lauderdale's main water supply lines in July 2019. The break, caused by an FPL subcontractor who drilled a hole in the pipe, forced hundreds of businesses to close. (Courtesy) Under current plans, customers getting their water from Fort Lauderdale would see rates nearly double by 2025. If the monthly water bill is $100 today, expect to pay nearly $200 by 2025. And if your bill is $200 a month now, youll be paying close to $400 in a few years. The supersized rate hikes would begin in 2023, with water customers paying 25% more than they do now. Rates would increase another 30% in 2024, 15% the year after that and 3.6 percent a year through 2057. Water customers in Fort Lauderdale, Port Everglades and six other cities that rely on Fort Lauderdale for water will be paying the tab. That includes all or portions of Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Tamarac, Davie, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and tiny Sea Ranch Lakes. Time to pay the piper Five years ago, a consultant warned Fort Lauderdale that Fiveash, the citys main water plant thats been delivering water to residents since 1954, was on the brink of failure. Two years later, in July 2019, Fort Lauderdale found itself in the grip of an emergency crisis that gave the city a taste of what its like when the water runs dry. Advertisement An FLP subcontractor, unaware he was drilling into a critical water main, bored through 7 inches of concrete, compromising a pipe that carries water from wellfields to the Fiveash plant. The impact was immediate and crippling. For hours, gallons of precious water gushed like a geyser from the 42-inch pipe. Desperate to stop the torrent of rushing water, crews used a tree limb to plug the hole. The citys public works crews ran into trouble finding a buried control valve so they could reroute the water flow. And when they finally did locate it with the use of sonar equipment, they had a new problem. The valve had not been properly maintained and wouldnt turn. [ RELATED: Fort Lauderdale water crisis drama started with Hey, we broke something here ] Crews had no choice but to shut off pumps from the wellfield, cutting off water to nearly 250,000 customers in Fort Lauderdale and beyond. Faucets stopped flowing. AC units stopped working. And perhaps worst of all, toilets stopped flushing. Without water and working toilets, restaurants, hotels and malls closed. So did the courthouse. Even after the water finally started to flow again, thousands of customers were put under a boil-water order for days. Fort Lauderdale crews respond to a water main break at the beach in 2020. A 16-inch water pipe broke at 10 p.m. on Feb. 2, drenching streets in front of the Jackson Tower condo at 100 S. Birch Road. (Susan Stocker/AP) The incident sent the city into panic mode, exposing the frailty of the citys long-neglected utility network. Advertisement In the weeks that followed, City Manager Chris Lagerbloom delivered a dire warning that a major hurricane could cripple Fiveash, cutting off water to hundreds of thousands of customers. This city cannot afford to be without water, Mayor Dean Trantalis told the Sun Sentinel. We saw what happened that one day. Any serious hurricane would destroy our water plant and wed be without water for days if not weeks. Fiveash sits on an 11.5-acre parcel near Interstate 95 and Prospect Road southeast of Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. The plant relies on 25 wells just west of Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, located in the Prospect Wellfield. The plant draws groundwater from the Biscayne Aquifer and treats the water through aeration, chemical processing and filtering. [ RELATED: Panic gripped Fort Lauderdale officials as water crisis dragged on, text messages show ] Fort Lauderdales new water plant would be further west of Fiveash, closer to the Prospect wellfields that supply the raw water to be treated. Being closer to the well fields reduces the chance of piping problems cutting the flow of water to the treatment plant like what happened in July 2019, city officials say. One the new plant is built, Fiveash will be demolished and the site will be used for water storage and distribution purposes only. Unwelcome yellow tint Fort Lauderdales smaller Peele-Dixie Water Treatment Plant opened in 1926 near State Road 7 and has been in operation for close to a century. Advertisement If the water comes out of the faucet clear, its likely coming from the Peele-Dixie plant, which serves the citys southeastern and central neighborhoods, and underwent an extensive rehabilitation project more than a decade ago. As a result, it uses a nanofiltration technology that produces clear water. Customers who get their water from Fiveash might notice an unwelcome yellowish tint. Thats because Fiveash relies on a lime-softening treatment system thats not always able to remove tannins an organic material from the underground water supply. In the past few years, Fort Lauderdale has spent millions on Fiveash to keep it operational until a new plant can be built. The city is also spending millions to repair and replace its long-neglected network of underground pipes. The fixes cant come soon enough for weary residents whove been forced to endure boil-water orders caused by a series of pipe breaks or failures that have interrupted service for thousands. [ RELATED: A pipe bursts and hundreds of people are still under a boil-water order two weeks later. Welcome to Fort Lauderdale. ] Boil-water orders getting old Resident Joyce Williams, one of the more recent victims, was under a boil-water order for nine days. The order, issued last week for several homes in Fort Lauderdales Bal Harbour neighborhood, was lifted on Friday. The day before the order was lifted, Williams contacted the Sun Sentinel to complain. Advertisement Weve been boiling water since March 2 and we have no idea when we will get clean water, she said. This is unacceptable. The city officials want all this new development but cant even supply clean water to their citizens. Williams says she switched to bottled water four years ago, but resented being forced to boil water to wash the dishes and clean up around the house. I expect government to provide me with clean water and clean air, she said. Thats the baseline they should be aiming for. Fort Lauderdale often has yellow water coming out of its faucets, but city officials say it's perfectly safe to drink despite the color. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel) One Wilton Manors resident by the name of Boyd Corbin makes frequent visits to Fort Lauderdale City Hall to gripe publicly about what he calls the green water. Theyve already told us water rates will increase 87 percent during the first three years and thats while the new water plant is under construction, Corbin said. Corbin argues the city doesnt need a new water plant. Advertisement We can refurbish Fiveash for one-third the cost, he said. It needs $100 million refurbishment plus $70 million in ozone and carbon filtration techniques. In two years we could have clear drinking water. Critics warn against P3 project Ralph Zeltman, a retired county engineer who serves on the citys infrastructure task force, says the city would be better off hiring experts to build the plant but should retain ownership and control as opposed to turning all operations over to the private sector. You want to avoid P3s [public-private partnerships] with water treatment plants, Zeltman said. The investors are going to cut corners and do everything they can to maximize profits. The investors are running the show on these P3s. Theyre saying, This is the money were spending and this is the money we want out of it. [ RELATED: Fort Lauderdale sewage woes: This is not the last break ] The industry tends to steer clear of P3 setups, said Fred Bloetscher, associate dean of undergraduate studies and a civil engineering professor at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Typically utilities want a little more control over the process, he said. That has had a history of not working out so well over the years. Lee County did that about 20 years ago and they ended up taking it back. In the private sector, the goal is to make money for shareholders, Bloetscher said. Advertisement If youre doing a P3, somebodys making money and its not the city. The question to ask is, If somebodys trying to operate this for [over 30 years], how are they saving money? If they tell you theyre way more efficient, no theyre not. What theyre doing is cutting corners. But Peter Partington, a retired city engineer who serves as vice chair of Fort Lauderdales infrastructure task force, backs the citys plan to partner with a P3 in order to get the plant built faster. The city is having to spend millions to keep Fiveash operating and time is of the essence, Partington said. The sooner Fiveash can be replaced, the better. Water plants are not built to last indefinitely. Other cities across the country are facing similar issues, he noted. Most of the countrys infrastructure is aging and now the bill is coming due, he said. In order to pay for that, the water rates have to go up. Aging infrastructure needs to be maintained and not enough money was being used to maintain the distribution system for the water and sewer lines. Fort Lauderdale is the poster child for that. But its happening throughout the country. Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan Support local journalism Local news, sports and entertainment when you want it. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the best local news, sports and entertainment coverage. DELRAY BEACH Could Delray Beachs already buzzing downtown soon turn into a raucous party-scene resembling New Orleans? Thats the fear of some city officials as Delray Beach considers allowing bars to permanently operate outdoors. While only about a dozen bars in Delray Beach would be impacted, the concern is that it could open Pandoras Box and create a domino effect of new outdoor bars coming to Delray Beach and bringing loud, boisterous partiers. Advertisement While Delray Beach already has a vibrant downtown on Atlantic Avenue with patrons spilling out from restaurants and bars, the concern centers around the revelry from potential new bars infiltrating residential neighborhoods. The issue comes on the heels of the citys prolonged battle with an outdoor bar, Studio 404, over frequent noise complaints from nearby residents. Theres been a long-standing rule for bars in Delray Beach: If you dont serve food, youre not allowed to operate outdoors. The city temporarily suspended the rule in 2020 due to COVID-19 so businesses could stay open in a safe manner. Advertisement [ RELATED: Delray Beach has struggled to police noisy bars and restaurants. That could soon change. ] That COVID-related order is set to expire in May, and bars would once again be confined inside. Hopportunities, a taproom at 440 NE Fifth Ave. that specializes in craft beer and wine, is asking the city for a permanent exemption, saying they would lose business if they were forced back indoors. Now that weve been provided this temporary use, our patrons love it and are demanding it, said Andrea Keiser, an attorney representing Hopportunties, during a public meeting. We believe that reversing it and taking away will hurt businesses. Some people gather outdoors at Hopportunities, in Delray Beach, Friday, March 4. (Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel) Keiser added that standalone bars would be at a disadvantage to restaurants that are allowed to operate outside. While city commissioners were largely supportive of Hopportunties, which has not received any noise complaints, they were split on the overall issue, specifically on whether future applicants could potentially abuse this rule. Over the past year, Delray Beach was faced with a similar dilemma in regard to Studio 404, which generated consistent noise complaints from residents who said the bars outdoor patio was so loud it blared through their living rooms and made it difficult to sleep at night. Due to limitations with the citys noise ordinance, Delray Beach officials struggled to find a solution to the problem, eventually deciding to craft a stricter noise ordinance. The problem was later resolved on its own in February when Studio 404 was evicted by the property owner after failing to pay rent for the previous three months. In regard to Hopportunities, City commissioner Ryan Bolyston was in favor of allowing permanent outdoor use, saying the current regulations are antiquated and a hindrance to bars and patrons. Boylston added hes very much in favor of this baby step toward allowing people to enjoy the outside and not forcing the standalone bars who want to serve beer and wine to have an entire kitchen and take business away from local restaurants. Advertisement [ RELATED: A new sports bar in Delray Beach wants to stay open until 2 a.m. Here is why its raising major concerns among residents. ] City commissioner Shirley Johnson was against allowing bars to operate outside. When we gave this conditional use because of COVID, I just knew it wasnt going to be conditional, Johnson said. Its going to be We like it, we demand it. I do not want to open this Pandoras Box. I like the fact that Delray is different and that we are antiquated. I take it as a proud badge. Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petrolia said she was supportive of Hopportunities but was against the other bars being granted the same ability, saying she had some very big concerns. What I see is what [Johnson] said about opening up Pandoras Box to becoming something we are not, which might be more akin to New Orleans, Petrolia said. Thats what comes to mind. People walking around [drinking]. [ RELATED: Traffic in downtown Delray Beach is already bad. Experts say it will get much worse if changes arent made. ] The proposal narrowly received preliminary approval, but will need to receive a second approval from the city at a later date. Delray Beach City Attorney Lynn Gelin said theyre attempting to design a proposal that would thread the line of benefitting bars, while not becoming a potential nuisance for residents. You can never craft an ordinance so youre benefitting one person, that would make it unconstitutional on its face, so we have to be mindful of that, Gelin said. Advertisement Were trying to put it in zoning areas where its more conducive to being outside and its not going to impact neighbors and things like that. St. Louis Citys Sheriff, Vernon Betts, said violence is possible as evictions can quickly turn dangerous. A woman wearing a face mask crosses Bourke Street in Melbourne, Australia, March 11. EPA-Yonhap Aisling Li traveled to Melbourne for the first time in February, setting off on a path towards earning her associate's degree in graphic design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Aisling Li traveled to Melbourne for the first time in February, setting off on a path towards earning her associate's degree in graphic design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). The flight from Li's hometown in Xiamen, Fujian Province, was full a small sign that Chinese residents were keen on heading back to Australian shores after many had spent considerable time away during the pandemic. "Studying online would make me feel so sleepy, so I knew if I was going to [continue studying], I wanted to go somewhere that would offer in-person classes," Li said, noting that RMIT's reputation also lured her to the program. Li previously earned a bachelor's degree in the United States, but the last year of her studies took place remotely, from her hometown. "The pandemic had been pretty tough for everybody. Now I think it's pretty good, because [Melbourne] is not locked down any more. People just can go on the street, buy whatever they want and get back to their normal life," she said. International students have slowly made a return to Australian universities since mid-December, and early data shows that numbers are up by 75,000 since the end of last year, according to the Australian Department of Home Affairs (ADHA). This is the most significant increase in student population numbers since the pandemic began. Yet, nearly one-third of international students approximately 120,000 are still outside the country. Of this number, Chinese students are the largest cohort, numbering about 77,000. However, the number of Chinese international students within Australia has increased, totaling 55,000 at the end of February, which is up from about 40,000 in mid-December, according to the ADHA. A man takes a drink as he looks at the skyline of Sydney's central business district, March 10. AP-Yonhap Jay Park shared that while he was recording "GANADARA" with IU, something was unexpectedly taped but he included it in the song, nonetheless. Continue reading to know what it is. Jay Park Unveils Something Unexpected Was Recorded While Singing 'GANADARA' With IU Jay Park is preparing to release his new song, "GANADARA" (featuring IU) later today, March 11. It will be his first music release under his newly established label, MORE VISION. "GANADARA" has been receiving a lot of attention from music fans even before its release as it will mark Jay's first collaboration with top female soloist IU. ALSO READ: Jay Park Shocks Many With How His Home Looks Like A few hours before the track came out, MORE VISION released a Q&A interview with Jay Park. The male idol answered various questions concerning his collaboration, the stories behind the production of his new song, what he plans on doing in the future, and more. One of the questions asked to the rapper is, "Are there any memorable moments during the song recording or preparation period?" In response, Jay Park shared one unforgettable moment while recording "GANADARA" with IU. It was a time when something was recorded that was not supposed to be there. "In the second verse of the song, there is a part where I was exchanging ad-libs with IU. When it was my turn to sing alone, she suddenly laughed. Unexpectedly, the sound of IU's laughter was recorded." This means Jay Park's "GANADARA" not only features IU's soothing voice but also her laugh. Although IU's laughter was accidentally included in the recording, the rapper decided not to remove it. He said, "I liked the feeling, so I included it in the song." Meanwhile, Park revealed that his new digital single is a sweet R&B song that highlights their vocals. It is due out later at 6 p.m. KST. Are you excited to hear Jay Park and IU's collab song? Jay Park Talks About Launch of His Soju Brand "Won Soju" In other news, Jay Park has officially introduced his soju brand, "Won Soju," on Feb. 25. It was also the time he greeted fans through his new Instagram account. In an exclusive interview with HYPEBEAST KOREA published on March 8, the MORE VISION founder talked about Won Soju. The first question was about what Won Soju tastes like. Park said, "The flavor of rice and yeast is dynamic yet subtle. The taste is also clean." He added that he prefers the soju to have a light and clean taste rather than having a strong finish. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Jay Park Empowers a Fan on How to be Beautiful and Confident + Reveals What Makes AOMG Different From Other Labels The publication then asked Jay Park for a recommendation on how to enjoy Won Soju. He responded, "You can eat it neat or drink it with ice." He continued that it is also delicious even if people combine it with carbonated water and lemon. HYPEBEAST KOREA later said, "It must've been a long process before it became the taste that it is today," to which the rapper responded that it took them about a month and a half as it was a repetitive process of "examining and giving feedback." Among the feedback he received, Jay Park said that the memorable ones are from his dad, and the well-known South Korean chef Baek Jongwon. "My father also said it was delicious because it was soft, and renowned South Korean chef Baek Jongwon said, 'Hey it's delicious' and 'The price is really good,'" the idol shared. For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article Written by Mhaliya Scott BTS is making headlines following their successful "Permission to Dance" show in Seoul, but there's also another reason why ARMYs are talking about the concert. Read below to know what happened. BTS Jungkook Almost Gets Into an Accident Following Thursday's show, a clip of BTS Jungkook almost falling off an orange cart went viral. One part of the show featured some members of BTS dancing while standing on top of an orange cart. The bottom part of the cart shows thousands of purple and white balloons that are in sync with the colors of BTS. While the members were dancing, eagle-eyed ARMYs saw Jungkook almost fell. Even one of the bodyguards escorting the cart saw what was about to happen so he immediately ran close to the BTS maknae. Thankfully, Jungkook didn't fall off. However, ARMYs couldn't help but raise concerns after also seeing BTS Jin lose his balance while dancing. ARMYs now urge Big Hit Music to remove the cart altogether in the upcoming shows. Others also suggested a safer and sturdier cart to be used during BTS' performance. ARMYs couldn't also help but commend the staff that rushed to BTS Jungkook's side after seeing that could've happened. They said that they are grateful to him for taking his job seriously. Others praised the staff for going beyond what's expected of him. BTS Almost Tumbled While on Board the Cart Turns out, this isn't where the cart mishaps ended. During the same show, four members were caught off guard when the cart suddenly stopped mid-performance. im sorry for my actual scream and terrible camera control but the cart broke right in front of us and tae, jin, jk and jimin almost went flying oh my god BEST HUMANS I LOVE THEM #PTD_ON_STAGE_SEOUL pic.twitter.com/hy127yLob5 caz PTD SEOUL D1!! (@bangtanbankrupt) March 10, 2022 Since they were all singing and moving around, the sudden stop caused them to jerk. Luckily, no one got hurt or injured, but the scary moment was captured on video. Some ARMYs even apologized because they were unable to follow the no cheering and no screaming rule after seeing their idols almost tumble during their performance. Where Will BTS Perform Next? Meanwhile, BTS' "Permission to Dance" concert was a huge hit not only among the live audience but also among the ARMYs around the world. The Bangtan Boys will once again take the stage on March 12 and 13 for their back-to-back performances. The shows will be shown in select movie theaters across the globe. The March 13 show will be streamed online via Weverse. Following their shows in South Korea, BTS will return to the United States to perform at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 8, 9, 15, and 16. READ MORE HERE: Former Big Hit Trainee Shares What BTS Jungkook Was Like as Teen Camille Heimbrod wrote this. KpopStarz owns this article. A Broward judge appeared to balk at the idea of allowing jurors in an upcoming attempted murder trial to use virtual reality goggles to immerse themselves in a 3-D animation showing the defendants perspective. Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra did not rule on the motion filed by defense lawyer Ken Padowitz that would introduce the virtual reality technology to criminal courts in Broward for the first time. But he expressed concern that each juror would see something different based on where he or she turned his head. Advertisement Padowitz countered that jurors who physically visit crime scenes face the same issue, but crime scene visits are still allowed. [ RELATED: WIll virtual reality be the next dimension in expert testimony? ] Judge Ernest Hollra wears an Oculus virtual reality headset at the Broward County Courthouse on Friday in Fort Lauderdale. (John McCall /South Florida Sun Sentinel) Its not clear whether virtual reality headsets have been used in criminal trials anywhere, but Padowitz is accustomed to breaking ground on the use of computer animation in court. As a prosecutor in 1992, he was credited with the first use of two-dimensional computer animation to illustrate an expert witness testimony. Advertisement Kollra did not say when he would rule on whether to allow the headsets. Benjamin Siegel, Padowitzs client, is accused of trying to kill his neighbor by running over him with his car. Padowitz said hes planning a similar virtual-reality demonstration for an unrelated trial. Rafael Olmeda my be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Twitter @rolmeda. Capturing the heritage of the International Space Station before it crashes into the ocean FILE - This image from video from Louisiana state police state trooper Dakota DeMoss' body-worn camera, shows trooper Kory York bending over with his foot on Ronald Greene's shoulder after he was taken into custody on May 10, 2019, outside of Monroe, La. The video obtained by The Associated Press shows Louisiana state troopers stunning, punching and dragging the Black man as he apologizes for leading them on a high-speed chase, footage authorities refused to release in the two years since Greene died in police custody. (Louisiana State Police via AP) Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. UPDATE, MARCH 11 AT 1:01 PM: Michael Bigelow was arranged in Yellowstone County Friday morning and is pleading not guilty to all charges. His bond has been set at $125,000 and will be required to be monitored via GPS. Bigelow has been ordered to have no contact with his mother or any animals. MONTANA - After more than a dozen dogs were found dead at one property in Yellowstone County, a man is facing four felonies and multiple misdemeanors related to animal cruelty. Court documents say an Animal Control Officer responded to the 700 block of Bender road on Thursday, March 3rd, for a report of a loose dog in the area. When the officers arrived, the complainant told the officer that three large Great Pyrenees dogs were harassing her horses and it was not the first time this had happened. She told the officer she believed the dogs belonged to the property across the street. Documents says the officer was familiar with the property after responding to an animal welfare call at the residence earlier this year. The officer entered the property and looked for someone to talk to about the loose dogs. As she looked, documents say the officer saw a number of dead dogs, a dead horse, litters of puppies, and adult dogs chained up in poor condition. The officer met the defendant, Michael Bigelow, on the property and said she was there to discuss the dogs. After observing the man's condition, the ACO reported her observations to a detective who had her remove the suspect from the property while a search warrant was drafted. Once the warrant was acquired, several members of the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office, along with a consulting veterinarian, entered the property and began to execute the search warrant. At least 16 dogs were found dead, most by gunshot wounds. Several dogs were found to be in poor physical condition, with little to no access to food or fresh water. Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter says they received 19 dogs from the one property. The four felony charges Bigelow is facing are due to the location where the dogs were shot, which caused injury, suffering, and eventual death. Charging documents say other animals were found on the property that were also in poor condition on the property, with one horse carcass on the property which the consulting vet said was likely a source of food for the loose dogs as it had been partially consumed. Since his arrest, charging documents say the suspect has made several threats to law enforcement during calls to his mother, and has not expressed any concern for the animals. The allegations can be read in full below: Kathy Koch, a veteran public relations executive who was hired to help Broward schools improve its image after the Parkland tragedy but later became ensnared in her own controversies, is resigning. Kochs last day as chief communications officer will be May 2, and shell use leave time on days shes not assisting the district until then, she wrote in a resignation letter sent Friday to Superintendent Vickie Cartwright. She didnt state a reason and couldnt be reached for comment Friday. Advertisement She is leaving on her own accord, Cartwright told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in a text. Since joining the [Broward County Public Schools] family as the Chief Communications Officer, Ms. Koch has worked tirelessly to improve District communications. We thank her for her service to our District and wish her well. [ RELATED: After PR chief secretly plans Runcie rally, the rules about second jobs may change for Broward school employees ] Cartwright will ask the School Board on Tuesday to appoint John Sullivan, the districts legislative director, to oversee communications temporarily until a permanent replacement is named. Advertisement In late 2018, former Superintendent Robert Runcie hired Koch, a staunch ally who owned a public relations firm since the late 1980s, because he was unhappy with how he and the district were portrayed in local and national media after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He allowed her to maintain her private business, Ambit, although she phased it out and recently said she has no more clients. Koch, who is 72 and has a salary of $168,300, shifted the districts communications strategy from one focused on public information to one focused on public relations and marketing. She even persuaded the school board to change the name of her position from chief public information officer to chief communications officer. Kathy Koch, chief communications officer for Broward schools, spoke at a Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency in September 2019 as she sought a contract renewal for her private public relations firm, Ambit Advertising & Public Relations. (City of Hollywood / meeting screen shot) But School Board members often complained that her department was too slow to respond to incidents in the district. I appreciate that she came to work for us, but in the sixth-largest school district in the country, we change on a dime. News is quick, and we have to respond quickly, School Board member Nora Rupert said. I found that was really not happening. During her tenure, Koch has butted heads with the media, often refusing to grant interviews or allow reporters to visit schools unless the focus of the story was positive. [ RELATED: Schools PR chief planned secret rally for Runcie. ] Were working very hard to get our stories out to as many audiences as we can and to make sure those stories are straightforward and not slanted, Koch told the School Board in February 2021. In this particular media market, thats a challenge for us. Her office was criticized on social media Thursday for refusing to allow the Sun Sentinel to photograph on campus a student in a wheelchair who had fought for accommodations at Pompano Beach High. .@browardschools refusal to accommodate SunSentinel at Pompano HS today unfortunately inconvenienced a student in a wheelchair. They wouldnt let us on campus to photograph Sam Vogel, who fought for ADA accommodations. So Sam probably wheeled himself 2K ft round trip to meet us. pic.twitter.com/pwiaqkW50r Scott Travis (@smtravis) March 11, 2022 You are welcome to take a photo off school campus, from a public right-of-way outside the school, an unidentified person in Kochs office wrote. The student, Samuel Vogel, had to maneuver about 2,000 feet round trip through a large parking lot and half a city block to meet the photographer. Advertisement Koch assisted former district administrator Mickey Pope in 2019 with a letter to the Pulitzer Prize Board, explaining that district leaders felt the Sun Sentinels coverage of the Parkland tragedy and then-Superintendent Runcie was unfair and didnt deserve to be honored. The board awarded the Sun Sentinel the 2019 Gold Medal for Public Service, the countrys highest journalism award. .@Browardschools try to ensure media stories are straightforward & not slanted, @KatherineKoch said Tue. In this particular media market, thats a challenge. Koch refers again at workshop to slanted media, but never said which outlets or reporters she was referring to. pic.twitter.com/mQCQIzmt6H Scott Travis (@smtravis) February 3, 2021 Kochs office also helped develop and enforce a rule that banned the public from the School Board chambers on days when the board was holding a workshop, requiring visitors and media to watch on a monitor in the lobby. It started as a restriction due to the COVID-19 pandemic but continued weeks after the district dropped its policy on masks and social distancing. Koch kicked a reporter out of a workshop on Tuesday, but then let him back in after a complaint from Rupert. Cartwright apologized to the reporter Thursday. Koch struggled in her role after Cartwright took over in August 2021. Three weeks into Cartwrights tenure, she placed Koch under investigation for her role in secretly organizing a rally to support Runcie, who was arrested on April 21, 2021, on a perjury charge. The Sun Sentinel reported the incident after obtaining detailed notes that showed Koch did most of the work related to the rally, which was held during work hours on district property on April 23, but wanted the public to believe it was a community grassroots effort. John Sullivan, director of legislative affairs for Broward Schools, will temporarily take over communications following the resignation of Kathy Koch as chief communications officer. (Courtesy John Sullivan) The investigation by the districts Special Investigative Unit also revealed that Koch on at least one occasion did work for her private public relations business on district time without taking leave. She was later cleared of any wrongdoing, mainly because the district didnt have any policies that prohibited her actions. But Cartwright said she soon will bring to the School Board a proposed policy that restricts private work during district hours as a result of Kochs actions. In her resignation letter, Koch said its been an extraordinary experience and great honor to serve as chief communications officer. I have learned the profound importance of public education and how it prepares our students to be successful in whatever path they choose, she wrote. During these past few years at Broward County Public Schools, I have worked beside remarkable individuals, each committed to our communication goals and working their smartest and hardest every day. President Joe Biden, seen here March 10 in Washington, warns Russia will pay a 'severe price' if it uses chemical weapons in Ukraine. 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? A Big Foot High School graduate is one of six finalists to become the next Alice in Dairyland, to tour Wisconsin as the states agriculture ambassador. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) announced on Friday, March 11, the six top candidates for the 75th Alice in Dairyland position. The six top candidates include Walworth Countys Amelia Hayden. The other finalists are Amber Cafferty, Courtney Moser, Taylor Schaefer, Samantha Schuessler, and Charitee Seebecker. Amelia Hayden, who graduated from Big Foot in 2017, has always loved finding ways to give back to her community through agriculture. She credits her time in 4-H and FFA with showing her the value of service and giving her opportunities to serve the agriculture community. Hayden grew up showing at the Walworth County Fair and was an officer in her local 4-H club and the Walworth County 4-H Junior Leaders Association. In FFA, Hayden sought out every opportunity to inform others about agriculture. This work led her to become a national winner for her projects related to agri-science research and agriculture education. Hayden served as the 2017-18 Wisconsin State FFA Vice President and 2018-19 Wisconsin State FFA President. In these roles, she delivered workshops, keynote speeches, and interviews promoting Wisconsin agriculture and youth involvement to thousands of students and stakeholders. As a student at the University of MinnesotaTwin Cities, Hayden has served as president of the Agriculture Education, Communication and Marketing Club, an active member of the Agricultural Business Club, and a Teach Ag Ambassador. While in college, she interned with Vivayic, Inc., which included developing agriculture literacy resources, planning training webinars, and collaborating on media campaigns for numerous national agriculture clients. She is graduating in May 2022 with a bachelors degree in agriculture education. Hayden intends to become a high school agriculture teacher, where she can continue to serve agriculture and inspire students to become the next generation of Wisconsin agriculturists. Prior to being selected as top candidates, applicants completed an application and preliminary interview. Over the next eight weeks, the six top candidates will prepare for the three-day Alice in Dairyland Finals, scheduled for May 19-21 in Dane County. The three-day process includes agribusiness tours, media interviews, an impromptu question and answer session, individual interviews, and candidate presentations. The selection of the 75th Alice in Dairyland will be announced live during the program at the conclusion of the finals on May 21. The 75th Alice in Dairyland will begin her term July 5. The Alice in Dairyland selection process takes your communication, interpersonal, and public speaking skills to the next level, said 74th Alice in Dairyland Julia Nunes. This process helps the top candidates refine their communications skills that will not only be pivotal in their journey to the 75th Alice in Dairyland Finals, but also in their future careers. Lake Geneva officials have presented cost estimates and revenue projections for implementing year-round paid parking, while representatives from the Business Improvement District feel parking should remain free during the winter. The citys paid parking period runs from Feb. 1 through mid-November, then the free paid parking period goes from mid-November to the end of January of the following year, during a time which is often considered Lake Genevas off-tourism season. The cost to park in Downtown Lake Geneva is $2 an hour. Free parking was offered from mid-November to the March for several years, but city officials approved in 2021 to begin the paid parking period in February to gain additional parking revenue during Winterfest. Year-round paid parking was eliminated several years ago in Lake Geneva, because city officials felt that it was not cost effective to enforce during the off-tourism season. However, city officials have recently discussed the idea of reinstating year-round paid parking because of increased traffic in Downtown Lake Geneva this past December and because they feel switching from paid parking to free parking during the winter months is confusing to visitors. Parking Operations Manager Seth Elder presented rough cost estimates and revenue projections for re-instating year-round paid parking during the city councils public works committee meeting, Feb. 28. Elder said implementing year-round paid parking would cost the city about $100,000 with most of the costs coming from wages and benefits. Shifting to year-round would bump at least one or more employee into being eligible for benefits and into the retirement program, he said. Elder said the city could gain between $80,000 and $225,000 in additional revenue from year-round paid parking, based on parking estimates for mid-November, December, January and February. He said parking was robust in December because of holiday shopping, tree-lighting ceremony, Christmas parade and other holiday-related activities. A lot of that is very weather dependent, Elder said. I think $225,000 would be very optimistic. I think $80,000 might be on the low end, because December might be good. I think it would be somewhere in that range. Alderman John Halverson said he has talked to several residents who are against year-round parking. Ive received a lot of negative feedback, Halverson said. People think free parking is a benefit they can get. People feel it would be a negative. Alderman Richard Hedlund said residents receive three hours of free parking a day, and most people do not visit the Downtown area for more than that time. I dont know of anyone, other than people who work in town, who spends more than three hours Downtown doing their lunch or their shopping or whatever they do Downtown, Hedlund said. So I dont know where the feedback is coming from, but that doesnt make a lot of sense to me. Alderwoman Cindy Flower said she feels having on-again and off-again paid parking is confusing for visitors. She said implementing year-round paid parking would provide additional revenue for the city. The reason we were looking at this in the first place was because it causes confusion having paid parking on and off for the general public, Flower said. In the past, it didnt make sense financially so why would we do it? To me, the projections are something that would make sense. I think we should move this forward, but thats up to you guys. Members of the public works committee are set to discuss the issue again during their March 28 meeting. Ends dont justify the means Representatives from the Lake Geneva Business Improvement District are against the idea of implementing year-round paid parking and even proposed extending the free parking period back to March. Members of the Business Improvement District Board discussed the issue during their March 2 meeting. Spyro Condos, president of the Business Improvement District Board, said the free parking period helps attract people to Downtown Lake Geneva during the off-tourism season. We use this free parking as a marketing tool, Condos said. I understand the city likes the revenue part, but sometimes you can get a little too eager to make money and the ends dont justify the means. Condos said he would not have an issue with the city charging for parking during Winterfest which is typically held during the first week of February but after Winterfest convert back to free parking until March. For February if they charge over Winterfest and they can make some good revenue, fine. But after Winterfest, let it go, Condos said. Its February. Its freezing out. Theres not enough action out there to justify it. After some discussion, the Business Improvement District Board unanimously approved a motion to notify the city of their position to keep parking free during the winter months, to consider paid parking for Winterfest but to return to free parking until March after Winterfest. Alexandria Binanti Martinez, marketing manager for VISIT Lake Geneva, advised the board members, to send a survey to the Business Improvement District member businesses to obtain their opinions about the proposed year-round paid parking and present that information to the city. That would substantiate the stance you are taking, Martinez said. Its a passionate topic right now and giving that insight to the city is important. Condos said representatives from the Business Improvement District plan to attend the city meeting when the issue is discussed again. We will launch a crusade for this to keep it like it is, Condos said. $44K in Winterfest parking revenue The City of Lake Geneva obtained about $44,000 in paid parking revenue during Winterfest weekend, Feb. 4 through Feb. 6. Elder presented parking revenue projections for Winterfest weekend during the Feb. 28 public works committee meeting. He said the city received about $27,000 in paid parking revenue for Winterfest weekend in 2021. A lot of the increase was on Sunday, Elder said. I think two things contributed to this. Number one, it was great weather. Number two, the Super Bowl was not on Winterfest Sunday this year. Winterfest traffic causes parking and shuttle bus issues Flower said she noticed that most of the parking spaces in the Downtown area were full during Winterfest weekend. I know when I tried to get down there I was like, Im walking because there is no parking down here, Flower said. Elder said traffic was busy in the Downtown Lake Geneva throughout the weekend. We were robust, especially during the middle of the day and toward the end of the day, Elder said. We had a lot of people taking advantage of the close parking opportunities for Winterfest festivities. Elder said about 1,600 people rode a shuttle bus to Downtown Lake Geneva during Winterfest weekend. We started the weekend with one shuttle bus, and we were up to two by the middle of Saturday morning because there were so many people waiting, so we brought in another bus, Elder said. We call that a success. Deanna Goodwin, VISIT Lake Geneva marketing director, said during the Business Improvement District Board meeting that VISIT Lake Geneva plans to work with the city to provide more shuttle bus transportation during next years Winterfest. During Winterfest, we had to call the bus company to add buses because of the people waiting, Goodwin said. Condos said adding more shuttle buses may cause less traffic congestion in Downtown Lake Geneva. I think thats the best alternative we have, Condos said. You can only squeeze so many tomatoes into a bottle. You invite people here, the parking hasnt changed so they just go around and around and around. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Phil Gruber is the news editor at Lancaster Farming. He can be reached at 717-721-4427 or pgruber@lancasterfarming.com. Follow him @PhilLancFarming on Twitter. Sixteen-year-old Anne Lindsay's artisan, sourdough, bread-baking business, Annemade Bread, has brought in business at farmers markets and has allowed her to give to charity. Press Release March 12, 2022 De Lima grateful for overwhelming support in campaign rallies Amid her continued unjust detention, support for Re-electionist Senator Leila de Lima during campaign sorties remain overwhelming, her Spokesperson and one of her legal counsels, Atty. Dino de Leon, shared. In an online interview organized by Ateneo Batch 1980 during the series, "Ating Kilalanin ang mga Senatoriables," De Leon said many of our countrymen continue to vouch for De Lima's integrity and believe in her innocence amid efforts by the present administration to besmirch her reputation. "Despite the fact na ipinakulong nila si Senator Leila de lima, sinubukan nilang patahimikin, ang reception na nakukuha namin sa ground ay napaka-positibo, at naniniwala ang mga tao na imbento ang kaso laban sa kanya," he said. "Kasi malinaw naman na inosente siya, hindi naman maglalabas ng opinion ang UN [United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention] about her case kung hindi gawa-gawa lang ang kaso laban sa kanya," he added. It may be recalled that in August 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) concluded in its Opinion No. 61/2018 that the detention of De Lima was arbitrary given the absence of a legal basis. Since De Lima cannot physically attend campaign rallies, De Leon shared that the lady Senator "had to vicariously experience the campaign through stories." "I visited her [recently], gusto niya magpakuwento sa kampanya," said De Leon, who regularly attends campaign sorties bringing De Lima's standee with him, within and outside Metro Manila. Despite the limitation in campaign resources, De Leon shared that De Lima remains very hopeful and optimistic. "Her spirit remains to be indomitable," he said. "If it were another person, if you've been incarcerated the last five years, that wouldn't be easy. Pero now, all I can say is she's very happy, very determined to continue the fight and she will fight until the end, and hopefully she wins the elections with the support of everyone," he added. De Lima, the most prominent political prisoner under the Duterte regime who remains detained over-trumped-up drug charges, marked her 5th year in unjust detention last Feb. 24. She has consistently and firmly asserted her innocence in the cases filed against her. Due to lack of evidence, she was acquitted in one of these three cases on Feb. 17, 2021. The parents of Gabby Petito claim in a new Florida lawsuit that Brian Laundrie told his parents he had killed her before he returned home alone from their ill-fated western trip in a converted van. The lawsuit filed Thursday in Sarasota County Circuit Court contends that Laundrie told his parents on Aug. 28 that he had killed Petito, 22, his fiancee of about a year at the time. Advertisement Petitos disappearance on the trip and the subsequent discovery of her slain body Sept. 19 in a Wyoming national park became a national obsession, augmented by the later search for Laundrie in a Florida nature preserve. The FBI concluded that Laundrie strangled Petito with whom he had previous domestic quarrels and violence and that Laundrie fatally shot himself in the Carlton Reserve swamp after returning home alone Sept. 1. Advertisement FILE - This police camera video provided by The Moab Police Department shows Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito talking to a police officer after police pulled over the van she was traveling in with her boyfriend, The FBI on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021 identified human remains found in a Florida nature preserve as those of Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the death of girlfriend Gabby Petito while the couple was on a cross-country road trip. (The Moab Police Department via AP) (AP) The lawsuit contends that Christopher and Roberta Laundrie concealed that their son had confessed to the murder from investigators and Petitos parents while the search for Gabby Petito was ongoing. In doing so, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie acted with malice or great indifference to the rights of [Gabbys parents] Joseph Petito and Nicole Schmidt, the lawsuit claims, adding that this conduct was shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. [ RELATED: FBI: Brian Laundrie admitted killing Gabby Petito in notebook ] The lawsuit adds that the Laundries were making arrangements for him [Brian] to leave the country. No evidence was included to back up this claim. The lawsuit seeks damages of at least $30,000. An attorney for the Laundries, Steven Bertolino, said in a text message Friday that his clients were fully within their rights not to talk. He also denied the lawsuits claims in general. This lawsuit does not change the fact that the Laundries had no obligation to speak to law enforcement or any third party including the Petito family, Bertolino said. This fundamental legal principle renders the Petitos claims to be baseless under the law. Petito and Laundrie were both from Blue Point, New York, but moved to his parents Gulf Coast home in North Port in 2019. It was Petitos van the couple took on their trip from Florida, which was intended to end on Halloween on the Pacific coast. The lawsuit says that until that trip and her disappearance, the families had a cordial relationship. Gabrielle Petito had hopes of becoming a travel influencer, a van-lifer and document her cross-country travels on various social media sites, the lawsuit says. Advertisement FILE - This Aug. 12, 2021, file photo from video provided by the Moab, Utah, Police Department shows Brian Laundrie talking to a police officer after police pulled over the van he was traveling in with his girlfriend, Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito, near the entrance to Arches National Park in Utah. Laundrie, the boyfriend of slain cross-country traveler Gabby Petito, took responsibility for killing her in a notebook discovered near his body in a Florida swamp, the FBI announced Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (The Moab Police Department via AP, File) (AP) Petito had been in regular contact with her parents and posted frequently on social media about their travels, including YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. The couple had a regular following before the murder mystery took hold. The FBI says Laundrie sent text messages from Petitos cellphone to her parents and others in an effort to pretend she was still alive. He was also charged with illegally using one of her credit cards before his remains were discovered in the Florida nature preserve. New Delhi [India], March 12 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced an ex-gratia for families of seven people who were killed in a fire that broke out in the shanties of the Gokulpuri area in the national capital. Kejriwal today visited the site where the blaze broke out last night. Also Read | #Glaucoma is a Public Health Issue of Major Concern Globally as It is the Second Leading Latest Tweet by IANS India. "I am saddened by the fire incident in which seven people died. The poor make their shelters after a lot of hardwork. The Delhi Government will give Rs 10 lakh each to deceased adults' families, Rs 5 lakh to deceased children's families and Rs 25,000 to those whose shanties were burnt," Kejriwal said. Delhi Police informed that a forensics team has been rushed to the mishap site to conduct tests to ascertain the cause of the fire. Also Read | Odisha MLA Prasanta Kumar Jagadev Rams Car into Crowd in Khurda, Several injured (Watch Video). "As many as 60 shanties were also completely burnt. We are yet to know the reasons behind the fire," Chief of the Delhi Fire Services Atul Garg said. Delhi Police today morning informed that about 30 shanties had burnt down and seven people lost their lives after a fire broke out in the Gokulpuri area. Speaking to ANI this morning, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police of North East Delhi, Devesh Kumar Pandey said, "At 1 AM today, there was a fire incident reported in Gokulpuri Police Station area. Immediately after gathering information, our teams reached the spot with all the rescue equipment. We also contacted the Fire Department which responded very well. We all managed to douse the fire by around 4 am." "...30 shanties have been burned down and seven people lost their lives," he added. Delhi Fire Service department informed on Saturday that the fire was brought under control on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. Seven bodies have been retrieved from the site of the incident. The department officials further informed that as many as 13 fire tenders were rushed to the site after gathering information about the incident. Further probe in the matter is underway. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 12 (ANI): Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said he had received a notice in which the Mumbai Police has summoned him on Sunday in connection with a phone tapping case. Fadnavis slammed the Maharashtra government alleging that it had been brushing away the case for the past six months. Also Read | Delhi Fire: CM Arvind Kejriwal Announces Rs 10 Lakh Compensation for Kin of Adult Deceased, Rs 5 Lakh for Minors. Addressing a press conference here today, Fadnavis said, "Mumbai Police has sent me a notice under Sec 160 CrPC, asking me to appear before them at BKC Cyber Police Station at 11 am tomorrow. I will go there and record my statement." "As a Leader of Opposition, I have the privilege to not reveal where I got the information from but I was Home Minister once and I understand my responsibility. If an offence was falsely registered and if the police wants some help, I will respond. So, I will go to the Police Station tomorrow," said Devendra Fadnavis. Also Read | Odisha MLA Prasanta Kumar Jagadev Rams Car into Crowd in Khurda, Several injured (Watch Video). The BJP leader alleged that the state government was attempting to protect scamsters involved in the case. "Had the government caught the scamsters and those who are being probed by CBI on time and not brushed the matter under the carpet for six months, then I need not have exposed it. The State Government wants to protect them and somebody who has exposed this is being called to the police station," he said. On February 26 this year, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil claimed that former Pune Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla had tapped phones of political leaders like Nana Patole, Bachchu Kadu, Sanjay Kakade and Ashish Deshmukh. "FIR registered against former Pune CP Rashmi Shukla on the basis of inquiry report. During her tenure, she tapped phones of some political leaders on the pretext that the politicians were linked with the drugs business," said Patil. "She falsely took the permission which is against the Indian Telegraph Act. She tapped phones of leaders like Nana Patole, Bachchu Kadu, Sanjay Kakade and Ashish Deshmukh," added the Maharashtra Home Minister. Pune Police on Saturday registered an FIR against Rashmi Shukla in the Maharashtra phone tapping case. The case was registered under section 26 of the Indian Telegraph Act. In July last year, the Maharashtra government had constituted a three-member high-level committee headed by the then Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey to investigate the phone tapping cases for the period of five years from 2015 to 2019. The high-level committee was tasked to find out whether the phones of various political leaders were tapped illegally for undesirable political or any other purpose. The committee was asked to submit a detailed report of the probe and fix the responsibility of the person (if any) responsible for such cases. The committee has now submitted the report to the government. According to the report, it is found that the phone tapping was done during the tenure of then Pune Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla. Accordingly, an FIR has been filed by Pune city police against her under section 26 of the Indian Telegraph act. There were allegations of phone tapping levelled by several MLAs including Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole. The controversy over phone tapping had erupted in 2020 after audio clips purportedly having a telephonic conversation between Union minister Gajendra Singh and Congress leaders surfaced. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Panaji (Goa) [India], March 12 (ANI): Amid uncertainty over the next chief ministerial in Goa where the BJP retained power in the Assembly polls, state Health Minister in the outgoing Pramod Sawant government Vishwajit Rane met Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai on Saturday, however, he denied it being a political visit and called it a mere "personal visit". "I met the Governor in the evening. It was a personal visit, there is nothing political in it," Rane told ANI over the phone. Also Read | Punjab CM-Designate Bhagwant Mann Directs DGP to Probe Killing of Cows in Hoshiarpur. Inquired about the timing of the visit amid the persistent mist over the chief ministerial candidate of the party in the state, he said, "The last time he had come to my constituency, I could not meet him. So I went to pay a personal visit." Earlier, on the day of the counting of votes of Assembly elections, Rane said that he cannot predict whether Pramod Sawant will become the next chief minister of the coastal state and called it a "sensitive question". Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir: Terrorists Killed CRPF Trooper on Leave in Shopian. The BJP fell just one seat short of attaining a majority in the elections and secured 20 seats in the 40-member Assembly of Goa. However, the party is set to retain power in the state with the help of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak (MGP) and independent candidates. (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 12 (ANI): India recorded 3,614 fresh COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours with a positivity rate of 0.44 per cent, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Saturday. With this increase in new infections, the country's active caseload has gone up to 40,559. The weekly positivity rate is 0.52 per cent. Also Read | Delhi Fire: Blaze Erupts in Gokalpuri Village, 7 Dead, 60 Huts Burnt. The government data shows that 89 COVID-19 fatalities pushed India's death toll to 5,15,803. Meanwhile, as many as 5,185 people have been recovered from COVID-19 infection in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 4,24,31,513, as per government data. At present, the recovery rate is 98.71 per cent. Also Read | Weather Forecast: IMD Predicts Rise in Maximum Temperature by 2-5 Degrees Celsius Over Northwest and Central India From Tomorrow. The Union Health Ministry also informed that about 179.91 crores (1,79,91,57,486) COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Jammu, Mar 12 (PTI) Union minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that ascent of India to the front ranking nations has already begun with its thriving space adventures. He said that credit for this success goes entirely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who unlocked space technology to private players. Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir: Terrorists Killed CRPF Trooper on Leave in Shopian. The ascent of India as a frontline nation of the world has already started through the medium of space. The next 25 years from here will be crucial for the country as said by the Prime Minister, the Science & Technology minister said. The credit entirely goes to Prime Minister for unlocking space technology and opening it to private players, he said. Also Read | Fake Call Centre Busted in Gurugram, 38 Including 9 Women Held for Duping People on Pretext of Recovering Loan. Singh was addressing a conference on 'Frontiers of Space Technology and Applications for Humanity' at the Central University of Jammu, where he also inaugurated north India's first-ever space centre. India is entering into an era when it is going to play a pivotal role in space technology with India already having taken a lead in the world as far as space technology is concerned. He said India is earning millions in Euros and US dollars through launching of foreign satellites. Singh cited the example of the SAARC satellite -- that caters to needs of most of the neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal -- as a successful example of space collaboration. He also said the satellite was visualised and developed on instructions of the Prime Minister. He said that space technology for the last 70 years has been confined to South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala, which was an anomaly. This government is steadfast to take space technology to the remote corners of the country which is evident today with the inauguration of Satish Dhawan Centre for Space Sciences at Central University of Jammu and another Space Centre has already been established at Agartala, Tripura, with the support of Prime Minister of India who is himself a space technology enthusiast, he said. Singh said the space technology in the country is advanced to the stage that such premier space institutes as NASA request for footages of many space adventures captured by the ISRO. The Minister said the level of importance this government gives to the space technology is evident in such results as the discovery of water by Chandrayaan, which could not be done even by nations with advanced space programmes. It showed that India has already taken a lead in the field of space exploration, he said. Singh strassed that the Jammu space centre will serve as an institution for forging of startups in space technology. He called on people of the region to use this enormous opportunity to shape their future and get rid of the habit of depending on a government job. He said his ministry will launch startup-related awareness programmes across the country from next month. The minister said that ever since Modi has taken over as Prime Minister, space technology is being applied in diverse sectors for ease of living for common man. Space and satellite technology is today being extensively used in railways, road and bridge construction, agriculture, soils, water resources, forestry and ecology, housing, tele-medicine, disaster management and accurate weather forecast to name a few, Singh said. ISRO Chairman Somnath S said space technology now is an integral part of life, and that safety and security of the nation will depend on how strong it is going to be in the space sector. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kolkata, Mar 12 (PTI) Indian exporters are sitting on large orders as the Russia-Ukraine conflict has sharply increased logistics costs, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday. He said exporters are concerned over availability of containers and port-related issues. Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War Latest Updates: Mosque in Mariupol, Hospitals in Mykolaiv Shelled; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, France President Emmanuel Macron Hold Joint Phone Call With Vladimir Putin. "Because of these complications, the industry is not being able to take advantage of such large exporter orders, the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways said at a virtual session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry-Eastern Region. According to Hellenic Shipping News, worldwide shipping costs have increased 30 per cent year-on-year. Also Read | Tripura Horror: Woman Beheads 50-Year-Old Husband, Keeps Blood-Soaked Head in Temple in Khowai. Gadkari said the country has to reduce its dependence on crude oil, which is the need of the hour for the industry, and opt for alternative fuel like green hydrogen. The minister said the Centre is in the process of setting up 35 multi-modal logistics parks (MMLP), which would help the Indian exports sector become more competitive in the international market. Gadkari said the MMLPs will be developed on PPP basis with a capital outlay of Rs 46,000 crore. (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 12 (ANI): With the administration of more than 17 lakh vaccine doses, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 180 crore landmark milestone on Saturday, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. As per the provisional report of covid vaccination doses coverage till 7 pm on Saturday, more than 2.12 crore (2,12,29,004) Precaution Doses for the identified categories of beneficiaries (HCWs, FLWs and Over 60 years) for COVID vaccination have been administered. Also Read | Punjab CM-Designate Bhagwant Mann Directs DGP to Probe Killing of Cows in Hoshiarpur. The Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the nation on achieving this historic landmark milestone of 180 crore landmark. "Powered by the spirit of Jan-Bhagidari, the world's largest vaccination drive is touching new heights under PM @NarendraModi Ji's leadership. Keep following COVID appropriate behaviour even after getting vaccinated. #SabkoVaccineMuftVaccine" tweeted Dr Mandaviya. Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir: Terrorists Killed CRPF Trooper on Leave in Shopian. Meanwhile, India recorded 3,614 fresh COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours with a positivity rate of 0.44 per cent, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Saturday. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], March 12 (ANI): A Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist of Pakistan was gunned down in Pulwama encounter, said Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar. Two terrorists are trapped and the encounter is still underway. Also Read | Weather Forecast: IMD Predicts Rise in Maximum Temperature by 2-5 Degrees Celsius Over Northwest and Central India From Tomorrow. An encounter broke out at Chewaklan area of Pulwama between security forces and terrorists on Friday late evening. Another encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists at Serch area of Ganderbal in the early morning of Saturday. Also Read | Assam Horror: 15-Year-Old Girl Gang-Raped at Hotel in Guwahati. A Sarpanch was shot dead in Kulgam on Friday. Further details are awaited. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 12 (ANI): A major fire broke out at a tannery in Kolkata's Mehr Ali Lane in Tangra on Saturday. A total of 15 fire engines was present at the spot to douse the flames. According to the Kolkata Police, the fire broke out in the tannery at around 6:30 pm. The fire engulfed the entire area of the tannery. Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir: Terrorists Killed CRPF Trooper on Leave in Shopian. With the area surrounding the warehouse thickly populated, fire engulfed the entire area of the tannery. Inhabitants of the adjacent shanties have been evacuated, said Kolkata Police. As per information, two fire brigade personnel received an injury during the operation. They have been shifted to a state-run NRS hospital. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Compares Nepotism in Politics with Favouritism in Sports, Says Youth Will Power India to International Medals. The locals took water in buckets from their houses and filled water in a fire tender after it ran out of water. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) TALLAHASSEE Floridas public schools, universities and state agencies would be barred from entering into cultural agreements or accepting grant funds from Russia under a late budget agreement reached by state legislators. Lawmakers also ordered a review of state contracts to check for any taxpayer dollars that could be going to Russia-based businesses. Advertisement The findings must be reported to the Legislature by Dec. 1. [ RELATED: Florida is evaluating Russian investments as governors in other states cut financial ties ] Russia has faced a global backlash for its invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Gov. Ron DeSantis has not publicly called for Floridas state retirement funds to divest Russian holdings, a step taken by leaders in other states. Advertisement Instead, DeSantis said America should focus on boosting its domestic energy production. Floridas $195 billion in assets overseen by the State Board of Administration include about $300 million in holdings in Russian-domiciled investments, Dennis MacKee, a spokesman for the State Board of Administration, said last month. The State Board of Administration handles state retirement funds. [ RELATED: Florida House avoids vote to ban state investments in Russian companies ] MacKee said the state was evaluating those investments. He did not provide an update Friday on the status of that evaluation. Last week, the Republican-controlled Florida House declined to take up a Democratic proposal that would have prohibited the Florida Retirement System from investing in any company doing business with the Russian Federation. That amendment was deemed out of order on a technicality. Florida lawmakers are expected to approve the $112.1 billion budget on Monday, wrapping up their legislative session. sswisher@orlandosentinel.com New Delhi [India], March 12 (ANI): Pravasi Legal Cell, an NGO has moved to Delhi High Court in regards to Ukraine returnee medical students seeking direction to Union of India, National Medical Commission (NMC) to allow them to join Indian medical colleges. Petition seeks direction to the respondents to take appropriate steps to enable and facilitate continuance of studies for Ukraine-returned Indian medical students in the medical colleges in India from the stage their studies in Ukraine have been disrupted on account of the war. Also Read | CBSE Class 10th Term 1 Results 2022 Declared At cbse.gov.in; Here is How to Check. Plea submits that thousands of Indian medical aspirants prefer Ukraine for medical education due to various factors including affordability, quality of education, and the license to practice abroad. In Ukraine, Indian medical students also have no compulsion to give any medical entrance exam if they clear NEET. All the above factors make Ukraine a comfortable option for Indians to study Medicine. The plea further states that the plight of the Indian medical students rescued from war-hit Ukraine has the potential of disrupting their careers who have already gone through the trauma of being in the war zone and at present, there are no norms or regulations in India to accommodate medical students, who were studying abroad and had to return to India midway, in Indian medical colleges in between an academic session. Also Read | Hathras Case: Enforcement Directorate Arrests PFI Members Under Prevention of Money Laundering Case. The Constitution of India guarantees the Fundamental Right to Life under Article 21 which should mean and include the right to access and continuance to medical education in India by students of India who are forced to leave their medical education abroad due to the present scenario, read the plea. Earlier, the Indian Medical Association(IMC) also recommended the Centre to accommodate these students in Indian Medical Colleges. "We don't want to lose those 20,000 to-be-doctors who have faced so many difficulties on their way back to India and already they are in mental agony and kind of nervousness. Not giving them the opportunity, these students will lose their two years, resulting in their bleak future so we have requested the government to take it into account," said Dr. Jayesh M Lele, General Secretary of IMC. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], March 12 (ANI): Punjab Chief Minister-designate Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said that the swearing-in ceremony of the new government will be held on March 16 at the native village of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, Khatkar Kalan. Mann on Saturday met Governor Banwarilal Purohit at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh to stake claims to form the government in the state. Also Read | Patna: Constable of Bihar Military Police Dies of Cardiac Arrest After Hair Transplant. Speaking to reporters today after meeting Purohit, Mann said, "I met Governor today. I handed over the letter of support from our MLAs and staked claims to form a government. The Governor asked us for the place and time of the oath ceremony." "It will be held at the native village of Bhagat Singh, Khatkar Kalan, at 12.30 pm on March 16," he said. Also Read | NIA Arrests 6 Persons For Helping Rohingya Muslims Enter India Illegally. Mann said that historic decisions will be taken soon after the government is formed after the oath-taking ceremony. He said, "People from across Punjab will come to the ceremony, and they will also pay tribute to Bhagat Singh. We will have a good cabinet, and historic decisions, never made before, will be taken by the new government. So, you will have to wait." Mann has invited Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal for the oath-taking ceremony. Mann and Kejriwal will hold a roadshow in Amritsar on March 13 over the party's victory in the Assembly polls. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered a landslide victory in the Punjab polls with 92 seats, pushing most of its rivals to the margins. Congress won 18 seats in the 117-member Assembly. (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 12 (ANI): The Supreme Court appreciated Azim Hasham Premji for taking a constructive view of the matter and agreed to forgive the past conduct of a person who through his companies had filed more than 70 litigations against Premji and his associates. "We are happy to note that Azim Hasham Premji has taken a constructive view of the matter and agreed to forgive the past conduct of R Subramanian, more so, in view of the financial issues he has faced and to take also a compassionate view of the amounts due from him to the group companies of Premji, " said a bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh said. Also Read | Fake Call Centre Busted in Gurugram, 38 Including 9 Women Held for Duping People on Pretext of Recovering Loan. The bench also said, "The present proceedings have shown that there is nothing impossible as long as the parties are willing to see the reality of a given situation. More than 70 litigations, misconceived as they are, initiated by the respondents will be brought to an end on a realization by R Subramanian, who seeks to repent for his past conduct and wants to start a new chapter in his life." On the last date of hearing Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, had agreed to persuade Azim Hasham Premji to take a more compassionate view of the conduct of R Subramanian and to put a closure to all issues, subject to the condition that he and the associates who face a barrage of litigation receive an apology for his past conduct from Subramanian. Also Read | Bypoll to Asansol Lok Sabha Seat, Four Assembly Constituencies on April 12. Subramanian has assured to give the undertaking to withdraw the various proceedings pending before courts, tribunals and statutory authorities against the appellants Premji and their Group. Subramanian has filed an affidavit as per his assurance given on the last date of hearing with annexures of properties, list of companies and details of PILs filed by him pending before the Courts. The Court also allowed Azim Hasham Premji's appeal, and said, "We must record our satisfaction at having facilitated the parties in arriving at the aforesaid arrangement and bringing the present proceedings and a number of other proceedings to an end." "Suffice to say, we find that the initiation of the criminal proceedings as well as the judgment of the High Court are completely unsustainable and accordingly set aside both of them, " the Court said. Premji had approached the Supreme Court last year challenging the Karnataka High Court order. Karnataka HC had rejected their pleas for quashing summons issued against them by the trial court. (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, Mar 12 (PTI) Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said top officials of automobile companies have promised him that they will start manufacturing vehicles of flex-fuel variants within six months. Addressing 'ET Global Business Summit' virtually, Gadkari further said the government is working on a plan to shift public transport to 100 per cent clean energy sources. Also Read | The Badge Foundation is Definitely Ranked in The Top 10 Cryptocurrency Rankings. "This week, I had a meeting with managing directors of all big automobile companies and SIAM representatives. And they promised me that they will start manufacturing flex-fuel engines for vehicles that can run on more than one fuel," he said. Flex-fuel, or flexible fuel, is an alternative fuel with a combination of gasoline and methanol or ethanol. Also Read | Punjab National Bank Recruitment 2022: PNB Invites Application for 36 Peon Posts, 12 Pass Apply Now; Check Details Here. The road transport and highways minister said companies like TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto have already started producing flex-fuel engines for their two and three-wheelers. He said now farmers are making bio-ethanol from rice, corn and sugarcane juice. According to Gadkari, soon most vehicles in India will run on 100 per cent ethanol. Last year in December, the government had issued an advisory to carmakers to introduce flexible-fuel engines in vehicles. Gadkari also said the government is working to encourage the use of green hydrogen and other alternative fuels. "But at the same time you understand, presently we are using maximum petrol and diesel, and the international scenario is not good. "We are facing crucial problems because there is a war between Russia and Ukraine and I feel that it is really a big challenge," he said. So the only option, Gadkari noted, is alternative fuels like bio-ethanol and LNG, which are import substitutes, cost effective, and pollution-free. The minister pointed out that presently India imports crude oil worth Rs 8 lakh crore and it can go up to Rs 25 lakh crore in the next five years. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Islamabad [Pakistan], March 12 (ANI): Ahead of the no-confidence motion against his government, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday used derogatory language for Opposition leaders and threatened them with consequences once the motion fails, local media reported. Imran Khan launched a scathing attack on the troika of opposition figures, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif, the three leaders who are spearheading the no-trust move against him while addressing a public meeting at Dir Scouts Ground in Balambat, the Dawn reported. Also Read | Shefali Razdan Duggal, Indian-Origin Political Activist, Nominated as US Envoy to The Netherlands by Joe Biden. Khan referred to the trio of Opposition leaders as "Showbaz Sharif, Diesel and Dakoo". Khan, however, kept his choicest slur for the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) [JUI-F] chief, brushing aside advice that he himself said had been received from the head of the country's armed forces, the report further said. Also Read | Instagram Head Adam Mosseri Condemns Russian Decision to Block Social Network. "I was just talking to Gen Bajwa (Chief of Pakistani Army) and he told me not to refer to Fazl as 'diesel'. But I am not the one who is saying that. The people have named him diesel," Khan reportedly said referring to JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Maulana Fazlur Rehman lashed out at Pakistani Prime minister Imran Khan and told him to "keep his fight political," after the Pakistani PM's verbal assault He was speaking at the press conference organized by JUI-F chief along with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif in Islamabad, Pakistani broadcaster Geo News reported. Imran Khan, in his address also threatened that a sea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers would storm Islamabad a day before voting on the no-confidence resolution tabled by the opposition in the National Assembly against him. The prime minister reiterated that opposition leaders would face his wrath after the no-trust motion failed. "It was my dream that the opposition submits a no-confidence resolution against me in the NA (National Assembly)," he said, adding that the move would fail and the opposition would meet a shameful defeat, the report further said. Khan went on to talk about his government's achievements including the announcement of the recent 'relief measures' which reduced the prices of fuel and electricity tariffs by Rs 10 and Rs 5 respectively. The comments come a day after Islamabad Police stormed Parliament Lodges and made 19 arrests including key opposition members of the National Assembly. (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 [US], March 12 (ANI): Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has described the recent US warning that Russia may use chemical weapons in Ukraine, as another attempt to demonize his country. "Such claims are worth a penny. The US official, as always, did not bother to provide any evidence. This is another attempt to demonize our country," the ambassador said, as quoted by the Russian embassy's Telegram channel. Also Read | Shefali Razdan Duggal, Indian-Origin Political Activist, Nominated as US Envoy to The Netherlands by Joe Biden. "Our country, unlike the United States, eliminated all available stocks of chemical warfare agents in 2017. This fact has been documented by the OPCW. It is pointless to argue with this fact," Antonov added. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kathmandu [Nepal], March 12 (ANI): A Nepalese government report, dated September 2021, has accused China of encroaching into Nepal's territory along their shared border. The report, commissioned after it was reported that China was trespassing in the Humla district in the far west of Nepal, claims that Chinese forces threatened Nepal's border police. Also Read | Shefali Razdan Duggal, Indian-Origin Political Activist, Nominated as US Envoy to The Netherlands by Joe Biden. According to the report, surveillance activities by Chinese security forces had restricted religious activities on the Nepalese side of the border at a place called Lalungjong. It further said that China had been limiting grazing by the cattle stock of the Nepalese farmers. It further found that China was building a fence around a border pillar and attempting to construct a canal and a road on the Nepalese side of the border. The report also suggested the deployment of Nepalese security forces in the area to step up security. Also Read | Instagram Head Adam Mosseri Condemns Russian Decision to Block Social Network. Surprisingly, Nepal also remains silent on the issue as the report was not published by the government but was leaked. Despite all evidence on the ground, the report is now pending with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Further, after the report was leaked, Nepalese Communications Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said, "Any border issues with its neighbours would be dealt with diplomatically. Either with India or with China, if there are any issues at our border, we will resolve them through diplomatic means. Such problems should not arise, and the Nepal government will always make efforts to prevent such situations." As per a media report, with the Nepalese government downplaying the issue, Binay Yadav, Chairperson of Rashtriya Ekta Abhiyan, had submitted a memorandum to the United Nations office in Kathmandu, urging the international community to take note of Chinese land grabbing tactics. The memorandum says, "According to the study, the area between pillar number 5 (2) and the middle of the Kit Khola has been marked as the border between the two countries since the 1963 Boundary Protocol," adding that it has been discovered that the Chinese side has erected fences and wires in Nepali land. Meanwhile, amid reports of Chinese encroachment into Nepal in the last two years, there have been protests in Kathmandu against China's expansionist ambitions. However, China has denied such reports as the Chinese Embassy in Nepal issued a statement in January, saying "there is no dispute at all. It is hoped that the Nepali people (will) not be misled with false individual reports." (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Geneva [Switzerland], March 12 (ANI): Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur, in his report to the UN Human Rights Council recently identified countries, including China, which have supplied weapons used against civilians since Myanmar's military coup. The independent expert appealed to weapons-exporting nations to suspend their arms sales and urged to convene an emergency session of the Security Council to debate and vote on a resolution banning those arms transfers that Myanmar's military uses against civilians. Also Read | Russia Disables Ukraine Militarys Radio Intelligence Facility With High Precision Strike. "It should be incontrovertible that weapons used to kill civilians should no longer be transferred to Myanmar. These transfers truly shock the conscience," Andrews said, adding that "stopping the junta's atrocity crimes begins with blocking their access to weapons. The more the world delays, the more innocent people, including children, will die in Myanmar." The Special Rapporteur identified China, Russia and Serbia as the member states that have, since the coup, been supplying the junta with weapons of the sort that are being used to attack civilians. "The people of Myanmar are imploring the UN to act," he said. Also Read | US Independent Agency Calls on White House to Get Russia Expelled from Interpol, Says Reports. "They deserve an up-or-down vote on a Security Council resolution that will stop the sale of weapons being used to kill them. Too many families are finding themselves in the cross-hairs of weapons of war that the Member States are supplying. This must end," he said. The report, titled Enabling Atrocities: UN Member States' Arms Transfers to the Myanmar Military, also names States who have authorized the transfer of weapons since 2018 when Myanmar military atrocity crimes against the Rohingya ethnic minority were widely documented and a UN Fact-Finding Mission called for an immediate arms embargo. It includes the types and, where known, the amounts of weapons that have been transferred to the Myanmar military. Despite the evidence of the military junta's atrocity crimes being committed with impunity since launching a coup last year, UN Security Council members Russia and China continue to provide the Myanmar military junta with numerous fighter jets, armoured vehicles, and in the case of Russia, the promise of further arms. Last June the General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the Member States to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar. "This was welcomed by the people of Myanmar, civil society organizations, and international human rights advocacy groups," Andrews said. "The failure of the resolution to have any discernible impact on the crisis and the capacity of the junta to launch attacks on civilians, however, has led to anger and despair." Andrews urged the UNSC to take action these actions. "I appeal to Member States of the UN Security Council who are appalled by the killing of Myanmar civilians to put forward a resolution to stop it," he said. The report also called for coordinated action by the Member States to cut the junta's access to revenue, just as the people of Myanmar are doing through widespread boycotts on goods linked to the military. "Without legitimacy and against broad opposition among the people of Myanmar, the military junta operates as if it is a hostile military power. Military force is, therefore, its only means of attempting to exert control," Andrews said. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) San Salvador, Mar 12 (AP) A court in El Salvador on Friday ordered the capture of former President Alfredo Cristiani in relation to the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests and two others by soldiers. Prosecutors allege that Cristiani knew of the military's plan to eliminate the priests and did nothing to stop them. In a statement released by Cristiani's daughter, the former leader denied the allegations. Also Read | Instagram Head Adam Mosseri Condemns Russian Decision to Block Social Network. The truth is I never knew of the plans they had to commit those killings, Cristiani said. They never informed me nor asked for my authorisation because they knew that I would never have authorized that that Father (Ignacio) Ellacuria or his brothers were harmed. Also Read | China Reports 476 New Local COVID-19 Cases in Past 24 Hours. Cristiani and a former lawmaker, Rodolfo Parker, had been summoned to court Tuesday, but did not appear. There is nothing left but to decree the detention against those persons because they did not appear in court and did not send lawyers, the court's resolution said. Cristiani left El Salvador in June 2021 after appearing before a special congressional panel investigating overpayments to former government officials. When prosecutors reopened the priests' case, his daughter, Claudia Cristiani, published some photos of her father and said they were in the land of the grandfather, meaning Italy, but it was unknown if he is still there. El Salvador's Attorney General's Office has accused Cristiani, Parker and a number of former high-ranking military officers of being behind the murders. A general amnesty passed in 1993 during Cristiani's administration had prevented pursuit of those involved in war crimes until it was repealed in 2016. The killings during the country's civil war spurred international outrage. On Nov. 16, 1989, an elite commando unit killed the six priests five Spaniards and one Salvadoran along with their housekeeper and the housekeeper's daughter in the priests' residence. The killers tried to make the massacre appear as though it had been carried out by leftist guerrillas. Nine members of the military were initially put on trial, but a court absolved seven of them. Two officers served short sentences, but were released in 1993 under the amnesty. After the Supreme Court found the amnesty unconstitutional, a judge ordered one of those officers, Col. Guillermo Benavides, back to prison where he remains. While the case stalled at home, a Spanish court in 2020 sentenced former Salvadoran Col. Inocente Orlando Montano to 133 years for the priests' killings. The court called the massacre state terrorism carried out by powerful interests, including Cristiani, aimed at holding onto their positions of privilege within the power structures. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Beijing [China], March 12 (ANI): Liu Yanping, former head of the top anti-graft authority's discipline inspection and supervision office at the Ministry of National Security, is under probe for suspected violations of discipline and law. The probe is being conducted by the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, Xinhua news agency reported. Also Read | Shefali Razdan Duggal, Indian-Origin Political Activist, Nominated as US Envoy to The Netherlands by Joe Biden. Last month, a Chinese court has sentenced a former senior political advisor of the Community Party, to life in prison for accepting bribes. The court found out that Ma Ming, who was the Vice-Chairman of Inner Mongolia, had accumulated more than 150 million yuan in wealth and was sentenced to life. (ANI) Also Read | Instagram Head Adam Mosseri Condemns Russian Decision to Block Social Network. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) If you already subscribe to our print edition, sign up for FREE access to our online edition. Thanks for reading The Henderson News. Kyiv [Ukraine], March 12 (ANI): Heavy shelling by Russian forces has erupted around the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on Friday evening, according to a CNN report. Social media videos showed fires in the area, and Vitaliy Kim, head of Mykolaiv Region Administration, said that there were "active hostilities near Guryivka," to the north of the city. Also Read | European Union to Table Proposals by May End to Phase Out Dependency on Russian Energy by 2027. "We're trying to push them further," Kim said on his Telegram channel, according to CNN. In a series of messages, Kim said the bombardment amounted to "indiscriminate shooting at civilian targets," including a cafe and apartment block. (ANI) Also Read | Ukraine Crisis: We See No Security Reasons for Indian Students to Leave Russia, Indian Embassy in New Guidelines. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Beirut, May 12 (AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine dominates world attention. But with less global scrutiny, Putin is also busy advancing Russia's presence in the Middle East and Africa -- an expansion that military and civilian leaders view as another, if less immediate, threat to security in the West. Putin's strategy in the Mideast and Africa has been simple, and successful: He seeks out security alliances with autocrats, coup leaders, and others who have been spurned or neglected by the U.S. and Europe, either because of their bloody abuses or because of competing Western strategic interests. Also Read | Saudi Arabia Says It Has Executed 81 Convicts in Single Day. In Syria, Russia's defense minister last month showed off nuclear-capable bombers and hypersonic missiles over the Mediterranean, part of a security partnership that now has the Kremlin threatening to send Syrian fighters to Ukraine. In Sudan, a leader of a junta that's seized power in that East African country has a new economic alliance with the Kremlin, reviving Russia's dreams of a naval base on the Red Sea. Also Read | DR Congo Train Derailment Kills 60 in Lualaba Province. In Mali, the government is the latest of more than a dozen resource-rich African nations to forge security alliances with Kremlin-allied mercenaries, according to U.S. officials. Especially in the last five or six years, what you've seen is a Russia that is much more expeditionary and casting its military power further and wider afield, retired U.S. Gen. Philip M. Breedlove told The Associated Press. Russia is trying to show itself as a great power, as at the seat in world affairs, as driving international situations, said Breedlove, the second-highest military commander in NATO from 2013 through 2016, and now a distinguished chair at the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington. But with Putin's hands already full battling the fierce resistance from a much weaker Ukrainian military, experts view his expansionist goals in the Middle East and Africa as a potential long-term threat, not a present danger to Europe or the NATO alliance. It's threatening NATO from below, Kristina Kausch, a European security expert at the German Marshall Fund think-tank, said of the leverage Russia is gaining. The Russians have felt encircled by NATO and now they want to encircle NATO, she said. To achieve its strategic aims, Russia provides conventional military or Kremlin-allied mercenaries to protect the regimes of often outcast leaders. In return, these leaders pay back Russia in several ways: cash or natural resources, influence in their affairs, and staging grounds for Russian fighters. These alliances help advance Putin's ambitions of returning Russia's influence to its old Cold War boundaries. Russia's new security partnerships also aid it diplomatically. When the U.N. General Assembly condemned Putin's Ukraine invasion this month, Syria joined Russia in voting against, and many of the African governments that have signed security deals with Russian mercenaries abstained. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russia would bring recruits from Syria to fight in Ukraine. The threat was seen primarily as an intimidation tactic and U.S. officials say there's been no sign of Syrian recruits in Ukraine. Some security experts say Russian mercenaries are using Mali as a staging ground for deployment to Ukraine, but U.S. officials have not confirmed these reports. Regardless of how imminent the threat is, U.S. and European leaders are paying increasing attention to Putin's moves in the Middle East and Africa and Russia's growing alliance with China as it formulates plans to protect the West from future aggression. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in mid-February that the West could no longer ignore the competition for influence across Africa, where China spends billions on infrastructure projects to secure mineral rights, and Russia provides security through Kremlin-allied mercenaries. We see and realize that if we withdraw from this competition as liberal democracies, then others are going to fill these gaps, Baerbock said as Western diplomats huddled on the Ukraine crisis, in the last days before Russia's invasion. Perhaps the boldest example of Russia flexing its global reach was when it sent defense minister Sergei Shoigu last month to Damascus to oversee Russia's largest military drills in the Mediterranean since the Cold War, just as Russia's military made final preparations for its assault on Ukraine. The drills, involving 15 warships and about 30 aircraft, appeared choreographed to showcase the Russian military's capability to threaten the U.S. carrier strike group in the Mediterranean. Russia's Hmeimeem air base on Syria's Mediterranean coast has served as its main outpost for launching attacks in Syria since September 2015. Russia's attacks in Syria, which leveled ancient cities and sent millions of refugees to Europe, allowed President Bashar al-Assad's brutal government to reclaim control over most of the country after a devastating civil war. Hmeimeem base is now an integral part of Russia's defense strategy not just in the Middle East but all the world,'' said Ibrahim Hamidi, a Syrian journalist and senior diplomatic editor for Syrian affairs at the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. In Africa, too, Russia is open to working with leaders known for anti-democratic actions and abuses of human rights. On the eve of Russia's invasion with Ukraine, Kremlin officials met in Moscow with an officer of a military junta that seized power in Sudan. Isolated by the West, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo warmly responded to Russia's overture of a new economic-focused alliance. Upon returning home, Gen. Dagolo announced that Sudan would be open to allowing Russia to build its long hoped-for naval base at Port Sudan on the Red Sea. It's far from certain that Russia would be able to take advantage anytime soon. The Ukraine invasion is straining its military and financial resources and showing Russia's military weaknesses, and international sanctions are crippling its economy. But longer-term, a Red Sea port could help give it a greater role in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, increase Russian access in the Suez Canal and other high-traffic shipping lanes, and allow Russia to project force in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. They certainly could create enough havoc to cause problems, said Breedlove, the former NATO commander. Russia's expanding alliances aren't just about its conventional military. From 2015 to 2021, Russian mercenary security outfits increased their presence around the world seven-fold, with operations in 27 countries as of last year, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The most prominent is the Wagner Group, which the U.S. and EU consider to be a surrogate of the Russian military, but which the Kremlin denies even exists. From Libya to Madagascar, security contracts granted to Wagner Group and others give Russia access to mineral resources, staging grounds for deployments and substantial footholds challenging Western nations' influence there. In Mali, the U.S. and Europe expressed alarm in December at reports that the Wagner Group had signed a $10 million-a-month security contract with that government. Experts say Wagner took advantage of local unhappiness over the failures of a years-long French-led deployment in the sub-Saharan targeting extremist factions. Mali denied any such deployment, but some in Mali saw the arrival of Russians as a slam to Mali's colonial ruler France, which had struggled to protect them against armed extremists. They hope for better results from any Russian fighters arriving in the sub-Saharan. Long live Russia!" cried one man in a crowd cheering the sight of a Russian delegation in the capital in January. Long live the people of Mali! (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Lviv (Ukraine), Mar 12 (AP) Russia's airplanes and artillery widened their assault on Ukraine on Friday, striking airfields in the west and a major industrial hub in the east, as Moscow's forces tried to regroup from recent losses and their onslaught fast reduced crowded cities to rubble. American defense officials offered an assessment of the Russian air campaign, estimating that invading pilots are averaging 200 sorties a day, compared with five to 10 for Ukrainian forces, which are focusing more on surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and drones to take out Russian aircraft. Also Read | Instagram Head Adam Mosseri Condemns Russian Decision to Block Social Network. New commercial satellite images appeared to capture artillery firing on residential areas between Russian forces and the capital. The images from Maxar Technologies showed muzzle flashes and smoke from the big guns, as well as impact craters and burning homes in the town of Moschun, outside Kyiv, the company said. Also Read | Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol, Kidnapped by Russian Forces, Alleges Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Watch Video). In a devastated village east of the capital, villagers climbed over toppled walls and flapping metal strips in the remnants of a pool hall, restaurant and theater freshly blown apart by Russian bombs. Russian President Vladimir Putin created this mess, thinking he will be in charge here, 62-year-old Ivan Merzyk said. In temperatures sinking below freezing, villagers quickly spread plastic wrap or nailed plywood over blown out windows of their homes. We are not going away from here, Merzyk said. On the economic and political front, the U.S. and its allies moved to further isolate and sanction the Kremlin. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. will dramatically downgrade its trade status with Russia and also ban imports of Russian seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The move to revoke Russia's most favored nation status was taken in coordination with the European Union and Group of Seven countries. The free world is coming together to confront Putin, Biden said. On the ground, Russia's forces appeared to be trying to regroup and regain momentum after encountering heavier losses and stiffer resistance than anticipated over the past two weeks. Britain's Ministry of Defense said Russia is trying to re-set and re-posture its troops, gearing up for operations against Kyiv. It's ugly already, but it's going to get worse, said Nick Reynolds, a warfare analyst at Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank. With the invasion in its 16th day, Putin said there had been certain positive developments in Russia-Ukraine talks, but gave no details. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Ukrainian forces had reached a strategic turning point," though he did not elaborate. It's impossible to say how many days we will still need to free our land, but it is possible to say that we will do it," he said via video from Kyiv. Zelenskyy said authorities were working on establishing 12 humanitarian corridors and trying to ensure food, medicine and other basics get to people across the country. Thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been killed in the invasion, along with Ukrainian civilians. He accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of one city, Melitopol, calling the abduction a new stage of terror. The Biden administration, citing American intelligence but no evidence, warned before the invasion of Russian plans to detain and kill targeted people in Ukraine. Zelenskyy himself would be a likely top target. So far, the Russians have made the biggest advances on cities in the east and south while struggling in the north and around Kyiv. Russia said it used high-precision long-range weapons to put military airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west out of action. The attack on Lutsk killed four Ukrainian servicemen, the mayor said. Russian airstrikes also targeted for the first time Dnipro, a major industrial hub in the east and Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about 1 million people. One person was killed, Ukrainian officials said. In images of the aftermath released by Ukraine's emergency agency, firefighters doused a flaming building, and ash fell on bloodied rubble. Smoke billowed over shattered concrete where buildings once stood. The bombardment continued in Mariupol, where a deadly strike on a maternity hospital this week sparked international outrage and war-crime allegations. Unrelenting attacks have thwarted repeated attempts to send in food and medicine and evacuate civilians from Mariupol, a city of 430,000. In a statement, the Mariupol mayor's office said Friday that the toll of people killed during the now 12-day siege had risen to 1,582. In the face of the unrelenting bombing, the dead aren't even being buried," the mayor's office said. Elsewhere, temperatures were forecast to hit -13 degrees Celsius (8 Fahrenheit) in the eastern city of Kharkiv, which has come under heavy bombardment. About 400 apartment buildings in Kharkiv lost heat, and Mayor Ihor Terekhov appealed to remaining residents to descend into the subway or other underground shelters where blankets and hot food were being distributed. The latest assaults came a day after satellite photos appeared to show that the huge armored column that was stalled for over a week outside Kyiv had spread out near the capital. Military analysts were divided over whether the maneuvering by the Russian convoy signaled the imminent start of a siege of Kyiv or was just an effort to disperse some vehicles to more protected positions. The photos showed howitzers newly set up in firing position, and armored units staged near the Antonov Airport north of the city, according to Maxar. Americans point instead to other forces that are moving toward Kyiv from the northeast and are now about 20 to 30 kilometers (about 10 to 20 miles) east of the city center. Hundreds of miles to the south of Kyiv, at Mykolaiv, shelling damaged a cancer hospital, according to the head doctor, Maksim Beznosenko. No one was killed. The United Nations says it has verified 26 attacks on medical centers, medical workers or ambulances since the invasion began, with 12 people killed. The U.N. political chief said Friday that the international organization had received credible reports that Russian forces were using cluster bombs in populated areas. The bombs scatter smaller explosives over a wide area and are prohibited in cities and towns under international law. Russians and Ukrainians have held multiple rounds of talks near the Belarus border, and the two countries' foreign ministers met again Thursday with no apparent progress. Various third countries have also made attempts to broker a stop to the fighting. Some 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, according to the United Nations. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kabul [Afghanistan], March 12 (ANI): The acting Foreign Minister of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi will be attending the third regional meeting on Afghanistan to be held in China later this month, a Taliban spokesperson said on Twitter. The announcement comes after the acting Foreign Minister Muttaqi met with China's ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relations as well as the upcoming regional meeting on Afghanistan in China, Tolo News reported. Also Read | Shefali Razdan Duggal, Indian-Origin Political Activist, Nominated as US Envoy to The Netherlands by Joe Biden. "The meeting focused on enhanced relations between both countries, political and economic issues as well as the convening and participation in the regional foreign ministers' meeting to be held in China at the end of this month," said Hafiz Zia Ahmad, deputy spokesperson of Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Minister Muttaqi said he would attend the meeting (in China), expressing optimism about a favourable outcome for Afghanistan," Ahmad added. Also Read | Instagram Head Adam Mosseri Condemns Russian Decision to Block Social Network. Previously, the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that his country is preparing for the third foreign ministers' meeting among the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan, adding that his country is willing to contribute to the durable stability and security in Afghanistan, the report said. The first meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's six neighbouring countries included Iran, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan and was hosted by Pakistan in September last year. The second meeting of the foreign ministers of the regional countries was held in Iran last October in which the participants issued a joint statement and called for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan, the report added. Notably, the Taliban representatives are also attending the ongoing Antalya Diplomacy Summit in Turkey. US Special Representative Thomas West on Friday met Taliban's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in the Turkish city of Antalya and discussed the political and economic situation in Afghanistan. "With colleagues, Amb Beth Jones, Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts and Charge d'Affaires McCary @USAmbKabul, spent productive time with Taliban delegation. Covered critical issues for the Afghan people: economic stabilization & growth, education, & commercial air travel," West 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) Police forces have been deployed inside the DMCH campus for the security of doctors. Emergency services have resumed. Darbhanga's drug trade union is on a protest demanding the arrest of accused students. Actions will be taken against the people involved: Darbhanga SDPO KN Kumar pic.twitter.com/X0LM4Ay5cz ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) Gabby Petito's parents filed a lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents, claiming that the two had known about Petito's death and still tried to help their son evade capture. Petito's parents, Nichole Schmidt and Joseph Petito, argued in a lawsuit that Chris and Roberta Laundrie were aware that their son had killed Gabby, even assisting him in several tries to escape authorities, according to a Daily Mail report. Laundrie fled his parents' home with his remains later found in a Florida nature preserve. The lawsuit stated that Petito suffered blunt force injuries to the head and neck, with a previous report by the coroner's office determining that she died by strangulation. The coroner did not mention other injuries that Petito's parents were claiming. The lawsuit described Laundrie's parents' response to their son's actions as "shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable." The civil action was filed in Sarasota County, Florida. It did not name a specific amount for potential damages, but that it would exceed $30,000, according to an NBC News report. The lawsuit also claimed that Laundrie, on August 28 last year, had advised his parents, Christopher and Roberta, that he had murdered Petito. Laundrie's parents were also accused of making arrangements for him to leave the country. Lawyer for Laundries, Steve Bertolino, denied the allegations in the lawsuit. READ NEXT: Brian Laundrie Update: Full Autopsy Report Released With New Details Surrounding His Death Gabby Petito Killng Laundrie and Petito started their cross-country tour of national parks in July 2021. They documented their trips on YouTube and Instagram under the online alias Nomadic Statik. On August 12, Moab police responded to a report of a "domestic problem" between Petito and Laundrie. Police reported that days after the Moab incident, Petito's communications with her family stopped, according to another NBC News report. Schmidt said that she had received texts sent from her daughter's phone until August 30. However, she was not sure where her daughter sent them. Laundrie then returned to Florida on September 1, which was 10 days before Petito's family reported her missing. Laundrie was reportedly missing on September 13. Petito's body was found on September 19 in a Wyoming nature park. The coroner noted that she had been dead for at least three weeks. Brian Laundrie's Disappaearance Officials announced on October 20 that they had found partial human remains in Carlton Reserve in Florida. The remains were found along with some personal items, such as a notebook and a backpack belonging to Laundrie, according to a Rolling Stone report. A day later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said that a comparison of dental records confirmed that the remains were Laundrie's. An autopsy revealed that Laundrie killed himself after being initially reported inconclusive, according to The Guardian report. Laundrie was never charged on the case but he was considered as a person of interest for the disappearance of Petito. The two were childhood sweethearts on Long Island in New York, then moved to Florida in 2019 to live with Laundrie's parents. READ MORE: Brian Laundrie Case: Probe Into Utah Cops Who Responded to Gabby Petito and Fiance's Domestic Dispute 'Close' to Wrapping Up This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Gabby Petito's parents allege Brian Laundrie told parents of Gabby's murder | #HeyJB on WFLA Now - from WFLA News Channel 8 A former Press Secretary for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday explained why she deleted a tweet saying that it would be a "tragedy" if Vice President Kamala Harris will be the chief executive of the U.S. On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris and Polish President Andrzej Duda appeared at a press conference together in Warsaw, where the two officials were asked if the United States will accept refugees from Ukraine amid its war with Russia, per New York Post. Harris then answered: "OK," as she drew a chuckle from Duda and the reporters present in the conference. "A friend in need is a friend indeed," Harris added, before laughing loudly at her own line. Zelensky's former press secretary, Iuliia Mendel, quickly took to Twitter the same day to slam Harris on her laughter, The Daily Mail reported. "It would be a tragedy if this woman won the presidency," Mendel wrote on Twitter before quickly deleting the post. On Friday, Mendel, who served Zelensky's administration from June 2019 to July 2021, explained to CNN why she deleted her criticism to Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that she removed the post after learning the U.S. official has a form of "particular communication when she feels uncomfortable," per The Daily Mail. "For us, as Ukrainians, it was a very bad experience to see this type of reaction, a laugh," Mendel underscored, adding that the world is currently witnessing the "tragedy" of millions of people being turned into refugees. Mendel also expressed her hopes that Harris' actions would show "more than her communication behaviors" that are "somehow inappropriate." READ NEXT: Winter Storm Warning: Arctic Bomb Cyclone Set to Hit Dallas, Other Parts of U.S. Soon VP Kamala Harris Receives Backlash for Laughing During Press Conference Mendel was not the only one who criticized Kamala Harris for laughing when she was asked if the United States will accept refugees from Ukraine. Discussing refugees is no laughing matter. Why she laughs at this is deranged. George Papadopoulos (@GeorgePapa19) March 10, 2022 Former Donald Trump campaign aid, George Papadopoulos, asked why the vice president laughed at the issue, calling the issue "deranged." He also noted that Harris was consistent during her live remarks with Poland, contending that the vice president "consistently" laughed. Only Kamala Harris would find it appropriate to laugh when talking about the topic of Ukrainian Refugees. pic.twitter.com/aJhL3fHzEj Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 10, 2022 Podcast host and Turning Point USA member Benny Johnson said that Harris was the only one "who would find it appropriate to laugh when talking about Ukrainian refugees." The criticism against Harris poured in as Polish President Andrzej Duda said that he asked the U.S. vice president to help speed up the consular processes of Ukrainian refugees so that they can stay in the U.S. if ever they have their families there, The Daily Mail mentioned. However, Harris did not specify if the U.S is committed to taking a certain number of Ukrainian refugees. Despite that, the vice president said that Ukrainians currently in the U.S. nearing the expiration of their visa will be allowed to remain in the country, per New York Post. Other Instances Kamala Harris Laughed on Serious Matters It was not the first time that Harris gave off a laugh when talking about a serious matter. In March last year, Kamala Harris also laughed when she was asked if she will visit the U.S.-Mexico border in light of the surge of migrants in the area. During that time, Harris answered: "not today," and then gave off a laugh, adding that she visited "before" and would probably go back. In August, New York Post mentioned that Kamala Harris also laughed at August when she was asked about the U.S. troops' withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying: "Hold on, hold on - slow down, everybody," before she giggled. READ NEXT: Rep. Madison Cawthorn Calls Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky a 'Thug'; Republican Placed Under Fire After Remarks This article is owned by Latin Post. Written By: Joshua Summers WATCH: Kamala Harris Criticized for Laughing During Press Conference About Ukraine - From The Telegraph Erik Eck, a former member of the Latin Kings gang, stands in the doorway of his cell at the DuPage County Jail in Wheaton, Ill. The White House held a Zoom meeting with 30 TikTok influencers about the Russia-Ukraine crisis on Thursday. Ukrainian-born Jules Suzdaltsev, who runs the news account Good Morning, Bad News, said the White House briefing was a positive step in terms of the administration's recognition of TikTok's influence and creator's ability to connect with a broad audience, Insider reported. Suzdaltsev noted that TikTok gets such a wide reach, particularly among young people interested in news. The hashtag "#NewsTok" has 123 million views, while "#News" has more than 37 billion. Many TikTok creators create long-form videos called "video essays" in sharing news and historical information. Hosted by White House press secretary Jen Psaki, the Zoom meeting focused on the United States' involvement in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Special adviser for communications at the White House National Security Council Matt Miller also attended the Zoom briefing. Suzdaltsev said he was invited by Gen Z for Change a day before the call. The Gen Z for Change, a nonprofit organization specializing in social media and justice advocacy, was the one who invited all the TikTokers and prepped questions for the administration officials, The Washington Post reported. Kahlil Greene, a self-described "Gen Z Historian" with over 500,000 followers, was also invited to the meeting and news TikToker Marcus DiPaola, who had more than 3.5 million followers. Suzdaltsev, who has over 1.1 million followers, said the nature of the Zoom call with other TikTok influencers was not "super serious" and just covered talking points that the administration of President Joe Biden has previously made like how the United States is providing humanitarian aid and doing what they can in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. READ NEXT: Jen Psaki Defends Pres. Joe Biden's Refusal to Release Visitor Logs From Delaware Homes, Where He Spent 28% of His 1st Year White House Zoom Meeting With TikTok Influencers According to The Hill, TikTok influencers were briefed on the "strategic goals in the region" while National Security Council staffers and Jen Psaki answered questions on distributing aid to Ukrainians. White House director of digital strategy Rob Flaherty said the Biden administration recognizes that this was a critically important avenue for the American public to get the latest information. Flaherty added that they wanted to ensure that the influencers had the "latest information from an authoritative source." Ukrainian American TikTok creator Aaron Parnas, who has 1.2 million followers, tweeted on Friday that he was blessed to have had the opportunity to attend a White House briefing to be "armed with accurate information about how America is helping Ukraine and our European allies." White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Tells TikTok Influencers Russia Hacked 2016 Election Jen Psaki also took the opportunity to talk about other matters during the Zoom call with TikTok influencers. During the Zoom briefing, Psaki alleged that the Russian government "hacked" the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Over the last several months, Psaki said the U.S. government has decided to declassify information relevant to the public, unlike previous diplomatic conflicts with Russia, since the best antidote to disinformation is the truth. "If you look back at 2014, and even 2016, when Russia invaded Ukraine and then in 2016, when they, you know, of course, hacked our election here, we did not do that, we did not declassify information," Psaki told the TikTok influencers. However, according to Fox News, there is no evidence that Russian hackers tampered with election results as part of the 2016 hacking spree even though they were behind the stealing of emails from Democratic officials like John Podesta. A National Security Council official said they think they have now built up "a bit of credibility" after they correctly predicted that Ukraine would be invaded. The White House has already tapped TikTok influencers before as well as Twitch and YouTube creators to promote the COVID-19 vaccine and help counter misinformation, with infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci joining them. READ MORE: Kamala Harris Says 'Democracy' Is the Biggest National Security Threat Facing the U.S. This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: White House Holds Press Briefing: March 7 - From NBC News Khloe Kardashian has expressed her approval for her sister Kim Kardashian making her relationship with Pete Davidson Instagram-official. On Friday, the SKIMS founder posted a series of photos, some with Pete, on Instagram, and Khloe reacted with approval, Page Six reported. "I love this," the "Good American" founder commented that has already garnered more than 12,000 likes. According to Page Six, it was not the first time Khloe expressed her approval to Pete and her sister's relationship. Khloe shared a photo of a gorgeous arrangement of pink flowers last month on Valentine's Day, which the reality star revealed came from Pete Davidson. Khloe then called Pete "the sweetest." At the time, a source told Page Six how Khloe feels about Kim and Pete's relationship. The source said Khloe Kardashian "loves Pete and is so happy to see how happy he makes her sister." READ NEXT: Kim and Khloe Kardashian Reveal Whether New Hulu Show Will Include Stories About Pete Davidson, Tristan Thompson Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson's Relationship Becoming Instagram Official Among the photos that Kim Kardashian posted on Instagram Friday was a black-and-white photo of her and her boyfriend Pete Davidson hanging out. The image shows Kim making a kissing face, and Pete, with sunglasses, sporting a broad grin. Another photo shows the "SNL" star lying in a hallway with his head nestled in Kim's lap while she was looking down at his face. There is also an image where the fashion mogul dressed up and looked gorgeous in a sparkly coat with a silver thigh-high boot. "Whose car are we gonna take?!," Kim captioned on her IG post. Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson first made headlines while sharing an onscreen kiss on the "SNL" in October 2021. Later that month, the two sparked dating rumors after they were seen and photographed holding hands on a rollercoaster at Knott's Scary Farm in Buena Park, California, People reported. Since then, the couple had gone on trips together, including going to Staten Island and the Bahamas. Caitlyn Jenner Shut out of the Kardashian Family's New Show Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson went Instagram official a day after Caitlyn Jenner expressed how she felt when she was shut out of the new reality show of the Kardashian family on Hulu. Caitlyn's ex-wife Kris Jenner has confirmed to Variety that Caitlyn will no longer be included in the series, Daily Mail reported. Caitlyn broke her silence by tweeting that she was there when the reality show started, adding that being in it for "almost 20 seasons" was one of the highlights of her life. But despite being not on the show, Caitlyn said it was incredible that she was able to work with her family for all those years and "happy" that it continues for her family. I was there when this started from day one. I watched it grow. And doing the show for almost 20 seasons was one of the highlights of my life. To be able to work with my family for all those years, connect with the fans, it was incredible. Happy that it continues for my family. https://t.co/NDd2jJaQQE Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) March 11, 2022 Caitlyn Jenner was a regular on "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" from its very first season on E! in 2007 until 2015. READ MORE: Kamala Harris Criticized by Volodymyr Zelensky's Ex-Press Secretary but Deleted Tweet Saying It Would Be 'Tragedy' if Harris Was President This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Joshua Summers. WATCH: Kim Kardashian & Pete Davidson Are Instagram Official! - From E! News Hundreds of women attended the 31st Annual Latina History Day Conference in Los Angeles Friday, including Oscar-nominated film Encanto's producer Yvett Merino. The event was hosted by Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE), which aims to recognize the past and present achievements of Latinas while embracing the rich diversity of the Latina experience, Hola reported. During the conference's Breakfast Program, Merino and Encanto's co-writer and co-director, Charise Castro Smith, gave insight into their lives and tried to inspire other Latinas to dream big. Yvett Merino's Career Growing up in Southern California's Norwalk, Yvett Merino had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. She said her parents did not go to college, and they simply worked hard so they could survive. Merino's machinist father and office manager mother were both hail from Mexico. Merino noted that her parents' only piece of advice was to "go to college and get a job." Left with no choice, she said she kind of figured it out on her own. After attending college and finishing sociology at UC Santa Barbara, she said she worked as a social worker for several years but felt unsatisfied. She started temping around and eventually landed a long-term job at Disney animation, working as an assistant in the technology department. She was promoted as an administrative manager while happily working at the studio, but still, she "didn't really feel fulfilled." She realized, however, that this was "work." Merino's job became less and less challenging for her over time, and she was no longer enjoying it. She was fortunate to kind of switch jobs, and because of that, she met a producer who ended up being one of the producers on "Tangled." She was then offered a job in the editing department, and that's how she landed in production. She worked as a production supervisor in Editorial on "Tangled," with the stereo team "The Lion King 3D," and then to "Wreck-It Ralph," where she worked in Technical Animation, Effects, and Lighting. Yvett Merino was later promoted to production manager on the Academy Award-winning "Big Hero 6" and "Moana." READ NEXT: 'Encanto' Song 'We Don't Talk About Bruno' Overtakes 'Frozen's' 'Let It Go' as Top Disney Animated Hit Song Yvett Merino's Message to All Latina Women Throughout her more than 20-year-career in Walt Disney Animation Studios, Yvett Merino learned how important it is to build "your community." She said it was about "allowing people, letting people know that the roles are out there," but also making them feel welcome. Merino said she did not even dare to dream an Oscar, as she never saw someone who looked like her coming up on a stage. But now, she wants people to know that it is possible. "For any little girl out there watching, who's watching and seeing that, hey, there's somebody that didn't come with any connections in Hollywood, didn't come knowing anyone, that it's completely possible. It's a lot of work, but it's possible," she noted as reported by HOLA. When asked about the message she wanted to share with other Latina women in the room, Yvett Merino said: "Find who you are." Aside from Merino and Smith, other keynote speakers in the event that had a theme "Empower Your Inner Genius" were Erika L. Sanchez, the author of "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter," and prominent Latino elected officials like Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis. Recognizing the power of Latina women, Los Angeles has declared March 11 as Latina History Day. READ MORE: Jayson Tatum Spoils Kevin Durant's 25K Club Party, Shares Perfect Reaction to 54-Point Outburst for Celtics vs. Nets This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Jess Smith WATCH: Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer Producers for Encanto - From LRM Online Young musicians and harpers from Music Generation Laois descend on St Patrick's Festival Quarter to share their dynamic take on Irish Traditional Music. Over one hundred young musicians from Music Generation will come together at St. Patrick's Festival Quarter in Collins Barracks from 1pm on Saturday, March 19. Summoning a Harp Revival features The Harp Collective, a cross-county initiative made up of 52 young musicians aged 10 -17, from Music Generation Mayo, Music Generation Louth and Music Generation Laois. The collective will premier new work from prolific composer Michael Rooney. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform for a national and international audience, has been long awaited by these young musicians. Joined by the acclaimed harper himself, the programme will also include arrangements of previous works composed by on Michael Rooney, performed by the Music Generation Laois Trad Orchestra while Music Generation Mayos Harp Ensemble will take audiences on a thrilling journey of unique traditional arrangements. Nos Nua, Louths Youth Folk Orchestra which includes young musicians from across Louth, Meath, Monaghan and Armagh will perform Causeway, a suite of new music from Mohsen Amini. Music Generation Cork Citys The Kabin will also travel to the capital to dedicate original music to the harp. The Kabins young rap artists in collaboration with harper Donnchadh MacAodha, will bring their urban, meaningful and pure daycent energy to performances of new and traditional Irish music. Music Generation Laois is part of Music Generation, Irelands national music education programme which gives children and young people access to high-quality performance music education. The young harpers had previously secured a performance opportunity to premier this new music at the World Harp Congress, Wales in July 2020. With the performance postponed until July 2022, the young musicians are delighted to finally showcase their efforts and to return to rehearsing together in-person after two years of maintaining momentum and keeping the music alive. In 2019, the Irish Harp was inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The last decade has seen a resurgence in harping among young people across Ireland, from Laois, to Louth, to Mayo, propelled by the work of Harp Ireland, Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann and Music Generation. This programme celebrates a great harp revival for our younger generation. Ahead of the new collaboration with St. Patricks Festival, Music Generations National Director Rosaleen Molloy, commented: We are so proud of all the young people involved in such a prestigious performance opportunity that is being created for a global celebration! It is so wonderful to see the return of live performance opportunities, especially for and by young people and we wish them every success for what promises to be a spectacular musical event. Particular thanks to all of the musicians and Music Development Officers involved in making this performance extravaganza possible. Initiated by Music Network in 2010 Music Generation is co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Local Music Education Partnerships in which Education and Training Boards and Local Authorities play a lead role. Now over a decade on, it is anticipated that in 2022 alone, Music Generation will reach 80,000 programme participants nationwide. IFA South Leinster Regional Chair Francie Gorman said the decision by the Department of Agriculture to have only one CAP information evening in South Leinster, out of 11 in total, shows the Department is afraid to face the farmers in the region. Farmers in South Leinster are amongst the worst hit in Ireland due to cuts in the Basic Payment to fund Eco Schemes, convergence and front loading. The Minister has turned his back on these farmers, he said. For a lot of farmers going to these information meetings, it will merely reveal the depressing reality of the cuts they are facing, he said. "The meetings are also at a bad time of year. We often here from politicians that their focus is on the farmer who calves the cow or lambs the ewe. Well, thats where most livestock and sheep farmers will be on March 28th: in the calving shed or the lambing pen, he said. While the Minister has been talking about millions and billions for farmers under the CAP, the reality is that this Government is doing everything they can to reduce production, he said. "At a time when farmers are facing soaring inputs costs, reduced supports and with some facing BEAM repayments, the Minister needs to look at more ways of supporting farmers, he said. Negotiations to buy land for more car parking at the Rock of Dunamase have yet to succeed, something that also delays the development of the historic landmark as a bigger tourist attraction in Laois. Its just over two years since County Councillors were told that two sites had been identified at the Rock between Portlaoise and Stradbally. Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District councillors were told in March 2020 that the council was examining options for the carpark and appropriate interpretive signage at the Rock of Dunamase. The councillors were told that a geophysical study was carried out in January 2020 in two locations at the Rock. The issue was raised again at a meeting of all councillors in October 2021 where they were told negotiations were ongoing. Cllr Aisling Moran, Fine Gael, asked for an update at the February meeting of the Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal Disctrict. The councils Director of Finance, Gerry Murphy, replied that negotiations were ongoing. Former councillor Tom Mulhall had campaigned for the carpark. He said it would help make the Rock a major attraction. The first known settlement on the rock was Dun Masc, or Mascs Fort, an early Christian settlement that was pillaged in 842 by the Vikings. When the Normans arrived in Ireland in the late 12th century, it became the most important Hiberno-Norman fortification in Laois. The castle was also owned by, Rory O'More, Lord of Laois. Primary and secondary school students and their teachers from schools in Laois recently took part in activities to mark Engineers Week. Engineers Week, run by the Engineers Ireland STEPS (Science, Technology and Engineering Programme for Schools,) celebrates the world of engineering with primary and secondary pupils the target audience. The main aim of the week was to promote engineering - and to show the importance of the profession. Midlands Science (a not for profit company which promotes STEM education [Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths] co-ordinated a programme of events in Offaly, Longford, Westmeath and Laois, in conjunction with Engineers Ireland, to celebrate the week. STEPS Engineers Week-themed lessons were conducted in classrooms across the four counties to help students discover the exciting world of engineering and teachers and schools were able to access free engineering resources provided by the STEPS team. The detailed programme of events saw engineering professionals and third level institutions engage with their communities through classroom visits and online workshops to showcase their profession and highlighting the amazing ways engineers in Ireland are pushing boundaries of innovation. CEO of Midlands Science, Jackie Gorman said: Midlands Science promotes Engineers Week in Longford, Westmeath, Laois and Offaly through a range of outreach activities for primary and secondary schools. Engineers Week is an annual campaign to promote engineering as a career and to highlight the importance of the profession to Ireland. Students of engineering develop a valuable set of skills that serve as a strong career foundation. She added: During Engineers week the students were afforded the opportunity to explore the creative world of engineering and the limitless opportunities a career in the sector can offer. Engineers are problem-solvers; they have a flexible, creative approach to work; and they work well in teams. These skills are highly useful in every role from technician to chief executive, and in every industry from aerospace to healthcare to software. Business Development manager of Midlands Science, Paulie Nally highlighted the success of the week and congratulated all the students that participated. It was heartening to see the wide range of companies and organisations who supported us in promoting engineering in the midlands this year. Anyone wishing to discuss further such opportunities to promote in the STEM in the year ahead is welcome to get in touch, she said. John ODonovan of Integra LifeSciences, Tullamore said: We are only too happy to support Midlands Science in promoting initiatives like Engineers Week that celebrate the world of engineering. There is a demand worldwide for engineers because they are essential to the growth and development of every country. An engineering qualification offers a chance to do interesting work with interesting people, enhance people's lives, and explore almost unlimited career opportunities. Now in its 16th year, STEPS Engineers Week is funded by the Department of Education and industry leaders Wind Energy Ireland, Arup, the EPA ,ESB, Intel and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). Cultural Conversations is a conversational and dialogue-through- literature based programme about cultural imagination/s and identity, open to individuals from different community backgrounds in the Leitrim, Fermanagh, Sligo and East Belfast areas. This programme focuses on writing informed in some way or by an experience of being Protestant and brings together texts by southern and northern authors writing at various junctures over the last 100 years. It consists of seven weekly online sessions, commencing Thursday, March 10 (7.30-9.15pm), leading to two in-person events in Sligo and East Belfast, programmed to broaden and deepen discussions. All sessions will include inputs by Dr Connal Parr, (Humanities Dept. University of Northumbria) and guest speakers. Weekly sessions will include group and plenary discussions, and is delivered in partnership with The Yeats Society, Sligo and Eastside Arts, Belfast. Further Programme Information at www.theglenscentre.com Connecting Through Language On Sunday, March 27 join a musical walking tour of Manorhamilton in Irish with English language by Prin Duignan and Dee Armstrong at 10.30am. There will be light refreshments in The Glens Centre afterwards. At 12 noon take part in a talk on the townland names of north Leitrim and south Fermanagh by Seosamh MacMuiri (In Irish with English). Knitting the Land A creative knitting and crocheting project will bring together women from different community traditions across Fermanagh and Leitrim to celebrate connections to nature, land and each other. Recognising the layers of history and the recent isolating effect of the pandemic, the project hopes to support women in the re-valuing of their relationships. To get involved, email: knittingtheland@gmail.com MINISTER Eamon Ryan has delivered a special address to Limerick councillors outlining his plans and ambitions for the future development of the county. Speaking at County Hall in Dooradoyle, the Minister for Transport, Climate, Environment and Communications revealed his intention to develop strategic acceleration teams to work collectively and to deliver projects across three key areas. These are: sustainable mobility, housing infrastructure and the development of economic opportunity within Limerick city and county. The council plays a key role in our climate plan, the Green Party leader said, adding that a better balance is needed in the west and that Limericks 140k population is simply not enough. The Minister stressed that while 95% of flights and shipments come through the capital as well as 74% of all new national housing stock being built there, Limerick must explore its potential over the next three years. His goal, with the new acceleration teams, is that councils - such as Limerick City and County Council - will be better tasked to deliver on the Government's Climate Action Plan and can act as dedicated teams along with relevant agencies. During yesterday's meeting, which lasted for more than 90 minutes, Mr Ryan touched on several key Limerick-based transport projects and he emphasised the need to put railway stations in Adare and Moyross before the 2027 Ryder Cup becomes an international showcase. The Minister also suggested the development of an iconic Limerick project, that would see the roll out of a bus connection between University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College and TUS. Describing Limerick city as flat and not so big, Minister Ryan urged councillors to look at developing the centre through the reallocating of space, as opposed to continuous outward development into County Clare. In terms of energy, the Minister suggested opening up the potential of Foynes Port, in addition to a transformative offshore wind project across the Shannon Estuary that would attract significant investment. Limerick is a real success in terms of industry, with 57 companies looking to invest due to our wind potential, he added. Towards the end of the meeting, when asked about the Northern Distributor Road by Cllr Conor Sheehan, the Minister said that it is not included in the 35bn in transport projects across the revised National Development Plan. Transport Infrastructure Ireland are advising against it. There are endless other projects that I am under pressure to deliver. The odds of the project getting money, is infinitesimally small next to nil, he stated. TWO LIMERICK towns will be treated to a spectacular cavalcade of supercars later today as part of a VIP charity drive supporting sick children. The entry grid of cars in this years Bumblebee 1000 VIP Drive, which is due to pass through Adare and Abbeyfeale, has been touted as nothing short of spectacular. Lamborghinis, McLarens, Bentleys, American muscle cars, sublime Nissan GTRs, Audi supercars, AMG Mercedes, Jaguars, and a legendary Group B Cosworth car will all be on show. This two day road trip - today and tomorow - has been described as a stylish, adrenaline fuelled adventure. Al Foran, the social media comedian is the ambassador for the drive. Bumblebee 1000 are working with the Little Blue Heroes charity, a not-for-profit charity operated entirely by An Garda Siochana (AGS) members and staff. It aims to help families in need from local communities in Ireland who have children undergoing long-term medical treatment for serious illness. Little Blue Heroes representatives will be present throughout this event. The drive begins on Saturday at Barberstown Castle in County Kildare at 9.30am, with the cavalcade rolling into Limerick from 1.45pm. Its first Limerick stop will be Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel and Spa in Adare at 1.45pm, then onto Moloney's Garage and Petrol Station in Abbeyfeale at 4.30pm. The Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney marks the final pit stop on the first day of the drive. The gallery of automotive artworks will head to Dingle on the final day, via the spectacular climb up to Conor Pass and will finish the tour in Dingle at 1.30pm, at the Dingle Skellig Hotel. The Little Blue Heroes, who derived their name from childrens fascination with police uniform, equipment and vehicles, have partnered with Bumblebee 1000 for further road trips this year. For daily updates, click here. A REPORT on two key Limerick distributor roads has been deemed totally unacceptable by one public representative, who has alleged that information is being withheld from local councillors. The allegation was made by Cllr Michael Collins at a sitting of the Newcastle West Municipal District, concerning an update which was received on Distributor Roads for Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale. Is this project being completely shelved and can I ask where the money is being spent? Cllr Collins questioned, adding that there is a far bigger picture than what we are being told. The Fianna Fail man added that local landowners have spent significant money on the back of what councillors in the district are proposing. He also referenced 50,000 that was allocated in 2018, towards a study documenting docking points on the distributor roads. A total of 450,000 each was given to both towns last year, Cllr Liam Galvin said. Cllr John Sheahan, based in Glin, told the meeting that suspicions around politics holding up the project had been totally dispelled, adding that the Green Party is in favour of the distributor roads going ahead. If it is an issue, just tell us, Cllr Sheahan said to management staff present, including Gordon Daly, Director of Community, Tourism and Culture, with responsibility for the Newcastle West MD. Cathaoirleach Liam Galvin acknowledged that both towns need to be bypassed but said if Newcastle West is to develop and progress, a distributor road is needed to access more lands around the town. I do hope that the distributor road isnt shelved due to the bypass, he said, adding that the road would open up a vast array of land for developmental zoning or rezoning. Independent Cllr Jerome Scanlan described it as a cart before the horse approach, asserting that the distributor roads must come first. The report prepared by Limerick City and County Council explains that existing Local Area Plans for both towns contain indicative distributor roads, included to open up zoned land for development. To date, these distributor roads have not progressed by developers, it reads. Cllr Collins described this statement as inaccurate, claiming that developers were stopped by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), the state agency responsible for public road infrastructure. Furthermore, he added, we should be getting that road shovel ready to attract those landowners and developers. Gordon, I know you can make this happen. We lost a distribution centre here for Lidl Ireland a few years ago, which went to North Cork after saying that there were unsuitable road structures here. We lost probably 300 jobs in Newcastle West and that shouldnt happen again, he concluded. The motion ended in the decision to hold a special meeting this week on the two distributor roads. A LOCAL committee in Limerick are taking on a Triple Peak Challenge to raise money for their community centre. A new committee has been formed to redevelop the old school in Montpelier in east Limerick into a community centre. The old school in Montpelier has been at the centre of the community since 1898. It served as a primary school until the 1960s and later as an extension to the parish oratory. However, in recent years it has fallen into some disrepair. A new committee has recently formed to redevelop the old school into a modern community centre for the Montpelier OBriensbridge community. It is envisaged that the centre will support social activities for the young and old including dance classes, coffee mornings, Men's Shed and other activities. On March 18 and 19, the committee are inviting the public to climb three local peaks with them in two days - Moylussa, Keeper Hill and the 12 OClock Hills. On March 18 the group will meet at 8am at Ballycuggaran Car Park to climb Moylussa followed by the 12 O'Clock Hills at 3pm. The next day, people are asked to gather at Doonane Car Park at 9am to climb Keeper Hill. Committee Chairperson, Paul Slattery, said: "We hope that the old school will become a centre of community life once more. We want to honour the great work that has been done before us and use this space to bring people together again." All information can be found on the Montpelier OBriensbridge Community Centre Facebook Page. If you cant make the hikes, you can still donate to the cause by going to the fundraiser page here. GARDAI are appealing to farmers across Limerick to take measures to deter criminals from targeting their premises. While thefts and burglaries can occur at farms at any time of the year, official statistics suggest there is an increase at this time of year. Sergeant Ber Leetch, divisional crime prevention officer, says there are simple things that farmers can do. Restrict access to your yard, install gates and fix them to a sturdy concrete or metal posts and keep them locked. Land boundaries if they are either fencing, hedges or walls should be robust, well maintained and checked regularly for breaches, she said. Farmers are also being encouraged to consider installing an alarm and CCTV in vulnerable areas and in outhouses on their farms that cannot be seen from the farmhouse. Sensor lights are a great deterrent to any trespassers at night added Sgt Leetch who stressed that trespasser should not be confronted. It is important to speak to the people trespassing but do not confront them. You are only asking them if they are OK, maybe they are lost but do not put yourself in any danger. However, note how many there are, their height, age and what they are wearing. Then leave them, ring your local garda station and report them said Sgt Leetch. Amazon.com seems interested in brushing up its image on Wall Street. Washington might require even more finesse. A stock split and share buyback plan announced late Wednesday shows the tech giant is working on the former. Amazon hasnt split its shares since 1999 and, before this year, hadnt repurchased any since 2012. The new buyback plan worth $10 billion replaces a $5 billion plan from 2016. That original plan went unused until Amazon started buying back shares in January. The company said in its filing Wednesday that it has since repurchased about $2.1 billion worth of its own stock, which has been in a deep slump over the past year. Meanwhile, a 20-for-1 split would make Amazons shares more accessible to the growing base of retail investors and allow more flexibility for its own employees, now numbering more than 1.6 million, to manage their equity in the company. It also could make the stock, which has spent most of the last 12 months above the $3,000 range, a candidate for inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. If enacted now, the split would put Amazons share price just below the current median of the price-weighted index. Google-parent Alphabet announced a similar split in February, and the two, with a combined market value of $3.2 trillion, are the largest U.S.-based public companies not currently members of the Blue Chip index. Taken together, Amazons latest moves constitute one part in a series of increasingly shareholder friendly actions," according to Brian Nowak of Morgan Stanley. The company recently raised the price of its Prime service and began breaking out financial details of its advertising business, which generates more than $31 billion a year in revenue. John Blackledge, an analyst at Cowen, noted that the buybacks could also signal that (Amazon) has already entered the downslope of its historic investment cycle," potentially leading to improved earnings and cash flow ahead. Amazon shares rose 5.4% on Thursday despite a selloff across the market. Amazon has long eschewed typical methods of appealing to Wall Street, as founder and longtime Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos often maintained that a focus on customers and maximizing free cash flow serves investors better over the long term. And he was as good as his word; Mr. Bezos even shunned Amazons quarterly earnings calls from 2009 through when he handed the CEO reins to successor Andy Jassy last July. Mr. Jassy has had a rough welcome. His appointment coincided with a sharp deceleration in sales growth as Amazon came off the boom it enjoyed at the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, a burst of new investments to enable services such as one-day delivery has pressured Amazons operating margins at a time when investors have been bailing out of riskier stocks deemed to lack earnings leverage. Even with Thursdays bounce, Amazons share price is down 13% from when the CEO transition was announced last February. Big tech peers Microsoft and Apple have averaged an 18% gain in that time, while the S&P 500 has risen 11%. A more shareholder-friendly Amazon could help turn that sentiment, especially as the company enters a slower-growth phase more befitting an enterprise about to pass $500 billion in annual sales. But Mr. Jassy also needs to figure out how to carry that sentiment over to Washington, which has taken an especially dim view of Amazon of late. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Justice Department seeking an investigation into Amazon for a potentially criminal obstruction of Congress, a move not taken against other tech giants that are being investigated by lawmakers for alleged anticompetitive behavior. Amazon, which denies the claim, is aiming to clear its purchase of MGM with Washington soon and presumably wants the option to do more deals as cloud rivals Microsoft and Google pursue transactions of their own. Getting to that point may require something even $13 billion cant buycharm. Corrections & Amplifications Amazons new $10 billion share repurchase plan replaces a $5 billion plan approved in 2016. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that the new plan adds to the older one. (Corrected on March 11) During the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of Americans quit their jobs. Some retired early. Many also became part of a growing flexible force in the American economy: workers who gave up a steady paycheck to become freelancers, solo operators, contract gig workers and day traders. The number of unincorporated self-employed people in the U.S. reached 10 million in February, or 400,000 more than when the pandemic began, according to the Labor Department. It soared as high as 10.3 million last summer. Those who willingly gave up the security of a paycheck say there are risks and rewards and certain strategies that work best. They get to pursue their passions, work the hours they want and improve their quality of life. They can do so, they say, because of heftier savings accumulated during the pandemic and a hot hiring market that could act as a cushion if their solo paths dont work out. But some may find their savings arent quite as substantial following a period of market turmoil that started earlier this year and accelerated with Russias invasion of Ukraine. Rising inflation is also eating away at cushions amassed since 2020, and the freelance life can make it more difficult to get a mortgage because of heightened scrutiny from lenders. Giving up a steady paycheck may no longer seem as financially attractive as it once did. Lisa Camerlengo, 45 years old, experienced the rewards and pitfalls of such a life. After almost two decades at consulting firms, she quit a full-time job and launched her own brand-strategy and communications firm last July. She said she saved money on work clothes and commuting expenses, but her rent at home rose roughly $200 while the costs of food and gas also jumped. She also said she now pays more for medical and dental insurance. Its challenging to save as the cost of living has certainly increased," said Ms. Camerlengo, who lives in central New Jersey. It is more than just the self-employed who are living without a steady paycheck now. There are 4.2 million more people out of the U.S. labor forcemeaning they arent employed and arent looking for workcompared with the period before the pandemic, according to the Labor Department. There are also 2.1 million fewer people on company payrolls. Those movements are aggravating labor shortages in some industries; there are still more than 11 million open jobs that employers cant fill. One who encountered unexpected challenges after leaving the workforce was Wayne Low, 49 years old, who spent the majority of his career advising ultra high-net worth families and managing their wealth. In early 2020 he started contemplating applying his skills to his own portfolio. He calculated that he had enough money to leave his job at Citigroup Inc., where he had worked for 17 years. He left in June 2020. I realized, this is doable if I cut down my expenses a bit," he says. He doesnt miss the 11-hour workdays, and says his portfolio has performed well enough despite recent market turbulence. But he and his wife encountered problems when they started a search for housing in the New York area so they could be closer to Mr. Lows mother. A couple of landlords wouldnt rent to the couple because he lacked a steady paycheck, Mr. Low says, and he had several mortgage applications denied despite his savings. Ultimately, he says, the couple may opt to buy a house outright in a less expensive part of the U.S. They want your assets to be this outlandish figure," he says. The financial system doesnt know what to do with people who retire early." Malcolm Hollensteiner, head of mortgage production at Sandy Spring Bank in Maryland, said most mortgage lenders would require self-employed borrowers to provide two years of tax returns to prove their consistency and reliability. The mortgage-lending platform historically views self-employed borrowers as more complicated borrowers and potentially less successful borrowers, just because of the nature of self-employed income," he said. The factors that emboldened many people to move to the labor-market sidelines could, of course, pull them back into traditional 9-to-5 work lives. Some Americans quit jobs for better pay or because of child-care challenges or other hurdles. But others exited because of sizzling market returns, a run up in housing values and three separate rounds of stimulus checks of as much as $1,200, $600 and $1,400 per person. The personal savings ratethe share of disposable income households sock away each monthsoared to an all-time high of 33.8% in April 2020 and remained elevated through last spring, according to Commerce Department data. But that rate has been decliningit dropped to 6.4% as of Januaryas market turmoil and inflation pose new challenges to nest eggs. Michael Liersch, head of advice and planning at Wells Fargo, said those going out on their own need to have a support system to serve as a sounding board when times are tough. Ted Halpern, a financial planner in Ashburn, Va., said they need to pay off any high-interest credit card debt before leaving a paycheck behind. Joey Casolaro, a financial planner in Wayne, N.J., said they need to build a cash reserve of at least three to six months of expenses. Have a safety net for the leaner times," said Lindsey Swanson, a financial planner in Whitethorn, Calif. One worker who plans to go without any paycheck starting at the end of May is Landon Taylor, a middle-school teacher in Denton, Texas. He decided to resign when the school year ends and take a one-year break. Savings amassed by Mr. Taylor and his wifealong with several hundred dollars Mr. Taylor earns each month leading a local band and helping a friend with weekend tree-trimming jobsshould be enough to sustain their family for the year, he said. He plans to explore other options for earning money, including renting out an extra bedroom in their home and selling home goods online. I feel like its an opportunity that I can give myself," says Mr. Taylor, who is 39. How great would that be, to have a steady income and I dont have to go to work five days a week and stress about working for somebody else?" Some companies are benefiting from all these new people willing to work without a consistent paycheck. Sellers on Etsy.coma crafts-focused online marketplace that attracted more interest during the pandemicballooned to 5.3 million by the end of 2021 compared with 2.5 million two years earlier. At LinkedIn, a new feature that helps users seek out short-term projects is attracting self-employed people in marketing, design, engineering as well as illustration and video editing, says Matt Faustman, product lead at LinkedIn. Sign-ups for the marketing and design services are up more than 50% month-over-month since October 2021. Weve had a lot of people who think I can make either a full shift to working as a freelancer or I might be having a little extra time because I dont have to commuteIm going to try to take my skills and apply them in a part-time way," Mr. Faustman says. Quitting a full-time job while keeping your finances intact takes some work. Grant Maddox learned this lesson when he started his own financial-advisory firm in October after working as a salaried employee at another firm. His companys billing is primarily quarterly, pushing Mr. Maddox to carefully track his cash flow and stretch his dollarsknowing that his pay may fluctuate with how many clients he has. The stress is undoubtedly there," he said. Mr. Maddox, 29, creates a line-item budget for his monthly expenses such as groceries to make sure he has enough at the end of each quarter. If he spends $500 in one month on groceries instead of the $600 hes budgeted for, he transfers $100 into his savings account. If he goes over budget in a category, hell look for ways to cut expenses elsewhere, forgoing buying new clothes, for instance. Anna McCorvey, 36, also did some preparation before leaving her full-time job as an architect last summer: She saved about six months of expenses. She now works part time at a smaller firm and a nonprofit called the River East Design Center that she started in Washington, D.C. She then adapted her life to a smaller income. She cooks at home, only subscribes to one streaming service and does her own hair and nails. On Fridays, she will Google free stuff to do near me this weekend" and may go on local hikes or visit a free museum exhibit. She cant afford to eat out as much as she is used to but she said the trade-off is worth it. Covid-19 made me more diligent about pursuing things that fulfill me," Ms. McCorvey said. Abby Regan, 42, also made sacrifices after starting a part-time, in-home physical therapy business. Her increased autonomy came with a 90% paycut compared with what she made in a previous physical-therapy job she lost in May 2020. She had the opportunity to apply to another site owned by her employer but turned it down. I was like, I dont feel like working for anybody anymore," said Ms. Regan, who also is a mother of three young children in Melbourne, Fla. She and her husband decided to live primarily on his software-engineer salary. The family saves enough in child-care costs to go without financial sacrifices, she said. Now I know what it feels like to have 100% control of my own time," says Ms. Regan, who works about 10 hours a week. Some people say they have found alternative ways to make a living even before launching a career. Leon Ondieki, 19, is studying toward a degree in management information systems at the University of Georgia. But for now, using it to get a salaried job is a backup plan, he says. Instead, he is paying for collegeand saving for a Tesla Model Yby creating content for his 1.6 million TikTok followers. Mr. Ondieki now devotes more than 40 hours a week to planning, filming, editing and posting his videos, in which he typically banters with passersby on campus or at shopping malls, asking trivia questions or playing quirky games with a small prize. He earns as much as $30,000 a month, he says, through a combination of paid sponsorships from brands and the TikTok Creator Fund. I cant see myself working for a company or for someone else," says Mr. Ondieki. Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government for evacuating four Nepali nationals from war-torn Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga'. "Four Nepali nationals have just arrived in Nepal from Ukraine via India. Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Government of India for the assistance in repatriating Nepali nationals through the #OperationGanga," tweeted Deuba. Four Nepali nationals have just arrived in Nepal from Ukraine via India. Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Government of India for the assistance in repatriating Nepali nationals through the #OperationGanga. Sher Bahadur Deuba (@SherBDeuba) March 12, 2022 Notably, amid the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, Indian authorities, along with rescuing Indian citizens in the war-torn country, are also extending their help to the foreign nationals stranded there. Earlier, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had also expressed gratitude towards PM Modi for rescuing Bangladeshi nationals stranded in Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga', according to government sources. As per the sources, India had rescued nine Bangladeshis from Ukraine. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday lauded authorities who facilitated the smooth conduct of 'Operation Ganga' launched by the Government of India to bring back students from war-hit Ukraine. Notably, India has evacuated over 20,000 of its citizens from war-hit Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga'. Russian forces have shelled a mosque in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where more than 80 adults and children, including Turkish citizens, have taken refuge, Ukraine's foreign ministry said on Saturday. Ukraine has accused Russia of refusing to allow people out of Mariupol, where a blockade has left hundreds of thousands trapped. Russia blames Ukraine for the failure to evacuate people. "The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders," the foreign ministry said in a tweet. "More than 80 adults and children are hiding there from the shelling, including citizens of Turkey." It did not say if there were any people killed or wounded. Moscow has denied targeting civilian areas in what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Shiny, reddish copper was the first metal manipulated by humans, and it remains an important metal in industry today. The oldest metal object found in the Middle East consists of copper; it was a tiny awl dating back as far as 5100 B.C. And the U.S. penny was originally made of pure copper (although, nowadays, it is 97.5% zinc with a thin copper skin). Copper ranks as the third-most-consumed industrial metal in the world, after iron and aluminum , according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). About three-quarters of that copper goes to make electrical wires, telecommunication cables and electronics. Aside from gold, copper is the only metal on the periodic table whose coloring isn't naturally silver or gray. Chemical description of copper Electron configuration and elemental properties of copper. Shutterstock) (Image credit: Greg Robson/Creative Commons, Andrei Marincas Atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus): 29 Atomic symbol (on the periodic table of elements): Cu Atomic weight (average mass of the atom ): 63.55 ): 63.55 Density: 8.92 grams per cubic centimeter Phase at room temperature: solid Melting point: 1,984.32 degrees Fahrenheit (1,084.62 degrees Celsius) Boiling point: 5,301 F (2,927 C) Number of isotopes (atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons): 35; 2 stable Most common isotopes: Cu-63 (69.15% natural abundance) and Cu-65 (30.85% natural abundance) The history of copper Most copper occurs in ores and must be smelted, or extracted from its ore, for purity before it can be used. But natural chemical reactions can sometimes release native copper, according to the chemistry database site, Chemicool . Humans have been making things from copper for at least 8,000 years and figured out how to smelt the metal by about 4500 B.C. The next technological leap was creating copper alloys by adding tin to copper, which created a harder metal than its individual parts: bronze. The technological development ushered in the Bronze Age, a period covering approximately 3300 to 1200 B.C, and is distinguished by the use of bronze tools and weapons, according to The History Channel . Copper artifacts are sprinkled throughout the historical record. The tiny awl, or pointed tool dating to 5100 B.C. was buried with a middle-age woman in an ancient village in Israel. The awl represents the oldest metal object ever found in the Middle East. The copper probably came from the Caucasus region, located in the mountainous region covering southeastern Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away, according to a 2014 article published in PLOS ONE . In ancient Egypt , people used copper alloys to make jewelry, including toe rings. Researchers have also found massive copper mines from the 10th century B.C. in Israel. Copper may even have been the first pollutant that humans unleashed upon the environment, around 7,000 years ago. Throughout history many tools were made from copper, like this copper awl with a silver-coated handle believed to be from the early Bronze Age. This was found at the archaeological site of La Almoloya in Pliego, Murcia of south east Spain. (Image credit: J.A. Soldevilla, courtesy of the Arqueoecologia Social Mediterrania Research Group, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona; Antiquity Publications Ltd) About two-thirds of the copper on Earth is found in igneous (volcanic) rocks, and about one-quarter occurs in sedimentary rocks, according to the USGS. The metal is ductile and malleable, and conducts heat and electricity well reasons why copper is widely used in electronics and wiring. Copper turns green because of an oxidation reaction; that is, it loses electrons when it's exposed to water and air. This oxidation reaction is the reason the copper-plated Statue of Liberty is green rather than orange-red. According to the Copper Development Association , a weathered layer of copper oxide only 0.005 inches (0.127 millimeters) thick coats Lady Liberty, and the covering weighs about 80 tons (73 metric tons). The change from copper-colored to green occurred gradually and was complete by 1920, 34 years after the statue was dedicated and unveiled, according to the New York Historical Society . Fast facts about copper Here are some interesting facts about copper: Doctor holding a T-shaped intrauterine device (IUD) made out of plastic and copper. This is placed inside the uterus to prevent pregnancy. (Image credit: New Africa via Shutterstock) Current research Copper's anti-microbial properties have made it a popular metal in the medical field. Multiple hospitals have experimented with covering frequently touched surfaces, such as bed rails and call buttons, with copper or copper alloys in an attempt to slow the spread of hospital-acquired infections. Copper kills microbes by interfering with the electrical charge of the organisms' cell membranes, said Cassandra Salgado, a professor of infectious diseases and a hospital epidemiologist at the Medical University of South Carolina. In 2013, a team of researchers led by Salgado tested surfaces in intensive-care units (ICUs) in three hospitals, comparing rooms modified with copper surfaces attached to six common objects that are subjected to many hands to rooms not modified with copper. The scientists found that, in the traditional hospital rooms (those without copper surfaces), 12.3% of patients developed antibiotic-resistant infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE). By comparison, in the copper-modified rooms, only 7.1% of patients contracted one of these potentially devastating infections. "We know that if you put copper in a patient's room, you're going to decrease the microbial burden," Salgado told Live Science. "I think that's something that has been shown time and time again. Our study was the first to demonstrate that there could be a clinical benefit to this." The researchers changed nothing else about the ICU conditions beyond the copper; doctors and nurses still washed their hands, and cleaning went on as usual. The researchers published their findings in 2013 in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology . Salgado and her team have also tested copper lining on stethoscopes, according to a 2017 article published in the American Journal of Infection Control , where the researchers found that there were significantly fewer bacteria on copper-coated stethoscopes. In fact,66% of the stethoscopes were entirely free of bacteria. Further research is continuing to test the idea of copper plating in other medical wards, particularly in areas where patients are more mobile than in the ICU. There also needs to be a cost-benefit analysis weighing the expense of copper installation against the savings gained by preventing costly infections, Saldago said. In 2020, a double-blind randomized control trial found that dressing cesarean section wounds in copper-rich bandages can reduce the risk of an infection within the abdominal cavity by 80% compared to traditional dressings. The results were published in the European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology . Stripped copper electrical power cables. (Image credit: Jose A. Bernat Bacete via Getty Images) Copper also plays a huge role in electronics, and because of its abundance and low price, researchers are working to integrate the metal into an increasing number of cutting-edge devices. In fact, copper may help produce futuristic electronic paper, wearable biosensors and other "soft" electronics, said Wenlong Cheng, a professor of chemical engineering at Monash University in Australia. Cheng and his colleagues have used copper nanowires to create an "aerogel monolith," a material that is highly porous, very light and strong enough to stand up on its own, similar to a dry kitchen sponge. In the past, these aerogel monoliths have been made from gold or silver, but copper is a more economical option. By mixing copper nanowires with small amounts of polyvinyl alcohol, the researchers created aerogel monoliths that could turn into a sort of sliceable, shapeable rubber that conducts electricity. The researchers reported their findings in 2014 in the journal ACS Nano . The ultimate result could be a soft-bodied robot, or a medical sensor that melds perfectly to curved skin, Cheng told Live Science. He and his team are currently working to create blood pressure and body temperature sensors out of copper aerogel monoliths another way copper could help monitor human health. Physicists have also been experimenting with copper. In a 2014 experiment, a chunk of copper became the coldest cubic meter (35.3 cubic feet) on Earth when researchers chilled it to 6 millikelvins, or six-thousandths of a degree above absolute zero (0 kelvin). This is the closest a substance of this mass and volume has ever come to absolute zero . Researchers at the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics put the 880-lb. (400 kilograms) copper cube inside a container called a cryostat that is specially designed to keep items extremely cold. This is the first cryostat, or device for keeping things at low temperatures, that is capable of keeping substances so close to absolute zero. The icy copper experiment was part of a research project to investigate subatomic particles called neutrinos and why there is so much more matter than antimatter in the universe. Copper is also of interest to agricultural scientists. Researchers at Cornell University have been studying the effects of copper deficiencies in crops, especially wheat. Wheat is one of the most important food staples in the world, and copper deficiencies can lead to both a lower crop yield and lower crop fertility. The researchers have been studying how plants absorb and process the copper. They have found two proteins within the wheat, AtCITF1 and AtSPL7, that are vital to the uptake and delivery of the copper to the wheat's reproductive organs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture . Early tests have shown that when copper and other nutrients are enriched in the soil and then absorbed by the wheat, crop yields increase by as much as seven times. While the knowledge of copper and other minerals are known to be beneficial for the health and fertility of crops, the how and why of the fact is not well understood. The knowledge of why copper is beneficial and how it functions within a plant's growth and reproduction can further be used on crops such as rice, barley and oats, and can introduce these crops with a mineral-rich fertilizer, which includes copper, to soil that was once unsuitable for farming. This article was updated on March 9, 2022, by Live Science contributor Stephanie Pappas. Additional reporting by Live Science contributor Rachel Ross. Further reading The American Cancer Society examines the research about copper and claims that it may have a role in preventing or treating cancer. examines the research about copper and claims that it may have a role in preventing or treating cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency provides information about exposure to high levels of copper and the effects of copper corrosion in household pipes. provides information about exposure to high levels of copper and the effects of copper corrosion in household pipes. The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator facility ( Jefferson Lab ) explores the history and uses of copper. Bibliography " Copper: Element information, properties, and uses. " Royal Society of Chemistry. Accessed March 9, 2022. " Health Benefits and Risks of Copper. " MedicalNewsToday. Updated October 2017. Don't forget to move your clock forward an hour overnight Saturday (March 12), as daylight saving time begins Sunday. And yes, this is the time change that takes an hour away from your day, but spring is on its way. Daylight saving time (not savings, as many people say) begins at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, March 13. "Smart" devices may change time automatically, manual clocks don't, so make sure to move them an hour ahead, from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. Why are we "springing forward" on Sunday? Daylight saving time (DST) is designed to provide an extra hour of evening sunlight, and so the clocks will remain in DST for eight months until Nov. 6, when daylight saving time ends for the year. The father of DST, Benjamin Franklin proposed the idea in 1784 as a way to conserve energy, said David Prerau, author of "Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time" (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2005). The idea was that people would spend that extra hour of daylight outdoors, rather than sitting inside, wasting energy on lighting and energy-sucking appliances, Franklin reasoned. However, science has not provided absolute evidence to support the idea that daylight saving translates into energy savings, according to several studies, including a 2007 Department of Energy study and a 1997 study on a residential home in Kansas, Live Science previously reported. Research published in November 2021 in the journal Energy Reports suggested the springtime clock changes did not equal energy savings; in that study, scientists examined energy consumption in Turkey before and after the country stopped following DST changes in 2016. The researchers noted the findings should also apply to the U.S. due to its location within a similar latitude range. Even so, Franklin's idea spread in the 20th century. In 1908, a city in Ontario, Canada, became the first modern region to officially implement DST, according to timeanddate.com. The Germans began following DST in May 1916, with the goal of conserving fuel during World War I. The rest of Europe followed suit soon after, and the United States officially adopted daylight saving time in 1918. However, American farmers objected to the change, since it eliminated an hour of their morning light; in fact, it's a myth that daylight saving time helps farmers. So, the country dropped the time change until World War II, and only a select number of states chose to follow it after the war's end. Because daylight saving time was practiced at different times in different states, it threw the country's time zones into disarray. It wasn't until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 that daylight saving time acquired a standard start and stop time although states themselves can choose whether to participate. But why Sunday and why at 2 a.m.? That day and time were chosen to have the least impact on individuals. Its late enough that most people will be home, and very few bars and restaurants should be impacted. In addition, when you move your clock at 2 a.m., you are not switching to another day; it would be confusing if the clock change occurred at say 11:30 p.m., because you would then be moving to the wee hours of the next day. The time switch also happens early enough that early-shift workers or churchgoers shouldnt be impacted, according to the WebExhibits, an online museum. Currently, two U.S. states Hawaii and most of Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) don't observe daylight saving time. Every year, several states put forth bills or voter-led initiatives to ditch daylight saving time. However, it's anyone's guess whether these bills will become enforced law. Until then, don't forget to wake up an hour earlier on Sunday, unless you want to be late for brunch. Editor's note: This article was first published in 2019 and updated on March 12, 2022. Originally published on Live Science. Click here to read the full article. Disney CEO Bob Chapek is facing a major test of his leadership, after the companys botched response to an anti-gay bill in Florida sparked a staff revolt among LGBTQ employees and their supporters. Chapek apologized to the staff on Friday, saying he should have been a stronger ally. But for some employees, who found the companys silence on the bill profoundly alarming, the statement came too late. This is a CYA [cover your ass] for Chapek this is a weak statement, one Disney staffer told Variety. We should have gotten this apology on March 1, not weeks after and after this bill was passed in Florida. For Chapek, the apology capped a full week of attempted damage control. On Monday, he explained in an internal memo that the company had not condemned the bill because it might be counterproductive. By Wednesday, Chapek was acknowledging missteps and publicly opposing the bill for the first time. But the opposition came a day after the Florida state senate passed the bill, and weeks after the controversy first erupted. Those comments also did nothing to quell internal outrage from employees who felt the company had failed to stand up for the LGBTQ community. Disney usually manages to contain its internal disputes, making the public dissent all the more striking. Disney has a Pride channel on Slack for LGBTQ employees and allies, which has tripled in size to more than 2,000 members in recent days. As Chapek was speaking on Wednesday, employees were responding with short bursts of outrage. The company is a major employer in Florida thanks to its theme park and cruise ship operations, with nearly 80,000 personnel in the state. Disney has long flexed its muscle in the state by contributing to both Republicans and Democrats in the state Legislature. Many of Disneys LGBTQ employees have been urging the company to cut off donations to lawmakers who supported the bill, which opponents have dubbed the Dont Say Gay legislation. The bill would prohibit classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, and require that all such discussions in later grades be age appropriate or developmentally appropriate. Parents would also be given the power to sue over alleged violations. The bill passed both houses of the Florida Legislature along mostly partisan lines, with nearly all Democrats opposed and all but a few Republicans in favor. Gov. Ron DeSantis has indicated support for the measure, and said at an event in Boca Raton on Thursday that he would not back down to woke corporations. You have companies, like at Disney, that are going to say and criticize parents rights. Theyre going to criticize the fact that we dont want transgenderism in kindergarten and first grade classrooms, DeSantis said. If thats the hill theyre going to die on, then how do they possibly explain lining their pockets with their relationship from the Communist Party of China? In his comments on Wednesday, Chapek said the company would reassess its political donations in Florida and elsewhere, as other states are also considering similar bills. In the Friday apology memo, Chapek said the company would pause all political donations in Florida while the company undertakes a review to ensure our advocacy better reflects our values. On the company Slack channel, some employees suggested that the latest statement seemed insincere. They also expressed skepticism of the review and questioned how it would be undertaken. Im done with memos promising action, one employee told Variety. Also now hes no longer donating money to good politicians in Florida? Some also expressed gratitude that an apology was finally made. The company has also has numerous Business Employee Resource Groups (or BERGs), which are forums for employees to come together based on shared identity. On Thursday, the Pride BERG held its regularly scheduled Brave Conversations roundtable on Zoom, which at one point had 900 employees participating. According to a participant, the conversation became highly emotional, with some employees sharing their experiences trying to work on LGBTQ content, and others crying. Several BERGs have also sent statements to Disneys senior leadership imploring them to publicly denounce the bill and cease funding politicians who supported it. One statement, attributed to LGBTQ employees and allies at Pixar Animation Studios, also alleged that Disney corporate executives have censored scenes with same-sex affection in its films. Sarah Kate Ellis, the CEO of GLAAD, issued a statement Friday calling Chapeks announcement on pausing political donations a step in the right direction. In an interview, she praised the companys employees for speaking up, saying they were taking a real risk, and also said she hoped Disney would recognize its own power. [Disney] is a place that has political and fiscal clout, she said. You can help protect a community that is under attack. Chapeks reluctance to wade into the controversy came in contrast with his predecessor, Bob Iger, who tweeted his opposition to the bill on Feb. 24. Chapek is said to be less willing than Iger to take political stands in general. But he is facing a climate in which employees have become more emboldened to demand action from their bosses. Just last October, there was a similar outcry at Netflix over Dave Chappelles latest standup special, which included jokes about the trans community. In that case, co-CEO Ted Sarandos fumbled the initial communications with employees, leading to internal backlash. Peter Newman, head of New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts MBA/MFA program, argued that Chapek had erred by catering almost exclusively to Disney shareholders, while neglecting relationships with talent, employees and the public. Chapek was also slow to address Scarlett Johanssons demand for compensation after the disappointing hybrid release of Black Widow last summer, leading to a lawsuit and an ugly though short-lived public feud. At the very least, Chapek has done a bad job at defining himself, Newman said. As long as hes there, theres going to be confusion about where he stands on a variety of issues. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. It was a bad sign for historic music retail in America when the building that used to house the famous Tower Records in West Hollywood was finally demolished in February. And now things are looking grim for the other most iconic record store in the U.S., and an even longer-standing one Ernest Tubbs Record Shop, a fixture in downtown Nashville since 1947 and in its present location since 1951. Its with great sadness that we share the news that the Ernest Tubb Record Shop building and business will be sold, said an announcement on the stores social media, adding that the store will shut down some time in the spring. The store is important in country music history not only as a retail site but as the longtime home of a radio show nearly as old as the shop itself, The Midnite Jamboree, which still broadcasts live following the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights. It was on that show that Loretta Lynn made her name at the beginning of the 1960s, performing from the tiny stage at the back of the shop and going out over the WSM airwaves. Plans for the location will be up to a new buyer after the store shutters, but its understood that maintaining a legacy business is extremely unlikely to be high on a purchasers agenda in one of the nations most crowded nightlife corridors, where drinking, not Bear Family boxed sets, is the high-volume attraction. Our goal has always been to protect, promote and preserve the great history of the record shop and building, the stores announcement said. That desire remains as strong today as ever. However, due to changes in circumstances out of our control, its now clear the best way forward is to sell the business and the real estate. The statement attributed to Honky Tonk Circus, LLC, ETRS, LLC, and David McCormick Company, Inc. concluded: We are heartbroken that the store, which has existed in its current location in the heart of lower Broadway since 1951, will close this Spring. Preserving the history and tradition of country music remains at the forefront of everything we do. We remain committed to preservation work and look forward to new projects that will allow us to continue to protect and nurture the invaluable history and tradition of country music. Even despite its proximity to the historic Ryman Auditorium a block in one direction and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in the other, Ernest Tubbs has increasingly seemed like a lonely anomaly on a once run-down, now booming stretch of Lower Broad. Often labeled as a must to avoid by locals, the street has been extensively redeveloped into the world headquarters of bachelorette parties, pedal taverns and multi-story nightclubs like Kid Rocks Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock n Roll Steakhouse. And vinyl and CD sales are clearly slim compared to the volume of tequila that could be flowing through such a prime piece of tourist-trap real estate. Ironically, the Midnite Jamboree radio show, which now broadcasts following the Opry on WSM at 10 p.m. CT, had returned to the downtown Ernest Tubbs location only last year, after decades of being held at the Texas Troubadour Theatre, adjacent to an Ernest Tubbs satellite location near the Opry House that closed in the 2010s. Country performers with a traditionalist streak have occasionally used the Tubbs stage in recent years, with stars like Kacey Musgraves and Vince Gill holding record-release parties there. Charlie Worsham would do a whole run of shows there during CMA Festival Week, bringing in guest stars like Eric Church and Brandy Clark. Up-and-comer Charley Crockett recently shot most of his Music City USA music video at the store. But the Tubbs stage is most famous for hosting Loretta Lynns Midnight Jamboree appearances, at a time when the Grand Ole Opry was still being held at the Ryman and a sliver of attendees would immediately walk a half-block over to join the after-party inside the shop. As Lynn told CMT, In 1961 I sang I Fall to Pieces for the first time at the Ernest Tubb Record Shops Midnite Jamboree. Patsy (Cline) was in a car wreck and was in really bad shape in the Madison Hospital. Patsy heard me dedicate the song to her on the radio and sent her husband Charlie to fetch me. I couldnt believe Patsy wanted to meet me. You know from that first meeting we just clicked and became friends. I couldnt think of another song I wanted to sing for our fans, it was the beginning for us. For decades in the digital era, the shops stock consisted mostly of CDs and DVDs as well as books about country music, with a special section devoted to the stores founder and namesake. More recently, with those CD racks going largely untouched anymore, the store shifted where much of the brick-and-mortar retail business at large has: back to vinyl. But with Lower Broad seeming increasingly inhospitable to anyone who hasnt come just to get loaded, theres rarely a line for the register, as the crowds there to misquote Loretta come in a-drinkin but without LP-buyin on their mind. In 2020, when JesseLee Jones, who fronts the band Brazilbilly, bought the building, he issued statements were issued about maintaining the legacy business. Jones, who also owns the Roberts Western World club across the street, which skews more toward traditional country than some other nightspots on the street, was reported to have bought the Tubbs business as well as the location from David McCormick for $4.75 million. McCormick had purchased the locale and shop in 1992 for $128,000. At that time, Jones told the Nashville Post, The city is going through a lot of changes, and someone has got to hold the torch for old-school Nashville. My purpose is to protect, promote and preserve this great history. So this just made sense that Roberts and Ernest Tubb be strong, be one and be family to perpetuate the tradition. Ernest Tubb Record Shops will be here for another 52 years, if its up to me. The 2021 resumption of the Midnite Jamboree show there, after it moved to the alternate location from 1995-2021, seemed to be a good sign that the buildings historic uses might continue. The Tennessean noted that the value of businesses on or around Lower Broad has gone up significantly just in the past two years. It reported that country star John Rich, of Big & Rich, and associates bought a building three blocks away for $18.5 million in 2019 and recently resold it for $24.5 million, a 32% profit in less than three years. There had been some turmoil at the shop following the sale in 2020, with much of the staff that had been recognizable to customers for years or decades laid off in the fall of 2021, creating no small ruckus in Nashvilles tight-knit world of country traditionalists. The Saving Country Music website noted that longtime Midnite Jamboree host Jennifer Herron left the show last September after 18 years as host. Variety was not immediately able to reach the stores owners for comment about the impending closure or sale. The current signage on the shop is believed to have been up in some form since 1960. The original neon sign that was placed above the original locale in 1947 and stood above the current shop from 1951 to 1960 can be seen at the Tennessee State Museum. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. The SXSW Film Festival delivered a doozy of an opening night presentation with Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinerts Everything Everywhere All at Once on Friday in Austin offering up a buffet of images for viral memes. Fleshy hot dogs in place of human fingers, a talking raccoon voiced by Oscar winner Randy Newman, butt plugs that serve as portals to other dimensions, a martial arts showdown between Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis, and a universe-shattering bagel all populate the A24 release. While Twitter will have its day with the inventive and well-crafted insanity, the filmmakers and cast also produced a rowdy crowdpleaser with themes of acceptance, optimism, and love literally conquering all. We used to do a lot of music videos and wed get rejected a lot. So we had all these leftover ideas, explained Scheinert about the kitchen sink approach to the movies plot. So we said, lets make a movie with everything in it, full of all those things Rihanna said no to. Earning a standing ovation for her kaleidoscopic performance, Yeoh told the audience she was so goddamn proud of the work she put in across storylines, continents, cultures and emotional tones in the multiverse crafted by the directors, who are professionally billed as Daniels. A buoyant crowd of cinephiles and movie nerds, as Kwan put it, were thrilled to pack Austins Paramount Theater, where an indoor masking was strictly adhered to (and no proof of vaccination status required at the door). The men behind the buzzy 2016 Sundance title Swiss Army Man (dubbed the farting corpse movie by film Twitter) expressed their pride over the finished project in a Q&A following the premiere. We took it kind of slow. Weve been doing this for about 10 years and slowly building up the ability to make something like this, Kwan told SXSW film head Janet Pierson. We also built our crew, this family, and by the time we were ready to write this movie we knew our crew was up for the task. Pierson herself was overcome, saying she was rusty in her introductory remarks and observing that for a lot of us, we havent gathered like this since 2019. In his Variety review, chief film critic Peter Debruge said the movie does everything but buck your seats and spritz you with water, although Im pretty sure the Daniels would be thrilled for the film to play in 4DX theaters that do just that. Their goal is evidently to deliver an unparalleled sensory-overload experience, as this busy, multilingual film throttles us for the better part of two hours. On stage, the Daniels also admitted they were confident showing the movie to the SXSW crowd, a major departure from the nerves and self-doubt theyd experienced with previous work. They are, however, still human. I had to pee really badly after the screening. The mens room had a really long line, Kwan said. Thank you for letting me cut. And big shout out to everyone who waited until after the movie to go. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. From the hillsides above Barcelona, the superyacht looked like a building. The titanic vessel, christened Dilbar in 2016, was often docked at Port Vell, dwarfing the Barcelona aquarium next door and stretching nearly the length of two football fields. By gross tonnage, Dilbar is the largest yacht on the planet, according to Boat International, and No. 5 in length. On board is a diesel electric power plant, a 48,000-gallon swimming pool, two helipads, 12 state rooms and accommodations for 96 crew members running a maritime operation that costs $60 million a year. Dilbar sails under the flag of the Cayman Islands, the offshore tax haven in the Caribbean, but its namesake is Russian - specifically the mother of its owner, billionaire Alisher Usmanov, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Usmanov is one of the "Russian elites" on whom the United States imposed sanctions and who, in the words of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, support Russian President Vladimir Putin's "war of choice" against Ukraine. After years of cushy complacency in the service of Putin, some of Russia's wealthiest and most well-connected are yoked with economic sanctions, hounded by bad press and spooked by public outrage over a chaotic invasion that is imperiling their lifestyle. The United States and its allies will not fight the Russian military on the battlefield, at this point, but they are waging an economic war against a particular class of Putin-connected Russian super-elite, often called "oligarchs," in the theaters of conspicuous wealth: ports, airstrips, condo buildings, resort towns and the electronic trenches of international finance. "Oligarchs be warned: We will use every tool to freeze and seize your criminal proceeds," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said last week as the Department of Justice announced the deployment of an interagency enforcement posse called "Task Force KleptoCapture." "We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets," President Joe Biden said in a direct address to the oligarchs during his State of the Union address March 1. "You cannot bomb Kyiv in the morning and dock your yacht on the Cote d'Azur in the evening," the deputy prime minister of Canada, Chrystia Freeland, wrote in the Financial Times this month. The pursuit of the luxury assets of a vilified Russian elite has emerged as a sideline drama to the harder-to-take news of the devastation of Ukraine and its 2 million-plus refugees. Western news outlets have published a rogue's gallery of yachts and their extravagant amenities: cavernous wine caves, antiaircraft defense systems, amphibious shuttles to carry Land Rovers to shore. Hackers rejiggered maritime traffic data to make it seem that Putin's purported yacht had run aground on Ukraine's Snake Island while bound for a destination named "HELL," according to Bloomberg News reporter Ryan Gallagher. A 19-year-old student at the University of Central Florida automated a Twitter account to track the movements of jets belonging to certain billionaires. Usmanov's yacht, the German-built Dilbar, is docked in Hamburg, having arrived from Monaco in October for refurbishing. The White House announced March 3 that German authorities had seized the vessel; Forbes reported Tuesday that the ship was merely locked in place and that sanctions had triggered the firing of the entire crew. Usmanov could not be reached for comment, but he issued a statement March 1 saying that the European Union's "unfair" sanctions are based on "false and defamatory allegations damaging my honor, dignity, and business reputation. I will use all legal means to protect my honor and reputation." For now, Dilbar is an opulent casualty in an economic war of attrition aimed at turning Putin's inner circle into a noose. London-based investor Bill Browder, an anti-Putin and anti-corruption activist, shares the view that oligarchs are Putin's "Achilles' heel": Squeeze the wealth of those who buffer the head of state and you may be able to disrupt his air supply. Not everyone thinks this will work. Olga Chyzh, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, says that seizing jets and yachts may make for a satisfying spectacle but is not a strategy for deposing Putin. "Sanctions are another example of the West doing what it does best, which is just throwing a lot of cash at the problem and hoping it's gets solved," Chyzh said by phone, expounding on a March 5 tweet: "However sad they are to let go of their Western assets, oligarchs have even more to lose if Putin is no longer there to protect them." Nevertheless, "there's a certain amount of schadenfreude, watching rich people lose their toys," says Alex Finley, a former CIA officer and author of spy novels who goes by her pen name. Finley, who lives in Barcelona, has been tracking superyachts for book research - and, now, for sport. Using public websites that post their movements, she has watched some vessels leave European waters for the Seychelles, the Maldives and ports not covered by extradition agreements and tax constraints. Some vessels' automatic identification systems have been switched off to mask the ships' locations. On her strolls through the city, she was accustomed to seeing Dilbar, a behemoth barnacled to the coast of the Mediterranean. Using the hashtag "YachtWatch," she posts status updates on Twitter for Dilbar and other luxury vessels. "For me, the yachts are a big, easily recognizable symbol of the more serious side of this: These are people who support a dictator, and have been supporting him in carrying out destabilization operations against democracy, while at the same time coming here and taking all the benefits of the exact same democracies they were destabilizing," Finley says. "So there's a little bit of justice in seeing some of them losing their toys." The West has long been a playground for oligarchs, who love to dock in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera, where they've gobbled up beachfront real estate, says Browder, the anti-Putin and anti-corruption activist. They love to ski in the Alps at Courchevel, in southeastern France, where mountaintop restaurants offer menus in Cyrillic and diamonds and wristwatches for dessert. They love to vacation at the five-star Hotel Cala di Volpe at the northern tip of Sardinia. Before the pandemic, at the yearly World Economic Forum in Davos, they toasted each other with wine worth hundreds of dollars a sip. They have multiple passports; they are not only Russian but also Cypriot or Greek or Portuguese. But this latest round of sanctions, intended to seize or freeze their assets in the West, is hitting them like "a nuclear bomb," Browder says. "I've dealt with them for years. I know how they think," he says. "These are people who are monumentally arrogant. They think that everybody can be bought. And they think that everything is about money. And so they would be completely shocked that Putin didn't share that view and he's ready to destroy their money for another cause." The word "oligarchy," from the Greek, means rule by a few. In the context of modern Russia, "oligarch" is an informal, catchall term for wealthy elite with ties to Putin. The past quarter century has seen two different generations of Russian oligarchy. In the 1990s, a few Russian opportunists swashbuckled their way to great wealth and power, acquiring and profiting off state assets in the herky-jerky transition from the centrally planned economy of the Soviet Union to nascent capitalism under Russian President Boris Yeltsin, whom oligarchs helped reelect in 1996. After assuming the presidency in 2000, Putin began to target, jail and exile the first-generation oligarchs, whose fraternization with the West and its democratic tendencies he may have viewed as a threat. "Putin and the KGB men who ran the economy through a network of loyal allies now monopolised power, and had introduced a new system in which state positions were used as vehicles for self-enrichment," wrote the journalist Catherine Belton in her 2020 book "Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West." Russia became "a regime in which the billions of dollars at Putin's cronies' disposal were to be actively used to undermine and corrupt the institutions and democracies of the West." "They are quite a talented bunch of people," says Vladimir Ashurkov, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which was founded by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. "They probably would've thrived under any circumstances, in a Western entrepreneurial climate. ... These people could've been building Russian Teslas and, you know, Facebooks of Russia. But they decided to employ their talents in getting crooked income." In 2016, the total wealth of Russian billionaires was equal to nearly 30% of the country's income (around double the corresponding proportion in the United States). Rich Russians hold as much money outside Russia as the entire Russian people hold inside Russia, according to a 2017 working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research by Filip Novokmet, Thomas Piketty and Gabriel Zucman. This wealth has translated to power and influence around the world; for decades Russian oligarchs have ingratiated themselves with journalists, lobbyists and lawyers, and showered millions of dollars on American businesses, universities, political causes and charitable organizations. Now, suddenly, they are "radioactive," says Jonathan Winer, a former deputy assistant secretary for international law enforcement at the State Department. "These people have been a protected class," says Winer. "They've spent decades buying that protection with foundations and gifts and scholarships, as well as with lawsuits - all the different ways you become part of the fabric of society. None of those things are there to protect them because there's an angry mob united against them who now sees them as a threat to the foundation of the society." For some Russians, the aggressive stand against oligarchs is both welcome and too late. "We hoped that these sanctions would've been implemented a year ago," says Ashurkov, the anti-corruption campaigner, who in January 2021 wrote to President Biden to urge the sanctioning of 35 oligarchs in particular (some were sanctioned last week). "If the West would have been less complacent about Putin and corruption for the last eight or 10 years, then I think Putin would not be so emboldened." "I'm seeing the headlines: $40 billion or $60 billion of wealth wiped out from the Russian elite - I don't really care" because "it won't change Putin's mind," says businessman Pavel Khodorkovsky, the president of the Institute of Modern Russia, who cautioned against the notion that such sanctions will lead to de-escalation in Ukraine. Cracking down on oligarchs was the right thing to do, says Khodorkovsky - whose father, Mikhail, was a first-generation Russian oligarch who challenged Putin's corruption of the state and was imprisoned for 10 years in Siberia - but the war had already started. Whether a Russian billionaire's yacht is docked freely in Barcelona or stuck in Hamburg matters not to those who are being terrorized in Ukraine. "These sanctions don't cause any feeling of satisfaction," says Khodorkovsky, who supports greater U.S. involvement in the conflict. "All I can think about is a friend of mine in Kyiv. ... She's been stuck in the basement for 12 days now. Her house has not been shelled yet, but she's telling me that she can tell the artillery fire apart from the antiaircraft defense system. It's very real. It's very close." A man threatened to shoot a womans residence because he did not like her responses on Facebook Messenger, according to an arrest affidavit. At about 9:40 a.m. March 8, a woman reported to the Webb County Sheriffs Office that a man threatened her by passing by her house with a gun. She stated she exchanging Facebook messages with Gerardo Rodriguez, 26, when Rodriguez did not like that she did not want sexual relations with him, according to court documents. A 31-year-old Phoenix, Arizona, man has admitted he attempted to bring $242,325 worth of narcotics into the country via a Laredo-area checkpoint, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery. Jose Correjudo-Trinidad, 31, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 117 pounds of meth. A man was arrested following a raid reported in the 600 block of Constantinople Street. At about 6 p.m. Wednesday, the Webb County Sheriffs Office Narcotics Division executed the search warrant and seized one firearm, almost 66 pounds of marijuana, 164.5 grams of cocaine and cash. Authorities also arrested Alejandro Garcia, 31, on the charges of possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance. About $2,310 seized were proceeds of illicit narcotics sales, authorities said. The marijuana is worth an estimated $19,650 and the cocaine $6,580. As a former narcotics investigator, the way the marijuana was packaged has every indicator that it was going to be sent north for distribution and sale, while the money was going south, possibly Mexico. The way the cocaine was packaged indicates it was going to be sold and distributed locally, said Sheriff Martin Cuellar. I remind the community to please report any suspicious activities by calling our hotline at 956-415-BUST (2878). You may be eligible for a cash reward. International Women's Day was celebrated around the globe this week, and TAMIU itself had an event to get in on the action. International Women's Day is March 8, and TAMIU student organization League of Empowered Women and College of Arts and Science commemorated this day with a presentation followed by a march around campus. Fort Polk, LA (71446) Today Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. High 88F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. The Prudden property on Ontario Street that is now known as the Col. William Bond House is highlighted on the 1851 map of the village of Lockport. 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. Ensure you get a print copy of the Loudoun Times-Mirror delivered weekly to your home or business! Complete online access is included with all print subscriptions purchased online. Plus, up to four other members of your household can share online access through this subscription with their own, individual linked accounts at no additional charge. (Are you a current advertiser? Ask your sales rep for our special advertiser rate code!) Photo taken on March 7, 2022 shows a view of the third round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations at the Belovezhskaya Pushcha. (Belta news agency via Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A high-ranking UN official on Friday urged Russia and Ukraine to cease the ongoing conflict through dialogue and diplomacy at a Security Council meeting called by Russia to discuss the United States' alleged military biological research in Ukraine. "The need for negotiations to stop the war in Ukraine could not be more urgent," said UN Undersecretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo at the meeting, noting that three rounds of talks held thus far between Ukrainian and Russian delegations must be intensified, notably to secure humanitarian and ceasefire arrangements as a priority. "The logic of dialogue and diplomacy must prevail over the logic of war," she stressed. The meeting comes on the heels of claims by Russian Ministry of Defense Spokesperson Major General Igor Konashenkov on March 6, saying his country's military had uncovered evidence of U.S.-funded military biological programs in Ukraine, including documents confirming the development of "biological weapons components." Addressing those concerns, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, said, "the United Nations is not aware of any biological weapons programs." Since the Biological Weapons Convention entered into force in 1975, biological weapons have been outlawed. With 183 states parties to the treaty, biological weapons are "universally seen as being abhorrent and illegitimate," she stressed. Addressing other concerns, Nakamitsu warned that an accident involving the nuclear facilities in Ukraine could have severe consequences for public health and the environment and all steps must be taken to avoid it. "The possibility of an accident caused by failure to a reactor's power supply or the inability to provide regular maintenance is growing by the day," she said. "The forces in effective control of nuclear power plants in Ukraine must ensure their safe and secure operation." Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said his delegation convened the meeting because it had discovered a "truly shocking" emergency clean-up by authorities in Kiev of traces of a military biological program carried out in Ukraine and funded by the Pentagon. He said the Russian Ministry of Defense has documents on its website confirming that a network of 30 biological labs across Ukraine were conducting "very dangerous" experiments to strengthen the pathogenic qualities of the plague, anthrax, cholera and other lethal diseases using synthetic biology. Denying those claims, U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said, "Ukraine does not have a biological weapons programme. There are no Ukrainian biological weapons laboratories supported by the United States." You are here: Class of 2022 Commencement Information & Schedule Commencement Information The Lycoming College community looks forward to celebrating the accomplishments of the Class of 2022 on May 14. We hope your visit to the campus on Commencement Weekend will be memorable. Please make your hotel reservations early, as available rooms in the area are limited. Call Tracy Miles, Special Events Coordinator, at 570-321-4347 with any questions you may have or visit us at www.lycoming.edu. Commencement Ceremony Commencement will be held outside on the Fultz Quad, rain or shine. The ceremony begins at 2 p.m. There is open seating for guests on the Fultz Quad. The ceremony takes place in an unshaded area of the Fultz Quad; please dress accordingly. Commencement Tickets Tickets will not be necessary. There is open seating on the Fultz Quad for an outdoor ceremony. The ceremony will be livestreamed for those unable to attend in person. Commencement Announcements Announcements may be ordered online at www.jostens.com/apps/store/customer/1043359/Lycoming -College/. Once your order is placed with Jostens, you can expect to receive your announcements in approximately two weeks. Jostens will be on campus on Monday, March 28 and Tuesday, March 29 from 11:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. Commencement Photographs A professional photograph will be taken as graduates receive their diplomas from President Trachte, and another will be taken as they descend the platform holding their diplomas. Please stay seated and do not approach the platform during the ceremony to take pictures. Picture proofs will be emailed and mailed to each graduate after the ceremony. If you have any questions, please contact them through their Customer Service Department at ecc.giservice@gradiamges.net, by phone at 1-800-261-2576 or their website at www.gradimages.com. Special Needs Seating for individuals with disabilities is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Ushers and Commencement volunteers will be available to assist in locating accessible seating. For special needs assistance, please call Tracy Miles at 570-321-4347 or email miles@lycoming.edu. Parking Alcohol Policy All of the College parking lots will be open to guests. You may park in any available space. Campus Public Safety will be available to assist with directions and traffic control. While you are on campus, we ask that you adhere to the College's alcohol policy, which permits those students and guests who are at least 21 years of age to possess or consume alcohol only in their assigned residence hall rooms. Your adherence to the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to this College policy will help ensure seniors, families, and guests a most enjoyable weekend. For Graduates FINAL GRADES for the Spring 2022 semester will be available on Lyco Advisor. The Registrar will contact those students who are not successful in satisfying the necessary requirements for graduation. YOUR CAP, GOWN & HOOD will be issued to you at Senior Check-In on Friday once you have cleared all bills in the Business Office, including your end-of-year residence hall/apartment charges. In accordance with College policy, only those students who are in cap and gown may participate in the Commencement ceremony and receive a diploma at that time. Late arrivals can pick up their cap and gown in the Registrars Office in Long Hall until 4:00 p.m. on Friday and from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. CAMPUS STORE The last day to charge purchases to your student account will be Friday, May 6. The exception will be for May/Summer term students. All forms of payment are accepted, except for personal checks. BILLS from the Business Office will be available online after 5:00 p.m. on May 6, 2022. This bill will include charges from April 1 to May 6, 2022. Any outstanding bills must be paid in order to receive your cap and gown. The Business Office will be open for business in the Lamade Gym on Friday, May 13, 2022, from 9:30 a.m. to noon and in Long Hall from 12:00 pm to 4:30 p.m. Lycoming College does not accept in-person e-check and credit card payments. Students can pay online by logging into Lyco Advisor Self-Service and their Authorized payers can pay online by going to www.lycoming.edu/business-office. Although paying electronically is the preferred bill payment method, the Business Office will accept paper checks and cash during Senior check-in. However, the Business Office will not be able to cash personal checks after May 6, 2022. SENIOR WEEK GRADUATE HOUSING in a residence hall room is available at no charge for graduates only who wish to stay on campus during Senior Week and Commencement Weekend. Graduates must complete an online Housing Request by April 24 by logging onto MyLyco; go to WebAdvisor; choose the Residential Life menu; choose the Housing Request Link; and select Senior Week-Graduate Housing in the housing drop down menu. Requests will be honored in the order they are received, and all requests received by the deadline will be assured housing. Please remember to bring your own linens. ROOM KEYS FOR COMMENCEMENT WEEKEND HOUSING ONLY will be distributed at Senior Check-In on Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Lamade Gymnasium. If you are requesting to be involved in the Senior Week activities, Residential Life will contact you with an early check-in time. Late arrivals may pick up keys in the Office of Public Safety. Keys are to be returned to the Rich Hall Patio on Warrior Way on Saturday between 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sunday between 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., or to the Office of Public Safety during any other time. Students who neglect to return a key must mail it to the Residential Life Office (overnight or express in a padded envelope) for receipt by May 20 in order to avoid a charge against their confirmation deposits. Schedule of Events Friday, May 13 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Streeter Campus Store open 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Senior Check-In Lamade Gymnasium. Seniors may pick up their caps, gowns, hoods, and keys for the residence hall. The Business Office will be available to receive payments for remaining bills. Late arrivals may pick up caps and gowns and sign the wooden 22 class numbers at the Registrars Office in Long Hall until 4:00 p.m. on Friday and between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday. Late arrivals may pick up room keys in the Office Public Safety. 12 p.m. Practice for Commencement Fultz Quad. Seniors must attend this unless excused by Dr. Elizabeth Moorhouse or Dr. Todd Preston, Faculty Marshals. 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. Senior Picnic Class of 2022 senior picnic on the Upper Quad. 4 to 8 p.m. Lycoming College Downtown Art Gallery open 25 W. 4th Street, Williamsport 5 p.m. Baccalaureate Service Fultz Quad. The service has been planned and implemented by the Class of 2022. There is open seating for guests on the Fultz Quad; no tickets are necessary. Rain Location: Keiper Recreation Center 6 p.m. Class of 2022 Reception Fultz Quad. Lycoming College invites members of the Class of 2022, along with their families and friends, to celebrate graduation with faculty, administration, and staff. Refreshments will be served. Rain Location: Lamade Gymnasium 8:00 p.m. Choir Concert Clarke Chapel. Lycoming College Choir Concert. All are welcome; no tickets are necessary. Saturday, May 14 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Streeter Campus Store open Flowers will be available for purchase 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lycoming College Downtown Art Gallery open 25 W. 4th Street, Williamsport 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Senior Check-Out Housing check-out on Rich Hall Patio on Warrior Way or at the Office of Public Safety during any other time. 12:30 p.m. Commencement Line-up for graduates in Keiper Recreation Center Commencement will be held outdoors on the Fultz Quad (rain or shine). Seniors are asked to assemble promptly in Keiper Recreation Center in caps and gowns. 1 p.m. Carillon Concert Fultz Quad 1:30 p.m. Lycoming College Concert Band Fultz Quad 2 p.m. Commencement Fultz Quad. Ceremonial opening of The Oliver Sterling Metzler Gates and Processional for Commencement. There is open seating for guests on the Fultz Quad. The ceremony takes place in an unshaded area of the Fultz Quad; please dress accordingly. 4 p.m. Reception on the Fultz Quad 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Senior Check-Out Housing check-out on Rich Hall Patio on Warrior Way or at the Office of Public Safety during any other time. Sunday, May 15 9 to 11 a.m. Senior Check-Out Housing check-out on Rich Hall Patio on Warrior Way. Graduates who are returning room keys have another opportunity to sign the wooden 22 class numbers. MANISTEE COUNTY An agreement aimed at indigent, uninsured and underinsured residents in Manistee County is set to go before the county board of commissioners. Billy Evans, director of pharmacy for Munson Healthcare Cadillac Hospital is set to appear before the board to request approval of an agreement which would allow Manistee County residents to participate in the 340B program, according to the agenda for the meeting. Congress created the 340B Drug Pricing Program in 1992 to help provide health care services for uninsured and low-income patients in need of discounts from drug manufacturers. The program allows certain healthcare providers and hospitals to purchase covered outpatient drugs at discounted prices from drug manufacturers, according to information on Munsons website. The program which is not subsidized by the federal government is intended to allow providers to stretch scarce federal resources as far as possible to provide more care to patients, part of the website states. Under the program, drug manufacturers must offer 340B discounts to certain entities in order to have their drugs covered under Medicaid. In order to participate in the 340B program, hospitals must contract with a unit of state or local government and commit to provide healthcare to those who are neither entitled to benefits under Medicare nor eligible for assistance under Medicaid. Critics of the program point to loopholes that they say have allowed healthcare providers to absorb these savings, rather than passing discounts on to patients. A national study by the Pacific Research Institute from November found that nonprofit 340B hospitals make 37% more in profits and give 22% less of their net patient revenue to charity care compared to the average of all hospitals. The study took a detailed look at four of Michigan's 340B hospitals: Covenant Medical Center, Mid Michigan Medical Center, Munson Medical Center and William Beaumont Hospital. The American Hospital Association lists Munson Healthcare hospitals in Cadillac, Charlevoix, Grayling, Manistee, Otsego and the Munson Medical Center among those "committed to 340B principles," as of February 2020. Munson hospitals saved $30 million from the 340B program in 2019, which allowed for $2.5 million in charity care to those who qualified and were unable to pay, according to its website. As part of the contract with the county, the hospital would agree to continue its commitment to the provision of healthcare to indigent, uninsured and underinsured residents of Manistee County, including those who do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare. Lisa Sagala, county controller/administrator said the Cadillac-based hospital was seeking to enter into a agreement with Manistee, because the local hospital does not fully qualify for the program. Munson Healthcare Cadillac Hospital will assure that all patients will receive necessary care, as required by law, regardless of ability to pay, part of the agreement states. Other items the board could take action on during the meeting, include the following: Approval of a request for quotation for the creation of an updated master plan for the county. The current plan was adopted in 2009. Approval of a $40,000 appropriation on behalf of the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce and economic development council for a three-year period through September 2024. Stacie Bytwork, president and CEO of the chamber, will present her annual report and make the request to the board. Approval of an agreement with Housing North to further fund a housing coordinator for the county. Approval of proposed ballot language for the August primary election on behalf of the tax allocation board. The allocation board has agreed to keep the limits the same, but will be for a period of only two years. The last time this was done was 2016. Approval of a work agreement for the emergency management coordinator that is set to expire in April. The coordinator, Mike Machen, has requested an increase in pay. He is also the deputy 911 director. The current pay for the emergency management portion of his job is $10,000 and he has requested an increase to $20,000. Approval of a job description for a county grant administrator position. After discussion in the Ways and Means Committee, it was recommended that the grant writer be a contractual position. Approval of a letter of support on behalf of the county recreation commission for a Department of Natural Resources grant for Bear Creek Bridge. The recreation commission is submitting for the DNR grant and has asked the county for a letter of support to send in with the grant application. Commissioners will also consider applicants for vacancies on the Centra Wellness Board of Directors, Manistee County Jury Board and Betsie River Natural River Zoning Review Board. Tuesdays meeting will begin at 5 p.m. in the board of commissioners meeting room in the Manistee County Courthouse and Government Center, located at 415 Third St. in Manistee. To attend the meeting virtually, visit zoom.us/j/88131394486 with the passcode 4153. MANISTEE TWP. Here are five key takeaways from the Manistee Township Board meeting that took place on Thursday evening. Karen Clouse, Manistee Township zoning administrator, said during the meeting that there were two township planning commission public hearings since the last meeting. One (hearing was) for the Culvers project, which the commission approved the site plan as presented and the special use permit at the meeting, Clouse said. Coldwell Banker professional Michael Cnudde told the News Advocate on Friday that Culvers closed on the property at 492 Parkdale Ave. and it now owns that property. Its exciting, they got all the approvals that they needed to move forward and close on the property, he said. It was a long process for navigating, even for me as a broker and with the owners and to make everybody happy. Cnudde said Culvers plans to start demolition this spring with a tentative opening in fall. Cnudde previously said the purchase agreement was signed in July. He declined to detail the property's cost. 2. Roundabout pushed back Dennis Bjorkquist, Manistee Township supervisor, gave an update during the township update portion of the meeting on the roundabout project just north of Manistee at the intersection of U.S. 31 and M-22. He said that work is scheduled to start July 12 and tentatively go through Oct. 31. Previously, that project was tentatively set to start in April. A roundabout was proposed for the intersection of U.S. 31 and M-22 near the Little River Casino Resort in Manistee Township. The project is being done as a partnership between the Michigan Department of Transportation and Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, which owns the casino. A road safety review was made at the request of the tribal government to assess conditions at the intersection and to help recommend options for traffic safety improvements. It was determined that a roundabout would reduce the potential for severe crashes, while improving traffic flow at the site, Gary Niemi, MDOT operations engineer, previously said. Cost for the project is estimated at $1.8 million. Work on the roundabout is anticipated to require around two months to complete. 3. New playground dollars The board unanimously approved a resolution supporting a Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant application for a day use playground at Orchard Beach State Park. The plans for the playground shared at the meeting show barrier-free pathways, a climbing wall, basket swing, balance logs, accessible benches and other assets. The project is estimated to cost $452,700, with the largest costs estimated to be the unitary protective surfacing at $148,000 and play equipment at $115,000. A previous estimate in November 2020 said that a playground that allows good access to all the equipment has a price tag of $143,000 and that an additional $53,000 would allow installation of ramps to all the equipment for even more accessibility. The funding plan pitched shows $300,000 could come from the trust fund grant and a local match by the Friends of Orchard Beach State Park would be $152,700. 4. Road paving requirement The board also unanimously voted to support a zoning amendment ordinance on private street paving and maintenance. Clouse explained that the previous rule meant that prior to the construction of the fifth principal building structure the entire road had to be paved. The paving cost would be divided between land owners and in some cases, like one pointed out near M-22 in the township, that would mean millions of dollars. This was brought to the planning commission to perhaps see if we could rework this, look at this ordinance portion and maybe come up with something different, Clouse said. She said the Manistee County Planning Commission also approved the measure. They say that it is consistent with the standards required for roads by the Manistee County Road Commission, she said. Bjorkquist noted that the change came to the board as a recommendation by the planning commission. Guy Finout, township trustee, explained that the planning commission dropped the requirement for private streets to be paved. 5. Bryx system with MMR Jeff Dontz, Manistee County chair, said the county is a little light on ambulance services. During the commissioners report section of the meeting, Dontz told the township board that Mobile Medical Response is looking into changing priority EMS dispatching for emergencies in the county. MMR is based in Saginaw and serves Manistee County as well as a list of other counties in the state. I dont think that this is a cure-all but were the lone entity that MMR services that does not operate using the Bryx system, he said of the fire and EMS station alerting system. Dontz said he did not yet know if MMR was planning to switch to Bryx, but I dont think its a good procedure to be the one (without it in) the entire organization as well when youre trying to improve your efficiencies. He noted that the Manistee County 911 Board meets on Wednesday. MANISTEE A long-awaited street improvement project may be coming to Manistee. According to the agenda materials for Tuesday's Manistee City Council meeting, the council could take action to approve a contract with Hallack Construction for Quincy and Cleveland Street improvements and utility upgrades. The project consists of water main replacement, sanitary sewer replacement, storm sewer improvements and a full street reconstruction. Two public bids were received: Hallack Contracting $978,410.50; and Davis Construction $1.104 million According to the meeting agenda materials, the low bid exceeds the engineers estimate of $969,000, but it is still within the projects budget. According to a memo in the meeting's agenda materials packet from Manistee Department of Public Works Director Jeff Mikula to Manistee City Manager Bill Gambill, the "best-case-scenario" timeline for the project would be to start construction midsummer and have it complete in November. Mikula said the intent had been previously to start in early spring and finish by midsummer, but material sourcing and industry issues make that earlier goal unattainable. Other topics on Tuesdays agenda include: A public hearing on the topic of a $300,000 Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant for improvements to the Veterans Memorial Park north Riverwalk area. The purpose of this hearing is to seek community input on the grant application. The matter is also on the agenda for consideration later in the meeting. According to a memo in the meeting's agenda materials packet from Harbormaster Jeff Mikula to Gambill, "portions of the north Riverwalk are over 50 years old and functionally obsolete." Council could approve a resolution to apply for a $300,000 Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant for improvements to the Veterans Memorial Park north Riverwalk area. This would include committing $260,000 in matching funds during the 2022-2023 fiscal year. Council could also approve a resolution supporting an on-premises tasting room permit request from Third Life Brewing LLC. Provided image/Manistee City Council agenda Council could approve an amended and restated development and reimbursement agreement between the Manistee County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, City of Manistee and Manistee Lakes, LLC for the Joslin Cove project next door to the SS City of Milwaukee Manistee, on Arthur Street. At the Feb. 24 meeting, the Manistee County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority voted to approve an amended and restated development and reimbursement agreement with Manistee Lakes, LLC on the Joslin Cove development. The city is a party to the agreement as it is receiving a $150,000 payment through the agreement with $100,000 remaining for the siting and construction of an Arthur Street pump station. Tuesdays meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Manistee City Hall, 70 Maple Street. This year the observation of Equal Pay Day will have a few more teeth to it than usual as the struggle for women to be paid equally to men in Russia's battle with the West continues to grow beyond their invasion of Ukraine. The European Union's censoring of Russian media is likely to lead to a reaction, and Russia have Meta in their sights. Russia's battle against the biggest social networking sites Russia are now intending to hit Meta with their own censoring, and they have labelled Mark Zuckerberg's Meta - the company under which Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp operate - as a "terrorist organisation". They plan to restrict access to the sites in the country. It's not Russia's first attack on the West Western countries in Europe and further afield have started to take sanctions against Russia, and many have started to ban the importation of Russian products. In response, Vladimir Putin has introduced rules of his own saying that nothing can be exported without approval. The measure will run until at least 2023 and will affect 48 countries, including all of those in the European Union and the United States. Press Release March 12, 2022 Dispatch from Crame No. 1233: Sen. Leila M. de Lima re: the Philippines' role if Ukraine War spills over to Asia It is difficult to discuss whatever the future role of the Philippines is in the event the conflict in Ukraine spills over to Asia without sounding belligerent. Southeast Asia as of now is still very remote from the conflict, other than feeling the war's economic repercussions. To talk about Philippine involvement means that the conflict has already expanded to other parts of NATO Europe and the US, for the Philippines to be taking into consideration its defense arrangements with the US. This also means that the conflict has approached a global scale, heading towards a third world war. As of present, this matter is not being discussed by the leaders of Europe and the US for the simple reason that it engenders an escalation in the language of the conflict, something that Europe and the US do not intend to achieve given the already dangerous state of mind of Putin and his capacity to involve the whole world in a conflagration. This is why the US did not respond to Putin's order placing Russia's nuclear forces on alert. And rightly so. Putin is playing a dangerous game, and the West is not about to engage him in a game where he is ready to lose everything but the West is not. As such, Duterte's projection on the expansion of the conflict to Asia should be taken in this context. It is an irresponsible statement by a head of state, while NATO Europe and the US are careful in their own statements and projections about the conflict. When Duterte says the Philippines is ready to allow its facilities to be used by the US, he is putting the US under the spotlight if indeed the US is also projecting a worldwide conflict arising from the Ukraine war so as to consider the use of Philippine military facilities. Of course the US is not expected to respond to Duterte's invitation, premature and irresponsible as it is in light of the critical nature of the US's relations with Russia as of present. The Philippine government should not be issuing statements that are counter-intuitive to conflict resolution and which almost amount to sabre-rattling. The call of NATO and the US is for peace and the withdrawal of Russian forces. For the Philippines to be talking about its role in the event of the expansion of the conflict, while NATO is even steadfast in its own outright refusal to put NATO boots on Ukrainian soil, only reflects Duterte's "utak pulbura" world-view. ### Access the handwritten copy of Dispatch from Crame No. 1233 here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_no_1233 BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China's express logistics sector recorded stable growth in February as market demand and production gradually picked up, data from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed. The index tracking express logistics came in at 100.4 percent last month, up 0.5 percentage points from January, according to the federation. It attributed the expansion to the continuous recovery of the Chinese economy and the steady rebound of demand in the domestic market. In the breakdown, the sub-indices for enterprise express logistics rose 1.5 percentage points month on month to 101 percent, while that for cross-border express logistics climbed 1.7 percentage points to 96.8 percent. China's manufacturing and tertiary sectors also registered steady growth in February, with the sub-indices tracking manufacturing business express delivery up 0.8 percentage points month on month, while that for the services sector rose 2.2 percentage points. Based on statistics of business express services, China's express logistics index reflects the development of the country's industrial activities and express logistics sector. Weather Alert ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible. * WHERE...Portions of Arkansas and Oklahoma, including the following counties, in Arkansas, Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Madison, Sebastian and Washington AR. In Oklahoma, Adair, Cherokee, Choctaw, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Haskell, Latimer, Le Flore, Mayes, McIntosh, Muskogee, Nowata, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pittsburg, Pushmataha, Rogers, Sequoyah, Tulsa, Wagoner and Washington OK. * WHEN...Through Thursday afternoon. * IMPACTS...Excessive runoff will likely result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations, especially in areas that have already received heavy rainfall over the past few days. Several main-stem rivers could go into flood. A few locations could see significant flash flooding. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Multiple rounds of thunderstorms are expected today through Thursday afternoon with the potential for very heavy rainfall. Widespread 2 to 3 inches of rain is expected with locally higher amounts of 5 to 6 inches. The heavier rain will begin to shift east of far southeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas Thursday afternoon. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop. && HARBIN, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the country's leading soybean production base, has selected 23 new soybean varieties for breeders, as the government has been committed to the breeding efforts in order to boost the yield, quality, and disease resistance of the crop. Du Zhentao, chairman of a pilot modern agricultural cooperative in Hailun City, Heilongjiang, said he is ready to continue planting "Dongsheng 22," a new soybean variety that he tried last year. He said the seeds developed by Li Yanhua, a researcher with the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, proved a yield per mu (about 0.067 hectares) exceeding 200 kg, much higher than before. China is striving to achieve self-sufficiency of oil-bearing crops such as soybeans. The Heilongjiang provincial science and technology has implemented a biological breeding program to breed the new soybean varieties. Heilongjiang's soybean planting area accounts for more than 40 percent of the country's total. This year, the province has set the target of adding 10 million mu of soybean plantation area to boost the output. BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Li Zhanshu has visited journalists covering the annual session of the national legislature. Li, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, commended reporters for their coverage of the fifth session of the 13th NPC and sent greetings to them at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday. Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, talked with journalists from media outlets including People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, China Media Group and China Daily. At the news center set up by Xinhua, he was shown the thematic page of xinhuanet.com dedicated to the legislative session and learned about the news agency's multi-media products and the global reach of its multi-language news services. Li called on journalists to improve their coverage of China's rule of law, China's stories, and stories of whole-process people's democracy. Advertisement The findings are published in journalCIM is often discovered when the puppies are weaned from the mother's milk to solid foods at about four weeks of age."They don't have swallowing activity. When the puppies swallow food, it just sits in their esophagus and doesn't trigger those sequential contractions that normally occur to help push the food into the stomach," said Sarah Bell, a graduate research assistant in genetics and the first author of the study. "Because a dog's esophagus is horizontal instead of vertical like ours, gravity doesn't aid the transportation of food into the stomach."To get food and water in their stomachs, puppies with megaesophagus must eat and drink while sitting upright in a dog highchair and remain there for up to 30 minutes afterward. Some will outgrow the condition, but many require lifelong symptomatic management with upright feedings, small liquid meals multiple times a day, gelatin cubes, and drug therapies.In the study, Clark and Bell performed a genome-wide scan to identify genes associated with the disorder. The scan revealed an association on canine chromosome 12 and a variant within melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 2 (MCHR2), which affects appetite, weight and how food moves through the gastrointestinal tract. Clark and her team believe that an imbalance of melanin-concentrating hormones plays a role in CIM.The study also revealed that male puppies are twice as likely to be affected by the disorder than females. The researchers suspect that higher estrogen levels allow food to pass to the stomach more effectively, thereby protecting against disease development."What they've found in people is that estrogen has the effect of relaxing the sphincter that connects the esophagus to the stomach. By having more estrogen, the smooth muscle there is naturally more likely to open. This increases the motility of food into the stomach," Bell said. "In dogs with megaesophagus disease, a drug called sildenafil has shown good results. What it does is to relax the sphincter that connects the esophagus and stomach."Sildenafil is the generic name for the active ingredient in Viagra. Clark said sildenafil increases the percentage of dogs that outgrow the disease and no longer have to use a high chair when eating.The MCHR2 variant, along with the dog's sex, can predict whether a dog will develop a megaesophagus with 75 percent accuracy. Owners can swab their dog's gums and submit the sample to genetic testing companies to learn which variant(s) their dog inherited.The test is a tool breeders can use to reduce disease incidence while preserving genetic diversity."One thing I stress with any disease in any breed is don't make a problem where there isn't one. If you've been breeding German shepherds for 20 years and you've never bred a megaesophagus puppy, then don't use this test," she said. "But if you're a breeder and you've had megaesophagus puppies, you may benefit from the test."Source: Newswise BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Construction work on the core module of China's Tiangong space station is proceeding steadily, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Friday. The Shenzhou-13 mission astronauts currently working the project are all in good condition, said the CMSA, adding that they plan to return to Earth in April. The key technologies for the construction of the space station have been fully verified, and the follow-up missions are on course to make solid progress, the CMSA added. The crew members who will carry out two further manned missions during the construction phase have been selected and are now undergoing training. Building a space station for large-scale, long-term manned missions is the third step in the "three-step" development strategy of China's manned spaceflight project. Since 2021, the country has successfully carried out five flight missions in the key technology verification phase of its manned spaceflight project. In 2022, China plans to launch the Wentian and Mengtian experimental modules, the Shenzhou manned spacecraft and the cargo spacecraft. China will also complete the in-orbit construction of its space station and build a national space laboratory that operates stably in orbit, said the CMSA. Meanwhile, China continues its research on key technologies for a human lunar-landing project. A group of highly-sophisticated cybercriminals have been arrested by the Faridabad police who recently defrauded an export-import firm owned by Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor's father-in-law Harish Ahuja of almost Rs. 27 crores. According to PTI, on Friday, police said the scammers had been defrauding the Aisha actress' father-in-law's Faridabad-based firm, Shahi Export Factory, by misappropriating Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies licences intended for his company and cashing them using his bogus Digital Signature Certificate. After Sunil Ahuja's firm filed a complaint in July last year, the Faridabad police have been working on the case quietly. Since then, nine people have been arrested in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Karnataka, among other places across the country. Faridabad Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Nitish Agarwal explained the strategy of the incredibly advanced cyber fraud, saying the government provides incentives to export enterprises in the form of ROSCTL licences, which entitle them to a rebate in excise and customs duties. These ROSCTL licences are identical to digital coupons worth several lakh rupees, according to the DCP, who added that the fraudsters had obtained 154 ROSCTLs worth Rs 27.61 crores from Ahuja's firm and had been transferring them to bogus firms and cashing them. They used to get these coupons redeemed by transferring them to other businesses, according to DCP Agarwal. Sonam Kapoor, who made her Bollywood debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya opposite Ranbir Kapoor in 2007, tied the knot to Harish's son Anand Ahuja in 2018. For the unversed, Anand is an entrepreneur by profession and runs a fashion brand called Bhaane. Reportedly, he also works as a director for his father's firm, recently duped by the scamsters. Talking about Sonam, she was last seen in a cameo role in the Netflix film AK vs AK, featuring her father Anil Kapoor in lead. She will next be seen in Sujoy Ghosh's production venture titled Blind. The Neerja star has already completed the film's shoot. Blind is an adaptation of the 2011 Korean film of the same name and follows a blind cop on the hunt for a serial killer. Besides Blind, she is yet to announce her next project. The Daviess County Public Schools Police Department has arrested a juvenile in connection with Thursdays bomb threat at Apollo High School. Capt. Brad Youngman, lead officer for the DCPS Police Department, said the juvenile was arrested Friday, and was transported to the Warren County Juvenile Detention Center in Bowling Green. The juvenile was charged with complicity to commit second-degree terroristic threatening, which Youngman said is a class D felony. The incident occurred at 1 p.m. Thursday, and forced AHS students to evacuate the building for about 45 minutes, while officers searched the school. No device was found. Youngman said the incident was investigated by AHS school resource officer Gary Klee. He was able to make an arrest after speaking with several students and reviewing surveillance video with school administrators, Youngman said. Many of the kids were very concerned about the events that took place, and they were eager to assist in this case, Youngman said. County Attorney Claud Porter said he reviewed the evidence with DCPS police officers, and felt there was enough probable cause to charge the juvenile. Meanwhile, the Owensboro Police Department is still investigating bomb threats that were received Wednesday and Thursday at Owensboro High School. The investigation was continuing, Andrew Boggess, OPDs public information officer, said Friday. Youngman said, We are still sharing our information with OPD, to see if it will help in their case. James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse The 44th Kentucky Aviation Association Conference & Exhibition will return to the Owensboro Convention Center on Oct. 26-28. It will be the organizations first time in Owensboro since 2016. Col. Tim Kopra, former commander of the International Space Station, was the featured speaker that year. The association met here for the first time in 2015. Thats a little surprising since it was created in 1975, with John Games, who was then manager of Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport, as its first president. Mayor Tom Watson said, Our community is honored to have them back. Since we have one of the longest runways in the commonwealth and one of only five control towers, we are very proud of our aviation in Owensboro. Our Essential Air Service with Cape Air, a private, fixed-base operator, combined with Allegiant air service destination to Orlando, are all qualities we can be very proud of. Kellie Baker, vice president and conference chairwoman for KAA, said this is the first conference the organization has had since the COVID-19 pandemic began two years ago. She said it will bring about 300 aviation professionals to Owensboro that week. Baker said, The conference will include educational sessions and networking opportunities with various aviation industries and organizations. The KAA is currently in the process of lining up guest speakers. Sarah Haynes, the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureaus director of destination sales and services, said, Weve been working tirelessly to bring back conventions and events that were held in Owensboro pre-pandemic and we are thrilled to once against host the KAA. Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport is one of only five commercial airports in the state. Daviess Judge-Executive Al Mattingly said, From the countys investment in the terminal expansion 10 years ago to Owensboros continuing investment in the Air Show, the airport provides a return on our investment by offering an essential service to our region. Tristan Durbin, airport director, said his team and the CVB worked together to bring the conference to town. Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301 klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com Rick Steves is hyped. Thats not so unusual: Infectious joy is surely one key to Stevess success as Americas kindly vacation guru. Still, when he leaves next month on a 40-day trip to update his European guidebooks a ritual he used to perform each spring it will be the first such journey since covid-19 erased his travel calendar, which explains his current level of euphoria. Just to get back in the saddle has got me so filled with adventure, with energy, he said. I can hardly wait. The trip follows a pandemic-long dry spell that quieted presses across the guidebook industry. U.S. travel book sales in 2020 were down about 40% from the previous year, according to NPD BookScan. (The category includes, but doesnt single out, travel guidebooks.) Facing stalled sales and the prospect of ongoing upheaval amid the pandemic, many guidebook print runs were postponed or canceled. We put all the guidebooks on pause, said Pauline Frommer, co-president of the guidebook company her father, Arthur Frommer, founded in 1957. It was very clear from the beginning of the pandemic that things were going to change drastically, and I did not want to print guidebooks that were not worth the paper they were printed on. The pandemic knockdown came following uncertain decades for the guidebook industry. After reaching 19,005,029 in 2006, U.S. travel book sales halved over the next decade. In 2013, BBC Worldwide sold Lonely Planet, a move followed by massive layoffs. Then, having acquiring Frommers, Google quietly stopped all production of Frommers print guidebooks. (The Frommers repurchased rights and resumed printing guidebooks.) Thats how 2013 became the year of essays trumpeting the demise of travel guidebooks, each attributing cause of death to some combination of apps, influencers, online searches and digital powerhouse Tripadvisor. But the doomsaying was nothing new. The whole time Ive been working on guidebooks, people have been like, The end of guidebooks is nigh, said author Zora ONeill, who wrote her first travel guidebook in 2002 and has penned titles for both Moon and Lonely Planet. Although the end never came, ONeill saw the industry change. Rates have fallen or stagnated in the past two decades, while in many cases, work-for-hire arrangements replaced traditional royalty contracts. And the once-dominant role of guidebooks in travel culture changed, too. As an old millennial who started traveling in guidebooks supposedly halcyon age, Ive watched that transformation with interest. Sometimes with nostalgia, too: I miss swapping annotated, dog-eared books with fellow travelers in bars or hostels. Now, you can reliably find those same places filled with people glued to their screens. Twenty years ago, however, I would have said guidebooks contributed to an informational monoculture I found aggravating. I noticed that people using the same brand of travel guides seemed to follow each other, slightly abashed, from place to place. On one months-long trip through Central America in 2002, fellow owners of Lonely Planets hefty Central America on a Shoestring became familiar faces as we popped up at the same places in city after city. When new businesses opened, owners struggled to get the word out. Lurid tales of questionable guidebook ethics circulated. Outdated or incorrect entries in a book could leave you stranded, but few other sources existed. When I started writing, the problem was that there was not enough information, said Steves, noting that, at one time, guidebooks were almost the only way to decide where to stay in an unfamiliar city. As times changed, that sameness gave way to the untamed, thrilling diversity of todays digital wilderness. It got to the point where there was too much information, he said, noting that proliferating sources made it harder to know what was reliable. Researching a trip online can be a Mad Max infinity loop of unvetted user-generated reviews and self-appointed experts. Trading free trips for sunny features is common practice in the world of travel influencers, with little transparency about who is footing the bill for a given blog post or YouTube video. While earlier travelers just needed some basic info, Steves said, guidebooks main value proposition might now be an escape hatch from that digital overwhelm. Part of my job is to curate all the options the glut of information with a consistent set of values, he said. Whats more, a print guidebook offers a chance to unplug, allowing travelers to put down their phones, Steves noted. With a screen close at hand, its too easy to let your attention drift away from that chic Parisian bistro and into drearily quotidian scrolling. It seems to be working out, because Stevess 2019 royalty checks were the highest of his career. Despite apocalyptic warnings, in fact, guidebooks are generally doing okay. After the rocky industry news of 2013, travel book sales stabilized, then stayed roughly even until the pandemic hit. Most travelers who still buy print books, though, now seem to read them in conjunction with, not instead of, online resources. In recent Facebook and Twitter posts, veteran traveler and content creator Abigail King queried followers about how they use guidebooks today, noticing some buy for pre-trip research, reverting to the Internet for facts on the ground. Others turn books into a kind of souvenir stuffed with ticket stubs and handwritten notes. I use them in a really different way now, too, mainly for reading about the country and planning an itinerary, said King, who lives in the United Kingdom. She noted that, when traveling to destinations in Europe with consistent cell coverage, shes unlikely to bring a hard copy along. Guidebooks are now among a suite of tools people use, said Grace Fujimoto, acquisitions director at Avalon Travel, which oversees the Moon Travel Guides imprint that is the United States top guidebook seller. (Disclosure: Ive written several Moon guidebooks.) Fujimoto said the pandemic accelerated that shift toward book-plus-digital, partly because information has changed so quickly in the past two years. But it just underscores a broader trend of recent years, she said. Guidebooks are becoming more and more inspirational, in addition to just being repositories of information, Fujimoto said, offering a forthcoming guidebook to Spains Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail as an example. It does have a lot of good practical information, but it combines it with ways of appreciating what youre seeing and doing almost every step of the way, she said. Lonely Planet is another publisher leaning into the shift. Guidebooks are evolving into this experiential, curated collection, said Lonely Planet spokesman Chris Zeiher. This month, the company released a new line of photo-heavy Experience guides, which Zeiher said are designed to inspire. The first titles in the series, guidebooks to Italy, Portugal, Japan, Ireland, Scotland and Iceland, are noticeably lacking in the old-style comprehensive listings of hotels and restaurants. In their place are expert interviews and short, magazine-style features on the kinds of experiences travelers might build a trip around. Flip through these to get fired up for chasing waterfalls in Iceland, for instance, or to dream up an itinerary focused on visiting Japanese temples. And unlike the earliest Lonely Planet guides, which were oriented to longer, more comprehensive trips, these are tailored to the shorter vacations increasingly common among travelers from the United States. Zeiher, too, heard predictions of print guidebooks demise since he joined Lonely Planet nearly 17 years ago. But hes optimistic about the coming decade. One thing that Lonely Planets always done, is weve always evolved, he said. I think well continue to do that. As the pandemic recedes and travelers return to the world, hes betting theres room in their bags for a book. Photo taken on March 11, 2022 shows the community isolation facility (CIF) on the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities Island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China's Hong Kong. The third CIF in Hong Kong constructed with the support from the mainland has been put into operation immediately after it was handed over to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Saturday. (Xinhua) HONG KONG, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The third community isolation facility (CIF) in Hong Kong constructed with the support from the mainland has been put into operation immediately after it was handed over to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Saturday. John Lee, chief secretary for administration of the HKSAR government, visited the newly-built CIF on the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities Island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, which provides over 400 rooms with around 1,200 beds for emergency isolation. The facility, which covers an area of about 24,000 square meters, is composed of modular cubicles, with each room equipped with basic furniture and bedding, air conditioner and smoke sensor, among others. Designed and built by China State Construction International Holdings Ltd., the construction of the facility was completed in less than 20 days. Lee said the completion of this isolation facility represents the central government's full support for the HKSAR's fight against COVID-19 as well as the effective coordination of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR to press ahead with the construction. It also represents the achievements after overcoming difficulties with the tireless efforts of the construction personnel. "As more community isolation and treatment facilities are completed with the support of the central government and handed over to the HKSAR government for operation, we will make the best use of the facilities to isolate infected persons as early as possible to cut the transmission chains, safeguard lives and health, and stabilize the epidemic situation," Lee said. Among the mainland-aided CIFs, the ones in Tsing Yi and San Tin have started operation, and their room occupancy rate have reached around 80 percent. The other projects in Ma Sik Road of Fanling, Hung Shui Kiu and Tam Mei of Yuen Long, will be handed over to the HKSAR government this month. The six facilities will provide about 20,000 additional beds for emergency isolation, according to Lee. On Saturday, Hong Kong registered 15,789 new COVID-19 cases, official data showed. An online platform for the submission of positive rapid antigen test (RAT) results received 11,858 more effective self-reports on Friday. Photo taken on March 11, 2022 shows the community isolation facility (CIF) on the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities Island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China's Hong Kong. The third CIF in Hong Kong constructed with the support from the mainland has been put into operation immediately after it was handed over to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Saturday. (Xinhua) In summer 2020, The New York Times coordinated a nationwide project to document the lives of Americans out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved collaborating with 11 other local newsrooms around the U.S. The Messenger-Inquirer was the only newspaper from Kentucky in the collaboration. The resulting collection of stories was published Oct. 23, 2020, in the New York Times print edition and at nytimes.com/outofwork. The following list is the Messenger-Inquirer's local unemployment coverage from that time period; read more by clicking the "New York Times Project" header. Click on "Out Of Work In America" to go to the full File photo MANISTEE The Manistee County Republican Party and Manistee Area Tea Party are jointly sponsoring a meeting in which Republican attorney general candidate Tom Leonard is a guest speaker. Leonard was formally the speaker of the house in the Michigan Legislature. He currently is a partner at the Plunkett Cooney law firm. Hello Manistee County! I am excited about spring being just around the corner. We sure all had a little taste of it last weekend. I hope we keep getting some wonderful surprises from Mother Nature this week. This week we had a lot going on at the Senior Center and I think we are even busier next week. We celebrated International Womens Day with beautiful flowers for all of our lovely, strong women who came into the building for programs and activities. One of my favorite quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt was attached to the flowers said No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. This week we are looking forward to a fun St. Paddys Day lunch and gathering. Remember you need to sign up if you are going to come in for a delicious corned beef and cabbage dinner. We have a couple of fun things heading your way, we are making a spring wreath and we have limited space for this fun activity. Make sure you get signed up soon, so you can have this cute wreath for your door. We also have popcorn and a movie coming up. This is also going to be a lot of fun. I love movies, I have a difficult time picking movies for other people because I really like shoot em ups! I can think of a bunch of movies that I think would be great to watch, but everyone here wants to check out the one I pick first before everyone sees it. The movie that got a lot of buzz for the award shows The Power of the Dog made no sense to me. It was interesting, but maybe too artsy for my taste. Get signed up and see what you think of my pick! If you have been to the Senior Center, you have probably seen the Music Cove. We are partnering with River City Music School to offer music lessons, lending material like sheet music and some fun activities. We are excited to get the ball rolling. Keep an eye out for some of the programs we are working on. Another program that is back is our Veterans Exchange. This was always such a great way for our older generations to share their experiences with the younger military men and women. Looking at what is going on right now in Ukraine, I cant even imagine being in that type of setting and seeing your loved ones hurt or killed. I think this program is important for all people who have been in the service, so they can share their difficult or positive stories with people who understand what they have gone through. Tickets are on sale now for Flos Polka Party May 1 at the Onekama Fairgrounds. We are going to have a great time with Butch Baker and the Just 4 Fun Band playing the tunes and Jerry Zupin doing the catering. This party is our own Flo Andersons 100th birthday. We are looking forward to the ninth annual Rats & Rods Car Party that will be held here at the Wagoner Community Center on May 7. They will be featuring cars built from 1985 and before. People will come from all over to see all of the beautiful old cars and to talk with the great people that are here to show them off. Senior Nutrition Menu March 14-18 Monday: Melted ham and cheese flatbread sandwich, spring veg. blend, green beans, raisins, bun Tuesday: Chicken chop suey, rice pilaf, Oriental blend veg, cauliflower, mixed berry fruit cup, roll Wednesday: Shredded pork BBQ on a bun, baked beans, fiesta corn, cinnamon apple slices Thursday: Corned beef and cabbage, red potatoes, sliced carrots, applesauce, rye bread Friday: Tuna noodle casserole, lima beans, California blend veg, fresh grapes, roll Menus are subject to change. See More Collapse There will also be a fun senior craft show happening at the Wagoner Community Center the day of the Rats & Rods Car Party. Be sure to call the senior center and reserve your table. Space will be limited. I hope you have a wonderful week and remember to try something new! Congregate meals The congregate meal site at the Wagoner Community Center is serving lunch Monday through Friday at noon. Remember to call and reserve your lunch by noon the day before. The congregate meal site in Wellston is closed temporarily. The Onekama meal site at the Farr Center is handing out meals on Mondays and Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. for curbside carryout. The Marilla meal site has started serving Wednesday lunches once again. Keep in mind that the menu is subject to change, as certain food shortages can affect the kitchen. Food bank The senior center food bank takes place from 9-11 a.m. on the third Friday of the month. Seniors from Manistee County who are 60 and older are eligible to participate. If you are picking up for another senior, be sure you have a proxy note, along with their name, address, birth date and household information. Monetary and non-perishable food item donations are always appreciated. Next food bank is March 18 at 260 St. Mary's Parkway. Emergency food assistance If you are a Manistee County senior and are in need of emergency food assistance, call the senior center at 231-723-6477 and speak to a staff member. We have an emergency food pantry that we use to help prevent food insecurity in our senior population during these times. Senior Reimbursement Program The Manistee County Council on Aging has a program designed to help seniors remain independent, by reimbursing qualifying expenses. If you are a senior from Manistee County, you could receive reimbursement for payments you have made for house cleaning, yard work or snow removal services. For current clients in the senior reimbursement program, take note, all receipts must be current, no more than 30 days old. Income requirements apply. New clients must fill out a registration form. Mail all receipts to 260 St. Mary's Parkway in Manistee. Call the Senior Center at 231-723-6477 ext. 214 for more information. Once a senior has moved out of their home, they are no longer qualified for the reimbursement program. Exercise opportunities Sit and Get Fit is 10 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at the Wagoner Community Center. Cardio drumming classes are Thursday evenings at 4 p.m. Yoga classes are Tuesdays at 3:30 p.m. for chair yoga and Thursdays at 3 p.m. for regular yoga. Tai Chi is at 9 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Zumba classes are at 2 p.m. Monday and Wednesday. Indoor walking group starts at 1 p.m. on Friday and Mondays at 11 a.m. All classes are free to all seniors, and donations accepted for those under 60. Dementia Support Group The dementia support group will meet the second Thursday of the month. The group is a supportive, friendly gathering for caregivers, family members or anyone interested in learning more about and supporting our senior dementia community. The next meeting is set to take place at 3 p.m. on April 14. Contact Jacki Krolczyk, 231-883-1341 for more information. Parkinson's Support Group The Parkinson's support group meets at 11 a.m. on the third Thursday of each month.The next support group meeting will be on March 17 at the Wagoner Community Center. Call Marcia Holbrook 614-937-4442 for more information. Medication Management Program The council on aging has started a medication management program. Jean Anderson, the registered nurse on staff, is available to assist in this area. Call with your questions. 231-723-6477, ext. 215 Upcoming events March 14 9 a.m. - Tai Chi 1 p.m. - Mah Jongg 2 p.m. - Zumba March 15 10 a.m. - Cards and Coffee 11 a.m. - Toe Tapping Tuesday 2 p.m. - Knitting/Crochet circle 3:30 p.m. - Chair Yoga March 16 9 a.m. - Tai Chi 10:30 a.m. - TOPS 11 a.m. - Fun Bingo 1:30 p.m. - Genealogy group 2 p.m. - Zumba March 17 10 a.m. - Cribbage 12 p.m. - St. Paddys Day lunch 3 p.m. - Yoga 4 p.m. - Cardio drumming 11 a.m. - Parkinson's Support Group March 18 9-11 a.m. - Senior food bank Kelly Meek daughter, sister, wife and mother an entrepreneur known for being a generous, selfless, creative, and passionate supporter of women in business. Kelly died on April 8, 2019. She was an inspiration to all women who dare to dream. On International Women's Day Northwood University announced the Kelly Ann Meek Scholarship for women leaders and entrepreneurs at Northwood University. Northwood University President Kent MacDonald and First Lady Mary-Ellen MacPhee have donated $100,000 to Northwood University to create the scholarship in honor of Kelly's outstanding contribution to business and her belief that women business leaders can make a community more socially and economically prosperous. Kelly was the youngest sister of MacDonald. She and her husband, Paul Meek, opened a family-owned craft brewing company nearly 15 years ago in Canada's capital of Ottawa, Ontario. The brewing company, called Kichesippi Beer Company, is a staple in the National Capital area and one of the most well-known companies in the region. Since Kichesippi's early days, Kelly and Paul believed their business was meant to make a profit and to positively impact the community. When Kichesippi Beer Company first opened, the company quickly developed a reputation for having the best beer in the region. With this product's success, Kelly and Paul also believed their business had the responsibility to help make people happier and the community more vibrant. Since its inception, Kichesippi Beer Company has supported various community charities, including juvenile diabetes, a disease impacting their son, Alexander, since an early age. Over the years, the couple has gone on to support a wide variety of non-profit organizations. Northwood University is home to thousands of entrepreneurs and leaders. "Kelly epitomized a timeless set of values known at Northwood University as The Northwood Idea, and she served as a role model for all women entrepreneurs," said MacPhee. "Kelly was passionate about private business, and she believed it was important to give back whenever she could, said MacDonald. My sister would be proud to know this scholarship at Northwood University will help the next generation of women business leaders." Click here to read the full article. Donald Trumps plane made an emergency landing on Saturday following his speech at a Republican National Committee event in New Orleans (the one where he mused about bombing Russia with planes disguised to look like they were from China). The Florida-bound plane, which was owned by a GOP donor, was reportedly in the air for around half an hour when one of its engines failed, forcing it to head back to New Orleans. The news of emergency landing didnt break until Wednesday, and after it did Trumps Save America PAC blasted a question to supporters: DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE NEW TRUMP FORCE ONE? Do you remember Trump Force One? the email reads. Before becoming the greatest President of all time, I traveled the Country in my plane, known as Trump Force One. I have a very important update on my plane but I need to trust that you wont share it with anyone: my team is building a BRAND NEW Trump Force One. The email blast didnt allude to the emergency landing, but did include all of the typical language about how the future of our Country is at stake and Trump is calling on all Patriots to join his fight to save America. The box making a donation recur month-to-month was pre-checked. Trump has long been known for aggressive and often shady fundraising tactics. Trump and the Republican Party even had to return nearly $13 million in donations last year to donors who unwittingly signed up for recurring monthly donations. The refunds havent dissuaded the Save America PAC from keeping its foot on the gas, to the point that Republicans are starting to get irritated. Axios reported last month that some feel the onslaught of spam emails from Trump is burning out donors who may otherwise be inclined to give to GOP candidates who need a little more financial assistance than the former president. Trumps dubious fundraising tactics have worked for Trump, at least. He entered 2022 with $122 million in cash on hand, more than double the total in the RNCs reserves. Deputies to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) attend the second plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 13th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) Experts worldwide generally believe that this target takes global risk factors into full account and is in line with China's economic development reality. It also signals that China is committed to high-quality development and its economic prospects are expected to be stable. BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China has garnered global attention with a freshly announced economic growth target for 2022 at around 5.5 percent. The new target represents a medium-high rate of growth given China's large economic aggregate, and demonstrates the country's ability to move proactively, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said while delivering the government work report at this year's "two sessions." Experts worldwide generally believe that this target takes global risk factors into full account and is in line with China's economic development reality. It also signals that China is committed to high-quality development and its economic prospects are expected to be stable. A customer shops at a supermarket in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 16, 2022. (Photo by Wang Chun/Xinhua) REALISTIC TARGET Khairy Tourk, a professor of economics at the Chicago-based Illinois Institute of Technology, said that China's economic growth target of around 5.5 percent is "very realistic," noting the possibility that China might overshoot the number. China is a major economy with healthy fundamentals, Tourk said, adding China's steady growth is extremely vital to global growth and bodes well for the rest of the world. John Pang, a senior fellow at New York-based Bard College, said China's growth is modest by its standards and the very realistic number reflects an environment of heightened risk and global instability. Ronnie Lins, director of the China-Brazil Center for Research and Business, said that many Latin American economists have full confidence in China's economic performance in 2022, noting that the set of reforms and policies the Chinese government has taken can help it navigate the changes and potential risks in the external environment. People visit the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) HIGH-QUALITY DEVELOPMENT Against the backdrop of a complex and volatile global landscape and a sluggish economic recovery overshadowed by multiple challenges, China's GDP growth target reflects its determination to pursue high-quality development, said Wichai Kinchong Choi, senior vice president of the leading Thai bank Kasikornbank. China is fully aware of the importance of high-quality development as its economy continues to expand, he said. Amid rising protectionism, Chinese enterprises need to strengthen their capabilities for research and development, develop core technologies, enhance industrial upgrading, and adhere to the strategy of promoting innovation-driven development so as to make continuous progress in all areas, Choi added. Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said he believes that China's target is pragmatic, since the country has paid more attention to the quality of development than simply to the speed, noting that China's future growth will also give a boost to global recovery and development. Workers operate at the final assembly workshop of an automobile company in the new energy vehicle town of Jinhua City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Dec. 17, 2021. (Photo by Hu Xiaofei/Xinhua) STABLE OUTLOOK China is a huge market, a leading investment destination, and a manufacturing heavyweight, and therefore, renewed Chinese demand will lift up commodity exporters, said Lucio Blanco Pitlo, a research fellow at the Philippine think tank Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation. He also said that China's growth target sends strong signals for global trade and supply chains. Frederick Kempe, president and chief executive officer of the Atlantic Council, said that Beijing has a lot of understanding of the current situation, and a "true understanding of the need for stability." GREENBELT, Md. -- A Maryland woman who formerly served in the U.S. Navy has pleaded guilty to conspiring to submit false claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration to obtain more than $1 million in disability benefits, a federal prosecutor said. Angela Marie Farr, 36, of Leonardtown pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy to commit theft of government property and two counts of theft of government property, said U.S. Attorney Erek Barron in a news release. According to her guilty plea, Farr organized a conspiracy in which she submitted false and fraudulent documents to the VA in support of her claims for disability compensation, as well as for her then-husband and her father. Despite saying in the claims that both men were homebound, they were actually living active lives, the news release said. Two years after she was administratively discharged from the Navy, Farr filed a claim for disability compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder after being sexually assaulted while on duty three years earlier. She also claimed that she was seriously injured in a traffic accident when she was struck by a drunk driver while driving on duty in 2006. Farr also received benefits from the Social Security Administration in 2016 based on the same disabilities cited in her VA claims despite working for the Department of Defense. Farr faces up to five years in federal prison for the conspiracy and as much as 10 years for each count of theft of government property. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 4. OUAGADOUGOU, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Forteen people were killed after unidentified armed men attacked a gold mine in the commune of Seytenga in Burkina Faso on Thursday afternoon, said the official news agency AIB on Friday. The attack was perpetrated on the artisanal gold mining site of Sago, in the village of Tondobi, at around 3 p.m. when the armed men burst in and started shooting at the miners. The attackers also ordered the miners to leave the site within 72 hours, it reported. Seytenga is a locality located about forty kilometers from Dori, capital of the Sahel region and about ten kilometers from the Niger border. Security in Burkina Faso has worsened since 2015, with terrorist attacks having killed more than 1,000 people and displaced over one million others in the West African nation. SEOUL, South Korea The U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions Friday after North Korea had tested parts of its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile in two recent launches, a sign it is likely to fire that weapon soon to put a spy satellite into orbit in what would be its most significant provocation in years. The Treasury Department noted a March 4 ballistic missile launch in unveiling restrictions against three Russian-based entities that aided ongoing development of North Korea's military capabilities. The companies are Apollon, ZeelM and RK Briz; two individuals tied to those companies will also be sanctioned. The sanctions block access to any U.S. assets held by these companies, as well as Apollon director Aleksandr Andreyevich Gayevoy and ZeelM director Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Chasovnikov, who also controls RK Briz. Separately, South Koreas Defense Ministry said it detected signs that North Korea was possibly restoring some of the tunnels at its nuclear testing ground that were detonated in May 2018, weeks ahead of leader Kim Jong Uns first summit with then- President Donald Trump. The ministry didn't say whether it believes the North was restoring the site to resume tests of nuclear explosives. North Koreas neighbors detected two ballistic launches last week. North Korea later said it was testing cameras and other systems to be installed on a spy satellite but didnt disclose what missiles or rockets it used. After analyzing the launches, the U.S. and South Korean militaries concluded they involved an ICBM system under development that North Korea first unveiled during a military parade in October 2020. The purpose of these tests, which did not demonstrate ICBM range, was likely to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement Thursday. South Korea released a similar assessment and said North Korea must immediately stop any act that raises tensions and regional security concerns. The ICBM in focus is the Hwasong-17, North Koreas biggest missile, which could potentially fly up to 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles), far enough to strike anywhere in the U.S. and beyond. The 25-meter (82-foot) missile, which was shown again at a defense exhibition in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, last year, has yet to be test-launched. North Korea has already demonstrated the potential to reach the U.S. mainland with flight tests of other ICBMs, the Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15, in 2017. Some analysts say developing a larger missile could mean the country is trying to arm its long-range weapons with multiple warheads to overcome missile defense systems. In 2018, North Korea unilaterally suspended long-range and nuclear tests before it entered now-dormant denuclearization talks with the United States. The talks collapsed in 2019 due to disputes over U.S.-led sanctions on the North. Top North Korean officials recently hinted at lifting the 2018 weapons test moratorium. Seoul's statement about North Koreas nuclear testing ground came after recent commercial satellite images showed a possible resumption of construction activity at the site in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri. It was used for the Norths sixth and last nuclear test in 2017. After declaring the site's closure, Kim invited foreign journalists to observe the destruction of tunnels in May 2018. But North Korea didnt invite outside experts to certify what had been destroyed. Analysts who studied the satellite images say it's unclear how long it would take for the North to restore the site for nuclear detonations. North Koreas two missile launches were the latest in a string of tests in recent months, an apparent attempt to modernize its arsenal and pressure the Biden administration as nuclear disarmament talks remain stalled. Observers expect North Korea to launch the Hwasong-17 missile for two main military purposes testing key weapons parts and putting its first functioning spy satellite in space. They say North Korea may claim that it is firing a rocket, not a missile, for a satellite launch, but the U.N. and others have viewed past satellite launches as disguised tests of its long-range missile technology. Kwon Yong Soo, a former professor at Korea National Defense University in South Korea, said the estimated thrust of the Hwasong-17 suggests it is powerful enough to place multiple reconnaissance satellites into orbit in a single launch. He said North Korea would also want to test the missiles engine parts. Kwon said the liquid-fueled Hwasong-17 may be too big and lack mobility given North Koreas poor road conditions. He said the launch could be a show of force, but that a spy satellite could sharply increase the North's capability to monitor the movements of U.S. aircraft carriers and other strategic assets. If you want to use long-range strikes on moving targets like aircraft carriers, you need to receive data on their movement from satellites, Kwon said. If North Korea puts a spy satellite (in space), that will be an epoch-making development. Jung Chang Wook, head of the Korea Defense Study Forum think tank in Seoul, said North Korea would want to test technologies that ensure multiple warheads of a missile could survive the extreme heat and pressure of reentry from space. Jung and Kwon both believe North Korea has acquired the reentry vehicle technology for a single warhead missile, an assessment that some analysts dispute. A spy satellite and a missile with multiple warheads were among an array of sophisticated weapons that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to develop to counter what he calls American hostility such as economic sanctions. If North Korea succeeds in its test of a reentry vehicle for multiple warheads, that will tremendously boost its leverage in its negotiations with the United States, Jung said. It could be a game changer. On Friday, North Korean state media said Kim visited the countrys satellite launch facility and ordered officials to modernize and expand it to fire a variety of rockets. Earlier this week, he said that North Korea needs reconnaissance satellites to monitor the aggression troops of the U.S. imperialism and its vassal forces. North Korea conducted two successful satellite launches from the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in the northwest in 2012 and 2016. It said they were observation satellites under its peaceful space development program, but outside experts said they were designed to spy on rivals, though there is no evidence that the satellites ever transmitted images. Experts say North Korea could launch a spy satellite ahead of a major political anniversary in April the 110th birthday of state founder Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of Kim Jong Un. Jung, the analyst, said he thinks the launch will likely come in early May, just before a new South Korean president takes office later that month. Kirby said the U.S. military ordered enhanced readiness among its ballistic missile defense forces in the region and intensified surveillance activities off the Korean Peninsulas west coast. The launch, if carried out, would be North Koreas most serious provocative act since its three ICBM tests in 2017. Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report. BRUSSELS -- In the two weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, around 2.5 million people have fled -- the great majority of them to European Union countries. More than half have entered Poland while hundreds of thousands more are seeking refuge, mostly in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to launch an unprovoked war has been met with an outpouring of goodwill in Europe. The EU has launched an emergency protection system offering shelter, access to jobs, medical treatment and education to those who fled the assault. The protection system streamlines entry procedures. It was established in 2001, in response to the fallout from the wars in former Yugoslavia and Kosovo in the 1990s, when thousands were forced from their homes. It has never been used before, despite the arrival of well over 1 million people in Europe in 2015, many fleeing conflict in Syria. The "Temporary Protection Directive" sets out minimum standards across the EU's 27 countries for helping those in need. Member nations can provide more favorable conditions if they want. It also eases procedures for countries to transfer refugees between them if those people agree to move. The following is a short guide to the new rules, what they mean for Ukrainians seeking shelter in Europe and for those who might want to help them. Who Is Eligible? The decision applies to all Ukrainian nationals who have been displaced from Ukraine on or after Feb. 24, 2022 "as a result of the military invasion by Russian armed forces that began on that date." It also applies to their family members -- spouses, unmarried partners in stable relationships and children -- or to people who were already refugees inside Ukraine before the war. It excludes those who were living in Ukraine short-term, like foreign students. How Long Can Refugees from Ukraine Stay? Ukrainian nationals are allowed to travel visa-free in Europe and so can move around once they are admitted for a 90-day period. This means they can choose the EU country that would like to stay in and apply for temporary protection there. It's particularly good for those who want to stay with relatives already in Europe. That period of protection would apply for one year, initially. Unless it ends, the stay could be extended in six-month periods for a further year. If Ukraine remains unsafe, the EU's executive branch, the European Commission, could extend the protection system for one more year, making a maximum of a three-year stay possible under certain circumstances. Member states should try to help people return voluntarily when their stay is over. In some cases, they could help set up exploratory visits to help people work out whether it's safe to go home. People can also apply for asylum in the EU at any time during their stay. What Are People Entitled to? Some countries are already providing free rail and bus travel, and other benefits to people fleeing Ukraine. Some are lodged in reception centers or with willing European families. But under this system, European governments should ensure that people have access to accommodation or help to get housing. They should receive social welfare benefits and possibly medical care. Countries should allow people to apply for jobs or become self-employed workers. Adult education, training in a trade or workplace experience should also be possible. People under 18 should be given access to schools. Children traveling alone would be placed with adult relatives, foster families, reception facilities adapted to receiving minors, or with the adults they fled Ukraine with. Any visas should be provided free of cost. Kumasi-based award-winning actor Bill Asamoah is calling for financial support and investment to help fund history-oriented movies in Ghana. In an interview on Joy FMs Showbiz A-Z last weeks edition which was set to mark Ghana month from the Center for National Culture in Kumasi, on Saturday, March 5, 2022, he made this appeal which he said was going to help the industry tell the history of Ghana through films. Mr. Asamoah who doubles as the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana Actors Guild stated that after analyzing submissions of panelists on the story of Okomfo Anokyes migration from Awukugwa to the Ashanti Kingdom, he finds it necessary for proper funding of the industry to retell these stories. According to him, this is the time for Ghanaians to subscribe to the essence of filmmaking in the country. 12.03.2022 LISTEN Accra-based radio station Adom FMs presenter Michael Boateng popularly known as Mike 2 has scolded Accra FMs Nana Romeo for lambasting rapper Bosom Pyung who turned up at his late. It is recalled that Nana Romeo yesterday expressed his distaste at Ataa Adwoa who failed to make it to his radio show at the given time. Nana Romeo is recalled to have expressed that the rappers behavior depicted signs of disrespect and indiscipline. "I see no reason why we agree to have free interviews to give you the opportunity to promote your songs and you choose to show up when you want without even posting fliers we do for, how do you expect us to support our own with this behavior," he stated yesterday. This apparently did not sit well with Adom FMs Mike 2 who stated in a post that Nana Romeo mishandled the situation. He stated that Nana could have been creative with the situation and found a way to handle the meager time which remained. It is not proper to sack any artiste who comes late to studio, whether paid for or not coz as a content creator any few minutes can be used for something good or interesting to cheer up your audience and then again any little minute can be used to interview the artiste, he stated. Dutch philanthropist and retired Catholic Missionary, Theodorus Jabus M. Van der Geest affectionately called Brother (Bro.) Dick, has handed over a six unit classroom block together with ancillary facilities to Zanko community in the Wa West District of the Upper West Region. The magnificent edifice, furnished with furniture, administrative offices, store and staff common rooms including a kitchen and lavatory. Speaking at a durbar at Zanko to officially commission and handover the facility to the community on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, Brother Dick said he saw the need to use his pension benefits to build schools for deprived communities in order to bring education close to the doorsteps of children living in those communities. "In 2006, at age 65, I became a pensioner. I then decided to use my Dutch pension to build classrooms in remote villages." He said it was a gesture to give back to society, putting smiles on the faces of the destitute and bridging the gaps and barriers that hinders access to education by children living in isolated communities. The kind-hearted philanthropist, Brother Dick disclosed that he receive support from his German friend, Dr Stell Rudolf in executing similar projects in the Upper West Region. "We were lucky that one Dr. Stell got to know how we managed to build these schools. ... He told me that he also wanted to support us here in Ghana and donate money for some of the schools we intended to build." He also commended the community for offering free labour and demonstrating absolute commitment throughout the project execution period. He urged the community, teachers and pupils to take good care of the edifice to prolong its lifespan and adopt strong culture of maintenance. "I want to ask the teachers of the school to see to it that the pupils will use the classrooms well. I have seen in some of our 15 schools that pupils are hanging on the windows and doors. They use them as play toys, which damages them." Elder Yelbaani Yuonye speaking at the ceremony on behalf of the Zanko-Naa, Naa Mwininmanku Summe II, expressed gratitude to the Dutch philanthropist for the show of love and compassion for humanity in putting up the building to secure a safe future for their children and community. Out of uncontrollable joy and gratitude, Elder Yuonye likened Brother Dick to a savior as he said, I am going to say something which I know Bro Dick would not approve of, but he is like a second God to this community. He asked for God's continuous blessing upon the philanthropist and all who supported the raising of the magnificent structure. Piree-Naa, Naa Dondoma Mwinisigey Sungbanyira Aaron II, the Human Resource Officer at the Wa West District Education Office, representing the District Director of Education, thanked Bro Dick and his partner for the support. He noted that government alone cannot deliver all the educational needs of the country, hence the need for such philanthropic support. Naa Aaron appealed to parents to invest in their childrens education by investing in the pursuit. He asked them to put their children's educational needs as topmost priority and strive to meet them in all honesty. The Headteacher of the Zanko RC Primary School, Jabir Yahaya said the building would improve teaching and learning. He appealed to the Education Directorate to resolve the remaining infrastructural deficit facing the school, and provide potable water for the school. He appealed to the District Assembly to provide the locality with a Junior High School (JHS) block to enable the children continue with their education when they complete their primary school. The pupils of the school could equally not hide their joy as they heap praises on Bro Dick and promised to take their studies seriously. Since 2006, the Dutch philanthropist has already provided similar structures in 15 communities across selected districts in the Upper West Region. The facilities includes classroom blocks, teachers' quarters, boreholes, lavatories (some eco-toilets), kitchen. The beneficiary districts include Wa East, Wa West, Jirapa, Nadowli-Kaleo and Daffiama-Bussie-Issa districts, all in the Upper West Region. The official journey of Bangladesh and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) relations started in 1975 when the KSA recognized newly born Bangladesh as a sovereign country. Since then, these two countries have been maintaining cordial and closer friendship prioritizing mutual understanding, deep sense of fraternity, and cooperation in multilateral sectors. State-level official visits from both sides have contributed to the further development of their bilateral bonding. The current Foreign Minister of the KSA, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, is expected to visit Bangladesh on March 16, 2022. Marking this historical visit, Bangladesh expects that the bilateral relations could be taken to a new height by ensuring more economic cooperation. Bangladesh, being a Muslim-majority country, attaches a special priority to its relations with Saudi Arabia as the birthplace of Islam. Both countries have common social norms and cultural values derived from their religious practices. Also, they share similar views on many regional and global issues especially those are directly related to the Muslim world. Their common interest led them to cooperate in different regional and international platforms such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), UN, etc. Their current ties have further been reinforced by ever-deepening cooperation in the fields of investment, trade, investment, manpower, defense, education, culture etc. As Bangladesh perceives KSA as one of its trusted friends, it is the need of the hour to analyze the expectations of the mass Bangladeshis from the KSA Foreign Ministers Visit to Bangladesh. The tremendous economic growth of Bangladesh in the last 50 years has made the country a financial and industrial hub of South Asia. According to the World Bank , Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing economies of the world supported by its consistent growth in ready-made garment (RMG) exports, demographic dividend, and stable macroeconomic conditions. Because of the economic success, the KSA now perceives Bangladesh, going beyond religious dimension, as one of the lucrative investment designations. The KSA is now one of the most reliable bilateral development partners of Bangladesh, the relations dynamics of which have evolved from one-layered to multi-dimensional cooperation over time. Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) is planning to allocate some 300 acres of land to Saudi investors in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar in Chattogram. It is expected that both countries will sign billion-dollar worth investment proposals, from the part of Saudi Arabia, including some energy sector related projects. Apart from energy sectors, Saudi investors can invest in Bangladesh's 100 special economic zones, large-infrastructure undertakings, textiles, IT, Agro-based industries etc. The KSA is the largest and most valued destination for the Bangladeshi expatriates. From 1976 to 2021, Bangladesh exported a total of 45.81 lakh migrant workers to the Kingdom which is almost 34 percent of the countrys total manpower export. Even amid the pandemic gloom in 2020 when most of the labor markets remained shut down, the Kingdom employed 1.61 lakh Bangladeshi workers. Last year, Bangladesh exported 6.17 lakh migrants to abroad of which 4.57 lakh, almost 76 percent of total overseas employment, were sent to the KSA. In the last five years, Saudi Arabia has become the top destination for Bangladeshi migrant workforces. The Gulf country is implementing a number of megaprojects under its Vision-2030 which may turn the country a better job destination for Bangladeshis if proper steps are being taken targeting the upcoming visit. Bangladesh is on the highway to be graduated from the Least Developed Country (LDC) group by 2026 . After the graduation, Bangladesh will not be eligible for many preferential treatments that are exclusively available for the LDCs in global trade. Limited access to these preferential facilities will have adverse impact on the balance of payment of Bangladesh especially with the unavoidable negative impact on its total export earnings. To counter these challenges, Bangladesh may negotiate with KSA for ensuring duty-free access to the Saudi market even after the LDC-graduation. Since the genocide orchestrated by Myanmar military on Rohigya community in 2017, Bangladesh has been hosting 1.2 million Rohingya refugees. Besides, Bangladesh had been experiencing a negative trend in the international humanitarian assistance funds for supporting these refugees. Being the leader of the Muslim world, Bangladesh may expect that Saudi Arabia will take initiative to end the plight of Rohingyas, the deprived Muslim minorities, by ensuring safe and dignified return to their homeland. Also, Bangladesh may talk with the KSA Foreign Minister for more financial support to ensure life-saving assistance is required to support the Rohingya refugees. Marking the visit of the KSAs Foreign Minister, Bangladesh should prepare itself to convey the message that it can cooperate with KSA in implementing its Vision-2030 by cooperating in the field of manpower, trade, investment, agriculture, and education. Also, Bangladesh requires Saudis extensive engagement and economic cooperation to materialize the countrys Vision-2041. Apart from state-level visits, economic and investment-related delegations and cultural and defense cooperation can play a crucial role in taking the ties to a new level. Greater economic engagement from both sides can fundamentally change the overall relationship dynamics between these two countries in future which should get preference in the upcoming visit. Writer's Bio: Hussain Shazzad is a strategic affairs and foreign policy analyst with an M.B.A. from the University of Dhaka. Kenya said Friday it was scrapping a requirement for people to wear masks in public as part of an easing of Covid-19 restrictions in place for two years. The announcement comes as rates of Covid infection in the East African nation have dropped to one percent or less over the past month, Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said. "The mandatory wearing of face masks in open public spaces is now lifted," Kagwe said in a statement, while encouraging the continued use of masks at indoor functions and for social distancing in public places. Fully-jabbed spectators will be allowed back into sporting venues and all in-person worship can resume at full capacity as long as those attending are vaccinated, he said. The minister also announced the lifting of the requirement for PCR tests for fully-vaccinated travellers to Kenya, although unvaccinated visitors will have to take antigen tests and self-isolate if positive. A total of 5,644 people have died of Covid out of 323,160 infections in Kenya since the first case was recorded in the country on March 12, 2020, according to official figures. Kagwe said measures introduced in Kenya since the start of the pandemic had saved the country from "catastrophe" but warned: "This, however, is not to say that we are already completely out of the woods." Almost 29 percent of adults in Kenya have now been vaccinated, according to the latest government data. The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has held a two-day education to their members of the Ghana Real Estate Professionals Association on taxes related to the real estate industry. The series of training which began Friday 4th of March 2022 saw GREPA members excited about Ghana's tax regime. The real estate professionals have over the past decade been advocating for legislation and a regulatory body for the real estate industry. Thankfully the real estate agency act 1047 got passed in December 2020, which serves as the background for which these industry professionals are committed to perform their civic responsibility, knowing that the industry taxes presents an opportunity for its professional members to become familiar with their tax obligations. The first session concluded with a highly attended lecture at the GREPA Secretariat in East Legon where participants were very impressed with the knowledge acquired from the training. Some expressed gratitude to the GRA for clarifying issues surrounding withholding taxes. The second session also came off on 10th March 2022 focusing on the different tax elements including Capital Gains Tax. In the end, some of the participants reiterated the need for GRA to customize motivational tax packages and low-rate tax incentives to encourage wider spread of the tax net. The Ghana Real Estate Professionals Association (GREPA) is looking forward to another exciting learning experience. Our attention has been drawn to videos and audios circulating on some social media portals in recent times. They have been attacking and insulting Manhyia and by large, all the good people of Asante globally for no apparent reason. In as much as we respect freedom of speech, we cannot remain silent for people to insult us without provocation. The insults have attained an unimaginable dimension that we have to react. We condemn in unreserved terms their actions. We advise them to eschew what they are doing. These actions of theirs have the tendency to create trouble in our dear country. The insensibility and preposterously hyped tribal overtures and sentiments that have found expression on social media are what we are condemning. The social media should be used to promote unity and peace and not to promote conflicts. We want to continue enjoying the peace and stability for which Ghana is globally admired. Should they continue to insult Manhyia especially Otumfuo, we would have no other option than to take legal action against the perpetrators of these evil deeds no matter where they live. We will not sit down unconcerned to allow few disgruntled persons, through their unguided and primitive actions to bring chaos to our peaceful country Ghana. We, by this release, express our solidarity and unflinching support to Manhyia. We are ready to defend Manhyia against these naked insults by these irresponsible individuals. Many of them are doing that probably out of ignorance. Manhyia is noted for peace. At the appropriate time, we shall release few of the immeasurable achievements chalked by Manhyia in the past twenty years. Sgnd Asanteman Council Of North America (US & Canada) . Press Secretary: Isaac Osei Tutu Asanteman Europe Association. Press Officer: Isaac Adu Plan International Ghana, a Non-governmental organisation is empowering 12,641 women economically, to make them self-reliant. The beneficiaries, spread across Bono, Bono East, Ahafo and Northern Regions are being provided with technical training in bee keeping, mushroom production and snail rearing, while others have been taken through the soya bean value chain. They are mostly women between 19 and 55 years, drawn from 303 groups benefiting from the NGOs Womens Innovation for Sustainable Enterprise (WISE) project. Global Affairs Canada is funding the Wise project in 90 communities in Techiman Municipality in Bono East, Sunyani Municipality, Tano North Municipality in Ahafo and Tolong-Kumbungu of the Northern regions. The Wise project, according to Mrs Patricia Gyan-Bassaw, the Project Lead aimed at providing viable economic opportunities for the beneficiaries and further empowered them to be innovative and increase productivity. Speaking at a durbar to mark the this years International Women's Day (IWD), held at Nkrankrom in the Sunyani Municipality, Mrs Gyan-Bassaw said the project would greatly improve on the socio-economic livelihoods of the beneficiaries. This is because the WISE project focuses on empowering women to engage in viable economic ventures by improving women agency, increasing productivity, profitability and innovation of women businesses, she said. The United Nations (UN) has set aside March 8, every year for the celebration of the IWD to highlight the cultural, political and socio-economic achievements of women across the globe. Touching on the theme "gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow, breaking all bias", Mrs Gyan-Bassaw said womens equal access to land and affordable financial services and information ought to be prioritized in order to achieve womens economic empowerment. Investing in women's economic empowerment sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth. In fact when a woman thrives, all of society benefits she said. Mrs Gyan-Bassaw underlined the need to empower rural women and girls in the areas of decent work and social protection, education and training, financial inclusion, including women in decision making and leadership. She said eliminating gender and sexual and domestic violence and harmful practices among other interventions would enable women and girls to recover from the current global challenges, including climate change and position themselves on the path to sustainable economic growth. Plan International Ghana is therefore promoting women economic empowerment by implementing the WISE project which seeks to contribute to increasing the realization of the right to economic empowerment, wellbeing and inclusive economic growth for targeted women in Ghana, she added. Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister encouraged women to take responsibility in leadership positions, saying women had a pivotal role to play to positively impact society. Career and motherhood can go together and we must therefore strive to access productive resources including information and support systems to push and achieve our socio-economic successes, she said. She said the globe was moving forward towards gender balance and equality for men and women, saying having women in leadership positions should become the norm and not exception. Mr Eric Ayaaba, Plan International Ghanas Project Manager explained his outfit sought to improve the socio-economic livelihoods of particularly vulnerable young women and girls through gender transformative programming. Plan International Ghana programmes provide support for women to learn, lead, and decide, he stated. KHARTOUM, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations mission in Sudan on Saturday called on the Sudanese authorities to work to stop violence in all parts of the country and restore stability in Sudan's Darfur region. The UN Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) expressed in a statement concern over recent violent incidents in Darfur that left dozens of civilians dead, besides the death of two protesters in the capital of Khartoum. "Over the past week, the UN has received reports of violent incidents in and around Jebel Moon in West Darfur. This has included the burning of villages and the unfortunate death of tens of Sudanese, representing another alarming sign of the increasing instability in Sudan," the statement said. The statement stressed that "violence must stop all over Sudan, and those responsible must be held accountable." Earlier, local media said tribal fighting took place on Thursday at the Jebel Moon area in Sudan's West Darfur State, which resulted in the killing of 17 people. Two protesters were killed during demonstrations in Khartoum on Thursday, according to non-governmental organizations. Sudan has been suffering a political crisis after the general commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency on Oct. 25, 2021 and dissolved the Sovereign Council and the government. Since then, Khartoum and other cities have been witnessing continued protests demanding a return to civilian rule. Fire has destroyed more than 5,000 acres of cashew farms in the Banda District of the Bono Region this year. About 500 farmers, including women in 24 communities in the district have lost their socio-economic livelihoods, as the outbreaks further swept through acres of soya beans, maize and yam farms. Because the farmers said they sought loans, they were afraid the financial institutions that granted them the facility would come after them, and therefore appealed for the government's intervention. Banda-Kabrono, Nyire and Gbao are the worst affected farming communities, and the farmers have therefore called on the government to support them with seedlings, fertilizers, weedicides and other farm inputs to re-plant their farms. The farmers identified uncontrolled and unscrupulous activities of local hunters, charcoal burners, as well as the influx of nomadic Fulani herdsmen in the area as the factors contributing to persistent fire outbreaks in the districts. Speaking at a news conference at Banda-Kabrono on Wednesday, Mrs Helena Awurusa, the 2021 overall national best female farmer, and spokesperson for the affected farmers said she also lost 17.5 acres of cashew and palm plantation. She explained almost all the affected farmers use their farms and properties for collateral to access loans to engage in commercial plantation of cashew and other economic crops Mrs Awurusa said the people anticipated a severe famine due to the extensive destruction of the farms, and appealed for food aid for the affected farmers in the deprived communities. She called on the Banda District Assembly to reinforce its anti-bush bye-laws to control the recurring fire outbreaks which had become an annual ritual in the district. Mrs Awurusa said because of lack of logistical support, activities of the fire volunteers and squads in the local communities had halted for some time, and called on the District Fire Command to revive the volunteers. She said the district also experienced erratic rains slowing down farm work, saying most of the crops planted could not do well, and appealed to the government to build irrigation facilities in the area. Mrs Awurusa however commended the Bono Regional Agricultural Directorate for its support, saying the farmers required more seedlings and inputs to sustain the Governments Planting for Food and Jobs (PfFJs) programme in the district. Nana Kofi Gbankana, the Chief of Nyire, and the Acting President of the Banda Traditional Area who said he lost about four acres of cashew, called on the District Assembly to ban hunting and charcoal burning in the area during the dry seasons. He said poverty in the area had worsened and expressed the fear that if nothing was done immediately, the situation would affect the security in the area. Madam Akua Manu Ababio, a resident farmer at Kabrono said because she lost 10 acres of cashew, millet and beans farm, it was now difficult for her to provide the educational needs of her two children at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). My children have been in the house since they opened school because I dont have any money on me to pay for their hostel and other fees, she said. Mr Francis Ofori, another farmer at Nyire said he lost about 48 acres of cashew and expressed the fear that very soon the financial institution that granted him the loan to engage in the plantation would come for him. All our investments are gone. We don't have anything left, and so it would be difficult for many of us to pay back the loans unless the government comes to our aid, he said. The General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, has said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken a firm stance to crack the whip on party members who violated the processes during the just ended Polling Station elections. Speaking at a presser in Accra on Thursday, March 10, 2022, John Boadu bemoaned pockets of disturbances, including verbal attacks and physical confrontations in some constituencies which marred the beauty of the otherwise peacefully organised internal elections. "The party, once again, condemns all such unfortunate acts and misconducts which have sought to bring the name of the Party into disrepute", Boadu stated. The General Secretary also indicated that the Party has commissioned internal investigative processes in respect of all disturbances, and persons found culpable shall be disciplined in accordance with the Partys regulations. He further averred that the Party was yet to decide on the modalities for holding polling station primaries in Fomena and some other nine (9) constituencies where polling station primaries. The NPP scribe urged aggrieved party members in the affected areas to use laid down procedures to get their concerns resolved. "In Fomena, for instance, the Party is yet to take a decision on the date of opening nomination, date of vetting, date of publication of vetting results, and date of holding the polling station elections in that constituency. This would be done and communicated in due course. "That being the case, the Party certainly did not and could not have sent Nomination Forms to Fomena for the conduct of the elections, let alone, to have handed over all such Forms to the Independent Member of Parliament, as alleged, which then erroneously formed the basis for the disturbances witnessed at the Constituency including the painting of the Party office with NDC colours. Like I intimated, all those behind this untoward act, will be dealt with severely. "It is also worth making the point that, the National executives have also been holding meetings with the members of the polling station elections committee and MPs in constituencies where there are issues which have been brought to our attention, with the view to resolving same. Where it was established that members of the elections committee had not acquitted themselves as required by the rules and regulations, the Party is holding them accountable, and in some cases, we have directed a complete overhaul of the committee ahead of the Electoral Area Coordinators Elections," he stated. Meanwhile, calm has returned to Fomena and the defaced constituency party office has since been repainted with the traditional colours of the NPP. India has admitted accidentally firing a missile into Pakistan earlier this week. The incident was caused by a malfunction during routine maintenance, prompting an outcry from Islamabad over the violation of its airspace. According to India's Ministry of Defence: "On 9 March 2022, in the course of a routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile." New Delhi gave its version of events after longtime foe Pakistan warned the incident could have "unpleasant consequences". The ministry has called the incident "deeply regrettable", adding that there was however "relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident." India's government has reportedly taken a serious view of the missile failure and ordered a high-level judicial inquiry into the incident. An accident waiting to happen? Earlier on Friday Pakistan's foreign office said it had summoned India's charge d'affaires in Islamabad to lodge a formal protest over what it called an unprovoked violation of its airspace. Pakistan underlined the event could have endangered passenger flights and civilian lives. Military experts have long warned of the risk of accidents or miscalculations by the rival nuclear neighbours, which have fought three wars and have engaged in numerous military clashes. The most recent was in 2019 which saw the air forces of the two countries engage in combat. Meanwhile, Islamabad has called on New Delhi to share the outcome of its investigation into the malfunction. Some institutions have collectively advocated that males be involved in the quest to break social and political biases against women in the society. They also advised that males be actively involved in policies and projects targeted at breaking the biases against women to help protect the rights of women to enhance their capabilities. The institutions included the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Sagnarigu Municipal Assembly. They advocated male involvement during a panel discussion in Tamale to commemorate this years International Womens Day (IWD), which was on the theme: Gender Equality for a Sustainable Tomorrow. It was organised by the Young Urban Womens Movement (YUWM) of Northern Region, an international womens movement made up of young women, and supported by ActionAid Ghana as part of activities to raise awareness about gender equality. The IWD is commemorated in March every year to recognise the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. Mr Issahaku Abdul Latif, Northern Regional Coordinator of Activista, said the theme for the occasion called for men to support women and young girls to achieve their goals by developing their capabilities. He urged society to erase archaic traditions and cultural beliefs that undermined the abilities of women and to see women beyond being in the kitchen. Women were also charged to co-exist and support one another to bridge the gap of inequality and prejudice they faced in society, and to join forces to make institutions work in their favour. Ayisha Mohammed, National Public Relations Officer of YUWM, said the organisation mobilised institutions to empower women to support each other because women needed each others support to do exploits in society for national development. Madam Florence Awini, a representative from the Gender Desk of the Sagnarigu Municipal Assembly, said stigmatisation should not be a reason to keep abuse to oneself rather, it must be considered a situational thing that did not last. Madam Felicia Kraja, the Acting Regional Secretary of TUC said women suffered more from unemployment as a result of the stigma of inferiority even though unemployment was a general problem. She admonished women to be determined and not allow anyone to redirect their stance saying it took women's determination to break the barrier of inequality. Mr Imoro Yussif, an Investigator at the Northern Regional Office of DOVVSU encouraged women to help security services by providing information on gender-based violence cases that undermined the confidence of women. Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has described President Nana Akufo-Addos comment on the recent Supreme Court ruling that Deputy Speakers of Parliament can vote while presiding over the House as myopic and unfortunate. Nana Akufo-Addo had said the decision of the Supreme Court on the voting rights of Deputy Speakers cannot amount to judicial inference in the work of Parliament. According to President Akufo-Addo, the suggestion that Parliament is beyond the scrutiny of the Supreme Court is to suggest that Parliament is a law onto itself. Im not sure people who are saying this have actually taken the time to read the Constitution of our country. It says so in black and white. The legislative powers of the state, which is vested in parliament, is subject to the provisions of the Constitution. All organs of the Ghanaian State, including me, as the Head of the Executive, we are all subject to the teachings of the Constitution, the President said. He continued, There is nobody in the Ghanaian State that is above the fundamental law of the land. It will lead to the very matter that we have striven so long to avoid the concentration of unregulated power in our state; we dont want that and we brought about this Constitution to allow that to not reoccur. The above statement is what has triggered Mr Bagbin to respond, as he said he had resisted the temptation to make a comment on the judgment of the Supreme Court until the President commented on the matter. The Speaker, in a statement, noted that the Supreme Court decision, is, to say the least, not only an absurdity but a reckless incursion into the remit of parliament. He noted that the trend of unanimity is equally troubling, adding: It doesn't help explore and expand our legal jurisprudence. Narrowing in on the presidents comment, Mr Bagbin stressed that it was myopic, adding: Unfortunately, it only goes to worsen the schism between the Executive and Parliament. He said the impartiality of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker or Presiding Officer has been treasured and fought for by the country throughout its democratic development. Mr President, the issue being discussed is not about Parliament being above the law. Everyone knows that Parliament is not above the law. The Executive and the Judiciary are equally not above the law. The issue being discussed is the political question doctrine. It took centuries to detail out the strands of this doctrine and the principles are settled as to when and how this closed book could be opened, he indicated. Mr Bagbin urged the plaintiff to seek a review. Source: Classfmonline.com The head of France's anti-jihadist mission in the Sahel on Friday said French forces that were being pulled out of Mali after a row with its junta would not redeploy in neighbouring Niger. General Laurent Michon, who commands the Barkhane force in the troubled Sahel, told journalists there would be "absolutely no redeployment" from Mali to Niger. "Barkhane's withdrawal does not entail repositioning to Niger but withdrawing from Mali," he told a press conference in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. France currently has 4,600 troops in Barkhane, a mission that was launched in 2014 to shore up fragile allies in the Sahel battling jihadist insurgents. Thousands of civilians in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have been killed and more than two million have fled their homes. Barkhane ran into problems in Mali after elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was toppled in a military coup in August 2020. France became locked in a bitter row with the new junta over delays in restoring elected rule, mounting hurdles facing Barkhane and Mali's fast-growing friendship with the Kremlin. On February 17, President Emmanuel Macron announced France would withdraw its forces from the country, an operation that Paris says will take several months. Around 2,400 of Barkhane's forces are currently deployed in Mali. Mali. By Vincent LEFAI AFP The withdrawal "will be coordinated with Malian military headquarters, the goal being to do it as quickly as possibly but avoiding a security vacuum," said Michon. France also wants to be "certain" that Malian troops are in a position to take over its bases in Gao, Menaka and Gossi, he said. Barkhane's headquarters are in the Chadian capital of N'Djamena, but the mission has an important air base at Niamey, the capital of Niger. France will maintain "the (Niger) air base at its current levels," said Michon. However, deployment levels in Niger "could be modified at the request of the Nigerien military authorities... once political approval for western support has been obtained," he said. Under the mission's reconfiguration, Barkhane will be available to protect allies on the Gulf of Guinea, which have been worried about encroaching jihadist attacks from the Sahel, France says. A French Reaper drone at Barkhane's military base in Niamey. By Daphn BENOIT AFP "Barkhane's future will be built alongside those African countries that wish it," said Michon. "We will carry on the fight with countries that want our support," he said. "We wish to continue to reassure armed forces, MINUSMA (the UN force in Mali) and the G5," a five-nation Sahel alliance fighting jihadists, "of providing air support or other means for their missions," he said. Ugandan author and human rights activist, Norman Tumuhimbise, has been arrested ahead of his book launch, his lawyer said Friday, the second writer to be detained by the authorities in recent months. Tumuhimbise, who heads a local pressure group called The Alternative Movement, was due to launch "The Liars and Accomplices" on March 30, and has been promoting the book, which is critical of President Yoweri Museveni, in recent weeks. "Tumuhimbise was arrested in a raid by armed security personnel while he attended a meeting with his colleagues at their offices last evening and their whereabouts (are) unknown", his lawyer, Samuel Wanda, told AFP. The writer and nine colleagues were bundled into a van on Thursday evening, Wanda said, adding that several calls to the police or the army about the whereabouts of the ten men had failed to yield any answers. "We suspect the cause of arrest and detention is to do with the book he authored," Wanda said. Calls by AFP to the police and the army were not answered. The news comes just over a month after award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija fled into exile following his detention on charges of insulting President Museveni and his son. Rukirabashaija arrived in Germany last month to seek medical treatment after being allegedly tortured in jail in a case that raised international concern, with the European Union and the United States calling for his release. The charges against Rukirabashaija relate to unflattering comments on Twitter about Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since 1986, and his powerful son Muhoozi Kainerugaba. In one post, he described Kainerugaba, a general who many Ugandans believe is positioning himself to take over from his 77-year-old father, as "obese" and a "curmudgeon". Uganda has witnessed a series of crackdowns aimed at stamping out dissent, with journalists attacked, lawyers jailed, election monitors prosecuted and opposition leaders violently muzzled. Russia's attack on Ukraine will "deeply destabilise" food supplies in Europe and Africa as some of the world's most fertile agricultural land goes unplanted, French President Emmanuel Macron warned Friday. "Europe and also Africa will be very deeply destabilised as regards food because of what can't be planted right now in Ukraine," Macron told reporters after an EU leaders' meeting at Versailles Palace outside Paris. "We will have to prepare for that and re-evaluate our production strategies to defend our food sovereignty... but also to be able to define a strategy concerning Africa," he added. Without it, he warned, "several African countries will be affected by famines within 12 to 18 months precisely because of the war." The French leader added that still more economic punishment would be piled on Russia if it continues its invasion of its neighbour. "If things continue in the military way... we will take further sanctions, including massive sanctions," he said, trailing a G7 statement on potential further measures "in a few hours". "All options are on the table," he added, after EU nations have held off in the first weeks of the conflict from cutting off crucial oil and gas imports from major supplier Russia. Brussels to ban luxury goods export Elsewhere, Brussels will ban the export of luxury goods to Russia, striking a "direct blow to the Russian elite" as the war in Ukraine rages, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday. "We will ban the export of any EU luxury goods from our countries to Russia, as a direct blow to the Russian elite," she said. "Those who sustain Putin's war machine should no longer be able to enjoy their lavish lifestyle while bombs fall on innocent people in Ukraine." On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to pour into pro-Western Ukraine, triggering unprecedented Western sanctions against Russia and sparking an exodus of foreign corporations including luxury brands. Zambia's former president Rupiah Banda died on Friday at the age of 85 after a long battle with colon cancer, his son Andrew told AFP. "He is gone", Andrew Banda told an AFP correspondent in Lusaka. The southern African country's fourth leader since independence from Britain served for three years from 2008 -- a term remembered for economic growth and corruption allegations. Banda was vice-president when his predecessor Levy Mwanawasa unexpectedly succumbed to a stroke, propelling him into the top job. But the veteran diplomat was defeated in 2011 elections, despite overseeing major economic growth during his tenure. Zambia's economy expanded during Banda's brief presidency, mainly on the back of rising copper prices and a surge in Chinese investment. He pursued a construction spree started under Mwanawasa, building much-needed roads, hospitals and schools. Zambia recorded a 7.6 percent increase in growth for 2011, up from 6.4 percent the previous year, for which Banda took credit. He had hoped the economic uptick would convince voters to keep him in power. Most of Zambia's 17.9 million inhabitants, however, did not reap the benefits of mining and constructions booms. Wealth accumulated in the hands of a few as corruption allegations surfaced, marring his reputation. In September 2011, he was heavily defeated by opposition leader Michael Sata. At least 19 people have been killed in Sudan's restive Darfur region, officials said Friday, in the latest violence between rival groups that has left dozens dead this week. Fresh clashes which broke out Thursday have seen armed groups battle in the rugged Jebel Moon mountains of West Darfur state, close to the border with Chad. At least "19 people were killed and five wounded", said Adam Regal, spokesman for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, an independent aid organisation. He earlier reported "dozens of injured and missing" as well as "four villages completely burned". Regal accused Janjaweed militiamen -- many of whom have joined the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, de facto deputy leader of Sudan -- of taking part in this week's fighting. "Militias have been attacking the villages of Jebel Moon, setting fire to houses and using automatic rifle fire since Sunday," a tribal leader told AFP on condition of anonymity. "No government forces have arrived since the attacks on Thursday, and we are terrified of an attack at any time." Between last Saturday and Monday, clashes already left at least 16 dead in the same region, according to an independent union of medics. Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of houses torched in several bouts of violence in Jebel Moon as well as elsewhere in Darfur in recent months, the United Nations and medics say. Darfur was ravaged by a civil war that erupted in 2003, pitting ethnic minority rebels who complained of discrimination against the Arab-dominated government of then-president Omar al-Bashir. Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed, mainly recruited from Arab pastoralist tribes, who were blamed for atrocities including murder, rape, looting and burning villages. The scorched-earth campaign left 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million, according to the UN. The region remains awash with weapons and deadly clashes often erupt over access to pasture or water. A peace deal was signed in 2020 but since a military coup in October, Darfur has seen violence spike, with hundreds killed in fighting between herders and farmers. The Sudanese region of Darfur. By Aude GENET AFP Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide in Darfur, was ousted in April 2019 and jailed after mass protests against his three-decade rule. The latest clashes reflect a broader security breakdown in Darfur following last year's military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan that derailed a transition to full civilian rule. In Darfur, the upsurge in violence has also seen rapes, the burning of villages, as well as UN bases being looted. PHNOM PENH, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's anti-drug police have arrested an American national and his Cambodian accomplice for allegedly trafficking almost 43 kg of drug, the National Police reported on Saturday. The duo, a 33-year-old U.S. man and a 29-year-old Cambodian man, were caught on March 6 at two locations in capital Phnom Penh. "A total of 42.7 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice) was confiscated from them during the raids," the National Police said on its website. The southeast Asian nation has no death sentence for drug traffickers. Under its law, someone found guilty of trafficking over 80 grams of illicit drugs could be imprisoned for life. According to the kingdom's Anti-Drug Police Department (ADP), in 2021, the authorities nabbed a total of 13,765 drug suspects in 6,242 cases throughout the country, seizing 4.43 tons of illicit drugs, mostly ice, heroin, and ecstasy. 12.03.2022 LISTEN Dakpema Chief, who was shot on Monday by some unknown gunmen in Tamale, has been treated and discharged from the Tamale Teaching Hospital. Some unknown persons on Monday dawn stormed the Dakpema palace and started shooting sporadically leaving 5 people including the chief injured. Three out of the five were treated and discharged, whiles the others were on admission due to the severity of the injuries. Police in the Northern Region have said they are still pursuing some 15 persons believed to be behind the attack. The Northern Regional Police Crime Officer, Superintendent Bernard Baba Ananga in a Citi News interview, said we are beefing up security. We also involved the military and have been assisting us from the beginning to maintain calm in the community. The chief was discharged two days ago, one of the two injured has been discharged. The other is still on admission. The Overlord of Dagbon, Ndan Ya-Na Abukari II, has urged the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to improve security in communities affected by the attack on the Dakpema Palace in the Northern Region. 15 armed men onboard a Toyota Hilux pick-up vehicle were said to have attacked the Dakpema Palace, leaving five people including the chief injured on Monday dawn. The police say they have commenced investigations into the shooting, though the identities of the armed men are yet to be known. A statement signed by the Secretary of the Gbewaa Palace, Abdul-Rahman Mohammed also urged residents to desist from actions that could trigger another attack. There have been issues of supremacy between the Dakpema Palace and Gulkpe Naa Palace over who is the chief of Tamale for some time now. By Citi Newsroom A former Finance Minister, Professor Kwesi Botchwey, says Ghanas current economic challenges could be overcome if government is honest with Ghanaians. Our current travails can be overcome provided we level with the people. The solution to a problem begins with recognising that there is one. It must start with the recognition that, it is a crisis and level with the people. We must wind down the hubris, the arrogance, and the show of impunity that the people see. He made this submission while speaking at the 65th Independence Day Lecture held at the Economics Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, on Monday, March 7, 2022. The lecture was on the theme: On the state of the nations economy and politics, 65 years after independence, the path to sustainable development and democratic consolidation. He added that two areas that affect the economic policy choices being made are continuity in economic planning and democratic consolidation. These, he suggests, should be looked at as solutions are sorted for bettering the current crisis in the economy. Ghana is currently battling with huge public debt levels and challenges in revenue generation. As part of efforts to boost the countrys revenue generation drive, government announced the Electronic Transfer Levy, popularly known as the E-Levy, but the policy is yet to take effect as it has been widely rejected by Ghanaians. Major financial rating companies like Moodys and Fitch have all downgraded Ghanas credit rating. Moodys, for instance, said the new rating of the country's economy reflects the woes Ghana is facing in fixing its liquidity and debt challenges. The downgrade to Caa1 reflects the increasingly difficult task the government faces addressing its intertwined liquidity and debt challenges. Weak revenue generation constrains government's budget flexibility, and tight funding conditions on international markets have forced the government to rely on costly debt with shorter maturity. Although major watchers of the economic space had advised government to seek an International Monetary Fund bailout, the government is adamant. citinewsroom 12.03.2022 LISTEN The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has described the Supreme Court ruling indicating that a Deputy Speaker of Parliament can vote when presiding over proceedings as patently unconstitutional, illegal, and absurd. In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court held that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 103 and 104 of the 1992 Constitution, a Deputy Speaker who happens to be a Member of Parliament does not lose his right to take part in decision making in Parliament when sitting in for the Speaker of the House. Reacting to the ruling in a statement posted on his Facebook page, Sammy Gyamfi has exposed a very interesting condition in the ruling of the Supreme Court. With particular reference to the last paragraph of page 23 and the first paragraph of page 24 of the Supreme Court ruling, the NDC Communications Officer says he would love to see how the ruling will be implemented by Parliament. Folks, the patently unconstitutional, illogical and absurd decision by the Supreme Court to the effect that a Deputy Speaker while presiding over Parliament can vote, has a very interesting operational condition attached to it that is worthy of note. Now lets see how the Attorney General and Minister for Injustice, Godfred Yeboah Dame will get the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the fearless and gallant 137 NDC members of Parliament to do this, the statement on the Facebook page of Sammy Gyamfi reads. Find more below: Folks, the patently unconstitutional, illogical and absurd decision by the Supreme Court to the effect that a Deputy Speaker while presiding over Parliament can vote, has a very interesting operational condition attached to it that is worthy of note. After erroneously determining that a Deputy Speaker while presiding can vote, the Supreme Court in their conclusion at the last paragraph of page 23 and the first paragraph of page 24 of their judgment had this to say; In view of the foregoing, we are compelled by the Constitution to hold that a Deputy Speaker or person presiding does not lose their right to vote when they are presiding over the proceedings of Parliament. *It must be emphasized however that the procedural and or operational rules to practicalise the protection of this constitutional right in a member presiding in the absence of a Speaker and his or her duty to represent his or her constituents in the vote and decision are MATTERS WITHIN THE EXCLUSIVE DOMAIN OF PARLIAMENT ITSELF. PARLIAMENT MAY ACHIEVE THIS BY AMENDING ITS ORDERS OR ADOPTING PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICES TO GIVE EFFECT TO THIS CONSTITUTIONAL IMPERATIVE.* It is very clear from the above, that until Parliament itself amend its standing orders or adopt new parliamentary practices and/or procedural or operational rules to implement the absurd decision of the Supreme Court that a Deputy Speaker can vote while presiding, NO DEPUTY SPEAKER CAN VOTE IN THE HOUSE. Now lets see how the Attorney General and Minister for Injustice, Godfred Yeboah Dame will get the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the fearless and gallant 137 NDC members of Parliament to do this . I shall return with my substantive views on the judgement itself. Sammy Gyamfi Esq. Based on a true story, our neighbor, Constable Kweku Ntiamoah I know in the late sixties at Sekondi, was a thief in a Police uniform we never suspected. Why do those employed to protect us from evil and lawlessness often become criminals themselves? Criminality associated with the Police force is not only a problem in Ghana. Its a universal issue because many of them join the Police force not to protect but to steal and commit crimes since its easier to be trusted when in a Police uniform. Stories about Police officers against the law are infinite happening in every African country. In Nigeria, Police officers are often linked to armed robbery. They take bribes and manhandle innocent people. In Ghana, it's the same problem, many Police officers have also been linked to crimes, including the IGP, George Dampare, over the death of J. B. Danquah-Adu. The latest crime investigation has led to the arrest of the Police officers who killed a Police officer in the bullion van escorting money. Two Police officers arrested for murder in South Africa Last year September, a former London Police officer was sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a woman he used the COVID-19 laws to trick her into his car. It happened also in Amsterdam, a Dutch police officer abducted a young girl and killed her. You can never suspect or prove a Police officer criminal until you catch them in the act, this is what happened in Sekondi. The seamstress has been losing clothes, shirts, dresses of her customers daily and this became a burden to her as she has to provide every missing item to her customers. Who is doing this in a house that everyone knew the people within are decent, law-abiding elders and hard workers? When the problem got worse, the angry frustrated seamstress accused one of her neighbors, calling him a thief. As young as I was, I can still remember how uncle Kobina swore in tears, defending himself but Mamaa, the seamstress didnt believe him. That day, the distraught and confused uncle Kobina wept bitterly in front of the seamstress and left. The missing of Mamaas customers dresses never ceased, after Kobina who thought he has had enough temporarily left the house to be with his mother for some time. At that point, Mamaa realized that uncle Kobina is speaking the truth. He is not the thief among her neighbors. Since nobody knows the thief who lives on the compound, the best thing Mamaa decides is to clear her sewing table empty every day after work. She takes everything possible to attract the thief, including her sewing machine into her room but after some time, this daily routine wasnt easy for her to continue. There is a time for everything, a time to be happy, a time to be sad, a time to steal, a time to be caught. With the zeal to catch that thief, she left many dresses, school uniforms, and several Kente cloths, spread all over her sewing table. She didnt sleep that night, her eyes were glaring at the ceiling. In the middle of the night, she heard footsteps, I think that was the appropriate hour the thief strikes and since she always opens her windows for her room to cool down, it was very easy for her to look through the window without a slight noise. It was that very moment; she saw one of her neighbors she never suspected to be a thief busily clearing the table. When she put on the light and saw Kweku Ntiamoah, the Policeman, she was shocked to the extent that her scream woke almost everyone on the compound. So all the time, Kweku Ntiamoah, a Police officer was the culprit terrorizing her on the same compound. I dont know why Mamaa refused to report the case to the police, probably, she thought since the thief was a Police officer, the charge office may not handle the case as the law demands. Instead, the elders on the compound held a meeting and Kweku Ntiamoah was ejected from the house. After that, Kobina returned to live on the compound but the pain and the embarrassment Mamaa caused him is still fresh in his mind. Just last month, this case came to my mind after reading many crimes involving Police officers. I called uncle Kobina, who is now 79 years old, in Takoradi and he laughed over it. If the police want to have a good name, no matter how tempting it is, they must keep away from taking bribes and committing crimes. Mourners on Friday wept uncontrollably during a mass burial held at the Old Appiatse Park for seven out of the 13 persons who lost their lives in the explosion on January 20. They were Ella Baidoo, a 15-month-old baby, Akua Nyame, 80, Michael Afriyie,19, Justice Kwesi Takwa, 21, Emmanuel Quainoo, 29, Isaac Benny, 45, and Isaac Anane, 35. The mortal remains of the victims were laid in state around 0400 hours as the mourners, some of whom had traveled from far and near, filed past the coffins. Four of the victims: Ekow Jackson, Enock Obeng, and Martin Quaicoe, aged 40, and Daniel Armah, 35 were buried at their respective hometowns last weekend. The remaining two, Emmanuel Awinguda and Eric Gyimah, both 24, would also be taken to their hometowns for burial. Some of the family members of the deceased recalled the tragic event and the effects it had on their families and urged Ghanaians to say a word of prayer for them whenever they went on their knees. Reverend Father Edward Cudjoe, the Parochial Administrator, Saint Michael Catholic Church, Bogoso, in a word of exhortation, said the 15-month-old baby, Ella Baidoo, could have been a good asset to the country. He, however, urged the bereaved families not to be troubled but look onto God for solace, adding; It's very painful to say goodbye to a loved one. Rev. Father Cudjoe advised Christians to be vigilant, study the Bible and always commit their ways onto the Lord. Mr Benito Owusu Bio, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, assured the residents that government would rebuild the Appiatse community in 12 months. Apostle Onyinah Gyamfi, the Church of Pentecost Area Head, Bogoso, led the gathering to pray for the departed souls and bereaved families. Mrs Babara Oteng-Gyasi, the Board Chairperson of the Minerals Commission, presented cash of GH2,000.00 to Miss Theodora Armah, 24, mother of the 15-month-old baby. Mourners in a state of shock watched in grief as the coffins containing the remains of the deceased were lowed into the grave. The Appiatse Disaster Relief Committee had earlier presented GH6,000.00 to each of the bereaved families to facilitate the burial. On Thursday, January 20, 2022, a truck conveying mining explosives on behalf of Maxam Ghana Limited from Tarkwa to Chirano Gold Mines in the Western North Region was involved in an accident at Appiatse. The accident resulted in an explosion, which claimed 13 lives, injured hundreds and displaced the whole town making it the worst explosion disaster ever recorded in the history of Ghana. The Government, after investigations, asked Maxam Ghana to pay a fine of one million dollars for regulatory breaches but the company decided to pay an additional five million dollars as goodwill gesture to the country. President Akufo-Addo directed that the additional US$5million be donated to the Appiatse Support Fund, established to help reconstruct the community. GNA Some angry Atiwa East New Patriotic Party (NPP) members on Friday besieged the party's Headquarters in Accra over concerns about breaches recorded in the process toward the conduct of polling station executive elections in the area. The aggrieved members wielded placards with inscriptions such as 2022 NPP polling station elections hasnt been held in Atiwa East, NPP National leadership save Atiwa East to break the 8 and No leadership in Atiwa East. According to them, polling station elections were conducted at only three of 24 polling stations in the constituency and that defies the partys constitution. They vowed to resist plans to hold electoral area coordinators elections, since they believe the due processes for polling station elections must be held to elect new polling station executives. The chairman and his cohorts are claiming that theyve conducted the elections. But they actually conducted it in only three villages, meanwhile we have about 24 polling stations, so how can you conduct elections for only three polling stations and use it to represent the whole constituency. As far as we are concerned, elections have not been held in the constituency because they have not followed principles for conducting elections within the party, and so we wrote several petitions, one aggrieved party members said. Another protestor told Citi News, We will keep pushing until what is right is done. We say that coordinators elections which was announced by the General Secretary, the basis of that election will be the polling station executive elections and following our constitution, that election has not been held and so there is no way the election for coordinators can be held. We are calling for resale, re-vetting so that the election can go on. Until an album is made, there is no way we can go and conduct electoral area coordinators election, another protestor also stressed. Meanwhile, earlier this week, about 60 New Patriotic Party members from the Kwadaso constituency picketed at their party's headquarters in Accra to petition their national leaders over issues they had with the recent polling station executive elections. The protesters alleged that the Chairperson for the constituency's polling station elections, Gifty Ohene Konadu, breached the party's constitution in the conduct of the polling station executive elections in the area. Members of the group say they had petitioned the party's regional office and were in Accra to petition their national leaders. citinewsroom Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor 12.03.2022 LISTEN The Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has described the Supreme Court ruling indicating that a Deputy Speaker can vote when presiding over parliament in the absence of the main speaker as an attack on Parliament. In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court held that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 103 and 104 of the 1992 Constitution, a Deputy Speaker who happens to be a Member of Parliament does not lose his right to take part in decision making in Parliament when sitting in for the Speaker of the House. Speaking in an engagement on TV3s Key Points show today, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling. According to the South Dayi MP, the ruling is a direct attack on Parliament as well as its structures. This judgment is an attack on parliament and its structure, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor shared. READ ALSO: https://www.modernghana.com/news/1144340/video-of-joewise-saying-deputy-speaker-presiding.html The Minority in Parliament has since the ruling by the Supreme Court expressed disappointment. Some members have argued that Parliament is a master of its own and hence, the ruling by the apex court amounts to interference in the legislature. On his part, the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin has raised concern about the Supreme Court Ruling. In a statement, he noted that The SC decision, is, to say the least, not only an absurdity but a reckless incursion into the remit of Parliament. A WHOPPING 71.2 per cent of Ghana's population professes to be Christians, according to the country's Statistical Service. These people deserve to be told the truth regarding their eternal salvation. The practice of modern Christianity has become so complex, especially in Africa, that it is becoming extremely difficult for many to distinguish between genuine and false approaches to salvation. The fulcrum around which the Christian faith revolves is the eternal salvation of souls. But a believer can be denied this salvation if he or she is not exposed to the true way of accessing it. We emphasised in last week's edition that there are many ministers today who are just interested in seeing people come to their meetings so that they can prophesy over them to receive so-called breakthroughs. They call everyone who attends their meetings Christians. They are either ignorant or overlook this fact that a man or woman cannot just be attending church meetings for miracles and be counted as a true Christian. Jesus Christ does not entrust Himself to people, who believe in Him after seeing signs and wonders (John 2:23-25). Jesus knows that belief in Him for eternal salvation should not be based on seeing miracles, but on hearing a message. It is in the Bible we get informed about the way the early saints received eternal salvation. They heard a message. Ministers like Peter, Philip, and Paul preached for unbelievers to hear and start the journey of discipleship. Paul, the apostle, described this message which saves as the word of faith, the word of truth, the word of righteousness and the word of reconciliation in his letters to various churches he planted for God. A true Christian minister ought to be filled with this Word, and be sent by the Spirit of grace to deliver it to convert the sinner from the bondage of sin to freedom in Christ Jesus. People are saved and reconciled to God by the power of the Holy Spirit who creates access for them by hearing this message. It is the message the early ministers were committed to preaching everywhere they went for people to hear and souls saved for the Lord. In Romans 10:8, Paul said it is the word of faith which we preach, in Ephesians 1:13, Paul described it as the word of truth that saves, in 2 Corinthians 5:19, the Apostle revealed that Christ committed to us the word of reconciliation and in Hebrews 5:13, he implored Christians to be skilled in the word of righteousness to prove our maturity. What does this mean to you? It means the word of faith, the word of truth, the word of righteousness or the word of reconciliation is the key message given to the Church of Jesus Christ to proclaim and teach. It is for this very reason that Paul instructed pastor Timothy to study to show himself approved unto God so that he could rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2: 15). Paul was a Foundational Apostle who was used to establish doctrines for Christianity. In our world, today, there is no such Apostle. I mean, there are Apostles, but none is called to be a Foundational Apostle as Paul was to establish doctrines. This places on us the need to take the words of Paul with utmost seriousness. There is a divine reason for Paul's charge to Timothy and to all ministers. The reason is that without the appropriate handling and presentation of this message, the Word of truth, sinners cannot be genuinely saved. In other words, salvation of souls through Jesus Christ depends upon the preaching and hearing of this message. And it is the exact message the early faithful ministers of Christ committed their lives to preaching every day. Now let me remind you, brothers and sisters of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then and still do now, for your faith is built on this wonderful message. And it is this Good News that saves you if you firmly believe it unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place (1 Corinthians 15: 1- 2, NLT). Sinners must hear the Word with their ears and receive it into their hearts. The way to receive the Word into the heart is by meditation through the workings of the Holy Spirit. While hearing the Word, the Holy Spirit grants the hearer a measure of faith in his heart to believe. When hearing the Word of righteousness, God assigns a measure of faith in your heart so that you can hear and receive the message. This is a free gift of God. but to think with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith that God has assigned (Romans 12: 3). Now, notice how in 1 Corinthians 15: 1- 4, Paul explained that it is the Good News that saves people. And then he went on to explain what the Good News is all about, emphasising the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This means Paul preached and taught the people to hear and understand the purpose of the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord as the first step of their salvation. We need to understand that the Apostles first went to the various communities to preach the gospel to the people before later they wrote the letters to them. For instance, Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation (Ephesians 1: 13). In this verse, we see that the believers first heard the ministers preach and teach them face-to-face. The first ministers of Jesus Christ preached the message of the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is called the gospel, for sinners to hear for them to believe in Christ for eternal salvation. It is rather unfortunate that today, many ministers preach just any message and ask people to confess Christ as their Saviour to make them Christians. We hear these things in our churches and on radio and television stations. But scripturally this is not how people become Christians. People must first hear and understand the message of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. By James Quansah [email protected] Article 110(1) of the Constitution provides that subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament may, by standing orders, regulate its own procedure. Article 101 provides that the Speaker shall preside in Parliament at all sittings and in his absence a Deputy Speaker shall preside. The person presiding at these sittings wield enormous powers. He moderates debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the chamber or house. Commensurate with that authority is the expectation that the person presiding must be impartial. The Speaker is not a member of Parliament (MP) but a Deputy Speaker is. Pursuant to its Article 110(1) powers, Parliament has adopted standing order 109(3) to the effect that a Deputy Speaker shall not retain his original vote while presiding. This order reflects the reality that a Deputy Speaker is both an ordinary MP and a Deputy Speaker. While not presiding, he wears his MPs hat and cannot exercise any functions of a presiding member. Conversely, when presiding, he wears his Deputy Speakers hat and cannot exercise any functions of an ordinary member. Retaining his power to deliberate and vote is inconsistent with the obligation to be impartial. In Abdulai v Attorney-General (Writ No. J1/07/2022), the Plaintiff issued a writ at the Supreme Court to determine, among others, whether a Deputy Speaker, when presiding, can vote or take part or take part in the making of a decision by Parliament. This, of course, is curious because the Plaintiff was not asserting that the standing order 109(3) violated the Constitution. He was seeking an advisory opinion as to whether the standing order was constitutional. The Court notices this absurdity when it notes that this issue does not raise any issue of fact that is in dispute. But rather than decline the invitation to offer the advisory opinion, the Court answered that it can be answered as a matter of straightforward constitutional exegesis. In my opinion, the Court must resolve fact-laden constitutional disputes and is not clothed with the jurisdiction to write fact-free constitutional essays. If that time-honored constitutional principle had been applied, the only question that the Court should have answered is whether Parliaments approval of the 2022 budget on 30th November, 2021 was a nullity as 138 members, excluding the person presiding, were not present in Parliament before the decision was made. This is a much narrow and inconsequential question. As it turns out, the Court chose to wade in these matters and struck down Order 109(3) of the standing orders as being inconsistent with Articles 102 and 104(1) of the Constitution. It is this holding that provides the justification for the extant exegesis. Prior to analyzing the opinion, I must observe that in a matter such as this, where Parliaments interest was paramount and where this interest could be adverse to that of the Attorney-General, it was surprising that the Parliament was not joined to the action. I consider Parliament to be an indispensable party, since reaching a judgment without hearing their side of the story is perverse and offends fundamental principles of civil procedure. The procedural posture of the case is therefore problematic. I must also commend the Court for the speed with which it heard and decided the case. This is a good development and must be applied to other cases. Turning to the opinion, Article 102 provides that a quorum of Parliament, apart from the person presiding, shall be one-third of all the members of Parliament. Article 104(1) provides that except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, matters in Parliament shall be determined by the votes of the majority of members present and voting, with at least half of all the members of Parliament present. It can be readily observed that neither Article 102 nor Article 104(1) has an explicit voice on whether the person presiding retains his original vote. To hold that Order 109(3) violates these Articles therefore require some construction. The Abdulai Court uses three building blocks to arrive at the conclusion that a presiding officer is entitled to vote, which, in turn became the basis for invalidating Order 109(3) as unconstitutional. These are (1) Only contract-related conflict of interest can bar an MP from voting; (2) the Constitution makes a distinction between a non-voting quorum and a voting quorum. Since the former does not count a presiding MP and the latter is based on all MPs, it follows that the former bars the presiding member from deliberations and the latter entitles him to a vote; (3) the Constitution says the Speaker has neither an original nor a casting vote. Since it uses Speaker rather than a presiding member, it follows that a Speaker Pro Tempore retains his vote. I examine these building blocks to test the validity of the conclusion. Contract-related conflicts are not the only Bar Article 104(5) provides that A member who is a party to or a partner in a firm which is a party to a contract with the Government shall declare his interest and shall not vote on any question relating to the contract. Article 104(5) clearly means that a contract- related conflict of interest bars an MP from voting. But it does not mean ONLY a contract-related conflict of interest bars an MP from voting. There are any number of ways that an MP can lose his vote, including if he is suspended for disorderly conduct or, in the case at bar, if he assumes presiding functions that are inconsistent with the functions of an ordinary MP. Parenthetically, some MPs serve on the Board of SOEs (not good practice) and should not vote on issues related to these SOEs, etc. The logic that MPs are disqualified from voting ONLY on contract related conflict of interests and the two propositions flowing thereof (namely, (i) Speaker is disqualified from voting not because he presides but because he is not an MP, (ii) presiding is not a disqualifying conflict) must fail, leaving the decision with nothing to hang on. But there are more issues. Voting Quorom versus Voting Rights The voting quorum is a protective device to ensure that a certain minimum number of MPs are present before voting can commence. It has nothing to with whether a member who is present is eligible to vote on the issue. That is why Article 104(1) says matters in Parliament shall be determined by the votes of the majority of members present and voting, with at least half of all the members of Parliament present. Article 104(1) simply says first at least 1/2 of 275 MPs must be present. When that hurdle is met, the issue is decided by a simple majority of those who are present and voting. An MP can be present and abstain or be disqualified from voting because he is presiding at the meeting or for some other reason, such as contract, familiar, SOE, etc. conflict of interest. Merely because the non-voting quorum differs from the voting quorum does not mean being counted in the latter quorum is conclusive of being allowed to vote. The non-voting quorum is in Article 102 and is in the form of a quorum of Parliament, apart from the person presiding, shall be one-third of all the members of Parliament. It is necessarily lower because it is a threshold to start the business of the house whereas the voting quorum is higher to ensure the presence of a representative section of the house before decisions are made. Neither quorum has anything to do with who is eligible to vote on specific issues. Nor do they say anything about who is eligible to deliberate. The logic that excluding a presiding deputy speaker from the non-voting quorum while including him in the voting quorum means he is barred from debates but entitled to vote necessarily fails. Quorum is a green light for an action to commence but has nothing to do with rights and entitlements at the action! The later must be sought elsewhere. The return of Literalism Article 104(2) provides that the Speaker shall have neither an original nor casting vote. Who does the Speaker therein refer to? A literal approach will land on an obvious answer only the Speaker. But that approach is not the proper way to interpret this Article and to answer the question. The inquiry should involve why the Speaker is not giving an original or a casting vote? An obvious, but not a satisfactory answer, is that he is not an MP. But a more probing answer is that he performs a presiding role that will be incompatible with the functions of a presiding officer and derogate from the important attribute of impartiality and the non- partisanship presiding model (see below). Thus, one must review the history of our parliaments, do a holistic analysis involving other articles, have a deep appreciation of original versus casting vote, and even engage in a comparative analysis of countries, such as UK, that have developed the convention that MPs who are given additional duties as Speakers and Deputy Speakers should not also have a vote. That the Speaker, in Article 104(2) does not have an original vote is instructive. It will be surplusage if this command was directed to the substantive Speaker, who is not an MP. This is because it is trite that only MPs have an original vote. No extra words need to be spent on saying that a non-MP cannot vote. We must conclude that the reference to the original vote cannot be referring to the non-MP Speaker of the House. Rather, the original vote bar had to be targeted to a person who ordinarily will be entitled to vote, such as an MP who is also presiding. As we stated at supra, a person presiding is given immense authority that requires him to shed any semblance of partisanship. Such an analysis would have led to the inescapable conclusion that Speaker, as used above, refers to anyone performing that function, so called Speaker Pro Tempore. In effect, Article 104(2) must mean that if a presiding MP does not maintain his original vote. He wears his deputy Speaker hat when presiding. Moreover, neither a Presiding MP nor the substantive Speaker has a casting vote. The literal interpretation of Speaker as referring only to the Speaker as used in the context of voting rights, original or casting, must be rejected for a broader interpretation that includes anyone performing the functions of the Speaker. Political Question Doctrine This doctrine simply means that the courts will not hear a case that presents a political question. Such cases are those that deal directly with issues that the Constitution makes the sole responsibility of the other branches of government. The doctrine does not put the executive or parliament above the law but merely says the Courts will not interfere with matters assigned to them if they do not act ultra vires the Constitution. Thus, in Asare v. AG & Amoateng (H1/65/07), the Court invalidated the indefinite absence that parliament granted to an MP, holding that an MP automatically vacated his seat if he is absent from parliament without the written permission of the Speaker for MORE than 15 sittings in a meeting. In the instant case, Parliament in exercising its power to regulate its procedures decided that an MP who is elevated to a Presiding officer must be seen to be impartial and can therefore not take part in the deliberations or vote. This is not ultra vires the Constitution and the Court tries but fails to provide a persuasive argument as to why it should be questioning and rejecting Parliaments wisdom to decide that a presiding MP cannot vote. Rather, what is clear is that Parliament has exercised its power to regulate its voting procedures and the whole case appears to be driven by an apparent stalemate in Parliament because of one parliamentary transaction. Stripped of the legalese, the whole case was a political question. As explained above, it is a strain to hold that Order 109(3) was inconsistent with Articles 102 and 104(1). In fact, no factual issues had arisen with respect to that Order. All we can say is that the Constitution is silent on that issue, which Parliament has resolved with its power to regulate its own procedures or even perhaps by its residual powers. A presiding officer performs several constitutional functions. MPs are asked to view persons presiding as impartial and are asked to accord them respect and deference. They are to accept their rulings. That authority is coextensive with the requirement to be impartial, in fact and in appearance. While the Courts ruling upsets this relationship, it fails to consider how ordinary MPs will react to the Presiding MPs, now that they are directed to treat them as ordinary MPs. Will an MP take kindly to his amendment proposal being ruled out of order by another MP who has a vote on the issue in contemplation? Will the Court be able to enforce this judgment? The enforcement challenge is one reason why Courts do not question the procedures of parliament, and why issues related to voting in parliament are procedure of parliament, the protestations notwithstanding (see procedures in parliament above Article 100). It would have been helpful if the Courts comparative analysis had identified a case where a court intervened to direct Parliament on its voting procedures or to reject standing orders that disabled presiding members from deliberations and voting. Globally, there are two competing models presiding member models: the non-partisan presiding member model (e.g., UK) and the partisan presiding model (e.g., USA). We, in Ghana seem to have chosen the UK model, under which the Speaker and his three deputies are non-partisan even though they are MPs. In fact, in UK the elected MP- Speaker severs all ties with his political parties and his deputies maintain a complete non-partisan posture. Further, the Ghana model has been tailored to our circumstances by requiring that the Speaker not be an MP at all. Our preference for an impartial Speaker explains why many of our Speakers, starting from Justice Quist, Akiwumi, Annan, Bamford-Addo, etc. have come from the Judicial fraternity. Once this preference is understood, it also becomes clear why any Presiding MP, who is accorded all the respect and deference due to the Speaker, is therefore not expected to remain partisan while in the role of a Speaker Pro Tempore. That is why the standing orders explicitly state that such presiding members cannot vote, and it has been that way for decades! Lastly, it is not a correct statement of the law that the political question doctrine, properly interpreted, does not apply in Ghana. As Justice Acquah states in Mensah v Attorney-General (SCGLR 250 [2003-2004], If by the political question doctrine, it is meant that where the Constitution allocates power or function to an authority, and that authority exercises that power within the parameters of that provision and the Constitution as a whole, a court has no jurisdiction to interfere with the exercise of that function, then I entirely agree that the doctrine applies in our constitutional jurisprudence. For this is what is implied in the concept of separation of powers. But if by the doctrine, it is meant that even when the authority exercises that power in violation of the constitutional provision, a court has no jurisdiction to interfere because it is the Constitution which allocated that power to that authority, then I emphatically disagree. Of course, the doctrine does not make the unconstitutional actions of the elected branches invisible to the courts. Rather, it is the part that Justice Acquah agrees with. That part applies in Ghana, unless the Abdulai Court is suggesting that it is primus inter pares. The Constituents lose their vote and voice A word on the oft repeated claim that presiding MPs lose their voice or vote. This is a complete myth that fails to appreciate the nature of parliamentary processes and the power that comes with being a deputy speaker. One only has to pay attention to the number of committees headed by the deputy speaker and the access that they have to the corridors of power and the purse to appreciate this point. These access and opened doors ultimately inure to their constituents benefit. A Deputy Speaker enjoys supra- rights not sub-rights as advertised! The occasional lost vote pales in comparison to the pork that a deputy speaker can take to his constituents. It is instructive that they are not rushing to give up these positions because they have lost their votes and voices. It is equally amusing that this concern for constituents loss of representation seem to hinge on just the vote but not the voice. It is almost as if constituents do no care that their MPs are disabled from deliberations, while presiding, but only care about the vote. Surely, representation must mean more than a muzzled MP reduced to a voting machine. The whole bifurcation between deliberation and voting has little substance. When Voting Quorum established A voting in parliament is an elaborate process that starts with debate and ends with a vote, which often is by viva voce or by division, when an MP, recognized by the Presiding MP, calls for a division. If a voting quorum is present for the viva voce vote, can a member or members not happy with the outcome call for a division and defeat the viva voce vote by merely failing to show up for the division (i.e., a quorum maneuver)? GOGO thinks not! Therefore, a voting quorum once established cannot be broken until the voting, viva voce and division, ends. To reason otherwise, is to allow a losing group on the viva voce vote to frustrate the voting outcome by simply failing to show up for a division that it called for. The voting quorum is not to be used for such political maneuvers. The Perverse Incentives Obiter The reference to perverse incentives of a Speaker or one of the deputy Speakers to gain political advantage is unfortunate. It is prudent, from a comity perspective, for the Court to presume that the Speakers will act regularly in accordance with their stated oaths. It will not be a good thing for Parliament too to attribute opportunism to the august bench. In any event, the observation is rather rich coming from a Court that does not realize or give much weight to the perverse incentives of a voting presiding member. We have been in the process of building an impartial presiding model. It is unfortunate to tear down 3 decades of construction merely to accommodate the even numbers returned by one election cycle. Going Forward If we accept, as we must, the new landscape, Parliament may have to consider amending the constitution to allow for the hiring of non-ex-gratia receiving career public servants, not of the same gender, to serve as Deputy Speakers. This will move us to the Speaker model and remove the conundrum of a voting presiding member. #SALL is the cardinal sin of the 8th Parliament. Da Yie! Tokyo The Government of Japan has allocated USD 19.9 million to support the International Organization for Migrations (IOM) humanitarian operations in 2022. With this funding, IOM will implement projects to help vulnerable migrants, including displaced persons, refugees, returnees and communities affected by COVID-19, conflicts and crises worldwide. Projects implemented by IOM through this funding are committed to an array of key migration-related issues. As the world grapples with multiple conflicts, natural disasters and COVID-19, humanitarian assistance for migrants and communities to support safe and orderly migration is urgently required. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 60 per cent of the funding is to be utilized, IOM is implementing emergency responses to natural disasters, displacement, and the pandemic. In Asia, emergency assistance and enhancement of public health will be the main focus of IOM projects responding to COVID-19. In the Middle East and North Africa, Japan-funded projects are expected to meet increasing demand for assistance for vulnerable populations, including internally displaced persons (IDPs). IOM is very grateful for the Government of Japans generous, longstanding support that will ensure the continuation of much-needed programmes and initiatives that will help mitigate ongoing global migration and other challenges, said IOM Director General, Antonio Vitorino. With this funding, IOM will continue to provide essential life-saving assistance to those who need it the most. IOMs Japan-funded programmes include improving the capacities of the governments for integrated border management and building governments health response capacity, especially at points of entry and in border areas. With COVID-19 still prevalent in many parts of the world, especially in conflict-affected regions, displaced populations are increasingly at risk. Japans generous contribution will allow IOM to mitigate such negative impacts and help kickstart rebuilding efforts. 12.03.2022 LISTEN A senior member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko says John Dramani Mahama has small elementary understanding of the law for which reason he can be forgiven for his comments on the Supreme Court ruling of the voting rights of a Deputy Speaker. In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court held that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 103 and 104 of the 1992 Constitution, a Deputy Speaker who happens to be a Member of Parliament does not lose his right to take part in decision making in Parliament when sitting in for the Speaker of the House. The apex court ruling has been met with dissatisfaction from opposition members including former President John Dramani Mahama as well as Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin. According to ex-President Mahama, the ruling is shocking and has set a dangerous precedent of judicial interference in parliamentary procedure. On his part, Speaker Bagbin said, The SC decision, is to say the least, not only an absurdity but a reckless incursion into the remit of Parliament. Reacting to the two comments in a post on his Twitter page today, Gabby Otchere-Darko says although Mahama can be forgiven for his comments on the Supreme Court ruling, the same cannot be said about Speaker Bagbin who is a lawyer. Gabby Otchere-Darkos post reads, You may choose to forgive John Mahama because his elementary understanding of the law is evidently small, going by his reactions to Supreme Court decisions - except ex-presidents are expected not to speak loosely against the 3 arms of Govt. But, what about lawyer Alban Bagbin? The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) has called on world leaders to remove patent rights associated with the production of vaccines in order to win the fight against Covid-19. GCAP and Abibinsroma Foundation, in marking the second anniversary of the declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic, asked vaccine manufacturers to make the vaccines cheaper so poorer nations could afford. In a statement on Friday at the Training Centre of the Tema General Hospital, Mrs. Celestina Obeng, the Tourism Ambassador for Abibinsroma Foundation said, As we enter the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, billions of people worldwide still dont have access to Covid vaccinations and treatments." Mrs. Obeng noted that notwithstanding, pharmaceutical companies were recording profits of over $1 million per hour and world leaders had refused to stand up to them. In that regard, she indicated, Today, more than ever, we are repeating our call for a Peoples Vaccine, because every life lost now is avoidable. Mrs Obeng therefore called on governments across the globe to urgently implement a global roadmap to deliver the WHO goal of fully vaccinating 70% of people by mid-2022, And beyond this ensure maintained, timely and equitable access worldwide to Covid-19 vaccines, treatments, tests and other medical technologies, including all effective and safe next-generation Covid-19 vaccines and medical technologies. Mrs. Obeng also called for the maximization of the production of safe and effective vaccines, treatment and other Covid-19 products by suspending relevant intellectual property rules and ensuring the mandatory pooling of all Covid-19 related knowledge, data and technologies so that any nation can produce or buy sufficient and affordable vaccines, treatments and tests. GCAP Ghana asked for an investment of public funds into a rapid and massive increase in vaccine manufacturing as well as research and development capacity to build a globally distributed network capable of and governed to deliver affordable vaccines as global public goods to all nations. She pleaded that the manufacturers made Covid-19 vaccines, treatment and tests available to governments and institutions at a price as close to the true costs as possible, and provided free of charge to everyone, everywhere and allocated according. Mrs Obeng hinted at the need to scale up sustainable investment in public health systems to ensure that the low and middle income countries had adequate resources to get shots into arms and save lives. These investments would pay dividends in the global economy and restore economic and developmental gains which the global Covid-19 pandemic has partially restored, she added. The Medical Director of Tema General Hospital, Dr. Richard Anthony, in adding his voice to the plea, observed how Ghana had made tremendous efforts in containing the virus and urged all those who had not yet vaccinated to do so. Dr. Anthony also called on all citizens to continue observing the Covid protocols to ensure that they stayed safe and prevented the spread of the diseases. He also believed that the call to end the patent rights on the production of vaccines was right and pleaded with vaccine manufacturers to head to such a call. On Thursday, March 10 2022, selected cabinet members of the Greater Accra Zongo Chief met with journalists of Sabon Zongo descent who are working in various media agencies in the Greater Accra Region. The meeting was for the cabinet members of the Palace to familiarize themselves with the Journalists, create a formidable force among them within the Sabon Zongo and encourage them (the Journalists) to propagate the great history of the Zongos. The meeting was also aimed at acknowledging the efforts of Journalists of Sabon Zongo descent in a bid to empower and assure them of the Palace's support for them to do more for the benefit of the communities. The cabinet members encouraged the Journalists to do their very best to help change the narrative of the Zongo people and report on issues that seek to build the good image of Zongo communities in Ghana. The Journalists also used the opportunity to interact with the cabinet members and share ideas on the way forward to help reduce drug peddling within the Sabon Zongo communities. Other issues discussed included sanitation, education, revenue mobilization and discipline which is believed to be the backbone of the development of every community. On the part of the journalists, they expressed gratitude to the Palace for the acknowledgement of their roles and the opportunity given them to contribute their quota towards the development of the communities. Women in the Effutu Municipality joined their counterparts in the rest of the world to commemorate International Womens Day (IWD), an event marked annually throughout the world, on March 8 to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. The theme for the 2022 IWD is Gender Equality Today for A Sustainable Tomorrow with a call for climate action for women, by women. Speaking at an event organized by the Gender Directorate of the University of Education, Winneba to commemorate the day in Winneba the Municipal Chief Executive who was the Guest of Honour, Hon. Alhaji Zubairu Kassim, noted that this years theme for the celebration places a spotlight on the individual and collective biases against women that fuel inequality. HON. ZUBAIRU KASSIM He emphasized the need for bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women that make it difficult for them to realize their God given potentials. Hon. Zubairu continued that studies have shown that women and girls experience the greatest impacts of the climate crisis as it amplifies existing gender inequalities and puts womens lives and livelihoods at risk. He said to end biases against women there was the need for a clarion call to action on all to speak out against instances of bias against women in public places and at homes. Recounting the outstanding contribution of his mother to his personal and career development at the time that his father was out of the country in Liberia, Hon. Zubairu Kassim appealed to all to use the day to celebrate the achievement of women, raise awareness about womens equality as well as lobby for accelerated gender parity. DR. THERESA A. AMU Dr. Theresa A. Amu, the Head of Department of the Family and Life Management Education at the University of Education Winneba who was the main speaker for the event said this years theme was adopted to celebrate the tremendous efforts by women and girls in shaping an equal future devoid of the negative impacts of climate change. Dr. Amu called on men to support women to end the equalities that have been created to relegate them to the background by pushing and incorporating gender perspective programs successfully and effectively for women and girls to have equal access to information, knowledge, capacity building, resources and technology, which were prerequisites for influencing climate change in Ghana. PARTICIPANTS AT THE EVENT She made a passionate appeal to all to make conscious attempts towards involving women in all national discussions and policy decisions as well as interventions to increase womens access to climate information, climate smart practices and technologies as well as increase womens leadership in the community and national levels to aid national development. Dr. Amu enumerating the immense contribution of women to society charged women to mass up in confidence to attain the equal recognition enjoyed by their male counterparts. South Sudanese authorities should conduct a swift and credible investigation into the recent abduction of journalist Emmanuel Woja, and ensure those responsible are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. At about 9 a.m. on March 2, a man approached Woja, an editor and news anchor with the independent broadcaster Eye Radio, near the outlets office in Juba, the capital, greeted him by name, and then pulled out a pistol and ordered him to get into a waiting Toyota Harrier, according to a report by Eye Radio and Woja, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Woja complied and entered the vehicle, which held three other men, including one more with a pistol. The group blindfolded him, held him all day, interrogated him about his work, and accused him of supporting a rebel group operating in the southern Equatoria region and supporting a coalition of activists who have called for the resignation of South Sudans president, he said. That night, the men drove Woja to a forested area in the outskirts of Juba, where he said he believed they planned to kill him, but a gunfight erupted between his captors and unidentified attackers, and he escaped on foot. South Sudanese journalist Emmanuel Woja is lucky to have survived a traumatic kidnapping which seems to have been retaliation for his work and critical opinions, said CPJs sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. Authorities should conduct a credible investigation into this abduction and ensure that all the perpetrators are held to account. South Sudans government needs to deliver justice for Woja and send a strong message that authorities prioritize the safety of journalists. Woja told CPJ that he could not identify any of his captors. He said they first drove him around for about 40 minutes, and then switched him to another vehicle that drove while playing a siren. Wojas captors moved him to two different buildings, and in the latter interrogated him without the blindfold. During that interrogation, a man told Woja that he had collected extensive information about him, including on his personal life and work. That man accused Woja of working at an anti-government media outlet, saying that Woja was one of three stubborn journalists at the station. The man also accused Woja of supporting the National Salvation Front, an armed group fighting the South Sudanese government in the Equatoria region, supporting the Peoples Coalition for Civil Action, a group of activists that has called for the resignation of President Salva Kiir, and writing opinions that were against the government on social media, without citing specific posts. Woja told CPJ he denied supporting any rebels and said that he had a right to express his opinions on social media. Partway through the interrogation, the man forced Woja to drink an unidentified substance that Woja said smelled of alcohol. Woja said he then became disoriented, and that the interrogator continued to level the same accusations against him. Woja said he was not sure how he responded after ingesting the liquid. He told CPJ that the men held him in that room until the evening, when they drove him to the forested area on the Juba outskirts. That walk into the bushI think these people wanted to kill me, he said. I really thought they would kill me. The men made him walk for several minutes while wearing the blindfold, and then he heard gunshots and heard his abductors return fire at someone. He told CPJ that he believed his captors ran for cover and, in the confusion, he was left by himself and was able to run away. After fleeing, Woja realized he was in was Rajaf West, about nine miles outside of Juba; he walked back into the city and filed a complaint at a police station in Jubas Lologo area, he said. He told CPJ that he stayed at a local hospital overnight, where doctors told him that they could not immediately identify the substance he had ingested. In a Facebook post on March 10, Woja said that further tests indicated that he had suffered damage to his stomach and esophagus due to ingestion of methanol, a toxic alcohol. Eye Radio is an independent media outlet that has previously attracted the ire of authorities; in 2016, authorities forced the station to cease broadcasting, as CPJ reported at the time. Last month, an Eye Radio reporter was among a group of eight journalists briefly detained by intelligence officers in Juba. CPJs review of Wojas social media pages showed that most of his recent posts were personal, not journalistic. On Facebook, where he has about 1,300 followers, he published his personal opinions on the states alleged failure to stem crime, corruption, and violence in parts of the country, and the governments handling of a 2018 peace agreement. On Twitter, where he has 523 followers, Woja published posts that called for the disbandment of South Sudans statutory media regulator, the Media Authority, and criticized its response to the recent arrests of journalists. In January, the journalists tweets included criticism of governance in South Sudan, calling it the most corrupt country in the world. When CPJ contacted South Sudan police spokesperson Daniel Justine for comment via messaging app on March 9, he said he was traveling and referred CPJ to his deputy, James Dak. CPJ called Dak on March 9 and 10 for comment, but the calls either did not connect or rung without an answer. CPJ missed a call from Dak on March 10, and he did not answer subsequent calls on March 11 or respond to a text message requesting comment. In a phone call with CPJ, Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said he was not aware of Wojas case, and referred CPJ to the Media Authority for comment. CPJ called Media Authority Managing Director Elijah Alier, but he declined to comment, saying he was not familiar with CPJ and he could not speak to strangers. The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Hon. Abdul Latif Dan has donated towards this year's Greater Accra Regional Maulid. He presented a cow, ten bags of rice, cartons of mineral water and gallons of cooking oil to the founder and leader of the Islamic Foundation for Peace and Development who is also the Deputy Supreme Leader of the Supreme Council for Tijaniya Islamic Affairs, Ghana Sheikh Yahaya Amin. The annual Greater Accra Regional Maulid will be officially commemorated on Saturday, 12 March, 2022 at the Lord's Wembley Shukura. Hon. Abdul Latif Dan was accompanied by some leading members of the National Democratic Congress in the Constituency, including the Executive Member of the party, Alhaji Mohammed Ashkar, the Ablekuma Central Constituency Zongo Caucus Coordinator, Chief Mallam Zakaria among others. The founder and leader of the Islamic Foundation for Peace and Development and Deputy Supreme Leader of the Supreme Council for Tijaniya Islamic Affairs, Ghana who received the items expressed profound gratitude to the MP for the wonderful gesture and prayed for Allah's favour upon the former President John Dramani Mahama, Hon. Abdul Latif Dan and the entire members of the NDC. On his part, the MP stated that the Maulid brings together a lot of people from all walks of life adding that it is imperative to support and contribute to making it successful to the glory of Allah. The Greater Accra Maulid is observed annually by Sheikh Yahya Amin to commemorate the birth of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (SAW). The occasion also serves as a reminder to Muslims to continuously emulate the exemplary life of the Prophet. India is puttingthe final touches to the world's highest rail bridge in Kashmir that was first attempted by the British in 1898. The arched project will dwarf the Eiffel Tower in Paris and a lofty Chinese bridge which now holds the world title. The government has not announced a date for its completion but it is likely to be ready by December before tracks are laid on the bridge, built 359 metres above Chenab River which flows through Kashmir into Pakistan. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently posted online a picture of the bridge, calling it the world's highest arch - Chenab Bridge over the clouds. Steel marvel The steel-built marvel crowns a Himalayan rail project that involves dozens of smaller bridges and tunnels for a 900-kilometre train ride from Delhi to Kashmir's erstwhile summer capital Srinagar. A 915-metre tall cable crane, the world's highest, is used for the Chenab bridge, which has a 467-meter main arch designed to withstand wind gusts of up to 266 kilometres an hour and minus 40 degrees Celsius temperature. We have incorporated blast proof steel and concrete components as a protective measure against potential terror attacks, said an engineer in Kashmir, India's only Moslem-majority region. Military experts say the design ensures the bridge will not be harmed even if one of the 17 piers is destroyed. China's Najiehe arch bridge standing 305 metres tall in Guizhou province is currently considered the world's highest railway bridge. India says the 1.3-kilometre-long arched Chenab Bridge built at a cost of 176 million Euros will turn around the fragile economy of insurgency-wracked Kashmir where several other Himalayan rail projects are also underway. A bridge too distant Analysts such as Srinagar-based Noor Ahmad Baba seemed upbeat but said the rail link and the under-construction bridge had missed far too many deadlines even after they were declared a national project two decades ago. We are dependent on a fragile road link between Srinagar and Jammu city in the plains and we have been suffering on that account, Baba said. There is a requirement for stable connectivity to Kashmir and the railway link would be very useful for the state, its people, for defence purposes of course and for economic activity, the political scientist told RFI. People have been longing for it but we are also slightly sceptical because for years we have only been hearing about the project, added Baba, a scholar from Kashmir's central university. Britain, India's then colonial ruler, made its first attempt in 1898 to reach Kashmir by rail and that was followed by similar plans in 1902 and then 1905. But it was not until 1994 that independent India made a breakthrough. Demography jitters Others say they fear the prestigious project could encourage outsiders to settle in divided Kashmir, held in parts by India and Pakistan and is the subject of two of the three wars between the South Asian rivals since 1947. The worry in Kashmir has been demographic flooding and it would not be completely unreasonable for Kashmiris' to feel that way and I think we do feel that way sort of generally, Srinagar-based historian Siddiq Wahid told RFI. The government in Delhi revoked Kashmir's special privileges in August 2019 and split the region into two federal territories to integrate it fully into India. Development is not something that Kashmiris will reject but there has to be a sense it is being done for the good of the Kashmiris, added Wahid, a former Harvard University teacher. Tens of thousands of people have died and 400,000 minority Hindus fled Kashmir after militancy gripped the region in 1989, devastating the local economy. India accuses Pakistan of fomenting trouble in Kashmir, a charge Islamabad vehemently denies. Professor Goski Alabi, President of the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), has described the sterling leadership qualities demonstrated by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a model in leadership and development, particularly in the field of education. According to Prof. Alabi, who is also the Consulting President of Laweh University College, Accra, the establishment of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), a seminal higher education institution, by former President Obasanjo, is an eloquent testament of his visionary leadership in the field of education. A statement issued by Laweh University College, copied to the Ghana News Agency said Prof. Alabi made these observations when she addressed a symposium in honour of former President Obasanjo at his Presidential Library at Abeokuta as part of activities to mark his 85th Birthday which fell on March 5. She spoke on the theme: "The Narrative on Leadership and the Role of Education". Prof . Alabi noted that Africa's past educational leadership had been built around the prioritization of primary and secondary education, to the detriment of higher education. "One that has been built around an educational system that tramples over skill in favour of certification. A system that perpetuates semi-illiteracy and often produces certified but unable people," she said. She said for Africa's educational leadership to transform its developmental narrative, the phenomenon of prioritizing certificates over skill and attitude must give way to a complete overhaul and re-engineering of the educational system, our mindset and attitudes. She noted that in responding to all development plans of Africa, from the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) to Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA), to the Africa Agenda 2063, there was the need to echo Leaving No One Behind, including those who have already been left behind. This requires the deployment of technology and Open, Distance and Blended Learning as key vehicles. She called on African leaders to learn from the shining example of former President Obasanjo who established the National Open University of Nigeria, about 20 years ago, which today enrols over 600,000 students. She also urged African scholars to do more to develop their own literary materials for teaching and learning, particularly textbooks that rely on African experiences and cases. She added that "research should be tailored towards the strategies of the agenda 2063, the Africa we want. But this would require investment." Prof. Alabi recommended that African education should focus on technology, skill and attitude; adding that, "it must also prioritize the arts and the preservation of our culture in a way that responds directly to the labour market and social needs of Africa while recognizing global trends." She said specifically for the arts, Africa should focus on using its films, music, dance food and emerging technologies like social media to project the narrative they want, a narrative that every African would be proud to be associated with and this requires training a new breed of public relations experts and journalists. She called on wealthy Africans like Dangote to consider investing in creating a media platform like BBC, CNN to drive the new African narrative. The African Council for Distance Education also used the opportunity to present to former President Obasanjo, the African Strategic Leadership Award for Education for his role in promoting inclusive and equitable education for all and prayed for health and long life for the man who is considered Africa's Father of Modern Leadership. The event was chaired by Mr Nicephore Dieudonne Soglo, former President of Benin, and was under the auspices of an organising committee, headed by Prof Peter Okebukola of Nigeria. Other key personalities who spoke at the event included President Paul Kagame of Rwanda; Sheikh Shakbook bin Nahyan, Minister of State, Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates; Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General World Trade Organization (WTO); and Professor Juma Shabani, former Director, UNESCO Cluster Office Bamako. GNA A security analyst, Emmanuel Kotin has called on government to launch a public inquiry into the alleged involvement of police officers in recent bullion van robberies. His comments come on the heels of the arrest of some police officers at Borteyman near Ashaiman, on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, following claims that they were involved in some major bullion van robberies in Accra. According to Mr. Kotin details provided by the Police Service so far do not add up. The security analyst suspects foul play. Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi TV , he said I am tempted to believe that these suspects were backed by some big men. The police had two main suspects, these suspects were reluctant to confess. This means they were prepared to go any length to cover up for some people. The question is, why did the police take the two suspects to the scene? You don't take suspects along with you in a swoop. If you are arrested, you lose certain rights. We are in a democracy, but we keep playing with the rights of citizens. Being a suspect does not mean you are guilty of a crime until proven otherwise. The rights of these people ought to have been respected. An independent public inquiry, according to him, will provide answers to the tall list of questions. Compensations can then be duly paid to the two suspects, who I will tag as victims in this case. There are too many questions that need to be answered. He also called for reforms in the Police Service. Apart from that, the Ghana Police Service needs so many reforms. Look at the transfer regime in the service. There are police officers who have stayed in particular stations for over 18 years. This will lead to situations where the officers will become familiar with the people in the community and possibly team up with criminals in the community for money. How much is a police officer paid? But look at the type of cars some of them drive. Some five persons were picked up at their hideout after a police intelligence raid at Borteyman near Ashaiman. The raid also led to the death of two suspected bad officers during an exchange of gunshots. The two, according to police, had earlier been arrested in connection with the bullion van robberies. The deceased officers are, Constable Randolph Ansah and Lance Corporal Stephen Kwaku Nyame. During the raid at Borteyman, near Ashaiman, there was an exchange of gunshots and two policemen, No. 58284 Constable Reindolph Ansah and No. 53549 Lance Corporal Stephen Kwaku Name who had been arrested in connection with the Bullion Van Robberies, were shot and were pronounced dead on arrival at the Police Hospital where they were rushed for treatment. Some other suspects believed to have sustained gunshot wounds managed to escape the scene, the police said in an earlier statement. The bullion van attacks in question occurred at Kingsway, Baatsona, Jamestown and North Kaneshie (Industrial Area) between 2021 and 2022. ---citinewsroom A quick look at the annual report of 2020-21 of the central information commission (CIC) shows that 25,367 applications (47.38%) were rejected under Section 8 (1) of Right to Information (RTI) Act, which spells out exemptions from disclosure of information in its 10 sub-sections. Quite predictably, Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, which protects personal information of an individual and prohibits disclosure that may cause unwarranted invasion of the individuals privacy, is the most frequently used of permissible exemptions during the pandemic year. Central-level public authorities invoked this clause to reject 34.44% of the RTI applications in 2020-21 - a marginal increase over the 2019-20 figure of 34.01%. However, Venkatesh Nayak, transparency advocator, in his analysis of rejections listed in the CICs annual report, states that, Most ministries reported a major decline in the use of Section 8(1)(j) during the pandemic year. It was to the tune of 50% in the case of the prime public authority, Supreme Court of India (from 142 cases in 2019-20 to 72 cases in 2020-21). Nevertheless, Shailesh Gandhi, former central information commissioner (CIC) and RTI activist, who has been campaigning against the prolific use of Section 8 (1) (j) under the garb of protecting private information from being disseminated, says it is due to the misinterpretation of this clause, which continues without a halt and this lesser percentage is serious enough to threaten the power of this transparency law. He fears that, the RTI Act will lose its teeth as public information officers (PIOs), appellate authorities (AAs) and information commissioners (ICs) consistently deny personal information to applicants because they perceive that it does not satisfy the larger public interest criteria. If there is some solace that there is a decline in rejections, Mr Nayak provides some interesting figures. According to him, The ministry of finance, which accounts for the most frequent use of this exemption year after year, also reported a drastic reduction in usage - from 7,528 cases in 2019-20 to 5,210 cases in 2020-21. Delhi Police also reported a major reduction in the employment of this exemption - from 641 cases in 2019-20 to only 470 cases in 2020-21. The use of this exemption halved in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas - from 415 cases in 2019-20 to 208 cases during the pandemic year. Those public authorities under various ministries which reported increase in rejection cases are: ministry of external affairs which reported a five-fold increase in the use of Section 8(1)(j) during the pandemic year. It rose to 681 cases from 107 in 2019-20. Similarly, the ministry of steel had invoked this exemption in two cases only in 2019-20; but, in the pandemic year it was invoked in 199 cases. The use of this exemption went up to 576 cases in 2020-21 in the ministry of railways, whereas it was used only in 20 cases during the previous year. The ministry of consumer affairs and public distribution also reported use of this exemption in 142 cases during the pandemic year as compared to only 18 cases in 2019-20. The ministry of health and family welfare used this exemption in 184 cases during the pandemic year, whereas it was used in only 107 cases in 2019-20. For the recall, what are all the exemption clauses under Section 8 of the RTI Act? They include information that would threaten national integrity, security or economic interests; would amount to contempt of court; would hamper police investigations; would affect commercial interests like trade secrets; would affect 'fiduciary' relationships; would harm the person physically (like asking for details of VIP security, for example). This Section also protects information pertaining to deliberations of the council of ministers and secretaries while the process is underway. (Information can be given after a Cabinet decision, though). Mr Gandhi blames certain court judgements too, beginning from the Girish Ramchandra Deshpande vs Central Information Commissioner & others (2012) case, which have also given orders of exempting personal information from being provided. Such judgments demean the spirit of the Section 8 1(j) exemption clause. In this clause, there is also a proviso, which says that information that cannot be denied to an elected representative, cannot be denied to the common man either. However, this vital proviso is totally ignored, thus diluting the transparency, slowly and steadily, the former CIC says. Mr Nayak observes in his findings of this annual report that key ministries, incharge of COVID-19 related issues, used the exemption clauses under Section 8, the most. Elaborating further he says, Key ministries at the frontline of the efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic reported a major increase in rejections. Some of them used exemptions clauses which they used in earlier years to deny access to information. The ministry of health and family welfare, the ministry of consumer affairs and public distribution are notable illustrations of this trend. The latter invoked the national security exemption in hundreds of cases during the pandemic year. The Delhi government reported a massive increase in the number of rejections during the pandemic year as compared with 2019-20. Is he hopeful that the CIC will take any action for continuous rejections, which have become a routine? Mr Nayak says, It is not possible to predict whether even a significant fraction of these cases will land up at the CIC in the form of appeals and complaints. Therefore, there is a strong reason for the CIC to hold consultations with such ministries, and also public authorities under their jurisdiction, to examine this trend and explore the correctness of such decisions to deny access to information. (Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also the convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting, which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte with Vinita Kamte and is the author of The Mighty Fall.) Press Release March 12, 2022 Robredo's lead in social media analytics affirms she's the 'One True Candidate' - De Lima Re-electionist Senator Leila M. de Lima stressed that Vice President Leni Robredo's lead in the race for the upcoming national elections based on social media analytics only affirmed that more and more people are seeing her as the "One True Candidate" who deserves the highest position in the land. De Lima, who is seeking reelection under the Robredo-Pangilinan ticket, said that the Vice President is winning the hearts of Filipinos by just being her true self. "VP Leni Robredo's lead in social media analytics shows us the obviously growing number of people rooting for her," she said. "This only reaffirms what I said earlier that she is the 'One True Candidate' who won the hearts and the trust of people from different walks of life because of her integrity, competence and love for the country," she added. Reportedly, Robredo surpassed presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. when it comes to Facebook engagement score, which is perceived to help measure potential voters of a certain candidate. According to data scientists Wilson Chua and Roger Do, Robredo made the biggest jump from February to March in social sentiments on Facebook. Notably, Robredo got 38.54 percent or 4,799,593 total engagements on Facebook from February 12 to 17, trailing Marcos by five points. However, based on their latest computation of 58 million data points from Facebook, Chua said Robredo now leads Marcos by five points in March, with a total of 8 million engagements over her rival's 7.5 million. Based on data, soft voters and swing voters are now moving to Robredo's side. The lady Senator from Bicol stated that no amount of attacks can stop Robredo from reaching the top. "Sa tagal sa serbisyo ni VP Leni, nakita na natin na sa kabila ng mga paninira at kasinungalingan laban sa kanya, ay tuloy-tuloy lang sya sa pagtatrabaho. Dahil wala syang oras para patulan ang mga kasinungalingan, sa halip, inilalaan nya ang kanyang panahon sa pagtulong sa Pilipino," said De Lima. In a previous statement, De Lima said the waves of support from individuals and organizations from all walks of life and different political leanings for the presidential bid of Robredo is a clear proof that the Filipinos have found the One True Candidate. "Saan ka nakakita ng isang Presidential candidate na sinusuportahan ng mga opisyales mula sa iba't ibang nakaraang administrasyon - mula sa mga dating Cabinet officials, top economic advisers, labor, foreign service and social service officials and employees, mga retiradong AFP officials hanggang sa iba't iba pang mga opisyales," she said. "Unmistakably, this groundswell of support shows the high level of trust in VP's person and her brand of leadership. People simply feel safe for themselves and for the country under a Robredo Presidency,'" she added. BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues on Saturday as relevant parties are working to broker a peaceful solution. Following are the latest developments of the situation: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not ruled out. "Yes, it is indeed possible in theory," Peskov told reporters. "But first, both delegations and ministers must do their part so that the presidents do not meet for the process and for the sake of conversation, but meet for the result." - - - - Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of social networks Facebook and Instagram, said on Thursday that it has allowed posts with violent speeches towards Russians in response to Russia's military operation in Ukraine. Instagram has distributed materials which call for committing violent acts against Russian citizens, including military personnel, Russia's telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor said Friday in a brief statement. Peskov said Friday that Russia will investigate if the social media platforms allowed publications of calls for violence against Russians, and it will be necessary to ban the applications if they allow hate speech. - - - - The U.S. government will revoke Russia's most-favored nation trade status amid the Ukraine crisis, the White House said Friday, noting that it will work with Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union to roll out new sanctions. U.S. President Joe Biden and the other G7 leaders "will announce new economic actions" to "further isolate Russia from the global financial system," the White House said in a statement. - - - - In a meeting on Friday with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said as the West imposed restrictions on Russia, "this is indeed a time of opportunity when we must strengthen our technological and economic sovereignty." "The Soviet Union indeed always lived in conditions of sanctions but developed and achieved enormous success," Putin said, stressing that "we have of course become stronger in this respect." - - - - Putin said Friday that he supported the idea of allowing volunteers from abroad to provide military assistance to Donbass. Western countries and Ukraine do not disguise the fact that they are gathering mercenaries and sending them to Ukraine, Putin said at a meeting with permanent members of Russia's Security Council. - - - - Ukraine established 12 humanitarian corridors in four regions on Friday to allow civilians to leave the conflict-torn areas, the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency reported, citing Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. The humanitarian corridors were set up to evacuate people from some cities and towns in eastern Donetsk and Kharkiv, southern Zaporizhzhya and north-central Kiev, Vereshchuk said. - - - - At an informal meeting held on Thursday and Friday in Versailles, France, leaders of the European Union (EU) member states have agreed to intensify the sanctions pressure on Russia, and pledged to "continue to provide coordinated political, financial, material and humanitarian support" to Ukraine. Missoula elementary and middle schoolers will be among dozens of other Montana students to compete in the All-Montana Geography Bee on Sunday at the University of Montana. As many as 100 Montana students, in fourth through eighth grades, who qualified are expected to compete in the geography quiz competition from 9:15 a.m. until 3:45 p.m. Sarah Halvorson, a geography professor at UM and coordinator of the Geography Bee, predicted as many as 1,000 students have taken the 50-question qualifying exam. The youngest participants will be fourth graders. I was thinking, well arent they kind of young? Apparently not, Halvorson said. There are some kids who are total whizzes in geography at a very young age. The daylong event is one of many regional academic bees going on nationwide between February and May, according to David Madden, the founder and co-executive director of International Academic Competitions. Students in Montanas geography bee will meet at the Harold C. Urey Lecture Hall for the opening ceremony at 10 a.m. and will participate in competition rounds being held in classrooms across the UM campus. Students in each category will participate in four rounds. The winners of the Geography Bee in each category will receive a medal and a plaque. The top Montana participants will qualify to attend the International Round in Burlington, Vermont in July. A smaller group of Montana participants will also qualify for Nationals in Orlando, Florida, in June. Entrance fee a barrier for some The $45 entrance fee and travel costs for some eastern Montana schools have proven to be a barrier to participation, Halvorson said. Medicine Lake School, a rural K-12 school about 10 hours East of Missoula, cannot attend without financial aid, she said. All 85 students attending Medicine Lake School have taken the qualifying geography exam, according to Megan Hoffman, a teacher at Medicine Lake School. Were pretty isolated up here, Hoffman said. Our town is 300 people and our students crave going places, meeting other people, and having different experiences. Geography and this competition are wonderful outlets for these kids to experience those things. Halvorson has secured a $500 donation to help cover the costs of registration for eligible students at Medicine Lake School. Given the costs associated with travel, in addition to the registration fee, Medicine Lake School and many other Montana schools will instead be participating in the online version of the Geography Bee on May 1. BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Red Cross Society of China on Saturday announced that it has sent a second batch of emergency humanitarian aid supplies to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society. The new supplies, including food, sleeping bags and moisture-proof pads, left Beijing on Saturday and are expected to arrive in Budapest at 8 p.m. Beijing time. They will then be transported to Ukraine. The first batch of such supplies was shipped from Beijing on Wednesday. Muskogee, OK (74401) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 67F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low 62F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 2 to 3 inches of rain expected. MOSCOW, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Russia will publish individual sanctions against the West in the near future, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday. "The lists are ready," Ryabkov said on Russian broadcaster Channel One, adding that the sanctions will be made public soon. According to Ryabkov, Moscow sees no indication that the United States was ready to continue dialogue on Ukraine. The diplomat also warned Washington against transferring weapons to Ukraine, adding that these weapons will become legitimate targets for the Russian forces. Jacksonville is converting abandoned buildings into homes for the community to use. It will be doing this under a land bank formed a few months ago between Morgan and Adams counties and the city of Quincy. Land banks are organizations designed to help communities acquire and redevelop property for more productive ends. Director of Community Development Brian Nyberg said the goal of the project is to create housing for the people of Jacksonville. A vacant home is not productive, a vacant lot is not productive, Nyberg said. But a house where people can live or a house where people can rent, thats productive. Nyberg said there are a few ways the city can acquire abandoned land. If an uninhabitable building is set to be demolished, either the city itself or the land bank can acquire the rights to that property for the cost of the demolition and auction it off to whoever has the best idea about what to do with it. The city also can file a petition for abandonment, under which it can gain the deed to a property that has gone two years without water services or paying taxes. The project is funded in part by a $55,000 grant from the Illinois Housing Development Authority. Nyberg also is seeking $25,000 worth of American Rescue Plan Act funds to put into the land bank. He said the issue extends to cities across the country. This isnt just a Jacksonville problem, its a nationwide problem, Nyberg said. People are just walking away from their properties, whether they have a mortgage on it or not. Its of epidemic proportions. What's new at Jacksonville Public Library: "Death of a Green-Eyed Monster" by M.C. Beaton: Sgt. Hamish Macbeth Scotlands most quick-witted but unambitious policeman is back, and he finally may have met the woman of his dreams in this new installment of the best-selling series. Constable Dorothy McIver of Glasgow seems entirely unsuited for a quiet life in the countryside, until a brutal murder brings the pair together to unravel a mystery in the peaceful village of Lochdub. Adult Non-Fiction "The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward" by Daniel Pink: Everybody has regrets. Theyre a fundamental part of our lives, and if we reckon with them in fresh and innovative ways we can enlist our regrets to make smarter decisions, perform better at work and school, and deepen our sense of meaning and purpose. Pink draws on research in psychology, neuroscience, economics and biology to challenge widely held assumptions about emotions and behavior. DVD "Try Harder!": San Franciscos Lowell High, one of the best public schools in the country, draws high-achievers nearly 70% Asian Americans from across the city into a fiercely competitive universe. The camera follows seniors through the hallways and into classrooms as the pressure intensifies to impress admissions officers at elite universities. The students proudly own their identity as nerds and tell their stories with candor and humor, despite the stress. Young Adult Fiction "Castles in Their Bones" by Laura Sebastian: Triplet princesses Sophronia, Daphne and Beatriz have been trained in the arts of deception, seduction and violence since birth to fulfill their mothers plan to one day rule over the entire continent of Vesteria. Now 16, they must journey away from their home country to marry princes of other nations and begin the work of destroying the princes' kingdoms. But their mother is keeping secrets, even from her daughters, and the girls loyalties will be tested as they each embrace their new lives. Juvenile Fiction "Everything Will Be OK" by Anna Dewdney: Sometimes things just dont go the way you want them to go. Maybe you wanted cheese on your bread, but got jelly instead. What if your kite flew away on a very windy day? This optimistic picture book teaches young readers that, even when things go wrong, or you feel more sad than happy some days, before you know it, things will look up. Bad days dont last forever and there are always more happy days to come. Did you know? Solar ambassador Kevin McKee of the non-profit Illinois Solar Education Association will speak at 6:30 p.m. Monday on how Illinois residents can use solar energy to power their own homes. This Zoom-based program can be viewed from home or in-person at the library. To receive the Zoom login information, call 217-243-5435 or email Courtney Langdon at clangdon@jaxpl.org. BELGRADE, March 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. and NATO military expansion in Eastern Europe is the root cause of the current Ukraine crisis, Zivadin Jovanovic, former minister of foreign affairs of Yugoslavia, has said. In an interview with Xinhua, Jovanovic who currently presides over the think-tank Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals, said that the crisis resulted from "the U.S.-NATO strategy of military expansion to the Russian borders, rejection of the principle of equal and indivisible security." Serbia was the first victim of NATO's expansion strategy, Jovanovic recalled. In 1999, NATO troops led by the United States blatantly set the UN Security Council aside and carried out a 78-day continuous bombing of Yugoslavia under the guise of "preventing humanitarian disasters," killing and injuring over 8,000 innocent civilians and uprooting nearly 1 million. Jovanovic called for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine, "taking into account legitimate security concerns of all countries and peoples involved." Jovanovic said that the Ukrainian conflict and all that had preceded it, "calls to end the policy of military expansion, for recognition of legitimate rights of all countries to equal security without undermining the security of others," as well as for the "global recognition of the new multi-polar world order." "We hope that the Ukrainian conflict will be resolved as soon as possible peacefully, through dialogue, taking into account the need for equal security of all countries and peoples. Sanctions, threats, double standards, one-sided approaches ... are undermining peace efforts and therefore should cease," he added. Lucas McKee, 9, left, Kevin Phelan, 10, and Logan McKee, 8, all of Arnold, walk along the roads in Arnold City Park to pick up trash. Map of the !284 Pine Ridge-Summit Fuelbreak Maintenance in Calaveras County View Photo Sonora, CA Focusing on forest health, wildfires, recreation and tourism, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy Board awarded over $2 million in grants. In all $2,110,495 was given out at its March meeting to seven different organizations to help boost Vibrant Recreation and Tourism, Forest and Watershed Health, and Resilient Sierra Nevada Communities. Angela Avery, executive officer at the Sierra Nevada Conservancy was glad to see the approved the recommended projects, stating, Especially after backtoback devastating wildfire seasons, since these efforts ideally help to restore healthy forests, make communities more resilient, and boost recreation and tourism in the Sierra Nevada. Calaveras County received $805,605 for two projects. $405,605 under the Forest and Watershed Health Program to the Resource Conservation District for the Pine Ridge-Summit Fuelbreak Maintenance Project. It will widen and strengthen a critical fuel break installed near Railroad Flat and West Point during the 2015 Butte Fire. Another $400,000 was granted to the Sierra Business Council for its Blue Mountain Electric Project to fund the construction of key components of a new forest biomass plant in Wilseyville in Calaveras County. It will provide jobs and create energy from biomass taken from fuel-reduction projects and wildfire burn zones. Mariposa County also received funding from the Forest and Watershed Health Program. The American Indian Council of Mariposa County was granted $75,040 for its Sarah Priest Fuel Reduction Planning Project. The funds will be used by the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation to complete necessary surveys and analysis of a 68-acre fuel-reduction project northeast of Mariposa. Sonora, CA The CHP has identified the drivers involved in a collision at a busy intersection in downtown Sonora that impacted traffic during the afternoon commute. Sonora Police Officers were dispatched to a two-vehicle rollover crash at the intersection of S. Washington and E. Church streets in front of the Bank of Stockton on Feb. 23, as originally detailed here. Traffic was halted as officers found a 2000 Chevrolet Trailblazer rolled over on its passenger side. Trapped inside was the driver and sole occupant, 27-year-old Hannah Hayes of Sonora. First responders were able to free Hayes, who was treated for minor injuries at Adventist Health Sonora. After questioning both drivers and witnesses, officers determined that Hayes while crossing over Washington Street did not see a southbound 2010 Buick Lacrosse. The cars driver, 67-year-old Rhea Anderson of Sonora, slammed on her brakes but was unable to avoid smashing into the SUV. Anderson also suffered minor injuries but was treated at the scene. Traffic was slow going for about an hour as officers directed traffic and a tow crew worked to remove the wreckage and debris. Its a reach, of course, to recall a melody popular with the free world in 1942. Somehow, I do, and Googling the title revealed lyrics tucked away in a five-year-olds memory rekindled 80 years later. World War II was in its early years. Adults were understandably concerned that atrocities might reach our shores. Bravery, courage and sacrifice came quickly into play, and military leaders knew that the heartbreak and sheer terror of war would not end soon. It was a song of hope, its message seized as welcome light to penetrate the darkness of the times. A few readers--grayest of hair and longest of tooth--may recall Vaughn Monroes rendition of the song, When the Lights Go On Again All Over the World. ***** Freedom prevailed following the world conflict that raged until 1945. Thankfully, the atomic bomb tilted the outcome our way. There was literal darkness during the war. In England--as well as several other countries--lights were extinguished to hinder nighttime aerial raids. Millions hunkered down, hopeful that their prayers, sacrifices and bravery would somehow prevail. It would be a good thing to revisit the words of this song, the message of which is sorely needed by the world today. At the forefront of our prayers are the brave people of Ukraine who are doggedly resisting the onslaught orchestrated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to smite them from their homeland. ***** The Ukrainians are paying a great price, spilling much blood to maintain the democracy they have come to greatly value. Surely, they are worthy of our support, and surely their resolve and fortitude will cause most countries of the world to condemn war crimes that are inhumane by any measure. We are stirred from our complacency, wondering if we in America would be willing to dig in and defend our homeland. The Ukrainians are rallying behind President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose bravery inspires not only his people, but also freedom-lovers around the globe. ***** Zelenskyys resolve brings to mind Dr. Guy D. Newman, who was my college president in the 1950s. In stirring chapel addresses, he warned of communism becoming the greatest threat to democracy. Few days pass but that I think of the short poem he quoted during a 1957 chapel address. (I quoted it in this space recently, but again, the anonymous piece seems to fit.) No one escapes when freedom fails. The best folks rot in filthy jails. And those who scream appease, appease, are hanged by those they tried to please.. ***** Again, Ive taken a side trail. Digression may be attributed to senility, but likely can be traced to conditions dating back to our youth. My original intent was to identify an old song that might be helpful to Ukrainians today. Assuming it unlikely that very many folks will take the time to Google the song, please allow me to revisit the lyrics: When the lights go on again all over the world, And the boys are home again all over the world. And rain or snow is all that may fall from the skies above, A kiss won't mean "goodbye" but "hello to love." When the lights go on again all over the world, And the ships will sail again all over the world. Then we'll have time for things like wedding rings, And free hearts will sing, when the lights go on again All over the world. **** What a nostalgic trip in recounting a song from pre-school years! For our family, even primitive television was still 15 years away, so we welcomed sounds booming from a large wooden cabinet housing the radio. At times, we stared at it, bewildered by its technology. It gave us President Franklin Delano Roosevelts fireside chats, Kate Smiths patriotic renditions and even goofy songs like Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Hearing that lively tune at mealtime, wed sometimes spill our food. And those frozen radio dinners were expensive. ****** Dr. Newbury, a longtime university president, continues to write weekly and speak throughout Texas. TOKYO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Eleven years after the quake-induced Fukushima disaster, the aftermath of the nuclear meltdown, not least a large amount of contaminated water, remains a grave challenge for Japan as well as for the rest of the world. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. An earthquake-triggered tsunami engulfed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing core meltdowns in units one to three and leading to the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. Little progress has been made over the past year on the most pivotal and hardest work of decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi power plant -- how to remove the nuclear residue from the meltdown. Japan's International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning estimated that the total weight of nuclear waste mix from melted fuel rods and other materials in pressure vessels that melted during the accident could be 880 tons. Since the end of 2011, No. 1 to No. 3 units have been in a stable state of low temperature cooling, but the internal radiation is still very high, making it difficult for personnel to work in close proximity. Relevant work has to rely on remote tools such as remotely controlled robots and mechanical arms, but not a single piece of nuclear residue has been removed so far. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said it plans to first try to remove the nuclear residue from unit 2 this year. Hiroaki Koide, a retired researcher at Kyoto University, said the Japanese government and TEPCO's 30-40 year "roadmap" for decommissioning the reactors was an "illusion" that could not be achieved because it would be "impossible even in 100 years" to remove the large amount of scattered nuclear debris, which would have to be sealed in a "sarcophagus." In April last year, the Japanese government officially decided to discharge the nuclear contaminated water into the sea starting in the spring of 2023. The contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant contains radioactive cesium, strontium, tritium and other radioactive substances. The Japanese government and TEPCO said the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), a multi-nuclide removal system, can remove 62 radioactive substances except tritium, which is difficult to remove from water. Japanese fishing groups strongly oppose the plan to discharge contaminated water into the sea. Opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, also criticized the Japanese government's plan and demanded its withdrawal. About 60 percent of the 42 mayors in the disaster-stricken Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures opposed the decision. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations submitted a statement opposing the plan to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and others, urging the government to consider other measures, such as mixing contaminated water with cement and sand. At the invitation of Japan, an investigation team of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited Japan on Feb. 14-18 to complete its first field investigation. Lydie Evrard, deputy director general of the IAEA, said Japan had studied several options for treating the contaminated water, but ultimately chose the option of discharging it into the sea, and the Japanese government invited the IAEA to conduct a safety review, hoping that the agency would give basic policy support to the treatment plan. What she pointed out was that it was up to the host country to decide how to deal with the contaminated water, and that the agency provides only technical assessments, not options. China is seriously concerned about and firmly opposes Japan's unilateral decision to discharge the nuclear-contaminated water into the sea and its proceeding with the preparatory work, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian has said. He stressed that the handling of the nuclear-contaminated water from Fukushima is never Japan's private matter. Instead, it bears on the marine environment and public health of the whole world. Japan should heed and respond to the appeals of neighboring countries and the international community, and rescind the wrong decision of dumping the water into the sea. "It mustn't wantonly start the ocean discharge before reaching consensus with stakeholders and relevant international institutions through full consultations," Zhao said. March 3 Damaged property was reported at a business at the 1300 block of W. 24th St. on March 3. An Allsups employee noticed damages to the front doors of the store when they arrived for their shift and reported it to the Plainview Police Department. Theft by email scam was reported March 3 at the 4000 block of Olton Road. A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on March 3 at the 1500 block of N. I-27. A 21-year-old man was arrested on March 3 at the 1700 block of Yonkers St. when police were called to the location in reference to an assault. The individual was arrested and charged with two counts of assault, family violence. Minor injuries were reported. The incident report notes two victims. Identity theft was reported on March 3 at the 100 block of W. 9th St. Police responded to the 4100 block of Villa Drive on March 3 where an assault had allegedly taken place. A 35-year-old man was arrested and charged with two counts of assault causing bodily injury, family violence. Damaged property was reported on March 3 at the 1600 block of W. 12th St. A known suspect kicked in a door causing damage to both the door and a mirror at the location. A traffic stop for a driver observed not to be wearing a seatbelt who failed to use a turn signal resulted in an arrest for a warrant. The stop was conducted at the 300 block of W. 10th St. on March 3. Officers found the individual, a 47-year-old man, to have an active Hale County warrant for criminal mischief and arrested him. Officers conducted a traffic stop at the 500 block of Milwaukee on March 3 for someone driving with no front license plate. During the stop, the driver was found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia. No arrests were indicated. March 4 A traffic stop conducted at the 1300 block of W. 5th St. on March 4 resulted in an arrest for a felony. Officers stopped the vehicle for not displaying a front license plate. A passenger was found to be in possession of a controlled substance (amphetamine). Jeffrey Lamar Cook, 38, was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony. Criminal mischief was reported at the 600 block of W. 24th St. on March 4. Damage to a business was reported. Police arrested a 74-year-old woman on March 4 at the 900 block of W. 6th St. for multiple outstanding warrants. The arrest was conducted during a traffic stop. The individual was found to have warrants for leaving the scene of an accident and for driving with an unrestrained child under 5 years old. A theft was reported at the 2600 block of Olton Road on March 4 where a suspect left Allsups with a 12-pack of beer without paying. Officers found marijuana during a traffic stop conducted at the 1700 block of W. 5th St. on March 4. While speaking to the driver, the responding officer smelled marijuana and conducted a search of the vehicle. Officers found 1.307 ounces of marijuana. March 5 Police responded to a hit-and-run crash at the 800 block of Cedar St. resulting in an arrest of a 17-year-old woman on March 5. During the investigation, the individual was arrested for driving while intoxicated. The individual was charged with driving while intoxicated and causing an accident involving more than $200 worth of damage to a vehicle. Police conducted a traffic stop at the 400 block of W. 5th St. on March 5 in which an individual was arrested and released soon after. The vehicle was stopped for having an expired registration and the driver was found to have outstanding Plainview warrants. Due to the Hale County Jail not accepting Class C warrants, the individual was released. A vehicle was reported stolen from the 700 block of N. Columbia on March 5. The reporting party did not take note of the direction of the vehicle. Theft was reported at the 900 block of W. 7th St. on March 5. A known person was observed taking a childs trampoline off the front porch of a residence at the location. A 48-year-old man was arrested at the 1500 block of N. I-27 on March 5 when officers were called to Walmart in reference to criminal trespass. David Medina was located and arrested for an outstanding felony warrant for driving while intoxicated, third or more offense, and was issued a criminal trespass warning for Walmart. A crash resulting in minor injuries was reported at the 4100 block of Olton Road on March 5. A passenger was reported to have minor injuries and was transported by EMS to Covenant Hospital. A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the intersection of SE 7th and S. Beech St. on March 5. March 6 Police arrested 24-year-old Aaron Thomas Lopez on March 6 at the 600 block of Denver St. after observing suspicious activity at the location. During the investigation, officers discovered a stolen vehicle. Lopez was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, which is a felony. Officers responded to the 2400 block of N. Columbia on March 6 in reference to an intoxicated driver. No arrests were indicated. Theft was reported at the 1400 block of Joliet on March 6. March 7 Theft was reported at the 1500 block of N. I-27 on March 7. Another theft was reported at the 1500 block of N. I-27 on March 7. A 24-year-old woman was arrested on March 7 at the 700 block of N. Broadway for an outstanding misdemeanor warrant out of Potter County. The warrant is for failure to appear and for theft of property. Extortion was reported at the 3000 block of W. 18th St. on March 7. A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at Denver and W. 7th St. on March 7. A vehicle was damaged in a crash at the intersection of W. 5th and Quincy St. on March 7. Identity theft was reported at the 120 block of SE 8th St. on March 7. A hit-and-run crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 400 block of S. Columbia on March 7. Police arrested 21-year-old George Robert Martinez on March 7 at the 500 block of Joliet St. He was charged with several outstanding warrants including one for failure to appear/bail jumping, another for displaying an expired license plate/expired registration and a third felony warrant for publishing/threatening to publish intimate visual material. An assault was reported at the 1600 block of W. 16th St. on March 7. Officers responded to the location in reference to an assault in progress between family members. No arrests were made. March 8 Theft from a vehicle was reported at the 1100 block of Interstate 27 service road on March 8. An unknown person took a catalytic converter from a parked vehicle in the 806 Pizza parking lot. The Lubbock-based auto group owner who lied to a bank about his companys prospects will spend 14 years in federal prison and have to pay nearly $9.4 million in restitution, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Reagor Dykes Auto Group owner Bart Wade Reagor, 55, was found guilty in October 2021 of making false statements to a bank insured by the FDIC. He was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk for the Northern District of Texas. Evidence presented at trial showed that Reagor in 2017 told the International Bank of Commerce that his auto group was experiencing tremendous growth and expected to go public, according to the Justice Department release. He told the bank his auto group needed money to sustain its upward trajectory and maintain a cash cushion for each of the dealerships to operate. The bank granted Reagor a $10 million working capital loan distributed in July 2017 and February 2018. But Reagor moved more than $1.7 million of that into his personal account at Prosperity Bank, according to the release. Reagor Dykes Auto Groups CFO Shane Smith testified at trial that Reagor and his partner, Rick Dykes, regularly took money out of the business. Smith estimated the two took out more than $25 million over 10 years. According to the release, 15 employees previously pleaded guilty to various financial crimes. During sentencing, videos of Reagor speaking with employees showed him demeaning anybody who makes less than six-figure salaries and saying that winning in his business was more important than life, according to the release. He told employees that anyone bringing home a five-digit salary is broke as [expletive] and living a chump life. Videos showed him berating his employees for not hitting their sales targets, as well, according to the release. You gotta want to win more than you want to live, Reagor says in one video, according to the release. I do. I [expletive] die to win. I want to win every [expletive] day. Every [expletive] day, every [expletive] deal. -- Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. MERIDEN A westward shift in House district boundaries as a result of last falls redistricting could benefit Democrats in the eastern part of the city, but make them more vulnerable in the Cheshire area, city Democrats said. The 82nd District seat currently held by Democratic state Rep. Michael Quinn lost Middlefield and Rockfall to the 90th House District held by Republican state Rep. Craig Fishbein of Wallingford. The move makes the 82nd another Meriden-only district, which tends to favor Democrats. The 82nd district currently comprises the east side of Meriden, curving into the north end, and all of Middlefield and Rockfall. Essentially what happened was the GOP had a strong interest in Middlefield and Rockfall becoming part of the 90th district, which is currently about half of Wallingford and a part of Cheshire, Quinn said in an email. The committee redrawing the House lines agreed to this request, and Middlefield and Rockfall will be part of the 90th when the new legislature assumes office in January 2023. The removal of Middlefield and Rockfall from the 82nd returns the district to being an all-Meriden seat, which it had been between 2001 and 2011. By making the change, the 90th lost the part of Cheshire that it had, and the 82nd expanded a little further west and northwest in Meriden, picking up some pieces of the current 83rd and 84th districts. The 84th District, which covers the citys downtown, remains an all-Meriden seat. It also expanded west into the current 83rd District. To make up for these changes, the new 83rd now includes part of Cheshire, in addition to part of Berlin and part of Meriden. The 83rd has lost some of its Meriden territory, but still remains a majority Meriden seat. By moving Quinn more into Meriden, its making his seat more secure, said Democratic Town Chairwoman Millie Torres-Ferguson. But the 83rd bumps Cheshire which could make it more vulnerable on the other end. City and party officials are still ironing out the street details and new voting districts, Torres-Ferguson said. Now the local lines are going to change, and the polling places, she said. Theyre having talks on that now. State Rep. Catherine Abercrombie, who currently represents the 83rd District, said Cheshire is similar in demographics to Berlin, which has always had a presence in the 83rd District. Abercrombie is not seeking reelection this November. It would have been exciting meeting new people, Abercrombie said. But Im excited for whoever wins the 83rd. Hilda Santiago, who represents the citys 84th District, said there were minor changes to the districts boundaries that reflected population growth. I picked up some of Broad Street, but some of Sherman Avenue went to the 82nd, probably to diversify it, Santiago said. But its more of the population growth in the inner core and the affordable housing downtown. But they are still figuring those streets. Democratic and Republican registrars of voters will review the GIS maps to redraw the polling districts. If they cant come to an agreement, the matter goes before the City Council, said Republican City Councilor Dan Brunet. Quinn said representing a Meriden-only district helps at reelection time. Any time a district is comprised of only one community it makes it slightly easier to run for both incumbents and challengers, Quinn said in an email. In the 2020 race, I was better known in Meriden because that is where I am from and my opponent was better known in Middlefield and Rockfall because that is where he is from. In the 2022 race, all candidates will be from the same town, so name recognition becomes slightly less of a factor in theory. Like most states, Connecticut redraws its legislative and congressional maps shortly after each decennial census, with resulting maps often challenged in court. This was not always the standard practice, however. Four challenges in the early 1960s ultimately led to the rewriting of the states constitution to establish a reapportionment procedure, which still exists today. A bi-partisan committee drew up the new maps and both parties had veto power. Brunet said his district representative changed from the 83rd to the 82nd but he doesnt expect major changes in the City Councils area districts. Nor does he thinks the house redistricting will benefit either party. We havent had any population growth to have a council shift, Brunet said. I dont think it benefits either party at the state level or the local level. But Meriden Republican Town Chairman Sean McDonald hopes for a potential pickup for Republicans in the 83rd District with Abercrombies departure and more suburban Cheshire and Berlin voters. He hasnt had the opportunity to view all the district maps but sees promise in the 83rd. I think its going to be a very interesting race, McDonald said. mgodin@record-journal.com203-317-2255Twitter: @Cconnbiz Ready for some Spring Break fun? The Texas weather is unpredictable at times, but hot days are coming soon to the Central Texas area. While planning a vacation out of state and in another country can be fun and exciting, it can be expensive and hard to arrange. However, staycations are perfect for those who want to get away but don't want to break the bank. Hipcamp, an online marketplace company that offers outdoor stays and camping experiences via a website and mobile app, sent MySA three unique destinations where you can unwind and not have to travel too far from San Antonio. Check them out below: The Hobbit Home Hipcamp Nestled in the treetops of Lost Pines Forest in Bastrop (about an hour and a half away from San Antonio), you can stay at The Hobbit's Nest a unique glamping experience offering the serenity of nature with some of the comforts of home. The treehouse overlooks a small pond filled with lily pads and frogs. The west-facing balconies are also a great place to watch sunsets and listen to the frog orchestra. The treehouse has a comfortable queen size bed with a gorgeous treetop view. Two cots and two air mattresses are also available upon request with room to set up tent camping for the family. Clean linens, towels, K-cup coffee makers and coffee are all supplied for you as well, according to its Hipcamp page. It has electricity, air conditioner, a mini heater, a small refrigerator, and hot and cold water. Hipcamp The property is about eight miles from Bastrop State Park's trails and swimming pool, 10 miles to the Colorado River and kayak rental and Bastrop's restaurants. It's also near many antique stores and the Round Top antique fair. A propane grill, propane, pots, pans, cooking implements, and dishware for four is supplied for cooking. Guests may want to bring an additional cooler with ice for drinks. The treehouse is $175 a night for four guests. For more information, visit its page on Hipcamp. The Treetop Dome Hipcamp About two hours north of San Antonio near Inks Lake State Park by Round Rock, you can find a cool Moroccan-inspired geodesic dome that will make you feel like you're floating in the treetops. It has panoramic views at an elevation of over 1000 inches and a personal plunge pool, according to its page on Hipcamp. Its elevated camping features a studio-style home with a queen bed, living lounge, and a desk area on the scenic side of the dome. The covered portion of the dome has a closet area and a bathroom with a spacious shower that has hot water, a vanity, and an eco=friendly composting toilet. It also has a small fridge, freezer and microwave. Hipcamp You'll also find a huge deck with outdoor seating and a personal pool (it's not heated). The property includes a grill as well. If you aren't planning on grilling, alternate food options are 15 minutes away in Marble Falls and Liberty Hill. The host recommends planning ahead for groceries and restaurant dining or take-out. You should know cell reception is spotty, as well as wifi, but the host says they are happy to point out the best spots to get reception. The dome costs $400 a night for two guests. For more information on its stay, visit Treetop Dome on Hipcamp. Luxury Eco Yurt at Cedars Ranch Hipcamp Our final spot is located near the charming Texas Hill Country town of Wimberley (about an hour and a half north of San Antonio). This luxury eco yurt at The Cedars Ranch is perfect for couples, small families, or individuals looking to have a country getaway. The yurt sleeps four and offers a kitchen, dining space, a full bath with a slipper tub, and a gorgeous private bedroom with a king-size bed. It also features a restful library and live space area with a comfortable sofa bed. Outside there are nearby trails and hammocks. Hipcamp It's nestled among 20 acres of secluded live oak and cedar trees in the heart of Texas Hill Country. Wimberley is a thriving tourist destination thanks to its idyllic location on the banks of Cypress Creek and the Blanco River. The town offers year-round outdoor recreation activities and amazing natural swimming spots like Wimberley Blue Hole and Jacobs Well. Wimberley is also rich in history, full of unique local shops and offers wonderful places to eat. It cost $195 a night for four guests. For more information, visit its page on Hipcamp. An assistant principal at a Mississippi school has been fired after reading a children's book called "I Need a New Butt" to a second grade class, the latest in a string of school book controversies happening around the country. Toby Price, who was assistant principal at Gary Road Elementary School for three years, told the Washington Post he was asked to schedule a Zoom meeting for another school official to read to second grade classes. When they didn't show up, Price was asked to do the reading instead. So he grabbed one of his favorite books that he had nearby, titled "I Need a New Butt!", which he said the second graders loved. A description for the children's book, written by author Dawn McMillan, says a child sets off to find a new butt after discovering that his "has a huge crack. Chron "Its a funny, silly book, Price, 46, told the Post. Im a firm believer that if kids see that books can be funny and silly, theyll hang around long enough to see all the other cool things that books can be." But after the class ended, Price was summoned to the principal's office and warned that parents would complain about his choice of book. "They kind of just let me have it," Price told the Post. "She said, 'Is this the kind of thing you find funny and silly? Fart and butt and bulletproof butts?' And I said, 'Yeah, I did until I walked in.'" Price was placed on administrative leave and two days later, he was fired. He said he had not heard of any complaints from parents about the book. The district's superintendent wrote in Price's termination letter that he showed "a lack of professionalism and impaired judgment" when he chose the book. Price's firing comes as politicians and parents nationwide push for greater control over what kinds of books should be allowed in schools, creating a chilling effect for educators on what they can discuss in the classroom. In most cases, books related to LGBTQ issues, race and racism have been called into question. Price has since started a GoFundMe, where he shared "I am just looking for some help to pay bills while I look for another job. I have two kids with autism and another BPD. Thank you for helping. We have found an attorney and need help with the fee." The fundraiser has garnered nearly $17,000 as of Friday. Despite the outcome, Price said he does not regret reading the book to the students. "Kids need silly books," Price told the Post. "The world is too harsh a place." He plans to appeal his firing at a hearing scheduled for March 21. WASHINGTON - On Thursday afternoon, 30 top TikTok stars gathered on a Zoom call to receive key information about the war unfolding in Ukraine. National Security Council staffers and White House press secretary Jen Psaki briefed the influencers about the United States' strategic goals in the region and answered questions on distributing aid to Ukrainians, working with NATO and how the United States would react to a Russian use of nuclear weapons. As the crisis in Ukraine has escalated, millions have turned to TikTok for information on what is happening there in real time. TikTok videos offered some of the first glimpses of the Russian invasion and since then platform has been a primary outlet for spreading news to the masses abroad. Ukrainian citizens hiding in bomb shelters or fleeing their homes have shared their stories to the platform, while dangerous misinformation and Russian propaganda have also spread. And TikTok stars, many with millions of followers, have increasingly sought to make sense of the crisis for their audiences. The White House has been closely watching TikTok's rise as a dominant news source, leading to its decision to approach a select group of the platform's most influential names. This week, the administration began working with Gen Z For Change, a nonprofit advocacy group, to help identify top content creators on the platform to orchestrate a briefing aimed at answering questions about the conflict and the United States' role in it. Victoria Hammett, deputy executive director of Gen Z For Change, contacted dozens with invitations via email and gathered potential questions for the Biden administration. The invitations to the event were distributed Tuesday and Wednesday. Kahlil Greene, 21, a creator with more than 534,000 followers on TikTok, said he wasn't surprised when an invitation arrived in his email inbox. "People in my generation get all our information from TikTok," he said. "It's the first place we're searching up new topics and learning about things." So, he figured, it made sense that the Biden administration would engage people like him on the platform. The briefing was led by Matt Miller, a special adviser for communications at the White House National Security Council, and Psaki. The Washington Post obtained a recording of the call, and in it, Biden officials stressed the power these creators had in communicating with their followers. "We recognize this is a critically important avenue in the way the American public is finding out about the latest," said the White House director of digital strategy, Rob Flaherty, "so we wanted to make sure you had the latest information from an authoritative source." Jules Terpak, a Gen Z content creator who makes TikTok essays about digital culture, said the White House's decision to engage creators such as she was essential in helping to stop the spread of misinformation. "Those who have an audience can ideally set the tone for how others decide to assess and amplify what they see online," she said. After the call, several influencers said they felt more empowered to debunk misinformation and communicate effectively about the crisis. TikTok has been overrun with false and misleading news since the war broke out, and, on Thursday, the company said it finally would begin labeling state-controlled media on its platform. Biden has increasingly sought online creators to sell major policy initiatives. The administration worked with dozens of top TikTok stars last year to encourage vaccination. He also hosted a briefing for influencers to educate them about his infrastructure plan. To emphasize the child-care components of his "Build Back Better" initiative, he sat for interviews with two parenting influencers on Facebook Live and YouTube. Teddy Goff, a founder of Precision Strategies, a consulting firm, said that the White House's strategy of embracing the next generation of media voices was crucial. "There's a massive cultural and generational shift happening in media, and you have to have blinders on not to see it," he said. "The reach of a piece in a traditional news outlet is a fraction of what a big TikToker gets." As president, Donald Trump often engaged online creators and Internet figures, and he hired an influencer marketing firm during his reelection campaign. On Wednesday, he appeared on the NELK boys "Full Send Podcast" where he spoke at length about the Iran nuclear deal and the U.S. strategic oil reserve. The episode was live on YouTube for only a few hours before it was removed for violating the platform's policy on misinformation. The voices dominating conversation on the Internet can be freewheeling and unexpected. Many creators on Thursday's call, for instance, were shocked by the presence of Aaron Parnas, the 22-year-old son of Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-born American businessman and former associate of Rudy Giuliani's who assisted Trump's plan to pressure Ukraine to investigate Trump's rivals. Parnas was convicted in October on campaign finance charges and recently pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Aaron Parnas has recently emerged as a powerful TikTok influencer by providing nonstop news updates about Ukraine. On the night of Russia's invasion, he hosted TikTok livestreams discussing the events to over 800,000 viewers. Since then, each day he has posted videos breaking down news about the war every 45 minutes from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Parnas said that his news was not partisan and that he was getting information directly from reputable sources in the country, such as his family members there, local Ukrainian journalists and Ukrainian television. "I love my father, but I am not my father," he said. Jules Suzdaltsev, a Ukrainian-born journalist who operates the popular TikTok news channel Good Morning Bad News, said that he thought the overall tone of the briefing was too soft and that officials dodged hard questions. "The energy of the call felt like a press briefing for kindergartners," he said. Within hours of the briefing's conclusion, the influencers began blasting out messaging to their millions of followers. A video posted by Marcus DiPaola, a news creator on TikTok, offered key takeaways from the meeting in a video that has been viewed more than 300,000 views. Greene also posted a recap, adding his own critical analysis at the end, calling out the Biden administration for not "acknowledging its role in other occupations and invasions around the world." Ellie Zeiler, an 18-year-old TikTok star with more than 10.5 million followers, said she hopes to remain in communication with the White House and continue to press officials there about key issues. She sees herself as a voice for young people and the growing contingent of news consumers getting information primarily through social media platforms. "I'm here to relay the information in a more digestible manner to my followers," she said. "I would consider myself a White House correspondent for Gen Z." Dear patient readers, Lambert and I, and many readers, agree that Ukraine has prompted the worst informational environment ever. We hope readers will collaborate in mitigating the fog of war both real fog and stage fog in comments. None of us need more cheerleading and link-free repetition of memes; there are platforms for that. Low-value, link-free pom pom-wavers will be summarily whacked. And for those who are new here, this is not a mere polite request. We have written site Policies and those who comment have accepted those terms. To prevent having to resort to the nuclear option of shutting comments down entirely until more sanity prevails, as we did during the 2015 Greek bailout negotiations and shortly after the 2020 election, we are going to be ruthless about moderating and blacklisting offenders. Yves P.S. Also, before further stressing our already stressed moderators, read our site policies: Please do not write us to ask why a comment has not appeared. We do not have the bandwidth to investigate and reply. Using the comments section to complain about moderation decisions/tripwires earns that commenter troll points. Please dont do it. Those comments will also be removed if we encounter them. * * * Five Loons Rescued on Lake Champlain Adirondack Almanack When Pigs Cry: Tool Decodes the Emotional Lives of Swine NYT (KS). What Google Search Isnt Showing You The New Yorker. The site youre reading now, for example. Brave Search and Presearch say they dont censor search results Reclaim the Net (ctilee). #COVID19 Signature Event, The Honorable Ronald A. Klain (transcript) The Economic Club of Washington, DC MR. RUBENSTEIN: Why do you think so many Americans dont want to be vaccinated? Is this something you have, largely, accepted as a fact that youre not going to be able to vaccinate everybody? MR. KLAIN: Well, I think 75 percent of adults are fully vaccinated and half of those who are eligible have also been boosted. Vaccine resistance is part of American history. It goes all the way back to George Washington having to require his troops to get the smallpox vaccine when they didnt want to get it on the verge in the Revolutionary War. Those of those people who lived through the polio vaccinations in the 1950s know that it took eight years to get the country as vaccinated for polio as weve gotten it vaccinated for COVID in a single year. So, hesitancy about new vaccines is kind of an American tradition. Its a global thing. Were seeing it in Europe as well. Theyve had a little more penetration but they still have substantial vaccine hesitancy in some countries in Europe and other countries around the world. The imperatives, then, are clear: Pursue a vax-only strategy, and denigrate a key non-pharmaceutical intervention, masks, as a Scarlet Letter, shaming those who wear them. I think I may have to put on my yellow waders for Mr. Klain. Not everyone is ready to take the leap and stop wearing face masks NPR. Not everyone is ready to take the leap and stop wearing seatbelts. Not everybody is ready to take the leap and start smoking in public again. Not everyone is ready to take the leap and have random sex without condoms. Ive never experienced two enormous, world-class propaganda campaign simultaneously. Its disorienting. What on earth is wrong with these people? * * * Two years of COVID: The battle to accept airborne transmission Al Jazeera Is Covid Over? No, But Global Health Funders Are Moving On Politico. Because of course they are. * * * Long Covid now major cause of long-term job absence, say quarter of UK employers FT The immunology and immunopathology of COVID-19 Science. From the body: It is now clear that COVID-19 can lead to long-term diseaseoften referred to as Long Covid syndrome or post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC)in a significant proportion of survivors. Although there is no universal consensus in the definition of PASC, the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines it as a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems that people experience 4 or more weeks after first being infected with SARS-CoV-2. By contrast, the World Health Organization defines it as a condition that occurs in people with confirmed or probable SARS-CoV-2 infection, usually 3 months from the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms and that last for at least 2 months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis (Fig. 2). A systematic review of 57 peer-reviewed studies with 250,351 survivors of COVID-19 who met their inclusion criteria for PASC showed that the median age of patients was 54.4 years, 56% were male, and 79% were hospitalized during acute COVID-19 (70). At 6 months, 54% of survivors suffered at least one PASC symptom. However, nonhospitalized COVID-19 survivors who developed PASC were primarily middle-aged women. China? Myanmar Fallout in Southeast Asia of Russias Invasion of Ukraine Center for Strategic and International Studies India Syraqistan UK/EU Chile Shows How Social Movements Can Win Elections Convergence New Not-So-Cold War Supply Chain Our Famously Free Press This keeps happening: This is such an amazing and revealing clip. A reporter who covers the Pentagon reads a statement from the DoD word for word, and then when asked for evidence says that the evidence is what she just read: namely, the Pentagon denial! Absolutely how many journalists think: https://t.co/XGgQauWSNI Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 10, 2022 As long as the platforms do the Administrations bidding, Lina Khan can go pound sand: Full-scale global censorship regime from Google breezily announced in these tweets. This war is being exploited to implement a scheme of information control previously unseen in the West, that is not going anywhere once this war is over. Decide for yourself if you're comfortable: https://t.co/A6zX8u2IUL Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 11, 2022 That said, self-censorship is always the best, and thats probably whats happening. Intelligence Community Class Warfare Why daylight saving time is unhealthy a neurologist explains The Conversation Antidote du Jour (via): Bonus Antidote: Double Bonus Antidote: I hate to be all Maru, all the time, but who can resist and anyhow this one is for science! See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here Yves here. This article confirms something reported by Alexander Mercouris: that most if not all Russian oil is transported by Russian ships. And since Russian ships were already being rejected docking at ports in the Europe and the US, it begged the question of why Biden bothered banning Russian oilsince it was already banned. But the rapid action to shun Russian output and break commercial ties to Russiabased largely on the sanction of the Russian central bank and the designed-to-be-leaky-and-specifically-oil-sparing sanctions. Other key industries in Europe wanted to be exempted. Recall Colonel Smithers list from a well-networked lobbyist on February 24: Banking: Opposed by Austria, France, Germany and Italy. France exposed directly and via Italy. Energy: Opposed by most member states. Luxury goods: Opposed by France and Italy. France exposed directly and via Italy. Diamonds: Opposed by Belgium and the Netherlands. Railway infrastructure: Opposed by France and Italy. Yet the lead story in todays Financial Times is G7 moves to end normal trade relations with Russia. Key sections: The G7 nations said they would end normal trade relations with Russia on Friday as part of a series of new measures to inflict economic punishment on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. The joint step, first announced by US president Joe Biden, includes revoking Russias most-favoured nation status, which allows it to trade goods on preferential terms with many western countries under rules set by the World Trade Organization. The move will lead to higher tariffs on many Russian exports. The G7 agreed on other measures as well, including stopping Russia from obtaining any financing from international institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank While the sanctions differ by country, the US and EU said they would ban exports of luxury goods to Russia and impose further curbs on members of Russias elite. The US will also create the legal authority for bans on investment in any sector of the Russian economy, beyond energy. First, the obsession with Russias oligarchs is un and potentially counter-productive. The West is under the mistaken impression that they wield political power in Russia, like American billionaires. My understanding is that Putin has cut them down to size in terms of the influence (after all, this would be a necessary condition to prevent further looting, which he does appear to have curbed). So in Russia, the oligarchs are perceived as parasites who got to keep their ill-gotten lucre. Making their lives unpleasant would go over well in Russia. Moreover, to the extent that these super-rich can sell their non-Russian assets, some if not many would repatriate them if can find a route (likely). The rouble is at a bargain basement level. The withdrawal of Western firms along with Russias plan to install new management may create investment opportunities. Many have halted operations yet are still paying staff and rent, but that might not be good enough for the Russian government since the arent buying supplies. From a March 10 publication from the Kremlin: Our core goals include protecting the domestic market and ensuring uninterrupted functioning of enterprises by eliminating disruptions in logistics and production chains and, of course, maintaining employment. It is important to help the people and businesses quickly adapt to the changing circumstances. Two sets of draft laws with anti-sanction measures as the top priority, thats about 20 draft laws in all, and the Government acts that are necessary to implement them, have been promptly prepared. They include specific proposals for stabilising financial markets, supporting a number of industries, ensuring sustainability of the domestic private sector, and also proposals for the return of capital to Russias jurisdiction. A draft law to prevent manufacturing shutdowns has been prepared. If foreign owners shut down their facilities without reasonable grounds, the Government is proposing the introduction of external management. Depending on the owners decision, this will determine the future of the company. In the process, the key goal will be to maintain profile corporate activities and jobs. Most companies are announcing temporary suspension of operations while preserving jobs and salaries. We will carefully monitor this situation. Second, theres no question this move will hurt Russia. But quite honestly, why should Russia be selling goods in dollars when its being barred from using them? The West might as well be paying in cowrie shells. And even though Russia clearly needs some products from the US and Europe, like auto and aerospace parts, the West needs Russias commodities even more. Oh, and does the removal of most favored nation status means theyll be subject to tariffs and if so, cost even more? How clever would that be?1 Reader Alphonse provided a persuasive theory yesterday as to why this punitive reflex, which is well into the terrain of being counterproductive, has taken hold: I posted about this yesterday. An interview with John Robb on the topic is well worth listening to. He directly links with TDS. Robb says he advised the U.S. government with how to deal with insurgents during the Iraq war. He has a theory of what he calls open source insurgency and warfare conducted by distributed networks rather than directed hierarchically. Rather than coordinating with one another, individual actors choose to contribute to a plausible goal (I forget the exact term he uses). Often they are motivated by empathy triggers (again I forget the term). He says that the reaction of so many companies and organizations sanctioning Ukraine within just a few days could not have been organized by the U.S. government. The network (or swarm) emerged spontaneously in response to empathy triggers coming out of Ukraine. Because of his theory, he says he was tracking this from early days and saw that the first to promote the cancellation were members and organizations of the Resistance to Trump. The problem with the network is that it has no limits. Regardless of whether Russia gives in, its demands will increase until they include deposing Putin and disarming Russia of its nuclear weapons. Which will never happen: but the network also lacks a sense of its own mortality, so in its monomaniacal focus on punishing Russia it takes no heed of collateral damage and risk, like the risk of nuclear war. I think this connects with TDS and also with social justice cancellations and in the persecution of the unvaccinated. The bottom-up emergence of a mass that pursues the destruction of a victim is theorized by Rene Girard in his theory of mimesis and scapegoating, by Mattias Desmet in his theory of mass formation (made famous around Covid), by Hannah Arendt in some of her work on totalitarianism, and some are apparent in the work of Byung-Chul Han, who described the digital swarm of social media. I talk about a bit of this in my comment from yesterday. I think we are in a very dangerous situation where a non-human entity the swarm is pivoting from and attempting to destroy one target after another, pulling our institutions (governments, firms, NGOs) behind in its wake. There is no-one in charge. Even if we avoid blowback from its actions against Russia, the fundamental problem and danger will not go away. Not only do we have no way to establish control or limits over this phenomenon: most of us are not even aware that it is happening, even as we become wrapped up in the mania. And now to the details on tankers, which confirms Alphonses self-sanctioning theme. By Tsvetana Paraskova, a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. Originally published at OilPrice Several Russia-owned tankers have been idle at sea for more than a week along European and North American coasts as countries have either banned imports of Russian oil or Russian vessels docking at their ports, all this while many traders and buyers refuse to deal with Russian crude. As many as nine mid-sized vessels, Aframaxes, owned by Russian state tanker fleet operator Sovcomflot have been idle around North America and Europe for over a week, while a typical idle time for a tanker is a day or two, Bloomberg reported on Friday, quoting ship-tracking data it has compiled. Many Western countries and companies are not risking touching Russia-linked crude shipped by Sovcomflot, which is majority held by the Russian government. Sovcomflot, with a total fleet of 110 tankers, owns 52 Aframaxes, which makes it the worlds largest owner of those type of vessels, according to data from Clarksons Research Services cited by Bloomberg. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several countries banned Russian ships from their ports and waters. Canada and the UK were the first. On March 1, Canada prohibited Russian ships and fishing vessels from entering Canadian ports and internal waters. The UK banned on the same day from it ports any vessels owned or operated by anyone connected to Russia and said that authorities would also gain new powers to detain Russian vessels. Two days after the Canadian ban, two Sovcomflot-owned oil tankers rerouted from their destinations in Canada. In the UK, port workers at a terminal on the River Mersey, from where oil is pumped to Stanlow Oil Refinery, refused last week to unload Russian oil from a Germany-flagged ship. While Sovcomflots tankers in the Pacific do not appear to be idling like the ones near Europe or North America, the problem for the Russian tanker owner could become much worse from now on, considering that a growing number of traders and buyers in Europe will likely be shunning Russia-related crude due to self-sanctioning and reputational risks. ____ 1 The G7 action is inconsistent with the results of a summit of EU leaders in Versailles on Thursday, where they were reported as drawing back from further financial sanctions and barring Russian energy. In Gansu, China, a group of Gen Z Tibetan girls have established a local fashion brand, endeavoring to design modern Tibetan clothing with fashionable elements. #GLOBALink Produced by Xinhua Global Service (Natural News) Three women in Australia experienced serious reactions after getting injected with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine from Novavax. The first woman, only identified as Tasha, received her first dose of the Novavax shot on Feb. 21 under threat of termination. She first reported a hot gushing feeling down [her] throat that tasted metallic after getting vaccinated, followed by a deep throbbing headache four hours later. On Feb. 23, she experienced profuse sweating and the worst chest pain which doctors simply dismissed as anxiety. The 42-year-old from Adelaide in South Australia sought medical treatment for her serious reactions, only to have doctors tell her that they did not know how to deal with Novavax adverse reactions. Tasha became completely bedridden by March 1. Tasha expressed regret in a March 7 Instagram video over what she thought was the right thing to do. Lee-Anne Barnett, another Adelaide resident, also got the Novavax shot because her teaching job required her to do so. She opted for Novavax following her research about the cardiovascular issues caused by the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines. The 45-year-old reported the same metallic taste immediately after getting her first dose on Feb. 18. (Related: Police officer in Western Australia suffers blood clots, stroke after taking Pfizer shot.) After several days of having a sore arm, she found very itchy rashes on both of her thighs that rapidly spread to her entire legs on Feb. 26. Doctors only prescribed her steroids for the rash, dismissing the possibility of it being a consequence of the COVID-19 vaccine. Barnett reported diminishing cognitive abilities by March 2, adding that she felt like getting dementia. Thirty-year-old Chiara Clowes said she got the Novavax vaccine for travel purposes, as she wanted to visit her family in Italy. The Perth, Western Australia resident received her first dose on Feb. 17, experiencing a plethora of reactions on the same day. Clowes reported several health issues such as breathing difficulty, extreme chest pain, extreme fatigue, brain fog and cognitive issues. Tests conducted by medical professionals found nothing, although they acknowledged Clowes chest pain was caused by the Novavax shot. Doctors later found an ovarian cyst in Clowes on Feb. 24 a week after her first Novavax dose. The 30-year-old who lives a healthy lifestyle now has to regularly meet with gynecologists. Novavax fails to deliver despite standout qualities The Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australias drug regulator, approved the Novavax sub-unit protein vaccine for emergency use in January. It recommended the two-dose vaccine for Australians aged 18 and older, with a three-week interval between both shots. According to the Maryland-based vaccine maker, its sub-unit protein vaccine delivers the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using an insect virus. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use lipid nanoparticles containing messenger RNA to deliver the spike protein, while the Janssen and AstraZeneca vaccines use an adenovirus to do so. The Novavax shot uses saponin, a compound from the Quillaja saponaria tree, to activate the bodys immune system. Commonly known as the soap bark tree, Q. saponaria is native to South America. Saponins soap-like qualities trigger an immune response in the body once injected. Despite the Novavax shots qualities that make it stand out among other COVID-19 vaccine candidates, a Reuters report claimed the Maryland-based firm has only fulfilled a small fraction of its worldwide commitments. The company said it has recently completed deliveries to Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand but refused to comment on exactly how many doses were delivered. An official in the Philippine government said Manila has not yet received its order of 30 million Novavax doses. Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the countrys vaccine czar, said the Philippines is renegotiating its contract and considering reducing its order. He cited the Philippines existing stock of 96 million doses in the national stockpile as a reason for reducing the doses procured. Novavax did not comment on the specific concerns of the Philippine government but said it is working with governments worldwide to meet regulatory requirements. It added that it is moving as quickly as possible to ship its vaccine dose commitments for the first quarter of 2022. More related stories: Australia cancels COVID vaccine trial over unexpected false positives for HIV. Operation Warp Speed gives $1.6 billion in taxpayer funding to Novavax for coronavirus vaccines. Australia now ADMITS covid vaccines are harming people, offers up to $600,000 in compensation for the seriously injured. IMPOSSIBLE SCIENCE: Novavax says it will have a new vaccine ready in just two weeks for the Omicron variant, which appeared just last week. Watch Dr. Jane Ruby talk about the dangers of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine below. This video is from the Information Warfare channel on Brighteon.com. VaccineDamage.news has more stories about serious reactions caused by the COVID-19 vaccines. Sources include: TheCOVIDBlog.com Health.gov.au Reuters.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) Austria has suspended its plan to mandate Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines for its entire adult population following protests against the measure. Vienna announced the suspension on March 9, explaining that the law was not proportionate to the threat posed by the B11529 omicron variant. The strain first identified in South Africa caused milder symptoms despite being more infectious than the earlier B16172 delta variant. After consultations with [Health Minister Johannes Rauch], we have decided that we will, of course, follow what the [expert] commission has said. We see no need to actually implement this compulsory vaccination due to the omicron variant that we are predominantly experiencing here, Austrian Minister for the European Union and the Constitution Karoline Edtstadler told reporters during a March 9 press conference. She added that the mandatory vaccination law represents an encroachment of fundamental rights that can no longer be justified. According to Edtstadler, the commission composed of public health experts will review the situation and the measure by mid-June. Former Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein, Rauchs predecessor, announced details of the new law back in December 2021. Austrians turning down the COVID-19 vaccine would be fined 1,200 ($1,318) every month amounting to a total of 3,600 ($3,956) every three months. He added that officials can opt to impose smaller fines. In regular proceedings, the amount of the fine is 3,600. As an alternative, the authorities have the option to impose a fine in shorter proceedings. Here, the amount is 600 ($659). The Austrian Parliament approved the measure in February and was set to take effect the month after until the suspensions announcement. (Related: Austria SUSPENDS COVID vaccine mandate for adults because the COERCION wasnt working.) Despite the laws suspension, Edtstadler said the possibility of re-imposing the vaccine mandate still remains. I dont think I need a crystal ball to tell you that today isnt the last chapter we will write regarding the vaccination mandate, she said. Suspension serves as a win for health freedom advocates The German magazine Der Spiegel noted the law had practically no effect on increasing vaccination rates in Austria. About one million Austrians 13 percent of the population have yet to receive the COVID-19 vaccines. Austrian health freedom activist Alexander Tschugguel earlier remarked that Viennas vaccine mandate will turn Austrians into lab rats for the Western world. He told WND back in January 2022 that neighboring Germany is now replicating the terrible idea of a vaccine mandate. What the [Austrian] government said is: We are going to create an atmosphere which pushes the people so that they go along and be their own secret service for each other. [This] plan to create social pressure [is] step-by-step Machiavellian, said the founder of the Vienna-based St. Boniface Institute. Despite this, Tschugguel optimistically pointed out that resistance is huge among the usually reserved Austrian population with many taking to the streets to voice out their opposition. Always, what brought us to a solution to the problems was prayer. And what happened? God saved us. Faith is what keeps people fighting, he said. We have to be ready. If we dont stop this movement, in the future we will have to sacrifice our lives. Our public lives at the beginning so that we live underground, and maybe then our physical lives. We need the pressure from everywhere. The Austrian government has to understand that this is really wrong. Viennas decision to suspend the law is an answer to the prayers of Tschugguel and the others fighting for health freedom. More related stories: Austria announces end of COVID mandates beginning March 5. Austrians who refuse COVID vaccines to face MONTHLY fines under new law. Austrian government approves plan to impose heavy fines on unvaccinated citizens. Austrian government challenged to either prove COVID pandemic is real or end restrictions. Austria now a giant PRISON CAMP for the unvaccinated as lockdown extended another 10 days. Watch Del Bigtree discuss the anti-vaccine mandate protests in Austria with Dr. Maria Hubmer-Mogg. This video is from The HighWire with Del Bigtree channel on Brighteon.com. HealthFreedom.news has more stories about the repeal of vaccine mandates in different countries. Sources include: WND.com 1 TheEpochTimes.com DailyMail.co.uk WND.com 2 Brighteon.com (Natural News) The Biden regime has consistently denied the existence of U.S. biolabs in Ukraine. The regimes Ministry of Propaganda (the fact-checkers) have repeatedly debunked the existence of these biolabs. Anyone who questioned this narrative is swiftly labeled a tool of Putin or a Russian disinformation source. The truth is: The Department of Defense (DoD) built a network of biolabs across Ukraine. Victoria Nuland, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs testified at a Senate hearing that the biolabs do, in fact, exist. U.S. virologists are conducting experiments on highly dangerous pathogens of pandemic potential. Nuland is concerned that this research would fall into the hands of the Russians. The intent of the biolabs is not publicized or well-known. The U.S. continues to fund gain-of-function research, weaponizing pathogens for predatory vaccine development. Suspiciously, the official U.S. embassy website recently removed important fact sheets about the construction and finances of these biolabs. Russia has convened a UN Security Council Meeting To Present Evidence of U.S. biolabs in Ukraine. U.S. government continues to lie about DoD biolabs in Ukraine The Washington Post, CNN and the government propaganda machine immediately sought to tamp down any more suspicion of biowarfare activity in Ukraine with the latest fact-check titled, FACT CHECK: DoD has worked with Ukraine to ELIMINATE bioweapons left behind by the Soviet Union since 2005. This headline sounds authoritative; however, in 2010, the U.S. government built a new level-3 biolab in Odessa, Ukraine, with much different ambitions. The high security biolab was not built to eliminate or secure old Soviet bioweapons. This lab was specifically built so virologists could research and enhance especially dangerous pathogens for vaccine and diagnostics development, much like the research in Wuhan, China that preceded the covid-19 scandal. Robert Pope, the man who heads the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program at DOD, sat down for an interview right after the Russians invaded Ukraine. He warned that the labs may hold pathogen strains left over from the Soviet bioweapons program preserved in freezers for research purposes. Despite the expert testimony, the White House decried that Moscow is spreading preposterous propaganda about the existence of U.S. biolabs in Ukraine. Bidens press secretary, Jen Psaki, was quick to do damage control and blame Russia. Russia has a history also of inventing outright lies like this, which is the suggestion that the United States has a chemical and biological weapons program, or Ukraine does, that theyre operating. Russia is the one, is the country that has a chemical and biological weapons program. So, the objective was to make clear the inaccuracy of the information, the misinformation theyre trying to put out, and make clear to the world that they not only have the capacity, they have a history of using chemical and biological weapons, and that, in this moment, we should have our eyes open. In other words, the upcoming bioweapons release the next one that will get attention this time, will be blamed on Russia. Next bioweapon release, forced vaccine program, worldwide lock down to be blamed on Russia Russia is currently accusing the U.S. of experimenting with bat coronavirus samples and carrying out anthrax research in Ukraine. Russias Defense Ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, claimed, the purpose of this and other Pentagon-funded biological research in Ukraine was to establish a mechanism for the stealthy spread of deadly pathogens. Konashenkov claims the U.S. is conducting biological activities on birds, bats, reptiles, coronaviruses, African swine fever, Plague, tularemia, cholera and anthrax. This isnt Russias first accusation of U.S.-led biowarfare in Ukraine. In 2018, Russia accused the U.S. of conducting biological experiments in Georgia, a former territory of the Soviet republic that was on its way to joining NATO and the European Union. Meanwhile, Bidens only defense to all these accusations is to claim that Putin could use chemical or biological weapons using a false flag event to justify their use. Will Russia be the scapegoat for the next global pandemic, lockdowns and forced vaccine/bioweapons programs? The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently calling for new global public health world order, including a treaty that would confine all nations to medical martial law and a totalitarian bio-security state. While Russia certainly has the means and capability to lie to the public and use biological weapons of their own, it is the U.S. governments outright lies and obfuscation about the U.S. biolabs in Ukraine that are most troubling. Why arent we allowed to ask questions about this network of biolabs in Ukraine? Why are Americans considered spreaders of disinformation for bringing up this suspicious fact? Why is the U.S. blaming Russia for impending biological and chemical warfare? What are the Marxists within the U.S. government trying to hide? On the flip-side, does Russia seek to seize these biowarfare assets in Ukraine and use them as evidence against the United States/WHO, or is Russia simply seeking to capture these bioweapons and use them against the world something that the White House suggests is to come? Is Russia truly on a mission to eliminate dangerous biologics research and expose these predatory vaccine programs? Russia has their own biolabs at the State Centre for Research on Virology and Biotechnology in Novosibirsk Oblast, so its hard to believe that Russian researchers would be morally superior in this global escalation of bio-terror and human exploitation. Its also hard to believe the U.S. government when they repeatedly lie about bioweapons research in Wuhan, China, that was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Its hard to believe the U.S. government when they continuously assault American freedoms, threaten lives, civil liberties, careers, while forcing dangerous bioweapon vaccines onto the population. At the very least, the world is waking up to the threats of this unethical field of biowarfare, the rising biosecurity state, predatory vaccine development, pharmaceutical racketeering, the Great Reset and total population control. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk Foxnews.com NaturalNews.com Infowars.com NaturalNews.com Youtube.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) A new proposed bill recently presented to the Canadian parliament would allow people to report so-called hate speech online before it even happens. The proposed hate speech law, Bill C-36, allows Canadians to take another person to court if they feel like they might post something hateful online. According to the proposed legislation, Canadians will be encouraged to report anybody to the authorities. Those who have had reports filed against them will then be taken to court and potentially penalized before they even post any so-called hate speech online if there is sufficient evidence to suggest that they have hateful motives. A person may, with the Attorney Generals consent, lay an information before a provincial court judge if the person fears on reasonable grounds that another person will commit (a) an offense under section 318 [pushing or advocating for genocide] or subsection 318 [inciting or promoting hate], reads the proposed bill. (Related: Is Canada becoming North Americas Cuba?) Thats right. A person can get in trouble for something they are suspected of intending to post online, wrote David Fiorazo for Harbingers Daily. The bill makes amendments to Canadas Criminal Code to create a recognizance for people accused of hate propaganda or hate crimes. It also amends the code to define hatred for the purposes of the two aforementioned potential accusations against people. Furthermore, the bill amends the Canadian Human Rights Act, passed in 1977 and last amended in 2017, to codify into law that communicating hate speech online is a discriminatory practice. In this instance, hate speech is defined as any speech that is supposedly likely to foment detestation or vilification of an individual or group of individuals on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination. The bill tasks the Canadian Human Rights Commission to handle complaints of hate speech or intent to communicate hate speech online and it authorizes the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to adjudicate these complaints. Canadian parliament wants to pass laws that prevent dissent The introduction of Bill C-36 is just the first salvo in a series of new proposed legislation intended to curtail the expression of dissent online and in public. Bill C-36, which was first read in late June 2021, died in parliament when the September election was called. It was reintroduced this year in response to the anti-Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) mandate Freedom Convoys. If passed, penalties for breaching Bill C-36 include up to four years in prison. Another bill designed to curtail dissent, Bill C-229, was recently tabled by left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) member of parliament Peter Julian. Like C-36, C-229 amends the Criminal Code to explicitly ban symbols of hate. Julian and the entirety of the NDP claim Bill C-229 would only be used to target symbols like the insignia of the Ku Klux Klan and the swastika. But they have also expressed their intention to ban the use of the Confederate flag. This signals the desire of the NDP to ban any symbol of dissent that it wants to get rid of. If passed, the penalty for flying the Confederate flag or any other symbol the government designates to be hateful includes a prison sentence of up to two years. Fortunately, the future of these bills remains uncertain. Political analysts have noted that C-36 was heavily criticized when it was first presented to parliament last year due to its difficulty to enforce and its attacks on freedom of speech. Lulu Cheng Meservy, vice president of communications for the online blogging platform Substack, also pointed out that there were several alarming aspects to C-36. These include the bills fuzzy and circular definition of what speech is considered hateful, and the fact that it encourages citizens to basically act as snitches for the government. Finally, the fact that it wants to create a precedent in law for punishing people for something they have not actually done yet is a grave cause for concern. More related stories: What Americans and all Westerners should learn from Canadas digital crackdown on freedom. Canadas controlled media attacks the word freedom, says its a tool of the far-right seriously. Google Docs notifications are updated to restrict docs that contain hate speech and misleading content. Pope demands Silicon Valley in the name of God censor hate speech, conspiracy theories. Democrats now demand all hate speech be banned from the internet but THEY get to define hate speech, of course. Watch this video as Brian Young of High Impact Flix talks about how the Canadian government is continuing its campaign against dissenters. This video is from the High Impact Flix and More channel on Brighteon.com. Find more stories like this at ThoughtCrimes.news. Sources include: HarbingersDaily.com ReclaimTheNet.org Jurist.org Brighteon.com (Natural News) The search engine, DuckDuckGo, which has emerged as an ostensibly pro-freedom alternative to Google, is now embracing Big Tech censorship. (Article by Shane Trejo republished from BigLeaguePolitics.com) DuckDuckGos founder Gabriel Weinberg has announced that the search engine will be suppressing so-called Russian disinformation, joining the Big Brother crusade to censor all non-globalist approved narratives regarding the Russia/Ukraine conflict. At DuckDuckGo, weve been rolling out search updates that down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation, Weinberg wrote in a tweet. In addition to down-ranking sites associated with disinformation, we also often place news modules and information boxes at the top of DuckDuckGo search results (where they are seen and clicked the most) to highlight quality information for rapidly unfolding topics, he continued. In addition to down-ranking sites associated with disinformation, we also often place news modules and information boxes at the top of DuckDuckGo search results (where they are seen and clicked the most) to highlight quality information for rapidly unfolding topics, Weinberg added, claiming that DuckDuckGo will continue to protect users privacy even while initiating Draconian censorship. His tweets can be seen here: Like so many others I am sickened by Russias invasion of Ukraine and the gigantic humanitarian crisis it continues to create. #StandWithUkraine? At DuckDuckGo, weve been rolling out search updates that down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation. Gabriel Weinberg (@yegg) March 10, 2022 DuckDuckGos mission is to make simple privacy protection accessible to all. Privacy is a human right and transcends politics, which is why about 100 million people around the world use DuckDuckGo. (We dont have an exact count since we dont track people.) Gabriel Weinberg (@yegg) March 10, 2022 Big League Politics has reported on the information war enacted by the globalists in order to demonize Russia and lionize Ukraines corrupt puppet government as this conflict wages on: As the globalists push anti-Russian propaganda that would make Colin Powell blush and attempt to goad Westerners into accepting the rationale for World War 3, foreign news services are getting nuked from the internet. Anti-NATO watchdog Rick Rozoff reported that 112 Ukraine, Interfax (Russia), RIA Novosti (Russia) and the Belarusian Telegraph Agency were taken offline as of Wednesday. As of the publication of this article, 112 Ukraine and the Belarusian Telegraph Agency remain offline. Russia Today has also been regularly attacked by hackers throughout the Russia/Ukraine conflict. This is happening as Western news outlets create fake news at a breakneck speed in order to lionize the Ukrainian puppet government that was installed by color revolution coup in 2014. Big League Politics has reported on how globalist money is being dumped into Ukraine, whose potential expansion into NATO has been a point of major contention for Russia The globalist war propaganda is being taken to a new level and banning alternative sources of information is how they intend to indoctrinate minds into accepting their psychotic agenda. DuckDuckGo has proven itself an unworthy successor to Google. Individuals who believe in freedom and oppose censorship should use the Brave search engine and leave DuckDuckGo in the lurch. Read more at: BigLeaguePolitics.com (Natural News) The Health Ranger Mike Adams told Lets Talk America host Dr. Alan Keyes that the crash of global markets will lead to riots, social unrest and political uprisings around the world. They are crashing the global markets or the supply chain of oil, energy, food and fertilizer. This is all happening simultaneously because its interrelated. And this is happening on a global scale to the point where Im anticipating not only food riots in the United States by the end of this year, but also social unrest and political uprisings among populations and dozens of nations around the world, Adams said during the March 8 episode of Lets Talk America on Brighteon.TV. (Related: Ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict pushing global economy closer to collapse.) Were looking at an era of mass social unrest. And what ties all this together is that all of this has been done to our world deliberately. There was no reason for this to happen. We have plenty of resources for the world. We have plenty of ideas and creativity, humanity has all these capabilities. But were being harmed, were being put in harms way, the suffering and famine are now set in stone and they dont have to happen. Adams, an award-winning investigative journalist and Brighteon.com founder, added that the rising costs of fuel, transportation and food are wiping out low income earners in America. He also said that the Biden administration would soon be purchasing oil from authoritarian regimes such as Venezuela and Iran following the ban on Russian oil products. Keyes pointed out that the fear and harm being done to the American people was intentional. This is happening because the objective ultimately, even during the pandemic, is to harm the people of the United States, attack them in their character by creating an environment of fear that they hope will stampede people and so forth in preparation for the overthrow of our system of government of by and for the people, said Keyes. Russia faces famine conditions Adams mentioned that Russia buys most of its seeds for potatoes and other crops from the U.S. and some Western European countries, and it will soon be gone because they cant purchase those seeds due to the economic sanctions. Russia is going to have famine conditions in the crop yield reductions based on this coming spring planting season. And in addition to that, Ukraine, the breadbasket of Europe, will have virtually no planting season and no export capabilities because of the ports on the southern border of Ukraine. And remember that Russia and Ukraine together export about 25 percent of the worlds wheat or something close to that, Adams said. He added that there are other things happening in the markets. Adams noted that several billion people will not be able to avail of food at the prices they need in order to sustain their lives when the normal crops provided for a given season become substantially reduced. The Brighteon.com founder also said government meddling in crop production has been going on for a long time and this is being done to maintain the price pressures for favorite producers by limiting the supply. China taking farmlands in America According to Adams, China wants to take America and occupy North America, including its farmland and resources. He said that China does not have the farmland to feed its own people so it desperately needs additional farmland. The Health Ranger Report host added that China is waiting for the perfect opportunity to move forward on its long-term goal and that its Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) bioweapon was part of its plan to weaken Americas military forces and put a Chinese puppet in the Oval Office. He indicated that when America is weakened through international conflicts, the door will open for China to literally invade the United States. Adams also pointed out that the Western banking system is destroying itself with the level of economic sanctions targeting Russias banking reserves. He added that when Russias reserves are confiscated by Western banks it sends a message to the entire world that the latter cannot be trusted anymore, and this could lead to the Western financial ecosystem destroying itself. More related stories: Global energy crisis escalates to a whole new level. Oil prices surge to multi-year highs as Ukraine conflict causes ripple effect in global oil supplies. Communist China seizing control of American food supply with massive corn processing plant in North Dakota. Watch the full March 8 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. Follow Collapse.news to know more about the global economic crisis. Sources include: Brighteon.com HeathRanger.com (Natural News) Fast-food giant McDonalds recently announced store closures in Russia following the countrys invasion of Ukraine, causing a buying frenzy from hungry customers. One McDonalds lover went viral for filling their fridge full of burgers. Many others have started selling Big Macs online for as high as 250 ($325.96) after McDonalds announced that it is closing its 850 branches in Russia in response to Vladimir Putins war. Online auction sites have also exploded with listings as people attempt to turn a profit on orders that are now unavailable in the country. An ad for a double Big Mac, double royal, two large portions of chips, 18 McNuggets and mozzarella dippers are on sale for 255 ($332.48), with its seller claiming that the meal was still warm. Russian classifieds website Avito also saw people attempting to sell bags of food, while others tried to make a profit by selling pots of sauces. One listing priced a Big Mac at 250, and another attempted to sell three bags of goods for 639 ($833.16). However, opinions on how long cold fast food could stay fresh seem to vary wildly among the commenters. Regarding the viral photo, one commented that the burgers could be left in the fridge and will be good for months, but another warned that day-old McDonalds burgers no longer taste good. Others lauded the hoard as a business proposition, considering that it is impossible to buy the food on the open market. Western sanctions pummel Russian economy Russians have been finding it more and more difficult to get their hands on Western goods as sanctions are imposed, pummeling their economy. McDonalds directly owns and operates most of its locations in Russia, where it has an iconic presence since opening its first restaurant in Moscow in 1990 at the end of the Cold War. (Related: GLOBAL SHOCKWAVE: Russia announces plans to ban commodity exports following Western sanctions.) The company said it would continue paying its 62,000 employees who have poured their heart and soul into our McDonalds brand. In an open letter to the employees, McDonalds President and CEO Chris Kempckinski stated that closing the stores for the meantime is the right thing to do. Our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine, he said, adding that it is impossible to know when they can reopen their stores in Russia. He also added that the situation is extraordinarily challenging for a global brand and that there are many considerations on the matter. Russia brings in about nine percent of McDonalds annual revenue, and as news sparked frantic scenes of fans flocking the chains restaurants, other companies joined in on the Russian exit, including Starbucks, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and General Electric. McDonalds could take a big financial hit because of its closures as McDonalds owns 84 percent of its locations in Russia, unlike other big fast-food brands that are owned by franchisees. So far, the Chicago-based company has donated over $5 million to its employee assistance fund and other relief efforts. (Related: Sanctions may end up isolating Russias internet; Russians flocking to VPNs to bypass censors.) Crippling sanctions may have shocked Russian elite A British professor said the scale of sanctions from Western companies may have shocked the Russian elite. Dr. James Rodgers, an associate professor in International Journalism at the City, University of London said: These companies are taking these decisions now. Its going to be pretty hard to see how they can reverse them in the short-term. He also said that the move is an important symbol in the way that Russia is seen by the outside world. He mentioned that the scale of the sanctions may have shocked Russias political elite and its leadership. However, it is preparing to try and survive on its own. Part of that means not having Western companies be represented there. After imposing the crippling sanctions, the country is now facing the gravest economic crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. More related stories: Globalists using Russia as excuse to try to crush decentralized cryptocurrency so Putin doesnt evade banking sanctions. The ECONOMIC SUICIDE of the West is now under way severe economic sanctions against Russia will END the dollar as the global reserve currency. Ukrainian official blasts pathetically weak sanctions against Russia, claims it leaves Moscow with lots of money soaked in our blood. Putin puts his nuclear forces on high alert in response to NATO actions, sanctions, amid ongoing Ukraine war. The STARVATION MATRIX decoded: Russia, fertilizer, hydrocarbons, CO2, the Haber equation and crop yields explained. Watch the video below to learn how the exits of McDonalds and other businesses can affect the Russian economy. This video is from the Martin Brodel channel on Brighteon.com. Follow Collapse.news for more updates on the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk Mirror.co.uk Brighteon.com (Natural News) Wang Guan, a World Economic Forum (WEF) young global leader, is pushing for those who resist Klaus Schwabs planned Great Reset to be thrown into communist China-style reeducation camps. Similar to the ones where Uyghur Muslims are forced to live in Chinas Xinjiang province, Wangs reeducation camps would be filled with people who support things like freedom, nationalism and the right to bear arms. Wang currently works as a chief political correspondent for a Chinese state-run media out that airs programming specifically for the United States. He is one of 112 young global leaders who was personally selected by Schwab for the role. The WEF has become notorious for globalist intervention around the world, including but not limited to pushing for the Great Reset amidst COVID-19, reported Natalie Winters for the National Pulse. The group seeks to abolish property ownership at its core, summarizing this objective through its controversial expression you will own nothing and be happy.' The same media outlet where Wang was installed by Schwab to brainwash Americans also defends the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) genocide of Uyghur Muslims. CCP putting out propaganda films promoting concentration camps as places to learn valuable life skills In a short film put together to promote reeducation camps, Wang explained how he believes that the living conditions of Uyghur Muslims is a success, and that it serves the purposes of the CCP to ethnically cleanse China in this way. Fifty-four countries, most of them Muslim-majority states, defended Chinas counter-extremism efforts in Xinjiang, commending China in its development policies there, and in providing care to its Muslim citizens,' Wang said in the video, adding, and they probably have a point. The same feature also depicted survivors of these reeducation camps praising the Chinese leaders for supposedly teaching them life skills to be successful. We met 33-year-old artist Abulizikari Aobuli, who perfected his painting skills in the re-education center and now works in a gallery, Wang said in the film. We caught up with 30-year-old Yuregul Yusan who works in the hospitality sector. We found 26-year-old Rukiya Yakup, who improved her Mandarin and now works as a real estate agent. And we met 23-year-old Halinur, whos now a cashier at a restaurant. How sweet: the CCPs concentration camps are just misunderstood technical colleges, apparently. According to local officials, the vast majority of the attendees picked up a skill or two, completed their training, and went home, Wang further said in another related video, which was put out by the China Global Television Network (CGTN). Twenty-six-year-old Rukiya Yakup spent 10 months in the education center. While there, she perfected her Mandarin skills and studied sales. Now, she is a real estate sales agent, earning over 8,000 yuan, more than 1,100 U.S. dollars a month, way above local average income. The 26-year-old was then shown on screen claiming that she feels happier now that she endured reeducation camp in China. She also said that she is happy she learned Mandarin because she can now receive both Han people and Uyghurs. My income is considerable, she added. Another WEF young global leader who has been pushing an agenda publicly is journalist Daria Kaleniuk. As the Pulse reported about her, Kaleniuk confronted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and demanded that NATO enter the war in Ukraine. It would seem as though Schwab has his minions all over the world pushing different agendas all at the same time. And as we have come to expect, all of it revolves around his precious Great Reset. More related news can be found at Genocide.news. Sources include: TheNationalPulse.com NaturalNews.com Earliest surviving progenitor of octopuses were recently uncovered in Montana in version of a roughly 330m-year-old fossil With squid like filaments elongating from their unique multichambered casings, the obsolete deep water wild creatures widely recognized as ammonites had been one of the most efficient and effective, as well as diversified creatures on the planet. Discovery of Octopus Fossils Prior To Dinosaurs Epoch Archaeologists have discovered over 10,000 life forms among fossilized remains practically all across on the earth where seas once took place, from the Great Plains of North America to the Himalayan foothills and Antarctic glaciers. Ammonite is a common English word for ammonoids, a huge and numerous collections of organisms that evolved throughout the Devonian epoch, which apparently started around 416 million years ago. Ammonoids are linked to other cephalopods like squid, octopuses, and cuttlefish, and they are the ancestors of the contemporary sea anemone. True ammonites, on the other hand, are a wonderful product of ammonoids which somehow really do not develop there till roughly 200 million years ago, during the Jurassic era. Researchers had already discovered the earliest surviving progenitor of octopuses - a 330-million-year-old fossil discovered in Montana. Today, the experts found that the prehistoric organism managed to survived decades or centuries sooner than fairly recently thought, implying that octopuses existed even before the dinosaur epoch. The 4.7-inch or approximately 12 in centimeter specimen which was most likely found in a subsurface tropical marine estuary, features ten appendages, each of which has two rows of suckers, wherein the contemporary octopuses have eight. As what paleontologist Mike Vecchione of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History who has not been engaged in the research told the reporters of The Guardian, the soft cartilage fossil evidence is extremely hard to obtain, apart from a just several geographical locations. Experts and researchers alike subsequently told that the discovery was indeed really an interesting find as it traces our ancestors considerably further beyond than initially assumed. The particular species was excavated in Montana's Bear Gulch limestone deposit in 1988 and presented to Canada's Royal Ontario Institute. Also read: Bizarre 'Behavioral Change' Observed in Birds Linked to Climate Change Experts Claim Octopuses are Older than Dinosaurs The 330-million-year-old Syllipsimopodi specimen from Montana's Bear Gulch Formation, which itself is housed in the Royal Ontario Museum's Invertebrate Paleontology holdings. For hundreds of years, the specimen lounged unnoticed in a filing cabinet while astrophysicists did study those certain reveals from the premises, including fossil sharks. However, zoologists discovered ten small appendages buried in limestone. The highly maintained fossil furthermore demonstrates a few really scientific proofs of an ink sac, which was presumably often utilized to squirt out such a mysterious solvent shroud to lend a hand circumvent wild animals, very much like contemporary octopuses, this is according to an American Natural history Museum scientist as well as co-author of the research reported Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, Mr. Christopher Whalen. The species, dubbed a vampyropod, is thought to be the progenitor from both current octopuses and vampire squids, a perplexingly termed aquatic monster that is more closely related to an octopus than a squid. The earliest living definite vampyropod was discovered approximately 240 million years ago, according to the scientists. In the news article posted by The New York Times, the investigators dubbed the specimen Syllipsimopodi bideni honoring President Joe Biden. Regardless to whether owning an antique octopus - or vampire squid - carrying your title is a tribute, the academics said they meant appreciation for the president's exploration and innovation initiatives. Related article: Crustacean-inspired Robot Used to Aid Underwater Exploration and Monitoring As negotiators gather at the United Nations headquarters in New York this week to hammer out a new treaty on the oceans, scientists and environmentalists have warned that the world has a "once in a lifetime" chance to safeguard the high seas from exploitation. The deal, which will provide a legal framework to safeguard biodiversity and control the high seas, has been dubbed "the most significant ocean preservation accord in four decades" by one expert. Urgency Prof Alex Rogers, science director of Rev Ocean, an ocean research NGO, believes it must occur immediately. They continued to witness industrialization in places outside national borders, such as deep-sea fishing and maybe deep-sea mining. The exclusive economic zones (EEZs), which stretch around 200 nautical miles from the shorelines of various governments, cover 64 percent of the ocean's surface area. The high seas are home to a diverse range of habitats and animals, many of which are understudied and underrecorded. The expanding reach of transport boats, seabed mining, and new activities such as "bioprospecting" of marine animals has increased the danger of exploiting the high seas and their biodiversity. The 30x30 alliance, which debuted in January 2021 and seeks to safeguard 30% of the planet's land and oceans by 2030, has gathered 50 countries as members. However, these much-touted assurances will have little legal standing on the high seas without a deal. Status Quo At the moment, all countries have a limited right to sail, fish, and conduct a scientific studies on the high seas. This marine region is just 1.2 percent protected. Over the last two or three decades, according to Jean-Baptiste Jouffray, a researcher at Stockholm University's Stockholm Resilience Centre who has assessed the growth in human pressures on the marine environment, there has been a "blue acceleration," or race for resources. "There's a race for the ocean in all of these diverse areas, but there's no overall picture." It appears to be busier than it has ever been. Since 1982, when Unclos [the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] was signed, shipping has surged by 1,600%. More than 55 percent of the ocean is fished, and industrial fishing takes more and farther from shore. Offshore oil and gas are gaining popularity. There's also the threat of deep-sea mining. Also Read: Scientists Consider Storing Carbon in the Deep Down the Ocean Floor Various Studies McCauley helped write a study for the Pew Charitable Trusts highlighting ten high-seas biodiversity hotspots that might benefit from conservation. The Costa Rica Dome - nutrient-rich seas that attract yellowfin tuna, migratory dolphins, endangered blue whales, and leatherback sea turtles - and the Emperor Seamount chain, a very biodiverse sequence of seamounts that arcs north-west of the Hawaiian islands into Russia. While a patchwork of international bodies and treaties manage resources and human activity in areas beyond national jurisdiction - such as fishing, whaling, shipping, and seabed mining - the mandates of these bodies and treaties vary greatly, and their jurisdictions frequently overlap, according to the paper. According to the study, this piecemeal approach "leads to a deterioration of the ecosystem and its resources." It also makes establishing marine protected zones difficult from a legal standpoint. After decades of debates and preparation, the world now has a once-in-a-generation chance to develop genuine protections for an ecosystem that sustains life as we know it, according to Peggy Kalas of the High Seas Alliance. On the other hand, NGOs voiced worry about being shut out of this week's talks after the UN local delegations and international organizations' access owing to Covid. According to Will McCallum, head of oceans at Greenpeace, it created a troubling precedent, which has long advocated for a network of ocean sanctuaries. These talks are much too important to be ignored; the UN should reconsider its decision and enable civil society to engage in a safe and meaningful way. Previous Ruling On December 24, 2017, the United Nations General Assembly decided to launch a multi-year process to establish a convention on "the protection and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in regions outside state authority." Three of the four scheduled meetings have already taken place. The fourth and final set, initially slated for March 2020 but postponed due to Covid, will now take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York from March 7 to 18. The proposed treaty covers four main areas: marine genetic resources, area-based management measures, such as marine protected areas, environmental impact assessments, capacity building, and marine technology transfer. Worldwide Initiative More than 100 nations, including the UK and 27 EU members, agreed last month in Brest, France, to establish a solid and comprehensive UN high seas treaty, providing a huge political boost for the discussions. Related Article: Gloom Reality: Even the Most Daring Technologies Can No Longer Reverse Impacts of Climate Change For similar news, don't forget to follow Nature World News! Sign up to get breaking news, weather forecasts, and more in your email inbox. Sign Up Now The perennial issue of equalizing beach access is up for debate in the General Assembly with many town officials saying they have no plans to change their current rules that include higher fees for non-residents. State Rep. Roland Lemar, co-chairman of the General Assemblys Transportation Committee, is renewing his push, citing Connecticuts long history of excluding non-residents and minorities from suburban beaches. This years proposal would take away state funding for local road repairs from towns that dont provide better public access, although Lemar has acknowledged that the bill needs to be rewritten. Residents and officials in Fairfield are among the strongest opponents of the legislation. Former state Rep. Brian Farnen, R-Fairfield, recently created an online petition against the proposal, which had been signed by more than 3,500 people as of Friday afternoon. Anthony Calabrese, director of the towns parks and recreation department, and the Fairfield Beach Association spoke against the bill when it came up at a public hearing last week. Not being able to restrict parking along our already congested beach neighborhoods would overwhelm our residents during the beach seasons, Calabrese said. This increase in traffic is a cause of concern in regards to the health and safety of our residents. In 2001, the state Supreme Court ruled that resident-only beach ordinances were unconstitutional, but the issue of fees and permits was left unaddressed. Towns have routinely charged more for non-residents to park or for beach passes. Most of the 17.5 miles of beaches in Milford boast no parking restrictions for residents or nonresidents alike, Mayor Ben Blake said in an email this week. The lots directly adjacent to Gulf and Walnut beaches require vehicles to display a beach sticker or to pay a parking fee of about $5 per hour during the summer, he said. In Westport, First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker said theres no vote or discussion planned regarding beach fees. Stratford Mayor Laura Hoydick said her town also will not be changing how it manages beach access. Many local officials cited increased use of their beaches and parks during the pandemic, which has led to increased costs such as additional staffing. In Madison, visitor traffic at Hammonasset Beach State Park, the states largest beach, has increased in recent years, with almost 30,000 people on peak days, nearly double the towns year-round population, First Selectwoman Peggy Lyons said in testimony against the bill. This has put a significant burden on Madisons local roads, beaches, and first responders, pushing our towns public safety resources to the limit, Lyons said. During the summer, the town sells more than 8,000 parking passes to residents and non-residents for about 580 parking spaces, but the sales do not nearly cover our capital, maintenance or staffing costs to run beach operations, which falls on the local taxpayer, she said. Guilfords longtime parks and recreation director Rick Maynard, who is also against the proposal, testified that the town has always maintained reasonable fees for access to its beaches, which include Jacobs Beach and a small beach at Lake Quonnipaug. Maynard said its fair for residents to pay less than non-residents given they pay taxes that help cover the costs of maintaining and operating the beaches. In Greenwich, the defendant of the 2001 Supreme Court case, Mayor Fred Camillo said the towns beach rules are in compliance with the court decree and that its beach fees are in line with neighboring communities. He said the town has calculated beach maintenance costs per tax-paying resident, which is factored into the fee structure. If the bill passes in its current state, Camillo said, many local beaches would be dominated by non-residents who are not paying their fair-share, an issue lawmakers in Hartford always like to talk about when it comes to taxation. julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com Newburyport, MA (01950) Today Rain likely. High 51F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Showers early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 47F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Help support your local hometown newspaper/website. Independent local news reporting matters. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription, for as little as $3, so we can continue to provide independent local reporting on our communities. Reporter 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). Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Submit 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 Longview, TX (75601) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Briefly blocking a key molecule when administering the only approved vaccine for tuberculosis vastly improves long-term protection against the devastating disease in mice, researchers from Texas Biomedical Research Institute report this week in the Journal of Immunology. The finding, if it continues to hold true in nonhuman primates and clinical trials, has the potential to save millions of lives. Tuberculosis (TB) infects more than 10 million people a year, killing more than 1 million a year. The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is widely used to inoculate children against TB, but its effectiveness wanes over time. Researchers around the world are hunting for more effective vaccines and treatments. We are very excited that we can reverse BCG's waning effectiveness by combining it with a host-directed therapy into one dose, which makes it very practical for the clinic." Joanne Turner, PhD, Texas Biomed's Executive Vice President, Research, and Senior Paper Author Decades of research Turner emphasized the finding builds on more than 20 years of research. Throughout her career, she has been investigating the role of a molecule, interleukin-10 (IL-10) on TB. IL-10 typically helps dampen excessive inflammation during infection, but through numerous studies, Turner and her colleagues have found IL-10 does more harm than good in TB, definitively showing it drives TB infection. In previous studies, Turner and her colleagues blocked IL-10 at different times during infection late into infection, the first three weeks during infection and have knocked out IL-10 completely. All signs pointed to improved TB control and longer survival. In the current study, the team looked at what happens if they temporarily block IL-10 before infection occurs, at the same time as giving the BCG vaccine. Host-directed therapy + vaccine The researchers combined the BCG vaccine with an antibody that blocks IL-10 activity for about one week. Since the antibody targets the host, not the pathogen, that makes it a "host-directed therapy." They gave the mixture to mice in one shot, waited six weeks to ensure the IL-10 blocker was no longer present and the BCG protection had been generated, and then exposed the mice to TB. Those mice controlled TB infection for nearly a year, which is significant for mice with normal lifespans of about two years. In contrast, mice given only the BCG vaccine lost control of TB infection within two months and had significant inflammation and damage in the lungs. Notably, the mice given the vaccine/IL-10 blocker had higher levels of various long-term memory immune cells, which are critical for ongoing TB control. "This shows that the early development of an immune response is key for controlling TB infection in the long run, and that IL-10 inhibits the development of that long-term immunity," Turner says. "But by briefly blocking IL-10 at the same time as giving the vaccine, it allows the vaccine and immune system to do their jobs, creating those long-lasting memory immune cells." Collaborators at Texas Biomed plan to investigate if the combination is safe and effective in nonhuman primates. If those results are also promising then the combination could move into human clinical trials. The team is optimistic, especially since the BCG vaccine is already in widespread use and the IL-10 blocker is being tested against other diseases. Models matter Experimentally, IL-10 had been somewhat dismissed as playing a significant role in TB, even though it was detected in humans with TB. But that conclusion was made in the most common strain of research mouse, which is fairly resistant to TB and don't produce much IL-10. Turner began investigating a different mouse strain, called CBA/J, which is much more susceptible to TB. Working with these mice, she and colleagues began to piece together IL-10's role and what happens when it is blocked. To definitively show a molecule's function, researchers often knock out the gene that codes for the molecule. Turner bred the CBA/J IL-10 knock-out mice, which required several years of effort, and since 2011 the mice have been instrumental in proving IL-10 drives TB. These mice can even form human-like granulomas, which are cellular aggregates that form around the bacteria to prevent it from spreading. "We only saw that because we were working in a different mouse strain than the standard laboratory mouse strain," Turner says. "It is gratifying that those knock-out mice we developed are available for other researchers to work with. Diversity in animal models is important to understand the commonalities across species that help us better understand human diseases." Research carried out by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has revealed new information about how blood clots are formed during wound healing. The research, published tomorrow in Science Advances, examines the behaviour of platelets at a wound site, specifically their ability to sense where within a blood clot they are and remodel their surroundings accordingly. Platelets are key to initiating wound healing and the formation of blood clots (thrombus). Fibroblasts are connective tissue cells that are essential for the later stages of wound healing. Fibroblasts invade the clot that has been formed and produce vital proteins, including fibronectin, that then form a structural framework to build the new tissue needed to heal. This new study indicates that platelets can also form a provisional fibronectin matrix in their surroundings, similar to what fibroblasts do in the later stages of wound healing. This has potential implications for how the integrity of blood clots might be maintained during vascular repair. The study's lead author is Dr Ingmar Schoen from the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at RCSI. Commenting on the discovery, Dr Schoen said: "We have identified an additional unexpected role for the most prominent platelet adhesion receptor. Our results show that platelets not only form the clot but also can initiate its remodeling by erecting a fibrous scaffold. This finding challenges some existing paradigms in the field of wound healing, which is dominated by research on fibroblasts." Key to this research was the use of superresolution microscopy, which enables sharper images of structures inside or around cells to be captured and observed in vitro, in a laboratory. Observation of this platelet behavior in a living organism (in vivo) will be required to further develop this finding. Without super-resolution microscopy, this discovery would not have been possible." Dr Ingmar Schoen, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, RCSI The research was carried out in collaboration with researchers at ETH Zurich, Julius-Maximilians-University Wurzburg, University of Freiburg and University Hospital Zurich. A new study in the journal Frontiers in Public Health led by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) confirms that pangolins confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade in Viet Nam host SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses. Previously, only pangolins confiscated in China had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses. The authors of the study say that the findings are further evidence that the transnational nature of the wildlife trade can facilitate coronavirus and other viral transmission and amplification along the trade chain, providing further evidence that pandemic and epidemic prevention must also be focused on pathogen spillover from wildlife. The study detected SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses, circulating in Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade in Viet Nam. Analysis revealed that the coronaviruses identified in these pangolins were closely related to coronaviruses previously detected in pangolins confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade in Yunnan and Guangxi provinces, China. We know that SARS-like coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1) can cause serious disease in humans. This study confirms the presence of coronaviruses in the SARS-CoV family in trafficked pangolins in Viet Nam. Eliminating the trade in pangolins and other wild mammals and birds will eliminate this high-risk pathway for viral spillover and pathogen emergence." Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga, study's lead author, WCS's Viet Nam Program All eight species of pangolins have been listed on CITES Appendix I since 2017, prohibiting all international trade for commercial purposes. All four species of Asian pangolins, including the Sunda and Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) are considered Endangered or Critically Endangered across their geographic range. The authors of the study tested specimens from a total of 246 pangolins from wildlife confiscation events that occurred in Viet Nam in the years 2016 to 2018. Specimens collected from seven individual pangolins in 2018 tested positive for a SARS-CoV-2 related coronavirus. In addition to testing pangolins for SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses, the authors reviewed media reports of pangolin trafficking cases involving Viet Nam between 2016 and 2020. Multiple pangolin confiscation events sampled in this study in Viet Nam involved other live wildlife including a mix of non-human primates, reptiles, and birds. These observations support long-held concerns that the live wildlife trade, moving wild animals out of their natural habitats and into human dominated landscapes and large urban centers, poses a serious and increasing risk of initiating epidemics from emergent pathogens in human populations. These findings support current recommendations on regulation of live wildlife trade and markets, including the April 2021 Interim Guidance on 'Reducing public health risks associated with the sale of live wild animals of mammalian species in traditional food markets' issued by the WHO, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), and the International Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), which called on governments to "Suspend the trade in live caught wild animals of mammalian species for food or breeding purposes and close sections of food markets selling live caught wild animals of mammalian species as an emergency measure unless demonstrable effective regulations and adequate risk assessments are in place." The authors also indicate that current international recommendations are too narrowly focused on open markets and do not address the much longer wildlife supply chains, trade of both legally and illegally sourced wildlife from its source. The authors indicate the need for wildlife trade policy reform to curb the risks of future pandemics and say mitigation measures must consider that the wildlife trade spillover interface contains novel viruses, which are not detected with current sample screening practices or procedures. Among countries, China has initiated a multi-sectoral and sustained crackdown on illegal wildlife trade and legislative reforms designed to completely phase out the farming/sourcing, trade, and consumption of terrestrial wildlife as food. Viet Nam banned the importation of wildlife in January 2020, as an immediate response to the identification of SARS-CoV-2 in China, and called for its own heightened enforcement of existing laws on illegal wildlife trade as stipulated in the July 2020 Vietnamese Government Prime Minister's Directive No. 29 on "urgent solutions to manage wildlife". In the past two years, the Government of Viet Nam has revised a number of decrees addressing animal health, public health, food safety, and wildlife management with the aim of mitigating the risks and impacts of future pandemics. These include Decree 14 on regulating penalties for administrative offenses involving animal husbandry and Decree 07 issued in early 2022 which increased sanctions for violating wildlife trade laws and regulations. WCS worked closely with local partners in Viet Nam to carry out this research. Bilal Haider is studying how multiple areas of the brain work together for visual perception. This could help researchers understand if neural activity "traffic jams" underlie all kinds of visual impairments: from running a red light when visual attention is elsewhere, to shedding light on the autism-affected brain. To do this kind of work, researchers need a reliable "map" of all the visual brain areas with specific coordinates for each unique brain. Drawing the map requires monitoring and recording data from an active, working brain, which usually means creating a window in the skull to watch blood flow activity. Haider's team has developed a better approach -; a new kind of window that's more stable and allows for longer-term studies. The assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University explains how in a paper published in February in Scientific Reports, an open access forum of Nature publishing. To get a clear image of the brain's visual network, Haider's lab uses an established technique called blood flow imaging, which tracks oxygen in the blood, measuring the active and inactive areas of a mouse brain while the animal views visual stimuli. To capture a strong blood flow signal, researchers typically create a cranial window by thinning the skull or removing a piece of it altogether. These procedures can diminish stability in the awake, pulsing brain -; detrimental conditions for delicate electrophysiological measurements made in the same visual areas after imaging. Standard windows give really good pictures of the vasculature. But the downside is, if you're working with an animal learning how to perform a sophisticated task that requires weeks of training, and you want to do neural recordings from the brain later, that area has been compromised if the skull is missing or thinned out." Bilal Haider, Assistant Professor, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech The team's new cranial window system allows for high-quality blood flow imaging and stable electrical recordings for weeks or even months. The secret is a surgical glue called Vetbond -; which contains cyanoacrylate, the same compound that's in Krazy Glue -; and a tiny glass window. Basically, a thin layer of the glue is applied to the skull with a micropipette and a curved glass coverslip is placed on top of that. The cyanoacrylate creates a "transparent skull" effect. Haider's team developed the new window system and then vetted the accuracy of the resulting visual brain maps. "Sometimes the simplest things work. The glue creates a barrier allowing all of the normal physiological processes underneath to carry on, but leaving the bone transparent," Haider said. "It's like putting a protector on your smartphone. The protector is over the glass surface, but everything underneath stays crystal clear and functioning." Haider's approach will help his team accomplish their larger goals -; to measure the activity of neurons in the brain's visual pathways and understand how neural traffic jams diminish our visual attention, and how these processes may contribute to visual impairments in people with autism. It's work that's getting a boost, thanks to recent support of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative. Haider said proper study of brain function requires repeatable measurements of neural activity, so he has made the new window system publicly available. "We think this will be useful tool for other researchers," he said. "We made the code, all the hardware, all the specs of the system, everything, totally public so that other people can try it themselves. We designed this to use in our study of the visual brain, but it can potentially be used to study other brain areas in a way that allows researchers to do long-term experiments while keeping the brain stable and healthy." Press Release March 12, 2022 Lacson Admin to Adopt Undercover Agents, Other Drastic Measures vs Corruption More at: https://pinglacson.net/article/lacson-admin-to-adopt-undercover-agents-other-drastic-measures-vs-corruption Undercover operatives posing as applicants to catch extorting government employees will be among the drastic measures against corruption to be adopted by the administration of Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson should he be elected as President. Lacson said that such drastic measures will keep even hardheaded members of the bureaucracy on their toes, for fear they would be caught and punished. "Sa government bureaucracy, pwede tayong mag-field ng operatives na kunwari nag-a-apply... hanggang matanim sa isipan ng government employees and officials na delikado tayo, baka ang kinikikilan natin ay operative (In the bureaucracy, we can field operatives who pretend to be applicants, to catch mulcting employees. The corrupt employees will soon be on their toes because they don't know if the applicant they are extorting from is a secret operative)," Lacson said in an interview on Radyo 5 Friday. "Mas maganda na drastic ang approach - alisin ang Inept, Corrupt and Undisciplined (ICU) sa bureaucracy ng gobyerno (It is good to adopt a drastic approach to remove the Inept, Corrupt and Undisciplined from the bureaucracy)," he added. Lacson, who has earned a reputation for fighting corruption in his 50 years in public service, added that while he as President would have power only over the executive branch of government, this drastic measure will put those in the legislature and judiciary on notice. "Palagay ko kung nakitang maayos at malinis ang executive branch, judiciary and legislature will follow suit. Human nature yan (I believe that if the judiciary and legislature see that the executive branch is working properly after being rid of corruption, they will follow suit. That is human nature)," he said. Lacson, who is running for President under Partido Reporma, said he had done this to get rid of the "kotong culture" in the Philippine National Police when he headed it from 1999 to 2001. This will jibe with his and his Vice Presidential bet Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III's campaign theme of fixing the government's ills (Aayusin ang Gobyerno, Aayusin ang Buhay ng Bawat Pilipino). Also, Lacson said he plans to have the Plunder Law revisited, to correct its weaknesses and make it easier to implement, so it will deter the corrupt from stealing from public coffers. Lacson - who said corruption is one of the scourges that threatens to ruin his day, especially when he learns of Filipinos victimized by it - reiterated that should he be elected President, he will set the tone for the government in his first day in office by signing a waiver of his rights under the Bank Secrecy Act - and undertake a massive sustained internal cleansing of the bureaucracy. He stressed anew as well his vow to put a premium on transparency in government dealings, including the procurement of vaccines to address the Covid threat. "Ang essence ng paglaban sa corruption, transparency (Transparency is the essence of fighting corruption)," he said. (Newser) Update: A grand jury won't be bringing charges against a white police officer in Columbus, Ohio, who fatally shot a 16-year-old Black girl last year. The Franklin County Prosecutor's Office and the state's Fraternal Order of Police say that the grand jury didn't find probable cause that a crime was committed when Nicolas Reardon gunned down Ma'Khia Bryant in April 2021 while responding to a domestic dispute call, reports WBNS. The city's Department of Public Safety released a statement noting that an administrative probe will now take place "to determine whether the officer's actions were within Division policy." FOP President Jeff Simpson praised the grand jury's decision, calling it a "good outcome," per ABC 6. An attorney for Bryant's family issued a statement saying the family was "disappointed," and that "there should have been other non-deadly options available to deal with this situation." Our original story from April 22, 2021, follows: The police officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old girl in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday has been identified as Nicholas Reardon, a white officer who has been with the force for a little over a year, after joining in December 2019. He's been placed on administrative leave while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation investigates, reports the Washington Post. Body camera footage shows Reardon shot Ma'Khia Bryant, a black teenager, 10 seconds after arriving on the scene of a disturbance. Ma'Khia is shown charging one person, who falls to the ground, then pinning another person against a car, apparently while holding a knife. Reardon yells, "Get down!" multiple times before firing four shots. "She had a knife. She just went at her," he adds, per NPR. "She's a f---ing kid, man!" a bystander responds. "Damn, are you stupid?" Police also released two 911 calls. In one, the caller describes a person "trying to stab us," per the Post. "I wish to hell it hadn't happened," interim police chief Michael Woods told reporters. Kiara Yakita, founder of the Black Liberation Movement Central Ohio, questioned why Reardon didn't do more to de-escalate the situation. "Law enforcement and city officials are rushing to make excuses because she had a knife," she tells the Post. But "as soon as [Reardon] got out of the car, he had the gun ready to shoot somebody." There are also unproven claims that officers said "blue lives matter" after the shooting, which drew protests. While Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the investigation must "play out," he also said the country "must learn from the tragic death of George Floyd." He added a bill compiled with state Rep. Phil Plummer, a former sheriff, would require independent investigations of "critical incidents" involving police, create a "peace officer oversight board," and establish central use-of-force and officer discipline databases. (Read more police shooting stories.) (Newser) Maybe it is just another story about billionaire problems, butas chronicled by Luc Rinaldi for Toronto Lifethe saga of "Libfeld vs. Libfeld vs. Libfeld vs. Libfeld" offers valuable lessons for anyone operating a family business. Think succession planning! Teodor "Teddy" Libfeld, an Auschwitz survivor, arrived in Canada in 1951 and built a fortune in the postwar housing boom. In the 1980s, his four sonsSheldon, Mark, Jay, and Coreybecame his exclusive partners in the Conservatory Group, credited today with having built more than 75,000 residential and commercial units. Teddy died in 2000 and the sons became equal partners. For years, they seemed to do well sharing responsibilities and operating by consensus despite the lack of succession plan dictating how they do sountil Mark had a minor heart attack in 2013. It caused Mark to raise the first truly divisive issue, over the corporate life insurance policy each brother held and whether the company should foot a bigger one. Between then and 2017, things devolved: Rinaldi details arguments over how much money the business should pay out to them annually, failed mediation, some alleged physical fights, and name calling (think "Hitler"). Mark finally hired a lawyer and, under Ontario law, asked a judge to find a "just and equitable remedy." He and Corey wanted the business split into four separate pieces; Sheldon and Jay wanted to buy their brothers out; Teddy's widow, who had a stake, wanted it to stay in the family. In November 2020, the 21-day trial commenced. At the end of it, a judge decided that what Teddy Libfeld worked so hard to build should be sold off. Each brother could walk away with $1 billion. (Read the fascinating full story.) (Newser) Multinational companies have taken extraordinary measures to express disapproval of Putin's war. They risk untold billions in lost revenue and hard assets, but money isnt everything. "CEOs need peer approval," Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld tells the Washington Post. Sonnenfeld is not alone in pressing for bold action, but his "naughty list or nice list," as the Post puts it, has very likely proved a catalyst in boardroom discussions. Posted on Yales website and updated regularly, the list shows exactly what actions companies are taking in Russia and how much they risk. And Sonnenfeld said it has spurred phone calls from CEOs asking "why we didnt have them on the right list, and what they needed to do to either clarify or actually take a more strong stance." Sonnenfeld has made such lists before over topics like gun safety, but never for an issue on which 75% of Americans agree: Morning Consult polling in late February found three in four Americans supported companies cutting business ties with Russia. Those wary of that move often cite "jobs," saying ordinary Russians dont deserve to suffer. Sonnenfelds reply is blunt, per CNBC: "We're not trying to figure out how to advance the Russian economy ... it is for the general population to feel enough distress that the economy fails and the government fails." As of Thursday, more than 330 companies have pulled out, per Sonnenfeld's list. Some companies are taking stronger positions than others, per the list. Global automakers have suspended most if not all operations, as have IKEA, Nike, TikTok, and scores of other big brands. UPS, FedEx, and DHL halted all shipments (making it easy for eBay and others to do the same). By contrast, Disney and Paramount Studios will "pause new content releases," and Procter & Gamble will "suspend new investment and advertising." Among those companies who remain in Russia with "significant exposure" as of this writing, per the list: Cargill, Citi, Dunkin Donuts, Marriott, Mondelez, and Subway. (Read more jeffrey sonnenfeld stories.) (Newser) "I have no ill feelings, no grudges, no anger in me. I just dont want this to happen to anybody ever again," Hamid Hayat tells Jason Fagone, who writes at length about what Hayat has been through for the San Francisco Chronicle. Born in Lodi, California, to Pakistani immigrants, Hayat was convicted on terrorism charges at 25 and sentenced to 24 years; he served 14 years before seeing his conviction reversed in 2019. His entire case resulted from a strategy employed by the Justice Department "in hundreds of terror cases after 9/11, whereby defendants were tried based on a likelihood that they would commit future acts of terror: In 2005 Hayat had confessed, somewhat incoherently, to attending a jihadist training camp in Pakistan after hours of questioning; he hadn't, and had plenty of people who could vouch for that. But to the FBI, Hayat had certain hallmarks: devout, fighting age, educated in Pakistan at his own grandfathers madrassa in a region where celebratory AK-47 bursts are common at weddings. Then again, Hayatwhose dad drove an ice-cream truckwas always regarded as sweet but dim and "a good-hearted slacker." He was also a confirmed blowhard, telling one undercover FBI agent that his uncle was the king of Pakistan and bragging to an informant about his knowledge of al-Qaeda training camps. Hayats rookie defense attorney hoped to learn on the job. Her failure to present any of his many alibi witnesses would prove key to Hayats eventual habeas corpus petition, though the problems with his trial went well beyond that. (Read the full story, an excellent piece of reporting that delves into Hayat's time in prison and what he's doing now.) (Newser) Canadian man Christian Borys says that when refugees started leaving Ukraine before the Russian invasion, he thought he would be able to raise a few hundred dollars by selling stickers. The Saint Javelin campaign has now raised close to $1 million, with more orders for stickers, flags, and clothing flooding in every day, and he says he plans to make it his "life's work." Borys, who runs a marketing firm, worked with a designer to create the image of Mary Magdalene holding a US-made Javelin anti-tank missile launcher, the BBC reports. The 35-year-old says he was amazed by the "overwhelming" response. He says that on the first day the website went up, he received around $800 in orders. That rose to $4,000 the next day and $35,000 by Feb. 24, the day Russia invaded. Borys, a former journalist who was based in Ukraine from 2014 to 2018, says the fundraiser began as an effort to help children who fled the country while their fathers stayed behind to fight. His father lives in a small town in Poland, near the Ukrainian border, and Borys has been helping him find places for refugees to stay. He's called me bawling a few times," Borys told the CBC last week. "We sent a number of kids to his house the other day, and they're all the children of guys who have stayed back to fight. ... And he called me this morning, crying, saying, 'These kids are asking me, 'Where's daddy? Where's daddy?'" Borys is now staying with his father while he helps coordinate aid shipments. Borys has been donating the funds to Help Us Help, a long-established Canadian charity that assists orphans and veterans and is now also supporting medics in the conflict zone. He tells the BBC that he plans to turn the Saint Javelin campaign into an effort that will help Ukraine for many years to come. "There's going to be decades of reconstruction, because of the scale of the destruction we're seeing." Borys says he believes the image is so popular because of the huge role the anti-tank weapons have played in resisting the invasion. He says those who find the image too militaristic should remember, "The reality is, Ukraine didn't ask for this war, right? So they're just trying to protect their homeland." (Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.) (Newser) Russia has raised disinformation to a new level in its propaganda battle over its attack on Ukrainereleasing purported fact-check videos that are false in a couple of ways. The Russian-language videos say they're correcting Ukrainian propaganda, Margaret Sullivan writes in a Washington Post column. But not only are the videos full of false information, there was no such Ukrainian claim to counter in the first place. For instance, one video says Ukrainian reports of a damage from a missile strike in Kharkiv actually showed footage of an unrelated blast in 2017. ProPublica found there was no such report to debunk; such a video wasn't posted on social media by Ukrainian supporters or anybody else. "This is some twisted stuff: actual lies spread by what looks like the debunking of lies," Sullivan writes. The goal is confusion. "You don't actually have to convince someone that it's true," an American analyst said. "It's sufficient to make people uncertain as to what they should trust." That's how autocrats control their people, Hannah Arendt, a German political philosopher, warned in 1978. "If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies," she said, "but rather that nobody believes anything any longer." People lose the ability to think and take action, leaving them at the mercy of their rulers. There are about a dozen of the false fact-check videos, which have racked up more than a million views on the Telegram app, so far. No one has taken responsibility for them yet, but official government sites are involved, too. One of the videos has shown up on a Russian government Twitter account. The Russian embassy in the UK tweeted photos it said proved a blogger was posing as a woman hurt in the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol. With independent news outlets in their country shut down, Sullivan writes, there's no longer any way for the Russian people "to know or check." You can read the full piece here. (Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.) (Newser) Angelica Chavarria has lost her husband, her son Zion has lost his father, anda member of the Los Angeles City Council saidthe community has "lost a superdad." Jemmy Chavarria, 42, was killed Feb. 26 after being struck by a hit-and-run driver while the family crossed a street going to church, the Los Angeles Times reports. Before a car came through the crosswalk, Jemmy Chavarria was able to push his wife out of the way and throw Zion, 2, to safety, police said. A search is underway for the driver, and a $50,000 reward has been offered. A crossing guard was escorting the family across the street, and lights were flashing on the south Los Angeles crosswalk at the time. Still, Angelica Chavarria said, the driver didn't try to stop. At a press conference, Chavarria said that she forgives the driver but that she and Zion miss her husband. "You took his daddy away from him," she told the driver while sobbing. "You have to pay for what you did," she said. A police detective called the actions of Chavarria, who died later at a hospital, "an amazing act of heroism." Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents the area on the City Council, praised him as a "superdad," per the Times. "He was taken from us by a careless, a reckless and a criminal driver," Harris-Dawson said, "who disregarded all of the measures that were put in place to keep people safe." Police said other drivers stopped for the family, but the one who hit Chavarria had gone into oncoming lanes to go around traffic. (Read more hit and run stories.) (Newser) Update: Gabby Petito's death is "unfortunate," but Brian Laundrie's parents did nothing wrong and were simply exercising their constitutional rights when they refused to speak to her parents or police about the case: That's the gist of a Wednesday court filing from Laundrie's parents, who are seeking to dismiss the lawsuit filed against them by Petito's parents. "At its core, the Complaint is critical of the Laundries for refus[ing] to respond to either Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, or law enforcement. However, compelling individuals to respond to inquiries by private citizens or law enforcement through a civil action like this would turn our entire constitutional system and the freedom afforded individuals in this country on its head," reads the motion to dismiss, as cited by the New York Post. Our original story from March 11 follows: The parents of Gabby Petito claim in a new Florida lawsuit that Brian Laundrie told his parents he had killed her when he returned home alone from their ill-fated western trip in a converted van. The lawsuit filed Thursday in Sarasota County Circuit Court contends that Laundrie told his parents on Aug. 28 that he had killed Petito, 22, his fiancee of about a year at the time, the AP reports. Petito's disappearance and the subsequent discovery of her body Sept. 19 in a Wyoming national park became a national obsession, augmented by the later search for Laundrie in a Florida nature preserve. The FBI concluded that Laundrie strangled Petito and that Laundrie, who returned home Sept. 1, fatally shot himself. The lawsuit contends that Christopher and Roberta Laundrie concealed that their son had confessed to the killing from investigators and Petito's parents while the search for Gabby Petito was ongoing. "In doing so, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie acted with malice or great indifference to the rights" of Joseph Petito and Nicole Schmidt, Petito's parents, the lawsuit claims. The filing calls that conduct "shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community." The lawsuit, which seeks damages of at least $30,000, adds that the Laundries were "making arrangements" for their son to leave the country. No evidence was included to back up this claim. An attorney for the Laundries, Steven Bertolino, said in a text message Friday that his clients were fully within their rights not to talk. He also denied the lawsuit's claims in general. "This lawsuit does not change the fact that the Laundries had no obligation to speak to law enforcement or any third party including the Petito family," Bertolino said. "This fundamental legal principle renders the Petitos' claims to be baseless under the law." (Read more Gabby Petito stories.) (Newser) Legislation prohibiting Georgia schools from teaching nine racial and ethnic concepts it defines as divisive has passed the state Senate. The bill cleared 32-20 on Friday, CNN reports, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats no, and goes next to the House. The measure also would apply to training in state agencies. Republicans in other states are pursuing similar legislation. The movement was sparked by the uproar over "critical race theory," which isn't taught in Georgia schools anyway, per WXIA. The prohibited concepts include that one race or ethnicity is inherently superior to another and that the US and Georgia are "fundamentally or systemically racist." It specifies that teachers would not be allowed to make students feel demeaned or guilty because of their race, skin color or ethnicity. The legislature has four similar bills before it, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This one would withhold up to 10% of schools' funding for violations. Colleges and universities also could be docked, but the bill doesn't specify how much. Another bill would penalize schools up to 20% of their funding. The sponsor of one of them said history could still be taught but teachers would not be allowed to include their political beliefs. GOP Rep. Bill Wade said he worked with school board and teacher groups on the bill, but they've said they're opposed to his bill. "All this bill does is muzzle our teachers and make them into a straw man for political gain from the true divisive voices in our communities, said Democratic Rep. Matthew Wilson, a former elementary teacher. "This bill is whiter than the paper it's printed on," said the lawmaker, who is white. (Read more Georgia stories.) (Newser) Prince Harry said earlier this year he wouldn't be returning to the UK anytime soon, due to a lack of security detail for him and his family, and he apparently meant iteven if it means he'll miss his grandfather's memorial service. Per People, a spokesman for the prince, who now lives in California with his wife, Meghan Markle, and their two children, said Friday that Harry, 37, won't be attending the March 29 event at Westminster Abbey in London for Prince Philip, who died April 9 of last year at the age of 99. Harry did attend Philip's funeral last April, which allowed only 30 guests due to COVID restrictions. The Duke of Sussex's rep added that Harry hopes to get back to the UK as soon as possible to visit with his grandmother, 95-year-old Queen Elizabeth II. Today notes that Harry last visited the UK in July of last year, when he and his brother, Prince William, unveiled a statue of their mother, Princess Diana, to mark her 60th birthday. France 24 reports some aren't pleased with the prince's decision to skip his grandfather's service, with the Sun tabloid deeming it Harry's "Phil snub." Royal biographer Angela Levin goes a step further, calling Harry's skipping of the service "blackmail" after his royal protection detail was pulled. The prince "has snubbed the Duke of Edinburgh ... but really he is snubbing the queen," Levin sniffed. Some want to know why the prince won't go to England but will head to the Netherlands in April for the Invictus Games he founded. Chris Ship, the royal editor for ITV News, tweets that Harry has "concluded he isn't safe in UK without the access to intelligence he has asked for." (Read more Prince Harry stories.) (Newser) Croatian officials criticized NATO on Saturday for what they said was its slow reaction to a Soviet-era military drone that apparently flew from the Ukrainian war zone through the airspace of three NATO member states, before crashing in the Croatian capital. The Russian-made unmanned aircraft crossed Romania and Hungary before entering Croatia and slamming late Thursday into a field near a student dormitory, the AP reports. Some 40 parked cars were damaged, but no one was injured after a loud blast. NATO said its integrated air and missile defense had tracked the object's flight path. But the Croatian prime minister said that the country's authorities were not informed and that NATO reacted only after questions were posed by journalists. "We cannot tolerate this situation, nor should it have ever happened," Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at the crash site. "This was a pure and clear threat and both NATO and the EU should have reacted," he said. "We will work to raise the readiness not only of us but of others as well." Plenkovic said a Tu-141 "Strizh" reconnaissance drone flew for over 40 minutes over Hungary and six to seven minutes over Croatia before crashing. Romania said the drone was in its airspace for only three minutes after crossing from Ukraine, making it hard to intercept. "This could have fallen on the nuclear power plant in Hungary. Obviously there was no good reaction and other countries did not react well. Now we have a test from which we have to learn and react much better," Plenkovic said. Both Russia and Ukraine have denied they launched the drone. Military experts say Ukraine is the only known current operator of the Tu-141, which has a wingspan of nearly 12 feet and weighs just over 6 tons. (Read more Croatia stories.) Local Gordner reflects on two years since COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. Gordner Longtime state legislator John R. Gordner, who described March 12, 2020, as what felt like the end of the world, said the number of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania have significantly decreased over the past couple months following a huge surge during the winter months. During an interview Friday afternoon, the senator, a Republican from Berwick who represents constituents in the 27th senatorial district, reflected on the second anniversary of the pandemic. At the moment, COVID-19 is night and day compared to two to three months ago when there was a huge surge over the winter months, Gordner said. The senator said there were 25,000 reported COVID-19 cases per day in the state during the winter months compared to 1,000 to 1,500 cases per day in the past seven to 10 days. He outlined the COVID-19 onslaught in March 2020 to the present situation. My wife and I were in Florida from March 4 to March 11, 2020, Gordner said. Everything was fairly normal during our stay in Florida and our flight home. But when we got home on March 12, 2020, it was the day the world ended. The stock market dropped, professional sports games were canceled and the NCAA basketball tournament was shut down. It was unlike any other time in the state legislature. He added, Weve been through floods and hurricanes over the years, but nothing compares to what weve been through the past two years. At the outset of the pandemic in March 2020, Gordner said House and Senate members and Gov. Tom Wolf worked together in a unified effort to combat the virus. But by the end of March, he said Wolf started making unilateral decisions without asking for advice from senators and state representatives in leadership positions. Gov. Wolf would only give us two to three hours notice before he would issue orders, Gordner said. Things got a lot more difficult and challenging in Harrisburg as time went on. Gordner said all businesses, especially smaller ones, were either ordered by the governor to shut down completely or went through the red, yellow and green phases of operation implemented by Wolf. It was frustrating and there were unrealistic expectations placed on counties by the governor, especially for people living in rural areas that didnt have a large amount of COVID-19 cases, the senator said. Everyone was being treated the same no matter where you lived in the state. Gordner said things remained challenging at the state Capitol for the rest of 2020 through 2021. He pointed out a constitutional amendment approved by voters in May 2021 gave legislators a say in declaring state of emergencies. Prior to the amendment, the governor had the power to declare state of emergencies without approval from the House and Senate. Now, state of emergencies, which can last only 21 days, can only be extended by the House and Senate. We were the only state in the country that didnt allow people to buy, sell or lease cars, and make real estate transactions during the pandemic, Gordner said. Decisions were made solely by the governor during the pandemic that should have included members of the Senate and House, who are closer to the people they represent than the governor, Gordner said. From the outset of COVID-19, the senator said decisions regarding students and teachers wearing masks and virtual and in-person instruction in the states 500 school districts should have been made by school boards rather than the governor. He also said county commissioners should have been granted the power to make decisions regarding COVID-19 issues from the beginning of the pandemic. Gordner said he and his immediate family have received both vaccinations and booster shots to protect them against contracting COVID. Fortunately, none of us have gotten COVID, he said. Gordners senatorial district covers Columbia, Montour, Northumberland and Snyder counties, and parts of Luzerne County. Prior to becoming a senator in November 2003, Gordner was a member of the House of Representatives, beginning in 1993. He was appointed majority caucus administrator in 2011. The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected all businesses, especially restaurants, during the past two years. Joe Gallina, owner of Original Italian Pizza (OIP) and Restaurant, 150 E. Independence St., Shamokin, said the two-year pandemic has forced him to cut hours and lose part-time workers at his business, although hes been able to retain most of his full-time employees. He said the restaurant was closed for four days in December 2021 due to the pandemic, but he said business has been steady during the past couple months. Chrissy Geiswite, longtime general manager at OIP, said the business has experienced problems securing supplies for better quality products and pointed out that the prices of food products are outrageous. She said the high cost of food products coupled with a drop off in business during the past two years have led to price increases at the popular, family-owned and family-oriented business, particularly during the peak of the pandemic. Geiswite said takeout service has increased during the pandemic. She said masks remain optional for customers and staff at the business, although she noted most of the waitresses still wear face coverings. Gallina, who owns the business with his wife, Candy, said sanitizing stations are located throughout the restaurant and all tables, chairs, booths and kitchen facilities are thoroughly cleaned. Geiswite said the restaurants busiest seasons are spring and fall along with holidays. Geiswite said, We have our good days and bad days, just like every other restaurant. Were hoping things get back to normal soon, but the pandemic has made life miserable for a lot of people, including restaurant owners and employees. Original Italian Pizza and Restaurant, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary in November in downtown Shamokin, employs approximately 35 workers. Business hours at OIP are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Please purchase a subscription read this premium content. If you have a subscription, please sign up for a digital website account or log in. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa yesterday termed the global honour conferred upon her as an appreciation for Bahrain for its effective role in achieving security, peace and development and protecting and promoting human rights. Princess Sabeeka, Wife of HM the King and President of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW), also renewed her gratitude for HM the Kings unwavering care, without which the achievement could not have been possible. HRH Princess Sabeeka was on top of the Contemporary and Historical Women Leadership Initiative launched during UNESCO launching the International Day of Women in Multilateralism 2022. European Union delegation to the UN and the Permanent Mission of Gabon made the announcement. In a cable to HM the King, HRH Princess Sabeeka expressed pride in the achievements and dedication of Bahraini women, affirming her unwavering support to continue bringing about more successes. HRH Princess Sabeeka also attributed the success to HM the King, as nothing could have been possible without HMs support. The global honour, HRH Princess Sabeeka said, "reflects Bahrains distinguished status and role in achieving security, peace and development, as well as in protecting and promoting the human rights system." The achievements could not have been possible without the constant care of HM the King and the support of Bahraini competencies and experts in all fields. "I would like to express utmost thanks and appreciation to the Government of Bahrain, led by our dear son, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for his exceptional efforts, the SCW, and Bahraini women. HRH Princess Sabeeka also thanked all state departments, entities and persons, including civil institutions and media platforms. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com An African national charged with killing his roommate and attempting to stab six others will learn his fate this Thursday. Court files say the man unleashed terror after suspecting his roommate of tricking him into accepting an undesirable job. Incidents leading to the case started with a friend of the suspect in his hometown offering him a job in Bahrain in return for BD1,600. The initial deal was to sign a three-month contract for taking up the job in Bahrain. But things went south after arriving in the Kingdom. The suspect told the court that he had to wait at the airport for hours before someone came to pick him up. Besides, the company also forced him to pay BD20 for arranging accommodation. Things went further worse when the company, instead of a three-month contract, offered a three-year contract, to which he had to agree. And to add insult to the injury, his roommates mistreated him, the suspect said, when he returned. Narrating the day's incidents to interrogators, he said, "I was thirsty and was looking for some water." "But couldn't find any." "So, I resorted to asking one of my roommates, "where I could get water." "He, however, started yelling at me for no reason. "His unfair rants made me lose my temper. "In a fit of rage, I grabbed a knife and stabbed him several times," the defendant told prosecutors. Court files say the suspect then tried to take his own life using the murder weapon but failed as, by that time, other roommates pounced on him and knocked him to the ground. During the melee, the suspect also attempted to stab them too. But the roommates overpowered and disarmed him before handing him over to the police officers. Russias invasion of Ukraine continues to hold the attention of the world and local students as the escalation of the conflict in eastern Europe shows little sign of slowing down anytime soon. Not surprisingly, discussions held in Danbury-area classrooms on the unfolding crisis take different forms at different age levels, and in different school districts; but from preschool to the college level, the flood of news reports, images, and videos on all aspects of the conflict makes the opportunity for engagement on the matter hard to avoid all together. Even for the most media conscious households, our youngest students may likely be exposed to this news from television and social media platforms, Brookfield Superintendent John Barile said in a letter to parents last week. Included in his letter, Barile offered resources to parents to help guide conversations with their children at home and laid out parameters for how the districts schools would approach discussions in the classroom. Naturally, some of our students may desire to further understand, explore and discuss this event at school, he added. As is always the case, based on age and developmental level, please know that this event will not be addressed directly. In New Fairfield, the invasion has come up in class discussions, even at the elementary level, with the community sending strength and positive thoughts for the Ukraine people, Superintendent Pat Cosentino said. Different classes go in deeper depending on the age of the students, she said. [Theres been] a lot of talk about democracy and the importance of freedom and how were lucky we live in the United States of America. Bethel Schools Superintendent Christine Carver noted the conflict has fostered discussions in history classes at the towns high school. Its been a nice opportunity for teachers to explain the history and why the world has responded in the way they have, NATO, the economic pieces, Carver said. Kids have been asking about it. Going a step further than classroom discussions, Danbury Superintendent Kevin Walston said his district would welcome refugees from Ukraine. It goes without saying, our doors will be open if the opportunity presents itself to provide a safe haven for the Ukraine community, he said. Quite frankly, I hope those request come through so we can help this international challenge. Danbury would be privileged to be part of the solution. At the college level The depth and context of school-led discussions naturally increase at the college level, helping in part to explain how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has become such an important topic for students of all ages while offering practical advice on how to get beyond the wars headlines. Jessica Schofield is an assistant professor of political science at Western Connecticut State University who holds a Ph.D. in subject. She said last week she has made a point to engage her students on the conflict and is impressed with the level of interest shown by many of her students. I have been surprised at how many of my students have been actively following the news, it has been all over social media and sites like Reddit so they are bringing in a lot of details that they have come across in their own research on it, Schofield said. Fueling the interest are the seemingly infinite number of available sources covering all angles of the invasion and its corresponding humanitarian crisis; but, as Schofield noted, other factors drive a heightened interest in Russias invasion of Ukraine. I am teaching a class on African politics this semester so we talked about [the] question of why this conflict is getting so much attention when we could look at wars all over the world that are happening right now, she said. Part of the answer comes with Russia taking a more prominent rank in Americans awareness of the world, explained Schofield. And Russian culture has more similarities with American culture and its a war in Europe, and most of us think of Europe as a pretty stable, safe place, she added. Ukraine is entirely in Europe, so this is actually an invasion of a European country which is pretty rate in world politics. When it comes to informing classroom discussion, the political science professor said she encourages her students to sacrifice the instant nature brought by social media reports in lieu of published news sites from different countries like The New York Times and the BBC. Its tough because using social media and blog sites is that you get so much instantaneous information but obviously its going to be better to get it from reliable news sources, Schofield said. There is going to be a delay of information, but it is going to be verified before its put up. Other practical advice goes beyond the intake of daily news reports. I keep reminding my students that we are going to hear a lot about [Russian President] Putin and we have been hearing a lot about [Ukrainian President] Zelenskyy, but those are just two people at the top, Schofield said. This affects entire countries, so look into trying to learn just more about Ukraine and Russia if you dont know about them to just try to get a sense of what is going on. Julia Perkins contributed to this report. H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media DANBURY A 38-year old Danbury man was arrested on multiple drug-related charges after officers with a court-authorized search and seizure warrant conducted a search of his car, according to police. At about 3 p.m. March 7, detectives from the Special Investigations Division and members of the Patrol Division executed the warrant regarding the sale of illegal drugs, including prescription opioid medication, in the city, police said. Despite failing to bag even a single seat in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party is set to hold victory rallies in Uttar Pradesh. AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that party leaders will hold victory parades across Uttar Pradesh to celebrate their resounding win in the Punjab Assembly polls. He added that the AAPs victory in Punjab shows that people are accepting the party as a national alternative and want it to clean politics using the broom, i.e the election symbol of the AAP. The party will also hold district and state executive meetings in Lucknow on March 23 and 24 to discuss the partys performance in the elections. Latest reports say that the expansion of the party organisation within the state will also be on the agenda. In Uttar Pradesh, AAP contested all 403 Assembly seats, but won 0 seats. While the party registered an impressive win in Punjab, it struggled to maintain a stronghold in states like Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Uttarakhand wherein it bagged 0, 2, 0 seats respectively. Hence, it seems like it will be a long journey ahead for the Aam Aadmi Party. It will have to expand its base further and quicker, considering that the countdown for 2024 elections has already started. While the assembly elections for Gujarat are scheduled to take place in December this year, reports are rife that Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann will be visiting the poll-bound state in the first week of April to participate in the Tiranga Yatra and sound a poll bugle. Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann will be visiting Gujarat in the first week of April and participate in the partys Tiranga Yatra in the state. After a historic win in Punjab polls, the Aam Aadmi Party is now gearing up for Gujarat. While the assembly elections are scheduled to take place in Gujarat towards the end of this year, political parties, including AAP, are leaving no stone unturned to turn the tides in their favour. Latest reports suggest that Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann will be visiting Gujarat in the first week of April and participate in the partys Tiranga Yatra in the state. AAPs Gujarat-in-charge Gulab Singh, speaking to a news portal, said that the Aam Aadmi Party is gearing up to organize Tiranga Yatras in different districts of Gujarat. Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann will take part in the Tiranga Yatra, which is scheduled in April. Singh also revealed that Bhagwant Mann has invited members of the partys Gujarat unit, including Gopal Italia and Manoj Sorathiya, for his oath taking ceremony. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently on a 2-day visit to Gujarat. On day 1 of his visit, he conducted a roadshow in Ahmedabad, followed by an address at Gujarat Panchayat Mahasammelan. Speaking at the convocation address at Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar today, which is day 2 of his visit, PM spoke about the importance of technology in security apparatus and called for the training of police manpower. On the sidelines, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today asked Congress Gujarat unit to come up with a vision for Gujarat. In his address at Chintan Shibir, a three day conclave organised by Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee, RaGa said that they must show people their vision for Gujarat, communicate how they want to change the state, what they are going to do for the people of Gujarat and simultaneously project 25 people that implement these changes. Read Also: Yogi Adityanath meets President Ram Nath Kovind in Delhi Contact us : Facebook The fire has been brought under control and seven bodies have been recovered by the fire department. Seven people have died in the fire that broke out in the shanties of Gokulpuri area in Delhi last night. As per Delhi fire service, the fire has been brought under control and seven bodies have been recovered by the fire department. Reacting to the tragic incident, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that he heard about the tragic incident this morning and he will visit the area and meet the affected families. As per reports, a fire call was received in the wee hours of Saturday from Gokulpuri village in Delhi. A total of 13 fire tenders rushed to the site. Around 60 huts caught fire. The cause of the incident is yet to discovered. Additional DCP of North East Delhi said that there was a fire incident in Gokulpuri PS area at 1 am. Immediately teams were rushed to the spot with all rescue equipment. They also contacted the fire department that responded very well. The fire was doused by around 4 am. However, 30 shanties were burned and 7 lives were lost in the incident. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari has expressed grief over the incident and demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter. He has also asked the Kejriwal government to announce an assistance of Rs 1 crore for the kin of the dead. He added that arrangements should be made and proper compensation should be given to all the victims. He is also on his way to Gokulpuri to meet the kin of the bereaved families. Calling it a mandate for development and a blessing from the people, Yogi Adityanath said that the double engine government created a safe environment. Yogi Adityanath is all set to kickstart his second term as the Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh after BJPs historic win in assembly elections. Reports suggest that Yogi Adityanath will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda in the national capital tomorrow. In the meeting, a list of cabinet ministers will be prepared. According to sources, Shrikant Sharma and Baby Rani Maurya are probable frontrunners in the race to become next deputy chief ministers. In the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, which were held in 7 phases, BJP has emerged as the single largest party by winning 255 seats out of the total 403 seats. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party showed considerable improvement from 2017 elections by retaining 111 seats. INC and BSP settled their score by securing 2 and 1 seat respectively. Yogi Adityanath, who won Gorakhpur Urban seat with a margin of over 50,000 votes, thanked the voters on Friday and said that everyone had their eyes on UP considering the vastness of the state. Calling it a mandate for development and a blessing from the people, Yogi Adityanath said that the double engine government created a safe environment. Speaking at BJP HQ after registering a massive win in UP, UK, Goa and Manipur, PM Modi had emphasised that 2022 has decided the results of 2024 elections. Calling it a verdict of Indias bright future that goes beyond caste politics, PM Modi added that casteism is a major cause of worry for countrys future and the assembly election results proves peoples belief on BJPs neeyat, niti and nirnay. India has taken a measured and responsible stance at the UNSC by calling for the adherence to the full and effective implementation of the bio-weapons convention in letter and in spirit. The bio-warfare faceoff reached UNSC on Friday with a war of words that has erupted between Russia and the United States over bioweapons in Ukraine. While Russia claimed that the United States is funding military biological activities in Ukraine and secretly developing bio-weapons, the US countered such claims by saying that it is Russia that has long maintained a bio-weapon program. It added that Russias claims could be a pretext for their own potential bio-attack. China too has waded into the controversy and backed Russias claims, by claiming that the US is experimenting with bat-coronaviruses in Ukraine. Global Times has published articles on US-funded bio programs, which backs the bat coronavirus angle. Amidst this, India took a measured and responsible stance at the UNSC, calling for the adherence to the full and effective implementation of the bio-weapons convention in letter and in spirit. Indias UN ambassador at the UNSC TS Tirumurti said that India has repeatedly expressed serious concern over the ongoing situation. It has noted the recent statements and wider information on bio-activities relating to Ukraine and would like to underline the importance attached by India to biological and toxic weapon convention. TS Tirumurti added that it is important to ensure full and effective implementation of the BTWC In letter and spirit, matters relating to obligations should be addressed as per provisions of the convention and this should be done through consultation and cooperation between parties concerned. The bio-weapons convention is the first multilateral disarmament treaty to ban weapons of mass destruction. It bans an entire category of mass destruction, i.e biological weapons. The US, Ukraine and Russia signed the treaty in 1972 and ratified in 1975. The bio-weapons convention prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer and stockpiling of bio-weapons. Read Also: CWC meet: Congress reaffirms faith in Sonia Gandhis leadership Contact US : Facebook Russia Ukraine war has entered its 17th day today with no resolution in sight. The situation remains critical in Ukrainian crities like Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv in others. Reports coming in from Ukraine suggest that explosions are being heard in Kyiv and heavy fighting is taking place outside the cities of Kyiv. Ukraine has claimed that Russia has kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov and there is a high probability that Russia may intensify missile strikes and shelling. Amid fears of a fresh round of Russian invasion, US and its allies have imposed new sanctions on Russia. It has announced further actions against Russian elites, exports of US luxury goods to Russia and Belarus and an import ban on Russian alcohol, seafood and non-industrial diamonds. However, Biden once again clarified that US will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine. In a televised address, Joe Biden said that he discussed the ongoing security, humanitarian and economic assistance for Ukrainians with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy. Biden assured that US will defend every inch of NATO territory with full might of a united and galvanised NATO but it will not fight a direct war with Russia as a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia would be World War 3 and that is something that must be prevented. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters day 17, a stalemate between the two countries is nowhere to be found. The Russian forces have now moved closer to Ukraines capital Kiev and encircled civilian areas and other Ukrainian cities. This situation is also grim in the southern Ukraines Mariupol, which is under constant Russian shelling. Mariupol has been without water or power for 11 days. The citys mayor has said that the city is being shelled every 30 minutes. The latest satellite images show Russian military units continuing to deploy closer to Kyiv and actively firing artillery towards residential areas. In one of the images, one can see an artillery battalion actively firing in a Southeasterly direction. Multispectral and natural colour images show destroyed homes, impact craters and fires in town of Moschun. Other images show people and long line of cars trying to leave Kyiv. Ukraine has claimed that Russia has kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov and there is a high probability that Russia may intensify missile strikes and shelling. As the west rushes to impose new sanctions on Russia, Joe Biden has ruled out the possibility of fighting a direct war with Russia over Ukraine. Biden said that US will defend every inch of NATO territory with full might of a united and galvanised NATO but it will not fight a direct war with Russia as a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia would be World War 3 and that is something that must be prevented. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media A New Haven man was sentenced to five years in prison for distributing crack cocaine, according to federal prosecutors. The sentencing stems from a law enforcement investigation into narcotics trafficking in the Hill section of the city. The investigation, which was conducted by the FBI New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force and the New Haven Police Department, included court-authorized wiretaps and controlled purchases of crack, according to Leonard Boyle, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HAMDEN You can be excused if perhaps you didnt notice Orale Tacos open a few months back on a busy stretch of Dixwell Avenue, in a storefront that used to be a fast-food Japanese hibachi restaurant. Orale opened at 1370 Dixwell (corner of Lexington Street) in the midst of the pandemic. Fans of authentic Mexican food might want to stop the next time. The menu includes spiced pork tacos al pastor, properly garnished with pineapple, some enchiladas in mole (spiced chocolate-based) or verde (tomatillo) sauce and a nice, cool Agua de Horchata (spiced rice) or Jamaica (hibiscus) drink. The authentic Mexican food comes from a place co-owned by a Guatemalan man and his Jackson Heights, Queens-raised Ecuadorian brother-in-law, who runs the place with his wife, who is Colombian and Chilean but was born in Greece and raised in Spain. Why a Mexican restaurant? Ive worked in Mexican restaurants for about 10 years I really know the flavor of what a certain dish should taste like, said Juan Vicuna, 29, the Ecuador native who owns Orale Tacos with his Guatemalan-born brother-in-law, Edy Osorio. Besides, everyone loves Mexican food, Vicuna said. Orale is pretty homey, too, with Vicuna and his wife, Priscila Salasar whom he met when she worked at a Peruvian restaurant in Bayside, Queens both working in the kitchen with a third cook, who is originally from Guatemala and their son, Yireh, 5, sitting at the register some days, playing video games on his mothers smart phone. He stays home other days when his grandmother comes to visit, Vicuna said. Why open in Hamden? My sister lives here, said Vicuna, who lived in Queens, where he last worked as a bartender, before coming to Connecticut during the pandemic. His brother-in-law also lives in Hamden but runs a restaurant by the same name Orale Tacos in Astoria, Queens. Besides, since I moved to Connecticut, I havent seen a Latin place around here, he said. After being out of work for a few weeks at the start of the pandemic, Vicuna said he realized that the commercial rents were not nearly as high in Hamden as they are in New York. We opened this place seven months ago, he said. So far, Orale the name is Mexican/Chicano slang for hell yeah!, right on! or all right! has attracted mostly Hispanic people, although we get white people, dark people, Asian people, Vicuna said. Most of the Hispanic people tend to eat in while, during the pandemic, many of the others have ordered take-out probably a good thing up to this point, because it only has seven tables indoor. This past week,Vicuna and a helper did some carpentry and painting for an outdoor dining area with four tables in front that Orale will put to use once it gets warm enough. Vicuna said his personal favorite dish is the tacos al pastor, and weve had lots of people come in who say they were recommended and were told to order al pastor. While not on the current menu, the spiced pork for tacos al pastor also can be ordered in enchiladas and burritos, he said. What he likes about Orale Tacos food is that first of all, its fresh. Our dishes, our preps are all done fresh every two or three days rather than thawed from something frozen, he said. With the one exception of seafood, I dont freeze anything, Vicuna said. For now, Orale Tacos hasnt begun serving margaritas or Mexican beer although if the menu is any indication, you can problably expect to see them at some point. Right now, were trying to focus on the food, he said. The drinks may come later. Vicuna said it probably is important for (people) to know that everything on the menu, I prepare as if I was making it for myself. So far, customers who currently rate Orale Tacos four and a half stars on Yelp seem to agree with him. Omg! Authentic, delicious Mexican food in Hamden!! wrote Adrienne D. from Madison in Orales most recent Yelp review. This is a dangerous discovery. We had tacos and burritos and everything exceeded our expectations. Im really looking forward to trying out the rest of the menu! So good!!!!!!!!!!!!!! M.D. of Hamden was even more effusive. This is some of the best Mexican food Ive had in the area! he or she wrote. Since its opened weve ordered from here at least once or twice a week. Fish tacos, mole or green chile enchiladas, chorizo tacos & spinach empanadas were my favorite. The hibiscus juice is also excellent, M.D. wrote. Owners are super nice & service is excellent. Im telling all of my friends about this place! mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com Contributed Photo / Hartford Police Department HARTFORD Two people were in critical condition after their sedan was partially trapped under a box truck in an accident early Saturday, police said. At about 3:18 a.m., Hartford police were dispatched to Sigourney Street and Collins Street on a report of a serious motor vehicle accident with injuries, according to a police statement. BRIDGEPORT A 39-year-old Meriden man was sentenced to eight years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport for narcotics distribution and firearm possession offenses, prosecutors announcned Friday. The prison term for Jonathan Rivers will be followed by four years of supervised release, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Leonard C. Boyle. Rivers was arrested by Meriden police on Feb. 26, 2020, after a search of a disabled vehicle on his property turned up more than 575 grams of cocaine; more than 44 grams of crack cocaine; more than 52 grams of fentanyl; more than 26 grams of heroin; and 690 grams of marijuana as well as a Highpoint .40-caliber handgun, a Smith and Wesson 44 Magnum revolver, and a Romanian 9mm handgun, along with 18 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition, the statement said. A quantity of crack cocaine was also found in a vehicle Rivers had driven earlier that day, the statement said. Rivers pleaded guilty on Sept. 29 to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and 40 grams or more of fentanyl, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, the statement said. He is free on $250,000 bond and is required to report to prison on April 25, the statement said. According to the U.S. attorneys office, Rivers has previously been convicted of robbery, kidnapping and drug offenses. It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce. christine.derosa@hearstmediact.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NEW HAVEN The city promoted 10 officers to detective Friday evening, nearly restoring the bureau to its budgeted strength as officials seek to bring greater focus to bear on gun violence in New Haven. Maegan Moran, Samantha Romano, Allyn Wright, Larnell Jackson, Bleck Joseph, Paul Vakos, Gregory Dash, Stephen Jacques, Christopher Boyle and John Moore were raised to their new rank and honored with a ceremony at Wilbur Cross High School. At this weeks police commission meeting, Interim Chief Renee Dominguez praised the hard work and skill of the officers. In offering plaudits, among other compliments, she said Moran is one of the best investigators on the departments crash team; Jackson understands community policing at a deep level and is called on to work with young people in Newhallville; Joseph, in his work on the regional shooting task force, was entrusted with a homicide investigation; Dash has saved multiple lives with his ability to tie an effective tourniquet; Jacques worked tirelessly in the departments pistol permit unit, helping address a backlog that built up during the coronavirus pandemic. Its just a phenomenal group of individuals that you have here in front of you, said Dominguez. Commissioners also praised the candidates, noting that they enjoyed their interviews with the prospective candidates. These candidates were outstanding, said Commissioner Donald Walker. They were very impressive. This was a very impressive group, and I think theyll do outstanding work when they get into the detective bureau. With the promotions, the department now has 50 detectives on staff, leaving four budgeted positions within the bureau unfilled, Dominguez said at a press briefing earlier in the week. Raising the officers to the new rank, she said, helps morale, as officers are able to further their professional prospects, and help stabilize the operations of the department. Many of the officers being promoted had already been doing some version of detective work, she said, and have a really good basis for what investigations look like, albeit on a smaller scale. Theyre really going to be able to hit the ground running, said Dominguez. Im really excited. Mayor Justin Elicker said he was very enthusiastic about the promotions, noting the city needs to do a better job of solving shootings and homicides. Dominguez said successful detectives, in particular, need to be able to communicate effectively with people and build relationships, from witnesses to residents to suspects. Every single one of these individuals have that ability, and they do it well, said Dominguez. The new detectives, as well as the next 10 on the civil service list, will attend a detective school next week, Dominguez said. The course, held in conjunction with the state attorneys office, is designed to aid them in filling in gaps of their knowledge about the role. The classes also include a mock trial, Dominguez noted, allowing them to become more used to testifying in court proceedings. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com Niagara Falls, NY (14301) Today Cloudy. Periods of rain this morning. High 59F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Mostly clear. Low around 40F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. The President, Muhammadu Buhari, has broken his silence over the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress. In a statement by his S... The President, Muhammadu Buhari, has broken his silence over the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress. In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Garba Shehu, the president warned the leaders and members of APC to desist from name-calling and backstabbing. He reiterated that the partys national convention would hold on March 26. The president urged APC members to remain steadfast and maintain unity if the party is to continue in the path of victory and its dominance at all levels throughout the country. The statement also quoted Buhari as asking members of the party to look at the once-powerful, main opposition Peoples Democratic Party now enfeebled and adrift and learn lessons in disunity, mismanagement and corruption. He said, They (PDP) failed in 16 years in power and a failure as opposition. Yes, we are entitled to our own share of dissent and intra-party discord. These are common in all parties, left and right all over the world. But parties splintered by competing egos destine themselves to the worst possible fate. As the country prepares for the long run-up to the 2023 presidential election, we all expect a robust debate on the issues that matter and what is going in the APC should be a reflection of this, not the infighting we are seeing. There must be no more distractions ahead of the convention to choose new leaders. He claimed that APC started out with a confidence of victory and enjoyed confidence in nearly two-thirds of Nigerias 36 states. This is a party that has been in existence barely for eight years, becoming the dominant party because it has thrown open its doors to defectors from other parties, big and small. This alone, in addition to the fact that we didnt start on the note of arrogance of power, nor see government as a vehicle for self-aggrandisement, to be held at all costs, but a vehicle to bring development to all without discrimination-political, ethnic or regional to our dear country made this success possible. Given all that is at a stake, we can expect contests into offices as we are now faced with to be heated although candidates and their promoters for party offices are not so much debating policy differences but differences of management, personality, character, and suitability for the most important leadership roles in our country and therefore the continent. The president, however, blamed the role of the media in the crisis rocking the party. He said, It is equally clear that over the last week or so, the internal management affairs of the APC have been afforded generous media coverage over and above its importance to the voters of Nigeria. It is important to ask what benefits the poor are getting during the period of intense negative coverage. When precisely the partys convention is held and who is the partys chairman is hardly a matter for the average voter: vastly more important is who convention delegates will elect as the partys flagbearer in the coming weeks to take forward the partys platform to the people in the general election in February next year. It is therefore important for the media to put such matters into perspective. No one is debating policy differences here. That is for the general election. None of the declared aspirants and any of those that may step forward will change because of who may be in the party in the chairmans seat. It is essentially the same party. Of course, the media are welcome to comment on the content of the character of the potential APC candidates; discuss their suitability for leadership; scrutinize their offer to the membership. But to focus on the routine internal divisions and magnify them into what they have become today is a waste of everyones time, amounting to no more than a discussion over seating arrangements. This is not what Nigerians talk of in their communities. They have an inclination only for things that matter. Details later Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister, has criticized Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State over his comment on the removal of Gove... Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister, has criticized Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State over his comment on the removal of Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, as the acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Fani-Kayode described El-Rufais comment that President Muhammadu Buhari approved Bunis removal as APC acting Chairman as baseless and unwarranted. The Kaduna State Governor said his Yobe State counterpart would not continue as the acting Chairman of the ruling party. El-Rufai said Buhari approved Bunis removal before he embarked on his medical vacation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He also alleged that the Yobe State Governor had concluded plans to scuttle the partys national convention through frivolous court injunction. However, Fani-Kayode dismissed the claims made by El-Rufai. Appearing on Channels Television on Friday, the former Minister doubted if the President ever approved Bunis removal. He said: I was not there when the President ordered the removal of Buni. Neither was he there. I doubt very much if the President would do that, to listen to one side and ignore the order. I doubt if he would do that without following the law. The APC chieftain insisted that El-Rufai was wrong to have discussed such matters on national television. I have never seen a situation where the minister or governor or even party chairman would come on national TV and say the President has endorsed someone and everybody ought to sit down. The President of this country is a democratic, decent person who would never act that way. Even if the President told them that, it is not right for El-Rufai to come on national TV and disclose that or begin to paint the President as if he were kind of a dictator. We are in a country of laws which must be regarded. If the President wants to remove Buni, we would do it according to the law, he said. Whatever does not kill, as they say, makes one stronger. So, when circumstances happen to us mortals, most of the time, it is how we react... Whatever does not kill, as they say, makes one stronger. So, when circumstances happen to us mortals, most of the time, it is how we react or respond to them that matters. This seems to be the situation with Nigerias ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), today. Since its historic victory in the 2015 presidential election, the APC does not seem to have mastered the art of managing victories. For the most part, it still looks like or behaves like an opposition party. Ive never seen a ruling party in Africa more bullied than the APC. In some cases, APC members are made to feel helpless, hapless, and abandoned. Apart from basking in the glory of being in power, APC members dont really feel so. In June 2020, at a meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, the partys National Executive Council (NEC) dissolved its National Working Committee (NWC). One would have expected this should have been a once-and-for-all solution to the lingering litigation and numerous crises facing the party. This was not to be. Even though NEC set up Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) with just one job to usher in newly elected party leaders, the Mai Mala Buni-led team is yet to deliver two years later. One then wonders why? Is the APC under some sort of spiritual spell? Are they on a deliberate journey to implosion? Noticing some dangerous political games by some CECPC members, governors elected on the partys platform quickly gave the president and overall leader the heads up. The Buni-led team seems compromised. The constant attempts to prevent the convention from taken place became suspicious and for good reasons. Werent they just going to conduct the convention by December 2020? How many more months will they need if six months isnt enough time to hold a convention? The Buni-led team started importing ultra-progressive elements, including the irascible Femi Fani-Kayode. A committee that had just one job description to usher in a new set of party executives - soon started finding new jobs for itself to elongate their stay in the office. They started conducting new membership registration: a waste of time and resources, if you ask me. They did anything and everything to buy time. Even though it was clear that the CECPCs continuous stay at the Muhammadu Buhari House portends further danger, APC members pretend that all is well with the party. While some APC members may pretend, others still live with the horror of Zamfara and Rivers happening all over again. If such happened again, it would be the oppositions biggest gain. These fears are founded because the alarm, this time, came earlier. The first time could be taken as stupidity, but the second time will be a disaster! The opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),gave a timely warning recently when its spokesperson, Debo Ologunagba, told us that the APC is not a political party under our laws but a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which became legally nonoperational when, on December 8, 2020, it dissolved its national, state as well as local government structures and handed its affairs over to a team of political undertakers known as the CECPC. The PDPs statement went further to state that APC is operating without an NWC, NEC, or a Board of Trustees (BoT) which means the party is plagued by confusion and fierce infighting by its various warlords with two National Chairmen, multiple factions in the States, and a national secretariat now taken over by security agencies. While one may easily dismiss the PDPs statement as alarmist, the APC has so much to worry about, and for good reasons. The PDP has, technically, not lost power or its old tricks. Old habits die hard. We saw this in full display in Rivers, Zamfara, and Bayelsa states during the 2019 elections. The PDP is not ready to campaign for or win peoples votes in 2023. This is me being brutally honest. It is only banking on APCs mistakes, misjudgments, or some legal technicalities. The party is also expecting the APC to implode. Most of (if not all) those imported into the party from the PDP are cancerous cells with sinister intentions to destroy or weaken the party from within. Like the hyena, the PDP is only ready to be a scavenger instead of a hunter. While nothing is really wrong with scavenging, feeding off of other peoples hard work poses a huge problem. The APC would be soundly deluded to think the PDP is interested in winning the 2023 elections by votes. The PDP fully expects Rivers, Zamfara, and Bayelsa will all repeat themselves at all levels in 2023, leaving APC to wailing! Even though a party with 23 state governors may come across as one that is too big to fall, the PDP does not appear to be leaving any stone unturned in its ambition to take over in 2023. Having lost two consecutive elections, the PDP has realized that taking a great fall from power is always easier than getting back to the top. The example of Mexican Partido Revolucionario Institucional(PRI),which held on to power for an uninterrupted 71 years from 1929 to 2000, winning every presidential election, suffices here. Though it lost power peacefully in 2000, it had to wait another twelve years to return to power at the national level in 2012. So, the thinking that APC may be too big to make such a great fall may have been misplaced. The recent developments within the party and the behavior of some APC leaders should be a cause for concern. The frequent postponement of the extraordinary convention shows that something is not right. At this point, the party must take some decisive actions against people who attempt to sacrifice the party for their immediate political ambitions. Things like that should never be tolerated. I support all actions taken in the past few days to weed out subversive elements from the party. Since the party was formed about eight years ago, it has not undergone any major purges. The APC is now at the moment of truth. Most (if not all) ruling parties face the challenge of managing internal conflicting interests. But, what usually happens is that they either come out stronger or they implode altogether. The APC will need to take this firm decision on or before March 26, 2022! Olalekan Adigun, an Accidental Writer, sent this piece from Lagos. The battle for the soul of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) appears to have been shifted to London, the United Kingdom, as Preside... The battle for the soul of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) appears to have been shifted to London, the United Kingdom, as President Muhammad Buhari will meet with the embattled Chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni. It was gathered that the London meeting, according to a source, will also include the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN). Malami, who had earlier advised the APC against moving to drop Buni as Chairman, has already arrived in London, Friday night, the source confirmed. Buni, on the other side, was billed to travel back to Nigeria Wednesday night from Dubai, the United Arab Emirate, but changed his mind and jetted to the UK, where Buhari is currently enjoying his two weeks medical leave, to explain his own side of the story. Another source also confirmed that the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, will be meeting Buhari. It was not confirmed, as at press time, if Emefiele would be meeting Buhari jointly with the duo of Buni and Malami, or in relation to the recent rumour of his presidential ambition. But another source said Emefiele is in London to brief President Buhari on the current state of Nigerias economy. With the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) calling the APC to order on the illegal change of guard at the national secretariat of the party, the London meeting appears to bring soft landing for the broom party in the 2023 general elections. The All Progressives Congress (APC) says its national convention will hold on March 26 as planned. Ismaeel Ahmed, youth representati... The All Progressives Congress (APC) says its national convention will hold on March 26 as planned. Ismaeel Ahmed, youth representative and spokesperson of the caretaker/extraordinary convention planning committee (CECPC) disclosed this on a Friday at a media briefing in Abuja. Ahmed, who was responding to a letter addressed to the party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said the electoral umpire had been duly informed of the convention. The commission rejected a notice sent by the APC on its national executive committee (NEC) meeting scheduled to take place on March 17. INEC had said the Electoral Act 2022 requires political parties to provide 21 days notice prior to any convention or meeting. Speaking on the development, Ahmed said Tahir Maman, who is in charge of APCs legal department, would respond specifically to the issue of INECs response on the NEC meeting. He added that the electoral body had been served notice of the convention and that there was no issue on the date. Advertisement APC national convention would hold on March 26. Im not only a youth leader, Im also a lawyer. We served a notice to INEC for the 26th of February earlier, he said. We served that notice on February 5 and that was the required 21 days. If you are going to make any adjustment to that date, all you need is a letter making an adjustment to the date. You dont need another 21 days and that letter was written about two weeks ago, when we realised that we couldnt hold it on February 26. The moment the CECPC agreed on March 26 as the date for the national convention, that letter was written to INEC. INEC has accepted that letter. So, that is long gone; its not an issue. It has always been the case; that has never changed, and now we have a convention on March 26. He also confirmed the authenticity of the letter from Mai Mala Buni, governor of Yobe, which requested a leave of absence and for Abubakar Sani Bello, governor of Niger, to take over as APC caretaker committee chairman. These are two emergencies. He had a medical emergency that could not wait for the convention. We have a convention that cannot wait for him to be healthy. So, one has to leave for other, Ahmed said. Governor Bello has been acting appropriately and there is no problem about that. For now, we are doing it with the full authority and backing of the law. So, there is no ambiguity in this. Power by the chairmanship was transmitted to governor Bello and he is fully driving it right now and we are moving towards the convention with the speed that is needed. Olukayode Olugbemi, a clinical psychologist, has told a court that the minor allegedly molested by Baba Ijesha appeared to have been tutor... Olukayode Olugbemi, a clinical psychologist, has told a court that the minor allegedly molested by Baba Ijesha appeared to have been tutored in her narration of what transpired. Baba Ijesha is charged with six counts of indecent treatment of a child, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by penetration. He is undergoing trial before an Ikeja special offences court. According to NAN, Olugbemi spoke while testifying as the third defence witness when the trial resumed on Friday. The pyschologist argued that something is wrong with the footage of an interview conducted by Olabisi Ajayi-Kayode, a rights expert and prosecution witness, with the 14-year-old. Led in evidence by Dada Awosika, the defence counsel, Olugbemi said: There is something wrong with the narration. I think this looks like a story that someone had relayed to her to repeat. There seems to be a deviation from the narration played out. Theres something called Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) in psychology. This inventory will let you know if the child is lying or not. Awosika then asked the pyschologist if it was normal for the narrator (the minor) to go back to the defendant after she had gone to clean herself as claimed by her in the footage. The narrator said he felt the wetness of the defendant after he told her to sit on his lap and later stood up to clean herself in which she later went back to the sitting room to watch television. In your practice, is it normal for the narrator to go back to her abuser? he asked? Responding, Olugbemi said it was not normal as children run to their safe place as they face post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When something like rape or abuse happens, it is supposed to cause trauma. It is called PTSD. The child moves away from the person and does not go back again, he said. One of the things children do when something like this happens is that they go to their safe place. It is either the mothers room or their own room and hide. They do not go back to their abuser. In the encounter I have had in the past, the next time they child sees their abuser, you will see visible fears because it is a traumatic event. It is what she cant hide. Awosika further asked: You saw from the footage that the interviewer brought out two dolls and gave the interviewee to describe the position of the defendant and herself in the sitting room. Is it normal in your profession? In his response, Olugbemi said: It is not normal. There is something called suggestibility. When you talk about PTSD, you intentionally block out memories of the event. It has never happened in my session and I have never seen it in any case. During cross-examination by Babajide Martins, Lagos state director of public prosecutions (DPP), the witness, who admitted this was his first time giving evidence in court, noted that he could not be absolutely certain that the event did not happen. Yes I can not be absolutely certain that the event did not take place. There is no uniform way of handling trauma as individuals have different ways, he added. Oluwatoyin Taiwo, the judge, then adjourned the case to April 1 for the continuation of trial. Some worshippers were abducted when bandits attacked a mosque in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Some worshippers were abducted when bandits attacked a mosque in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Sources revealed that the armed gang struck during evening prayer (Ishai prayer), on Thursday. They surrounded the mosque and abducted 14 people. They also carted away an unspecified number of cattle from Tudun Amada village in, still in Giwa, a resident said. It was learnt that for a long time, bandits have been trying to invade the village, but the vigilante group in the area prevented them from gaining access. Speaking on the recent attack, another resident said, The gunmen divided themselves, while some where operating at the mosque, others moved from house to house thereby abducting more than ten women. Some of them were however busy carting away domestic animals such as cows, sheep and goat numbering hundreds. Our sources reports that as of Friday evening, four people had regained freedom. When contacted, Kaduna State Police Commands Public Relation Officer, Mohammed Jalinge, said he would get back to our reporter, but he had not done so as of the time of filing this report. Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, has said that his administration had in the last seven years in office destroyed the Central ... Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, has said that his administration had in the last seven years in office destroyed the Central Command of terrorists. Ganduje said the development has chased terrorists away from the state. The governor, who linked his efforts in curtailing the lingering attacks and other similar criminalities to the synergy between his government and the security, said other governors across Nigeria should adopt this approach to tackle their individual states security problems. The governor then urged his colleagues to fully and effectively collaborate with security agencies in their respective states to fight terrorism. Ganduje made this known in a paper entitled Challenges of Insecurity and Nation Building, which he presented at the 2020 Alumni Lecture of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association, Worldwide, held at Dame Edith Okowa Auditorium of the university, Friday. He said, Let me emphasise that state governments need to cooperate and work together with security agencies in dealing with the situation (insecurity) at hand. Governor added that Kano has seen the benefits of this synergic engagement with security agencies at different levels. He added, Through it, we were able to identify and destroy the central command of the dreaded terrorists group and dealt a blow to their operations in Kano, amongst other criminalities. On how he was able to achieve that, Ganduje said, They (security) were provided with logistics and equipment and setting-up of a Police Anti-Cattle Rustling Squad, Ambush Squad and Tactical Observation points along the Falgore Forest, which was hitherto the den of rustling. The state government has invested over N1billion on procurement of gadgets and operational vehicles for security operatives in the state. The government has also re-organised Vigilante Groups across the state to enhance community policing and complement efforts of conventional security operatives. Ganduje further appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he said made it possible for the existence of a permanent camp for military training ground where the Nigerian Army holds regular military exercises. Governor Ganduje argued that the menace of insecurity calls for a new approach that would be founded on credible intelligence gathering. His words, Government must not only continue to engage the security personnel, but it must also, more than ever before, recognize the need to devote more attention to security intelligence, capacity building to meet the global best practice standard and acquisition of modern technology. While observing that there is a need to modernize the security agencies with training, intelligence sharing, advanced technology, logistics, motivation and change of orientation, he assured that with such effort operations could be much more effective. There was pandemonium in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State when a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bus went up in flames. The incident happened at th... There was pandemonium in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State when a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bus went up in flames. The incident happened at the Agric, Ikorodu BRT terminal, on Friday. A trending video showed people scampering for safety. The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained as of the time of filing this report even as some people were reportedly rejoicing over the incident. Sources, however, said there was no attack on the bus as being insinuated, adding that it just went up in flames, probably due to technical fault. The development happened at a time when BRT is under the radar as a result of the murder of a 22-year-old passenger. The victim, Oluwabamise Ayankole, had on February 26, 2022, boarded a BRT vehicle at Chevron Bus Stop, Lekki, heading for Oshodi. Suddenly, the driver, who refused to pick other passengers, was said to have started making advances at her. Bamise had quickly sent a WhatsApp voice note to one of her friends, notifying her that she sensed danger. Andrew Omininikoron, the driver had gone underground, but was eventually arrested. Bamises lifeless body was later found on a bridge in Lagos. Amid the outrage, the Lagos State government halted BRT operations, but restored it after 24 hours. Earlier on Friday, a Chief Magistrates Court sitting in Yaba, Lagos, has ordered that the driver be remanded in police custody for 30 days. An Islamic group, under the auspices Concerned Abuja Indigenes, has expressed dismay at the continued non-release of the passport of the lea... An Islamic group, under the auspices Concerned Abuja Indigenes, has expressed dismay at the continued non-release of the passport of the leader, Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife, after being acquitted and discharged by the Court. In the statement signed by Ayedo Danjuma Abdul, the group stressed the need for the immediate release of their travelling documents to enable the couple embark on medical treatment overseas for their health challenges. According to the group, the gunshot injuries sustained by the cleric and his wife had affected their eye sights and that parts of their body still had shrapnel from the Nigerian Armys attack on their Islamic centre in Zaria on December 12, 2015, which the group said left the house to piles of rubble and ashes, killed three of his children, with the Sheikh and his wife wounded. It alleged that the gesture would dissuade his sympathisers from embarking on fresh street protests in Abuja. The statement explained, We urge the federal government to release Sheikh El-Zakzakys passport along with his wifes to enable them travel to the hospital of their choice to avoid the return to the street protests by his supporters which turned Abuja from the city it used to be to a seemingly battleground. The statement observed that as a result of the police brutality against the free El-Zakzaky protesters, many businesses were disrupted, and lives lost on numerous occasions, including two journalists, a police officer, many protesters, and even some of our members. Terrorists have reportedly invaded eight communities in Munya Local Government area of Niger State, killings scores and injuriing many villa... Terrorists have reportedly invaded eight communities in Munya Local Government area of Niger State, killings scores and injuriing many villagers within three days. The villages include Liwi, Paidna, Tsohon Kabula, Chibani, Fuka, Kuchi, Dandaudu and Mararraban Dandaudu. It was gathered that between Wednesday to Friday, the rampaging gunmen ransacked villages without any resistance from security personnel or vigilante groups and carted away large herds of cattle, goats and sheep. Eyewitnesses stated that the terrorists stormed the areas in possession of sophisticated dangerous weapons, moved freely on motorcycles, while reigning mayhem on the communities as the people scamper for safety. A resident of Sarkin Pawa, Sunday Pada, told DAILY POST that his relatives in Tsohon Kabula informed him that terrorists have overran Paidna and neighbouring villages. He stated, In Liwi, a community close to Kachiwe where people were previously burnt to ashes in their sleep, the gunmen attacked on Thursday and killed three people, abducted many others as well as carried away their valuables. According to him, In Tsohon Kabula, my relatives also said the bandits are gathering in Paidna as a result of which, the villages around there have been deserted. We are left on our own with no security presence. Please, help us tell the government to come to our aid. It was learnt that on Friday, in Fuka, Dandaudu and Mararraban Dandaudu, villagers who went to Chibani and Mutum Daya markets were attacked by gunmen. Eyewitness that escaped from the Mutum Daya market stated that the terrorists commenced operation around 2pm when the markets were full with sellers and buyers. On the number of casualties, the source said, At the moment, we cannot do anything, until the situation is calm enough to ascertain those who died. Confirming the incident, the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Internal Security, Emmanuel Umar, stated that he has mobilized security agencies to the affected areas. Government will ensure the security of lives and property of citizens and will ensure a coordinated security action in the affected areas will commence, Umar said The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, have called for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, pro-Biafra agitator. SMBLF said the Federal ... The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, have called for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, pro-Biafra agitator. SMBLF said the Federal government was openly displaying double standards by Kanus continued detention. The group noted that Kanus continuous detention and trial was provocative, while Boko Haram terrorists get VIP treatment. SMBLF made the call in a communique jointly signed by the leaders of Yorubas Afenifere, Igbos Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Middle Belt Forum, and the Pan Niger Delta Forum, after a meeting in Abuja. The communique reads partly: The continued detention and trial of Nnamdi Kanu on charges of terrorism and treasonable felony while known Boko Haram terrorists are being given VIP treatments and hosted in Government Houses is not only provocative and perfidious but a bizarre double standard on the part of the Nigerian State. We demand, in national interest, the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu and a stop to any further persecution of Sunday Igboho, who is currently on a conditional release in Benin Republic. Kanu has been locked up by the Department of State Services, DSS, since June 2021. He is facing charges bordering on terrorism before Justice Binta Nyako-led Federal High Court in Abuja. G7 leaders and the European Union have agreed to impose more economic sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. The G7 countries include Can... G7 leaders and the European Union have agreed to impose more economic sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. The G7 countries include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. In a statement released on Friday, the White House explained that this would further isolate Russia from the global financial system. Last month, the US and its Western allies removed selected Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system, in a clear target at the Russian economy and the global economy. According to the statement, each partner would implement actions consistent with their national processes. These actions will collectively ramp up pressure on Putin and build on the unprecedented package of economic sanctions and export controls the United States, and over 30 countries have already imposed on Russia. Together with similar actions by the G7, following our respective national processes, this collective action by more than half of the global economy will deliver another serious economic blow to Russia, it said. Watertown, NY (13601) Today Rain likely. High 56F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 38F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. The first full day of the inaugural New Orleans Book festival found crowds packing almost 30 sessions on everything from racial justice and Benjamin Franklin to New Orleans cooking and neighborhoods. Organized by lawyer Cheryl Landrieu and author Walter Isaacson, a Tulane University history professor, the event was originally set for 2020. But it was canceled that year and in 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns. Those concerns seemed far away Friday, as hundreds of people filled many of the sessions on Tulane's campus to listen intently to big-name speakers such as Michael Lewis, Malcolm Gladwell, Charles M. Blow, Bakari Sellers and David Brooks. Friday's events followed a Thursday opening that featured legal thriller author John Grisham and Imani Perry, a Princeton University professor of African American studies. Racial and social justice were recurring themes, as was the U.S. political divide. But the sessions had something for most bibliophiles, including fiction and history. Events in the biggest room, the Kendall Cram auditorium, were full all day, with attendees often spilling into an adjacent overflow room. Cash and Gwynn Pealer of Ocala, Florida, who were attending the festival while visiting family in town, said they were excited to see many of the authors. "We've read and liked these books very much," Gwynn said, referencing Isaacson, Jon Meachem, John Barry and Gary Ginsburg. In one session, panelists Clint Smith, Bakari Sellers and Jarvis DeBerry debated how the South could move past its long history of racial animus, in a frank discussion of what that past still means today. Slavery remains "etched onto the landscape" of American society, Smith argued. Sellers was more blunt in his assessment: "We have not had any progressive political changes in this country without Black blood flowing in the streets," he said, adding that real police reform picked up steam only after the George Floyd murder in 2020. But that doesn't mean Sellers is despondent. "There is nothing about this country that is irredeemable," he said later. People need to increase their empathy, he said. During a panel on how New Orleans can remain resilient in the face of climate change, retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, now an environmental activist, offered a thunderous critique of the government's response to disasters. Honore commanded Joint Task Force Katrina, the federal government's initial emergency response to the 2005 hurricane that swamped New Orleans. "Their job is to tell you no," he said of federal officials tasked with doling out disaster relief money. "The way the government is totally stupid. We've go to redo the government." After appearing in two panels, DeBerry sat at a table in the lobby of the Lavin-Bernick Center, signing books. He was approached by Jarvis Gordon, a New Orleans native and Tulane employee who asked DeBerry to sign a copy of his collected opinion columns, "I Feel to Believe." Gordon said he was always happy to meet another Jarvis, especially DeBerry. "I grew up reading his columns," he said. DeBerry said he was thrilled to see such an event in New Orleans, which he said had always respected the written word. "It's been amazing," he said. "This is one of the places where people slow down" enough to enjoy stories, he said. CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly stated the year of the George Floyd murder. Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the parade grand marshal, during the Treme Sidewalk Steppers' 28th annual parade. Her administration has since imposed limits on the size of second lines. Sinnidra Taylor was recently recognized by Washington, D.C.-based Dine Diaspora as one of its 2022 Black Women in Food, citing her work as a culinary entrepreneur and community builder. Taylor is a former special education teacher who launched her Crazy Waffle Bar business in 2018. Just before the pandemic, she started working on Codeys, a commercial kitchen to help her business and other pop-ups and startups. For more information on her waffles, go to crazywafflebar.com, and to learn more about Codeys, check out codeysnola.com. Gambit: How did you start Crazy Waffle Bar? Sinnidra Taylor: I saw something while I was online. I am googling this image and what it was was a bubble waffle. Its also called a Hong Kong-style waffle. At the time, they didnt sell a lot in the United States. Then I was on a trip to London, where there is a Chinatown. I made it my business to try a bubble waffle, and I fell in love. Theyre not available in the U.S. unless you can find one in a city with a Chinatown. I loved it so much, I wanted more people to experience it. I ended up finding a manufacturer and got a bubble waffle machine. I did a pop-up and I made like $1,000, and I said, Oh my god, this is my business. So after the school year ended in May, I quit my job, and I have been selling waffles full time ever since. The thing about a waffle bar is you can have it your own way. In Europe, they have waffles that are served with ice cream. Thats how a bubble waffle is served. The waffle is rolled up in the shape of an ice cream cone. The customer can dress it based on the toppings we have. We had some signature waffles, like red velvet with white chocolate. Gambit: How did you decide to open a commercial kitchen? Taylor: In scaling my business, I faced a lot of barriers. I thought it would be simple a small cart or kiosk. But when you look at what it takes to scale a food business, even if its just a waffle bar, there are a lot of barriers. You need affordable commercial kitchen space. Its one thing if you have a good customer base and you can afford a kitchen space, but if youre growing and trying to get a customer base its difficult, especially if you dont have a storefront to make your product available. Thats what pop-ups were able to do for me. I became a food entrepreneur by using a pop-up to introduce myself to the market and test my product. Its tough to get a permit to host a pop-up, even if I had an occupational license, unless youre part of a festival. There isnt a pop-up license. You have to be part of a festival or a food truck. There isnt a license a pop-up vendor can get. But the city is saying you need a license so they can track your sales. There also are health-related concerns, but the primary reason is to collect sales tax. I hope they come up with something thats pop-up friendly. Opening Codeys would allow me and other food entrepreneurs to have some sort of business permit. It also would allow us to participate in festivals and to train employees. If youre working at a pop-up or your home, its difficult to train employees. Once (a business) registers at that kitchen, they have a culinary home and theyre official businesses, which opens up other opportunities for business and allows them to scale. Only certain businesses are protected under cottage (industry) laws, like bakers and people who preserve things. Technically, I am a baker, but I also serve grits, eggs and bacon with my waffles. I could only serve waffles, thats not really fun. In the U.S., this is breakfast food. In the South, theres chicken and waffles. You really need a kitchen for that. Gambit: How is opening Codeys coming along? Taylor: I purchased a building during Covid, but it needs a significant amount of work. So its taking a while getting it done. So were leasing a building that was already a commissary because of the urgency to get an occupational license during the crackdown. The goal was to wait and slowly work on the building. When the (citys) crackdown came in November, we had to find a home quickly. So we are leasing a commissary. It doesnt have all the equipment we need, but it has enough to get started with some businesses, like bakers and food trucks. After festival season, we hope we can install a hood system and bring in more food entrepreneurs. Food trucks for the most part need prep space and cold and dry storage. I literally take calls every day about kitchen space. So, I have no doubt well be fully booked once we open. We have a scheduling system, and its open 24 hours. The goal is to rent it out in six-hour time frames. So thats four time frames a day with four entrepreneurs in the space. On any given day, 16 businesses can touch that kitchen. Codeys also is attached to learning. Other commissaries will say you need a business license and insurance. With ours, you need those things, but well refer you to a business case manager who will help you get those things. This year we started hosting classes, so business owners who needed an LLC or EIN could get that in real time. By the time the class is over, your application is complete. Just like every year, Louisiana legislators have again filed a slew of bills aimed at making it next to impossible or in some cases, actually impossible to get an abortion in the state. In the past we may have had some hope the courts would block the most extreme measures, but the Supreme Courts decision to allow Texas six-week ban to go into effect for now is a sign that might not be the case this year. Perhaps emboldened by the Texas decision and a looming Supreme Court ruling on Mississippis 15-week abortion ban, legislators are poised to debate some of the most draconian measures yet when they start the new session Monday. If passed and implemented, some of the bills would set legal precedents with ramifications far beyond the issue of reproductive rights. Taking a page straight out of Texas book, Rep. Larry Bagley, a Stonewall Republican, is proposing a bill that reproductive rights lawyer Ellie Schilling told Gambit would create a bounty hunter system, where private citizens have an incentive to sue physicians who provide abortions and patients because of the potential payout. Modeled after Texas bill banning abortions once cardiac fetal activity is detected usually around the sixth week of pregnancy Bagleys bill would leave it up to private citizens to enforce the ban. Louisiana already has a six-week ban on the books that has never gone into effect, and the state government would be in charge of enforcing it if it ever did. Bagleys six-week ban is different because it would set up a system where only private citizens could sue someone for performing, inducing or aiding and abetting with an abortion after doctors detect cardiac fetal activity. Under the bill, the person suing could get at least $10,000 for each abortion the court determines the person theyre suing performed or helped with in any way. That includes paying for or reimbursing the costs of an abortion through insurance or otherwise, regardless of whether the person knew or should have known that the abortion would be performed or induced in violation of this. This portion of the bill seems to target abortion funds and other groups that help poor people afford them. It's just outsourcing enforcement to private citizens, essentially in sort of a bounty hunter kind of way that anyone at all can file a suit, and if they prevail, then they get $10,000, Schilling said. They can get more damages than that, but you get $10,000 just off the top, and that doesn't matter if you knew the patient, if you knew the physician or anything like that. Additionally, the way the law is written, it favors the person suing rather than the person being sued. For example, if a private person sues a doctor and wins, the physician would have to pay for the persons legal fees. But if the doctor wins, the private person wouldnt have to pay that doctors legal fees. The intent, Schilling said, is to discourage physicians from providing abortions altogether. The risk of just becoming a constant defendant ... and potentially liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars ... it has a complete chilling effect on providers, she said. No one's going to provide the procedure, and that's exactly what's happened in Texas. According to Schilling, the abortion bans in Bagleys bill and Texas law are designed to be solely enforced by citizens because it makes it harder to challenge them in federal court. Your constitutional rights protect you from government action, she said. They don't protect you from private citizens' actions. Schilling said if the courts uphold bills like this, legislators across the country may attempt a similar strategy on other issues. The effect is the same as if the government were taking away your constitutional rights, as if they were the ones that we're suing, she added. But by outsourcing it to private individuals, then what the state did in Texas and they're trying to do here is to essentially just insulate their unconstitutional conduct from judicial review. And if it works, then this whole outsourcing to private citizens could be used to deprive people of all kinds of constitutional rights. Meanwhile, Sen. Sharon Hewitt, a Slidell Republican, has a bill that would make it a crime to use or provide medication abortion two pills a person can take early on in pregnancy to induce a miscarriage without a prescription from a Louisiana physician. Under current state law, licensed Louisiana physicians are the only ones who can provide medication abortion and only licensed outpatient abortion facilities can dispense the drugs, which leading medical groups say is not medically necessary. This is now saying that, but if you do that anyway or you somehow get the medication abortion anyway, then these draconian criminal penalties kick in, Schilling said. Those penalties include a prison sentence ranging from one to five years, a fine between $5,000 and $50,000 dollars or both. The bill comes just months after the Food and Drug Administration announced it would allow patients to receive abortion pills through the mail. This seems to be a pretty transparent attempt to limit people's ability to get access to medication abortion from out of state by imposing these huge criminal penalties that if you provide that or if you use it yourself not from a licensed Louisiana physician, then there's significant jail time, Schilling said. Additionally, Rep. Danny McCormick, an Oil City Republican, has a bill that would have the state simply ignore Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that for decades has guaranteed the right to abortion up until the point the fetus could likely survive outside the womb. Southern states tried a similar course of action after Brown v. Board when they resisted desegregating public schools despite the Supreme Courts order. Of course, McCormicks law is blatantly unconstitutional. Federal law trumps state law, and Supreme Court rulings are the law of the land. The whole point of the Supreme Court is to determine whether local, state and federal governments are following the law in the first place. There's no world in which this is a constitutional bill, Schilling said. We're going down this very strange path of legislators not really seeming to understand that these things can't be replicated in other contexts. So that's why ... if this law passes or were to go in effect that it would upend our entire system of government. Theres also a bill by Sen. Katrina Jackson, a Monroe Democrat, that appears to give local governments permission to pass more stringent but not looser abortion restrictions than those at the state level. Experts say theyre continuing to study the bill further to see what effect it could have if passed. And for those who do give birth, Sen. Stewart Cathey, a Monroe Republican, has a bill that would require a mandatory drug test within eight hours of delivery. While framed as an opportunity for the Louisiana Department of Health and the Department of Children and Family services to offer resources to parents, under the bill a positive drug test could be used to prosecute the person if they have obstetrical complications that are a medical indication of possible use of a controlled substance for a nonmedical purpose. It was not immediately clear who would pay for the required drug test. NEW YORK Even a blown plane engine is a fundraising opportunity for Donald Trump. The former president is asking his loyal army of supporters to help him buy a new plane, after a private jet he was using to leave Lakefront Airport in New Orleans lost power in one of its three engines over the Gulf of Mexico and made an emergency landing at Louis Armstrong Internatonal Airport. My team is building a BRAND NEW Trump Force One, screamed a mass email sent by Trumps Save America PAC. I cant wait to unveil it for everyone to see. The construction of this plane has been under wraps, Trump teased. Not even the fake news media knows about it - and I cant wait to unveil it for everyone to see." His 757 is mothballed The email reminded Trump's Make American Great Again faithful about his glory days, when he jetted to campaign events in his Trump-branded Boeing 757. The message included a GIF video of a plane taking off and a poll purportedly asking potential donors if they want to receive updates on construction. The link to the phony poll takes supporters to a link to sign up to make recurring monthly contributions to the former presidents fundraising committee. The email didnt mention the March 5 engine failure over the Gulf, after Trump spoke to Republican donors at the Four Seasons Hotel in New Orleans. Upon landing at Armstrong International, Trump and his entourage were given another plane by a GOP donor to return to his Florida resort. The Trump campaign plane is mothballed at Stewart Air Field in Newburgh, New York. It reportedly would need extensive repairs to be returned to service. By mid-September of last year, the doctor at Glenwood Regional Medical Center in West Monroe knew there was a dangerous mold called Aspergillus lurking in the hospital. Three COVID patients in the intensive care unit had tested positive for mold in their respiratory tracts. We have a problem, the doctor said, according to a hospital inspection report by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Aspergillus outbreaks are rare any more than one infected patient would be unusual. Three was an indication of a serious threat to a group whose bodies were highly susceptible to Aspergillus infection, which can travel from the lungs and potentially make its way to the brain, kidneys, heart and skin. By the time an infection plan was implemented, the outbreak had grown to five patients. Four of them, all simultaneously struggling with serious COVID infections, died. As COVID cases surged in Louisiana, so did hospital-acquired infections, spurred by close quarters and less monitoring from a strained staff. Between patients lined up in hallways and overcrowded emergency rooms, other infections blossomed: drug-resistant staph, commonly known as MRSA, and central line infections spiked in Louisiana. Candida auris, a dangerous, drug-resistant superbug, was found for the first time in the state. Health care-associated infections are a measure of quality in a hospital, one that has improved since federal agencies have tied compensation to infection rates and preventable injuries over the last decade. But as a flood of patients requiring a high level of care descended on Louisiana hospitals during the pandemic, years of progress were erased. This is what happens when a health care system gets stretched to a breaking point, said Dr. Nasia Safdar, a professor of infectious disease and health sciences learning at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Something had to give, and what typically gave was the usual practices and procedures that are followed so carefully for device infection prevention. 'Repeat offenders' For hospital employees suited up from head to toe in plastic gowns, goggles and masks, its simply not as easy to see infections, said Safdar. Burned-out employees were going into retirement or seeking other jobs, and that meant fewer eyes on infections in general. And some of Louisianas hospitals were already struggling with infection control, according to data from the CMS, which penalizes hospitals with high rates of preventable infections or injuries such as falls or bedsores. This year, CMS levied penalties on 15 Louisiana hospitals for high rates of infection among Medicare patients, which reflects pre-pandemic discharges from July 2018 to the end of 2019. But some hospitals are dinged far more often than others, potentially setting the stage for a more dangerous pandemic environment. If you look at just who's been penalized through Medicare, across the state, there are what I would call repeat offenders, said Mark Diana, a professor in the department of health policy and management at Tulane University. My suspicion is that some of those were the ones that were slammed with COVID patients, and so that might have contributed to that overall rise. In Louisiana, two hospitals have been penalized each of the last eight years: University Medical Center and Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport. Two others Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital and Tulane Medical Center have been penalized seven of eight years. The hospitals penalized the most often receive some of the sickest and most frail patients, Sheree Stephens, vice president of quality at Ochsner LSU, noted in a statement. When these challenges were exacerbated by the pandemic with longer lengths of stay and other characteristics typically associated with increased infections, we maintained the highest priority on patient safety and quality control and continued reducing infection rates, Stephens said. The other hospitals issued similar statements. But hospitals with a history of infections may have had fewer processes in place to limit spread as hospitalizations of very sick patients grew. If you're already struggling, then you're slammed with a COVID surge, then your protocols and your procedures just can't hold up, Diana said. COVID patients vulnerable Health news in your inbox Reporter Emily Woodruff shares weekly updates and insights on local health news, including COVID coverage and medical research. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Patients can check the hospitals infection rates at data.medicare.gov, said Erica Washington, coordinator of the states health care-associated infection program. Patients should also keep in mind the type of facility theyre viewing acute care hospitals will have more severely sick patients, for instance and the type of services the facility provides. You want to make sure that you're comparing apples to apples, said Washington. COVID patients are also especially vulnerable to infection, and Louisiana has been a hotspot for hospitalizations many times in the pandemic. Many COVID patients are elderly or immunocompromised in some way, and ICU patients typically are connected to a half-dozen or more tubes that act as a vector for fungus and bacteria. Often, those patients linger for weeks, widening the opportunity for infection. You're giving them a highway right into the body of someone who's already immunocompromised and not doing well, said Rodney Rohde, a professor whose research focuses on hospital-acquired diseases at Texas State University. You basically are creating the perfect storm for things like Candida and Aspergillus. But metrics that normally act as a measure for how well hospitals follow infection control plummeted significantly in Louisiana, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana had an increase in standardized infection ratios, a metric used to compare the expected number of infections to the actual number of infections, for a number of issues hospitals use to measure quality. Central line blood stream infection ratios increased by 71% during the second quarter of 2020 compared to the previous year; in New York, which also had an early, devastating wave of COVID, the infection ratio decreased by 1.6%. Drug resistance increasing Louisiana may have been hit especially hard by infection during the pandemic for the same reasons the state at times was among the highest in the world for deaths and hospitalizations, said Dr. David Mushatt, an infectious disease specialist at Tulane University. People in Louisiana are in poor health compared to many places, and they face a number of other obstacles: high poverty, low education, poor access to nutritious food and more gender and racial inequity. That leads to more sickness. We have some of the highest rates of diabetes in the country, of obesity, of end-stage renal disease, requiring that hemodialysis, said Mushatt. These are a few of the many comorbidities or health variables that increase the risk of poor outcomes for people in the hospital. But it wasnt just COVID patients that suffered. While 2021 data on infections wont be out for at least a year, the pandemic affected everyone in hospitals, said Mushatt. What were seeing across the country is that COVID has basically led to the degradation of the quality of care and patient safety across the board, even with non-COVID patients, said Mushatt. Several drug-resistant bugs have been on the rise, including MRSA. And in January 2022, officials announced two cases of Candida auris had been detected at University Medical Center, the first in the state. At least four additional cases have been found through screenings, according to a presentation from the Louisiana Department of Health. Drug-resistant microbes set off flaming red flags for experts, because they mean our tools to treat infections are getting duller. But experts also arent surprised. In the early stages of COVID, doctors were throwing whatever antibiotics they had at infections. Now theyre waiting for the other foot to drop. Antimicrobial resistance is a huge global pandemic that's just been kind of quiet, said Rohde. It's been an ember waiting to explode. Its unclear whether the trend will continue in 2022, though experts have hope that fewer COVID patients will give hospital staff time to regroup. But the next threat isnt far away. Weve got to redouble our public health efforts, said Mushatt. Because this virus will come back and there will be new viruses. And we don't want to recapitulate the same mistakes that we made in the last two and a half years. At Glenwood, air quality tests revealed Aspergillus in multiple rooms and the nursing station. Nearly two months after the initial case, air quality tests were still pending, according to the report. But the unit was not closed and patients were not moved from the contaminated rooms. There was nowhere else to put them, an administrator told the inspector. The hospital did not answer questions about the situation or the plan of correction. A man who admitted to a role in the violent Bloods gang in Georgia was held under $750,000 bond Friday in a 17-year-old New Orleans murder case. Rodney Daniel, 48, also known as Rodney Dannell, has been booked with second-degree murder in the Feb. 10, 2006, killing of Gregory Landor, 50, in the 7th Ward, according to records that police filed in Criminal District Court. Investigators allege that Landor owed money to Daniel on the day Landor was shot in the head and left to die on the steps of his home in the 2000 block of St. Anthony Street. One witness, whose identity is withheld from the court records, later told police that Daniel was carrying a gun that day and had boasted about his plan to kill Landor. The witness described sitting in a car across the street from Landors home when he saw Landor and Daniel arguing on the porch. The witness soon exited the vehicle and saw Landor on the ground, with his body jolting and bleeding from the head, while Daniel had fled, police wrote in the sworn court documents. Police obtained a warrant to arrest Daniel within two months. But in the meantime, Daniel left for the Atlanta area, where he was charged in 2019 alongside 30 other people with belonging to the notoriously violent Bloods gang. He pleaded guilty Feb. 23 two two racketeering conpiracies. He was sentenced to the time he had already served in custody and set to be released. But the New Orleans warrant resulted in his extradition and Thursday, according to court records. A Magistrate Court commissioner set his bail at $750,000 on Friday afternoon. He would received a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. Kelly Folse, the veterinarian accused of fatally shooting her River Ridge neighbor's dog, Bruizer, in the head four years ago, has pleaded no contest to charges of aggravated cruelty to an animal and illegal use of a weapon, Jefferson Parish court records show. Folse, 39, entered the plea before Judge Scott Schlegel of the 24th Judicial District Court on Feb. 24. The judge deferred imposing a sentence, instead ordering her to serve three years of active probation, court records said. +5 Jefferson DA charges veterinarian with fatally shooting neighbor's dog The Jefferson Parish district attorney's office has formally charged a River Ridge veterinarian accused of fatally shooting her neighbor's dog Folse's attorney, Frank DeSalvo, did not return a phone call requesting comment. A "nolo contendre" plea also known as a no contest plea means that Folse is not admitting guilt but will not contest the allegations against her, Loyola University Law professor Dane Ciolino explained. "As a practical matter, it has no difference [from a guilty plea]," he said. "The judge is free to sentence her to whatever he or she could sentence her to under a guilty plea." Bruizer, a 15-month-old American bull dog, lived at the home next door to Folse on Camille Drive in River Ridge. His owners told authorities they came home from work on Dec. 13, 2017, and found him lying in their backyard with a gunshot wound to his head. The family took Bruizer to a nearby veterinary hospital where Folse happened to work. She wasn't there when the dog arrived. Bruizer's injuries were severe and he was euthanized. Sheriff's Office investigators identified Folse a suspect in Bruizer's shooting. Annoyed by the dog's loud barking, she'd sent hostile text messages and videos to Bruizer's owners, according to authorities. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office investigators arrested Folse two days after the shooting. Her attorney at the time, Robert Garrity Jr., said she did not shoot Bruizer and accused Sheriff Joseph Lopinto of political grandstanding. The case also featured a bit of legal sparring as prosecutors and the defense asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to weigh in on questions surrounding the legality of the detectives' search of Folse's iPhone. The Sheriff's Office seized the phone but didn't search it before the 10-day expiration of the warrant they had obtained to do so, according to court records. When Folse went with her attorney to retrieve the phone from the Sheriff's Office, she provided a passcode to open up the device for data downloading after being told about the warrant by investigators. But Folse and her counsel later contested the use of any data from the phone and called the search unlawful because she hadn't been told the warrant had expired when she gave detectives the passcode, according to court records. The state Supreme Court ultimately sent the case back to the district court in August 2021, noting that there were too many unanswered question for them to rule. The justices ordered the lower court to conduct "further evidentiary proceedings." Folse also pleaded no contest to illegal possession of the anti-anxiety drug diazepam and methocarbamol, a muscle relaxant, court records said. The no contest plea also can't be used against a person in any civil proceedings, according to Ciolino. "A 'nolo' plea can't be used as evidence of liability or fault while a guilty plea can be," he said. A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated for just 40 minutes before convicting a Terrytown man of fatally shooting his girlfriend in the back of the head as she walked away from an argument, prosecutors said. Christopher Davis, 30, was found guilty of second-degree murder Thursday evening in the death of Lashonda Sands. During a three-day trial, assistant district attorneys Rachel Africk and Lindsay Truhe accused Davis of coldly killing Sands, a mother of three, whom he'd been dating for about two years. The shooting occurred early on Jan. 5, 2020 at Davis' apartment in the 1900 block of Faith Place. Sands had received a text message about the death of a friend and was left her in tears, according to the district attorney's office. Davis became enraged when he asked Sands who died and she did not answer him. An argument over the matter turned physical, and Davis grabbed a .38-caliber pistol, authorities said. Veterinarian pleads no contest in fatal shooting of her River Ridge neighbor's dog Kelly Folse, the veterinarian accused of fatally shooting her River Ridge neighbor's dog, Bruizer, in the head four years ago, has pleaded no A friend who was visiting the apartment tried to stop Davis. Sands began to walk out of the apartment door, but Davis pushed his friend aside and shot her, prosecutors said. Sands collapsed just outside the door and died there. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Davis first told investigators he was playing video games when he overheard a pop and discovered Sands injured outside the apartment, authorities said. But Sheriff's Office investigators later found the murder weapon hidden in a bucket containing children's toys, the district attorney's office said. During trial, Davis' attorneys argued the shooting was unintentional, and that Davis had accidentally fired when his friend tried to stop him. Davis is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court on Monday. The mandatory punishment for a second-degree murder conviction in Loiusiana is life in prison without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. The defendant had already received a 10-year sentence from Miller on Tuesday, after he pleaded guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a gun, the .38-caliber revolver discovered in his apartment after the killing, authorities said. Davis was barred from having guns after a 2017 conviction for domestic abuse battery. In that case, he pleaded guilty to beating his then-girlfriend, a 50-year-old woman, according to court records. CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly stated that probation, parole or suspension of sentence are allowed in second-degree murder sentences. Williamsport, Pa. -- A federal grand jury indicted Alan Dorsey, 39, of Bellefonte on drug trafficking and firearms charges on Thursday, according to the United States Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus said the indictment charges Dorsey with distribution of methamphetamine on June 3, 2021, along with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and a mixture of fentanyl and tramadol on September 11, 2021, all in Centre County. The indictment also charges Dorsey with illegally possessing ammunition and possessing a 9mm handgun in furtherance of drug trafficking. The matter was investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan V. Martin is prosecuting the case. This case is part of a district wide initiative to combat the nationwide epidemic regarding the use and distribution of heroin and other opioids, according to a Department of Justice news release. Led by the United States Attorneys Office, the Heroin Initiative targets heroin traffickers operating in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and is part of a coordinated effort among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit opioid related offenses. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get Our Free Newsletters Never miss a headline with NorthcentralPa.com newsletters. Sign Up Today! Morning Headlines: Would you like to receive our daily morning newsletter? Afternoon Update: What's happening today? Here's your update! Daily Obits: Get a daily list straight to your email inbox. Carbon County, Pa -- A former police chief on trial for repeatedly raping a young girl was found guilty on all charges, the state attorney generals office announced Friday. Brent Robert Getz, 30, of Lehighton, was working as the Weissport Police Chief in Carbon County in 2019 when he was arrested and charged with numerous sex crimes. This verdict holds Brent Getz accountable for his horrific crimes against a child, and brought justice to a brave survivor who had the courage to come forward, said Attorney General Josh Shapiro. As a police chief and public servant, Getzs abhorrent actions betrayed the publics trust and safety. He will never again be able to use a position in law enforcement to hurt people. My office will always stand up for our children and our most vulnerable, and hold bad actors accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The allegations first came to light in 2012 when the victim, a fifth-grade student, told her teacher she had been touched inappropriately by a relative, who was later identified as Gregory Wagner Jr. During an interview with Children and Youth caseworkers, the girl said the sexual abuse, including rape, had been happening since she was four. She also said Wagners friend, Getz, sometimes participated in the acts. Although the victim came forward in 2012, the case against Getz and Wagner wasn't prosecuted until it was taken over by the attorney generals office in 2019. Getz denied any involvement with the girl, but Wagner eventually confessed to raping the child over a seven-year period and pleaded guilty to child rape and sexual exploitation of a minor. Wagner also agreed to testify against Getz. Getz was found guilty of rape of child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, and aggravated indecent assault of child. Both Getz and Wagner will be sentenced at a later date. Getz case was referred to the Office of Attorney General by Carbon County District Attorney Jean Engler because Getz was a police officer employed or formerly employed at several police departments in Carbon County. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get Our Free Newsletters Never miss a headline with NorthcentralPa.com newsletters. Sign Up Today! Morning Headlines: Would you like to receive our daily morning newsletter? Afternoon Update: What's happening today? Here's your update! Daily Obits: Get a daily list straight to your email inbox. Lacson: PH Must be Ready for Possible Spillover of Russia-Ukraine Crisis More at: https://pinglacson.net/article/lacson-ph-must-be-ready-for-possible-spillover-of-russia-ukraine-crisis The Philippines must be fully prepared for a possible spillover to Asia of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson said Saturday. Lacson said the Philippines has to walk the talk since it has supported the United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He said this includes allowing the use of our facilities by allies such as the United States. "Nagpirma na tayo sa UNGA resolution na nakikiisa tayo sa ibang bansa sa pagkondena sa invasion ng Russia sa Ukraine. So dapat lamang na sundan natin sa gawa ang ating salita. Kung sakaling kailangan ang facilities ng Pilipinas, mapa-dagat lupa o ere, tama lang yan (We signed the UN General Assembly resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. So we should walk the talk. If our facilities are needed whether it be on land, sea or air, that is but proper)," he said in an interview on DZRH radio. As early as last month, Lacson - who chairs the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security - had called on Philippine authorities to prepare for the effects of the conflict. Presently, he noted we are already feeling the effects of the conflict on the economy, with fuel prices already skyrocketing. While Lacson said he hopes the Russia-Ukraine conflict will not lead to nuclear war, it is better that the Philippines prepare for all scenarios. "Mabuti rin na naka-ready tayo kesa mabigla tayo (It is better to be prepared than be surprised)," he said. He also pointed out that the present situation shows the value of having allies who can help ensure our security from external threats. "Sa akin lagi tayong consistent dito na mainam na meron tayong kaalyado pagdating sa ating security, external threat sa atin (We must be consistent - we must maintain close ties with allies who will help ensure our security from external threats)," he said. Berwick, Pa. Detective Greg Martin of the Berwick Police Department said he was contacted by authorities in New Jersey about a vehicle involved in a possible homicide. Detectives with the Mercer County New Jersey Homicide Task Force (MCHTF) said on March 1, officers responded to a vehicle with multiple bullet holes and a large amount of blood inside. According to investigators, a man was located inside the vehicle, who ultimately died from multiple gunshot wounds. Detectives said they weitnessed a black male hopping into a vehicle after the alleged shooting took place. Detectives said they located the vehicle in Berwick parked along Front Street on March 2, 2022 and contacted Detective Martin. Quashawn Hightower, 23, and Desire Knighton, 20, both of Trenton, NJ were stopped by authorities as the vehicle traveled along Columbia Blvd. According to the report, Knighton was located in the drivers seat and Hightower was sitting next to her in the passengers seat. During a search of the vehicle Detectives said they located $8,348 in cash, a cellphone, and a Glock 23 .40 caliber handgun wrapped in mens underwear in the trunk. A search of the firearms serial number showed it was reported stolen. Both driver and passenger have prior arrests in New Jersey and present a clear danger to the public, wrote Detective Martin. The MCHTF is continuing their investigation into the homicide and further testing will be conducted on the firearm and other seized items. Both Hightower and Knighton were charged with second-degree felony receiving stolen property in connection with the firearm. Judge Richard Knecht gave both $250,000 monetary bail during a preliminary arraignment. Court records show Hightower and Knighton are scheduled to meet with Knecht on March 14 for a preliminary hearing. Quashawn Hightower docket sheet Desire Knighton docket sheet Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Get Our Free Newsletters Never miss a headline with NorthcentralPa.com newsletters. Sign Up Today! Morning Headlines: Would you like to receive our daily morning newsletter? Afternoon Update: What's happening today? Here's your update! Daily Obits: Get a daily list straight to your email inbox. Bishop Noll's marching band will march in the South Side Irish Parade this weekend. The Bishop Noll Marching Warriors will participate for the fifth time in the St. Patrick's Day parade that proceeds through Chicago's South Side Beverly neighborhood. More than 200,000 people typically watch the parade, which steps off at noon Sunday at 103rd Street and Western Avenue. Marching bands, bagpipers and floats march down south to 115th and Western in a parade that lasts around two hours. Dating back to 1979, Chicago's South Side Irish Parade is billed as one of the largest St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the world outside of Dublin. The annual festivities include the crowning of a parade queen, a housing decorating contest to show Irish spirit and post-parade libations at local watering holes along Western Avenue. Bishop Noll, the college preparatory school based in Hammond, has often taken part in the event. This year's grand marshal is "Thankful for Catholic Elementary School Teachers." It is truly a parade of the neighborhood and hard-working Southside families that we see along the parade route, said Rocco Carioto, the Bishop Noll Institute band director. It is just great to get out again and do these things. It makes you appreciate what you do and when you can do it when you dont get to do these great events. The Bishop Noll Marching Warriors also were invited to march at the 2022 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida. For more information, visit southsideirishparade.org. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. VALPARAISO Nearly a year after dropping a bag of cocaine outside Chesterton High School where he taught, Patrick Miller pleaded guilty to a reduced charge as part of a proposal that will allow him to escape a felony conviction and time behind bars if he stays in line during the next year. If the 61-year-old Jackson Township resident violates the terms of the agreement, he will be convicted on the felony and faces whatever sentence is decided by the court, according to Friday's hearing before Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer. Miller, who was represented by defense attorney Jason Denny, pleaded guilty to a reduced felony count of possessing cocaine, according to the proposed plea agreement. Clymer agreed to take the plea under advisement until March 17, 2023 during which time Miller is required to continue being monitored under pretrial supervision and continue seeing a counselor, the agreement says. He was also ordered to complete 15 days or 90 hours of community service. If he complies with these terms and has no new arrests during the next year, the conviction will be entered as a misdemeanor and he will be sentenced to time served, the proposal says. If he fails, he will be convicted on the lower level felony and face up to 2 1/2 years behind bars. A parent told police she was picking up her daughter from practice at Chesterton High School at about 4:30 p.m. April 15 when she noticed a small baggie containing white powder in the parking lot. She took it home and provided it the next day to police, who confirmed it was cocaine. An officer viewed surveillance footage from April 15 of the area in question and watched as Miller pulled keys from his pocket and then the bag in question fell to the ground unnoticed at 12:18 p.m., according to charges. The officer then watched as the parent picked up the bag about four hours later. Miller, who reportedly teaches adults in the wake of his arrest, later told police he went to Illinois, picked up two friends and the package in question, which he assumed was cocaine, according to the charges. He then gave several differing stories about how he came into possession of the cocaine, police said. He admitted to having used the drug in the past, but reportedly refused to take a drug test. The Duneland School Corp. said it cooperated with Chesterton police during the investigation and had taken "immediate steps to remove the staff member from employment." "At no time were students involved in the incident," according to the school district. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. VALPARAISO A Porter County jury returned Friday to find a 46-year-old Griffith man guilty on nine counts of repeatedly molesting two young girls in a nearly 6-year-old criminal case. At his Friday hearing, Jason Gibbs was found guilty on nine of the 10 counts he was charged with, including child molestation, sexual misconduct with a minor and other related sexual charges. Gibbs was taken into custody after the verdict was delivered. A prosecutor told jurors at the start of this week's trial that when confronted with the allegations several years ago, Gibbs responded to a girl's mother, "I made a mistake." He faced two A felony counts of child molesting and various other related charges. Each molestation count alone carries a potential sentence of 20 to 50 years behind bars. His sentencing hearing will be later this month. Watch Now: Undercover Video of Illegal Gun Purchases at Lake County Fairgrounds The latest Riding Shotgun episode takes a look at an undercover event at a 2022 gun show at the Lake County Fairgrounds. Defense attorney Mark Chargualaf called on jurors this week to keep an open mind and listen for differences in the allegations. He said it would be nice if the case were clear cut, but it's not. Gibbs, who had backed out of a proposed plea agreement just before sentencing last summer, is accused of sexually abusing two 14-year-old girls in what police said was an alleged repeated pattern of abuse. He also is accused of trying to bribe one girl to stay quiet. UPDATE: Porter County child sex abuse trial delayed; new date 6 years after it was filed Jason Gibbs denied the allegations when questioned by police. When informed a voice stress test showed deception, he reportedly came up with an alternative explanation for one incident. Gibbs denied the allegations when questioned by police. He had pleaded guilty in April to two of the counts and faced up to four years behind bars on each count and a requirement to register as a sex offender, according to court documents. But before his sentencing hearing in June before Porter Superior Court Judge Mike Fish, Gibbs recanted his guilty plea, and the judge rejected the proposal. Gibbs requested his case go to trial. The date for Gibbs' sentencing hearing has been set for March 31. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. DYER Police cautioned Dyer residents to be on the lookout after several valuables were taken in a burglary scheme. At 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Dyer officers were called to a residential burglary report in the Mallard Cove subdivision. The suspects were posing as town employees visiting houses to check the water pressure, according to the Dyer Police Department. After the homeowner let the suspects inside the residence, they stole jewelry from the home and fled in a dark colored pickup truck. Police stated that this type of incident is known as a ruse burglary, in which suspects pose as town employees, utility workers or other professionals in order to get inside homes to steal. In such schemes, two or more suspects work together to distract and burglarize the home. "Do not allow anyone in your home unless you know them personally or it is a scheduled appointment," police said. "The Dyer Police Department is reminding residents that town employees will always have official town identification cards, and they will be in vehicles with the 'Town of Dyer' logo on them. Utility workers will also have ID on them if they are at a residence to do work." Police said suspects use a variety of ruses and also pose as landscapers, real estate agents, repairmen, pavement specialists and more. Dyer police also gave prevention tips, cautioning residents to not open their doors to strangers and to verify by calling companies or departments listed in the phone book to verify whether they are being approached by a professional. In many cases, professionals or town employees will call the residence before approaching the homeowner and residents should be sure to get the name of the employee and time of their visit ahead of time. Police also encouraged residents to keep their valuables locked in a secure place and keep doors and windows locked at all times. "If somebody asks for your help, needs to make a telephone call, refer them to a younger neighbor or assist them through a closed door," police said. "Or call a friend or neighbor to come and assist." Police should be called if the resident is suspicious, if someone enters a home without permission, if items are noticed to be missing after a visit and whenever someone believes a crime has been or is about to be committed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CROWN POINT A Lake Criminal Court jury listened to a defense expert's testimony Friday about false confessions but ultimately convicted a Gary woman of murdering her 1-year-old foster child in 2017. Jamilia Hodge, 36, admitted in an interview with detectives in May 2017 she put her hand over 1-year-old Emma Salinas' mouth and smothered her because she was crying. Lake County Supervisory Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz asked the jury to consider how Hodge behaved after making the confession toward the end of an interrogation that spanned 12 hours over two days. "She stops talking to herself. She stops trying to convince herself," Jatkiewicz said. "She's finally come clean." In a video of the interview, former Hobart Detective Sgt. Jeremy Ogden asked Hodge what he should tell Emma's mother. "That I'm sorry that I let her down," Hodge said. "That I didn't mean it. It just happened." Hodge's attorney, Scott King, told jurors it was the state's obligation to present all the evidence but Jatkiewicz and Deputy Prosecutor Jovanni Miramontes never called Hodge's boyfriend or the boyfriend's relative to testify. The two men along with Hodge, Emma, two other foster children and Hodge's own 1-year-old daughter were in the home in the 7500 block of Ash Avenue in Gary the night Emma died. "Do you find that reasonable?" King asked. "Why in heaven's name would we go through this effort ... and not call (the two men)? What wouldn't they want you to hear from them?" King said Hodge's statement to detectives was "not a confession." "It is a product of continued, continued, continued pressure," he said. "'Let me hold your hand,' 'Do you believe in God?'" King said, recalling how Ogden spoke to Hodge at times. When being friendly didn't work, Ogden and Detective Sgt. Ed Gonzalez yelled at Hodge, King said. After deliberating for less than three hours, the jury found Hodge guilty of murder, aggravated battery, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and battery resulting in death of a person younger than 14 years old. The possible penalty for murder is 45 to 65 years. Hodge already has served nearly five years in jail while awaiting trial. She must serve 75% of any sentence imposed by Judge Salvador Vasquez. Jatkiewicz told the jury Emma didn't just die, she was murdered. A forensic pathologist with the Lake County coroner's office testified Emma died from asphyxiation and also suffered blunt force trauma to her head, which caused a dislocation of the atlanto-occipital joint at the base of her skull. Jatkiewicz said Hodge sounded relatively calm when she called 911 because she already had some time to process what she'd done to Emma. "She didn't believe she had the capacity to kill baby Emma," the deputy prosecutor said. "No one wants to believe that someone would intentionally kill a child." Jatkiewicz said no responsible parent would put a baby down to sleep at 9:30 p.m. and not check on her again until 5 a.m. During that time, Hodge admitted she got a sippy cup for her own daughter but didn't give Emma anything to drink. In her videotaped interview with police, Hodge repeatedly referred to Emma as "the damn baby." "Who says that?" Jatikiewicz said. "Unless they're trying to distance themselves from that act." The deputy prosecutor reminded the jury the defense expert also testified that just because police use certain tactics doesn't necessarily mean a confession is false. "Baby Emma was placed in her care," Jatkiewicz said. "She had a duty to protect Emma, but she failed." Hodge may be sorry, but Emma is dead and Hodge must be held accountable, she said. Vasquez scheduled Hodge's sentencing hearing for April 13. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CROWN POINT A Michigan woman pleaded guilty Thursday to a reduced charge in the fatal shooting of a boyfriend in 2020 inside another woman's Merrillville apartment. Princess A. Thurman, 23, of Lansing, Michigan, admitted in her plea agreement that she fought with 20-year-old Masceo Robinson, went into a bathroom to retrieve a firearm, came out and shot Robinson twice. Robinson, of Merrillville, was shot in his abdomen and buttocks and died after he was taken to a hospital, according to court records and the Lake County coroner's office. Thurman pleaded guilty to one count of battery by means of a deadly weapon, a level 5 felony. In exchange for her plea, Lake County prosecutors agreed to dismiss a murder charge. If Judge Natalie Bokota accepts Thurman's plea agreement, Thurman would face a sentence of one to six years. The possible penalty for murder is 45 to 65 years in prison. According to charging documents, the other woman told Merrillville police Robinson was her "on again, off again" boyfriend and father of her young child. When the woman learned Robinson was dating Thurman, she communicated with Thurman via social media. She claimed the three agreed to attempt to maintain a polyamorous relationship, court records state. The woman told police Robinson and Thurman stayed the night at her apartment but began arguing the following day. The woman said she stopped Robinson from pushing Thurman and talked to him in the living room while Thurman went into a bathroom. She was on her cellphone when she heard gunshots, looked up and saw Thurman holding a purple handgun, records allege. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. SCHERERVILLE Russias war against Ukraine might seem to have begun just weeks ago, but thats not the whole story, cybersecurity expert Robert Johnson III said. Johnson, president and CEO of Merrillville-based Cimcor, said Russias attacks on Ukraine have been ongoing for years. Cimcor offers real-time cybersecurity monitoring and protection with clients including federal agencies and large corporations. This has always been a shadow war. This has been going on for a long time, he said. Ukraine regained its independence in 1990 after decades of Soviet control. In 2015, Russias state-sponsored hackers brought down Ukraines power grid, leaving 236,000 people without power, Johnson told Lake County Advancement Committee members at a luncheon at Teibels Restaurant. In 2017, Russia attacked Ukraines financial systems, wiping out data. It was literally to destroy the data and other information on these systems, he said. That same attack caused the radiation monitoring system at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to go offline. A 1986 accident at Chernobyl resulted in 30 deaths, according to the World Nuclear Association. The group blamed a flawed reactor design and inadequately trained personnel. Some of the sites for Russia have also been brought down by Ukrainian hackers, Johnson said. Johnson is concerned about deepening diplomatic relations between China and Russia and their attacks on U.S. computer networks. Those two countries along with North Korea and organized crime, are the four top sources of malware, he said. Cyberattacks by state-sponsored hackers arent limited to Russia, China and North Korea. A computer virus is credited with slowing Irans development of nuclear weapons. Here in the United States, cybersecurity threats are detected and contained an average of 287 days after the initial breach. Johnson put that in perspective. If a security breach happens on Jan. 1, it wouldnt be detected and remediated until Oct. 14. We hear about cybersecurity all the time, and yet we arent making any progress, Johnson said. "In fact, its getting worse." The problem is so bad that cybersecurity insurance providers are losing money. In response, theyre increasing premiums and raising the bar on whats considered best practices that clients must follow to be fully covered, Johnson said. A security breach costs an average of $4.24 million globally but $9 million in the United States, he said. Ransomware is a common problem. A hacker gains control of a computer system, deletes backups and demands payment to restore control to the owner. We recommend dont pay the ransom. Youre better off restoring to one of those old backups, Johnson said. Victims who pay the ransom often dont get all their data back anyway. Preparing for attacks like that includes having three backups on two types of media with one of them stored offsite the 3-2-1 rule, he said. Among the cybersecurity challenges Johnson is worried about is the increasing number of internet-connected devices is a threat, too. Cable boxes and pacemakers have been hacked, he noted. The skills gap is an issue, too. There are far too few cybersecurity professionals. Some are training for that career, but it will take time to get them out of college and up to speed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A caravan of semis, pickups and R.V.s that had driven across the United States to protest vaccine mandates and other Covid restrictions reached the capital region this week, but as the convoy circled the city, downtown Washington was business as usual. The convoys organizers say that it is early, that their restraint has been strategic and that protesters are in it for the long haul. They have managed to obtain audiences with various Republican politicians, including Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who nodded approvingly. And though mask mandates and local vaccine requirements have been rolled back across the country, including in Washington, the convoys leaders insist they are not leaving until all vaccine mandates are lifted. But a decade would pass before he produced a follow-up novel, a coming-of-age story, and it was 14 more years before he reimagined another esoteric subject, in Disaster Was My God: A Novel of the Outlaw Life of Arthur Rimbaud (2011), about the French avant-garde poet and libertine who had a tormented relationship with his mother, renounced his art when he was 21 and spent years as a merchant and gun runner in Africa. Duffy carries the reader beyond the usual ventriloquism of a realistic rendering of the material to a playful level above and beyond it, the novelist Alan Cheuse wrote in his review on NPR. And his portrait of a mamas boy gone mad turns out to be quite entertaining. Mr. Duffy reflected on choosing Rimbaud and Wittgenstein as his lead characters in an article for The Daily Beast in 2017. Wittgenstein, he said, was a mental drill sergeant who destroyed the core of Bertrand Russells mathematics, and Rimbaud was a man roundly known at times to have been nasty, sadistic, and arrogant even a jerk. Neither novel was a best seller but Kate Duffy said that her father was not dismayed. Writing was his passion, a drive that took over everything for him, she said in a phone interview. Whatever disappointment he felt, he just started another novel. Bruce Michael Duffy was born in Washington on June 9, 1951, and grew up in Garrett Park, Md. His father, Jack, with whom he had a distant relationship for many years, ran a heating and air conditioning business; his mother, Joan (Donnelly) Duffy, was a homemaker who died from complications following an appendectomy when Bruce was 11. It was as extraordinary as if she had run away to join the circus, he told The Washingtonian in 2011. I felt completely radioactive and angry. I thought adults were fools and completely blind and that other kids had no clue. At the University of Maryland, where he received a bachelors degree in English literature, he came under the influence of Marjorie Perloff, a poet and literary critic. She became a career-long mentor but not before she challenged him on what she saw as his poor attitude. A note to our readers Two years ago today, the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a global pandemic. A week before that, this newsletter was born. Since then, weve been on a journey together braving waves of infections, experiencing sickness and loss, mastering the art of protecting ourselves, and continuously learning about a wily virus that seemed to surprise experts at every turn. As the Omicron wave fades in the U.S. and as the W.H.O. begins exploring how and when to call an end to the global pandemic were making changes to this newsletter too. Beginning next week, we will be switching to a less-frequent schedule, landing in your inbox Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We may pop in more frequently when theres big virus news you need to know about, or even return to a daily schedule if needed. Well also be using this change to cover the most important topics in more depth, bringing you insights from the Times newsroom and beyond. Before we dive into todays newsletter, I want to say thank you to everyone who has followed along with us these last two years and express special gratitude to those who have written in to share their experiences. Im looking forward to navigating the next phase of the pandemic with you. Jonathan Ukraines drones punch above their weight Pentagon officials are puzzled by Russias failure to dominate the skies over Ukraine. Moscow has sophisticated missile defenses and air power on Ukraines borders, but it has not been using them effectively to support its ground forces or take out Ukraines air forces, U.S. officials and analysts said. Ukraines persistence has allowed it to use its small fleet of Turkish-made drones to devastating effect, carrying out several attacks on the huge Russian military convoys making their way toward Kyiv. The Bayraktar TB2 drones are assembled in Turkey with electronics made in the U.S. and Canada. They are slow, low-flying and completely defenseless. Still, they have earned a reputation for punching above their weight. At the start of the war, Ukraine had between five and 20 TB2s in service. Russia claims to have shot down several of them, and it is unclear how many are left. But video footage is still popping up to show the drones destroying Russian military hardware. Ukrainians are now singing songs about the Bayraktar, and have even named a lemur, born last week at the Kyiv Zoo, after the drone. Experts say Russia could still establish the air superiority that it fumbled at the start. In that case, the drones which have no self-defense systems, cruise at only about 80 miles an hour and are easily spotted by radar would be sitting ducks. 10. And finally, if he could turn back time Daylight saving time begins Sunday in the U.S., as clocks spring forward an hour and we gain an extra hour of daylight. In Britain, France and Germany, the clocks change on March 27. Most Americans dont like this disruptive ritual and possibly none more so than Marvin Schneider, the New York City clockmaster. In addition to his work on many other city-owned timepieces, he is in charge of shifting the century-old gears at City Hall and the clock in Brooklyn Borough Hall that he once considered his worst enemy. Schneider, 82, used to set his clocks to the nearest 10 seconds using an Omega wristwatch. These days he also uses a cellphone to get it very, very close. Not a Luddite, he said. Enjoy the extra sunshine this weekend. Eve Edelheit and Jill Foley compiled photos for this briefing. A programming note: Today will be my last Evening Briefing for a few months as I head to the Sports desk for a reporting stint. Youll be in great hands with my colleagues. Thanks as always for ending your day with me. Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com. Here are todays Mini Crossword, Spelling Bee and Wordle. If youre in the mood to play more, find all our games here. Hermes scarves, Harry Winston jewels, Feadship yachts, Mercedes cars, Cognac and Champagne none of these public badges of achievement and culture will be available to oligarchs in Russia any more. As part of a fourth wave of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the European Union and the United States announced Friday that they would no longer allow any exports of luxury goods to Russia. The bans were designed as a direct blow to the Russian elite, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Unions executive arm, said in a statement, adding: Those who sustain Putins war machine should no longer be able to enjoy their lavish lifestyle while bombs fall on innocent people in Ukraine. A fact sheet from the White House said elites should no longer be able to reap the gains of this system and squander the resources of the Russian people. Eaten fresh, black currants are tart and herbaceous. They pop with an earthy funk, playing musty and acidic on the tongue. When crushed, macerated in high-proof neutral alcohol and sweetened with sugar, the astringent fruit becomes a rich, deep red liqueur with a languid pour. A specialty of the Burgundy region of France (cassis translates to black currant in French), creme de cassis has been produced commercially since 1841. In the mid-19th century, black currants were also grown in the United States, and producers began making domestic liqueurs from the fruit. But, in 1911, the federal government banned black currants, which carried white pine blister rust, a fungus that infected white pines and presented a threat to the timber industry. By 1966, disease-resistant strains were introduced, and local governments were given the option to lift the ban, though the berry was slow to reclaim its popularity. In New York, where Rachael Petach uses the fruit to produce her black currant liqueur, C. Cassis, the ban was overturned in 2003. C. Cassis, sweetened with honey and less syrupy than traditional creme de cassis, is closer in style and application to vermouth. Our take is a bit of a contemporary approach to the fruit; its a little playful, Ms. Petach said. It speaks to my palate for things that are just a little less sweet, a little botanical. In recent days, scientists have reported that a hybrid of the Omicron and Delta coronavirus variants has been popping up in several countries in Europe. Heres what is known so far about the hybrid, which has picked up the Frankensteinian nicknames of Deltamicron or Deltacron. How was it found? In February, Scott Nguyen, a scientist with the Washington, D.C., Public Health Laboratory, was inspecting GISAID, an international database of coronavirus genomes, when he noticed something odd. He found samples collected in France in January that researchers had identified as a mix of Delta and Omicron variants. In rare cases, people can be infected by two coronavirus variants at once. But when Dr. Nguyen looked closely at the data, he found hints that this conclusion was wrong. Instead, it looked to Dr. Nguyen as though each virus in the sample actually carried a combination of genes from the two variants. Scientists call such viruses recombinants. When Dr. Nguyen looked for the same pattern of mutations, he found more possible recombinants in the Netherlands and Denmark. That led me to suspect that these might be real, he said in an interview. As the Omicron coronavirus surge subsides, researchers are keeping an eye on a highly transmissible subvariant known as BA.2. Although it doesnt appear to have the capacity to drive a large new wave of infections, the variant could potentially slow the current decline of Covid cases and make treatments more difficult. Heres what we know so far about BA.2. Its not really new. Scientists first discovered the Omicron variant in November, and it quickly became clear that the viral lineage already existed as three genetically distinct varieties. Each branch of Omicron had its own set of unique mutations. At the time, the most common was BA.1, which quickly spread across the world. BA.1 was almost entirely responsible for the record-shattering spike in cases this winter. At first, BA.1 was a thousand times as common as BA.2. But in early 2022, BA.2 started to be found in a larger proportion of new infections. It seems to be easier to catch. In Denmark, for example, scientists examined the spread of both subvariants in households. They found that people infected with BA.2 were substantially more likely to infect people they shared a house with than those with BA.1. It is not yet causing a new surge in the United States, and probably wont. Existing vaccines work against the BA.2 variant, and its vulnerable to antibodies made by the immune system after an earlier Omicron infection. DuckDuckGo has little control over its search results because they are provided by Microsofts Bing, which announced that it would follow the European Unions order to restrict access to the Russian state news agencies RT and Sputnik. But the criticism from the far right was directed at DuckDuckGo. The conservative website Breitbart said DuckDuckGo was adopting the censorship policies of Big Tech. In social media channels devoted to conspiracy theories, users vowed to switch to alternatives like the Russian search engine Yandex. The hashtag #DuckDuckGone trended across Twitter in the United States by Friday. And on YouTube, users criticized the company for silencing voices. If youre using DuckDuckGo, I suggest you stop using it and switch to something else, said Tarl Warwick, a self-described libertarian YouTube user with nearly half a million followers. He added: I want tens of thousands of people to stop using it. In a statement, Kamyl Bazbaz, the vice president of communications for DuckDuckGo, said that the affected sites were engaged in active disinformation campaigns, meaning they were similar to other low-quality websites already penalized by search algorithms. This isnt censorship, its just search rankings, he said. The backlash underscored the difficulties some technology companies face in limiting the spread of Russian propaganda at a time when pockets of America express support for the Kremlin and believe Big Tech companies are censoring their views. Jeff Simpson, the president of the union that represents Columbus police officers, said he sat with Officer Reardon and his family for four hours on Friday as they awaited the grand jurys decision. He said the officer was relieved by the outcome but still grappling with having killed a teenage girl in what he has said was an attempt to save the life of the other young woman. He wishes he never wouldve been put in that position, Mr. Simpson said. Officer Reardon, who has been on desk duty since the shooting, hopes to return to patrolling now that the case is complete, he said. The encounter began on April 20, 2021, when the sisters were at home after school with Tionna Bonner, the 22-year-old woman, who had previously lived there. JaNiah told The New York Times last spring that Ms. Bonner was berating them for not being clean enough and for disrespecting their foster mother. As things escalated, JaNiah called her grandmother Jeanene Hammonds for help. Ms. Hammonds had taken care of the children after they were taken away from their mother over claims of abuse and neglect, but she said she lost custody when her landlord kicked her out of her home and she had nowhere permanent to live. In interviews last year, Ms. Hammonds described arriving at the foster home and trying to keep her grandchildren separated from the former resident and another former foster child who had also arrived and joined the fray. Ms. Hammonds said she urged her grandchildren to pack up their belongings and had planned to take them to her house. But as the shouting continued, JaNiah and her grandmother said, MaKhia grabbed a steak knife from the kitchen. Ms. Bonner grabbed a pink knife from her car, according to an investigative report released on Friday, confirming the familys claim that she also had a knife during the dispute. Ms. Bonner told the investigators that she had put the knife back into her car before the police arrived, and that she believed that Mr. Reardon had saved a life by shooting MaKhia. Inside the house, JaNiah called 911 asking for help, saying that grown girls were trying to stab us and had tried to hurt the grandmother. WASHINGTON Without the backing of a recognized government or money to keep the lights on, Afghanistans embassy to the United States is shutting down, State Department officials said on Friday. Afghan diplomats, who were appointed by the former U.S.-backed government and could be under threat by the ruling Taliban if they return home, have 30 days to apply for residency or temporary humanitarian parole to remain in the United States before they risk being deported, the officials said. Although they would not be sent back to Afghanistan, it is not clear where else the diplomats would go, said the officials, who openly hoped the situation would not reach that point. Around 25 diplomats about one-fourth of the estimated 100 who worked at the Afghan Embassy in Washington or the countrys consulates in New York and Los Angeles have yet to apply to remain, said two State Department officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue more frankly. The development caps a sad saga for Afghan envoys, whose assignment to the United States had marked the pinnacle of their diplomatic careers before being thrown into doubt with the Talibans takeover of their government in August. Last week, the Laxalt campaign which has the backing of both Trump and Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader launched Latinos for Laxalt in an effort to appeal to Hispanic voters. Cortez Mastos allies have made sure to use Spanish-language criticism by Latinos against Laxalt what they say is just smart, hard-nosed campaigning. The Democratic Party in Nevada is also suffering from an unusual schism. In effect, the party has split in two between a group aligned with former allies of Reid, the late senator, and a smaller faction led by allies of Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont progressive. The states top Democrats including Cortez Masto, Senator Jacky Rosen and Gov. Steve Sisolak are all working through a new entity called Nevada Democratic Victory, which is coordinating field operations and other statewide campaign spending with the Democratic National Committee in Washington. Its not completely clear what role the official Nevada State Democratic Party will play in the 2022 midterms. That group, which is led by Judith Whitmer, a Sanders ally, announced it had just half a million dollars on hand at the outset of the campaign season money that it, nonetheless, said would be used to mount a huge field campaign. And while Cortez Mastos allies insist that everything is running smoothly and that any tensions between the two groups have been ironed out, several also confess to having little idea of what the state party is doing. The Cortez Masto campaign says it is taking no community in the state for granted, and is simply continuing the senators longstanding efforts to engage with an important constituency that was hit hard by the economic disruptions of the last few years. While Senator Cortez Masto continues to build on her strong record of fighting for the Latino community in Nevada, Adam Laxalt continues to show he cant be trusted, Josh Marcus-Blank, a spokesman for the Cortez Masto campaign, said in a statement. Vargas, the head of the NALEO Educational Fund, said that mobilizing Latino voters, especially younger voters, will be a critical factor in November. His group has projected that turnout among Latinos will grow by 5.8 percent in Nevada during the 2022 midterms, but he declined to speculate as to which party might benefit. WASHINGTON American officials are examining the ownership of a $700 million superyacht currently in a dry dock at an Italian seacoast town, and believe it could be associated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, according to multiple people briefed on the information. United States intelligence agencies have made no final conclusions about the ownership of the superyacht called the Scheherazade but American officials said they had found initial indications that it was linked to Mr. Putin. The information from the U.S. officials came after The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Italian authorities were looking into the 459-foot long vessels ownership and that a former crew member said it was for the use of Mr. Putin. People briefed on the intelligence would not describe what information they had that indicated the superyacht is associated with Mr. Putin. If American officials know whether or how often Mr. Putin uses the yacht, the people briefed on the information would not share it. American officials said Mr. Putin kept little of his wealth in his own name. Instead he uses homes and boats nominally owned by Russian oligarchs. Still, it is possible that through various shell companies, Mr. Putin could have more direct control of the Scheherazade. We cannot rewrite the statute, the justices wrote. With this ruling, the sliver of this case that we were left with is gone, said Nancy Northup, the president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, declared it a major victory. This measure, which has saved thousands of unborn babies, remains fully in effect, and the pro-abortion plaintiffs lawsuit against the state is essentially finished, he wrote on Twitter. Abortion rights supporters and legal scholars said the Texas law would encourage other states not only to pass similar bans on abortion, but to attempt to nullify other precedents they oppose. The law allows no exceptions for abortion even in the case of women who have been raped or are victims of incest. It has thrown Texas abortion providers into crisis, and similar legislation is pending around the country. The Supreme Court is considering a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and in oral arguments in December, the six conservative justices on the court appeared inclined to uphold that law. Several justices indicated that they would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade outright, as Mississippi has asked. And lawyers for abortion rights groups argued that even if the court only upholds the Mississippi law, it would effectively overturn Roe because of its central holding on viability. Already, state legislatures are advancing bans on abortion as if Roe were overturned. Some have passed outright bans on abortion that are to take effect immediately if the court rules to overturn Roe even in part, and others have prepared to ban the procedure at six, 10, 12 and 15 weeks. Several West Point cadets were among six young men on spring break who overdosed this week on what was believed to be cocaine laced with fentanyl at a rental home in Wilton Manors, Fla., officials said Friday. When the local police arrived at the home around 5 p.m. Thursday, two bystanders were performing CPR on two unconscious men on the lawn, Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan of Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said in an interview. Two others were unconscious inside the house, he added. The two bystanders had not used the substance, but they also went into respiratory arrest because of their exposure from performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, Chief Gollan said. Emergency medical workers administered the anti-overdose medication Narcan, a brand-name version of naloxone, Chief Gollan said. Its an image that shocked many: bodies of the dead piled up next to Covid patients. On Friday, the authorities in Hong Kong said that the citys hospital mortuaries had filled up so quickly amid a sharp Covid outbreak that body bags were being crammed into wards with patients who were still being treated for the virus. For some of the bodies, we have not been able to move them from the wards to the mortuary, said Sara Ho, the chief manager of patient safety and risk management at Hong Kongs Hospital Authority. It may cause some concerns among patients. Officials are scrambling to beat back the citys worst Covid outbreak, with the government reporting more than 600,000 cases and 3,231 deaths since late January. And while such figures may no longer seem all that remarkable for large countries like the United States, Hong Kong is one of the last places on Earth that is still trying to completely stamp out the coronavirus. LONDON The London police violated the human rights of four organizers in banning a March 2021 vigil for a woman who was killed by a police officer, the British High Court ruled on Friday. The police had cited coronavirus restrictions in banning the vigil. Reclaim These Streets, the group that organized the protest over the killing of the woman, Sarah Everard, celebrated the decision. Last March, womens voices were silenced, the organization said in a statement. Todays judgment conclusively shows that the police were wrong to silence us. Judge Mark Warby, in a summary of the ruling, said that the Metropolitan Police Service failed to perform its legal duty to consider whether the claimants might have a reasonable excuse for holding the gathering. While Russia was attacking a wide circle of cities on Friday, Russian and Ukrainian forces were girding for what is shaping up to be a climactic battle in Kyiv, which a Ukrainian presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, on Friday called a city under siege. That could be a long, drawn-out fight with thousands of casualties on both sides, as well as among the roughly 1.5 million citizens remaining in the city. One Russian column approaching from the northwest was about nine miles from the city center, a senior Pentagon official said, while another column pushing in from the northeast was about 12 to 18 miles away. A senior U.S. official said that it could take up to two weeks for Russian forces to encircle Kyiv and then at least another month to seize it, in all likelihood through a combination of relentless bombardment and what could be weeks or months of door-to-door street fighting. And there are important differences between what took place a generation ago in Chechnya, with a population of about two million, and Ukraine, with about 44 million. The assault on Grozny took place before the social media era, and in a distant, former Soviet republic that fewer Russians thought of as part of Russia, rather than a nation portrayed in Russian state media as an inseparable part of Russia. It runs so much against the Russian narrative that the Ukrainians are our brothers and Ukraine is part of our history, said Michael A. Reynolds, associate professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. Or, as Mr. Stronski said: Kyiv is the historic birthplace of both Ukraine and Russia. It is dicier to carpet bomb a place like Kyiv or Kharkiv than it was Grozny. On the day Russia invaded Ukraine, Max and his wife drove from their home in Germany to Poland, and then crossed the border into Ukraine. With fear, they moved in the opposite direction of the long line of cars that intended to flee the country and that was snarling the roads for miles. Traveling diagonally across the country on Feb. 24, they encountered unmistakable signs of possible violence to come, from dozens of Ukrainian military checkpoints, tanks patrolling the roads and sandbags piled high on the street. Not venturing to the country would have broken the couples decade-old dream to have a family. Their Ukrainian surrogate mother was soon expected to give birth to their twin daughters. Just our children not being with us was something we couldnt live with, Max said. Now when his daughters smile at him, the war fades away. They were born prematurely on March 4. But he knows that any day, war could be coming closer to his family. Air raid sirens sound day and night, and much of the twins first days in the world have been spent in the hospitals underground shelter. Buckingham Palace said on Friday that Queen Elizabeth II, who recently recovered from Covid-19, will not attend a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey next week in what would have been her first major public engagement in weeks. The queen, who returned to work on March 1, met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada this week in her first in-person official meeting after her positive test result. The palace posted a photograph to Twitter on Monday of the queen, who is also queen of Canada, receiving Mr. Trudeau at Windsor Castle for a one-on-one meeting. The decision to skip the Commonwealth Day service was related to discussions about the queens comfort in traveling to and from the event, according to reporting from Reuters. Queen Elizabeth, 95, was hospitalized last October for undisclosed ailments and was advised by her medical team to rest for at least two weeks. The service, which will be held on Monday, celebrates the Commonwealth of Nations, mainly former territories of the British Empire. The palace said in a statement that Queen Elizabeth asked Prince Charles to represent her. Yuriko Kikuchi, who under the single name Yuriko was a leading dancer in Martha Grahams company from the 1940s to 1967 and then a keeper of Grahams flame through her demanding teaching and outstanding revivals of early Graham works, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. She was 102. Her death was confirmed by her daughter, Susan Kikuchi Kivnick, a former dancer who has held several positions with the Graham organization. An ultimate multitasker, Yuriko was associated with the Graham fold for more than 50 years. She founded a student company, the Martha Graham Ensemble, in 1983 and ran it until 1993. (Ms. Graham died in 1991.) She also carved out a career as an independent modern dance choreographer whose themes were sometimes related to her Japanese heritage. She was imbued with a powerful clarity in her dancing, which could turn into delicate fluidity in her own choreography. Then Willie signed with Atlantic Records and asked me if I wanted to do this gospel record with him, she recounted in a 2008 interview with The Reno Gazette-Journal in Nevada. I took my first airplane flight then and flew to New York City, and we did The Troublemaker and Shotgun Willie, and weve been playing together from that time on. She became a foundational member of the Family, Mr. Nelsons backing band, which he formed in 1973. The band helped rejuvenate his career, which had hit a plateau after a decade of working and recording in Nashville. As Mr. Nelson began to tour extensively and record albums like Red Headed Stranger (1975) that branched out from traditional country music, Ms. Nelson was at his side. She is the best piano player for me, he wrote in Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings From the Road, a 2012 collection of miscellany. She rolls with whatever I throw at her, and it doesnt matter where I run off to in music, she is always there when I get back. Ms. Nelson was generally content to be in her brothers shadow, but she would occasionally take a more out-front role, as in 2014 when, billed as Willie Nelson and Sister Bobbie, the two of them released December Day: Willies Stash Vol. 1, an album of 18 of their favorite songs. James Beaty, reviewing it for The McAlester News-Capital & Democrat in Oklahoma, called it as smooth as lightly falling snow and warm as a glowing fireplace on a winters afternoon. They released other albums together as well, including several gospel records, and in 2007 Ms. Nelson released a solo album, Audiobiography. In 2020, they collaborated on the book Me and Sister Bobbie: True Tales of the Family Band, (with Mr. Ritz), in which they told their intertwined life stories, alternating chapters. For decades, Mr. Miles enjoyed the admiration of insiders and fellow musicians and was known as a munificent educator and standard-bearer on the Denver scene. But his retiring personality and his relative absence from New York conspired with the resolute unflashiness of his playing to keep him out of the brightest spotlight. In his bands, the accompanists were often more famous than the leader. Only with the 2017 release of I Am a Man, a collection of seven inspired originals played by an all-star quintet, did the scope of his creativity gain wider recognition. Three years later, Blue Note released the quintets second album, Rainbow Sign, a set of languorous, poignant tunes that he had written while caring for his ailing father, who died in 2018. The title had a few levels of meaning for Mr. Miles, all of them intertwined. Referring to a passage in the Book of Revelation, when Christ perceives that his skin is multihued, Mr. Miles said the rainbow was a symbol of humanitys oneness. The idea of a rainbow is that its this thing that takes us outside of our expectations and our limitations of what we can see, he told the Denver-based publication Westword. While grieving, Mr. Miles had also been drawn to mythology that sees rainbows as a gateway connecting the living to their ancestors. Those who have left us can come back when we see a rainbow and visit us, he said, and we can interact with them through this rainbow. Ronald Glen Miles was born in Indianapolis on May 9, 1963, to Jane and Fay Dooney Miles. When he was 11, his parents moved the family to Denver, hoping that the mile-high climate would help Ron cope with his asthma; they took jobs as civil servants there. Through the account, she got a tip from a credible source in August that he had likely been living in Southern California under an assumed name. She was able to see his photo, but only on an online memorial website: He died in 2020. Rivera Garza asked for help from law enforcement contacts in the U.S. to corroborate the story, and now believes that the man in the photo was indeed Lilianas ex-boyfriend. She is waiting for final confirmation from Mexican authorities. That outcome initially disappointed Rivera Garza, thrusting her back into a familiar cycle of grief and guilt: if only she had started her search sooner, if only her sister hadnt moved to Mexico City, if only. But she then began to contemplate the purpose of her book, and what she ultimately hoped to achieve by documenting Lilianas story. There is a larger concept of justice that involves the preservation of memory and the truth, as well, Rivera Garza said. I realized little by little that the book in fact was trying to do that work. Rivera Garza came to see mourning as a communal process. The book was written from a wound that I share with so many other families in Mexico, Latin America, and around the world, she said. Justice of any kind has been hard to come by for women like Liliana. In Mexico, more than 1,000 murders last year were officially classified as femicides the killing of women and girls because of their gender. At least half of reported femicides in the country go unresolved, according to Impunidad Cero, a think tank. And most violence against women isnt reported at all. For Rivera Garza, finding a way to write about her sisters death, even in the context of such pervasive violence, was a challenge. At the time, cases like Lilianas were often described in the press and historical records as crimes of passion, a construction Rivera Garza said implicitly blamed the victim while exonerating the accused. This lack of a dignified and respectful language prevented Rivera Garza from writing her sisters story sooner, she said. In 31 chapters, each as self-contained and pointed as a shard of ice, Brunner presents a different historic, political, natural or cultural facet of his subject. Together, these shards form a glacial memory palace-cum-climbing wall that lets readers scale this myth-wreathed territory. He looks not so much for a through-line as for arresting spots on the berg of the notional north where the reader can plant an ice ax, pause for breath, look out and down, and ponder the mysteries of the northern lights, spread out across the centuries. Among these mysteries: How can you reconcile the fact that, in 1595, when the Dutch explorer Willem Barents was already sailing the Arctic, and would soon discover (technically, rediscover) the Svalbard Archipelago, the geographer Gerhard Mercator produced a map that showed an enormous whirlpool ringing the North Pole? In 1747, in Hamburg, Germany, a merchant named Johann Anderson wrote a voluminous, scathing tome attacking Iceland, portraying its inhabitants as grim, tippling laborers whose eternal aim was to catch and clean something that they can trade for brandy, their beloved brandy, the next time Danish ships dock. Anderson, Brunner writes, had never set foot in Iceland. Within five years, a geographer for the Danish crown would publish a corrective study, utterly rejecting Andersons flights of foolishness. Why did the German and the Dane, in the same decade, have such intense, conflicting attitudes about their northern neighbor? In 19th-century England, a wild notion circulated that Queen Victoria was a blood relative of the Norse god Odin. Seriously? And in 1896, when the American Arctic explorer Robert E. Peary transported six Inuit Greenlanders (including a child) to the Museum of Natural History in New York for research purposes, 20,000 New Yorkers met the ship at the docks to gawk at the exotic foreigners. Did they understand that these captives from the north were not wights, but human beings? Other authors investigating Brunners point of the compass have systematically tracked recorded landmarks of its exploration for instance, the discoveries of the Northwest and Northeast Passages, the Yukon gold rush and the exploits of polar adventurers like Henry Hudson, Roald Amundsen or Sir Edmund Hillary. But Brunner seeks the neural north that exists off the map or despite the map. The ancient Greeks, he notes, imagined the northern terra incognita which they called Hyperborea (after Boreas, the god of the north wind) as a paradise inhabited by wise, immortal giants. To medieval Europeans, haunted by memories of terrifying Viking raids, the High North was the realm of the devil, the place whence evil would come upon the world. To later Europeans, beguiled by Icelandic Eddas, Norse sagas, elves, trolls, the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich and the folkloric music of Edvard Grieg, it was a book of fairy tales spread across unspoiled nature: bucolic idylls, birch forests, and mountain and ice landscapes. And to the young Kaiser Wilhelm II, who summered in the Norwegian fjords for a quarter-century on his yacht, the Hohenzollern, it was the ancestral home of Germanness. Magic threads draw me to this broad-shouldered people, he is said to have declared in 1890, the second year of his fjord expeditions, as he bestowed a viking statue upon the Norwegian people, and proudly claimed viking ancestry. Dreams of mystical northern brotherhood like the Kaisers soon would be disastrously exploited by antisemites and white supremacists who, as J. R. R. Tolkien put it, perverted the Nordic spirit and myth in their quest for world domination. That impulse persists to this day, Brunner shows, giving as proof a photograph of one of the stormers of the U.S. Capitol in 2021, who bore a horned helmet on his head and Nordic tattoos on his chest. But its not only insurrectionists who fall for the call of wild, icebound climes, he notes, marveling at the immense success of Game of Thrones and Neil Gaimans fantastical northern road novel, American Gods. He asks, What needs are serviced by such tales from a world that no longer exists and perhaps never did in the form that we imagine? Thought-provoking and wide-ranging, Extreme North resembles the cabinet of wonders that he uses as the books embarkation point: the 16th-century Museum Wormianum, which held thousands of northern relics assembled by a Copenhagen polymath named Olaf Worms from fossils and taxidermied beasts (a great auk, a small polar bear) to a narwhal skull, complete with its long, sharp, spiral tusk. Over the centuries, most of the collection has been lost; today, its breadth can only be known through a 1655 catalog that preserves the collectors impressions of his holdings in Latin. Worms wanted, Brunner writes, to give the public a sense of the vast expanse of the north. Brunner achieves that goal in a modern tongue, not with objects you can hold in your hand, but with ideas you can carry in your head. Then, in November 2020, the notices declaring their product unsafe went out, he said. If their goal was to destroy Kytch, theyve succeeded, Mr. OSullivan said. Tim FitzGerald, chief executive of the Middleby Corporation, which owns the Taylor Company, denied that that was the goal. Were not in business to put other companies out of business, he said. The product had not been tested or validated working in conjunction with the food safety protocols of a Taylor machine. This month, Kytchs founders filed a lawsuit against McDonalds in U.S. District Court in Delaware seeking $900 million in damages. Ms. Nelson and Mr. OSullivan say the number reflects damages and what their company would have been worth had McDonalds not scared off current and prospective customers with the alarming notices. McDonalds said that Kytchs claims were meritless. McDonalds owes it to our customers, crew and franchisees to maintain our rigorous safety standards and work with fully vetted suppliers in that pursuit, the company said in a statement this week. Kytch said that at the same time that McDonalds was trying to undermine the product, the chain and Taylor were holding regular meetings with franchise owners who had bought Kytchs program to figure out how to copy the technology, according to the lawsuit. Kytch separately sued Taylor in Alameda County Superior Court in California. Last week, a judge in that court denied Kytchs request for an injunction against Taylor, which has been developing a similar product. The judge, Michael Markman, said there was no evidence that Taylors system was built with or incorporates any Kytch trade secret. While a few planes may have been recovered abroad before international flights were halted, they are of little use to their owners without the meticulous maintenance records that accompany every aircraft and are often stored by airlines themselves, experts said. And the longer a plane is stuck in Russia, the greater the concern that work on the jets body, engines and flight systems may not be logged, causing its value to plummet. Unless you have those records, the aircraft is virtually worthless, said Quentin Brasie, the founder and chief executive of ACI Aviation Consulting. Theyre literally more important than the asset itself. The financial consequences of the planes being held in Russia could be far-reaching, too. Such aircraft are financed in a variety of ways, including funding from banks, leasing companies themselves, and investors in securitized debt. Insurers and reinsurers may be on the hook, too, experts said. Aviation war insurers, in particular, are concerned and facing their biggest potential losses since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to Russell Group, a data and analytics company. Aircraft insurance premiums have been on the rise for years as the industry struggled to counter recent annual losses. As prices went up during the pandemic, insurers cut coverage, according to Suki Basi, the founder of Russell Group. At the least, the situation in Russia will probably have a similar effect. You pay more and you get less coverage, he said. If it does nothing to premiums, it will do that. There will be lasting consequences for Russia, too. The crisis is likely to drive up the cost of doing business there generally and may cause some leasing companies and insurers to swear off the Russian market. I said, Do you know were Latvian? And there was a pause, Mr. McKinney said, declining to name the retailer. As he spoke, the background for his Zoom screen was framed in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag alongside the hashtag #StandWithUkraine. I needed people to understand were on the good guys side. And this is about an evil man and a regime, not the Russian people, he added, noting that Stoli employs Russians as well as Ukrainians. Like many businesses, Stoli has no singular identity that is simple to delineate. Its recipe is Russian, as is its name. Stolichnaya translates roughly to metropolitan. The company founder, Yuri Shefler, fled Russia after a dispute with the government over control of the Stoli trademark. He lives in Switzerland today. For years, Russia has fought Stoli in court over the rights to claim ownership of the name. The company makes its bottle caps and some of its bottles in Ukraine and recently evacuated five Ukrainian employees from the country to Cyprus and Luxembourg, Mr. McKinney said. The Russian Tea Room, where during the pre-theater rush Friday only a handful of tables were occupied, has a similarly complicated lineage, despite the name. Its current owner is a New York real estate developer. But it started in 1927 as a popular hangout among Russians who emigrated to America and became citizens. A New York Times story from 1977 about the restaurants 50th anniversary noted that the restaurant was patronized early on by exiles who called themselves White Russians, to distinguish themselves from Lenins red Bolsheviks. And nearly a century later, drawing those distinctions with the Moscow regime are as important as ever. On the restaurants website, a pop-up banner statement on the war in Ukraine greets visitors, noting its history as an institution deeply rooted in speaking against communist dictatorship. It adds, We stand against Putin and with the people of Ukraine. Kristen Noyes contributed research. I do not know any country where, in general, less independence of mind and genuine freedom of discussion reign than in America, the French aristocrat, historian and social critic Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in the first volume of Democracy in America, in 1835. In Europe, he argued, there is no country so subject to one single power that he who wants to speak the truth does not find support capable of assuring him against the consequences of his independence. But in the heart of a democracy organized as that of the United States, one encounters only a single power, a single element of force and success, and nothing outside of it. Specifically, Tocqueville wrote, the majority draws a formidable circle around thought. Within those limits the writer is free, but unhappiness awaits him if he dares to leave them. Here Tocqueville, who had done a yearlong tour of the United States from 1831 to 1832, expands on what happens to an American who runs afoul of majority opinion: A political career is closed to him: he has offended the only power that has the capacity to open it up. Everything is refused him, even glory. Before publishing his opinions, he believed he had partisans; it seems to him that he no longer has any now that he has uncovered himself to all; for those who blame him express themselves openly, and those who think like him, without having his courage, keep silent and move away. He yields, he finally bends under the effort of each day and returns to silence as if he felt remorse for having spoken the truth. He continues with an extended comparison of the difference between tyranny under a monarchy and tyranny in a democracy: Under the absolute government of one alone, despotism struck the body crudely, so as to reach the soul; and the soul, escaping from those blows, rose gloriously above it; but in democratic republics, tyranny does not proceed in this way; it leaves the body and goes straight for the soul. The master no longer says to it: You shall think as I do or you shall die; he says: You are free not to think as I do; your life, your goods, everything remains to you; but from this day on, you are a stranger among us. You shall keep your privileges in the city, but they will become useless to you; for if you crave the vote of your fellow citizens, they will not grant it to you, and if you demand only their esteem, they will still pretend to refuse it to you. You shall remain among men, but you shall lose your rights of humanity. When you approach those like you, they shall flee you as being impure; and those who believe in your innocence, even they shall abandon you, for one would flee them in turn. Go in peace, I leave you your life, but I leave it to you worse than death. Talk about cancel culture. The key thing, for Tocqueville, is that this was inextricable from democratic life, the dark side of those institutions, habits and mores that made a democracy such as the United States so lively and dynamic. The same freedom of the press that makes democracy possible in the first place can incite the kinds of passions that threaten free expression and the rights of the minority. The astonishing equality of political life in a democracy where, as Tocqueville put it, the sovereign is approachable from all sides and where it is only a question of raising ones voice to reach its ear can produce conformity as much as it can unleash individuality. I see very clearly two tendencies in equality: one brings the mind of each man toward new thoughts, and the other would willingly induce it to give up thinking, Tocqueville wrote. And I perceive how, under the empire of certain laws, democracy would extinguish the intellectual freedom that the democratic social state favors, so that the human spirit, having broken all the shackles that classes or men formerly imposed on it, would be tightly chained to the general will of the greatest number. If Tocqueville seemed deeply worried about the prospect of intellectual conformity in a democracy, it is because he was. But, as the political theorist Jennie Ikuta argues in Contesting Conformity: Democracy and the Paradox of Political Belonging, we should also take seriously his declaration that democracy can lead to intellectual freedom as well: The nature of public opinion as an illusory unanimity isolates dissenters from the public and silent unbelievers from one another, undercutting social support for dissent as well as the freedom to dissent. But if the nature of public opinion in a democracy makes intellectual freedom difficult, it is not impossible. Through private and public forms of social support, democratic individuals and collectives can overcome the ostracism that tends to accompany dissent and thereby preserve intellectual freedom. Democracy does not doom individuals to intellectual servitude; rather, it makes intellectual freedom possible. I think this is a good place for us to end. The things we associate with cancel culture or censoriousness are not unique to us. They arent unique to a particular faction or ideology either. They are inherent to democracy, an unavoidable part of free society that we can manage and mitigate but never fully eliminate. To see them in these terms is to remember, or to be reminded, that democracy is not benign. It is a powerful force and, at times, a frightening one too. Last October, I attended a high school Halloween party. A group of guys from my school surrounded me and shouted homophobic slurs. One even threatened me with physical violence. When I broke down crying in class the next day, my teacher comforted me. She told me that she had gone through something similar when she was my age. On Tuesday, the Florida Senate approved the Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the Dont Say Gay bill. The bill, which Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he will sign, seeks to ban public schools in the state from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through the third grade, or through the 12th grade in a manner deemed age-inappropriate by parents. Had the proposed law been in effect last year, my teacher could have put herself in jeopardy by being there for me. From an early age I knew I was different. I wasnt interested in the things other boys my age did, and I didnt really feel comfortable in the clothes my parents bought me. The struggle for acceptance was not just internal, it also felt as if my classmates didnt know what to make of me. By fourth grade I was convinced that I was broken. I didnt know how to defend myself when other kids made hateful comments or bullied me I didnt know why I was the way that I was. Without the vocabulary to articulate why I felt and acted like this, I assumed what they said about me was true. For most of the kids in my grade, I was the only kid like me they knew. By contrast, Dr. Fauci has told me, President Biden is far more interested to hear from him and the other experts on the team. And the administrations messaging is confident, concise and unified. There is very little daylight between what Dr. Fauci says and what Mr. Biden and Dr. Walensky say and what Jeff Zients (Dr. Birxs successor) and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy say. This is, theoretically, ideal. And yet the system is struggling. Public distrust, uncertainty and skepticism are at a low ebb. The generous read on the situation is: When leaders attempt to follow science earnestly and wait for consensus among people who think in nuances they risk being slow to respond and vague in advice and conclusions. The less generous read is that politics and science have melded so completely that the result has been neither scientifically nor politically effective. I think the administration has been thinking: We want to speak with one voice. We dont want to confuse people. We dont want mixed messages, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, a former director of the C.D.C. who dealt with outbreaks such as Zika, H1N1 influenza and Ebola during his tenure. So, all of the briefings will be from the White House. The problem is, then you dont get the granular briefings you need. In the attempt to have a cohesive message, there appear to be delays and failures to say anything at all. Whatever the intent, the effect has left Americans feeling uncertain of whom to trust, at best. At worst, lied to. The issues go beyond messaging, to failures to update basic definitions or policies that could easily instantly be carried out. For example, the definition of fully vaccinated has not yet been changed to include booster shots, even months after the C.D.C. recommended them for everyone. It can be argued theres a political benefit to not doing so: If the definition were updated, the administration would no longer be able to tout the success of 65 percent of people being fully vaccinated. Suddenly that number would drop to around 44 percent. (The C.D.C. says people who have gotten their booster are considered up to date.) Other decisions have been similarly vexing. During the Omicron surge, the administration maintained a travel ban against South Africa for weeks despite the fact that the virus was already in the United States. And for months there was persistent hesitation to acknowledge the usefulness of N95 masks and rapid tests, coinciding with a national shortage of both. In isolation, any of these decisions might be dismissed as an earnest oversight. The agency is small, understaffed and underfunded. But taken together, there is a pattern of alignment between health information and political expediency. This approach may placate people in the short term, but it makes the crisis of trust only worse with time. Then contemporary China, India, Russia and arguably the European Union all have goals that echo the ambitions of 19th-century Germany and Italy, the Russia of the Romanovs and eventually the Empire of Japan: to establish the largest possible political union based on shared ethnicity or cultural inheritance; to grow strong enough to challenge Anglo-Saxon hegemony; to project power in regions of the globe that lack a dominant nation-state, whether in Central Asia and the Middle East or Africa and Latin America. Within this multipolar world, you have emergent alliances that echo alignments of the kind that preceded World War I for now, Russia and China against Europe and America. And then you have the smaller nations and regions caught between, stirred by their own ambitions and offering potential tinderboxes for larger wars. Manchuria, Alsace-Lorraine and the Balkans then; today, Taiwan, Afghanistan, Syria and now Ukraine. But all these echoes and revivals have not brought the 19th century back to life in full. Instead the old geopolitics is re-emerging against a thoroughly 21st-century background. First, globalization has gone further than it ever did in the 19th century. The scale of our interdependence is sometimes exaggerated, but its still extraordinary, and so is the scale of wealth at stake in any sustained disruption of the world system. That doesnt mean that some strands in the vast web cannot be unwound. But to have it happen suddenly and wrenchingly, as is happening to Russia at the moment, is a peril greater than the empire builders of the 19th century faced. Those empire builders also operated in a world where it was still possible to claim real public legitimacy for imperialism, conquest, autocratic rule. That day may come again, for now even de facto dictators like Putin feel they have to pretend to be democratically elected, pay lip service to self-determination, deny that theyre invading their neighbor even when its obvious to all. But Europes farewell to Russian gas will be a long goodbye; it will take most of the decade for the continent to wean itself from those supplies, which now account for more than 40 percent of its gas imports. So for now, Europe will keep buying from Russia as the war in Ukraine expands. And if energy prices continue to rise, the amount of money Europe pays to Russia each day will keep increasing, and could average $850 million per day in the first half of 2022, according to our calculations. As Western sanctions target Russias financial sector and its central bank, those exports now represent an even more precious source of income for Russia and for Vladimir Putins war. Canada and the United States already have stepped forward to ban imports of Russian oil and natural gas this is less significant than a European import ban would be; U.S. and Canadian imports are comparatively low and Britain has pledged to phase out oil imports from Russia by the end of the year, though gas imports would continue. But should the daily brutalities in Ukraine continue or even accelerate, social and political pressures across Europe will mount to put an embargo on Russian energy even if European governments are for now resisting. As Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany said, Russian supplies remain essential to the European economy for now. Such an embargo would represent one of the most significant shocks in the history of energy markets; the natural gas market is already near a breaking point. It would also represent a major test for the European economy and society, risking endangering its social peace, as the German minister for economic affairs and climate action, Robert Habeck, said recently. On top of the economic consequences of high oil prices, E.U. leaders also fear that while a Western embargo might initially target only Russian oil, Russia could retaliate by cutting natural gas supplies to Europe. Given the gravity of such a scenario, any punitive measures by the E.U. must be thoughtfully anticipated in collaboration with the United States, Canada and other partners. A trans-Atlantic energy pact should include actions on at least four fronts. WASHINGTON For actors, it is the most gripping, feared line ever written. It is the Mona Lisa of literature, said Simon Godwin, the director of the Shakespeare Theater Company here. It is something were so deeply familiar with, it is hard to bring new context to, and to make it live again. So it was stunning when an actor not known for classical performance spoke the opening of Hamlets soliloquy with more dramatic weight than Gielgud, Burton, Olivier or Cumberbatch. The question for us now is to be or not to be, Volodymyr Zelensky told the British Parliament in a video call on Tuesday, speaking in Ukrainian. This is the Shakespearean question. For 13 days, this question could have been asked. But now I can give you a definitive answer. Its definitely yes, to be. As Godwin noted of the TV sitcom actor turned Ukrainian wartime president, He has become, in a way, the worlds greatest actor engaged with the worlds deepest truth, using a piece of poetry to express this truth in a forceful context. A subsequent post, which Dr. Linde steered me to and translated, listed the signers of the letter but not the letter itself. There is nothing criminal in the text of the letter, the new post read. However, due to the new legislation, which actually introduces the most severe censorship, we remove the text of the letter, leaving signatures, believing that it is important for the signatories to let people know that they have not kept silent. That post, too, has disappeared. Its so depressing, Dr. Linde said. Another embarrassment for Russia came when Oleg Anisimov, a climatologist at the State Hydrological Institute in Saint Petersburg who headed the Russian delegation to a Feb. 27 meeting of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, interrupted his talk before the representatives from 195 nations to apologize to the citizens of Ukraine for the attack. Let me present an apology on behalf of all Russians who were not able to prevent this conflict, Dr. Anisimov said at the meeting. Those who know what is happening fail to find any justification for the attack. The condemnation from CERN was particularly stinging in its symbolism. The laboratory was formed in 1954 to help bind a war-torn Europe, and the effort has been splendidly spectacular. Its Large Hadron Collider rules the roost in particle physics; the colliders discovery of the long-sought Higgs boson a decade ago resonated globally. And the World Wide Web was invented at CERN, as a way to allow physicists to easily share their data. In all, scientists from 100 nations and territories participate in the labs operations. The laboratory is governed by a council of 23 member states, each of which sends two delegates, a scientist and a diplomat, to the counsel. Each state has one vote. Russia is not a member but, like the U.S. and Japan, it has held observer status, meaning it could send delegations to meetings but not vote. Ukraine is among seven associate members. Expelling a member or observer state requires a two-thirds vote; the count is confidential. Eliezer Rabinovici, a theoretical physicist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem who is the president of the CERN Council, called its meeting this week extraordinary.. BLACKFOOT, S.D. On the ice-glazed banks of the Missouri River, coyotes chewed through the hide of a buffalo that had recently died from disease. In a corral up the hill, more than 20 orphaned buffalo calves crowded together in the cold with no mother to protect them. Down in the pasture, a few animals stood apart from the others, coughing violently, clouds of their breath hanging in the winter air. Fred DuBray spent about 30 years building that herd at his ranch on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. But since last year, his buffalo have been dying by the dozens, victims of a microscopic invader, Mycoplasma bovis, that has ravaged pastures across the Great Plains and the West. You have no idea whats going to happen, said Mr. DuBray, whose sprawling pasture is now speckled with buffalo skeletons in various stages of decay. I really dont even know what to do, he added. Everything I try to do seems to make it worse. Buffalo, a common name for what are technically American bison, were hunted to the brink of extinction by white people in the 1800s but rebounded somewhat by the late 20th century through generations of conservation work. As the national mammal of the United States and a central part of many Native American traditions, the animal carries significance far beyond its small share of the agricultural market. Professor OHara said the gusher of public and available data opens new avenues to a far more accurate census, but only if the numbers can be proven accurate and the Census Bureau can navigate the tricky boundary between tapping private research and issuing public statistics. There is no significant buy-in yet to major changes in the census, Terri Ann Lowenthal, a longtime census expert and consultant to governments, businesses and other census customers, said in an email. Too early without research, testing and transparency on those sorts of questions. And there probably will be even greater caution about using third-party commercial data. That said, she added, many users of census data agree that better use of outside records, conducted in a way that preserves privacy and credibility, could increase the accuracy of the head count and reduce its staggering cost $14.2 billion, or about $117 per household counted in the 2020 census. What seems clear is that the existing way of tallying the nations population is pressing its limits. The first census by mail was conducted in 1960. Ever since, the nation has counted itself by tallying census forms filled out on millions of kitchen tables, then dispatching an army of census takers to collect data from the millions of others who didnt fill them out. The 2020 census streamlined that process by moving most of the form-filling from cumbersome paper surveys to the internet, and equipping census workers with iPhones and census-taking apps instead of clipboards and paper forms. Online census forms proved a resounding success, census officials say, because they were easier, cheaper and quicker to process, and because the Census Bureaus computer operations handled them virtually without problems. Yet despite those improvements, the share of residents who opted to complete census forms remained stuck at two-thirds of all households, where it has sat stubbornly for four decades. The so-called nonresponse follow-up, known as NRFU, of the remaining third, conducted by census workers, was hamstrung by hurricanes, forest fires, political interference and rising suspicion of the government among partisans on the political right and among racial and ethnic groups. Steve Jost, a former senior census official who is a consultant to the Census Project, a group advocating a more accurate count, lamented that. Tracking down nonresponders eats up roughly half the cost of each census, he said, yet the census still fails to reach 2 to 3 percent of households. The same imperative on oil is reshaping U.S. diplomacy with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two Persian Gulf nations that some Biden administration officials view with suspicion or hostility because of their autocratic systems and leading roles in a war in Yemen that has resulted in a humanitarian catastrophe. Brett McGurk and Amos J. Hochstein, two senior administration officials, traveled to the Gulf days before the Russian invasion to discuss security and energy issues. However, Saudi Arabia has declined so far to increase oil production, while the United Arab Emirates waited until Wednesday to ask the OPEC nations to do so. American officials were also furious with the U.A.E. for declining to vote on a United Nations Security Council resolution to condemn Russia, though it did support a similar resolution later in the U.N. General Assembly. The unreliability of the two nations and Russias place in the oil economy have increased momentum within the Biden administration to enact policies that would help the United States more quickly wean itself off fossil fuels and confront the climate crisis. This could lead future administrations to devote fewer diplomatic and military resources to the Gulf nations in the long term, even if U.S. officials want them to help on oil now. We may see more fundamental questioning about the value of these partnerships, Ms. Kaye said. These states already believe the U.S. has checked out of the region, but their stance on Russia may only strengthen voices calling for a further reduction of U.S. forces in the region. Israel, the closest U.S. ally in the Middle East, has also staked out a neutral position on the Ukraine war, largely because of Russias presence in the region. But American officials have been more forgiving of Israels stance as Prime Minister Naftali Bennett conducts shuttle diplomacy. He met with Mr. Putin for three hours in Moscow on March 5 and then spoke with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, by phone before returning home. U.S. officials say Mr. Bennett consulted with them about the talks, and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said this past week that they appreciate the efforts. Mr. Zelensky told reporters on Saturday that Jerusalem could be a site for peace talks between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia. Juggling Allies in Europe and Asia In Europe, Russias invasion has supercharged the Biden administrations efforts to restore the morale of a NATO alliance that Mr. Trump undermined. WASHINGTON The White House has approved an additional $200 million in arms and equipment for Ukraine, administration officials said on Saturday, responding to urgent requests from President Volodymyr Zelensky for more aid to stave off the Russian invasion. The latest arms package, which officials say includes Javelin antitank missiles and Stinger antiaircraft missiles, follows a $350 million arms package that the Biden administration approved last month. Altogether, the administration has authorized $1.2 billion in weapons for Ukraine in the past year, officials said. The weapons come from existing U.S. military stockpiles in Europe and are flown to neighboring countries such as Poland and Romania, where they are shipped overland into western Ukraine. In less than a week at the beginning of the Russian assault, the United States and NATO pushed more than 17,000 antitank weapons, including Javelins, into the hands of Ukrainian commanders. Russia has so far not attacked these shipments because its forces have been too busy fighting in other parts of Ukraine, Pentagon officials said. But on Saturday, according to the Interfax news agency, Russias deputy foreign minister, Sergei A. Ryabkov, warned that Moscow would start firing on such shipments, stirring fears of an escalation to the conflict. JAIPUR, India One nuclear-armed state fired a cruise missile at another nuclear-armed state this week. They were not at war, and it did not start one. On Friday, India acknowledged that one of its missiles had mistakenly been fired into Pakistan two days earlier. Pakistan criticized Indias callousness and ineptitude in a nuclear environment. And that, so far, has been the end of the matter a subdued aftermath that many saw as nothing short of a small miracle. The two neighbors have fought several bloody conflicts, and the mere suspicion of covert support for militant attacks has brought them to the verge of war in the past. The mistrust runs so deep that pigeons crossing the border have been captured on suspicion of being used for espionage. Analysts in India commended the Pakistani military, the countrys most powerful institution, for its reserved response to the missile firing, which apparently caused no casualties. That muted reaction seems to have headed off what could have become a disastrous escalation. LVIV, Ukraine The last thing on anybodys mind these days in Ukraine seems to be Covid. With millions of people on the move fleeing the Russian invasion, health systems disrupted, and testing and vaccination programs suspended in many places, health officials fear that conditions could spread disease. But the pandemic, they said, was no longer a top priority. People are not frightened about Covid anymore, said Dr. Marta Saiko, head of the therapy department at the Clinical Municipal Emergency Hospital in Lviv, in western Ukraine. People are frightened of the war. The chaos of war has made it impossible to gauge how the pandemic is progressing. Coronavirus testing has largely been suspended since the war began on Feb. 24, and physicians have been told to make an observation of clinical symptoms without bothering with a laboratory test, Dr. Oleksandr Matskov, deputy director of the General Public Health Center of Ukraine, said in a written response to questions. As a result, new recorded cases have declined sharply in the last two weeks, but the decrease also may be natural, he added, noting that the Omicron variant surge was already waning before Russian troops and tanks crossed the border. Smoke rising over Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, early Saturday morning after a night of heavy Russian bombardment. LVIV, Ukraine Russian forces stepped up their campaign of bombardments aimed at devastating Ukraines cities and towns on Saturday, as the White House announced it was sending an additional $200 million in arms and equipment to help Ukraine, defying Moscow. Soldiers fought street-by-street battles in a leafy suburb of Kyiv, the nations capital, and some residents wept as they dragged belongings across a destroyed bridge, trying to escape the violence. Russian forces detained the mayor of a captured city, an act that prompted hundreds of outraged residents to pour into the streets in protest. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine accused Moscow of terrorizing the country in an attempt to break the will of the people. A war of annihilation, he called it. He said an estimated 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war, the first time the government had offered the number of its own soldiers killed. Mr. Zelensky denounced what he called the kidnapping of the mayor who had refused to cooperate with Russian troops after they seized his city as a new stage of terror, when they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of the legitimate local Ukrainian authorities. Russian forces have not achieved a major military victory since the first days of the invasion more than two weeks ago, and the assaults reinforced Moscows strategic turn toward increasingly indiscriminate shelling of civilian targets. The American announcement of more arms for Ukraines military, including missiles for taking out warplanes and tanks, came just hours after Russia warned that convoys used for the thoughtless transfer of weapons to Ukraine would be legitimate targets for Russian forces. Unable to mount a quick takeover of the country by air, land and sea, Russian troops have deployed missiles, rockets and bombs to destroy apartment buildings, schools, factories and hospitals, increasing civilian carnage and suffering, and leading more than 2.5 million people to flee the country. Image Civilians fleeing the villages of Irpin and Bucha, near Kyiv, on Saturday. Credit... Lynsey Addario for The New York Times The suffering has been particularly devastating in the besieged city of Mariupol, which is experiencing the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the planet, according to Ukraines foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba. At least 1,582 civilians have died since the Russian siege of Mariupol began 12 days ago, he said, and residents are struggling to survive and have been forced to bury the dead in mass graves. There is no drinking water and any medication for more than one week, maybe even 10 days, a staff member who works for Doctors Without Borders in Mariupol said in an audio recording released by the organization on Saturday. We saw people who died because of lack of medication, and there are a lot of such people inside Mariupol, the staff member said. During a 90-minute call with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany and President Emmanuel Macron of France urged Mr. Putin to accept an immediate cease-fire, according to the French government, which described the talks as frank and difficult. France said that Mr. Putin showed no willingness to stop the war, and said he placed the responsibility for the conflict on Ukraine and sounded determined to attain his objectives. Image Ukrainian refugees waiting for a bus after crossing into Poland in Medyka, on Saturday. An estimated 2.5 million people have fled the country since the Russian invasion began last month. Credit... Maciek Nabrdalik for The New York Times In its summary of the call, the Kremlin said Mr. Putin had discussed several matters relating to agreements being drafted to meet the well-known Russian demands, but did not specify those demands. In the coming weeks, NATO, which has vowed to defend allied countries from any incursion by Russian forces, plans to gather 30,000 troops from 25 countries in Europe and North America in Norway to conduct live-fire drills and other cold-weather military exercises. The exercises, which Norway hosts biannually, were announced more than eight months ago, NATO said, and are not linked to Russias invasion of Ukraine, which NATO said it was responding to with preventive, proportionate and non-escalatory measures. But the training has taken on greater significance as Russia steps up its bombardment of Ukrainian population centers. Around Kyiv, the capital, Russian forces have advanced into the suburbs but have been slowed by Ukrainian troops that have counterattacked with ambushes on armored columns. On Saturday, artillery fire intensified around Kyiv, with a low rumble heard in most parts of the city. By Saturday, there were no indications of further efforts by the Russian army to move armored columns closer to the capital. Instead, soldiers appeared to be fighting for control of the towns along the highways that encircle it. In Irpin, about three miles from Kyiv city limits, Ukrainian and Russian soldiers were fighting a street-by-street battle on Saturday, turning what was a quiet suburb just two weeks ago into a suburban battleground. Image Fleeing heavy fighting near Irpin, on Saturday. Credit... Lynsey Addario for The New York Times We are trying to push them back but we dont control the town, said Vitaly, a Ukrainian soldier who asked that his last name not be published for security reasons. He had taken up a position outside what would once have been an unlikely spot for combat: a gas station mini-market, its windows blown out by shelling, on the citys western edge. Irpin is his hometown, and he joined the volunteer forces called the Territorial Defense Forces to try to protect it just two weeks ago. He described Irpins Unity Street as Ukrainian-controlled; Central Street as a no-mans land, exposed to both Ukrainian and Russian forces; and University Street as taken by Russian forces. But the situation was fluid. Ukrainian soldiers had a little island around a shopping center near the city center, he said, but otherwise it wasnt always clear who was where. In the southern city of Mykolaiv, residents awoke on Saturday morning to the sounds of a fierce battle hours after Russian shells hit several civilian areas, damaging a cancer hospital and sending residents fleeing into bomb shelters. The early-morning fight was concentrated in the north of the city, said Col. Sviatoslav Stetsenko of the Ukrainian Armys 59th Brigade, who was stationed near the front lines. They are changing their tactics, Vitaliy Kim, the governor of the Mykolaiv region, said. They are deploying in the villages and lodging in village schools and homes. We cannot shoot back. There are no rules now. We will have to be more brutal with them. For nearly two weeks, Russian forces have been trying to surround Mykolaiv and cross the Southern Buh River, which flows through the city and is a natural defense against a Russian push toward the west and Odessa, the Black Sea port that appears to be a prime Russian objective. Russian forces had not crossed the river as of Saturday morning, Colonel Stetsenko said, but they are continuing to shell Mykolaiv. Image In Mykolaiv, the dead both soldier and civilian are arriving at the city morgue in such numbers that they are wrapped only in sheets or rugs, and placed side-by-side or piled in the hallways. Credit... Tyler Hicks/The New York Times In Melitopol, Russian troops on Friday forced a hood over the mayors head and dragged him from a government building, according to Ukrainian officials, prompting hundreds of residents to demonstrate in the streets. Return the mayor! the protesters shouted, according to witnesses and videos. Free the mayor! But nearly as soon as the demonstrators gathered, Russian military personnel moved to shut them down, arresting a woman who they said had organized the protest, according to two witnesses and the womans Facebook account. The episode was part of what Ukrainian officials said was an escalating pattern of intimidation and repression. It also illustrated a problem that Russia is likely to face even if it manages to pummel cities and towns into submission: In at least some of the few cities and towns that Russia has managed to seize mostly in the south and east they are facing popular unrest and revolt. Mr. Zelensky sought to tap into public rage in an address to the nation overnight. Image Residents of an apartment complex in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, that was damaged in early-morning bombing on Saturday. Credit... Tyler Hicks/The New York Times The whole country saw that Melitopol did not surrender to the invaders, he said. Just as Kherson, Berdyansk and other cities where Russian troops managed to enter didnt. He said that popular resistance will not be changed by putting pressure on mayors or kidnapping mayors. Melitopols mayor, Ivan Fyodorov, had remained stubbornly defiant even after Russian soldiers took over the city after a fierce assault on the first day of the invasion. We are not cooperating with the Russians in any way, he had said. Last weekend, with Mr. Fyodorovs encouragement, people waving Ukrainian flags took to the streets of Melitopol and other occupied cities. For the most part, Russian soldiers stood aside, even as protesters commandeered a Russian armored vehicle in one town and drove it through the streets. Image Russian tanks moving down the streets near Mariupol, Ukraine, on Friday. Credit... Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated Press While the protests in Melitopol were quickly put down, the Ukrainian government renewed efforts to bring aid to Mariupol, dispatching dozens of buses with food and medicine, Ukrainian officials said. Similar relief efforts had failed in recent days as fighting raged around the city and land mines pocked roads in the area. In an overnight address, Mr. Zelensky said that the inability to bring aid to the city showed that Russian troops continue to torture our people, our Mariupol residents. Still, he said, We will try again. Marc Santora reported from Lviv, Ukraine, Michael Schwirtz from Mykolaiv, Ukraine, and Michael Levenson from New York. Reporting was contributed by Andrew E. Kramer in Kyiv, Ukraine; Eric Schmitt in Washington; Ivan Nechepurenko in Istanbul; Norimitsu Onishi in Paris; and Julie Turkewitz in Bogota, Colombia. The mayor, 33, lanky, fit and photogenic, posted brief live broadcasts almost daily on social media to update Melitopol residents on the situation in the city which lies just north of Crimea, the peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014. On at least one of the posts, explosions could be heard in the night behind him as he tried to reassure residents that the city was functioning as normally as possible. On March 2, for example, noting that armed men had opened fire in the direction of some demonstrators, he warned residents away from confrontations with the Russian soldiers during protests and asked them to respect a 6 p.m. curfew. I consider it unacceptable when civilians are shot at! he wrote. Melitopol residents, in turn, are asked not to provoke and to behave peacefully on the streets. Our task is to save your life and safety. On March 5, he announced that the city was working to restore 31 private houses destroyed by the Russian forces, and he repeatedly thanked local firms for contributing goods and services to help hundreds of displaced families. All along the mayor made it abundantly clear that his administration would not cooperate with the Russians, and he kept the Ukrainian flag flying high over the citys central square. We are not cooperating with the Russians in any way, Mr. Fyodorov said in an interview with the BBC two days before he was taken by the Russian soldiers. They have not tried to help us, they cannot help us and we do not want their help. He told residents where to buy milk and medicine, published updated lists of what pharmacies or A.T.M.s were operating and warned repeatedly that looters would be identified and punished. He urged them to keep paying their electricity bills, since the money went toward salaries, and as public transportation ceased operating asked residents to give free rides to medical workers. Residents responded with an outpouring of gratitude, thanking him profusely for staying at his post even after the Russian troops controlled the city. You are the best mayor! read one enthusiastic response to his social media messages, while another wrote You are our hope!! One of the Ukrainian fighters trying to hold the Russians at bay on Saturday, a man named Vitaly, had taken up a position outside what would once have been an unlikely spot for combat: a gas station mini-market, its windows now blown out by shelling, on the towns eastern edge. This is his hometown, and he joined the volunteer forces called the Territorial Defense Forces to try to protect it just two weeks ago. We are trying to push them back, he said, but we dont control the town. The battle for the northwestern suburb of Irpin about three miles from Kyivs city limits literally echoed in the capital, where the low rumble of sustained fire was close enough to be heard now in most parts of the city. Artillery duels between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the suburbs that had intensified on Friday continued throughout the day Saturday. Ukrainian forces were firing volleys of Grad rocket artillery, shot from truck-mounted boxes of rockets, typically with a dozen or more fired at a time. Although the artillery was out of view, the whooshing noises of the rockets blasting off, followed a few seconds later by the distant thuds of impacts, could be heard every 20 minutes or so. So far on Saturday, the rockets flew over Irpin, rather than crashing into it. Vadim Kovalchuk, 33, a construction engineer who had also stayed as a volunteer soldier, described the Irpin he has known as a wonderful town, a perfect place for people who wanted to be close to Kyiv and its job market and schools. Real estate was cheaper than in the city center, he said, and the town had grown over the past two decades as newcomers were attracted to its location. Many people had commuted by car to work in the city center until the peace was shattered. LVIV, Ukraine Russian forces stepped up their campaign of bombardments aimed at devastating Ukraines cities and towns on Saturday, as the White House announced it was sending an additional $200 million in arms and equipment to help Ukraine, defying Moscow. Soldiers fought street-by-street battles in a leafy suburb of Kyiv, the nations capital, and some residents wept as they dragged belongings across a destroyed bridge, trying to escape the violence. Russian forces detained the mayor of a captured city, an act that prompted hundreds of outraged residents to pour into the streets in protest. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine accused Moscow of terrorizing the country in an attempt to break the will of the people. A war of annihilation, he called it. He said an estimated 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war, the first time the government had offered the number of its own soldiers killed. KYIV, Ukraine Down a dusty stairwell, hidden from the shelling that has become the grim background noise of Ukraines capital, Ludmila Yashenko fusses with the babies. There are 19 of them, sleeping or cooing in neatly arranged cribs, fed regularly from tubs of baby formula. The kitchen has a sterilizer for bottles, while the nursery has a changing station stocked with diapers. Ms. Yashenko and other nannies bounce the babies on their laps and straighten their bibs, even as they watch television, wide-eyed, to learn the latest news from the war. Death and destruction are rampant in Ukraine, but in this basement there is new life, if also new problems. The babies were born to surrogate mothers, with their biological parents still outside the country. Because of the war, the citizenship of the newborns is unclear, as is the question of who their legal guardians are, since under Ukrainian law their biological parents must be present to confirm their nationality. BAGNOLO SAN VITO, Italy Across a footbridge from a busy shopping outlet surrounded by verdant fields in northern Italy, workers in a nondescript warehouse are preparing for a nuclear attack, its radioactive fallout and the end of the world as we know it. We have found ourselves in the midst of this giant cyclone of demand, said Giulio Cavicchioli, as he showed off an underground air filtration system that cleans radioactive particles, nerve gas and other biological agents and played a video tour of a nuclear shelter that was ready to use. His company, Minus Energie, has gone from working on 50 bunkers in the past 22 years to fielding 500 inquiries in the past two weeks. Its a hysteria for construction of bunkers, he said, driven by the fear of Russian nuclear warheads reaching across Europe. Its much scarier now. In the days since President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia launched his war on Ukraine, and put his nuclear forces into special combat readiness, the intensifying violence and the legacy of two world wars has revived fears in Europe of nuclear calamity for the first time in decades. LUTSK, Ukraine Men in camouflage, hardened by battle, sniffled as a Ukrainian Orthodox choir sang the haunting funeral mass. One man put his arm around another as tears welled in his eyes. The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished, said the priest during the funeral rites on Saturday for two of the four soldiers who died when the citys military airfield was bombed before dawn on Friday. For 30 years we were singing these words and saying we would suffer for our freedom, but we could not have imagined these words would become our reality, that we would have to send our sons to defend us against our neighbors, Father Mykhail, the priest, said. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is now in its third week. With the four deaths at the airfield, it arrived in Lutsk, a provincial capital only 55 miles from Poland. It was a rare attack in the West by a Russian military that has focused primarily in the South, North and around Ukraines capital, Kyiv. The New York Times News Quiz, March 11, 2022 Did you follow the news this week? Take our quiz to see how well you stack up with other Times readers. Today, the Chinese population in Chinatown is shrinking. And with it, the number of bilingual street signs, as old signs get removed or replaced with English-only signs. In 1985, the program was expanded to reflect the neighborhoods rapid growth. At least 155 signs were ordered to be printed. In the 1960s, the city installed street signs featuring both English and Chinese, giving official Chinese names to streets in the heart of Chinatown. For more than 100 years, residents of Manhattans Chinatown have given the streets informal names using a variety of Chinese dialects. As with many neighborhoods in New York City, Chinatown has a history that is legible in layers. Here in Lower Manhattan, Republic of China flags still flutter above the offices of family associations that were founded before the Communist Revolution. Job posting boards covered in slips of paper cater to recent immigrants. Instagrammable dessert shops serve young locals and tourists alike. For Rent / signs are everywhere, alluding to the shrinking number of Chinese businesses and residents. And above a dwindling number of intersections hang signs declaring the names of the street in English and in Chinese. Bilingual street signs have hung over the bustling streets of the city's oldest Chinatown for more than 50 years. They are the product of a program from the 1960s aimed at making navigating the neighborhood easier for those Chinese New Yorkers who might not read English. These signs represented a formal recognition of the growing influence of a neighborhood that for more than a century had largely been relegated to the margins of the citys attention. But as the prominence of Manhattans Chinatown as the singular Chinese cultural center of the city has waned in the 21st century, this unique piece of infrastructure has begun to slowly disappear. At least seven bilingual street signs have been removed since the 1980s. There are about 100 bilingual street signs across two dozen streets in Chinatown today, of the at least 155 bilingual signs ordered in 1985. While there are no official records of the removed signs, a New York Times analysis has found photographic evidence of at least seven signs that have been removed or replaced by English-only signs since 1985. Location of existing bilingual signs Removed bilingual sign Streets that currently have bilingual signs are labeled ALLEN ST. CANAL ST. ELDRIDGE ST. MOTT ST. MULBERRY ST. BAXTER ST. ELIZABETH ST. BOWERY FORSYTH ST. PIKE ST. BAYARD ST. MARKET ST. DIVISION ST. PELL ST. E. BROADWAY CHATHAM SQ. HOGAN PL. CATHERINE ST. HENRY ST. WORTH ST. OLIVER ST. MADISON ST. PARK ROW Location of existing bilingual signs Removed bilingual sign Streets that currently have bilingual signs are labeled ALLEN ST. CANAL ST. ELDRIDGE ST. BOWERY ELIZABETH ST. MOTT ST. MULBERRY ST. BAXTER ST. FORSYTH ST. PIKE ST. BAYARD ST. DIVISION ST. MARKET ST. PELL ST. CHATHAM SQ. E. BROADWAY HOGAN PL. CATHERINE ST. HENRY ST. WORTH ST. OLIVER ST. MADISON ST. PARK ROW Location of existing bilingual signs Removed bilingual sign Streets that currently have bilingual signs are labeled ALLEN ST. CANAL ST. ELDRIDGE ST. BOWERY BAXTER ST. MULBERRY ST. MOTT ST. ELIZABETH ST. FORSYTH ST. PIKE ST. BAYARD ST. MARKET ST. DIVISION ST. PELL ST. E. BROADWAY CHATHAM SQ. HOGAN PL. CATHERINE ST. HENRY ST. WORTH ST. OLIVER ST. MADISON ST. PARK ROW Location of existing bilingual signs Removed bilingual sign Streets that currently have bilingual signs are labeled ALLEN ST. CANAL ST. ELDRIDGE ST. BOWERY BAXTER ST. MOTT ST. MULBERRY ST. ELIZABETH ST. FORSYTH ST. PIKE ST. BAYARD ST. MARKET ST. DIVISION ST. PELL ST. E. BROADWAY CHATHAM SQ. HOGAN PL. CATHERINE ST. HENRY ST. WORTH ST. OLIVER ST. MADISON ST. PARK ROW Streets that currently have bilingual signs are labeled Location of existing bilingual signs Removed bilingual sign HOGAN PL. BAXTER ST. WORTH ST. CANAL ST. MULBERRY ST. BAYARD ST. PARK ROW MOTT ST. PELL ST. ELIZABETH ST. CHATHAM SQ. OLIVER ST. BOWERY DIVISION ST. CATHERINE ST. E. BROADWAY HENRY ST. MADISON ST. FORSYTH ST. ELDRIDGE ST. MARKET ST. ALLEN ST. PIKE ST. Streets that currently have bilingual signs are labeled Location of existing bilingual signs Removed bilingual sign HOGAN PL. BAXTER ST. WORTH ST. CANAL ST. BAYARD ST. PARK ROW MULBERRY ST. PELL ST. ELIZABETH ST. BOWERY CHATHAM SQ. MOTT ST. OLIVER ST. DIVISION ST. CATHERINE ST. E. BROADWAY HENRY ST. MADISON ST. FORSYTH ST. ELDRIDGE ST. MARKET ST. ALLEN ST. PIKE ST. New York Times analysis of historical imagery from Google Street View, Chinatown: Lens on The Lower East Side by Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, Museum of Chinese in America, Heart of Chinatown: A Panoramic Tour by Iron Sights Studio. Most records of the program seem to have either been destroyed in a flood at a Department of Transportation facility, lost in the subsequent move or (as suggested by a few stumped officials interviewed for this article) never recorded in the first place. We set out to survey what was left to piece together the programs history. Of the bilingual signs that have been removed, at least four were taken down in recent years. According to the Department of Transportation, bilingual signs that have recently been damaged or removed during construction were often replaced by English-only signs. Canal Street at Allen Street AUGUST 2013 NOVEMBER 2021 Pell Street at Bowery NOVEMBER 2017 NOVEMBER 2021 Catherine Street at Chatham Square JUNE 2018 NOVEMBER 2021 Bowery at Doyers Street JUNE 2018 NOVEMBER 2021 Canal Street at Allen Street AUGUST 2013 NOVEMBER 2021 Pell Street at Bowery NOVEMBER 2017 NOVEMBER 2021 Catherine Street at Chatham Square JUNE 2018 NOVEMBER 2021 Bowery at Doyers Street OCTOBER 2019 NOVEMBER 2021 Canal Street at Allen Street AUGUST 2013 NOVEMBER 2021 Pell Street at Bowery NOVEMBER 2017 NOVEMBER 2021 Catherine Street at Chatham Square JUNE 2018 NOVEMBER 2021 Bowery at Doyers Street OCTOBER 2019 NOVEMBER 2021 Canal Street at Allen Street AUGUST 2013 NOVEMBER 2021 Pell Street at Bowery NOVEMBER 2017 NOVEMBER 2021 Catherine Street at Chatham Square JUNE 2018 NOVEMBER 2021 Bowery at Doyers Street OCTOBER 2019 NOVEMBER 2021 Google Street View and James Estrin/The New York Times Bilingual services are a fact of life in a city where more than three million residents from almost 200 countries speak more than 700 languages and dialects. New York provides language help for city functions like voting, subway wayfinding and court proceedings, and single, non-English street name signs have been installed in some of the citys ethnic communities, including West 32nd Street in Koreatown, co-named Korea Way , and a portion of Avenue C co-named Loisaida (Lower East Side), in homage to the Puerto Rican community. Forsyth Street next to the Manhattan Bridge, where street vendors hold a daily open-air market. An Rong Xu for The New York Times But the signs on Chinatowns streets are different: They are a vast, neighborhood-wide exercise in translation carried out hand-in-hand with the city government a completely bilingual street grid. The history of these signs tells the story of the growth, decline and evolution of one of Manhattan's largest immigrant communities. / Chapter 1 1840-1969: No signs, informal street names Doyers Street in 1932. Prior to policy changes beginning in the 1940s, anti-Chinese immigration legislation meant that the Chinese community in Chinatown was mostly male. Charles Von Urban/Museum of the City of New York In 1883, Wong Chin Foo () an early writer and advocate on Chinese American issues arrived in Manhattan and started New York Citys first Chinese-language newspaper, The Chinese American. For the papers headquarters, he chose an office space on Chatham Street (now Park Row) a few blocks south of what was shaping up to be the citys first Chinatown. Mr. Wong wrote that his aim was to make this paper supply the long-felt want of our countrymen, of whom not one in a thousand can read a word of English. The citys earliest Chinese residents had started settling in the area around Mott and Pell Streets a few decades before, around the time Mr. Wong arrived in the United States to attend college. As Mr. Wong pursued his American education, Chinese immigration to the country was increasing as thousands of Chinese were recruited to work on the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Chinese immigrants often faced horrendous treatment, legal discrimination and unfair labor practices, which Mr. Wong wrote about and lectured on around the country. Chinese names for Manhattan streets are as old as Chinatown itself. The first edition of the Chinese American in the 1800s included the offices address in both Chinese and English on its masthead, translating Chatham Street (now known as Park Row) to , a phonetic transliteration of the street. Museum of Chinese in America After the final spike was driven on the transcontinental railroad in 1869, Chinese laborers found themselves without reliable work and facing rising racial animus and violence in the Western states. An increasing number started migrating to Eastern cities. By the time Mr. Wong arrived in 1883, Manhattans Chinatown had become a destination for Chinese immigrants. Pell Street circa 1900. Manhattans Chinatown became increasingly attractive as anti-Chinese violence in the West including the 1885 Rock Springs Massacre in Wyoming and 1887 Hells Canyon Massacre in Oregon increased. via Library of Congress It was also around this time that informal Chinese street names began to appear in Chinatown written on shop windows and in personal correspondence. / Chapter 2 1969: Official Chinese street signs come to the Chinatown core Yellow and black, the first batch of bilingual street signs appeared in Chinatown in 1969. Museum of Chinese in America On June 11, 1966, two police officers, Joseph LaVeglia and Chris Columbo, were on Chatham Square in matching plaid shirts and buzzcuts. They had been sent by the city to install new signs above Chinatowns police call boxes (a quick way to reach a local police precinct in an era before cellphones). The signs explained what the boxes were for and how to use them in Chinese. The voice at the other end of the Chinese-marked phone neither speaks nor comprehends a whit of Chinese, The Times wrote in 1966, Whatsa matter cant you speak English? is roughly what would come in reply. New York Times article published on June 12, 1966. The new Chinese-language instructions were an attempt by the city to accommodate the growing number of people who did not speak English fluently, driven by a massive influx of immigrants from all over China and the Chinese diaspora following the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, which completely overhauled Chinese immigration to the United States. B.F. Yee () and Y.T. Huang () from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce posed with Theodore Karagheuzoff, then Commissioner of Traffic, and the citys first bilingual street name signs on Jan. 15, 1969. Carl T. Gossett/The New York Times Around the same time, another effort to assist new arrivals with navigating the neighborhood was taking shape: The Chinese Chamber of Commerce, one of the few local organizations that acted as a conduit between Chinatown and the city bureaucracy, was petitioning the New York City traffic commissioner to create and install bilingual street signs in Chinatown to make life simpler for the thousands of new Chinese immigrants, wrote The New York Times in 1969 , who arrive with little knowledge of the English language or Latin alphabet. The growing profile of Chinatown fanned simmering conflicts with neighboring communities. The Chinese-language World Journal reported in 1985 that the bilingual street signs sparked racially motivated vandalism and violence years ago, that Italian youth even beat up officers from the Department of Transportation, and that the youth also vandalized the street signs, crossing out the Chinese characters with black paint. Jerry S.Y. Cheng and William E. Sauro/The New York Times The idea of official Chinese street names, however, opened up a novel issue: What Chinese names to use? While Chinese dialects share the same written language (either in simplified or traditional forms), the pronunciation of each character can vary widely, dialect to dialect. In the late 1960s, a majority of immigrants in Chinatown came from Chinas southern regions of Toisan and Canton (now known as Guangzhou). While the final names were reportedly based on community submissions and chosen to be phonetically understandable to immigrants speaking different dialects, Toisanese and Cantonese are most clearly reflected in the names chosen. There are two main approaches to these translations. Literal : Direct translation to meaningful words in Chinese that do not sound like their English counterparts. Phonetic : Transliteration using Chinese characters to mimic similar sounds to their English counterparts that may not be meaningful otherwise in Chinese. Over the years, different names using different characters have been given for the same streets based on what sounded right to the translator. Here is an example of how translation for East Broadway has changed. Name used in a map from 1958 Phonetic transliteration of East Phonetic transliteration of Broadway Modern D.O.T. street sign Literal translation of East Phonetic transliteration of Broadway One Chinese street name can have many pronunciations. Several sounds in the English language dont exist in many Chinese dialects, making the recreation of English words with Chinese characters a sometimes difficult task. Additionally, a name that, in Cantonese, might sound almost identical to the streets English name can sound completely different in another dialect and nothing like the English name. English Cantonese Mandarin Toisanese Fujian dialect English Cantonese Mandarin Toisanese Fujian dialect English Cantonese Mandarin Toisanese Fujian dialect English Cantonese Mandarin Toisanese Fujian dialect Museum of Chinese in America and Chang W. Lee/The New York Times In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Chinatown was becoming more diverse. With immigrants from other regions, dialects like Mandarin and Fujianese quickly spread through the neighborhood. Mott Street in 1968. As throughout the United States, the late 1960s was a period of political invigoration for young people in Chinatown, who founded several activist and community service organizations that would come to shape Chinatowns civil society for the next 50 years. Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times While the signs failed to represent the diversity of dialects, their arrival represented a new era of prominence for Manhattans Chinatown, as the community had grown into a thriving home and commercial center for Chinese New Yorkers. / Chapter 3 1985: Chinatown doubles in size, at least in the eyes of the Department of Transportation Mott Street in 1987. A sign from the Department of Sanitation asks (in both English and Chinese) for people to reduce littering. Dith Pran/The New York Times One hundred years after Mr. Wong set up his newspapers headquarters on Chatham Street, a young urban planner named Jerry S.Y. Cheng () found himself down the street, trying to figure out how to make sense of the snarled traffic around Chatham Square. From when Mr. Wong arrived in Chinatown up to the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act, Chinatowns population grew steadily to around 15,000 residents. When Mr. Cheng immigrated from Taiwan in 1969, the population had already started to balloon, and by 1985, it had grown to 70,000 residents. The areas economy, powered by the garment and restaurants industries, was booming. There were more business, more shops, more people and more traffic. Doyers Street in 1977. Paul Hosefros/The New York Times As a result, Mr. Cheng found himself in demand. They would come to me with problems because I am Chinese, Mr. Cheng said. I know the leaders, I can translate I became like a bridge. It was in this context that Mr. Cheng met Li Libo (), the president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, a supervisory body for some 60 organizations that has long been an unofficial (though oft-disputed) governmental body in Chinatown. Handwritten calligraphy was used for the signs. The Chinese characters on the signs were handwritten by Tan Bingzhong (), a prominent local calligrapher. Chinese media at the time wrote that his vigorous and forceful handwriting brought an artistic atmosphere to the practicality-oriented road signs. While Edward I. Koch, then mayor, wasnt at the official 1985 sign unveiling, he did write a personal letter of thanks to Mr. Tan. New York City Department of Transportation and Chang W. Lee/The New York Times Tiny differences make every character unique. Because every Chinese name was drawn by Mr. Tan, his handiwork can be seen in the details. , the character for street, appears on almost every sign, but there are small variations in the character on every one. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times In 1984, Mr. Li called Mr. Cheng to talk about street signs. By then, the geographic footprint of Chinatown had grown by some estimates, doubling in size and had started to encompass areas previously considered Little Italy, the Bowery and the Lower East Side. After President Richard Nixons famous 1972 visit to China and the thawing of U.S.-Chinese relations, more and more Mandarin- and Fujianese-speaking immigrants were arriving every year. With Mr. Chengs help, the Benevolent Association petitioned the Transportation Department to expand the bilingual street name program to reflect the areas growth. There wasnt a lot of pushback from D.O.T., said David Gurin, who was deputy commissioner at the time. The community asked for the signs, and so they were kind of a courtesy. The only controversy was over where exactly the boundaries of the Chinese street signs (a proxy for the boundaries of Chinatown) should be drawn. The Transportation Department apparently commissioned a two-month study of the extent of Chinatown, but the results of that study are most likely lost. The records of the program are lost, destroyed or incomplete. This map (without accompanying key, legend or documentation) and other fragmented records seem to show that streets as far north as Broome Street and as far west as Lafayette Street were considered for bilingual signs. None of the people involved in this project who are still living have been able to say definitively. Broome Street Highlighted streets where the department seems to have considered installing bilingual signs. Allen Street Canal Street Baxter Street Pike Street Outlined area where bilingual signs were installed. Madison Street Broome Street Highlighted streets where the department seems to have considered installing bilingual signs. Allen Street Canal Street Baxter Street Pike Street Madison Street Outlined area where bilingual signs were installed. New York City Department of Transportation When I asked Mr. Cheng if he remembered what kinds of records might be kept, he laughed out loud. No, no, I dont think so, he said. I don't think there will be much. Almost everyone involved in this has passed away. What we do know is that once the streets were agreed upon, the next hurdle was, again, choosing the Chinese names. This time, the group making the decisions was a committee within the Benevolent Association business owners, property owners and longtime residents who predominantly spoke Toisanese and Cantonese. Jerry S.Y. Cheng, a former city planner. Mr. Chengs personal records and collection of newspaper clippings helped piece together the history of this unique city program. An Rong Xu for The New York Times They were choosing names for a very different Chinatown, yet the chosen names again relied on Toisanese and Cantonese dialects, ignoring large segments of Chinatowns newest immigrants. They also ignored the colloquial street names that were common in parts of the neighborhood. Different waves of Chinese immigrants had given names to streets that spoke more to the culture on the street than the English name. For example, to many in Chinatown, Mulberry was known as Corpse Street because it was lined with funeral homes, florists and effigy shops. Many of these names are still used in Chinatown today. A clip from , a now-defunct Chinese-language newspaper, shows a ceremony at the headquarters of the Benevolent Association to celebrate the completion of the 1985 bilingual sign expansion. Li Libo poses with David Gurin, front center, flanked by Peter Pennica and Elizabeth Theofan, Transportation Department officials. In the back row, Mr. Cheng is at the far right and Mr. Tan is second from the left. Jerry S.Y. Cheng / Chapter IV 1985 - The Present: The signs today Overlooking East Broadway from the Manhattan Bridge, this section of Chinatown is a primary cultural and economic hub for more recent waves of immigrants from the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian. An Rong Xu for The New York Times Chinatown is still a vibrant cultural center for Chinese and Chinese Americans and a landing pad for new Chinese immigrants, but the neighborhood is shrinking. Asians are the fastest growing population in New York City, according to the 2020 census. However, Chinatown has experienced the largest exodus of Asian residents of any neighborhood in the city, even as increasing numbers settle in Brooklyn and Queens. The changes are a result of cumulative effects that go back to at least Sept. 11, 2001; the aftermath of the attacks dealt an immense blow to the Chinatown economy, especially the restaurant and garment industries. Meanwhile, real estate speculation and foreign investment have fueled rising rents, and most recently, the pandemic has led to a rise in racist rhetoric and violence, and a decrease in business at the areas shops. A shop on East Broadway, one of the few remaining tenants of the historic East Broadway Mall. Known as to local Fujianese, the city-owned mall is an important commercial space that once housed around 80 small businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic has put over 75 percent of the malls tenants out of business, and its future is uncertain. An Rong Xu for The New York Times In recent years, local efforts have been channeled toward community organizing and demonstrations, like those against the closure of Jing Fong (the historic dim sum restaurant, and the last union restaurant in Chinatown), the construction of a new jail in the heart of the neighborhood, the latest city rezoning efforts and gentrification and displacement. Protests against anti-Asian violence have filled parks and public plazas. In the face of these visceral struggles, issues like bilingual street signs seem to command little attention. Which is maybe why many have not realized that the bilingual street signs are also disappearing. Only 101 bilingual signs remain in Chinatown. At the programs peak, at least 155 had been ordered to be printed. Of the 40 streets that Mr. Tan was asked to do calligraphy for, nearly half no longer have a single remaining bilingual sign. According to Alana Morales, former deputy press secretary at the Transportation Department, The Chinese-bilingual signs are not part of the U.S. DOTs Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways. This means that if bilingual street signs are knocked down or damaged, she said, they are replaced with signs in English. A damaged bilingual sign for Catherine Street, which may be a candidate for replacement with an English-only sign. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times Many of the people involved in the 1980s push are dead, and there is little pressure to maintain the program. The signs are viewed by the city as a one-time program that will slowly fade away, rather than as some permanent part of the citys infrastructure. In present-day Chinatown, organizations like the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Benevolent Association still have influence they are common stops, for example, for local politicians looking for an endorsement in Chinatown. But as the neighborhood has become more diverse, their time as the main liaison between the city and the neighborhood has passed. Meanwhile, a host of new advocacy organizations have risen up with new priorities and serving different segments of Chinatowns population, focusing on issues like affordable housing, displacement, community services and Covid relief. None of the local residents, community organizers, business owners or scholars interviewed for this article were previously aware that the signs were disappearing. What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 716-372-3121 or email nfinnerty@oleantimesherald.com. Germany has been tied to Russia through energy for decades. But as the EU moves to end its dependency on Russian energy, opposition from the continents biggest economy is fading into irrelevance. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of kidnapping a Ukrainian mayor, and said it was "a sign of weakness." Meanwhile, evacuations from Ukrainian cities seemed to slow down. Follow DW for the latest. "I want to do right by the parents," says Victor, an English teacher who - along with his wife - is one of the thousands of people in Poland who have taken in Ukrainian refugees. The family of Raif Badawi, one of Saudi Arabia's most prominent political prisoners, has said the blogger is free after a decade in prison. Badawi had been lashed for allegedly "insulting Islam" on his online forum. The battle over Ukraine is about nothing less than Europe's freedom. For that, we should be willing to make sacrifices, says Jorg Himmelreich. Satellite imagery shows that parts of a town near Kyiv have been leveled, as Western officials warned of a possible chemical attack on Ukraine by Russia. Press Release March 12, 2022 Pangilinan: Neutrality in Russia invasion of Ukraine damaging to OFWs, Philippines VICE-PRESIDENTIAL aspirant Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said neutrality in Russia's invasion of Ukraine is damaging to overseas Filipino workers in particular and to the Philippines in general. "Baka kung tayo ay neutral ay ma-sanction din tayo. That means no bank transactions across national borders. Baka makasama tayo at maapektuhan ang ating mga OFWs at hindi na makagamit ng international financial system," Pangilinan said in a media interview. Other candidates for the top two electoral posts have been asked about their stance on this international issue. Pangilinan said Philippine neutrality is out of the question as the United States and Europe have already imposed financial sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine. "Dapat unahin ang interes ng mga Pilipino. Ang pagiging neutral ay pag-una sa interes ng Russia," he said. Pangilinan said the Philippines cannot stay neutral on the issue of Russia's invasion of Ukraine also because the country may get the same treatment if China invades us. "Pag ginawa rin ng China sa atin ang ginawa ng Russia sa Ukraine, ano ang sasabihin ng ibang bansa sa atin? Bakit kayo neutral noon?" he said. "Kaya kinakailangan nating sumama sa kung ano ang tama, at huwag maging neutral," Pangilinan said. At the emergency UN General Assembly meeting on March 2 (New York time), the world body overwhelmingly voted "yes" to a resolution to reprimand Russia for invading Ukraine and demanded that Moscow stop fighting and withdraw its military forces. Apart from Russia, the others that voted against the resolution were Eritrea, North Korea, and Syria. Thirty-five members, including China, abstained. On Wednesday (March 9), non-resident Ukraine Ambassador to the Philippines Olexander Nechytaylo appealed to the Philippine business community to stop dealing with Russia as the invasion has killed many civilians, including children, and has destroyed homes and critical infrastructure. "We call upon the Philippines business community to stop any business dealing with Russia, as every dollar earned by Russia will be used, directly or indirectly, to continue the criminal war in Ukraine," Nechytaylo said in a statement. "We call to join ethically and socially responsible global businesses, which have already stopped or suspended operations with or in the Russian Federation, refusing to finance Russian violence, murders and crimes against humanity with their taxes. Don't be a part of the crime, stop doing business on the blood now!" he added. President Rodrigo Duterte has already expressed concern over the global impact of the Russian invasion but is yet to personally condemn it. He has nurtured close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he once called his "idol." In Duterte's 2019 visit to Moscow, Philippine and Russian firms signed 10 trade and investment agreements amounting to about P660 million. In May 2021, the Philippines celebrated the 45th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Russia, with the possibility of cooperation in areas of vaccine, defense, space, and energy. Earlier this week (March 9), Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that the Philippine government will proceed with a deal to buy 17 helicopters from Russia that was signed in November 2021 and partially paid for in January. He said that he does not see the P12.7 billion contract being scrapped as of the moment. According to news reports, the first batch of the helicopters will be delivered about two years after Duterte's term ends in June; the helicopters can be used for combat, search and rescue operations, and medical evacuations. A Russian-owned superyacht valued at 443m has been confiscated by Italian police in the port of Trieste as part of a global crackdown on wealthy oligarchs. UN officials have warned that the country's entire cultural life is at risk of disappearing as Moscow continues its aggression. BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) People stand when Dr. Matshidiso Moeti enters a room at the World Health Organization's Africa headquarters in the Republic of Congo and they listen intently to what she says. Small in stature and big in presence, Moeti is the first woman to lead WHOs regional Africa office, the capstone of her trailblazing career in which she has overcome discrimination in apartheid South Africa to become one of the world's top health administrators. As WHO Africa chief, Moeti initiates emergency responses to health crises in 47 of the continent's 54 countries and recommends policies to strengthen their health care systems. Since her appointment in 2015, Moeti has grappled with the worlds deadliest Ebola outbreak, in West Africa. She has also has had to handle lingering criticism of WHOs spending and hiring in Africa as it also deals with allegations of sexual assault by contractors during Congos Ebola crisis. From 2020, the start of her second term, Moeti has faced her toughest professional and personal challenge: helping Africa respond to the coronavirus pandemic as the continent trails the rest of the world in testing and vaccination efforts. She has become one of the world's most compelling voices urging better consideration of Africa's people especially women, whove in many ways been hit hardest by COVID. Her identity as an African woman has been both a strength and an obstacle on a continent where much of society is still dominated by patriarchal systems. Im certainly doing my best to be there not only as a technician and a manager and a leader, but also very much as a woman from the region, from the continent, Moeti, 67, told The Associated Press during a recent visit to WHO Africa headquarters in Republic of Congo. I feel very... India on Saturday reported 3,614 new Covid-19 cases, the lowest since May 12, 2020. With this, India's Covid-19 case tally has climbed to 4,29,87,875, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am. In the last 24 hours, 89 more fatalities were recorded, pushing the death toll up to 5,15,803, the health ministry stated in its release. R Sainikhesh, the 21-year-old aerospace engineering student from Tamil Nadu who had joined Ukrainian paramilitary force to fight Russia, is willing to return to his hometown in Coimbatore soon, his father Ravichandran said. Sainikhesh was studying final year aerospace engineering at the National Aerospace University at Kharkiv when, in February, he had a paramilitary unit comprising volunteers. New Zealand Herald 27 Mar 2022 Without Russian help, climate scientists worry how they'll keep up their important work of documenting warming in the.. Seven ambulances are heading to help civilians in Ukraine after 70,000 was raised to buy them. 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. SeattlePI.com 23 Mar 2022 NEW YORK (AP) Russia plans to reopen its stock market for limited trading on Thursday, nearly one month after shares plunged.. Oskaloosa, IA (52577) Today Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 61F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low near 50F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Twenty years ago, Jenny Bell was living "in the closet" as a married man with three children. Bell was feeling quite lost in a community that lacked accessible resources, education, and advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. In 2002, Perceptions launched. offering education, resources, networking and advocacy for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Just one of the many people grateful for GLBP, Bell, 65, now spends a lot of time volunteering with the organization and has for the past six years since she came out. She is also one of the facilitators with a transgender group through GLBP. About 300 people gathered Thursday at the Midland County Club to celebrate 20 years of the Great Lakes Bay Pride (GLBP), formerly Perceptions, and to raise money for another 20 years. Living a lie Living in the closet with no outlet led Bell down a path of self-destruction she said, including a suicide attempt. When asked what life might have been like if 2002 offered the same climate for the LGBT community as 2022 does she said she would have been a happy woman. I would have been living my identity, Bell said. I cant say I had much of a life. I was male on the outside, but inside I was a woman." Perceptions helped Bell find herself. She said she tried three other groups before finding Perceptions. She said that is when she really faced how she was living and found there was another way. Yet, it came at a cost. She said her ex-wife and three children have disowned her. Im now the female I was never allowed to be, said Bell noting she is on hormone therapy. Its a horrible way to live being called sir, mister or hey buddy. Ive wasted so much of my life denying who I really am." A different era Twenty years ago, Bill Ostash was 38 years old and just coming out of the closet. Life then was a different scene for the LGBT community than it is now. The City of Saginaw's first openly gay elected city official grew up in a Catholic family who believed he should grow up, graduate high school, find a good job and raise a family. He didn't know what reaction to expect when he came out to his parents. When I told my mom I was gay, she said, Is that it? Ostash said. It was the same way with his dad. In fact, Ostash said he and his dad became closer after he told him. My family was very accepting, he said. They still are. Still, at the time, while he was out, Ostash said he was still scared of retaliation from others less accepting. You were still out, but still afraid then, Ostash said of the time 20 years ago. Thats not the case today. Ostashs husband, Kevin Rooker remembers being in Saginaw gay bar Bambis in the early 1980s. There would be people throwing glass beer bottles at the patrons all night long. You couldnt even drive out of there for the glass," Rooker said. "And the police wouldnt do anything about it." Yet, personally, the recently retired teacher didnt have issues. Other school officials he worked with, half of his students and others knew he was gay. There werent problems. He also knows that his treatment was the exception rather than the rule based on what others faced. During Thursday nights event, the group observed a moment of silence for MyMichigan Health President and CEO Diane Postler-Slattery and her husband, Don, who died in a plane crash Tuesday in northwest Florida. The events 2022 honorary chairs were Dow CEO Jim Fitterling and his husband Alex Lee. Fitterling said we need to continue to support one another and our region with understanding while also demanding inclusion. At Dow we understand the future is created by what we do today, he said. Fitterling told the Daily News that the era 20 years ago for the LGBT community was definitely riskier and it wasnt as easy to be apart of that community as it is today. Groups like (GLBP) exist to give people support and courage to live their own lives, Fitterling said. Amy McDonald who runs Intersections through Shelterhouse, a support group for the LGBTQUA+ survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault that meets weekly. She said its impressive that Perceptions, now the GLBP, started meeting in a small upstairs room and has turned into a community made up to support all people. McDonald said it was great to have Congressman Dan Kildee, Fitterling and Midland County Clerk Ann Manary present at the event. Also attending was Midland School Board candidate Jennifer Ringgold. She wanted to support the GLBP event because it provides safe spaces for young people. Also from Shelterhouse was Denise Berry who was thankful for the partnership between Shelterhouse and GLBP. Heidi Knizacky was at the event to support the people ad the GLBP. The Saginaw Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression Education chair got involved after seeing that gay youth was disproportionately impacted by mental health than straight youth. SOGIE recently became a 501 (c)(3). She saw the statistics and realized she needed to get involved to help do something about it. Chris Lauckner was also honored during the event for his nearly 20 years with Perceptions and then GLBP. He shared some of his stories over the years about what he did with the organization and how they helped others. Fitterling said he was glad to be a part of the event that honored Lauckner. The tides are shifting Midlands Gerald Bruce and wife, Kim, are grateful for the climate change for LGBT people from 20 years ago. Two of their sons are gay and Bruces older brother is also gay. He sees a vast difference from when his brother came out to when his now young adult sons came out when they were teens. Its very nice to see the progress, Bruce said, especially noting the number of people around the room. He said his sons plight makes him feel stronger about inclusion. Theres been lots of progress as a county, Bruce said citing the 2015 marriage equality act and changes in laws. He remembers it being so different for his brother coming out in the 1980 when AIDS was a big issue. Bruce was only 12 at the time of his 29-year-old brothers coming out. He said his sons coming out was more relaxed and his sons were more relaxed about it. I feel very fortunate we supported our sons coming out, he said. I know thats not always the case for the LGBT community. The gay community wasnt supported to the extent it is today. I think weve made great strides." The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum will bring Michigan artists Austen Brantley and Ray Katz to Saginaw Valley State University and the community as part of a Visiting Artists Series from March 14-19. The museum provides this free program as a way for students and the public to interact with and learn from award-winning artists. During open studio hours, the general public will have an opportunity to drop in and learn the process of making a sculpture. Both artists will share information about their careers as artists and conduct hands-on workshops. Open studio hours do not require a reservation and are open to all. Days and times are as follows: Ray Katz will guide visitors on how to make their own geometric foam sculpture 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday, March 16 Austen Brantley will guide visitors through modeling a clay sculpture 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday, March 17 Classes and groups are invited to schedule a free, private visit by calling 989-964-7096 or emailing ondish@svsu.edu. Brantley is a figurative sculptor from (and based out of) Detroit. He initially had little to no knowledge of his artistic abilities until he reached his junior year at Berkley High School in 2011. He was inspired by his high school ceramics teacher who saw his potential to succeed. In 2013, after a mere two years of sculpting, Brantley began receiving local and statewide recognition for his creations and won a gold key with his portfolio in national scholastic's competition. Learn more about Brantley and his art at www. austenbrantleysculpture.com/ Katz was born and raised in Detroit where he attended Mumford High School. Immediately after high school he served four years in the U.S. Air Force where he became interested in art. Upon returning from the military he attended Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts and Eastern Michigan University where he received his bachelor of science in fine arts. He continued his education at Wayne State University, where he received his master of fine arts in sculpture and drawing. He retired from teaching after 42 years as professor of art at the Auburn Hills, campus of Oakland Community College. Since the mid-1970s he has created art in his Pontiac studio. For more details on his art visit Katz's website Raykatzsculptor.com and watch the video Ray Katz, American Sculptor on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/ 422524347. Both artists won awards/honorable mention during the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museums Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition in 2021. Take a virtual tour of this exhibition and view more information about these two visiting artists and their artwork at www. marshallfredericks.net/ rbjse2021-page1.html. This Visiting Artists Series is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from Saginaw Valley State University Office of Academic Affairs. The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum is located on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University, 7400 Bay Road, University Center. Museum hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, call 989- 964-7125 or visit www.marshallfredericks.org. For the 11th year, Saginaw Valley State University has been recognized as a Military Friendly School. The latest honor, for the 2022-23 cycle, comes with an upgrade: SVSU has achieved Gold status for the first time. Only a select group of institutions earn this prestigious honor. SVSU meets all the standards for being a Military Friendly School, which include culture and commitment, financial aid, graduation and military student support and retention. Bethany Alford, director of Military Student Affairs at SVSU, said this is the first time the university has earned gold status as a Military Friendly School, although it has achieved gold status as a Veteran-Friendly School from the Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency. Not only does SVSU meet the expectations, it exceeds the standards in all the categories considered for Military Friendly designation. A large part of this is due to the Military Student Affairs office, which provides support to military-affiliated students and gives them an opportunity to connect with one another. Harley Davidson, an elementary education major from Pinconning who serves as a staff sergeant in the Michigan Army National Guard, believes the office goes above and beyond to support military students. The office shows their appreciation by consistently providing us with amazing resources, events, and a wonderful space for us to take advantage of, Davidson said. SVSU also works to make sure military students are using all the resources available to them both on and off campus. Active-duty students can also return to classes after deployment with no penalties against them. Davidson is one of the students serving while also taking classes. I serve in the Michigan Army National Guard while pursuing my degree, she said. It can be difficult at times, but the office and the university as a whole make it a lot easier. The Military Friendly ratings system was established in 2003 and is the standard that measures an organizations commitment, effort and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefit for the military community. The Military Friendly designation which is applied to employers, brands and schools creates better outcomes for veterans. To apply for Military Friendly status, a college or university must complete a comprehensive survey, one of the most stringent on the market. In the 2021-2022 cycle, nearly 1,200 schools participated in the survey; only 162 earned gold status. SVSU has received numerous recognitions at both the state and national level for being a military- and veteran-friendly institution for its procedures and policies that benefit military-connected students. The Military Student Affairs office provides a number of services to help military-affiliated students, including: Admission counseling Academic advising Department of Defense and VA benefit advising and certification Transition assistance Peer support group Veterans resource referrals The physical office space, which was renovated in 2021, also provides a resource center with a textbook library, computer lab and printing capabilities, conference room and relaxation area. Davidson, the education major and Michigan Army National Guard member, appreciates the support she receives at SVSU. The Military Student Affairs office provides an amazing workspace for students to work in their free time without distractions, which has been extremely helpful in keeping everything balanced, she said. My professors have also been so understanding in working with me if there are any small changes that need to be made during the semester to ensure I can continue those courses. To the editor: The Ukrainian people overthrew the repressive and corrupt regime of President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, as documented in the powerful film, Winter on Fire: Ukraines Fight for Freedom. These are the same incredibly brave people Putin has so cynically and falsely called fascists. The Ukrainian people have tasted freedom and true democracy, and they have paid heavily for it with their own blood. They will not be subjugated again. Putin cannot win his criminal war battles, maybe, but not in the long run. He has made a historic blunder that will cost him and the Russian people dearly. With luck, the Russian people will rise up and depose this war criminal (and trusted friend of our former president). What can we do to help? The U.S. can support the Ukrainian people with tough economic sanctions on Russia, with indirect arms shipments to Ukraine through neighboring NATO states like Poland, and by providing strategic intelligence. Each of us can make small personal sacrifices like paying more at the pump to help cripple the petroleum-dependent Russian economy. President Biden is leading with great strength and strategic thinking in this regard. Additionally, working with our allies, Biden released 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves, half from the U.S. reserves, to help keep energy costs down for everyone. But there is a larger question. How do we permanently kneecap Putin and other petro-dictators who would hold the entire world hostage to our fossil fuel dependence? The answer is as clear as the sun shining through my window. Let us end our use of fossil fuels and not only stop the climate crisis, but also end forever the ability of oily autocrats to dictate the future of the Ukrainian people and all the people of Earth. JAMES W. CRISSMAN Midland Director of Content and Operations Spencer McKee is OutThere Colorado's Director of Content and Operations. In his spare time, Spencer loves to hike, rock climb, and trail run. He's on a mission to summit all 58 of Colorado's fourteeners and has already climbed more than half. Paducah, KY (42003) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 58F. Winds light and variable. Photo: (Photo : Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) A Missouri mom warns parents never to leave any loose cords, cables, or wires lying around their house, especially if they have young children who could get into an accident. Journy Harr and her family had this devastating experience with their 2-year-old daughter, Lilly Harr, who got strangled with the fan cord she was playing. Journy recently shared photos of Lilly to raise awareness about her fatal accident, which happened in September 2020. The mom recalled that Lilly was with her three brothers in the same bedroom when one of her sons screamed for them to call 911. Her husband, Randell Harr, rushed to their children's room and found Lilly with the fan cord. Their five-year-old son explained that the toddler was wrapping it around her neck multiple times when she tripped and then accidentally hanged herself. "It was so fast - I can't stress that enough," Journy said, per The Mirror. She said that by the time she got to the room, Randell was able to take her down from the fan by the window. "She wasn't breathing at this point. She wasn't responsive at all." Read Also: Unsafe Infant Loungers: CPSC Sues Leachco for Refusing to Recall the Product Missouri Mom Had Concerns About the Fan The Harr family has been redecorating their home, and Journy had her initial concerns when they were fitting the window fan in her daughter's room. She thought the children could easily push this out, and they could fall through the hole. It did not occur to her, however, that the kids could get entangled in the fan cord that hung down to be plugged in the outlet. Randell did CPR on their daughter as they waited for the paramedics. Then the father rushed ahead to the hospital with Lilly while Journy was following them not far behind. However, halfway through the trip, her husband called her mobile phone to tell her the devastating news that Lilly didn't make it. From what Journy understood after talking to the pathologist, it takes just a tiny amount of pressure for this accident to kill a small child. Thus, she told parents to ensure that exposed cords or wires in their houses are secure, hidden, and inaccessible to children. Since the accident, Journy said they had installed pool noodles for cords around the house, which won't wrap so tightly around the neck and prevent terrible accidents with kids. Toddler Dies from Window Blinds Cord Strangulation In Wisconsin, a 2-year-old also died by strangulation from a window blinds cord. According to reports, his mother stepped out of the room where her son watched a movie for just a few minutes. She came back to find her son's horrific situation and was able to untangle him to do CPR. Unfortunately, like Lilly, the boy also didn't make it. Later, investigations showed small footprints by the side table and couches near the window, which the child used to climb to get to the blinds. Data from National Electronic Injury Surveillance System from 2017 revealed that 600 kids a year end up in the emergency room for accidents linked to cords. Between 1990 to 2015, nearly 17,000 kids under six years old were treated for window blinds injury. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission also reminded parents to ensure no loose cords are accessible to small children. Related Article: Study Reveals 7% of Kids Suffer From Concussion; What Parents Must Do to Prevent Head Injuries Photo: (Photo : LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP via Getty Images) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed on Thursday, March 10, that a Ukrainian mother and her three children had been allowed into the United States after being barred earlier by American authorities from entering the country at the Mexico border. The plight of the Ukrainian family gained national attention when the San Diego-Union Tribune reported that they were turned away by U.S. border officials in San Diego, California, on Wednesday, March 9. The Ukrainian family of four, who were trying to seek asylum from the Russian invasion, had to turn back to Mexico because of a widely criticized pandemic measure by the United States that bars entry to most asylum seekers who arrive at the American border. Ukrainian family denied entry by U.S. border officials Sofiia, 34, said that when she fled Ukraine alongside her three children, ages 14, 12, and six, she decided to head to the only family she had outside of her home country. Those family relatives are American citizens who live in California. Much to her shock and horror, Sofiia and her three kids were turned back because of Title 42, a controversial policy first invoked in March 2020 by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the United States offered "temporary protected status" to Ukrainians already present in the country when the Russian invasion started, that protection from deportation, unfortunately, does not extend to anyone who arrives later. That was the case for Sofiia, who only learned about the strict policy after her family was turned away at the U.S. border twice - once on foot and once in a car. According to Sofiia, a Hebrew teacher in Ukraine, it was all okay in her country until February 24, the day Russia started its invasion. Once Russian troops started entering Ukraine, Sofiia's family members in California urged her to leave the country. Sofiia and her children did not hesitate to leave Ukraine, leaving behind most of her loved ones, including her mother. She quickly drove her vehicle to Moldova before going to Romania. Sofiia said it was fortunate she listened to her friends and left a little bit before it got too harsh in Ukraine. Sofiia said the main reason why she decided to leave Ukraine right away was her children. Sofiia was emotional when talking about the family she left behind in Ukraine, saying that they are already running out of food and medicine and there is no gas. Read Also: Ukrainian Surrogates Who Escaped War Zone Must Return to Ukraine to Give Birth to Clients' Babies Homeland Security lets Ukrainian family in after story goes viral From Romania, the Ukrainian family flew through Frankfurt to Mexico City. Sofiia and her three kids then arrived in Tijuana on Monday. One of her relatives drove down from Los Angeles to pick them up in Mexico and tried to drive them across the U.S. border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The family was denied entry despite the relative explaining that they were fleeing the war. They tried to enter the U.S. days later by walking through the pedestrian lane at San Ysidro Port of Entry with the Ukrainian family requesting asylum that way. They were denied entry again, much to their dismay. Fortunately for Sofiia, Blaine Bookey, the legal director for the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings, was there to help them in their time of need. Her story soon went viral, forcing the Homeland Security Department to change course and let them in. DHS said the Ukrainian family was allowed into the United States after reviewing the facts of their case. Related Article: Six-year-Old Ukrainian Girl Dies Alone at Home in Mariupol Due to Dehydration Photo: (Photo : MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP via Getty Images) Middle school students in Maryland and Florida have been charged with racially-motivated hate crimes in separate and unrelated incidents in the same week. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched a program to combat hate crimes across the country. On Thursday, March 10, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) in Maryland responded to an incident at the Middletown Middle School, where some Black students received threats. Todd Wivell from the FCSO told CNN that three White students, who attended the eighth grade, had been charged for the hate crime. One of the kids was also charged for possession of a firearm. The spokesperson said that the school administrators were able to take the proper steps to prevent the incident from escalating and ensure the safety of the school community. Members of the FCSO interviewed the students involved in the presence of their parents or guardians while further actions like inspection of devices and social media activities, as well as searches in the students' houses, were undertaken. Names of the three middle school students in Maryland were not publicly released as the investigations are still ongoing. They are, however, barred from stepping into the campus until the completion of the probe. Read Also: Illinois To Require Schools To Teach Asian American History, First State To Pass Bill Hate Crime as Revenge? In Florida, five middle school students of color, between the sixth to eighth grades, have been charged with hate crimes, battery, and third-degree felony. The children from Lyons Creek Middle School were involved in an incident in the recreation center across their school on Wednesday, March 9. According to the Coconut Creek Police Department, the kids were harassing and attacking White students unprovoked. One victim said that one of the boys used a stick to hit his leg. His father felt this was an "act of revenge," alluding to slavery in the 1700s. Parents were alerted to the attacks, but a father said that the school officials "can't do anything" as the incident was out of school property. He also said that his son does not feel safe going back to school anymore. Coconut Creek Police Chief Butch Arenal said that attacks like this are rare, and it was likely due to poor judgment on the children's part. The police said they are working with the victims to properly deal with the perpetrators to pacify conflicts between races. Hate Crimes Rise by 44 percent A report from the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism in California State University cites that several of America's populous cities had an uptick in hate crimes in 2021. Sixteen cities had the biggest rise in cases, with Los Angeles and New York leading the count. The FBI defines hate crimes as a criminal offense launched against a person or property spurred and motivated by a bias against a certain religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. The most targeted minority groups for hate crimes are Black Americans and Jewish communities, but attacks against Asian Americans increased by 324 percent in 2021. The number might be higher because some hate crimes go unreported. Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref announced the launch of United Against Hate, an outreach program for marginalized communities to connect with law enforcement officials at all levels directly. The program has received additional resources to deploy and render help for minority communities. Related Article: Parents Warned 'Sextortion' Threats Among Teens Are on the Rise This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Ranking Member of Parliaments Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh says Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is the most difficult person to work with. He claimed the lax-looking minister has made things extremely difficult for his committee and does not conform to directives from other committees in parliament as well. Mr Mintah Akandoh, however, said his working experience with Mr Ofori-Atta is not the best after describing him as stubborn and a pretender. When he [Ken Ofori-Atta] comes to parliament for something hell be so nice to everyone, after, he will show his true self. He doesnt listen to anyone, he said I have never seen a finance minister in my entire political life as stubborn as Ken. He is the cause of Ghanas woes and economy failures, he told Kwesi Aboagye in an interview on NEAT FMs morning show, Ghana Montie. Mr Mintah Akandoh was discussing claims that Ken Ofori-Atta has not paid National Health Insurance (NHIA) levies collected since July 2021 into the National Health Insurance Fund. According to the Juaboso MP, this development will have adverse effects on ordinary Ghanaians. Since July 2021, the Minister responsible for finance has not paid the levies collected in the name of the National Health Insurance Levy to the National Health Insurance Fund and therefore, the service providers for the scheme are threatening to withdraw their services. This is how bad it is, he stated whiles addressing the media in Parliament on Thursday. 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. Featured Video The Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, has indicated that work on La General Hospital will commence on Monday March 14, 2022. According to him, the redevelopment project which President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cut sod for in the third quarter of 2020 could not start because the government was faced with difficulties. President Akufo-Addo cuts sod for La General Hospital redevelopment The inability of the government to commence the construction project was attributed to the global pandemic which ravaged the economies of the world. He stated that Sinosure, the Chinese Company mandated to insure the loan to be secured for the project halted the process to review their policy on Africa. This was occasioned by a request from Africa to the Chinese Government to restructure their Africa debt financing policy due to the impact of COVID-19. Sinosure therefore put on hold their insurance processes on all Chinese projects in Africa, he disclosed. Mr Agyemang Manu who doubles as Member of Parliament for Dormaa Central Constituency, mentioned that the company on October 20, 2021 finally gave the green light for the loan to be insured and negotiations for value for money were subsequently concluded to enable the project commence. He also noted contrary to the observation observations made by the National Democratic Congress Caucus of Parliament when they inspected the site that, the government had started some activities on the project including fencing, side offices, roads for the conveyance of construction equipment. However, the actual building projecting which will start on Monday, according to him, will not stop until it is completed in 30 months. Background The La General Hospital which was built in the 1960s. It was the second largest facility after the Greater Accra Regional hospital in its catchment area and served a population of more than 150,000 persons. The Hospital was initially built as a Polyclinic but had undergone several renovations and also seen a lot of expansions to cater for the ever-growing patient numbers. The most prominent expansion was the construction of the 5-storey multi-purpose hospital block. It was built in the 1990s. However, the structure had developed structural cracks which required urgent Government attention to forestall any major disaster. The La General Hospital occupied a total land area of about 4-acres and operated from 5 different structures which were not linked directly by any covered walkways as a result of the piecemeal development. This situation had broken the functional flow required in a modern hospital for proper patient care. As a result, there were no properly defined areas for staff and visitors. The 5-storey block however housed the core of the Hospitals functional areas like the OPD, Wards, Surgical rooms and Administration but developed structural cracks which put the lives of patients and staff at serious risk. Following a report by the Hospitals administration in 2015 of serious structural problems, the Ministrys technical team together with external civil and structural Engineers undertook a full study of the building and came out with their findings as contained in the attached structural integrity report. The following recommendation were therefore made by the team: Evacuate the entire hospital and distribute patients amongst the adjoining hospitals at Teshie, Adabraka and the Greater Accra regional Hospital Demolish the unsafe 5-storey structure and all other structures not fit-for-purpose Redevelop the site into an ultra-modern facility commensurate to the land value and fit for purpose. Demolition The Ministry on the back of the recommendation proceeded to demolish the existing facility. Even though this action was premised on the structural integrity report, according to the government they proceeded to do the demolishing when they were sure of the availability of funds to commence and complete the project. However, it is worth noting that the recommendation to demolish was not hinged on Governments ability to raise funds to build a new one but purely on sound engineering advice. Essentially, irrespective of when Government intended to reconstruct the facility, the report recommended its demolition to avoid any catastrophic event. Outlook The hospital is expected to complement the Greater Accra Regional Hospital at Ridge in Accra and serve people living in Osu, La and Teshie as well as those living along the coast of Accra. When completed, it will transform the capacity of the facility into a 160-bed facility. Ancillaries including an outpatient department, inpatient wards, maternity and neonatal services, will be added. The new structure will also have surgical unit with four (4) theatres, accident and emergency department, public health department, pharmacy unit, laboratory, administration, imaging area with CT Scan, X-ray room, ultrasound, flouroscopy, mammography units; physiotherapy unit, and a mortuary. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Nigeria's drugs agency has seized three million capsules of opioids, it said on Friday. The authorities intercepted about 1,500kg (3,300lb) of Tapentadol and Carisoprodol, according to National Drug Law Enforcement Agency director Femi Babafemi, as quoted in the Punch newspaper. The capture "followed a similar operation in which anti-narcotic officers of the agency also intercepted 8,613kg of cannabis smuggled in from Ghana," AFP news agency quoted Mr Babademi as saying. He said the capsules were thought to have originated from China, and were falsely labelled as insulation fittings and industrial office printers. However further investigation proved them to be from India and some suspects have been arrested, the news report added. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Kenya's health ministry is now allowing people to not wear face masks in open places. The government has however encouraged people attending events indoors to wear face masks while travelling using public means of transport. The measures of social distancing and hand washing will remain in place to reduce the spread of coronavirus. Mandatory quarantine and isolation of confirmed cases have also been stopped. Indoor meetings and in-person worship in full capacity will resume as long as all those attending are fully vaccinated. Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said the inter-faith council would provide more guidelines on the resumption of services. The changes follow a significant decline in Covid-19 infections in the country. Positivity rates have remained below 5% for the past month, Mr Kagwe continued. Kenyans have been urged to get vaccinated with more than seven million people fully vaccinated, comprising 28.5% of the general population of adults. Kenya imposed mandatory mask-wearing in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Presbyterian Church of Ghana is calling for stiffer punishment for persons engaged in LGBTQ + activities. The call was made when the church, led by its representative, presented its memorandum at the public hearing on the private member's bill known as the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values by the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament on Thursday, 10 March 2022. Presenting the memorandum before the committee, the Director of Ecumenical and Social Relations of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev. Nii Amarh Ashitey, said the punishment prescribed in the Anti-LGBTQ + Bill currently before parliament must be deterrent enough. The church proposed a three-year minimum jail term for persons who engage in LGBTQ+ activities. He said: As Christians, we believe in mercy and forgiveness but we equally believe that punishments are meant as deterrents not only for the offender but also for people who harbour similar intent. This bill is essentially to control social order and norms that the punishment prescribed must be deterrent enough He continued: It is the considered opinion of PCG that any offence committed under the bill should not attract an equivalent jail term of less than three years. We find that the needs of the law on Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values have emerged from the inadequacy of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29). This law that hopes to come out after this bill has been passed, is needed to deter unacceptable behaviours that are injurious to the common good of society. According to the church, the ordinary Ghanaian believes a human being is either a man or a woman and that men marry women and vice-versa, theres no alternative to this arrangement Rev Ashitey added: We shall be preserving our religious and moral values, as enshrined in both our cultural and religious affiliations, stressing, there is a need for a stiffer punishment regime to deter offenders and other persons who are harbouring such thoughts from pursuing their intents but seek support from appropriate agencies to help them out. He further noted: The law must be intentional and specific on how to deal with foreign diplomats who are found promoting such behaviours within the borders of Ghana, adding that we also believe the grace of God is abundant for those who will repent and have their minds renewed, however, we cannot continue to sin when this grace is abounding The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021 seeks to make illegal LGBTQ + related activities in the country. 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 Ghanas Attorney General, Mr Godfred Dame has asked the Tema High Court to refuse the bail application of #FixTheCountry Movement convener Oliver Barker-Vormawor because the youth activist, who is standing trial for treason felony after threatening a coup on social media in connection with the e-levy, has been uncooperative with the investigators. The Minister of Justice, in a document to the court on Thursday, 10 March 2022 said the Cambridge PhD student, who has been in detention for about a month, is a flight risk. The lawyer was reportedly rushed to the hospital recently after taking ill and put in a bail application through his lawyers. According to Mr Dame, Mr Barker-Vormawor has defied some court orders issued against him with regard to the investigation, thus, must not be granted bail. He said in addition to refusing the investigators access to his mobile phone as ordered by the court, the accused person has also refused to disclose his place of abode in Ghana for a search to be conducted, despite the court having granted a warrant for that purpose. For those reasons, the AG argues that it would be untenable to grant Mr Barker-Vormawor bail. That, having regard to the nature of the offence and the punishment which conviction will entail, the applicant, a person with no fixed place of abode in Ghana is not likely to appear to stand trial if granted bail, Mr Dame said. The court could not hear the bail application on Thursday since the lawyers of the accused person said they had just received the AGs document. The case has been adjourned to Monday, 14 March 2022. Source: classfmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Jospong Group of Companies has donated relief items worth thousands of Ghana cedis to victims of Appiatse community explosion. The donation comes as an act of benevolence from the group to commiserate with families of victims and the entire community of Appiatse. The items presented included 100 bags of rice, 50 bags of 100kg gari, 50 bags of 100kg beans, 2,000 exercise books for school children, 100 pieces of buckets and 9 gallons of liquid soaps as well as 50 bottles of hand sanitisers. Appiatse which is a mining community between Bogoso and Bawdie in the Western Region was involved in a fatal explosion that ruined the entire community, leaving 13 people dead and many others severely injured, when a mining explosive vehicle collided with a motorcycle resulting in the explosion earlier this year. Leading the team to present the items, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of Jospong Group of Companies, Sophia Kudjordji, said "We are all witnesses to the unfortunate incident that happened a month ago at the Appiatse, to this effect, the Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies pushed us to contact you to know what exactly will be needed for the victims. "Today we are here in the name of the Jospong Group of Companies including Zoomlion and other subsidiaries to bring you these items based on the request you made and we have also added few others things. She added that, "throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the group had been around the country supporting with disinfection and with this incident, we deem to sympathise with you, especially in your trying moments. We pray that God almighty will comfort you and help you to overcome this." The Western Regional Manager of Zoomlion, Abdulai Abdullah, indicated that the mission of Jospong Group of Companies is to improve the peoples lives, and added that the Jospong Group of Companies sees this as a golden opportunity to show our widow's mite as far as the disaster is concerned". ...so we have been with people of Appiatse right from the onset of this disaster. He further indicated that these items are not the only items we brought, but we had initially brought communal containers that are supposed to take care of the waste situation in the community, our workers are around to support as far as the cleaning of the community is concerned." Receiving the items on behalf of the victims of Appiatse community, the Divisional Chief of Bepoh, Nana Atta Kojo Beremebi II, thanked the Jospong Group of Companies for their kind gesture. He assured that the items will be shared accordingly. The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Prestea Huni Valley, Mr. Isaac Dasomani, who accompanied the divisional chief of Bepoh to receive the items, expressed the community's profound gratitude to the Jospong Group of Companies. "In fact, Jospong Group of Companies has demonstrated leadership by donating such uncalculated items. He alluded that the Lord had been so good and wonderful to the victims of Appiatse explosion because, since the incident happened, loads of people continue to come to their aid by way of donating both in-kind and cash. He said looking at these items being donated by Jospong Group, they will go a long way to support the community. My office will make sure that distribution will be done accordingly, he assured. The MCE, Mr. Dasomani, said their biggest challenge was a vehicle that will be used to convey the children to school,. According to him, out of a population of 964, about 40% were school children. He therefore, appealed to organisations to support them with minibuses to convey the children to school. He further revealed that there will be a mass burial for the 7 deceased on Friday. The team from Zoomlion and Jospong Group led by Chaplain, Pastor Danso, used the opportunity to pray for the victims of the Appiatse explosion. May almighty God help the children of this community to rebuild a new Appiatse that is strong to stand on its feet so that the narrative of the community. Other members of the delegation from the Jospong Group of Companies were Mrs. Emma Adwoa Appiaa Osei-Duah, Communications and Corporate Affairs Director, Zoomlion, Mr. Thomas N. Korley, Zoomlion Foundation and National Project Officer, Mr. Jephthah Tetteh and Idris Adam, Communications and Corporate Affairs. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video NIGERIA: -A dispatch rider in Lagos State has been apprehended after a baby was allegedly found inside his courier box. According to online reports, the incident happened in the Sangotedo Area of Lagos on Friday, March 11. A video of the incident shared online showed the rider being assaulted by a mob who later dragged him to a police station. One of the persons in the background was heard saying, This is the child that was abducted. The state police command is yet to comment on the incident. Watch a video showing the dispatch rider after he was apprehended below... View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lindaikejiblog (@lindaikejiblogofficial) Source: LindaIkeji 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 Role models are recognised as crucial factors to achieve zero gender bias and gender equality. For women, if they can see themselves represented, nothing can stop them from breaking the glass ceiling. This year, the theme of International Womens Day is #BreakingTheBias to promote a world free of stereotyping and discrimination. This can only be impactful if the groundbreaking achievements of strong women role models across the globe are acknowledged and celebrated to give others the courage to follow in their footsteps. We are celebrating our true role models at Bolt the first women who joined Bolts Women in Tech internship program last year. The tech space is predominantly male-dominated, with women increasingly being offered limited opportunities. According to Adeva IT, in 2018, women held only 25% of all jobs in the tech industry, although they make up almost half of the workforce. As part of efforts to create equal opportunity, Bolt the ride-hailing app, launched an initiative to help women across Africa fast-track their careers in the tech world. In Ghana, Keziah Odoi, Rabiatu Ahmed and Sharon Darko were successful interns who could join different teams across Operations and Marketing and Public Relations at Bolt. Among these interns, Sharon was assigned to the Operations Department, where she seized the opportunity to improve her professional developmental skills and a year on, she continues to work at Bolt Ghana as a full-time intern. She describes her experience saying, I would not change a single thing. So much about my professional skills has improved, and I have realised I work better in a team-orientated environment while simultaneously having responsibility for individual tasks. Ms Darko believes that the current experience is preparing her for the operational aspects of the tech start-up she dreams of launching in the future. Keziah, who now works in the field of engineering, said, the knowledge I acquired in marketing combined with my software engineering skills has given me the capacity to work on and develop projects that in the future will solve problems in society. Rabiatu, who finds herself working in Public Relations, expressed her gratitude to Bolt, saying, my experience at Bolt Ghana was great and impactful and helped me achieve some level of growth which has seen me take up top-level tasks and responsibilities in my current line of work. All three ladies continue to be unanimous about the usefulness of their Women in Tech Internship experience and are hopeful that this foundation will help propel them to greater heights as they advance in their careers. They also hope that their story will inspire those who come after them to soar higher and reach beyond the sky to achieve heights that will continue to break the bias. For more information about the #Drive4WITech follow our Instagram page! Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, has kicked against any form of support linked to calls for the Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Alban Sumana Kinsford Bagbin to give up his work based on his health grounds. Mr Bagbin has undertaken a couple of medical trips to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates since last year for an undisclosed ailment. On Friday, March 4, 2022, Mr Bagbin jetted off again to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for another medical review. He left the shores of Ghana for his sixth trip since August last year and is expected to return on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Speaker Reacts Days after he left, the Speaker of Parliament through the Parliamentary Service issued a March 7, 2022 statement in which matters relating to his medical trip were addressed. The statement essentially dealt with the purported reports around the composition of his delegation on one hand, per diems paid and claims that his children were part of the delegation. Resign, If Unfit His travels have become topical because of the hung nature of the current Parliament, where his absence means there are 137 MPs apiece on both sides, in which case all things being equal, government cannot pass important Bills. He has serially been attacked by some Ghanaians and other pro-government voices who have insisted that he should vacate the seat and take care of his health if need be, in order not to obstruct Parliamentary business. Recently, Managing Editor of The National Forum newspaper, James Kwabena Bomfeh Jnr aka Kabila, called on the Speaker to resign on grounds of ill-health to save Ghanas Parliament. "If we need to save the Speaker, let's save the Speaker by asking him to resign quietly so that somebody who is healthy and stronger can occupy the space. After all, when he resigns today, he's entitled to all the things that he is entitled to till he dies. ''He swore that he won't allow anything to become an impediment in the function and functioning of Parliament. Mr. Speaker, by your own words [on your honour] these your travels on health grounds are becoming an impediment to functioning of that second arm of government, the Legislature. With the greatest respect, in the name of your own words and on your honour, I'm pleading with you 'save Speaker Bagbin' by resigning and let's get a new Speaker," he said on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' Wednesday morning. Bagbin's Health Important Interestingly, some MPs within the majority side alo seem not happy with his frequent trips they claimed his absence is not helpful to proceedings in the august house. But, Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu strenously disagrees with their assertions. He told NEAT FMs morning show, Ghana Montie in an interview with Mr Bagbins "health is also important to the state". I dont want to talk about this but no one knows when he or she will be down with a sickness, he told host, Kwesi Aboagye. 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. Featured Video President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed utter shock at the various interpretations and controversies arising as a result of the Supreme Court ruling regarding the right of the Deputy Speakers of Parliament to vote during parliamentary proceedings. The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, gave a verdict on the dispute about whether or not the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, when sitting in for the Speaker, can also exercise his right to vote as a Member of Parliament. This contentious matter before the House resulted in the members on both sides trading blows when the Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, acting as Speaker, in November last year decided to hand over to the Second Deputy Speaker in order to join a quorum and cast his vote on the 2022 budget by the Akufo-Addo government. Court Ruling A seven member panel of the Supreme Court, adjudicating the case, by a unanimous decision settled this dispute ruling that a "Deputy Speaker is entitled to be counted as a member of Parliament for quorum" and can as well "vote and take part in the decision of parliament". The action by Mr Osei-Owusu, in counting himself as an MP, enabled the Majority in Parliament to form the right quorum under Article 104(1) to pass the budget. By this ruling, the Supreme Court has affirmed and legitimized the approval of the 2022 Budget passed in the absence of the NDC Minority Caucus on November 30, 2021. President Akufo-Addo Speaks Up The President, in an interview on Citi TV, opened up on his position on the Supreme Court ruling following attempts by some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to shoot it down. Former President John Mahama, in a post shared across his official social media handles and cited by Graphic Online, described the ruling as "shocking but not surprising", adding the Apex Court has set "a dangerous precedent of judicial interference in Parliamentary procedure for the future". Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George passing a comment on it also said in a tweet; "The sham called Justice delivery in our Republic. Despicable!'' But to President Akufo-Addo, the Supreme Court ruling is as clear as crystal. He strongly held that the Deputy Speakers are not the Speaker of Parliament, so they can exercise their parliamentary voting right as Members of Parliament. Simplifying the issue to the general public, the President said; ''Our Speaker is expressly not a member of the Assembly, that's why he doesn't have the right to vote. In fact, he is really not even to participate in the deliberations of the House. He is the referee making sure that the debate is conducted properly and the rules of procedure or the orders of the House are complied with. That's his role.'' He continued; ''That is not the case with the Deputy of Speaker and that matter is transparent on the face of our constitution. Indeed, even the Presiding members of our district Assemblies, they have the right to vote. Look at the district Assembly law because they are members of the Assembly and once you are a member of the Assembly, you are representing certain constituencies.'' His Excellency Nana Addo emphasized that ''if you are denied the right to vote, [it will mean] it is tantamount to denying the right of the people you represent to have a say in the decision of the Assembly. That will not be right. So, I couldn't understand all this furore and controversy artificially generated''. ''We are being told that the decision of the court amounts to judicial interference in the work of Parliament. I'm not quite sure that the people who are saying have actually taken the time to read the constitution of our country. It says so in black and white. ''The legislative power of Parliament [that is vested] that is of the State which is vested in Parliament is subject to the provisions of the constitution. All organs of the Ghanaian State including me as the Head of Executive, we are all subject to the teachings of the constitution. There is nobody in the Ghanaian State that is above the fundamental law of the land'', he added. The President asserted that any defiance to the court ruling will ''lead to the very matter that we have striven so long to avoid; the concentration [of power] of unregulated power in our State. We don't want that. We've had that experience before and we brought about this constitution in order not to allow that to reoccur''. ''...I'm astonished about how much public energy has been wasted, I say so with the greatest of respect, been wasted in an area on an issue where there is so much clarity and I'm happy that the court...the Supreme Court, when it is declaring the meaning of the constitution and it does so unanimously. That is the most emphatic way in which the court can pronounce!'', he expressed his shock. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Scores of traders in the Kumasi metropolis of the Ashanti Region have pledged their support for the candidature of Odeneho Kwaku Appiah also known as COKA, to unseat incumbent Ashanti Regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi. The market women, on Thursday, 10 March 2022, declared their intention to pick nomination forms for COKA, who is currently the Chairman of the Afigya Kwabre South constituency. The traders said they have contributed funds in readiness to buy nomination forms for the Regional Chairman hopeful. Some of them, who spoke to the media after Odeneho Kwaku Appiah visited them, expressed disappointment with Mr Antwi Boasiako for, according to them, neglecting them after supporting him to win the chairmanship position. Speaking on behalf of the traders, the Adwenehemaa, Nana Ama Twenewaa, popularly called Nana Sakina, said the three terms of Chairman Wontumi is enough, adding that he should step aside for a new face to help the party to break the eight-year jinx. She noted that Chairman Wontumi is not a contractor but has allegedly been awarded several contracts, many of which have been abandoned, thus, giving the party a bad name in the region. Nana Sakina said the traders have lost confidence in Wontumi's ability to lead the party to win more votes in the region to help break the eight-year jinx in the 2024 general elections. She was confident that Chairman COKA can achieve that feat. Source: classfmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Supreme Court of Ghana, being the apex court of the land, is thought of as the final arbiter in a case, particularly when the case contravenes the 1992 constitution. The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, exercised its judicial powers when a seven member panel presided over whether or not a Deputy Speaker in Parliament, acting as Speaker, could be said to be a Member of Parliament and exercise a right of voting. The Justices voted unanimously saying a ''Deputy Speaker is entitled to be counted as a member of Parliament for quorum" and can "vote and take part in the decision of Parliament". But the court ruling has been greeted with lots of controversies as some members of the Minority in Parliament and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) see the verdict to be a travesty of justice. Former President John Mahama argues that the Supreme Court has set a ''dangerous precedent of judicial interference in Parliamentary procedure for the future" while NDC Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George also describes it as ''despicable''. "The sham called Justice delivery in our Republic. Despicable!'', he tweeted. However, it appears only one person is bold to tell specifically what the Supreme Court Justices actually mean by this verdict and this person is the Editor-in-Chief of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt. Discussing the issue on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Kwesi Pratt minced no words as he expressed that the ruling is aimed at giving the Majority in Parliament an advantage in the House. By virtue of ruling, Mr. Pratt held that the court is supporting the Majority in Parliament. As if to explain that due to the current tie in Parliament where both the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress have 137 members each, it is apparent that the side which gets the majority gains an upper hand during proceedings in the House, he said; ''What is the purpose of this interpretation? The purpose of this interpretation is to allow the so-called majority to carry the day even as we have 137/137. That's the effect. That is the effect; no other effect! Is that the right way to go about this? For the Judiciary now to be making decisions about how voting can be carried in the House?'' To him, the ruling doesn't bring fairness into the House because if the Speaker is supposed to be unbiased, then the Deputy Speakers should have no a right to vote. ''When the Supreme Court make the decisions, we are entitled to examine the decisions of the Supreme Court and to comment on the decisions of the Supreme Court'', he stated. Therefore, in examining the verdict, he stressed; ''Deputy Speakers are Deputy Speakers. Deputy Speakers are not Speakers. That's a fact but when Deputy Speakers move and sit in that chair with the gavel, they exercise the powers of Speakers. They do not exercise the powers of Speakers because they have the same salary with the Speaker. They exercise the powers of Speaker clearly because in that position they are performing functions of the Speaker and in that position as they perform the functions of Speaker, they are expected to rise above the partisanship in the House.'' ''So, if the drafters of the constitution intended the position of Speaker to be a neutral arbiter, how can those act instead of the Speaker not be expected to act as neutral arbiters?'' he questioned. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Governments 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, particularly its determination to impose its draconian Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) on an already financially exhausted and challenged poor citizenry contrary to its own electoral promises and undertakings has seriously polarized this nation and created needless acrimony amongst the body politic in a manner I have never witnessed since my first involvement in public service and observation of the governance processes of Ghana since February 1982. The adversarial conflict over the Governments E-Levy policy eventually deepened with the uncomplimentary public reaction to what some citizens perceived to be an opulent, arrogant, and insulting 65th birthday celebration by the Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, (which fell on Thursday 3 February 2022) amid their sufferings and the governments intention to further tax their scarce incomes. The Mr. Kyei Mensah Bonsus E-Levy cake for his 65th birthday celebration provides the immediate context for understanding the public comments and reactions that led to the arrest and detention of a known political adversary of the Governments policies, Mr. Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor, the convenor of #FixTheCountry, who was later charged unconstitutionally for the offence of treason felony. Mr. Kyei Mensah-Bonsus E-Levy cake for his 65th birthday celebration has also led to other citizens being gagged and intimidated from exercising their constitutional rights and freedoms to free speech and thought on pain of being arrested and detained without bail at the behest of hawks and operatives of the Government under the smokescreen of coup mongering or first-degree felony offences against the safety of the state. The police also later arrested and detained Mr. Kwame Baffoe, the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), on 15 February 2022 and subsequently charged him with lesser offences and bailed before a court the next day for accusing former President John Mahama of high treason and/ or treason in a radio interview on 14 February 2022. Subsequently, operatives of the government made threats to arrest and detain the Dean of the University of Ghana School of Law, Prof. Raymond Atuguba, for coup mongering and treason arising out of a public lecture he delivered at the Erata Hotel in Accra on 28 February 2022. These developments make it imperative for every patriotic Ghanaian and lover of constitutionalism and representative democracy committed to the sustenance, preservation and defence of the 1992 Constitution to speak out boldly against the use or the threatened use of the investigatory and prosecutorial discretionary powers of the Republic entrusted to the executive branch of government in abusing the rights and freedoms of citizens to speech and thought by means of the deployment of the system of criminal justice administration for purely partisan political ends. Any appearance of the use of the system of the criminal justice administration to intimidate, suppress or seek to suppress the lawful political activity of political adversaries in the marketplace of democratic political discourse needs to be unreservedly condemned in defence of the 1992 Constitution. The 1992 Constitution was intended to ensure a free marketplace of ideas in a representative constitutional democratic society where the rights and freedoms of political adversaries are not suppressed or sought to be suppressed by government over-reach. This was because the nations political history teaches that the contrary led to the several previous instabilities that the Ghanaian constitutional democratic processes witnessed since the darkest day of 24 February 1966 until 7 January 1993. For almost three decades, and for the first time in Ghanaian political history, the Fourth Republican Constitution, born out of a revolution led by a retired military officer, the late President, Flt Lt. Jerry John Rawlings (Rt.), who brought it into operation under his signature and nurtured it democratically for eight years against all odds and handed over political power peacefully to an opposing political party has enabled this nation to witness the transfers of political power from one political party to another through the ballot box. This singular achievement of the 31 December 1981 Revolution in ensuring a lasting 1992 Constitution for Ghana is what all patriots are to defend. It is in pursuance of the foregoing objectives that this article examines and discusses the heightened polarization of the nation arising from Mr. Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kyei Mensah Bonsus E-Levy cake for his 65th birthday celebration and the resulting public reactions and comments thereto leading to the deployment of the discretionary investigatory and prosecutorial powers of the executive branch of the Government of which he is a Minister of State against vocal adversaries of the governments E-Levy policy. MEDIA HYPE OF MR. KYEI MENSAH-BONSUS OPULENT 65TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WITH AN EDIBLE DECORATED GREEN E-LEVY CAKE The media hype of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs opulent 65th birthday celebration is captured on several of the electronic media and is available online, but it will suffice for purposes of this discourse to use a publication by Citi Newsroom which cannot be accused of being biased against the government to underscore the reactions and comments of the public to the Governments E-Levy policy. #CitiNewsroom has a 0:50 minutes video publication on https#m.youtube.com watch with the title: Watch: Kyei Mensah Bonsus E-Levy cake for his 65th birthday accompanied by the following narration 9 Feb 2022 The Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has celebrated his 65th birthday. Joy News also carried a 0:31 minutes similar video on YouTube on the same day showing the same celebration. One needs to watch the video of the celebration of the Ministers 65th birthday with the decorated green edible E-Levy cake to understand how it could generate sentimental dissent amongst bi-partisan opponents of the Governments E- Levy policy and pending Bill in Parliament. The public reactions and comments were swift and electric both by individuals and the media. Citi Newsroom captured the public perception of the Kyei Mensah Bonsus E-Levy cake for his 65th birthday on its online reportage of the event as follows: . It is also not clear what the motive is considering that many Ghanaians are against the proposed Electronic Transaction Levy, and may find this decision insensitive. Among the guests at the party were Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia; Samira Bawumia; Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Chairman Wontumi, known in real life as Bernard Antwi Boasiako; and Senyo Hosi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors. Many Ghanaians have started reacting to the photos since they started circulating online on Tuesday. Already, they are criticizing the controversial 1.75% E-levy which most people are kicking against. Most of the social media comments have condemned the use of the image by the experienced politician, as they consider it a mockery of their opposition to the levy. Mr. Sammy Gyamfi of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in reaction to the plush birthday party made the following post to his Facebook Sammy Gyamfi Checkout E-Levy cake at the plush birthday party of the Majority Leader, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu. Guess what? Our Jocular Vice President and Head of the Economic Management Team at large, who has been mute on the obnoxious E-Levy policy, was the special guest of honour. The continuous display of opulence and ostentation by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government at this time of excruciating hardships is nauseating and insulting to the sensibilities of suffering Ghanaians. The Pulse.com.ghs Kojo Emmanuel reported that: The Economic Fighters League on its part described the majority leaders conduct as a symbolic indication that proceeds from the E-levy will be chopped by government officials. Taking to its Facebook page, the group described the act as a perfect illustration of growing old without sense. Leader of the group, Ernesto Yeboah added that An MP entering retirement age has just told us that he is going to take a cut of the national cake made from our own modest earnings. If we as a nation allow this E-Levy bill and its accompanying insult to pass then we are sick.. Reacting and commenting on the 65th birthday celebration by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs of the Government, on Wednesday 9 February 2022, Osagyefo Oliver Barker- Vormawor who was in the United Kingdom but was apparently following the news in Ghana published on YouTube media concerning the opulent, flamboyant, and arrogant Kyei Mensah-Bonsus E-Levy cake for his 65 birthday celebration amidst the national economic hardship and suffering of poor citizens posted the following statement on his Facebook wall: If this E-Levy passes after this Cake bullshit, I will do the coup Myself. Useless Army! In another and second post he stated that: Okay, lets try again. If this E-Levy still passes after this cake bullshit, then may God. Help us to resist oppressors rule, With all our will and might for evermore. (2x) Useless Army. Anaa, the value is the same? As a result of Mr. Barker-Vormawors Facebook posts some social media users who put varying interpretations on his two contradictory and ambiguous posts, called on the security agencies to arrest him over his comments (See Ghana Web of 11 February 2022 with source as dailymailgh.com). ARREST, RESTRICTION OR DETENTION OF MR. BARKER-VORMAWOR ON ARRIVAL FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM AT THE AIRPORT AND A CYNICAL CHARGE OF TREASON FELONY Mr. Barker-Vormawor was picked up by the police on the evening of 11 February 2022 at the Kotoka International Airport upon his arrival from the United Kingdom. He was cautioned for the misdemeanour offence of offensive conduct conducive to the breaches of the peace contrary to section 207 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) as the basis of his arrest as required under Article 14 of the 1992 Constitution. The police kept him in custody from 11 February 2022 until on 14 February 2022 when he was brought before a District Court at Ashaiman in flagrant breach of the Constitutional injunction for any citizen who is arrested, restricted, or detained to be brought before a court within forty-eight hours or be set at liberty. While Mr. Barker-Vormawor was in police custody, the police took a written caution statement from him for the misdemeanour offence for which he was arrested at the airport and detained at the police station. The suspect had a right to a lawyer before interrogation and the taking of any written statement by the police from him and it is axiomatic from the subsequent facts that he exercised his right to a lawyer when he gave a written statement to the police. However, on 14 February 2022, when Mr. Barker-Vormawor was surprisingly brought before a District Court for the misdemeanour and summary offence of offensive conduct conducive to breaches of the peace, the reasons for his arrest and detention changed in the court room. His lawyers and him learnt for the first time in the court that he had been brought before the Court on a charge of treason felony under section 182(b) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) for which the court had no bailable powers. The nature of the unconstitutional, unethical ambush, and abuse of the investigatory and prosecutorial discretion of the executive branch of government in informing the suspect and his lawyers for the first time in the court room of the treason felony charge shocked Mr. Akoto Ampaw, the lawyer leading the suspects defence team, to the extent that he is quoted by the Daily Graphic Online of 14 February 2022 to have said that: Until this morning [Monday], it was a misdemeanour, only to appear in court and be told he is being charged with treason felony which has no factual basis. The Daily Graphic Online reported its interaction with Mr. Akoto Ampaw as follows: Counsel for Oliver Mawuse Barker-Vormawor who has been charged with treason felony has described the charge by the police as cynical. Mr Akoto Ampaw who is leading the team defending Barker-Vormawor told Graphic Onlines Della Russel Ocloo that the charge is cynical and amount to bad faith on the part of the prosecution. Mr Akoto Ampaw wondered why the prosecution, which initially charged Barker- Vormawor for offensive conduct conducive to the breach of the peace, which is a misdemeanour and went ahead to take a statement from him would show up in court with the charge of treason felony. He also questioned the basis for the adjournment of the case to February 28, 2022, when the court does not have jurisdiction over the charge for which the accused was brought before it. THE INFRINGEMENT OF THE RIGHTS AND FREEDOM OF MR. BARKER- VORMAWOR AND ABUSE OF THE SYSTEM OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION UNDER THE 1992 CONSTITUTION Mr. Ampaws quoted words and the paraphrased description of his interaction with the media which is contemporaneous with the arraignment and remand of the suspect shows a clear and calculated intention on the part of the executive branch of government to infringe the fundamental human rights and freedoms of Mr. Barker-Vormawor to personal liberty and respect for his human dignity (under articles 14(2) and (3) and 15(1) and (2) of the 1992 Constitution respectively) from the time of his arrest to the time of his arraignment on a provisional indictable treason felony charge before a District Court which could not exercise bailable powers in felony cases. The Government had knowingly and intentionally turned the administration of justice into an inquisitorial and prosecutorial system to intimidate and suppress the lawful political activity, personal liberty and right to equality before the law and non-discrimination of a citizen, Mr. Barker-Vormawor under articles 3, 14, 17, and 291 of the 1992 Constitution. There is no constitutional rational justification for the conduct of the Government in the manner it executed the persecution of the suspect as the executive branch has consistently sought to justify to the public. The answer by the Government to the public outcry and objection to the unlawful detention of Mr. Barker-Vormawor for more than forty-eight hours was the lame justification that the Republic was unable to reach the Chief Justice to assign a judge or court during the weekend. The excuse is lame and frivolous because if Mr. Barker-Vormawor was in lawful custody for the offence of offensive conduct conducive to breaches of the peace with which he was charged upon his arrest and a statement taken from him in custody exercising his right to a lawyer of his choice, then the police did not need the Chief Justice or a court to exercise the discretion to grant him police enquiry bail to appear before them or a named court on a named date and time. On the other hand, if the Government and the police had received further information and facts with which they had reasonable changed grounds for the continued arrest, restriction or detention of Mr. Barker-Vormawor, without informing him of the changed reasons and his right to a lawyer of his choice, the contention that he was not brought before a court within forty-eight hours of his original arrest or detention because of lack of a court during the weekend is vacuous. I have painstakingly read Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vormawors two posts on his Facebook on 9 February 2022 while he was in the United Kingdom within the context of other posts and reaction to the ostentatious, opulent, and profane Kyei Mensah-Bonsus E-Levy cake for his 65th birthday celebration. It is my considered view that the two contradictory and ambiguous Facebook comments taken separately or together do not measure up to the basic ingredients of the provisional charge of the indictable offence of treason felony for which he was cynically and surprisingly brought before an inferior court without powers of bail on 14 February 2022, and for which he is still in police custody on remand. The perception that the unconstitutional and unlawful arrest and detention of Barker-Vormawor was politically motivated and intended to suppress his lawful political activity has further polarized this country along ideological and partisan lines which is inimical to the unity and stability the Constitution enjoins each citizen to strive to preserve in our democracy. I had served the Republic of Ghana as the only Deputy Attorney-General in the Ministry of Justice continuously for upwards of twelve and half years with unfettered power for all subject matters of the Attorney-Generals Office and especially dealing with the system criminal justice administration. I have also served as the Minister for the Interior of the Republic of Ghana before serving as the Attorney-General of the Republic of Ghana. I have had the privilege of working with eminent and distinguished Directors of Public Prosecutions such as Mrs. Joyce Bamford Addo until she was appointed to the Supreme Court, the late Mr. A. A. Forster, until he was appointed to the Court of Appeal, the late Mr S. G. Baddoo, until he was also appointed to the Court of Appeal (and later to the Supreme Court), and the venerable Mr J. C Amoono-Monney until his appointment to the Court of Appeal, and I will bet my last farthing that none of these distinguished and seasoned Directors of Public Prosecutions would have agreed to the police bringing Mr Barker-Vormawor to any court on an indictable charge of treason felony upon the ambiguous statements he posted on his Facebook. And if indeed, the police did any such thing on our blind-side we would have immediately called for the police docket, reversed their action, and ensured respect for the rights and freedoms of the suspect based on the reasons for his initial arrest. This is how it happened that on three different and separate occasions we declined to charge citizens some of whom are now eminent journalists and outspoken social commentators and activists with the offence of sedition. The foregoing exposition demonstrates that the manner the system of criminal justice administration has been deployed punitively by the executive branch of government against the suspect gives ample grounds for the conclusion that the government untowardly abused its executive powers of the Republic to suppress or seek to suppress the lawful political activity of known political adversaries in a McCarthy-like hysteria of hunting for supposed coup mongers who are merely exercising their constitutional right to free speech and in defending the constitution by forewarning the government so that it may be forearmed against those who may wish to abrogate the Constitution in violation of article 3 thereof. ARREST AND DETENTION OF MR KWAME BAFFOE, THE BONO REGIONAL CHAIRMAN OF THE N. P. P AND THE EQUAL APPLICATION OF THE LAW IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION Mr. Barker-Vormawor has suffered unconstitutional arrest, restriction or detention and an inferior court misled into remanding him into police custody for 14 days in the first instance and another 14 days on his second appearance on a spurious provisional treason felony charge which came to his notice for the first time on 14 February 2022 in the court room. His relatives, friends and he were put to the expense of seeking his release at the High Court, Tema, on a Habeas Corpus application without success. They went to the Supreme Court upon an application for certiorari which turned out to be faulty only to be assured by the office of the principal legal advisor to the Government under the Constitution that should he make a proper application for bail to a bailable court the Republic will not object it. What a cynical assurance this was! The Government knew before or from the moment of Mr. Barker-Vormawors arrest and detention that the government was going to keep him in undignified and unconstitutional custody to compel him to go to the needless expense of applying for bail before the suppose generosity of the Attorney-Generals Office and the Government will be showered upon him for political point-scoring in the eyes of the public. His unconstitutional arrest and detention were orchestrated so that the Government will tell him, as the Office of the Attorney-General is now telling him in words to the effect that: You think you are somebody. We now have you. Go and apply for bail and we will show you mercy. This is not a constitutional and democratic attitude enjoined by the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution, and it is patently inconsistent with article 3 (2) thereof. But what makes the Governments attitude more cynical, to borrow Mr. Akoto Ampaws words, is the fact that the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC granted an interview to 93.9 Hot FM on 14 February 2022 when Mr. Barker-Vormawor was in detention alleging that His Excellency former President John Mahama had met with Al-Qaeda militants to assist him to topple the Government of the New Patriotic Party by force of arms. The Bono Regional Chairman of the NPP claimed that John Mahama approached the group in a bid to help him become president again according to the rendition by Citi Newsroom. I have listened several times to the video publication of the interview which is online on different media platforms in which Mr. Kwame Baffoe, the Bono Regional Chairman of the NPP, says clearly and without equivocations that former President John Mahama was working with Al Qaeda (an internationally proscribed terrorist organization) to assist him to overthrow the Government of the NPP by force of arms and links Mr. Barker-Vormawors Facebook posts and his subsequent arrest and detention for treason felony to his being one of the co-conspirators of John Mahamas unlawful machinations to overthrow the NPP Government by force of arms. The serious allegations of high treason and/or treason made by Mr. Kwame Baffoe against former President Mahama and the public reaction to it in the media compelled the Government through its policing powers to attempt an exercise in damage control. When Mr. Kwame Baffoe was challenged several times by his interviewer as to the veracity of his assertions, he insisted that they were true and sought to justify the allegations on the interview which is now trending online. By failing or refusing to report former John Mahamas recruitment of Al Qaeda and Mr. Barker-Vormawor to over-throw the government of Ghana by force of arms Mr. Kwame Baffoe was committing the suspected offence of misprision treason under section 181 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) which states that: 181. Misprision of treason A person who knows the commission of high treason, or treason within the meaning of clause (17) of Article 19 of the Constitution, and does not forthwith reveal it to the President, or to a police officer not below the rank of Inspector, commits a misprision of treason and is punishable as a first-degree felony. Consequently, on February 15, 2022, the Ghana Police issued a public statement inviting Mr Kwame Baffoe to report to the police to assist in investigations into his allegations. He was arrested and detained overnight on the lesser charges of publication of false news, and offensive conduct conducive to breaches of the peace. The detention overnight by the police of the Bono Regional Chairman of the governing party was so offensive to operatives of the governing party who openly expressed their disquiet leading to bail being facilitated for the suspect when he was brought before a court to be with his family while poor Barker- Vormawor, the cockroach, who made the mistake of making himself available in the den of the fowls administering the system of criminal justice administration received the justice cockroaches deserve before the executive branch of government run by fowls. Mr. Kwame Baffoe upon gaining his liberty took to the media to vent his spleen against the Inspector-General of Police and the Ghana Police Service for daring to humiliate him by his arrest and detention overnight. The Inspector General of Police and the Ghana Police Service have not dared to bring further charges against him for obstructing the police in the execution of its law enforcement duties or for any other offence simply because he is a powerful regional chairman of the political party of the government in power. The arrest and detention of Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the Convenor of #FixTheCountry and Mr Kwame Baffoe, the powerful Bono Regional Chairman of the governing political party, demonstrates the partiality with which the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed to citizens might through the exercise of the investigatory and prosecutorial discretion in the system of criminal justice administration at the level of the executive branch of government has been wittingly or unwittingly abused in the matter of the Kyei Mensah- Bonsus E-Levy cake for his 65th birthday contrary to Article 3(2) of the 1992 Constitution. PROF. RAYMOND ATUGUBAS PUBLIC LECTURE AND THE RESULTANT HYSTERIA ABOUT COUP MONGERING AND CALLING FOR HIS ARREST On 28 February 2022, Prof. Raymond Atuguba, the Dean of the University of Ghana School of Law delivered a public lecture at the Erata Hotel under the auspices of Solidaire Ghana on the topic: A Reviewed 1992 Constitution And Its Impact On The Economy of Ghana: Looking Forward. To prove the hypothesis of his public lecture he made references to the state of the national economy and how to prevent a coup in Ghana. One Saka Salia, reported in the media to be a Communication Team Member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), called for the immediate arrest and investigation of Prof. Atuguba for advocating for a coup by his public lecture. Mr Saka Salia charged the government to treat Prof. Atuguba the same way as the FixTheCountry convener, Mawuse Oliver Barker-Vormawor, who was arrested for similar comments. Mr Saka Salia is quoted to have stated, inter alia, that: The NDC are coup mongers and I will employ that Prof. Raymond Atuguba is arrested and investigated. If he is not, it will be considered discrimination. The Ghanaian community will start thinking some people are above the law which is wrong. The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, devoted time to speak to journalists to criticise Prof. Atugubas public lecture. He is reported to have said, inter alia, that: 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. Mr K. T. Hammond, an NPP Member of Parliament, joined the government hawks in calling for Prof. Atugubas arrest by the police for the exercise of his constitutional right to freedom of speech and of thought. Mr Hammond is reported online to have said in an interview to the media, inter alia, that: I will be surprised if they (police) have not already invited him, clear foolishness. I believe that the theory that has been brought up will be best explained to an assembly of national security apparatus. They will understand it better than where he took the opportunity to say these things. Coup does not resolve difficulties in any country, we should be careful. The electronic media also reported the interpretations and reactions of some leading members of the NDC to Prof. Atugubas lecture. Dr Obed Asamaoh, a respected former Attorney General, without whose experience and practical abilities in a political organisation the NDC would never have become a vibrant party capable of winning elections is reported to have allegedly described Prof. Atugubas statements on the ripeness of an environment for coups as childish and coming from someone who is not aware of the consequences of military takeovers. The Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Alban S.K. Bagbin was also reported by the media to have disagreed with the perspectives expressed by Prof. Atuguba in the public lecture without calling for his arrest. But Dr. Obed Asamoah an eminent and experienced former Attorney-General, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs underscored the principles and conventions underlying the proper use of the investigatory and prosecutorial discretion of the executive branch of government when he politely concluded that: There is a difference between speech and action. [If I were the Attorney General] I will take action only when there is evidence of preparation to carry out a coup. If somebody is only talking, I will just take it to be over-excitement. I wont go arresting people for that, In accordance with my usual work habit, I have critically read several times over the 21 pages published public lecture Prof. Atuguba delivered in which he analyzed the political and economic circumstances of Ghana and what must be done to avoid a coup in Ghana. I do not agree with some of the facts, analysis and conclusions Prof. Atuguba arrived at in his public lecture. But from my considered critique and analysis of his lecture, I cannot find any ingredient of criminal incitement on the part of Prof. Atuguba of anybody to commit high treason, treason or treason felony or any criminal intention and act on his part to overthrow the elected Government of Ghana by force of arms or any unlawful means to warrant his arrest and detention. Constitutionalism and democracy were undermined when the hawks in the governing party called for Prof. Atugubas arrest without first carefully and critically reading his full public lecture but merely relying on or listening to comments by social commentators who themselves might not have read or heard the full lecture delivered by the learned Professor. My conclusions are based on what Prof. Atuguba said within the context of his whole public lecture and not on hearsay, sentiments, and emotions. At page 7 of the public lecture of Prof. Atuguba, he states that: We do not want a coup in this country. Yet I fear that if we do not act quickly, we may have one in our hands very soon. I urge my good friend the Minister for National Security, Hon. Kan Dapaah, to have a conversation with my friend at the War College. A big part of why certain coups succeed and others fail is the Economy. What is the state of our economy today? Prof. Atuguba also stated at page 10, inter alia, that: Marching on the Office of the President, a National Security Zone, is not a crime. Saying that you will do the coup, using the definite article, a reference to the coup that the market women in Kumasi already say they will do, is a heinous crime. Then at page 15 he states further that: . There is only one thing to do now, prevent a Coup in Ghana, since the climate and the environment, national and immediate international, are conducive for one. On his concluding page on page 21 he makes, inter alia, the following statements: Canada of all places is clamping down on citizen demonstrations, and the United States experienced their first attempted coup detat in centuries in January last year. As for Africa, literally, every government is being toppled or sitting on tenterhooks. The world cannot continue like this and Ghana, always the pacesetter, must show the way. The foregoing sample of extracts from Prof. Atugubas public lecture taken within the context of the lecture does not disclose any intention on his part to commit any criminal offence let alone any act in fulfilment of his criminal intention. I would not have referred to any relationship with Oliver Barker-Vormawor and the undignified conditions under which he is detained in such a lecture if I had researched, written and delivered the public lecture. I would also have avoided the frontal comparison made between John Mahamas government and the present government because of its potential to be misinterpreted as doing politics in such an important public lecture. But God did not create Prof. Atuguba to reason with my brains and socialization which explains why everyone is a unique social being resulting in Shakespeare saying that there are as many opinions as there are men. I am entitled to criticize Prof. Atuguba as I have just done, just as Mr Bagbin and Dr Asamoah are reported to have done but none of us is entitled to gag Prof. Atuguba in the exercise of his fundamental right and freedom of speech and expression, and freedom of thought, conscience, and belief, which includes his academic freedom guaranteed to him under the 1992 Constitution as both a citizen of Ghana and a professor of laws. CONCLUSIONS This examination and analysis of the adversarial conflict over the Governments E-Levy policy eventually deepening with the uncomplimentary public reaction to what some citizens perceived to be an opulent, arrogant, and insulting 65th birthday celebration by the Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu in February 2022 amid their sufferings and the government intention to further tax their scarce incomes has shown how discretionary investigatory and prosecutorial power vested in the executive branch of government can be abused in a manner in consistent with the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution for purely unconstitutional partisan ends. In George Orwells dystopia novel Nineteen Eight-Four, (1984) the Thought Police (Thinkpol) is the secret police of Oceania, which discovers and punishes thoughtcrime, personal and political thought unapproved by Ingsocs regime. Thinkpol uses criminal psychology and omnipresent surveillance via informants, telescreens, cameras, microphones to monitor and arrest all those who have committed thoughtcrime in challenge to the status quo authority of the party and the regime of Big Brother. The Government is using the Ghana Police now as its Thought Police in the E-Levy national disagreements to have its way despite the proscription of such unconstitutional methods under the 1992 Constitution as the foregoing article has demonstrated. The unconstitutionality being inflicted upon citizens and political adversaries for alleged thought crimes for deciding not to be mere spectators but active citizens exercising their constitutional rights and freedoms can become pervasive and undermine the Constitution. Therefore, real patriots must come together on a non-partisan basis and advocate against turning our democracy into a Big Brother regime and defend the 1992 Constitution by putting Ghana First! Postscript I just read on www.myjoyonline.com that the Government is now objecting to the grant of bail to Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the #FixTheCountry lead convener who is not well because he will not be likely to appear to stand his trial as he has no fixed place of abode for a search warrant to be executed by the police by visiting and searching his residence and his refusal to obey a court order to grant the police access to his mobile phone. The application for bail has been adjourned to 14 March 2022 for a hearing. Joy News reports that the provisional charge of treason felony for which he was unconstitutionally detained before being brought before a court is over allegations that he has instigated members of his group to overthrow the government. Is the Government now fishing for the evidence to support the initial unconstitutional treason felony charge? Whatever it may be, this looks cynical at face value, but let us hold our horses and abide how this case pans out and whether #Fixthe Country and its convener will eventually be cancelled out as political adversaries of our Big Brother. Readers who can find some time should re-visit my article on SIM card re-registration and integrate that material and conclusions with the use by Orwellian Thought Police (Thinkpol) of criminal psychology and omnipresent surveillance via informants, telescreens, cameras, microphones to monitor and arrest all those who have committed thoughtcrime in challenge to the status quo authority of the party and the regime of Big Brother. The use of the Pegasus spyware I wrote about in that article makes ones smartphone, iPad or computer and the SIM card used with them, surveillance devices modern Thinkpols employ for omnipresent surveillance as in the dystopian Big Brother Oceania. Can the constitutional right against self-incrimination protect anybody any longer? Think about it and re-register your SIM card. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Baby Kaleo Joseph Gary Rabbitskin is shown in this undated handout photo. Rabbitskin's birth was the first time in 50 years a baby was born in Sturgeon Lake First Nation with traditional Cree birthing practices. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Norma Rabbitskin **MANDATORY CREDIT** Dr. Vahid Nilforushan, shown in a handout photo, is an anesthesiologist who practised in Iran for 13 years before immigrating to Vancouver in 2010. B.C.'s remedy for bringing more foreign-trained doctors into the medical profession has been delayed, sidelining potential candidates and prolonging pressure on the province's health system, advocates say. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Sepideh Nilforushan **MANDATORY CREDIT** The structure holding up the glass roof is reflected in a clock on the wall of the interim House of Commons Chamber West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 15, 2018. Most Canadians will move their clocks ahead an hour before they go to bed Saturday night for daylight time. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang Joanna Dales plays with her children five-year-old Finleigh and 17-months-old Fiona at their home in London, Ontario on Friday, March 11, 2022. Dales started to worry about her young children as soon she heard of Ontario's plan to lift mask mandates in most settings, including schools and daycares, later this month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins Thank you for reading the Philadelphia Tribune. You have exhausted your free article views for this month. Please press the "subscribe" button below and see our introductory price of $0.10 per week for 10 weeks. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you next month. Joe Stapes Stapleton on Losing GPA Trophy, Return of EPT Prague & More March 12, 2022 Chad Holloway Executive Editor U.S. The European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague is taking place right now, and someone who traveled across the pond to be there was Joe Stapes Stapleton, who commentates EPT broadcasts alongside James Hartigan. The famed duo is actually fresh off winning a Global Poker Award for their podcast, Poker in the Ears, and are excited to be reunited in person in the booth. It was actually at the aforementioned awards that Stapes was nominated for Broadcaster of the Year, though he ultimately lost out to Jeff Platt. It is nice to be recognized, Stapleton recently told PokerNews. I'm glad that where if I could only have won in one of the categories, I'm glad that it was for podcasts. Because that is not my win. That is a win for everyone who works in that show, for the people at PokerStars that, you know, at least have the continue letting us do it year in and year out. He continued: I was really glad to be able to win that, to be able to text James and my boss Francine and say we won. They both thought I was trolling, by the way, and then all they could focus on is that I lost the trophy. Losing His Global Poker Award Trophy Stapes and the trophy in happier times. Indeed, the night of the show Stapleton misplaced the trophy. I didn't lose the trophy. I just want to be clear about that, he claimed. You got people who grab and poke you. Do this, be in this photo. I didn't leave it alone for any longer than two hours. I come back and the trophy is gone. To be honest, I was completely unconcerned. It's not like if you lose the trophy you lose the award. Like the award still belongs to Poker in the Ears, no matter what happens. And I just went, you know what, my guess is like nobody stole it, right? Nobody stole the fucking trophy. He continued: My guess is somebody else picked up our trophy either knowing that I was irresponsible with it and they put it aside for us, or someone accidentally picked it up. And as it turns out, when all the dust settled, there was one trophy left behind. It was not the podcast trophy. It was the Tournament Director of the Year trophy, so logic dictated that Paul Campbell, winner of that award, picked our trophy. Indeed, that proved to be the case and the situation was soon rectified. Follow EPT Prague Live Updates here! Returning to EPT Prague Originally scheduled to take place in December 2021, the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague was pushed to March. The festival is taking place right now and is being reported by PokerNews, which you can follow here. For Stapleton, the delay is actually a welcomed development. I absolutely love Prague. You know, people are always like, what's your favorite empty stop? I can never really choose, but Prague is a very easy one to come to mind, he said. Now, we're not doing it during Christmas time this year, which I think adds probably a little bit of extra charm to the city of Prague. But I've never been there, not in winter. "You feel like you're in another place. Another time, even sometimes." He continued: So, I'm actually kind of looking forward to that. I don't know what the weather will be like in March. Maybe it will just be winter without Christmas. But Prague is a cool city for many reasons. It's very old, right? You really feel like you're in another country. You feel like you're in another place. Another time, even sometimes. And what I really like about Prague is that once you get outside, the Hilton's cheap, you know? Prague has been a staple on the EPT dating back to 2007, and Stapes has been to many stops over the year, where hes of course formed many memories. I remember I went out with this incredibly tall Czech girl who took me to like a club at midnight and I broadcast the next day. I was like, I really can't stay here any later, you know? You're like trying to figure out, like, if you're going to do anything after that. And she's like, let's just take over one more song. The song ended up being like 45 minutes long because it was some techno bullshit. I did end up going back to my room by myself after that. As for actual poker in Prague, Stapleton cited two memories that really stood out. The first was Mikalai Pobal winning in 2019 to become just the second player in history to win two EPT titles, and the other was Hossein Ensan winning in 2015 and essentially introducing himself to the poker world before going on to win the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2019. Thats probably the most memorable EPT for me as we were able to make him into such a character. And then of course, for him to then go on and win the Main Event, you're like, Oh, fantastic, this is great. Now, like, I'm already I don't have to, like, cozy up to this guy now that he's won the Main Event, I'm already in, so I'm kind of a winner too, in that respect. James Hartigan & Joe Stapleton The EPT Prague will also mark the return of Stapes joining his longtime co-commentator James Hartigan in the booth, and believe it or not, thats what hes most excited about. I'm really excited about is doing live streams again with live poker players and with my live human counterpart, James Hartigan, being in the same room with me. The Stars team did a really fantastic job with the technology required to broadcast online poker over the last couple of years, but, you know, theres still a little bit of a delay. All the little technology glitches, like kind of their little but they add up. And so, to be able to sit next to James and have that sort of chemistry again, to be in the same room with him is something I'm looking forward to. Poker fans can get more of Stapleton and EPT Prague coverage on the PokerStars Twitch Channel. For more on Stapes, listen to his full interview on the PokerNews Podcast here: *Images courtesy of the GPI Global Poker Awards. Sharelines Check out what @Stapes had to say about the #EPTPrague and losing his Global Poker Award trophy. Moncks Corner, SC (29461) Today Cloudy early with scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 87F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 65F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Peninsular Charleston's first new senior-care facility in several years is ready to take in residents along a well-traveled stretch of road near the city's hospital district. The five-story Kempton officially opened March 11 and is the first of two sites slated for the peninsula by Liberty Senior Living. The other will be The Peninsula, a continuing-care facility that will offer a full slate of services for seniors, with nearly 150 rooms for independent living, assisted living and memory care and about 60 or so others for health care, according to Patrick Allen with the Wilmington, N.C.-based company. It will be built on upper King Street on property owned by the former parent company of The Post and Courier. The project is making its way through the city review process, and construction could begin at the earliest in late 2023 or early 2024. The freshly minted Kempton sits on a bend where the Septima P. Clark Expressway meets Spring Street. The 85,000-square-foot property includes units for assisted living, memory care and rehabilitation. It offers 46 assisted-living apartments, from studio to two-bedroom units, on the second and third floors. They come with European-entry showers and kitchenettes. Twenty-one units on the fourth floor are dedicated to memory care. Patients have access to their own dining room and a secure rooftop terrace with greenery-covered walls and live flowers. "It affords them the ability to get outside, relax and enjoy the fresh air," said Lindsay French, executive director. Physical rehabilitation can be found on the top floor through 19 private rooms and two companion units that allow for double occupancy. They are available for short-term residents seeking rehabilitation after a hospital stay. The top floor offers its own dining room. Sign up for our real estate newsletter! Get the best of the Post and Courier's Real Estate news, handpicked and delivered to your inbox each Saturday. Email Sign Up! The first floor features a living room, kitchen, dining room, salon, park and physical therapy gym. In addition to assisted-living units, the second floor offers two rooftop terraces, a bistro, laundry facilities and a theater. "Our community ... truly lives like a luxury hotel, but it's designed especially for seniors," French said. French said the facility is just beginning to welcome residents, so it's not fully occupied. "We are excited to have a presence in downtown Charleston," said Will Purvis, president of Liberty Senior Living. "We look forward to not only introducing a unique and beautiful community for residents to call home but also in forming strong bonds and relationships with those that live and work within downtown Charleston." The one-acre parcel where the facility sits, which sold in 2018 for $5.6 million, is adjacent to the Medical University of South Carolina campus and other health care providers. When Liberty announced the project two years ago, the senior living company said it would provide an opportunity to enhance its affiliation with MUSC Health's aging department. The health care system, which works with Liberty's 261-residence South Bay at Mount Pleasant continuing care site, is slated to offer the new facility cardiac rehabilitation specialties as well as physician services. One of the last senior care providers downtown was the former Franke Home, which moved from Calhoun Street to Seaside Farms in Mount Pleasant in 1996. The peninsula also has one other senior-care facility called The Canterbury House, which offers independent living. Liberty Senior Living operates 17 locations across the Southeast. A six-year-old North Charleston multifamily complex recently sold at a 43 percent markup after changing hands three years ago for nearly $43 million. An affiliate of Southwood Realty of Gastonia, N.C., paid $60.75 million, or about $241,000 per door key, for the 252-unit Palmetto Exchange Apartments at 3340 Shipley St., off U.S. Highway 78 in North Charleston. The previous owner was an affiliate of Argosy Real Estate Partners of Wayne, Pa., which paid $42.6 million for the site in 2019. Rents range from $1,284 to $1,971 for the one- to three-bedroom units. Southwood Realty also has several other apartment communities in the Charleston area. They include The Forest at Fenwick and Palisades on Johns Island, Sabal Palms in West Ashley and 4830 Wescott in North Charleston. Office space A new two-story office building planned for West Ashley is winding its way through the City of Charleston's review process. The 15,500-square-foot structure is slated to be built at 1176 Sam Rittenberg Blvd., near Old Towne Road. Sign up for our real estate newsletter! Get the best of the Post and Courier's Real Estate news, handpicked and delivered to your inbox each Saturday. Email Sign Up! The property is adjacent to a former Bi-Lo supermarket that's being converted to a new location for gun and fishing gear merchant Palmetto State Armory. New homes Carolina One New Homes' Custom Homes Group is partnering with with a custom home builder in a developing marshside community in Mount Pleasant. The real estate firm is working with Raleigh-based Homes by Dickerson to build new homes in the 42-acre Heirloom Landing site that once served as a tomato farm off Rifle Range Road. Heirloom Landing is the third community in the Charleston market for Homes by Dickerson. The company also is in construction mode in the 5,000-acre Nexton mega-development near Summerville in Berkeley County and in Riverside in Carolina Park in northern Mount Pleasant. Working for ride-sharing companies used to be a pretty sweet side hustle for Matthew Grise. Grise, who works full time as a retail-sales manager in a Myrtle Beach department store, could make as much as $150 a night working as a freelance driver for companies like Uber and Lyft. But with gasoline prices skyrocketing to all-time highs in recent weeks, Grise has seen a larger and larger share of his profits being guzzled away at the pumps. Average gas prices in South Carolina have jumped more than 40 cents per gallon in the past week alone to $4.08 a gallon as of March 11 and was above the $4 mark in every county, according to AAA. Prices are up about 82 cents over the past month and $1.50 from a year ago. You have to be smart, almost strategic when you are a driver in this kind of market, said Grise, who has driven for Uber and Lyft since July. Even when gas prices were lower last summer, I wasnt thrilled about going out and picking up a rider that was 15 to 20 minutes away, especially if they only needed a short ride. "There are times now when I wont do it because it doesnt make any sense financially," he said. "Ill probably lose money on the trip. Nine months ago, Grise said he could make between $100 and $150 a night during a normal six-hour weekend shift driving for Uber and Lyft. Normally, about $20 of that would go toward gas. Now, that figure has jumped to $40 or even $50 per night on gas. That doesnt even include the cost for maintenance on the car, which is getting more and more expensive, Grise said. Myrtle Beach and Charleston, where I drive, is seasonal work. The tourist season is starting to pick up, but that wont make up for the price of gas." Prices at the pump were already on the rise long before Russia invaded Ukraine. But prices have only spiraled faster since the invasion. The national average has risen 85 cents over the last month to $4.33 as of Friday. These are unprecedented times, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which operates apps and websites that track real-time fuel prices. We've never been in this situation before, with this level of uncertainty. There are few words to describe what we are seeing with gasoline prices over the last week. "Forget the $4 per-gallon mark, the nation will soon set new all-time record highs and we could push closer to a national average of $4.50 a gallon, he said. Driven higher The pain is being felt by businesses and workers across the transportation industry, such as drivers who work for food-delivery services like DoorDash and Grubhub. Gregg Pallis, who has been a driver for DoorDash since early 2020, said the price of gas has gotten to the point where he is considering giving up the gig. Last summer, I could clear $200 on a good night, said Pallis, 44, who also works as a sales representative for a software company and drives for Uber and Lyft. Now, after I pay for gas, Im lucky to make $125 for the same amount of deliveries. If you are working seven, eight hours, thats barely minimum wage and then its not worth it. Rides during last weekends Charleston Wine + Food Festival and last months Southeastern Wildlife Exposition were rare exceptions for ride-sharing drivers like him to cash in on demand. Rates during the two big tourism events were double or triple their normal levels, Pallis said. Those are huge weekends, I probably cleared around $350 a day, he said. It definitely made it worthwhile to go out there and hustle, but those are the exceptions rather than the rule. As of last week, Lyft and DoorDash hadn't increased prices or added fuel surcharges or given drivers a larger share of the revenue. The companies have said publicly that they have programs for their drivers to earn cash back an average of 2 percent depending on the company. Uber announced Friday is will add location-based fuel surcharges ranging from 35 cents to 55 cents on rides and Uber Eats food deliveries starting March 16, with all of the money going to workers. The fee will be reassessed after 60 days, the company said. Uber, which offers a bonus program for reaching certain goals, also has a loyalty program that allows drivers and couriers to save money on gas through its GetUpside cashback program. Maybe in some of the bigger cities like New York or Los Angeles, drivers can earn that bonus, which is like $35 for 30 rides, Pallis said. Unless its high tourist season, youre probably not getting close to that around here. Truckers and travelers The commercial side of the transportation trade also is feeling stretched thin. The trucking industry a major cog in South Carolina's port-driven economy has been hit hard by the one-two punch of rising fuel prices and a driver shortage. The cost of a gallon of diesel has jumped more than 75 cents in the last week, going as high as $5 in some areas of South Carolina. Some drivers are paying more than $100 more a day in fuel since the spike in prices. This is not a real fun time to be a truck driver, said Rick Todd, CEO of the South Carolina Trucking Association in Columbia. Its been a record spike in fuel costs. Fuel is the second-highest operating cost for a driver. The drivers are trying to be fuel-efficient, so thats a major cost control concern. Eventually, some owner-operators will have to raise their rates to cover their fuel bills, Todd said. Cash flow is critical in this business, Todd said. Truckers have to pay cash for the fuel but might not get paid by their customers for 30 to 60 days. So, if they are not raising their prices, they probably wont be in business for very long. Which is bad news for an industry already suffering from a shortage of drivers. These are unprecedented times, Todd said. And we dont know when this will get better. Escalating gas prices aren't expected to keep people from traveling during the peak spring season, according to Gov. Henry McMaster and Charleston airport and tourism officials. McMaster said the Palmetto State is still a sought-after destination for tourists. People want to come to South Carolina, he said during a stop at Charleston International Airport on March 8, when Breeze Airways announced four new flights. Its just unfortunate it will cost them more to travel. Helen Hill, CEO of tourism agency Explore Charleston and chairwoman of Charleston County Aviation Authority, said rising gasoline prices have more of a psychological effect on consumers because they can see the changes whenever they drive past a convenience store. Still, she believes surging energy prices wont dent peoples urge to go places. I think people want to travel, she said. They will just spend more on fuel. Charleston airport CEO Elliott Summey said he doesnt have a feel yet for the effect from skyrocketing fuel prices on air travel, but he realizes its going to be a factor. Its not going to help, he said. Summey pointed out the airport recently added capacity to its jet fuel depot. We have a ton of fuel on hand at a better price, he said. We will do what we can to help mitigate the higher cost. At least one low-cost startup carrier that has South Carolina on its radar screen is adjusting its pricing structure. Avelo Airlines plans to launch service this spring from its home base in Connecticut with flights to and from Charleston and Myrtle Beach. "Clearly, it doesn't enable us to keep the fares where they are," CEO Andrew Levy said of the fuel-cost surge during an appearance on CNBC last week. "We're going to have to do everything we can to pass those on to the consumer. And we're in the process of doing that." With the Russian invasion of Ukraine unlikely to end soon, the price at the pump will remain high for the foreseeable future, GasBuddy's De Haan said. Russia is the second-largest oil producer in the world, behind the U.S. As we lose a major global producer under the weight of sanctions for invading a sovereign country, the cost is going to be high, De Haan said. Americans will be feeling the pain of the rise in prices for quite some time, with little good news foreseen." The Port of Charleston notched another record cargo haul in February and extended its streak of monthly gains to an even dozen, driven by a flood of inbound containers that continue to stack up on the waterfront. The S.C. State Ports Authority said it handled the equivalent of 230,420 20-foot-long boxes last month at its three terminals, a 26 percent increase from a year earlier. Volume is up 16 percent to 1.87 million containers since July 1, when the SPA's fiscal year started. Leading the way are consumer goods and other shipments from abroad. Imports jumped 46 percent last month compared to February 2021, while exports tumbled 19 percent. "As SC Ports experiences an increasing imbalance, loaded import volumes were more than double loaded export volumes in February," the maritime agency said in a written statement. The disparity has been a recipe for congestion, resulting in "a high number of import containers awaiting delivery on our terminals," SPA chief executive Jim Newsome said. Newsome estimated that about 800 of the "mobile warehouses" have been taking up precious space for more than 15 days, "which in a historical context I would say is unprecedented." He added that the SPA is "focused on creative solutions" to its real estate squeeze, which is forcing ships to wait offshore until their berth spaces open up. As of Friday, about 25 Charleston-bound cargo vessels were anchored away from the coastline. "It's not gotten worse, but it's not gotten much better, either," Newsome said. "It will only get better when we're able to deliver more import containers to customers." The SPA's wharf space is being stretched by global supply chain snarls and a pandemic-induced U.S. consumer buying-binge that has caused a spike in demand for overseas-made goods. Last week, the SPA shifted to a seven-day schedule to help move imports off of its Wando Welch, North Charleston and Leatherman terminals. It started offering gates hours March 6, and all three sites will be open for the next five Sundays. "Honestly, it exceeded my expectations," Newsome said. "We did almost 1,000 truck moves on Sunday and hope to do more this weekend." He also credited drivers, saying they "certainly have stepped up" over the past couple of weeks to clear cargo from the terminals. Newsome said he expects some additional relief by April or May, when some sailings that were diverted to Charleston last fall because of delays in Savannah will redivert to the Georgia port. Meanwhile, a labor dispute between the SPA and the International Longshoremen's Association that has kept most shipping services from using the underutilized Leatherman Terminal is still tied up in the appeals process. The cramped conditions on the South Carolina waterfront weren't enough to keep away Sea-Lead Shipping. The 5-year-old container line announced this month that it will call on the port every two weeks starting in May as part of a new U.S. East Coast cargo run from Asia to meet the sky-high demand for vessel space. "There's a market for some niche operators right now," Newsome said. Sea-Lead managing director Cho Kit Wei said in a written statement that the Singapore-based carrier "is delighted to be able to add Charleston to our list of destinations as it is a very popular choice for our customers." "Although it does face some congestion issues like other ports, we are focused on providing a reliable and timely service, which we aim to do by working closely with our terminal partners on the East Coast and focusing on gaining efficiencies where we can," he said. The St. Patricks Day Parade is back in all its jubilant splendor. And while other local festivities have yet to reemerge from pandemic pauses, there are still fine, fiddle-friendly ways on March 17 to toast those with Irish roots who have planted themselves in the Lowcountry. Here are but a few of them. Charleston's 25th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade At 10 a.m. in downtown Charleston, South Carolina's largest St. Patrick's Day Parade promises a rollicking sea of Kelly green, with many thousands either marching in or watching the parade as it makes its way from King and Radcliffe streets, proceeding south on King Street and turning onto Broad Street to end at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. This year's parade includes Irish step dancers, friends from Ireland, bagpipers, floats, firetrucks, antique cars, all 32 county flags, local schools, parishes and of course the grand marshal. After the parade, folks gather at City Hall to raise the flag of Ireland and sing the national anthem. Taylor Family and Friends, including Bart Saylor, Abby Kent, Jim Carrier and others. Mary Taylor and Na Fidleiri Reimagined lead local Celtic musical talent in a true folk variety show with jigs and reels, plaintive airs and ballads, as well as an Irish singalong for all. Enjoy a Guinness during intermission or after the concert and raise a glass with artists and fellow audience members alike. The concert is March 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting St. For tickets, visit taylormusicgroup.org. A trio of offerings at Tommy Condons Timed perfectly for those streaming from the parade, the live music starts at high noon at Charleston's venerated Irish pub go-to Tommy Condon's, and continues through the night. Look for the Irish stylings of Kevin Church, Swamp Fox and The Bograts. Tommy Condon's is located at 160 Church St. in downtown Charleston. For more information, visit tommycondons.com. Moonlight Ale at Prohibition Seeking the perfect fusion of the Irish and the Southern? The Charleston-based, Celtic-influenced Moonlight Ale fuses contemporary, folk and punk elements with Lowcountry notes, too. Expect Irish anthems, ballads, and trad sets, too. After Moonlight Ale plays in the parade, they'll head over to Prohibition to play from 1 to 4 p.m. Prohibition is located at 574 King St. in downtown Charleston. For more information, visit prohibitioncharleston.com. Step lively at Seanachai Seanachai Whiskey and Cocktail Bar is heading into a three-day "Paddy's Day at the Pub" celebration that starts on March 17 and keeps going through the weekend. That evening, from 7 to 10 p.m. on the patio, revelers can take in music by The Travelin Kine and plenty of stepping with The Irish Dancers. Specials and promotions from Jameson start at 4:30 p.m., from Guinness at 5 p.m., and Bushmills at 7 p.m. Seanachai is located at 3157 Maybank Highway on Johns Island. For more information, visit seanachaiwhiskeyandcocktailbar.com. It took all I could muster while watching the gas pump numbers adding up at warp speed to wonder, "What in the world is going on?" Even though the tank was not full, I decided $50 would be the stopping point. Hey, you gotta find your victories where you can these days. Do you feel similarly less and less in charge of whats happening all around you? Whether its the cost of groceries or unexpected car repairs, theres a sense of free-falling without a safety net. What makes this all the more confounding is that just a couple weeks ago it felt as if wed managed to survive a pandemic and some aspects of daily life felt normal once again. Before we could barely say "What mask?" were once again dealing with emotions and commotions that force us to face a reality that if its not one thing, its the other. There are still reasons to hang onto hope. Since you decided to stop here today for our weekly get-together, I assume you care and would welcome some answers. In my mind, hope floats because of the Ukrainian people and the Wappoo Cut. Fighting for a future While watching a couple million Ukrainian women and children leave their country, its been uncomfortable knowing so many families are being displaced by a despot. By presidential decree, all men were asked to stay behind to defend their homeland. Its also been difficult watching maternity wards and hospitals being bombed. Yet the resolve of the Ukrainian people seems so steadfast. I read a story about an 11-year-old boy who traveled by himself more than 600 miles on a train with nothing but a phone number scrawled on his hand. He eventually made it to Slovakia and was welcomed into the arms of relatives. This courage and determination does not go unnoticed. Americans are sending their dollars to various charitable organizations. Theyre also showing support in other ways. In West Ashley, recently, I saw the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag flying in front of an automobile repair shop. It was nothing more than the owners attempt to say, Were with you, hang in there. Sign up for our new opinion newsletter Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings. Email Sign Up! Ive seen countless images of Ukrainians preparing bottle after bottle of Molotov cocktails. I dont know how those will possibly stop tanks, but its part of their defense. Its as if theyre constantly declaring to their much larger neighbor, "Do you know who youre messing with?" Time and tide It was with those thoughts of spiraling gas prices and escalating geopolitical tensions that I found myself one late afternoon drawn to a favorite spot of mine, the Riverland Terrace public boat landing on James Island. Its just the place if youre looking for peace of mind. The boat landing leads to the Wappoo Cut. This body of water connects the Charleston Harbor to the Stono River. On this particular afternoon, a large pleasure boat left a significant wake that washed ashore, disturbing the tranquility of the moment. Some marsh hens raised a ruckus from the light brown reeds across the way. A few people were walking their dogs or jogging with their earbuds in place. A slight breeze kept the gnats from spoiling the evening. On a sprawling oak tree, close to 30 people are remembered. Engraved on small metal plates, different names are listed along with dates of birth and death. Apparently, this must have been a favorite place for these people, as well. As I looked at the setting sun, there was some assurance and hope mixed into the end of another day. Old Sol seemed to be saying, "Good job, we made it through another day. See you in the morning." These days, it helps to find those moments that offer reassurance. Sometimes it takes making yourself slow down, looking around and taking a mental inventory of how blessed we are. FERRARA, Italy A stones throw from the Po River in the Emilia-Romagna region is a town that once boasted a sizable Jewish population. It was not unlike many such cities throughout the Italian peninsula which, after the 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain, welcomed (or at least accommodated) immigrants fleeing persecution. Italy had small Jewish communities in many cities since the times of Ancient Rome, and these Jews managed to retain their ethnic identities and sustain their religious practices even as they became enmeshed in Italian society as a whole. This balancing act between cultural preservation and assimilation became the hallmark of Italian Jews and their burden. When their population grew exponentially at the turn of the 16th century, so did their challenges. Jews in Italy were second-class citizens or worse. They were segregated into closed ghettos, forbidden access to most lines of work, exploited financially and persecuted by religious and political leaders. Nevertheless, they found ways to persevere and, sometimes, thrive at least until Mussolinis regime and the onslaught of World War II. This troubling history is recounted in an effective presentation thats part of the Museo Nazionale dellEbraismo Italiano e della Shoah (MEIS), an institution in Ferrara that presents visitors with the history of Jews in Italy (and more), and that seeks to reckon with some difficult truths. I had a chance to visit MEIS in February and tour its three exhibitions. Few others were present that day. I made my solitary way through the exhibit halls slowly to absorb the information and to gain some appreciation for how the curators managed the tricky task of presenting a complicated and often uncomfortable subject, with its 2,000-year timeline, in a way that might appeal to the public. After all, a museum depends on patrons, but how do you ensure they come when your subject matter is so arduous, when the history you offer can be so distressing? The ghetto I was reminded of Charlestons own challenge to build the International African American Museum and fill it with displays, objects and information compelling enough to lure visitors who otherwise might prefer not to contemplate the traumas inflicted on whole populations by their fellow men. At MEIS, I was struck by some similarities between the Jewish experience in Italy and the Black experience in North America. To be sure, they are not equal. Each was informed by a unique set of religious, political and economic drivers, each history unfolded in its own way, and inflicted its own unique suffering on the victims. Nevertheless, it can be useful to draw some comparisons, for human nature contains certain baseline traits that can result in patterns of abuse across time, and its helpful to be able to recognize this. Take this sentence displayed on a wall of MEIS: Paradoxically, the limitations imposed by the ghetto provided Jews with a safe haven for material and cultural growth, the fruits of which circulated well beyond the government-established boundaries and regulations. Now replace Jews with African Americans and the exact sentence could be mounted at IAAM. Or how about this sentence: Contrary to what one might believe, ghetto society was vibrant, articulate and rich in nuances. With forced segregation that isolated the Jewish population but at the same time stimulated their independence and cultural stability the importance of the synagogue grew as a community space where they could express their identity. Replace Jewish with African American and synagogue with church. See what I mean? Just as Black people became essential contributors to Charleston, building both the rice economy and the city itself, so did Jews in the centuries between the Spanish expulsion and the rise of fascism in Italy in the 1920s become meaningful contributors to society. Jews developed expertise in printing, textile production, jewelry-making, and banking transactions. Some became doctors or scholars. The roles adopted by Jews were a result of restrictions imposed by the authorities and limited access to resources because of segregation and persecution. In a few commercial hubs, such as Livorno and Pisa, Jews were less constrained. They were encouraged to bolster the mercantile class and lived in relative freedom. In other places, they were forbidden from owning property, attending regular schools, or participating in civic activities. In 1516, Doge Leonardo Loredan of Venice decreed that Jews, who numbered a little less than 1,000, would henceforth be segregated from the rest of society, corralled into a ghetto and forbidden from participating in a variety of activities and lines of work. A papal bull issued by Pope Paul IV in 1555 similarly relegated about 2,000 Roman Jews to a ghetto and stripped them of their civil rights. The Jews themselves were forced to pay for the construction of the walls that enclosed them. The doors were locked at night. Ghettos were established in many other Italian cities, including Ferrara, and Jewish life became highly circumscribed. Jews were expelled from Naples in 1510, and later that century from many of the Papal States. Financial exploitation was commonplace, and discrimination sometimes devolved into violence. The persecution was wrought by the church, by Italian institutions, by politicians and by members of the general populace. MEIS seems to be saying Italians today need to consider the ways in which their history has been soiled by bigotry and antisemitism. Ebb and flow The museum is a work in progress. Its housed in a former prison that has been beautifully renovated and its supposed to expand physically in the coming years. (The capital project has been delayed because of the COVID pandemic.) It features the Jews: An Italian Story exhibition and two others, a sweeping survey of Jewish history that begins, more or less, at the beginning, and a series of video presentations about the Shoah. Clearly, more needs to be done regarding the Holocaust and the ways in which Italian Jews were victimized by it, but the videos are a good start. MEIS, like many of Italys cultural institutions, receives essential support from the government from the Ministero della Cultura, Regione Emilia-Romagna and Commune di Ferrara. It also receives funding from the Unione Comunita Ebraiche Italiane and other sources. As a result, it need not scramble for private donations (although those help a lot) or panic when the foot traffic is light; it can focus on its mission. The language of the exhibition Ebrei, una storia italiana is explicit. No attempt to smooth the edges was made. The scholarship is rigorous and derived exclusively from the latest research conducted by academics in Italy and elsewhere. Some of the objects in the collection are striking, such as the beautiful Torah pointers made from red coral, or the big key to Santa Margheritas Gate, one of the doors that kept Jews locked in the Ferrara ghetto at night. It forces the viewer to question the nature of history and human endeavor. What does it mean for a society when an entire community is set apart and locked away? What is gained by such policies? What is lost? Before the push for Italian unification started in 1848, Italy was not a nation but rather a collection of territories, some governed by regional or church leaders, others by foreign powers. It was a precarious state of affairs for the Jews. Over the centuries, they were subject to the ebb and flow of religious tolerance and social benevolence. During some periods, they were permitted to enjoy relative comfort and productivity, to strike a healthy balance between cultural independence and assimilation. During other periods, when the authorities decided to crack down, life was difficult indeed. All of this is recounted, chronologically, in the first exhibit at MEIS. Every Italian should walk through it, for every Italian is implicated, in good ways and bad. But will they? Ferrara is off the beaten path for most. Its a small town whose glory days are long behind it. The reckoning MEIS was established as a result of a law passed by the Italian parliament in 2003 that cleared the way for a state-supported National Holocaust Museum to be built in Rome. Soon after, the mission broadened and the location changed as a result of parliamentarian amendments. The museum announces in a description for all to read: (Instead of) being a place of Remembrance, MEIS has become a centre which promotes the history, the culture, the ideas and the life of Italian Judaism, through exhibitions, workshops, conferences and meetings able to add knowledge to the subject. That is to say, it is a proactive place of learning that connects the past to the present. MEIS wants to be a place where every question is welcomed, the museum states. Questions, (along with) a tireless search for answers, are the base of Jewish culture. With the aim of offering a living expression of Judaism, MEIS has opened a crucial dialogue with all the Jewish communities and Jewish museums spread all over Italy. The reckoning continues. The exhibitions at MEIS make clear that Italys institutions in particular the Roman Catholic Church and the political establishment have, over the centuries, committed atrocities against Jewish inhabitants. Theft, kidnapping and execution were not uncommon. Small Jewish communities remain in Italy today. They are largely assimilated but include some who continue to gather at synagogues and who strive to uphold Jewish traditions and practices. For most visitors to Italy, the old ghettos have become tourist attractions, places where one can imagine an intensely constricted way of life and the social solidarity that results. MEIS, then, serves a vital function, for it consolidates this history and forces a confrontation. In so doing it lends hope to the idea that humankind is capable not only of violence and exploitation but also of reconciliation and peaceful coexistence. May the latter prevail. Summerville, SC (29483) Today Cloudy early with scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 88F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Mixed clouds and sun this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 88F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Isolated thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%. NORTH CHARLESTON The Feb. 26 death of 15-year-old Xiamere Moody opened up old wounds for Ronald Smith. Smith's 14-year-old daughter, Ronjanae, died last spring after she was struck by a stray bullet at a block party. It just needs to stop, Smith said of the recent spurt of gun violence throughout North Charleston. The father and nonprofit director believes a key solution to addressing the issue is engaging young people through mentorship and trade-skills training. Many people in the city agree with him. Crime has long been an issue in North Charleston, the states third-largest municipality, but gun violence is on the rise. Police officials and local activists think it's largely due to the growing number of firearms in the streets weapons that often fall into the hands of youth, who are also increasingly becoming both the victims and the suspects of these shootings. Community organizers and police believe stopping the bloodshed will require collaborative efforts to engage young people. Children need different tools for resolving conflict, as well as skills training to earn money legally, they say. Theres been an uptick in gun violence across the nation, and North Charleston is no exception, Police Chief Reggie Burgess said. While overall crime is down, shootings are being reported now more than ever, he said. Officers responded in 2021 to 34 fatal shootings and 119 shootings in which at least one person was wounded, according to the departments data. This year, the city has already seen seven homicides and 17 people who suffered gunshot wounds, according to data collected through the end of February. Part of the problem is the increase in the number of illegal weapons in communities, Burgess said. These weapons often end up in the possession of people who are unsavory and dont care, he said. Burgess agreed there's been an increase in younger victims and suspects. Theres a lot of factors there, the chief said. What are the suspects learning in the home? What are the suspects learning in the neighborhoods? What are the suspects learning when they hang out with their friends? What are the suspects learning when they walk down the street? Much of the violence stems from drug activity run by neighborhood cliques, which have existed for decades around North Charleston. When Burgess was growing up in the city, these groups werent violent. Nowadays, some kids join those same circles for protection. Theyre also expected to bring in money. And how do you think they make money? By selling drugs, Burgess said. Drugs cause a lot of social decay, the chief said. If you peel back the layers of a homicide case, for instance, youll find something there thats related to money. And the money is related to drug activity, he said. Getting money legally Anti-gun-violence advocate Thomas Dixon said local employers should be pushed to pay people decent wages, which would discourage young people from seeking money through crime, he said. This is especially important in the tri-county area because housing is becoming increasingly expensive, Dixon said. You can't tell a kid to work out here for $7.25 an hour when their lights are turned off, when they can go on the block, risk going to jail to keep their lights on and food in their stomach, he said. Smith, the activist whose daughter was killed in May, agrees helping kids earn money legitimately is the right approach. Smith founded Positive Vibes Ronjanae Smith Inc. after his daughters death. He also owns a lawn care business and an auto body shop. But through Positive Vibes, Smith intends to begin workshops that will teach young people specific trades. Smith is working on launching mechanic courses that will equip youths with skills they could use to work for a body shop, or start their own auto business. He also hopes to do something similar with courses in lawn care. Young people will be less inclined to sell drugs if they can develop skills that will help them earn money through legal channels, Smith said. I know this will be able to control the violence inside the communities, he said. Smith also believes engaging young people after school can help keep them out of trouble. Positive Vibes operates a weekly youth mentorship program for kids ages 9-16. The program currently has 24 participants who learn about the negative effects of gun violence and other community issues, Smith said. Conflict resolution Law enforcement officials and activists believe young people need more resources for settling disputes. Teens today often work out their conflicts with guns, not fists, they agreed. Shakem Akhet is a member of the United Black Men of Charleston County, a group which has for years sought to end gang violence by patrolling neighborhoods and holding community meetings. The group also conducts conflict resolution classes at North Charleston High School. The high school students can sign up for sessions to discuss common teen problems that drive conflict: ego, peer pressure, the need to protect a reputation or not wanting to submit to authority, Akhet said. The courses are taught by volunteers from Akhet's organization. Though the group has struggled to find volunteers who are available during the school day, the effort has had some success, Akhet said. Weve had the opportunity to stop so many potential all-out brawls because of our due diligence and talking to the kids, Akhet said. Its promising, and I see it actually working. But the only thing is, it needs to be done more and more and more throughout all the schools. Part of Akhets conflict-resolution work is also trying to prevent retribution after a violent crime. The organization's first step after a homicide is to contact the victims family members. Sometimes families dont want to talk, but the organization aims to reach everyone. Akhet warns them jail is a possibility if they retaliate. He understands retribution may be on the familys mind. Some people may feel like retribution is an oath, but there are other ways to honor a loved one, Akhet said. A lot of them just need that way out, he said. A collaborative approach Gun violence advocates have observed a familiar cycle when a young person is shot and killed. The community mourns. Police and neighbors march together to raise awareness. But, eventually, law enforcement and community organizers go back to their respective circles. And the bloodshed continues. Collaboration is needed for violence to end, Dixon said. The pastor and activist is working with Burgess and Smith on a plan to bring together gun violence-prevention organizations, law enforcement, school board representatives and state legislators to propose solutions. The parties would meet multiple times a year to follow up on recommendations, Dixon said. I think thats the only way were going to see a reduction in gun violence, Dixon said. We all have to accept a responsibility. Change wont happen until the community gets fed up with the issue, Burgess agreed. Dixon intends to reveal the plan at a town hall meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. March 18 at Royal Missionary Baptist Church community center on Abraham Avenue. Local anti-gun-violence groups and law enforcement will attend. The event will include testimony from survivors, as well as audio from 911 calls. Fierce winds whipped across the Lowcountry March 12, closing down two bridges on Interstate 526 during the morning while law enforcement officers and other first responders scrambled to assist drivers amid gusts that reached 60 mph in some areas. The winds battered powerlines and downed tree branches, causing power outages that impacted thousands of residents by the late afternoon. Authorities closed the Don Holt and Wando bridges for about four hours in the morning after gusts overturned several tractor-trailers. The bridges were reopened by 11:30 a.m. One Charleston police officer narrowly avoided injury while helping with an overturned vehicle around 7 a.m. on Wando Bridge, Sgt. Beth Wolfsen said. High winds blew an empty container off a tractor-trailer as it passed the crash scene, Wolfsen said. The container landed on the officer's squad car, crushing the back-end of the vehicle. "The officer and truck driver were thankfully both uninjured," Wolfsen said. Several crashes were investigated on Interstate 526 in the morning, according to the sergeant. The wind caused problems for the tri-county's utilities throughout the day. Almost 4,000 customers in Charleston County were reported to be without power around 7:30 a.m., according to the website poweroutage.us, with another 1,000 customers losing power in Berkeley County. As of 5 p.m., less than 1,000 customers were without power in Charleston County. A large power outage impacted Dominion Energy customers in a residential area around Riverland Drive on northwest James Island through most of the afternoon, according to the company's website. Only 100 customers in Berkeley and Dorchester counties were without power by early evening, according to poweroutage.us. Significant power outages were reported in Beaufort and Jasper counties during the late afternoon, the website states. Peak winds of 59 mph were recorded at Charleston International Airport during the morning, according to the National Weather Service's Charleston office. Folly Beach and Isle of Palms recorded 63 mph winds. The highest wind gust was recorded at Fort Sumter 64 mph. Residents tried to make the best of a blustery day. Families and couples strolled along The Battery. Joggers shuffled around Hampton Park in Wagoner Terrace as Spanish moss fell around them. Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park lost power around 1 p.m., only minutes before The Citadel's baseball team was scheduled to play the Siena Saints. Officials decided the game would continue as planned. A wind advisory remained in effect for the Lowcountry until 6 p.m., according to the weather service. Gusts carried a biting cold by late afternoon. A freeze warning was in effect from 9 p.m. March 12 until 11 a.m. March 13, according to the weather service. Kelsey Barlow, spokeswoman for Charleston County, said warming shelters would be open Saturday night for residents in need. SUMMERVILLE A Charleston man was arrested after police say he supplied the fentanyl that led to a woman's overdose death last year. Larry Lee Emanuel, 43, was arrested March 11 by Dorchester County sheriff's deputies on charges of involuntary manslaughter; distribution near a school; and the manufacture, distribution and possession of narcotics. Emanuel is charged in the overdose death of 34-year-old Kristi Lowder. "Through extensive investigation, detectives were able to determine Emanuel supplied the drugs which led to Lowders death," sheriff's Lt. Rick Carson said in a statement. Deputies responded around 10:40 a.m. Sept. 14 for a death report at a residence on White Church Lane in Summerville, according to an incident report. Lowder's father told deputies he found his daughter in her bed with a hypodermic needle in her arm. She was unresponsive and not breathing he said, according to the report. He said his daughter had a long history of drug use, the report states. A toxicology report showed the woman had injected a lethal amount of fentanyl, a powerful narcotic that can kill in small quantities, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Detectives obtained text messages from Lowder's phone that suggest she met Emanuel for a drug deal Sept. 13 at a grocery store on Dorchester Road in Summerville, the affidavit states. The messages indicate Lowder was there to purchase "brown town," slang for heroin, the affidavit states. A person commits involuntary manslaughter when he or she causes a death while engaged in criminally negligent conduct. The felony is punishable by up to five years in prison. Carson said Emanuel was being held March 11 at the Dorchester County jail while awaiting a bond hearing. A woman arrested last month in the Christmas Day bombing of an ATM machine on Edisto Island faces new charges after sexually explicit images of children were found on her phone, according to authorities. Charleston County Sheriff's deputies arrested Kelsie Lynn Ammons on March 10 on three counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. She was being held on a $30,000 bond March 11 at Charleston County jail. Ammons, 35, of the Round O community near Cottageville, was previously arrested Feb. 10 on allegations she helped her brother David Earl Ammons II during the attempted robbery of an ATM at the Enterprise Bank of South Carolina on Edisto Island. Kelsie Ammons provided a statement to detectives after her arrest in the bomb case, according to newly filed court records, and consented to having her phone searched. During the search, detectives found three sexually explicit photos of children on the device, records state. Two children appear to be between the ages of 9 and 12, while the other child appears to be between ages 12 and 14, according to documents released March 11. Two of the photos show sexually explicit activities, records state. Andrew Knapp, spokesman for the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, said March 11 the case remains under investigation. David Earl Ammons II, 38, was arrested Jan. 19 on allegations he placed a pipe bomb the morning of Dec. 25 outside the bank's ATM. The bomb smoked for around 40 seconds before exploding, blowing apart the kiosk that contained the money dispenser. The bomb was not strong enough to breach the ATM, and Ammons, who wore a heavy disguise, fled the bank empty-handed, according to authorities. Law enforcement officials allege Kelsie Ammons was the getaway driver for her brother. The woman was seen driving a vehicle used in the crime that morning, Knapp said, and cellphone records showed her phone was in use on Edisto Island around the time of the explosion. David Earl Ammons II is charged with second-degree burglary, safecracking and using a destructive device. He remains jailed without bond. Kelsie Ammons was charged with making a bomb threat or conspiring to do so, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. She was released from jail in that case on Feb. 14 after posting a $40,000 bond, jail records state. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 85F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Most of what goes on at the Statehouse is really boring. Some of it is tremendously important, but still boring. And some of it has ramifications that are a lot more interesting than it seems on its face and in ways that would appear completely unrelated to that stodgy visage. Which brings us to S.1106 and H.3346, which on their face represent a wonky but important exercise in fiscal prudence: increasing the amount of money the Legislature has to keep in the states rainy day funds from 7% to 10% of the state budget. Ten percent, research director Mike Shealy told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, is a just-right level just below the national average: A fund too small is an invitation to midyear budget cuts or year-end deficits, while one that's too large is strangely unreassuring to credit-rating agencies, because they can create lackadaisical legislators who see the early signs of a recession and say, "What, me worry?" S.1106 asks voters to change the constitution to increase the general reserve fund from 5% to 7% of the state's general fund, and to increase the capital reserve fund from 2% to 3%. H.3346 writes those changes into state law. The measures also turn the capital reserve fund into a cushion first against midyear budget cuts, next against year-end deficits, while keeping the general reserve fund as a cushion against year-end deficits. The changes, which passed the House unanimously last month and cleared the Senate Finance Committee 18-2 on Tuesday, are being sold as a way to provide greater protection against budget shortfalls when the economy tanks, although South Carolina hasn't had a year-end deficit or midyear budget cut since we increased the general reserve fund from 3% to 5% in 2010. For some lawmakers, the attractive thing about increasing the reserve funds is that it reduces the amount of money the Legislature can spend when revenues are rising significantly. The budget bill the House is scheduled to debate Monday spends $300 million to bring the two funds up to the higher levels that would be required by S.1106 and H.3346. In that way, the increases act a little like the artificial spending caps then-Gov. Mark Sanford kept trying to convince the Legislature to impose on itself. They act like Mr. Sanfords more draconian spending caps in another way, too: Most years, they increase the amount of money lawmakers have for nonessential one-time expenditures. Thats because the capital reserve fund by law is refilled each year, and in years when the money isnt used to protect against revenue shortfalls, lawmakers can allocate it for capital improvements or other nonrecurring purposes that don't have to be funded that year, since there's still a chance, when they pass the budget, that the money will have to be used to cover shortfalls. That is, it can be used to convert money that otherwise would be used for the business of governing into slush-fund money. It's not routinely used that way, but it can be. Which might help explain why this is such a universally popular idea. And that brings us back once again to the Legislatures secret earmarks, and a surprisingly good development in the ongoing battle to clean them up. Earmarks, of course, are the allocations for unvetted local projects, some of which pay for good and useful projects and some of which pay for pork, sometimes pork that benefits the legislators who request them, and for the past two decades, S.C. legislators have kept them hidden from the public, and largely from each other. Last year after exposes by The Post and Courier and Columbias State newspaper of earmarks legislators had slipped into the budget to benefit themselves, their families and their businesses turned Sens. Wes Climer and Dick Harpootlian into earmark transparency crusaders the Senate adopted a rule that requires the recipients, amounts and sponsors of earmarks to be published before the budget is passed. So we finally got to see what was being spent and who was behind that spending. But the information was sketchy, and the House rejected a Senate effort to strengthen the law that requires detailed information about the projects and the recipients. So it was something of a surprise when the House Ways and Means Committee adopted Rep. Gary Simrills proposal to strengthen the law. The current law requires recipients to provide details about how they intend to spend the money and then how they spent it, but theres no penalty for not complying, most recipients don't comply, and state agencies traditionally havent withheld money for noncompliance for fear of angering their secret legislative patrons. Among other things, Mr. Simrills rewrite of budget proviso 117.21 requires state agencies to collect details before distributing the money. It's included in the budget bill that'll be up for debate Monday. (Also up Monday, according to committee staff, will be this year's list of earmarks, along with their sponsors.) Sen. Climer was practically giddy when I showed him the new language. Im very happy, the Rock Hill Republican said Thursday. New Senate Finance Chairman Harvey Peeler already had told senators their earmark requests now have to be in writing, detailed, in compliance with the letter and spirit of the law and not benefiting the sponsors directly or indirectly, Mr. Climer said, so the House change means that on both the front-end transparency and the back-end accountability, we have come a long, long way. Mr. Harpootlian was more cautious in his optimism. It looks to me to be a tremendous improvement, he told me. Underline looks. I think well just have to see. Indeed: We'll have to see not only whether the new language does what it seems to do, but also whether it survives the House budget debate, and the Senate budget debate, and the conference committee. Which it needs to do, since the Legislatures vow of extra fiscal responsibility means it could start devoting a lot more money to earmarks. Editor's note: A previous version of this column incorrectly said the legislation was approved unanimously by the Senate Finance Committee. Every month or so, we find ourselves reading the latest news on S.C. politicians, shaking our heads and saying, once again, You just cant make this stuff up. But the latest from The Post and Couriers Uncovered investigative series catapults that response to a whole new level: As Avery Wilks reports, when Williamsburg County Clerk of Court Sharon Staggers couldn't convince the County Council she deserved a raise, she took federal funds she controls and gave herself a $30,000 raise. Admittedly, in the grand scheme of politicians enriching themselves at the publics expense, thats not a huge amount. But its about the same as the median household income in the impoverished county, and what Ms. Staggers raise lacks in decimals it more than makes up for in audacity. Even the now-convicted former Midlands prosecutor who used federal funds he controlled to bankroll trips to London, Qatar and the Galapagos Islands knew better than to add such money directly to his salary. Even all those corrupt sheriffs didnt have the brazenness to cut themselves a paycheck with federal funds, instead siphoning them off for reimbursement for their own luxury trips. Maybe thats simply because the federal laws controlling civil asset forfeiture and other pots of federal money solicitors and sheriffs control specify how the money can be spent, and salaries aren't an option. More likely, these other officials realized they simply couldn't get away with that. Even someone with a broken moral compass knows that unless you own your own business, you cant give yourself a raise. You might be able to get away with approving your own expense reimbursements although thats proving to be less safe than some sheriffs thought but not a raise. Its possible that Ms. Staggers generous gift to herself didnt break the law; thats what SLED is trying to get to the bottom of after seeing a state Department of Social Services memo that said clerks can use the money for salaries without spelling out that they cant use it to increase their own pay. Because who would have imagined you need to spell out such things? As for Ms. Staggers, her imagination seems to be limitless. When our Kingstree News reporting partner called with questions, she referred him to the county attorney who had nothing to do with her raise and said he couldnt figure it out. That turned out to be more useful information than we probably would have gotten if she had referred questions to an attorney she hired, as most people do when SLED is investigating them. Even if the clerks raise wasn't illegal, it certainly was immoral. And corrupt. As in having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain (the first definition Google returns for the word). As in lacking integrity; crooked, from dictionary.com. As in Merriam-Websters first definition: morally degenerate and perverted. The point of all these definitions is to remind you that while we tend to think of corruption as being synonymous with illegal, theyre often not the same. Many illegal activities dont fit the definition of corrupt, and a lot of corruption is perfectly legal. Just as a lot of unethical behavior is also perfectly legal. In South Carolina, thats because lawmakers have chosen not to make numerous unethical and corrupt activities crimes, even when theyre committed by government employees; even when they benefit those employees at the expense of the public. Our legislators love to tell local elected officials what they can and cant do, with this exception: They have no interest in telling them they cant profit at the publics expense. Or at least they dont love to put requirements in place that will make it less tempting to do that, and easier to catch and convict officials who do give in to temptation. S.C. officials cant change federal law, which controls the use of federal funds for child-support enforcement. But they certainly can change state law, and they need to, because we can guarantee you that the Williamsburg County clerk of court isnt the only elected official with too much access to federal money who thinks she deserves higher pay than she's getting. And if SLED cant find any criminal violations, we can guarantee you that someone else is going to try this. Obviously, DSS needs to be monitoring clerks' use of the federal child-support funding it distributes to them. Beyond that, the Legislature needs to require greater transparency, of the sort that weve been urging for sheriffs: Require all expenditures by clerks to be posted online in an easily searchable database, so even if the Legislature isnt willing to let the inspector general investigate local officials, and even if it wont pay for anyone else to conduct routine audits of those officials expenditures, at least the public wont have to invest a small fortune in time and treasure tracking down public documents and reviewing them. That should be enough of a check for most elected officials, since they have to face the voters every few years. But entrenched officials often manage to keep getting reelected without opposition, and Ms. Staggers hasnt had an opponent since the 2016 Democratic primary. So on top of the expanded disclosure law, the Legislature should pass another law that says elected officials who receive any salary or other payment besides what's specifically authorized by state law and approved by a state or local governing authority automatically forfeit their regular pay. Earlier today Steve noted a Wall Street Journal poll that contains good news for Republicans and bad news for Democrats. There is an additional feature of that poll that deserves notice, as highlighted in the Journals article about it: The survey also found Republicans making gains among minority groups. By 9 percentage points, Hispanic voters in the new poll said they would back a Republican candidate for Congress over a Democrat. The two parties had been tied among Hispanic voters in the Journals survey in November. Democratic margins also eroded among Black voters, who favored a Democrat for Congress by 35 percentage points in the new survey, down from 56 points in November. Support for a Republican candidate rose to 27% among Black voters, up from 12% in November. These numbers, if they are representative and if they hold, portend a revolution in American politics. If Republican candidates win the Hispanic vote by nine points and gain 27% (and rising) of black votes, we are in for a landslide of epic proportions in November and, more important, an era in which it is hard for Democrats to win statewide and national elections. UPDATE: By the way, if the Democrats conclude that the GOP has a long-term nine-point advantage among Hispanics, what will their reaction be? Build that wall! Build that wall! Joe Biden made international news today when he definitively ruled out use of American forces in Ukraine on the ground that such action would bring about World War III. The idea that were going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews just understand, dont kid yourself, no matter what yall say, thats called World War III, Biden told a gathering of House Democrats in Philadelphia. The president added, Lets get it straight here, guys that old expression, Dont kid a kidder. Not sure what that last part means. In any event, Bidens basic message was nothing new: we certainly have no intention of sending American troops to fight in Ukraine, or shooting down Russian aircraft. But still, a naive observer might think it desirable to at least pretend to keep our options open. One might think it would be good if Putin believes there are some extremities where he would face military intervention. But this is my real point: Biden has sworn that we will fight to defend every inch of NATO territory, including Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. By the same logic that, too, would be World War III, wouldnt it? A friend writes: Przepraszamy! Ogoszenie na stanowisku: IT Business Analyst wygaso z dniem 2022-03-28 Ta propozycja bya zozona przez CEVA Logistics Poland Sp. z o.o. Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia oferty to: oferta zozona przez pracodawce zostaa wycofana z naszych zasobow ogoszeniodawca zakonczy proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc zgoszen firma zmodyfikowaa tresc zlecenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem WWW dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych niewasciwy adres WWW ogoszenia Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy Bankowosc / Leasing, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Bankowosc / Leasing Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku IT Business Analyst, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca IT Business Analyst Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: Warszawa, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Warszawa Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj. Inne oferty, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan: Maize production in Nigeria rose to the highest level since the nations independence in 1960, a significant improvement for a country that has struggled for decades with below-par domestic production of food. The production of maize increased by 16 per cent in 2021 over the previous year, according to the United State Department of Agriculture. The rise came a year after the Central Bank of Nigeria halted government-supplied foreign exchange for the importation of maize, in a bid to cut imports and boost domestic production. The government did not stop importers from sourcing dollars from the black market. The figure is also coming at a time of growing concerns of global food scarcity as a result of Russias invasion of Ukraine. On Tuesday, the chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said Nigerians should be prepared for an impending food crisis within the next two to three months and urged the government to immediately stop the ongoing export of maize. The government has previously lifted its ban on maize exports. Mr Dangote, who said the effects of the Ukraine crisis are already being felt in the food processing chain, said prices of fertiliser, wheat, maize, among other products, will go up. There will be a shortage of wheat, maize and a lot of products because as we speak, Russia and Ukraine do almost 30 per cent of the worlds urea and 26 per cent of the worlds potash; and even phosphate also, they are one of the largest (producers) in the world, he said. There would be a scarcity of food generally, we would not be able to access fertilizers going forward, we would not see the effects now, but in the next two, three months. Even the US will not be able to do the same number of tonnage they did last year because of this. Right now, you start seeing people exporting maize to earn foreign exchange, which I think we need to stop, so that we dont create shortage; and we need to make sure we grow more so we dont have a shortage. It is about food security, and it is very, very serious. New Figures Data published by the USDA shows that Nigeria produced 11.6 million metric tons of maize in 2021, the highest quantity made in the last six decades. The figure when compared to the 10 million metric tonnes recorded in 2020 shows a 16 per cent increase. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is yet to release its official figures on Nigerias production in 2020 and 2021. Maize, one of the most popular food crops in Nigeria, is widely consumed by millions of Nigerians and is also used for the production of animal feeds. However, local production has for years lagged consumption, a situation that has fueled importation with implications for Nigerias currency and job creation. In 2019, Nigeria was Africas second largest maize producer after South Africa and the 14th largest producer globally. Yet, its local maize demand continues to surpass supply thus creating an annual demand gap of about 4 million metric tonnes annually. According to USDA, maize import into Nigeria doubled from 500,000 metric tonnes to 1 million metric tonnes between October 2019 and October 2020. In 2020, due to the increased quantity of maize imported to the country, the CBN banned the issuance of forex for the importation of the cereal. The bank has also financed efforts to boost maize farming. However, although local maize production is still far off demand, the decision appears to be yielding fruit as importation of maize in the country declined to 200,000 metric tons in 2021 compared to 300,000 metric tons recorded in 2020. The national chairman, Maize Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (MAGPAMAN), Uche Edwin, said he expected a rise in the output in 2021 after the difficulties of 2020 due to the coronavirus. We are not surprised by the 16% increase in output in 2021, we expected more, Mr Edwin said. We are all aware that in 2020, we experienced a lot of challenges that affect agriculture. For instance, issues of Covid-19 whereby movement of hydro chemicals and other materials necessary for agriculture were disturbed, insecurity, climate change, and among others,. He said in 2021, the CBN invested more in its anchor borrowers programme and that also ensured money got to small holder farmers to grow maize which in turn improved their yields and output. Mr Edwin said the CBNs decision to place a ban on the importation of maize also played a major role in the 2021 higher productivity. The CBNs policy to ban importation of maize also helps local production. That alone boosts the morale of farmers, knowing that the government really depends on them for adequate maize production in the country, Mr Edwin said. As societies, we are failing to protect children and families from the marketing of products that undermine their health and development. One of the most egregious examples of this is the aggressive promotion of commercial milk formula for babies and young children. The effect of formula marketing is different from marketing practices for everyday items like shampoo, shoes or refrigerators. The cynical tactics used to push milk formula discourage breastfeeding, undermine mothers confidence, and exploit parents instinct to do the best for their children. Formula milk marketing represents one of the most underappreciated risks to the health of infants and children. The sales of formula milk have nearly doubled over the past two decades, while exclusive breastfeeding has increased only marginally. Paediatricians and health professionals say feeding babies six months and younger with only breast milk, when that is possible, is best for both babies and mothers. Scaling up breastfeeding could prevent an estimated 800,000 deaths of children under the age of five and 20,000 breast cancer deaths among mothers each year. Baby formula is an under-recognized risk to infants, children and mothers. This issue has deep roots. In the early 1970s, worldwide attention was raised about the promotional practices of the baby food industry in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In addition to losing the health-promoting properties of breast milk, formula-fed babies are harmed when the formula is made with unsafe water which is sometimes all that is available and when formula powder is over-diluted to stretch family finances. In the wake of lawsuits and government investigations, coupled with a general decline of breastfeeding globally, the World Health Assembly called for countries to regulate promotional activities. In 1981, it adopted the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. The Code addresses such issues as advertising to the public, retail promotions, marketing in health care systems, and labelling. Four decades later, many of the same harmful practices continue to occur throughout the world now, turbo-charged by social media. Despite the code and subsequent resolutions, formula milk companies, powered by enormous budgets, continue to disregard international recommendations and run advertising that routinely mischaracterizes scientific findings. Some of the false claims used by formula milk companies include: Formula products with added ingredients improve brain development and immunity formula products are needed after 12 months of age; Breast milk is inadequate for the nutrition of older infants and children; Formula keeps babies fuller for longer and therefore helps them sleep, The quality of breast milk declines with time. These are all untrue. They hurt children, and they hurt mothers. A new study from the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, the UN Childrens Fund, has compiled examples of this from around the world, after conducting research in Bangladesh, China, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK and Viet Nam. Examples include: Baby Clubs: Organised and managed by formula milk companies (sometimes through front groups), which offer mothers gifts and discounts, information on pregnancy and birth, and access to carelines that provide 24/7 support and advice for ailments, including COVID-19. Pain point marketing: A common but often subtle marketing scheme that aims to convince potential customers that they have a problem that can be solved by purchasing a product. There has been a rise in marketing for specialized and comfort milk that make bold claims to solve common infant ailments and behaviours such as colic, reflux and crying, despite insufficient evidence that they are effective. Targeting Health Workers: The systematic targeting by the industry of health professionals, clinics and hospitals to encourage them to promote formula milk products. Sponsorship, training activities and gifts are used including offers of cash or commissions in some cases to influence health workers practices and recommendations. Our multi-country study found that more than half of the women surveyed had been exposed to formula milk marketing, and in some countries, it was as high as 97 per cent. Of course, formula milk has its place for mothers and parents who are not able to breastfeed for a host of reasons, including a lack of support by social and health systems. It is formula milk marketing, not the product itself, that disrupts informed decision-making and undermines breastfeeding and child health. It is time to stop the unethical marketing of formula. We call on governments to enact and enforce legislation that is aligned with the Code. We call on health professionals and their associations to protect the integrity of science and the use of their endorsements only for public good. We call on investors to insist on ethical business practices. And we call on social media platforms to reject practices that undermine childrens health. Nelson Mandela once said that there can be no keener revelation of a societys soul than the way in which it treats its children. The marketing of infant formula is following the playbook of the marketing of other products such as tobacco, junk food, sugary beverages, and gambling. It is time to stop prioritising corporate profits over child health. Stop the unethical marketing of formula milk. Our children are worth it. Helen Clark is a former Prime Minister of New Zealand and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. With former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, she co-chaired the WHO Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response to determine lessons learnt from the international response to COVID-19. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who served as Ethiopias minister of health and minister of foreign affairs, is the Director-General of the World Health Organization the United Nations global health agency. (This article was first published by AllAFrica, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to publish). Advertisements Nigerias Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, on January 17 at the State House in Abuja, launched the Expanded Committee on Sustainable Blue Economy. The committees task is to recommend how to strengthen the governance framework and infrastructure of the maritime sector in Nigeria. The event was part of the Nigerian governments plans to use the potential of the ocean economy to address the challenges of poverty and unemployment. Throughout history, the oceans have been used to extract natural resources, conquer new lands and trade goods. The oceans have also played a crucial role in cooling the planet, making it habitable despite the accelerating pace of global carbon emissions. More recently, the Blue economy is fast gaining traction in development circles as a policy option for countries developed and developing alike to further their economic goals. At the inauguration of the Expanded Partnership Committee on Sustainable Blue Economy were representatives of 10 states: Rivers, Lagos, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Borno, Ogun, Ondo, Cross River, Bayelsa, and Edo states. Also there were people from maritime agencies like the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), and the Chief of Naval Staff. The committee also comprises the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Power, Finance, Environment, Trade and Investment, Agriculture and Water Resources, Lake Chad Basin Commission, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, and others. There will be several agencies and several interactions between institutions because we are dealing with ports and terminals, oil and gas, the environment, tourism, hospitality a whole range of economic activities that are connected to what is described as the blue economy, Mr Osinbajo stated at the event. He said the scope and engagement of the committee would be improved to accommodate more relevant government agencies and private sector stakeholders. According to the World Bank, the term blue economy refers to the sustainable use and conservation of marine, inland aquatic, and coastal resources for food security, job creation, and economic growth. The blue economy encapsulates all sea-related commercial activities. What could undermine the realisation of Nigerias blue economy? Nigerias blue economy remains one of the countrys anchor sub-sectors, with maritime trade contributing 1.6 per cent and fisheries contributing 3-5 per cent to the GDP. In the 1960s, one of the major focuses of Nigeria in the blue economy was fishing. The country was home to many trawling companies and fishing boats. However, the governments failure to manage and enforce the fishing policy has been a major issue drawing the sector back despite the relevant contribution from the sector. Several policies have been created but only very few are enforced in the country. For instance, some policies that can help address the challenges facing the fishing industry are still being debated years after they were proposed. One of such is the proposed National Fisheries Policy, which is yet to be fully discussed and adopted, six years after its first presentation at a National Fisheries Development Committee (NFDC) meeting in Lokoja. The Federal Department of Fisheries attributes this delay to a lack of funds to convene required stakeholder meetings. In an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the former director of fisheries and president of Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON), Foluke Areola, emphasised the importance of following through with these policies. The most important thing about these policies is being able to follow through, such a committee should not just be constituted, but composed of relevant stakeholders that will look at things holistically and critically, apportioning appropriate disciplinary measures. I think this has started in the right direction. Some of the current issues that could exacerbate existing challenges, apart from weak legal, policy, regulatory and institutional framework, are environmental management and local community involvement, Mrs Areola said. In the Blue Economy Policy Handbook, prepared by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, it is noted that the full potential of the blue economy cannot be reaped unless the issues of climate change and environmental mismanagement are addressed. Pollution through dumping of toxic wastes and discarding of single-use plastics still goes unchecked on Nigerias ocean. Sustainable development implies that economic development is both inclusive and environmentally sound, and is to be undertaken in a manner that does not deplete the natural resources that society depends on in the long term. The need to balance the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in relation to oceans is thus a key component of the blue economy. According to a marine and natural resource researcher, Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, there have been some blue economy projects across the continent, like the Kribi Port project in Cameroon and the Lamu Port project in Kenya. Some have been successful but others not. Advertisements Drawing on the case studies, we found that successful initiatives accentuated the involvement of local communities and promoted the sustenance of natural ecosystems. They successfully balanced ecological, social and economic features, Ms Okafor-Yarwood, of the School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK, and her co-researchers stated in a joint research work. Unsuccessful projects were likely to exclude local communities in the process and undermine their livelihoods. They also tended to prioritise economic gains at the expense of the environment. What does this mean for small-scale fishers? According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), one of the important elements of the Blue Economy is the necessity of protecting and restoring where needed the existing ocean resource base that already supplies food and livelihoods to billions of people. Nigerias marine waters are home to over 6,000 species of high economic value, including crustaceans, sharks, rays, fish, and marine plants and mammals. But despite being a vital source of food and nutrition security and a major source of livelihood for vulnerable coastal regions, the industry has been grappling with a myriad of challenges, including unregulated and unregistered fishing practices that have led to dwindling fish stocks. Mrs Areola stated the importance of engaging coastal fishing communities. I think it is important that the committee puts into consideration, the artisanal and small-scale fishers, who constitute a large majority of the fisheries economy in the country. Some states have been able to support small-scale fishers, and even when I was the Acting Director, we had always supported with boats, nets, and other tools. But we need more coordinated support for them. They are just too big and relevant to food security to be ignored, she said. Some filling stations in Abuja the NNPC says are dispensing petrol round the clock in a bid to clear queues that have mounted for weeks are just not doing that. Of 48 stations the company listed as providing 24-hour service in the federal capital, PREMIUM TIMES confirmed at least four were closed and not selling fuel and five did not operate night and day. Nigerians especially in the federal capital have endured an unpredictable supply of fuel for nearly a year now, with filling stations operating at reduced capacity. The crisis started in 2021 after the government announced its plan to remove fuel subsidies. Marketers, who the regulators initially accused of hoarding the product, refused to resume normal operations even after the suspension of the subsidy removal plan. The problem worsened in February after the federal government said methanol found in imported fuel exceeded Nigerias specification. The development resulted in a shortage of petrol and queues reappearing in other major cities. Traffic gridlocks appeared across major parts of Abuja as many service lanes were closed to traffic due to queues from petrol stations. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC) had last month said it had commenced 24-hour operations at its depots and retail outlets to restore normal supply and distribution of petrol across the country. To accelerate distribution across the country, we have commenced 24-hour operations at our Depots and Retail outlets, NNPC said in a statement in February. To further assure residents, the company on Monday listed 48 fuel stations it said operated 24-hour service, where FCT residents and their environs can get fuel at any time. The stations are: ==>AA Rano located at Area 3, Aviation village, Citygate, International Market Nyanya, Jabi, Mpape/Maitama/Katampe and the A. A Rano Oil located at Nyanya ==> ADROVA Petrol station located at Apo, Gwagwalada, IBB way, Life camp, Transcorp, Zone 1 and AFDIN fuel station at Citygate and Katampe ==>AYM Shafa at Bwari-Dutse Road, Dawaki, Lugbe Airport Road, Katampe, Deidei Junction, CBN Karu, Rita Lori, Wuye and Austoma located at Banex junction ==>Conoil petrol station opposite NNPC Towers and Jabi, Danmarna at FHA Lugbe and Wuye, Enyo Arab road junction, Eterna at Banex junction, Wuse II and Eterna Dutse junction ==>Mainland located at Dutse, NIPCO Oil at Banex, Jabi and Wuse II, NNPC Mega Station Zone 1, OANDO located at Jabi, zone 1 and Zone 4, Rain Oil Gwarimpa, Shema located at Katampe, Airport Road, Karu Nyanya road and finally Total Filling station opposite NNPC Towers and near Police Headquarters PREMIUM TIMES visited most of these petrol stations in Abuja on Tuesday and Wednesday but observed that some did not operate 24 hours. Some were shut. Austoma and Eterna fuel stations located at Bannex junction were closed in the afternoon while people around the station said the stations had been closed for weeks. Austoma does not operate 24-hour service, I have been repairing cars inside this station, they close by 7-8 pm, said a mechanic at a car service centre there. They dont even have fuel here for more than two weeks now, he said. A shop owner at the Eterna fuel station in Bannex who refused to mention his name said This is my shop, this station does not operate 24 hours. I am very sure of what Im telling you because I sell here. At NIPCO fuel station located at Banex an attendant said, Fuel scarcity or not we dont sell 24 hours here the highest we can stay is 8- 9 pm. I wont lie to you, we dont sell 24hours, no station is open till daybreak. The station manager, at OANDO, filling station Zone 4, who refused to give his name, said We are on 24-hours normally but they vandalise our transformer at the back so because of that, our generator cannot run for so long we close around 10 11 pm. So for the meantime, we dont work 24 hours. At Total near the police headquarters in Abuja, one of the station supervisors who also refused to give his name said, If theres no fuel we close at any time but presently we dont operate 24 hours even if theres fuel. We only operate till 2 am. Advertisements The reason is that consumers use it to cause chaos and when there is a little problem they will start fighting. Im just telling you that we dont fully operate 24 hours, he said. At one of the NNPC outlets in zone 1, the station supervisor said, When you see us close here that means we want to discharge because we cant be selling and at the same time discharging. Sometimes we close by 2 -3 am, he added. The spokesperson of NNPC, Garbadeen Muhammed, did not return calls or respond to a message seeking comments. Following the withdrawal of soldiers from Shimfida village in Jibia local government area of Katsina state, bandits, on Friday night, abducted seven residents of the village. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how seven children died as a result of a stampede while the residents of Shimfida were fleeing the community after the withdrawal of the soldiers. The soldiers were stationed at Government Secondary School, Shimfida, about 27 Kilometres from Jibia town, the local council headquarters, until their withdrawal on Thursday. Shimfida is one of the worst-hit communities in Katsina State in bandits attacks. On Fridays incident, a local source, Abdurrazak Ahmad, told PREMIUM TIMES that the 11 residents were also fleeing Shimfida to an unofficial IDP camp in Jibia when they were abducted. He said the victims were mostly elderly women who did not join the exodus from the community of Thursday. Another source in Jibia, who sought anonymity, said residents fear the bandits may again attack Shimfida in the coming days because of the tough time the soldiers gave them while they were around. He said everyone in the community has fled to either Jibia or Katsina main town for fear of the bandits. Shimfida is a prosperous community. When the soldiers were stationed there, the bandits felt bad because they could not attack the community. They occasionally kidnapped residents especially when they got outside but the bandits could not attack the community because of the soldiers. So when the soldiers were withdrawn, they (residents) felt unsafe and decided to flee, he said. Katsina police command spokesperson, Gambo Isa, did not respond to calls and SMS sent to him on the phone over the development. Your browser does not support the video tag. Haciendo uso de mi derecho constitucional, asistire al Congreso para dar un mensaje. Espero la apertura de la Mesa Directiva del Parlamento para estar presente el martes 15 de marzo. pic.twitter.com/4nxrBA4iRF The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will hold its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Sunday to appraise the ongoing strike to know the next line of action to take. The president of the union, Emmanuel Osodeke, a professor of soil science, who confirmed this to our reporter on the phone on Saturday, however, failed to give the details of the scheduled meeting. However, a source among the NEC members, who does not want to be quoted to avoid sanctions, said the meeting would hold in Abuja. On UTAS Mr Osodeke berated the Nigerian government over its recent disclosure that the University Transparency and Accountability Solutions (UTAS) that was developed by the union to replace the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) failed integrity tests. He said UTAS is currently undergoing another round of tests, saying the earlier tests conducted were not subjected to the peculiarity of universities. The director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, had said UTAS failed three integrity tests user acceptance test, vulnerability test, and stress test, which were conducted by his agency. He said; We did all these three tests with them and the system couldnt pass. We wrote the reports and submitted them back to the honourable minister, which he forwarded to all relevant institutions, including ASUU. As we speak now, ASUU is working, trying to fix all the issues we highlighted with the system and we will review it again. But that is just one half of the story. But Mr Osodeke accused the government of telling lies. He said UTAS passed between 77 and 85 per cent, adding that you cant say a software programme that scored almost 80 per cent failed. He said: Also, we found out that in testing, they didnt look at the peculiarity of the universities, which we have explained to the meeting we had between Thursday and yesterday (Friday). They said they want to do the test again because what they did before was not correct. Those who did it did not know the peculiarities of the universities, which they are doing now. And by the time they are through, you will get a proper report. Our technical team are now there with them. They are there with observers from the Ministry of Education, Labour, Accountant General officer, Salaries and Wages commission. Before, they were not there. They just did it on their own. Renegotiation Speaking on the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, the unions president said the three months given to the renegotiation committee is not for ASUU, adding that the government is yet to reach out to the union on the new development. He said: I dont think the three months is for ASUU. If you look at the terms of reference very well, the three months is for the other unions, not for ASUU, because we are done with the renegotiation. They are just supposed to go and look at the document. If there are issues, they come back to us. Those three months, I dont believe its for ASUU. We do hope that they will reach out to us. That is one of the problems we are talking about. The strike is in its fourth week now but they have not reverted to us on those issues, which is why we are having problems in the system. Government is not doing its own work Earlier in the week, the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, gave a three-month window to the Nimi Briggs-led seven-man committee to look at the draft document and renegotiate the 2009 agreement between the government and university-based workers unions including ASUU, the National Association of Academic Technologists, (NAAT), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions (NASU). Speaking earlier on the position of the NEC of the union, the coordinator of the Lagos zone of ASUU, Adelaja Odukoya, had said: NEC is very clear on its position about the conditions of service. It said until that is resolved, and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) in the university system is achieved, the strike shall continue Backstory ASUUs strike, currently in its fourth week was embarked upon to press home some demands it accused the government of failing to meet despite promises. After several meetings, the major outcome was at last weeks meeting where ASUU agreed to present the governments proposal to its members. However, PREMIUM TIMES was told that the two most important demands that could quench the fire of the strike were the renegotiation of the 2009 federal government-ASUU agreement on the working conditions of Nigerian academics and the deployment of UTAS to replace the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) imposed on universities by the government. Other demands include the payment of earned academic allowances, revitalisation fund for universities, distortions in the payment of salaries, funding of state universities, and the release of white papers on the visitation panels sent to the universities. While the minister of education has released the names of the teams to draft the white papers from the reports of the visitation panels, the government is yet to inaugurate them to commence work almost four weeks later. The sixth batch of Nigerian evacuees from Ukraine arrived Saturday evening at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. They arrived on a plane owned by Azman Air. They were airlifted from Hungary where they had fled following the war in Ukraine. A total of 301 Nigerians were evacuated on the flight, some of whom are students stuck in Sumy, a Ukrainian city that has suffered repeated Russian attacks. The evacuees, according to the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), also got free SIM cards loaded with airtime to allow them to reach their family members. The SIM cards were courtesy of a partnership between NiDCOM and MTN, a network service provider. The evacuees also received 100 dollars for transportation as did the batches that arrived before them. PREMIUM TIMES reported how over 1,000 Nigerians earlier arrived from Ukraine in five batches. The returnees had fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries like Poland and Hungary from where they were airlifted to Nigeria. Hundreds of people have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country about a fortnight ago while over two million people have been displaced. President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday, warned the other leaders of his party, APC, to get their acts together unless they want the party to suffer a fate worse than that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The PDP governed Nigeria for 16 years before it lost the 2015 general elections to the APC. Mr Buhari issued his warning to leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) amidst the renewed internal crises ravaging the party ahead of the 2023 general elections. The partys internal crises took a turn for the worse on Monday when the Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello, controversially took over the APC leadership from his Yobe State counterpart, Mala Buni. Mr Buni was reportedly butted out of office as APCs acting chairman for alleged anti-party behaviour ahead of the partys much anticipated National Convention. While the APC national secretariat has not outrightly confirmed the change of its leadership, PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported how the partys governors masterminded Mr Bunis dismissal, having noted the latters alleged plot to sabotage the March 26 event. His removal, according to the governors, was also sanctioned by Mr Buhari before the president commenced his latest medical trip to the United Kingdom. The Nigerian President, in Saturdays statement signed by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, did not acknowledge his role in the partys leadership crisis but cautioned its members against repeating the PDPs mistakes while in power. Yes, we are entitled to our own share of dissent and intra-party discord. These are common in all parties, left and right all over the world. But parties splintered by competing egos destined themselves to the worst possible fate. As the country prepares for the long run up to the 2023 presidential election, we all expect a robust debate on the issues that matter and what is going on in the APC should be a reflection of this, not the infighting we are seeing. There must be no more distractions ahead of the convention to choose new leaders, Mr Buhari cautioned. Going by the fiasco that has played out within the party structures in recent times, he admitted to the APCs deviation from its original course and cautioned its leadership against self-aggrandizement and discriminatory politics. We didnt start on the note of arrogance of power, nor see government as a vehicle for self-aggrandizement, to be held at all costs, but a vehicle to bring development to all without discrimination-political, ethnic or regional to our dear country made this success possible, Mr Buhari noted. Media fueling APC crises Buhari In the statement, the president also faulted the medias coverage of the APC crises, describing it as a waste of everyones time. He downplayed the role of the APC leadership in the larger political discussions ahead of 2023 and called on the media to prioritise the reportage of processes around the election of the partys flag bearers. When precisely the partys convention is held and who is the partys chairman is hardly a matter for the average voter: vastly more important is who convention delegates will elect as the partys flag bearer in the coming weeks to take forward the partys platform to the people in the general election in February next year. It is therefore important for the media to put such matters into perspective. No-one is debating policy differences here. That is for the general election. None of the declared aspirants and any of those that may step forward will change because of who may be in the party in the chairmans seat. It is essentially the same party. Of course the media are welcome to comment on the content of the character of the potential APC candidates; discuss their suitability for leadership; scrutinize their offer to the membership. But to focus on the routine internal divisions and magnify them into what they have become today is a waste of everyones time, amounting to no more than a discussion over seating arrangements, Mr Shehu quoted the president as saying. Read the full statement below. STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE PRESIDENT BUHARI ASKS FOR ORDER IN THE APC President Muhammadu Buhari warns the leaders (and membership) of the All Progressives Party (APC) to desist from name-calling and backstabbing ahead of the oncoming March 26 Convention, remain steadfast and maintain its unity if the party is to continue in the path of victory and its dominance at all levels throughout the country. President Buhari asks the members to look at the once-powerful, main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) now enfeebled and adrift and learn lessons in disunity, mismanagement and corruption. They failed in 16 years in power and a failure as opposition. Yes, we are entitled to our own share of dissent and intra-party discord. These are common in all parties, left and right all over the world. Advertisements But parties splintered by competing egos destine themselves to the worst possible fate, the President warned. As the country prepares for the long run up to the 2023 presidential election, we all expect a robust debate on the issues that matter and what is going in the APC should be a reflection of this, not the infighting we are seeing. There must be no more distractions ahead of the convention to choose new leaders. He recalled that the APC started out with a confidence of victory and the party today enjoys that confidence in nearly two-thirds of our 36 states. Yet, he noted, this is a party that has been in existence barely for eight years, becoming the dominant party because it has thrown open its doors to defectors from other parties, big and small. This alone, addition to the fact we didnt start on the note of arrogance of power, nor see government as a vehicle for self-aggrandizement, to be held at all costs, but a vehicle to bring development to all without discrimination-political, ethnic or regional to our dear country made this success possible. The party, he went on to note, is proud of the fact that in its short period of existence, it has won two general elections decisively and despite losing a few states in 2019, it steadfastly expanded its pan-Nigerian outlook with significant defections of the opposition Governors and parliamentarians into its fold. Given all that is at a stake, we can expect contests into offices as we are now faced with to be heated although candidates and their promoters for party offices are not so much debating policy differences but differences of management, personality, character, and suitability for the most important leadership roles in our country and therefore the continent. It is equally clear that over the last week or so, the internal management affairs of the APC have been afforded generous media coverage over and above its importance to the voters of Nigeria. It is important to ask what benefits the poor are getting during the period of intense negative coverage. When precisely the partys convention is held and who is the partys chairman is hardly a matter for the average voter: vastly more important is who convention delegates will elect as the partys flagbearer in the coming weeks to take forward the partys platform to the people in the general election in February next year. It is therefore important for the media to put such matters into perspective. No-one is debating policy differences here. That is for the general election. None of the declared aspirants and any of those that may step forward will change because of who may be in the party in the chairmans seat. It is essentially the same party. Of course the media are welcome to comment on the content of the character of the potential APC candidates; discuss their suitability for leadership; scrutinize their offer to the membership. But to focus on the routine internal divisions and magnify them into what they have become today is a waste of everyones time, amounting to no more than a discussion over seating arrangements. This is not what Nigerians talk of in their communities. They have an inclination only for things that matter. Garba Shehu Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) March 12, 2022 Former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has announced his plan to run for the 2023 Enugu governorship election. He made the announcement, Friday, at a press conference in Enugu. Mr Ekweremadu, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), represents Enugu-West District in the Senate. Elected in 2003, he has spent more than 19 years in the Senate. Mr Ekweremadu said the position of the governor would provide him with the platform to serve the people of the state, assuring that he would utilise all the experience, friendship, partnership and global contact acquired over the years to transform Enugu State into a model state if elected. You want to know whether I will run for governor? The answer is yes, Im running for Governor, he said. His declaration has ended months of speculations regarding his interest in the governorship race. The senator vowed to restore the faith of the masses on governance through delivering on his campaign promises. He said his administration would fight corruption and enthrone justice and equity for the people of the state. It is now time to focus on Enugu State and Enugu people, he said. He promised to solve the perennial water scarcity in Enugu within six months, if elected. He further said he would set up an independent outfit to address the insecurity in the state. Not aware of any zoning arrangement Senator Ekweremadu said he was not aware of any agreement on zoning in Enugu State governorship. He said he would not have been in the Senate for five terms if there had been a zoning arrangement in the state. I challenge any person who said there was zoning (arrangement) to tell us the actual point, in whose house and who and who were there (when the agreement was reached), he said. Mr Ekweremadu described zoning as a political treachery. I have always believed that while we are balancing equity and justice, we must also ensure that there is sufficient content and capacity, the senator said. There has been controversy over zoning of the governorship of Enugu State. Although several politicians in the state have thrown their weight behind the said zoning arrangement, it has received knocks from some quarters. The three districts in the state Enugu East, Enugu West and Enugu North held separate mega rallies in 2021 where they endorsed the zoning arrangement in the state. The districts separately agreed it would be the turn of Enugu-East District to produce the next governor in 2023. The state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who attended the rallies, is said to favour the zoning arrangement. The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued 35 victims of alleged human trafficking in Niger Republic. The Zonal Coordinator of the agency in Kano, Abdullahi Babale, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN} in Kano on Friday. Mr Babele said that the rescued victims were handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service and transferred to NAPTIP at Kongolam International Border Post, Maiadua in Katsina State. He said, the victims comprised six males and 29 females, aged between five and 42 years respectively. He said the victims were allegedly transported and recruited from Ondo, Lagos, Enugu, Anambra, Oyo, Imo, Ogun, Ekiti, Edo, Osun, Kogi and Abia states. The victims were on their way to Europe through the Nigerian border, he said, adding that the agency had commenced investigation into the matter. (NAN) The Bureau of Public EnterprisesBureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has officially presented discharge certificates to three privatised enterprises which were earlier delisted from monitoring activities by the Bureau. They are Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) located in Sokoto State; Federal Superphosphate Fertilizer (FSFC), Kaduna State and Ikoyi Hotels Ltd. (Southern Sun), Lagos State. Presenting the certificates to the delisted companies on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Abuja, Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Alex A. Okoh said that the ceremony was as a result of the fulfillment of the covenants stipulated in the Post-Acquisition Plan (PAP) by the enterprises. Mr Okoh noted that during the Bureaus routine monitoring on the three delisted enterprises, the core investors were found to have achieved all; and in some instances, exceeded the obligations they covenanted to, in their respective PAPs. He added that it is on this note that the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) granted approval for the delisting of the enterprises, adding that the Federal Government would continue to support credible private sector investors in the country by providing a conducive environment for business to thrive and ensure the continued growth and development of the economy. Mr Okoh maintained that despite their discharge from regular monitoring activities, the Bureau would occasionally request for information or visit the enterprises in order to report on their performances as showcases of the privatisation and reform programme of the Federal Government. Representatives of the three delisted enterprises, all commended the privatisation programme of the Federal Government and assured that they would promptly respond to requests by the Bureau. For a director of former Ikoyi Hotels, now Southern Sun, Ernest Oji, since the acquisition of the hotel, the new owners have turned around the enterprise and employed over 300 workers who are well catered for even as he revealed that billions of naira in taxes are being remitted to the Federal Government. It would be recalled that FSFC was incorporated in September 1973 with an installed capacity of 100,000 metric tons per annum and privatied in 2005. It was handed over to the Core Investor, Messrs HEIKO Consortium in January 2006. While Ikoyi Hotel also called Nigerian Hotels Limited was established in 1032 and owned 100% percent by the Federal Government, was privatised through Assets Sale to BETA Consortium Limited with a bid price of $13,867,000.000 and handed to the investor in 2003. The Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc (CCNN), Sokoto was commissioned in 1967 with the Federal Government owning 45% shares of the Company. In 2000 the FG shares were divested through a strategic Core Investor sale/Initial Public Offer. During its privatisation, an already existing shareholder and technical partner to CCNN, ScanCem/Dammnaz International Limited emerged as the core investor of the company. In 2010, the company was acquired by BUA international. Facebook and Instagram have said they will allow users in some countries to call for violence against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian soldiers, according to an internal email seen by Reuters on Thursday. As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as death to the Russian invaders. We still wont allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians, Reuters quoted a Meta spokesperson as saying in a statement. The social media company is also temporarily allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, according to internal emails to its content moderators. The calls for the leaders deaths will be allowed unless they contain other targets or have two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method, one email said, in a recent change to the companys rules on violence and incitement. The decision to allow users in certain countries to be able to make such posts, according to Nick Clegg, Metas Global Affairs officer, is temporary and taken in extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances. I want to be crystal clear: Our policies are focused on protecting peoples rights to speech as an expression of self-defence in reaction to a military invasion of their country, he said in a statement. The fact is, if we applied our standard content policies without any adjustments we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces, which would rightly be viewed as unacceptable. He noted that the policy only applies in Ukraine and the company has not changed its policies against hate speech targeting Russian people. The temporary policy changes on calls for violence to Russian soldiers apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, according to one email. We are issuing a spirit-of-the-policy allowance to allow T1 violent speech that would otherwise be removed under the Hate Speech policy when: (a) targeting Russian soldiers, EXCEPT prisoners of war, or (b) targeting Russians where its clear that the context is the Russian invasion of Ukraine (e.g., content mentions the invasion, self-defence, etc.), it said in the email. We are doing this because we have observed that in this specific context, Russian soldiers is being used as a proxy for the Russian military. The Hate Speech policy continues to prohibit attacks on Russians, the email stated. Responding to Metas new policy against it, Russia on Friday announced plans to block access to Instagram and launched a criminal case against its owner, Meta Platforms Inc. Fridays move is the latest in Russias confrontation with United States-based social media platforms that has escalated since its invasion of Ukraine. Russias communications and media regulator, Roskomnadzor, said it was restricting access to hugely popular Instagram because the platform is spreading calls to commit violent acts against Russian citizens, including military personnel. The ban will come into effect on Monday, it said, allowing active Instagram users time to transfer their photos and videos to other social networks and notify their followers. Russias communications regulator had on March 4, blocked Meta Platforms Incs Facebook for restrictions of access to Russian media on its platform, more than a week after Moscow invaded its neighbour Ukraine. The regulator, Roskomnadzor, said there had been 26 cases of discrimination against Russian media by Facebook since October 2020, with access restricted to state-backed channels like RT and the RIA news agency. Russias Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, already said it was launching an investigation of Meta, and prosecutors pushed for the Silicon Valley giant to be branded extremist. A criminal case has been initiated in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, said the committee, which reports directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are popular in Russia, with 7.5 million, 50.8 million and 67 million users last year respectively, according to researcher Insider Intelligence. Russias RIA news agency, citing a source, said the legal moves will not affect WhatsApp as the messaging app is considered a means of communication not a way to post information. Reacting to Metas relaxing of its rules, UN Rights Office spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell said that the policy lacked clarity, which could certainly contribute to hate speech directed at Russians in general. Chiamaka Okafor is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe. Advertisements Fabian Adibe, a veteran Nigerian actor who dominated the movie scene for nearly four decades, has revealed why he quit acting 12 years ago. The actor and television personality who led Nigeria to her first Commonwealth Art Festival in 1965 began his acting career in 1987 in the acclaimed Nigerian TV series, Things fall apart. He played the role of Ogbuefi Uzowulu and acted alongside Pete Edochie. His other co-actors, Justus Esiri and Sam Loco Efe, in the series are now deceased. The 81-year-old actor, in an interview with a Nigerian travel journalist, Chinelo Okafor, said he left Nollywood because of packaging. He said: I left them (Nollywood) because one of their boys came and told me that they are starting a thing called packaging. So I asked him what packaging is, and he said they would give you three scripts. You will do two and get paid while the other would be for them. Why would you want me to do one for you for free? I said I wouldnt? I told the boy I would not be part of that packaging. Acting fees Speaking of remuneration for the roles he played in the past, the veteran actor said that his contemporaries are being paid about N100,000. He said it was a far cry from the N10,000 to N30,000, which he was paid in his heyday. He, however, added that in some cases, he even earned as low as N2,000. His last known movie roles were in Sister My Love, released in 2006, and Slave Warrior, released the following year. On December 1, 2013, the accomplished actor launched his first book titled Mixed Grill at 70. Visual impairment, abandonment The 79-year-old actor also claimed his colleagues in southeastern Nigeria abandoned him. He said, None of these people that are Onitsha traders that are in Nollywood, none of them have ever phoned me or asked where this man is. Some AGN friends call me even though they find visiting me difficult because they are in Lagos. But the ones that used to use me and that I made money for, none of them have ever called me or looked for me. In 2016, it was rumoured that the actor had a visual impairment. In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, he disclosed that he needed N13 million for eye surgery. The actor said his visual impairment had also affected his career for 12 years. He said: I have been out of work for 12 years, and then I told one of the Onitsha marketers that Adibe is now blind, and the marketer responded that he is not out to carry around a blind man. So I didnt leave them because of this blindness, although the blindness started gradually. If I werent blind, I would still be doing the film, not for them, but for my first son, who is now an outstanding director in the industry. History Mr Adibe featured in the Nollywood classic, Living in Bondage, released in 1993. The movie further thrust him into the limelight. The actor is known for playing the role of an elder, king, father, father-in-law, and brother. But, in most of his movies, he portrayed a man of integrity, that one elder in Nollywood movies who doesnt support the evil tactics of the others. He featured in over 300 movies, some of which include Slave Warrior (2012), White Kingdom 2 (2014), and Fathers (2014). The revered actor also featured in foreign movies, including Soweto, a story about the struggle in South Africa, and Mr. Johnson, a Hollywood film. The actor was a staff of the Nigerian Television Authority until he was retrenched on May 25, 1984. The police in Akwa Ibom State have confirmed that a secondary school student has been stabbed to death by a schoolmate in the state. The police identified the slain student as Samuel Archibong of Community Secondary School, Aka Offot in Uyo, and his alleged assailant as James Elijah. The police spokesperson in the state, Odiko MacDon, disclosed this in a statement in Uyo on Saturday. Mr MacDon, a superintendent of police, said the incident occurred on March 10. He did not give details of the incident. Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Education, Idongesit Etiebet, has ordered the closure of the school to enable the State Secondary Education Board and the Ministry of Education to investigate the matter. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Andrew Amiengheme, has directed the deployment of a Special Surveillance Unit to schools in Akwa Ibom to check the excesses of students, Mr MacDon said in the police statement. This is not the first time we have witnessed an act of this nature and is totally unacceptable. The Commissioner of Police, Andrew Amiengheme, is miffed and has condemned the barbaric act. He has called on parents to enshrine germane family values while school authorities are to quickly and discreetly report suspected students with traits of cultism and misdemeanor, Mr Macdon said. He said henceforth the police would send patrol teams to some secondary schools after closing hours to ensure that students went home safely. Mr MacDon said the police commissioner has assured that the perpetrator would be brought to book. He called on parents to inculcate good family culture in their children to avoid such occurrences. (NAN) The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has vowed to appeal against a court judgment ordering it to reinstate its two top directors who were sacked last year. It said the judgement of the National Industrial Court in Abuja ordering the reinstatement of the two officials was not only based on technical grounds but also ignored the weight of offences they allegedly committed. The industrial court argued technically without looking at the weight of the offences committed by the officers. We will appeal in order to make sure government officials do not use their offices arbitrarily or against perceived enemies, the statement issued on Thursday by the agencys chief media analyst, Ahmed Dikko, read in part. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the NFIU placed the two officials on indefinite suspension in August 2020 before finally dismissing them in June 2021. The agency took the disciplinary actions against the officials based on a series of allegations of misconduct, insubordination and dereliction of duties levelled against them. Our reports, based on official documents obtained exclusively, had indicated that key among the particulars of the allegations levelled against the officials was their initiating probes against former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and ex-Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, without due authorisation. Both Mohammed Mustapha, an associate director, Intelligence and Investigation, and Fehintola Salisu, associate director, Compliance and Analysis, had approached the National Industrial Court in Abuja to challenge their dismissal. In a judgement delivered on March 3, 2022, the judge, Rakiya Haastrup, declared their dismissal arbitrary and unlawful, pointing out a series of procedural illegalities and violations of rights to fair hearing in the process leading to their dismissal. She ordered NFIU to immediately reinstate the two officials and pay them their salaries and entitlements they had been deprived of during the period of their illegal dismissal. Officials not sacked because of Atiku, Tinubu probe The NFIU, in its statement vowing to appeal against the judgement, maintained that Mr Mustapha and Ms Salisu were not sacked for launching investigations against Mr Abubakar (Atiku), a top member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Mr Tinubu, national leader of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC). It added that the dismissed staff (members) repeatedly associated their case with Atiku and Tinubu in order to attract cheap sympathy and blackmail the NFIU. It alleged that the officials were rather sacked for opening and running bank accounts without approval. No responsible organisation, the statement said, would spare any officials caught in such conduct, more especially when there is clear evidence of doing so. In essence they knew what they did, let them say the truth, the statement said. Pointing out other grounds for the dismissal of the officials, the statement suggested that they were involved in blocking over 360 bank accounts of ordinary Nigerians without a reason or a court order. You cannot walk up to a bank and block over 360 bank accounts of ordinary Nigerians without a reason or any court order and expect things to augur well, even when the innocent depositors marched to the National Assembly to complain of being innocently targeted, the statement added. Atiku, Tinubu While distancing the sacking of the officials from the investigations they were trying to launch against Messrs Abubakar and Tinubu, the agency said they ought not to have triggered the probes simply because the targets were politicians. In the same vein, you cannot allow yourself to be used by anybody to trigger investigations on or against innocent Nigerians simply because they are politicians or legislators or judicial officials or senior public servants. Every innocent citizen deserves protection, if you have no definite reason to make them suspects formally and officially, the statement added. It also said said no staff member of the agency had an official relationship with Messrs Abubakar and Tinubu. Mr Tinubu has indicated his intention to contest the forthcoming presidential election. Let it also be clear that no management or operating staff of the NFIU has any formal or informal relationship with the two politicians that are repeatedly mentioned in this case. We do not know them. Advertisements But every innocent citizen deserves respect and privacy, if there is nothing proven suspicious against them. Both law and justice are about equal treatment and NFIU is an intelligence agency that cannot be used for partisan politics in any way, it stated. This appears to be responding to criticism by some that the action taken against Mr Mustapha and Ms Salisu was done partly to protect the perceived relationship between Mr Abubakar and the executive director of NFIU, Moddibo Hamman-Tukur, both of whom hail from Adamawa State. Background PRRMIUM TiMES had reported how Mr Mustapha and Ms Salisu sued the agency at the National Industrial Court in Abuja, praying for an order setting aside their dismissal from service on December 10, 2021. Mr Mustapha and Mr Salisu had argued that their dismissal was single-handedly carried out by Mr Mamman-Tukur, the agencys executive director in contravention of the law. They also pointed out series of violations of due process and trampling of the two officials right to fair hearing in the process leading to their dismissal in June last year. After declaring the dismissal unlawful, null and void, the judge ordered the NFIU and Mr Mamman-Tukur to issue a letter recalling and re-instating them into the service of NFIU and restoring all the privileges, entitlements and positions held by the claimants before their purported dismissal by the defendants. Ms Haastrup, the judge, also ordered them to pay the claimants salaries, allowances and all their entitlements from the period of their purported dismissal to the period of re-instatement. The procedural violations committed by the NFIU in sacking the officials, the judge said, included the agencys disciplinary committee finding the claimants guilty of breaches not contained in the queries issued to them. She also ruled that the punishment of dismissal meted out to the claimants was not commensurate with the allegations of negligence, dereliction of duty and insubordination they were said to be guilty of. The judge also held that since NFIU did not have any condition of service in existence, then it is the provision of the Public Service Rules (PSR) that is applicable in the discipline of the claimants. She noted that under the PSR it was the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) that could take a disciplinary action against claimants, while the executive director of the agency only had the power to initiate the process. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali, has warned police officers against the use of mufti and unauthorised outfit while on duty. Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, made this known in a statement obtained by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday. The IGP has described as unacceptable, the use of unapproved apparels noting that uniforms, which is a means of identification, has been abused by these officers who engage in improper dressing. He equally decries the fear this unwholesome practice creates in the minds of innocent Nigerians. The IGP therefore ordered that henceforth, all police officers detailed for patrol, stop and search, check point, and other routine operational duties must be in approved uniforms for easy identification, the statement said. The IGPs warning comes amidst public outcry against police officers who conduct official duties in mufti. Some of the police formations notorious for for not wearing proper uniforms are the defunct Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Anti Car theft, amongst others. While sounding the warning to the police, the IGP said he has drafted the relevant departments of the police to ensure compliance. Read full statement: PRESS RELEASE IGP BANS USE OF UNAPPROVED UNIFORMS, OUTFITS, ON ROUTINE OPERATIONS Orders Provost, IGP Monitoring Unit to Ensure Strict Enforcement The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc (+), NPM, fdc, has expressed dismay at the flagrant violation of the approved Nigeria Police Force dress code by officers on patrol and guard, stop and search, and other routine police operations; who have formed the habit of wearing t-shirts and face caps with Special Forces, Commando, Gallant MOPOL, SCORPION, and other inscriptions while on duty. Premised on this, the IGP has ordered an immediate ban on such unapproved apparels. The IGP has described as unacceptable, the use of unapproved apparels noting that uniforms, which is a means of identification, has been abused by these officers who engage in improper dressing. He equally decries the fear this unwholesome practice creates in the minds of innocent Nigerians. The IGP therefore ordered that henceforth, all police officers detailed for patrol, stop and search, check point, and other routine operational duties must be in approved uniforms for easy identification. Consequently, the IGP has ordered that all Police disciplinary units particularly the Force Provost Marshal, the IGP X-Squad and Monitoring Unit to ensure the strict enforcement of the directive with severe sanctions for erring officers. The IGP has equally warned that all supervisory officers would be held vicariously liable in the event that personnel under their command violate this order. The Inspector-General of Police has assured well-meaning members of the public that the Force leadership is committed to promoting strategic police reforms geared at sanitizing operational engagements, and bequeathing to the nation a professional policing system as required. CSP OLUMUYIWA ADEJOBI, mnipr, mipra Ag. FORCE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER FORCE HEADQUARTERS ABUJA The police in Lagos Saturday explained why a yet-to-be-named dispatch rider who had a baby inside the courier box at the back of his motorcycle was yet to be arrested. The state spokesperson for the command, Adekunle Ajisebutu, in a statement said the incident has not been reported to any police division in the state. The incident happened in the Sangotedo area of the state. In the early hours of Saturday, a video shared on social media showed a mob slapping the rider as he was being taken away. One of the persons in the background was heard saying, this is the child that was abducted, as the video panned to a toddler being held by a man Attention of the Lagos State Police Command has been drawn to a video going viral on social media alleging that a yet-to-be-identified dispatch rider stole a child found and recovered in a dispatch box, the police statement said. The command wishes to inform the public that the incident said to have taken place in the Sangotedo area, Lekki, was not reported at any police station to enable the police to take appropriate actions. ALSO READ: IGP bans mufti for police officers on duty However, Mr Ajisebutu said that the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, has directed that efforts should be intensified to locate the whereabouts of the dispatch rider and the parents or guardians of the child to enable the police to investigate the incident. The development comes amid the murder of a 22-year-old fashion designer, Bamise Ayanwola, who went missing after boarding a BRT in the state on February 26 and was later found dead. The BRT driver, Andrew Omininikoron, was eventually arrested and arraigned before a court in Yaba for alleged murder and rape. Gunmen have attacked the venue of a burial in Ndingbu village, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigerias South-east. The attack is coming less than two weeks after a similar attack occurred in Ebenebe community, Awka North Local Government Area of the state, where several people were killed by gunmen suspected to be members of a cult group. The latest attack happened on Friday. The gunmen were said to have targeted vigilante operatives who were providing security at the burial of a yet-to-be-identified person. Amaechi Odoh, a resident of the area told PREMIUM TIMES that the gunmen stormed the burial venue and attacked the vigilante operatives said to be members of the Ebube Agu, a government-backed security outfit in the South-east. He said some residents sustained gunshot injuries in the attack, but that no life was lost. They (the family) invited Ebube Agu members to ensure security in the burial. Nobody died, just that bullets hit some persons, Mr Odoh said. The police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the attack said the Commissioner of Police Echeng Echeng, has ordered a manhunt for the fleeing gunmen. He said the police had no prior-notification about the burial. Police operatives have been deployed to the area and normalcy has been restored, he said. Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said the gunmen further attacked a vigilante office, set ablaze the vigilantes operational vehicle, and abducted a member of the Ebube Agu in Utuh community, within the same Nnewi South. He urged residents of the area to help the police with relevant information that will aid the police in its investigation and operation. He assured that the police and other security agencies are firm in providing security for residents of the state. Plattsburgh, NY (12901) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High 54F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. YEREVAN, 12 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan and Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke about the results of the meeting after their meeting in Antalya, ARMENPRESS reports, "Anadolu" agency reports that Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu described the meeting as "very constructive and effective." "Steps aimed at full normalization of relations were discussed," he said. According to Turkish media, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that Yerevan will make efforts to normalize relations with Ankara. Mirzoyan reaffirmed Armenia's determination "to make efforts to establish peace and stability in the South Caucasus." The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan is in Antalya on March 10-12, where he is participating in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Within the framework of the forum, Mirzoyan has met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Austrian n Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg. DUBLIN, March 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the conflict in Ukraine and the appalling human suffering being endured by those affected, The Goodman Foundation, in collaboration with ABP Food Group and the Parma Group (which includes Blackrock Health Group Blackrock Clinic, Galway Clinic and Hermitage Clinic) is announcing a donation of 3 million to UNICEF, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). ABP and Parma employ a number of Ukrainian nationals in Poland and across Europe. We are working locally with the Polish Authorities and are providing direct humanitarian assistance on the ground to our colleagues impacted by the war in Ukraine. In addition, both the livestock farming community and suppliers of goods and services will be facilitated to make donations. Internal colleague initiatives will also be established for those who wish to make donations. Any money raised from these sources will also be matched, up to an additional total of 2 million. One hundred percent of donations will go directly to UNICEF, MSF and the ICRC to fund the immediate and urgent humanitarian response in Ukraine. A governance structure has been established for the project. This structure will be audited by KPMG. The thoughts of the Goodman Foundation, ABP Food Group, Parma Group and our employees are with those affected by the conflict in Ukraine and with our many Ukrainian colleagues and friends Issued on behalf of Goodman Foundation, ABP Food Group, Parma Group SOURCE ABP Food Group Built on the site of the former Children's Zoo, Wildlife Explorers Basecamp is a 3.2-acre state-of-the-art, multi-ecosystem experience designed to provide guests of all ages with an up-close look at nature and offer fresh, high-tech interactive opportunities that nurture empathy for wildlife and encourage future caretakers of the planet. Inside Basecamp, Zoo guests will visit with a variety of fascinating species and engage on a deeper level by using full sensory and multifaceted elements, including "parallel play" opportunities from climbing and crawling around a massive tree house, to exploring through amazing water play elements; experiencing interactive touch screen games, using microscopes to reveal natural wonders, and specialized animation that utilizes artificial-intelligence (AI), dynamic lighting and whole-room scented environments. "Wildlife Explorers Basecamp speaks to the budding conservationist within us all and shows us the marvels of the natural world," said Paul A. Baribault, president and chief executive officer of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. "Through these gates millions of world changers will begin their journey with nature, and demonstrate the power of empathy and compassion as they join us to become allies for wildlife". Wildlife Explorers Basecamp encompasses eight buildings and habitats dispersed throughout four zones, featuring wildlife that live in these ecosystems: Rainforest, Wild Woods, Marsh Meadows and Desert Dunes. The Rainforest zone is centered around the 10,000-square-foot McKinney Family Spineless Marvels building, where guests will experience invertebratesincluding crustaceans, arachnids and insectssuch as leafcutter ants, spiders, scorpions, stick insects and more. Inside, there is a pollinator experience with giant beeswax-fragrant honeycombs and an observation pane that gives guests the chance to see the workings of a real-life beehive. The projected migration flyover encounter showcases various insects, including migrating monarch butterflies, grasshoppers and dragonflies as part of a large meadow scene that curves along walls and encompasses a domed ceiling. The Wild Woods area offers guests the chance to visit with unusual wildlife species, such as coatis and squirrel monkeys, which are both native to Central and South America. The space features the striking Prebys Foundation Discovery Bridge and a 20-foot-tall tree or dreams a tree house designed as an ancient oak. This dynamic and detailed nature-play tree provides multiple points of access for guestsfrom a suspension bridge and net tunnel to a spiral staircaseand a parallel play experience to the squirrel monkeys that live in the adjacent habitat. Water play is another focus of this woodland-themed zone, which includes a waterfall that flows into a gentle meandering stream, an exhilarating splash pad, unpredictable water jets, and a bluff area with a boulder scramble made to encourage exploration. Marsh Meadows aims to evoke a sense of visiting marsh-like habitats, including swamps and estuaries. The pathway through this area was designed to help convey a sense that guests are inhabiting the marsh along with frogs, fish and other wildlife that lives there. The central hub of Marsh Meadows is the Art and Danielle Engel-funded Jake's Cool Critters buildinga two-story herpetology and ichthyology structure with more than 7,000 square feet of immersive environments, digital media, learning opportunities and educational classroom spaces, created to engage wildlife explorers of all ages. The wildlife here includes snakes, amphibians, crocodilians, turtles and lizards, including endangered Fijian iguanas. At the nearby Rady Ambassadors Headquarters, guests will meet wildlife from all over the planet, including a two-toed sloth and a prehensile-tailed porcupine, and learn more about how everyone can help conserve them in their native habitats. Finally, Desert Dunes, a dry desert wash-themed area, offers fun boulder play prospects for climbing, scrambling, hopping and more. Reptile sculptures and petroglyphs can be found among the rocks, while cool caves provide shaded areas where guests can beat the heat, like their desert wildlife counterpartsincluding the fennec fox, prairie dog and burrowing owl. Conservation is at the forefront in the design of Wildlife Explorers Basecamp, as builders worked to incorporate advanced sustainable materials throughout. A portion of the Spineless Marvels building was made with ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE)a fluorine-based plastic that is created to be more resistant to corrosion. The system is 100% recyclable, and consists of a series of custom-sized Teflon multilayered "air pillows"which, when filled with air, provide solar insulation while also reducing the need for artificial lighting. The Zoo's talented horticulture team worked to identify more than 100 trees from the previous habitat to preserve and replant within Basecamp. For more information about Wildlife Explorers Basecamp, its many features, the wildlife that lives there and how you can help San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance conserve wildlife and build a world where all live thrives, visit the Wildlife Explorers Basecamp webpage. Wildlife Explorers Basecamp is included with admission to the San Diego Zoo. About San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is a nonprofit international conservation leader, committed to inspiring a passion for nature and creating a world where all life thrives. The Alliance empowers people from around the globe to support their mission to conserve wildlife through innovation and partnerships. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance supports cutting-edge conservation and brings the stories of their work back to the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Parkgiving millions of guests, in person and virtually, the opportunity to experience conservation in action. The work of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance extends from San Diego to strategic and regional conservation "hubs" across the globe, where their strengthsincluding the renowned Wildlife Biodiversity Bankare able to effectively align with hundreds of regional partners to improve outcomes for wildlife in more coordinated efforts. By leveraging these tools in wildlife care and conservation science, and through collaboration with hundreds of partners, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has reintroduced more than 44 endangered species to native habitats. Each year, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's work reaches over 1 billion people in 150 countries via news media, social media, their websites, educational resources and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers television programming, which is in children's hospitals in 13 countries. Success is made possible by the support of members, donors and guests to the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, who are Wildlife Allies committed to ensuring all life thrives. Link Includes: Photo of: Paul A. Baribault, president and chief executive officer of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, along with a group of youth from across San Diego and Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, during the opening ceremony of the new Denny Sanford Wildlife Explorers Basecamp. Video available of: Paul A. Baribault, president and chief executive officer of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, along with a group of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance team members, youth from across San Diego, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, and a crowd of Zoo guests during the opening ceremony of the new Denny Sanford Wildlife Explorers Basecamp. Interview with: Paul A. Baribault, president and chief executive officer of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Wildlife Explorers Basecamp news release in Spanish available. PERMITTED USE: Images and video(s) are provided to the media solely for reproduction, public display, and distribution in a professional journalistic non-commercial and non-sponsored context in connection with newspaper, magazine, broadcast media (radio, television) or internet media (ad enabled blog, webcasts, webinars, podcasts). Image(s) and video(s) may not be made available for public or commercial download, licensing or sale. ADDITIONAL LIMITATION: Media acknowledges and agrees that San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance specifically does not grant a right to sublicense any image and/or video without the prior express written consent of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in each instance and at its sole discretion. REQUIRED CREDIT AND CAPTION: All image and/or video uses must bear the copyright notice and/or be properly credited to the relevant photographer, as shown in the image metadata, and must be accompanied by a caption that makes reference to the San Diego Zoo and/or San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Any uses in which the image and/or video appears without proper copyright notice, photographer credit and a caption referencing the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and/or San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance are subject to paid licensing. AP PERMITTED USE: Specific to the Associated Press ("AP") only, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has provided to the AP one or more photograph(s) and/or video(s) for distribution by the AP to its subscribers and customers solely for editorial publication. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is the sole copyright owner of the photograph(s) and/or video(s) furnished to AP for editorial publication by AP and its subscribers and customers in all media now known or hereafter created. Said content is a factually accurate rendering of what it depicts and has not been modified or augmented except for standard cropping and toning. Media Contact: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Public Relations 619-685-3291 [email protected] WEBSITE: sdzwa.org PRESS ROOM: https://sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/pressroom SOURCE San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance 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. 3S Ortho, Acumed LLC, Arthrosurface, BioPro Inc., Charms, EVOLUTIS SAS, Groupe Lepine, Integra LifeSciences Corp., Johnson and Johnson, KeriMedical SA, Loci Orthopaedics Ltd., MatOrtho Ltd., Ortotech AS, Skeletal Dynamics LLC, Stryker Corp., Teijin Ltd., Vilex LLC, Willis-Knighton Health System, Wright Medical Group NV, and Zimmer Biomet Holdings 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 furniture industry. View more about the market's vendor landscape highlights with a comprehensive list of vendors and their offerings. Key Market Segmentation Segmentation by Product: MCP and PIP joint implants: During the projected period, the MCP and PIP joint implants segments will grow their market share of digit joint implants significantly. MCP and PIP joint implants are flexible intramedullary one-piece implants that are used to restore the function of a finger joint during arthroplasty surgery. These implants are made of materials such as cobalt chrome, silicone, titanium, polyethylene, and pyro-carbon, which aid in the correction or replacement of MCP and PIP joints through the encapsulation process. During the forecast period, such applications will fuel segment expansion. Trapeziometacarpal joint implants Toe implants Others Request a FREE Sample of this report for more highlights into the market segments. Regional Market Outlook North America will contribute to 40% of the market growth during the forecast period. The US and Canada are the key markets for the digit joint implants market in North America. Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in other regions. Apart from regions, if we look at the country-wise market growth, the US, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan 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 Digit Joint Implants Market Market Driver: Increasing prevalence of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis: One of the primary reasons supporting the digit joint implants market expansion is the rising prevalence of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis due to the growing geriatric population. In 2020, around 654.1 million people over the age of 40 had knee OA worldwide. In people aged 20 and up, the global incidence of knee OA was 203 per 10,000 person-years. As a result, the rising prevalence of OA and RA necessitates the adoption of medical devices such as digit joint implants to replace damaged or diseased joints. During the forecast period, such requirements are expected to fuel market expansion. Market Challenges: Complications associated with the use of digit joint implants: One of the issues impeding the growth of the finger joint implants market is the complications connected with its use. Infection, implant fracture, stiffness, and other problems are all linked to the usage of digit joint implants. Additionally, allergic reactions, osteolysis, metal debris deposition, bone erosion, silicone synovitis, embolism, and fibrous ankyloses are also hazards connected with digit joint implants. Revision procedures are required as a result of these problems. As a result, during the projection period, the problems associated with the usage of digit joint implants would stifle overall market growth. Find additional information about various other market drivers & trends mentioned in our FREE sample report . Need More? Are You Looking for Information Not Covered in This Report? Want to understand more about the various research methodology? Evaluate a specific segment or region in detail Identify key suppliers, customers, or other market players Analyze market regulations Tailor this report according to your needs. Get it done with our $ 1000 worth of free customization. Speak to Our Analyst Now ! Related Reports: Intrapartum Monitoring Devices Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026 Radiation Therapy Equipment Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026 Digit Joint Implants Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.71% Market growth 2022-2026 $ 55.23 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 6.42 Regional analysis North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World (ROW) Performing market contribution North America at 40% Key consumer countries US, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled 3S Ortho, Acumed LLC, Arthrosurface, BioPro Inc., Charms, EVOLUTIS SAS, Groupe Lepine, Integra LifeSciences Corp., Johnson and Johnson, KeriMedical SA, Loci Orthopaedics Ltd., MatOrtho Ltd., Ortotech AS, Skeletal Dynamics LLC, Stryker Corp., Teijin Ltd., Vilex LLC, Willis-Knighton Health System, Wright Medical Group NV, and Zimmer Biomet Holdings 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 Product Exhibit 06: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by Type 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 Product 5.1 Market segments Exhibit 25: Chart on Product - Market share 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 26: Data Table on Product - Market share 2021-2026 (%) 5.2 Comparison by Product Exhibit 27: Chart on Comparison by Product Exhibit 28: Data Table on Comparison by Product 5.3 MCP and PIP joint implants - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 29: Chart on MCP and PIP joint implants - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 30: Data Table on MCP and PIP joint implants - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 31: Chart on MCP and PIP joint implants - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 32: Data Table on MCP and PIP joint implants - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 5.4 Trapeziometacarpal joint implants - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 33: Chart on Trapeziometacarpal joint implants - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 34: Data Table on Trapeziometacarpal joint implants - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 35: Chart on Trapeziometacarpal joint implants - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 36: Data Table on Trapeziometacarpal joint implants - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 5.5 Toe implants - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 37: Chart on Toe implants - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 38: Data Table on Toe implants - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 39: Chart on Toe implants - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 40: Data Table on Toe implants - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 5.6 Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 41: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 42: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 43: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 44: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 5.7 Market opportunity by Product Exhibit 45: Market opportunity by Product ($ million) 6 Market Segmentation by Type 6.1 Market segments Exhibit 46: Chart on Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 47: Data Table on Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%) 6.2 Comparison by Type Exhibit 48: Chart on Comparison by Type Exhibit 49: Data Table on Comparison by Type 6.3 Foot - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 50: Chart on Foot - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 51: Data Table on Foot - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 52: Chart on Foot - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 53: Data Table on Foot - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 6.4 Hand - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 54: Chart on Hand - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 55: Data Table on Hand - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 56: Chart on Hand - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 57: Data Table on Hand - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 6.5 Market opportunity by Type Exhibit 58: Market opportunity by Type ($ 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 Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 84: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 85: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 86: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 87: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.9 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 88: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 89: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 90: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 91: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.10 Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 92: Chart on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 93: Data Table on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 94: Chart on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 95: Data Table on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) 8.11 France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 96: Chart on France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 97: Data Table on France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million) Exhibit 98: Chart on France - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) Exhibit 99: Data Table on France - 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 3S Ortho Exhibit 107: 3S Ortho - Overview Exhibit 108: 3S Ortho - Product / Service Exhibit 109: 3S Ortho - Key offerings 11.4 Acumed LLC Exhibit 110: Acumed LLC - Overview Exhibit 111: Acumed LLC - Product / Service Exhibit 112: Acumed LLC - Key offerings 11.5 Arthrosurface Exhibit 113: Arthrosurface - Overview Exhibit 114: Arthrosurface - Product / Service Exhibit 115: Arthrosurface - Key offerings 11.6 BioPro Inc. Exhibit 116: BioPro Inc. - Overview Exhibit 117: BioPro Inc. - Product / Service Exhibit 118: BioPro Inc. - Key offerings 11.7 EVOLUTIS SAS Exhibit 119: EVOLUTIS SAS - Overview Exhibit 120: EVOLUTIS SAS - Product / Service Exhibit 121: EVOLUTIS SAS - Key offerings 11.8 Groupe Lepine Exhibit 122: Groupe Lepine - Overview Exhibit 123: Groupe Lepine - Product / Service Exhibit 124: Groupe Lepine - Key offerings 11.9 Integra LifeSciences Corp. Exhibit 125: Integra LifeSciences Corp. - Overview Exhibit 126: Integra LifeSciences Corp. - Business segments Exhibit 127: Integra LifeSciences Corp. - Key news Exhibit 128: Integra LifeSciences Corp. - Key offerings Exhibit 129: Integra LifeSciences Corp. - Segment focus 11.10 Johnson and Johnson Exhibit 130: Johnson and Johnson - Overview Exhibit 131: Johnson and Johnson - Business segments Exhibit 132: Johnson and Johnson - Key offerings Exhibit 133: Johnson and Johnson - Segment focus 11.11 KeriMedical SA Exhibit 134: KeriMedical SA - Overview Exhibit 135: KeriMedical SA - Product / Service Exhibit 136: KeriMedical SA - Key offerings 11.12 Loci Orthopaedics Ltd. Exhibit 137: Loci Orthopaedics Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 138: Loci Orthopaedics Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 139: Loci Orthopaedics Ltd. - Key offerings 12 Appendix 12.1 Scope of the report 12.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 140: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 141: Exclusions checklist 12.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 142: Currency conversion rates for US$ 12.4 Research methodology Exhibit 143: Research methodology Exhibit 144: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 145: Information sources 12.5 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. 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 LONDON, March 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- So far, 2022 has been economically harsh in many ways. COVID-19 continues to put pressure on the global economy, while the Russian invasion into Ukraine destabilized the energy and wheat markets, and will probably cause further surges in prices. Nonetheless, the brokerage brand EarningCrypt has recently announced a successful first-quarter operation. How did they manage to produce such good results in these economically volatile times? "The secret is non-stop improvement. Existing businesses tend to preserve old management and work habits, regardless of their efficiency," said Jeremy Atkins, EarningCrypt Spokesperson. "Our team might be new, but it has been assembled by veterans in the field who wanted to change the way brokerage platforms work. Rest assured that we have years of accumulated experience, especially in the digital asset sector." Mavericks of innovation Performing well in economically harsh times is remarkable, and EarningCrypt has managed to do so, with many new clients and positive feedback from existing users. EarningCrypt lives up to its vision of leading the evolutionary process of online brokerage. It has developed a robust platform based on top-edge technology. The platform's toolkit contains quick execution rates, a consistent overview of multiple transactions, and full-time access to an experienced customer support team. It also facilitates an easy-to-navigate platform, which is available on all devices, such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets. "We work full-power to ensure that client needs are met with diligence and caution," added Atkins. "These come hand-in-hand with innovative security methods, alongside a user-friendly platform, suited for clients in every level of expertise. Yet that's not all. EarningCrypt offers a proficient education program designed to deliver helpful information about every aspect of brokerage a client should know about: how to withdraw and deposit, how to track digital assets easily, and many other topics." About EarningCrypt EarningCrypt took on itself to raise a banner of innovation and creativity in the world of online commerce. In addition to implementing top innovative methods in security and software technology, it is a game-changer in many other aspects. For example, users can get personal advice from account managers whenever they need it. The brand also offers a variety of payment methods, supporting major debit\credit cards, bank-wire transfers, and popular E-wallets. Also worthy of noting is its world-class professional support team, always there to answer any query and assist the users in their journey. SOURCE EarningCrypt ROME, March 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fullpower Technologies, the leader in person/patient-generated sleep health data with the Sleeptracker-AI Platform, will announce new studies using its Sleeptracker-AI smart bed at World Sleep 2022, the 16th international meeting of the World Sleep Congress in Rome from March 11th-16th. Dr. Clete Kushida and collaborators will present results of the following studies: A Comparison of Estimated Sleep-Wake Patterns Obtained from a Large U.S. Sample by Home-Based Under-Mattress Monitoring Devices Before and After the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic Authors: C. Kushida2, A. Cotton-Clay3, S. Baron3, L. Fava3, V. Easwar3, A. Kinsolving3, P. Kahn3, J. Zitser Koren2, A. Rama4, F. Ding2 Estimated Sleep-Wake Patterns Obtained from a Large U.S. Sample by Home-Based Under-Mattress Monitoring Devices Authors: J. Zitser Koren2,5, A. Cotton-Clay3, V. Easwar3, A. Kinsolving3, P. Kahn3, C.A. Kushida2 Polysomnographic validation of an under-mattress monitoring device in estimating sleep architecture and obstructive sleep apnea in adults Authors: F. Ding2, A. Cotton-Clay3, L. Fava3, V. Easwar3, A. Kinsolving3, P. Kahn3, A. Rama4, C. Kushida2 2 Stanford University , Division of Sleep Medicine, Stanford , United States 3 Fullpower Technologies, Inc., Santa Cruz , United States 4 The Permanente Medical Group, San Jose, United States 5 Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel About Sleeptracker-AI: The Sleeptracker-AI platform delivers the first in-home, non-invasive, automatic, long-term sleep analysis solution, together with all the necessary data science tools and analytical dashboards powered by AI. www.sleeptracker.com About Fullpower-AI: Fullpower-AI delivers a complete B2B IoT platform for AI-powered algorithms, remote contactless biosensing together with end-to-end engineering services, and customization of software in the field of life sciences, health, and biotechnology. www.fullpower.com For more information, visit www.fullpower.com , or contact [email protected] . 1Patient Generated Health Data, HealthIT.gov https://www.healthit.gov/topic/scientific-initiatives/pcor/patient-generated-health-data-pghd SOURCE Fullpower NEW ORLEANS, March 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until April 25, 2022 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Gatos Silver, Inc. (NYSE: GATO), if they purchased the Company's securities between October 28, 2020 and January 25, 2022, inclusive (the "Class Period") and/or purchased or otherwise acquired the Company's shares pursuant to the Company's October 2020 initial public offering (the "IPO"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Get Help Gatos Silver investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-gato or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options. About the Lawsuit Gatos Silver and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period and/or in the Registration Statement and Prospectus issued in conjunction with the initial public offering, violating federal securities laws. On January 25, 2022, post-market, the Company revealed "errors in the technical report entitled 'Los Gatos Project, Chihuahua, Mexico' with an effective date of July 1, 2020 . . . , as well as indications that there is an overestimation in the existing resource model" and that on a preliminary basis, the Company estimated a potential reduction of the metal content of its CLG's mineral reserve ranging from 30% to 50% of the metal content remaining after depletion. On this news, shares of Gatos Silver fell $7.02 per share, or approximately 68.9%, to close at $3.17 per share on January 26, 2022. The case is Bilinsky v. Gatos Silver, Inc., et al., No. 22-cv-453. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. SOURCE ClaimsFiler UK shale gas stocks IGas Energy Plc (AIM:IGAS) and Egdon Resources PLC (AIM:EDR) saw their prices rise on Thursday as the government rethinks its position on fracking, which could unlock domestic gas resources to ease dependence on Russian imports. Cuadrilla, a privately-held company, has led the UK shale gas sector which had largely stalled in recent years as projects failed to secure planning and regulatory approval. The projects, located mostly in the North West of England, advanced sufficiently for the company and the British Geological Society to envisage decades' worth of supply but did not advance enough for the gas to be tested commercially. While Cuadrilla had the most advanced projects London Stock Exchange-listed IGas and Egdon amassed material prospective acreage across Cheshire, Lancashire and Lincolnshire. Igas was up 47% on the week and Egdon 36%. Meanwhile, investors also showed renewed interest in tidal power company SIMEC Atlantis Energy, the company behind the MeyGen free-stream tidal power project. The companys shares climbed by more than a third this week. As investors looked to unearth stocks that might benefit from the UKs attempts to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies, there was also some bargain hunting going on among those Russia-focused stocks that got hammered in the backlash to Russias invasion of Ukraine. Among those on the rebound is Amur Minerals Corporation (AIM:AMC, OTC:AMMCF), which is focused on base metal projects in the far east of Russia. The companys shares rallied by 34% this week. The company has previously indicated that sanctions against Russia will not have any effect on its business. Before hostilities started in Ukraine, the shares were riding high on expectations that the company would sell its Irosta Trading subsidiary, which owns the company's principal asset, the Kun-Manie nickel-copper sulphide project in far-east Russia. PetroNeft Resources PLC, up by a third this week, was another stock with interests in Russia on the comeback trail. Quantum Blockchain Technologies PLC (AIM:QBT)s shares ballooned as it returned strong results from its mining and artificial intelligence (AI) operations. Shares were up 60% this week as the group filed a patent application for a new qubit based algorithm for Bitcoin mining. In combination with the ASIC miner, the technology is expected to increase the hashing speed compared to other ASIC miners announced by competitors. Harvest Minerals Ltd (AIM:HMI, OTC:HMIFF) told investors that accumulated sales orders in 2022 to date totalled 30,161 tonnes, which marks a 1,070% increase over the fertiliser producers internal forecasts. It represents a 35% increase compared to the whole of 2021, and, 20% of the overall sales target for 2022 which was set at 150,000 tonnes. Now, the company said it is advancing planning in order to increase its capacity to 200,000 tonnes. Harvests shares rose 30% this week. A contract win for one of its subsidiaries sent shares in PipeHawk PLC (AIM:PIP) 28% higher. The contract was awarded by Ventive Limited for the second phase of the project to manufacture a groundbreaking 'green energy' product to provide domestic heating and hot water. The product builds on air source heat pump and heat recovery technology in conjunction with a thermal battery to provide an efficient solution that can be considered a direct replacement for a conventional gas or oil-fired heating system, which are planned to be phased out as the UK moves towards Net Zero. It was a bad week for Gfinity, which lost 45% of its value after a profit warning. Its half-year results showed the e-sports company making progress on its path towards profitability but the company revealed that there has been a slower than anticipated return to live e-sports events which has had an impact on short term revenue and profits. Meanwhile, ongoing discussions around a material partnership in the betting sector, which the directors still expect to complete, is now unlikely to deliver the impact on current fiscal year revenues that originally been anticipated. As a result, the company now expects full-year revenue will be below market expectations but the directors remain confident the long-term prospects and the future pathway to profitability in 2023 and beyond remain unchanged. SRT Marine Systems PLC (LSE:SRT) slumped by 20% to 32.75p after it raised 4.9mln through a placing of shares at 30p a pop. The provider of integrated maritime surveillance systems and digital navigation safety transceivers wants the money to boost working capital to accelerate multiple multiple system project implementations. Also lower after raising funds was Parsley Box Group PLC (AIM:MEAL), the meal deliveries group. It raised 5.9mln through the issue of shares at 20p. The shares were trading at 21p on Friday, down 21% on the week and a far cry from the 200p at which the companys shares floated less than a year ago. The funds raised will be used to target new customers, develop an online customer journey tailored to its demographic (that probably just means very large fonts on the website) and develop a membership programme to start a customer community. New Delhi, March 12 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested six persons and busted a human trafficking racket that was helping Rohingyas Muslims enter India and settle down on the basis of forged documents. The gang was active and operating in border areas of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and other parts of the country. The NIA also conducted searches at multiple locations in Assam, Meghalaya and Karnataka. The accused persons were identified as Kumkum Ahmed Chaudhury alias KK Ahmed Choudhury alias Asiqul Ahmed, the head of the gang and Sahalam Laskar, Ahiya Ahmed Bapan Ahmed Chaudhary and Jamaluddin Ahmed Chaudhary. A senior NIA official on Friday said that the case pertains to the illegal trafficking of Rohingya Muslims into the Indian territory to re-settle them on the basis of forged Indian identity documents. In December, the NIA had registered a case in this connection after receiving an information. The case was filed under Sections 370 and 370(A) of IPC. The NIA said that the mastermind of the racket, Chaudhury, was operating this illegal trafficking network from Bengaluru. Other active members of this racket are spread in various parts of the country. "Today, six accused persons have been arrested including Chaudhary. During the searches conducted today, large number of incriminating documents, articles and digital devices have been seized," said the NIA official on Friday. Further investigation into the matter is underway. Srinagar, March 12 : One terrorist was killed in an encounter between terrorists and security forces at Chewaklan area in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, officials said on Saturday. "One terrorist killed. Operation going on," police said. The firefight between terrorists and security forces took place after a joint team of the police and the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about presence of terrorists. As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter. YEREVAN, 12 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. In Parukh community of Artsakh's Askeran region, a shell fired by Azerbaijan from a 60 mm mortar exploded in the yard of a community building, causing property damage, ARMENPRESS reports, the Artsakh Prosecutor's Office informed. Adding that the law enforcment bodies continue gathering facts and proves of Azerbaijans criminal acts. "As it has already been reported, in recent days in different parts of the Artsakh-Azerbaijani line of contact, the Azerbaijani armed forces fired from different caliber firearms at the communities of Khramort, Parukh and Khnapat in the Askeran region of Artsakh. The law enforcement bodies of the Artsakh Republic continue the process of documenting the criminal acts against the Armenians of Artsakh. During the fact finding works, another case was registered in Parukh community of Askeran region, a shell fired from a 60 mm mortar exploded in the yard of a building belonging to the community, causing property damage," the prosecutor's office said in a statement. Srinagar, March 12 : One terrorist belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has been killed in an encounter between terrorists and security forces at Naina Batpora in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district, officials said on Saturday. "One terrorist of proscribed terror outfit LeT killed. Operation going on," police said. The firefight between terrorists and security forces took place after a joint team of the police and the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about presence of terrorists. As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed New Delhi, March 12 : Amid war with Ukraine, Russia has claimed that it has opened 10 humanitarian corridors from Moscow to evacuate civilians and foreign citizens from Kiev, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkov and Mariupol cities, including one humanitarian corridor from each city to Russia. Russia alleged that around 7,000 people of different countries are held hostage by Ukraine while 70 vessels are stuck at ports. In a statement on Friday, it has claimed that one corridor was through the territories controlled by the Kiev authorities to the west, to Poland, Moldova and Romania. Russian Embassy said: "Of the ten routes we proposed, the Ukrainian side agreed on only two -- on Kiev and Mariupol directions. At the same time, once again not a single humanitarian corridor to the Russian Federation." The authorities in Kiev additionally announced four more routes from Izyum, Energodar, Volnovakha and in the Zhytomyr direction. The statement from Russia further said: "23,127 more people have taken refugee in Russia in the last 24 hours alone, and there are already 2,619,026 of them from almost 2,000 settlements of Ukraine. "It said that 34,555 people, including 3,562 children, were evacuated from the dangerous zones of various regions of Ukraine, as well as the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics, during the day without the participation of the Ukrainian side, and more than 223,000 people have been evacuated since the beginning of the special military operation, 50,258 of them children." On Friday, according to the statement, the Russian Armed Forces ensured the safety of the movement of a humanitarian convoy from Energodar city to Zaporozhye, consisting of 13 buses, 130 private cars with 957 refugees, and also managed to evacuate more than 62,000 refugees from Sumy in Poltava direction within a day. Russia said that more than 7,000 from 21 foreign countries remain hostage to Ukrainian neo-Nazis, whom the nationalists continue to hold as "human shield". "Currently, there are more than 50 foreign vessels in Ukrainian ports, crewed by foreign citizens of Azerbaijan, Greece, Georgia, Egypt, India, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, the Philippines, Jamaica and a number of others." "We call on the Ukrainian side to strictly comply with the norms of international humanitarian law and ensure the safe exit of foreign vessels from Ukrainian ports and the territorial sea. "We emphasize once again that the Russian Armed Forces do not pose a danger to navigation," the statement said. More than 9,500 temporary accommodation centres continue to operate in the regions of Russia. The statement said that a sufficient number of buses and supporting transport for the transportation of refugees are kept in constant readiness at checkpoints and temporary accommodation places. They are equipped with everything necessary for a temporary stay, hot meals are provided, mobile medical centres are deployed. "The federal executive authorities together with the subjects of Russia, various public organisations, patriotic movements have prepared more than 16,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid," the statement said. Besides, 1,671 tonnes of humanitarian cargo have already been delivered to Ukraine, 212 humanitarian actions have been carried out, including 26 actions in Chernigov region, as well as in Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, during which 250 tonnes of basic necessities, medicines and food were transferred to the civilian population of the liberated areas. Today, 23 humanitarian actions are being held in Kharkov, Zaporozhia, Kiev and Chernigov regions, during which 284 tonnes of basic necessities, including food, are being transferred to the population. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, March 12 : CGST Delhi East Commissionerate officials have busted a syndicate of seven firms which were engaged in GST evasion of more than Rs 85 crore. Initially, five firms were detected which were availing and utilising fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Goods and Services Tax (GST). "During investigation it was learnt that the syndicate was using two more entities namely, Shree Mahaveer International and Gravity Enterprises," said an official on Friday. A communication was also received from GST, Gujarat that a car registered in the name of one of the syndicate firm Blue Water Expotrade Private Limited was intercepted by them in Ahmedabad. "FastTags of trucks were affixed on the car to create false movement of export goods from Delhi to Mundra port. The E-way bills in respect of the fake supply were issued by Shree Mahaveer International," said the official. On March 10, the GST officials conducted search at the residential premises of Rakesh Kumar Jain, proprietor in Shree Mahaveer International and Partner in Gravity Enterprises. Jain, in his voluntary statement, admitted that bogus invoices were received and issued from these syndicate firms without actual supply of goods. It was evident that Jain was using multiple firms to avail and pass on fake ITC on bogus invoices and E-Way Bills without actual supply of goods. The quantum of GST evaded by him is more than Rs 85 crore. "Therefore, he was arrested on March 10 for committing offences specified under Section 132(1)(b)&(c) of the CGST Act, 2017 and produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Patiala House Courts, New Delhi," he said. Investigation, so far, has unearthed fake ITC racket by seven firms namely -- Vibe T radex, Prime Mark Expotrade Private Limited, Blue Water Expotrade India Private Limited, Transglobe Tradex Private Limited, Tirupati Overseas, Shree Mahaveer International and Gravity Enterprises. Further investigation in the case is under progress. Kiev, March 12 : Ukrainian authorities have claimed that Russia has "kidnapped" Ivan Fedorov, the Mayor of Melitopol city which has fallen to Moscow. The announcement was first made by Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of the President's Office, in a social media post on Friday night. Later, the Ukrainian Parliament also confirmed the development, saying in a tweet on Friday that a "group of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol... He refused to cooperate with the enemy". Condemning the abduction, the country's Foreign Ministry called on the "international community to respond immediately to the abduction of Ivan Federov and other civilians, and to increase pressure on Russia to end its barbaric war against the Ukrainian people". On February 25, the second day of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops entered the southeastern city. In his latest video address, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused Russia of holding the Mayor hostage, saying that Moscow was now resorting to terror tactics as the invasion continued for the 17th day. He said "the actions of the Russian invaders will be equated with the actions of terrorists", reports the BBC. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Srinagar, March 12 : At least four terrorists were killed in three separate encounters in Kashmir's Pulwama, Ganderbal and Handwara districts, officials said on Saturday. Of the four terrorists, two were killed in Pulwama, and one each in Handwara and Ganderbal. According to the authorities, two terrorists belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit and the two others were from Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). Meanwhile, security forces managed to capture one terrorist. "We had launched joint operations at four to five locations on Friday night. So far two terrorists of the JeM including one Pakistani killed in Pulwama, one terrorist of LeT killed each in Ganderbal and Handwara. Encounters are over in Handwara and Pulwama. Also arrested one terrorist alive," Jammu and Kashmir Police quoting Inspector General Police Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar tweeted. New Delhi/Moscow, March 12 : The Russian government announced that it would block Instagram after parent company Meta said it would allow calls for violence against Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukrainian invasion. The Russian government's communication agency announced it would block Instagram in Russia beginning on March 14, in response to Facebook's decision to temporarily allow users in some countries to call for violence against President Vladimir Putin, reports Vox.com. "On the basis of a demand by the general prosecutor's office, access to Instagramawill be limited on the territory of the Russian Federation," Russia's state media regulator, Roskomnadzor, said in a statement. Instagram's top executive, Adam Mosseri, called it "wrong" to cut off 80 million users in the country. "This decision will cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as 80 per cent of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country. This is wrong," Mosseri, said in a tweet. Roskomnadzor recently blocked access to Facebook, citing 26 cases of "discrimination against Russian media and information resources by Facebook" since October 2020. Earlier, the Russian legislature advanced a new law against spreading "fake news" about the country's armed forces, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Shortly after the bill was advanced, the BBC announced it would suspend journalistic operations within the country. Facebook's decision follows similar moves from Google, Twitter, and Snapchat, which have all paused ads in Russia. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Seoul/Washington, March 12 : The US has imposed sanctions on five Russian entities for aiding North Korea's ballistic missile programmes. On Friday, the US Treasury Department said the two Russian individuals and three companies have been helping Park Kwang-hun, a North Korean representative based in Vladivostok who was designated by both Washington and the UN in 2018 for procuring supplies for the North's illicit weapons programmes, Yonhap News Agency reported. "As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the individuals and entities that are in the US or in the possession or control of US persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC (office of foreign assets control)," the Department added. The move came a day after the US said the North had tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system in its recent missile tests, conducted on February 27 and March 5. A senior US administration official here also said the North may be preparing to stage an ICBM test "at full range". North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and ICBM testing since November 2017, but said in January that it may consider "restarting all temporarily-suspended activities." Sources in South Korea have said the North appeared to be repairing a nuclear test site that it purportedly demolished in 2018 to show its willingness to denuclearize amid leader Kim Jong-un's dialogue with then US President Donald Trump. Seoul also confirmed its steadfast commitment to closely working with Washington to strengthen their defence posture against the North's testing of the ICBM system. New Delhi, March 12 : French video game company Ubisoft has admitted that a cyber security incident temporarily disrupted some games, systems and services. The incident came to light after graphics chip maker Nvidia and South Korean giant Samsung suffered a data breach this month. Ubisoft said its IT teams were working with leading external experts to investigate the issue. "As a precautionary measure we initiated a company-wide password reset. Also, we can confirm that all our games and services are functioning normally and that at this time there is no evidence any player personal information was accessed or exposed as a by-product of this incident," it said in a statement late on Friday. The hacking group behind Nvidia and Samsung took credit for Ubisoft data breach. In a Telegram channel allegedly run by LAPSUS$, the group took responsibility for the Ubisoft incident, reports The Verge. Nvidia confirmed on March 1 that hackers leaked employee credentials and proprietary information. "We have no evidence of ransomware being deployed on the Nvidia environment or that this is related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict," the company said. Samsung said on March 7 that hackers stole internal company data and source code for Galaxy devices. "There has been no personal data breach, although leaked information includes some source codes necessary to run the Galaxy phones," Samsung said, without elaborating further. The LAPSUS$ hacking group had taken responsibility for those breaches. Thiruvananthapuram, March 12 : Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that preventing Kerala from participating in the disinvestment process of HLL will be against the principles of cooperative federalism. The Central government had given its "in-principle" approval for HLL's disinvestment in July which sought bids for a 100 per cent stake sale in the company by January 31, 2022. The Kerala government evinced interest and decided to participate in the tender process, but the Centre in its latest order has ruled out state governments or other PSEs participating in the tender process. In the letter, Vijayan stated that the land for HLL was handed over to the Centre by the Kerala government for a specific project. "If the Government of India proposes not to retain HLL as a government entity, it follows that the state government should be given the option to retain it as a state PSU. Hence, the state government should be given the first right to hold the land and assets of HLL. I once again request that either the land and assets of HLL in Kerala may be handed over to the Government of Kerala or the state government may be permitted to participate in the Expression of Interest process and the request for proposal process for the disinvestment of HLL," said Vijayan. Established in 1966 and with its headquarters in the state capital city, HLL has come a long way as part of the implementation of the Family Planning Programme under the Ministry of Health & Family welfare and a contraceptive making company, it is now a total healthcare company and in its growth trajectory it has won numerous accolades not only from the government but at international level too. Currently, there are close to 10,000 employees in various categories at HLL which include 3,900 direct employees and the rest comprises of contract third party and laboratory staff. The HLL have by now supplied medical devices to various medical institutions in 29 states and seven Union Territories. It ended the previous fiscal with a turnover of Rs 5,081 crore and had a profit of Rs 112 crore. New Delhi, March 12 : Member of Parliament from North East Delhi Manoj Tiwari on Saturday demanded a judicial inquiry into the Gokalpuri fire incident here which claimed seven lives, including that of an 11-year-old child. "Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the entire incident, a judicial inquiry should be conducted into it and an assistance of Rs 1 crore announced immediately to the kin of the deceased," Tiwari demanded. As many as seven people, including an 11-year-old child, were charred to death in a major fire that broke out in the slum area of Gokalpuri village in the city at 12 a.m. last night. Apart from the fatalities, at least 30 shanties were turned to ashes along with their belongings. Expressing deep sorrow, Tiwari said he stands firmly with the families that have been affected by this fire incident. "Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should make proper arrangements and grant proper compensation to all the victims," he said. The parliamentarian further informed that he has contacted the concerned authorities and directed proper arrangements for relief and rescue operations of all the victims. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Kejriwal also expressed grief over the incident. "Heard the sad news early in the morning. I will go to the spot and meet the affected people personally," the Chief Minister wrote on Twitter. Notably, this major incident, the biggest so far in 2022 in terms of casualties, comes just four days after a fire broke out at a plastic factory in outer Delhi's Bawana area. No injuries or casualties were reported then. Belarusian and Russian Presidents, Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin, have conceptually agreed on mutual support amid the sanctions, Belarusian presidential press secretary Natalia Eismont told BelTA agency after their Fridays talks in Moscow, Tass informs. March 12, 2022, 10:05 Lukashenko, Putin conceptually agree steps on mutual support amid sanctions STEPANAKERT, MARCH 12, ARTSAKHPRESS: "As for the most important matted, the heads of state conceptually agreed joint steps on mutual support amid the sanction pressure, including on prices on energy source," she said. Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus have agreed on the supplies of modern models of military equipment to Minsk, press secretary of the Belarusian leader said. "During the talks, [the sides] focused on the development of the military-industrial complex and the defense of the Union State. In particular, we agreed on the supply of the most modern models of military equipment from Russia to Belarus in the near future," the BelTA news agency quoted Eismant as saying. Moscow and Minsk believe that the Ukrainian conflict can be settled at any moment if Kiev is willing to, press secretary of the Belarusian leader said. "The heads of state set as a priority and thoroughly discussed the situation in the world, in the region and <> in Ukraine. One of the main topics in this context was the progress of the talks that are taking place in Belarus, as well as the views of the Russian and Ukrainian sides," the BelTA news agency quoted Eismant as saying. She noted that Kremlin Aide Vladimir Medinsky also was invited to this meeting. "Following [the talks], a unanimous opinion was voiced - if the Ukrainian side wishes, the conflict can be resolved at any moment," the press secretary noted. Hyderabad, March 12 : Chief Justice of India, N.V. Ramana on Saturday laid foundation stone for permanent building India's first International Arbitration and Mediation Centre (IAMC). The building of Hyderabad International Arbitration and Mediation Centre (HIAMC) is coming up behind IKEA in HITEC City on a piece of land allotted by the government of Telangana. The CJI thanked government of Telangana and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for allocating valuable land in the heart of the city for HIAMC and Rs 50 crore for construction of the building. Justice Ramana termed IAMC a "big" step in promoting arbitration and mediation in this part of the world. He said during the international arbitration conference to be held in Dubai on March 17-18, HIAMC will showcase their progress and functioning of the centre and hoped that this will help attract international arbitration to this centre. The CJI hoped that IAMC Hyderabad will emerge as an arbitration and mediation centre on par with such centres in Dubai, London and Singapore. Life trustee of the centre, Justice R.V. Raveendran, Supreme Court judges L. Nageswara Rao, Hima Kohli and judges from the Telangana High Court attended the event. Telangana's ministers Indrakaran Reddy, K. T. Rama Rao, Mahmood Ali, T. Srinivas Yadav, Srinivas Goud, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar were also present. The centre was jointly inaugurated by CJI and the Chief Minister in December. The centre started functioning from 25,000 sq ft temporary accommodation at VK Towers in Gachibowli. Those who empanel the centre include internationally acclaimed arbitrators and mediators from countries such as Singapore and the UK. The CJI had then lauded Telangana government for the speed with which it launched the project. He recalled that he broached with the Chief Minister on June 12, 2021 during his first visit to Hyderabad. The trust deed was signed on August 20 and the MoU between the government and the trust was signed on October 27. "The setting up of IAMC at Hyderabad is an important step towards enhancing the ADR landscape of the country. While arbitration centres have already been set up in India, most prominently in Delhi and Mumbai, domestic and international parties still appear to prefer to go to foreign countries for dispute resolution," Ramana had said, as he exuded confidence that this trend will change with IAMC at Hyderabad. "Domestic and international parties will increasingly come to this centre, which has world class facilities. Its location in Hyderabad will also be an attraction," he had said. New Delhi, March 12 : Google has won a legal battle against song lyrics platform Genius that claimed that the tech giant used its transcribed lyrics without permission in Search results. According to The Verge, a three-judge panel affirmed the earlier decision, saying that the lyrics are protected by copyrights that Genius doesn't own. Genius had sued Google in 2019, arguing that Google was scraping lyrics from its website in violation of Genius' copyright. The lawsuit claimed that Google was scraping info from its website by putting watermarks on its lyrics, which then appeared in Google searches without any attribution to Genius. Google then said that it always strives to uphold high standards of conduct for itself and from the partners we work with. "Music publishers often don't have digital copies of the lyrics text. In these cases, we -- like music streaming services and other companies -- license the lyrics text from third parties," the company said. "We do not crawl or scrape websites to source these lyrics. The lyrics that you see in information boxes on Search come directly from lyrics content providers, and they are updated automatically as we receive new lyrics and corrections on a regular basis," it added. To help make it clearer where the lyrics come from, Google started including attribution to the third party providing the digital lyrics text. A judge had ruled in August 2020 that while Genius' claims of scraping appeared credible, they didn't constitute a copyright violation since Genius isn't the actual copyright holder of the lyrics. Chandigarh, March 12 : Punjab Chief Minister-designate Bhagwant Mann on Saturday met Governor Banwarilal Purohit at the Raj Bhawan here and staked claim to form the Aam Aadmi Party government. He is set to take oath on March 16 as the 17th Chief Minister of Punjab. Earlier, Mann was elected the AAP's legislature party leader at a meeting of the party legislators in Mohali near here on Friday. The AAP had swept the state results by winning 92 of the 117 seats. Mann won from Dhuri by over 58,000 votes. In his directive to newly elected party legislators, Mann asked them to spend maximum time in their constituencies, not in capital Chandigarh, and don't hanker for Cabinet berths. "We have to work for all those places where we went to seek votes. All MLAs must work in the areas from where they have been elected, not just stay in Chandigarh," Mann was quoted as saying after he was elected the leader of the AAP Legislative Party -- a formality ahead of his swearing-in. After registering a landslide victory, Mann announced that the new Cabinet would take oath of office at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, and not at the Raj Bhavan. Mann, who dons Bhagat Singh's trademark 'basanti' (yellow) turban, also said that no government office will carry photographs of the Chief Minister. Instead, photos of Bhagat Singh and B.R. Ambedkar will be put up on the walls of all government offices. New Delhi, March 12 : A person was killed while another suffered injuries after a speeding car crushed them in the national capital's Kalyanpuri area, a police official said on Saturday. According to the official, the incident took place around 1.30 a.m. in the night after the staff of the Kalyanpuri Police station rushed to the spot. "Both the injured were shifted to a nearby hospital where one was declared brought dead," the official told IANS. As the condition of the injured person was initially serious, he was admitted to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital where he is currently under treatment and is said to be stable. He had suffered injuries on his leg," the official added. Accordingly, the police registered a case under sections 279 (Rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304A (Causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code at the Kalyanpuri Police Station. DCP Priyanka Kashyap informed that the accused, who was driving the BMW car, was identified as Ashwani Lal (21), a resident of Kalyanpuri, Delhi. Presently, he was living with his brother in Indirapuram and is employed with some private company." He has been apprehended in this case," Kashyap said, adding further investigation is on. New Delhi, March 12 : after India admitted the accidental firing of a missile inside Pakistan, the National Security Adviser (NSA) of Pakistan Moeed Yusuf questioned New Delhi's ability to handle sensitive technology, urging the world to consider whether the neighbouring nation was able to ensure the safety and security of its weapon systems, Dawn news reported. In series a tweets, Yusuf pointed out that it had taken Delhi more than two days to accept that "this was their missile launched ostensibly due to a technical malfunction during maintenance". "This raises serious questions about India's ability to handle such sensitive technology," he said, adding that the missile had travelled close to the path of international and domestic airlines and threatened the safety of civilians. The NSA also called out the Indian authorities for not informing Pakistan immediately that an "inadvertent launch of a cruise missile had taken place". "In a nuclear environment, such callousness and ineptitude raises questions about the safety and security of Indian weapon systems," he said, adding that already multiple incidents of uranium theft in India had been reported and its citizens "have even been arrested while smuggling uranium in the recent past". Yusuf said that Pakistan's repeated calls urging the world to take notice of "India's irresponsible behaviour" had been ignored. This irresponsible behaviour of Delhi continued to pose a threat to regional stability, he said, Dawn reported. "Given this incident (of March 9), and earlier ones, the world must consider whether India is able to ensure the safety and security of its nuclear and other high-end weapon systems," the NSA said. "The world must remove its blinders about Indian state's behaviour within its country, its diplomatic direction, and its disregard for the need for peace and stability in its neighbourhood. The world must treat this incident with the urgency, sensitivity and (the) alarm it deserves." Yusuf also called for an investigation into the "real circumstances surrounding" the March 9 incident "to ascertain if this was an inadvertent launch or something more intentional" as "it is hard to believe anything this Indian government says." The NSA's response to the incident is the latest to have come from Pakistan. Besides calling for an explanation from Delhi and raising similar concerns as the NSA, the DG ISPR had said during Thursday's press briefing that "Pakistan strongly protests this flagrant violation and cautions against recurrence of any such incident in the future". The Foreign Office (FO) in Islamabad had summoned the Indian envoy to register Pakistan's protest over the unprovoked violation of its airspace, saying such "irresponsible incidents" reflected the neighbouring country's "disregard for air safety and callousness towards regional peace and stability". It had also called for a thorough and transparent investigation of the incident, the results of which should be shared with Pakistan. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had expressed concern over the incident, saying that the international community and aviation bodies should take notice. He had said Pakistan would decide its next step after receiving India's explanation, adding that envoys of P-5 countries (permanent members of the UN Security Council) would be called to the FO and briefed about the incident. Colombo, March 12 : The Sri Lankan Ministry of Education has issued a circular asking all students to schools from March 14. Schools can be conducted as they were before the Covid-19 pandemic, Xinhua news agency quoted the circular issued by Kapila Perera, secretary to the Ministry of Education, as saying. This marked the end of Covid-19 pandemic measures of limiting the number of students at schools to maintain social distancing. If schools face a transmission of the virus, they can consult the Director of Education in the respective area and take necessary action, according to the circular. On March 4, the Ministry had instructed schools to summon limited amounts of students, considering Covid-19 guidelines. London, March 12 : A security review warned that London is facing a rising threat of extreme right-wing terrorism, but is "significantly better prepared" for an attack than it was five years ago. The review, commissioned by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, said there have been significant improvements in communication and coordination between the British capital's emergency services and partner agencies to ensure the city is better prepared to respond to an attack, reports Xinhua news agency. In his recommendations, Toby Harris, who headed the review, warned that the UK must be prepared to consider the possibility of terrorist deployment of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons, and ensure emergency services are equipped and trained to respond. Harris said cuts to police numbers over the last decade and cuts in other key services "potentially hampers London's capacity to react to terrorist incidents" and are "short-sighted". Khan called on the British government to support City Hall in taking action to mitigate new risks identified in the Harris review. The UK's current terrorism threat level is "substantial", meaning a terrorist attack is likely. The efficacy of submarines as a potent military machine was established during the Second World War. Since then, the advancement of these submersible combat vessels have earned them the sobriquet of "silent killers of the deep". They are valued for their relative undetectability underwater and capability to sneak up and destroy a much stronger warships using lethal torpedoes or anti-ship missiles. This gives them the badge of being one of the best deterrents that any navy can possess. The Indian Navy inducted its first submarines in 1967, which were the Foxtrot-class submarines from the erstwhile Soviet Union. Today, the Indian Navy submarine arm has come a long way progressing towards indigenous construction and demonstrating the country's technological prowess. March 10 is the first anniversary of commissioning of INS Karanj, the third submarine of the Scorpene class, which was commissioned in 2021. The submarine, like its two predecessors, was indigenously constructed at Mazagon Dock Limited at Mumbai. These submarines are one of the most advanced submarines in the world equipped with the latest weapons and sensors, which makes it capable of neutralising any threat above or below the sea surface. The induction of the Scorpene class submarines built under Project 75 reflects the capabilities of Mazagon Dock as a premier ship and submarine building yard of the world and cements the position of the Indian Navy as one of the formidable forces in the Indian Ocean Region. As is well known, life on a submarine is not easy, in fact, it is one of the most challenging platforms to live and fight for a man in uniform. It is therefore natural that the men selected to serve on these platforms have to go through an elaborate selection process followed by a gruelling training schedule. The selection for the arm is very stringent and the qualification very selective among the large number of sailors who volunteer. A submarine qualified sailor proudly wears his golden 'Dolphin' badge despite all challenges. In order to decode this platform and get unique insights into the working of a submarine and life of a submariner, we reached out to Commander Narendra Kumar (Retd), a veteran submariner of the Indian Navy who served and commanded submarines. Commander Narendra first explained to us the types of missions a submarine can be deployed for in the navy. He brought out that submarines were potent platforms for carrying out missions across the entire spectrum of war- starting from surveillance, laying of minefields to blockade of maritime routes. However, the primary role of a submarine remains to attack military and merchant vessels designated as targets. He further added that, they could be used for inserting / extracting Special Operations Commando teams and attack land-based military targets using conventional and nuclear tipped missiles. He explained that nuclear missile armed submarines played a crucial role as part of the nuclear triad in maintaining the nuclear deterrence and hence contribute to the strategic autonomy of the nation. When asked about the experience of sailing on a submarine, he explained that, once dived there are no visual references for a person to analyse the movement of a submarine. One will only know the horizontal movement through an equipment that is equivalent to a speedometer but can feel the vertical movement by the change in aspect of the submarine. Speaking about life on a submarine, he added that, conventional submarines stay on patrol for long stretches of time which could extend up to 40 days. Therefore, a meticulous check on essential provisions and water comes naturally to submariners. This earlier translated into simple menus and rationed water onboard and in some cases, sentries guarding water taps. However, with the advent of reverse osmosis plants on submarines, the water situation has improved. Furthermore, he elaborated about the living conditions onboard highlighting the fact that space for living and movement is always at a premium on a conventional submarine. This coupled with the scarcity of oxygen means the crew have to limit their physical activities and compulsorily rest in their spare time. Living, dining spaces are adequate and not luxurious, but the crew gets used to it over time. Of course, a nuclear submarine being bigger, has better living conditions than conventional submarines. An obvious challenge onboard a submarine is catering to medical emergencies while on patrol. Commander Narendra explained that normally every submarine has a qualified doctor and small crack medical team to cater to such needs. Moreover, the need to maintain positional secrecy while on patrol while being relatively inaccessible to rescue efforts can weigh on the minds of the crew. However, if the submarine is not constrained by positional secrecy, then today's advanced communication suits allow them to call for rescue efforts, which can be in the form of an air-ambulance, where the patient is winched up to the helicopter and taken to hospital. The only way to mitigate this, is to ensure a supremely fit crew onboard, prior to any sailing, he remarked. With the push for indigenisation, the submarine arm of the Indian Navy is set to grow exponentially in the coming years. As words of advice for future aspirants, Commander Narendra pointed that the submarines are here to stay as the best military deterrent that any country can possess. Both conventional and nuclear. Though challenging, there may not be a more satisfying job that can be offered to a man in uniform. While running silent and running deep, submarines remain the biggest threat to any ship, big or small who might want to use the same sea space. It is this small select group of men whose eternal vigilance helps maintain the peace that we all savour. Though they will remain nameless and faceless to the majority, I think we should always be grateful for the unseen sacrifices they make, for the freedom that we all enjoy. As we celebrate the third birthday of the formidable INS Karanj, the nation can be rest assured that Indian waters are in safe hands of the men on eternal patrol. (Janhavi Lokegaonkar is a Senior Research Associate, Maritime History Society) New Delhi, March 12: A meeting between the Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelenskyy is "conceptually possible" but under certain conditions, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow on Friday. The Kremlin spokesman however made it clear that the negotiators should first "do their job" before the meeting. "Russia's position is no secret, it has been formulated and brought to the attention of Ukrainian negotiators. We are waiting to receive their clarifications," the Russian media quoted Peskov as saying. While Peskov was briefing the media about the latest developments, Putin told Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in a meeting at the Kremlin that there are "certain positive developments" in the ongoing negotiations with Ukraine in Belarus, three rounds of which have already taken place. "I will certainly inform you about the situation in the Ukrainian direction and, above all, about how the negotiations are going now, which are now being held almost on a daily basis. There are certain positive developments there, as our negotiators reported to me. I will tell about all this in more detail," the Russian President told Lukashenko. While Turkey, buoyed by the talks between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers in Antalya on Thursday, has indicated playing a role in hosting Putin-Zelenskyy meeting in future, top diplomats from Ukraine said they are negotiating with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's office on organising a meeting between the two heads of the state. It was reported by the media in Kiev that, in an interview with the German TV channel ARD, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian President's Office Igor Zhovkva also did not rule out discussions on a possible neutral status of Ukraine. "The only serious negotiations that can be conducted with the Russians are possible at the presidential level. My president is ready for this. International partners should help us organize such a meeting. We are negotiating with the German Chancellor to organize such a meeting," Zhovkva was reported as saying. Following talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Ivanovych Kuleba in Antalya on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said Moscow wants to have a "serious conversation" on the Belarusian negotiation platform. "I think that everyone is well aware that Russian President Vladimir Putin never refuses contacts. We only want these contacts to be organised not for their own sake, but in order to fix specific agreements. Today this topic was touched upon. I reminded D.I. Kuleba that we are always in favour of meeting if it helps to solve the problem," Lavrov said after the meeting. Moscow has once again stated that it wants Ukraine to be neutral, without any militarization and is ready to discuss guarantees for the security of the Ukrainian state, "together with guarantees for the security of European countries and the security of Russia". (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Patna, March 12 : Some 12 people were injured after students from the Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) in Bihar set fire to four shops, two cars and a bike following a clash with employees of a store. The incident took place on Friday night, and the injured included four medical students and a firefighter. The police said that the students hurled petrol bombs on the shop employees. However, four of them managed to escapel. A couple of medical students went to buy noodles from a grocery store. As the owner of the shop was not present, they then asked the employees for a nearby medical shop. The students alleged that the pharmacy staff had misbehaved with them and when they called other students to the venue, a violent clash broke out. The students reportedly threw petrol bombs on the shops, which started a blaze. They also targeted two cars and a bike. A fire brigade team immediately reached the spot to douse the flame. A firefighter also sustained serious injuries after an LPG cylinder exploded at one of the shops. "We have received a complaint from the owner of the chemist shop and an investigation is underway to identify the accused medical students," said Hari Narayan Singh, Station House Officer (SHO) of Laheriasarai police station. According to Javed Khan, owner of the pharmacy, the students could not be controlled even after he tried to pacify them. Chennai, March 12 : After a successful theatrical release, director Manu Anand's critically acclaimed action thriller 'FIR', featuring actor Vishnu Vishal and Gautham Vasudev Menon in the lead, has now been released on Prime Video. Produced under the banner of actor Vishnu Vishal's production house, VV Studioz, the action thriller boasts of a big star cast including actresses Manjima Mohan, Raiza Wilson and Reba Monica John. The film, which released on February 11, did exceptionally well in theatres. In fact, it entered its fourth week doing brisk business. The film, released on Prime Video on Wednesday and is also available in Telugu. The action-packed thriller revolves around a chemical engineer Irfan (played by Vishnu Vishal) whose life goes for a toss after authorities suspect him to be a much-wanted terrorist. What Irfan does next is what the film is all about. Mumbai, March 12 : Veteran Bollywood poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar has penned a new song titled 'The Live-in', which is set to release on March 14. The song showcases the evolving world of millennials and the trend of living together instead of directly getting married. It tells how with changing times, society also changes and so do people' habits and their lifestyle. The song de-stigmatises the concept of living-in and presents it as the new normal. Composed by music director Shamir Tandon, the track is a step in a fresh direction as it aims to educate the minds of the older generation about the equal importance of living in with the one. Mohit Chauhan, and Nikhita Gandhi, whose last hit 'Jugnu' gained unprecedented popularity, have gone behind the mic for the song, the music video of which has been directed by Aditya Datt. Chennai, March 12 : The team of director Lokesh Kanakaraj's much-awaited action thriller 'Vikram' has released a brand new poster from the film. The poster, which features Kamal Haasan carrying a Samurai sword, reiterated the unit's earlier announcement pertaining to the release date of the film. It may be recalled that the team had announced that they would be disclosing the date of the film's release at 7 am on March 14. Produced by Kamal Haasan and R. Mahendran, the film, which has three powerhouse performers and a star-studded crew working on it for the last 9 months, has triggered huge expectations. The film's principal shooting began in August 2021 despite lockdown restrictions and a new variant that threatened to derail the shoot. The crew worked tirelessly following all necessary protocols and finally managed to complete the film's shooting recently. Apart from the three powerhouse performers playing the lead, the film also features Narain, Chemban Vinod, Kalidas Jayaram and Gayathrie in pivotal roles. New Delhi, March 12 : Russia is working on two options for nuclear blackmail and in any case intends to blame Ukraine, a top intelligence official in Kiev has said. "We have information about the development of two options. Which one they choose depends entirely on them. The first is large-scale burning of radioactive forests, a radioactive cloud will rise immediately and go in the direction of the wind. The second is the use of artillery on nuclear storage," Ukrinform quoted Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, as saying "The result will be the same. In the first case, in the second case, the Russian leadership aims to blame Ukraine, and its 'Nazi, neo-Nazi' formations, which do not really exist here," Budanov said. He reminded that this was not the first time that Russia resorted to nuclear blackmail. According to Budanov, there was already deliberate Russian shelling of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, as well as a missile strike on the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, which houses an experimental nuclear reactor. "It's all about intimidation. Now the Russian leadership understands that their plans for a quick campaign have failed, and they are turning to nuclear blackmail," he said. Budanov further stressed that in any case, no matter what scenario the Russian leadership favours, it will be nuclear terrorism, ecocide and environmental catastrophe, which will affect both Europe and Russia, with Belarus and Ukraine suffering the most. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Chennai, March 12 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Saturday thanked External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar for bringing back safely the Indian students, including those from Tamil Nadu from Ukraine. Stalin called Jaishankar after receiving the last batch of students from Ukraine at the Chennai airport. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister thanked Jaishankar and the central government for bringing back to India the students in Ukraine. Russia began its military operation against Ukraine several days back and the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the student rescue operations. New Delhi, March 12 : The Deputy Mayor of Mariupol has claimed that people in the besieged Ukrainian city are being forced to melt snow to drink, and chop wood to cook and keep warm in sub-zero temperatures, the BBC reported. Mariupol, a city of about 400,000, has been subjected to days of heavy Russian bombardment. Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov said the city's residents were running dangerously short of food and water, adding that there is "no electricity, no water supply, no heating, no sanitary system". Satellite images have revealed the scale of destruction in city where residential areas have been flattened, a shopping centre destroyed and a maternity hospital attacked. The southern port city has used at least one mass grave to bury the dead, the BBC report said. Under fire and out of supplies, the situation in the besieged northern city of Chernihiv is also getting worse every day, the report added. As it faces a constant barrage of shelling and aerial bombardment, supplies gas, heat and even water have been cut. And the stocks people have amassed will soon run out. Electricity is available in only a few areas, and most of the city is without light and communication. The city, which had a pre-war population of roughly 300,000, is surrounded by Russian forces and has sustained heavy damage. Dharwad, : March 12 (IANS) Police Inspector of Dharwad Rural police station Sridhar Satare has been suspended for lodging an FIR against Basavaraj Horatti, the Speaker of Legislative Council on Saturday. Horatti was made fifth accused in connection with the dispute over management of an education institution. The matter was discussed at length on Thursday and Friday in the Council with the legislators condemning the move of filing of an FIR against the Speaker by the police department. MLCs, cutting across the party lines, had demanded suspension of the Superintendent of Police and Police Inspector of Dharwad district. They maintained that it is a violation of the rights of the Speaker of the house. Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG & IGP) Praveen Sood has issued suspension orders. Akhila Karnataka Valmiki Nayaka Mahasabha lodged a complaint against the Chairman of the Legislative Council Horatti and five others in Dharwad Rural police station in connection with the dispute over management of an education institute. It was alleged that though Basavaraj Horatti is not a chairperson of the Sarvodaya Trust, he is misusing his authority and exercising the powers of a chairperson. They have also alleged that when members from the mahasabha visited schools in Dharwad for inspection, the followers of Basavaraj Horatti assaulted them. The complaint also mentions that the members were abused, casteistic remarks hurled at them and damaged their car. Earlier, Mahasabha members conducted a press conference on January 22 and alleged the highhandedness of Basavaraj Horatti in the trust affairs. They had alleged that an advertisement was given for recruitment of vacant posts in the Sarvodaya Education Trust as per directions of Horatti and challenged him to release the documents of his authority over the trust. New Delhi, March 12 : A top official of the Russian Defence Ministry said that the country's armed forces on Saturday disabled the main radio intelligence centre of Ukraine's military with a high-precision strike. "On the morning of March 12, a high-precision long-range weapon was struck at the military infrastructure of Ukraine. The military airfield in Vasilkovo and the main centre of radio and electronic intelligence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Brovary were put out of action," RT News quoted Major General Igor Konashenkov, the Ministry's official representative, as saying. Since Russia started its invasion of Kiev on February 24, 3,491 military facilities in Ukraine have been disabled, Konashenkov claimed. According to the official, 123 drones, 1,127 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 115 multiple launch rocket systems have also been destroyed. Russia also announced that military airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk were put out of action by high-precision weapons. Aviation and air defence of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down five unmanned aerial vehicles and one tactical missile of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a day. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Kathmandu, March 12 : Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for evacuating Nepali nationals who were stranded in the war-torn Ukraine. Taking to Twitter, Deuba said: "Four Nepali nationals have just arrived in Nepal from Ukraine via India. Thank you Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India for the assistance in repatriating Nepali nationals through the Operation Ganga." Till date, India has evacuated six Nepali nationals from Ukraine. Nepal had sought assistance from the Indian government for the evacuation of its stranded nationals. 'Operation Ganga' launched by the Central government in New Delhi to rescue Indian citizens from Ukraine's neighbouring countries started on February 22. Till March 8, about 18,000 Indians have been brought back through the special flights. The number of Indians airlifted by 75 special civilian flights goes up to 15,521. The IAF had flown 12 missions to bring back 2,467 passengers, as part of Operation Ganga, and carried over 32 tonne relief material. Among the civilian flights, 4,575 passengers have been brought from Bucharest by 21 flights, 1,820 from Suceave by nine flights, 5,571 from Budapest by 28 flights, 909 by five flights from Kosice, 2,404 from Rzeszow by 11 flights, and 242 persons by a flight from Kiev. United Nations, March 12 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a ceasefire in Syria, saying that 11 years of "brutal fighting" in the war-torn nation must end. "We cannot fail the Syrian people. The conflict must cease. International humanitarian law must be respected," said the UN chief. "I call on all parties to meaningfully engage in the UN-facilitated political process and appeal for further support to scale up the humanitarian response. We must choose peace," Xinhua news agency quoted Guterres as saying. The top UN official said that Syria's 11 years of "brutal fighting" has come at an "unconscionable human cost", subjecting millions there to human rights violations on a "massive and systematic scale". "The destruction that Syrians have endured is so extensive and deadly that it has few equals in modern history," said the Secretary-General. He noted that the slow but systematic destruction of basic infrastructure around the country, since the civil war began in 2011 in the wake of the so-called "Arab Spring" of popular uprisings across the Middle East, has "deepened the economic crisis" and now, humanitarian needs are at their highest level since conflict began. "We must not lose hope, we must act now. We must show the courage and determination to move beyond rhetorical commitments to peace and to do all that is necessary to reach a negotiated political solution in line with Security Council resolution 2254 (2015)," the UN chief said. The 11-year conflict has so far killed left more than 380,000 people dead, destroyed cities and led to the displacement of thousands of civilians. Music has always been an important part of my life. My great-grandmother Minnie Calkins played the piano her Turkey in the Straw and O Them Golden Slippers! made our old upright really rock! My great-uncle Howard Calkins was a violinist and it was beautiful to hear them play together. My grandparents Andy and Myrtie Vormwald were both accordion players 0151 my gramp took lessons in his 50s and taught my gram. My mom was an expert pianist, was a church musician and played for Eastern Star ceremonies. Nights when we just couldnt get to sleep wed ask her to play for us and listened to the piano through the register until we finally closed our eyes. My mother-in-law, Marian Lincoln, also played the piano for church, Eastern Star and Kings Daughters, and vented her feelings through the piano keys. My husband, Dewey, and I were in concert and marching band in school he a trombonist and I played the clarinet. We both also played the piano I took lessons from Lomira Smith in the vestibule of school, he from Claude Bauer in Springlake, who also taught him music theory and chord structure. He also took accordion lessons from Frank Mucedola, a music mentor and friend. High school band and choir made some of our best school memories. We spent the summers marching with the Port Byron Fire Department in parades throughout central New York almost every Friday night, and then got to spend an hour or two at a firemens carnival. I also became a church musician of sorts when at 13 I was asked to lead the junior choir, and that led to playing Christmas carols for Mrs. Tripps Cub Scouts. I have had wonderful church music mentors. Ron Batsons choir was an every Sunday experience my dear friend Winnie Breese was my fellow alto! Donna Clark, Kathy Wilt and I sang for a couple of mother/daughter banquets. Mildred Balcom, Lucinda Waterman, Eleanor Cook and my friend Mary Waterman Mack were talented organists by default I am now trying to fill those shoes never on the organ, but my piano playing has improved a bit! I treasure the memory of playing duets with JoAnn Hemple on the organ and occasionally with Dewey on the accordion. The Amazing Grace parish has quite a cadre of musicians. Each church organist lends her own style to worship services. In Butler, Joan Youngman had a traditional style that also included directing our choir and then encouraging us to be part of a larger group of 30 or so that sang for the Butler Center Advent celebrations. Adrice King has been playing the organ in Victory for decades her grace lends a particular holiness to each service. Our new pastor, Deborah Hitchcock, has encouraged us to share our musical talents during the Call to Worship. We have had soloists, duets, accordion, an ensemble of piano, trombone and clarinet, a drum set solo, guitars, ukuleles and, on Zoom, a steel tongue drum. Last Sunday, Barb OConnells autoharp brought wonderful memories: Have faith, hope and charity, thats the way to live successfully how do I know? The Bible tells me so. Kathy Wilts Christmas cantatas have challenged us musically and brought us together to praise and proclaim our faith. Of all the disappointments of this pandemic, singing in the community choir is one of my devastating losses. Hope we can come together again in 2022! Not quite a segue, but I hope you will take the opportunities to attend your local school musical two dear to my heart are the past weekends "The Addams Family" in Port Byron and Weedsports "Guys and Dolls" this coming weekend. I know firsthand what work and enthusiasm these performances elicit. Please give these young folks and their adult helpers a rousing ovation! The geese are back, the snowdrops up and buds budding. Celebrate! Hope you are still journaling so that future folks can learn about our pandemic experiences. Joni Lincoln is the historian of the town of Conquest. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Kochi, March 12 : A Spanish female complained to the Kochi City Police Commissioner on Saturday via email about a renowned tattoo artist here, who is already behind the bar for sexually abusing six women. The complainant, who had returned to her home country, alleged that the accused, P.S. Sujeesh, 35, who has been running a successful studio 'Inkfected Tattoo Studio' in Kochi for the past 10 years, abused her and misbehaved with her when she visited him last week. Last Saturday, Sujeesh was taken into custody by the local police after six women registered complaints against him in two different police stations. He was produced before a magistrate the next day, who then remanded him to judicial custody. First an 18-year-old girl had said in a social media post that he sexually assaulted her inside the parlour, after which five other women launched a similar complaint against him. However, his family and friends, denying the allegations, said that the women got inked in a room filled with people and he could not have sexually abused them. All this has been on account of intense business rivalry. Panaji, March 12 : The BJP would have won at least 25-26 seats in Goa, if the ruling party had aligned with us, President of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGK) Deepak Dhavalikar said on Saturday. Speaking to reporters here, the President of the party which had entered a pre-poll alliance with the Trinamool Congress, also said that the West Bengal-based party plunged headlong into the Assembly polls too late in the day, while explaining the failure of the alliance. "If we had aligned with the BJP, it would have won 25-26 seats. It is not a mistake. Our terms were not matching with them," Dhavalikar said. The BJP had been trying to woo the MGP ahead of the polls, describing the regional outfit as a "natural ally", but the MGP had spurned the BJP's efforts to cement an alliance. The MGP was in alliance with the BJP in the past dispensations as well as between 2017-2019, but its ministers were sacked from the government after the death of then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, when Pramod Sawant succeeded to the top post. Both parties share a similar Hindu conservative vote bank. MGP later had opted to ally with the Trinamool Congress instead, contesting 13 and 26 seats respectively. "TMC is a new party. And they came to Goa very late. If they came to Goa a year back, then they could have done something. They came at the last minute and they had asked us for the alliance," Dhavalikar said. "We wanted to give something new in Goa. But Goa did not want something new, they wanted something which already existed that is why they supported BJP." The TMC failed to open its account in Goa in the February 14 polls, even as the MGP could win only two seats. The BJP won 20 seats, just one short of a majority. Male, March 12 : Revival of tourism in the Maldives has contributed to higher revenue for the island nation in the first two months this year compared to the same period in 2021. The South Asian nation received $137 million in January and February 2022, compared to $88 million collected in the first two months of 2021, according to statistics released by Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA), the country's national tax agency. MIRA said the main reason for the increase in revenue is the rise in time spent by tourists and the increase in the number of tourist arrivals, reports Xinhua news agency. By February 23, the total number of tourist arrivals was 251,339, an increase of 46.9 per cent compared to the same period of 2021, of which 39,660 tourists arrived from Russia accounting for the largest share, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Srinagar, March 12 : In the aftermath of a Sarpanch's murder by militants on Friday, police held a detailed security review on Saturday in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district. A day after a Sarpanch was killed by militants in Kulgam, Vijay Kumar, IGP (Kashmir) on Saturday had a detailed security review in the district. The IGP along with DIG police and DIG CRPF Anantnag, visited Kulgam and held a meeting with DC Kulgam, SSP Kulgam, all COs of CRPF in Kulgam and other police officers. "A detailed security review of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and protected persons was held. New measure to monitor their visits were also discussed. Besides focus was given to generate specific input to enhance anti-militancy operations and to reduce new recruitment into militant rank", a police statement said. On Friday evening, militants shot dead a Sarpanch Shabir Ahmad Mir at Audoora village of Kulgam district. The IGP told reporters on Friday that the Sarpanch had left his secured accommodation and proceeded to his village without intimating the police. New Delhi, March 12 : A PIL was filed in the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Centre and National Medical Commission to take measures to enable Ukraine-returned Medical students resume their education in India. As per the petitioner Pravasi Legal Cell, they have filed the PIL on behalf of 20,000 Ukraine returnee Indian students for allowing them to join medical colleges in the country. The High Court agreed to hear the plea on March 21, the petitioner said. The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed through Adv M.P. Srivignesh highlighted the plight of the Indian medical students rescued from war-hit Ukraine that has the potential of disrupting the careers of several thousand young men and women who have already gone through the trauma of being in the war zone. It is submitted that thousands of Indian medical aspirants prefer Ukraine for medical education due to various factors including affordability, quality of education, and the license to practice abroad. In Ukraine, Indian medical students also have no compulsion to give any medical entrance exam if they clear NEET. All the above factors make Ukraine a comfortable option for Indians. Indian students who study in Ukraine also have the advantage of getting to practice medicine in India. A medical degree earned from Ukraine is accepted by National Medical Commission on passing their Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) exam. According to the new rules of the FMGE, an MBBS aspirant can take up to 10 years to complete the programme apart from the minimum course work tenure of 4.5 years, candidates need to intern for two years -- 12 months in the foreign medical institute where they are studying and another year of supervised internship in India, it stated. As per the provisions of the National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021 the entire course, training, and internship or clerkship shall be done outside India in the same foreign medical institution throughout the course of study. The provisions also state that no part of medical training and internship shall be done in India or in any country other than the one from where the primary medical qualification is obtained. Further, it was submitted that at present there are no norms or regulations in India to accommodate medical students, who were studying abroad and had to return to India midway, in Indian medical colleges in between an academic session. Pointing out to a circular dated March 4, allowing payment of stipend to those who qualify for the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam in India, the PIL said, however, the above circular is not of much use to students who have been rescued from Ukraine as many of them are in the second, third or fourth year of studies and have not completed their degree yet. To qualify for the stipend, one has to complete the degree, appear for the exam, qualify and then get the internship. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Hyderabad, March 12 : Telugu producer Bellamkonda Suresh has called for a press meet to clarify an issue after a cheating case was lodged against him in Hyderabad. His son, actor Bellamkonda Srinivas has been involved in the issue as well. As per the reports, producer Bellamkonda Suresh and his son, actor Bellamkonda Srinivas held a press meet to clarify the cheating case booked against them. A person named VL Sravan Kumar, who claims to be a financier, had filed a case in the Central Crime Station (CCS) police in the direction of a city court. He had claimed that he has been cheated by Bellamkonda Suresh and Bellamkonda Srinivas. The financier had approached the court complaining that the producer and his son took money worth Rs 85 lakh in instalments in 2018 to make a movie. Sravan also claimed that the producer had promised to take him as an assistant producer for a film to be made under the direction of Malineni Gopichand, but later didn't revert. Speaking at the press meet, Bellamkonda Suresh said, "Saran hails from my village and he used to ask for movie tickets. I have no financial dealings with this person. This is a deliberate attempt to defame my family's reputation. He has also targeted my sons, Sreenivas and Ganesh". The producer also conveyed, "If there are proofs, he should produce them before the police and the media. I am ready for any punishment if I am proven wrong. Bellamkonda Srinivas also conveyed that his sons or he will not be tolerating any defamation hereafter and would seek the law if anyone attempts to draw his family in unnecessary issues. On the work front, Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas is making his Bollywood debut with Chatrapathi which is being directed by VV Vinayak under Pen Studios. London, March 12 : Covid-19 now could be less deadly than flu in the UK, infectious diseases expert Professor Paul Hunter said, although he warned another variant could still change this. According to the Daily Mail, government figures indicate the virus had a mortality rate of around 0.2 per cent before the ultra-transmissible strain erupted onto the scene. But this has since plunged seven-fold to as little as 0.03 per cent, meaning it kills effectively just one in every 3,300 people who get infected. For comparison, seasonal influenza's infection-fatality rate (IFR) sits between 0.01 and 0.05 per cent, suggesting that the two viruses now pose a similar threat. Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline it meant that Covid could be even less deadly than the flu. Although, he warned another variant could reverse the progress. Infections have been on the rise in the UK for a week straight, with the country now averaging 50,000 cases per day compared to around 35,000 on Freedom Day in late February. Hospitalisations have also been rising and in the South West of England have now eclipsed levels at the height of the Omicron wave. Professor Robert Dingwall, a former SAGE adviser and sociologist at Nottinham Trent University, said the UK was now seeing a "transition" to a world where Covid was just one more respiratory disease.A New Delhi, March 12 : The Russia-Ukraine war is likely to push Indian students to explore the options for MBBS in the countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Spain, Germany, Kyrgyzstan and the UK because of the lower cost of medical course there. Ukraine is a popular destination among MBBS aspirants partly due to the cost-effectiveness. Both Russia and Ukraine attract a substantial number of students from India for the MBBBS and BDS courses. But now all Indian students in Ukraine are forced to return home in the middle of their courses. According to the National Medical Commission's (NMC) regulations for Foreign Medicine Graduates (FMGs) issued in 2021, transfer from a foreign university to an Indian university in the middle of an MBBS programme is not permitted because the entrance guidelines and selection criteria differ. NMC's regulations for Foreign Medicine Graduates provide a 10-year window for students to obtain their degrees, complete their internships (one year in Ukraine and India respectively) and apply for Foreign Medicine Graduates Examination to receive their licenses. Since an MBBS degree in Ukraine takes an average of six years to complete and taking into consideration the additional two years required for internships, it therefore leaves the candidates with only two years to apply for their license in the 10-year window. However, given the current crisis, there is no way of knowing when these students will be allowed to return to Ukraine to finish their studies. As a result, the 10-year window may pose a difficulty for them, as they will no longer be able to apply for a license to practice medicine in India if they do not complete the courses within that time frame. With the situation between Russia and Ukraine escalating every day, a decision regarding relaxations for MBBS students can be expected. Pavan Choudhary, Chairman, Medical Technology of India said, "The Russia-Ukraine war is likely to push Indian students to explore other options for MBBS abroad as these two countries attract a substantial number of students from India for the course. Countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Spain, Germany, Kyrgyzstan and the UK, among others, may gain popularity because of the lower cost of the courses there". It is heartening to note that some states are stepping up to help the displaced students viz, the Consortium of Deemed-to-be Universities of Karnataka has offered to take one thousand medical students returning from Ukraine. Further Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also urged the private players to expand in the medical education sector. Choudhary said, "This of course needs a systemic examination and serious policy reframing. If we can make the required alterations to our Medical education policy and facilitate the necessary ecosystem, then India can aspire to become an important hub for preparing doctors and healthcare workers." Sanjay Bhutani, Director, Medical Technology Association of India said, "The uncertainty a war brings is taking a toll on the returned Indian students who were studying medicine in Ukraine. But with The National Medical Commissions (NMC) easing the requirements for medical graduates on the 12 month necessary internship program in their respective institutes by allowing them to continue their remaining internship in India by assigning additional 7.5 per cent seats in Indian medical colleges for Foreign Medical Graduates. We are hopeful that the fate of approximately 18,000 students will also be in their favour to ensure that there is no delay for these future healthcare providers to serve our already burdened healthcare system due to the existing pandemic and now the political unrest." Dr Rimy Dey, Committee head Post Graduate Studies, IMA-JDN (Indian Medical Association - Junior Doctors Network) said, "The Ukraine situation has garnered a state of dubiety upon the future of thousands of Indian students who were pursuing their medical courses from Ukraine. Such unprecedented situations demand unusual solution. Rehabilitation of these medical students should be given utmost priority. Absorption into the current Indian medical schooling system may not be possible in a trice, but some effective solution in the form of medical student exchange programme or off-campus or online classes to continue medical education should be sought. As a state of uncertainty looms over the careers of these students in different phases of their medical career, instead of burdening them further, the Government, competent medical authorities, NMC, IMA, Association of medical students and teachers should come together proactively to thwart the doubts and come up with a strong and effective solution." Dr Pravin Dhage, President, Association of Resident Doctors said, "it shouldn't go in vain. The Indian Government must take into account the sufferings of these medical students and should also make provisions to admit them in medical colleges of India. They can be adjusted as a one time measure in the existing medical colleges of our country using appropriate distribution systems. And it is possible only by amending the current provisions in the National Medical Commission. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Chennai, March 12 : The US and Europe's economic sanctions against Russia for its military action against Ukraine may throw up economic opportunities for the Indian space sector, instead of burdening it with economic cost, say industry experts. They also feel that to cash on the opportunities, India should accelerate its satellite launch capabilities, and announce productivity-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for the aerospace sector. "All those countries feeling the pinch due to the absence of Russian rockets for satellite launches may look at alternatives. While the bulk of the satellite launch contracts will be taken by the US and Europe, there will be others who may look at other options. India's neutrality has created a new market segment," Chaitanya Giri, Founder, DAWON Advisory & Intelligence, told IANS. He added that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) should ramp up its satellite launch capacity as two launches per year is not on anymore. With private rocket companies also in the process of developing their small rockets, ISRO should actively handhold them so that they also realise their launch vehicles faster. In the $360 billion global space sector market, India's share is very negligible. Industry experts are unanimous that the sanctions against Russia will not have any major impact on India. Space is a critical sector and there are chances of the US asking India to take a side -- for or against Russia. So, what if the US and the West add India to their sanctions list owing to its relationship with Russia? In the case of satellites, nearly 60 per cent of the components by value are now imported from Europe. "India imports memory chips, sensors, onboard processors, relays and other items. We get components from Japan, Singapore. Sourcing of components from Russia is low due to language barrier," Tapan Misra, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Sisir Radar Private Ltd, told IANS. Misra was earlier a Director at the ISRO's Space Applications Centre, and Sisir Radar plans to make X-band synthetic aperture radar with 0.5 metre resolution. Another retired senior official of ISRO told IANS preferring anonymity: "As a policy, ISRO will have an inventory of components for 15 satellites. The reorder level for components will come when the component inventory level is down to 10 satellites." During the past two years, ISRO did not make many satellites and hence the inventory levels will be comfortable for some more years, given its launch record and plans, the official added. However, there are short life items like adhesives and soldering paste, which are imported. One has to plan for that by proper supply chain links. "India has to make a tight-rope walk as it imports some rare earth materials and space grade metals. The Russia-Ukraine war will cool down, but the secondary effects of the sanctions may take time to go," Giri said. In the case of rockets, India has localised the majority of the items that go in the making of its rockets -- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and the upcoming Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV). "Most of the Russian and European parts and materials for making of ISRO rockets are indigenised. The impact of sanctions on India will be minimal. For Skyroot, the impact is zero as the supply chain is mostly within India, thanks to ISROs indigenisation efforts over the decades," Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-founder and CEO, Skyroot Aerospace, told IANS. Skyroot Aerospace is into making small rockets -- Vikram 1, 2 and 3 -- with varying payload capacity. But the point is, the engine designs of Indian rockets are three-decade vintage and there are no plans for making bigger and multiple engines, as voiced by an expert. According to a retired senior official of the Indian space agency, ISRO had collaborated with Ukraine for semi-cryogenic engine technology but has not made much headway. "One has to see what impact the war-hit Ukraine will have on India's semi-cryogenic engine project," the official said. Responding to that, a former Chairman of ISRO told IANS: "Whatever needs to be obtained from Ukraine for semi-cryogenic engine development has been obtained. The testing of the engine has to be done." While India's human space mission is tied up with Russia tightly in terms of astronaut training, supply of space suits and others, experts said that missions may not be affected owing to India's changed stature in the international arena. "This is new India, which is standing on a higher position in the pedestal than it used to be earlier. It cannot be arm twisted. We have to take care of the supply chain and become an octopus in sourcing materials for the strategic sectors," Giri said. The US may not antagonise India, and the Indo-US collaborative NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Mission may go on as planned, Giri added. "Western ban on exports of space components will provide a big incentive for India to innovate. There are lobby bodies that promote imports and stall local development. If there is a ban, then local development will have to be made which the lobbies may not want," an official said. As regards the opportunity for the Indian space sector, he said Russia may like to source some components from India and hence the latter can be a trading partner. Industry officials said ISRO should accelerate its SSLV programme. The small satellite launch market is increasing with 90 per cent of the satellite launches in recent times being small ones. Similarly, the private rocket makers should also gear up and realise their vehicles faster. "The Indian government has to come out with a PLI scheme for the space sector like it has done for semiconductors, electronics and other sectors. The PLI scheme should be focused on defence, aerospace and electronics," Giri said. The government could ask the Indian companies signing up satellite sourcing deals with foreign companies to localise the manufacturing. "The Indo-UK joint venture OneWeb has not leveraged Indian opportunity. ISRO can offer to launch OneWeb's satellites with its GSLV rocket," Giri remarked. Recently, the board of OneWeb -- jointly owned by India's Bharti Global and the UK government -- voted to suspend satellite launches from the Baikonur rocket port in Russia. Further, the Indian government could ask the domestic companies signing up satellite service ventures with foreign companies to localise their manufacturing, Giri suggested. The Indian government is focusing on the startup ecosystem for the space sector. Once the system is in place, perhaps then the government can ask the major players to localise their needs, he added. (Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in) Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War New Delhi, March 12 : As India kicks off local manufacturing of semiconductors to cut dependency on China, the shortage of raw material amid the Russia-Ukraine war which, if lingers for a longer period of time, may hamper the countrys dream to produce high-end semiconductors and become their global hub. The government recently set up the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and approved Rs 76,000 crore ($10 billion) for the development of semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country. The Rs 76,000 crore Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme will be spread across six years. As part of the scheme, incentives worth Rs 2.3 lakh crore will be provided to position India as a global hub. With geopolitical tensions now extending from Asia to Europe and from semiconductor manufacturing to raw material supply, Indian players need to re-evaluate capacity expansion and investment decisions, say experts. Some raw materials exported from Russia and Ukraine, such as rare gas neon, chemical C4F6 and metals palladium, nickel, platinum, rhodium and titanium are critical for semiconductor manufacturing. Palladium is used in component production, like for the substrate in PCB. However, precious metals such as palladium, platinum and rhodium are mainly used in the catalytic converters for vehicles, according to Counterpoint Research. Titanium nitride (TiN) is a widely used material for semiconductor manufacturing as a diffusion barrier. According to experts, black swan events, such as the ongoing war, have the potential to cause a significant strain on global supply chains, including potentially impacting chip capacity and spiking chip prices. "In an interconnected and intertwined world, India will also face some direct or indirect impact in its electronics manufacturing," Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, told IANS. The unavailability of crucial upstream raw materials -- such as semiconductor-grade neon or palladium -- "could have a cascading impact through the supply chain, and impacting especially those manufacturers in Asia, who are reliant on Ukraine", Ram said. The PLI and the scheme for promotion of manufacturing of electronic components and semiconductors (SPECS), among others, have triggered the shift of manufacturing from other countries to India. In such a scenario, raw material shortage may derail the country's dream. Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), said that there should be no major impact on the semiconductor market in the country due to the Ukraine crisis. "However, since oil prices have gone up, several commodities are becoming costlier. Overall, the consumer electronics industry may face a short-term price fluctuation if the prices of raw material that come from Ukraine keep going up and the situation does not stabilise soon," Mohindroo told IANS. According to Brady Wang from Counterpoint Research, small and medium chipmakers and allied businesses may face increased supply pressure owing to exhausted inventories and the difficulty in connecting with new sources if the conflict continues. "Rapidly rising metal (nickel and palladium) prices will represent a new impediment to the revival of the automotive market if the conflict continues," he said. In the medium term, the lack of the aforementioned raw materials will have little influence on semiconductor producers. The situation will be managed through existing inventory and other suppliers. However, it is inevitable that prices will rise significantly. "If the conflict persists, supply chain uncertainty will keep raw material inventories at higher levels for a longer length of time. Supply chain management will become more complicated as well," Wang noted. The worldwide chip shortage will exist well into the last part of 2022, and possibly even 2023, according to the latest US Commerce Department report on semiconductor supply chain. Manufacturers have already seen their stocks of semiconductors plunge amid the global chip shortage. A recent survey of more than 150 firms found that supplies had fallen from an average of 40 days' worth in 2019 to just five days in late 2021. (Nishant Arora can be reached at nishant.a@ians.in) Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Two people admitted their involvement in an Auburn robbery on the Fourth of July. Enrique Torres, 26, of Auburn, and Julian Byer, 23, of the town of Cayuga, each pleaded guilty in Cayuga County Court to first-degree robbery, a class B felony, acting Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci announced in a news release Friday. Torres was one of three people initially charged in the July 4 incident, which occurred in the area of Janet Street. The others charged were Anthony Torres and Deja Brown. Byer was charged later that month. The district attorney's office said the indictment alleged that both Byer and Enrique Torres admitted they and their co-defendants stole money and jewelry from a person. The victim was also struck multiple times and threatened with a loaded 9-mm handgun. Byer is set to get 15 years in state prison, with five years of post-release supervision. Enrique Torres is facing 13 years in state prison, with five years of post-release supervision. Torres also pleaded to an unrelated charge of criminal sale of a controlled substance, a class B felony, and is expected to get 10 years in state prison and three years of post-release supervision for that offense. Byer will be sentenced May 5 while Enrique Torres is scheduled for sentencing May 12. Grome Antonacci said in an email to The Citizen Friday that Byer and Torres originally had additional charges related to the robbery that were satisfied by their pleas. Thanks to the quick actions of the Auburn Police Department, these individuals were quickly apprehended and brought to justice. We have zero tolerance for violent crime of any kind," Grome Antonacci said in the news release. The cases for Brown and Anthony Torres are both pending, Grome Antonacci said. They were both previously charged with one count of first-degree robbery and two counts of second-degree robbery. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 4 New Delhi, March 12 : The highest decision making body of the Congress -- the Congress Working Committee (CWC) is to meet on Sunday at 4 p.m. to discuss the poll debacle in five states. The meeting comes in the wake of the G23 leaders putting pressure on the party to advance the internal polls and had met at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence. The G23 leaders in the meeting on Friday discussed the issue that there should be no more delay in electing the new president of the party and an AICC session should be called in to discuss the poll debacle, sources said. Sources also said that it is necessary to fix the accountability for the poll debacle and urgent changes are required in the composition of the CWC. Sources said that the organisational polls were also discussed in the meeting at Azad's residence. The meeting was held a day after party's drubbing in the Assembly elections held in five states. The Group-23 (G-23) leaders who met at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence included Senior Congress leaders Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Anand Sharma and Akhilesh Prasad Singh while some leaders joined virtually. There is simmering tension within the Congress after the poll debacle, and the G-23 leaders are reportedly miffed with the style of functioning of the party leadership. Hyderabad, March 12 : Telugu film producer Bellamkonda Suresh on Saturday denied allegations that he and his son and actor Bellamkonda Sai Srinivas cheated a financier to the tune of Rs 85 lakh. A day after Hyderabad police booked a case of cheating against them on a complaint by V.L. Sravan Kumar, the producer, alleged that Kumar made the allegations to financially blackmail them. Suresh said they would wage a legal battle against Kumar. He claimed that there is no truth in the allegation that he and his son took Rs 85 lakh from Kumar to make a film. "He has not given us even a rupee. Let him produce the evidence that we took money from him," he said. The producer alleged that by making such allegations Kumar was trying to blackmail and extort money from them. Stating that the complainant hailed from their village, Suresh said he used to phone him for cinema tickets. Claiming that he used to speak to local distributor and arrange tickets for him every week, Suresh said such a man was now making allegations against them. The producer said the man was jealous of their success and deliberately dragged the name of his son as he was just settling down in his career. "The allegations are aimed at damaging my son's image. If he could not prove that we took Rs 85 lakh from him, we will file a defamation suit and will also initiate criminal proceedings against him," he said. Suresh also alleged that there is a political leader behind Kumar. He said he would soon reveal the name of the political leader along with the evidence. Suresh said he has still not received any notice from court or police in connection with the case filed by Kumar. He promised to extend full cooperation to police in the investigation. A case of cheating was booked against Suresh on Friday on the direction of a city court. Kumar had approached the court complaining that the producer and his son took the money in instalments from him during 2018 to make a movie. The petitioner claimed that the producer had promised to take him as assistant producer for a film to be made under the direction of Malineni Gopichand. The financier informed the court that believing their word he paid them the amount but they cheated him. The court had directed the police to book a case against Suresh and Srinivas. The CCS police booked a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 417, 420 (cheating) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) As part of the investigation, the police asked the complainant to appear before the investigating officer with relevant documents and record his statement. New Delhi, March 12 : Delhi Police has arrested a 21-year-old man for raping a 3-year-old girl child in the national capital, an official said here on Saturday. According to the official, the incident took place on Friday morning at the Punjabi Bagh area of west Delhi after which the girl child was admitted to a nearby hospital. "The 21-year-old accused man has been arrested," DCP Ghanshyam Bansal told IANS, adding he was known to the victim and used to reside in a nearby shanty. Accordingly, the police registered a case under sections 363 (Punishment for kidnapping) and 376 (Punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code and section 6 (Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act. "The accused was arrested on the same day of the incident," the senior official said. As per latest reports, the condition of the girl is stable and she has also been discharged from the hospital," the DCP said, adding further investigation is underway. According to the data compiled by Delhi Police, during the year 2021, as many as 1,969 women were raped in the national capital, 21.69 per cent more than the previous year. In 2020, the figure stood at 1,618. Not just rape, every figure of crime against women has an upward variation. The molestation of women rose by 17.51 per cent and eve-teasing by 17.51 per cent. However, the Delhi Police termed the rise in figures of crime as "due to conscious policy of Fair and Truthful Registration". But even as stringent laws are in place coupled with proactive approach of Delhi Police and a high solving rate of rape cases (95.48 per cent), molestation of women cases (90.98 per cent) and insult to modesty of women (85.75 per cent), the crime against women still ain't declining. One of the surprising reasons is that most of the time, the person committing a heinous crime is known to the victim, as was in the aforementioned case. Shockingly, during the year 2021, in about 98.78 per cent of rape cases, the accused were known to the victim while strangers were involved in only about 1.22 per cent cases. Los Angeles, March 12 : Hollywood star Alec Baldwin tried to arrange a settlement with Matthew Hutchins, the widower of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot on the sets of the Western film 'Rust' last October, reports 'Variety'. The settlement would have allowed filmmakers to complete the film. Baldwin revealed the efforts in an arbitration filing against Ryan Smith, the lead producer on the film, and against Rust Move Productions LLC, the production entity, on Friday (U.S. Pacific Standard Time). Baldwin had two phone conversations with Matthew Hutchins in January, in which he discussed the proposed settlement using a combination of insurance proceeds and a portion of the film's profits to compensate Matthew and his son. However, the settlement discussions ended when Matthew filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and others in the film last month. Baldwin's attorneys are seeking to invoke the indemnification clause of his producer contract, which would force Smith and the production entity to assume liability for all legal claims and pay Baldwin's defense costs. The filing also provides a detailed narrative of Baldwin's involvement in the film. Baldwin has emphasized that he was involved with the film in the capacity of a "creative" producer on the project, and was not involved in hiring the crew. The filing also notes that Baldwin, as an actor, would not have had any role in checking the gun to make sure it did not contain live rounds. As per 'Variety', in the arbitration filing, Baldwin states that he took the lead in persuading Souza and the primary cast to complete the film, as part of a proposed settlement that would compensate Matthew Hutchins and his son. The filing also notes that the actor began discussions with other producers as early as November 3 on a possible settlement, but that the other producers - notably Smith - did not play an active role in such talks. The filing, accessed by 'Variety', states, "No one who had been involved in 'Rust' is eager to return to New Mexico." "It was only after an enormous input of time and work that Baldwin was able to convince each of the primary actors needed to complete the film and the film's director Souza - who had been injured in that day's events - that finishing 'Rust' was an important step in honoring Halyna Hutchins's memory and talent, defining her legacy, and, in turn, providing financial support to her family", the filing further stated. New Delhi, March 12 : The Reserve Bank of India has lifted the restrictions on the business generating activities planned under HDFC Bank's 'Digital 2.0' programme. "We wish to inform you that the RBI vide its letter dated March 11, 2022 has lifted the restrictions on the business generating activities planned under the Bank's Digital 2.0 programme," the bank said in a regulatory filing on Saturday. "The members of the Board of Directors have taken note of the said RBI letter." According to the bank, it is fully committed to ensuring continued adherence to the highest standards of compliance with RBI recommendations. "We have utilised this time to draw up short, medium, and long-term plans to meet the evolving digital requirements of our customers and we will roll out these initiatives in the days to come." In August last year, RBI had relaxed the restrictions on the bank and allowed the lender to issue new credit cards. However, the restrictions on all new launches of the digital business generating activities planned under 'Digital 2.0' were to be reviewed by the RBI. In December 2020, the RBI directed HDFC Bank to temporarily stop all launches of the 'Digital Business' generating activities and sourcing of new credit card customers on certain incidents of outages in the Internet banking, mobile banking and payment utilities of the bank over the past two years. Moscow, March 12 : Google-owned streaming platform YouTube has said it is now blocking Kremlin-backed media outlets globally -- not just in Europe where two Russia state-affiliated channels, Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, along with their subsidiaries, were sanctioned by the European Union last week. According to TechCrunch, this goes above and beyond any legal mandates to block this content -- but is not entirely unprecedented; last week Apple pulled RT and Sputnik's apps from its global App Stores following a request by Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov. That said, YouTube's wording suggests it may be going further than barring the six (in total) RT and Sputnik entities the EU has sanctioned -- as the company writes that it is now "blocking access to YouTube channels associated with Russian state-funded media globally", the report said. While the expanded YouTube blocks on Russian state media are "effective immediately", per an update to the policy the platform just tweeted out, it also warns it may take time for the change to take effect -- writing that "we expect our systems to take time to ramp up". In another new step, YouTube said it will be carrying out Ukraine-focused enforcement of certain existing policies from its Community Guidelines -- which prohibit content that denies, minimises or trivialises "well-documented violent events". New Delhi, March 12 : We always cherish an expensive purchase. What is it that makes them so worth it? Maybe it's the pure, extravagance of the thing. Maybe it's the information that even the most transient of such delights will endure in one's memory. The rise of pre-owned luxury items is increasing at a fast rate because the idea is based on sustainability, it acts as a means of alternative fashion consumption, leads to digitalisation and has an advantage of affordability. Namisha Gupta, Founder Retag shares tip on how to sell pre-owned luxury items online: . Selling items at the right price: Everyone loves a good deal especially when it comes to luxury items. In a world where there are plenty of places to shop from, a good price is what makes the items stand out from the rest and convince the consumers to buy them. It is said that the higher the price, the slower the sale cycle will be. Hence, one has to be clever when it comes to pricing their luxury items. . Shipping and personalisation: When it comes to luxury items, packaging has to be intact which helps to support the validity of your product. It is also highly recommended to include a small thank you note for the customer. This really counts and ensures that the customer is touched enough to write a review for your product. . Ensuring perfect pictures and videos of products: Pictures and videos are the first things an online shopper sees. For luxury products, perfect pictures ensure you have a competitive edge, boost your platform's image, help the customers understand better about your products and drive a significant number of sales. Nicely designed videos of the product also play the same role in gaining traction. . Promoting your luxury items: You cannot sell your luxury items unless you promote them. Learning and using social media marketing, SEO (search engine optimization) tools, ad sales and many more tools are essential. These tools speed up the process of acquiring customers for your motives. . How to sell: You can sell your pre-owned luxury items by creating your own website which should gradually be your main platform to acquire sales from. Selling pre-owned luxury items is all about the experience. An online presence doesn't have to detract from the conventional luxury experience. It should mean to supplement it by giving a selection of channels for buyer inclinations and convey an extraordinary encounter that the customers decide to connect with. (N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe can be contacted at lothungbeni.h@ians.in) -IANS lh/tb/ Hyderabad, March 12 : Telangana's municipal administration and urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday said the state government will disconnect electricity and water supplies to military authorities in Secunderabad Cantonment if they do not stop causing inconvenience to the people. Speaking in the State Legislative Assembly, he said if the military authorities failed to mend their ways the government will be compelled to take strong action, and if necessary, will stop power and water supplies. Taking exception to closure of roads and certain other actions of military authorities, Rama Rao said both sides need to have mutual cooperation when they are living in a city. KTR, as the minister is popularly known, was replying to a question on Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP) during the question hour. KTR, who is son of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, said the military authorities should understand that Telangana is not a different country. "Our officials will hold a meeting with them. If they don't understand, we have to take strong action. If needed, we will cut water supplies to them," he said. He said the defence authorities closed several roads in Cantonment area causing severe inconvenience to people and despite the state government taking up the issue several times with the Centre, they have not reopened the roads. He alleged that the defence authorities were also creating hurdles in executing SNDP works. The minister asked the special chief secretary to immediately call a meeting with local military authorities and the Cantonment Board. He made it clear that the state government is ready to go to any extent to protect the interests of the people. He told the House that the military authorities also constructed a check dam on Balkapur nala resulting in inundation of Nadeem Colony due to backwaters from Shah Hatam pond. He said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was also not allowing the municipal authorities to release the water from the pond downstream near Golconda Fort. KTR slammed the Centre saying it neither provides funds for works like SRDP nor allow the state government to do its work. He said the Centre has not provided even a rupee for SRDP, whose first phase alone is estimated to cost Rs 985 crore. The minister said when he approached the Centre for funds for SRDP, they advised the state to join the AMRUT scheme. "The scheme is for cities above one lakh population. The population of Hyderabad is more than a crore. Rs 200 crore to 300 crore will serve no purpose," he said. KTR said Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy is a member of the Lok Sabha from Secunderabad constituency but has not been able to bring financial assistance from the Centre for SNDP. He said the Centre has not provided even a paisa towards relief works in Hyderabad following floods of October 2020. He said the central ministers and leaders visited the city after floods and posed for photographs but did not nothing. KTR said when there were floods in Gujarat, the Prime Minister himself visited the affected areas and announced flood relief of Rs 1,000 crore. New Delhi, March 12 : Demanding justice, members of the Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora and the All India Kashmiri Samaj staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here on Saturday. The demonstration was also joined by Congress leader and senior lawyer Vivek Tankha. The Kashmir issue once again gained momentum after the release of the Vivek Agnihotri directed Bollywood film 'The Kashmir Files'. Highlighting the government's 'apathetic' nature, Vivek Tankha said: "There will be protests if justice is not served for 32 years. Lakhs of people fled the Valley, many were killed, women were raped, and houses were burnt to ashes. But was anyone punished? Would anyone dare to go back? We cannot go to Kashmir if it is not safe, even though we are Indians. "The government had a responsibility, both yesterday and today. We travel all over the world thinking that one day we will go back to Kashmir. Therefore, we are here asking for justice." Talking about the reluctance of the policymakers to discuss the Kashmir issue in the Parliament, Kashi, the coordinator of 'Global Kashmiri Pandit Pravasi' in the NCR, said: "We are holding the protest at Jantar Mantar so that our voices reach the government. For 32 years, no one has discussed our displacement in the Parliament. Till date, no legal action has been taken against the criminals and murderers. They have all gone scot-free. "The government has not taken cognizance of the displacement of Kashmiri Hindus till date. The state governments have also ignored our issues. We, the Hindus from Kashmir, deserve to have a voice and be settled in the Valley safely." In 1989, Kashmiri Hindu leader Pandit Tika Lal Taploo was assassinated in Srinagar. A few months later in 1990, members of the Hizbul Mujahideen warned Hindus to leave the Valley, which was also carried by a Srinagar-based Urdu newspaper. After this, fearing for their lives, scores of Kashmiri Pandits decided to flee. However, even after 30 years, they are still awaiting justice. As per data, there were 75,343 families in Kashmir in January 1990, of which more than 70,000 migrated from the Valley between 1990 and 1992. According to estimated figures, 399 Kashmiri Pandits were murdered between 1990 and 2011. Certain news portals may have a small blurb next to an article headline that tells the reader the time it will take them to read it -- usually five minutes or less. The feature, which can be found on some online editing tools too, seems a rather telling indictment of our contemporary time-stressed, hyper-regimented life, but it is unclear why it's confined to reading only. Supposing this trend gets transplanted to books as well? Will it work on what are known, in the literary realm, as "doorstoppers", or works so thick and heavy, say over 500 to 1,000 pages or more, that they can be used as the eponymous article. For such books, the reading time will need to be measured in weeks, or months, and for the casual, not very committed, readers, it could stretch to a year. While many comprehensive and leading dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and textbooks, from various realms of sciences to law to computer languages, are doorstoppers, the category is still common in fiction. These must be differentiated from omnibus editions in which two or three "medium-sized" works of an author, or even more than one author, are printed together. Doorstoppers in fiction usually comprise what we call literary classics, say George Eliot's "Middlemarch" (nearly 900 pages), or Count Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" (more than 1,000 pages in most editions), or Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote" (nearly or over 1,000 pages, depending on the edition). They can also be about titanic conflicts between good and evil -- everything from Alexander Dumas' grand revenge saga "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1,000 pages plus in most editions) to the Harry Potter series (particularly, the last four installments, with "The Order of the Phoenix" being 700-800 pages, depending on the edition), to grand sweeps of history, spanning several generations, as by authors such as James Michener and James Clavell, or romances (Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With The Wind", 900-1,000 pages), or a mixture of all, say M.M. Kaye's "The Far Pavilions" (over 950 pages). And you can count on them to have tons of characters -- "The Count of Monte Cristo" begins with half a dozen and goes on to have three dozen prominent ones by the time it gets into high gear. Others have no shortage and some helpfully have a list of characters, usually at the beginning, to help you keep track. The advent of technology has made actual doorstoppers rather rare, as e-readers and tablets can accommodate a whole host of the bulkiest books, saving avid readers the chore of lugging them around -- though some aficionados still do. Owning these is also a mark of pride for fervent book owners for the gravitas they confer upon their bookshelves. Let us look at some doorstoppers across various genres. As mentioned, literary classics, by the likes of Tolstoy -- whose family name derives from the Russian word "tolstii" (meaning thick or stout), or by his compatriot Fyodor Dostoyevsky, or others, such as Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, or Dumas, turn out to be doorstoppers, since they were paid by the page, and seem to have made the most of it. Most of their famous works began as serial installments, so they did not consciously -- it can be assumed -- set out to write heavy tomes. Dumas was a master. His "The Three Musketeers" is the first of the three novels that comprise the D'Artagnan Romances, and was followed by "Twenty Years After" -- both are at least 700 pages-plus in most editions. The final installment, "The Vicomte de Bragelonne", is usually divided into three, or more, books -- the last being "The Man in the Iron Mask", and each one of them is over 700-800 pages long. Dickens was not far behind - of his 14 completed novels, eight, including "The Pickwick Papers", "Nicholas Nickleby", "David Copperfield", and "Our Mutual Friend" are well over 800 pages in most editions, and some span 1,000 pages plus with annotations and footnotes. But the tradition continues beyond the 19th century. J.R.R. Tolkien's epic high fantasy adventure "The Lord of the Rings", well-known due to the films, is a prime example. Though Tolkien wanted it published as one, it was eventually published as three volumes of two books each -- "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King" -- between July 1954 and October 1955, due to various reasons, such as paper shortage, high production costs, and the publishers' uncertainty about its reception. Happily, the publishers subsequently published it together -- a special hardcover and illustrated edition that came out in 2021 consisted of 1,248 pages each and a paperback, 1,216 pages. Even before him, there was Kathleen Winsor's bestselling historical romance "Forever Amber" (1944), set in mid 17th-century England when the monarchy was restored under Charles II. It tells of orphaned Amber St. Clare, who makes her way up in society by sleeping with and/or marrying successively richer and more important men, while nursing her unattainable love. It was promptly censured by the Catholic Church, making it a bestseller. What keeps the book, which is 992 pages in its Penguin paperback edition, from being a forerunner of Jackie Collins or, say, Shobha De is the meticulous historical research covering Restoration fashion, and titbits, such as how the tea habit took over England, as well as contemporary politics, and public disasters, including the plague and the Great Fire of London. Austrian writer Robert Musil's modernist work "The Man Without Qualities'' (first published in 1930 in German; 1953 in English) is a quasi-allegorical, existential -- and satirical -- look at the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg empire in its twilight era, just before World War I. The principal protagonist is a rather vague, ambivalent, and indifferent mathematician named Ulrich, the "man without qualities", who depends on the world to mould him. The work also shows how a celebration of international peace and imperial unity leads to national chauvinism, war, and collapse. It was unfinished, but the English version is over 1,150 pages, while the original German one, over 2,100. After "normal-size" works such as the inter-racial love story "Sayonara" (1954) and depiction of a radically different Afghanistan in "Caravans" (1963), Michener began producing doorstoppers with his multi-generational pageants set in a specific geographical area. "Hawaii" (1959) is 1,136 pages in paperback; "The Source" (1965), where a team of archaeologists excavate a mound in Israel, and their story is interspersed with an account from each level they unearth, is 1,104 pages in paperback; "Caribbean" (1989), spanning from Columbus to Castro or thereabouts, is around 900 pages. Several other works in this tradition, whether dealing with a specific American state -- Texas (1,472 pages), Alaska (1,152) or Colorado (1,104) -- or countries such as Poland (around 700 pages), or South Africa (1,200), are also bulky reads. Francis Edward Wintle a.k.a. Edward Rutherfurd also follows the same pattern, moving through the millennia of whatever area he dwells upon, featuring lots and lots of characters and not stinting on details. "Russka: The Novel of Russia" (1991) is 1,024 pages long; "London" (1997), the story of the city from Roman times to the present, covers 1,328 pages; and "New York" (900 to 1,050 pages in various paperback editions). The last four books of Clavell's "Asian Saga" are more than 1,000 pages long, including "Shogun" (1975), set in the Japan of the 1600s, is 1,136 pages, and "Noble House" (1981), which is about Hong Kong in the 1960s, is 1,296 pages -- though the latter's timespan, after an interlude from the past, is a few days only. The penchant for doorstoppers still persists. Horror maestro Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series started with "The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger" (1982) at a modest 225 or so pages, but "The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass" (1997) went up to 887 pages, and the last -- "The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower" (2004) -- stretched to 845. Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" saga's fourth part, "Breaking Dawn" (2008), is well over 700 pages. Some Indian writers also qualify. Vikram Seth's "A Suitable Boy" (1993) can run to 1,500 pages in some editions, while Vikram Chandra's Mumbai crime saga, "Sacred Games" (2006), is nearly or over 1,000 pages, depending on the edition. Doorstoppers, besides satiating avid readers, can also serve as makeshift exercise equipment -- just holding them up to read will work wonders for hand and arm muscles and wrist flexibility, and even as a weapon, giving an entirely new meaning to the idiom "throw the book at". Who said books only catered to the mind? (Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in) As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, some in the Cayuga County community are collecting donations to help those affected by the conflict, and showing support for them: Checks can be mailed or brought to SS. Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church, 136 Washington St., Auburn. Other means of donating are available at facebook.com/peterpaulucc. The church is also hosting a citywide prayer service at 6 each evening, and is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily for people who want to pray for Ukraine. For more information, call the church at (315) 252-5573. An Auburn restaurant is donating proceeds of a special meal to the SS. Peter & Paul collection. Through Sunday, Octane Social House is offering a Ukrainian meal of kielbasa, kapusta and Kris pierogis, dine-in or take-out, for $20, with the restaurant donating 25% to the relief fund and an anonymous donor chipping in another 25%. Order in-person at the restaurant, 41 Genesee St., by phone at (845) 795-8191 or online at www.toasttab.com/octane-social-house-41-genesee-st. Another supply drive will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Sunday, March 13, during the monthly pancake breakfast of the Owasco Fire Department at 7174 Owasco Road, Owasco. Scout Troop 21 will collect medical supplies (analgesics, antiseptic wipes, saline solution, bandages, gauze, medical gloves and tape, and topical treatments) at the breakfast, and financial donations will also be accepted. SS. Peter & Paul will host a gathering to support the people of Ukraine at noon Sunday, March 13, at Memorial City Hall, 24 South St., Auburn. Flags and signs of support will be welcome. 'It's just a tragedy': Auburn's Ukrainian community reacts to invasion Nataliia Shynkarenko went to bed Wednesday night wondering how she would break the news to her daughters. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Mumbai, March 12 : Producer Guneet Monga, who is known for films like 'The Lunchbox'. 'Peddlers', 'Shahid' and 'Gangs of Wasseypur', has praised actress Sanya Malhotra calling her one of the finest actors of her generation. The producer opines that the 'Dangal' actress' ability to internalize her characters and become a different person altogether for her portrayals is what sets Sanya apart from her contemporaries and makes her a strong choice for Guneet's production. Sharing her thoughts on working with Sanya and why she was the apt choice for the upcoming project 'Kathal', Guneet said, "Sanya is definitely one of the finest actors we have today. She is sensitive and extremely hard working. She internalizes the characters so deeply and I am in awe of her process. For us at Sikhya, Sanya is always a strong choice." Recollecting her experience of earlier working with Sanya, the producer said, "We had an incredible association with her during 'Pagglait' and now with our next movie titled 'Kathal', we are excited to embark on yet another journey with her. Can't wait for the audiences to experience Sanya's charm all over agai. Gurugram, March 12 : In a major breakthrough, a team from the cyber crime police station of Gurugram Police has bused a fake call centre and arrested 38 persons, including nine women, who used to dupe people on the pretext of recovering loans given via online Chinese and other loan applications. As part of their modus operandi, the accused used to edit photos of their victims with nude (obscene) photos and send them to their friends and relatives through WhatsApp. The culprits then used to send threat messages through WhatsApp to the victims. The police have recovered Rs 1.70 lakh in cash, 27 laptops and 44 mobile phones from their possession. According to the police, the SHO of cyber crime police station, Bijender Singh, received information that a fake call centre located on the first floor of Plot No-26 in Udyog Vihar Phase-1 was being run without prior permission and extorting money from innocent people. A team was constituted which conducted a raid at the fake call centre on Friday and arrested 38 persons in connection with the case. "The arrested persons disclosed that the owner of the call centre was Abhinav, a resident of Kheri Hojdarpur village in Jhajjar district, and Shantanu Kaushik from Rohini, Delhi," said Preet Pal Sangwan, ACP (Crime). Their accomplices, Manish Kumar from Delhi and Pradeep Kumar from Bhiwani, used to provide secret information of the victims to them, which they used to threaten people. "The culprits used to provide loans through different online apps, including TX, PF, KARTA LOAN, SPEED LOAN, SUPER WALLET etc.," Sangwan said. "To put pressure on the victims, the accused also adopted several tactics to extort money from them even before the prescribed time. They used morph photos and videos of people and share them with their contact list and recover money through different UPI IDs," Sangwan added. Srinagar, March 12 : The Army on Saturday paid rich tributes to Major Sankalp Yadav and Lance Havildar Bhonde Chandrasekhar Rupchand, who had made the supreme sacrifice while serving the institution. In a solemn ceremony at BB Cantt, Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, GOC-in-C Northern Command and all ranks, paid homage to the gallant soldiers. An Army Cheetah helicopter had crashed on Friday in Baraub area of Gurez in Bandipora district, while on a routine mission to evacuate an ailing soldier from a forward post. Major Sankalp Yadav was 29 years old and was commissioned in the Indian Army in 2015. He belonged to Civil Lines, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The braveheart is survived by his father. Lance Havildar Bhonde Chandrasekhar Rupchand was on a QRT duty, when the vehicle he was travelling in, met with an accident near Kalaroos. The braveheart had fallen out of the vehicle and had rolled down into a valley. Immediate rescue operations were launched and Lance Havildar Bhonde Chandrasekhar Rupchand was evacuated to a military hospital, wherein he succumbed to his injuries. He was 34 years old and had joined the Indian Army in 2008. He belonged to village Dongar Gaon, Distt Bhandara, Maharashtra. The Braveheart is survived by his wife. "The mortal remains of Maj Sankalp Yadav and Lance Havildar Bhonde Chandrasekhar Rupchand will be taken for last rites to their respective native places, where they would be laid to rest with full military honours. In this hour of grief, the Army stands in solidarity with the bereaved families and remains committed to their dignity and well-being," the Army said. New Delhi, March 12 : India and China discussed resolving the existing border dispute along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) during the 15th round of Corp commanders level talks held on Friday, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday. Both countries carried forward their discussions from the previous round held on January 12, 2022 for the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western Sector. The joint statement issued by the Ministry of Defence in India on Saturday stated that the 15th round China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side on March 11, 2022. The two sides carried forward their discussions from the previous round held on 12th January 2022 for the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western Sector. "They had a detailed exchange of views in this regard, in keeping with the guidance provided by the State Leaders to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest," said the statement. They reaffirmed that such a resolution would help restore peace and tranquility along the LAC in the Western Sector and facilitate progress in bilateral relations. "The two sides also agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector in the interim," the statement said. They agreed to maintain dialogue via military and diplomatic channels to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest. Fourteen rounds of talks till now have resulted in the resolution of the North and South Bank of Pangong Tso, Galwan and Gogra Hot Spring areas. Both sides are now focusing to achieve resolution of the rest of the friction areas. India and China have been engaged in a border dispute for around two years. Chennai, March 12 : Actress Aditi Balan, who shot to limelight with her impressive performance in the critically-acclaimed Tamil film 'Aruvi', on Saturday put out a list of her favourite things in life. Taking to Instagram, the actress said, "Being in the forest, trekking to such amazing spots, listening to the voices of birds and insects, sound of the stream flowing nearby, beautiful sunsets, meeting new people everytime I travel, learning names of plants and birds, away from connectivity, digital detoxing, local food from the places I travel to, silence and pauses ... These are a few of my favourite things." Although the actress posted pictures of her in the company of nature, she added, "Pictures won't do justice to the place." Earlier in the week, the actress had also posted more pictures of her enjoying nature and had quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson's famous statement, "In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life,-no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair." New Delhi, March 12 : The Russian Defence Ministry claimed at 9 am Moscow time on Saturday that units of the People's Militia in the Donetsk Republic, with fire support from Russian armed forces, took control of Valerianovka, Zeleny Gai and blocked Novoandreevka from the south and east. The grouping of troops of the Lugansk People's Republic, continuing its offensive operations, took control of Surovtsevka, Schedrischevo and Zhitlovka, besides blocking Rubezhnoe. It claimed that the Russian armed forces, continuing their offensive on a broad front, reached Novodonetskoe, Novomayorskoe and Pavlovka. The advance was 21 km. On Saturday morning, high-precision long-range weapons attacked Ukraine's military infrastructure. The military airfield in Vasylkov and the main centre of radio and electronic intelligence of the Ukrainian armed forces in Brovory have been disabled, it claimed. The Russian aviation and military air defence also shot down five unmanned aerial vehicles, including two Bayraktar TB-2 and one Tochka-U tactical missile. Operational-tactical and army aviation hit 145 military assets of the Ukrainian armed forces, Russia claimed. In total, during the operation, 3,491 objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine were disabled, it said. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, March 12: As the war of words between the United States and Russia intensifies on the implementation of military biological programmes on the territory of Ukraine, India has underlined the importance of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) as a key global and non-discriminatory disarmament Convention which prohibits an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. At a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) emergency meeting called to address related concerns in the conflict zone on Friday, India said that it has noted the recent statements from States and wider information regarding biological activities relating to Ukraine. "It is important to ensure full and effective implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in letter and spirit. We also believe that any matters relating to obligations under the BTWC should be addressed as per the provisions of the Convention, and through consultation and cooperation between the parties concerned," said India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti. The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) effectively prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons. It was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). "Biological weapons disseminate disease-causing organisms or toxins to harm or kill humans, animals or plants. They can be deadly and highly contagious. Diseases caused by such weapons would not confine themselves to national borders and could spread rapidly around the world," states the UN. It insists that the BWC is a key element in the international community's efforts to address WMD proliferation and has established a strong norm against biological weapons with the Convention reaching almost universal membership with 183 States Parties and four Signatory States. Earlier this week, Moscow had said that the Russian Defence Ministry continues to study materials on the implementation of military biological programs of the United States and its NATO allies on the territory of Ukraine. The Kremlin revealed that information received from various sources confirms the leading role of the US Defence Threat Reduction Agency in financing and conducting military biological research on the territory of Ukraine. It said that details of the UP-4 project became known, which was implemented with the participation of laboratories in Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa and was designed for the period up to 2020. "Its purpose was to study the possibility of the spread of particularly dangerous infections through migrating birds, including highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza, the mortality rate of which reaches 50 percent for humans, as well as Newcastle disease," it said while releasing "updates on results of analysis of documents related to military biological activities of the US in Ukraine". The US had immediately rubbished the claims, saying that the "Russian disinformation is total nonsense" with the Chinese officials also echoing these "conspiracy theories". "The United States does not own or operate any chemical or biological laboratories in Ukraine, it is in full compliance with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and Biological Weapons Convention, and it does not develop or possess such weapons anywhere," the US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement on Wednesday. Russia also distributed a national document "on the issue of possible chemical provocations in Ukraine" at the UNSC on Friday. It said that Ukrainian radical groups, "under the control of representatives of the American intelligence services", have prepared several possible scenarios for the use of toxic chemicals to carry out various kinds of provocations. Insisting that the purpose of such actions is to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons against the civilian population and violating its obligations, Moscow revealed that on the night of March 9, Ukrainian nationalists brought 80 tonnes of ammonia to the village of Zolochiv northwest of Kharkov. "According to information coming directly from the scene, the radicals are instructing the civilian population on how to behave in the zone of chemical contamination. We inform the States Parties to the Convention that such preparations clearly indicate preparations for the use of toxic chemicals," the document stated. Meanwhile, India also expressed its concern over the ongoing situation in Ukraine, reiterating that dialogue will lead to the ending of hostilities. "We sincerely hope the ongoing direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine would lead to cessation of hostilities. There is no other alternative except the path of diplomacy and dialogue. The dire humanitarian situation needs immediate and urgent attention," said Tirumurti at the UNSC meeting. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, March 12 : The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) is now shifting its war to neighbouring Pakistan as it comes under mounting pressure from the Taliban in Afghanistan, which has waged a fierce war against IS-K militants since seizing power in August last year, RFE/RL reported. IS-K has claimed responsibility for a string of high-profile attacks in Pakistan, underscoring the growing threat it poses to the predominately Muslim nation of some 220 million people. In the deadliest attack, an IS-K suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shiite mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar on March 4, killing at least 64 people and wounding scores of others. It was the most lethal attack in Pakistan in nearly four years. Since it first emerged in 2015, Islamic State's local affiliate in Afghanistan has focused its violent campaign within that country, fighting against Afghan and foreign forces as well as the Taliban, a rival militant group. Experts believe IS-K militants have moved from their bases in Afghanistan and established cells in major Pakistani cities, RFE/RL reported. The IS-K assaults have provoked fear and alarm in Pakistan, which has also witnessed a dramatic surge in attacks by the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a rival extremist group that has close ties with the Afghan Taliban. IS-K has already carried out five attacks this year. On March 8, IS-K claimed responsibility for a roadside bomb that killed five members of the security forces and wounded 28 people others in southwestern Pakistan. The growing attacks prompted Moazzam Jah Ansari, the police chief in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to declare IS-K a "bigger threat to peace and security in the province compared to the TTP". Many IS-K fighters are former members of the TTP, which was thrown into disarray and driven out of its bases in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt by a massive military offensive in 2014. But the TTP soon found itself fighting turf wars with the Afghan Taliban. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the rivalry has intensified. The Afghan militants have waged a nationwide hunt for IS-K members and even targeted the country's small Salafi minority to curb alleged support for the group from among its members. Underscoring the rivalry, the Afghan Taliban condemned IS-K's deadly attack in Peshawar. The TTP, meanwhile, said that such attacks do not align with its jihad, or holy war, in Pakistan. New Delhi, March 12 : Of the 60 members of the new Manipur Assembly, as many as 48 are crorepatis with average assets of winning candidates amounting to Rs 3.75 crore, while 23 per cent of them have criminal cases and 18 per cent have serious criminal cases registered against them. This was revealed by the Manipur Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) that analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 60 winning candidates in the Manipur Assembly elections, results of which were declared on March 10. The BJP won 32 seats, National People's Party (NPP) won seven, Janta Dal (United) six, Congress five, Naga People's Front five, Independents three while Kuki People's Alliance won two seats. Criminal cases Out of the 60 winning candidates analysed in 2022, 14 (23 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves. In 2017, two (3 per cent) MLAs had declared criminal cases against them. A total of 11 (18 per cent) winning candidates have declared serious criminal cases against them. In 2017, two (3 per cent) MLAs had declared serious criminal cases against them. Party-wise, seven (22 per cent) out of the 32 winning candidates from the BJP, four (80 per cent) out of five from Congress, one (14 per cent) out of seven from NPP, one (17 per cent) out of six from JD(U) and one (33 per cent) out of three Independents have declared criminal cases against them in their affidavits, the ADR analysis showed. Five (16 per cent) out of 32 winning candidates from BJP, four (80 per cent) out of five from Congress, one (14 per cent) out of seven from NPP and one (17 per cent) out of six from JD(U) have declared serious criminal cases against them in their affidavits. Crorepati candidates Out of the 60 winning candidates analysed, 48 (80 per cent) are crorepatis, as compared to 32 (53 per cent) in 2017. Party-wise, 25 (78 per cent) out of 32 from BJP, six (86 per cent) out of seven from NPP, all five (100 per cent) from Congress, five (83 per cent) out of six from JD(U), five (100 per cent) out of five from NPF and two (67 per cent) out of three Independents have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore. The average of assets per winning candidate is Rs 3.75 crore, compared to Rs 2.16 crore in 2017. The average assets per winning candidates for BJP is Rs 2.91 crore, Rs 3.45 crore for NPP, Rs 2.80 crore for JD(U), Rs 6.20 crore for NPF, Rs 4.38 crore for Congress, Rs 64.29 lakh for Kuki Peoples Alliance, and Rs 12.22 crore for three Independent candidates, the ADR analysis said. New Delhi, March 12 : A plea was filed in the Delhi High Court on Saturday seeking the Central government's intervention in a case of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, who was awarded a death sentence by a Yemeni Court, in connection with the murder of a Yemini citizen five years ago. The plea filed through Adv Subhash Chandran KR, by 'Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council', prayed for the High Court's direction to the Centre to facilitate negotiations with the family of the victim on behalf of the nurse to save her life by paying blood money -- compensation paid by an offender or his kin to the family of the victim -- in accordance with the law in Yemen. The plea further said that due to the socio-political situation in Yemen, travel to the Western Asian country is not allowed and there is no way for her family or well-wishers to visit Yemen and pay blood money to secure her release. "It is come to know from the lawyer who represented her before the appeal court that the option for "blood money" is kept open by the appeal court. A copy of the judgment is yet to be received and the limitation for appeal before the Supreme Judicial Council is 40 days only. If the appeal before the Supreme Judicial Council is dismissed, execution may take place any time," the plea read. It was alleged that Nimisha has been held guilty of murder after she gave sedatives to a man named Talal Abdo Mahdi who kept her passport and "kept her like a slave" in Yemen, the plea said. It also said the deceased physically and financially abused her and locked away her passport so she could not come back to India. Nimisha and a friend then gave sedatives to the deceased, leading to his death due to overdose. It also alleged that Mehdi had forged documents to show that he was married to her. He had sought his help to start her own clinic but he cheated on her financially and later started torturing her. On March 7, a Yemen court had dismissed the appeal of Nimisha Priya in the murder case in which she, along with another person, is the prime accused. Hailing from Palakkad, Nimisha, a nurse by profession, reached Yemen in 2012 with her husband. WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.Live cam network Flirt4Free this Sunday, March 13, kicks off its Saint Patricks Day celebration by adding new digital Charm tips to every chatroom, as models compete to collect the most from their fans. As with the site's successful Valentine's Day event, $20,000 in prizes, discounts and giveaways will be awarded during the festivities. The main attraction of the event is the Charms Contest, which allows users to purchase a variety of holiday-themed Charms such as emeralds, shamrocks and leprechaun gold with which to tip their favorite models. These charms are priced at 40 credits for VIPs, and 50 credits for all other members. The models who collect the most by midnight on March 17 will win the biggest cash prizes. In 2021, Eva Sin dominated her field, topping her fellow Flirts by a staggering 7,000 digital gifts to win the Saint Patricks Day Queen title. Contenders for this year's crown include the Flirt Babes, who have won a number of the sites recent contests, and Bea Sweets, who finished a close 2nd in the 2022 Valentines Day competition. As for Flirt guys, BelAmi boy Paul Morisette will defend his throne against gay cam stars including Adam Killian and Jaden Storm. Fans are encouraged to keep an eye on the @Flirt4Free Twitter feed on March 15 and 16 for a chance to win free credits during the Lucky 7 Giveaway. Watch for a special tweet and follow the instructions to enter. Winners will be announced on St. Patrick's Day. For more information on the Saint Patricks Day Celebration and Lucky 7 Giveaway, visit flirt4free.com. Affiliates interested in promoting the network will find that information here. Models whod like to participate in this and future contests, apply here. Imphal, March 12 : The Janata Dal (United) and the Naga People's Front (NPF) on Saturday announced to support the BJP-led government in Manipur, party sources said. The JD(U), which fielded 38 candidates in the recent Assembly elections, won six seats, while the NPF, which put up 10 nominees won five seats against four seats it won in the 2017 Assembly polls. National office secretary of the JD(U), Mohammad Nisar, said in a statement that in the interest of the people of Manipur, the party has decided to support the BJP in the formation of the government. The JD(U) would like to appeal to the BJP to honour the mandate reposed on the party and fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people of Manipur, the statement said. It said that the party legislators have unanimously elected Khumukcham Joykisan Singh as the leader of the legislature party of JD(U) in the presence of Afaque Ahmad Khan, national General Secretary, in-charge of northeast region. NPF Secretary General Achumbemo Kikon said the party supports the BJP government keeping in mind its association with the saffron camp since 2017. NPF sources said the party is likely to seek a few Cabinet berths in the new ministry. The BJP secured absolute majority on its own and retained power in Manipur for the second consecutive term by winning 32 seats in the 60-member Assembly. The BJP came to power in Manipur for the first time in 2017, in alliance with four National People's Party (NPP) MLAs, four NPF members, the lone Trinamool Congress MLA and an Independent member. The BJP's estranged ally NPP, which won seven seats, has announced to play the role of opposition party in Manipur. Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Friday met Governor La Ganesan and resigned from his post. The Governor asked him to continue in his office until the new government takes charge. There is no confirmation yet as to when the next Chief Minister would be chosen, or when the new BJP-led government would assume office. Before the elections, the BJP had informally declared that Singh will be the party's chief ministerial face and will head the next government. Bhopal, March 12 : The Madhya Pradesh High Court has granted conditional bail to nine former officials involved in Vyapam scam. Those who have been granted conditional bail are accused of cheating, forgery among other offences related to pre-medical test PMT-2013 for admissions to MBBS courses. A division bench hearing the plea said the accused would be released on furnishing a personal bond amount of Rs 1 lakh. The bench headed by Justices S. Nagu and M.S. Bhatti also imposed certain conditions on the accused persons, including that they will not seek unnecessary adjournments during the trial. Those have been granted conditional bail are -- S.N. Vijaywargiya, the former chairman of Peoples College of Medical Science and Research Centre in Bhopal; Dr Ajay Goenka, the then secretary of Chirayu Charitable Foundation Bhopal; and Suresh Singh Bhadoria, the then chairman of Mayank Welfare Society, Indore. Others granted bail are former members of Chirayu Medical College and Hospital's admission committee Dr Ravi Saxena, S.N. Saxena and Dr V.H. Bhavsar, former dean of Peoples College of Medical Science and Research Centre Dr Vijay Kumar Pandya, Arun Kumar Arora, a former employee of Index Medical College, Indore and former dean of Chirayu Medical College and Hospital Dr Virendra Mohan. In its order the court said the petitioners can't leave the country without permission of the trial court and can't indulge in extending inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case. The applicants took the ground that the CBI, which is probing the admission and recruitment scam, had filed the charge sheet in the case on February 17 before a special court at Bhopal stating that the interrogation is complete, said advocate Ajay Gupta who appeared for the petitioners. The scam in Vyapam or Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, now renamed MP Karmachari Chayan Aayog, broke out in 2013, wherein candidates had bribed officials and rigged exams by deploying impostors to write their answer sheets. The CBI had taken over the investigation following the Supreme Court order in 2015. New Delhi, March 12 : Russia has relied far more heavily on less sophisticated, so-called "dumb" bombs than it has on its arsenal of precision-guided munitions in its punishing war on Ukraine, CNN reported. It's a dynamic that US officials are watching closely for clues about the state of Russia's military -- as these indiscriminate weapons kill scores of civilians. Russia has used a combination of missiles, artillery and rocket launchers to pummel major Ukrainian cities over the past two weeks, Lt Gen Scott Berrier, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. On Friday, Russia launched a barrage of missile attacks on a wide range of targets across central and western Ukraine, causing substantial damage and using what Russia's defence ministry said were "high-precision long-range weapons". But the number of "precision-guided munitions that are being dropped from aircraft... is small," Berrier said, CNN reported. The US and Western officials said they don't know why Russia hasn't used more of these sophisticated weapons, which its Su-34 fighter-bomber fleet regularly employed, along with other unguided bombs in Syria. It's an approach some US military and intelligence officials say could signal another surprising weakness in Russia's military campaign -- or simply a terrifying willingness to employ brutal tactics that lead to countless civilian deaths in a war that many officials think could last weeks or even months. "It's hard to say at this point whether that's driven by expense, if that's driven by a lack of inventory or if that's just driven by a desire to be more brutal in the use of force," a senior NATO official said on Thursday, calling it a "big question", CNN reported. Precision-guided munitions, or PGMs, are more expensive, time-consuming and complex to produce than unguided munitions and there has long been speculation that Russia's stockpile is relatively limited. It is possible, some outside analysts say, that Russia is simply holding its PGMs in reserve for later in the conflict - or as an emergency precaution in case Russia finds itself in conflict with NATO. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War New Delhi, March 12 : Russia has said that convoys carrying foreign weapons to Ukraine will become "legitimate targets" for the Russian armed forces. Sergei Ryabkov, the country's Deputy Foreign Minister, said Russia has warned the United States of the consequences of arms transfers to Ukraine. Convoys with foreign weapons recklessly supplied to Ukraine will become legitimate targets for the Russian armed forces, he said. He also added that lists of retaliatory personal sanctions against the US and the West are ready and will be made public soon. In addition, Ryabkov said that Russia could resume a security dialogue with the US if Washington is ready for it, Ukrayinska Pravda reported. At the same time, Ryabkov noted that he "would not say that Russia's proposals on security guarantees remain fully in force, as the situation has changed". Ukraine has claimed that the Russian command has enlisted recruits and "alternatives" -- conscripts who work as community service workers instead of military service -- against Ukraine. A video made public by the Ukrainian Security Service shows a man saying that his unit, which was abandoned in Ukraine, was formed from "alternative conscripts" who were not supposed to be deployed for military operations or even tours of duty. According to the captured "alternative", their military task was to divert fire from the Ukrainian armed forces while some more trained personnel carried out military operations. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War New Delhi, March 12 : In an alarming find, a survey conducted in 2021-22 has shown that the number of Halari donkeys has dwindled to 439 in its native tract of Saurashtra, down from about 1,200 as found in the survey of 2015. This elegant donkey from the Halar region of Saurashtra is currently in a threatened state and requires immediate steps towards conservation to reverse the declining trend in its population. The unavailability of male Halari donkey for breeding and disincentives to Halari donkey rearers with no avenues associated with streamlining the livelihoods (based on donkey milk) are among the different challenges faced by the breed. Halari donkey is one of the important livestocks in the semi-arid landscape of Saurashtra's Jamnagar and Dwarka regions. The Bharwad and Rabari pastoralists are the main communities, which use this donkey as a pack animal to carry luggage during migration with small ruminants. These pastoralists regularly migrate to other districts. Pastoral women, generally, take care of the Halari donkeys. The Kumbhar (potter) community also uses this animal for pottery work in Dwarka, a release from the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said. Earlier, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala, addressed the Saurashtra Maldhari Sammelan organised by Sahjeevan (Centre for Pastoralism) at Upleta in Rajkot district. Manoj Mishra, Executive Director, Sahjeevan, said that pastoralists have developed a significant proportion of India's livestock breeds - 73 out of 200 officially recognised ones. These breeds are very special, being on the one hand very alert, resilient, hardy and independent, but also bonded to their herders in a symbiotic relationship. Halari breed of donkeys is one among them. With the theme 'Fostering Pastoralism in Saurashtra - Conservation and its Sustenance', the event deliberated upon the conservation of threatened breeds of livestock, particularly the Halari breed of donkey. Rupala also released a book 'Pastoral Breeds of India' compiled by Sahjeevan on the occasion. Interacting with the Maldharis, particularly Halari breeders, Rupala said, "The National Livestock Mission (NLM) has been designed to cover all the activities required to ensure quantitative and qualitative improvement in livestock production systems and capacity building of all stakeholders." New Delhi, March 12 : On the occasion of Dandi March's 92nd anniversary, Prime Minister Narender Modi while addressing the convocation of Raksha University at Ahmedabad on Saturday, said that in today's world the technology can be harnessed to nab the criminals. PM Modi earlier dedicated a building to the University and then addressed its first convocation. The prime minister paid tributes to Father of the Nation Mahatama Gandhi and said that the movement under the leadership of Gandhiji against the injustice had made the British government realize the collective power of Indians. The Prime Minister said that earlier the notion of internal security during colonial time was based on instilling fear among the masses for keeping peace. "Earlier scenario was very different as the security forces had more time to prepare which is no longer so as technology and transportation and communication has improved so much. Today's policing requires skills like negotiating and other soft skills that are needed to function in a democratic scenario," said PM Modi. The PM stressed the need to change the image of police and security personnel. Depiction of police in the popular culture has not helped in this regard, either. He noted the humane work by the police personnel during the pandemic. "Post-independence, there was a need of reforms in the country's security apparatus. A perception was developed that we have to be careful of the uniformed personnel. But it has transformed now. When people see uniformed personnel now, they get the assurance of help," Modi said. The PM also noted shrinking of the support network of joint family for police personnel in dealing with the stress of the job. He emphasized the need for experts to deal with stress and relaxation including yoga experts in the forces. "Stress-free training activities is need of the hour for strengthening the country's security apparatus", he added. He underlined the importance of technology in the security and policing work. He said if criminals are using technology, technology can be harnessed to nab them also. He said this emphasis on technology would also enable even the divyang people to contribute in this field. Dhaka, March 12 : In another dramatic turn of events, Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan is now available to play all three formats in 2022 and will finally travel to South Africa to take part in the upcoming series, consisting of three ODIs and two Test matches. The announcement came during a joint press conference held by BCB president Nazmul Hasan with Shakib beside him, in Mirpur, after an hour-long closed-door meeting. Notably, the all-rounder had earlier said that he is not in a perfect mental and physical state to tour South Africa. However, amid all that uncertainty over his future for Bangladesh, the BCB still handed him an all-format central contract. "I have spoken with Papon bhai and we could do the plan for the whole year. I will be available in all three formats and the board will decide when to give me rest. I am available for the South Africa series," Shakib was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. "Now I'm in a better situation (mentally). After going to South Africa, I may get better. It happens sometimes when you go to a better environment you feel good," he added. The 34-year old is expected to fly out on Sunday. However, his inclusion for the series does not guarantee that he will be available for the whole series against South Africa, Nazmul clarified. The board president also said that they will make sure that Shakib receives proper rest. "We have given him a break. He had said that he is not in his best mental state and it can happen to anyone. Please don't speculate. He can be in a state where decision-making could be difficult for him," Nazmul said. "Today, after a long discussion, he said that he is ready to play in all formats including the South Africa series. Earlier, I had told him to rest and think with a cool head. He came today to the board and said that he wants to play. We should all support him. He will go to South Africa but might not play one or two matches but please don't make a noise about it," he added. The series in South Africa starts on March 18 and the last batch of the Bangladesh team left Dhaka on Saturday while on Friday two batches left to play the matches. New Delhi, March 12 : Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga under the Ministry of Ayush is organising Yoga Mahotsav -2022 on Sunday to commemorate 100 days countdown to International Day of Yoga - 2022, the 8th edition. The event on Sunday will formally mark the beginning of the journey towards 8th IDY-2022. The event will be held to give a wider promotion and publicity to various dimensions of Yoga and also to promote the 100 days countdown campaign to IDY-2022 for health, well-being and world peace, said the ministry in a statement. The ministry is also starting a campaign '100 days, 100 cities and 100 organisations' between March 13, 2022 to June 21, 2022 across the globe. Union Minister of Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal will inaugurate the event to commemorate 100 days countdown to International Day of Yoga-2022. Union Minister for Labour & Employment and Environment and Forest Bhupender Yadav, Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister of Sikkim Prem Singh Tamang, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi will join the event to formally start the 100 days countdown at Vigyan Bhawan. Patna, March 12 : Two women, including an Anganwadi worker, were killed, while another was injured in Bihar's Gaya district on Saturday after they protested against a man from the village who allegedly molested the niece of one of the deceased. The deceased have identified as Sushila Devi (45) and Kuman Devi (35), both residents of Akauni village under Khiraj Sarai police station. The police said that they had protested against a person named Mukesh Paswan, who allegedly molested Sushila's niece on Saturday. "Sushila's niece had gone to the field for some work when she was intercepted by Paswan. The accused molested her and also tried to rape her. However, she managed to escape from the spot and narrated her ordeal to her aunt. Sushila along with Kuman Devi then went to Paswan's house," said Gaya Paswan, Sushila's husband. "But Paswan and his brothers attacked Sushila and Kuman with sharp-edged weapons. Before we came to their rescue, they were stabbed multiple times. My brother also sustained injuries in the process," Gaya Paswan said. "We took them to the primary health centre in Khiraj Sarai where the doctors referred them to the Magadh Medical College in Gaya. Both succumbed to their injuries on their way to Gaya," he said. "We have registered an FIR based on the statement of the victim's husband. An investigation is underway to nab the accused, who are absconding. The situation in the village is extremely tense. We have deployed adequate police force to bring the situation under control," said investigating officer S.K. Mandal. Nagpur, March 12 : Two teenagers ended their life by jumping before a running train in Kamptee about 20 km from here, Police said on Saturday. Both are residents of the old city area in Kamptee and were missing for two days. Girl's mother had lodged a missing complaint with Kamptee Police two days ago. On Saturday morning, police were informed that two bodies are lying on the railway track near Kanhan river bridge. Both have allegedly committed suicide by jumping before Howrah-Ahmedabad Express train, Police Inspector of Kamptee Santosh Wairagade said, adding parents of both the deceased were against their love affair and proposed marriage. The boy was 18 years old and the girl was 17 years old. Her parents vehemently opposed the marriage and she had narrated her ordeal to the boy. Both had run away from their respective homes six days ago, police said, adding that the missing complaint was lodged only two days ago. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Housing in Flagstaff is the worst I've ever seen it, said Devonna McLaughlin, executive director of Housing Solutions Northern Arizona (HSNA). Her organization recently released its 2022 rental attainability report based on a survey of 50 market-rate apartment complexes (8,405 units) and 10 income-restricted complexes (730 units) between November 2021 and January. The report summarizes a lot of data, and none of it looks good. According to the report, a minimum-wage worker in Flagstaff would need to work about 87 hours a week in order to rent the average two-bedroom apartment. The average rate for such an apartment is currently about $1,758 a month. By common definitions of affordable housing where housing costs no more than 30% of ones income a household would have to be bringing in over $70,000 annually in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment. Per the 2019 census, the median individual income in Flagstaff was a mere $21,503. Quick math highlights the problem it takes about four average wage-earners to afford one two-bedroom apartment. This extreme disparity between incomes and housing has created a pervasive need across the community, McLaughlin said. It is not just low- and moderate-income households struggling, she said. It is along the housing continuum. For its part, HSNA is doing the best it can to keep up. Every day, they answer phone call after phone call, from people in need of housing, but recently theyve had to refer people elsewhere. Our inventory is full, McLaughlin said. Lawrence Peterson is one such person in need who was unable to find assistance through HSNA. A longtime community member, Peterson is a veteran and best known for running the Flagstaff Folk Festival. He went HSNA for housing assistance last summer. They werent taking anyone on their list, Peterson said. Theres such a population of need. Fortunately for Peterson, his status as a veteran has given him access to housing assistance not generally available, and through the organization Nations Finest, hes been put up in the Motel 6 on Lucky Lane. If I wasnt a vet, I dont think Id still be in town, he said. Peterson remains hopeful that an apartment will open up and is currently on the waiting lists of at least five different complexes across town. So far, though, nothing has shook loose. Were overloaded, he said, [Affordable housing] is obsolete in this town. Its full. The people that have it are not giving it up. Housing supply is definitely part of the issue, McLaughlin said, but added that the causes of Flagstaffs housing problems are numerous and the solution is not as simple as creating more homes. We can't build our way out of the affordability crisis, she said. There is a need to increase supply but also address other issues, such as the prevalence of short-term rentals and vacation homes taking up precious housing stock in Flagstaff. Through SB 1350, the Arizona Legislature has stripped cities of the local authority to regulate short-term rentals, making it that much harder to fix a housing crisis. Applying pressure at the state level is one of the many necessary actions needed address the problems in Flagstaff. This multi-faceted perspective is reflected in Flagstaffs recently adopted 10-year housing plan, but McLaughlin remains skeptical about the efficacy of this plan. I think its a great first step, McLaughlin said. But if it sits on a shelf and we dont actually do anything, then it doesnt mean much. The plan is the easy step. I think the more complicated and harder step is to now do the work. Doing the work takes money, and Flagstaff residents are likely to see a bond measure to fund housing projects during this years election cycle. Whenever such a measure comes up, it is likely to be met by the common retort against affordable housing initiatives: If you cant afford it, dont live here. To that argument, McLaughlin urges people to follow such a statement through to its logical conclusion. If you're talking about folks not being able to afford to live here, moving away, who are we talking about? McLaughlin said. We're talking about teachers. Were talking about childcare workers. We're talking about 911 operators. What if the folks who check you out of the grocery store move away? Or folks who serve you food or clean the dishes at the restaurant move away? If you want those folks to be there to meet your needs as a consumer, then they need to be able to live with dignity and respect. Sean Golightly can be reached at sgolightly@azdailysun.com Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 5 Angry 1 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. New Delhi, March 12 : Russian warplanes are flying about 20 times more missions than their Ukrainian counterparts, though many never enter Ukrainian territory and simply lob long-range missiles from inside Russian airspace, an US official said, Defense One reported. Russia's roughly 200 daily Ukraine-connected sorties compare to about five to 10 a day by Ukraine, which is down to about 56 operational warplanes, the official told reporters at the Pentagon. There are several reasons for the conservative use of airpower over Ukraine on both sides, the official said. First, Russia has surface-to-air missiles, or SAMs, in enough locations that it can shoot down Ukrainian jets in almost all parts of the country, and Ukrainians have held their jets back. But the Russians are also being cautions, keeping their own aircraft outside of Ukraine and launching long-range missiles from fighter jets and bombers outside of Ukraine's borders instead, Defense One reported. Russia has also shown "a general risk aversion and a cautiousness in the air", the official said, despite their country-wide SAM coverage. The Ukrainians have their own SAMs and shoulder-fired missiles, the official said. On Friday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that it has shot down a total of 57 Russian aircraft and seven Russian drones. That number could not be independently verified. The Ukrainians have relied on drones, especially to attack Russian convoys. "They have made effective use of drones, which are cheap," the official said, adding: "They can fly below radar coverage by the Russians... They're using them with terrific effect, particularly against Russian ground movements." Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War New Delhi, March 12 : Four armed robbers were arrested by the Delhi Police after a brief exchange of fire at Shahdara in the national capital, an official said on Saturday. The accused have been identified as Vikram Singh alias Pintu, Subham Choudhary alias Sunny, Dev Kumar alias Dinesh and Hari Kishan, all residents of Uttar Pradesh. Furnishing the details, DCP R. Sathiyasundaram said that a tip-off was received on Friday regarding the likely presence of the miscreants involved in a robbery case in which Rs 3 lakh was looted by two bike-borne criminals at gunpoint. Accordingly, the police laid a trap and also placed barricades to check the cars. "Late at night, the accused persons were spotted and were signalled to stop, but they opened fire on the police party, firing three shots," the DCP said, adding that the police team also retaliated and fired on the accused persons. In the brief encounter, two accused persons sustained bullet injuries. Agartala, March 13 : A mega rally in Agartala organised by the tribal based party TIPRA (Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance) that has been demanding "Greater Tipraland", displayed their strength ahead of the next year's assembly elections in Tripura, causing a concern to the major political parties. Though TIPRA's "Greater Tipraland" demand remained vague among the cross section of the people as it has no provision in the Indian constitution, the slogan largely attracted the minority tribals, who constitute one third of Tripura's four million populations. The demand for a 'Greater Tipraland' was raised few years back after the ruling BJP's ally Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) got a massive support from the indigenous tribals when it ahead of the 2018 assembly elections vociferously demanded for "Tipraland" which sought a separate state for the Tripura tribals upgrading the existing Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC). The politically most important TTAADC has a jurisdiction on over two-thirds of Tripura's 10,491 sq km area and is home to over 12,16,000 people, of which around 84 per cent are tribals. Focusing on the "Tipraland" issue the IPFT in the 2018 assembly polls secured eight of the 20 tribal reserve seats, which over the decades were the strongholds of the CPI-M. After the TIPRA, headed by Tripura's royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barman, captured the politically powerful TTAADC in April last year, the political significance of the new party in the mixed populated Tripura has further reinforced. Defeating the BJP and the CPI-M, the TIPRA scripted history in the northeastern state by capturing the TTAADC, which is considered as a mini-legislative assembly of Tripura. Political circles observed that Saturday's first mega rally of TIPRA was bigger than the BJP's public gathering on March 8 and CPI-M's mass rally on February 24. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and CPI-M General secretary Sitaram Yechury, party's politburo members Prakash Karat and Manik Sarkar addressed the respective party's gatherings. TIPRA supremo Deb Barman on Saturday announced to put up candidates at least in 35 seats in the next Assembly election on its own, putting a big challenge to the BJP and the CPI-M. The TIPRA leaders while explaining about their 'Greater Tipraland' demand said that under the concept they wanted to improve the socio-economic conditions of the backward tribals living in the northeastern states of India, neighbouring Bangladesh, Myanmar and adjoining areas. The BJP, CPI-M and the Congress though strongly opposed the IPFT's "Tipraland" demand, the political parties officially not saying anything against the 'Greater Tipraland' demand apprehending loss of tribals' support in the next elections. Moscow, March 13 : Russia will publish individual sanctions against the West in the near future, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday. "The lists are ready," Ryabkov said on Russian broadcaster Channel One, adding that the sanctions will be made public soon, Xinhua news agency reported. According to Ryabkov, Moscow sees no indication that the United States was ready to continue dialogue on Ukraine. The diplomat also warned Washington against transferring weapons to Ukraine, adding that these weapons will become legitimate targets for the Russian forces. Read your horoscope for 01 May to 07 May here Aries: During this week, the full moon will rise in the earth sign of Virgo, and that will impact your workplace. See More Taurus: The annual solar transit is triggering Pisces, impacting your business plans and long term projects. See More Gemini: This week's main event is the full moon in the sign of Virgo. For Geminis, Virgo rules the family matters, and this is an important week for your home. See More Cancer: The full moon will rise in the earth sign of Virgo, and this is a hectic week for Cancer natives. See More Leo: The weekly horoscope for Leos shows a lot of focus on financial matters as the full moon is going to rise in the second house of money. See More Virgo: Virgos will be super emotional during this week as the full moon will rise in your sign. See More Libra: The transit of the Sun through the twelfth house of emotional hassle indicates some challenges for Librans. See More Scorpio: The weekly horoscope for Scorpio shows a lot of focus on your long term projects and team settings. See More Sagittarius: The weekly horoscope for Sagittarius shows the importance of your career as the full moon will rise in the tenth house. See More Capricorn: The weekly horoscope for Capricorn indicates a lot of events regarding foreign trips and collaborations. See More Aquarius: The full moon will rise in the earth of Virgo, and that will impact your finances. See More Pisces: This is a very important week for Pisces natives as the Sun will move out from your sign next week, so the emotional crisis will slowly vanish from the next week onwards. See More GIS is core to how our clients conduct business, and we find immense value in partnering with Esri. Their suite of web applications provides a vast range of functionality that our clients are accessing to get the most out of their GIS investments.President Bony Dawood, PE Dawood Engineering, Inc. (Dawood) received the Web GIS Transformation Award at the 2022 Esri Partner Conference (EPC) held in Palm Springs, California March 57, 2022. This award was presented to Dawood for evolving customers and solutions to the Web GIS pattern with SaaS. As Esri-certified ArcGIS Desktop specialists, Dawood delivers Esri technology solutions to utility, asset management, municipal, transportation, survey, and environmental clientsfrom Field Maps and Survey123 to Dashboards, StoryMaps, and Instant Apps. Dawoods award-winning Land Management GIS portal, hosted via Esris secure AEC Project Delivery, geo-enables spreadsheet workflows as part of a multi-phased Southern Company Gas Illinois pipeline construction project. The portal encompasses Esri operations dashboards, Survey123, Web Maps, and Story Mapsenabling the project team to quickly access, integrate, and assess easement acquisition data in real time to make informed decisions. Esri is the global leader in location intelligence with a network of over 2,700 partners around the world. The award winners are organizations that have demonstrated innovative and creative ways to solve complex problems by using Esris ArcGIS software and those who have done exceptional work in advancing geographic information systems (GIS) technology. Dawood was one of 26 Esri partners that received an achievement award at the conference. Esri congratulates Dawood on their 2022 EPC award in recognition of their innovative work leveraging ArcGIS software, said Robert Laudati, Director of Global Partners and Alliances at Esri. We are proud to partner with Dawood to foster the use of GIS technology in support of our mutual customers. About Esri Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations globally and in over 200,000 institutions in the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofits, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. Visit us at esri.com. About Dawood Dawood Engineering transforms global infrastructure. Celebrating 30 years of excellence, Dawood is an Esri Bronze partner employing GISPs and professional land surveyors who unite GIS with building information modeling (BIM) and leading-edge surveyingelevating asset and data management. The Dawood family of companies has planned and designed sustainable environments throughout the U.S., features dedicated Government Finance Solutions, and extends GIS and BIM in Eurasia through ArchiTube, its 3D technology arm in Poland. Award-winning and forward-thinking, Dawood delivers powerful visual design and predictive analytics to planning, economic and land development, energy, environmental, municipal, real estate, retail, transportation, and utility clients. The companys workforce development, mentor-protege, and community programs advance STEM, diversity, and inclusion. Dawood is proud to be an EMSDC-certified MBE firm. Visit us at dawood.net. Learn more: https://www.dawood.net/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/dawoodengineers https://www.facebook.com/DawoodEngineers https://www.twitter.com/DawoodEngineers Luce 2019 Tenuta Luce, located in the heart of Montalcino, is pleased to announce the release of the new vintage of its flagship Super Tuscan wine, Luce 2019. Produced since 1993 with the same name of the estate, Luce 2019 will arrive in the United States market on March 15th. Since its founding, the primary mission of Luce - a wine estate particularly dear to the Frescobaldi family - has been to craft a wine that is the fullest possible expression of Montalcino, that also maintains its own distinctive hallmarks and personality. Luce, the first wine in Montalcino made from a blend of Sangiovese and Merlot, is Tenuta Luce's iconic wine, a result of the brilliant idea of marrying Sangioveses elegant structure to the classic, rounded, seductive texture of Merlot. Luce is produced from the best vineyards of the estate, which consists of 88 planted hectares (217 acres) across 249 unplanted hectares (615 acres). The vineyards are surrounded by woods and olive groves in the southwest quadrant of Montalcino, an uncontaminated microcosm settled since ancient times yet still rich in biodiversity, in the heart of the Val dOrcia Natural Park. Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi, representing the 30th generation of the Frescobaldi family, directs the Tenuta, deeply committed to its unique mission and to its uncompromising respect for the environment. The 2019 growing season started a bit late compared to 2018, due largely to less sun in the spring, explained Tenuta Luce winemaker Alessandro Marini. However, tasting the two vintages side by side, they are remarkably similar, marked by a complex, elegant bouquet of aromas and notably crisp acidities. We provided additional help to fruit development in 2019 by introducing some new agronomical practices, such as leaf-thinning, which encouraged air circulation among the clusters, improving their overall health. We also introduced the use of an optical scanner, which helped in selecting only the finest berries, essential for achieving the quality we require. Vintage after vintage, Luces final blend mirrors and respects the characteristics of the grapes of each vintage, without ever detracting from the core concept of the balance between Sangiovese and Merlot, which is the distinguishing genius of this wine. The resulting wine must always embody the winemaking philosophy and the fundamental values that make Tenuta Luce stand out, with wines that are the most natural expressions of their territory of origin and perfectly express the dynamic relationship between grape variety and terroir. This means reducing human intervention to a minimum, respecting nature, and protecting it so that it can speak unhindered through the wine. 2019 GROWING SEASON AND VINTAGE PROFILE The 2019 growing season was overall later than average; the harvest of Merlot and Sangiovese started on September 20th and 29th, respectively, but, despite the delay, both grape varieties displayed superb balance. Winter was cold, but relatively dry and sunny, while spring brought low temperatures and significant rainfall which built up the groundwater reserves. Rainfall and reduced sunlight, particularly in May, led to a slight, 10-day delay in the vine growth cycle. Flowering, in the first week of June, was consistent and the summer was hot, though without excessive temperatures. Some beneficial rainfall between late July and early August encouraged vigor and efficiency in the canopies. September brought mild temperature conditions and some rain, which encouraged steady ripening. The berries ultimately reached an ideal level of tannin ripeness, and exhibited plentiful, crisp aromatic precursors. Luce 2019 therefore presents a firm structure and a proportional balance with a powerful yet graceful expression, and great aging potential. LUCE 2019 TASTING NOTES Luce 2019 appears in the glass with an intense ruby-red color. Its bouquet releases pronounced notes of violets and rose petals, flanked by wild raspberry and smooth spices. The palate is marked by an elegant balance, with a creamy mouthfeel bolstered by silky, well-integrated tannins. A near-endless finish rises on a subtle crescendo of spicy sensations. TECHNICAL INFORMATION The Merlot and Sangiovese grapes were picked in late September and the must was fermented for 12 days at 28oC in dedicated, tulip-shaped concrete fermenters, followed by a 22-day maceration on the skins. The wine was aged for a minimum of 24 months in barriques, 80% new and 20% 2nd passage. Approximately 89,000 bottles were produced. About Tenuta Luce: Tenuta Luce della Vite lies southwest of the town of Montalcino, in the heart of the Val dOrcia Natural Park, a rural landscape sensitively re-designed by man in the pre-Renaissance era and declared by UNESCO in 2004 a World Heritage Site. This extraordinary corner of earth, historically renowned for its world-class wines, hosts the 249 hectares of the Luce wine estate, set among woods and olive groves, with 88 hectares of vineyards: a lightly inhabited, near-pristine environment rich in biodiversity. Its beneficial sunlight and well-ventilated conditions, gift of its unique exposure, and its diversity of soils at different elevations all combine to make Tenuta Luce a truly privileged place, where the harmony of all these components is jealously respected and protected. That respect is reflected in the winemaking as well, where each process of production is performed with meticulous care, in order to preserve the harmony achieved in the vineyard. The fruits of this enlightened philosophy and unique terroir are Tenuta Luce wines Luce, Lucente, Luce Brunello, and Lux Vitis, the culmination of an ambitious project begun in the early 1990s aimed at obtaining the fullest expression of the Montalcino territory yet with an utterly distinctive individual style. http://www.lucedellavite.com Committed to advancing the industry, Venture Construction Group companies are proud sponsors of the Windstorm Insurance Network (WIND) Conference, held on January 24-27 at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando. Venture Construction Group of Florida (VCGFL) was a Diamond Sponsor and a Luau Reception Sponsor. Venture Construction Group (VCG) and VCG International (VCGI) are Silver Sponsors. The event provides a platform to collaborate with leading industry professionals and influencers to engage and discuss current trends, hot topics, and recent developments in windstorm and property insurance claims. This conference provides amazing opportunities for networking, growth, and continuing education. We partner with industry giants, utilize the latest technology and maintain the highest safety standards to provide the most advanced level of service to our customers, said Stephen Shanton, CEO and president of Venture Construction Group of Florida (VCGFL), Venture Construction Group (VCG), VCG International (VCGI). The annual WIND Conference provides professional development, training, certifications, and networking opportunities to the insurance claims industry. The event offers property and insurance claims professionals the opportunity to increase their visibility, make connections, and enhance their careers through its comprehensive agenda, which offers a wide range of learning opportunities, continuing education credits, claims software training, and certification opportunities. Attendees include restoration professionals, contractors, claims adjusters, staff and company adjusters, engineers, underwriters, attorneys, and forensic accountants. For the full conference agenda, visit https://windnetwork.com/. We appreciate the continued support and involvement of Venture Construction Group Companies at our annual WIND Conference, said Rebecca Royal, director of meetings and events, Windstorm Insurance Network. VCGFL is a leader in commercial construction, restoration, renovations, roofing, storm damage repairs, and 24/7 emergency services throughout Florida, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Bahamas, and the Caribbean. VCG a is a full-service general contractor that provides construction, remodels, renovations, property management services, storm damage repairs, consulting, independent 3rd party property damage assessments, and 24/7 emergency services to residential and commercial property owners. VCGI is a global leader in commercial and industrial construction, restoration, and storm damage repairs, and 24/7 emergency services through the Bahamas and the Caribbean, North America, Australia, Asia, and Africa. About Venture Construction Group of Florida Founded in 1998, Venture Construction Group of Florida (VCGFL) is an award-winning leader in construction, restoration, renovations, roofing, storm damage repairs, and 24/7 emergency services throughout Florida, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Bahamas and the Caribbean. Specializing in residential, industrial and commercial projects, VCGFL assists homeowners, property managers, condominium boards, homeowner associations, association boards, hotels, and business complexes with general contractor services, roofing, specialty construction, historical restoration, water and flood mitigation, and property repairs due to fire, flood, water, wind and hurricanes. With offices in Boca Raton, Ft. Myers, Naples, Panama City Beach, Orlando, Stuart, Tampa, San Juan, and Nassau, VCGFL is committed to operational excellence and exceptional customer service. VCGFL takes care of the details every step of the way including roofing, siding, windows, drywall, flooring, paint, gutters to rebuilding properties after major storm events from hurricanes, tornadoes, and hailstorms. VCGFL has earned leading industry awards including Roofing Contractor Magazines Top 100; Better Business Bureau (BBB) Southeast Florida and Caribbean 2021 Torch Award for Ethics Finalist; Gold Coast Builders Association (GCBA) Silver PRISM Award for Safety Team of the Year, GCBA Gold PRISM Award for Craftsmanship- Commercial Exterior, GCBA Silver PRISM Award for Craftsmanship- Commercial Exterior, Owens Corning Pinnacle Award for Safety, Construction Business Owner Award, Roofing Alliance MVP Award, Coatings Pro Contractor Award, Pro Remodeler Forty Under 40 Award, Qualified Remodeler Top 500 Remodelers Award, Qualified Remodeler Master Design Award, Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association S.T.A.R. Spotlight Trophy for the Advancement of Roofing Awards in Sustainability and Community Service. Shanton is a certified member of the WindStorm Insurance Network and is a WIND Certified Umpire, WIND Certified Appraiser, and WIND Certified Fellow. VCGFL carries advanced accreditations and is an exclusive certified National Storm Damage Center Preferred Contractor and Certified Member of the United Association of Storm Restoration Contractors. VCGFL is a proud member of Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) Industry Members Association (EIMA); Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (FRSA); Gold Coast Builders Association (GCBA); Insurance Appraisal and Umpire Association (IAUA); National Association of Environmentally Responsible Mold Contractors (NAERMC); National Association of Home Builders (NAHB); National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA); NRCA Qualified Trainer; Property Liability and Resource Bureau (PLRB); Restoration Industry Association (RIA). VCGFL is a registered U.S. Federal Government Contractor and holds leading manufacturer certifications including Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractor, Mule-Hide Legacy Contractor, Certified CertainTeed Contractor, and Duro-Last Certified Contractor status. VCGFL credentials have been vetted and screened through independent third-party Global Risk Management Solutions. For more information, call 866-459-8351 or visit us online at http://www.VCGFL.com. About Venture Construction Group Founded in 1998, Venture Construction Group (VCG) is a licensed general contractor and an award-winning leader in construction, restoration, renovations, roofing, storm damage repairs, and 24/7 emergency services. VCG services commercial and residential properties throughout the East Coast, Greater Mid-Atlantic Region, Gulf Coast, and Midwest. Operational excellence is our mission in every project we undertake, and we pride ourselves on providing exceptional customer service. Specializing in commercial projects, VCG assists property management companies, condo associations, multi-family structures, hi-rises, retail/business plazas, government facilities, hotels, and resorts with comprehensive general contractor services, restoration, mitigation, specialty construction, historical restoration, remodels, property repairs, and rebuilds due to fire, flood, water, wind, hail, and hurricane damage. VCG has earned prestigious awards including the Construction Business Owner Award, Pro Remodeler Forty Under 40 Award. VCG is committed to operational excellence and exceptional customer service. CEO Stephen Shanton is a proud member of the prestigious Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). Entrepreneur Magazine hails YEC Consists of Some of the Most Well-Respected Minds in Entrepreneurship. Shanton is a proud member of the WindStorm Insurance Network and is a WIND Certified Umpire, WIND Certified Appraiser, and WIND Certified Fellow. VCG is an exclusive certified National Storm Damage Center Preferred Contractor, Certified Member of the United Association of Storm Restoration Contractors, Certified Member of Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) Industry Members Association (EIMA), Certified Member of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Owens Corning Platinum Preferred Contractor, Mule-Hide Legacy Contractor, Certified CertainTeed Contractor, and Duro-Last Certified Contractor. VCG credentials have been vetted and screened through independent third party Global Risk Management Solutions. With offices nationwide and a solid reputation throughout the country, we are able to respond to your needs with quality, ease, and top-notch service. For more information, call 866-459-8348 or visit us online at http://www.VentureConstructionGroup.com. About VCG International VCG International (VCGI) is a global leader in commercial and industrial construction, restoration, storm damage repairs, and 24/7 emergency services throughout the Bahamas and the Caribbean, North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. With over 30 years of experience and the worlds leading industry accreditations, VCGI leads the way in best practices throughout the globe. Learn more at http://www.VCGInternational.com. About Windstorm Insurance Network The Windstorm Insurance Network, Inc. is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to providing education and training, and to promoting a cooperative dialogue among professionals concerned with property and windstorm insurance claims issues. The Windstorm Insurance Network is dedicated to promoting awareness of property and windstorm insurance claims issues through the application of educational initiatives, shared member resources, and technology designed to support and improve the professional delivery of property and windstorm-related insurance claims services. To learn more, visit http://www.WindNetwork.com. Media Inquiries: Alexis Bott Elev8 Consulting Group Ph: 386-243-5388 Web: http://www.elev8cg.com In Elizabeth Hands Hokuloa Road (Mulholland, July), a fictional Hawaiian islands stunning exterior conceals a dark heartand a menacing stalker that isnt quite human. Hand, whose work has garnered multiple Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy Awards, among other accolades, spoke with PW about isolation, climate change, and the Hawaii the tourists dont see. What inspired this story? My daughter lives in Maui, and Im a cold gray North person living in Maine. On one visit to my daughter, I saw an abandoned building in a big field, painted over with many names and dates; they were the names of people whod gone missing. Later, I came across a telephone pole covered with fliers in search of missing people. It was frightening on many levels, and as a writer, it opened so many doors. I visited again in 2020 when my daughter was having her first child, and had to quarantine for two weeks when I arrived; after that, I had the chance to explore the island when there were virtually no tourists there. Grady, the main character of the book, is a late-20s carpenter from Maine who was thrown out of work during the pandemic and applies for a job as a caretaker for a wealthy man on a Hawaiian island, only to find that people are going missing. How does his outsider status play out? Grady is a haoleor as we say in Maine, someone from away. Hes navigating a different environment, culture, topography. Maine is the whitest state per capita in the country; Hawaii has a remarkable mix of ethnicities and people from all over the world. Mainlanders impressions of Hawaii are just of the resorts, and I wanted to show something different from that. When I first visited my daughter in Hawaii, it was disorienting and destabilizing and fascinating. Im very aware that I barely scratched the tip of the icebergits an intricate, complicated, beautiful place. What intrigues you about Hawaii? Im fascinated by folklore, and setting determines so much about how a folklore develops. Dog spirits, the kaupe, are recurring characters in Hawaiian lore; I wanted to embellish while being respectful. Hawaii is a remote place that was a sovereign nation, and theres a lot of politics around that. Theres a great deal of income disparity, as there is in Maine. There are wealthy Covid refugees who can afford to move to the islands, and then theres also a terrible housing shortagethere are houseless camps, and quite a few resort employees, people in the service industry, just living on the beach, because they cant afford a place to live. Like several of your earlier novels, Hokuloa Road touches on environmental concerns. Why is that? Humans havent been in Hawaii for that longthe first navigators from Polynesia around 400 AD found an island that was mostly just full of birds, and when the white imperialists arrived, that was still true. Waves of introduced species, including humans, have wrought havoc on the ecosystem; the extinction rate for flora and fauna, particularly for birds, is very high. The lack of tourists for a year did allow it to recover a bit. Theres a movement in the state to change the direction of tourism, to limit the number coming in, and to make changes like banning the types of sunscreen that cause die-off in the coral. The Easter egg in this novel is climate change. Return to Main Feature. Under Lock & Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian (Minotaur, Mar.) is a thoroughly enjoyable series launch, PWs starred review said, centered on Vegas stage magician Tempest Raj, who returns to her familys idiosyncratic renovation business after an onstage accident torpedoes her career. When her former stage doubles body is found behind a wall thats supposed to have been sealed for a century, Tempest begins to suspect the accident was anything but. Pandian spoke with PW about her love of locked-room mysteries, her amateur passion for architecture, and her work as a cofounder of Crime Writers of Color. How did this series come about? When I first started working on this book, Id just finished a year of cancer treatments. I had made a promise to myself and my writers group that when I was done with my treatment I was going to create a retreat in Edinburgh. For my 40th birthday I rented a big flat, invited my writers group, and started working on this book. It took five years to finish it, but thats when I started telling Tempests story. The secret-staircase business that the Raj family runs is right out of my childhood fascination. I wasnt a kid who played with dolls; I built houses out of blocks and dominos. I also wanted to pay homage to the golden age of detective fiction, those mysteries from a century ago that I loved when I was a kid. My dad is an immigrant from South India, and Southern California, where I grew up, was diverse, but the fiction I was reading didnt reflect that. I wanted to write characters like those in my life. You also support other writers in doing the samecan you talk a bit about those efforts? In 2018, Walter Mosley, Kellye Garrett, and I formed Crime Writers of Color. It started as a listserv created to be a safe space for mystery writers from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. We now have more than 300 memberssome published authors, some who are still working on that first book. Theres a private listserv and a public website, and a podcast from Robert Justice, all run by volunteers. Publishing houses were once skeptical about there being a broad audience for mystery fiction with diverse characters, but were seeing that these books arent a nichetheyre commercially successful. Mystery readers read voraciously. Your book incorporates several elements popular with mystery fans, starting with the Raj family curse. Where did that come from? Lots of my favorite mysteries have locked rooms in them, with ingenious puzzles and a backdrop that looks supernatural. I think of myself as writing Scooby-Doo for adults, creating something thats just spooky enough for a cozy mystery audience. In the book, the curse is that the eldest child dies by magic. Tempests family is rational; they dont really believe in magic, but it still seems like something must be at play beyond rational explanation. Tempest cant let herself believe the curse, so she needs to figure out whats going on. What does having a magician as your protagonist add to the story? I love seeing a stage magician in mystery fiction because the misdirection a magician uses has so much in common with what were trying to do as mystery writers. You give the readers all the clues, enough to entice them, but then misdirect so at the end, the reader slaps their forehead and has the wow moment. Return to Main Feature. It took a short but phenomenally productive detourwriting a different book in a whirlwind four months during the pandemicfor Jean Hanff Korelitz to realize what wasnt working in her forthcoming novel, The Latecomer (Celadon, May). When Korelitz had met with her editor, Celadons Deb Futter, to talk about the structural difficulties she was having with The Latecomer, she got some unexpected, if invaluable, advice. Futter told Korelitz to focus on a new book instead. What she said to me, Korelitz recalls, was, Put down this book. Just put it downbecause you need some distance from it. And write this other thing. This other thing was a book Korelitz, 60, pitched on the spot in the meetinga twisty tale of a writing teacher who steals a story idea from a former student. That book, The Plot, was published last year, to much acclaim. Touted by Stephen King as one of the best novels Ive ever read about writers and writing, The Plot, which has been Korelitzs most successful novel to date, changed her writing life. Yes, shes had success and is no stranger to Hollywoodher novels You Should Have Known and Admission have both been adapted to the screen (the former as the HBO series The Undoing, the latter as the same-titled 2003 film)but The Plot put her on the literary map in a new way. (And its been optioned by Hulu for series adaptation, with Korelitz attached as a writer.) The Plot also helped her get to The Latecomer. The Latecomer is a character-driven storya gripping doorstopper that you read in the bathtub until the water is cold. In writing it, Korelitz was after the immersive pleasure she had when she first encountered John Irvings The World According to Garp in the 1970s. Everybody was reading Garp, she explains. And we were all having this incredibly satisfying, thrilling reading experience. The Latecomer is about a deeply flawed American family. It centers on the Oppenheimer clan: Salo, the wealthy patriarch who prizes his art collection over all else; his wife Johanna, whose dream was always to become a mother; and their triplets, Sally, Harrison, and Lewyn, born through IVF. Its also the story of Phoebe, the fourth child, who is born via a surrogate when Johanna is 48 and her other children are heading off to college. In the novel, Korelitz explores the fissures between the family membersespecially the triplets. Each child is adrift, searching for their purpose: Harrison is a pompous intellectual who goes to a school called Roarke (the name a reference to the character Howard Roark from Ayn Rands The Fountainhead); Sally believes she has discovered her true calling when she meets an antiques picker; and Lewyn finds solace in Mormonism. Speaking over Zoom from the Manhattan apartment she shares with her husband, the poet Paul Muldoon, Korelitz explains that she found inspiration for the novel in her own life. She owns some posters and a framed letter by the outsider artist Achilles G. Rizzoli, whose art plays a role in the novel. The Mormonism thread is related to Korelitzs fascination with the religion, as an atheist who has attended the Hill Cumorah Pageant (an annual event mounted by the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Palmyra, N.Y.) five times. And Harrisons dedication to the canon aligns with Korelitzs greatest regret when it comes to her education: that she never learned Latin. Korelitzs children, now grown, have followed their parents into the arts: her daughter is a songwriter and her son works in musical theater. Its something she appreciates. One day when I was upstairs writing The Plot and Paul was downstairs working on a poem, she says, both of our kids sort of checked in and said, Oh, I wrote something today, and Im really happy with it. And I just thought, Oh, my God, Im so lucky. You know, Im so lucky. Korelitzs first novel is a legal thriller, but she says she didnt want to keep writing the same character. Ever since then, Ive kind of gone back and forth over this net of plot versus literary, sometimes landing more on one side, sometimes landing on the other side. I just hope that readers will allow themselves to enter this world, with no bodies on the floor and no smoking guns, and see that there are other crimes, other plot twists, and other satisfactions. Its not quite true, though, that there are no bodies on the floor in The Latecomer. We learn in the opening chapter that as a teenager, Salo was involved in a fatal car crash, and the weight hangs over him. This event informs much of his life as he grows older and becomes a husband and father, and he deals with the guilt in several ways, including collecting expensive art. (Korelitz says she turned to her friend Steve Martin for guidance on the collection: He has an amazing art collection. He thinks about art all the time. And he has a very powerful grasp of movements and phases and themes.) Salo owns several of Rizzolis works, which take on special significance for him because of what they mean to a woman he falls in love with. But he discovers that surrounding himself with art doesnt alleviate his pain. Korelitz says some people have told her they dont want to read about the rich anymore. But there are always things that we can learn from studying them, she adds. Most of us dont have those lives and are always curious to know how other people are living. Its such a minefield right nowwhat were allowed to write. And I feel like to capitulate to any of this is just such a dangerous, slippery slope. I would never tell anybody what theyre allowed to write. And I really hope nobody ever tells me what Im allowed to write. She likes to think about how people use and misuse their wealth. Im also interested in watching people bungle their opportunities, she says. Privilege is at the heart of this story, along with numerous other subjects such as religion, education, hoarding, right wing politics, reproductive technology, and infidelitybut it takes the latecomer herself, the fourth child, to connect all of the dots. Youd think somebody whos written a whole book called The Plot would be a plotter, but Im not, Korelitz says. What was important to her was figuring out who her characters were. I think maybe thats why I went so wrong with this book, initially: I really didnt know them. And it took a long time to know them, because some of them are pretty deceitful and withholding people. Michele Filgate is the editor of the anthology What My Mother and I Dont Talk About and a writer whose work has appeared in the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. In Australian author V.M. Knoxs If Necessary Alone, clergyman Clement Wisdom goes undercover to the icy shore of Scotland to discover who has been leaking information that may lead to a Nazi invasion of the British Isles. Knox spoke to BookLife about the spine-chilling whodunit that won her a starred PW review. What sparked the idea for this novel? If Necessary Alone is the second in the Clement Wisdom series. The initial inspiration for Clements story came from a question on the television program QI. Stephen Fry asked, Who or what were the Scallywags? It turned out scallywag was a euphemistic title for the secret Auxiliary Units, a stay-behind guerrilla network of fighters set up in anticipation of the Nazi invasion of Great Britain in the summer of 1940. Research revealed that the only person who knew the true identities of the men in these guerrilla cells was the local senior policemanwho would become the cells first victim once the Nazis landed. These clandestine cells led to the initial book, In Spite of All Terror. By the end of this book, Clement had left his parish and joined Special Duties Branch. This was a bland name given to the people who held a secret and unusual role. For me, Clement had by now taken on a life of his own, which led to his next adventure, If Necessary Alone. Creating a clergyman whos an undercover agent is ingenious: ministers can go almost anywhere unobserved, especially in wartime. How did you hit on the idea? The idea of making the central character a clergyman had to do with mirroring his inner turmoil with the events of the time. As the titles of the books in this seriesphrases from Churchills wartime speechestell us what is happening at a national level, so Clement is experiencing inner conflict with his choices and how he deals with this struggle. I thought this parallel made the character more interesting, creating a tension between what he was asked to do and his conscience. I interviewed several ministers of religion, who all said that, had they been in Clements position, they would serve their fellow man and country similarly, as laying down ones life for loved ones and country did not sit uncomfortably with their faith. Clement is grieving the recent death of his beloved wife. What inspired his reflections on loss? Sadly, the experiences of loss for Clement reflected my own grief at the loss of a family member just before I began writing If Necessary Alone. As Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth said of the September 11 tragedy, Grief is the price we pay for love. How much historical research did you do to create If Necessary Alone? I love history, and I love finding the smallest detail around which I can craft a story. Two historical facts underpin If Necessary Alone. First, a Nazi fighter plane strafed the lighthouse on Stroma Island, just off the northern coast of mainland Scotland, on Feb. 22, 1941, causing little damage and injuring no one. So why did it happen? Second was the raid on the Lofoten Islands in Norway on Mar. 4, 1941. While Clement isnt involved in this raid, the event has a direct impact on the story. Another aspect of this story is the overheard transmission of an enciphered message. I wanted the message to work and so spent six hours learning how to do a columnar transposition encryption. The book includes the algorithm to decipher the encryption, but, should anyone want to try, remember: its in German! There are other accurate detailsthe bygone airfield at Thurdistoft, and the radar station on Dunnet Head, where concrete pillboxes still exist. An entry pass was needed for Caithness, a restricted area during the war; a train operated daily from London to Thurso, as there were over 10,000 military personnel stationed there. Since the Royal Navy was based in nearby Scapa Flow, the security of Caithness was of vital importance. Practically a character in its own right is the icy climate of late-February Scotland. Did you travel there? I visited Caithness twice. Once in February so I could experience the conditions that would have faced Clement. Caithness receives the warmer air currents off the Atlantic so the level of snow isnt as deep as one might imagine. However, the wind is fearsome, especially on Dunnet Head. The other fascinating feature is the rain. I walked along the roads around Canisbay Kirk in the dark, and the rain seemed to come at me horizontally, like icy daggers. How do you map out the story line when youre writing? I do quite a bit of mapping, and I usually have the ending in mind. However, sometimes Clement or the story will decide differently. I do remember sitting at my computer when writing If Necessary Alone, pushing back my chair, and thinking, How am I going to get you out of this? Karen Clark is a writer and editor who received an MFA from the City College of New York after owning an antiquarian bookshop in Manhattan. When you walk in the door, it feels like you are walking into your home, said Mitzis Books retail manager Mary Ackland, speaking of the independent bookstore in Rapid City, S.Dak., where she has worked for more than a decade. I honestly still look at it and say to myself, I cant believe I work here. I know I am biased, but it really is a beautiful little bookstore. While Mitzis may be similar to indies across the country in terms of ambiance, it must contend with certain challenges due to being separated by hundreds of miles from any major metropolitan area. Though Rapid City has about 80,000 residents, it is far off the beaten path for author tours, which means that there are few in-store events, and those it hosts feature local writers. One exception occurred in 2017, when John Green made an unscheduled stop at Mitzis and signed books while on tour for Turtles All the Way Down. Ackland laughs at the memory, saying, It was pretty awesome, but booksellers could not publicize his appearance because we would have been inundated and we dont have a lot of room for events. The stores location, approximately 400 miles from Denver, also prevents Mitzis booksellers from attending the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Associations annual fall conference held in the Mile High City, nor does it go to MPIBAs spring forums. Publishers field reps do not visit the store, either, resulting in Mitzis two buyers relying heavily on phone reps for information and to instill a sense of community with the rest of the industry. We have really good reps, said Ackland, who serves as the childrens book buyer. Penguin Random House, Simon, HarperCollins, all of the major publishersany information we need, we go to them. Most of them I have regular calls with, so I feel as if I get to know them. Filling a two-story building in the historic heart of downtown Rapid City, Mitzis opened around Thanksgiving weekend in 2011 as part of a small development of shops and restaurants surrounding a plaza that previously had been a parking lot. The development was intended to rejuvenate the downtown area, which had lost foot traffic to shopping malls on the citys periphery. The development, Main Street Square, originally was not going to include a bookstore, but when Borders Group announced in summer 2011 that it was shutting down its Rapid City outlet that fall, developer Ray Hillenbrand added a 2,100-square-foot bookstore to the mix. Four Borders employees who were being laid offincluding Acklandwere hired to staff it, and those four booksellers still work at Mitzis. The bookstore was named for Hillenbrands sister, Mitzi Lally, who had urged Hillenbrand to open the store so that the city would continue to have a full-service, general bookstorethough Books-a-Million moved into the former Borders space inside a shopping mall in late fall 2011, at approximately the same time Mitzis opened its doors. Hillenbrand died in 2019; his daughter, Margaret Hillenbrand, a rancher who, Ackland said, is pretty hands-off, now owns Mitzis. Eleven years after the rejuvenation effort began, Ackland reports that Main Street Square is a success, as there has definitely been a revival, with the development attracting both locals and the tourists visiting Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills. The pandemic further boosted store revenues, with sales up 40% in 2021 over 2019. Its amazing, Ackland said. Weve had such great support from the community, its actually been the best couple of years weve ever had. Weve always had really good local loyalty, and thats continued throughout this. I thought sales were going to drop off from last year, but we had a really strong January. What really bumped us is our website; theres more online ordering, as tourists who discovered Mitzis during their travels continue to order books online. While the stores bestsellers reflect national trends, regional titles like In Gods Country by Johnny Sundby, Black Hills Yesterday and Today by Paul Horsted, Corn Exchange Cookbook by MJ Adams, More Than Presidents by Nancy Todd Engler, and The Question Is Why: Stanford M. Adelstein, a Jewish Life in South Dakota by Eric Zimmer have also been among the stores top sellers. Brenda Beal, Mitzis general manager, said, More and more locals are finding us. It took a while, because people are used to driving out to the mallbut with Covid hitting, people really did seek out smaller venues for safetys sake. It just helped build up our base. People want to get out of the house, and they want to handle books. Covid sucks and all that, but it did not hurt us. In our final roundup of how independent publishers fared in 2021, four West Coast presses and one in Maine reported that they were able to increase sales last year by honing their distinctive identities. And while they are gearing up to deal with paper shortages and other supply chain problems, they expect 2022 to be another good year. Tom Helleberg, publisher at Seattle-based Mountaineers Books, said the press has had several good years and that he is optimistic about the one ahead. Mountaineers Books sits right at the intersection of book publishing and the outdoor industry, so we have been the dual beneficiary of strong growth in both areas, he explained. Sales were up 26% last year over 2020, and backlist and frontlist blew through expectations. Mountaineers Books offers trail and adventure guidebooks, as well as educational books on topics including wilderness first aid and avalanche preparedness. Campfire Stories, an edited collection about the parks by Ilyssa Kyu and Dave Kyu, was far and away our best seller for the year, Helleberg said. Some of the presss recent success was driven by acquisitions. In 2019, Mountaineers Books acquired Green Trails Maps in a complicated distribution partnership, Helleberg noted, and in 2020, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy came on as a distribution partner too. ATC opens up a lot of Southeast and East Coast accounts where we might not be on the radar, he added. These moves plus a long-standing partnership with the Colorado Mountain Club mean Mountaineers Books has all of the long-trail guides in-house. Its been a little baby juggernautat a time when pandemic-fatigued readers fantasize about going on epic hikes. Throughout Covid, Helleberg saw an explosion of online retail sales and found that direct-to-consumer remained high. Because the Mountaineers organization has six program centers across western Washington, Mountaineers Books was able to arrange curbside pickup opportunities during the pandemic; third-party vendors also sold books in conjunction with events, Helleberg said. The closest Mountaineers Books came to a publishing disaster was with Seth Kantners A Thousand Trails Home: Walking with Caribou, which was a decade in the works. We had it scheduled for September [2021], Helleberg noted. The books wound up on a ship for three and a half months, parked in [the port of] Bremerton. We could basically see the ship from our office. We got it out in October, and it landed on our bestseller list for the year. For 2022, Helleberg said, we increased our baseline order quantities to push out the reprints because of the paper cruncha bit of a gamble. Weve been looking at our spring list, and I think we will see it going to fall because of overseas freight delays and printers declining jobs due to the paper shortage. Even so, Helleberg intends to participate in the Outdoor Retailer Summer Show in Denver, where he will be promoting Lauren DeLaunay Millers Valley of Giants and Gus DeAngelos forthcoming fall book National Parks A to Z: Adventure from Acadia to Zion! (an unusual direction for Mountaineers Books, which seldom publishes for the childrens market). Another niche indie press, C&T Publishing in Concord, Calif., is experimenting, as well. Crafting books are C&Ts forte, and publisher Amy Barrett-Daffin said sales were up last year by more than 10% over 2020. But C&T also discovered that hobbyists would put down their piecework to read quilting-themed novels: 2021s The Tannenbaum Christmas Quilt, a holiday entry in novelist Ann Hazelwoods Door County Quilt series, resonated with readers. C&T also published Sara Trail and Teresa Duryea Wongs Stitching Stolen Lives, which looks at the Social Justice Sewing Academy Remembrance Project. Working on this book opened our eyes to social justice, equity, and diversity, Barrett-Daffin recalled. We decided as an organization that we were going to take a stand on DEI and sent out an email to our entire list. More conventional titles continued to be solid sellers, as well, including titles for new crafters. By 2021, Barrett-Daffin continued, all of the quilt stores were open again, so our special sales channels were really cooking, along with trade at Amazon. Though C&Ts authors are looking to travel and teach again, they are reluctant to venture far, which may mean more use of C&Ts Creative Spark Online Learning platform. Five years ago, C&T began transitioning to U.S.-based printing and now does most printing stateside, but Barrett-Daffin is still concerned about materials and labor problems. As a hedge, C&T will explore audiobooks and electronic-only patterns as substitutes for print editions. A new venture C&T launched in April 2021 was its FanPowered Press imprint on all things cosplay. Barrett-Daffin said, We have new cosplay titles coming out starting in June 2022, including one on ball gowns that I think will be our best seller. Were really excited about that, because the cons are coming back. Once C&T gets fans dressed for the cons, Insight Editions will be ready with an array of pop-culture cookbooks, film-companion books, and tarot decks featuring Labyrinth characters and Disney villains. Conferences are what were most excited about in 2022, said Raoul Goff, Insight Editions founder and CEO. Our deep fandom publishing means that events like Comic-Con [San Diego, Calif., July 2124] and Star Wars Celebration [Anaheim, Calif., May 2629] are where we really connect with our communities and customers. He yearns for a return to some normalcy, and with it the opportunity for author appearances at indies, fairs, and fests. Even with live events on hold, Insight Editions saw 25% growth in 2021 over 2020, due in large part to online sales. Onlineboth our own website and online retailershas always been the predominant channel for our high-end, high-ticket art books, Goff said, and with retail and events in such flux over the course of the year, we saw that trend skyrocket. Among last years bestsellers, he touted movie tie-ins to Fantastic Beasts and Downton Abbey from Insight imprint Weldon Owen; Harry Potter: Feasts and Festivities; a Stranger Things pop-up from paper engineer Matthew Reinhart; and Marvels Black Panther: The Official Wakanda Cookbook. Angela Engel, publisher and founder of The Collective Book Studio in Oakland, Calif., doubled down on exquisitely designed titles in lifestyle, parenting, food and wine, and childrens books. Recent highlights include Sarah Blanchard and Mishasha Suzuki Grahams Dear White Women, Yvonne Pearson and Regina Shklovskys picture book Little Loon Finds His Voice, and Faith Kramers 52 Shabbats, which, because of supply chain issues, missed all of Hanukkah and ended up being released on December 13. I was sweating here, Engel said, noting that the publisher sold out of 6,000 copies in three weeks and went back to press for another 10,000. Engel runs The Collective Book Studio on a selective partnership-publishing model, with authors paying for such services as editorial, design, and marketing. And she sometimes helps with fund-raising. For the AZ childrens cookbook B Is for Bagel, she and author Rachel Teichman ran a Kickstarter campaign that enabled them to hire developmental editor Amy Treadwell, as well as a photographer. Rachel owns the photography, gets to sell shirts, bags, earrings, whatever, Engel said. The Collective Book Studios distribution is through IPG, and Engel said trade sales approached $500,000 last year for the three-year-old publisher. To help it expand, Engel is working to grow its backlist, and to that end will be going to the Bologna Childrens Book Fair this month and will exhibit at the ALA conference in June. Shell also have a booth at Mays Bay Area Book Festival. Engel is counting on her high-quality production values and established staff to attract readers. She sees cool sponsorship potential for former media exec Fran Hausers Embrace Your Work, Love Your Career; regional events for Nashville author Rebeka Iliffs Champagne for One: A Celebration of Solitude; and Bay Area bookshop events for Cheryl Yau Chepusovas alphabet book Noodles, Please! Back East, John Whalen, founder of Kennebunkport, Maines Cider Mill Press, said sales jumped 47% in 2021 over what was a record 2020. What we have been most pleased with is the sell-through performance of our list, as well as the growing demand in our backlist, Whalen said. Cider Mills cookbook and cocktail and spirits publishing categories have been growing steadily over the last several years, and they did well again in the pandemic while readers stayed home. The press develops its publishing program in-house, which Whalen said has allowed it to target its title output based on new trends, as well as to create custom titles for its different distribution channels. He added that both the online and physical retail channels had fantastic performances in 2021, noting that in physical retail, bookstores, warehouse clubs, mass merchandisers, and gift stores all had higher sales. School book fairs was the only significant Cider Mill channel that underperformed during the past two years, and with schools reopening, Whalen expects to see a resurgence there in the next 1224 months. In addition to its adult titles, Cider Mill has done well with its childrens books, led by its Charles Santore Illustrated Classic series. Since Cider Mill published its original edition of The Night Before Christmas in 2011, that one title has sold nearly three million copies. Whalen remains confident enough in the market to launch a new imprint this year. Whalen Studio Editions will release its inaugural list this fall, featuring books from photographers, including one from Hollywood photographer Greg Williams; a new book by National Geographic and former Magnum photographer William Albert Allard titled Paris; and a three-book series by Leica ambassador Craig Semtko, including the titles Unposed, Unposed India, and Unposed USA. Correction: This article initially misnamed the author of Valley of Giants by Lauren DeLaunay Miller. If publishing imprints were people, 10-year-old Triangle Square Books for Young Readers would be Seven Stories Mini-Me. The concept for an activist childrens line parallels the adult division, with books for skeptical young readers. The resulting titles have sold so well, particularly during the pandemic, that TSBYR is about to double its list and introduce two new series. The childrens division is thematically and philosophically an offshoot of Seven Stories, said Seven Stories publicity director and newly appointed TSBYR publisher Ruth Weiner. We believe at Seven Stories, and I do, first and foremost, that books can change the world, added Seven Stories founder Dan Simon. It can seem a little bit earnest in the adult world, but it works in the kids world. Kids books were introduced to the Seven Stories list back in 2007, with Howard Zinn and Rebecca Stefoffs A Young Peoples History of the United States. And even though TSBYR is a separate division now, it shares personnel with the adult linethere is no dedicated childrens staff. Simon pointed out, though, that its not always obvious whether a given title should publish with Seven Stories or TSBYR. Last year, Seven Stories released Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuks The Lost Soul, illustrated by Joanna Concejo and translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, to acclaim as an adult picture book, even though it was released in other countries for kids. On the other hand, a picture book by Swedish writer Sara Stridsberg, whose adult novel Valerie was longlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize, is on the TSBYR list. Slated for June publication, The Summer of Diving, illustrated by Sara Lundberg and translated by B.J. Woodstein, describes the summer during which Stridsbergs father was hospitalized for depression. Though the childrens program started small, initially releasing titles only once a year, in 2022 it will begin ramping upfrom six10 per year in 2021 to 1620 by 2023. The success of TSBYRs 66-title backlist encouraged it to do more. Top sellers include Innosanto Nagaras A Is for Activist and Counting on Community, which together have sold nearly 400,000 copies; A Young Peoples History, which has sold 300,000 copies and is due out in a new edition, with contributions from Latinx scholar Ed Morales in honor of the centennial of Zinns birth; and Stefoffs adaptation of Ronald K. Takakis A Different Mirror, which has sold 90,000 copies. The first two books in Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyths frequently challenged trilogy (What Makes a Baby and Sex Is a Funny Word) have combined sales of 143,000 copies; the third book, You Know, Sex, is due out next month. The mark of a good company is that the books become more important over time, Simon observed. He points to the growth of Seven Stories backlist, which has gone from 40% of sales to 70% in recent years, in large part thanks to TSBYR. During its first eight years, childrens books contributed 52% of overall backlist sales. In 2020 and 2021, its share rose to 57%. This spring TSBYR will introduce two new series. Its a little coincidental, Weiner said, and its also the way we came into publishing childrens books. When its good and we like it, we do it. In the case of the Philosophy for Young People series, for ages 1217, Weiner and Simon wanted to do a series on philosophy for several years but couldnt find the right books, until they read Devra Lehmanns Socrates: A Life Worth Living, which is due out in May in hardcover. When TSBYR reissues her earlier work, Spinoza: The Outcast Thinkerwhich received a National Jewish Book Award for Young Peoples Literaturein paperback in April 2023 along with the paperback of Socrates, the books will be given a unified look. Lehmann is writing at least two more, on St. Augustine and Hannah Arendt. The second series, They Said No, offers short historical fictions about real people who stood up to injustice and is aimed at slightly younger readers, in some cases 1014. The first books, due out in May, are translated from the French series from Actes Sud Jeunesse. Anna Politkovskaia: No to Fear by Dominique Conil, translated by Alison L. Strayer, is about the slain journalist, known for her reporting on the Second Chechen War. Mordechai Anielewicz: No to Despair by Rachel Hausfater, translated by Alison L. Strayer, traces the life of the leader of a Jewish insurrection against the Nazis in Poland in WWII. TSBYR will begin with 12 books translated from the French. It also plans to commission its own titles directly. Publishing true crime can be a delicate proposition: satisfy the readers appetite for thrills, drama, and bad guys being brought to justice, but also present the story factually and conscientiously. By way of example: The True Crime File (Workman, May) is a gift book assemblage of sensational stories, trivia, quizzes, and more. Its also informed by Workman copy chief Kim Dalys work as a rape counselor. Daly, who compiled the book, has headed initiatives at Workman to ensure the publishers house style avoids outdated or hurtful language, says senior editor John Meils. True crime is not always handled with a respectful hand, Meils notes. It plays to the gore without trying to understand how the monster came to be or to see the side of the victim. Theres been so much not-terribly-responsible use of language, especially around the victims, and an over-focus on the murderers, not the people they kill or leave behind. Authors can counteract these impulses by heeding the societal factors surrounding crime, victimhood, and punishment. PW spoke with editors about forthcoming books that reach for nuanced portrayals of real-life crimes. Buried secrets In Trailed, a May release from Algonquin, journalist Kathryn Miles delves into the 1996 murder of 24-year-old Julie Williams and her partner, 26-year-old Lollie Winans, who were killed while backpacking in Shenandoah National Park. An avid hiker and a survivor of sexual assault, Miles wanted to talk about women hikers in the back country, the crimes that are committed, the way theyre investigated, says Betsy Gleick, publisher and editorial director at Algonquin. Hiking developed as a white male activity, and theres a lot of discussion about safety for underrepresented people in the wilderness. Despite the efforts of local and federal authorities, as well as National Park Service experts, the case remained unsolved for years. In 2002, thenattorney general John Ashcroft, under pressure to crack down on hate crimes, pushed for the death penalty for Darrell David Rice, a man already in prison for another Shenandoah assault, despite a dearth of direct evidence linking him to the crime. Two years later, federal prosecutors dropped the case because the DNA evidence didnt match. The murders remained unsolved, and Miles, who began looking into the case in 2016, names a different killer in the book. We Carry Their Bones, a June release from Morrow, likewise unearths a crime that took far too long to come to light. Forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerles work on the grounds of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Fla., is now well-known for having informed Colson Whiteheads The Nickel Boys. The school was established in 1900 and not shut down until 2011, despite numerous stories of abuse and the disappearance and death of many of its students, Black boys who were hired out as labor to local farmers and tortured. The ongoing metaphor is excavation, says Mauro DiPreta, senior v-p and executive editor at William Morrow. As you exhume the graves youre exhuming the truth. DiPreta says Kimmerle had to get permission to excavate in the area, and was met with some resistance from locals who just wanted to let sleeping dogs lie. DiPreta adds: We all have an abstract sense of the shame of American history when it comes to race, but this is a concrete example of the legacy of racism. Shes correcting the historical record. School management reported thirty graves; with her sonar, she saw at least twice that number. Shes still not sure she knows the extent of it. Guilty until proven innocent Some authors are taking to task a legal system whose workings theyve seen from the inside. M. Chris Fabricant, director of strategic litigation for the Innocence Project in New York, wants to hold judges and juries accountable for confirming that the scientific testimony and evidence offered at trial is actually sound. In Junk Science and the Criminal Justice System, an April release from Akashic, he breaks down the pseudoscience, the fake science, thats used by so-called forensic experts in courtrooms, says Akashic publisher Johnny Temple. People serve decades in prison based on testimony about bite marks, hair microscopy, and burn evidence, he says, and shows like CSI have unwittingly propagated the notion that this is real science, but its not. PWs starred review called the book an impressive debut in which chilling sections expose the lack of any reliable scientific basis for bite-mark identifications, as well as relied-upon arson investigative methods, and detail how the cases Fabricant and his colleagues labored to resolve justly represent but the tip of the iceberg. Valena Beety, a former federal prosecutor, West Virginia Innocence Project founding director, and law professor, has seen many such instances in her legal career, one of which she details in Manifesting Justice, which Citadel is releasing in June. When Beety was with the Mississippi Innocence Project, she took on the case of Leigh Stubbs, whose assault conviction was based in part on since-discredited bite-mark evidence and discussions of her sexuality. Through Stubbss case, Beety pinpoints the problems that arise when prosecutors rely on false information and forensic fraud, cases of police and prosecutor misconduct, says Citadel editor-in-chief Michaela Hamilton. We need to encourage legislatures to allow defendants to challenge charges, recognize ableism as a cause of wrongful convictions, and draft and pass junk science guidelines. The heart of the matter Ben Westhoffs Little Brother, which PWs review called a thought-provoking look at the ever-turning wheel of violence, investigates the entrenched systems that led a teenager to crime. In the mid-aughts, journalist Westoff signed up as a mentor in St. Louiss Big Brothers Big Sisters program and was paired with eight-year-old Jorrell Cleveland, one of nine children from an impoverished family in a violence-stricken neighborhood. They had a strong relationship for years, until, in 2016, Jorrell was shot and killed. Devastated, Westoff decided to investigate his death, and learned that Jorrell had a whole life he didnt know about, involving drug dealing and guns. Theres a fascination with traditional true crimehow did this terrible thing happen? Could it happen to me? says Brant Rumble, executive editor at Hachette Books, which is releasing the title in May. Thats where the genre emerged from, and now its going much broader. Even so, he says, Westhoff is not suggesting a solution; hes shining a light on the problem. Another look at what brings people to the breaking point comes from Alia Trabucco Zeran in When Women Kill, translated by Sophie Hughes and due out from Coffee House Press in April (the author-translator teams 2019 novel, The Remainder, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize). Upon its 2020 release in Zerans native Chile as Las Homicidas, many people misread the title as women who are killed rather than women killers, according to Lizzie Davis, Zerans editor; the author, she says, realized that its easier for people to imagine a dead woman than a woman whos prepared to kill. The book examines four homicides by Chilean women in the 20th century, and the ways that womens anger can be taken seriously, not dismissed as hysterical, Davis says. She highlights this parallel narrative of society and the medias portrayal of women, plus the reaction of the political establishment and how they were prosecuted. She engages seriously with sociopolitical structures. Davis positions the book with other forthcoming titles that emphasize cause and effect over shock value: This is for true crime fans who want to get deeply into the crimes and the ramifications, she says, who want more than only guilty pleasure. Liz Scheiers debut, the memoir Never Simple (Holt), was released March 1. Below, more on our Mysteries, Thrillers & True Crime books: Victims of Their Own Success: Mysteries, Thrillers & True Crime 2022 New novels consider the perils of celebrity, the dangers of our collective obsession with true crimeand in some cases, the intersection between the two. Strangers in Paradise: PW Talks with Elizabeth Hand In Elizabeth Hands 'Hokuloa Road' (Mulholland, July), a fictional Hawaiian islands stunning exterior conceals a dark heartand a menacing stalker that isnt quite human. Scooby-Doo for Grown-Ups: PW Talks with Gigi Pandian 'Under Lock and Skeleton Key' (Minotaur, Mar.) author Gigi Pandian, a cofounder of Crime Writers of Color, loves locked-room puzzles and seeing magicians in mysteries. Remembrances of Crimes Past: Mysteries, Thrillers & True Crime 2022 In an industry that thrives on the new, these mystery publishers are earning critical acclaim by reviving old favorites. Wrinkles in Crime: PW Talks with Martin Edwards Novelist and archivist Martin Edwards discusses his forthcoming history of crime fiction, 'The Life of Crime' (Collins Crime Club, July), and what the genres past has taught him about its future. Janelle Brown. Random House, Apr. Pretty Things author Brown has upped her game with this one, per PWs starred review. After falling out of Hollywood favor, former child TV star Sam buried her troubles in pills and alcohol, while her identical twin and fellow former star Elli got married and tried for a conventional life. When Sam learns that Ellis perfect husband has left her, and that shes absconded with her newly adopted toddler to a spa, or possibly a cult, in Ojai, Calif., shes determined to save her sister from whatever demonsinternal or externalhave got her in their thrall. Denim & Co. Roll Tab Sleeve Button Front Soft Utility Tunic is rated 3.5 out of 5 by 611 . Rated 5 out of 5 by gilley from LOVE IT Just love this shirt and the sea foam is a beautiful color. Rated 5 out of 5 by Ranchergal from Love I ordered two shirts in L and love them both. I could have worn the M, but prefer a bigger shirt. Even in very warm weather these shirts are perfect for those cool air conditioned places such as restaurants, doctors offices, cars, etc. I have so many cute patterned tops and tanks to go with them. Thanks guys! Rated 5 out of 5 by Tosh22 from Super Love this shirt fits well , easy care, feels comfortable and cool. Bought 3. Rated 5 out of 5 by Anonymous from A very nice shirt. 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Its light enough for summer wear, even with the sleeves down, as I need to keep my arms covered. This shirt is perfect! Thank you! When British archaeologist Howard Carter caught his first stunning glimpse of the interior of King Tutankhamuns tomb in 1922, he had no idea that among the thousands of wonderful things assembled for the boy kings journey to the afterworld was an implement derived from another world. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Carters unearthing of the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Carter and his team spent a decade carefully cataloging and removing more than 5,000 statues, jewelry, furniture, paintings, and other items that hadnt been seen by a human eye since the tomb was sealed more than 3,200 years ago. Within the wrapping of Tutankhamuns actual mummy were two daggers, one of which was gold-handled with a blade of iron. This was particularly intriguing because iron smelting didnt emerge in Egypt until centuries after Tutankhamuns time. This means the iron in the dagger must have been transported from elsewhere perhaps from other Middle East or Asian cultures, or further away. Much further, in fact, as in outer space. The ancient Egyptians were well-acquainted with celestial events and the night sky and they incorporated this knowledge into many of their structures. For example, the Sphinx, built more than 1,000 years before the 9-year-old Tutankhamun took the throne, faces East. This was a cherished cardinal point for the Egyptians because it is the direction of the rising sun, from which, according to their customs, all things are born. The nearby Great Pyramid features passageways that were aligned to certain stars, including Thuban (in the constellation Draco), which was the north pole star when the pyramid was being built. And many scholars believe the Great Pyramid and its neighbors at the Giza pyramid complex represent the three belt stars of the constellation Orion, known to the Egyptians as the god Osiris. Egyptian legend held that Osiris judged the pharaohs and immortalized the good ones by casting them into the heavens among the stars. With this attention to the sky, its not surprising that the Egyptians, like many other cultures, saw the fall of rocks from space as special events. And the rocks themselves often rich in iron would have been prized, considered gifts from the gods. In fact, around Tutankhamuns time, a new Egyptian phrase emerged that translates to iron of the sky. It thus makes sense to find a dagger formed from an iron meteorite associated with Tutankhamuns treasures. Despite this, the meteoritic origin of the dagger wasnt confirmed until recently. Scientists had suspected the irons source for years but had no way of practically proving it, since the tests to do so were highly destructive. Permission to conduct such tests was understandably hard to obtain. Scientists eventually developed a technique called X-ray fluorescence, a non-destructive method for chemically analyzing material. This allowed them to determine that the daggers ratio of cobalt, nickel, and iron is indicative of an extraterrestrial origin. On top of that, the daggers chemical composition matches that of a meteorite known as Kharga that was discovered along Egypts Mediterranean Coast. This suggests that the dagger and meteorite may have come from the same parent rock. King Tuts dagger might pale in comparison to other treasures that Howard Carter uncovered, such as the stunning gold mask, triad of coffins, and mummy itself. But it is a useful key to the past and helps demonstrate the ancient Egyptians connection to the sky. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Birthday wishes Call 281-422-8302 or email david.bloom@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun. Happy Birthday Wishes Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Rain. High 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight A shower or two possible this evening with partly cloudy skies overnight. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%. AP PhotoFILE - A winding tower of a closed coal mine rusts in front of a coal-fired power station March 8 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Compared to the U.S., the 27-member European Union faces much stronger direct economic consequences than does the U.S. from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions and that's true above all when it comes to the oil and gas that fuels vehicles and keeps the heat and the lights on. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File) Mary Catherine Brooks/The Wyoming County ReportI love teaching so much like it's a problem, Weston Kieschnick confessed to educators from across Wyoming County Tuesday at Wyoming County East High School. Now one of the most influential educators on the planet, Kieschnick's day-long presentations marked the return of countywide professional development sessions for educators since the Covid-19 pandemic struck more than two years ago. Reeling from a psychotic break and diagnosed depression, Jacob Muhle thought the only solution was to kill himself and the method he chose was suicide by cop. After researching mass shootings, Muhle, who at the time was 21, first headed to a school in an attempt to target a populated site. But the date was March 17, 2020 mere days after Nebraska had reported its first case of community spread of COVID-19. The day before, officials with the Omaha, Millard, Papillion-La Vista and Bellevue school districts announced schools would close indefinitely to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. No one was at the school Muhle had selected. So Muhle headed for the next-busiest site nearby, a Hy-Vee Supermarket near 180th and Q streets. Chaos ensued as Muhle began firing outside the store. After Muhle entered the store, a 50-year-old Omaha man tackled him. An off-duty Omaha deputy police chief then wrestled Muhles gun away from him. No one was struck by gunfire, thanks to the actions of Omahan Tom Wenzl and Deputy Omaha Police Chief Scott Gray but also, Muhles attorney argued, because Muhle didnt actually intend to hurt anyone. Douglas County District Judge Kimberly Miller Pankonin said Thursday that she wasnt sure about that. The court was disturbed by the fact that you had gone to a school prior to this and luckily the one time you can say for the pandemic the school was closed, she said. You pose a very high threat to harm society, to harm yourself. And I cannot find anything to think that this would not happen again. In January, Muhle pleaded guilty to six felonies, including shooting a gun at an occupied vehicle, terroristic threats, attempted assault and firearm use. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed five additional felonies. The charges he pleaded to carried a punishment of anywhere from 11 to 176 years in prison. Thursday, the judge sentenced Muhle, now 23, to 42 to 64 years. Muhle will serve 26 years in prison before he is eligible for parole and must be discharged after 37 years, counting mandatory minimums and the states good-time law that cuts sentences in half. Muhle already has spent nearly two years behind bars. Muhle declined an opportunity to address the court. Assistant Douglas County Public Defender Leslie Cavanaugh said a psychologist who evaluated Muhle after he was arrested diagnosed him with autism spectrum disorder, for which he had never been treated. That, a depression diagnosis and fear of losing his job led him to a desperation that put him in a tailspin, Cavanaugh said. Cavanaugh said she had discussed with Muhle the option of pursuing an insanity defense, but Muhle rejected that idea. He wanted to take responsibility for what he could for his actions, Cavanaugh said. I just ask the court and the victims to look at Mr. Muhle with some mercy in their hearts and some understanding about this situation. I dont think Mr. Muhle had any intent to harm anybody or shoot anybody, honestly, I tell you, but I know it didnt look that way from the victims viewpoint. After hearing Cavanaughs comments, Wenzl told the judge he could tell that Muhle just wanted to die that day. Wenzl started to weep as he asked the judge for leniency for Muhle. I ask that you show some empathy toward the situation, Wenzl said. I lay awake nights thinking about him. Muhle had shot into two vehicles in the Hy-Vee pharmacy drive-thru one with a father and a daughter inside and another driven by a grandmother who later said she was thankful her grandson wasnt with her, as he usually was. Muhle then went inside the store, shot toward Wenzl and hit a security camera. Gray had his gun drawn when Wenzl tackled Muhle. Muhle put the gun to his head but then lowered it, and Gray wrestled it away. Amy Jacobsen, a deputy Douglas County attorney, recalled listening to the 911 calls and referenced two that stood out one from the grandmother in the car and the other from a pharmacy worker who reported that seven people were hiding in the pharmacy. Both callers, she said, were in fear for their lives. I think safety of the public does demand prison time, Jacobsen said. We could have had a lot of dead people in this circumstance, not just Mr. Muhle, but a lot of other people. Gray, who broke his hand in the scuffle with Muhle, said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon that it was a sad situation. I just hope that he gets treatment, some help and maybe someday hell be able to return to society in a better way, Gray said. Wenzl said that after he tackled Muhle, Muhle kept repeating, Youre no hero. In court, a week shy of two years later, Wenzl said, Im his hero, damn it. Wenzl said he plans to send Muhle his address and give him the option to write him. Wenzl said he may even visit Muhle. Wenzl said he has children who are Muhles age and knows the importance of taking care of ones mental health. This is all about mental illness. Youve got avenues where you can go and get free mental health, Wenzl said. We all have issues ... if someone tells you, Im perfectly perfect ... No way. Because at some point in time, everybody has fought something. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Support local journalism We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story. A neighbor had used a key to enter the home to check on Kathleen Janus after the neighbor was unable to reach her by phone or by knocking on the door. The neighbor called 911 after finding Janus body. Citizens are surprised that authorities allowed news of the Souths free elections. South Korea's president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol attends a ceremony of disbanding his presidential election camp at the National Assembly Library in Seoul, South Korea March 10, 2022 North Korean state media on Friday reported the results of this weeks presidential election in South Korea, surprising citizens not used to hearing political news from the South so soon after the new leader was chosen, the residents told RFA. Yoon Suk Yeol, a candidate of the conservative opposition People Power Party, won by a narrow margin in the 20th presidential election held in south Korea on March 9, the state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday on the English-language version of its website. A Korean version similarly emphasized the name of the party and the word president. The brief report did not mention Yoons 0.8 percent margin of victory or his opponent, Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party. The website of the Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried the same Korean-language report. The citizens did not expect to see news in their local media so soon after the election, a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFAs Korean Service Friday. Authorities are usually reluctant to publicize information about South Koreas democratic, free election system, said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons. Usually when a conservative party candidate is elected, the name of the winner is not mentioned, or it is reported late. That is why todays Rodong Sinmun report is regarded as unusual, she said. While some residents in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong reacted to the news with indifference, others were jealous, a resident there, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told RFA. They could not hide their envy at the democratic system in South Korea in which the Supreme Leader is directly elected by the people, said the second source, using the term by which North Koreans call their generational, dynastic leaders. Retired officials and college students who confirmed the results of the 20th presidential election in South Korea had a bitter look on their faces. We also have elections here in North Korea. However, there is only one candidate, pre-selected by the party, and we have to vote for the only candidate. Yoon will be sworn in as the South Korean president on May 10, 2022. Analysts predict that his North Korea strategy will be more hawkish than his predecessor Moon Jae-in, who prioritized engagement with the North. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. A Lao human rights activist who was living in Thailand under threat of deportation to his communist homeland has arrived in Canada where he will seek asylum with the support of the United Nations refugee agency and human rights groups. Khoukham Keomanivong, a U.N.-recognized refugee, was convicted on Jan. 31 in a closed-door Thai trial of overstaying his visa and had been held pending deportation to Laos, where he faced arrest for his advocacy work he says he has refrained from for more than two years. He was later released on bail and was finally allowed to leave Thailand on Thursday for Canada with the assistance of rights groups and the UNHCR. Khoukham arrived in Vancouver on Friday after transiting in South Korea and was undergoing quarantine procedures for COVID-19. Prior to his departure from Bangkoks Suvarnnabhumi Airport, Khoukham had vowed to continue fighting for my life in Canada. I am not safe in Thailand, therefore I have to step forward, he told RFAs Lao Service in a text message before boarding his plane. A founding member of the rights group Free Laos, set up by Lao workers and residents in Thailand to promote human rights and democracy in their home country, Khoukham said last month that he had ended his political activities long before his arrest as one of the conditions of his recognition by the U.N. as a refugee. He said at the time that he would be willing to travel to a third country, although he preferred to stay in Thailand. Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, a democracy activist in Thailand, told RFA that he was relieved his friend was able to travel to Canada because he earlier had fallen into crisis status and was almost sent back to Laos. Earlier there were some Lao people in Thailand who were sent back to Laos so he was terrified and could not sleep, said Netiwit, who went to see Khoukham off at the airport. His life has been a struggle. He had been fighting for more than a month, even while fighting for the freedom of the Lao people. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the news of Khoukhams departure. Im happy that he was allowed to go but unfortunately he never should have been detained in the first place when he had done nothing wrong, he said. Hes not a criminal, hes only a man who fights for human rights, and he did not deserve to be arrested and jailed. Robertson added that Lao human rights and democracy activists living in Thailand are increasingly unwilling to gather because they fear being sent back to Laos. Tough on critics Laos deals severely with dissidents who call for democracy and respect for human rights in the one-party communist state, and Lao dissidents living abroad have been harshly punished after returning or being forced back to Laos. Thailand has hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war, natural disasters and human rights violations in neighboring countries. Human rights groups, however, criticize Thailand's authoritarian government for recent cases in which it returned refugees and asylum-seekers to China, where they face torture, persecution and other rights abuses. Last November, Thai authorities arrested and deported to Cambodia two activists from the banned political opposition after Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the arrest of one of them over a poem criticizing the strongman ruler on Facebook. In early 2019, Vietnamese blogger Truong Duy Nhat was arrested by Thai Royal Police and handed over to Vietnamese police, who took him across the border into Laos, and from there back to Vietnam. Nhat, who had been a weekly contributor to RFAs Vietnamese Service, was sentenced in 2020 to ten years in jail for abusing his position and authority in a decade-old land fraud case. Reported and translated by RFAs Lao Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Sources say the mine was illegal and operators are trying to cover up the number of casualties. At least 23 people are dead and 80 are missing 11 days after a landslide at a jade mine in Myanmars Kachin state, but junta officials and the mines operators have yet to confirm the casualties and are seeking to keep the incident under wraps, aid workers and residents said Friday. The landslide occurred on Feb. 28 in Hpakant townships Mat Lin Gyaung village at a quarry that is jointly run by private firms Myanmar National Co. and Shan Yoma Co., according to sources. Jade mining has been illegal in Hpakant since 2019, but many companies defy the ban, and operations have increased in the area since the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup. On March 3, the military announced that no one had been killed in the incident, but two days later aid workers and family members of miners told RFAs Myanmar Service that authorities had recovered the bodies of 23 people and buried them at the nearby Mat Lin Gyaung Cemetery. An official with a Hpakant-based aid group, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Friday that the companies and security forces had so far blocked search and rescue teams from entering the area because they want to cover up the severity of the landslide and because the operation is illegal. Among those [who remain] missing are scavengers, drivers, supervisors, company staff altogether there are about 80 people, he said. [Authorities] have blocked the road to stop aid workers from entering the area. No cars are allowed and were turned back. Landslides occur frequently here. Stopping rescue teams and aid workers is hard to understand. In other words, its a kind of a news blackout. The aid worker said that the 23 bodies recovered from the quarry should have been sent to Hpakant Hospital for autopsies but were instead instantly buried by authorities. He said that after 11 days, those still missing are assumed dead. Meanwhile, Myanmar National Co. and Shan Yoma Co. have yet to release the exact number of dead and missing. The aunt of a young scavenger who went missing at the quarry said the companies had not officially notified any families regarding the deaths or the accident. She said that relatives only learned of the landslide from others in the community and were left to investigate on their own. I wont be able to see my boy if I dont go now. Well have to try to find his body on our own, but we wont give up, she said. [The authorities] don't want to search anymore and so they will say no [if asked for help]. In fact, only about a third of the parents may have heard their kids were killed or injured in the accident because the companies didnt tell them ... If we waited for them to notify us, we would have never known the truth. While the woman did not provide details about her nephew, citing security concerns, she told RFA that all 23 of those confirmed dead in the landslide were under the age of 30. Miners search for jade stones at a mine dump at a Hpakant jade mine in Kachin state, Myanmar, Nov. 25, 2015. Credit: Reuters Dangerous conditions She said that upon entering the site after learning of her nephews death it was clear to her that conditions at the mine were unnecessarily dangerous. The pile of waste soil is too high. We saw it only when we went there after the landslide If we had known this before the landslide, wed have stopped my nephew from working with this company, she said. When the waste soil is piled too high, it collapses under pressure. At the bottom of the pile is where they have the vein and it has produced a lot of raw jade, we heard. I don't know if they didnt understand the dangers or if they ignored them because of greed. The womans nephew, who graduated high school recently, had only been working at the mine for three months and was earning around 300,000 kyats (U.S. $170) a month. She said several Hpakant-based aid groups arrived at the site shortly after the accident on Feb. 28, but company officials did not to let them carry out rescue work. Attempts by RFA to reach officials from Myanmar National Co. and Shan Yoma Co. went unanswered on Friday. Junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun was also unavailable for comment. An environmental activist in Hpakant said the operation is being covered up was because the companies do not want to pay compensation to the families of the victims. He urged the junta to hold them accountable. They obviously do not want to pay compensation, because the bodies of the dead workers were dug up and all of them were buried at Mat Lin Gyaung Cemetery, he said. To put it simply, they must be worried the incident would become public if relief groups were involved in the rescue work In the meantime, as this is a transitional period, no one is going to act. This is also a time of opportunity for [the companies to evade the law because of the political turmoil [and] weak rule of law. RFA also spoke on Friday with Kachin Independence Army (KIA) spokesman Col. Naw Bu, whose ethnic armed group has taken control of some of the jade quarries in Hpakant, but he said he was unaware of the details. This photo taken on July 6, 2020 shows a piece of jade on sale in a jade market in Hpakant in Kachin state. Credit: AFP Popular mining area Aung Hein Min, a former lawmaker with the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) in Hpakant, said that about 90 percent of all jade in Myanmar was being produced illegally by the end of 2020, as jade mining licenses had not been renewed under the NLD after it won the countrys election in November that year. He said the site of the Feb. 28 accident used to produce precious minerals and has seen several landslides and deaths since the coup. YTT Hill, as it is known in the area, is a good site to find good quality jade. It contains a very good vein. The stones are of good quality and big chunks weighing tons have been found, he said, noting that the second largest jade every mined came from the site. Aung Hein Min said illegal mining is no widespread around YTT Hill, and safety measures are particularly lax. In the past, there were groups to oversee quarrying work and rising waste mounds, he said. Now thats history. There are no such groups. Everyone tries to dig as much as they can and its a free-for-all. So, the likelihood of landslides is increasing day by day. Residents say mining rights in Hpakant, which were revoked in 2019 under the NLD government, were reactivated in 2021 after companies began paying taxes to the junta and the KIA. Two landslides occurred in Hpakant in December last year due to unregulated mining, leaving a total of around 80 scavengers missing. And in May 2020, a landslide in Hpakants Hway-kha-Hmaw area killed hundreds of inexperienced miners and scavengers. In July last year, a report published by international NGO Global Witness said that Myanmars military and those in its highest ranks were able to enrich themselves by looking the other way during the NLDs ban, and that the junta has post-coup threatened to further open the floodgates of military corruption in the jade industry. Control over the multibillion-dollar jade trade was a major cause of conflict in Myanmar between the military and rebel armed ethnic groups and, in the years leading up to the coup, the military increased its stake in the jade trade at a time when the civilian-led government was trying to impose reforms on it, according to the report. Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Students respond to questions from a teacher in a classroom at a bilingual middle school for ethnic Uyghur Muslims and Han Chinese students in Hotan, northwestern China's Xinjiang region, in a file photo. A Uyghur educator has been serving a seven-year sentence in a prison in northwestern Chinas Xinjiang region for violating Chinese policy and instructing his students in the Uyghur language, a former student and a police officer confirmed to RFA this month, more than six years after his detention. Adil Tursun, a chemistry teacher and faculty director at Kashgar Kona Sheher (in Chinese, Shufu) County No. 1 High School was arrested in 2016 and sentenced in 2018 to seven years in Xinshou Prison in Shanghai after already having served two years of detention, said Abduweli Ayup, a former student who is now a Uyghur activist and linguist based in Norway. Abduweili, who also documents missing and imprisoned Uyghurs in Xinjiang, said he found out about Adils imprisonment on a leaked Chinese government list of some 10,000 suspected terrorists published by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in April 2021. More than 7,600 of the people included on the document were ethnic Uyghurs, while the rest were mostly Kazakh and Kyrgyz, fellow Turkic Muslims. Though Adil, now in his early 50s, previously had been recognized as one of the nations outstanding teachers by the Chinese government, he was arrested by authorities for the crime of speaking in the Uyghur language to his students when they did not his instruction in Chinese, Abduweli said. Adil Tursun was a very professional and responsible teacher, Abduweli said. He was a very skilled and famous teacher. He was a member of textbook writing groups, he added. Adil, who was from Bulaqsu village in Kona Shehers Toqquzaq township and graduated from Hotan Pedagogical College, did not hide his dissatisfaction with the Chinese government policy of abolishing the Uyghur language in schools in order to implement what they call a bilingual education policy. In the early 2000s, Xinjiang education officials introduced the bilingual education policy, requiring Mandarin to be used as the primary language of instruction in schools, with the Uyghur language and literature taught as subjects. The policy was slowly implemented and mainly in urban ethnic minority schools that employed educators who were fluent in Mandarin. Authorities said the measure would improve standard Mandarin language skills among ethnic minority students so they would be more competitive in the workplace, while Uyghurs saw it as forced cultural assimilation aimed at diluting their Turkic heritage. Two decades after the policy took effect, not only instruction in the Uyghur language but also the use of standard Uyghur-language textbooks have been banned in nearly all schools, including kindergartens and in rural schoolhouses, though some students still cannot understand instruction or materials in Mandarin. When RFA called Kona Sheher county police to find out about Adils sentence, they declined to answer questions but did not deny that the teacher had been jailed. A police officer in Kashgar prefecture, where the county is located, however, said Adil had been arrested because of a previous mistake, and that the mistake was speaking in the Uyghur language to his students. The officer also said that Adil had been arrested two years before he was sentenced in 2018, but he did not provide additional information. After his mistake was investigated, he was arrested. It was a previous mistake of his to speak in Uyghur to his students while bilingual education was being implemented, said the officer. Local police had detained Adil once before in 2015 after his transgression of teaching chemistry lessons in the Uyghur language first came to the attention of Chinese education authorities in Kona Sheher county, according to Abduweli. Police investigated him for the same reason in 2016, but this time, they arrested him. He was handed over to the national security branch of the police department and was sentenced to prison two years after his arrest, the officer said. RFA previously reported on large-scale arrests of Uyghurs in Kona Sheher county that began prior to 2017, with many people being detained and sentenced to prison, amid a wider crackdown on the minority group in Xinjiang. Translated by RFAs Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. In an interview with RFE/RL's Georgian Service, former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen discusses how Vladimir Putin's views have changed over the years. Rasmussen, who was secretary-general between 2009-14, says Putin is obsessed with the idea of restoring the greatness of the Soviet Union and has turned Russia into an international pariah. RFE/RL: Vladimir Putin, you've met him both as Danish prime minister and as NATO secretary-general, and absurdly enough, he even accused you of secretly taping him. What did you make of the man back then and now? Anders Fogh Rasmussen: Yes, Mr. Putin has changed over the years. My first meeting took place in 2002and he was very positive regarding cooperation between Russia and the West. Then, gradually, he changed his mind. And from around 2005 to 2006, he got increasingly negative toward the West. And in 2008, he attacked Georgia. In 2014, he took Crimea, and now we have seen a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. So he has really changed over the years. RFE/RL: Any idea what prompted this? Rasmussen: I think the revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine in 2004 and 2005 contributed to his change of mind. We shouldn't forget that Vladimir Putin grew up in the KGB. So his thinking is very much impacted by that past. So I think he suffers from paranoia. And he thought that after color revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, that the aim [of the West] was to initiate a regime change in the Kremlin -- in Moscow -- as well. And that's why he turned against the West. RFE/RL: When we hear world leaders saying that the entire European architecture is being undermined, is the entire blame on Putin, or could the West also have done something differently, something more to prevent this from happening? Rasmussen: I put the blame entirely on Putin and Russia. Russia is not a victim. We have reached out to Russia several times during history. First, we approved the NATO Russia Founding Act in 1997. Next time, it was in 2002, we reached out once again, established something very special, namely the NATO-Russia Council. And in 2010, we decided at a NATO-Russia summit that we would develop a strategic partnership between Russia and NATO. So, time and again, we reached out to Russia. RFE/RL: Did the West do enough to deter Putin? So he would not do what he did two weeks ago? I think we should have done more to deter Putin. Back in 2008, he attacked Georgia, took de facto Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We could have reacted much more determinedly already in that time." Rasmussen: In hindsight, no. In addition to our outrage, I think we should have done more to deter Putin. Back in 2008, he attacked Georgia, took de facto Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We could have reacted much more determinedly already in that time. RFE/RL: Instead, you followed that with the NATO-Russia partnership in 2010. Rasmussen: Yeah, yeah. When I took office in 2009, I reached out to the Russians and told them it's one of my priorities to develop such a strategic partnership, despite the fact that one year earlier they had attacked Georgia. So we have done a lot. But maybe Putin misread our thoughts and I think [that a] lesson learned from history is that appeasement with dictators does not lead to peace, it leads to war and conflict. RFE/RL: Even a lesson learned too late can be useful. When you say we should have done more, what could you have done? Rasmussen: For instance, after the 2014 conflict, when Putin illegally annexed Crimea into the Russian Federation, we imposed modest sanctions on Russia. And Putin misread that as almost an invitation to go further. And now he has gone further. I think we should do more than we have done already. Based on lessons learned from history, we have seen already an unprecedented European and transatlantic unity. We have seen unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia. That's good. But I think we should go further. My concrete proposal would be to cut off all import of oil and gas from Russia immediately. RFE/RL: We saw Germany not being very enthusiastic about that prospect. Chancellor Olaf Scholz even said Russian gas is "essential for Germany" for the time being. So it isn't going to happen overnight, is it? Rasmussen: First of all, I would like to commend the German chancellor and the German government for some very tough decisions to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, to increase the German defense budget, and to send weapons to Ukraine. It's a dramatic shift in German foreign and security policy. I really appreciate that. It's right now that Finland and Sweden should use the opportunity to join NATO. And that would send an extremely important signal to Putin, and it would be considered a major defeat for Putin in the current environment." We do know that if we completely ban import of oil and gas from Russia, doing exactly the same as the Americans, it will come at a price. But we have to help each other. I think the price to pay is modest compared to the current suffering of the Ukrainian people, and the costs of losing freedom in Europe because of inaction. RFE/RL: You say that Finland and Sweden should recognize the new reality in Europe and look to join the alliance without delay. Would they be accepted without delay? Rasmussen: Yes, NATO is prepared to welcome both Finland and Sweden. I would say an application from Finland and Sweden could be approved more or less overnight. And let me add to this: I think it would be in the self-interest of Finland and Sweden to join NATO right now. Because now they have a window of opportunity. Putin is engaged [somewhere else], so that window might soon close again. So it's right now that Finland and Sweden should use the opportunity to join NATO. And that would send an extremely important signal to Putin, and it would be considered a major defeat for Putin in the current environment. Now, in hindsight, I think it was a mistake not to grant Ukraine and Georgia Membership Action Plans back in 2008. Because it sent the wrong signal to Putin." RFE/RL: What will be the signal to capitals such as Kyiv or Tbilisi, when they've been standing in front of this open door for decades and then Finland and Sweden are accepted overnight? Rasmussen: Yeah, but it would also be a clear signal that NATO's door remains open. There is hope. You can become members of NATO, if you so wish. And that's actually what we decided back in 2008. At the NATO summit, we decided that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO. But if Finland and Sweden were to join NATO, it would be a clear signal that NATO's door remains open and NATO will never accept Putin as the doorman. RFE/RL: You have said one of your biggest regrets as a diplomat was that Georgia and Ukraine weren't given NATO Membership Action Plans in 2008. What exactly was done to remedy that mistake? Rasmussen: What we did back in 2008 was to guarantee that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO. And then we established the NATO-Ukraine Commission and the NATO-Georgia Commission. So instead of a Membership Action Plan, we pursued other paths onward. But still, now in hindsight, I think it was a mistake not to grant Ukraine and Georgia Membership Action Plans back in 2008. Because it sent the wrong signal to Putin. He calculated that there is disunity within NATO, he considered that a weakness, and he exploited that weakness by attacking Georgia. RFE/RL: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been vocal about his criticism of NATO lately. He said he "cooled down" on the prospect [of joining] after realizing that NATO is afraid of controversial things and confrontation with Russia. He went as far as to say that "all of the people who will die starting from this day will also die because of you, because of your weakness, because of your disunity." Is President Zelenskiy's criticism of NATO fair? I think what we need now is immediate delivery of combat drones, anti-tank, antiaircraft weapons, immediate delivery to step up our military help to make the Ukrainian Army and the Ukrainian people even more capable of defending [themselves]." Rasmussen: I see very well why he is criticizing NATO. However, we should all realize the risk of a confrontation between NATO and Russia. Actually, we are speaking about two nuclear-armed entities that would engage in a military confrontation, and there is a clear risk of an escalation of this conflict, if we are not very careful. On the other hand, I also have to say, I think NATO allies should step up their delivery of weapons and other military equipment. I think what we need now is immediate delivery of combat drones, anti-tank, antiaircraft weapons, immediate delivery to step up our military help to make the Ukrainian Army and the Ukrainian people even more capable of defending [themselves]. Because we should realize that this is a choice between confronting Putin now or having to fight him later, because Putin won't stop in Ukraine. RFE/RL: Russia and Ukraine negotiations are under way. Would anybody blame President Zelenskiy or his government if he agrees not to pursue NATO membership, if this means stopping the existential threat his country is facing? Rasmussen: We're not going to blame Zelenskiy for the decisions he and his government might take, and I think no one from the Western alliance would put pressure on the Ukrainian government to take specific decisions. It's for them to decide. And that's exactly the point. Personally, I think it would be a completely unacceptable situation for Europe if Putin manages to fulfill his desire to decide whether his neighbors can join NATO and the European Union or not. RFE/RL: If that happens, that means victory for Putin, right? Am I interpreting that correctly? That was one of his main demands before the war. Rasmussen: Absolutely. The demands that have been publicly described for an independent and sovereign nation like Ukraine, they seem to be unacceptable. It would de facto make Ukraine a part of Russia, like Belarus. And that is actually Putin's goal: He is obsessed by the idea of restoring the greatness of the former Soviet Union. That is to restore Russian dominance in the near neighborhood, covering the territory of the former Soviet Union. I strongly regret that we didn't take Putin seriously at that time. And I think the lesson learned is: We should take him seriously. Now." RFE/RL: Did Putin ever allude to the fact, during private meetings, or say that "this is our land" or something like that? Rasmussen: Yes, indeed. In 2008, we had a NATO-Russia summit [and] Putin left that summit furious because we had decided that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO. And during that meeting, he argued that Ukraine, in general, and Crimea, in particular, was not really independent, they were as part of history an integrated part of Russia. He called Kyiv the mother of all Russian cities. If we had listened at that time, if we had taken him seriously at that time, we would be better prepared for what we have seen in the last 10 or 20 years. So I strongly regret that we didn't take him seriously at that time. And I think the lesson learned is: We should take him seriously. Now. RFE/RL: If Ukraine is forced to agree to some sort of deal with Russia just to stop the violence, should sanctions be lifted from Russia? Rasmussen: No, I don't think so. Because Putin has initiated an illegal war against Ukraine. He has seriously violated international law, so I don't see any reason to lift sanctions. Not at all. RFE/RL: As for the responsibility for Putin. After this is done, will the West accept him back? Will he pay for what he has done? Rasmussen: No, I don't think so. Russia is an international pariah ruled by a political gangster. He is isolated. RFE/RL: Will he brought to an international court? Rasmussen: I don't know. Because I think it will be difficult to bring him to court. But if he is accused of war crimes -- and there are good reasons to believe that he could be tried -- then of course he can't travel freely in the world. More than 100 people who were evacuated from a steel plant in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol have arrived in Zaporizhzhya, the Mariupol city council said, as Russian forces resumed their assault on the complex. 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. The council said in a statement that the people who arrived in Zaporizhzhya -- a city about 230 kilometers northwest of Mariupol -- were receiving assistance after emerging from weeks in the bunkers of the sprawling Azovstal plant. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 156 people were evacuated. She said several hundred more people remained inside the plant and tens of thousands of women, children, and elderly remain in Mariupol. "There is no medicine, water, or communication services," she said at a briefing on May 3, adding that the authorities needed to rescue everyone who wants to escape. The United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross coordinated the evacuation of women, children, and the elderly from the steel works. "We would have hoped that many more people would have been able to join the convoy and get out of hell. That is why we have mixed feelings," Pascal Hundt of the ICRC told journalists on a video conference call. Osnat Lubrani, UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said that 101 women, men, children, and older people could finally leave the plant, and several dozen more joined the convoy in a town on the outskirts of Mariupol. Some evacuees decided not to stay with the convoy and headed to destinations other than Zaporizhzhya, Lubrani said. A few women who arrived in Zaporizhzhya held up handmade signs calling on the Ukrainian authorities to evacuate soldiers still holed up in the plant and their relatives and loved ones who are trapped. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hoped the continued coordination with Kyiv and Moscow will lead to more humanitarian pauses that will allow civilians safe passage from the fighting. WATCH: Current Time reporter Borys Sachalko comes under fire as he accompanies a Red Cross team attempting to evacuate a village that lies between Russian-occupied Kherson and Ukrainian-held Mikolayiv in southern Ukraine. Despite the calls for additional evacuations, Russian troops began to storm the plant soon after the latest group of people got out, Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications under the National Security and Defense Council said in a statement on May 3. According to the Vereshchuk, Russia purposely resumed the assault after some civilians got out. "This was their plan: to allow some civilians to leave and then continue bombing. However, civilians remain there, there are people who did not have time to get out from under the rubble because the blockages were so heavy that in two days they simply could not lift them physically. We need to continue the humanitarian operation, including Azovstal," Vereshchuk said. French President Emmanuel Macron also urged that evacuations from the steel plant be allowed to continue. Macron spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on May 3, calling on Russia to rise to the level of its responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council by ending its devastating aggression, an Elysee statement said. The storming of the plant comes days after Putin said he had called off plans for such an operation. Putin instead said he wanted Russian forces to blockade the sprawling plant "so a fly can't get through." Later on May 3, Russian strikes began targeting the western city of Lviv. The strikes happened just before 8:30 p.m. local time. It wasnt immediately clear what was targeted. Mayor Andriy Sadoviy wrote on social media that people in the city should take shelter. Train service out of Lviv was suspended. Sadoviy acknowledged in another message that the attacks had damaged power stations, cutting off electricity in some districts. The governor of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine said Russian troops shelled a coke plant in the city of Avdiyivka, killing at least 10 people and wounding 15 more. "The Russians knew exactly where to aim -- the workers just finished their shift and were waiting for a bus at a bus stop to take them home," Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote in a Telegram post. "Another cynical crime by Russians on our land." Kyrylenko said 11 more people were killed in the shelling of four towns in the region. The number includes five killed in the town of Lyman and four in Vuhledar. Kyrylenko said the death toll on May 3 was the highest on a single day since a Russian strike on a train station in the city of Kramatorsk killed 57 people on April 8 and injured 109 others. WATCH: Ukrainian troops southeast of Kharkiv survey heavy damage to a community cultural center, reflecting on the impact on locals, now all but gone. Ukrainian officials say the Russian military also struck railroad infrastructure across the country on May 3. Oleksandr Kamyshin, head of the state-run Ukrainian railways, said the Russian strikes hit six railway stations in the countrys central and western regions, inflicting heavy damage. The governor of the Dnipro region, Valentyn Reznichenko, said Russian missiles struck railway infrastructure in the area, leaving one person wounded and disrupting train service. Earlier on May 3, in a video address to the parliament in Kyiv, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced 300 million pounds ($376 million) worth of extra military aid for Ukraine. Britain has already sent military equipment, including missiles and missile launchers, to Ukraine. The new aid will consist of electronic warfare equipment, a battery radar system, GPS jamming equipment, and thousands of night vision devices. In his speech, Johnson referred to a 1940 address by World War II leader Winston Churchill as Britain faced Nazi Germany's aggression. "The British people showed such unity and resolve that we remember our time of greatest peril as our finest hour," Johnson told the Verkhovna Rada. "This is Ukraine's finest hour, an epic chapter in your national story that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come." "We will carry on supplying Ukraine...with weapons, funding, and humanitarian aid, until we have achieved our long-term goal, which must be so to fortify Ukraine that no one will ever dare to attack you again," Johnson said. In Brussels, the EU's executive indicated it was prepared to propose another sanctions package to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine. But Slovakia and Hungary will not support sanctions against Russian energy, including on oil imports. The two countries say they are too reliant on Russian oil and there are no immediate alternatives. The sanctions will also target the Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, which will be excluded from the global banking communications system SWIFT, unnamed diplomats said. Fighting also raged in the strategic port city of Odesa and across Ukraine's east. A 15-year-old boy was killed in a fresh Russian strike on Odesa, the city council said. Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv, was under shelling, the military said on May 3, while the General Staff said Ukrainian forces were defending the approach to Kharkiv from Izyum, some 120 kilometers to the southeast. Since Russia launched its unprovoked war on February 24, its troops have failed to completely take over any major Ukrainian city. On the diplomatic front, Germany's conservative opposition leader traveled to Kyiv on May 3 for meetings with Ukrainian officials, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz made clear that he wouldn't be visiting Ukraine any time soon. Friedrich Merz, who heads former Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Union bloc, visited the town of Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, which has been heavily bombarded by Russian forces. Scholz refused to go to Ukraine because of Kyiv's refusal to invite Germany's head of state, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whom Ukrainians accuse of cozying up to Russia during his time as foreign minister. "It can't work that a country that provides so much military aid, so much financial aid...you then say that the president can't come," Scholz told public broadcaster ZDF late on May 2. The United States warned that Moscow was planning to formally take over regions in Ukraine's east. Michael Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the OSCE, said Russia is planning to imminently annex the territories of Luhansk and Donetsk in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, using referendums after failing to overthrow the government in Kyiv. Russia encountered surprisingly staunch resistance in the north around the regions of Kyiv and Chernihiv, which forced it to redeploy its troops in the south and east, where fighting has intensified in recent days. Ukraine's east and south are seen as key strategic goals for Russia, allowing it a land link to Crimea. Separately, Russia's state news agency TASS quoted the Defense Ministry on May 3 as saying that more than 1 million people, including nearly 200,000 children, had been taken from Ukraine to Russia in the past two months. Defense Ministry official Mikhail Mizintsev said those civilians "were evacuated to the territory of the Russian Federation from the dangerous regions" of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, and from other parts that came under Russian control. No details were provided on the location or circumstances of the moves. With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, BBC, and dpa A woman fleeing the shelling of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv by Russian forces on March 6 stopped for a moment to ask the Russian people a question that many Ukrainians and other foreigners have been asking: Why don't they protest what is being done in their name? "You were able to do it before, back in our [shared] history in the 1990s," the woman told an RFE/RL journalist through a mixture of tears and rage as her teenage son looked on. "In the Soviet Union, everyone rose up. Everyone! Where are you now? Why don't you rise up now? Why do you believe [Russian President Vladimir Putin]? Why don't you defend your own sons, your own children? Rise up, please. Protect them. I'm begging you. Please." Although the collapse of the Soviet Union was primarily driven by enormous protests in the Baltic states, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and other non-Russian republics dating back to the late 1980s, hundreds of thousands of Russians also took to the streets during the death throes of the U.S.S.R. On March 10, 1991, for instance, an estimated 500,000 Muscovites packed a huge square outside the Kremlin, calling for the resignation of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. By contrast, Russian opposition to the war in Ukraine has been limited to relatively modest rallies, single-person protests, the signing of petitions and open letters, and social media posts. OVD-Info, a nongovernmental organization that monitors political repression, reports that more than 13,800 people have been detained across Russia for anti-war activities. In addition, many of those who oppose the war have already fled Russia, either in recent years or since Putin launched the invasion on February 24. Despite international sanctions and the collapsing ruble, tens of thousands of Russians have left the country since the beginning of the month. At the same time, however, there were no mass displays of support for the war -- either state-orchestrated or spontaneous -- during the first days following the invasion. Later, such demonstrations began to emerge, many of them focused on the Z symbol that was painted on many of the vehicles in the Russian invasion force. According to some reports, participation in some of these demonstrations, such as a self-proclaimed "flash mob for peace" in the Tatarstan capital, Kazan, on March 10, was compulsory. 'I Support Putin In Everything' With the war in Ukraine in its third week, a clearly defined picture of public opinion about it in Russia was elusive because two decades of Putin's authoritarian rule have made detailed and reliable polling in the country all but impossible. Independent pollsters and sociologists have been marginalized, while a pall of fear and self-censorship hangs over a country that has myriad ways of persecuting dissenters. State-connected polling agencies have published results purportedly showing strong support for the war. The government-controlled pollster VTsIOM claimed on March 5 that 71 percent of Russians support what the state calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine. On March 3, another state-controlled agency, FOM, reported a poll conducted on February 25-27 that found 65 percent of Russians supported the war. An independent poll commissioned by CNN just before the Russian invasion found that 50 percent of Russians said it would be "right for Russia to use military force to both prevent Ukraine from joining NATOand if it feels threatened by foreign activity in former Soviet countries" -- two of the narratives that Putin has used to justify Russian aggression against Ukraine. The accuracy and dynamics of such numbers are impossible to gauge in Russia, but evidence suggests a substantial portion of the population supports the government, and it is not difficult to find Russians who say as much. "I am for Putin," said one woman on March 3 when a Current Time correspondent tried to show her photographs of the destruction in Ukraine. "I support Putin. I'm not even going to look at any photographs. I am for Putin. I support Putin in everything." 'Shame And Revulsion' Diverging opinions about the war in some cases have deeply strained friendships and familial relations. Yekaterina, a 28-year-old fitness trainer in Rostov-on-Don, near the Ukrainian border, told RFE/RL's Caucasus.Realities that her mother so fiercely defends Putin that Yekaterina can hardly recognize her. "At first, her main argument was, 'There is nothing we can do and nothing depends on us,'" said Yekaterina, who asked to be identified only by her first name because of her opposition to the war. "Later, her argument was even worse: 'They asked us for help.' The war didn't shake her. It hasn't evoked any emotions in her. I was just shocked by her reaction. "Now, I am asking myself, 'Who is this woman?" she continued, noting that her mother "sheds tears" over Soviet sacrifices during World War II every year on May 9, which is marked in Russia as Victory Day. "Do I even know her? How can a living person become so hard-hearted about a war started by her own government?" Viktoria, a 24-year-old illustrator in Rostov-on-Don who also spoke on condition that she be identified only by her first name, told a similar story. "The day after the war started was my mother's 45th birthday, and I went home, although I wasn't sure I should," she recalled. "We agreed not to talk about politics, but I could hear how she and papa were watching the news on television and commenting about everything: 'We're protecting our own.' 'We didnt do that -- the Ukrainians did.' I had a strong urge to run into the room and scream, 'Wake up!' But I knew it wouldn't help. "For the first time in my life, I felt real shame and revulsion toward my parents," she said. "Since then, I have hardly spoken to them." The false narratives the Kremlin has pushed throughout the military campaign in Ukraine -- that Russia is the main force against fascism in the world, that NATO and Western countries are plotting to destroy Russia, that Russian language and culture are under siege -- have been cultivated in classrooms and museums, in films, on state-controlled television, and elsewhere almost since the beginning of Putin's reign in 2000. "Since the early 2000s, Russia has witnessed a rebirth of patriotic mobilization," the International Crisis Group said in a 2018 report. "This revival is not spontaneous: It is underpinned by a concerted state effort to instill patriotic values, celebrate Russia's military past, and promote Moscow's recrudescence as a global power. [T]his mobilization appears to have helped build support among ordinary citizens for Moscow's more assertive foreign policy, including its increasingly bitter standoff with the West and interventions in countries of the former Soviet space." The massive effort included "patriotic" textbooks and academic programs, the Immortal Regiment ritual and the cult of the Soviet role in World War II, the funding of "patriotic" films and museum programs, the cultivation of nostalgia for the Soviet Union, and the rehabilitation of notorious Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. There is even a chain of Russian "history parks" designed to present the Kremlin's spin on the country's 1,000-year history. 'Psychologically Impossible' Nobel Prize-winning writer Svetlana Alexievich, in a March 5 interview with RFE/RL's Belarus Service, said that "all the money that Russia earned during the fat years went to propaganda and the military." The result, she said, has been a seething aggressiveness in much of Russian society. "I recently had a conversation with a Russian in Berlin," she said. "You see a man sitting in a nice car, wearing a nice suit, but there was such hatred in him when we talked about Ukraine." Belarusian sociologist Pyotr Rudkouski said the Russian government's narratives about the war in Ukraine have been effective because they are based on "necessary preconditions" that have been cultivated over time. "It is difficult for Russia to try on the role of aggressor, to identify with the Nazi aggressors who also bombed Kyiv [during World War II]," he said. "This is psychologically impossible for most of society." Sociologist Iskander Yasaveyev, who lives in Kazan and has demonstrated against the war, also pointed to an aggressive tension in Russian society. "I am not a psychologist, but I think that some sort of internal tension has arisen in people. They understand they are being lied to, that they are getting propaganda. But they want to be deceived, he said. It is simpler for them, easier for them to suppress their inner conflict." While such factors could prevent support for the war from eroding rapidly, Yasaveyev said that Russian society could sober up fast if military losses and economic pain continue to mount. A significant number will begin to compare their situation with what is being reported in the news, he said. And they will inevitably realize that they are getting lies and propaganda. Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting by Current Time; RFE/RL's Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian services; Idel.Realities, and Siberia.Realities. A Billings man pleaded not guilty Friday to a long list of animal abuse charges after county investigators found numerous dogs shot dead and others suffering from neglect on a Yellowstone County property ostensibly used as a breeding operation. Michael James Bigelow, 34, was arraigned in Yellowstone County District Court and is facing four aggravated animal cruelty felonies and nine cruelty to animals misdemeanors. District Court Judge Ashley Harada set his bail at $125,000, more than twice the recommendation of county prosecutors. I do have serious concerns about this individual, Harada said. Animal control and other investigators with the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office entered a property south of Billings on Bender Road on March 3, according to charging documents, after a resident complained of loose dogs antagonizing her horse. A sweep of the property revealed more than a dozen dogs shot dead and many others maimed and starving. The majority of the dead dogs had been shot in the head and left on the property to rot. Investigators came across a dog shot twice yet still alive. A veterinarian brought to the scene humanely euthanized the animal that same day. Yellowstone County Animal Control had previously met with the property owner, Carrie Ann Bigelow, in January. She told law enforcement she had assumed control of a kennel for livestock guardian dogs on the nearly 35-acre property after her husband died. She is the mother of Michael Bigelow. In March, investigators found dogs of various breeds and sexes locked or chained and with no access to food or water. One animal had been shot in the stomach and bled to death, two more were found alive but caked with mud and infested with fleas, court documents say. Also on the property were corralled horses, one of which had died and showed signs of being partially consumed, along with starving sheep kept in a pen. Officers asked Michael Bigelow, who an animal control officer located in a hut, to stay off the property while they completed their investigation. He allegedly spewed insults and threats at law enforcement and his mother when she arrived at the scene. He was arrested that same day on outstanding warrants. While in custody at Yellowstone County Detention Facility, prosecutors allege he continued his threats against deputies during phone conversations with his mother. Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder was present for the investigation and brought in a 1,200-pound bale of hay to feed the malnourished animals. He told The Gazette on Friday that Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter had taken in 19 dogs from the property for additional care. The sheriffs office has a contract with the shelter to take in all of the dogs picked up by animal control, Linder said. In 2019, the shelter accepted more than 40 cats taken by animal control who were living in unhealthy and inhumane living conditions at a home in Billings, the Gazette previously reported. This is definitely one of the bigger [animal rescues] that weve seen in a few years, Linder said. Linder said the horses and sheep remained on the property, but animal control has made return visits to ensure their health. For breeding operations in the county, welfare checks occur only after a complaint is filed. Employees with the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter could not be reached by the Gazette, but the 19 dogs under their care are considered to be evidence in the charges against Bigelow and are not available for adoption, according to a social media post. However, the shelter is currently at capacity and is reducing adoption fees for other dogs to $25 through the weekend. For each felony for aggravated animal cruelty, Bigelow could be sentenced to up to two years in jail and fined $2,500. Each count for cruelty to animals comes with a possibility of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. During his arraignment Friday, Judge Harada required that Bigelow cease contacting his mother and any other witnesses. She also required that he be monitored by GPS, should he make bail. Youre also to have no contact with any animals whatsoever, she said. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 12 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. LVIV, Ukraine -- Shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Inna Shchukina from the northeastern city of Kharkiv was diagnosed with cancer. She underwent an operation and began chemotherapy. Then the war started, with Russian forces targeting the city of some 1.4 million people just 30 kilometers from the border between the two countries. We fled the city, she told an RFE/RL correspondent in the western city of Lviv. There was shelling, but luckily we had a car. Our lives were in danger. It is just awful. My city is being wiped off the face of the Earth. Now, Shchukina is being treated at the Lviv Regional Oncological Medical and Diagnostic Center, alongside locals and displaced people from across the war-ravaged country. The center accepts all comers, although it is currently experiencing acute shortages of chemotherapeutic drugs and supplies. Yesterday, we had 52 patients, and 45 of them werefrom the east and the south, said Yaroslav Shparyk, head of chemotherapy at the Lviv center. The number of patients from places like Kherson, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Mariupol is increasing exponentially. Olena, who asked to be identified only by her first name, came to Lviv from Kyiv. My things were already at the [hospital]. I knew the ward, the doctor who would operate on me. At 5:30, my brother called me and said Kyiv was being bombed. The last session I had in Kyiv was in a shelter, she recounted as she was being given her final chemo treatment. I was ready to kiss the hands of the doctors. In Lviv, Olena is staying with friends. She says she was lucky to be able to get her medicines and the hypodermic needles she needed at a local pharmacy. Every last thing had already been bought up at the pharmacy, she said. There are no more cancer medications. And there are thousands like me. 'A High Cancer Burden' More than 160,000 Ukrainians were diagnosed with cancer in 2020, according to the World Health Organization. Ukraine has a high cancer burden, stated a March 11 editorial in The Lancet medical journal. [T]hose with cancer are especially vulnerable if their care is interrupted by Russias violence against the country. Continued access to oncology services must be available for displaced persons. Before the war, patients were provided medicines at the clinics where they were being treated. Today, many hospitals are cut off from the world, said Oleh Duda, deputy head of surgery at the Lviv oncology center. They cant send us this medicine. Now we are grappling with the problem of providing chemotherapy at our center and other oncological facilities in western Ukraine. Duda said his center continues to provide surgical treatments. The drugs for surgeries are still available because the number of scheduled surgeries has been reduced, he explained. Surgery for benign tumors can wait. Shparyk added that humanitarian aid organizations, foreign oncological centers, and foreign pharmaceutical companies are collecting assistance. On March 10, an emergency international meeting of cancer organizations was convened to develop a support network for Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons. More than 220 individuals representing more than 30 cancer groups attended the meeting, which was organized by the European Cancer Organization, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the WHO, according to a report in The Lancet. 'Beautiful People' Ulyana, a patient from Kyiv who asked that her surname be withheld, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Her surgery at the Kyiv Oncological Center was scheduled for February 24, the day the invasion began. My things were already at the center, she told RFE/RL. I knew the ward, the doctor who would operate on me. At 5:30, my brother called me and said Kyiv was being bombed. She tried to make her way to the hospital anyway. Traffic was standing still, she said. It was terrifying. Children with backpacks and carrying cats had left their cars and were walking. There were many accidents. She called the hospital from her car and was told all operations had been canceled. The next day, she decided to flee to her parents home in western Ukraine. I didnt have any of my records, Ulyana said. But my nurse left the bomb shelter to go to the hospital and take photos of everything to send me. There are so many beautiful people in Ukraine! The Lviv center welcomed her and quickly scheduled her surgery. Dr. Duda performed my operation, she said. KYIV -- On the first day of Moscows invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces moved the roughly 50 kilometers from the previously occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea to the town of Oleshky, just outside the southern city of Kherson. The Russians are mostly gone now, but the town is behind the lines and cut off from the government in Kyiv. Locals in the town, which had a prewar population of about 24,000 people, turn out for daily demonstrations against the war, now entering its third week. The situation has stabilized, Oleshky Mayor Yevhen Ryshchuk told RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service in a telephone interview on March 12. Problems with bread and foodstuffs have been resolved. There are lines, but they are slowly getting shorter. We have water and electricity. But I think that sometime in the next 10 days or so, we will have problems with medications, he added. WATCH: Speaking to Current Time on March 7, Kherson resident Pavlo Keba described the dire conditions in the Ukrainian city occupied by Russian forces. He said that the humanitarian situation is becoming critical because, in his words: "There is no food supplied to the city." Pensions are paid regularly but only to those who receive bank transfers, Ryshchuk said. Those who used to pick up cash at the post office have not been paid since the town has been cut off from Kyiv. There is nowhere to bring the cash in from, he said. Already, some people do not have any money to buy groceries. The administration has been able to bring in some food, including potatoes and fish, but it was all distributed to the hospital and other social services. The hospital and places like that are supplied with food, but getting groceries is a problem for some people, the mayor said. Ryshchuk said his office was running a hotline with volunteers available around the clock to speak with residents and direct them to food, shelter, and other necessities. He estimated the town has enough gasoline to keep stations open another five days. WATCH: Hundreds of people with Ukrainian flags gathered on the main square in Kherson on March 5, chanting against the Russian invasion. Russian forces have seized control of the city in southern Ukraine. Volunteers are also serving as security patrols. The police, prosecutors, and the SBU [state security service] -- they all left, Ryshchuk said. An 8 p.m. curfew has been ordered. We have handled the looters, he said. There were some in the first days when there was no real authority. But everything has settled down. Emergency services are working, thanks to God and all those guys who are working more than anyone else these days. Farmers in the settlements outside the town have also begun phoning Ryshchuks office, asking if they can begin preparing their fields for planting. Their intentions could be hampered by fuel shortages, he added. But people want to get out there, he said. They all understand that no one knows how long the war will last or how things will end up, but nonetheless, people need to eat -- today, tomorrow, every day. Photos by Destinee Ott/the Register Jeremiah Floyd (left) of Manitoba Rock N Rolla, Steve Johnson (middle) of The New Developments and Isaac Brooks (right) of the E.K.U. Bluegrass Ensemble all performed Friday night at the first day of Electric Berea's Third Annual Band Showcase. An educator at the Ted Lechner Youth Service Center in Billings is receiving a national award for his leadership on behavioral disorders and for inspiring students to achieve. Until recently, minors at the juvenile detention center would frequently lose progress in their education while moving through the legal system. The site is also attached to a shelter care facility, which is like a low-security group home. One of the things that happens when a kid gets arrested and placed in detention is their education has historically stopped, said Valarie Weber, executive director of the center. It becomes a compounding problem. Lead educator Hank Richards was awarded the 2022 Outstanding Educator Award by the Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavior Disorders for his emphasis on high student expectations and for implementing positive behavior interactions and supports. Richards has been networking with local public schools and other juvenile facilities in the state so that minors dont lose education particularly when they are moving from facility to facility. We found that we have a lot of the same kids all of the time, Richards said. So we wanted to find a way to stay in contact, and its really been awesome to be able to transfer credits and to get records faster when you know someone on the other end. The state only requires that the center provide minors with an education, Weber said. Until about four years ago, that meant creating individualized lesson plans for every student or mailing print curriculum materials back and forth between home schools. Now, students can video into their home school, in some cases, thanks to funding for computers and online monitoring tools. In other cases where students need to recover credits, the facility has adopted a program for students to make up for lost time in class. The computer program is the same program that Billings Public Schools uses because they are funded through the same grant. Richards collaborated with Judy Povilaitis, executive director of the student services division at SD2, who writes the grant annually. She also works with high-risk students in the public schools, like kids who are suspended long-term as well as young parents, so she relates to what he is working to achieve, she said. Thats very strenuous on a teacher to try to prepare all those lessons and individually teach all the kids, Povilaitis said. The premise of the computer program is that students can make up for lost time based on how much time they spent in a failed class, rather than restart it. If the expectation is you have to have 180 hours exposure to that content, and you miss 40 days because youre skipping school, thats why kids fail. Even if they could have aced the test, its all about what we call seat time, Povilaitis said. Students can access the program at any time and from any location with their login. Weber emphasized that the HiSET test, which is an alternative way to graduate high school, is not a shortcut. When it comes to the actual work and the skill, its way easier to just go to high school, but most of these kids dont have that option. Some of them are so far past it that theyre not going to be able to get caught up, Weber said. The average length of stay at the youth center is 30 to 45 days. Positive environment Richards and Weber have restructured the way they communicate with the kids and the way they motivate them to study. Rather than a list of donts, they focus on positive reinforcement. A juvenile justice professor and researcher visits, helping to instill positive behavioral interventions. She is based at the University of Alabama. She and others from the college visit facilities around the country as part of an initiative to improve the climate of behaviors in restrictive school settings. It is called project CLIMATE. At the center in Billings, students earn arrows based on good behavior as individuals, as well as on a group level. Students spend that currency on meals from outside the facility, for example, or they can save up for better prizes. This type of thinking is taught alongside balancing a checkbook with one of the teachers, Richards said. Why arrows as currency? Because educators take the students to the archery range every week at the Billings Rod and Gun club. Its something positive for them to do, and a lot of them have never been involved in a school activity, Richards said. They find that they can do it and they are actually good at it. Shooting a bow requires self-discipline, focus, centering oneself, and calmness, Weber added. Theres a lot of skills that are translatable. Its just different when you see them outside of the building, at the range, Richards said, adding that one student recently earned second place in a tournament the group entered. Its a highly, highly structured program, Weber said. They have to learn whistle commands from their instructors, and shooting. Instructors are certified through the National Archery in the Schools Program. About 2.4 million kids participate in the program nationwide. The bottom line Every single one of those kids that we can turn to a high school diploma or equivalency is a person whos probably going to get better employment, whos going to have many more successes, and whos going to be much less likely to continue in the criminal justice system, Weber said. A study of public school students in Utah found that an incidence of chronic absenteeism in a single year between eighth and 12th grade was associated with a seven-fold increase in the likelihood of dropping out, according to materials published by the U.S. Department of Education. Additionally, high school dropout, which chronically absent students are more likely to experience, has been linked to poor outcomes later in life, from poverty and diminished health to involvement in the criminal justice system, according to data from 2015 to 2016. We still want to provide them with a good education because hopefully down the line, when they get things in a better place, theyll have something to fall back on, Povilaitis said. Love 6 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Roanoke Rapids, NC (27870) Today Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High near 85F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 58F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Rutland, VT (05701) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High 53F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Light rain early. Then remaining cloudy. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. These Montana-based billionaires built their fortunes on hotels and the mining industry, among other means, according to data from Forbes. Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. This weekend, koi fish enthusiasts from all over Southern California will gather in Del Mar for the San Diego Koi Clubs 30th annual show and competition. Yet as prized as these oversize jewel-toned fish may be among collectors, a small segment of this scaly population fall between societys cracks. These are the vagabond koi, fish whove been abandoned, neglected, orphaned by an owners death or whove become too numerous or costly to maintain. Fortunately for the homeless fish, they have a protector. Over the past three years, Jerry Myers of Lakeside has rescued nearly 3,000 koi from ponds around the county and, in most cases, found them new homes. This weekend, Myers will host a Vagabond Koi booth at the show with 150 young fish available for adoption. 30th Annual San Diego Koi Show When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 4. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday March 5. Where: Del Mar Fairgrounds Activity Center, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar Advertisement Admission: Free. Parking is $13. Details: koiclubofsandiego.org, vagabondkoi.org The koi rescue group is just Myers latest cause. Before that, he ran an Australian shepherd rescue organization. Born into an overcrowded home in New York 62 years ago, Myers and several siblings were moved to a Catholic youth home, where he lived from ages 9 to 15. The experience of losing his family and home left a permanent impression on him and a desire to help others in need. Im kind of an odd character, said Myers, who edits the koi clubs newsletter. If I see an animal in trouble. I have to help it. I guess Ive just got a heart for animals. Vagabond Koi got its start in 2014, when Myers was working as an administrator at a medical office. A patient called in and asked if anybody would like some baby koi. Myers and his wife, Diane Conger, live on a 1.5-acre property where hes maintained his own koi pond for 18 years. Jerry Myers runs a koi sanctuary at his ranch in Lakeside. Over the past three years, he has rescued and re-homed nearly 3,000 San Diego County koi. (John Gastaldo / San Diego Union-Tribune) Figuring they had the room in their pond to help out, he drove out, netted the fish and brought them home with the goal of sharing them with other club members. Then in May 2014, the Cocos Fire swept through the Harmony Grove Spiritualist Association and destroyed much of the community. The pastors home was gutted and the fish in his koi pond were suffocating in the ash-choked water. Cal Fire and San Diego Humane Society officials tracked down Myers for help. He cleaned, stabilized and aerated the pond, built a new holding tank on his own property and then with the help of club members, netted and moved all of the surviving the fish to Lakeside for safe-keeping. When the pastor decided against rebuilding five months later, he gave Myers permission to find new homes for the fish. Myers gave away all but one, who he calls Lady Matilda. Mike Poyner, an attorney in Mission Hills who serves with Myers on the Koi Clubs volunteer committee, said the fire awakened a giving spirit in Myers. Jerry has a very caring heart and hes a man of action. When he sees something wrong, its like instead of cursing the darkness he lights a candle, Poyner said. He has unlimited energy and an unlimited desire to respond when someone needs help. There are many reasons people give up their koi. The fish can live up to 100 years and outlive their owners; the cost for electricity and water bills may become too expensive; or the fish may spawn and overwhelm the pond with babies. But the most common reason is the fish can grow from three inches to a foot in length in just a year, and homeowners either buy too many starter fish or their pond isnt big enough to accommodate the adults. After news reports aired about the Harmony Grove fish rescue, Myers could barely keep up with demand for his free services. He went from one in-ground pond for his personal collection of 30 fish to a peak of 14 ponds, and his electric bill rose from $300 to $1,100 a month. Eventually he installed solar panels to cut his power bills, started a nonprofit to accept public donations and found a company that donates up to 100 pounds of feed pellets every month. These days, with donations and a part-time job maintaining koi ponds for three corporate and private customers, he said hes finally breaking even. Myers now has about 300 fish in six ponds on his property. His new rule is to arrange a new adoptive home for rescued koi before he ever collects them, so they dont have to endure the trauma of being moved twice. Places that received rescued koi include the Catamaran Resort, the Bahia Resort Hotel, the Deer Park Monastery in Escondido and the Mission San Antonio in Pala. Not everyone who wants to adopt a koi can have one. Sometimes well-meaning homeowners attempt to rescue koi on their own and dont realize the danger of mixing fish with different immunities, or they mistakenly put the fish in tap water, which has chlorine that will burn their gills and kill them. Myers said he likes to re-home fish with homeowners who have some experience raising koi. He requires a 1,000- to 1,200-gallon pond for three fish. He wants the pond to be properly filtered, free of harmful bacteria and reasonably safe from predators like herons and raccoons. Myers doesnt charge for his services or the fish, though he asks for a donation to cover equipment and expenses. The adoptable fish hell have at the Koi Show this weekend will be $20 each, with all proceeds benefiting Vagabond Koi. Hell also have a booth of artwork and other merchandise donated by club members. All sale proceeds will benefit the charity. Although Myers has become well-known in the koi community for rescuing fish and helping homeowners rebuild their ponds, he generally shies away from publicity, which Poyner said is typical of his humble nature. Jerry has become the Johnny Appleseed of koi, planting homeless koi on ponds all over San Diego County, Poyner said. He never boasts about his accomplishments and he makes a friend out of every person he meets. pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com Sanford, NC (27330) Today Cloudy early with scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 87F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 58F. Winds light and variable. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East Costco Wholesale plans to relocate its Billings store from its spot on King Avenue West to a new lot at the southeast corner of Zoo Drive and Shiloh Road. The 25-acre parcel, officially at 3840 Zoo Drive, would be home to a newly built Costco warehouse pending approval of the city. Costco's preliminary plans for developing the site include a parking lot configuration not allowed by current zoning and as such would need special approval. Plans describe a 166,388-square-foot warehouse with a nine-pump fuel station and 852 parking stalls. The area along Zoo Drive and Shiloh Road is zoned heavy commercial and requires that a development's principle structure be next to the road with the parking lot either behind or to the side. The Canyon Creek ditch bisects the top of the property that Costco wants to develop, running from Zoo Drive to Shiloh Road across land where the warehouse would have to be built under the heavy commercial zoning requirements. To avoid relocating that stretch of the ditch or building on top of it, developers want to build the parking lot around it and place the building further back on the property. To do so, Costco has applied for a zoning variance to allow placing the parking lot along the street frontage of Shiloh and Zoo in front of the warehouse and placing the building itself towards the rear. "Due to the peculiarities of this land, those street frontage locations are not feasible and will cause hardship, the most significant (being) the inability to relocate the irrigation canal running through the land, access and traffic congestion issues, and limiting the developability and future essential strategic store expansion plans," the developers wrote in their proposal. Part of the plans include leaving space on the west side of the new building to construct an additional 25,000 square-foot modification. Costco's current location on King Avenue West is in a building that was constructed in 1991 and shares space with the At Home furnishing and decor store. Developers explained that the building and layout no longer fit the corporation's current standards and its parking lot, which has 591 stalls, "regularly experiences parking deficiencies, congestion and internal circulation issues," the developers wrote. "The new project allows Costco to improve the efficiency, safety, and capacity of its operations," they wrote. The city's board of adjustments will hear Costco's request for the zoning variance at its monthly meeting on April 6. If approved, the development will be able to move forward as planned. Love 58 Funny 3 Wow 12 Sad 12 Angry 37 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A federal grand jury has indicted a Montana woman and accused her of using her in-laws' Bismarck bank account and their identities to make a $134,000 payment on a home. Fifty-six-year-old Carol Feist, of Whitehall, is charged with bank and wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. The indictment states that Feist called the Bismarck bank in October 2021 and claimed to be her mother-in-law, Johanna Feist, and used Johanna and Andrew Feist's bank account information to arrange a $134,000 wire transfer to a title company in Helena, Montana, the Bismarck Tribune reported. She also is accused of falsely telling the title company that Andrew Feist had signed a deed for the property that was notarized in North Dakota. Federal court documents do no list an attorney who could speak on her behalf. Feist was originally charged in Burleigh County with felony theft and unauthorized use of personal identifying information to obtain credit and pleaded not guilty to those counts. Assistant Burleigh County State's Attorney Justin Schwarz said those charges have been dismissed with the case transferring to federal court. The federal bank fraud charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine upon conviction. The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Convictions on the identity theft charges carry mandatory two-year prison terms which must be served after any other prison term, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 To protect a rare population of bighorn sheep, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologists recently killed three mountain lions on Flathead Lakes Wild Horse Island. The lions also appeared habituated to people, according to landowners and visitors on the 2,163-acre island. Given the regular tourist activity at a state park on the island and the lions impact on the bighorn numbers, FWP and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Wildlife Division agreed the cats needed to be removed. Due to the lack of escape terrain for bighorn sheep and the number of lions on the island, the bighorn population has been reduced to a number we havent seen in decades, said FWP Region 1 Wildlife Manager Neil Anderson. The island has good vegetation to support the bighorns but lacks cliff structures they rely on to avoid the lions. FWP transplanted two bighorns to the island in 1939 and six more in 1947, which became a source herd for translocations to many other parts of the Rocky Mountain West. Bighorns are extremely susceptible to infections from domestic sheep, so the islands isolation has kept that population disease-free for decades. At least 560 bighorns have been moved from Wild Horse Island to augment or start herds elsewhere, including 26 in 2021 that went to the Tendoy Mountains in southwest Montana. Wild Horse Island lies within the Flathead Indian Reservation, and is co-managed by the state and CSKT. Mountain lion and other cats, like the bobcat, hold significant cultural importance to Tribal members, and are not hunted within the Flathead Indian Reservation, said Kari Eneas, CSKT wildlife manager. Our mountain lion populations are healthy and, in this unique situation, we considered the habituated behavior and density of animals of all wildlife species on the island in our cooperative decision with FWP. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Amazon can be sued under California law for failing to warn the public that products sold on its website have ingredients that can cause cancer or reproductive damage like mercury, which can harm pregnant women and their fetuses, a state appeals court ruled Friday. A lawsuit over skin-lightening creams marketed on Amazon.com had been rejected by an Alameda County judge in 2019, in part because of a federal law that shields websites from liability for the content of material posted by others on their sites. But the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Amazon does not act merely as a forum for retailers but plays an active role in selling the products and can be held accountable for their known dangers. Amazon makes it possible for product manufacturers to reach a vast audience of potential customers, Justice J. Anthony Kline said in a 3-0 ruling reinstating the suit. If the same creams were sold in a drugstore, Kline said, the store owner would have some obligation to issue a warning under Proposition 65, the 1986 ballot initiative requiring businesses to notify customers if products contain ingredients that cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm. He said Amazon has at least the same duty because it not only charges a fee to list products but then sells, stores and ships them, while returning the sale price to the manufacturer. The online retail giant can therefore be held liable for exposing consumers to mercury-containing products without providing Proposition 65 warnings, Kline said. Jonathan Weissglass, lawyer for a man who sued Amazon after buying five samples of skin-lightening creams in 2014, said the ruling requires Amazon, like its merchants, to comply with health and safety laws. Given the size of Amazon, that is critical if the public is to be protected, Weissglass said. Further, as a practical matter, the only way Proposition 65 will be enforced with respect to dangerous skin whitening creams is if Amazon is held responsible. A lawyer for Amazon could not be reached for comment late Friday, when the ruling was issued. A group of business organizations filed arguments supporting dismissal of the suit, while Weissglass client drew support from state Attorney General Rob Bontas office, consumer groups and Black Women for Wellness, advocates for the creams primary users. The suit cited a state Department of Public Health report that some skin-lightening creams contain mercury, which can cause both kidney damage and harm to reproductive health. Kline said some of the products purchased by the plaintiff contained mercury, and one of the plaintiffs expert witnesses asserted that the amounts showed it had been added intentionally, as an ingredient, not a contaminant. 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. Amazons lawyers said there was no evidence the company knew of the mercury content, and noted that Prop. 65 warnings are required only for those who knowingly and intentionally expose others to harmful substances. But the court said the law also applies to those with constructive knowledge of the contents access to information that would have alerted them to the hazards unless they chose to ignore it. Kline said the initiative was intended to protect consumers, and a narrow interpretation would create incentives for businesses to avoid information that might alert them to the presence of hazardous chemicals. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On the night that she would later say Dominic Foppoli raped her, former reality TV star and social media influencer Farrah Abraham was tasting wine with friends at a home in Palm Beach, Fla. It was March 28, 2021, and Foppoli, then the mayor of Wine Country town Windsor, asked Abraham if she would like to see the homes guest house. She agreed. But the last thing Abraham remembers, according to the police report she later filed, was entering the pool area. When Abraham regained consciousness the next morning, she reported, she was in a bedroom at the guest house naked under a sheet next to Foppoli. She had a cut on her foot and bruising on her leg. Some of the jewelry she had been wearing was broken. Abraham said she asked Foppoli what had happened the night before. He responded, according to Abraham, Were both adults. Records released by the Palm Beach Police Department on Friday reveal new details of Abrahams allegations against Foppoli, as well as how the case against the winery owner eventually stalled. While Abraham felt (she) had been raped in Florida, detectives there did not interview Foppoli and struggled to compel others who were there that night to speak with them. Investigators decided to suspend the case on Jan. 26, citing Abrahams inability to remember what happened and a lack of witnesses to the alleged assault. They also said there were no physical injuries or evidence to support the allegations something Abrahams attorney disputes. The records, released in response to a public records request from The Chronicle, were partially redacted to conceal Abrahams name. Spencer Kuvin, the West Palm Beach-based attorney for Abraham, reviewed the records with The Chronicle and confirmed which statements pertained to Abraham. He said she was comfortable with The Chronicle publishing details of her report. Abraham first contacted Palm Beach police about the alleged assault by phone on April 2, 2021 six days before The Chronicle published an investigation documenting four other womens allegations of sexual assault against Foppoli. Thirteen women have now accused Foppoli, 39, of sexual assault or misconduct. The alleged incidents include rape, groping and nonconsensual oral copulation and were said to have occurred between 2002 through 2021. Amanda Edwards / Getty Images 2020 The account Abraham gave to police mirrors many details of those womens allegations: drinking socially with Foppoli before he allegedly isolated and sexually assaulted them. Rose Fumoso, for example, told reporters she was tasting wine with Foppoli at the winery he co-owns outside Healdsburg, when he offered to show her his car, then drove her to a house and sexually assaulted her. Foppoli, who has previously denied sexually assaulting any women, did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story. Facing intense pressure from Windsor residents and other elected officials to resign, Foppoli initially refused. But in May 2021, after Chronicle reporters sent him questions about the Florida police investigation, Foppoli announced that he would step down as mayor. In his statement announcing his resignation, Foppoli said, I do not want undue national attention to have a negative impact on the Windsor community because of lawful, but poor choices, I have made in the recent past. According to the records released Friday, Palm Beach police received a letter via email from Foppolis attorney on April 29 that acknowledged that Foppoli had spent the night together, however everything that took place between Foppoli and [redacted] was done freely, voluntarily and consensually. The letter did not say whether or not any sexual activity had occurred between Foppoli and [redacted]. At the request of Palm Beach police, Abraham went to a hospital in Los Angeles, where she was located at the time. Palm Beach police said they received an incident report from the UCLA Police Department on April 5. Kuvin said Abraham told police in both Palm Beach and Los Angeles that she had gone to a wine tasting at a private residence in Palm Beach around 7 p.m. with some girlfriends. They were joined at the residence by four other men, including Foppoli, according to the police records. Abraham sampled some wine and consumed part of a cocktail, according to the police records and Kuvin. Later that night, Foppoli asked Abraham if she wanted to see the guest house, located outside across a pool area. Shortly thereafter, as she is walking out of the house, she doesnt remember anything, Kuvin said. She had a few drinks, but not to the point where she should have been blacked out. The police report notes that Abraham waited to file a police report because she was traveling and busy. Kuvin said she flew home to California on March 29 and spent the next few days processing how to move forward. She was basically in a state of shock, Kuvin said. Like most sexual assault victims they panic, they feel no one is going to believe them. The police records note that Abraham said she was in contact with Foppoli via text after the incident. Kuvin said Abraham tried to keep the lines of communication open with Foppoli while she decided what she was going to do with police. 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. On April 6, police documented that Abraham sent them files that included text messages between her and Foppoli from the morning after the incident through the first week of April, including conversations about visiting his winery in California and his residence in Italy. Police referenced $1,900 worth of wine that Abraham purchased from Foppoli, and a copy of a non-disclosure agreement signed by Foppoli on March 29. They noted that Abraham had, on an unspecified date, sent Foppoli a picture of (her) in which (she) was semi clothed. Over the next two days, police attempted to reach and interview other people, according to the report. Kuvin said these were other people who had been with Abraham and Foppoli that night. They were unsuccessful. On April 10, Abraham provided police with a recorded statement and handwritten notes detailing the incident. Police noted that the statements mirror the initial statement, except for Abraham clarifying that she was awakened by an alarm that morning at 8 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. and that she was probably drunk and probably buzzed from consuming an old fashioned cocktail. On April 13 and April 15, Abraham attempted to contact Foppoli with Palm Beach police secretly also on the phone line, known as a control call, but he never answered the phone, records show. On April 21, police were able to access the guest house where Abraham said she was sexually assaulted and found her broken jewelry on the second-floor bathroom sink. Over the next few months, the police timeline shows, Palm Beach police contacted the Palm Beach County State Attorneys Office and the Sonoma County Sheriffs Department, which has an ongoing investigation into sexual assault allegations against Foppoli. On Oct. 12, the Palm Beach police investigator provided the State Attorneys Office with a list of witnesses to be subpoenaed due to their lack of cooperation. But, the investigator later wrote, I was contacted by the State Attorneys Office and was advised they were unable to subpoena the witnesses due to the individuals not being material witnesses. Afterward, the investigation stalled. Detectives said they were suspending the case on Jan. 26 due the victim not having a recollection of the events, no physical injuries or evidence and no third party testimony to support a crime have been committed, according to police records. Kuvin, whose clients have included women who brought civil cases against Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Cosby, said it was inaccurate that Abraham didnt have injuries, pointing to the bruising and cut she had reported. He said it was not surprising to have a criminal investigation suspended in cases of alleged sexual assault where the victim is incapacitated at the time. Unfortunately it is not surprising when you have these types of encounters of sexual assault, Kuvin said. Especially in the culture we have today, you often cant seek justice through the criminal court system because of the inability to have witnesses to these sexual assaults. Cynthia Dizikes (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cdizikes@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @cdizikes PBNJ Productions/Getty Images/Tetra images RF Fifteen residents were displaced from their homes after a fire heavily damaged three properties in Richmond on Friday afternoon, authorities said. Richmond firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire at 1:40 p.m. in the 1800 block of Roosevelt St., where three structures two single-family homes and an accessory dwelling unit in the rear of one of the impacted single-family homes were blazing, said Richmond fire Battalion Chief Noah Brownlow. Montana State University students are collaborating this semester with Montana State Prison inmates for an engineering project that benefits both teams. "I hope they get a better mindset of the possibilities that our population can bring," Billy LeMond, an inmate with the prison work program, said in a press release this week. "And the work level that comes out of here, they get a better understanding of that. Then they can share that with prospective employers or just the public in general." Engineering students from MSU this semester will work with inmates enrolled in the Montana State Prison work program in Deer Lodge for the students' senior capstone project, a requisite for graduation from the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering. Montana Correctional Enterprises, the prison work and training program, first worked with MSU students in 2019. The project was sidelined in 2020 and 2021 during the height of the pandemic, but this spring returned with a new capstone team. This year's project sets out to identify and untangle issues with waste and redundancy at the work program. The Montana Department of Corrections said Friday the idea is to reduce waiting times in production, develop a better inventory flow of raw materials and supplies and foster an environment more conducive to consistent training. Montana Correctional Enterprises' work includes a hobby store with leather work and art, automotive services and institutional services, which provides items for inmates like foods, clothing, hygiene products and more. Last year, MCE was also assigned a new task: raising pheasants for a program with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "Ultimately, the project should help MCE create efficiencies, increase production output, produce a better product and assist MCE in giving inmates additional skills to assist them in securing employment upon release," state corrections spokesperson Carolynn Bright said Friday. Students will travel to the prison work site three-to-five times this semester, and wrapped up their second site visit this week. "What makes our partnership with MCE unique is that our students also get the chance to be teachers," Dr. William Schell, an associate professor at MSU, said in a press release about the project this week. "By helping inmates learn basic industrial and management systems and engineering principles, our students not only learn the principles better themselves, they support the development of the employee base at MCE." Joel Miller, industries director at MCE, said the education for inmates is multi-dimensional, putting to work their "soft skills," team work and critical thinking. "I also hoped this partnership would help break down the stigmas that people might have about inmates," Miller said in the press release. "For students, it might be the first time they have met someone who is in prison." The project has already made an impression on Josh Seidler, a senior at MSU. "These guys really take their jobs seriously and they're really skilled," Seidler said in the press release. "I think going and seeing some of the custom stuff they do they're artists, really and it's really cool getting to see that. They're really committed to producing good work and satisfying their customers. On top of that, all the inmates have been really nice, pleasant and eager to work with us." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Spring is in the air. Time to try something old and something new. So one afternoon I went to lunch at Vals Restaurant in Daly City, one of the bastions of traditional Bay Area style, and the next day I took a brand-new ferry to Treasure Island, where a neighborhood is rising from the dust of a decommissioned Navy base and a worlds fair. Both places are a bit off the beaten path, but both are only a few minutes from mainstream San Francisco. Vals is one of those classic places: a tall neon sign outside, a perfectly restored fire-engine red Pontiac parked at the curb. They dont make Pontiacs anymore, and places like Vals have gone out of style. Vals has atmosphere and old-school service, said Lex Perillat, a regular at Vals. There are a few similar places still, neighborhood restaurants with the flavor of another time, like the Gold Mirror on Taraval Street, Roccos on Folsom and the 7 Mile House, just over the San Mateo County line in Brisbane. Vals has been around since the early 50s. A steak house and lounge with a decor and menu that has been unchanged since the Johnson administration, as Daly City historian Bob Calhoun called it. Vals has two sections: one a bright and cheerful-looking area with white tablecloths, the other a lounge area, with genuine imitation leather booths, a long bar and a fireplace to ward off the Daly City chill. There are paintings of nude women on the walls, in a style reminiscent of the heyday of Dominos and other San Francisco Financial District institutions. You can sit anywhere you like, said Greg Taylor, the host, except that booth. A party of regulars come in every Tuesday and they always sit there. Carl Nolte / The Chronicle Thats the heart of the matter: Its a family place, warm and comfortable. Taylors family has owned Vals since 1975, and some regulars have been coming in longer than that. Ive been coming for a long time, said Marguerite Aguilar, who grew up in San Francisco and was at Vals for lunch. She nodded to the host. My father knew his father, she said. The enchiladas were on special for lunch that day, so we had them, with a salad and a glass of white wine, all old-school delicious. What would you like for dessert? asked Christy Sturtevant, the waitress. We have apple pie, she said, Its fresh, its crumbly, and its very good. She was exactly right. The next day, something new. Id heard about the ferryboat service to Treasure Island that had just started only a few days ago. I hadnt been to the island in years: once or twice in its days as a Navy base, once to visit the former museum that celebrated the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exhibition, seldom since. A new ferry ride is always worth a try. Mayor London Breed hailed the new service when it began on March 1 as a significant step forward in realizing the transportation vision for Treasure Island. Joe Kukura, who took one of the inaugural voyages and reported for the SFist website, was more succinct. Oh the ride is kick ass he posted. Both were right. The ferry, subsidized by Treasure Island Community Development and operated by Prop SF, is a key element in turning T.I. into a new neighborhood with 8,000 new homes and 300 acres of parks and open space. The boat, a 48-passenger catamaran named Sammy J, takes only 10 minutes or so to zip across from Gate B at the Ferry Building to Treasure Island. 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. Its a spectacular trip, even by San Francisco Bay standards, especially toward the end of the day when the setting sun lights up the city and turns the East Bay hills to gold. There are 17 sailings each way on weekdays, 14 on weekends. The fare is $5. There were only three other passengers when I rode. Two of them, Jim Baughn and John Bernard, bicycle buddies from Davis, were riding the boat to Treasure Island as part of a quest, as they put it, to bike to every branch library, every fire station and every park in San Francisco. Why? Why not? said Bernard, Its a beautiful city, and we see the 95% of the city tourists never see. Treasure Island was last on their list. The other passenger was Krissie Hunt, who lives on Treasure Island and was checking out a new way to commute to downtown San Francisco. The ferry, she said, Is wonderful. Now I can get to the city without using my car. The other passengers went on their way when the boat landed. I went to explore. I didnt go far, since it was late in the day and the wind had come up. I went to the Island Market and Deli which is kind of a general store, offering groceries and light snacks. I had a piroshki a San Francisco tradition since 1956, the label said. I ate at a picnic table, then back to the boat, like a tourist returning to a cruise ship. There are restaurants on the island and other sights, but it wasnt clear where they were and I didnt find them at first. I felt like one of those explorers wandering around in a new world, or a San Franciscan discovering San Francisco. Ill be back. Carl Noltes columns run on Sunday. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Carlnoltesf In the gym at Bret Harte Elementary School in San Franciscos Bayview district, families showed up on a Friday afternoon not for sports activities but to get vaccinations, mostly for kids between the ages of 5 and 17. The after-school event on March 4 was one of two community clinics each lasting eight weeks at different elementary schools put together by the San Francisco Department of Public Health and San Francisco Unified School District to increase the number of children getting COVID shots and boosters in the citys communities of color. The free clinics have a relaxed atmosphere, with balloons and treats for the kids, but under the surface is a sense of urgency. By this summer, a statewide vaccine mandate for schoolchildren is set to kick in, yet significant numbers of young people still havent had their shots. That means Gov. Gavin Newsom will either have to postpone the mandate or many children could be excluded from classrooms and forced to learn remotely in the fall. In California, fewer than 32% of children ages 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. The push from the San Francisco health department comes on the heels of data disclosed in late February showing significant racial and ethnic disparities in vaccination rates among children 5 to 11, who are the least-inoculated age group in the city. About two-thirds of them have gotten shots, but the racial divide is large: 81% of Asian and 64% of white children are vaccinated, versus 48% of Latino, 34% of Pacific Islander, 29% of Black and African American, and just 22% of American Indian and Alaska Native children. The data is showing disparities among race and ethnic groups, especially within communities of color, that implore us to work with our community partners to address the many issues around barriers to access, distrust, education, and other factors that may be at play, Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the citys health department, said in a statement. The weekly city-run clinics are helping close the gap, which is especially acute in poorer communities. The health department said it has already administered 144 doses most of them to youth ages 5 to 17 in just the first two weeks of operation. The department added in a statement that its confident in its ability to continue to improve vaccine uptake among children in many of those same communities, but wouldnt commit to achieving 100% vaccination by this summer. Samantha Laurey/The Chronicle Casandra Mancilla, a Latina Bayview resident, was among the locals drawn to the Bret Harte school event. She brought her daughter, Alize, 15, to get a booster shot and son, Brayden, 7, to get his first vaccination. He was the last in the family of three kids to get vaccinated. It was about time, Mancilla said, explaining that Brayden had already been exposed to the coronavirus and got sick with minor symptoms. I didnt want him to get anything worse, she said. Its a preventive measure for his own health. Getting children vaccinated in S.F. The school clinics are set to continue until late April. Bret Harte Elementary School, 1035 Gilman Ave. Every Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. until April 22. No appointment necessary. Rosa Parks Elementary School, 1501 O'Farrell St. Every Monday from 2 to 6 p.m. through April 25. No appointment necessary. See More Collapse Mancilla liked that the clinic was in her sons school, close to home and open at a convenient time so she didnt have to take time off work or pull her son out of class to get his shot. That disparities exist in child vaccination rates in communities of color isnt new. But the extent to which they persist, despite previous such community clinics and other efforts to narrow the divide, is a cause for concern. The reasons are multifaceted and complex, ranging from long-held distrust of the medical system and other kinds of vaccine hesitancy to language barriers and difficulty accessing services. Poverty is at the core of the disparities, said Diana Otero, senior director of special projects at the Latino Community Foundation, a nonprofit in San Francisco. Low-income families often work multiple jobs to survive and cant take time off work to bring their children to vaccine appointments. Transportation to the vaccination site can also be an issue, Otero said. Unfortunately in situations like these, people put their health last because their priority is putting food on the table, Otero said. And so that adds to the disparity in vaccine rates, which is why it is important for organizations and local health agencies to go where the community is. Low-income families, often in communities of color, also have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic. Theyre more likely to live in multigenerational homes and many have frontline jobs, in sectors ranging from restaurants and retail to health care and agriculture, that put them at great risk of exposure to the virus. There are many reasons why someone in these communities is experiencing some hesitancy, said Baljeet Sangha, the COVID task force lead for the citys health department. It could be tied to issues accessing the vaccine, either navigating the appointment system or finding the site, their own perception of vaccine safety and effectiveness, and then the idea of the distrust of institutions. Sangha noted that some racial groups have dealt with legacies of abuse in the medical field that could deter them from seeking vaccines, so its important to set up more pop-up clinics in underrepresented communities. To bridge the gap, the health department is working with local organizations such as the Latino Community Foundation and the Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness, a nonprofit addressing health inequities in San Franciscos Black community. Dr. Monique LeSarre, Rafikis executive director, said her organization hoped to motivate Black youth and their families by organizing family-focused pop-up vaccine clinics in Black neighborhoods. Theyve also handed out food at vaccine sites to address food insecurity for families another motivation for people to show up. 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. A critical question ahead is whether low vaccination rates will prompt California to delay its mandate, currently scheduled to go into effect in July. San Francisco is faring comparatively well in the state: some 69% of children ages 5 to 11 and 90% of those 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, according to data provided by the city. Thats far higher than for California as a whole, where just one-third of children and two-thirds of adolescents have completed their shots. The shortfall, only months before the statewide mandate begins, has prompted some cities such as Los Angeles and Oakland to delay its enforcement. If more children in communities of color arent vaccinated, they may be excluded from school and forced to switch to remote learning, which puts burdens on their parents to help with their education and even take time off from work, Ortera said. The prospect of home schooling also raises issues related to the digital divide. Only 20% of Latino and African American households in the state had access to a personal desktop or laptop computer in 2019, and they lag behind the statewide average in broadband subscriptions, the Public Policy Institute of California found. Bayview resident Calista Lamons, who is Black, lives down the block from Bret Harte and said shed been anxious about getting vaccinations for herself and her kids. A lot of friends talked about awful side effects getting sicker than when they had COVID, she said. But her older kids convinced her to get vaccinated about four months ago. On March 4, after fretting over whether to get daughter Unique, 7, vaccinated, they walked up the street to the school and she got the shot. Her decision, Lamons said, was influenced not just by her older children but also by hearing that vaccinated people have less chance of becoming severely ill or being hospitalized. Still, she said, I was really nervous. Shwanika Narayan and Michael Cabanatuan (he/him) are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com and mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika and @ctuan. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Francisco public school officials and board members talk a lot about kids like Royal Holyfield, an 11-year-old Black boy in fifth grade at a Tenderloin elementary school. They talk a lot about equity. They talk a lot about narrowing the persistent achievement gap between Black kids and their white and Asian peers. But Joan Thomas, Royals grandmother, who has raised him since he was 10 days old, thinks its just that a whole lot of talk. And at this crucial moment for the citys school system, with three new board members sworn in Friday and a new superintendent to be picked this spring, Thomas and other Black families say theyre hoping the district will finally give their kids more support. Thomas, 62, is charismatic, funny and direct. In October 2020, she invited me to her small apartment in a South of Market affordable-housing complex to see what never-ending Zoom school had done to Royal. Hed sunk into a deep depression, gained weight and spent long days toggling among distance learning, YouTube videos and his beloved Fortnite video game. I thought of the family often afterward, as San Francisco became one of the last urban school districts in the country to reopen, and called Thomas the other day to ask how Royal is doing now that hes back in the classroom. Not great, Thomas said with a sigh. He hates school. Some days are almost impossible. Kate Munsch/Special to The Chronicle The new board members, replacing three who were recalled by voters in a landslide last month, have a long and daunting to-do list. Avoid a state takeover due to major budget problems. Fix a payroll glitch that has left many teachers unpaid for months. Cope with kids learning loss and behavioral problems after so much missed classroom time. Beyond these immediate issues looms a long-standing one that just keeps getting worse: San Franciscos public schools rank among the best urban districts in the state in terms of academic achievement but leave Black students far behind. A CalMatters investigation from 2017 found that San Francisco had the worst Black student achievement rate of any county in California. Just 19% of Black students in San Francisco passed the states reading test compared with 31% statewide. Assessments released by the San Francisco school district last year showed that Black students, as well as other children of color and those from low-income families, lost even more ground during the pandemic to their white and wealthier peers. The district on Thursday announced new one-on-one literacy tutoring for students who fell furthest behind during the pandemic, a step in the right direction but one that leaves a long way to go. Yvette Edwards, a Black mother of two boys in the district and a co-founder of the San Francisco Parent Coalition, said ensuring better educational outcomes for Black students is at the top of her priority list for the new board. We all know that we have some of the worst literacy and math rates for Black children in the state, Edwards said. Its not just a gap anymore in San Francisco. Its becoming a gulf. She and her husband, Kwesi Edwards, paid for extra online math classes for their fifth-grade son because they wanted to push him further in that subject. Kwesi Edwards sat with him through the sessions and helped him understand them and hes excelling in math now, his teacher told them. The goal needs to be to bring the kids up to the level of competence, not to lower the bar, Kwesi Edwards said. The reality is life wont stand back if you arent meeting certain levels. The Edwards family attended the swearing-in Friday morning of three new school board members at Galileo High, the alma mater of Mayor London Breed, who said recruiters from UC Davis who talked to her in 10th grade made her think about attending college for the first time. All students, she said, need that push. Board President Jenny Lam said one of her top priorities is to dive into the data showing the districts achievement gap and figure out how to tackle the problem. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle Superintendent Vince Matthews, who is Black, said the achievement gap or, as he and others call it, the opportunity gap stems from systemic racism that gives Black kids far fewer opportunities in general. For example, Black students make up 7.8% of the districts enrollment, but 30% of its foster youth and 14% of its homeless students. Of all the Black students in the citys public schools, 72% quality for free or reduced-price lunch, 29% are in special education classes, and 23% live in public housing. Matthews pointed to the districts African American Achievement and Leadership Initiative, launched in 2013 to monitor and close the achievement gap, as a positive move, but said, We need to keep our focus on it. Lisa Weissman-Ward, a newly appointed school board member whose father is Black, said bias mars the education system around the country. More resources should be devoted to early education and support for families, she said, so students can focus on learning. Every Black family I talked to for this column said they want the new school board to move away from politics, arguing and adult-centered priorities and to remember the most important job of the school system: educating children. To give them more support if they need it. And to let them soar if theyre ready. Sadly, Royal Holyfield isnt soaring. Not even close. Royal, who has been diagnosed with autism, hates school so much that he sometimes refuses to get out of the car in the morning, his grandmother said. He cant keep up with his classmates academically or physically. He acts out in class. Thomas regularly receives calls from the school to pick him up early because of his behavior. Royal finally has a new Individualized Education Program, a plan for students with special needs, but Thomas is convinced he should have received one years ago. I didnt even know what an I.E.P. was, she said. I had no support, no help, and I didnt understand what was going on. Thomas thinks her grandson should still be in third grade, the grade during which the pandemic upturned his life, but he keeps getting promoted to the next grade without being ready. She said she thinks thats because the district cares more about statistics than students. Its not designed for African American boys, she said of the district. And the pandemic really set him back. Thomas, who works in an after-school program, doesnt have time to keep up with the school board politics, and she didnt vote in the recall election. She did hear about the boards effort to rename 44 schools, a move she politely called bullcorn. It could be called Black Lives Matter School, but if theyre not really going to matter, what difference does it make? 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. Rex Ridgeway, a Black grandfather called Big Papa by his granddaughter, Joselyn, is also frustrated about her education, but for different reasons. He thinks education in the district has been dumbed down. When the district got rid of algebra in eighth grade, he found a summer-school math program for Joselyn so she would be ready to double up on algebra and geometry as a freshman at Lincoln High. Shes getting straight As, but Ridgeway said other families arent as in-the-know. Hes also frustrated that as a high-performing student at Martin Luther King Middle School, Joselyn could have had priority to get into Lowell High under its previous merit-based admissions policy. But under its new lottery system, she didnt get picked. She was right on track to go straight to Lowell, Ridgeway said. Im still ticked off that it didnt work out as we had planned. He voted to recall all three school board members because they were off in left field doing everything other than focusing on the kids, he said, citing the school renaming, covering up murals at Washington High and repeatedly violating the Brown Act governing public meetings. Chanel Blackwell, a Black mother of a 10-year-old and 15-year-old in the district, said she lost faith in the school board after seeing her kids friends in private schools back on campus, but the school board repeatedly leaving any reopening talk until the end of their interminable meetings. I felt like they didnt listen to me, she said. Communication or lack thereof was a big issue for E.G. Brubaker, too. The native of Nigeria and mother of two kids said she wants the school board to listen to families rather than speak for them. The board repeatedly said Black families didnt want schools to reopen, which many said was untrue. We want our voices to be heard, Brubaker said. I want the district to be making decisions that are good for my kids and my family and my community, and I havent felt that way at all. Redic Thomas, a Black father of a first-grader, said he considers himself progressive and appreciated some of the school boards efforts to address equity, but said they often felt poorly timed and poorly worded. He said the board lacked empathy for parents as distance learning stretched on. Lila Nelson, a Black mother, moved her sixth-grade daughter, Miriam, to a parochial school after she lost her spark and love of learning during Zoom school. Its not that kids dont want to be educated. Its not like they go to school every day and say, We dont want to learn, Nelson said. They are all capable of being overachievers, but they have to be given the foundation. As for Thomas, she assumes the district will promote Royal to middle school even though he wont be ready. She said shell quit work to help him if thats what it takes because hes her top priority. Hes still my best friend, Thomas said. And Im still his. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Editor's note: This story was updated 11:30 a.m., March 21, to correct that residents of El Portal Trailer Park had not been served eviction paperwork. LATEST March 16, 10:00 a.m. As of Tuesday, March 15, residents of the El Portal Trailer Park have had their power shut off, the Fresno Bee reported. A locked metal gate has also been installed at the trailer park entrance. The ousted residents were reportedly not provided compensation or moving assistance during their relocation. March 12, 12:30 p.m. A group of homeowners near Yosemite will be expected to leave the area without compensation, the Fresno Bee reported. And if theyre caught living on the premises after 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 13, they could face six months of imprisonment or $5,000 fines for trespassing and illegally residing on federal land. Residents of the El Portal Trailer Park many of whom work retail and maintenance jobs and are nearing retirement age have called Yosemite National Parks decision heartless. Were all stressed. I see my mom cry every single day. Its not right, Luke Harbin told the outlet. His mother has lived in the mobile home community and worked in the Yosemite area for 38 years. Following the National Park Services December 2021 announcement to oust the residents, GoFundMe campaigns and Change.org petitions have been launched on their behalf. The campaign has raised just over $1,000 out of its $100,000 goal, and the petition, Stop the inhumane eviction of our community members at the El Portal Trailer Court, has garnered about 2,100 signatures. Despite residents repeated attempts to hold group meetings with the park service and speak with Superintendent Cicely Muldoon, the Bee reports that communication has been difficult, fragmented and frustrating. Per the outlet, Harbins mother left Muldoon multiple voicemails and emails requesting a 30-day extension so she could remove her belongings after vacating the property. When they finally met in person outside of Muldoons office in early February, Harbin says he and his mother left early due to the park services callousness toward her. My mom broke down in tears in front of them, and I called them all heartless, because they dont have a heart, Harbin told the Bee. They dont have a heart. The way they were talking to my mom, no heart. Other residents have reported experiencing the same treatment from Muldoon. Four trailer park residents who attended a recent El Portal Planning Advisory Committee phone conference meeting said they also left multiple messages for the superintendent. And, like Harbin, they asked for an extension but hadnt heard back. While Harbins mother finally received the extension, and some residents are renting employee dorms, Harbins outlook on the situation is grim. We live in fairy tale land where apparently the superintendent is queen, Harbin told the Bee, and she can do whatever she wants here. This isnt the first time that park employees have been ousted from the Yosemite area. In May 2020, Fox 26 News reported that Aramark furloughed a group of park concessionaires and gave them just two weeks to relocate amid the pandemic. In July, the outlet reported that the company isnt evicting anyone; it is graciously giving them a week to leave their company-provided homes and move into tent cabins instead. According to 65-year-old John Franz, these tent cabins are hardly sufficient. We have to move out of our housing, out of our assigned housing and into this place called Boys Town, which is not housing. Its tent cabins that are set aside for overflow employees or something like that. Single-occupancy tent cabins with community bathrooms and community showers, he told Fox. At the time, the Associated Press reported that as many as 170 people could have been infected with the coronavirus in the Yosemite Valley. Subsequently, Franz didnt feel safe using the shared bathrooms or living in the Boys Town tent cabins. In the case of El Portal, I feel the feds should step up and do the right thing, Tim Sheahan, board member and past president of the National Manufactured Home Owners Association and Golden State Manufactured-Home Owners League, told the Bee, but if it takes a partnership or pressure from the state and county, those avenues should be pursued. Editor's note: This story has been amended to As the price of gasoline continues to surge to record highs across the country, Uber announced Friday that it is adding a fuel surcharge to rides and food-delivery orders. Depending on location, a fee of 45 cents or 55 cents will be added per trip for rides, and 35 cents or 45 cents for Uber Eats food delivery orders for the next 60 days beginning on March 16, Liza Winship, head of driver operations for U.S. and Canada, said in a press release. Winship added that the surcharge will depend on location and trip length, with "100% of that money going directly to workers' pockets." "Our hope is that this temporary measure will help ease the burden, but well continue to listen to feedback and may make changes in the future." She said the ride-hailing company will reassess the need for the surcharge after 60 days. As of Friday, the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States was $4.33, up 53% from a year prior, according to AAA. The average price per gallon reached a nationwide high of $5.72 in California on Friday, compared to $3.78 a year ago, AAA data shows. During his annual State of the State address on Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he will propose legislation to provide Californians relief from rising gas prices. Newsom previously proposed suspending a gas tax increase scheduled for July. On Tuesday night, Newsom said, "it's clear we have to go farther" than that. "That's why, working with legislative leadership, I'll be submitting a proposal to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices," he said. Newsom has since provided no further details on his proposal to offset the rising price of gas. Nearly eight years after his death, the legacy of country superstar Merle Haggard, who did time in San Quentin Prison before going on to become the face of a music genre and be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, is still thriving in his hometown of Bakersfield. A road and a post office now bear his name. His distinctive features stare out from several murals across the city. And the Kern County Museum is preparing an exhibit on the distinctive sound that Haggard created, complete with the boxcar home he grew up in. Its all a long way from Haggards humble beginnings as a restless youth who frequently got in trouble with the law. The origins of the Bakersfield sound On Sept. 29, 1969, Merle Haggard released a track protesting the protesters of the Vietnam War called Okie from Muskogee. The song and the accompanying live album of the same name pushed him into the stratosphere of country music legend and icon an instant hit that came to define not only his career but the sound he helped pioneer. Beth Gwinn/Getty Images Okie not only clearly surrounds the legend of Haggard but is largely credited with being one of the tentpoles of the Bakersfield sound, a brand of country most associated with electric guitars along with an infusion of hard-edged blues and early rock n roll beats. The Bakersfield sound has an unvarnished veneer that relies heavily on hard times and folklore, the antithesis of the well-produced sheen and rhinestone glitter out of Nashville. Haggard grew up in Oildale, California, an enclave of 34,000 about 3.5 miles north of downtown Bakersfield. His father, James Francis, died at 47 of a brain hemorrhage when Merle was only 9 years old. His older brother Lowell had passed down his guitar, and young Merle taught himself by listening to country greats like Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell, the latter, though from Texas, widely credited as providing early inspiration for the Bakersfield sound. By the time Haggard was 13, he had grown restless, and his interest in things like passing bad checks and petty theft caused his mother, Flossie Mae, to send him to a weekend in a juvenile facility, hoping to scare him straight. But that experiment only made matters worse, and Haggard was back committing petty crimes at a furious rate in the wake of the visit. Photo By Andrew Pridgen That same year he was caught shoplifting and sent to a juvenile hall, for real this time. He spent much of his youth hitchhiking, hopping trains, including to Texas for a stint, and was jailed at 14 on suspicion of armed robbery. Out of school and in and out of jail, dead-end jobs and general trouble, Haggard got the chance to see Frizzell in a concert in Bakersfield and started singing along to an opener while standing backstage. Legend has it Frizzell said he wouldnt go on unless Haggard, then only 16, could go up before him, and he did. After that, Haggard started playing bars at night while working in the oil fields during the day. But Haggard didnt walk the straight and narrow for long as his music career didnt take off and money issues started to pile up. In 1957, Haggard attempted to rob a roadhouse and was caught and thrown into Bakersfield Jail. On Feb. 21, 1958, after one of his reported 17 attempts to escape jail, he was transferred to San Quentin still months shy of his 21st birthday. While in San Quentin, Haggard continued to struggle mentally, being fired from several prison jobs. He survived his own missteps and side hustles, including running booze with his cellmate and doing time in solitary confinement for being drunk. It was in solitary Haggard met Caryl Chessman. Chessman, who wrote four books, including the memoir Cell 2455, Death Row: A Condemned Mans Own Story, and made a lasting impression on the young inmate. Between getting to know Chessman and seeing Johnny Cash perform at the prison on New Years Day 1959, Haggard decided to do better. He earned his high school diploma and was released from San Quentin on parole in 1960. Haggards struggles have only made him more relatable. You know trauma will make a young man do things like hopping a train or do little crimes, Bakersfield local Eric Warnock, a docent at the Kern County Museum, noted. I think Merle means a lot to people because weve all endured some kind of trauma. He got into trouble. He said some things and sang some things he didnt mean. He atoned for them. A career takes flight, Okie takes hold Fresh out of prison with a set of stories to tell, newfound motivation and a cleaned-up act, Haggard started to play honky-tonks, bars and small venues up and down California. Photo By Andrew Pridgen He caught the eyes and ears of record producers Lewis Talley and Charles Fuzzy Owen and their small Bakersfield-based label Tally but was eventually signed away by Ken Nelson of Capitol Records. Haggards first album, "Strangers," was released on Sept. 27, 1965, on Capitol and topped out at No. 9 on the Billboard country albums chart. From there, it was an [insert movie montage] whirlwind of touring matched with a prolific songwriting and recording run averaging two studio releases a year for the remainder of the decade. Haggards first No. 1 came with Swinging Doors, and the Bottle Let Me Down, released in October 1966. He made 10 studio albums in all for Capitol by the decades end. But it was the release of Okie, his first live album, at the beginning of 1969, that would define the rest of his career and rewire everything, including his own point of view several times. I dont feel now the way I did when I wrote Okie from Muskogee, Haggard told columnist RJ Smith in 2000. I still sing it because it describes a period of time. I write from common knowledge, current knowledge, collective intelligence. At the time I wrote that song, I was just about as intelligent as the American public was. And they was about as dumb as a rock. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images His most steady collaborator and closest confidant, Willie Nelson, had this to say about Haggard and the song: I loved singing Okie from Muskogee with him. He wrote that song straight from the heart. But as he lived, his thinking progressed, Nelson wrote in Rolling Stone in the wake of Haggards death. The last time we did it, it was tongue-in-cheek, and the audience knew it. Thats the way he was he always evolved. Remembering Merle Haggard in Bakersfield At the Kern County Museum, workers are preparing a Bakersfield sound exhibit, slated for an early summer opening. Its being set up in a small flat-faced frontier building just about 200 yards from the museums clock tower entrance. There's excitement in the air as the exhibit will resemble the interior of Trouts nightclub, another Oildale honky-tonk Haggard frequented that currently sits empty after the owner left town under mysterious circumstances in 2017. The Bakersfield sound exhibit will feature some Trouts memorabilia, including a recreation of the bar, museum historian Rachel Hads told me during my visit. This is about the whole Bakersfield sound, she said, So therell be Buck [Owens] memorabilia, too, along with Lefty and several others. But Bucks got the Crystal Palace, which is a sort of museum of itself. From what were hearing and what we know, people will come here primarily for Merle. How does she know? One of the museums most popular exhibits is the boxcar home that Haggards father bought and refurbished and turned it into the family dwelling where Merle himself was born. He had 38 No. 1's, Hads continued. So this is a kind of, I guess, [a] pilgrimage people make. The home Flossie made for them was simple, but it was always clean; she had nice things. I think in spite of all the stories about Merle, he had a loving mother and a small, quiet home. People connect with that here. Photo By Andrew Pridgen The house is tiny. To walk in it and stretch your arms and legs out means you can touch the kitchen, the bedroom, and the front sitting area all at the same time. A couple from Dayton, Ohio, were standing outside taking pictures when I was there. Though they didnt want to be named, they said Haggard led them to Bakersfield. Its a nice town, with nice people, the wife said. Merles part of the fabric. Im a fan. Always will be. And Id rather come here than someplace thats been recreated to look like something its not. No, this is the real deal. His lyrics, they last, Warnock, the museum docent, told me. History shows us the same problems keep coming about and he was there to write about it. Isnt that some kind of legacy? Plucky San Francisco community radio station BFF.fms first-ever public DJ booth is no more. After turning a three-month pop-up in San Franciscos iconic Ferry Building into a year-and-a-half residence, the idiosyncratic, 8-year-old internet radio nonprofit is getting the boot from the citys 123-year-old landmark in favor of a full-paying tenant. Commerce prevails, and the Ferry Building has a potential renter for the space, station founder and general manager Amanda Guest told SFGATE. BFF.fm, which had been on a nonprofit radio station-friendly deal with the Ferry Building, will now transfer operations out of the small food stall it had turned into a DJ booth and back into The Secret Alley the private artist workshop/office space/super fun clubhouse in the Mission that had served as its broadcasting home prior to the pandemic. We added 30 new DJs during the pandemic, DJs who joined the station only knowing us with the space at the Ferry Building. A lot didnt even know about The Secret Alley, Guest said. It has been kind of fun to introduce a whole new wave of DJs who are getting to experience it for the first time, and for all of them, there was this kind of, Wait, weve had this this whole time? Founded in 2013, BFF.fm (Best Frequencies Forever) now has well over 100 DJs who will return to the stations former Mission digs, almost two years exactly to the day that it first closed the doors to its former booth space. But Guest said there are absolutely no hard feelings for the Ferry Building. I just had a wrap-up meeting with people at the Ferry Building. What I said to them was, it was a really unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to get access to that kind of space in an iconic location, she said. Were super grateful the opportunity happened. Its one of the key things that kept us going strong through the pandemic. A Mandan flooring installer who authorities say took more than $36,000 from customers but did not deliver materials or complete work has been banned from doing business in North Dakota, according to Attorney General Drew Wrigley. Matthew Holden, doing business as Affordable Flooring, did not respond to court documents in which prosecutors asked South Central District Judge David Reich to rule on complaints from 10 Burleigh County and Morton County homeowners. Holden was found to have operated without a contractors license and engaged in consumer fraud. The judge ordered him to reimburse the homeowners, and pay a $5,000 fine and nearly $2,500 in attorney fees and costs. Holden took at least $36,000 from consumers and then disappeared as soon as he realized he was being investigated, said Parrell Grossman, director of the attorney general's Consumer Protection Division. Holden did not respond to the homeowners complaints or consumer fraud investigators, Grossman said. Wrigley said his office will aggressively prosecute fraudulent contractors and hold them responsible for their illegal activity. I urge homeowners to make sure a contractor is licensed before making any advance payment, Wrigley said. No attorney is listed for Holden in court documents. An Affordable Flooring website listed on Yelp was not functioning, and calls to the listed phone number could not be completed. Love 1 Funny 3 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 5 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. North Dakota health officials on Friday reported 76 new cases of COVID-19 on the second anniversary of the first confirmed case in the state. The pandemic reached North Dakota on March 11, 2020, with the announcement of a presumptive case of COVID-19 in a Ward County man in his 60s who had traveled out of state. He recovered at home. We encourage citizens to be prepared and not panic -- to base their actions on facts, not fear, Gov. Doug Burgum said at the time. He would go on to do about 100 public virus briefings, many of them lasting for hours. Since then, North Dakota has confirmed 239,125 COVID-19 cases in North Dakota, with 236,462 recoveries, 7,843 hospitalizations and 2,223 deaths. About one-fifth of the cases and deaths have been in Burleigh and Morton counties. There have been two main pandemic spikes in the state -- in late 2020 before the arrival of vaccines, and late last year and early this year with the onset of the highly contagious delta and omicron variants of the virus. Both waves have now waned, and Burgum on Thursday announced that North Dakota's coronavirus approach is shifting from pandemic to endemic. That essentially means COVID-19 is expected to be a regular part of life. Burgum cited falling numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths, and said, "We have resources and tools that were not available two years ago." In March 2020, the focus was on prevention measures such as public testing, hand-washing, mask-wearing and isolating when sick. Two years later, the emphasis is on vaccines, antibodies and antiviral treatments, and at-home test kits. Daily data Officials through this Friday had confirmed 506 new virus cases for the week. That compared with 13,617 cases confirmed during a similar stretch in mid-January, when omicron was at its peak and setting pandemic records in the state. Active COVID-19 cases on Friday were at 440, according to the state's virus dashboard. That compared with the high of 11,991 reported Jan. 22. Burleigh and Morton counties have nearly one-third of the current statewide total. North Dakota's 14-day rolling test positivity rate was at 3.13%. The rate that hit a pandemic record of 19.69% on Jan. 26 has plunged in recent weeks, and has been below the state target of less than 5% for nine straight days. There were 53 virus-related hospitalizations on Friday, down two from Thursday. The two hospitals in Bismarck had a total of seven staffed inpatient hospital beds available and four intensive care unit beds open. The state case data includes only clinically verified tests. Results of in-home tests that recently became widely available are not required to be reported to the state and are thus not included in the totals. Pandemic records are based off the Health Department's daily reports. The agency often revises data on its dashboard later based on updated information. The Health Department as part of the switch to an endemic phase will move to updating the COVID-19 dashboard weekly rather than daily, beginning next Friday. More information Federal data shows 65.2% of adults in North Dakota being fully vaccinated. The rate for all vaccine-eligible people in the state -- age 5 and older -- is 58.7%. The national averages are 75.2% and 69.3%, respectively. COVID-19 booster shots are recommended for people 12 and older. North Dakota's booster rate is 41.6%, compared to 45.8% nationally. County-level COVID-19 risks determined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can be found at https://bit.ly/3Clifrq. Burleigh and Morton counties both are considered at low risk. The state Health Department has developed new guidance and resources for businesses, at https://bit.ly/3w0DpKj. Go to https://www.ndvax.org or call 866-207-2880 to see where COVID-19 vaccine is available. Information on free public testing and free test kits is at health.nd.gov/covidtesting. More detailed pandemic information is at www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html. Reach Blake Nicholson at 701-250-8266 or blake.nicholson@bismarcktribune.com. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The University of Mary Concert Band is marking its 50th anniversary with a Sunday concert. The performance is set for 3 p.m. in Founders Hall in the Lumen Vitae University Center on campus. It's free and open to the public. The concert also will be livestreamed on the school music department's YouTube page: UMary Music. Notable selections will include Jubilee Overture by Philip Sparke, a piece prepared by the band for spring 2020 but never performed due to the coronavirus pandemic; Popcorn by Gershon Kingsley, a piece reminiscent of the "Muppet Show" theme song; and a piece played with two soloists including Steven Glaesmann, a member of the first band in 1972. It was only after the band had played for a few years that the university was prompted to offer a music major, according to Conductor Dennis Gowen. The professor said he cherishes the 35 years of memories he has made with students, and that he feels a responsibility to honor the vision of his predecessors. The students come from different backgrounds with different levels of experience. Some of them have instruments, and some of them dont have instruments. The audience doesnt know any of that stuff," he said, adding that it's the job of the band director "to make sure that (the concert) hopefully comes off as seamlessly as possible. Sophomore music major Zachary King, one of the 45 musicians comprising the band, credited Gowen with bringing everything together, saying, "Its a great time and a good community. King was excited for the piece Popcorn, as he remembers listening to it at home while growing up. Popcorn is techno and bouncy and itll get stuck in your head for sure, said music department Administrative Assistant Danielle Abler, who graduated from the school in 2014 with a music education degree. Its just really cool to be able to see the advances that have come from the beginning of the band to where we are now, she said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 North Dakota legislative leaders plan to discuss the Legislature's workplace harassment policy this summer, more than a year after the House expelled a member accused of workplace and sexual harassment. Top lawmakers vowed last year to revisit the policy that was adopted in 2018 amid the #MeToo movement. An administrative panel of floor leaders will discuss potential changes in a June meeting, said Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, who chairs the committee. Senior Counsel and Code Reviser Claire Ness said she is reviewing the policy and researching those of other states along with any changes to case law that might need to be addressed. She will report back to the panel in June. Key lawmakers say the review is an opportunity to improve the policy and clearly define its protocols. The Republican-supermajority House expelled former Rep. Luke Simons, R-Dickinson, in a 69-25 vote in March 2021. A 14-page file documented allegations that Simons sexually harassed female legislators, staff and interns over a span of years. One representative moved desks to avoid Simons, who was at one point not allowed to work with female staff. House leaders had taken him aside multiple times to discuss his conduct. Simons, a barber and rancher, denied any wrongdoing and said he wasn't afforded due process. His expulsion is believed to be the first in state history. Simons' expulsion didn't result from a harassment policy complaint, but from the release of the file to the media after his profane outburst to fellow lawmakers when they requested he wear a face mask in the Capitol's cafeteria. One staff member of Legislative Council, the Legislature's nonpartisan research agency, has said a fear of retaliation or damage to their reputation has prevented women from making formal harassment complaints. Because we havent had a test case, we dont know what the legislators reaction would be, she told the Tribune last year. It would take a tremendous amount of courage, in my opinion, for somebody to step forward and to be the first one to do that. The employee spoke to the Tribune on condition of anonymity due to fear of retribution. 'Deepen' protocols Leaders haven't forgotten about their pledge to revisit the policy, said House Majority Leader Chet Pollert, R-Carrington, who helped lead the proceedings around Simons' expulsion. He said the Legislature also was dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and November's special session last year. He brought up the policy in a meeting in December to address any changes before the 2023 Legislature convenes. "Obviously, we need to have an improved process so people feel more comfortable coming forward," Pollert said. Wardner said he's not sure how much better lawmakers could make the policy, citing the Legislature's chain of command for reporting incidents. He dealt with nonsexual harassment among legislative employees last year, matters he said were settled after "a few meetings in my office." "We've got a system in place where it's reported. That isn't really the problem," Wardner said, citing some people's frustration with how Simons' proceedings were handled. He commended the efforts of Sen. Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, who led the policy's drafting. "I think the procedures are there if people will utilize them, but we are going over them again," he said. The policy outlines how a "contact person" -- a legislative leader or designee -- receives a complaint and completes intake requirements and refers the complaint to an appointed, five-member review panel of lawmakers to look into or forward to an outside investigator. An investigation must follow the policy's requirements and may take no more than 75 days to complete. If the investigation finds a violation, "remedies must be assessed proportionate to the seriousness of the violation." The policy outlines disciplinary actions, up to and including referral for criminal prosecution and expulsion for legislators. The policy also prohibits and penalizes retaliation against complainants or investigation participants. The policy applies to lawmakers, legislative employees, members of the media, lobbyists and any other people involved in the legislative process. Complaint and investigation records of workplace harassment against legislators and their staff are not required to be public during the investigation or up to 75 days from the complaint being made. Eventually those records become public. No complaints have been filed under the policy, according to Legislative Council Director John Bjornson. Hogan said a number of things in the policy could be changed or improved. Improvements could include ensuring adequate protections for people who report concerns, and formalizing procedures for consequences, she said. "I think we need to review, 'Did we do it the right way?' Every step," she said. Overall, she thinks the policy is "too vague and up for interpretation," but she called its training component "an excellent resource." All lawmakers receive workplace harassment training during the Legislature's three-day December organizational meeting before every biennial session. "I think the details of the (policy) protocols are what we need to deepen our response to," Hogan said. Every situation is different, she said. Changes to the policy would be incorporated into a joint rule that would have to be adopted by both the House and Senate in their organizational session later this year. Pollert and Wardner are not seeking reelection. New leaders will guide the 2023 Legislature. 'Room for improvement' Rep. Emily O'Brien, R-Grand Forks, said she moved to another desk in 2018 to avoid Simons, and she detailed other harassment experiences. She's aware of the June meeting, and plans to follow along and perhaps submit suggestions. She has ideas of improvements -- such as for the policy's checklists of intake and investigation requirements -- particularly to help people who fear retaliation for reporting their concerns. O'Brien had shared her concerns about Simons with House leadership before the policy was in place, and she later issued a statement about her experiences and zero tolerance for harassment. The response was "quite interesting," she said. People used "colorful language" to call her vulgar names via phone and social media, she said. One man phoned her more than 30 times over five days, morning and night. People said she dressed "unbecomingly" and "was asking for it." She doubts those people would ever talk like that to her face. "I think that is the reason why people don't come forward, because you all of a sudden second-guess yourself. Did you do the right or wrong thing?" O'Brien said. "It's like a guilt feeling of how can these people talk to someone like that that went through this and experienced this and then they dismiss it?" She has helped women and men -- current and former state employees and former co-workers of Simons -- who reached out to her about their similar experiences with harassment, thanking her for speaking out. "Especially the men. They felt like they were never taken seriously because of it," she said. O'Brien believes the meeting this summer will be "a great opportunity to ensure that we're covering all of our bases as well as we can. "Even when you think you have a perfect product, there's always room for improvement and just making sure we're doing that -- (being) open-minded to making improvements and knowing that there's not a one-size-fits-all," she said. Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. NEW YORK An 83-year-old Brooklyn woman convicted twice of killing women she lived with was charged Thursday with murder, after investigators found a head in her apartment that, officials said, belonged to a body discovered in a shopping cart last week. Harvey Marcelin, who had served decades in prison for murder and manslaughter before her release in 2019, was arrested March 4 and was initially charged with concealment of human remains. Marcelin who was listed as male in earlier court records but now identifies as a woman, according to a law enforcement official was indicted on second-degree murder charges Thursday in the death of Susan Leyden, 68. She is accused of dismembering her and hiding her body parts. The official said it was not clear how Marcelin and Leyden knew each other. A lawyer listed as Marcelins attorney could not immediately be reached for comment. The police first discovered pieces of Leydens remains in the early hours of March 3, when a 911 caller reported that they had found body parts in a shopping cart outside a pawnshop at the corner of Atlantic and Pennsylvania Avenues in Brooklyn. Police officers arrived to find a womans torso inside a multicolored bag with a flower decal. Days later, police searched Marcelins building nearby, after surveillance footage showed Leyden entering the building with the same multicolored bag on Feb. 27 but not leaving. They discovered Leydens head inside Marcelins home. Since Marcelins arrest, authorities have also reviewed surveillance footage showing her leaving the apartment with what investigators believe was the torso, prosecutors said during a court hearing Thursday. Marcelin has served decades in state prison in connection with two Manhattan homicides, in 1963 and 1984. In October 1963, she was convicted of first-degree murder for fatally shooting her then-girlfriend in a Harlem apartment building. The state court judge overseeing the case imposed a life sentence, after the jury was unable to decide whether to impose the death penalty, court filings show. In May 1984, Marcelin was released from prison on lifetime parole, according to state records. Less than a year later, after a body was found in a bag near Central Park, Manhattan prosecutors said Marcelin had stabbed to death another woman she had been living with. In 1986, she pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to six to 12 years in prison, state records show. Because of her parole status, that sentence was added to the original life term, records show. Over the next three decades, she repeatedly sought release on parole and was denied. In a 1997 appearance before the state parole board, Marcelin described the 1984 crime and said she had problems with women, according to a state court filing. In 2010, the state denied another bid for parole, saying your release at this time is incompatible with the welfare and safety of the community, court filings show. She was released on parole in 2019, records show. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Last week, the Walsh County Record carried an advertisement for a county treasurer, setting out qualifications as follows: Candidates must have a proven track record of being proficient and accurate with numbers and professional and courteous transactions. A background in finances, business, or accounting would be beneficial, as well as a familiarity with spreadsheets and word processing software. Because Walsh was the first county to adopt home rule, it was ready to take advantage of a vacancy in an elective office. From the job description, it looks like counties with home rule will be able to make significant strides in building professional careers for administrative positions. Around a dozen North Dakota counties have adopted home rule, with all major counties except Grand Forks assuming local responsibility of powers available under home rule. (Grand Forks County is now moving toward asking its citizens to approve home rule in 2022.) In 2006, I was delegated by the Grand Forks County Commission to chair the home rule committee. In the public hearings outside of the city, we were met with hostility even though the rural area could have been guaranteed representation on the county commission with home rule. The home rule charter was soundly defeated. It gives me personal pleasure to see county and city home rule used in a dozen counties and over 100 cities. For 30 years, I was North Dakotas guru on home rule. In 1970, I served on the Grand Forks city home rule committee and drafted the first model for home rule in cities. This model has been used as the core for over 100 home rule cities. Following legislative authorization for county home rule, using the model for city home rule, I was able to draft the model for counties which has been used by all counties with home rule. Counties have used home rule for a variety of initiatives, depending on local needs. Several cities have used home rule to raise money for jails and criminal justice. (Grand Forks has a pressing need for jail space and that need is the impetus of present efforts to get home rule.) While cities and counties with home rule deserve credit for creative uses of home rule, they could be using it for more streamlining of city and county services. We have barely scratched the surface of powers that could be exercised by city and county governments. All county charters include the power of the citizens to refer actions under home rule. In Walsh County (Grafton) no one appeared at two hearings to object to the professionalization of the treasurer position. This suggests that the citizenry may be ready to tolerate more use of home rule in the future. However, the country is seized by a historic negativism toward state and national governments. It is a time one would expect more citizen support for local control available under home rule. Unfortunately, North Dakota has what is called legislative home rule that can be changed by any session of the Legislature. Some states have their home rule in state constitutions, thereby preventing legislative interference. Case in point: Glen Ullin had proposed to impose a motor vehicle fuel tax under city home rule but the Legislature quickly made that illegal. So it will be necessary to keep the Legislature at bay to protect the powers made available to cities and counties under home rule. Because the groundwork for city and county home rule occurred 40 to 50 years ago, it is very likely that all of the officials working with home rule have no clue as to when and how home rule got established in North Dakota. While my home rule efforts may be worth including in a future job application, it doesnt rise to tombstone significance. Lloyd Omdahl is a political scientist and former North Dakota Democratic lieutenant governor. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The National Weather Service issued a dense fog advisory late Friday evening for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area and the Monterey Peninsula. The advisory is in effect until 9 a.m. Saturday. Visibility is less than one-fourth mile in dense fog. The areas affected are San Francisco, the coastal North Bay area including Point Reyes National Seashore, the San Mateo County coastline and northern Monterey Bay. Hayward police investigators said Friday evening that the body of a child has been found in a home in Merced. Since Tuesday, Hayward police have been searching for a missing 8-year-old girl. A Hayward police spokesperson said the Merced home is believed to be where the missing girl, Sophia Mason, was staying with her mother, Samantha Johnson. The 31-year-old Johnson was arrested Thursday evening after giving investigators suspicious information regarding her daughter's whereabouts. On Wednesday, Hayward police detectives asked for the public's help in locating Mason, saying she was considered at-risk. Police said family members told them the girl was last seen in December. As of late Friday evening, Hayward police investigators have not confirmed whether the child's body found at the Merced residence is that of Mason. Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said late Friday afternoon that federal investigators will spend the weekend retrieving all evidence in San Bruno at a crash scene related to Thursday morning's Caltrain commuter train collision with on-track equipment. At a late Friday afternoon press conference, NTSB officials explained their next steps in the investigation, which include gathering and collecting all perishable evidence at the crash site during the next several days. Investigators will be collecting additional information related to Thursday's crash for the next three months. The wreckage from the collision remains at the crash site. Federal officials said Friday that the on-track equipment that was hit by the locomotive was a "work train" made of up three vehicles -- a heavy duty pickup truck and two flatbed trucks carrying crane apparatus. Officials said the fire that resulted from the collision came from one of the vehicles in the "work train". Officials said the Caltrain commuter train was traveling at about 60 miles per hour when it collided with the on-track equipment. A preliminary report could be ready in three weeks. The analysis stage of the investigation could take 15 to 18 months, with a final report to be issued afterwards. Once evidence has been collected at the crash site, NTSB officials will release it to Caltrain so officials can inspect the damage to the tracks. As the NTSB investigation continues, Caltrain will be operating on a regular weekend schedule while maintaining bus-bridge service between the South San Francisco, San Bruno and Millbrae Caltrain stations on Saturday. BART will provide free service for passengers transferring at Millbrae Station through at least noon Saturday and customers can consider other transportation options by visiting 511.org. SamTrans buses will carry passengers between the impacted stations throughout the day on Saturday. Passengers traveling to and from those stations should expect service delays as a result of the bus-bridge. For the rest of the system, Caltrain will run its regular 32-train weekend schedule. Bus-bridge service is free to all Caltrain riders. Police in Vallejo are investigating the city's sixth homicide of the year, a woman found stabbed to death late Friday afternoon. Police responded at 4:20 p.m. to a call about a deceased person in the area of Monterey and Tennessee streets. On the scene, officers found the body of a woman suffering from at least one stab wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Preliminary details indicate the woman was homeless. The woman's identity, which was unknown at the time of the response by officers, os being withheld pending notification of relatives. The motive and circumstances are under investigation. Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Det. Josh Caitham at (707) 648-4342. Young barn owls were found in a bale of hay at a San Jose feed store and are expected to live, officials with the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley said Friday. Seven owls, from a few days old to a month, were found in the bale that originated in the Central Valley. Following the discovery, the feed store owner called animal control, which took the owlets to the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, an animal hospital. The Wildlife Center is trying to find out exactly where the bale of hay came from so a site can be established for the owls' release. The owlets will need to be fully fledged, which means their feathers must be large enough so they can fly. That will take about two months. Up to 200 workers will be out of work or can relocate to Texas as an East Oakland foundry closes, officials with the company McWane announced Friday. McWane does business as AB&I Foundry, located at 7825 San Leandro St., near the Oakland Coliseum. AB&I is the largest manufacturer of cast iron soil pipe and fittings in the western U.S. State prosecutors last month filed a lawsuit against the foundry over emissions of hexavalent chromium, which have been shown to cause lung cancer in people when inhaled, according to the National Toxicology Program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Problems with hexavalent chromium were most notably brought to light in the 2000 movie, "Erin Brockovich." McWane will relocate AB&I to Tyler, Texas. The move will occur in phases with fitting operations ending around June 9 and all operations ceasing in about a year. The company will help its employees who want to continue their employment with AB&I to relocate to Texas. The company will offer severance packages to eligible employees. About one-third of AB&I's employees live in East Oakland, according to the company. The average tenure for those employees is 13 years. State prosecutors did not respond immediately to say whether they will be dropping the suit against McWane. Companies interested in recruiting McWane employees who decide to remain in the Bay Area can call McWane's information hotline at (877) 460-1645. The National Weather Service forecast for Saturday for the San Francisco Bay Area calls for partly sunny skies with highs in the low to upper 60s. Overnight lows Saturday morning will range in the upper 30s to the low 50s. 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. A shell of a building with an abundance of history awaits a buyer who can bring it back to life. Known as The Colonial, the structure sits in the heart of the neighborhood of Georgetown in Washington, DC. It was built in 1820 during the Federal period, as a school for women. In the Civil War, the Union Army took it over as a hospital, explains the listing agent, Nate Guggenheim with Washington Fine Properties. The property measures an astonishing 25,000 square feet and is available for $12,995,000after a recent million-dollar price reduction. It's more of a development opportunity at this point, Guggenheim says. It could be turned into a house. It could be turned into multiple houses or multiple units. At the moment, it's in a state of disrepair, and it's looking for a new life. Exterior of former Civil War hospital in Washington, DC Constance Gauthier Historic photo Historical photo After the war, the building was turned into apartments. Just walking down the street and standing in front of it, you feel the history. There's a fairly famous picture of Civil War soldiers sitting on the steps outside of it, says Guggenheim. The facade of The Colonial looks amazing, but inside tells a different story. A buyer must be prepared to pour millions into this project. The interior is completely gutted. It has floors, but it's all basically open on the inside, says the agent. ___ Watch: Hail to the Chief! Take WFH Meetings from Your Own Oval Office ___ The historic structure is actually three buildings that are separated by masonry walls on the main floorsbut remain connected on the basement level. It's up to a new owner to decide whether to make it into a grand unified residence or simply divide it up. Its a total blank canvas," says the agent. "A creative mind and a good builder could make this an unbelievable structure. Exterior Constance Gauthier Plaque Constance Gauthier In its last iteration, the building was divided into 18 apartments, and tenants lived in the building up until just a couple of years ago. The current owners did an asbestos remediation, so now it's ready for the next thing, Guggenheim says. He adds that the next step could take shape in several waysincluding as a large home, as condos, or as apartments. He notes that if the building doesn't sell within the next few weeks, the current owners will continue with the project to create 18 condos, which he will sell "on the back end." We put it on the market while waiting for building permits, just to see if anyone wanted to pick up the project," he says. "As soon as the building permit comes through, they'll start the project. The property is a rare find in the area, especially given that it has a large parking lot behind the building with parking for 16 cars. It's probably in the absolute best location in all of Washington, DC. Its a prime block in a prime neighborhood, Guggenheim says, adding that its around the corner from where Jacqueline Kennedy lived after her husband was assassinated. It really is nestled among some of the most important houses in Washington, he adds. Parking lot Constance Gauthier Exterior Constance Gauthier He adds that the building's style is also a rare find in the area. Georgetown is always thought of as being very Federal, but it's predominantly Victorian, actually," he says. "This is a really a well-preserved example of Federal architecture, though it was changed a little bit from its original form. It's architecturally a very interesting building. One way or another, this building shell will soon be turned into something new. I hope that somebody really embraces the history of the building and the exterior architecture, and builds it commensurate with the neighborhood, Guggenheim says, noting the immense potential of the site. Georgetown is such a wonderful neighborhood, and I think that it could be just such an exciting set of units, nestled among a historically rich set of houses. The post Former Civil War Hospital in Washington, DC, Available for $13M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. On Friday morning at the San Francisco Zoo, an animal that looks like a crimson-colored raccoon slinks its way into a wooden tree house. It cautiously approaches a bright orange cake, made from the equivalent of cat food, and takes a few small bites before turning instead to a stalk of bamboo. The demure creature is one of the zoos red pandas, renamed Mei Lee, in honor of the main character in Pixars new film Turning Red. However, the cuddly panda on display couldnt be a sharper contrast to how the animal is portrayed in the movie. Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE On screen, the character of Mei Lee is a teenage girl living in Toronto, facing immense pressure from her mother while dealing with the challenges of puberty. When those stresses build up, Mei transforms into a gigantic red panda, leaving an uncontrollable trail of chaos in her wake. In Pixars universe, that cat food cake wouldve disappeared in an instant. Mei is voiced by 16-year-old Fremont resident Rosalie Chiang, who, in a stroke of coincidence, once gave a presentation about red pandas to her fifth grade class (she notes that they are indeed related to raccoons). Chiang was just beginning her acting journey four years ago when she received an opportunity to try out for the role. Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE I didnt think anything would come of it. I did the audition until 12 or 1 in the morning. I was just using my moms iPhone 6; the audio was really crappy, Chiang said, speaking to SFGATE a few feet from the pandas at the SF Zoo. Next came an in-person interview at Pixars Emeryville offices. When I got the callback, I didnt realize it was going to be at the actual Pixar campus. So I walked in, and it was like angels started singing. It was beautiful, Chiang says. Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE She landed a gig recording scratch vocals, temporary audio tracks that would later be replaced by a celebrity voice actor like Sandra Oh, who plays Meis mother. Then in early 2020, Chiang learned that shed been hired for the actual film. It was the last time producer Lindsey Collins and director Domee Shi saw Chiang before the pandemic. To continue production, Pixar sent her audio equipment that took up so much space in her home that Chiang ended up crashing on the couch. We turned my dads room into this makeshift recording booth. It was really hot in there. My dad would give me a bowl of ice to cool it down, Chiang says. Courtesy of Disney/Pixar Those whove grown up on Pixar films will notice some of their typical Easter eggs (Luxo, the Pizza Planet truck), and as always, Northern California provided plenty of inspiration for the film. Animators made repeated visits to the SF Zoo to study the pandas, San Franciscos Chinatown was a reference point and the Bok Kai Chinese Temple in Marysville provided a model for Meis familys business. However, unlike recent films like Soul, a more mature film that perhaps resonated more with parents than children, Turning Red aims at adolescent audiences with a plot that mirrors Chiangs real-life experiences. Turning Red is kind of my guide to puberty because I was going through a lot of changes and intimidated by that. It really helped me. And the relationship with my mother hit so close to home. My mom and I, after watching the movie, were like, This is oddly similar, Chiang says. Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE In Turning Red, Mei sneaks out of her house to go to a concert featuring a boy band called 4*Town, whose songs were written by Billie Eilish and Finneas OConnell. In real life, Chiang is more of a fan of K-pop, rattling off a list of bands including Seventeen, BTS, EXO and NCT. However, she wont admit to ever sneaking out to see a show likely because her father is standing just a few feet away. Rosie has always been a very confident child, says her father, Robin Chiang. Shes always been very curious and interested in different activities. My wife and I, we try our best to make sure she has an opportunity to develop whatever interests she has. SHELTON - The Planning and Zoning Commission is looking to prevent any recreational-use cannabis businesses from opening in the city as it explores whether to allow such operations in the future. The commission, at its meeting Tuesday, set a public hearing for March 29, via Zoom, to determine if a moratorium should be established to prohibit applications seeking to open recreational marijuana production, growing, sales or distribution facility in any zoning district in the city. We need to move as fast as we can, commission consultant Anthony Panico said about the need for the temporary moratorium. The commission needs the time to consider whether this use should be a permitted use or not. The commission is considering this temporary moratorium until Shelton can create new zoning regulations to address this issue. The public hearing is necessary before approval of such a moratorium because this action is an amendment to the present regulations. Commission Chair Virginia Harger said the public hearing is not to debate whether or not recreational cannabis should be produced, grown, sold or distribution in any zoning district within the city. Its just to determine if a moratorium should be put in place. If approved, Harger said the moratorium would allow time for the commissions zoning subcommittee to research what regulations are permitted under the state statute allowing such establishments, which went into effect on July 1, 2021. The subcommittee would come back to the entire commission with a recommendation which the entire commission could accept in its entirety or modify, Harger said. Last year, the state legislature legalized marijuana in Connecticut. Beginning July 1, it became legal for adults older than 21 to have an ounce-and-a-half of marijuana, plus another five ounces in a locked container. Retail sales in Connecticut are expected to begin as soon as this spring, under legislation approved by the state Senate last year. What (the commission) would be doing is no different than what numerous municipalities have done since June 2021 when Gov. Lamont signed Senate Bill 1201 into law, Harger added. brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com I wrote last week about the collapse of the Soviet Union as a result of the strength, moral clarity and leadership of President Ronald Reagan. I quoted Reagan's observation that the ultimate battle we fight, around the world and at home, is one of good and evil. This battle never ends. Evil always seeks to advance, constantly in search of the retreat of the presence of good, as it seeks opportunities for expansion. There simply is no other way to understand the horrible realities we confront today. Russian President Vladimir Putin is an evil man. A murderer and a thief. He chose to advance his outrageous and murderous agenda because he understood that opposite him in the world stood weakness and moral relativism, not strength and moral clarity. While Putin utilizes Russia's prodigious production of oil and gas as a major weapon in his war of aggression, the Biden administration is fighting its own war against America's oil and gas industry. I wrote recently about Biden's nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to be vice chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Raskin is a leading voice to shut down America's oil and gas industry, which she called "a dying industry." Under President Donald Trump, America's oil and gas industry was booming. However, President Joe Biden has reversed everything. The Biden administration returned the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change, from which Trump withdrew. Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline that would have delivered 830,000 barrels per day of Canadian crude oil to the United States. And the Biden administration has committed to blocking any new oil and gas development on federal lands. One of the first victims has been suspending oil and gas leasing in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Now, as Americans see prices at the gas pump skyrocketing, and as Biden and Democrats worry about the fallout of this in an election year, the Biden administration is turning hat-in-hand for supplies to socialist despot Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, who ruined his own country and was sanctioned by Trump. Biden also is turning to Gulf producers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to increase production. Aside from the rocky relations we now have with Saudi Arabia as the result of misguided Biden diplomacy, the Saudis and Emiratis are concerned, as The Wall Street Journal points out, about alienating the Russians, who now are a force in the Middle East. How is it that the Russians have become power brokers in the Middle East? Israeli leader and former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky writes in The Wall Street Journal that the Russians stepped in as a force in the Middle East to fill a strategic vacuum left when the Obama administration, of which our current president was a part, chose to ignore its threat to stand against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's use of chemical weapons against his own citizens. Then the Obama administration followed up with its ill-conceived nuclear deal with Iran, which Trump pulled out of and now the Biden administration is working to renew. Iran poses a threat to Gulf oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE and also to Israel, which it threatens to destroy. Sharansky notes that after Obama's retreat, the Russians set up a military base in Syria and now broker its air space. Israel is dependent on Russian goodwill to allow them to counter Iranian aggression in Syria, a direct threat to their security. Two seats on the board of American's largest oil company, ExxonMobil, were gained last year by Wall Street climate change activists committed to transform the oil company to "clean" energy. Among Wall Street climate change activists is Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the largest money manager in the world. Perhaps our president and these billionaire leftists can explain their logic to the Ukrainian citizens now being murdered by Putin. Star Parker is an author and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Contact her at www.urbancure.org. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Local Scottville considers proposal to allow marijuana facilities in city It looks as though Scottville is taking steps toward allowing medical and recreational marijuana establishments to operate within the city limits. During Mondays meeting of the city commission, set for 6:40 p.m. at City Hall, there will be a first reading of an ordinance to allow adult-use marijuana facilities such as provisioning centers, growth establishments, processing facilities and marijuana microbusinesses. The ordinance proposes that the city authorize the establishment of marijuana operations to the extent permissible under state and federal laws. City Manager Jimmy Newkirk wrote in the notes for Mondays meeting that allowing marijuana establishments would have its economic perks. I believe that this will be a quick jolt to the economy of Scottville, Newkirk wrote. He later told the Daily News that he doesnt believe its a catch-all solution to repair Scottvilles economic standing, but he said theres no legal reason not to allow the businesses to operate in the city, especially since marijuana products are being delivered to Scottville from neighboring areas, leaving the city with none of the profits. Why wouldnt we provide an opportunity for a legitimate, legal business to come and open a store here? he said. Newkirk addressed some concerns that people opposed to allowing retail cannabis establishments have made, saying hes lived in communities that have legalized marijuana before, and it has not led to an increase in crime. Additionally, he stressed that he believes criminal conduct that results from marijuana use is not the fault of the legal businesses selling the products. These establishments are not detriments to the communities that some think they are, Newkirk wrote. The facts are: it is legal, it is already delivered here and we need to take every advantage at our disposal to increase the economic standing of Scottville. Newkirk also referenced some real-estate developments that are taking place behind the scenes, also primed to bolster the economy. He said some of those developments could be related to the citys repeal of its marijuana business ban. I dont know which buildings and things, but I know there are some speculative agreements with building owners with some companies, if they get a license, he said. I think a couple are marijuana-related, but I cant say that for sure. The ordinance itself is an 18-page document containing detailed, lengthy guidelines should the measure be approved by the city. It outlines proposed guidelines for licensing, fees and more, and states that specific zoning areas would be recommended, based on population density and topography, for cannabis growers, microbusinesses and processing businesses. The proposed ordinance would also allow the city to impose a limit on the number of facilities allowed, and to collect licensing fees up to $5,000. The commission decided in November 2021 to revisit and consider repealing its ban on marijuana businesses, implemented in 2019. The decision came following a request from at least one local business seeking to open up an adult-use marijuana shop somewhere in the city. OTHER BUSINESS Planning Commissioner Howard VanderLaan is stepping down from his seat, and the city is expected to commend him for his service with an on-the-record note of appreciation. Mr. VanderLaan has been involved with Scottville city government in several roles for many years and it has been my pleasure to work with him this past year, Newkirk stated. I recommend approval of the presented resolution honoring Howard for his many years of service to Scottville. The city will consider participating in the Michigan Cooperative Liquid Assets Securities System (CLASS), a cash-management option that would offer the city safety, liquidity, independence, customer service and competitive returns, according to Newkirk. The inter-local government pool includes more than 500 funded participants. Commissioners will also consider a request from the Mason-Lake Conservation District to donate $542 to the districts annual Household Hazardous Waste clean-up and disposal event, which will take place Saturday, Aug. 20. Try out LudingtonDailyNews.com for only 99 per month for the first 3 months, $9.99 a month after. Unlimited website access 24/7 Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more! With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-Edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. Takeaway: A California Labor Code violation may also arise when an employee relocates after being promised a certain salary and is told that he or she must take a pay cut shortly after starting the new job. Page Content Despite his at-will status, a former employee may proceed with a lawsuit under the California Labor Code alleging that his employer intentionally misrepresented the nature of the work he was expected to perform, a California appeals court ruled. California Labor Code Section 970 prohibits employers from persuading job candidates to accept employment and relocate by making knowingly false representations about the kind, character or existence of work (or the length of time such work will last). The employer in this case develops and markets consumer applications with a specialty in music social applications. Before the plaintiff accepted the job, the employer told him the company had significant problems with its development process, was not operating efficiently and needed an experienced project manager to help growth. It said it also needed the experienced project manager to train, supervise and recruit other experienced project managers. The employer wanted the plaintiff to develop a functional project management team that would enable the employer to grow its business, and it wanted the plaintiff to join the company to reorganize the company's project management operations and enable it to grow and operate more efficiently. The plaintiff said he wanted a director title, and the employer agreed to the title of lead project manager. The plaintiff also said he was only interested in a secure, long-term position where he could grow with a company expanding its business, and the employer said that was exactly what it was offering. The plaintiff claimed that the employer's representations induced him to resign from his employment and move his family to the Bay Area. Five months after his start date, the employer eliminated his job and ended his employment. The plaintiff sued, alleging a violation of Section 970 because the representations the employer made to him about the nature of his job were false and the employer knew they were false. The employer noted that the company had an employment-at-will relationship with its employees, which meant that it was entitled to terminate the plaintiff's employment at any time and for any reason. The plaintiff asserted that he was not claiming wrongful termination but was alleging that specific representations were made to him as to the nature, kind and character of the work he was being hired to perform and the length of time the work would require. He claimed that a jury could reasonably find that the employer never intended to have him perform the job functions represented to him during the recruiting process. The lower court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the plaintiff was an at-will employee and could not reasonably rely on the employer's representations. The appeals court disagreed and ruled that the plaintiff could take his claim to trial. Proving a Section 970 Claim To prevail on a Section 970 claim, the court said, a plaintiff must prove that: The defendant made representations to the plaintiff about the kind or character of the work, or the length of time the work would last. The defendant's representations were not true. The defendant knew when the representations were made that they were not true. The defendant intended that the plaintiff rely on the representations. The plaintiff reasonably relied on the representations and relocated for the purpose of working for the defendant. The plaintiff was harmed. The plaintiff's reliance on the defendant's representations was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff's harm. The appeals court found that there was enough evidence for a jury to conclude that the employer made misrepresentations to the plaintiff about the tasks he was being hired to perform, the goals he was to achieve and the time it was expected for him to achieve those goals. The court also found that the plaintiff relied on these representations in accepting the employment offer. As an at-will employee, the plaintiff could not rely on any promises about how long he would be employed; however, he could base his lawsuit on the alleged misrepresentations about the nature of the employment that was being offered. An at-will employer "does not have carte blanche to lie to an employee about any matter whatsoever to trick him or her into accepting employment," the court said. White v. Smule, Calif. Ct. App., No. A161858 (Feb. 18, 2022). Joanne Deschenaux, J.D., is a freelance writer in Annapolis, Md. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! By Azernews By Ayya Lmahamad Azerbaijan and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing new communication links between the East Zangazur economic region and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through the territory of Iran. The document was signed by Azerbaijan's Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Iran's Roads and Urban Development Minister Rostam Ghasemi within the 15th meeting of the Azerbaijan-Iran State Commission on economic, trade and humanitarian cooperation, held in Baku on March 11. Presidential Aide Hikmat Hajiyev, commenting on the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding between Azerbaijan and Iran, underlined that it is a historic event. He noted that the head of state keeps this important transport and communication project in the center of constant attention, and instructions have been given to the relevant structures for its implementation. "As a result of the implementation of this project, the long-term policy of Armenia on the blockade of Nakhchivan will be put to an end. Between the two regions of Azerbaijan - Eastern Zangezur and Nakhchivan - through the Iranian territory will be created automobile, railway, electric power communication," he said. Hajiyev noted that the project also changes the transport and communication picture in the region as a whole, adding that connecting Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey, it creates the basis for a new corridor in Eurasia, including roads, railways, power lines and digital communications. He also stressed that the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan as a result of the 44-day Karabakh war, ensuring control over the part of the Azerbaijani-Iranian border belonging to the country, called the "border of friendship" by the President of Azerbaijan, made it possible to implement this transport and communication project. "The signing of the memorandum falls on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Iran. An important role in the implementation of this project is played by the relations of friendship, mutual trust and neighborhood that have developed over 30 years between the two countries," he said. The official expressed confidence that the new corridor will create favorable opportunities for regional cooperation, development and prosperity of the peoples of the region, expansion of trade and economic ties. Azerbaijan-Iran State Commission The 15th meeting of the Azerbaijan-Iran State Commission on economic, trade, and humanitarian cooperation was held in Baku on March 11. Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and other representatives of the State and Government take part in the meeting from the Azerbaijani side and Roads and Urban Development Minister Rostam Ghasemi and other officials - from the Iranian side. During the meeting, it was decided that the next meeting of the State Commission for Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran will be held in Tehran. "Following the meetings, important results were achieved. The increase in trade turnover was especially emphasized," Rostam Ghasemi said. Ghasemi expressed hope that relations between the two countries will reach an even higher level. "Considering the geopolitical position of our countries, it is planned to increase the transit potential. Within the North-South corridor, this transit will reach a maximum," he added. Bilateral cooperation At the same time, Ghasemi stated that a roadmap has been drawn up between the two countries in various fields. He noted that one of the areas of work of the Iranian government is to strengthen relations with neighboring countries. "Activation of transport corridors that will connect our countries is in the spotlight," he said. Ghasemi added that both countries also decided to expand activities in connection with border checkpoints. In turn, Shahin Mustafayev noted that the two bridges will be built between Azerbaijan and Iran. Noting that one of the bridges will be built by Azerbaijan, the other by Iran, Mustafayev added that these projects will be implemented under the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries. Speaking about bilateral cooperation, the deputy prime minister stated that the level of Azerbaijani-Iranian ties calls for satisfaction, bilateral cooperation develops dynamically. He mentioned that the trade turnover between the two countries grew by 30 percent even during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that some 2,050 Iranian companies operate successfully in Azerbaijan, enjoying a favorable business environment in the country. "Iranian companies will also be involved in the restoration work of the liberated territories. These days, they will begin to implement a number of projects," he said. Additionally, Mustafayev added that Iranian companies are showing great interest in industrial parks in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. Noting that necessary conditions will be created for Iranian companies, he stated that the first proposals in this direction have already been received. Recent actions by the Friends of the Rail Bridge indicate the group doesnt have a viable plan moving forward. The preservation group wants to save the Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge and turn it into a foot bridge. FORB cites two old legal doctrines in arguing the bridge is property of the state, not BNSF Railway -- hoping state ownership will bolster its cause. It also seeks to back out of an agreement it signed last year with the U.S. Coast Guard and BNSF. The Tribune editorial board believes BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth was probably right when she said, At a certain point, one has to wonder if FORB has a specific plan beyond delaying. The process for deciding what happens to the bridge has been going on for about five years. The agreement signed by the three parties last year was intended to result in a resolution of the issue. FORB wants out of the agreement because it says it places an undue burden on the group. Basically, the nonprofit admits it cant meet the terms of the agreement. FORB has been unable to find a public partner to help with preservation efforts. It also acknowledges that the estimated costs of turning the bridge into a foot bridge, almost $7 million, are unprecedented. FORB worked hard to find a public partner, but no government entity wanted responsibility for buying and renovating the bridge. FORB said it expects to raise funds from the public and groups interested in preservation. President Mark Zimmerman said its difficult to raise money while the status of the bridge is uncertain. The doctrines being cited to claim the bridge belongs to the state are the Equal Footing and Public Trust doctrines. The Equal Trust Doctrine guarantees that all states that enter the union are on the same footing as the original 13. The other doctrine is the principle that the government owns and protects certain natural resources for public use. FORB argues that based on the doctrines, Congress held in trust navigable rivers such as the Missouri River and any structures in the riverbed. Since Congress didnt transfer ownership of the bridge to the railroad when North Dakota became a state, FORB argues it belongs to the state. Further, FORB believes under the North Dakota Century Code that if the bridge is owned by the state it cant be destroyed without approval of the State Historical Board. Its an end-around effort to give the state ownership of bridge along with the undue burden of the costs that go along with it. The state made it clear this week that it has no interest in getting involved in the ownership dispute and wont seek an attorney generals opinion. State officials indicated earlier that the state is not interested in assuming responsibility for the bridge. It does have a keen interest in BNSF building a new bridge. A new bridge will allow the railway to haul more products -- often commodities produced in North Dakota, which will benefit the states agricultural producers. If the old bridge remains in place, the cost of a new bridge could increase by $50 million or more, according to McBeth. The state wants the Coast Guard, BNSF and FORB to resolve the ownership issue. The three parties need to make a decision on ownership, and then the Coast Guard needs to decide on saving or demolishing the bridge. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 As a professional conversationalist aka journalist Ive been striking up conversations for more than 30 years. My estimate is that Ive conducted about 10,000 interviews. Journalism perfectly satisfied my restless curiosity; my need to be nosey. Ive been fortunate to have spoken with people from all walks of life and from many corners of the Earth, from a shepherd watching his flock on the wintry slopes of Bethlehem to an exorcist exhibiting the shackles embedded in a cell in the Vatican. Jane Hutcheon wrote and performed Lost in Shanghai, which retraces her mothers childhood footsteps through a China long gone, to sold-out theatre audiences at the 2022 Sydney Festival. Credit: From 2010, my conversations became more structured with One Plus One on ABC Television. Over nine years I conducted more than 500 face-to-face, in-depth, 30-minute conversations, using questions to draw out the masterpieces and misery, triumphs and setbacks, the ebb and flow of my guests lives. The show featured celebrities, writers, actors and scientists as well as many little-known heroes. These interviews provided me with an insight into how to craft conversations. Rebel talk is a tool I invented, distilled from these years of personal and professional conversations. It serves as a call to action as well as an acronym: R: readiness (research and prepare); E: empathy (to connect and engage); B: be curious (ask questions); E: engage attention (humble listening); and L: lead the way (choose how to respond). So while a familiar face wont hurt your chance of a hit, showgoers have proven more than willing to throw their dollars at works that dont feature a single recognisable name on the marquee. ONCE MORE WITH FEELING Industry wisdom has always been that a revival of an already cherished musical is always safer than premiering an unknown show. Its why the calendar is typically punctuated by an Annie or a Phantom or a Chicago these shows come with a pre-made fanbase that will almost guarantee a certain level of success. Almost. Josh Piterman will star in Phantom of the Opera in Melbourne. Credit:Johan Persson/Justin McManus Adaptations of stories known from elsewhere in the pop cultural canon are also favoured The Lion King, Cinderella and Jagged Little Pill bring in audiences curious to see how a live version of a beloved classic will work. Lets face it: ever since Baz Luhrmann hit big with his 1990 production of La Boheme, hes been obsessively remaking the same show through various iterations of Moulin Rouge!, and tickets to the current production at The Regent are going gangbusters. Adaptations can backfire, however. In recent memory productions based on films like Ghost, Xanadu and The Bodyguard opened to middling reviews, and didnt exactly leave the landscape transformed in their wake. YOU AINT NEVER HAD A SET LIKE ME Some of the finest works of musical theatre achieve the kind of greatness that transcends the moment of their creation. Then there are shows with a flying car. Grant Almirall as Don Lockwood is entrancing in the title song sequence for Singin' In The Rain. Credit:Hagen Hopkins Its great if youre working with a composer the likes of Sondheim, but it also doesnt hurt to have a gimmick. Singin in the Rain is much more attractive when the cast are actually singing in the rain, and even critics of the early versions of King Kong had to admit that the ape was really great. PUT ANOTHER DIME IN THE JUKEBOX, BABY Raiding an artists back catalogue for a pre-baked set of hits has always been popular in music theatre. So-called jukebox musicals are often sneered at for relying on someone elses musical brilliance, rather than introducing the world to original songs, but there have been a bunch with real chops of their own. Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia! and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert are all jukebox musicals, but few would argue they dont stand up in their own right. Be aware that the more popular the music, the higher the price tag, however. You dont get to ride on a great songwriters coattails without paying for the rights take Moulin Rouge!, whose mash-up of some of the last 100 years most earworm-worthy songs meant it had to pay more in licensing fees than any musical in history. A STING IN THE TALE Music theatre isnt always associated with the most complex of storytelling, but theres more to it than that. The stories that seem least likely to work in other forms sometimes shine in musical form Victorian Operas recent production of Tommy confirmed it as one of the most bizarre narratives ever set to a backbeat. On paper a show such as Hamilton sounds like a terrible investment, but its a show thats changed the entire industry. Cast of Tommy! during a rehersal at the Palais Theatre. Credit: Wayne Taylor Stories in musical theatre dont need to be credible, as such, or even relatable, but its essential theyre not treated as disposable. Like the audiences who love the form, they might be interested in a night of fun that doesnt take itself too seriously or a bleaker, longer dark night of the soul but just like those audiences, they demand to be taken on their own terms. HOW THE STORY LEAST LIKELY WENT ON THE CHANGE MUSIC THEATRE Even people who dont know Hamilton know Hamilton. Its hard to think of many works in any medium with better word-of-mouth in New York the musical has been famous for the years it takes to score a ticket, and the sometimes ridiculous amounts people will pay to get in. From left: Hamilton choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail and music director Alex Lacamoire at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018. Credit:Cassell Alex Lacamoire is music director and orchestrator of the Broadway production and is heading to Melbourne to perform the same roles here. He met Hamiltons mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda and director Thomas Kail in 2008, when the three worked on Mirandas musical In the Heights. It was during a White House performance with Miranda that Lacamoire first encountered a song that would go on to become the opening number of Hamilton, and over the next few years he watched the show slowly come together. He says that Manuels genius partly lies in the way his compositions work on almost unconscious levels that arent always obvious to the listener. One of the things Lin is a real genius around is using motifs, and repurposing chord progressions, reusing lyrics and having them appear as reprises throughout the show. Hes really good at building upon something. He uses the example of the Hamilton song Burn: What you might not pick up immediately is that the entire chord progression of the song is built around two songs weve previously heard in the show, one of them being the opening number and the other being a song that Eliza sings called That Would Be Enough. Those progressions make up the song but the melody is different, Elizas song is a waltz whereas the others are in 4/4 time. So those kinds of subliminal things tie the score together and make it feel like one big piece, with themes that repeat and recur. That dense layering of meanings echoes across every level of Hamilton, he says. On a visual level theres a lot of dance steps and staging choices that are really layered and you dont catch them on the first watch. Once you revisit the show and pay attention, you really see how much planning went into the choreography. Loading Lacamoire says theres no recipe for success in music theatre, and only a fool would try to second guess audience tastes. Ive worked on shows where I thought that the script wasnt funny at all, and the audience was in stitches every night. Theres pieces where again you know that the music is so compelling and the story youre obsessed with, and it cant sell a ticket and closes early. A national emergency declaration for flood-affected communities in NSW was formally declared on Friday night after Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with Governor-General David Hurley on Friday night. Both men had visited the Northern Rivers and witnessed the aftermath of the floods in Lismore and surrounding areas. Their meeting allowed the measures flagged earlier in the week to take effect. Windsor residents have begun the long clean-up now that the flood has receded. Credit:Flavio Brancaleone Speaking at the Hawkesbury Emergency Operations Centre on Saturday morning, the Prime Minister said the emergency powers would assist with the absolutely devastating situation in the states north. What a state of emergency does, and this will be particularly helpful up in the Northern Rivers where the situation remains drastic, is help with things like having a waiver on regulations for Commonwealth agencies. Like many Sydneysiders who live near the water, Lauren ONeill bought a kayak during the pandemic for socially distanced exercise. The 27-year-old from Elizabeth Bay followed the lead of other boat owners in the area and started chaining her kayak to the fence at Rushcutters Bay. More than 100 boats, kayaks and paddle boards are left along fences at Rushcutters Bay and Beare Park. Credit:Wolter Peeters Its been really nice to get out on the harbour and explore the water from a different perspective, she said. Paddling past fish, all the seabirds and the glimmering water is a really relaxing way to spend your time. From her perspective, seeing all the kayaks lined up along the fence brings life and colour to the park and is a visible reminder of the joy kayaking brings to so many residents. Its too early to predict whether that trend will significantly change but, regardless, the city is focused on supporting local businesses through efforts to attract people back to the city centre, she said. Committee for Sydney chief executive Gabriel Metcalf said the signing of new leases showed businesses were betting on a high number of people spending time and shopping in the CBD. Part of the magic of CBDs is that they have room for almost everything inside them, he said. Lots of different stores, lots of different restaurants, lots of different jobs. Mr Ginnane said Big W was following an overseas trend of budget retailers moving into city centres, with Ikea planning to open on Londons prestigious shopping strip Oxford Street in 2023. Target has opened stores in Manhattan in the past few years to cater for the quick shopping centre experience within 10 minutes of your workspace. In the past, Mr Ginnane said the retail offering in CBDs included hardware, furniture, electric goods and budget department stores. What you are seeing is a 2022 version of what CBDs were like in the mid-1960s, he said. Todays consumers are basically lazy in many mays and expect everything to be nearby and accessible, click and collectable 24 hours per day, 365 days of the year. Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said he did not believe the discount department store will lower the tone of the CBD, but instead expand shopping options for commuters, residents and travellers. There are also now a lot of families living in the city in apartments and Big W is targeting them by providing homewares, appliances, toys, kids clothing, toys and accessories, he said. Data from SQM research shows the Sydney CBD residential vacancy rate in January was 4.5 per cent, down from a peak of more than 16 per cent in May 2020. But data from the Property Council of Australia shows only 18 per cent of workers returned to Sydney CBD workplaces in February compared to 7 per cent in January and 68 per cent in May 2021. Jana Bowden, a professor of marketing at Macquarie Business School, said the change in work patterns had created a place for a discounter touting a broad range of products. Loading Data from NielsenIQs consumer outlook survey shows significantly more shoppers looking for affordable, lower prices in 2022, Professor Bowden said. Putting both Woolworths and Big W in the one location makes it convenient for the CBD on-the-go shopper looking to grab essential groceries and lifestyle items. But she said it was yet to be seen whether adding a discount retailer into the CBD brings enough pull power to attract workers, visitors and general shoppers. Professor Bowden said CBD retailers will continue to face headwinds with hybrid working leading to a decline in the number of commuters travelling to the city and leaving Friday dead for businesses trying to cash in on foot traffic. How Sydney used to shop Decades before city workers dashed into Woolies at Town Hall for a snack on their way to work, shoppers in 1960s Sydney were promised service that leaves a feeling of happiness. Customers were also offered service as sure as the Rise of the Sun as they browsed the homewares and furniture inside Bebarfalds landmark location opposite Sydney Town Hall, according to catalogues held by the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection at Sydney Living Museums. Bebarfalds was one of many department stores that attracted shoppers to the Sydney CBD throughout the 1950s and 1960s, along with other now-forgotten household names such as Mark Foys, Marcus Clark & Co and Anthony Hordern & Sons. Like the elegantly coiffed customers in the 2018 movie Ladies in Black, set in a prestigious Sydney department store, shoppers at Bebarfalds often dressed in their Sunday best. Loading But Michael Lech, a curator at Sydney Living Museums, said the 1960s was the end of an era for Sydneys grand department stores as the citys growing population and rising rates of car ownership meant more people lived farther from the city. What it meant was there was a greater demand for shops and stores closer to where people were living than in the past, he said. Mr Lech said there was also a strong push by governments from the 1950s to decentralise jobs and business towards the suburbs to stop the city being so choked. A lot of retailers saw the future was in the suburbs, he said. Loading Sydneys first major open-air shopping centre was built at Top Ryde in 1957, while Roselands was the biggest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere when it was opened by NSW Premier Robert Askin in 1965. Meanwhile, Sydney CBD was beginning to look shabby and shopping had contracted to the area around the Pitt Street Mall and George Street, Mr Lech said. Around World Square, what used to be a thriving group of department stores all fell in a heap. Shoppers still ventured into the Sydney CBD to shop at David Jones, but Mr Lech said it was a far cry from pre-war days when everyone came to the city to do their shopping. Woolworths opened its first store in the Imperial Arcade in the city in 1924. Assessment times also vary dramatically with some Sydney councils taking three times longer than others to assess a DA, highlighting concerns that some smaller councils do not have enough experienced staff to assess proposals. The average number of days for a DA to be determined ranges from 45 days in Lane Cove to 132 days in the neighbouring council of Hunters Hill. The data showed it took Camden 49 days to assess DAs, followed by Blacktown (52), Wollondilly (54) and Fairfield (58), while the slower councils included Georges River (119) and Burwood (118). A Randwick Council spokeswoman said the council took on average 78 days to assess DAs not 140 days as recorded by the NSW governments planning portal, which she said was not an accurate reflection of the number of DAs processed or time taken to process them. The planning portal does not integrate with council systems and requires significant manual intervention to update it with current data, she said. The average assessment time for DAs determined across Sydney in 2021 was 85 days, down from 117 days in 2018-19. Developers lobby group, Urban Taskforce, last week accused residents of weaponising heritage to block development. Meanwhile, the refusal rate for DAs submitted for heritage-listed properties last year was slightly lower at 3 per cent than the overall rate of 4 percent. The City of Sydney turned down seven out of 435 DAs submitted for heritage properties in 2021, while the Inner West Council refused just three out of 88 DAs and Woollahra two out of 44 DAs. A quarter of the 16 DAs submitted for heritage properties in Hunters Hill were refused. A Planning Department spokeswoman said the state government had created a faster, simpler planning system a view shared by only 40 per cent of members of the Building Designers Association of Australia. BDAA chief executive Chris Knierim said the planning system favoured large developers as they hire ex-council staff members who have links in council. Planners, many being junior, dont understand the actual construction of a building but rather know how to tick boxes, he said. Local planning panels, made up of independent experts, scrutinise contentious and complex DAs and applications with the greatest corruption risk on behalf of councils. They approved 1167 proposals and refused 337 last year. Local planning panels are essential to safeguarding against corruption, ensuring transparency and accountability, and giving communities greater certainty about planning decisions, the Planning Department spokeswoman said. Loading However, Liberal, Labor and Greens mayors last year said planning panels favoured developers and undermined democratic accountability. Local councils, building designers and developers have also expressed concern about the complexity of the planning system. Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest said the DA assessment system was slow, bureaucratic, lacking in deadlines, and certainly does not favour large developers. Labors planning spokesman Paul Scully said DA processing times appeared to have fallen in some local government areas in the past 10 years. Mr Scully said councillors at last weeks local government conference had highlighted the pressures created by a lack of planners for strategic planning and assessments. There was also a growing number of state government reviews that councils were asked to comment on and implement. Planning Minister Anthony Roberts has announced $1 million to fund a flying squad of planners to help regional councils to assess DAs. We know attracting qualified planners can be a problem, particularly for smaller regional councils, he said. But Local Government NSW president Darriea Turley said reforms such as the Planning Portal required significant additional resources to manage and maintain, while council planners had been head-hunted by the Planning Department. The irony is that while the Department now has the staff to supercharge the pace of reform, there are simultaneously less council planners on the ground to implement the changes, she said. Mr Forrest said smaller councils struggled to find staff to cope with the complexity of the planning system, while local planning panels were made up of retired second-rate planners and anti-development community activists. A simple way to improve your DA determination average assessment times is to simply refuse the application, he said. Mr Forrest said the reduction in the time taken to assess DAs has not been evident on the ground. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the number of housing approvals in NSW dropped 14 per cent in January compared to December 2021, while apartment approvals fell by 37 per cent. Self-defense Counterattack Against Vietnam SDCAV (4) Another unfavorable result of the War of SDCAV was that Thailand, Burma and many Southeast Asian small countries around, would begin to perceive China with eyes of distrust and vigilance Different from 1962 Counterattack Against India, or Counterattack Against the USSR, which were two big countries that first provoked China and occupied obviously Chinas territory, Vietnam was a small country. Condemning sternly their proactive behaviors, China was then righteous and reasonable to have taught the two big countries lessons. The area of Vietnam being small, only one thirtieth of China, its military forces and equipment being unequal to China, and the most important being that Vietnam did not long time take up Chinas land., it was unreasonable and vexatious for China to gain an advantage over Vietnam using military power first. Deeming that the United Nation should take responsibility to resolve the conflict between Vietnam and Cambodia, therefore, it was not strange many small counties would share the same viewpoint: by virtue of big power(China) bullying the small and weak. Before the SDCAV war started Deng Xiao Ping made a bet saying that the USSR would not attack China. He was being right. The second day after war initiated the USSR government only issued a perfunctory statement condemning Chinas sinful attack. For its military action, only a special mixed fleet was sent to South China sea and strengthened air patrol on Sino-Soviet borders. Mentioning strategy of the USSR, most of the military enthusiasts could understand: As a big country in Europe that founded in 1917, decades of her history has demonstrated that the USSRs population momentum and stresses of politics and economy were developing around the axis of the west part, or European part. Even in the WWII, faced with Japans hostile glaring, the USSR mostly kept this strategy, unwilling to extend war risk in the East since there were scarce population, little financial resources, and backward transportation. On the other hand, in the East it was hard and uneasy to transport and mobilize troops, and it was as well knotty to deliver military equipment. Contrary to this Soviet predicament the military and economy in the Northeast of China, there were comparatively developed economy and healthy military transfers, especially it was paled in comparison to Chinas prosper population. From its roof garden and large-scale Indigenous artwork to a museum holding 18,000 artefacts from the ancient world, Macquarie Universitys new arts precinct aims to inspire students as well as provide space to learn and study. Martina Mollering, executive dean of the Faculty of Arts, said the $125 million new building was designed to make students feel how important and relevant arts and humanities are to addressing some of societys biggest issues. Professor Martina Mollering and university student Dylan Barnes with their large-scale artwork in the new $125 million Arts Precinct at Macquarie University. Credit:James Brickwood Professor Mollering said the new facility offered students an inspiring and interactive learning environment where they can explore their creativity and passions, while equipping them for the jobs of the future. Employers have told us they are increasingly looking for graduates with transferable skills like communication, critical thinking and digital literacy, and this is the great strength of our programs, she said. Take for example, Dymocks Australias top 10 best-sellers last week: six were books trending on BookTok. There are [also] five BookTok titles in the current top 10 Australia wide [for all retailers], says Kate Mayor, the national fiction buyer for Dymocks. To say it is significant is an understatement. Jon Page, manager of Sydneys George Street Dymocks store, which now devotes an entire section to BookTok titles, says young women and girls were a godsend for the store during January when retail sales were down due to the summer Omicron wave. TikTok books kept us going through January, he said. But the moment school started, we saw the bottom fall out in terms of sales. It was a huge drop-off. In his years in the book industry, hes seen trends come and go like the Harry Potter era or the obsession with crime fiction. But he says he hasnt seen books fly off the shelves the way they are now in at least a decade. [Its like] back in the Dan Brown era people would get on a plane and every second person would have that same book, he says. The BookTok effect is being felt elsewhere, too: last year recorded the highest sales of printed books in a decade in Britain, while in America sales were the highest on record. Popular Australian #BookTokers @luckies_universe - 381k followers @anitaslibrary - 277k followers @caityreads - 46k followers @claudiatalksfilm - 26k followers @_cassidyreads_ - 13k followers In Australia, theres been a 27 per cent increase in sales of young adult fiction since 2019, bringing in $34.6 million last year, according to book sales data provider Nielsen. A survey by the organisation also found that 45 per cent of book-buyers aged between 16 and 24 agreed or strongly agreed that they read more books than they used to; 28 per cent reported theyd discussed books online in the past three months. Claudia Scalzi, a 24-year-old media graduate from Melbourne, is one of a number of rising Australian BookTokers with a following of nearly 27,000. A keen reader as a child, Ms Scalzi lost her reading habit during her high school years as friends, social media, Netflix and homework absorbed her spare time. Falling into BookTok during Melbournes lockdowns reignited her love for reading: she now reads about 10 titles a month. Seeing people talking about books that they loved and that they recommended it was just kind of nice to see that my childhood hobby is very much like a popular hobby, and I wanted friends to talk about it with, she said. Fantasy and young adult genres have been hugely popular on BookTok, but so are many self-improvement and business titles. Even Greek mythology has a huge audience, with Madeline Millers The Song of Achilles, a re-telling of Homers The Iliad, one of the best-sellers last year. Romance books are the most dominant genre. Romance is kind of considered a lower genre of books, so its nice to have a large community of people reclaiming it, says Ms Scalzi. Publishers and industry leaders are all trying to make sense of this new reading renaissance. Hachette Australia, which publishes Colleen Hoover the author behind numerous behemoth TikTok titles has begun encouraging its stable of authors to open their own TikTok accounts. The publisher now sends books to various TikTokers, as well as reviewers from traditional outlets. Loading Marketing and Communications director Alysha Farry said the alchemy of what went viral on TikTok could not be manipulated by authors or publishers. Many of the current best-selling titles were published years ago with very little mainstream acclaim or success before the advent of BookTok. Much of the charm of TikTok, I think, lies in its authenticity, she said. Its a place where the agenda seems to be set by the users themselves and not by brands. Canberra-based author Sally Thorne agrees. She is one of a handful of Australian authors to have benefited from the BookTok bump, despite staying entirely off the video-sharing app herself. [My publisher] Hachette has told me that this time last year, The Hating Game was selling 120 copies a week and now its selling 1200 copies a week, she said. Im very lucky that this is all happening. Its some sort of strange alchemy that I do not quite understand. Loading Whatever that magic is, Readings Joe Rubbo is just happy to see new readers finding a love of books. He finds a bemusing irony in the idea that young people and their phones could now be the saviour of publishing. Griffith Universitys research into intergenerational learning programs found that an opt-in model improved older peoples mood, their mobility and gave them a sense of purpose. Although not proven yet, the researchers highly suspect it slows cognitive decline, an issue affecting 487,500 Australians living with dementia, according to Dementia Australia. Children, meanwhile, showed an increase in confidence and communication skills. Australian Institute for Intergenerational Practice, Emeritus Professor Anneke Fitzgerald, who led the research, said Australia was leading the way. A monthly morning tea is not intergenerational practice. Its a visit, she said. What we are talking about is something thats planned, curriculum-based and has reciprocal benefit. She said the overarching goal was to have more integrated communities and for the programs to be rolled out across the country in a bid to stave off isolation and loneliness. Diana and Maximilian in season 2 of Old Peoples Home For 4 Year Olds. Credit:Nigel Wright/ABC It would cost much less to have these programs as a normal part of Australian society than it is to prescribe antidepressants for older people, she said. The Herds founders, Fiona and Anna Glumac, started the project four years ago, inspired by a documentary on intergenerational care in Seattle and the experience of their grandmother who had her final days in aged care. The very next day we madly said, lets bring this to Australia, she said. The childcare centre will cater for babies from six weeks of age to four-year-old kinder students. It would repurpose existing infrastructure at Uniting AgeWell and include an extension to meet size requirements. Now more than ever we need connection, and its a beautiful way to give back and also get so much back from the older generation, she said. Artist images of The Herd intergenerational care centre in Mornington which is due to open in November. TLC Chief executive Lou Pascuzzi, who runs 11 aged care residences, said he was hoping to deinstitutionalise aged care. His Mordialloc centre would house 150 aged care residents alongside 120 early learning centre places and include a gym and doctors office. A lot of these residents in residential aged care, a good portion, are hardly visited by their loved ones, he said. I want to exit this industry knowing Ive made a difference, so when my mum needs aged care, its at that level. But there are extra obstacles due to the pandemic, including infection risks. I think the hard thing is that a lot of programs that were in the early days of getting up and running were put on hold with COVID-19. In terms of programs actively happening, Id say there arent that many, Ms Glumac said. If COVID-19 restricted access, Ms Glumac said she would run activities online, using video calls for storybook sessions, show and tell, sing-a-longs or dance programs, as well as a pen pal program. A lounge space that overlooks the childcare centre would also allow residents to watch the children play, without risk of infection. An artists image of The Herd intergenerational childcare centre in Mornington. Pictures: Supplied. Mother-of-two Natalie Grant has worked in a childcare centre which did weekly aged care visits. I saw the joy it brought to the children, but more so the elderly, she said. They are two groups that arent easy to engage with. Its a great way to get those aged groups engaged with each other. Accessing activities and stories they wouldnt normally be able to in everyday life, Ms Grant said. Mrs Smith said intergenerational programs could be especially impactful for children without grandparents, or children from other countries, separated from families. Natalie Grant, with her two daughters Penny, 2, and Maggie, 3 months, and is interested in intergenerational care. Credit:Justin McManus We can help provide contact with people of a different generation than the one theyre used to, she said. As for Mr Smith, he is already looking forward to hearing the children play. Two people have died and another person is fighting for his life in hospital following three separate violent incidents in Melbourne overnight. Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a teenager in Coburg North in the early hours of Sunday morning. Victoria Police say the 16-year-old Reservoir boy was assaulted with an edged weapon on Elizabeth Street about 2.30am. First responders rushed to provide first aid but could not save the teenager, who died at the scene. Parts of Elizabeth Street and adjacent streets were closed off on Sunday morning as police talked to residents and scoured the area looking for evidence. Western Australia has recorded 4300 new cases of COVID-19 overnight, bringing the total number of active cases to 22,757. The number of people in hospitals has risen to 103. Five were in intensive care but Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson announced on Saturday that overnight three had recovered enough to be moved out. WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson. Credit:Fairfax Media Of the new cases, 2339 were recorded through PCR testing and 1961 were self-reported RATs. Ms Sanderson said even though the cases announced on Saturday were fewer than on Friday, it was expected the numbers would rise over the coming days. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has signalled more help on the cost of living in the federal budget this month after declaring Australians understood the war in Europe was to blame for a surge in the price of petrol to about $2.20 per litre. With Labor accusing the government of allowing wages to fall in real terms for years, Mr Morrison left open the idea of a change to fuel excise as one of the options to ease the pain for households at the petrol pump. Blaming Ukraine for rising petrol prices: Scott Morrison. Credit:Rhett Wyman I think Australians know that whats happening with petrol prices at the moment is being caused by whats happening with the war in Europe I think Australians understand those issues, the Prime Minister told the Nine Network on Sunday morning. So were working with other countries around the world at the moment in terms of releasing fuel reserves to try to alleviate the pressure on fuel prices. Private helicopter operators say they were never called upon by the NSW government to assist during this months flood emergency, even though it pays them to be on standby so they can rapidly respond to natural disasters, including floods. Multiple businesses confirmed to the Herald that their aircraft specially equipped to respond to catastrophic situations such as the flooding event remained grounded throughout the crisis while they awaited a call to help that never came. Mark Harrold of Sydney Helicopters, which is paid by the government to be on standby for natural disaster relief. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer The pilots said they were perplexed and frustrated at the decision not to draw on their resources, amid reports locals were so desperate for help they were forced to charter helicopter flights themselves or use crowdfunding campaigns to cover the expense. The owner of one of the businesses approached by the Herald, Mark Harrold of Sydney Helicopters, said the situation was ridiculous. Political lobbyist Michael Kauter and his medico husband Professor David Gracey look set to swap their Woollahra home for the historic former postmasters residence in Mosman that sold on Thursday for about $9.5 million. The purchase will make the high-profile couple only the fourth owners of the 110-year-old property, and ends almost 30 years ownership by pioneering laser cosmetic surgeon Jack Ting and his wife Anne, who are returning to live in Malaysia after about half a century in Australia. The 1910-built Mosman house was originally the postmasters residence, but is set to be the home of lobbyist Michael Kauter and medico David Gracey. Adrian Bridges of Atlas Real Estate declined to reveal the sale figure or comment on the rumoured buyer, but the home had a $9.5 million guide before it sold pre-auction. Kauter, who runs lobbying outfit Strategic Political Counsel, and kidney specialist Gracey wasted no time listing their Woollahra home on Friday with hopes in the double-digit millions. Dubai: Saudi Arabia on Saturday put 81 people to death in the largest mass execution in the kingdoms modern history. The number put to death surpassed that of the January 1980 mass execution of those convicted of the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, which saw 63 people beheaded. Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Credit:AP The mass execution comes at a time of heightened concern over Saudi Arabias human rights record, but also as the West scrambles to replace its dependence on Russian oil following the invasion of Ukraine. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in particular was reported on Saturday to be courting the kingdom in a quest for closer trade ties. Houston: Investigations of parents with transgender children for possible child abuse were halted across Texas after a state court ruled that the policy, ordered last month by Governor Greg Abbott, had been improperly adopted and violated the state constitution. The temporary injunction, issued by Judge Amy Clark Meachum in Travis County on Saturday morning, AEDT, stemmed from a legal challenge by the parents of a 16-year-old transgender girl. Her family was among the first to be investigated under Abbotts order, which directed state officials to consider medically accepted treatments for transgender youth including hormones or puberty-suppressing drugs as abuse. The ruling applied to all such investigations in Texas under Abbotts order, which the court said could no longer be enforced pending a trial on the issue. Demonstrators gather on the steps to the State Capitol to speak against transgender-related legislation bills being considered in Texas. Credit:AP Although it was not clear how many inquiries had already been initiated, several parents of transgender children had come forward in recent weeks to say they had been contacted by officials from the Department of Family and Protective Services about the treatment their children had received. A spokesperson for the department did not respond to a request for comment. Make Canada Free again In 2018 I was in parliament hill to speculate the ceremony of Canadas 150th anniversary and I was hit by an inspiration so I wrote down this poem in Chinese then I translated it into English. Celebrating the 150 birthday of Canada By Zuowang 2018 Its your birthday today my dear Canada. Those brave navigators With their human beings bodies and mindset Beat Poseidon with trident resisted the temptations of sexual sirens conquered the blizzard in the North Pole. Full of kiviak in their stomachs Instead of their favorite steak and cheese. They Reclaimed a paradise On the seaFrom Coast to coast The plains giving a big hug to the moose, raccoons and foxes gallop and play. On the palette of nature came those Anglo-Saxons, Frances, Germanics, Also Vikings, Africans, Armenians, Asians, Many people were forced To leave their native homes Attributing to wars, different beliefs or the dreams of elsewhere lives As if many trees were transplanted. We have built A great mosaic country with a background of genes, memories and accents From our motherlands: Free the people that live in the free land! Here we love labor create and enjoy. Also look up the sky with blinking stars Grateful to you God Bless you For your peace prosperity generous Equality freedom and fairness! English is not my native language but all of you can still hear my voice from the bottom of my heart. As an immigrant I had been nurtured by this free land and I am grateful and pride to be a Canadian. Is Canada a great country? I am hesitating to answer this question. From my point of view, to some extent greatness means an ambition but Canadians are so kind and humble.We are the nation who say sorry most frequently in the world. There is a joke that when some Americans go abroad they often pretend as Canadians to reduce the hostility. Even Canada is 100% a great country we Canadians are shy to admit because it seems a higher pitch would disturb others and we always care about their feelings. So what is an accurate description to Canada? Canada is a free country. Its a free land where free people live here! Do you remind the Canadian Bill of Rights? One of former prime ministers, John Diefenbaker elaborates his ideas about what is a nation Canadian is: "I am Canadian, a free Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship God in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, free to choose those who govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind." But today what is the situation in Canada? We are forced to jab otherwise we will lose jobs or we are banned to some public places and we are deprived the privilege to take train and plane. We are forced to wear masks for two years because the powerful government have made a decision that it is surely effective to protect ourselves. The fear of death in people is the perfect conspiracy of the tyranny. Because of this fear even science has become an idle so many people are lost in the chart and data. There are so many honest and partly honest or distorted documents with terminology to spread on the internet and newspapers. As a writer with conscience from the beginning of this epidemic I began to trace overwhelming new about this global plague because of my curiosity and sympathy. At least over one year ago one of my friends, an excellent scholar of political science has told me in many countries there is a trend that governments are strengthening their powers by exaggerating the danger of Covid-19. At that moment I was so naive to politics then this wise prediction is beyond of my understanding. However, Freedom Convoy taught me a good lesson. These working class people , they are true Canadians who love freedom as the Canadian Bill of Rights granted. Born immune from God is better than vaccines still in the process of experiments! Stop stealing best years of our lives tomorrow! My body, My choice! Let freedom reign! Freedom over fears! Enough is enough! Some people who have been fooled and restricted for 2 years have woken up with the leadership of truckers! We people live in a real world through common sense rather than lies from CBC and they got a lot of funding from the government to wash brain people. We live in the street of Ottawa downtown and express our love to freedom,others and God rather than in the shadow of those man made datas! We are free and glorious people who are loyal to God and we are not scared slaves who are manipulated by any government! We elected a government to serve for us not to show arrogance of infinite power to us! All of Canadians! Open your eyes! Wake up! Observe what happened to us! Speak out what is the arrogance of power! Till 3 of March, after the revoking of the emergency act there is still a peaceful driver to be arrested and his name is Wayne Narvey. Then this First Nation guy was exiled out of Ottawa, can you give me an explanation, those people who demonize freedom convoy is launched by first-white racists? Now I will interrupt a poem I wrote for Wayne Narvey, the warrior who was arrested twice by police in the freedom convoy. To Wayne Narvey By Zuowang 2022.3.9 They unplug those kindlings Clamp out the teeth cover your mouth There is a trial in the dark Which is banned to audience You are sentenced into exile forever You are not allowed to step in the capital of your mother country For which you warrior is defending freedom However, they don't know The wicked has incented other tinders fiercely It will flame a wild plain. Yesterday, 11 March my BMO account was frozen without any notice and I have to waste a lot of time to find the reason. They told me they cant confirm my ID so they froze me. What the heck is it? I have used this bank for 12 years suddenly they cant recognize me? Where and when I am living? Am I living in some orient country where all of the citizens have to shut up before the only one definite correct opinion of authoritarian ? Please remember this is Canada not Chinada! Those Canadians who disagree with me are sure you will always catch up the step of the government ?You will never be beaten by the iron fist of the arrogant power when you disapprove the government? Woke up! Defend freedom. Please be concerned about politics and election otherwise all of us will lose freedom. Do you know such a thing happened in Vancouver a Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev was canceled her performance because she was born a Russian incorrect politically in the war of Russian and Ukarian. The ridiculous things are happening all over the world that the master pieces of Tchaikovsky and Dostoyevsky are banned because they are inappropriate in the war of Russian and Ukraine. Ordinary people are drown in those biased information spreading out by those high technology online medias. What is the truth of the Russian and Ukraine war? Do we still have the freedom to read news from all of aspects? Or we are instilled only one opinion some people intend to abet? After the crackdown of the peaceful protest there is no politicians in Western democratic countries to criticize Canada government except Trump.Now all of them have the passion to join the side of Ukraine. Why? We are grassroots class people and we sustain the common sense as human beings. When the scientific monster Frankenstein first emerged individually in public every one would be alarmed and scared by him. But today if this scientific extremist return back invisibly as a face of Facebook or YouTube? The big boss knows everything of your private life and its easy for them to launch an information war. You are guided by them to the conclusion of what they need. For example all of the world are concentrated in the Russian and Ukraine war and they all stand on the side of innocent and Justice Ukraine even they knew nothing about the history of them. Our south neighbor American truckers are circling the Washington capital of US. And they are American people who are opposing the tyranny too. But there is no report in the main stream media there. This world is so weird and danger because in most western democratic countries there plays a similar story about arrogant powerful government, lying cooperatively mainstream media and restricted people by fear in the era of covid-19. Its the third World War in the area of ideology. Those enemies have set up for decades. Canadians have lived in a surroundings of peaceful and love so many years we totally lose the instinct of self-protecting! Wake up! Canadians! Our freedom is threatened seriously! Lock the power in a cage whatever it is political power ,high technology power or financial empire power. Fight for freedom bestowed by God! Make Canada free again! MARIGOT/PHILIPSBURG:--- A delegation of leaders within the Haitian community met on Wednesday night to organize their strategic support for Martine Beldor, the number four candidate on the RSM party list headed by Mr. Louis Mussington. The meeting was organized by the Vice President of the Haitian Association of Sint Maarten (H.A.S.M.A). Mr. Fabio Doralice saw the presence of heads of various organizations within the Haitian community that pledge and rallied their support of Ms. Martine Beldor. Martine Beldor and the RSM Party list will be contesting the territorial election on St. Martin Nord on March 20th, 2022. In attendance were: - President of the Haitian Association of Sint Maarten (H.A.S.MA) Mr. Jimmy Jean Louis. - President of Bus drivers Association Mr. CLAUDE OMEUS - Vice President of H.A.S.M.A Fabio Doralice. - RSM leader Mr. LOUIS Mussington - Haitian Pastor League representative Mr. Dominique Vital. - Former president of the Haitian association and community activist. Mr. Kesner Guerier - Representative of the Permanent Electoral Council (P.E.C) Jean Boasman - UP party candidate Kevin Maingrette. - Various Radio/ Media personalities - Dr. MICHEL PETTY candidate on RSM - MARTINE beldor Candidate on RSM - Various stakeholders & business owners within the Haitian community. - Dilenord JOSEPH - Past President of Association Les A - Silvane JOINVIL - President of Association Talents Creoles "Tonight was historic, for the first time we were able to have all leaders and influencers within the Haitian community endorse one candidate. In the past, our votes were scattered amongst the numerous Haitian candidates on the various lists. Upon becoming the vice president of the Haitian association one of my top priorities was getting key players within the Haitian community on the same page. Tonight, against popular belief we prove that it is possible to work together to achieve and support a common goal." - Fabio Doralice. "This is a true example of what RSM is all about, the coming together for the forward movement of St. Martin, irregardless of background, ethnicity, social position, or gender. We need all hands on deck to help build a thriving and prosperous St. Martin. I thank the Haitian community for pledging their support for RSM." Louis Mussinton This has been one of my biggest goals as president of the Haitian Association of Sint Maarten to see the entire Haitian Community Rally their support for one Haitian candidate. We are finally getting it right. - Jimmy Jean Louis. I want to commend the organizers of this meeting and stakeholders within the Haitian community. Haitians are amongst the group of migrants that helped build St. Martin. I applaud them for unifying their voices and supporting the RSM. - Dr. Michel petty. " I want to commend Mr. Fabio Doralice for organizing the meeting and the extraordinary work he and his team is carrying out within the Haitian Community. He proves that you can still build bridges and unify for a purpose."- Martine Beldor. ~Ministry of Finance reiterates the importance of paying vehicle tax as well as the convenience of online payments.~ PHILIPSBURG:---The 2022 license plates were delivered to the staff of the Receivers Office, who have been working since Tuesday, March 8, to organize the plates for public distribution. There have been 33,762 sets of plates and 900 motorbike plates ordered for this year. As of Monday, March 14, the public can pick up license plates at the old Receivers Building across from the new Government Administration Building. Although the February 28, deadline has passed, the Ministry of Finance urges the public who have not made payments for the 2022 vehicle (road) tax to please do so as soon as possible. Unpaid existing plate numbers will also be reassigned on Monday, March 14. The public can make use of the in-person payments at the Receivers Office located at the Government Administration Building. Since January 2022, it has been possible to utilize online payments with a credit and/or debit card; this does not include Maestro cards. Bank transfers are also available, when using bank transfer be sure to mention your plate number in the reference box. So far, over 1000 persons have made use of the online payment portal. Visit services.sintmaartengov.org for online payments. For banking information on rates regarding bank transfers and tariffs, please visit the governments website Services Page and the official Facebook Page. Individuals are only allowed to pay for a total of 3 road tax packages at a time, unless part of a fleet of cars owned by a business. The following are necessary to present when updating your vehicle (road) tax: Valid insurance card Valid inspection card A bill of sale, if the vehicle was purchased recently The business community and other organizations are requested to submit a copy of the above documents, complete with proof of payment, which can be dropped off in the Receivers Drop Box located at the Government Administration Building. Please ensure your documents are in a sealed envelope with your company/organization name and contact number. 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 From The Guardian: Gardai have launched an investigation after two men carried a dead body into an Irish post office in an apparent attempt to claim his pension. The deceased pensioner was described in reports as being "propped up" by the men as they walked into the building in County Carlow on Friday morning. The outlandish series of events began when one of the men entered the post office at about 11.30am on Friday, asking to collect a pension payment for an older man, the Irish Times reported. He was refused, with staff informing him that the pensioner would have to be present in order for the money to be handed over. While the Weekend at Bernie's homage here is obvious, this audacious stunt also reminds me of the 1998 Irish comedy film Waking Ned Devine, in which an old man in a small Irish town drops dead after learning that he's won the lottery, prompting the rest of the townsfolk to scheme ways to claim his winnings. In this case, the corpse belonged to a 66-year old man named Peadar Doyle, who was being carried by his 40-year old nephew, Declan Haughney, and another man. Haughney insisted that he found his uncle, with whom he lives, "went a bit slumpy" while he was out walking, and that he believed Doyle was still alive when he helped him walk to the post office. "I'm not an eejit to walk into Hoseys with a dead man and collect his money," he said, according to The Irish Mirror. "Am I cuckoo? Am I cuckoo? I'm not." Haughney has been charged with deception, though he maintains his innocence. It may be worth noting that Haughney has a criminal record, mostly involving activities relating to his past struggles with drug addiction details which Haughney claims are being unfairly used against him in this case. Two men take corpse into Irish post office to claim dead man's pension [Clea Skopeliti / The Guardian] Image via YouTube Get the latest from It's a Southern Thing by subscribing to our newsletter , where you'll find the latest videos, stories and merchandise. Welcome To SpoilerTV We bring you a comprehensive and up to date spoiler service on all the major US TV shows and Movies. You can find specific show content by clicking the menu system at the top of the screen. We scour the Internet for spoilers as well as posting our own exclusive spoilers (Scripts, Casting Calls, Set Photos etc) as well as recaps and other fun articles and polls. We hope you enjoy your stay. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD The Stamford Board of Representatives cant affirm zoning and planing-related protest petitions, the states highest court has ruled, answering a question that has for years rankled city boards when residents strike back against neighborhood changes. However, the decision on Friday came with a caveat. Though the justices on the state Supreme Court decided that representatives overstepped (their) authority in voting to take on two petitions that fought land-use changes, they split from previous rulings and pointed out that one of the petitions was actually valid under the charter. Lawsuits brought against the Board of Representatives by two developers Manhattan-based George Comfort & Sons and Stamfords Building & Land Technology put a magnifying glass to local protocols for fighting city and community change. In both instances, residents mounted petitions to strike back against developments they argued would disrupt the character of their communities. And in both instances, elected officials validated those petitions despite questions over whether they had enough signatures. The question of validity is at the heart of both cases. When law firm Cummings and Lockwood sued on behalf of George Comfort & Sons in 2018 and BLT in 2019, its attorneys argued that neither petition was valid because they did not meet provisions established by the charter that govern their thresholds. For a petition to be valid, the charter lays out that it must have signatures from either 100 landowners or 20 percent of the owners of privately owned land within 500 feet of the area so zoned, whichever is least, if the proposed amendment applies to only one zone. Petitions relevant to two or more zones in the city need 300 landowner signatures, but those signatures can come from anywhere in the city. If a petition meets those qualifications, the charter says that city reps can strike down a potential land-use change, an interpretation that the justices upheld across both cases. The signature requirements in (the charter) are not a mere formality but serve an important substantive purpose, namely, limiting the authority conferred on the board of representatives by ensuring that review of an amendment ... is triggered only if there is a sufficient number of owners of private property within a defined geographical area with interests directly affected by the proposed amendment, Justice Steven Ecker wrote in the courts opinion. However, the court ruled that the Board of Representatives cannot be the body that decides whether a petition meets the requirements. The question before the board of Representatives was not the petition, which indicated the property owners objection to the zone change, but whether the zone change should be approved, Ecker continued. But the roads diverge for the two cases, according to the justices. Even though the court in both of these decisions is very clear that (representatives) dont have the authority under the charter to make that determination, according to land use attorney Michael Cacace, another issue underpins George Comfort & Sons controversial attempt to build a gym in its High Ridge Road. Starting in 2018, lawyers for the Manhattan developer argued that the resident petition failed to meet the 300-signature threshold. As a result, the company felt city representatives erred in upholding it. Though 696 people signed the petition, the plaintiff contended that many owned only a fractional stake of the land, either because they owned the property jointly with another person or because they lived in a condominium. Because of that, the developer argued that those people lacked sufficient ownership rights to merit an entire petition signature. The 696 signatures, George Comfort & Sons posited, overstated land ownership interests at hand. The high court rejected at least part of that argument in its decision. Instead of evaluating whether all 696 signatures were valid, the justices took a narrower approach. They considered signatures from 120 individual property owners, along with 240 signatures from people who signed jointly with a co-owner. (In those instances, two owned a property together and both owners signed the petition.) The plaintiffs attorney argued that two owners only get one signature because of legal precedent for joint tenants. However, the Supreme Court concluded that precedent didnt apply to the High Ridge Park case. The protest petitions defined by precedent dealt with percentages of landowners, not discrete signatures, the court held. The justices decided that a different kind of petition necessitated a different yardstick. Although these people owned a home with another person, the court argued that each person was entitled to a petition signature. Under that lens, the petitioners had gathered at least 360 signatures, far exceeding the citys threshold for a valid petition. The court makes a bright-line distinction between those two types of petitions, Cacace said. In the one case, where theres a finite number of landowners signatures that can be by anyone who owns an interest in land, it doesnt have to be the whole land. But when youre talking about a percentage of the land around the site of the decision, then youve got to have all the parties who own that land, not just a minority percentage. And because the petition contained the requisite number of signatures, the justices deemed the petition valid, and the case must return to trial court for a final decision. Even though the court ruled that each owner of a joint property counted as one signature when all owners signed, it didnt answer every question posed by the High Ridge Park case. The justices declined to decide whether the signatures from 336 other property owners, including condo owners and partial-property owners, were valid in this petition. Even though the case put forth by BLT also deals with petition signatures, the legal arguments in that instance were more straightforward. Justices affirmed that the resident petition that sought to block denser development on the former B&S Carting lacked enough signatures. Because the Board of Representatives voted on that petition regardless, the court contends that their decision was moot. Because a valid protest petition is a condition precedent to the authority of the board of representatives to vote on the merits of an amendment, that boards vote on the merits of an amendment contained in an invalid petition is void, Ecker wrote. veronica.delvalle@hearstmediact.com A longtime assisted living facility in Lockport comprised of elegant, historical homes will soon close after years of low occupancy and a mounting financial burden. Lockport Presbyterian Home, at 305-327 High St., informed residents, families and staff on Wednesday that it will shut down "as soon as appropriate," once alternative living arrangements are secured for each of the facility's 27 residents, according to a statement by Beechwood Continuing Care. The nonprofit Lockport Presbyterian Home became an affiliate of Beechwood in February 2021. The statement, from Beechwood President and CEO Daniel O'Neill, noted Lockport Presbyterian Home had failed to reach its full capacity of 60 beds in recent years, with occupancy declining to 42% last year. The facility had also logged "significant financial deficits in each of the past five years," O'Neill said. O'Neill said residents can move to other Beechwood properties or select another facility in the community. Lockport Presbyterian Home has 20 part- and full-time employees, who will be offered continued employment within Beechwood. "There are no plans for layoffs or reductions in staff," O'Neill said. What remains up in the air is what happens to the property. "Future use of the building will be decided at a later date," O'Neill said. Kristin Scholz, Beechwood's director of development and marketing, confirmed that could include a sale of the property. Niagara County records show the 3.9-acre property has several buildings, connected by covered walkways. The property is owned by Lockport Presbyterian Home, a nonprofit that is part of Beechwood, and has a market value of $2.4 million, records show. Chronicling a history of homes in Lockport LOCKPORT The nomination of the High Street-Locust Street neighborhood for a spot on the National Register of Historic Places illustrates Lockports rich history during the 19th century. The main thing is the architecture, but we discovered the people for whom these buildings were built were so active in the state and in the nation, said Clinton E. Brown, Two of the structures are on the National Register of Historic Places. The Keep House, at 305 High St., was built in the 1856-1857 Italianate style and later remodeled and altered in 1903 to 1905 in the Colonial Revival style. Then, the Williams House, at 327 High St., also was built in the Italianate style circa 1870, and then remodeled and altered in the Colonial Revival style around 1900. Both were added to the register in May 2008. Lockport Presbyterian Home was previously part of Presbyterian Senior Care of Western New York. Presbyterian Senior Care to join Beechwood Continuing Care Presbyterian Senior Care of Western New York will become part of Beechwood Continuing Care, under an agreement between the two nonprofits. With regulators approval, Beechwood will assume Presbyterian Senior Care of Western New Yorks assets and liabilities, including Ken-Ton Presbyterian Village; Presbyterian Village at North Church in Amherst; Lockport Presbyterian Home, as well as the enriched housing program at In May 2019, Presbyterian Senior Care reached an agreement with Beechwood, under which Beechwood would assume all of Presbyterian's assets and liabilities, including Ken-Ton Presbyterian Village, Presbyterian Village at North Church in Amherst and Lockport Presbyterian Home. That agreement came after years of operating losses at the nonprofit Presbyterian Senior Care, which most recently recorded a roughly $477,000 deficit in 2019. Beechwood Health Care Center, also a nonprofit, recorded income of $1.4 million on revenue of $32.3 million in 2019, the most recent year its annual filing with the IRS is available. Jon Harris can be reached at 716-849-3482 or jharris@buffnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByJonHarris. Buffalo Next Must-read local business coverage that exposes the trends, connects the dots and contextualizes the impact to Buffalo's economy. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Dr. Jaime Imitola said he believes COVID is fueled by people who live at the edges of poverty. Imitola, a neuroscientist, neurologist and immunologist, is director of the Division of Multiple Sclerosis and Translational Neuroimmunology at the University of Connecticut. People who live in poverty are at greater risk for the comorbidities that continue to make COVID deadly, even as disease rates decrease statewide, he said. Poverty is indicated with a higher risk for obesity, hypertension and for autoimmune diseases like asthma, he said. Those who are poor are less likely to have access to high-quality medical care or good health insurance, he pointed out. This is a historical thing, Imitola said. Every single pandemic, always, is permeated by poverty. Imitola believes that poorer communities, with less access to health care and higher rates of comorbidities will continue to see higher rates of death and hospitalizations. Researchers and public health experts began commenting on the inequitable outcomes in both poorer communities and among racial and ethnic minorities at the start of the pandemic. Now two years after COVID first appeared in Connecticut, what has been done to address those health disparities? The answer is complicated, and Tiffany Donelson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation, said its first important to understand the difference between equality and equity. Equality is treating everyone the same; equity is meeting the differing needs people have, she said. Donelson said the difference between the two was exposed throughout the pandemic. An equality approach would be to open online slots for vaccine clinic appointments to everyone at the same time, she said. An equity approach would be to offer vaccines at locations you know people can access whether they have a car or not, that dont require booking online, that are designed to address the barriers people face. The pandemic really illustrated why an approach centered on equity, not just equality, is so important, she said. Social determinants Mark Masselli, president and CEO of Community Health Center Inc., said access to health care and health insurance are downstream effects of larger issues, which he referred to as social determinants of health. Food insecurity, housing insecurity, education and transportation, for example, are all important factors in a patients health care profile. I don't know if there's a plan for that. But I think more people understand this, Masselli said. The current health system is set up to address all the problems that we created by not addressing determinants. The question is can we, in fact, pivot from where we are, take what we've learned, and move forward? The pandemic has put a brighter spotlight on the issues that have led to health inequities, which have long been ignored, according to Sara LeMaster, manager of government relations and public policy for the Community Health Center Association. In Connecticut, at least, there has been a more intense focus on addressing the social determinants of health and health inequities, she said. I think that one of the struggles for us has been that health centers have been doing that work for a long time. Ken Lalime, CEO of Community Health Center Association, called it an awakening. All of a sudden, there's a bit of an awakening that the underlying issues of the Black and brown communities not getting access to the same level of service that others get is something that continuously needs to be worked on, he said. The future The key, Lalime said, is making better use of technology, to provide a greater level of access to health care, but also to track the social determinants of health patient by patient, community by community. Health care is 20 percent of health, he said. The bigger piece of health is behavioral, it's social. It's where you live, where you breathe. Dealing with those large and long-standing issues starts with technology, Lalime said. It starts, actually, with defining what social determinants of health we're talking about, what issues are we talking about, finding a way to identify those issues, he said. Then, its possible to find a way to get, from a technology point of view, those issues into an electronic health record, so that you can start looking at codifying those patients. Then advocates can ask: What types of services do we need to provide to certain groups of patients that are in need, that can change their pattern of health the most, Lalime said. Public Act 21-35, signed into law last year, began that process, Donelson said. She said it contains a number of provisions focused on advancing equity, including the creation of a commission on racism and public health. Public Act 21-35 requires health care providers to collect race, ethnicity, and language preference data from patients having them self-report it (or opt out), rather than guessing or not collecting it, she said. This data allowed state leaders to see who was getting COVID and who was and wasnt getting vaccinated, and to better focus on reaching those who were being left behind. Removing barriers Adjusting for age, Black and Hispanic patients were far likelier to have caught COVID in June 2020, when the pandemic was new, with case rates three times higher than among white residents. Though case rates have since leveled out somewhat, Black and Hispanic people in Connecticut are still far more likely to have contracted COVID than their white neighbors. That disparity is even more stark when looking at COVID death rates. Data from the state Department of Health suggests that Black people are twice as likely to die from COVID than white Connecticut residents. Adjusting for age, the COVID death rate in Connecticut is 180 for every 100,000 white residents, compared with 313 for every 100,000 Hispanic residents and 359 for every 100,000 Black residents in Connecticut. Vaccination rates have also lagged among communities of color in the state. Only 57.77 percent of Connecticut residents who identify as Black are fully vaccinated, according to data maintained by the state. In comparison, 66.31 percent of the states Hispanic residents and 73.04 percent of residents who identify as white are fully vaccinated. There have been some concrete steps taken to improve outcomes for at-risk communities like Public Act 21-35, according to Donelson. Its also important, Donelson said, to meet people where they live and work, whether that means providing testing and vaccine clinics in communities where people live or going door-to-door to offer appointments to vaccine clinics and information about COVID. We learned to approach access with an equity lens, she said. Health systems and other providers can learn from this going forward. Masselli said disparities in vaccination and COVID testing between ethnic groups in Connecticut demonstrated that we did not have a public health structure in place. We realized, and still we fell short, that if you remove the economic and structural barriers to care, then you can focus on the work of where people live, work, play and pray, he said. That has meant both physical shifts a movement from mass vaccination sites to smaller, community-centered approaches and digital efforts. At the beginning of the pandemic, all health center patients had to see a provider in person, LeMaster said. Through telehealth, we've been able to reach a lot more patients, but there are still technology issues and access issues that exist. It's not the perfect thing, she said. But I think that it has helped a lot more people continue to access care when they couldn't before. EAST HARTFORD A man died and a woman was injured after a shooting early Saturday in East Hartford, police said. Shortly before 2 a.m., East Hartford police responded to reports of shots fired in the area of Chapel Street, Deputy Police Chief Joshua Litwin said in a statement. Upon arrival, officers located a vehicle on Chapel Street near Main Street with an unresponsive man inside suffering from apparent gunshot wounds, Litwin said. Officers began life-saving measures and East Hartford Fire Department paramedics provided medical treatment on the scene, the statement said. The male shooting victim was rushed to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries, Litwin said. The mans identity was not released is pending confirmation by the medical examiner and notification of his next-of-kin, police said. Litwin said officers located a second victim, a woman, at the scene who had sustained an apparent gunshot wound to her arm. She was treated for non-life threatening injuries, he said. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact East Hartford Police Detective Patrick Sullivan at 860-291-7611, or to call the East Hartford Police Anonymous Tip Line at 860-289-9134. christine.derosa@hearstmediact.com An intensifying and quick-moving winter storm will bring rain, sleet and snow to Connecticut on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for Fairfield, Litchfield, New Haven, Hartford and Tolland counties into Saturday evening, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service has also issued a wind advisory for Middlesex, New London and New Haven counties from 11 a.m. until 4 a.m. Sunday. The weather service forecast calls for more snow in western Connecticut, with a predicted 3 inches for the Danbury area. Estimated totals decrease farther east in the state, with less than an inch estimated for New London. Rain will begin to change to sleet and then quickly to snow around early afternoon Saturday as temperatures plunge below freezing, the weather service said in a briefing. Western cities such as Danbury and Bridgeport could see the change between noon and 1 p.m. while eastern cities may not see snow until 2 or 3 p.m. The snow may be locally heavy immediately following the changeover, the latest briefing said. Temperatures will fall quickly into the afternoon, resulting in a quick freezing of any standing water, the weather service said. Winds will gust quickly behind the cold front, ranging from 15 to 25 mph, with gusts of up to 45 mph. Travel may be difficult to dangerous, according to the service, due to falling temperatures on the snow-covered and/or icy untreated roadways. The weather will remain cold on Sunday, with a high of 35 degrees and wind chills making it feel like it is between 5 and 15 degrees. Monday will be sunny, with a high near 51 and a light wind. christine.derosa@hearstmediact.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Soon after arriving at Honey Joes Family Coffeehouse for an interview, former Mayor David Martin put a piece of paper on a table. It was a chart showing Stamfords rising and falling COVID-19 cases over time. He traced the ups and downs, much like he did during the virtual presentations he gave regularly as mayor, though this time he used his finger instead of a cursor. After eight years as mayor, Martin, 69, said his proudest accomplishment was leading the citys response to the pandemic. Statistically, we can do the math and statistics (are) never 100 percent certain. Thats why we talk about uncertainty, Martin said, adding that he was also factoring in Stamfords diverse population and proximity to New York City. But sort of ballpark ... because of the response that this city had, I believe that 60 to 80, maybe 90 to 100, people are alive today that would not have been alive if we had responded like most cities. Its been two years since COVID-19 stuck Connecticut and nearly two years since Stamford had its first fatality from the virus. Since March 2020, the decisions government has made locally, statewide and nationally have been front and center while positivity rates have fluctuated, mask mandates have been imposed and lifted and deaths have steadily risen. Martin said that throughout the pandemic, he and other city officials tried to anticipate what was going to come, rather than react to what was already happening and prepare for the worst. If youre gonna tackle this, youve got to take a risk, from a policy standpoint, and take action before you see it, he said. And we were taking action before the other communities because I saw it coming. He noted that he announced a requirement that employees and visitors use hand sanitizer prior to entering city buildings before there was news of a first case in Connecticut. Not long after, in partnership with the city, the University of Connecticut opened up dorms on its Stamford campus to hospital patients and others, especially those living in apartment buildings, who needed a place to isolate. Months later, when vaccines were becoming available and it appeared mass vaccination clinics would be needed, he said the city stepped in to help Community Health Center open a drive-through site in the Lord & Taylor parking lot on High Ridge Road. But Martin said he knew that at some point, to boost its vaccination rate, the city would need to shift its strategy to focus more on walk-ins and pop-up sites which it did in the spring. Martin said he put several lines on his resume to use during the pandemic, including his biology degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his experience as a senior partner at a consulting firm where much of his work involved marketing. Every industry on the planet is trying to figure out how to make it easier for their customers to buy, Martin said, and he tried to bring that mindset to vaccine distribution. You cant force people to come get a vaccination, but you (can) make this easy, he said. So Im there saying, Weve got to change this around. Its got to be walk-ins, and weve got to go to them. Today, Martin noted, Stamford has the highest vaccination rate of all the major cities in Connecticut. Stamford does have the highest vaccination rate among cities with a population of more than 100,000, according to state data. But when the threshold changes to cities and towns with more than 50,000 people, one town beats Stamford. The only one thats got a higher one is West Hartford, Martin said. And Im still scratching my head why West Hartford is so good I am a little competitive. He didnt take all the credit for the citys response to the virus, highlighting the contributions of volunteers, his director of health, his director of public safety and one of his special assistants as well as organizations including CHC, Stamford Health and local churches. Anthony Anthony, a spokesperson for Gov. Ned Lamont, said the administration is proud of the work thats been done in partnership with our municipalities to stop the spread of COVID-19. Its because of those partnerships, in cities like Stamford, that Connecticut has a nation-leading response to the pandemic, Anthony said. We want to thank former Mayor Martin for his partnership, and we will continue to work with Mayor (Caroline) Simmons to ensure the safety of our residents. End of an era Martin touted Stamfords pandemic response when he sought one more term as mayor. He also emphasized his 26 years on the citys Board of Representatives, which included eight years as the boards president, and his two years on the Board of Finance. Martin, who was raised in Kansas City, Mo., and moved to Stamford in the early 1980s, ran for mayor for the first time in 2009, hoping to succeed Dannel P. Malloy. He lost to Republican Michael Pavia. In 2013, Martin made another bid for mayor, first defeating now-Connecticut Attorney General William Tong in the Democratic primary and then Republican Michael Fedele in the general election. Three years into his first term, Martins wife, Judith a Northeast Elementary School teacher and the cofounder, with her husband, of the Stamford nonprofit Starfish Connection died after a battle with cancer. The couple raised two daughters, Rachel and Sarah, in Stamford. Martin won reelection the following year, beating GOP opponent Barry Michelson. He ran again last year with the campaign pitch that he had stacked up many accomplishments from pushing forward construction of a new police station to directing more money toward roads to steering the city away from a financial path that he predicted would end in bankruptcy in a couple decades. He argued that he could do even more with another four years as the head of what had become the second-most populous city in the state. Martins campaign came to end when he lost the Democratic primary to Simmons, a state representative at the time. Simmons went on to defeat unaffiliated candidate Bobby Valentine in November. Looking back on his two terms as mayor, Martin said his approach was driven in large part by economics in which he had also earned a degree from MIT. The thing that I brought to the party almost every day was trying to make value decisions and they werent political decisions, he said. They were: Is this bringing more value or less value? And the budget is not the criteria. The budget is a constraint to limit what we can do and for good reasons. Im not complaining about that. But its not the economic principle on how you make the government more efficient. Whether it was deciding to consolidate city departments or mail out checks instead of distributing them by hand, or arguing that paying overtime was better financially than hiring new police officers, Martin said he was always looking at that value equation. Those decisions are going on all the time, Martin said. And, often, just little things here and there nonetheless collectively add up. Sandy Dennies, the citys director of administration since 2020, said Martin and Simmons have totally different personalities. David Martin was very statistically driven, very analytical in his decision making, Dennies told city representatives who were interviewing her for reappointment on Jan. 26. Simmons is very open to listening, Dennies said. She wants to hear all sides of the issue before she makes a decision, which I find very different, very challenging but very refreshing at the same time. Whats next for the former mayor? He was one of about 60 residents who applied to serve on the citys 15-member Charter Revision Commission. Martin didnt receive enough votes from a panel of city representatives to make the top 15. Martin said he has also spoken with colleges about possibly becoming an adjunct professor. The next chapter isnt written yet, he said. Editors note: This story has been updated to correct David Martins age. brianna.gurciullo@hearstmediact.com Women play a huge role in the content we create at Feast and Field, and many of the brands we cover here were created by women who wanted to make a difference in the American culinary landscape. Here are six savvy entrepreneurs selling items we love. Genevieve Brazelton One of our all-time favorite profiles on Feast and Field, Brazelton is a woman on a mission. She started her craft bitters business, The Bitter Housewife, when she couldnt find any products that catered to her and her circle of well-educated, food-savvy female friends who loved whiskey, wine and talking about it. With its tongue-in-cheek name and unpretentious philosophy, The Bitter Housewife has succeeded in its mission to bring bitters to a wider audience. Now based in Portland, Oregon, the award-winning business offers seven flavors (including grapefruit, lime coriander and barrel-aged), and is working on more. In 2019, the company launched a line of zero-proof, zero-sugar canned Bitters & Soda drinks, which come in four flavors (aromatic, orange, grapefruit and cardamom) and can be enjoyed on their own for a nonalcoholic sipper or used as a mixer. Shop Bitter Housewife Products here. Kiki Aranita Aranita has quite the story. The former owner of beloved Philadelphia brick-and-mortar restaurant, Poi Dog, Aranita made a pandemic pivot and scaled up production of three signature sauces after closing her popular restaurant that served Hawaiian fare. (Side note: If you ever ate at Poi Dogs former Philadelphia storefront or its food truck, youve definitely tried Aranitas famous sauces, which are sweet, savory and incredibly delicious, depending on which one you try!) Aranitas amazing dishes and sauces propelled Poi Dog to receive two Best of Philly awards in 2014 and 2017. When the pandemic forced her to close her brick-and-mortar businesses, Aranita set her sights on her award-winning sauces, now sold nationwide. And, yes, she plans to continue developing new lines of sauces. Lucky us. Shop Poi Dog products here. Lily Leedom In 2018, Lily Leedom founded SalterieOne, an artisan sea salt company inspired by and sourced from Duxbury Bay, a pristine water source near her familys Massachusetts home. Leedom launched SalterieOne when her search for high-quality, domestically made, handcrafted sea salt yielded nothing worth tasting. Her thriving business now sells more than 20 sea salt-based products, including classic sea salts, innovative blends and delicious gift sets. Check out next weeks issue for more about Leedom and SalterieOne. Shop Salterie One products here. Maude Burns When Maude Burns moved to upstate New York to be with her husband, she brought a suitcase full of beauty products. He, on the other hand, had used bar soap all his life for face, hair and body. When she arrived, he realized the shower shelf had more to offer when it came to grooming, but there werent any products that spoke to him, a modern guy with straightforward taste. Burns, with her background in the NYC beauty industry, saw the opportunity to create a mens grooming brand designed for the stylish man who still knows how to get his hands dirty. Gentleman Farmer, a grooming brand dedicated to high-quality, clean and mindfully created products for values-driven men, was born. In developing the line, the couple knew it had to fit with their values using honest and organic ingredients and prioritizing sustainable packaging. As gentleman implies, the Gentleman Farmer is kind to others and the planet, which is why sustainable development and giving back are at the core of what they do. Shop Gentleman Farmer products here. Clare Stoner Fehsenfeld Stoner Fehsenfeld and her husband Matt are the founders of The Quince and Apple Company, a handcrafted line of artisan preserves, pickles, syrups and nuts located in the heart of Madison, Wisconsin. What started as a preserve-making side project for the couple is now a booming business focusing on gourmet jams, cocktail simple syrups,hand-packed pickles, and spiced and candied nuts. Since launching in 2019, the business has grown and reserves now make up half the companys sales, with 25% from nuts, 15% from syrups and 10% froma new pickle line launched in 2021. Clare, a trained musician, ensures the growth process represents the brands ideals. We wanted to create a healthy and mindful place for us to work, and for our employees to work, when we got big enough, Clare says. Thats our purpose: to create a good place for our employees and great food that people like. Shop Quince and Apple products here. Kiahna Malloy Dynamic and inspirational, Malloy is the brains (and palate) behind Kreme & Krumbs, a small but growing artisanal ice cream company in Bloomfield, New Jersey. She makes all the ice cream from scratch in small batches from the finest ingredients, sourced both locally and nationally, and Malloy is planning to open new location in Montclair, New Jersey, this spring. Launched in 2017, the Kreme & Krumbs menu offers an always-changing roster of bold flavors: strawberry with a jam swirl, raspberry vanilla chip, salted vanilla and caramel, milk and kookies, chocolate deluxe (made with Valrhona chocolate) and bourbon pecan spiked with real bourbon. Malloy has novel ice cream flavors, such as Jersey Turnpike, her spin on rocky road and the addictive Krumb Stick, an ice cream drumstick crumbled into a vanilla base. Kreme & Krumbs is also known for Malloys unique take on ice cream sandwiches called kremewiches. Instead of a cookie, Malloy sandwiches ice cream between two dainty slices of cake, small enough to eat one-handed. Popular flavors include the adorably packaged red velvet cake with vanilla bean cream cheese ice cream and confetti cake with sprinkles and Tahitian vanilla ice cream. Shop Kreme and Krumbs products here. This page requires Javascript. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Its the subtitle of Jacob Mchangamas book that gives away his plan for this prodigious subject: A History From Socrates to Social Media. A book thats this thorough, detailed and balanced is especially valuable now, given our countrys current fit of polarization. We are discovering that the nearly unbridled freedom of speech that the internet promises also brings challenges to that ideal of a universal exchange of ideas. Mchangama walks us through a galaxy of the usual admirable suspects from Pericles, Thomas Jefferson and David Hume to Benjamin Franklin, Voltaire and Denis Diderot. (J.S. Mill will get some deserved attention later.) But the authors unique service is to reacquaint us with some forgotten heroes. Mchangama laments that the words of men like the enlightenment thinker Elie Lukacs (have) largely faded from the history of free speech despite the trail blazing nature of (their) efforts. The list of neglected heroes is fully European, which makes some sense considering Mchangama is a Danish lawyer and human-rights advocate. He is the founder and director of Justitia, a Copenhagen-based think tank focusing on human rights and free speech. From France, the heroes he mentions include Chretien Malesherbes. He was instrumental in keeping Diderots revolutionary encyclopedia in print. He also criticized the governments use of censorship. Mchangama makes the imaginative observation that Malesherbes literary glasnost contributed to the rapid growth of books. Another new name is Dutch: Dirck Coornhert, a writer and moralist. The role that tireless and imaginative Dutch printers played in the growth of free speech should not be underestimated. Mchangama even reopens our eyes to a remarkable judgment from an aged John Adams. He reminded Jefferson that it wasnt the war for independence that created our nation. No, the actual Revolution was in the minds of the people (for) fifteen years before a drop of blood was shed. It was the free and determined flow of written and spoken ideas that helped shape that national mind. Another landmark we should strive to reclaim is a series of essays called Catos Letters. In Letter 15, Scottish Whig Thomas Gordon offers a secular, rational and political defense of free speech as the great bulwark of Liberty. Those four words found their way into Virginias Declaration of Rights and even into James Madisons first draft of the First Amendment. The words, like the ideal they expressed, truly reverberated. And do so still. Mchangama also reminds us that powerful and self-assured institutions can wield great censoring powers. Nearly from the beginning, the Catholic Church developed its Index of Forbidden Books. {%%note} {/%%note} American Southerners once banned any mention in print of abolitionist thought. Their refusal to admit the reality of slavery prefigured the power of todays pervasive and equally blind cancel culture. Its the crucial right to the freedom for the thoughts we hate that explains our reverence for free speech. James Madisons insistence on the vital importance of competing political factions put into effect an insight from another free-speech hero, John Stuart Mill. Mchanngama reminds us of Mills warning: restricting free speech prevents people from the great benefit of exchanging change truth for error. The vital benefit of full and indiscriminate permission is that society achieves the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. So, no matter which of us is stirring those collisions, we should all be celebrating todays many noisy encounters. That key truth applies whether that sacred dynamic involves competing news outlets or boisterous school-board deliberations. Jamie Spencer of St. Louis is a retired professor of English and the author of Fictional Religion and Modified Raptures. All of the homes in Lafayette Square have a unique history, but the 1877 row house of Larry and Andrea Huegatter has a particularly interesting pedigree. It was built by Horace Bixby, a renowned steamboat pilot and captain who taught Mark Twain the art of piloting. The two were lifelong friends, as noted in Twains book, Life on the Mississippi. The Huegatters, both originally from Houston, purchased the house in 2001 after living for stints in Kirkwood and then Creve Coeur, raising their two daughters there. When their girls were older, they decided to try moving to the city and began a home search. They had always been fans of the Lafayette Square neighborhood, which was just beginning its renaissance at the time. As soon as we walked in the door, I said, This is it, this is the house. It just spoke to me. Ive never walked in a house and felt that way, Andrea says. The owners, who were restoration pioneers in the neighborhood, had several offers on the home, but Andrea wrote them a passionate letter explaining how much she loved everything about the house and its history and ensuring them that they wouldnt try to change it or tear out walls. Their offer was accepted. The house had been well preserved, though it needed some basic renovations. As soon as the Huegatters moved in, they began working on projects and havent stopped since. Larry redid all of the flooring and painstakingly restored areas of plaster molding along the ceilings that were damaged or missing. Andrea made new period-appropriate draperies for every room. The Huegatters curation of the home also evolved the more they learned about Horace Bixby. Their youngest daughter, Katherine, now a history specialist and education program coordinator for Washington Crossing Historic Park in, Pennsylvania, began doing some research and uncovered a great deal of fascinating information on Bixby and his company, Anchor Line, which operated a fleet of steamboats on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and New Orleans. We decided to let the first floor tell his story. So we have some of our antiques mixed with a lot of photographs and memorabilia of Bixby, Andrea says. We think of ourselves as caretakers of the house, and thats why we have not gutted it, but restored it. Its a wonderful piece of St. Louis history and the riverboat time. Among their collection is a cub steering wheel from Bixbys very first boat, historic photos, steamboat themed artwork and a copy of a letter from Bixby to Twain in which he writes ... today I have one of the nicest around Lafayette Park, referring to the house. They also have items with Anchor Lines large anchor logo. Larry even etched the logo on a piece of glass for the transom window above the front door. I developed this fascination with those steamboat pilots, and Bixby was one of the best, Larry says. Their skill and intelligence level was almost super human. Like many homes in the historic neighborhood, the Huegatters was once a boarding house, with each room a separate living quarters. Now restored to a single-family home, it features loads of architectural features of the period including high ceilings, ornate crown molding, oversized pocket doors and seven fireplaces. Longtime antiques collectors, the Huegatters find pieces all over, including local antiques shops, as well as on eBay and other sites. They have a particular affinity for carved wood pieces from the Brittany region of France. One such piece, a large hutch found on eBay through an antique shop in Houston, was the inspiration for their 2016 full kitchen remodel. They purchased the intricate hutch and designed the new kitchen cabinetry around it, making it the centerpiece of the room. To complement it, Larry created a center island out of an antique carved wood buffet they found in Memphis, Tennessee. He stained and cut a wood stair tread to match and mounted it on the back as an extension for dining. Wheels on the bottom allow the entire piece to be moved into any room on the main floor for entertaining. We just love old stuff and repurposing, Larry says. He did more repurposing in the butlers pantry between the kitchen and dining room, designing cabinetry around a set of long wood drawers salvaged from the Central Library in downtown St. Louis. He found the drawers, which had been in the librarys periodical section, at Regans Architectural Salvage. More than 20 years after moving in, the couple is still working on remodeling projects on the second and third floors of the home. Its been a labor of love, Andrea says. We hope young people will be inspired that you can do this you just do it a little bit at a time, room by room. Larry and Andrea Huegatter Ages He is 68. She is 65. Occupations Larry is a process safety manager at a pharmaceutical company. Andrea is owner of Looking Glass, a custom gifts company. She previously taught at Washington University for 18 years. Home Lafayette Square Family The Huegatters have two adult daughters. Maybe you need to have a clear head to figure out the Missouri pot situation. Or maybe you need to be stoned. Several weeks ago, I wrote a column in which I said I was ready to lead the opposition against the ballot issue Legal Missouri 2022 that would legalize recreational marijuana. That was an odd place for me to find myself. For years, I have written columns supporting legalized marijuana. Back in the day, I pointed out that if we were to become the first state to legalize recreational marijuana, wed have, if nothing else, a tourist boom. And, of course, increased revenue. But we werent the first. We never are. Still, Missouri residents rose up and passed an initiative in 2018 to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. That was a huge win. Potheads like me looked forward to a day when even healthy Missourians could legally have a toke. But the governor stepped on our good vibes. He hijacked the medicinal marijuana initiative. He did so by putting Lyndall Fraker in charge of the new program. Fraker was an amiable but clueless termed-out legislator. In the governors defense, he has a long history of appointing termed-out legislators to state jobs. That shows a kind heart. The private sector isnt exactly breaking down doors to hire ex-Missouri legislators. At any rate, Fraker, who still is the director of our medicinal pot program, was out of his depth. One of his Republican colleagues, State Rep. Jered Taylor, was gentle when he said that through ignorance or confusion or incompetence, Director Fraker clearly didnt have the experience needed for the position. The vacuum of leadership at the top allowed the governors longtime pal and former House Speaker Steve Tilley to take over. He is a lobbyist and he went to work for the newly created Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association. There was great competition for relatively few licenses to sell or grow marijuana. The selection process was a complete disaster. Applicants received different scores for the same answers. People who were associated with Tilley seemed to do particularly well. The perception of favoritism led to lawsuits, appeals and rumors of investigations. On the plus side, the Stoners had their nose in the tent! Our day was coming. Indeed, a ballot initiative was announced last year to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. It was called Legal Missouri 2022. It is being financed by the people who have the licenses for medicinal marijuana. Whoever they are. Their identifies have been a well-guarded state secret. If the initiative passes, their licenses will roll over and become recreational licenses, and no new full licenses will be granted for 548 days. What is the significance of that number? I dont know. Maybe its Tilleys lucky Pick 3 number. He has been hired to work for the initiative. For years, we have talked wistfully about the end of prohibition. And now the industry is going to be run by people who wanted to put us in jail. Doesnt that seem jarring to anybody else? It certainly bothered my Stoner sensibilities. So I wrote that we needed to start the whole thing over, and not give anybody a leg up. Lets be looser with licenses. Lets not treat weed like its plutonium. Lets give free enterprise a chance. Shortly after the column appeared, I was invited to visit the medical marijuana dispensary in Pevely. Its called North. The three young men running North have histories. Leonard and Neil Volner are brothers. Their dad went to prison for marijuana. Either our dad was a bad guy or the laws were wrong, said Leonard, who has a degree in engineering from Rolla. We decided the laws were wrong. They are exactly the kind of people who should be in the business. Its not just about money for them. The third fellow is Zachary Mangelsdorf. Hes a cancer survivor. He understands the nausea that comes with chemotherapy. By the way, his father, David Mangelsdorf, is the money guy. He runs Home Service Oil Company, which has been in operation since 1930. A local guy. Some of the complaints about the selection system have had to do with money coming from out of state. Mangelsdorf did not strike me as an old hippie, but I had the sense he was at least sympathetic toward us. In fact, he mentioned that he has a back problem which led him to getting a medical marijuana card. He said he likes a gummy bear with a glass of Scotch at night. I favor a Manhattan with my gummy bear, but as Sly and the Family Stone used to say, different strokes for different folks. Mangelsdorf said the dispensary had been a big investment and had been made with the expectation that theyd have a leg up when recreational marijuana came along. That made sense to me. Maybe Id been too hasty in my opposition to Legal Missouri. A Stoner lawyer who works as a volunteer for Legal Missouri certainly thought so. He called me. What are you doing? he asked. We finally have a chance to legalize pot and youre ready to lead the opposition? Lets stop the arrests, he said. Why should we care who makes money off of this? Dont let the perfect be the enemy of the good. That made sense, too. But before I could write a column disagreeing with myself and advocating for Legal Missouri, Post-Dispatch reporter Jack Suntrup wrote a story for Wednesdays paper about the Cannabis Freedom Act, a bill sponsored by Rep. Ron Hicks, a Republican from Defiance. His bill would open up competition. Nobody would have a leg up. Just like I advocated. Hicks spoke to his colleagues about the disastrous selection process. Im sure that every single one of you sitting here has received some type of an email or has heard from somebody in this state about the rollout of that program, whether it was dishonest or not fair to someone, he said. He also said he had heard from a young man in the industry who thought the current licensees should have some kind of advantage, maybe get to the front of the line. Hicks said he was considering that. Maybe everything is coming together, I thought. I called the Stoner lawyer. Hes got good judgment on the matters. Are you for this new bill? I asked. He hesitated. Yes, he finally said, but then he went on to say he was concerned the bill was actually a distraction. Do you really want to trust the Missouri Legislature? he asked. Our best chance is with the voters, he said. That was not the clarity I sought, but I suppose the Stoners path is clear. Sign the petitions for the flawed initiative, and be ready to vote for it while rooting for the Missouri Legislature. Meanwhile, trust in the wisdom of Mick Jagger: You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you might find, you get what you need. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. 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 Time is of Bob Mazzocchios essence, a good trait for a clock-keeper. And the clock closest to Mazzocchios heart is the one that operates the four faces on the Old Cathedral, which he has been working on in some capacity for the past five years. Well, it still works, and it keeps good time, said Mazzocchio, 67, wondering what other reason would exist for loving a clock. Pushed for another reason, the Parkway North High graduate who grew up in Normandy said, I just enjoy the mechanics; the fact that a set amount of gears, five or six gears, can tell time. So at this time of the year when we must remember at 2 a.m. Sunday to advance the clocks in our lives Mazzocchio enters the cathedral, genuflects as he crosses before the crucifix, climbs 27 steps to the choir loft and then 29 ladder rungs to reach the cathedrals clock tower. With a wrench, he turns a large screw on a mechanical gearbox to move the hands. And Ill do it again when we set the time back in November, Mazzocchio said. Technical note: Mazzocchio actually set the cathedral clock ahead last week, when he had to go into the tower to perform some routine maintenance. And now, some history: The Old Cathedral, officially Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, sits on the only parcel of land in St. Louis that has never changed hands since Pierre Laclede established the village in 1765. Three other churches, two wooden and one brick, have sat on that parcel. But in the early 1830s, Bishop Joseph Rosati led the drive to build a proper house of worship. Made mostly of limestone and sandstone, the cornerstone was laid in 1831, and the church was dedicated in 1834. The clock, however, is not nearly as old as the cathedral a relatively young 44 years old. Mazzocchio said that when city leaders decided to dust off the downtown riverfront for the 1976 bicentennial edition of Fair St. Louis (known then as the VP Fair), the cathedral got a sprucing up of its own, including the new clock that was finished in 1978. Thered been a clock in the tower when the cathedral was first built, but I think it only lasted for a few years, Mazzocchio said. It kept having problems so they took it out and covered the opening up with stone. But for the bicentennial, they thought it would be nice to have a clock in there again, he said. Mazzocchio said the clock was built and installed by the George B. Kavanaugh Pipe Organs and Belfry Service of Columbia, Missouri, which he described basically as the first family of church clocks and pipe organs in the Midwest. As Mazzochio stood in the cramped, dark and dusty clock tower, he shined his flashlight on the mechanics that operate the clock. George and Ken Kavanaugh built that gearbox themselves, he said, with no small amount of admiration. That gearbox so near and dear to Mazzocchio is what operates the synchronous electro-mechanical movement that uses gears and driveshafts to move the hands. The main drive motor shuts off every 15 minutes for about two minutes to allow the clock to resync itself, he explained. If it didnt shut down, it would gain about four minutes an hour. Some newer technology, in the form of cellphones, did play a hand in setting the clocks ahead, according to Tina Hodak, the cathedrals office manager. Bob was in the tower turning the gears and I was on the ground on the phone with him, telling him, Just a little more, a little more, yeah got it, right there, Hodak said. The cathedral clock is not the only holy timepiece Mazzocchio has worked on since he began dealing with big clocks in the early 1980s. He and Charles Hellige of The Clock Works in Spanish Lake, have plied their craft at numerous area churches, including St. Anthonys and the Sisters of St. Joseph Convent in south St. Louis; St. Francis Xavier College Church at St. Louis University; Holy Trinity in north St. Louis; and Sts. Peter & Paul in Waterloo. Describing himself as semi-retired, Mazzocchio said he will continue to maintain the cathedrals clock, all the while mourning the passing of antique clocks and a dwindling profession. I dont have anyone to leave the business to, but Im not sure any young person would want it, he said. Young people just dont seem to be much into antique clocks or the old way of doing things. Your weekly capsule of local news, life advice, trivia and humor from Post-Dispatch columnist Joe Holleman. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ill. Some of the mystery surrounding "Ina Jane Doe" has been solved. The real identity of the 1993 southern Illinois murder victim has been discovered, authorities said Friday, noting that the investigation into her death will be reopened. Ina Jane Doe is actually Susan Lund of Clarksville, Tennessee. Her identity was determined with the help of the Jefferson County, Illinois, Sheriffs Office and Redgrave Research Forensic Services of Massachusetts. Now her family, including her three children who were 6, 4 and 2 at the time of her disappearance, have received some peace, said one of Lunds sisters, Pamela Reyes. I'm just speaking on behalf of her three children, Reyes said. They just really want people to know that they're grateful to find out that they weren't abandoned by their mother. She didn't leave her kids, not willingly. For her 6-year-old, her only son, it was really important for him to come to grips that his mom didn't abandon him. Lund went missing on Dec. 24, 1992, after leaving her home to walk to a nearby grocery store, Anthony Redgrave, co-founder and lead forensic genetic genealogist of Redgrave Research Forensic Services, said at a news conference to announce the developments. Soon after her husband reported her missing, an investigation was opened, but ultimately closed with no answers. Lunds siblings and the rest of her family didnt know until four days later she was missing. They have been looking for her ever since. I talked to her last on Dec. 24, Reyes said. Im probably the last person to speak with her in the family. We were making plans to talk, and I was trying to make plans to come down and visit her. Its just like we were celebrating Christmas and then all this. It's never been the same. We've always had a piece of our family missing. Lunds decapitated head was found Jan. 27, 1993, on the side of a wooded roadway within Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park near Ina, police said in a past news release. However, her identity couldn't be determined. Her head was found by two girls ages 10 and 12 who were running through the park, according to an Associated Press report from January 1993 obtained by The Southern. The head was dumped on a peninsula that extends into Rend Lake, the story read. At the time, the remains were estimated to be 30 to 50 years old at the time of her death, and she had likely died two to three days prior to discovery, police said. The police described her as having long reddish hair and a pin-shaped mole in her left ear. Shed had extensive dental work, including a silverpoint filling, and she had possibly worn braces at some point, police said. The case went cold until recently, when Dr. Amy Michael with the University of New Hampshire contacted the sheriffs office to offer some DNA and bone re-analysis of the unknown victim at the time, Michael said during the news conference. Through bone re-analysis, Michael and her team were able to determine that Lunds was likely not as asymmetrical as previously thought. The initial anthropological report and academic paper published in 1996 stressed a hypothesis of the remains now identified as Lund having torticollis or wryneck syndrome, displayed in the original suspected image of Lund through great asymmetry, Redgrave said. Because of Michaels hypothesis, new forensic art was prepared by sketch artist Carl Koppelman to reflect updated findings. One image is without eye makeup and the other is with eye makeup, police said. The news release posted on Facebook garnered hundreds of comments with people comparing the new forensic images with images of other missing persons. The DNA re-analysis started in February 2020 and Redgrave Research Forensic Services was able to quickly find some potential matches, including Lunds family. Police then retrieved a DNA sample from one of Lunds siblings on March 6, and it came back as a match, Redgrave said. We found that this couple had several children, including Susan Lund, and she did not have a documented death date and there was no evidence of an address or proof of life activity after 1993, Redgrave said. They (the samples) were found to share 2,599.5 Centimorgans with each other, which you can see is 100% consistent with the values shared with the full sibling. The confirmation is bittersweet news for her family, who are once again mourning, but happy for the answers. I cried most of the day. We had been looking on and off, when we could, to find her. She was just very kind-hearted, very not judgmental and down to earth. Just a really sweet person the whole time and everyone ... really loved her. Then I was angry. I was angry because shes been there for 29 years. But were relieved now. However, the circumstances surrounding Lunds death have not been solved. The almost 30-year-old cold case is set to reopen with cooperation between the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and the Clarksville police. The sheriff's office extends its sincerest condolences to the family of Susan Lund, Sheriff Jeff Bullard Sr. said. Unfortunately, in most homicide investigations, victim identification is done very quickly and we can move forward following up every lead and determining victimology to try to ascertain the truth as to what happened to the victim. That has taken much longer now, but that doesn't stop our mission. Our mission is still to find the truth about what happened to Susan. Anyone with information about the case can contact Detective Capt. Bobby Wallace at the Sheriffs Office, 618-244-8004, or Crimestoppers at 618-242-TIPS (8477). Welcome to the first annual Right Wing Nut Job Awards. The Righties, as we call these prestigious honors, recognize the extremists whose performances lately dramatize just how far the starboard side of our politics is listing these days. Without further ado, lets open up those envelopes and start passing out those little gold statuettes of a squirrel holding a walnut. Well begin in our own backyard, with Best New Handmaids Tale Villain: Missouri state Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman. The Arnold Republican isnt content with merely preventing women in Missouri from controlling their own bodies. Shes pushing legislation to make sure the heavy hand of the state follows Missouri women even when they leave Missouri to exercise abortion rights in other states. Colemans legislation would empower any Missourian to sue anyone, anywhere, who aids in what Missouri considers an illegal abortion for any Missouri resident even if those providing the aid reside in a different state, with different laws regarding abortion rights. So hotline workers and doctors at abortion clinics in neighboring Illinois, for example, could theoretically come under the thumb of this proposed Missouri law. You cant get away, women of Missouri! Mary Elizabeth Coleman will pursue you to the ends of the Earth to make sure that, because you happen to be a Missouri resident, you will never have any say over your own body, no matter where you go. Bwah-hah-hah-hah! Father-of-the-Year Award: Michigan House candidate Robert Regan. The Republican frontrunner to represent Michigans 74th House District was apparently trying to spin some kind of analogy in support of Donald Trumps lies regarding the 2020 election when he said this: I tell my daughters, Well, if rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it. And how has Regans Father Knows Best advice been received at home? One of Regans daughters has implored her Twitter followers: If youre in Michigan and 18+ pls for the love of god do not vote for my dad for state rep. Best Crystal Ball: The Five on Fox News The panel of right-wing pundits last month hit upon an interesting theory as the Biden administration was frantically warning the world that Russia was about to invade Ukraine: The threat was being exaggerated by the White House to distract people from (wait for it!) the Durham investigation. If you dont know what that is, think of it as the next installment of But her emails! the latest mountain-from-a-molehill out of right-wing conspiracy-land. As the networks own exasperated national security correspondent, Jennifer Griffin, tried to explain that the Russian military was in fact massed on Ukraines border and that this was for real, The Five host Greg Gutfeld blithely opined that it all feels very, very manufactured. Co-host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery suggested that the administration was in deep yogurt in the Durham probe, then declared, Nostradamus-like: I dont think Putin is going to invade. Russia invaded Ukraine six days later. Special Humanitarian Commendation: retired Col. Douglas Macgregor This former Trump administration adviser and Fox News regular called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a puppet, suggested Ukraine should concede to Russias demands, disparaged the international effort to sanction Russia for its invasion and said Russian forces were too gentle in the first days of the attack, but that theyve now corrected that. Indeed. Theyve corrected it so much that there is serious talk of leveling war-crimes charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Best Performance by a Treasonous Imbecile: Marjorie Taylor Greene Some politicians get into trouble because they insist on embracing evil supporters. Others are just too stupid to see that the people they are embracing will hurt them politically. The congresswoman from Georgia has managed a twofer: She agreed to speak to a white nationalist group run by a known white supremacist. (Evil.) And then she went on stage even after her host asked for a round of applause for Russia, and the crowd broke into a chant of Putin! Putin! Putin! (Stupid. And evil.) Obviously, GOP leadership punished her for it. Which brings us to the coveted RWNJ Profile-in-Courage Award: Kevin McCarthy No one personifies the yin-and-yang of cynicism and cowardice endemic in todays GOP quite like the House minority leader from California. In his quest to become House speaker next year, McCarthy has excised from his party any elements that might be described by the Lincolnian phrase better angels Republican Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, for example, excommunicated for the high crime of defending electoral democracy against the Trumpian campaign to undermine it while he cravenly makes deals with devils like Greene. There was some controversy among the judges about giving McCarthy a Rightie because, unlike the other winners, he isnt actually nuts. Instead, like so many formerly mainstream GOP leaders today, he has simply made a calculation that catering to the crazy is the only way to survive in the Republican Party today. But, as the judges ultimately decided, that may be the nuttiest act of all. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Rep. Cori Bush of St. Louis was among 17 U.S. House members who voted against the bipartisan bill approved overwhelmingly last week to ban Russian oil sales in the United States, and one of just two Democrats. She joined Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota in criticizing President Joe Bidens sanctions against Russia. The progressive illogic behind their thinking is dangerous for its potential to make thinking peoples heads explode. The tendency of voters when evaluating candidates for Congress is to ask what the person can do to uplift the local community and bring federal dollars to work at home. Major world issues tend not to factor into congressional campaigns, and its in this arena that Bushs weaknesses have proven most embarrassingly apparent. Comments last week by Bush and Omar suggested they are oblivious to television images of children and pregnant Ukrainian women blasted away in attacks as Russian military forces bombard hospitals and apartment buildings, or as Ukrainians flee through recognized refugee corridors. Bush and Omar seem more concerned with whether sanctions might inconvenience the Russian people. Banning Russian oil is not only going to have a devastating impact on the people of Russia, but on Europe as well, Omar told The Hill TV. Bush says she is fine with targeting oligarchs allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin but, We have to do those things that are humane, she told The Washington Post. How can we ensure that the people of Ukraine, the people of Russia, those family members, those children, those disabled community members, everyone in those communities, that they wont be the ones who are harmed and left out in this situation? She stated Thursday that banning Russian oil categorically makes our communities less safe and does nothing to jumpstart our transition to renewable energy, The Hill reported. She suggested that increasing domestic oil production or importing more from Saudi Arabia would be even more dangerous because of Saudi Arabias human rights record. Even more dangerous than blowing up children and pregnant women? International sanctions are designed in part to make life difficult for average Russians so they will demand that Putin halt his invasion. They are necessary to make Putin rethink this invasion, and theyre the only option available short of engaging in direct war with Russia. On Thursday, Bush said she voted against banning Russian oil because it fails to address the underlying problem of imposing sanctions that are not accompanied with a clear diplomatic process for de-escalation, incentives for a ceasefire, and a condition of withdrawal of Russian military forces in Ukraine. As people who inform themselves by reading this and other newspapers already know, the Biden administration has tried intensively since December to engage in a clear diplomatic process to avert this war. Its the Russians standing in the way of peace, which is why sanctions are necessary. Why is Bush defending the enemy? Another day, another legislative assault on women in Missouri. This time its a bill to ban abortion in cases of ectopic pregnancy, a life-threatening emergency situation when the fetus becomes lodged in the fallopian tube. Neither the woman nor the fetus can survive a full-term pregnancy in such a case meaning this bill could sentence both to death. This is pro-life activism in todays radicalized Missouri GOP. House Bill 2810 seeks to outlaw the manufacture, sale or transfer of abortion-inducing equipment or drugs. The sponsor, Rep. Brian Seitz, R-Branson, told a committee last week its meant as pushback on a U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruling allowing women to order abortion inducing pills through the mail. That includes drugs used to abort ectopic pregnancies. In response to questioning from other lawmakers, Seitz claimed his intent wasnt specifically to outlaw abortion of ectopic pregnancies. Then why does the bill specifically call for felony charges when The abortion was performed or induced or was attempted to be performed or induced on a woman who has an ectopic pregnancy? Thats some pretty specific language. Its certainly possible that medical ignorance came into play in the wording of the bill after all, it arises from a state party that once ran a congressional candidate who declared that women cant get pregnant from legitimate rape. But given Missouri Republicans record on this topic lately, assumptions of good faith arent really in order. This is the party that, in 2019, passed a law (later blocked in court) outlawing abortion at eight weeks, when some women dont even know theyre pregnant, even for rape victims. This is the party that is currently considering legislation to impose Missouri abortion restrictions on Missouri women even if they go to other states for the service legislation that Mother Jones last week aptly compared to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. And this is the state in which elected officials actually consider abortion worthy of capital punishment. Seitz, when asked in committee debate whether he was suggesting abortion should be punishable by death, answered: Well have to look at that in other legislation. Consider a Missouri in which these laws are all in force: A teenager is raped, but by the time she realizes shes pregnant, eight weeks has passed and she cant legally abort. Her pregnancy is ectopic, threatening her very life. But to abort would still be illegal. She flees to Illinois for an abortion, but Missouri law follows her there, punishing any Illinoisan who helps her. She manages to get an abortion anyway and now she and/or her abortion providers face possible execution. It sounds like dystopian fiction a la The Handmaids Tale but is, in fact, the state these Republicans seek to create. Missouris GOP today is, quite literally, a dire threat to Missouris women. Regarding Convoy protesting COVID-19 mandates does beltway circuit (March 6): I am struck by two different ideas of freedom. We had our trucker convoys trying to blockade Washington in search of freedom from health measures like masks and vaccines. At the same time, Ukrainians seek freedom by fleeing bombs and rockets as they are evacuated from their own country. Americans have more freedom than we know what to do with. We need to emerge from our self-centered isolation and gain some perspective on what real freedom is. Now is the time for the U.S. to be world leaders. Instead of protesting health measures designed to keep us safe, we should be protesting Russian aggression in Ukraine and limiting our use of gas and oil. If Ukrainians are being driven from their homes and sleeping in subway stations, surely we can show some solidarity by avoiding unnecessary travel and keeping our thermostats a few degrees lower. Rev. Charles Bouchard St. Louis Retired Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz kept a low profile in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo since being accused last summer of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 1990. At least that was the case until Monday, when Grosz was on the altar for the funeral of Bishop Emeritus Donald W. Trautman in St. Peter Cathedral in Erie, Pa. Groszs participation in the funeral Mass alongside several other bishops has sparked outrage on social media among survivors of clergy sexual abuse who thought the church had suspended him from public ministry while it investigated the abuse claim. I find it extremely offensive, said Kevin Brun, who along with other abuse victims called the diocese chancery to complain about it. You would think out of an abundance of caution they would refrain from allowing Bishop Grosz to be on the altar. Grosz, who retired in 2020, has not been suspended from public ministry or formally relieved of his priestly faculties. He voluntarily has kept himself out of the public spotlight since being accused in a lawsuit last July of forcibly touching a boy while taking photographs following a confirmation service in Genesee County in 1990. Trautman, a Buffalo priest, worked as a high-ranking administrator in the Buffalo Diocese prior to being elevated to Erie Diocese bishop in 1990. He was Groszs immediate predecessor as auxiliary bishop in Buffalo, and the two maintained a close friendship during their many years as colleague bishops. Attorney Dennis Vacco described Groszs participation in the funeral Mass as a unique circumstance. Should he be criticized if it was a family member for concelebrating a funeral Mass? I would say Bishop Trautman in his life was pretty close to him, as close as a family member, said Vacco, who represents Grosz in the state Attorney Generals Office lawsuit against the Buffalo Diocese and its retired bishops over an alleged coverup of clergy abuse cases. Grosz, 77, will continue to stay away from public ministry, even though he adamantly denies the abuse claim, said Vacco. The allegation triggered a Vatican process known as Vos Estis Lux Mundi whereby bishops can be investigated. Under terms outlined by Pope Francis, metropolitan archbishops are responsible for such investigations and in Groszs case, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York is the metropolitan archbishop for all dioceses in New York State, including Buffalo. Under church law, while bishops can remove priests from public ministry, they cant remove another bishop, so current Buffalo Diocese Bishop Michael W. Fisher had no authority to ban Grosz from taking the altar at the funeral Mass. Dolan referred the case to the Vatican, but that process in the case of Bishop Grosz has not yet commenced due to ongoing issues related to the Diocese of Buffalos Chapter 11 status, said diocese spokesman Gregory Tucker. The church typically waits for any civil processes to play out before pressing ahead with its canon law procedures. Vacco said Grosz has no forum in which he can defend himself against the abuse claim, because the Child Victims Act case alleging the abuse doesnt name him as a defendant. He cant vigorously defend through the litigation and assert his position that the claims are flat-out false, because hes not a party to it, said Vacco. On the other hand, the internal canon law process has not yet been determined, how the investigation will unfold. Trautmans funeral Mass on Monday was open to clergy and invited guests only, but many abuse survivors quickly became aware that Grosz had participated in the liturgy from the altar. Kevin Koscielniak, part of the Buffalo Survivors Group, said Groszs visible presence on the altar shows that the Buffalo Dioceses promises of accountability and reform and healing for abuse survivors through the bankruptcy process are nothing but word candy and lip service. The Buffalo Diocese has spent the past two years saying they want to do right by abuse victims, added Brun. Groszs appearance at the altar, even if hes technically not under suspension, sends the wrong message to survivors and is another example of the diocese saying one thing and doing something else, Brun 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. Regarding Russian attack hits Ukraine maternity hospital, officials say (March 9): I am aware that NATOs mission is to defend member countries. Nevertheless, I am deeply disappointed and disgusted by its cowardly reaction to the Ukraine invasion. NATO should be ashamed to stand by and watch so many innocent people being slaughtered. Where is NATOs moral compass? Russian President Vladimir Putin is the one who wants this war, and sanctions dont impact him. Rather, it is the Russian people who are hurt by sanctions, even while they are being arrested by the thousands for protesting the war. Russian soldiers are also victims of Putins lies, because they were told they were being dispatched for peacekeeping purposes. NATO members should wake up and assert their power in this conflict. Trump pulled U.S. troops out of Syria, bad-mouthed and threatened to pull us out of NATO. Trump withheld American military aid from Ukraine, publicly dismissed the work of U.S. Intelligence services, and all but genuflected before Putin and kissed his ring in front of news cameras at the Helsinki Summit in 2018. Trump never seemingly has a bad word to say about Putin, but instead still sings his praises at every opportunity. Plus, he tried to get the rest of the G7 members to readmit Russia, even after it was expelled for annexing Crimea. At the end of 2021 the United States again withdrew its combat and combat support forces from Iraq, leaving behind 2,500 American troops to provide training assistance as Iraq tries to rebuild its military yet another time and do it without repeating mistakes and bad habits that persisted a century became a nation after World War I (1914-18). The Americans have been doing this since 2003, when they ousted Saddam Hussein, a successful Sunni Arab ruler who concentrated on protecting the wealth and power of the Sunni Arab minority. For centuries the Sunni Arab minority, especially those from Baghdad, dominated local government. The Turks recognized this and put the better educated, motivated and organized Sunni Arab Baghdadis in charge. When Britain was assigned the job of establishing an independent Iraqi government, they followed the Turk example and put the Baghdadis in charge. That backfired in 1940 when the Baghdadis decided that the growing power of Nazi Germany provided an opportunity to punish the British and enhance Iraqi power. Secret negotiations with Germany were undertaken and Germany prepared to airlift in troops and equipment followed by a German ground offensive on the Persian Gulf oil. The British soon became aware of this and put together a force of three divisions, one of them formed around the Jordanian Arab Legion, and invaded Iraq. After a three-week campaign they were in Baghdad and found another group of Baghdadis who were willing to remain loyal to Britain. Dismayed at the dismal performance of their new Iraqi allies, the Germans canceled plans to move against the Persian Gulf and invaded Russia. The U.S. carried out a similar operation, using two American and one British divisions in a three-week campaign to overthrow the Saddam Baghdadi government. Sunni Arabs comprised 20 percent of the population and concentrated on keeping power, diverting most of the new oil wealth to themselves and keeping the 20 percent of the population that was Kurdish and the 6o percent who were Shia Arabs subservient. To do this the Baghdadis employed an ancient technique, as they formed a separate military, the Republican Guard, to protect Sunni Arab control and ensure the loyalty by the regular armed forces. The Republican Guard was composed of Sunni Arabs who knew what they were fighting for and were the best trained, equipped and motivated military force in Iraq. During the 1980s war with Iran, the Iraqi Arab Shia soldiers were motivated by financial incentives and preference for Sunni Arab domination rather than the Shia Iranians. It was common knowledge that the Iranians treated their Shia Arab minority worse than the Iraqi Sunni Arabs did. The Iran-Iraq war ended in a stalemate, which counted as a loss to the Iranians, who were accustomed to regularly defeating Arab armies. After 2003, when the Americans sought to rebuild the Iraqi military with the Shia Arab and Kurds now in charge of a democracy, many Americans did not appreciate the importance of these divisions and ancient loyalties in Iraq. American officials put in charge of the initial reconstruction did realize the problem and promptly disbanded the Sunni Arab dominated Iraqi military. Back in the United States this was criticized by politicians who did not understand or appreciate the history of Iraq and the malevolent role the Baghdadis played. The Baghdadis reverted to Plan B and supported an Islamic terrorist movement to expel the foreigners and put the Sunni Arabs back in charge. A gullible Western media accepted the Sunni Arab claims that they were Iraqi freedom fighters rather than the traditional tyrants trying to get their power back. This went on for about five years before most Sunni Arabs realized that the Shia Arab and Kurd majority had the numbers, guns and incentive to kill or drive all Sunni Arabs out of the country. This was a traditional regional solution to such problems. The Baghdadi Islamic terrorists did not disappear but remained quiet until 2011 when the Sunni Arab majority in Syria rebelled against the Shia Arab minority that had ruled Syria for decades. The Baghdadis moved operations to Syria and created ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). The Levant was Greater Syria that included Lebanon and parts of Jordan and Israel. The ISIL obsession with dominating the Syrian Sunni Arab rebels weakened the rebels to the point where the Shia minority government was back in charge by 2018 and is still fighting to eliminate all remaining opposition in Syria. ISIL has become an international franchise that encourages ruthless and ultimately futile efforts to conquer the world in the name of Islam. The failure of the Iraqi military to defeat anyone other than fellow Iraqis is not unique in the Arab world, but it is the best example of a collection of cultural values and bad habits that consistently prevent Arab forces from defeating non-Arab forces. Western analysts have determined what factors make Arab forces much less effective than all others. Its a collection of bad habits but can be summarized in an ancient adage accepted worldwide; there are no bad troops, only bad officers (leaders). The Arabs suffered centuries of domination by Greek, Roman, Iranian, Turk and European armies that had better officers and leadership in general. The European allies that won World War I also destroyed the Ottoman Turk empire and worked to establish independent Arab states. It worked in some cases, but not so much in Iraq. All Arab nations had to overcome some debilitating customs to establish effective armed forces and governments. Except in rare cases Arab officers have no respect for their troops nor trust in their fellow officers, both superiors and subordinates. The Arab educational tradition favors memorization, not literacy and reliance on written knowledge. Iraqi officers were dismayed at the American reliance on the written word in the form of training and technical manuals. Literacy rates among Arabs are lower than in other cultures and that means few foreign books are translated into Arabic. Exceptions include the Mein Kampf (My Struggle), the Nazi how-to manual written by Adolf Hitler and eagerly translated into Arabic. Mein Kampf has long been a best seller in Arab countries. Not a lot of books are translated into Arabic because the only book knowledge that counts is in the Koran (the Islamic scriptures). Arab scientists succeed by learning English and doing their advanced studies and research in English. The Americans translated a lot of their technical and training materials into Arabic but efforts to distribute them widely, especially to literate NCOs and troops were thwarted by officers who usually prohibited the use of these written materials, except by themselves. The officers insisted their subordinates and troops get their information from officers and memorize it. While the most effective armies, especially Western ones, depend on literate troops who are expected to learn as much as possible about military skills and think for themselves in combat, the Arab tradition sees all of that as an invitation to chaos, insubordination and revolution. This is one reason why few Arab armies have effective NCOs (sergeants). In this, Arabs saw the Russian military system as confirmation of the Arab system because the Russians had no effective NCOs. The post-Soviet Russians realized their error and have been trying, for the last three decades, to fix it. Success has been slow in coming. The situation is worse in Arab armies because effective NCOs are seen as an invitation to societal collapse. Some Arab countries find a way around this. The Saudis still have tribes as social and political organizations and use the inherent trust within a tribe to create a more effective military. There is also something of a class system to this because when the Saud clan formed Saudi Arabia in the 1920s, they did so via several trusted allies who are still the core of Saudi power. As with Iraq, the most trusted tribes provide the troops for the National Guard, which serves the same function as the Republican Guard in Saddams Iraq or the KGB military forces of the Soviet Union or the SS forces of Nazi Germany. Britain still maintains such a system but more as a tradition than loyalty test for elite units that guard the monarchy. The British monarchy lost their political power in the 19th century and control of the army to parliament in the 17th century. Another problem with Arab armies, and many in East Asia as well as Soviet Russia, is the resistance to questioning orders from superior or senior officers regularly seeking advice from subordinates. This was another reason why the Arabs got along with the Soviets, even when it became clear that the Russian weapons looked impressive but were usually inferior to their Western counterparts. The Israelis pointed out that Western military leadership practices can be quickly accepted because in the first few decades of Israeli history half the population were Arab-Jews because most Arab countries expelled their Jewish citizens, many of them families that had been living in Arab countries for over a thousand years. Most moved to Israel and saw the Western style Israeli military system was superior and had no trouble adapting. Many Arab soldiers taken prisoner in those early (through the 1970s) wars were surprised to see many of the captors looked like them and some even spoke their dialect (Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese) of Arabic like a native. That got a lot of young Arabs thinking seditious thoughts and played a part in triggering the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011. The Arab system of military leadership is hostile to any criticism of its methods and is reluctant to admit that an internal problem is the result of poor leadership. Other reasons, often involving foreigners, are found and the problems never get fixed. Islamic doctrine plays a role in this because Islam holds that all outcomes are Gods Will. Other major religions did not adopt or keep this attitude into the present. The non-Islamic world believes God helps those who help themselves and that makes a big difference when it comes to military performance. Non-Arab Moslems, like the Turks and Iranians, pay lip-service to the Gods Will thing but practice the Western version of how that operates. The United States is again trying to overcome all these problems as they assist in rebuilding the Iraqi military. American military advisors were aware of all these problems after 2003 and sought to overcome them. At the senior levels of the U.S. government, it was more convenient to accept the myth and the needed reforms were happening. But the advisors still in Iraq reported otherwise. Even before 2003 or September 11, 2001 the U.S. military, or at least the U.S. Army Special Forces and some people in the CIA were aware of these problems. But most Americans, including military leaders, did not accept it. All this is important because the collapse of the Iraqi military in the face of a smaller number of ISIL attackers was a shock to most Iraqis as well as the Americans. The traditional Arab attitudes towards military leadership persisted and it was embarrassing for Iraqis to admit that. At the same time there was some good news. The American Special Forces pointed out that one proven technique the Special Forces had developed was to offer Special Forces training to Arab countries. The catch was that the Special Forces trainers spoke the local language and understood the culture and they were able to create effective special operations units in Iraq, where it was noted by the locals that these guys were different, effective and operated like Western troops. These Iraqi troops were all volunteers who agreed to accept the alien military practices of the American Special Forces trainers. It worked, but when ISIL attacked in 2014, only about ten percent of Iraqi troops were special operations quality and that was not enough to prevent the collapse of the Iraqi military in the face of the ISIL offensive. The Iraqi special operations troops were useful and critical in some situations, there were just not enough of them and replacements took over a year to recruit and train. That meant losses could not be replaced quickly. The current problem is not lack of knowledge and understanding of the problems, but the willingness of the Iraqi government to accept the radical changes needed to create an effective military. SAVANNAH, Ga. U.S. soldiers continued to deploy Friday to Europe, joining thousands already sent overseas to support NATO allies amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. About 130 soldiers from the 87th Division Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade, lined up with rucksacks inside a terminal at Hunter Airfield in Savannah before marching outside and boarding their chartered flight. It departed amid grey skies and rain. Republican U.S. Rep. Earl "Buddy" Carter, of Pooler, Georgia, was among those in attendance. He was seen "fist-bumping" many of the soldiers as they boarded the plane. The battalion's soldiers are in addition to the estimated 3,800 soldiers from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division who have deployed in recent weeks from nearby Fort Stewart, said Lt. Col. Lindsey Elder, the division's spokesperson. Spec. Danton Belucio, who has served in the Army for three years, said he looked forward to going on his first deployment. "I've always wanted to actually go on one to do something different," he said. "It makes me feel like I'm helping somebody." Maj. Gen. Charles Costanza, the 3rd Infantry's commander, said recently that soldiers are being told to prepare for six months overseas, though deployments could be lenghtened or shortened per developments in Ukraine. The Pentagon has ordered roughly 12,000 total 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 is to train alongside military units of NATO allies in a display of force aimed at deterring further aggression by Russia. The Pentagon has stressed U.S. forces are not being deployed to fight in Ukraine. Belucio, 24, of Orlando, Florida, said he was not worried at all about participating in the mission. Although a comprehensive missile defense system for Guam remains a work in progress, the Army recently tested technology that makes its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system for the island nimbler and more versatile. The 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command recently wrapped up Operation Talon Lightning, the first exercise to remotely operate a THAAD launcher in the Northern Mariana Islands, according to Capt. Nicholas Chopp, a spokesman for the Hawaii-based command. The Army has operated a THAAD consisting of a command-and-control center, radar array and interceptor launchers from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam since 2013. Earlier this month, an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III plane shuttled a THAAD launchers from Guam to Rota Island, about 55 miles to the north. It was equipped with new software designed for remote communication. The soldiers have been working since the month of January learning how to operate the new capability and learning how to configure a system in order to make this mission happen last week, Maj. Juan F. Rivera, the future operations planner for the 94th, told Stars and Stripes by phone Wednesday. No interceptor missiles were brought to Rota, Rivera said. The exercise, which ended March 7, tested only the capacity for the command center on Guam to communicate remotely with the crew of roughly 20 soldiers manning the launcher. I think we have achieved 100% mission success on demonstrating remote-launch capability, he said. The battery was able to communicate and essentially extend its ability beyond Guam to defend the Northern Marianas and Guam simultaneously, Rivera said. With this remote launch capability, the fire control officers can stay in Guam and fire missiles from other islands and other places in the second island chain, he said. Guam is of growing strategic importance to the United States as it grapples with a more assertive China. As the closest U.S. territory to the contested South China Sea, Guam is seen by the Pentagon as a strategic hub for projecting power in the region. Beijing has taken notice. In 2020, Chinas air force released a video showing a simulated bomber attack on what appeared to be Andersen. The head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. John Aquilino, reiterated the importance of Guam and its defense during a hearing Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee. The area in the Indo-Pacific is expansive half the globe, he said. And a lot of it is water. So to be able to posture forces in places that matter with the right capabilities, weve focused on Guam as a strategic hub, as you would expect. Aquilino told the lawmakers that a comprehensive missile defense system for Guam is his number one unfunded request. The Pentagon is in the final stages of a missile defense review that will lay out strategy and priorities and clarify the way forward on Guams missile defense, Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, told committee members. For the time being, the Armys THAAD remains the islands primary land-based missile defense system. But with the new-found capability of operating as a detached system, it becomes a bit harder for an adversary to disable it. Its sort of this concept of, Don't keep all your eggs in one basket, Rivera said. We continue to modernize our weapon systems so that we're not so predictable and one-dimensional, he said. We will continue to evolve our systems, and this is one example of how we're able to work with our defense industry to make our system more survivable and provide even greater protection than we already do (Tribune News Service) Russia plans to send thousands of local fighters from the Middle East, along with weapons, to join its forces in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. We need to help them get to the conflict zone, Putin told Russias Security Council on Friday on a video call. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told the meeting Russia had received more than 16,000 applications from people in Middle East countries to help fight in two separatist regions of eastern Ukraine. Putin also endorsed a proposal to send more weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank systems, to forces in Ukraines separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which Russia recognized as independent last month. Russia has got hold of Stinger and Javelin shoulder-fired missiles weapons supplied to Ukraine by the U.S. that it can dispatch to Ukraine, Shoigu said. The decision to call in Middle East mercenaries is a demonstrative signal that Russia isnt planning to step back, said Tatiana Stanovaya, a political consultant and founder of R. Politik. Putin wants to show that he isnt going to reverse course. Putin sent Russian forces in 2015 to intervene in Syria to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. With the help of heavy Russian air bombardment, Syrian pro-government forces waged a brutal campaign to recapture rebel-held territory, including the countrys commercial capital Aleppo. The move comes as talks Thursday between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers in Turkey ended without any visible progress. While Putin on Friday cited positive movement in the negotiations, Ukrainian officials have rejected ceding any territory and are pressing for security guarantees from the U.S. and its allies. Ukraine has succeeded in slowing the Russian military advance more than two weeks since Putin ordered the Feb. 24 invasion. It put out a call for foreign volunteers to join in Ukraines defense and said tens of thousands of people had applied to take part. The U.S. and its allies have massively stepped up weapons deliveries to the Ukrainian military, which has killed several thousand Russian soldiers during the fighting, according to U.S. assessments. While reiterating that Russias campaign is going according to plan in Ukraine, Shoigu also appealed to Putin to deploy more weapons along Russias western border to counter what he said was a military buildup by the U.S. and its NATO allies. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization sent additional troops and weapons to bolster defenses in the region after Russia began its invasion. ___ 2022 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (Tribune News Service) Satellite images showing the dispersal of a now-infamous Russian military column north of Kyiv are proving both the extraordinary ability of publicly available technologies to track the war in Ukraine as it happens and their limitations. The high definition images from Maxar Technologies Inc., dated March 10, showed artillery pieces and tanks from the column in new positions in the surrounding woods, fields and towns, in particular Hostomel, the site of an airport thats been fought over since the start of the invasion. Yet despite the quantity of so-called open source intelligence, there no was reliable way to discern what the redeployment will mean. Some people saw an imminent assault on Ukraines capital, others an unforced Russian error thats left the units vulnerable to Ukrainian attack. Its probably a mixture of both and completely in line with Russian military doctrine, but why now, we really dont know, said Franz-Stefan Gady, a research fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, focused on the future of war. The fog of war still applies, he said, regardless of the unprecedented levels of monitoring. Even before the Feb. 24 invasion, officials, military analysts, journalists and data sleuths alike were poring over images and videos uploaded to social media platforms such as Telegram, YouTube and Twitter as they tried to assess the extent of Russias deployments near the Ukrainian border. Since then they have watched for clues on its advance, battlefield tactics and even maintenance practices. In a disinformation-rife environment, open source intelligence or OSINT outfits such as Bellingcat and @OSINTtechnical trawl to weed out fakes through geolocation. They also gather data for potential future war crimes trials, and provide verifiable baselines for estimates of losses and casualties. We are seeing things within hours of them happening, which is unprecedented for a conflict on this scale, according to Phillips OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at St. Andrews University in Scotland. Yet, because so much of the imagery is posted by Ukrainians to show Russian losses and weaknesses, he said, that also tells a narrative of victory that may or may not be true. Just how differently the same data can be interpreted is clear from the latest updates from two widely watched, non-classified daily assessments of conflict. The Institute for the Study of War a Washington non-profit whose maps and updates have become staples for analysts of the conflict changed its view on the near inevitability of a Russian military victory on Thursday. It concluded that the likelihood is increasing that Ukrainian forces could fight to a standstill the Russian ground forces attempting to encircle and take Kyiv. The report said Russian forces had become bogged down around Kharkiv and Mariupol in the east, and Mykolayiv in the south, and continue to be hampered by planning and logistics weaknesses. There are, as yet, no indications that the Russian military is reorganizing, reforming, learning lessons, or taking other measures that would lead to a sudden change in the pace or success of its operations, the update said, even if the sheer disparity of resources between the two sides could see that change. On the same day, Poland-based Rochan Consulting warned the strategic outlook remains negative for Ukraine. Ukrainian forces continue to be on the defensive. A major counteroffensive was planned but it hasnt materialized yet. Southern sectors are in a particularly dire situation. Overnight, Russian long-range missile attacks extended to two airports in western Ukraine and a factory in the southeastern city of Dnipro. Russian forces encircle and are shelling key cities, control critical roads, and have taken control of the countrys largest nuclear power plant. Gaps in tracking There are critical gaps in what OSINT can do. Theres little if any hard evidence, for example, to confirm Ukrainian claims that its air force rather than air defenses is shooting down Russian planes. Among the images of Russian losses, there are also fewer examples of its latest equipment or elite forces, absences that could tell a counterpoint story, according to Gady. The main thing about OSINT is that nothing on wartime social media can be trusted, but once someone spends the time to geolocate an image it becomes verifiable, the person behind @OSINTtechnical said by phone after being contacted through their Twitter platform. They asked not to be identified by name given the sensitivity of their work. Still, none of those uncertainties should cloud the overall picture of the conflict, which shows no sign of abating. The U.S. said on March 8 it estimated Russia had lost 8% to 10% of assets deployed in Ukraine. Thats added to a growing consensus that with its entire assembled force already committed, Russia will need fresh reserves of manpower and equipment to maintain flexibility and avoid exhaustion. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Wednesday it had sent conscripts into combat, something it previously said was not the case. On Friday, President Vladimir Putin approved a plan to deploy 16,000 volunteers to join the fight from the Middle East. More important is that the campaign so far appears to have been a demonstration of the Russian militarys inability to conduct the kinds of complex combined arms operations that a war on this scale demands, especially in the air, according to OBrien, at St. Andrews. He cited a Thursday attempt by a Russian Battalion Tactical Group to drive tanks and armored personnel carriers into a suburb of Kyiv, without infantry first clearing the area of defenders. It was a clear sign that tactical issues persist, even if it doesnt mean the Russians will therefore lose, he said. A Ukrainian drone filmed the columns retreat after several of its vehicles were destroyed in an ambush. We focus far too much on equipment rather than on systems and morale, OBrien said. Once this army gets to 20-25% killed or wounded, it will become combat ineffective. ___ 2022 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The United States and allies have surged weapons to Ukraine in recent weeks, in the face of the Russian invasion. Images of destroyed Russian tanks on social media have drawn attention to one particular weapon: the Javelin missile. The U.S. and other NATO countries sent more than 17,000 antitank weapons, including Javelin missiles, overland to Ukraine via Poland and Romania in the span of less than a week this month, the New York Times reported. The Javelin has taken on a symbolic valence in pro-Ukraine online chatter. Former reporter Christian Borys created an image of a saint clutching a Javelin and its launch unit. The image on stickers and other gear has raised more than $1 million, Borys has said on Twitter, which he said will go to a humanitarian aid charity focused on Ukraine. As a convoy of Russian military vehicles creeping toward Kyiv captures global attention, the antitank missiles are in the spotlight. Weapons experts say the Javelin could prove particularly effective against Russian tanks, though they caution that the missile systems alone are unlikely to change the trajectory of the war. Heres what to know about they work and the role they could play. What is a Javelin? The Javelin is an antitank missile system that locks onto a targets thermal picture. The soldier peers through a command launch unit and selects different targets and attack types. When fired, the missile thrusts flies out of the tube before its primary motor turns on and sends the rocket flying. The gentler start reduces debris and smoke, making it harder for the enemy to see where it was launched. It makes use of what is known as a fire and forget system, which allows the soldier to take cover or load a new missile while the other one is tracking to its target. The system can fire day or night and has a relatively far range, of up to two and a half miles. While the Javelin can target any kind of vehicle that emits heat, it is most potent against tanks since it can strike from the top. This is why its called a Javelin, like the spear thrown in track and field events that falls to the earth at a steep angle. Javelins can also fire directly at a target if there is protection above it, and can be used against low flying helicopters. How could they help Ukraine fight Russian forces? The Javelin is probably the most sophisticated and most powerful antitank weapon, said Mark Cancian, senior adviser for the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Ukrainian military shared images of soldiers carrying the Javelin on Twitter Friday, along with photos of destroyed tanks. The very information about the presence of Javelins in the weaponry of the Ukrainian Armed Forces causes panic among the [Russian flag] occupiers, the tweet said. Ukraine claims that Russia has lost 335 tanks and just over 1,100 armored combat vehicles in the fighting. But there isnt reliable data on how many Javelin missiles Ukraine has used in battle and to what effect, said Amael Kotlarski, a senior analyst at Janes, an open-source defense intelligence agency. The Ukrainian defense ministry asked Ukrainians in a Facebook post Wednesday not to share information on the purchase of weapons from foreign partners. Experts say the Javelin is a powerful addition to Ukraines existing arsenal of domestically produced antitank missiles. Its easy to train fighters to use them, Cancian said, which is advantageous in Ukraine, where civilians have signed up for battle. The United States has trained Ukrainian forces in the past on how to operate them. The weapons are particularly useful because the Russians seem to be road-bound, Cancian added, which makes it easier for Ukrainian forces to set up ambush sites or strong launch points. What have Russians done to curb Javelins? There are few things even the most well equipped militaries can do about Javelins. Modern tanks are covered with reactive armor, which in some cases is packed with small amounts of explosives that will detonate an incoming warhead. The Javelin is designed to get past that armor. It uses a tandem warhead, which first either creates a channel into the reactive armor or blows it up, allowing the main warhead to slice right through and explode. Russian tanks are particularly vulnerable to the weapon, Kotlarski said, since they were designed to be very small, squat and compact. A Javelin missile hitting the tanks roof usually means instant destruction, he said. There is some evidence the Russian military is wary of Javelins, including photos showing metal canopies jury-rigged on top of tanks. There are two theories about what these are intended to do. The first is to shield a commander or the turret itself from drones that can either drop munitions or crash into them, kamikaze style. But there is also speculation the canopies are meant to blunt the Javelins top down attack, giving the tank and its crew a slightly better chance of survival. Others have suggested thermal attachments to the tank may be an attempt to complicate the missiles ability to focus on the target. The design concept is similar to that of slat armor, which U.S. and other militaries have used to surround vehicles in steel cages, to detonate rocket propelled grenades prematurely. Social media has been littered with photos of destroyed Russian tanks with cages. The images have acquired a symbolic resonance so quickly that internet used have coined the term cope cage, earning a page on the Internets primary meme directory. A Telegram channel associated with pro-Russian forces also published instructions for Russian soldiers on how to use Javelin systems that they capture in Ukraine. What are the Javelins limitations? The Javelin is not a silver bullet, said Kotlarski, from Janes. There is a prevailing narrative in the public mind to sort of lionize certain weapons systems as having a defining impact on certain conflicts, he said, but the reality is often more complex. Though potent, particularly in open areas where Russian military vehicles are lumbering toward Ukrainian cities, the Javelin does have some drawbacks. It has the disadvantage of all these kinds of antitank weapons, which is that [tanks] can shoot back at you and you just have people hiding behind a hill or a bush, Cancian said. Its not like an armored vehicle where you have some protection. The weapons systems are also expensive and complicated to produce, with estimates of production costs ranging between $80,000 and $200,000 per missile, according to Kotlarski. U.S. weaponmakers have the capacity to produce a maximum of 6,500 Javelin missiles per year, according to the Armys estimates, though the existing contract caps production at 2,100. If the conflict drags on and Ukraine burns through existing Javelin supplies, the U.S. and European countries may worry that handing over more weapons could leave them vulnerable, Kotlarski said. As its ground forces struggle to make progress amid fierce Ukrainian resistance, Russia is relying on shelling besieged cities and launching unguided bombs from the sky. And with battles expected to play out increasingly in cities, the Javelin which is tricky to fire safely out of building windows may not prove especially useful, Kotlarski said. A Javelin in itself is not going to be able to allow the Ukrainians to defeat the entire Russian army, he said. Zelensky has said weapons provided by the West so far are insufficient and called for fighter jets, setting off a fierce debate among U.S. politicians about whether to supply the aircraft. The Biden administration has so far shot down the idea. We believe the most effective way to support the Ukrainian military in their fight against Russia is to provide increased amounts of antitank weapons and air defense systems, the commander of U.S. European Command, Gen. Tod D. Wolters, said in a statement. The Washington Posts Dalton Bennett and David Stern contributed to this report. Much more than legislative lines are at stake in a reapportionment challenge before a State Supreme Court judge in Steuben County. Justice Patrick F. McAllister's decision on a Republican-inspired lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of New York's latest redistricting effort, expected by April 4, may also determine plans for at least one "on the fence" candidate for the State Legislature this year. State Sen. Edward A. Rath III is not saying much about his future, but is known to be exploring a run against Democratic incumbent Karen McMahon for an Amherst-based seat in the Assembly. But a McAllister decision in favor of the GOP suit could potentially affect Rath's election plans for the Senate, casting the entire situation into electoral limbo, depending on the extent of any potential ruling. "I'm at a juncture right now where I have to very closely explore each option," is all Rath is saying. Nevertheless, voters in the 146th Assembly seat McMahon won in 2018 have been fielding telephone polls gauging reaction to a possible Rath candidacy against her. That stems from new lines resulting from the reapportionment process under scrutiny in McAllister's Bath courtroom. Under the new lines, Rath would face incumbent Democrat Timothy M. Kennedy for the Senate. Rath is also mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for county executive next year. His name currently appears on designating petitions for his 63rd Senate seat, while a GOP "placeholder" candidate is on petitions for the McMahon seat. Rath could be substituted for the placeholder at a later date. Sources close to the Rath campaign acknowledge that Kennedy, with almost $1.5 million in his campaign treasury and now assigned to a district comprised of approximately 60% Democrats, emerges as the overwhelming favorite. Rath would face a tough challenge against McMahon, who is also expected to enjoy a comfortable Democratic enrollment edge in the new district. "I would think Karen McMahon would welcome a challenge from Ed Rath," said Erie County Democratic Chairman Jeremy J. Zellner, adding he does not expect the Republican lawsuit before McAllister to succeed. Still, the judge is slated Monday to hear from experts on both sides of the case on whether partisan gerrymandering influenced the lines drawn by the state's Independent Redistricting Commission authorized by a 2014 constitutional amendment. McAllister noted during a March 3 hearing in Bath that delaying implementation of this year's district lines was possible, but seeks a quick resolution of the case. McAllister's involvement in the case is likely only the first step in litigation to determine the constitutionality of a process that drew new legislative lines for New York after the 2020 census and could drastically reduce Republican representation, especially in the House of Representatives. The case differs from previous reapportionment challenges because Republicans behind the suit contend that the 2014 amendment charging the Independent Redistricting Commission with drawing nonpartisan lines was violated when the body deadlocked and the Democratic State Legislature ultimately determined the new districts. The case is expected to be ultimately determined in the state's highest court the Court of Appeals. 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. Officials in Polands two largest cities have warned that they can no longer cope with the waves of refugees fleeing Russias invasion of Ukraine. The mayors of both Warsaw, the capital, and Krakow, Polands second-largest city, said that they are struggling to accommodate the sheer number of people who are arriving and urged the United Nations and European Union to intervene. More than 2.5 million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries since the war started on Feb. 24, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The vast majority 1.5 million people have sought refuge in Poland, with smaller numbers fleeing to other countries such as Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia. The head of UNHCR, Filippo Grandi, said the Ukraine exodus was the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. And with few signs that the war would abate, the agency has warned that an estimated 4 million people could flee Ukraine. In a Facebook post Friday, Krakow Mayor Jacek Majchrowski said that his government would begin sending Ukrainian refugees to accommodation outside the city, including in the surrounding province of Maopolska. In the last several days, we have already received approximately 100,000 war refugees. Krakow is slowly losing its ability to accommodate further waves, Majchrowski said. We have been helping Ukraine since the first days of the war, but as a local government, we are first responsible for the citizens, he said, adding that more arrivals could hinder the functioning of the city. Krakow has a population of about 780,000. But in Warsaw, whose population is roughly 1.7 million, Mayor Rafa Trzaskowski also said Friday that his city remains the main destination for Ukrainian refugees and that roughly 300,000 have arrived so far. The situation is getting more and more difficult every day, he said on Twitter. Local media reported that Trzaskowski urged the U.N. and European Union to intervene and support Polish cities grappling with the crisis. Most refugees want to stay near the border or in major cities, a spokeswoman for the Krakow mayor said Thursday, local media reported. But the influx, she said, has become a huge organizational problem for the city. Majchrowski said that Ukrainian-speaking officials and volunteers would be posted at Krakows main railway station around-the-clock to assist new refugees. On Twitter, Trzaskowski put out a call for donations for Warsaws efforts. Warsaw stands and will #StandWithUkraine. Support. Donate, he tweeted. Russian agents came to the home of Google's top executive in Moscow to deliver a frightening ultimatum last September: take down an app that had drawn the ire of Russian President Vladimir Putin within 24 hours or be taken to prison. Google quickly moved the woman to a hotel where she checked in under an assumed name and might be protected by the presence of other guests and hotel security, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The same agents - believed by company officials to be from Russia's FSB, a successor to the KGB intelligence service - then showed up at her room to tell her the clock was still ticking. Within hours, an app designed to help Russians register protest votes against Putin could no longer be downloaded from Google or Apple, whose main representative in Moscow faced a similarly harrowing sequence. Titans of American technology had been brought to their knees by some of the most primitive intimidation tactics in the Kremlin playbook. The unnerving encounters, which have not previously been disclosed, were part of a broader campaign that Putin intensified last year to erode sources of internal opposition - moves now helping him maintain his hold on power amid a global backlash over the invasion of Ukraine. In a single year, Putin had his political nemesis Alexei Navalny imprisoned after a poisoning attempt failed to kill him; pushed independent news outlets to the brink of extinction; orchestrated a Kremlin-controlled takeover of Russia's Facebook equivalent; and issued "liquidation" orders against human rights organizations. Amid this internal offensive, Putin also moved to bring foreign technology companies to heel. Moscow deployed new devices that let it degrade or even block Russians' access to Facebook and Twitter, imposed fines totaling $120 million on firms accused of defying Kremlin censors, and ordered 13 of the world's largest technology companies to keep employees in Russia and thus exposed to potential arrest or other punishment for their employers' actions - a measure that U.S. executives refer to as the "hostage law." On their own, these moves were seen as disparate signs of Russia' descent into authoritarianism. But they also laid the groundwork for the Soviet-style suppression of free expression now underway in Russia, much as the months-long military buildup set the stage for the invasion of Ukraine. Putin's crackdown has accelerated in recent weeks. Facebook and Twitter have been knocked offline by the government for millions of Russians. News outlets that survived state harassment for years shut down this month in the face of a new law imposing prison time of up to 15 years for spreading "fake" news - understood to be anything contradicting the Kremlin's depiction of a "special military operation" unfolding with precision in Ukraine. To Russian activists, the impact has been devastating. "Every meaningful, practical avenue for dissent is being systematically shut down," said Pavel Khodorkovsky, founder of the New York-based Institute for Modern Russia, whose father was one of Russia's original oligarchs before spending a decade in prison after confronting Putin over corruption. "I don't think it's an over dramatization to say that Putin is longing for a return to Soviet Union times," Khodorkovsky said, "not only in geopolitical power but in terms of total control inside the state." There is preliminary evidence that the suppression strategy is working. Polls, whose reliability is always uncertain in Russia, show that a majority of Russians support the war. In interviews with Western journalists that have gone viral online, Russians who rely on state-controlled media have consistently echoed Kremlin falsehoods about eradicating alleged Nazism in Ukraine while seeming to be genuinely oblivious to the war's carnage. For relatives on opposite sides of the Ukraine border, reality has cleaved. Civilians in the besieged cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa have described surreal conversations with family members in Russia who refuse to believe that Russian forces are bombing residential districts, that women and children are among the casualties, and that 2 million people have fled a country hit by power outages and food shortages. The war is still in its early days. And it may prove more difficult for the Kremlin to sustain its information blockade as costs of the conflict, including mounting casualties and sanctions that are turning the country into an economically marooned pariah, penetrate Russian society. Apple, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms have played a major role in galvanizing the global response. Viral images of the devastation in Ukraine and video clips of the country's resilient leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, have shaped world opinion and exposed Moscow's war claims as fiction. American technology companies have used their power to add to the pressure on Putin. Google's YouTube platform has blocked RT, Sputnik and other Russian propaganda channels globally, and cut them off from ad revenue. Facebook, which Russia has sought to declare an "extremist" organization, has taken similar steps against state media outlets. Apple has "paused" sales of iPhones and other devices in Russia and removed RT and Sputnik from its app store outside the country. But American tech companies have also made numerous compromises with the Kremlin in recent years that have undermined activist groups, impaired Russians' access to reliable information and look increasingly problematic in the wake of the invasion. ___ Even after the threat to its executive, Google kept its employees in Russia and continued to negotiate with the Kremlin on ways to comply with the so-called landing law putting company officials there at risk of arrest or other punishment, according to industry executives familiar with the discussions. Those talks were still underway, one executive said, even after U.S. officials were warning that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was imminent. Apple has similarly kept employees in Russia and taken other steps to placate the Kremlin. The company last year began configuring iPhones sold in Russia to promote Kremlin-backed social media companies, enabling users to activate them with a single click. It is an accommodation Apple has rarely made elsewhere and advances Putin's goal of migrating Russian people to platforms controlled by the government, according to Russia analysts. Among them is VKontakte, a Facebook equivalent that in December became majority owned by the state-run energy giant Gazprom. Apple is also yet to give Russian users access to a new security tool, Private Relay, that could help Russians reach foreign news coverage and other content blocked by the government. The feature, designed to render Internet browsing untraceable, comes pre-installed on new phones in the United States and other markets. But those who try to activate it in Russia get a message saying that the program "is not supported" in that country. Apple's decision has baffled Russian analysts. "What is the reason at this point to accommodate the Russian government?" asked Sergey Sanovich, a postdoctoral scholar at Princeton University tracking the Kremlin crackdown. "I'm not sure what [Apple] has in Russia that they are trying to protect at this point." Apple, through a spokesman, declined to answer questions from The Post or comment for this article. Google did not directly respond to questions, but referred The Post to a Web site where the company lists its responses to the Ukraine crisis. For years, American technology companies navigated a narrow path in relations with the Kremlin. Google and others resisted some of the most invasive demands, including a law requiring the storing of users' data on servers in Russia more likely to be breached by the government. But the firms granted concessions in other areas in part to preserve access to the Russian market. "A lot of tech companies played rope-a-dope with the Russian government," said Andrew Weiss, a former White House official who oversees research on Russia at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The war in Ukraine has scrambled those calculations, and, at least in some corridors of Silicon Valley, led to bouts of second-guessing. "There is concern about the employees we have there," said an executive with one of the companies that has been a target of pressure by the Kremlin. "There may come a point where [my] company decides it's not worth it anymore and just completely pulls up stakes." He and others spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the situation's sensitivity. Even critics of U.S. tech companies acknowledge that departures on those terms could be harmful to U.S. interests and advantageous to Putin. The devices and platforms provided by American tech firms have functioned as conduits of Western information and ideas to millions of Russians. This American technology has been critical to protest movements and reform advocates, enabling such groups to raise money, build support and map strategy on encrypted channels that are more difficult for Russian intelligence agencies to monitor. ___ A decade ago, Navalny's group started with about 50,000 followers, but was reaching as many as 10 million a day before the war through videos and other messages distributed on YouTube, Twitter, Telegram and other platforms, according to Leonid Volkov, the political director for the organization. That is in part why the decisions by Google and Apple to take down the Navalny app in September were seen as such betrayal, Volkov said. "It was a major blow to our supporters," he said. "They really helped Putin." The Smart Voting app, as it was called, had sought to help Navalny supporters across the country select candidates with the best prospects of beating representatives of Putin's United Russia party. The aim was not to take control of the Duma - considered an impossibility because of ballot manipulation - but to eat into United Russia's margin of victory, bring new energy to the opposition movement and deliver an embarrassing setback to Putin, Volkov said. The app had been conceived in part as a way to evade Kremlin censors; while Russian authorities were well equipped to take down lists posted online, the main censorship body, Roskomnadzor, had not demonstrated that it could interfere with downloads through Google and Apple's secure app stores to millions of cellphones. Navalny's organization had spent months fine-tuning the app and selecting 1,300 candidates for endorsements. Then, at 8 a.m. on Sept. 17, just as the three-day voting period for the Duma election was to get underway, the app disappeared from Google and Apple platforms. The removal of the app came after a period of escalating pressure. Weeks earlier, Roskomnadzor had ordered Apple, Google and other companies to sever all ties to Navalny, citing his group's status as an "extremist" entity and warning that any link to the voting app would be construed as foreign election interference. On Sept. 3, a Moscow court had ordered Google and Yandex, the main Russian search engine, to stop displaying Navalny-related results on their websites. A week later, U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan was summoned to the Kremlin. "There is one reason - interference in Russian elections," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a posting on the messaging service Telegram. When Google and Apple resisted removing the app, the Kremlin's tactics became more menacing. On Sept. 14, armed Russian police entered Google's offices in Moscow, a frightening show of force staged under the pretext of collecting fines for alleged content and other violations. The first sign of trouble for Navalny's team came the next day when the organization made its first attempt to post a list of endorsed candidates to the Smart Voting app and "nothing happened," Volkov said. At first, he said, it was unclear whether there was a technical problem or the companies were succumbing to pressure. Even so, the app had remained available to download until the morning after Russian agents arrived at the Google and Apple representatives' doorsteps. Google's executive, a Russian citizen, was "essentially threatened with treason as a Russian citizen," said an executive with knowledge of the episode. Executives asked that her identity not be disclosed out of concern for her safety. The group tried to get its endorsements out through other means, posting lists to the Google Docs platform and even reading the names of endorsed candidates on videos posted to YouTube. But that material was taken down as well under pressure from Roskomnadzor. Volkov filed complaints with both companies, pleading with them to reinstate the group's software. Google finally did so, but only days after the election - when distributing the list of endorsed candidates had become pointless. Russia also tried to force Twitter to censor Navalny and others. But it did not have employees in the country to be threatened. Instead, the Russian government made a crude attempt to block Internet access to Twitter, inadvertently blocking other sites as well. The removal of the app by Google and Apple was met with relative silence from Western governments, a muted reaction that stunned not only Navalny's group but some company executives. "When we took down the Navalny app, there was not a peep from any democratic element," said an industry executive who had disagreed with the decision. "I was hoping we'd be beaten by [Secretary of State] Tony Blinken" or other U.S. or European Union officials, the executive said. "But no one did." Google executives disclosed the removal of the app in an internal email whose contrite tone suggests that the decision was not popular with some employees. "We resisted this position for as long as possible," the message said, "but nothing is more important to Google than the safety and well-being of our employees." Apple responded to Navalny with a legalistic defense of its decision. The orders to take down the app "reflect the state of the law in Russia and Apple was obliged to act on the orders," the letter said, according to a copy shared by Volkov. It is hard to know what impact the companies' capitulation had on the election. United Russia ended up losing about 20 seats in the Sept. 19 election, far short of the 60 or 70 that Volkov said his organization thought it was in position to gain before the decisions by Google and Apple. ___ The core of Navalny's team fled Russia last year and now works from an office in Vilnius, Lithuania, several blocks from a museum where Soviet-era prison cells and torture chambers have been preserved in a building that served as a KGB headquarters. In an interview before the Ukraine invasion, Volkov talked about the dire situation for dissidents and how it might take an unexpected shock to society - what he referred to as a "Black Swan" event - to dispel Russia's political apathy and threaten Putin. The invasion has seemingly delivered such a scenario, creating extraordinary upheaval. But Navalny's organization is not in Russia to mobilize opposition, and its ability to do so through online means has been impaired by Putin's campaign of suppression. In recent weeks, however, Navalny has found new use for the app, posting appeals to Russians urging them to attend antiwar rallies, and sharing news about his trial on charges of embezzlement from his own organization - allegations that he adamantly denies and that U.S. officials consider politically driven. Those messages now flow to users of cellphones powered by Google's Android operating system, which accounts for about two-thirds of the Russian market. But iPhone users in Russia can't see them. Volkov sent another letter to Apple on March 1, urging the company again to reconsider. "With independent media being banned in Russia, our team's resources serve as the key source of objective information about the war," the letter said, adding that because other platforms were blocked, "the most important media among our resources was the application." Apple responded that it was reviewing the matter, Volkov said, but as of Friday had yet to reinstate the Navalny application. ___ The Washington Post's Gerrit De Vynck and Isabelle Khurshudyan contributed to this report. KYIV, Ukraine (Tribune News Service) As Russian forces kept up their bombardment of cities across Ukraine on Saturday, capturing the eastern outskirts of a key southern port, the Kremlin warned the U.S. that it would consider convoys carrying weapons to Ukraine to be "legitimate targets." Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Saturday that shipments of Western weapons to Ukraine could be attacked by Russian forces, according to Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency. Western nations' "thoughtless transfer" of portable air defense and antitank missile systems to Kyiv, Ryabkov said, demonstrated "the escalatory component of Washington's policy." The White House announced Saturday it approved an additional $200 million in arms and equipment for Ukraine, on top of $350 million President Joe Biden approved last month. "We have warned the U.S. that the U.S.-orchestrated inundation of Ukraine with weapons from some countries is not just a dangerous move, but also an action that makes these convoys legitimate targets," Ryabkov said. The Russian diplomat did not say whether Russian forces would target such convoys in Poland or Romania, NATO countries that border Ukraine. The tough talk came on a day that Russian forces sustained "heavy losses in manpower and equipment" in areas northeast of Kyiv and were prevented from regaining a foothold on previously captured frontiers, according to the Ukrainian military. Early in the morning, loud explosions reverberated near the capital. Rumbles louder and closer than the booms of previous days could be heard throughout the day and well into the night in Kyiv. They served as the calling card of the twin Russian pincers stretching toward the capital from its northeastern and northwestern flank. Despite holding off enemy forces from the capital, Ukrainian officials admitted a bitter defeat, acknowledging that Russia had seized part of Mariupol, a strategic city in the southeastern Donetsk region that could allow it to build a land corridor from pro-Moscow enclaves in the east to Russian-annexed Crimea in the south. Russian shelling of the city hit a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children, and repeated efforts to evacuate 430,000 residents have failed as their convoys come under artillery fire. Dozens of buses loaded with humanitarian supplies were reported to be attempting to reach the city. "Let's see whether this one gets here or not," Mariupol Deputy Mayor Serhiy Orlov said in an interview with the BBC, noting that six previous attempts to bring food, water and medicine to his beleaguered city were unsuccessful. "The convoys were not let through," he said. "They were bombed, the road was mined, there was shelling in the town." In Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding center about 300 miles west of Mariupol, Mayor Olexandr Senkevitch claimed in a video posted Saturday on Instagram that eight civilians were injured and more than 160 houses, three hospitals and 11 educational institutions were damaged overnight. "We will definitely repair and restore everything," he said. "We heal the wounded. And defeat these damn orcs." As Russian forces assembled about 15 miles outside Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy struck a confident tone from inside the capital, where citizen militias are armed with missiles, machine guns and Molotov cocktails. "We know 100% there will be a victory," he said in a news conference. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Zelenskyy said, about 1,300 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had died a fraction of the 12,000 Russians that he claimed had died. The numbers could not be independently verified. "One in 10," he said. Asked if Russian troops could enter Kyiv, Zelenskyy said it was theoretically possible. "If they carry out a carpet bombing and simply decide to erase the historical memory of the whole region, the history of Kyivan Rus', the history of Europe, they will enter Kyiv," he added. "If they destroy all of us, they will enter Kyiv. If this is the goal, they will enter and will have to live on this land alone, without us. They will not find friends among us here. Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians to keep fighting. "The resistance of the entire Ukrainian people against these invaders has already gone down in history," Zelenskyy said. "But we have no right to reduce the intensity of defense. No matter how difficult it is. We have no right to reduce the energy of resistance." In Melitopol, a city 120 miles west of Mariupol that is now under Russian military occupation, hundreds gathered on the streets Saturday to demand the release of the southern city's mayor, Ivan Fedorov, whom the Ukrainian government has said was kidnapped from a government office Friday by Russian forces. "Fedorov!" the crowd chanted. "Free the mayor!" After accusing Russia on Saturday of "switching to a new stage of terror" in trying to "physically eliminate" elected officials, Zelenskyy praised the protesters for their open resistance. "The invaders must see that they are strangers on our land, on all our land of Ukraine, and they will never be accepted," he said in a video broadcast. In telephone conversations with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, Zelenskyy said he urged them to push for Fedorov's release. "The demand is simple: to release him from captivity immediately," he said. "We expect them, the world leaders, to show how they can influence the situation. How they can do a simple thing: free one person. A person who represents the entire Melitopol community, Ukrainians who do not give up." Russia's intensified assault on the cities and villages of Ukraine came as the United States continued to insist that diplomacy still had a role in the conflict. But prospects of a resolution looked dim after Scholz and Macron unsuccessfully tried in a lengthy telephone call Saturday to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to an immediate cease-fire or diplomatic talks. Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency also reported Saturday that Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said in an interview that Moscow and Washington were not negotiating or consulting on Ukraine. Meanwhile, there were signs that Russia sought to seize political control of captured Ukrainian cities. On Saturday, a Ukrainian official in Kherson, a coastal region that was captured by Russians last month and is home to a string of vital ports on Ukraine's Black Sea coast, warned that Russian authorities were contacting deputies and asking for their cooperation in holding a referendum aimed at creating a breakaway republic. "The creation of Kherson People's Republic will turn our region into a hopeless hole without life and future," Sergey Khlan wrote, a deputy in the Kherson Regional Council, in a post on Facebook on Saturday. "Do not give them a single vote! Enter the history of Ukraine not as traitors whom nobody wants, but truly as citizens whose names will be remembered by the next generations." In 2014, Russia conducted similar referendums in Donetsk and Luhansk, the two eastern Ukrainian provinces where fighting between Moscow-backed separatists and the government flared eight years ago. After Russia aided the separatists in capturing territory, it held referendums that led to the creation of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics. ___ Bulos reported from Kyiv and Jarvie from Atlanta. 2022 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (Tribune News Service) Finland and Sweden countered Russian warnings of retaliation should the Nordic nations join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Military and political consequences may follow if the two countries join the pact, Sergei Belyaev, director of the Second European Department of Russia's foreign ministry, told the state-owned news agency Interfax. Their non-participation in NATO is "an important factor in ensuring security and stability in northern Europe," he said. Putin has cited NATO's expansion east as a reason for his invasion last month, saying it represents a security threat to Russia. Ukraine has said it wants to join the alliance, whose members are treaty-bound to come to each other's defense. "We reject that kind of statement. Swedish security policy is determined by Sweden," said Ann Linde, Sweden's minister for foreign affairs. "Russia has nothing to do with our independent decisions." Finland "as a sovereign state makes its own security policy decisions based on our own interest," said Marja Liivala, director general of the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Finland's ministry for foreign affairs. "It's very important for Finland that the NATO Open Door policy remains." Recent opinion polls show an increasing number of Swedes and Finns are in favor of joining the NATO defense bloc since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this week, Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson cooled speculation about any near-term bid to join NATO, saying it could lead to further tension in Europe. ___ 2022 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. WASHINGTON The $1.5 trillion federal spending bill on its way to President Joe Bidens desk will pour $728 billion into the military, funding pay raises for troops, assistance for military families, weapon purchases and other defense expenditures for the fiscal year. The budget bill boosts spending for defense by $32 billion compared to last year, and it was passed by Congress this week in tandem with a $13.6 billion emergency aid package for war-torn Ukraine. The emergency aid package includes an additional $6.5 billion for the Pentagon. It is rare that Congress acts so decisively on such a significant issue, said Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. [This bill] will keep us from falling even further behind China, and we will make significant progress in some areas because of it. The bipartisan measure funds the 2.7% pay raise that all 2.1 million service members received at the beginning of the year through the remainder of fiscal year 2022, which ends Sept. 30. Those salary increases gave junior enlisted troops about $790 more per year and more senior officers an extra $2,600. An additional $167 million will fund a minimum $15 per hour wages for all Department of Defense employees, according to the House Committee on Appropriations. Lawmakers also set aside $278 million in housing assistance for military families grappling with the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic on home expenses. The bill adds $516 million for the construction and improvement of schools on military bases and gives military families $24.2 million for assistance with child care costs. The new funding plan also tackles gender-based violence in the military, appropriating $540 million for sexual assault prevention and response programs, counsel for victims and other initiatives. Cancer research by the Defense Department will receive a $578 million infusion of funding, including $150 million for a breast cancer research program, according to the House Committee on Appropriations. Veterans will see increased investment in mental health care initiatives, womens health care and caregiver support programs as well as efforts to combat homelessness. "This bill reflects our values," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on military and veterans affairs. "It will reinforce our national security infrastructure, invest in new military base child development centers and family housing and ensures veterans receive the health care they deserve." The Pentagon is set to receive $686 million to respond to the fuel leak at the Navys Red Hill storage facility in Hawaii last November that contaminated drinking water. Another $1.6 billion is allocated for the maintenance and modernization of military facilities. Significant funds would also be doled out for the procurement of weapons, including $25.9 billion for 13 new Navy ships and $8.5 billion for 85 F-35 fighter jets. The Pentagon will invest some $1.4 billion into the Indo-Pacific to counter Chinas influence in the region, establishing defense monitoring stations in Hawaii and Guam, and funding missile-tracking systems. The defense budget also allocates money for U.S. military allies, giving $300 million to the Baltics and other Eastern European countries shoring up defenses against Russian aggression. Lawmakers agreed to give Ukraine another $300 million on top of the $13.6 billion emergency package, which has been earmarked for humanitarian assistance, the 15,000 U.S. troops recently deployed to the region and the replenishment of weapons sent to Ukraine. The U.S. will also spend $1 billion on restocking Israels Iron Dome missile defense system, as well as $500 million for supporting Iraqi security forces and $165 million for security programs with African nations. In the face of Putins war against Ukraine, ensuring we give our military the tools to respond to ongoing and emerging threats around the globe could not be more imperative, said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., a former Air Force officer. A jury has found a second former Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier guilty of killing an Army veteran whose body was discovered brutally beaten in rural Washington state nearly two years ago, according to Kittitas County prosecutors. Joshua Gerald, 22, was found guilty of murder in the second degree in the death of Leroy Joseph Scott III, whose body was found April 25, 2020, off a rural road in Kittitas County. Gerald faced murder in the first degree, a more serious charge that includes premeditation, but the judge granted a request from his attorney that the jury also consider a charge of second-degree murder, said Craig Juris, lead prosecutor for Kittitas County. Sentencing is set for April 1, and Gerald faces between 10 and 18 years in prison, said Steve Graham, Geralds attorney. He will be filing an appeal, he said. The appeal issues will largely center around the fact that there were not any Black people in the jury pool of 69 people or on the 12-person jury, Graham said. Gerald is a Black man as was Scott. Another former soldier, Raylin James, 22, was found guilty of murder in the first degree in January during a jury trial. He was sentenced in February to 25 years in prison and is listed as an inmate at Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, according to online court records. James has filed intent to appeal his case, according to online records. Gerald was listed Friday as an inmate at Kittitas County Jail, according to online jail records. All three men served together in JBLMs 555th Engineer Brigade, according to service records provided by base officials. Scott, who was known to his family as Trey, left the Army in December 2019. James and Gerald were active-duty soldiers when they were arrested in May 2020 in connection to Scotts death. However, Gerald was separated from the Army in November 2020 and James in January 2021, said Col. Joey Sullinger, spokesman for JBLM and I Corps. Cellphone records showed the phones of the three men were together at an apartment in Ellensburg, Wash., the night Scott died, according to evidence presented in court. The gathering was a 20th birthday party for Scott in a town about 130 miles east of Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Records show at about 1:10 a.m., cellphones belonging to Gerald, James and Scott left the apartment. They all arrived about 17 minutes later at the location where Scotts body was found about 10 miles outside of town. At about 1:55 a.m., records show Gerald and James phones traveling back toward Ellensburg. Scotts badly beaten body was found by passersby the following day in a creek just off the road, according to the Kittitas County Sheriffs Office. The autopsy determined Scott died from sharp and blunt-force trauma to his head. The jury heard more than five days of testimony, including the presentation of physical evidence that linked Gerald to the murder, Juris said. Evidence showed Gerald had bruising and scratches on his right hand that werent there prior to the weekend and scrapes on his legs. He also told police investigators that he had been at the scene, though he denied taking any active role. I believe [the jury] were really attentive to all the evidence, Juris said. They made an educated and informed decision. (Tribune News Service) The Biden administration has put oil talks with Venezuelas strongman, Nicolas Maduro, on hold after receiving blowback from bipartisan lawmakers and the Latin American countrys democratic opposition. But the prospect of a deal is still on the table, U.S. sources said, as gas prices soar and the administration seeks alternative sources of crude in light of Russias invasion of Ukraine. Two sources in Venezuelas opposition told The Miami Herald on Friday that the administration was already moving last weekend toward a deal with Maduro on oil imports, and, during a controversial visit to Caracas on March 5, was planning to grant American oil giant Chevron a special license to resume activities in Venezuela. A third source in the Venezuelan opposition said that Chevrons license was ready to be issued, and that the administration was simply waiting for an opportune moment to announce it. But following widespread criticism of the meeting, the White House has been changing its message, suggesting there are internal debates on how to move forward with the controversial negotiations. At the beginning of the week, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki and other members of the Biden administration said they had a range of issues to discuss with Maduro moving forward, including energy security. But on Wednesday, a senior administration official told reporters that there are no talks between us and the regime about restarting oil sales to the United States. We traveled down there to secure the release of detained Americans and to urge a return to the negotiating table, which is something that, again, the international community and even representatives from the opposition had urged us to do, the senior official told reporters in a call previewing President Joe Bidens meeting with his Colombian counterpart, Ivan Duque, on Wednesday. This is not currently, at this moment, an active conversation about importing their oil, Psaki told reporters on Thursday. Katie Tobin, senior director for transborder security at the National Security Council, also denied the administration was considering lifting sanctions on the Maduro regime in exchange for oil. On Friday, she told reporters that there was no connection between the suspension of Russian oil imports and negotiations with Maduro. Yet, two U.S. sources with knowledge of the plans said the oil deal with Venezuela was still on the table even if talks are not active. The sources asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Another senior White House official pushed back against claims that a specific license to import Venezuelan oil was fully prepared, offered and ready to go, noting that the March 5 discussion was only the first meeting on the matter. We would dispute this mischaracterization, the official said. High-ranking sources within the Venezuelan opposition told The Miami Herald that U.S. officials not only offered Maduro the possibility of granting a special license to Chevron. They also briefed Juan Guaido, the opposition leader Washington still publicly considers the legitimate president of the South American country, directly after the meeting. Guaido and Gerardo Blyde, head of the opposition team that has engaged in talks with the Maduro regime in Mexico, were told that Washington was about to ban the import of Russian oil, a move that the Biden administration took days later. Given the likelihood of the war in Ukraine continuing, the U.S. team told Guaido and Blyde that it was a matter of national security for the administration to find additional sources of crude, said two high-ranking opposition officials, speaking under condition of anonymity given the issues sensitivity. One source in the opposition who was not in Guaidos briefing said their leadership came away with the impression that a U.S. oil deal would be based on a number of conditions, including that Maduro return to negotiations with Guaido in Mexico City, release U.S. citizens in Venezuelan custody, and send oil directly to the United States. A U.S. official categorically denied any linkage between discussions over oil and the release of American prisoners from Venezuelan detention. This is absolutely false, said Emily Horne, spokesperson for the National Security Council. We have been very clear: The release of American detainees was the product of months of groundwork by the State Department, especially Special Envoy Carstens, and not conditioned in any way on other steps the U.S. government might take in other areas. Talks over the release of U.S. prisoners in Venezuela began in the fall, with the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, making a preliminary trip down to Caracas in December to pave the way for the March 5 meeting. Maduro released two Americans Tuesday evening: Gustavo Cardenas, an oil executive with Citgo, and Jorge Fernandez, a Cuban-American tourist, from Venezuelan prisons. Eight Americans remain in custody there. Industry sources said that granting a new license to Chevron to import Venezuelan oil would allow the company to carry between 100,000 and 200,000 barrels of oil per day. The amount would slightly offset the deficit in the U.S. oil market caused by Washingtons decision to stop importing around 675,000 barrels per day of Russian oil in response to the Ukraine invasion, the sources said. That volume could be higher if the license were to allow Chevron to act as some sort of overall marketer of Venezuelan oil, selling output from other producers. That could, in theory, increase Venezuelan imports to near 500,000 barrels per day, about the same amount the South American nation is currently sending to China quietly in violation of U.S. sanctions. Other international oil companies that still have assets in Venezuela and could benefit from a license include Spanish company Repsol, Frances Total, Indias Reliance and Italys Eni. Guaido and Blyde told U.S. officials that it was a mistake to count on Maduro to cover the shortfall, given the country has no real capacity to ramp up production. They told the Americans it was hard for them to understand how the U.S. could stop buying from Russian President Vladimir Putin to put the countrys national security in the hands of another dictator and Putin associate, Maduro. Guaidos team was not informed of the meeting with Maduro before it took place. The administrations message that it is not currently pursuing an oil deal with Venezuela comes after a stream of criticism from both sides of the aisle over the outreach to Maduro, who has been indicted for narcotrafficking in the United States and faces accusations of committing crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands Some opponents to an oil deal believe the move has hurt Bidens efforts to counter democratic backsliding in the region. It seems to me that getting an incremental increase of oil from Venezuela isnt worth the cost of now having undermined the democracy agenda in the Americas, said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas in Washington. To me, thats the trade-off. Its a pretty significant one. The release of the two Americans has not convinced members of Congress to back the overture toward the Maduro regime. Republicans in both the House and Senate introduced legislation to prohibit the importation of all petroleum products originating from Venezuela. Florida Republicans including Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and Miami U.S. Reps. Carlos Gimenez, Mario Diaz-Balart and Maria Elvira Salazar sent a letter to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticizing the administrations decision to open negotiations with Maduro. Some Democrats have also loudly condemned the trip. Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, co-chair of the Venezuela Democracy Caucus, praised the Biden administrations effort to globally isolate Putin to save lives. However, rewarding the Maduro regime in Venezuela by swapping out the oil imports of one murderous kleptocrat for another in our own hemisphere would be wrong and shortsighted, she added. Many observers of Latin American affairs have shared doubts that negotiations with the U.S. delegation, headed by Juan Gonzalez, National Security Council director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, would push Maduro away from the Russian government, one of its main allies. Russia is Venezuelas main military supplier, and has helped Maduro bypass U.S. sanctions throughout the years. Much of the wealth accumulated by regime officials has been deposited in Russian banks, which have also played a role in handling international monetary transactions for the principal Venezuelan oil company, PDVSA. Just five days after U.S. officials met with Maduro, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the two nations strategic relations and the complex international situation during a meeting in Turkey, she said on Twitter. Putin said the Biden administrations talks with Maduro about reportedly considering lifting sanctions gave him confidence the United States would come to the negotiating table with Russia. They are trying to come to terms with the countries against which they themselves had earlier imposed illegitimate restrictions. They are ready to make up with Iran, to sign all the documents immediately. They went to Venezuela to negotiate with them. But there was no need to impose these illegitimate sanctions, he said at a Thursday meeting with government members reported by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. The same will happen in relations with our country, Putin said. I have no doubt about that. On Friday, the Biden administration moved to end normal trade relations with Russia and banned imports of vodka and other Russian goods. 2022 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Russia sought on Friday to declare Facebook an extremist organization and YouTube blocked Russian state media channels worldwide, an escalation of the tit-for-tat battle between Silicon Valley companies and Russia as the Ukraine war enters its third week. YouTube blocked the channels of Russian state media outlets globally after initially doing so last week in Europe only. Fridays decision is a major blow to Russias efforts to sow propaganda about the war to international audiences. Meanwhile, the Russian government said Friday it was blocking popular social media app Instagram, taking further action against Meta the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp because of reports the previous day that Facebook temporarily suspended its hate-speech rules to allow posts that called for the death of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The country had previously blocked Facebook, which has a much smaller audience in Russia than WhatsApp or Instagram. The incremental escalations over the past two weeks between Russia and the tech giants has forced the companies to rethink the ways they police speech online, rewriting their rules as they go in response to the fast-moving conflict. Social platforms are critical tools for the public to communicate and share information during wartime, but Russian propaganda outlets have also used them to spread disinformation about the war. And the companies are weighing pressure from world leaders to increase Russias isolation against potential retaliation by the country itself. In the wake of Russian interference in the 2016 election and a global pandemic, companies including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have moved away from a historically hands-off approach to policing the content on their platforms, creating new rules to attempt to halt the spread of misinformation that they said could cause real-world harm. But the Ukrainian conflict has prompted a flurry of new rule-changing and policymaking as the companies have banned state media outlets and allowed some speech previously considered to be hateful. This is clearly a crisis information environment and tech companies are making many decisions on the fly, said Graham Brookie, senior director of the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab. The companies say there is some precedent for the last-minute decisions and that it is necessary to stay nimble during fast-paced world events. I want to be crystal clear: Our policies are focused on protecting peoples rights to speech as an expression of self-defense in reaction to a military invasion of their country, said Nick Clegg, Metas president for public affairs. The fact is, if we applied our standard content policies without any adjustments we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces, which would be rightly viewed as unacceptable. Instagram head Adam Mosseri tweeted Friday that Instagram had 80 million users in Russia who will be cut off from one another and from the rest of the world, as [about] 80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country. This is wrong. Facebook also temporarily suspended its hate-speech policies last year, allowing Iranians to call for death to the countrys leader, Ali Khameini, for two weeks during a period of government repression. YouTube enacted a policy against denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events in 2019, and cited the Holocaust and the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut as examples. On Friday, the company said it would take down Russian state media worldwide in line with that policy. Companies have long resisted cracking down on Russian state-backed channels - despite their known propensity for spreading propaganda - because they feared being shut out of the country. The companies also worried about being perceived as inconsistent, because news outlets like PBS and the BBC in the United States and Europe also receive funds from government or other public sources. Instead, the companies chose in 2018 to label media outlets that receive the bulk of their funding from governments. As a result, state-owned channels have hugely capitalized on social media. With more than 16 million followers for its English, Spanish and Arabic channels combined, outlet RT has claimed to be the most-watched news network on YouTube and boasted more than 10 billion views over time. RTs YouTube English channel gained 130,000 more followers in the weeks leading up to the Ukraine war. The companies argue that in places where the government controls the news media, Western social media services are often one of the few places where people can organize and express opinions more freely. Services like Instagram and YouTube are hugely popular with the Russian public, and have been a place where some criticism of the invasion has been able to find a platform, despite harsh penalties for dissent inside Russia. But the calculus for social media companies is quickly changing amid international condemnation of Russias invasion and Russias retaliation against Silicon Valley services, in what some are calling a new digital iron curtain. Increasingly, the companies are willing to pick a side. State media outlets have inaccurately described Russia as liberating Ukrainian people who support Russia and protecting them from Ukrainian Nazis. The Russian government doesnt refer to the war as a war, instead calling it a special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine. (Ukraines government and its Jewish president were democratically elected, and a recent poll run by a Kyiv-based agency showed nearly 80% of Ukrainians oppose making concessions to Russia and 67% said they were willing to put up armed resistance against Russia.) In shutting down outlets like RT and Sputnik globally, YouTube is knowingly risking a retaliatory shutdown in Russia. Facebook was also willing to risk a total shutdown of Instagram and WhatsApp when it hastily instated the temporary policy allowing people to call for death to Putin and to Russian invaders earlier this week. Former Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos said that despite tech companies hesitancy to do so, in geopolitical events in which thousands of people are dying, Its OK to pick a side. In fact its the only reasonable thing you can do. Because if you dont pick a side, youre actually picking the side of the powerful over their victims. Tech companies have long championed protecting free speech and have been hesitant to take down political content as long as it wasnt overtly violent. That hands-off stance has shifted in recent years, but researchers have repeatedly shown that tech companies struggle to consistently police content and often fail to enforce their rules. Some say the companies have been too permissive with state media. The coronavirus pandemic is a major example, said the Atlantic Councils Brookie. Tech companies for years said they would not block misinformation on their platforms because they did not want to be arbiters of truth, but then they began removing content regarding the coronavirus that experts said went against public health guidelines. That extended to RT, whose initials once stood for Russia Today, which media watchers have pointed out was pushing different narratives about the coronavirus pandemic depending on who its audience was. Domestically, it was supporting mask-wearing and vaccines, while on its English, French, Spanish and German channels, it was pushing stories about how mask mandates were an attack on peoples freedoms. (Last year YouTube cracked down on two German RT channels as a result of pushing covid misinformation, prompting the Russian government to vow to take retaliatory measures.) Facebook has been criticized by its own independent Oversight Board for having inconsistent rules. The company created an exception to its hate-speech rules for world leaders but was never clear which leaders got the exception or why. After it suspended the account of President Donald Trump in the wake of violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the Oversight Board said the decision was correct but that Facebook did so without a clear rationale or plan. And for years, Russia has used both state media and covert operatives to promote a distorted view of coronavirus as well as the long-running civil war in Syria, which Russia has been directly involved in since 2015. In 2018, Facebook even took down a covert disinformation campaign about Syria that it said was tied to Russian intelligence. RTs YouTube channel frequently posted reports on people protesting Covid-19 mandates in Western countries like the U.S. and Australia. The site also recently posted videos alleging Polish officials were mistreating migrants crossing over into the country from Poland, without mentioning the Belarusian governments efforts to push migrants over the border in retaliation for European Union sanctions. The tit-for-tat between the companies and Russia started in the early days of the invasion, when Facebook began to fact-check misleading articles on Russian outlets. Facebook also quickly changed its hate-speech policies to allow praise of a previously banned neo-Nazi group in Ukraine that was fighting against Russia. The Russian government asked Facebook to remove those fact checks, but Facebook refused, Clegg said in tweets last week. The company argued that its services are critical for activists and everyday Russians to communicate with their families. Russias Internet regulator then said it would begin limiting access to Facebook services. Facebook, YouTube and others responded by blocking the ability of Russian state media services to buy advertising. Then the European Commission announced that it was banning state media services RT and Sputnik, and they asked the tech companies to comply with the regional ban. The tech companies complied, and also said they would be further limiting the reach of Russian government-backed outlets around the world. A week ago Friday, Russia announced it was fully blocking Facebook. But the Russian Internet regulator did not extend the block to the more popular Instagram or WhatsApp. On Thursday, a Facebook content moderator leaked new guidelines that showed that Facebook had decided to break its own rules to allow for some calls to violence against Russian invaders. The company confirmed the leak. Russias top prosecutor said Friday that the government was opening a criminal case against Meta and is seeking the classification of the company as an extremist organization and the prohibition of its activities on Russian territory, alleging the platform was used to incite mass riots accompanied by violence. The invasion and the flurry of demands about taking down certain content has sparked an emergency for the tech companies, so the relatively rapid changes in policy make sense, said Daphne Keller, who was associate general counsel for Google until 2015 and now directs the Program on Platform Regulation at Stanford Universitys Cyber Policy Center. When its a crisis situation, doing something exceptional that isnt already covered by law or isnt already covered by the platforms discretionary policies makes sense, she said. But the resulting Russian retaliation has negative downstream effects, Brookie said. Creating a digital iron curtain that shuts off the Russian people from a global information environment will make it harder to hold the Russian government accountable for its actions, he said. --- The Washington Posts Craig Timberg, Ellen Francis and Mary Ilyushina contributed to this report. North Tonawanda's wastewater treatment plant could fail at any moment, the mayor and the plant superintendent say. Politicians of both parties appealed this week to Gov. Kathy Hochul for an emergency allocation of $30 million from the state's American Rescue Plan funds to make needed repairs. But there was also partisan finger-pointing between Mayor Austin J. Tylec, a Democrat who took office Jan. 1, and his Republican critics over who is to blame for the situation becoming so urgent. The state Department of Environmental Conservation flagged the plant for violations in 2020, and did so again in 2021, because the city didn't do anything about the 2020 violations, according to Jason Koepsell, the city water and wastewater superintendent. "We had a digester fail in 2020 that needs to be rebuilt. That would be the first thing. That would cost about $2.5 million," Koepsell said. When the digester, which processes sewage solids, failed, sewer gas blew a hatch off the roof of the digester building, causing sludge to pour onto the ground, Koepsell said. The superintendent said the DEC wants the building demolished and replaced, possibly with a system that uses sewer gas to produce electricity and power the plant. "Then we have the pipes in our carbon filter building. The most notable ones are 30-inch diameter pipes that are suspended 20 feet in the air," Koepsell said. "They're carbon steel pipes that corrode from the inside out because of the hydrogen sulfide in the water from sewage treatment." Democratic Assemblyman William Conrad's office sent reporters a 10-second video clip, which it said was shot March 4, showing a leak from an overhead pipe. Koepsell said the pipes either need to be replaced with plastic or "slip-lined" with new pipes inside the old ones. Either way, the price tag is $3 million to $4 million. "Having seen firsthand the deteriorating condition of the plant and fearing for the health and safety of its workers, our residents and our waterways I know these repairs cannot wait any longer, nor can North Tonawandas taxpayers bear the full burden of their cost," Conrad said. "We need major electrical upgrades to the plant," Koepsell said. "There is no backup power for that sewage treatment plant, so if we ever were to have a major power outage during a rain event, there is nothing that prevents water from backing up into the sewer system and into people's homes in North Tonawanda, and a lot of people don't know that." The plant also needs new 40-million- to 55-million-gallon pumps, which date to 1978. "They do work, but they are in rough shape," Koepsell said. Koepsell, a veteran sewer plant employee, was appointed superintendent by former GOP Mayor Arthur G. Pappas in January 2021, upon the retirement of William M. Davignon, a former Democratic Niagara County legislator and longtime city sewer staffer. $20 million apartment building would continue North Tonawanda riverfront plan The five-story building would contain 111 apartments, said Tom Celik, director of development for DLV Properties. In an interview, Tylec said the administrations of Pappas and his predecessor, Robert G. Ortt, along with the perennially Republican-controlled Common Council, didn't do enough to maintain the sewer plant. "This is me being reactive because they weren't proactive 10-plus years ago," Tylec said. Ortt, mayor from 2010 to 2014, is now the leader of the State Senate's Republican minority. He issued a statement calling for the state aid, as did Conrad, who joined Tylec for a Friday news conference at the plant. Its disappointing that new Mayor Austin Tylec is already pointing fingers rather than finding solutions to the challenges facing North Tonawanda," Ortt's spokeswoman, Katy Delgado, said in an emailed statement. "Sen. Ortt is happy to assist with the citys request to access emergency funds to improve aging infrastructure," Delgado said. Robert E. Pecoraro, the Republican Council president, said the city started a capital improvement plan several years ago to assist the plant. Koepsell said the first phase of that plan is under construction. "The problem is, the plant is failing at a faster rate than we can do these repairs," Koepsell said. The new pipes and digesters were part of a future phase of the plan. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. WASHINGTON The White House announced its nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system a top role at the agency that has been vacant for the past five years. In addition, the White House named the agency's new Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission and announced a candidate to be the next VA undersecretary for benefits. The appointees are Shereef Elnahal as undersecretary for health for the Veterans Health Administration, Ray Jefferson as undersecretary for benefits for the Veterans Benefits Administration, Patrick Murphy for chairman of the VAs Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission, and Jonathan Woodson for vice chairman of the review commission. The VA has been without a confirmed leader of the Veterans Health Administration since the position was held by David Shulkin. Shulkin left the position in February 2017 after he was nominated by then-President Donald Trump as the VA secretary. Richard Stone acted as the VA undersecretary of health for nearly three years and led the agency amid the coronavirus pandemic. He resigned in July after he learned he was not nominated for the position. In October, the VA abandoned its initial search and restarted the process over again. The VA established another commission to aid in the search for candidates for the role of undersecretary for health a position that oversees hundreds of hospitals and clinics that comprise the largest health care system in the country. Whoever takes the job will be responsible for hundreds of thousands of employees and an annual budget of about $61 billion. The agency restarted the search out of an abundance of caution, VA spokesman Randy Noller said in October. Noller also said the agency received information that there may have been some irregularities in the consideration of the previous slate of candidates. The VA did not provide specifics about the situation. Health, benefits undersecretaries Dr. Shereef Elnahal, nominee for the VAs undersecretary of health, has served as the CEO and president of University Hospital in Newark, N.J., since 2019. Before joining University Hospital, Elnahal served as the states health commissioner. If appointed, it will not be Elnahals first foray into VA health care. He served as the assistant deputy undersecretary for health for quality, safety, and value from 2016 to 2018. During his time in that role, Elnahal managed the quality of care for the Veterans Health Administration and co-founded its innovation ecosystem, which is part of the VHAs Office of Discovery, Education, and Affiliate Networks. The program help advance innovation and practices that helps improve veteran care. Ray Jefferson, the nominee for undersecretary of benefits, is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and served as an army officer from 1988 to 1999, according to his LinkedIn profile. During his military service, Jefferson lost all five fingers on his left hand after he cupped a defective grenade to protect other soldiers. After his service, Jefferson served various roles with state and federal government agencies, including as a special assistant to the secretary of Commerce, and deputy director for Hawaiis Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. In 2009, former President Barack Obama appointed Jefferson as the assistant secretary for Veterans Employment and Training at the Department of Labor. However, in 2011, two subordinates accused Jefferson of procurement improprieties, such as directing government business to associates, according to a Washington Post report in 2020. The allegations forced Jefferson to resign. But in September 2019, the Labor Department inspector general reversed the findings, exonerating Jefferson. Jefferson is now the president of Jefferson Group Pte. Ltd., a global consulting firm based in Singapore. If confirmed, Jefferson will take over for Thomas Murphy, who acted as the undersecretary of benefits since January 2021. The role was officially previously held by Paul Lawrence, who served in the role from May 2018 until January 2021. Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission In January, the VA began reviewing its facilities across the country to determine which buildings to close and where to invest more resources. The agency was to submit its recommendations at the beginning of the year, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in December during a Senate hearing. In 2018, Congress approved the creation of an Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission to work on the modernization or realignment of VA properties. The White House and the VA provided five nominees for the commission. Four others are nominated as commission members by leaders in the House and Senate. McDonough said Thursday that the agency is awaiting one more nominee from Congress. He also said the names were supposed to have been submitted last May. I don't want to handicap the situation, but that's our first big challenge, get the commissioners, McDonough said Thursday. Then the next big challenge is, the commissioners got to get to work and take a look at [the Asset and Infrastructure Review report]. The report will be released on Monday morning. McDonough said the committee has until next February to make determinations about the VAs recommendations. Afterward, the recommendations move on to the president then Congress. McDonough said they can only vote down the recommendations if they disapprove. Patrick Murphy, nominee for chairman of the VAs Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission, was the first Iraq War veteran to serve in Congress. He was a congressman from Pennsylvania after serving as an Army paratrooper. He received a Bronze Star for his service. Murphy previously served as acting undersecretary of the Army during the Obama administration. He serves now on the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Jonathan Woodson, nominee for vice chairman of the AIR commission, is a professor at Boston University. He previously served as the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs as well as the director of Tricare management activity in the Defense Department from 2010 to 2016. The others nominated as commissioners are William Blake, executive director for Paralyzed Veterans of America, Michael Blecker, co-founder of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans and the California Association of Veterans Service Agencies, Christine Hill, Republican staff director for the House Committee on Veterans Affairs subpanel on health, Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson, Ret. Army Col. Lucretia McClenney; and Jose Ramos, vice president of government and community relations for the Wounded Warrior Project. WARSAW, Poland (Tribune News Service) It was partly coincidence that Vice President Kamala Harris was in Poland, meeting with leaders and speaking with refugees on Thursday, the same day that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had roughly the same itinerary here. But it's also an indication that she had arrived near the center of a crisis that is absorbing the world's attention. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has turned Harris, a relative rookie in foreign affairs, into one of the administration's leading diplomatic faces during its most dangerous foreign crisis. Last month, as Russian troops menacingly surrounded Ukraine's borders, Harris met with European allies and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a security conference in Germany. This week, she became the highest-ranking American official to visit Eastern Europe since Moscow launched its attack on Feb. 24. Her three-day journey was aimed at showing solidarity with Poland and Romania, vulnerable allies facing a Ukrainian refugee crisis as they seek to bolster defenses against a potential Russian attack. It's a traditional role for vice presidents, making urgent trips abroad in the president's stead. Joe Biden, the oldest president in history at 79, has traveled abroad less than his predecessors. Sending him near the border with Ukraine could be seen as provocative and logistically disruptive for countries dealing with an influx of refugees. It's a relatively new role for Harris, who last year traveled overseas infrequently because of concerns about COVID-19 and the administration's focus on its domestic agenda. The crisis in Europe could also shift scrutiny away from Harris' other main foreign policy portfolio the difficult job of curbing migration from Central America. Her task in Europe appeared mostly symbolic reinforcing American support for NATO and warning Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. will deploy troops if he attacks a member of the 30-country alliance. In addition to meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday, she visited Polish and American troops and spoke with Ukrainian embassy staffers who are now working from Warsaw and met with a small group of displaced Ukrainians. On Friday, she flew to Bucharest and held meetings with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. At each stop, she delivered a consistent message: "An attack against one is an attack against all," she told about 40 Polish and American troops inside an airport hangar in Warsaw on Friday. Later, in Bucharest, she repeated that mantra. "We are firm in our commitment," she said. Rick Stengel, an undersecretary of State in the Obama administration, said there was "nothing magical" about Harris' role, including the repetition. "Diplomacy is very traditional, and when you send the second-highest-ranking official in the U.S. government someplace, you're telling them, 'Hey, we care about you,'" he said. "A lot of diplomacy is symbolism, and this is important symbolism." Polish and Romanian leaders are eager for such attention. The countries, relatively recent additions to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and former Soviet satellites, would probably be on the front lines of any attacks by Russia. "Romania has approximately 650 kilometers (400 miles) of land border with Ukraine. It's the longest land border of all allies neighboring with Ukraine," Iohannis said through an interpreter during a Friday news conference with Harris, in which he asked for more military and humanitarian help. "So, yes, we are concerned." Biden administration officials have sought to head off thorny diplomatic situations for Harris, who likes to engage in near-obsessive preparation before meetings and generally stays on script. For example, officials made a series of definitive public statements in the hours before Harris landed in Warsaw on Wednesday night to defuse a dispute with Poland over how and whether to supply Polish fighter jets to Ukraine. Duda wanted the U.S. to deliver the planes, but the White House balked. U.S. officials were worried that getting the planes into Ukraine could escalate the fight with Putin. A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said the fighter jet dispute came up when Harris met with Duda privately. But making the U.S. position clear beforehand allowed the two leaders to quickly move on to other subjects, the official said. Harris, however, appeared unprepared for Duda's biggest request: allowing Ukrainians with American relatives to stay in the U.S. until the war ends. In a news conference with Duda, Harris emphasized other measures the administration was taking to help Ukrainians, including allowing those already in the U.S. to stay on expired visas. But she did not say what, if anything, the administration would do to address Duda's appeal. The administration official said Harris' diplomatic role on Ukraine dates to November, when she traveled to Paris to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron. The two discussed a joint response to early signs of Russian troop movement. The official said Harris spoke with five prime ministers from Eastern Europe last week and expects to continue to engage with allies. Daniel Fried, a veteran U.S. diplomat and former ambassador to Poland, said Harris appeared to have successfully executed the trip's objective: "calming down the situation." On the fighter jet issue, her presence sent the message that the U.S. and its allies, though operating under wartime pressure, need to "take a deep breath" and remember that they are going to misspeak at times, Fried said. He said the trip would also provide Harris needed experience and a real-world feel of a potential hot spot. Vice President George H.W. Bush learned those lessons during a visit to Poland in 1987, just before the collapse of the Iron Curtain, Fried said, adding that such trips are "a good investment." As she has traveled abroad more frequently in recent months, Harris has appeared more comfortable on the world stage but is clearly wary of making errors. During the news conference with Duda, she laughed nervously when the two leaders volleyed over who should answer questions first. And in answering questions, she seldom ventured beyond talking points and platitudes. "I want to be very clear," she said when asked about the tension over the fighter jets. "The United States and Poland are united in what we have done and are prepared to do to help Ukraine and the people of Ukraine. Full stop." ___ Los Angeles Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson in Washington contributed to this report. 2022 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Lane Perkins arrived at the Ukraine-Poland border last week to a crush of traffic. Cars and buses crammed with refugees rolled west. Ambulances and foreign fighters, like him, ventured east. To the south, near Ukraine's border with Romania, Zachary Burgart and Mark Turner wrapped up a six-day mission that began with delivering medical supplies and took an unexpected turn when authorities, suspicious that the two Americans were Russian saboteurs, arrested and interrogated them. They are among the wave of U.S. military veterans who, despite warnings from the Biden administration, have inserted themselves into a foreign war. Some, like Perkins, want to take on the Russians directly. Others, including Burgart and Turner, have sought less risky ways to get involved, offering military and first-aid training, hauling humanitarian supplies, and setting up contacts for future American volunteers to assist Ukrainians. "This," said Perkins, a Navy veteran who resides in San Diego, "is a noble cause." While President Joe Biden has said repeatedly and emphatically that U.S. troops will not be pulled into the conflict, the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky has actively recruited Western military veterans to join its newly formed International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine. An estimated 20,000 foreigners have expressed interest, the Ukrainians say. About 4,000 are Americans, said an official with the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the issue is seen as highly sensitive in Washington. It's unclear how many may follow through. Americans' involvement in the war will probably stretch beyond Zelensky's foreign legion, however. Some, like Perkins, are interested in joining other Ukrainian groups that come with fewer strings attached. While certain outfits require applicants to surrender their passports and make a long-term commitment, others allow volunteers to leave if they need to return home for family and work obligations, he said. But regardless which group Americans may join, they face significant risk. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, has characterized outsiders aiding Ukrainian forces as "mercenaries," saying anyone who is caught "at best" can expect "to be prosecuted as criminals." The Biden administration has strongly discouraged American military veterans from joining the fight. Instead, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has suggested it would be wiser to donate to agencies responding to the humanitarian crisis. "We still do not believe that Ukraine is a safe place for Americans to go," Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon. "We urge them not to go. And if any are still there, we urge them to leave." In interviews, U.S. veterans detailed a variety of motivations for joining the effort. Some expressed horror at imagery appearing to show Russian forces indiscriminately bombing Ukrainian civilians. Others said they want to prove themselves in combat after missing out on such opportunities during their military careers. "For me personally, this feels so unprovoked," said Burgart, who saw combat in Iraq while serving in elite Marine Corps reconnaissance units. "It's just insanity to me. I don't want insane people to be able to do insane things in the world." The practice of Americans intervening on another nation's battlefield dates back generations, said David Malet, who studies foreign fighter movements as a professor at American University in Washington, D.C. He cited such involvement in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, the Israeli War for Independence in the late 1940s, and the more recent campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Generally, becoming a foreign fighter is legal in the United States, Malet said. So long as Americans do not take up arms for a violent group that opposes the U.S. government, there are few restrictions. But in a war as volatile and complex as this one, the direct involvement of Americans could come with unintended consequences, Malet said, expressing concern that some may be tempted to join far-right Ukrainian militias, or wind up captured or killed. Either scenario would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a significant propaganda victory and potentially arouse support within Russia for an attack on NATO countries. The worst-case scenario, Malet warned, is an incident that helps propel the United States to join the conflict. Already, Ukraine's recruitment pitch has caused some waves in the United States. In recent days, three U.S. military veterans carrying weapons and attempting to join the war effort have been detained outside the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, police said. In one instance, two men were arrested after authorities grew concerned about them standing outside the embassy and stopped their vehicle as they drove away. One of them, Stephen Jay Struthers, 49, was arraigned after police found he had a shotgun, brass knuckles, a machete and other weapons in the car. In another case, Angel Raymond Luna, 30, was arrested outside the embassy after police noticed him putting on body armor and standing at attention while draped in an American flag, according to a police affidavit. He pleaded guilty Monday to a single count of attempting to carry or possess an illegal firearm, a misdemeanor, and received a 45-day suspended jail sentence, six months of unsupervised probation and a requirement to complete 30 hours of community service. Luna said in an interview that he once deployed on a peacekeeping mission to Kosovo, but he "has never had a real chance to defend" the United States. A military spokesman, Lt. Col. Matthew Handley, confirmed Luna's deployment and said he served as a supply specialist in the North Carolina National Guard from July 2011 to February 2019. "I don't know how I could look myself in the mirror if I didn't go," Luna said. "I don't want to die, but this is my belief, my values." Born in the Army town of Fayetteville, N.C., Luna settled in Nebraska after leaving the military and was working in a Walmart warehouse when Russia invaded Ukraine. He packed his belongings, stopped in North Carolina to see friends, then traveled to Washington with two firearms, tourniquets and other supplies, he said. Luna arrived at the embassy about 3:20 a.m. and decided to stand at attention outside overnight as a sign of respect. At the last second, he also slipped on his body armor. "That was stupid," he assessed, noting that it caught the attention of Secret Service officers. Luna still intends to go to Ukraine, though he may have to complete his community service first. "I dropped everything, including my job," he said. " . . . As a veteran, I have to do something." Perkins, the Navy veteran, expressed a similar sentiment. To get to Ukraine, he traveled thousands of miles from Southern California, missing his son's second birthday. But the sight of the chaotic border crossing, he said from the western city of Lviv, was validation that he had made the right choice. Many of the other U.S. veterans Perkins has met in Ukraine served in combat, he said. As a former Navy boatswain's mate, he has not. Perkins said he wanted to join the Kurdish-led fight against ISIS in Syria but was too young at that war's zenith. Aspirations of joining the French Foreign Legion were derailed to start a family, he said. The war in Ukraine has arrived at a moment he could put his sense of righteousness to work, Perkins said, despite the corresponding family hardships. Perkins emphasized that many volunteers are headed to noncombat roles, underscoring the need for specialties that reach beyond fighting. Some are focused on first aid. Others volunteered to pluck children and the elderly from besieged areas and spirit them to safety across the border. Angelique Osmon, a college student and Army veteran, also thinks the risks are worth it. As a soldier, she deployed once each to Iraq and Afghanistan while serving as a generator mechanic from June 2009 to December 2015, said Madison Bonzo, an Army spokeswoman. After leaving the military, Osmon assisted Kurdish forces against the Islamic State as a foreign fighter, she said. She now plans to travel to Ukraine through Poland. "As a Jew, we're called to repair the world, and this is really the only way I know how," she said, calling herself a "part-time freedom fighter." Osmon said that she could be assigned in a city or "in the trenches" in a forest outside Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. She knows she will need body armor and a rifle, she said, and plans to obtain them after arriving in Europe. Stories have circulated of Americans having their body armor confiscated while traveling. "We know that we will be given a weapon, but as far as the other gear, we will have to source that ourselves," she said, speaking earlier this month from her home in Denison, Tex. "I think that there will be an influx of volunteers, some of them good, some of them not so much." In some cases, personal ties also matter. Turner and Burgart, the Marine Corps veterans, said they traveled after Yuri Shpylei, a Ukrainian American friend from their Jiu Jitsu gym, decided he wanted to see his family. The trio flew from Chicago on Feb. 27, three days after the invasion, arriving in Bucharest before making their way over the border from Romania. They stopped at five drugstores, amassing boxes of medical supplies that they carried into Ukraine on foot. Burgart said that he and Turner relied on their shared background in military reconnaissance to set up points of contact in Ukraine to help other Americans coordinate. People in Shpylei's hometown were comfortable with them, but they were arrested while scouting for a potential warehouse in a neighboring community. Authorities there had detained four suspected Russian saboteurs that morning, they told the Americans. "A cop car nearly slammed into the front of our car, and they ran at us with AKs," Burgart said, using shorthand for the ubiquitous Kalashnikov service rifle. "After that interrogation, they hugged us, thanked us and told us how much they appreciated Americans coming out on short notice." They spoke with The Washington Post from Romania, after departing Ukraine, saying that, while they will not become foreign fighters, they intend to return and help in other capacities. "Service to me isn't just to country, it's to people," Turner said. "We have a skill set to help people, and it wouldn't sit right just sitting at home and knowing that you could help." ___ Baran reported from San Francisco. Stillwater, OK (74074) Today Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. High near 65F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.. Tonight Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Low 59F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Changes to the SunCommercial's back end processing means the e-edition is getting a facelift. The biggest change is the e-edition, by default, is now presented in Text view. Migratory native fish will soon find it easier to make their way along rivers and streams in the Ohiwa area following an extensive survey of the catchments culverts and bridges. Bay of Plenty Regional Council is carrying out the ambitious project to check all the culverts in the Ohiwa Harbour Catchment to see whether they allow fish to freely swim through or not, on behalf of the seven Ohiwa Harbour Strategy partner organisations. Regional Council Land Management Officer Tim Senior says many of our native fish species migrate between fresh and salt water during their lifecycles and it was important culverts, and other man-made structures, allowed fish to access spawning and rearing habitat as well as food sources. These fish include inanga, koaro, three species of kokopu (whitebait), and tuna (long and shortfin eels). Essentially some man-made structures, like culverts, if not properly constructed or maintained can prevent fish from returning to their spawning sites to breed or to leave their spawning site to mature. This leads to a decrease in population numbers. For a healthy ecosystem and increased biodiversity, we need to ensure these fish species can complete their migration pattern. Lincoln University student Mikayla Binney has been working as a summer assistant at the Regional Council during the summer holidays. Bay of Plenty Regional Council Summer Assistant Mikayla Binney checks culverts on a farm in the Ohiwa area. This provides good fish passage and does not need to be remediated. Photo: BOPRC. As part of her work, she has been visiting culverts previously identified on aerial photographs to check whether they allow for migration of fish. This includes measuring the diameter of the culvert, whether it is perched too far above the stream bed or whether it has become buried in the stream bed. Mikayla also notes down any fish species she sees in her inspection. Observations made during these visits are then uploaded to a map for Regional Council staff to easily see where fish may become stuck and which culverts may need improving. Tim says the next step over the next year or so will be to retrofit culverts where necessary with devices to allow fish passage. This is usually a fairly simple process and will be done at no cost to landowners. We would like to thank landowners for their assistance in this project and welcoming us onto their farms. Were grateful to see locals supporting this work to improve conditions for our often unnoticed and forgotten but unique migratory fish. An example of a culvert that is perched too high and does not allow for fish passage. Photo: BOPRC. Opotiki districts number of electors for the local government elections in October has grown by 11.5 percent since the last election. A pre-election report by electoral officer Dale Ofsoske was received at a meeting of Opotiki District Council this week showing the number of voters is expected to be 6400, compared to 5741 electors for the 2019 election. Mayor Lyn Riesterer said she was quite excited to see how many voters Opotiki had gained. It shows quite a dramatic population growth. It was also decided at the meeting that candidates names would appear in alphabetical order on voting forms in the triennial local government elections. As part of the pre-election process, all councils are required to make a decision on the order in which candidate names appear on the voting documents. Three options are offered alphabetical; pseudo-random, meaning names are drawn randomly and with all voting documents printed in this order, or random order, names randomly drawn by computer and with each voting document different. The council opted for the default option of alphabetical order, as it has for previous elections. Mr Ofsoskes report said recent analysis undertaken by Auckland Council showed no observable effect of candidate order on election outcomes. For the last election in 2019, over half of territorial authorities used random order while over 32 percent used alphabetical. Only seven, or 10 percent, used pseudo-random order. -Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air By Azernews By Ayya Lmahamad A memorandum of understanding has been signed between Azerbaijan's Agency for Small and Medium Business Development Agency and Iran's Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization. The document was signed by Azerbaijani Agency's board chairman Orkhan Mammadov and Iranian Roads and Urban Development deputy minister Kheirollah Khademi, within the 15th meeting of the Azerbaijan-Iran State Commission on economic, trade and humanitarian cooperation. The memorandum provides for the organization of business training, seminars and exchange programs. The parties will also be encouraged to participate in industrial parks to support the competitiveness of SMBs and expand mutual access to markets. Moreover, measures will be taken to facilitate the transfer of innovations in entrepreneurship and information technology. The 15th meeting of the Azerbaijan-Iran State Commission on economic, trade, and humanitarian cooperation was held in Baku on March 11. Within the meeting, Azerbaijan and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing new communication links between the East Zangazur economic region and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through the territory of Iran. After liberating its lands from Armenian occupation in the 44-day war in 2020, Azerbaijan regained control over a 132-km section of the Azerbaijan-Iran border. The re-establishment of control over the state border opened up new prospects for deeper cooperation between the two countries. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran in 2021 was $440.8 million. Phil Stokes was planning the reception for the 25th anniversary of Penn Dixie Fossil Park & Nature Reserve that would serve as the kickoff for a fundraising campaign for a new building. That was in March 2020, and the executive director of the park never did finish those plans because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The fossil park was shut down for the first part of 2020, but then a funny thing happened: It went on to have record attendance in July and August of that year. In spite of the pandemic or maybe because of it the park in an old stone quarry in Hamburg is offering more programs year-round, hastening its transition to year-round operations. "We went from this little outfit where we were struggling financially to get visitors and just be relevant to an organization now where the demand is very high," Stokes said. And this year the fossil park is planning to change its address from North Street to Jeffrey Boulevard, when it creates a new parking lot on the other side of the quarry. It would be the initial step before a new education building is constructed. Shale in the quarry had been used as aggregate in cement by the Penn Dixie Cement Co. at a plant near where the Ford Stamping Plant is located. After it closed, local residents knew it was a good place to pick up fossils. The "overnight sensation" that became the fossil park started with a small group of volunteers who formed the Hamburg Natural History Society in 1993 to preserve the property and save it from industrial development. Two years later, the Town of Hamburg bought the 57-acre site and deeded 32.5 acres to the society. Today the park is one of the inaugural sites on New York State's geological trail, ranked as the No. 1 geological park in the United States and holder of the record for the world's largest dig. And the nonprofit, which was run by a single full-time employee for most of its existence, doubled its full-time staff this year, from two to four people, and moved into larger office space in the Gateway building. Stokes said a big part of growing the organization is getting the word out about it. "A lot of getting to where we are is not sexy, its not glamorous. It's doing the little things that make a difference when you're a nonprofit," he said. "For us, it's ensuring our mission, which is science education, is served to the community with high-quality programming." The park attracts 18,000 visitors annually, and in non-pandemic years, people came from all over the world to look for the remains of marine animals that lived under a shallow sea 380 million years ago. They are hidden in the shale that covers the 54-acre site, but easily seen by looking down at the ground, or breaking the rocks to reveal the fossils. During 2020, the attributes of the site wide, expansive and outdoors were what folks on lockdown were looking for in recreation. Most of the park is accessible, and for those who are looking for live animals, there are more than 140 species of birds, as well as turkey, deer, coyotes and other small mammals. The first day the park reopened in June 2020, one person showed up. "June was toast," Stokes said. "July finally started to pick up. We didn't have Canadian tourists, we didn't have the normal group." The audience shifted that year, with about 90% of visitors from Western New York, northeast Ohio and near Erie, Pa., he said. And the park set a record for the most general admission visitors between July and August. "It helped offset the loss from field trips and from special events," he said. "As an organization that operates seasonally, we rely on about 110 days a year to to generate enough revenue to stay open 365 days." The demand for programming in the offseason increased, with three to four part-time employees working through this winter when normally they would have finished in the fall. School field trips made up about one-third of program revenue, and they were canceled during the pandemic. But when classes stopped going on field trips, Penn Dixie went to the classroom. Staff collected rocks and fossils in boxes, and delivered about 30 boxes to a classroom, along with a paint brush to brush the dirt off the fossils. A staff member then worked with children remotely for the program. As part of adapting to survive, planning for building an education building was put on hold. The building will be built on the Jeffrey Boulevard side of the quarry. The first phase will be the construction of a large parking lot there that could be constructed this year. The current entrance, off Big Tree Road in Hamburg, is a "driveway behind some guy's house," Stokes said. "That guy and his neighbors have been very patient for 27 years, but the number of vehicles coming each day is probably a little too much for them." Once the parking lot is finished, the entrance will be moved. "If we can get it done this year, that actually gives us a huge head start on the visitors center project," Stokes said. A picnic pavilion is planned near the new parking lot that would serve as the temporary entrance. Penn Dixie also is working to secure state funding for a restroom at the new entrance. 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. About a dozen protest boats are expected to arrive in Helena Bay by early Saturday afternoon as a peace flotilla calling for the NZ government to freeze a Russian oligarchs assets. Russian steel magnate Alexander Abramov has a large country estate in Helena Bay, between Whangarei and the Bay of Islands. It is about 300 hectares of land, including three kilometres of coastline and four private beaches, according to its Trip Advisor listing. The flotilla plan to anchor just offshore from the lodge's private beach, to show support for the people of Ukraine, and are urging Abramov to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Alexander Abramov's property in Helena Bay. Photo: Supplied. The steel magnate is 63 years old and worth about $6 billion. According to Bloomberg, the steel magnate's net worth has dropped 33 per cent since Russia invaded Ukraine. It was over $9b earlier in the year. His major shareholding (about 20 per cent) is in steel making company Evraz, which has lost around 85 pe rcent of its value in 2022. Leading the peace flotilla, the SV Windborne sets sail out of Auckland on Thursday, heading for Helena Bay. Photo: Nick Young. Skipper of the Windborne Avon Hansford says he anchored at the Poor Knights overnight on Friday before setting sail Saturday morning on the final leg. He and partner Mihaela Vlainic set sail from Whitianga on Saturday, meeting up with the Greenpeace crew in Auckland midweek before leaving Princes Wharf for Kawau where they expected to rendezvous with other boats. Greenpeace Aotearoa programme director Niamh OFlynn and skipper Avon Hansford at the wheel of the Windborne as it sails to Helena Bay. Photo: Mihaela Vlainic. Greenpeace announced on Tuesday that they are joining the flotilla, however the veteran protest boat SV Vega which the crew planned to sail on, was delayed leaving Auckland due to engine trouble. Vega has a long history of peaceful protest and a close connection with Greenpeace having been involved in nuclear free Pacific protest voyages to Moruroa and more recently in New Zealand with flotillas to stop deep sea oil. As well as SV Vega, other boats have joined the protest, including the Tumua, and another veteran protest boat Mary of York. Both the Tumua and Windborne have reported being escorted by pods of dolphins for part of their journey. The Mary of York crew sailing to Helena Bay. Photo: Ben Tombs. We are very proud to be bringing Mary of York to this, says sailor Ben Tombs. She has history defending New Zealand from nuclear subs. Bens crew have sewn a blue and yellow flag which they have displayed from the rigging, and set sail from the Bay of Islands at dawn to meet up with the flotilla. Large flag sewn by Kristen Percy awaits the peace flotilla. Photo: Kristen Percy. Northland resident Kristen Percy has attached a blue and yellow heart to the trunk of a large palm ready to welcome the arriving sailors. The situation is nuanced here in Teal/Ngawai Bay, Helena Bay and Oakura, says Kristen. Mr Abramov, despite his connections, has been very supportive of the local community especially the local Mokau Marae. Nevertheless we support a peaceful protest, so I hand sewed a flag to welcome any intrepid sailors who might make it ashore. Kristen says there are large onshore swells on Saturday morning. The sailors plan to come ashore in kayaks to plant a flag in the sand on the beach below Abramov's lodge. Greenpeace Aotearoa programme director Niamh OFlynn if the Government is serious about using sanctions to pressure Putin, then they must go for the big fish quickly. That means freezing Alexander Abramovs assets, as New Zealands richest Russian investor. The Bay of Plenty has 1247 new community cases of Covid-19, with 28 people in Bay of Plenty hospitals. There are 496 new cases in the Lakes DHB region, with 12 in hospital. One person with Covid-19 in the Bay of Plenty has died. The Ministry of Health is reporting 18,699 new community cases, 853 people in hospital with the virus, and seven additional Covid-19 related deaths. There are 17 people in ICU or HDU. This is another reminder that the Omicron variant can still cause serious illness and/or death either directly or by its impact on other health conditions, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. Getting vaccinated and boosted will help to keep you out of hospital if you catch Covid-19 and could save your life. At this sad time, our thoughts are with the whanau and friends of all those who have died. Of the 18,699 new community cases, there are 670 in Northland, 6077 in Auckland, 1700 in Waikato, 1247 in Bay of Plenty, 496 in Lakes, 730 in Hawkes Bay, 667 in MidCentral, 162 in Whanganui, 462 in Taranaki , 377 in Tairawhiti, 169 in Wairarapa, 1545 in Capital and Coast, 937 in Hutt Valley, 424 in Nelson Marlborough, 2028 in Canterbury, 118 in South Canterbury, 848 in Southern, 32 in West Coast, and 10 unknown. There are 16 new cases identified at the border. There are now 206,288 active community cases which have been identified in the past 10 days and not yet classified as recovered. Of the 853 cases in hospital, there are 19 in Northland, 172 in North Shore, 199 in Middlemore, 208 in Auckland, 69 in Waikato, 28 in Bay of Plenty, 12 in Lakes, 3 in Tairawhiti, 23 in Hawkes Bay, 10 in Taranaki, 18 in MidCentral, 2 in Whanganui, 19 in Hutt Valley, 33 in Capital and Coast, 5 in Wairarapa, 3 in Nelson Marlborough, 22 in Canterbury, and 8 in Southern. The average age of current hospitalisations is 59. Covid-19 related deaths As we have said, we are today reporting the deaths of seven people with Covid-19, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. Of these deaths, three occurred in the Auckland region, and one each in Bay of Plenty, MidCentral, Wellington and Canterbury. The total number of publicly reported Covid-19 related deaths to date is now 105. Of the people who have died that we are announcing today, one person was in their fifties, two were in their 70s, two were in their 80s, and two were in their 90s. Four were male and three were female. Out of respect for affected families, we will be making no further comment. Registering your result If you test positive with a rapid antigen test, its essential you register your positive result, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. You can register in My Covid Record. If you cannot access My Covid Record, call 0800 222 478. As of yesterday, parents and caregivers can choose to use My Covid Record to report rapid antigen test results for children under 12 and other family members. We want to acknowledge and thank people for reporting their results. Registering your positive result is important. Its the best way to give public health officials an overview of case numbers in particular areas of New Zealand, to help determine the best spread of public health resources. Its also important if your condition worsens and you require additional healthcare. Home isolation As of 11.59pm last night, the isolation period for cases and household contacts has now reduced from 10 to seven days. This change applies to anyone who is isolating at the time of the change. If you test positive for Covid-19, you are required to isolate for 7 days. You do not need to be retested after your initial positive result. If you still have symptoms after 7 days, stay home until you feel better and then wait another 24 hours, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. If you are a household contact and you have done a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) on both days 3 and 7 of the isolation period of the first Covid-19 positive person in your house, and both tests are negative, you can leave isolation on day 8 if you are well. If you are a household contact and return a positive RAT result while isolating, you will need to isolate for a further 7 days and wait till 24 hours after you are symptom free. Other household members do not have to reset their isolation and can leave isolation on day 8, the same day as the first case can leave isolation, provided they have returned negative RAT results and are not symptomatic. If youve tested negative, but still feel sick or symptomatic, we strongly advise you to follow public health guidance and stay home and away from public places, work and other social gatherings to keep others and yourself safe. You should retest in 48 hours if symptoms persist or worsen. Vaccinations administered in New Zealand Vaccines administered to date: 4,022,553 first doses; 3,968,025 second doses; 34,234 third primary doses; 2,505,482 booster doses: 252,911 paediatric first doses and 6,869 paediatric second doses Vaccines administered yesterday: 207 first doses; 643 second doses; 52 third primary doses; 8,598 booster doses; 635 paediatric first doses and 525 paediatric second doses People vaccinated All Ethnicities (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 4,068,341 first dose (96.7%); 4,010,902 second dose (95.3%), 2,507,124 boosted (72.7% of those eligible) Maori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 520,820 first dose (91.2%); 501,787 second dose (87.9%), 219,246 boosted (59.6% of those eligible) Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 281,549 first dose (98.2%); 275,914 second dose (96.2%), 130,604 boosted (59.6% of those eligible) 5 to 11-year-olds all ethnicities: 252,704 first dose (53.1%); 6,744 second dose (1.4%) 5 to 11-year-olds - Maori: 38,931 first dose (33.7%); 1,070 second dose (0.9%) 5 to 11-year-olds - Pacific Peoples: 22,504 first dose (45.6%); 757 second dose (1.5%) Note that the number for People vaccinated differs slightly from Vaccines administered as it includes those that have been vaccinated overseas. Vaccination rates for all DHBs* Northland DHB: first dose (90.5%); second dose (88.1%); boosted (70.1%) Auckland Metro DHB: first dose (97.4%); second dose (96.3%); boosted (70.6%) Waikato DHB: first dose (95.5%); second dose (93.8%); boosted (68.6%) Bay of Plenty DHB: first dose (95.4%); second dose (93.5%); boosted (69.2%) Lakes DHB: first dose (93.7%); second dose (91.7%); boosted (69.4%) MidCentral DHB: first dose (96.9%); second dose (95.5%); boosted (74.8%) Tairawhiti DHB: first dose (93.5%); second dose (91.1%); boosted (69.9%) Whanganui DHB: first dose (92.5%); second dose (90.7%); boosted (74.6%) Hawkes Bay DHB: first dose (97.4%); second dose (95.6%); boosted (72.8%) Taranaki DHB: first dose (94.9%); second dose (93.3%); boosted (70.1%) Wairarapa DHB: first dose (96.9%); second dose (95.2%); boosted (75.5%) Capital & Coast DHB: first dose (98.9%); second dose (98%); boosted (81.2%) Hutt Valley DHB: first dose (97%); second dose (95.8%); boosted (77.3%) Nelson Marlborough DHB: first dose (97%); second dose (95.6%); boosted (76.3%) West Coast DHB: first dose (93.2%); second dose (91.4%); boosted (74.5%) Canterbury DHB: first dose** (100%); second dose (98.9%); boosted (75.5%) South Canterbury DHB: first dose (95.5%); second dose (94.3%); boosted (76.8%) Southern DHB: first dose (98.4%); second dose (97.1%); boosted (75.2%) *Partially and second doses percentages are for those 12+. Boosted percentages are for 18+ who have become eligible 3 months after having their second dose **Percentage is based on 2020 HSU data - a health-specific population denominator. As the population continues to change over time, coverage rates can exceed 100%. Hospitalisations* Cases in hospital: total number 853: Northland: 19; North Shore: 172; Middlemore: 199; Auckland: 208; Waikato: 69; Bay of Plenty: 28; Lakes: 12; Tairawhiti: 3, Hawkes Bay: 23; Taranaki: 10; MidCentral: 18; Whanganui: 2; Hutt Valley: 19; Capital and Coast: 33; Wairarapa: 5; Nelson Marlborough: 3; Canterbury: 22; Southern: 8. Average age of current hospitalisations: 59 Cases in ICU or HDU: 17 Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (97 cases / 19%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (16 cases / 3%); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (192 cases / 37%); Received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (156 cases / 30%); unknown (54 cases / 10%) *The figures show that just over 3% of people aged 12 and over in the Northern Region have had no doses of the vaccine, while of those aged 12 and over in Northland and Auckland hospitals with COVID-19 for whom we have vaccination status recorded, 19% have had no doses of the vaccine. Cases Seven day rolling average of community cases: 19,888 Number of new community cases: 18,699 Number of new community cases (PCR): 540 Number of new community cases (RAT): 18,159 Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (670), Auckland (6,077), Waikato (1,700), Bay of Plenty (1,247), Lakes (496), Hawkes Bay (730), MidCentral (667), Whanganui (162), Taranaki (462), Tairawhiti (377), Wairarapa (169), Capital and Coast (1,545), Hutt Valley (937), Nelson Marlborough (424), Canterbury (2,028), South Canterbury (118), Southern (848), West Coast (32); Unknown (10) Number of new cases identified at the border: 16 Number of active community cases (total): 206,288 (cases identified in the past 10 days and not yet classified as recovered) Confirmed cases (total): 346,621 Please note, the Ministry of Healths daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a DHB or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO. Tests Are you ready to isolate at home if you or someone in your whanau gets sick with Covid-19? Preparing for Covid-19 is essential to not only keep your family and friends safe, but to make isolation at home a more manageable time for everyone. A Toi Te Ora spokesperson says being ready is about people, conversations, connections and knowing what to do. Being ready for getting Covid-19 will mean your whanau and community can help each other if needed. People are encouraged to support their community, including whanau, friends, neighbours and workmates, to make their plans to get ready. Note. This video refers to a COVID-19 Readiness Checklist which has now been revised to be the COVID-19: Isolation Plan. The Covid-19 website illustrates some key things to have prepared for your isolation period. These items range from common flu medications to ways to pass the time. Firstly, make a list of whanau information include everyones names, ages, NHI numbers, any medical conditions and medication they normally take or medical supplies each person will need. Include emergency contact information like your doctor, after-hours, and any support agencies. People should also find activities to pass the time. What might help stop boredom if you are isolating at home? Put together a hygiene kit that includes tissues, soap, sanitiser, masks, cleaning products, gloves and rubbish bags. Try to have separate bags for tissues before putting them in your main rubbish bags. If you have contracted Covid-19 it is also important to have items that can help with symptoms such as ibuprofen and/or paracetamol, drinks and other medications that help with cold and flu-like symptoms. These can range from lemon tea with honey to cough syrup, nasal spray, throat lozenges and vapour rubs. The Be prepared for Covid-19 page on the Unite Against Covid-19 website also has a template to help with developing an isolation plan. The template covers everything from being prepared to managing your mental health during isolation and financial support packages. Click here for more information. Police are asking for the public to help find David Holland, 31, who has been reported missing from his Papamoa Beach home. David was last heard from on the evening of Friday March 11. Friends believe he was intending to go for a swim at the beach near the end of Pacific View Road. He later failed to turn up for work, which is out of character, and Police and his loved ones have concerns for his welfare. A search of the beach and surrounding areas has been conducted, however nothing has been found that would help Police understand where David might be. Further searching will take place today. Police would like to hear from anyone who has seen David, or who might have information about his movements or whereabouts. "We would specifically like to hear from anyone at Papamoa Beach on Friday evening about 7.30pm, who may have seen David there," says a Police spokesperson. Anyone with information is urged to call 105 and quote file number 220312/6869. Get website access for only 99 per month for the first 3 months, then $8.50 a month after. Cancel anytime! Unlimited website access 24/7 Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more! With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-Edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. Unlimited website access 24/7 Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more! With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-Edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. Recalcitrant owners of historic properties in disrepair in Buffalo could be targeted for a receivership program initiated last year by a preservation organization. It's a novelty now, but that could change. Housing Court Judge Patrick M. Carney said he has had a receivership program at his disposal in recent years for houses and apartments, but not one for preserving historic properties. "The receivership is a great idea for a city like Buffalo, where our housing stock is so old and there is so much worth preserving," Carney said. "To have a program dedicated to those houses and those buildings is a tremendous tool for us, and one we plan to use more in the future." Under the program, the court appoints a receiver to make repairs on a property and sets in place a method to reimburse the receiver and cover the repair costs. But it's not a one-stop-fits-all solution. Receivership may not work for larger properties where costlier repairs are needed and in cases involving irresponsible owners who refuse to surrender ownership, Carney and city officials said. Preservation Buffalo Niagara is completing receivership of a pilot property in Allentown. Jessie Fisher, the organization's executive director, said it's an example of the new thinking needed to tackle preservation challenges. Those challenges have come to the forefront in recent months following the furor over the city's decision to issue an emergency demolition permit for the Great Northern grain elevator. Great Northern grain elevator case renews calls for local landmark reforms A measure to be introduced in the Common Council calls for scheduled building inspections of all 144 local landmarks. That decision, now on appeal, also spurred the Common Council to pass an ordinance in February requiring the city's Department of Permits and Inspection Services to inspect each of the city's locally designated landmarks at least once every three years. Gwen Howard, chair of the Buffalo Preservation Board, called receiverships a promising solution for addressing poorly maintained properties without resorting to demolition. "The preservation community is generally reluctant to contact Permits and Inspections because it can take the building out of the process with the city and throw it into Housing Court, and then all bets are off," Howard said. "Oftentimes, the result is expediting the demolition of the building rather than moving to preserve it." Fisher said the ordinance passed by the Council could do more harm than good without policies to keep landmarks standing. "There is still no plan for what happens if a property gets a bad inspection," Fisher said. "Too often, that either results in demolition or the threat of demolition." A new solution The receivership program is allowed under the Safe Buffalo Housing Court Act, a state law enacted in the 1970s. "Buffalo, like many upstate cities, has a lot of older housing stock that is often left to decay by irresponsible owners," said State Sen. Sean Ryan, who is working with lawmakers on legislation to allow such receiverships in all municipalities. "This would give cities a powerful tool to fight against demolition by neglect." Here's how receivership works: A city inspector informs Housing Court that the condition of a property compromises public safety. The judge appoints a receiver with the approval of the city to make repairs if the owner won't make them. A lien is placed on the property for the value of the repairs, and if the money isn't repaid in 60 days, foreclosure is initiated and the property is put up for sale. Proceeds from the sale are then used to pay back the receiver for the repairs, with the rest going into an escrow account for the owner. Carney appointed Preservation Buffalo Niagara in January 2021 to be the receiver for a house at 40 Cottage St., which has been abandoned for over a decade. Emergency repairs were made to a two-unit cottage behind the main house. Charles Dobucki, the out-of-state owner of the house and four other derelict properties in Allentown, had ignored years of inspectors' reports and court warnings. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. Carney authorized an emergency demolition but changed his mind after Fisher proposed using the receivership program. "I was impressed with Judge Carney's willingness to listen to the legal argument, and then his willingness to apply a new solution," Fisher said. Fisher believes it can become a go-to solution with historic properties. "The receivership program PBN has piloted should be the solution for intractable building owners," Fisher said. "It will ensure we don't continue to lose historic buildings simply because the homeowners don't recognize their value and refuse to follow the law. "This program creates a solution for the Housing Court judge so he doesn't have to order a demolition while protecting public safety," she said. Fillmore Council Member Mitchell Nowakowski, whose district includes Allentown, wants to see more receiverships. "Everybody in Buffalo has either lived on a block or a street where it's that one house," Nowakowski said. "I think that receivership template at 40 Cottage can be super beneficial to other problem properties in residential areas." The money for Preservation Buffalo Niagara's receivership comes from its revolving loan fund. That fund also helps low-income homeowners who want to repair their historic buildings but who don't have the money and may not qualify for other sources of funds such as bank loans. The organization loaned the African Heritage Food Co-op $45,000 to make emergency repairs after a fire damaged a Fruit Belt building at 238 Carlton St. in 2018. James Comerford, then the commissioner of permits and inspections, held off on an emergency demolition to give the food co-op time to make the repairs. Now, the food co-op has plans to open in August 2023. Fisher said the revolving loan fund has around $250,0000, with a goal of reaching $1 million. "That would allow a bigger impact with more money on the street at one time," she said. Limits of receivership Until now receiverships had been used only for buildings with rent-paying tenants, because receivers need money to make repairs. The receiver comes in after an owner refuses to make required repairs. The receiver then uses the rental income to pay for expenses, utilities and repairs until the receivership is complete. The city had to approve Preservation Buffalo Niagara's receivership of the historic building. "That was something we were very proud of, and in the cases where that does work, there is a possibility we would look to repeat again," said Cathy Amdur, the city's new commissioner of permits and inspections. But Amdur said the receivership program has limitations, especially if the owners have no intention of selling their properties. "The biggest challenge is, let's say hypothetically, the court appoints a receiver and repairs are made," Amdur said. "Once those repairs are made, the property gets handed back to the owner, who hasn't been doing the right thing by the property or the city right along. "So let's say those repairs are made and there is a three-year life in keeping the weather out," Amdur said. "By the time we get through the process, it's probably going to have to start all over again." Brendan Mehaffy, who heads the city's Office of Strategic Planning, also said the receivership program is valuable but has its limits. "It's a great tool in the toolbox, but it doesn't fit in every situation," Mehaffy said. Carney asked Preservation Buffalo Niagara to develop a stabilization plan for troubled properties at 110 and 118 South Park Ave. in the Cobblestone Historic District, which will be back in court on April 1. "I wanted to see what they could do with it, and if they actually have the money," Carney said. The local landmarks are destabilized from missing and crumbling walls, tattered roofs and other structural problems. The buildings, like the historic district, are on the National Register of Historic Places. Carney has not decided yet on whether to pursue a receivership for the Cobblestone properties. "If you're talking about houses on Cottage Street, it's a great program," Carney said. "If you're talking about houses on St. James, it's a highly effective tool to either move the owners or get the building fixed in a proper manner. "But at that point you're talking about $20,000 or maybe $50,000 for the repairs or the stabilization," he said. "Receivership program can work wonders, but I don't see it working for mega-projects that could cost hundreds of thousands if not millions, because preservation doesn't have millions," he said. 'Guerrilla warfare tactic' in Cleveland Cleveland is one of several cities to use receiverships for historic properties. Kathleen Crowther, president of the Cleveland Restoration Society, said her organization closely works with the city's Department of Building and Housing, but that wasn't always the case. Relations improved, Crowther said, after the department went forward with an emergency demolition of a "significant stone block house" several years ago without consulting experts on her board, and it later acknowledged the mistake. The preservation organization reviews department-issued lists of properties slated for demolition. "Building and Housing acknowledges they don't have the historic preservation knowledge like we do," she said. The organization has a Historic Properties Fund to pay for the costs of receiverships, with $130,000 now in the fund. Unrestricted funds are also used. Crowther said the Cleveland Restoration Society has had positive outcomes. "Receivership is a very valuable historic preservation guerrilla warfare tactic," Crowther said. Mark Sommer covers preservation, development, the waterfront, culture and more. He's also a former arts editor at The News. 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. Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. Thank you for Reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and Purchase a Subscription to continue reading. At least 18,000 Texas mail-in votes were rejected in the first election under new GOP voting rules Fuldagap BHPian Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: -- Posts: 132 Thanked: 449 Times Re: Impact of the Russia-Ukraine war Quote: SnS_12 Originally Posted by They don't have that advantage anymore. The United States became a net oil exporter in 2020 under Trump's leadership, marking the first time in the 70 years the government has tracked the trade in petroleum that America shipped more oil abroad than it imported. But after Biden took office the US is again a net importer thanks to his administration pursuing policies to squeeze oil-and-gas producers to limit production and eventually go out of business in the US. Hence, there is a growing call for the industry to be revived again and bring down Energy costs. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/0...ussia-00014778 Quote: thanixravindran Originally Posted by Fuldagap - Isn't few years back OPEC and Russia were flooding the market with oil to push Shale gas producers of USA to go out of business (at the level that it doesn't make sense to do fracking but just buy the oil) and then started raising the prices? Also, isn't during Pandemic Saudi and Russia both were again pushing the prices down after failed negotiations on production cuts and finally agreed on the prices after bleeding themselves severely? Quote: thanixravindran Originally Posted by Can USA now simply not produce enough Shale gas to stabilize its pump prices? I know the US is the biggest consumer of energy but is their need so high that they cannot be self sufficient with Shale Gas? Or is it simple case of economics that those corporations just use this high prices for profiting? Self sufficiency is not always the goal even if a country has considerable reserves of a commodity. Commodities like coal and crude oil are also used for other goals related to long term macro and strategic plannings and decisions. IMHO USA couldn't win against Russia in the oil price war so trying different tactics to get Russia engaged in geographic conflicts aimed at destroying Russia's economy and its relations with other countries. However, China has come out to be a very strong supporter of Russia, the degree of which was not so much evident earlier that it would be so high. Just before the onset of this war, Russia secured a 30- year oil deal with China. Quote: SnS_12 Originally Posted by More info on the biological research labs and how the Russians have planned this attack and their objective. From the video.. US goes to Iraq in search of WMD and come back empty handed. Russia goes to Ukraine and finds WMD. Russia has been fighting this war with one hand tied at the back and which the West is showing as Ukraine is giving them a tough time and are pushing them back. Ukrainians themselves are saying that the Russian military has been very polite to them and all this is said by a former US Marine Corps Intelligence officer. An anecdote from the 19th century: Sidney Reilly, the so called greatest spy ever, used to work for Britain (now MI6/5). In his very long, amusing and complicated exploits, one was when he was operating in Russia and helped Germany secure a massive Russian order for marine weaponry and vessels. Britain was supposed to get it, it being the ace of marine force in the world at that time and also due to the fact that Reilly himself was supposed to fetch that massive order for Britain. Britain was pissed off with Reilly so much so that he was considered a traitor. Only 2 or 3 people in Britain's agency knew what Reilly was really upto. Being in a prominent position in Soviet, Reilly had influenced the decision makers there to grant the order to Germany instead of Britain. He did that so as to gain access to the 'blueprints' of German marine vessels and pass on those to his boss in Britain's agency. This made sure that Britain had an edge over Germany in any oncoming tussle in the seas. This was a secret till decades of time to come. Reilly was later killed by Joseph Stalin, mostly what happens to real guys who actually work. Lesson being, what happens behind the top secret curtains can never be known to anyone. There is no media or an analyst who has access to such a high level of decision making. IMHO the real objectives of the war in Ukraine can never be ascertained from USA's or Russia's perspective. It could only be revealed in bits and pieces over an extremely long period of time. As an observer sometimes even a passionate civilian with no connection whatsoever to the 'machinery' might also be able to 'see' what is going on but that will best be categorised as speculation. Why the host of the video looks like James May though? As per sources on the web, they are preparing for massive production increase currently and after August 2020 it has been increasing considerably and consistently. Shutting Russia gives clients to the 'reviving' oil industry of USA. One of the sources is below:USA started to push the prices down first. They actively supported their fracking companies to indulge in price war against Russia. Russia did not budge though. In this price war Saudi suffered a lot because its crude oil costs were much higher than those of Russia's, although lower than that of US shale companies producing oil through fracking. During the pandemic, USA cut down on oil production too, so much so that some of its companies went bankrupt.USA is doing that consistently. As per the source cited above they have been increasing it considerably since August 2020. Alaska floats on oil they say.Self sufficiency is not always the goal even if a country has considerable reserves of a commodity. Commodities like coal and crude oil are also used for other goals related to long term macro and strategic plannings and decisions. IMHO USA couldn't win against Russia in the oil price war so trying different tactics to get Russia engaged in geographic conflicts aimed at destroying Russia's economy and its relations with other countries. However, China has come out to be a very strong supporter of Russia, the degree of which was not so much evident earlier that it would be so high. Just before the onset of this war, Russia secured a 30- year oil deal with China.Whenever I see "spies", "int officers", "agents" and terms like that on the media, I tend to ignore them mostly. This community, from whichever country, is tight lipped even after retirement or leaving the job if they actually worked on something. People, even from India, who claim on Youtube or other media to be former employees of int agencies or 'spies' or 'agents' are simply bluffing or just looking for fame. Even the likes of AS Dulat or B Raman or any other significant int figure from our country, never revealed much even in the best books they wrote. Same is true for other countries as well. Since the well trained or the really important seldom come to light, such "int officers" as the one cited in the video become honeypots for the civilians. As a Private in the Marine Corps, it is quite doubtful he'd know as much as he claims or would have gotten his hands on as important subjects as discussed in the video. There are many on the internet who claim to be what they never were. There is almost nothing that can be done to ascertain the veracity of such videos, discussions or interviews.Sidney Reilly, the so called greatest spy ever, used to work for Britain (now MI6/5). In his very long, amusing and complicated exploits, one was when he was operating in Russia and helped Germany secure a massive Russian order for marine weaponry and vessels. Britain was supposed to get it, it being the ace of marine force in the world at that time and also due to the fact that Reilly himself was supposed to fetch that massive order for Britain.Britain was pissed off with Reilly so much so that he was considered a traitor. Only 2 or 3 people in Britain's agency knew what Reilly was really upto. Being in a prominent position in Soviet, Reilly had influenced the decision makers there to grant the order to Germany instead of Britain. He did that so as to gain access to the 'blueprints' of German marine vessels and pass on those to his boss in Britain's agency. This made sure that Britain had an edge over Germany in any oncoming tussle in the seas. This was a secret till decades of time to come.Reilly was later killed by Joseph Stalin, mostly what happens to real guys who actually work.Lesson being, what happens behind the top secret curtains can never be known to anyone. There is no media or an analyst who has access to such a high level of decision making.IMHO the real objectives of the war in Ukraine can never be ascertained from USA's or Russia's perspective. It could only be revealed in bits and pieces over an extremely long period of time. As an observer sometimes even a passionate civilian with no connection whatsoever to the 'machinery' might also be able to 'see' what is going on but that will best be categorised as speculation.Why the host of the video looks like James May though? Last edited by Fuldagap : 12th March 2022 at 00:13 . soumiksett BHPian Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Kolkata Posts: 55 Thanked: 248 Times Re: West Bengal - A treasure for tourists This time our team was big, 20 adults, 8 children, with 8 cars. We decided to start from Kolkata at 2 am on 18th March 2022, but unfortunately my little son got sick from 17th March 2022 morning. So I decided to avoid the night journey, and started on 17th March 2022 evening at 6 pm. I thought to proceed up to Jhargram, and stay at hotel so that my son get rest for the full night. But being the HOLI festival the roads were full of congestion, I started from Park Circus area at 6 pm, experienced a huge traffic jam till Kona Truck Terminal, after I hit NH-6, surprisingly Dhulagarh Toll was clear but after that again a huge traffic jam was there till Panchla. When I reached Kolaghat it was already 9:15 pm. Felt hungry but didn't get extra time, took just a 10 minute tea and toilet break, and again started to run, lastly reached Jhargram hotel at 11 pm. Meanwhile other members started from Kolkata at 2:30 am, and they crossed Jhargram at 5:30 am. Immediately I woke up and started to get ready. My son woke up and I found him fully fit and cheerful. So we started from Jhargram at 6:30 am, target was to reach Matha Forest at 10 am. Distance was 180 km. After crossing Banduan found lot of Polash flower in both side of the road, took numerous photography break, reached resort at 11 am. Our booking was in Swapna Neer Pahari Resort, inside Matha Forest, in the base of Gorgaburu Hill. Huge premises, lots of Polash trees inside the premises only, back side of the resort was dense forest. It was hot and humid weather, but who cares, we all started playing with colours, children started to run here and there. This time our agenda was ADDA, ADDA, and only ADDA. So we did not do any local side seeing. We booked a 1 hour slot of famous Chou Dance on second day evening. It was a wonderful experience. After dinner we full team went for a leisure walk inside the dense forest. After sometime I noticed the time, it was 1:10 am, all other tourists were sleeping, 3/4 street dog accompanying us, everywhere pin drop silence prevails, moonlit night, wind flowing inside dense forest, it was an awesome ambience. We started to return, I was walking in front of the team with my son, suddenly found the dogs stopped walking and started barking, their eyes were still towards a tree around 10/12 feet far from us. I noticed something white colored tall object hide itself behind the tree. I got feared but did not get afraid, continue my walk straight 4/5 feet more. Suddenly that tall object took shape of human being and jumped in front of me. I noticed height was around 6 feet, totally white dressed and face was abnormally burnt. It was nothing but a GHOST. Now my son took shelter behind me, all ladies started shouting and children started to run in opposite direction. Within 3-4 second I realized the situation and preparing to run in opposite direction, but suddenly one of our senior dada came forward and jumped on that ghost and attacked him. Surprisingly I found neither attack happened from the side of the ghost, nor the ghost disappeared like horror story. Rather the ghost started shouting HELP HELP. Now I got courage and moved forward, by that time the ghost opened his mask and with utter surprise we all found he is one of our team member and friend. He revealed the total plan in front of us, bought the white colored dress, ghost like mask from home, moreover he has done couple of rehearsal session in home. The main planner was another senior Dada, who has done perfect acting like all of us, so that we do not doubt anything. Now we called the other members who ran away from the spot and revealed the story. Next five minutes we all members laughed jointly, and returned to our rooms. Next day we checked out at 11 am, took Balarampur Chandil road. Visited Chandil dam, but weather was too hot and humid. Then our destination was Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary. It was a nice experience to drive the cars on Dalma roads. After visiting the top we took late lunch at a Dhaba on NH 33. Started return journey at 6:30 pm, reached Baheragora at 8 pm, took a short tea break. Then we took dinner break at Kolaghat at 10 pm. Lastly reached home at 12:05 am after crossing the traffic jam at Santragachi. Dashcam View near Belpahari On the way to Purulia Swapna Neer Pahari Resort Our cars Entry of our resort Inside the resort We are in Holi Festival My son in Holi Festival Famous Chau Dance Our Team Dalma wildlife Sanctuary Towards Dalma Top Chandil Dam Ghost of Matha Forest Casual Photosession Entry Point Towards Dalma Top HOLI CELEBRATION in Matha Forest, PuruliaThis time our team was big, 20 adults, 8 children, with 8 cars. We decided to start from Kolkata at 2 am on 18th March 2022, but unfortunately my little son got sick from 17th March 2022 morning. So I decided to avoid the night journey, and started on 17th March 2022 evening at 6 pm. I thought to proceed up to Jhargram, and stay at hotel so that my son get rest for the full night. But being the HOLI festival the roads were full of congestion, I started from Park Circus area at 6 pm, experienced a huge traffic jam till Kona Truck Terminal, after I hit NH-6, surprisingly Dhulagarh Toll was clear but after that again a huge traffic jam was there till Panchla. When I reached Kolaghat it was already 9:15 pm. Felt hungry but didn't get extra time, took just a 10 minute tea and toilet break, and again started to run, lastly reached Jhargram hotel at 11 pm.Meanwhile other members started from Kolkata at 2:30 am, and they crossed Jhargram at 5:30 am. Immediately I woke up and started to get ready. My son woke up and I found him fully fit and cheerful. So we started from Jhargram at 6:30 am, target was to reach Matha Forest at 10 am. Distance was 180 km.After crossing Banduan found lot of Polash flower in both side of the road, took numerous photography break, reached resort at 11 am. Our booking was in Swapna Neer Pahari Resort, inside Matha Forest, in the base of Gorgaburu Hill. Huge premises, lots of Polash trees inside the premises only, back side of the resort was dense forest. It was hot and humid weather, but who cares, we all started playing with colours, children started to run here and there. This time our agenda was ADDA, ADDA, and only ADDA. So we did not do any local side seeing.We booked a 1 hour slot of famous Chou Dance on second day evening. It was a wonderful experience. After dinner we full team went for a leisure walk inside the dense forest. After sometime I noticed the time, it was 1:10 am, all other tourists were sleeping, 3/4 street dog accompanying us, everywhere pin drop silence prevails, moonlit night, wind flowing inside dense forest, it was an awesome ambience. We started to return, I was walking in front of the team with my son, suddenly found the dogs stopped walking and started barking, their eyes were still towards a tree around 10/12 feet far from us. I noticed something white colored tall object hide itself behind the tree. I got feared but did not get afraid, continue my walk straight 4/5 feet more. Suddenly that tall object took shape of human being and jumped in front of me. I noticed height was around 6 feet, totally white dressed and face was abnormally burnt. It was nothing but a GHOST. Now my son took shelter behind me, all ladies started shouting and children started to run in opposite direction. Within 3-4 second I realized the situation and preparing to run in opposite direction, but suddenly one of our senior dada came forward and jumped on that ghost and attacked him. Surprisingly I found neither attack happened from the side of the ghost, nor the ghost disappeared like horror story. Rather the ghost started shouting HELP HELP. Now I got courage and moved forward, by that time the ghost opened his mask and with utter surprise we all found he is one of our team member and friend. He revealed the total plan in front of us, bought the white colored dress, ghost like mask from home, moreover he has done couple of rehearsal session in home. The main planner was another senior Dada, who has done perfect acting like all of us, so that we do not doubt anything. Now we called the other members who ran away from the spot and revealed the story. Next five minutes we all members laughed jointly, and returned to our rooms.Next day we checked out at 11 am, took Balarampur Chandil road. Visited Chandil dam, but weather was too hot and humid. Then our destination was Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary. It was a nice experience to drive the cars on Dalma roads. After visiting the top we took late lunch at a Dhaba on NH 33. Started return journey at 6:30 pm, reached Baheragora at 8 pm, took a short tea break. Then we took dinner break at Kolaghat at 10 pm. Lastly reached home at 12:05 am after crossing the traffic jam at Santragachi.Dashcam View near BelpahariOn the way to PuruliaSwapna Neer Pahari ResortOur carsEntry of our resortInside the resortWe are in Holi FestivalMy son in Holi FestivalFamous Chau DanceOur TeamDalma wildlife SanctuaryTowards Dalma TopChandil DamGhost of Matha ForestCasual PhotosessionEntry PointTowards Dalma Top Last edited by Rudra Sen : 24th March 2022 at 09:09 . Reason: Removed pic with alcohol bottles Why it matters: Despite a US law preventing internet service providers from charging customers who own modems and routers with equipment rental fees, an FCC filing from Consumer Reports suggests that many ISPs continue to break the rules. The nonprofit recently surveyed over 350 members, many of whom allege that they've been forced to pay unnecessary rental charges. When the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019 was signed into law, it included a clause that prevented internet service providers from forcing customers to pay rental fees. Subscribers who already owned modems and routers, which fall into the "covered equipment" category, could opt out of using rented network devices. Before the law, most ISPs had contracts that forced hardware rentals on their customers, so this was a welcome change. As Consumer Reports stated, "these measures were necessary to address business practices that were frustrating and harmful to consumers." However, a recently published Consumer Reports FCC filing suggests that many ISPs continue to violate the law surrounding covered equipment. While some consumers could use their own equipment, others were repeatedly blocked from waiver requests and charged for equipment they didn't need. For example, multiple AT&T customers have complained about the exorbitant monthly equipment fees. In Austin, Texas, one consumer reported that AT&T blocked them from using their own hardware for "security reasons," even though their network devices used the same security protocols as the provider's equipment. Another AT&T subscriber in Menasha, Wisconsin, reported being forced to rent out a Wi-Fi router from the internet provider, despite having bought a new high-speed router just a few months before. When they asked about opting out of the router, AT&T representatives allegedly told them that "having the equipment was mandatory." The rental equipment debacle has been a longstanding point of contention between ISPs and their customers. An Ars Technica report from 2019 details the struggles of a Frontier customer attempting to get their router fee waived. Consumer Reports made this filing in response to a call from the FCC, where they asked the public for "the extent to which (if at all) subject entities continue to assess charges for equipment that are expressly prohibited by the statute." Whether or not the FCC will take action against the violating service providers remains to be seen. Image credit: Router by Stephen Phillips, AT&T by Brendan Stephens Zeta Surgical's focus on image-guided surgery is one of the first to bring this method to the world, and the startup has already raised $5.2 million for its future ventures in this field. The company will use the money to fund its research and what it wants to give the world, especially as it is a relatively new term for the medical community. Zeta Surgical's Image-Guided Surgery Receives $5.2 Million in Funds Zeta Surgical is a startup from Boston, Massachusetts, and their pioneer tech for an image-guided surgery came out of its lowkey operations with a massive $5.2 million funding from investors. According to Tech Crunch, the funding is led by Innospark Ventures, and it goes alongside a combined investment of $250,000 from Y Combinator and Plug and Play Ventures. The company is led by fellow Harvard graduates Jose Maria Amich and Raahil Sha; both play a massive role as the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Technology Officer, respectively. Zeta Surgical helps assist operations and surgeries that would take place before and during every process to help doctors in their tasks. They are joined by Harvard Medical School's Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, William Gormley, who takes up Zeta's chief medical officer. Read Also: Lexington Medical Center's Robot Assists Surgeons? | Interesting Facts About Robotic Surgery What is an Image-Guided Surgery? Zeta Surgical's Focus Image-guided surgery serves as an outline or guide for a surgeon before and during an operation for easier access to a person's body. The research by the company entitled "Frameless neuronavigation with computer vision and real-time tracking for bedside external ventricular drain placement: a cadaveric study" focused on their initial take on image guiding for the procedure. Surgery and Its Tech Advancements Different technology in health tech focus on bringing a novel approach in the various procedures known to humans, and it aims to give a better way that evolves from the old methods. One of the focuses now is the amputation surgery technology that integrates the new prosthetics and limbs that technology helps to improve with realistic replacements. There are also focuses on non-invasive surgeries that bring new opportunities to people that got into accidents and disasters, helping them have a better future with technology. Many now use a method to correct skin problems, particularly fire victims that receive fish skin grafts to repair what the accident took from them. One of its earliest experiments was with a dog that got burns, using the experimental method that is now widely available. Surgery is a massive discipline in science and health, and integrating technology helps bring the public to many options available for their preferences. One of them is with Zeta Surgical and the image-guided technique that brings a novel take on the procedures that will help in precise guidelines for the patient and doctor. Related Article: Robot Surgeons Successfully Operate on Pig without Human Assistance This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Richard 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. On Feb. 10, Twitter updated its app to make it easier for users to switch between the algorithmically programmed Home timeline and the feed that displays the "Latest" tweets. Usually, when users want to move between timelines, they have to tap the icon in the top-right of the screen, then do it again to switch back. However, starting Feb.10 on iOS, tapping that icon will give you the option to pin both the Home timeline and the Latest tweets to your Twitter Home page, so you can instead swipe back and forth between the two feeds. Twitter Update on Timeline Twitter explained that the update makes the option to see recent posts more visible and intuitive to use. It also reduces confusion by making it easier to see which timeline you are currently scrolling, the social media company says. The change comes at a time when there has been increased regulator pressure on tech companies linked to their algorithmic recommendation systems and the lack of transparency around their inner workings. Also Read: Twitter's Google Sign In, Sign Up Option Arrives! You Can Now Merge Your Two Accounts For example, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the United States put forward the Filter Bubble Transparency Act, which would require tech companies to offer a version of their platforms that do not leverage user data to make recommendations. The bill wants to give users the chance to turn off Twitter's recommendation algorithms if they want to. Since then, Instagram promised to re-introduce a chronological feed option. Or technically, it is a reverse-chronological feed, according to TechCrunch. However, Twitter had already offered an option, though some may not have known it existed. The latest change may help to better surface the feature, the sparkle icon is located in the same place as before, but it could make Twitter easier to use. In addition, to support user choice, a "Latest" feed is also the type of tool that people turn to in a breaking news situation, when the immediacy of information is more critical than an algorithmic suggestion of the best content that you may have missed. That is very useful now amid the Russia-Ukraine war, where people are relying on social media apps to get the latest news about what is happening on the ground. Twitter had first started publicly testing the feature in October 2021. The company said that the feedback was positive, so it has decided to be rolled out, according to Android Central. At its launch, the feature was only available on iOS, but it will soon be available to Android and the web. Pushed for more specificity on that date, Twitter could only promise it would be in the next couple of weeks. Adding 100 Million Users According to The Verge, Twitter has a massive goal, as it wants to add another 100 million daily users by the end of 2023. This is an increase of 50% from where it is today. This is one of the reasons why Twitter has been updating the platform and adding new features, as it wants the site to be easier to navigate before the next batch of users come in. In 2021, Twitter video subtitles automatically played when videos were muted. Twitter also updated Twitter Blue last year so users can upload longer videos. Related Article: Russia Blocks Facebook, Twitter, App Store Access: Report This is article is owned by Tech Times Written by Sophie Webster 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google announced that it is suspending the billing of Google Play and YouTube for its users in Russia. The search giant said that this is due to the payment system disruption related to the several sanctions placed by Western companies on Russia. Google Paused Payment on Play and YouTube According to Reuters, the development came in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions on Russian banks that followed as the Western companies opted for an economic response to Vladimir Putin's war in Europe. Google released a statement about the Google Play billing suspension and said that because of the payment system disruption, they would be pausing Google Play's billing system for their customers in Russia. The suspension will roll out in the next few days. Also Read: Apple Takes Russia to Court Over App Store Alternative Payments Issue This means that users will not buy games and apps, make any subscription payments, or make any in-app purchases of digital goods via Google Play in Russia. As for the Free apps, they will still be available on the Google Play Store. In another note about the enacted international sanctions for Google Play developers, the search giant said they will still comply with all applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws and monitor the guidance. All users in affected places will still be able to use Google Play, which includes downloading free apps, but they won't be able to make any purchases. As for YouTube, a spokesperson for the platform confirmed the suspension of payment-based services in Russia. The spokesperson said that YouTube had paused ads in the country. As a follow-up, they are now extending the pause to all of their monetization features, including Channel Memberships, YouTube Premium, Super Chat, and Merchandise for all viewers in Russia. The spokesperson added that they understand that the suspension of payment-based YouTube services went into effect in Russia on Mar. 9, and it affected YouTube Premium memberships, Super Chat, channel memberships, Super Stickers, and Merchandise. Russian Sanctions On Mar. 11, Google announced a suspension of its ad sales in Russia, even though it did cut off ad sales to Russians, saying that at the point that it would continue allowing entities to purchase ads served outside the country. It has not been confirmed whether the banking sanctions, which are now disrupting payments on Google Play and YouTube, will also mean that the search giant is forced to suspend any remaining ad sales in Russia. According to TechCrunch, YouTube channels in Russia will still be able to generate revenue from viewers outside the country via ads and paid features, which suggests there is not a full cutoff. However, all the sanctions can be difficult for Russians to be able to make and receive payments to and from foreign entities. In the past few days, other tech giants such as Microsoft, Apple, and Airbnb have taken the same steps to suspend operations and sales in the country. They have joined the growing number of companies boycotting the country as a way to protest Putin's war in Ukraine. Tech platforms have also taken steps to remove any misinformation about the war, including making adjustments on Russia Today, Sputnik, and other Kremlin-backed state media. On Mar. 4, Russia suspended social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Earlier this month, Apple stopped selling its devices like iPhone, Mac computers, and iPads in Russia. Related Article: Apple Allegedly Allows Russia to Pick ANY Apps and Promote Them to Users-- New Pre-Install Screen Expected This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Sophie Webster 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The new Google Digital Wellbeing widget has been launched by the search engine giant. This new Android feature is specifically designed to reduce your doomscrolling. With all the negative things happening around the world, consumers tend to doomscroll without knowing it themselves. Without anyone reminding them, people will spend a lot of time browsing the internet for negative news. Now, the long-rumored Android feature of Google has arrived. Now that it is rolling out, consumers can now take advantage of it to remind themselves of their doomscrolling habits. Google Digital Wellbeing According to XDA Developers' latest report, the new Google Digital Wellbeing feature can be added to your smartphone's home screen as a widget. Also Read: Google Finally Brings iOS Reactions to Messages App | Additional Features to See Once you activate it on your home screen, you will see the average time you spent using your device. It is a 2x3 configuration that can be expanded. When you adjust it to a larger size, you will see the top applications you use throughout the day. Now, here are the following options you can choose from: Bedtime mode (Allows you to silence your device during bedtime automatically. It will also change the screen to black and white) Daily Timers (This option will show you the time you spent on your applications) Focus Mode (Enables you to pause applications that usually distract you. You can set adjust the time as well) Right now, doomscrolling is a common habit for many people across the globe. The Conversation reported that one of the newest reasons is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Experts warned that too much doomscrolling could affect your mood, as well as your cognition. How To Access Google Digital Wellbeing Accessing the new Google Digital Wellbeing is quite easy to do. If you want to be updated with the time you spent on social media and other online sites, here are the steps you need to follow: First, go to your smartphone Settings and look for the Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls option. Just scroll down a little bit, and you will see the section. Once you are there, click that option. After that, you will be provided with the data that shows your time on Instagram, Messenger, Facebook, and other apps. In other news, Google's Air Raid Alerts is now helping Ukrainians. Meanwhile, the Google Lens app has been updated, allowing consumers to browse their photos easier and faster. For more news updates about Google and its upcoming products, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Google's Android Update Now Allows Users to Pay Parking Using Voice Commands | Here's How This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Pfizer's 4th COVID-19 vaccine shot data is now being prepared by the health firm. Once it is completed, it will pass the data to FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for approval. Right now, most vaccines only require three shots, which already includes the booster shot. But, it seems like the third one is not enough since Pfizer wants to implement the fourth one. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that improving the immune system further is essential since Omicron is still affecting many countries across the globe. Pfizer 4th COVID-19 Vaccine Shot Data According to NBC News' latest report, the required two shots of Pfizer vaccines are still efficient against the Omicron variant. Also Read: Free COVID Antiviral Pills to Roll Out in the US | Here's Everything You Need to Know About 'Test to Treat' Program With the third shot, the immune system can be enhanced. However, Bourla announced their latest discovery. He said that the current booster shot's effectiveness wanes against Omicron after three to four months. Using this finding, he concluded that another booster shot is now needed to neutralize the new COVID-19 variant. But, Pfizer's spokesperson, Kit Longley, said that the results they acquired are still in the early and preliminary stages. "We will continue to collect and assess all available data and remain in open dialogue with regulators and health authorities to help inform a Covid-19 vaccine strategy as the virus evolves," added Longley. New Pfizer Vaccine Also Being Developed CNBC reported that Pfizer is also creating another vaccine that is claimed to be effective against Omicron and other existing COVID-19 variants. However, Bourla explained that they are still cautious when it comes to developing new vaccines. He added that the world can't have new medicines against the novel coronavirus every five or six months. In other news, a new study recently claimed that COVID-19 face masks have titanium dioxide particles that can cause cancer. Meanwhile, COVID-19 swab tests previously raised DNA privacy concerns. For more news updates about COVID-19 and other health topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Biden's Free COVID-19 Rapid Test Kits Still Available! More Than 200 Million Units Left-Eight Per Household Now Allowed This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. TikTok and Oracle are finishing up a deal that will give the operation rights of the short video social media to the American company and prevent ByteDance from accessing US user data. The agreement called "Project Texas" is the codename of its somewhat acquisition of the company, having operation controls to Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. TikTok Oracle to Close the Deal on Operations Rights for Social Media? Reuters reported that TikTok and Oracle's deal is nearing its closing, with the operations rights of the Chinese social networking platform divesting its rights to the American corporation. After this deal closes, Oracle will fulfill TikTok's operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as part of President Trump's deal. Despite a change of leadership in the US, the dispute did not go to the garbage but continued up to this time. It may have given TikTok some leeway for it to work on its deal with Oracle, and it gave them time to secure its assets and many other factors that affect the agreement. According to Buzzfeed News, Project Oracle is the codename of this agreement. Read Also: TikTok's New SoundOn Platform Can Help Boost the Career of Unknown Musicians ByteDance to No Longer Access US Data After Deal The operation rights in the country focused on an allegation against ByteDance by former POTUS Trump, especially as he allegedly claimed the company used American data and gave it to the Chinese government. TikTok denied this, but the deal to continue its operations in the country is to sell to a local company and manage it here. After the acquisition, there may be a massive chance that ByteDance will no longer access user data in the nations mentioned above. TikTok and its American Acquisition TikTok was first gatekeeped by the United States government to operate in the country. It was during the reign of former President of the United States Donald Trump, who focused on having it work under an American company. One of its many interested buyers is Microsoft, the technology company that initially offered its Chinese social media claims. ByteDance was initially pushed to look for their preferred partner company that had a deadline, focusing on having these interested American companies purchase them for the US operation rights. The deadline neared, and ByteDance found its preferred partnership with Oracle, led by Larry Ellison, focusing on its operations in the western countries and the Oceania region. Now, the social media company is two years into the deal, and reports now say that ByteDance is nearing its American Acquisition for TikTok to seal its presence in the country. Oracle will fulfill its operations in the many countries included in the deal, with ByteDance no longer having access to US user data, among other nations. Related Article: TikTok Outage Now Fixed! Still Experiencing Vanishing Video Glitch? Try These Methods This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Richard 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The new TikTok Self-Defense trend is currently urging women to purchase some dangerous smartphone accessories, such as an iPhone taser. The so-called safety keychains are currently going viral on the TikTok platform, commonly sold by young female influencers on social media. Costing around $30 each, these self-defense phone keychains are usually colorful, allowing buyers to disguise them as ordinary smartphone accessories. But, they can use them anytime when they feel danger since these accessories hide pepper spray, tasers, and other self-defense weapons. TikTok Self-Defense Trend: Why Is It Concerning? According to News Week's latest report, the new TikTok trend concerns many self-defense experts. Many of these professionals claimed that it is not good to sell dangerous accessories to untrained individuals. Also Read: TikTok Oracle Deal: Project Texas Nearing Completion, ByteDance to No Longer Have Access to US Data? One of them is Jennifer Cassetta, the self-defense expert that manages the "She Warrior" online self-defense course. She explained that offering tasers and other dangerous tools to untrained women is "unrealistic." "In general, a tool is just a tool, it's not a weapon unless you really know how to use it and you trained with it and you understand it and it's like an extension of your limb," she explained. Cassetta added that people, especially young women, should undergo self-defense training first before they are handed dangerous tools that can harm their attackers. Aside from selling dangerous phone accessories, TikTok has another issue involving video guides since many of these content provide wrong instructions on how to use different self-defense tools. Self-Defense Gurus Now Criticized on TikTok TikTok is definitely a platform that offers unusual content. Right now, this video website allows self-defense videos showing how you should act during a robbery and other dangerous situations. However, most of the self-defense gurus on TikTok are now being criticized. One of them is a police officer who provides tips on stealing a gun from a criminal. He usually provides unrealistic stunts that can easily endanger your life if you do them in an actual dangerous situation. Some of the TikTok users who watched his videos even said that he can get people "killed." You can watch one of his videos below. In other news, the latest TikTok outage has been fixed. Meanwhile, the new TikTok SoundOn platform is now expected to help artists. For more news updates about TikTok and other social media giants, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: TikTok iPhone Document Scan Trick: Here's How To Do It Using Notes App This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In 1888, Emile Zola was a writer covered in glory. However, from the top of his 48 years, he is overweight, suffers from shortness of breath and has the impression of having missed his life. Zola grows tired of his wife Alexandrine, who lets herself go and with whom he cannot have a child. In this new episode of the Europe 1 Studio podcast "At the heart of history", Clementine Portier-Kaltenbach recounts the meeting of the famous novelist with the one who will upset the course of his existence: the young and pretty Jeanne Rozerot. An aquatic star of the film, Cocos, which screens at the Fly Fishing Film Tour next weekend in Ridgway. (Photo by Aussie Fly Fisher) Ada, OK (74820) Today Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 74F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Scattered strong thunderstorms. Low 63F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Way back in 1993, I lived in a town in northeastern Slovakia within a few miles of the Polish border and about 100 miles from Ukraine. I arrived in Slovakia Jan. 12, 1993. The country was 12 days old. The general feeling of euphoria in Slovakia was palpable. Every day felt like a small celebration of liberty. Communism had ended 13 months earlier, and with the split from the Czech Republic, the Slovak people were reveling in their first taste of independence in a thousand years. The experience was heady stuff, especially for a 27-year-old girl like me who had previously never been to Europe or most anywhere else, for that matter. I was there teaching English with a program called Education for Democracy. In all, 28 other Americans were in the program. We spent five days in Bratislava for an orientation. Then, one by one, we scattered across the country. For the most part, my experience living and teaching in Slovakia was the stuff of fairy tales. Everyone was hungry to learn English. Aside from a Canadian named Andrew Harnden, I was the only native English speaker within a 60-mile radius. I had dinner invitations almost every day from local officials or the parents of students. At that time, most everyone in Slovakia was looking for a direct connection to America. Because of Stara Lubovnas proximity to Ukraine, many Ukrainian people lived in the area. Some had deep ethnic roots to a tribe called Ruthenians, who had been in the region for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. (Nothing cements ones understanding that borders are invisible and artificial lines like living in a region that has a back-and-forth cultural history.) Other Ukrainians were new to the area. Even in 1993, the connection between the Ukraine and Russia was different than the connection between Slovakia and Russia or Poland and Russia. With the Ukraine, things were much more complicated. In fact, though I traveled to 17 European countries while I lived in Slovakia. I was never able to go to Ukraine, even though it was barely two hours away by car. The visa situation there was difficult to understand, expensive and a little too risky for my taste. Even so, that didnt stop the Ukrainian people from coming to Stara Lubovna. In that time, many Ukrainians ran an outdoor market. I once bought one of those big fur hats you see Russians wearing. (I know why they wear them now the hats keep your head and ears warm. What I didnt know then was that women simply did not wear those hats. I inadvertently created quite the spectacle and much laughter for weeks. I didnt mind. My ears were warm.) This week, I spoke with several friends who still live in Stara Lubovna. For the most part, they tell me they are doing well. One of my former students said, Of course, everyone is concerned and completely horrified, but the life here has not really changed yet. Everything is the same, except for a few refugees who have settled in Stara Lubovna. She went on to explain that locals have organized food banks and volunteers deliver everything to the border and pass it to the Ukrainian side. Most of the refugees who have crossed our border either travel further to Europe or stay with their relatives here in Slovakia, she said. There aren't many who fled Ukraine without any friends and relatives who had already lived in Europe. She said that, for now, the refugees are taken care of once they make it to the border. They get free food, toiletries and clothes. They also travel free of charge, and many businesses and people offer free housing, she said. However, she said she believes that very soon there will be an influx of people who have no place to go and have no contacts in Europe. And so, what are the good people in Stara Lubovna, and Im sure over most of the rest of Slovakia and Eastern Europe doing? They are getting ready for a much more intense situation. We are ready to open our house to a family in need. Schools are preparing to accept Ukrainian students. It's like the calm before the storm, my former student said. She said she doesnt believe people are full of fear just yet. Pretty much, everyone is in disbelief and saddened, she said. We follow the news and for now, it does not seem like Slovakia would be the next target. At the same time, nobody believed that Russia would attack Ukraine, so we are vigilant. People have been asking what to do in case of nuclear plant explosion, seeking out information about the air raid shelters and getting passports for their children. And what is my friend telling her elementary-aged children? We told them about the war the day it began. We had to explain to them what the war was and that they should not be afraid, because they lived in a safe country, she said. They mostly ask about the refugees, because they get concerned seeing masses of children on TV, in the cold. They want to know what happens to them, where do they sleep, what's next. I assured her that on this side of the pond we are asking the same questions. On March 1, Tom Aswell, a retired state employee who publishes the Louisiana Voice blog, wrote he had picked up on a fairly strong report that Gov. John Bel Edwards would be meeting with his cabinet the following week to announce he would be taking a job in Washington, D.C., most probably in the Energy Department. On March 3, conservative political pundit Jeff Crouere said on WGNO in New Orleans that rumors about Edwards planning to step down were ramping up, and I think theres a lot to them.The Biden Administration has Cedric Richmond and Mitch Landrieu, and they could be trying to get a fellow Democrat in. That day, TV reporters in Lafayette chased Edwards to his car after an appearance there, clamoring to ask whether hes leaving his job mid-term. I am amazed at stories with absolutely zero proof there cannot be a credible source that gave rise to all of that, Edwards told a crowd in Baton Rouge on Wednesday. Edwards said the meeting with his cabinet was a two-day planning workshop in New Orleans. I raised and spent $40 million to be re-elected (in 2019), he said. We finally have money to invest in education and transportation in Louisiana. Do you think Im going to leave? The crowd laughed and applauded. Six Louisiana voters supported by the National Redistricting Action Fund are asking the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge to establish a process that ensures new congressional district lines are in place ahead of the 2022 elections. Voting on largely partisan lines, the Republican majority in the Louisiana Legislature approved a bill that redrew the district lines for the six congressional districts in a way that White voters dominated the five districts that have elected GOP congresspeople and one district with a majority made up by Black voters. The new maps, which will entrench Republican domination for another decade, were similar to the ones drafted 10 years ago. But Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards last vetoed those new districts pointing out that the U.S. Census showed that a third of the states population is now made up of African Americans, therefore deserving of second minority-majority congressional district. The lawsuit was not unexpected. The voters making the challenge point out that the Louisiana Legislature is unlikely to be able to overturn Edwards veto. Known as impasse litigation, the purpose of this lawsuit is to ask the court to create new maps that reflect the states population changes and create districts composed of roughly equal number of people, allowing the 2022 election cycle to continue as scheduled, stated the National Redistricting Action Fund press release. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Qualifying for the Nov. 8 primary elections is July 20 to July 22. +2 Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoes proposed Congressional district map Gov. John Bel Edwards on Wednesday night vetoed the congressional redistricting map passed by the Republican-majority Legislature, saying it s The National Redistricting Action Fund is affiliated with the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Instead of pursuing a fair map, the Louisiana Legislature arrogantly chose to endorse an unjust status quo, passing a map that continues to dilute the voting power of Black Louisianans and keeps them from having legally mandated representation in Congress, said former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. The court must now step in and establish a schedule that will enable it to adopt a remedial congressional plan based on 2020 Census data. Louisiana voters deserve the opportunity to elect representatives of their choice - in this cycle - with districts drawn to reflect the diverse make-up of the state. The voters include a former executive director for the Louisiana Democratic Party, a state representative, a lawyer, as well as lobbyists for environmental causes and utility company watchdogs. Women have long outnumbered male shoppers, but it has taken almost 120 years for peak industry body the Australian Retailers Association to appoint its first female president. Nicole Sheffield who runs digital strategies as Director Data and Digital for Wesfarmers, which includes Target, Kmart and Bunnings has taken on the leadership role during what she says is a crucial time of economic recovery for the retail industry. Australian businesses rely on a big volume of supplies and products from overseas and COVID-19 restrictions and the recent floods have constrained supply chains. Nicole Sheffield is the first female president of the Australian Retailers Association. Credit:Rhett Wyman We get less stock into the country. International lead times have doubled and in some cases tripled, she said. Businesses are having to make greater purchases earlier and that means consumer pricing is a very careful balancing act. Retailers are doing an extraordinary job trying to absorb those costs, but ultimately, there are a lot of challenges in ensuring we are feeding the supply chain. One in four Australian medical researchers fails to declare important conflicts of interest in medical trials, such as payments from big pharma companies, a new study claims. Big pharma money has frequently been shown to influence trials making them more likely to find what the companies want but science continues to rely on an honour system by asking researchers to declare their conflicts of interest. Researchers say the findings show the system needs to be regulated to enhance transparency. Credit:Getty Images Australian medicos collected just over $11.5 million in payments from drug companies in the past year. But, in many cases, these payments are not declared when they should be, according to a new University of Sydney-led study. The research, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine this week, examined 120 clinical trials of new drugs, comparing the authors declared conflicts of interest in studies published in medical journals with a database of money they actually received. The gyrfalcon, capable of a stoop at 250km/h, clasps its target in its talons in mid-flight. The target happens to be a robotic crow passably resembling a potential meal. This isnt about the raptor defending its territory but part of a rehabilitation program operating in Western Australia that is illegal in NSW. Rocrow robotic bird used in the rehabilitation of gyrfalcon. Credit:Neil Davies The ancient sport of falconry (think Henry VIII and Kazakh eagle hunters of Western Mongolia) has moved into the digital age with GPS and drones used to rehabilitate birds of prey. The Raptor Fliers Association of WA uses free-flight falconry techniques to rehabilitate injured or orphaned birds and is licensed by the WA State government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attraction. Birds requiring rehabilitation come from wildlife carers, veterinary hospitals or are picked up by the public. A tail-mounted GPS tracker is attached to the falcons tail to monitor speed, distances and rates of climb during flights on a mobile phone app to ensure readiness for release to the wild. The association is calling for the rehab program to be sanctioned nationally but has so far been rejected by NSW. A Melbourne woman has won a transcontinental court battle against her estranged brother for custody of an 11-year-old sheepdog with a heart condition. The fight over Kojak, a Shetland sheepdog, began when Victorian man Michael Phillips, 30, demanded to take back ownership of the dog after his sister had been caring for it for four years and had registered the dog in her name. Kojak has moved to Italy with his now legally recognised owner. Phoenix Amaterasu, 42, who now lives with Kojak in Italy, said she had spent tens of thousands of dollars on vet bills and legal fees on the beautiful and gentle dog. Melbourne Magistrates Court heard Mr Phillips bought Kojak as a puppy in 2010, with his mother splitting the $900 cost as his 19th birthday present. The dog lived with Mr Phillips at his mothers home and various rental properties until 2016, except for a short period when he went overseas. A shell-shocked Victorian Labor Party is beginning to turn its mind to who will replace Senator Kimberley Kitching, just days after the upper house MP died suddenly of a suspected heart attack amid a bitter preselection battle. Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Liberty Sanger, Victorian Corrections Minister Natalie Hutchins and high-profile barrister Fiona McLeod, who stood for Labor in the Liberal seat of Higgins in 2019, have been bandied around as potential candidates to fill the vacancy. Kimberley Kitching during a senate estimates hearing in Canberra in February. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen The senate seat belongs to the right faction but is bitterly divided in Victoria between subgroups aligned with the Australian Workers Union, on one hand, and the Shop, Distributed and Allied Workers and Transport Workers union groupings on the other. Three Victorian Labor figures aligned with Senator Kitchings AWU faction, which is headed by her close friend and former party leader Bill Shorten, suggested the SDA and TWU groupings which are loosely led by deputy federal leader Richard Marles could be angling to take over the senate seat. Max Oliver moves a lobster to the banding table aboard his boat while fishing off Spruce Head, Maine, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. Deputy Speaker Pro Tem Rep. Dan Bronoske, D-Lakewood, holds up the gavel as he presides over the House floor at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Erica Smith Ewing is a senior attorney and Daryl James is a writer at the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Virginia. WASHINGTON (AP) Immigration enforcement arrests within the U.S. fell sharply over the past year as the Biden administration shifted its enforcement priorities to focus on people in the country without legal status who have committed serious crimes, officials said Friday. As it released its annual report, reflecting eight months under President Joe Biden, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said total immigration arrests dropped nearly 40% from the previous year while the number of people apprehended who had committed "aggravated felonies" nearly doubled. Total deportations fell to the lowest in the agency's history, down nearly 70% to 59,011, a number that, in part, reflects use of a public health order implemented during the pandemic to expel people without formal deportation proceedings. Officials portray this strategy as an efficient use of limited law enforcement resources, but it puts the administration in a bind between critics, primarily on the right, who want to see more apprehensions and progressive Democrats who have called for dramatically scaling back the mission of ICE or even eliminating it altogether. At a minimum, the strategy also reflects a departure from the strategy pursued under former President Donald Trump, who early on directed ICE to apprehend anyone who was in the country illegally regardless of other circumstances. "As the annual report's data reflects, ICE's officers and special agents focused on cases that delivered the greatest law enforcement impact in communities across the country while upholding our values as a nation," acting Director Tae Johnson said in a statement announcing the results. In what it called a "rebalanced" approach, ICE said its Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations arrested 74,082 noncitizens, a combination of people referred to the agency by Customs and Border Protection and people detained "at large" in the country. That figure is down from 103,603 in the 2019 budget year, which was down 28% from the prior 12 months because of policies implemented at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, including use of the public health order to quickly turn back people stopped at the border without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum. ICE said nearly half the arrests and deportations since Biden took office consisted of "serious criminals," which the administration defines as people convicted of felonies or "aggravated felonies," without providing a more detailed breakdown. In addition to who it targets, ICE has also changed where it operates. The administration last year directed the agency to limit enforcement actions at schools, hospitals and a range of other sensitive locations. The agency argues in its statement that the "public safety impact has been dramatic," with the number of monthly arrests of aggravated felons up 53% from the final year under President Barack Obama and 51% average during the Trump administration. Apprehensions included some conducted under an initiative targeting sex offenders, resulting in the arrests of 495 people, compared to 194 under the previous year, ICE said. Trump, whose administration took hundreds of measures to restrict both legal and illegal immigration, directed ICE to apprehend anyone who was in the country illegally. In June 2019, he tweeted that "next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States." It didn't happen, though. Total deportations were higher under the first term of Obama than under Trump in part because many cities and states, opposed to his administration's approach to immigration, refused to cooperate with ICE on removals. Staff Reporter RaeLynn Ricarte is the author of two books and an award-winning editor and reporter with more than 25 years in the newsroom. She now covers government in Eastern Washington for The Center Square. Instant unlimited access to all of our E-Editions and content on thechronicleonline.com. The Chronicle E-Edition Newsletter emailed to you each week, the night before the paper hits the street! This subscription is for NEW or RENEWING online subscribers. (The charge will appear as "Country Media Inc." on your credit card statement) Sebastopol, CA (95472) Today Abundant sunshine. High 78F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 47F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Thomas Jefferson will be forever identified with First Amendment rights due to words he wrote in a 1789 letter to a fellow lawmaker: Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. Jefferson became the nations third president in 1801, but it is his successor in the White House whose birthday March 16 is commemorated as Freedom of Information Day. James Madison, principal author of the Bill of Rights and the fourth president, called freedom of the press one of the great bulwarks of liberty. Madisons birthday is also the reason that Sunshine Week is celebrated at this time in March. Sunshine Week, which runs today through next Saturday, was created in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors since renamed the News Leaders Association to promote the cause of open government. The U.S. Freedom of Information Act was signed into law in 1966. New York States Legislature passed our Freedom of Information Law in 1972. Both have been amended throughout the years, but their existence still does not guarantee the publics right to know. Governments obligations to disclose public information and the news medias right to report it are continually being challenged and negotiated. The issues are contested at all levels of government, from a town council or school board inappropriately trying to hide behind secretive executive sessions to former President Donald Trump allegedly pilfering classified documents when he left the White House. The New York Coalition for Open Government, based in Williamsville, did a study on compliance with the Freedom of Information and Open Meetings laws across the state. According to coalition president Paul Wolf, 75% of planning boards reviewed did not post meeting documents online as required; 61% of school board executive session motions did not comply with the law; only 53% of county election boards complied with a Freedom of Information Law request. The administration of New Yorks former governor Andrew M. Cuomo obscured figures on Covid-19 fatalities among nursing homes residents, making the number of deaths look lower than they were by at least 6,000. The Empire Center for Public Policy, which was aggressive in pursuing nursing home data from Cuomos Health Department, has accused Gov. Kathy Hochuls administration of stalling tactics in response to its FOIL requests. One of Madisons legacies is his opposition to the Sedition Act of 1798, which made it a crime to write, print, publish or utter anything false, scandalous or malicious against the U.S. government. Madison and Jefferson denounced the act as contrary to First Amendment principles and the act expired in 1801, after Jeffersons election to the White House. Another Sedition Act was enacted under President Woodrow Wilson in 1918. Under that law, authorities in Canton, Ohio, arrested Eugene V. Debs in June 1918. The pacificist labor organizer and socialist was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison after giving an anti-war speech. Debs appealed but the U.S. Supreme Court upheld his conviction. Congress repealed the Sedition Act in 1921 and Debs sentence was commuted. A landmark U.S. libel case, Sullivan v. New York Times (1964), mostly eliminated the crime of sedition. The Supreme Court ruled that to prove libel, a public official had to prove actual malice by a critic, meaning they knowingly published something false or with reckless disregard for the truth. The high court extended that principle to public figures in 1967 and that standard for libel has stood for five-and-a-half decades. Its a high bar that allows the news media to pursue truths about government without fear of being prosecuted and jailed by a government official who doesnt like their reporting. Present-day Russia shows what can happen when no such guardrail exists. Russias parliament, at the direction of President Vladimir Putin, just passed a law banning fake news about Russias invasion of Ukraine. Referring to the war as a war can land a journalist in jail in Russia, which caused several large news organizations to pull their reporters out of the country. The legal protections to journalists in the U.S. established by the Sullivan ruling may be at risk. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin sued the New York Times for libel after a Times editor mistakenly suggested in a 2017 opinion piece that Palins rhetoric was linked to a mass shooting. A judge and jury in February both decided against Palin, saying her complaint did not reach the actual malice threshold. However, Palin is expected to appeal and two justices on the high courts conservative majority, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, have expressed doubts about the wisdom of the Sullivan ruling. Were Palins appeal to make it to the Supreme Court and the court find in her favor, public figures would find it easier to win libel cases. Journalists can make mistakes, and its important to correct them promptly, as the Times did in the Palin matter. But the result of public officials being free to use the threat of lawsuits to avoid scrutiny would move us toward the sort of unchecked government that Madison and Jefferson warned against. Sunshine is the disinfectant that helps keep our elected officials honest. Its worth celebrating this week. Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing. This is the temporary subscription pass for users returning from the Vision Data subscription process. Your subscription will be updated within 24 hours, after your information is verified. Please click the button below to get your pass. Oneonta, NY (13820) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High near 60F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 43F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. By Trend Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are creating a transport-logistics route, Trend reports via the Kazakh Samruk-Kazyna JSC. The issue was discussed during the meetings of the Kazakh delegation headed by the JSCs Board Chairman Almasadam Satkaliyev with a number of responsible officials of the government of Azerbaijan. The main topic of the discussion was the project of creating a joint venture (JV) to develop the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR). The new JV will allow solve the issues of through tariff setting and cargo declaration, apply unified IT solutions and consolidate transit cargo on the mentioned route. During the meetings, representatives of the Kazakh delegation noted the relevance of reorienting export cargo flows from Kazakhstan to Europe along the TITR. The parties outlined a significant potential for cooperation in the field of oil transportation through Azerbaijan, which could become an alternative to existing routes. The Kazakh delegation also met with the Minister of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan Rashad Nabiyev. During the meeting, discussions were held on the unification of transport tariffs along the corridor, the synchronization of customs procedures to increase the volume of cargo transportation along international transport corridors passing through the countries. The meeting participants noted that the events taking place in the region and the geopolitical situation have created a new reality. There is already a risk that demand will exceed supply, and these factors will eventually affect the final consumer. Both the cost of delivery and the waiting period will increase. This reality dictates the consideration of a new framework for cooperation and the establishment of transit and transport communications. Besides, the parties stressed that the geographical features of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan - their location between the largest economic centers of Europe and Asia - created real prerequisites for ensuring an efficient and well-established transport network between the countries. An additional impetus for the development of the route was the completion of the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line. This made it possible to reduce the delivery time from China to Turkey via Kazakhstan to 12 days. Following the meeting, a protocol on the establishment of a joint venture and the implementation of transport and logistics activities was signed between Samruk-Kazyna JSC and the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan. A: Let the sunshine in, year round Spring ahead, fall back, rinse and repeat. Is this any way to run a country? Why are we still changing our clocks twice a year? Congress held a hearing last week on possible legislation to do away with this antiquated custom. And when Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is right, hes right. Not the Republicans claim that the Biden administration is giving away crack pipes, but about his campaign to make daylight saving time permanent. Rubio's bill has not gotten the bipartisan support it deserves yet apparently the Senate has more pressing priorities but we can hope. Who exactly is stopping Congress from acting, lobbyists for Big Time? Come Sunday morning, we will again put our four months of standard time behind us four months! and move our clocks forward so that we can enjoy a greater portion of our evenings in full sunlight. But think of the children!, say the hourglass clutchers. We cant send them off to school in total darkness during winter. Studies show that school starting times should be later in the morning, to align with students body clocks. Daylight saving time was first enacted during World War I. Its time to declare victory and make it permanent. B: Its about the best thing ever Lets just go ahead and say this: If the United States Congress has done one good thing in its 234-year history, it was the establishment of daylight saving time. Hallelujah for 2 a.m. Sunday. All right, maybe thats an exaggeration. Congress voted to abolish slavery, after all. It passed the Civil Rights Act, adopted the Bill of Rights and more. But you get the idea. Admittedly, its just a trick. By setting our clocks back an hour how great is it that many of them do it themselves, these days? we trade morning light for evening hours that, come June, stretch out like warm taffy. Even the fireflies like it, as their signaling clearly demonstrates. Some people, though arent satisfied with perfection (defined as not minding the mild adjustment of the coming few days). Under odious influence or perhaps just drunk they think we should do away with this glorious, life-affirming gear-shift. They should be pitied. Or jailed. Hardly better are those who would adopt year-round daylight saving time. Given their druthers, the December sun wouldnt rise until close to 9 a.m. Prozac, anyone? How about a compromise? Daylight saving from March through May then double daylight saving through July. How much perfection can anyone take? Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing. Click the image to the left and log in to get your exclusive reader perks. Forest City, NC (28043) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low around 55F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Mayor Eric Garcetti's path to becoming U.S. ambassador to India hit a potential snag Thursday when a senior senator said he wants the confirmation vote delayed pending an investigation into whether the mayor knew about, and ignored, sexual harassment and assault allegations against his former senior advisor. In a letter made available by Politico, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said he would object to Garcetti's nomination because of "numerous credible allegations from multiple whistleblowers" alleging the mayor had knowledge of an ignored cases of sexual alleged harassment by a close advisor. "Mayor Garcetti may very well be fully qualified, but at this time, the Senate needs to look at these allegations further," he added. In February, the nonprofit law firm Whistleblower Aid filed a complaint on behalf of Garcetti's former communications director accusing the mayor of perjury while he was questioned during his nomination hearing in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the sexual harassment allegations against his former advisor, Rick Jacobs. Jacobs was accused in a 2020 lawsuit filed by Los Angeles Police Department Officer Matthew Garza, who claims Garcetti witnessed the misconduct but turned a blind eye to it. Garcetti has denied the allegations in the past -- and did so again during his hearing, telling the Senate panel he has a "zero tolerance" policy for sexual harassment. The mayor has previously claimed he didn't know about Garza's accusations at the time or until the lawsuit became public in July 2020. In response to Grassley's letter, the mayor's office said in a statement to City News Service Thursday afternoon: "Repeating a malicious falsehood will never turn a lie into the truth. The Mayor has testified under oath multiple times, including before the U.S. Senate, and stands by his testimony unequivocally: he absolutely did not witness nor was he informed of any of the behavior being alleged. The Mayor has spent the better part of his life advocating aggressively on this issue, and had he been aware of any such behavior, he absolutely would have acted to stop it." The White House stood by Garcetti in a statement to Politico, saying that the mayor "has been clear that he takes any allegations of harassment very seriously and has made clear this type of misconduct is unacceptable in his office in any form ... the president has confidence in Mayor Garcetti and believes he'll be an excellent representative in India." 2 Killed When Vehicle Crashes Into Washington Restaurant Patio Two people were killed and at least nine others injured on Friday when a sport utility vehicle driven by an older man careened into the outdoor seating area of a Washington restaurant, in what police said appeared to be an accident. Firefighters and police responded at 12:15 p.m. local time to the Parthenon Restaurant in the districts Chevy Chase neighborhood where the gray SUV had gone off the road and into a patio area of the eatery, a District of Columbia Fire and EMS spokesperson said. The Washington Post reported that two women were killed in the crash. At least several other victims were taken to local hospitals in critical condition. Three people were treated at the scene for minor injuries and released, the department said. It was truly an accident, from what we can tell right now, Duncan Bedlion, Commander of the Second District within the Metropolitan Police Department, told the Washington Post. There is no indication this was intentional in any form or fashion. The driver of the SUV was an elderly man who may have lost control of his vehicle or suffered a medical emergency, a Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson said. It was unclear if the driver was injured. 2022 Buick Enclave Along with the compact Buick Envision and subcompact Encore that recently entered their second generations, the just face-lifted seven-passenger Enclave rounds out the brands utility portfolio. Showcasing a sleeker aesthetic, an expanded suite of standard driver assist features and updated technology, theres a lot to unpack below. The 2022 Buick Enclaves enhancements elevate the design and driving experience that premium SUV customers have come to expect and appreciate, said Duncan Aldred, Global Buick and GMC vice president, in a media release. After nearly 15 years as one of the segments pioneering premium SUVs, the Enclave continues to reward customers by offering more style and substance. Epoch Times took the crossover for a late winter first drive in and around the Greater Vancouver area. The exterior appears sportier than before, boasting the trendy separated lighting element layout with the signature daytime running lights up top and the actual headlamps installed below in the bumper. The grille flanked by DRLs and headlamps. (Courtesy of Buick Pressroom) The top-of-the-line Avenir trim on loan to us for the week looked particularly eye-catching wearing a mesh grille and 20-inch Pearl Nickel finish alloy wheels. The rear fascia is slightly upgraded as well, boasting subtly modified tail lenses and an integrated body-colored diffuser. Looking from the back. (Courtesy of Buick Pressroom) All models receive a new heated leather steering wheel and a push/pull Electronic Transmission Range Select (ETRS) system, which is a fancy way to describe the set of buttons replacing the lever from the outgoing vehicle. Yes, going to such a configuration does free up some cabin space, but call me old school as I personally prefer the more ergonomic operation of a traditional shifter. Seat cushioning and trim are also refreshed our loaner was upholstered with nice-to-the-touch Whisper Beige perforated leather. Electronic Transmission Range Select (ETRS) system. (Courtesy of Buick Pressroom) The rest of the interior is also quite pleasant: the large moonroof is complemented by a fixed rear skylight and a unique one-touch open manual sunshade for the former and powered, the latter. The Bose Premium 10-speaker stereo sounds simply sublime, and the heated, ventilated and massaging front seats are greatly appreciated on extended highway runs. If I had to name one downside it would be the relatively short back window reducing visibility of smaller objects, like a compact car behind at a stoplight. Inside the new Enclave. (Courtesy of Buick Pressroom) Still propelling the crossover is the 310-horsepower 3.6L V6 engine mated to a nine-speed automatic gearbox. All Canadian examples are equipped with all-wheel drive and this setup performs just fine in the often wet B.C. climate. Bear in mind although classified as a mid-size the Enclave is a big vehicle and feels like one, measuring 5,201 mm long and 2,268 mm wide, meaning gauging proper U-turns and parallel parking distances takes some time to get used to. Thank goodness for the HD Surround Vision 360-degree camera display. On the upside, the sizable footprint means the storage capacity is massive: 668 litres when the two rear rows are in the upright position, or 2,758 when folded. Convenient electronic switches are located in the cargo area and made carrying a weekend getaways worth of luggage and even a baby stroller a cinch. Plenty of cargo space. (Courtesy of Buick Pressroom) As usual, Buick QuietTuning ensures a comfortable ride free of distracting road noise through the use of acoustic laminated glass, loads of insulation and sound deadening materials and triple-sealed doors. Even my fussy infant uncharacteristically slept like, well, a baby during the journey. The Buick Driver Confidence Plus (BDCP) safety tech package is now standard equipment, bundling nine different automated functions including lane keep assist, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, rear park assist, emergency braking, and others. In addition, the Avenir is graced with a new head-up display that, in addition to current velocity, projects the various BDCP alerts directly onto the windshield. The main infotainment system display. (Courtesy of Buick Pressroom) Starting at at $51,998 CAD MSRP ($62,998 for Avenir), the 2022 Buick Enclave is in dealerships now. Benjamin Yong is a freelance writer from Vancouver, B.C. and a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Follow him on Twitter @b_yong. One of the great tragedies of modern-day hustle culture is the loss of family dinners around the table. For many today, dinner is simply something you eat in the evening, whether on the go or in front of the televisionand its usually squeezed between work schedules, commutes, meetings, after-school activities, and homework. Sometimes it comes from a drive-through window or is reheated in the microwave, and rarely does it occur for each member of the family at the same time. However, there are some families that have managed to prioritize eating dinner together, recognizing the many benefits of doing so. Even if schedules allow a sit-down dinner only once or twice each week, the value in making that happen consistently is worth considering. Connection Perhaps the most important reason to consider prioritizing family dinner together is the deepened connection it fosters among family members. When family mealtime becomes a habit, conversations flow and ideas and feelings are shared. Setting aside distractions from the many obligations of life, along with the distraction of digital devices, while partaking in the experience of a simple meal together exemplifies where the proper priorities lie. The blessings of life are on full display to be appreciated, and the sense of belonging to ones family is enhanced by this simple ritual. Nutrition Meals prepared at home tend to be much healthier than the typical meals quickly purchased for convenience. The potential to involve each member of the family in the meals preparation can reinforce lessons about good nutrition and flavorful cooking. According to The Family Dinner Project, shared mealtime has been found to promote better health by lowering the risks of depression, obesity, and eating disorders while improving cardiovascular health and overall eating habits. Rhythm Sitting down together as a family regularly and consistently creates a comforting, dependable rhythm to life that everyone can look forward to and rely on. Knowing that your family members value spending time together is a wonderful gift for parents and children alike and strengthens family bonds. This regular activity becomes something to look forward to and acts as a signpost in the day or week. Tradition Further, family dinner together becomes a tradition that every member of the family values. The memories made around the dinner table may easily become some of the most treasured. The benefits of the practice may very well be passed on to future generations. So, if youre looking for something to quell anxieties, improve your familys health, and strengthen family bonds, simply sit down to dinner together. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey Signs Bill to Eliminate Permit Requirement for Carrying Pistols Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed a constitutional carry bill into law that allows permitless concealed carry in the Yellowhammer State. Alabama House Bill 272, also known as the Constitutional Carry Bill, eliminates certain restrictions on concealed carry of pistols and transporting a handgun in a private vehicle. The bill also established a $5 million fund to offset the revenue loss of local governments. The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Shane Stringer and cosponsored by 36 other Republicans in the state House. The new law will go into effect on Jan. 1 when Alabama will become the 22nd constitutional carry state. Ivey regarded the signing of the law as an act to defend Second Amendment rights. Unlike states who are doing everything in their power to make it harder for law abiding citizens, Alabama is reaffirming our commitment to defending our Second Amendment rights, She said in a statement. I have always stood up for the rights of law abiding gunowners, and I am proud to do that again today. Supporters of the bill said it will help citizens protect themselves. As law enforcement is being defunded and criminals arent being prosecuted, it is more important than ever that law-abiding Americans right to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their homes is fully recognized, National Rifle Association (NRA) Alabama State Director Art Thomm said in a statement. Law enforcement agencies hold differentiated views on the new law, Alabama Political Reporter reported. During a February hearing about the bill, Leeds Police Department chief Paul Irwin warned that elimination of the permit requirement will allow more illegal guns on the streets. However, Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry said he supports the bill because even a loaded AR-15 can be carried anywhere in Alabama without a permit. Members of Kyiv defense battalion seen holding their rifles. Mykhaylo Palinchak Ukrainian veterans in Poland are heading back into their country to take the fight to Russia. Ivan, 53, who received military training in the Soviet-era, called Russians "bandits and thieves." He was joined by Viktor, 35, who fought in the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015. HREBENNE, POLAND For two men heading into a war-zone, Viktor and Ivan seemed remarkably calm as they waited in a line of cars to cross the border from Poland into Ukraine. There was a look of fearlessness and determination in their eyes. Over 1.5 million Ukrainians have fled into Poland since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked war in late February. When asked why they were headed in the opposite direction, they told Insider, "To defend Ukraine." Viktor, 35, is a Ukrainian veteran who served in Donetsk one of the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine that Putin recognized as independent in the lead-up to Russia's invasion. He fought pro-Kremlin rebels there from 2014 to 2015. Ivan, 53, did two years of obligatory military service in Ukraine during the Soviet-era. They said they plan to join the army or the Territorial Defense Forces Ukraine's volunteer force to thwart the Russian military assault. The two men, who declined to give their last names, are colleagues truck drivers who lived in Poland when the conflict began. Now they're headed home, determined to bring the fight to the Russians, whom Ivan called "bandits and thieves." They said their family members, who are in the Russian-occupied cities of Sumy and Kherson, aren't doing well. When asked what the US and wider would could do to help Ukraine, they said "close the sky." "Close the sky" is a phrase that's been echoed by Ukrainian refugees that Insider has spoken to across Poland over the past week. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for, they want NATO to institute a no-fly zone to help end Russian airstrikes wreaking havoc across their country. Story continues But the alliance has firmly ruled this out, as it would require NATO to shoot down Russian warplanes. This would effectively amount to a declaration of war by the 30-member defensive alliance, pitting nuclear powers against one another in a potentially catastrophic conflict. Understandably desperate to see the brutal war in their country end, however, Ukrainians continue to push for this. "We have enough fighters," Ivan said, pointing to a bus full of Ukrainian men in front of his vehicle who were also heading across the border to take the fight to Russia. Even before Russia launched the invasion, Ukrainian veterans in Poland were gearing up to re-enlist. Ivan also said he wanted to give a "big thank you to the US" for the help it's given Ukraine, which has included lethal aid like Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger missiles. Ivan and Viktor wouldn't give their last names and refused to be photographed for safety reasons. "You can take our picture when we get back," Ivan said with a smile. When asked whether he thought Ukraine would win the war, Ivan said, "No doubt about it. 100%." Marta Yatsenko provided translation services in Poland. Read the original article on Business Insider Alec Baldwin Files Arbitration Claim Against Rust Producers By Anousha Sakoui From Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELESAlec Baldwin has filed an arbitration claim against the producers of the movie Rust in a bid to shield himself from liability and cover his legal fees after the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western last year. In the arbitration demand filed Friday, Baldwin alleges he was not responsible for the death of Hutchins, whom he shot during rehearsals for the film on a movie ranch outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Seeking indemnification from the Rust production company, Baldwin reiterated earlier public statements, saying that he was not in charge of firearm safety or hiring and had been told the gun did not contain any live ammunition, according to the filing with the JAMS private arbitration service reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. This is a rare instance when the system broke down, and someone should be held legally culpable for the tragic consequences. That person is not Alec Baldwin, according to the filing. October 21 was also the worst day in Alec Baldwins life. That day has and will continue to haunt Baldwin. A spokesman for the Rust producers had no immediate comment. The filing was first reported by The New York Times. The arbitration demand comes after Baldwin and other producers have been accused of negligence by the Hutchins family and others involved in the production. The lawsuits have cited the hiring of inexperienced crew and a raft of safety violations, including accidental gun discharges prior to the fatal shooting. Baldwin has been outspoken about his belief that he is not responsible for the death of the 42-year-old rising-star cinematographer, including in an interview on ABC. Husband Matthew Hutchins expressed outrage over Baldwins response in an interview last month on NBCs Today show. In Baldwins filing, the actor details how he tried to support Matthew Hutchins after the tragedy, but the relationship turned sour. Sharing screenshots of his correspondence with Matthew Hutchins, Baldwin said that the cinematographers husband had wanted to confront the crisis together and that he was grateful for the actors offers of help and wanted to maintain a relationship with him. Baldwin added he arranged hotel accommodation for the family and spoke at the memorial. Hutchins attorney Brian Panish condemned the filing. Alec Baldwin once again is trying to avoid liability and accountability for his reckless actions before and on Oct 21st that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins, Panish said in a statement. Baldwins disclosure of personal texts with Matt Hutchins is irrelevant to his demand for arbitration and fails to demonstrate anything other than Hutchins dignity in his engagement with Baldwin. Aaron Dyer, Los Angeles-based attorney for Baldwin and other producers of Rust, has previously said that they continued to cooperate with the authorities to determine how live ammunition arrived on the Rust set. The filing downplayed Baldwins role in the movie, specifying that in small-budget films like Rust, he does not have the authority to choose crew or direct noncreative aspects of the production, such as hiring. Baldwin said he requested gun training by the armorer before filming started. The day after he arrived on set last October, he received 90 minutes of training from the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed. Reed had also offered cross-draw training, which the actor said in his filing Friday was not focused on gun safety but the motion of pulling the gun from the holster. He said he did not need this training. The claim contradicts an assertion in the wrongful death lawsuit filed last month by the Hutchins family, who placed much of the blame on Baldwin. Their claim stated the actor refused training in the cross-draw maneuver that he was practicing that dayjust 4 feet from Hutchins and other crew members. The Hutchins suit filed in New Mexico alleged that Baldwin and other producers of the low-budget film sacrificed crew members safety by hiring inexperienced crew and disregarding safety concerns expressed earlier by camera crew operators. Baldwin in his arbitration claim said he wasnt made aware of safety issues. He reiterated that at the time of the fatal scene, he was handed the gun by assistant director Dave Halls and that Halls had said the gun was cold, which Baldwin said was a widely accepted term to indicate there was no real or blank ammunition in the gun. Hutchins directed Baldwin to hold the gun so it was pointed toward her and said that she wanted him to cock the gun, according to the actors filing. Baldwin said he pulled back the hammer of the gun but not enough to cock the gun, and when he let go, the gun went off. Baldwin said his total compensation for his appearance and producing Rust was $250,000, but he gave back $100,000 as an investment in the movie. He said he was involved in talks about creative matters such as artwork for posters and worked with director Joel Souza on casting. Souza was also hit in the shooting by the same bullet that killed Hutchins but survived his injuries. In his claim against Rust Movie Productions LLC and producer Ryan Smith, Baldwin said that accidental killers report symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and that society does not help these individuals. Instead, we often pile on to the grief they are experiencing and villainize them as murderers, without putting ourselves in their shoes or considering who is truly culpable for the tragedy. Charges have yet to be filed in the ongoing criminal investigation into the incident by the Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office that has focused on the actions of armorer Gutierrez Reed, assistant director Halls, and Baldwin. According to law enforcement documents, during a rehearsal, Halls gave the actor a Colt .45 pistol, pronouncing it cold, to indicate there was no ammunition inside. However, the gun contained dummy rounds and at least one lead bullet, the source of which is still a subject of investigation. 2022 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Its been over two weeks of war in Ukraine. Chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons are the latest hot topics. But different sides are sending out conflicting stories. Ukraine is readying itself for the worst, while a Ukrainian diplomat urges the Chinese Communist Party to understand the war will damage far more than just his country. Countries in the Indo-Pacific region chime in on growing defense concerns. New action comes as threats to the region come into clearer view. Back in the United States, activist investors confront the Walt Disney company over its relationship with Beijing. Popular fast food chains might soon see a setback for their stores in China, all because of a long-time dispute between Beijing and American regulators. Amazon could be tied to forced labor in China. The company is just one of the tech giants facing questions. Did a Chinese warplane crash into the South China Sea? Taiwan says yes, but Beijing is staying silent. 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. Australia to Ban Russian Oil, Gas Imports Australia will soon prohibit the import of oil, natural gas, coal, refined petroleum products, and other energy products from Russia, the countrys Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) announced on March 11. The sanctioned products are specified in a document titled Autonomous Sanctions (Import Sanctioned GoodsRussia) Designation 2022, registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on March 11. The sanctions will take effect 45 days later, on April 25, to allow for Australia to receive shipments of crude oil already ordered and paid for from Russia. Two main local oil refiners Viva Energy and Ampol will be taking the deliveries. This period will allow Australian businesses with existing contracts for the import of relevant goods to comply with the prohibition, DFAT stated. A spokesperson for Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne told Guardian Australia that such energy products are Russias largest global source of export revenue, and while Australia doesnt import large amounts, the action taken with other Western allies will collectively curtail Russias revenue and ability to fund the Kremlins war against Ukraine. This decision does not risk Australias fuel security. Australia has diverse and resilient oil supply chains, and adequate fuel supplies thanks to the governments comprehensive fuel security package, the spokesperson said. The United States and United Kingdom have also recently announced bans on Russian oil imports. Viva Energy and Ampol announced on March 8 they each purchased two Russian-origin cargoes prior to the escalation of conflict between Ukraine and Russia on Feb. 24. The companies declined to say whether the cargoes were being shared, or if there were four in total, reported Guardian Australia. Viva Energy said it expects the cargoes it ordered to arrive in Australia over the next two months. It said the cargoes were purchased from international oil companies rather than Russian entities. Viva Energy has explored options to dispose of these cargoes, but there are no credible purchasers in the current market and without these supplies the Company faces gaps in its refining program and potential fuel shortages, the company said. Ampol said it has not purchased Russian crude oil or products since the RussiaUkraine war commenced. It expects the already-purchased Russian cargoes to arrive before the end of April. A sign outside a petrol station shows the price of petrol breaking through the AU$2.00 (US$1.46) a litre mark in Melbourne, Victoria, on March 3, 2022. (William West/AFP via Getty Images) Petrol prices have reached AU$2.00 a litre in some parts of the country. Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on March 10 that fuel prices will remain high due to the RussiaUkraine conflict, but declined to say if he would cut fuel excisea flat sales tax levied by the Australian Government on petrol and diesel bought at the bowserto help drivers. The current rate is 44.2 cents in excise for every litre of fuel purchased. Read More Fears Australian Petrol Prices Will Remain Sky High In 2021, Australia imported 147 megalitres (925,231 barrels) of crude from Russia, or about 1.2 percent of total oil imports. Australian Minister for Energy Angus Taylor said in an interview with Sky News on March 9 that given that Viva and Ampol are not buying any more oil, it would effectively mean Australia wont be using Russian oil. We dont need it, frankly. We supply the crude oil we need from offshore from 30 different countries. Russia is a tiny portion of it and so cutting that out, which is what effectively has happened, wont have a big impact, he said, noting that practically speaking, only 1.5 percent of the crude oil we purchase in Australia is coming from Russia. The latest ban is part of other measures Australia has taken against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. Australia has announced at least three rounds of sanctionson Feb. 23 (local time), Feb. 28, and March 8. A woman closes her eyes after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine at Sydney Road Family Medical Practice in Balgowlah, in Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 10, 2022. (Jenny Evans/Getty Images) Australian State Signs MRNA Vaccine Deal With South Korean Medical Institute The government of Australian state Victoria has signed a deal with a Korean medical institute to work together on mRNA vaccine research. Some of the earliest vaccines approved for use against COVID-19, the Pfizer and Moderna shots, are based on mRNA technology. The vaccines are designed to teach the bodys cells to make a protein that will trigger an immune response, preparing the immune system for any exposure to the virus. The memorandum of understanding between mRNA Victoria and the Korean Health and Industry Development Institute, which is overseen by the countrys health department, will see both parties work together on joint early-stage RNA research, clinical trials, and manufacturing investment. While South Korea has specialised bio-manufacturing facilities, Victoria has an edge in vaccine research and development. The South Korean government has pledged $2.4 billion to become a major global COVID-19 manufacturing centre by 2025, while the Victorian government is aiming to make the state a hub for developing mRNA and RNA technology. Clinical trials are already being funded by mRNA Victoria for a locally developed and manufactured COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to be available in the first half of 2022. It comes as another 11 COVID-19 deaths and 6075 new cases were reported in Victoria on Saturday. There are 40,530 active cases in the state, with 175 people in hospital, 22 in intensive care, and four on ventilation. Victoria has 62.2 per cent of adults vaccinated with three doses, ahead of mandatory vaccination rules kicking in for key workers. After being pushed back, the deadline is fast approaching for aged care, disability, emergency service, meat processing, quarantine and food distribution workers to get their third jab. From 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, these workers, including contractors, volunteers and students on placement, will need to have received a third dose to attend work. Healthcare workers who received their first jab before September 12 will also be required to have their third before 11:59 p.m. on Saturday. Australian Associated Press Unaccompanied illegal immigrant children wait to be transported by the U.S. Border Patrols after crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States from Mexico in La Joya, Texas, on April 7, 2021. (Go Nakamura/Reuters) Biden Administration Officially Ends Title 42 Expulsion of Illegal Immigrant Children President Joe Bidens administration said on March 12 that it was formally ending the expulsion of illegal immigrant children through the use of a pandemic-era rule. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), terminated the public health order known as Title 42 with respect to youths who arrive at the border without a responsible adult. Those youths are referred to as unaccompanied children. Title 42, imposed during the Trump administration, enabled immigration authorities to expel illegal immigrants because of concerns that they posed a health threat amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon after Biden took office in 2021, the government stopped expelling unaccompanied children, alleging that doing so was cruel and inhumane. But U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, a Trump appointee, ruled on March 4 that the administration could no longer exempt unaccompanied youths from Title 42. The children spend, on average, more than a day clustered at a DHS [Department of Homeland Security] facility, where they can expose other detainees, DHS personnel, and American citizens and residents to whatever viruses they are carrying, Pittman said. The government has been taking care of thousands of unaccompanied children while trying to locate a parent or another responsible adult who can take charge of them. As of March 10, there were about 600 such children in the custody of Customs and Border Protection, which runs facilities at or near the border, and about 9,800 in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS), which manages facilities around the country, according to a government statement. More than 159,000 have been released into the U.S. interior since January 2021. In its order (pdf) terminating Title 42 with respect to unaccompanied children, Walensky said she found that there is no longer a serious danger of the introduction, transmission, and spread of COVID-19 into the United States as a result of entry of [the children] and that a suspension of the introduction of [the children] is not required in the interest of public health. The termination was based in part on how COVID-19 metrics have plunged in the United States in recent weeks and an assessment that mitigation measures at facilities holding the children have helped reduce transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19, known as SARS-CoV-2 or the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. The termination took effect immediately. It came just as Pittmans order would have taken effect. The CDC is keeping Title 42 in place for other populations, including single adults. The Office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who had asked Pittman to make the government expel illegal immigrant children because of concerns about the spread of the CCP virus, didnt respond to a request for comment by press time. Mark Krikorian, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, wrote on social media that the decision didnt make sense, since Title 42 will still be applied to illegal immigrants other than unaccompanied children. Also, if current public health conditions and recent developments warrant lifting Title 42 for UACs, then all COVID restrictions need to be lifted. You cant pretend that illegal-alien teenagers are magically different, he said. Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the decision was justified, but called on the administration to immediately end Title 42 for families and adults as well. The CDCs move comes about a month after officials at the agency said they had decided to keep Title 42 in place, alleging that it was necessary because of current pandemic conditions. It also comes after the administration revealed in a report (pdf) that deportations of illegal immigrants had reached a record-low in fiscal year 2021, dropping from 185,844 the previous fiscal year to just 59,011. Deportations are counted separately from expulsions. Under Biden, the United States set records for the number of illegal immigrant apprehensions at the southern border for both a fiscal year and a calendar year, including a record number of unaccompanied children. Biden Authorizes $200 Million in New Military Aid for Ukraine President Joe Biden has authorized an additional $200 million in aid to Ukraine for training and weapons. In a March 12 memorandum to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden directed that up to $200 million should be designated for Ukraines defense, with the funds allocated through the Foreign Assistance Act. The funds would cover weapons and other defense items, as well as military services, education, and training. It comes days after Congress approved $13.6 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine as part of a $1.5 trillion measure to fund the U.S. government through September. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said last week that weapons provided to Ukrainian forces have been effective against the Russian offensive. We believe the best way to support Ukrainian defense is by providing them the weapons and the systems that they need most to defeat Russian aggression. In particular, anti-armor, and air defense. We along with other nations continue to send them these weapons and we know that theyre being used with great effect, Kirby said at a March 9 briefing. Kirby said the slowed Russian advance near Kyiv and the fact that Ukrainian forces continue to contest the airspace above their country are evidence that the military assistance is making a difference. The Pentagon spokesperson also said that the much-discussed question of supplying Polish fighter jets to Ukraine was off the table as the move could be mistaken as escalatory and would be unlikely to make much of a difference in the conflict. Two Polish MiG-29s fly over the airbase in Malbork, Poland, on April 29, 2014. (Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images) Moscow, for its part, has warned that it considers any weapons deliveries into Ukraine as potential targets for interdiction. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned the U.S. that pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isnt just a dangerous move, its an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets. Russia on March 11 expanded its operations with strikes on airports near the western Ukrainian cities of Ivano-Frankiivsk and Lutsk, far from Russias main offensive but closer to Ukraines border with Poland, through which much of the military aid flows. While Russia hasnt shown any signs of changing course in what the Kremlin calls a special military operation to disarm Ukraine and oust its leadership, analysts say the invasion has been slowed by fierce Ukrainian resistance. Total Russian combat losses include more than 12,000 troops, upwards of 1,200 armored combat vehicles, 360-plus tanks, and over 80 helicopters, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a briefing with foreign reporters on March 12 that around 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the invasion began on Feb. 24. We have about 1,300 servicemen deaths today, while Russia has more than 12,000. One in 10, Zelensky said. The Epoch Times has been unable to verify the figures. California City Honors Slain Journalist Chauncey Bailey Officials in California commemorated journalist Chauncey Bailey, who was fatally shot in 2007, by naming a portion of a street in downtown Oakland in his honor. During a ceremony on March 5, a plaque and street signs were unveiled to officially name 14th Street from Broadway Street to Lakeside Drive as Chauncey Bailey Way. This is the stretch of road that the journalist often walked to work on and was also the location of his tragic shooting. On the morning of Aug. 2, 2007, Bailey was walking down his usual route on 14th Street to the Oakland Post, where he worked as the editor. At approximately 7:30 a.m., a man dressed in black and wearing a ski mask ran up to Bailey, shot him twice with a shotgun, and fled the scene, witnesses said. When police arrived, Bailey was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was covered and awaited the arrival of the Alameda County Coroners office, according to Retired Oakland Homicide Commander Ersie Joyner. Joyner was on the scene in 2007. At the time of his murder, Bailey was working on an investigative story about an alleged crime syndicate involving a local bakery chain called Your Black Muslim Bakery. In 2009, a grand jury found the former leader of the bakery chain, Yusif Bey IV, guilty of ordering the assassination of Bailey and two other men. Bey is currently serving three life sentences in prison without the chance of parole. Bailey was born and raised in Oakland. He studied journalism at Merritt College and San Jose State University. His career in journalism spanned 37 years, during which he spent his longest periods writing for Detroit News and the Oakland Tribune. He started working for the Oakland Post in 2005 and became editor of the paper in June 2007, about two months before his assassination. A representation of the virtual cryptocurrency bitcoin is seen in this picture illustration taken on Oct. 19, 2021. (Edgar Su/Reuters) California Seeks to Use Cryptocurrency as Legal Tender SACRAMENTOCalifornians might be able to use cryptocurrencies to pay for groceries, rent, or drivers license renewal as early as next year, after two bills were introduced recently to make digital currency an acceptable form of payment. Last month, state Sen. Sydney K. Kamlager (D-Los Angeles) introduced Senate Bill 1275, which would authorize state agencies to accept crypto for government services, and California Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) introduced Assembly Bill 2689, which would make virtual currency an acceptable form of tender for goods and services in both private and public entities. Both will signal the state is open for business in the crypto market, said Ian Calderon, a consultant and former majority leader of the California State Assembly who is advising both lawmakers with the legislation. However, Calderon said implementing cryptocurrency as legal tender faces legal ambiguity and a lack of certainty for local cities. As a result, he said, some may want to have pilot programs accepting virtual currencies in place first if the legislation passes. Theres nothing in California state law right now that says you cant do this, Calderon said. But theres also nothing that says you can. As it stands, the U.S. Constitution allows states to determine what represents their legal tender. Calderon said the bill would create guardrails that allow for consumer protection and regulations that make it clear how public and private sectors can interact with virtual currency. According to Calderon, if the law passes, governmental agencies and businesses accepting crypto could immediately choose to convert it into regular U.S. dollars or keep it as virtual money to hold onto or reinvest in crypto markets. Its important that were making this effort in California because of the national implications it will have, he said. The goal here is to have a national model piece of legislation that can work anywhere in the country. Currently, the only other state in the nation pursuing having cryptocurrency considered legal tender is Arizona. President Joe Biden signed an executive order March 9 calling for responsible development of digital assets. Issues of concern to be addressed, according to the order, include ensuring consumers are protected from systemic financial risks; how to make crypto markets less volatile; and how to prevent the use of crypto for illegal activity. Bidens order cites a Time magazine survey from last November stating cryptocurrencies surpassed a $3 trillion market. In addition, approximately 40 million Americansor 16 percent of the populationaccording to the order, have invested in, traded, or used cryptocurrency since bitcoin emerged in 2009, and over 100 countries have either explored or piloted their own so-called Central Bank Digital Currencies, which are like crypto, but are issued by a central bank, like the U.S. Federal Reserve, instead. Crypto is not tied to any bank whatsoever. Dennis Porter, a Portland-based political strategist and bitcoin advocate, who is also working to advance the legislation, said such government-controlled digital dollars are the opposite of the goal of todays bitcoin. Porter told The Epoch Times humans need a form of money they can store value in without debasement from governments. Bitcoin is permissionless and censorship-resistant, he said, referencing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus recent freezing of bank accounts of those associated with the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa last month. Im hoping that our government will focus on building in privacy aspects, not using a tool to control when and where people can spend money, and I think bitcoin is the ultimate way to do that. Ultimately, Porter said he hopes the country heads in the right direction with digital currencies citing examples like El Salvador, which recently became the first nation to adopt bitcoin as the national currency, as opposed to Chinas pro-central bank digital currency stance. We should be encouraging money that can be used that has true equality and equal access, he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pose during their meeting in Beijing on Feb. 4, 2022. (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images) Can We Contain the Enemies of Liberty? Commentary In post-World War II Western intellectual circles, many were intrigued with the ideological vision of socialism, but few understood the ruthless ambitions of communist dictators. One man who had firsthand knowledge about Joseph Stalins aggressive inclinations was a U.S. Foreign Service officer: George F. Kennan. In 1946, writing as Mr. X, while he was charge daffaires in Moscow, Kennan outlined his position toward the USSR in a long telegram, which was later published in the journal Foreign Affairs. Kennan concluded that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies. In 1949, Chinese communist leader Mao Zedongs civil war victory led us to suspend relations with his so-called Democratic Peoples Republic. The SinoRussian bloc and the archipelago of client states that developed throughout the world were clearly viewed as enemies of liberty. Proxy wars in Korea and Vietnam reinforced our resolve to disengage from what free nations came to regard as an axis of evil. Containment provided the conceptual framework for a series of post-war initiatives undertaken to check communist expansion and limit the influence of totalitarian regimes. The Tenuous Promise of Peaceful Coexistence By the early 1960s, amid a chilling nuclear stand-off between East and West, optimistic thinkers began to imagine an alternative to containment. Some looked forward to a social, economic, and political convergence between capitalist and communist societies. It was thought that rational common goals and the requirements of interrelated international systems would lead naturally to a convergence of opposing societies and a mood for peaceful co-existence. With regard to Russia and the West, convergence began with a period of detente in the 1970s and reached its apex in the transformative era of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. Weakened by internal economic decline and under pressure from Reagans bold new defensive policy, hardline Russian communism collapsed under the weight of its own inner contradictions. By the early 1990s, the Russian people appeared ready to recognize the independence of Soviet satellite states and reestablish a closer, more productive, relationship with the West. Progressive academics, liberal diplomats, international policy institutes, and United Nations agencies also encouraged the development of a closer relationship with the Chinese Communist Party. Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau took a leading role in an international movement to recognize the Peoples Republic of China and establish normal diplomatic relations with the communist regime in Beijing. In 1971, following the example of the Trudeau government, Republican President Richard Nixon surprised the world by announcing he would travel to Beijing. Nixons visit to China in 1972 opened the free world to contrived images of a communist country filled with smiling children and happy workers. The USA and the PRC established diplomatic relations and signed a bilateral agreement that gave rise to rapid growth in trade between the two nations. Two decades later, Democratic President Bill Clinton pushed Congress to approve a U.S.China trade agreement and Chinas accession to the World Trade Organization, claiming that more trade with China would advance the economic interests of the United States and its partners in the free world. Unrequited Affections Unrequited affections seldom result in happy endings, and the West would soon discover that cultural Marxists are more inclined toward envy than love. Over several decades, our retreat from the policy of containing tyranny bore bitter fruit in the West and did little to free ordinary people in Russia and China from oppressive regimes. Late last century, we looked forward to a new world order based on democratic principles, fair trade, and the emergence of a global free-market economy. We imagined an end of history that would turn communist oppression around and usher in the triumph of liberty throughout the world. Despite our best intentions, we never got there. We underestimated the Nietzschean will to power deeply embedded in the DNA of Stalinists and Maoists. Our trade and cultural integration with China grew enormously. But over the years, competition from low-paid Chinese labor led to significant setbacks for our home manufacturers. The CCP adopted coercive and destabilizing measures aimed at destabilizing our sovereignty, national security, and the rules-based international order. By the second decade of this century, middle- and working-class North Americans had concluded that the PRC was eating our lunch. In the 1990s, Russia entered into a second marriage with the West under the affable stewardship of Boris Yeltsin. The honeymoon was short. After Yeltsin, Russian political leadership fell to former KGB officer Vladimir Putin. Putin first became acting president, then president, then prime minister, then president again in 2012 and 2018. Following a referendum in 2021, he signed constitutional amendments that will potentially allow him to extend his authoritarian rule to 2036. Putins rule has been marked by endemic corruption, crony corporatism, imprisonment and assassination of political opponents, suppression of media freedom, and electoral manipulation. Like his present ally Xi Jinping, he has cynically disabused both old-school Marxism and post-modern woke culture in favor of a deceptive, neo-corporatist world order that seeks to disassemble the nations of the free world. Putins brutal invasion of Ukraine, carried out with the discreet approval of his partner in Beijing, is a brazen example of their mutual ambitions. Can Putin and Xi Be Contained? During the Cold War, NATO aimed to contain the advancement of totalitarian regimes and restrict their influence within vulnerable independent nations. The policy certainly wasnt perfectly executed, but it did hold the free world together and prevent the kind of unchecked aggression that might have led to the outbreak of a third world war during the latter half of the 20th century. But, the ability to contain aggression requires the will to act swiftly against it. When, in his 1961 inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy said, Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty, friends and foes alike were convinced that he meant business. Kennedy wanted the world to understand that the United States was prepared to take a leadership role in protecting the free world. For multiple reasons beyond the scope of this article, we have to acknowledge that this is no longer the case. Over the past 70 years, Americas ability to project strength and come to the aid of friendly nations has been significantly undermined by forces from within the nation itself. Beijings failure to suspend international travel from Wuhan in the early stages of the CCP virus contagion was a striking reminder of the disregard for human life that has characterized communism for the past 100-plus years. The invasion of Ukraine by a former KGB officer who seized control of Russia is the latest reminder that convergence was a self-defeating illusion. In the long run, our capacity to contain Putin and Xi, hold tyrants to account, and preserve peace can only be accomplished through a return to the founding values of free nations. From a moral and political perspective, we need to restore freedom of speech, assembly and religion, personal responsibility, the sanctity of life, the right to self-defense, secure borders, law and order, impartial judges, and election integrity. With a view to renewing social and economic well-being, we need to restore fiscal responsibility, domestic manufacturing, and energy independence. We need schools that promote well-informed citizenship over self-loathing and racial division. We need to support a strong, purposeful military, equipped with all the means necessary to secure our defense. In short, we need to overturn the pernicious agenda of our progressive political class. Finally, we need to set aside ideological obsessions about the sustainability of the planet and summon up the kind of immediate and real courage being demonstrated by Ukrainian freedom fighters. As in the era of JFK, the West should reembrace the idea that those who seek peace must be prepared for war. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and AH-1 Cobra helicopters take part in Taiwan's annual Han Kuang Exercises as they simulate China's army invading the island, at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, in Taichung, Taiwan, on June 7, 2018. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) CCP Likely Moving Toward Gray Zone Warfare in Taiwan Strategy: Analysts The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) may lean heavier on a gray zone warfare strategy than hard military power in its attempt to take over Taiwan after witnessing Russias invasion of Ukraine, China analysts suggested in a panel discussion. Although the gap of military spending and strength between Taiwan and China has been expanding, it seems that China is likely to use gray zone tactics to subvert Taiwan rather than an outright invasion. Dr. Lee Jyun-yi, a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), said in a virtual panel discussion hosted by the Global Taiwan Institute on March 9. Gray zone warfare is the use of carefully designed operations to achieve political gains against target states. The strategy consists of misinformation or disinformation operations, political and economic coercion, cyber attack, and provocation. Taiwan enjoys the blessing of geography in conventional deterrence. The fact that Taiwan and China are separated by the Taiwan Strait means that a Chinese armed attack must consist of an element of amphibious warfare, Dr. Lee said. Consequently, the development of amphibious vehicles and the mobilization of troops become crucial signs for determining the intention of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). This factor makes it difficult for the PLA to launch a blitzkrieg attack on Taiwan without alarming the United States, Japan, and Taiwan, or to turn military exercises into an armed attack, which is in contrast to the Russian invasion [of] Ukraine, Dr. Lee explained. In addition, Taiwan has been bolstering its national defenses by, for instance, increasing its national [defense] budget, developing asymmetric warfare capabilities, undertaking reservist reforms, and so on, he said, noting these improvements will prompt China to rely more on gray zone warfare rather than a military incursion. Eric Chan, a Senior Strategist at the United States Air Force, added that Russias invasion of Ukraine likely put the West on high alert. [The CCP knows] the U.S. and Europe [are] now certainly more on edge, and they are going to be watching for things like a repeat of 2014, Mr. Chan said in the virtual event, referring to Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014. Therefore, Chinas invasion of Taiwan or what he foresaw in 2021 as a limited invasion of Kinmena cluster of Taiwanese islands miles away from Chinas southeast coastis not as viable now, Mr. Chan added. According to a biennial report released by Taiwans Ministry of Defence in September 2021, the PLA initiated 554 airspace intrusions by flying warplanes into Taiwans Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) between September 2020 and the end of August 2021. The objective of this tactic is to subdue Taiwans military forces and shake the morale of the Taiwanese people and military to take over Taiwan without a battle, the report said. People take a boat tour in Singapore on 18 February, 2022. (PHTOO: AFP via Getty Images) SINGAPORE Some 90 per cent of Singapore's daily COVID-19 cases are of the more infectious BA.2 Omicron subvariant, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Friday (11 March). But the COVID-19 multi-ministry taskforce co-chair noted during a virtual press conference that there are "good indications" that the Omicron wave has peaked, and is subsiding, "albeit slowly". On Thursday, Singapore recorded a total of 901,758 cases with 16,165 new infections, three weeks after it crossed the half-million mark. Over the last 28 days, 457,051 cases were reported, of whom 99.7 per cent had no or mild symptoms. Based on the seven-day moving average of local cases, the number peaked at about 18,300 on 26 February, Ong said, with numbers coming down steadily since to about 16,300 as of Thursday. If the weekly infection growth rate or ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before remains at 0.93, the number will be halved in four to five weeks, he said. "We expect the week-on-week ratio to reduce further in the coming days. Reproduction rate is about 1.0 now. We hope this reduction in daily caseload will accelerate in the coming days," Ong added. The Ministry of Health (MOH)'s Director of Medical Services Kenneth Mak said noted that all COVID-19 cases that are treated in Singapore are of the Omicron variant. Singapore's overall experience with Omicron "echoes that in other countries" where many of those infected only suffered mild symptoms and have made uneventful recoveries, he added. The World Health Organization (WHO) on 22 February said that the Omicron variant of concern is currently the dominant variant circulating globally, accounting for nearly all sequences reported to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). "At a global level, the proportion of reported sequences designated BA.2 has been increasing relative to BA.1 in recent weeks, however, the global circulation of all variants is reportedly declining," the WHO added. Story continues Initial data has suggested that the BA.2 variant appears inherently more transmissible than BA.1 but has no significant difference in clinical outcomes. The BA.2 subvariant is often considered "stealthy" because it is missing characteristics that are needed for detection in PCR tests and its differentiation from earlier variants, such as Delta. As such, it was able to escape detection previously. The MOH previously said that as of 25 January, 198 cases of the subvariant 48 local and 150 imported were detected here. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore Children prepare to receive a vaccine against COVID-19 at a vaccination site in Wuhan, China, on Nov. 18, 2021. (Getty Images) Children in China Diagnosed With Leukemia After Taking Chinese Vaccines After receiving an initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Li Juns 4-year-old daughter developed a fever and began coughing, which quickly subsided following intravenous therapy at a hospital. But after the second shot, the father could tell something was wrong. Swelling appeared around his daughters eyes and lingered. For weeks, the girl complained about pain in her legs, where bruises started to emerge seemingly out of nowhere. In January, a few weeks after the second dose, the child was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. My baby was perfectly healthy before the vaccine dose, Li (a pseudonym), from Chinas north-central Gansu Province, told The Epoch Times. I took her for a health check. Everything was normal. Hes among hundreds of Chinese that belong to a social media group whose members claim to be suffering from or have a household member suffering from leukemia that developed after taking Chinese vaccines. Eight of them confirmed the situation when contacted by The Epoch Times; names of the interviewees have been withheld to protect their safety. The leukemia cases span different age groups, and are from all parts of China. But Li and others particularly point to a rise in youngest patients in the past few months, coinciding with the regimes push to inoculate children 3 to 11 years old beginning last October. Lis daughter had her first injection in mid-November at the request of her kindergarten. She is now receiving chemotherapy at the Lanzhou No. 2 Peoples Hospital, where at least 20 children are being treated for similar symptoms, most of them between the age of 3 and 8, according to Li. Our doctor from the hospital told us that since November, the children coming to their hematology division to treat leukemia have doubled from the previous years number, and they have a shortage of beds, he said. Li said that at least eight children from Suzhou district, where he lives, have died recently from leukemia. The hospitals hematology division couldnt be immediately reached for comment. National Pressure Roughly 84.4 million children in the 3 to 11 age group have been vaccinated as of Nov. 13, according to the latest figures from Chinas National Health Commission, accounting for more than half of the population in that segment. There was some resistance from Chinese parents when the campaign to vaccinate children began. They expressed concern about the lack of data about the effects on young people of vaccines supplied by two Chinese drugmakers, Sinopharm and Sinovac. They reportedly carry an efficacy rate of 79 percent and 50.4 percent, respectively, based on available data from trials conducted on adults. Information is limited about the health effects of these vaccines on children, and the World Health Organization said in late November that it hasnt approved the two vaccines for emergency use in children. Children prepare to receive a vaccine against COVID-19 at a vaccination site in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on Nov. 18, 2021. (Getty Images) Parents who were reluctant to vaccinate their children have faced pressure to comply, with some saying they lost work bonuses or were pressured by their supervisors. In other cases, their children faced punishment varying from losing honors or even being barred from attending school, as in the case of Wang Longs 10-year-old son. The school told us last year to take him for vaccination on such and such date, or he couldnt go to class, Wang, from Chinas Shandong Province, told The Epoch Times. The boy received his second dose on Dec. 4. A month later, he began experiencing fatigue and a low fever. He is now at Shandong University Qilu Hospital, being treated for acute leukemia that was diagnosed on Jan. 18. Mu Rongxue, a 75-year-old public health activist, has been pressing authorities since the start of the inoculation drive to make public clinical data relating to the vaccines effects on children, such as infection, hospitalization, and death figures; his request was refused. The data you requested requires administrative agencies to process and analyze existing government information, and will not be provided, the National Health Commission said in a Nov. 12 letter, according to a screenshot that Mu posted online. While he has repeatedly tried to file a lawsuit against the agency, the Beijing Municipal High Peoples Court has so far taken no action on his case, at one point telling him that if they accept his case, it would impact pandemic control efforts, according to Mu. If I dont have evidence, you can sentence me to life or even death, but why are you afraid of my lawsuit? he wrote in a post on Chinas microblogging site Weibo last month. Censorship On WeChat, the all-in-one Chinese social media platform, Li has come to know more than 500 patients or their family members who share the same predicament. The local disease control center, when called by Li and others, had promised an investigation. But these probes invariably ended with the officials declaring the leukemia cases as coincidental and thus unrelated to the vaccines. The authorities had said the same following the deaths of more than a dozen toddlers after Hepatitis B shots in 2013. But Li and others in a similar situation are far from convinced. I dare say they didnt do any verification, but only went through the motions, he said. Li suspects that authorities are giving him the runaround. Officials told him a panel of experts would start an investigation within his province, but when he called the provincial level health agency, they disavowed any knowledge, saying reports of the cases had never reached them. Li and others seeking scrutiny of this issue also stand little chance of having their voices heard in the vast Chinese censorship machinery, which constantly filters out anything deemed harmful to the communist regimes interests. The information gets blocked the instant we try to post something online. You cant send it out, he said. When Chinas two top political bodies met last week for its most important annual gathering in what Beijing called the Two Sessions, Li pitched in the WeChat group the idea of petitioning in the capital to get officials attention. That message drew the authorities notice immediately. The police called us one by one, said Li. They said we have made things up and ordered us to withdraw from the chat group. The group was soon disbanded. An information sheet containing details of more than 200 leukemia patients, filled out by members of the group, is no longer accessible. According to Li, there are signs indicating that authorities are well aware of the issue. Doctors, when receiving patients with similar symptoms, would first ask them if they had taken the vaccine, he said, citing information he learned from the WeChat group. Got it, they would say. And thats the end of it, he said of the doctors questioning. Li got the same reaction when calling the hotline for Chinese state broadcaster CCTV in hopes of getting media exposure. As soon as we said the children had taken the COVID-19 vaccine, they asked me if she had gotten leukemia. They knew, he said. They said that they got too many calls because of this. Residents wear masks while lining up to receive COVID-19 vaccines at a vaccination site in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on Nov. 18, 2021. (Getty Images) Desperation The cost for treatment is estimated at about 400,000 to 500,000 yuan ($63,093 to $78,867), more than 20 times the average annual income. Wang, whose 10-year-old was diagnosed with leukemia, is the sole breadwinner for his family and is already under strain making mortgage payments. He received about only 1,000 yuan ($157) through the state social assistance program to help pay for his sons treatment. I stayed at the hospital until 4 a.m. the night before, said Wang, adding that the crushing news has broken the boys mother. Had he inherited it from the family, wed accept it as our lot, Wang said. But he got sick because of the vaccine. I just cant reconcile it. Li, meanwhile, has been borrowing money from relatives for the hospital fees. Some of the money trickles in as 20 and 30 yuan, the equivalent of a few dollars, he said. Li has heard nothing from officials or the media, and his friend who works at the local health commission overseeing the distribution of vaccines has told him not to hold out much hope. The officials knew that you could get leukemia, but the arm is no match for the thigh, the friend told him, recalling a Chinese metaphor. This is a national issue. The Health Commission of Lanzhou City, the Health Commission of Gansu Province, the Gansu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Lanzhou Disease Prevention and Control Center, the Jiuquan City Disease Prevention and Control Center, Sinopharm, and Sinovac didnt answer multiple calls from The Epoch Times seeking comment. The National Health Commission, Sinopharm, and Sinovac didnt respond by press time to email queries. The inspection team of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection at the National Health Commission also didnt respond to a faxed request for comment. Gu Xiaohua contributed to this report. Chinese Nationals Rally to Support the Chained Woman in China On International Womens Day (March 8), Chinese nationals throughout the United States rallied to show support for the chained woman, chanting slogans, such as Chinese wake up and Down with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Several groups held a protest rally in front of the United Nations building in New York to support the chained woman. They chanted slogans, such as free the chained woman! Down with the Chinese Communist Party. They called on UN Women and the United Nations Childrens Fund to intervene and urged the CCP to thoroughly investigate the abduction and trafficking of women and children like the chained woman, and to hold the perpetrators accountable. At the end of January, the video of a mother of eight, barefoot, wearing no coat, with a chain around her neck, and locked in a small dark room in winter, was posted on the internet, arousing the sympathy and anger of many who saw it. The local government issued five announcements about the situation that contradicted each other. Soon, the chained woman was sent to a psychiatric hospital. The womans identity remains unknown. It is alleged that shes a human trafficking victim sold to the family that enslaved her. No one has been prosecuted. Shao Jun, chairman of the Christian Justice League, told the Chinese language NTD, Surveillance cameras are now everywhere in China. It is very easy for the CCP to arrest a person, and it is also very easy to track a missing person. So this incident shows us the CCP does nothing. Their officials, big and small, are all involved in human trafficking. Zhang Jing, founder of China Womens Rights, pointed out that the trafficking of women and children has existed for decades in China, and the regimes All-China Womens Federation has done nothing about it. The organization is used by the CCP for propaganda purposes. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, in front of Graumans Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, 40 to 50 Chinese people held banners saying Release the chained woman and Chinese wake up to support her. In front of Graumans Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, Chinese nationals support the plight of the chained woman and hope that she will be free as soon as possible. March 8, 2022. (Supplied) Among the demonstrators, Esther, who is from Xuzhou and works in education, told NTDTV that her friends in Xuzhou went to Huankou Town and a mental hospital in Fengxian County to learn the facts about the woman. The school did not allow them to talk about the chained woman in the classroom nor on the social media platform WeChat. Therefore, she was very worried about the chained womans safety. The convener of the event, Jie Lijian, said that under the CCPs rule, there are so many women like the chained woman who suffered inhuman treatment, This is a shame for mankind in the 21st century. Its the horrific representation of women and children being abducted and trafficked under the CCP tyranny. In Canada, near the Chinese embassy entrance in Vancouver, more than a dozen Chinese also held a campaign to support the chained woman. They shouted slogans such as Down with the Communist Party, Free the chained woman, and Freedom belongs to China. The outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in late February temporarily diverted peoples attention from the chained woman incident. However, on the eve of International Womens Day, Chinese netizens posted articles, pictures, and videos in solidarity with the chained woman. Chinese director Hu Xueyangs film SOS (Save Our Sisters) premiered the day before in solidarity with the inhumanely abused chained woman. Li Yun contributed to the report. A police officers body cam has recorded the moment a father dropped his toddler from a second-floor New Jersey apartment window to escape a fire, before jumping from the window himself. First responders caught them both, saving their lives. On the morning of March 7, a fire of unknown origin broke out in South Ridge Woods Apartment Complex, South Brunswick. Residents had to be evacuated as fast as possible, leaving everything behind. However, a father and his toddler son were left trapped by the blaze. In a clip of the panicked rescue recorded by one attending police officers body cam, a group of first responders gather under the familys window with arms outstretched. Items from the home dislodged by the escape attempt fall out of the window, followed by the toddler, who is caught in midair. Seconds later, the father follows and he lands on the ground, however his fall is supported by his rescuers. Sgt. William Merkler, Patrolman First Class Ryan Bartunek, Det. Sgt. John Penney, and Fire Chief Chris Perez were the ones who caught the toddler, and the man then jumped into their arms, NJ.com reported. The father and his child, a boy of around 15 to 18 months old, were both treated for minor injuries, said Deputy Chief Jim Ryan. South Brunswick Police Department (SBPD) later shared the nail-biting footage on Twitter, captioned: Dad throws child out 2nd floor window to officers and firefighters, then jumps to escape flames consuming apartment building. (Courtesy of South Brunswick Police Department) SBPD also posted footage of fire crews extinguishing the flames in real time, as a warning to locals to avoid the area. The blaze caused huge damage to one apartment building in the South Ridge Woods complex, rendering six apartments uninhabitable. According to an SBPD press release, 20 people, including nine children, lost their homes. (Courtesy of South Brunswick Police Department) South Brunswick Mayor Charlie Carley said: I am so thankful everyone made it out of the apartment building, but many lost everything. I have directed our Social Services Department to take the lead in our relief efforts. They will be providing immediate financial assistance, gift cards, and food. Our community consistently rallies to help those in need, he added, and we will do it again with our fire victims. Besides the collaboration with Social Services and the South Brunswick School District, the Red Cross also attended the site of the fire to provide assistance to displaced families. They lost everything, said Jeanne Wert, director of Social Services; some of the school-aged children went to class and returned to nothing. Their greatest need, said Wert, is gift cards to stores such as Walmart, Target, Amazon, Stop & Shop, and ShopRite. The South Brunswick School District is accepting donations on the families behalf at all schools. 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 Cherry blossoms are seen near the Washington Monument along the National Mall in Washington on March 6, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) DC Cherry Blossom Officials Eye Weekend Cold Weather The National Cherry Blossom Festival is returning with all its pageantry, hailed by organizers as the unofficial start of Washingtons reemergence from the two years of pandemic lockdown. This years cherry blossom trees will reach peak bloom between March 22 and March 25, according to National Park Service (NPS) estimates. The festival kicks off with a March 20 with opening ceremony and runs through April 17, with a full schedule of concerts and events, including a parade on Saturday April 9. A similar event two years ago was dominated by questions about whether the festival would happen at all in the face of the COVID-19 virus. Sure enough, within days of that event, Bowser declared a public health emergency and banned all mass gatherings. Festival organizers spent the month frantically coming up with long-distance ways for residents and visitors to enjoy the annual rite of spring, include a live Bloom Cam and virtual video tours. Local officials resorted to closing down streets and shuttering Metro stations in order to keep crowds from gathering at the Tidal Basin to observe the pinkish red blooms. This year marks the 110th anniversary of the original 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the mayor of Tokyo. The Japanese government remains heavily involved in the festival and regularly replaces about 90 trees per year. Activities like Petal Porcheswhere residents are encouraged to decorate their own porches in cherry blossom themes and post the pictures onlinewill be continued. And the popular Bloom Cam will be back. The March 26 kite flying festival on the grounds of the Washington Monument will take place as usual, but residents will also be encouraged to hold their own smaller kite flying events in featured area parks. Mike Litterst, NPS spokesman for the National Mall, said the harsh winter weather predicted for this weekend shouldnt impact the development of the trees. Temperatures below 27 degrees can damage the bloomssomething that happened in 2017, when a late frost killed about half the blossoms. But Litterst said the flowers should be safe from the snow and freezing rain expected this weekend. Theyre still tightly in their buds. The armor of the buds is protecting the blossoms, he said. Another week or so down the road, if this were to happen, wed have some major concerns. I think well be OK this time. Energy Policy in North America Focuses on Climate Change to the Neglect of Energy Security: Alberta Energy Minister Such policy has led to the United States now looking for oil in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, Sonya Savage says Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage says it is high time that the Liberal government treats Albertas oil and gas reserves as a strategic asset, and not a liability to be phased out to the detriment of energy security. Speaking at a press conference on March 11, Savage said the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put a spotlight on the weakness of North Americas energy policy, affirming the need to continue producing oil and gas to counter any supply disruption. Over the past several decades, the growing focus on energy policy in Western democracies has been almost exclusively on climate change and the need to reduce emissions, to the detriment and to the leaving out of discussion on energy security, reliability, and affordability, she said. The failure to prioritize energy security has now put the U.S. administration into the somewhat embarrassing predicament of having to beg their own producers, domestic producers in the U.S., to increase their production of oil, while over the past years theyve been vilifying them. Alberta Minister of Energy Sonya Savage announces expanding coal mining restrictions on the Eastern Slopes of Alberta, in Calgary on March 4, 2022. (Todd Korol/The Canadian Press) The red tape imposed on the fossil fuel sector hits home too, Savage said, pointing to federal policies such as emission caps on oil and gas productions, and Bill C-69, a law enacted in 2019 that enhances environmental assessments for major projects such as pipelines, measures that critics have said serve as hindrances to the industry. It is terribly frustrating to see the U.S. government now scrambling to increase supply from some of the worlds worst regimesIran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuelaand yet we sit right next door, she said. We have an industry thats committed to net-zero production in the oilsands. Were a responsible democratic government, so it is very frustrating. The prices for a litre of diesel and various grades of gasoline are seen on a gas pump at a gas station in Burnaby, B.C., on March 2, 2022. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press) Savage said the failed North American energy strategy has put Canada and the United States in a spot where its difficult to maintain or grow domestic energy production, and yet Russia can continue to ramp up production without the need to pay heed to any environmental standards. So what this means is, its a transfer of production of oil and gas from North America to places like Russia. It is also a transfer of greenhouse gas emissions to those places, and its a transfer of wealth from Western democracies to places like Russia, she said. She also said one of the first things that need to be done is to take a long hard look at the federal carbon tax and that goes right back into that whole discussion on energy policy and getting the right balance with climate change and the need to lower emissions. The next federal carbon tax increase is coming up on April 1, which will push up the price of gasoline from about nine cents per litre to 11 cents per litre. A general view shows an oil treatment plant in the Yarakta Oil Field, owned by Irkutsk Oil Company (INK), in Irkutsk Region, Russia, on March 10, 2019. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters) Savages comments come after U.S. President Joe Biden announced on March 8 a ban on Russian oil imports, a move some say would force Moscow to end the invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas, on March 8, Premier Jason Kenney said Alberta is the natural answer to the challenge of global energy security, given the province has the third-largest oil reserves in the world. We have talked for years about how some of the worlds worst regimes have had a growing presence in global energy markets, and that revenue is generated from those sales, have been converted into violence, terrorism, conflict, and global instability, Kenney said in his speech, addressing government officials, thought leaders, and senior executives from around the world who attended conference. Much of that energy being produced by [those] regimes [are] with radically lower levels of transparency of environmental standards, not to mention labor and basic human rights standards. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney speaks after the United Conservative Partys annual meeting in Calgary on Nov. 21, 2021. (Larry MacDougal/The Canadian Press) The White House also issued a press release on March 8, saying it is allowing short-term domestic production of oil and gas to counter supply shortages. In the long run, the way to avoid high gas prices is to speed upnot slow downour transition to a clean energy future, the release said. Savage said while the world is in an energy transition, [and] we need to address climate change, the transition is going to take decades. The transition is going to take time and its not going to be easy, she said. Oil and gas will continue to be used during that transition for decades. Meanwhile, federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said it will be another week or two before Canada will know with certainty how much extra oil it can produce and ship to help offset bans on the use of fossil fuels from Russia. The minister spent most of last week at the CERAWeek conference, had multiple calls with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, and on March 10, a two-hour call with G-7 energy ministers. Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill on March 3, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) In the context of the discussions, not just with the Americans, but the Europeans as well, we have essentially asked each other, those of us that are oil and gas producers, to look at whatever we can do, Wilkinson told The Canadian Press. To replace all the oil it gets from Russia, Europe needs 3 million barrels a day. I mean, we have constraints around pipeline capacity, obviously, but the ability to fully utilize that, at this point in time, to help to stabilize global energy markets and to assist our friends and allies in Europe is definitely something that we are looking at, he said. Savage said the Liberal government has been pursuing very aggressively their green policies, and has vilified the oil and gas sector since it came into power in 2015. At the same time, theyre talking with our global partners and other countries, whether its the G7, or the International Energy Agency, theyre talking with them about how we can increase and grow production to displace Russian barrels, she said. Its hypocritical. The Canadian Press contributed to this report. European Council President Charles Michel (L), French President Emmanuel Macron (C) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hold a press conference following an EU leaders summit to discuss the fallout of Russia's invasion in Ukraine, at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris, on March 11, 2022. (Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images) EU Embraces Ukraines Pursuit of Membership, Rejects to Put It on Fast Track The leaders of all 27 European Union (EU) nations voiced support of Ukraines pursuit of EU membership but rejected to put it on the fast track. We will further strengthen our bonds and deepen our partnership to support Ukraine in pursuing its European path. Ukraine belongs to our European family, the EU leaders said in a joint statement (pdf) on Friday after a summit at Versailles, France. 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) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an application on Feb. 28 formally requesting that Ukraine join the European Union. Zelensky urged the EU to allow the former Soviet republic to immediately join the bloc, saying that membership would put Ukrainians on an equal footing with other members. We appeal to the European Union to urgently admit Ukraine using a new procedure, he said in a video message posted earlier on Feb. 28. We are grateful to partners for standing with us. But our goal is to be with all Europeans and to be equal to them. I am sure we deserve it. I am sure it is possible. EU countries must agree unanimously to let in a new member, and accession usually takes years of complex negotiations as well as requires candidates to meet strict criteria, from economic stability to rooting out corruption and respecting human rights. The leaders didnt give a clear timeline on handling Ukraines application in the Versailles Declaration. However, heads of several countries said after the meeting that Ukraines application will not be put on the fast track. Can we open a membership procedure with a country at war? I dont think so. Can we shut the door and say: never? It would be unfair. Can we forget about the balance points in that region? Lets be cautious, French President Emmanuel Macron said during the summit. Croatia Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic also said that nobody entered the European Union overnight. Allies of Ukraine in eastern Europe were disappointed. I wish Ukraine would get the candidate status now it was not possible today, but we will come back to this issue, said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. Reuters and Jack Phillips contributed to the report. (L-R) European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen react as they hold a press conference following an EU leaders summit to discuss the fallout of Russia's invasion in Ukraine, at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris, on March 11, 2022. (Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images) EU Eyes More Russia Sanctions, Denies Ukraine Quick Membership VERSAILLES, FranceThe European Union is ready to impose even harsher economic sanctions on Russia and might give Ukraine more funds for arms to fight Moscows invasion, leaders decided in two days of talks in France, but drew a line on allowing Kyiv rapid access to the bloc. Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that has sought to join the EU and NATO, has called for fast-track accession to the EU since the Feb. 24 invasion. I understand very well that, when you fight courageously like Ukraine does, you would want much more. But we are not a side to this conflict, French President Emmanuel Macron told a press conference. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was right to hand the request of Ukraine, as well as that of Moldova and Georgia, for prospective membership to the blocs executive European Commission for a detailed legal analysis. Allies of Ukraine in eastern Europe were disappointed. I wish Ukraine would get the candidate status now it was not possible today, but we will come back to this issue, said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. EU countries must agree unanimously to let in a new member and accession usually takes years of complex negotiations, as well as requiring candidates to meet strict criteria from economic stability to rooting out corruption and respecting human rights. The blocs top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the EU might offer another 500 million euros ($550 million) to Ukraine to buy arms. The bloc also promised to help rebuild the country of 44 million people once the war ends. Sanctions The EU also threatened further sanctions on Moscow. Nothing is off the table, nothing is taboo, well do whatever we deem necessary to stop Russia, Macron said after talks in the Versailles palace near Paris. Scholz confirmed: We agreed to continue to push forward on those sanctions that have an immediate effect on Russias chances for economic development. Like EU enlargement, sanctions require unanimity of all member countries. The 27 members have yet to find common ground on how much further to go in cutting business ties with Russia. As a next step, the West was curbing Russias rights at the the World Trade Organization. The leaders also turned inwards to discuss ways to reduce their economic exposure to Moscow. They decided to cut imports of Russian energy by 2027, spend more on defense and increase own food production. ($1 = 0.9137 euros) By Michel Rose, Elizabeth Pineau, and Andreas Rinke Attendees, many from the Chinese military, listen in the gallery at the opening session of the rubber-stamp legislature in Beijing, China, on March 5, 2022. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Expert Insights on the CCPs General Strategy for Taiwan Proposed at Two Sessions News Analysis The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recently held its two sessions meetings in Beijing at which the regime sets its priorities. The CCPs work report mentioned the so-called general strategy for a Taiwan policy. At the same time, Russias invasion of Ukraine has brought the situation across the Taiwan Strait renewed attention. Experts and scholars put forward different views and analyses on what the CCP will focus on. CCP media reported that at the opening ceremony of the 5th session of the 13th National Peoples Congress (NPC) on Mar. 5, Premier Li Keqiangs government work report focused on cross-strait relations, claiming that the Partys overall strategy for solving the Taiwan issue in the new era should be carried out . On Nov. 11, 2021, a resolution passed at the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the CCP stated that CCP leader Xi Jinping had put forward a series of major policy ideas on how the regime will approach the unification of Taiwan, forming a so-called general strategy. While the government work report of the rubber-stamp legislature talks about Taiwan issues every year, the above-mentioned reference in this years report is unprecedented in the 10 years since Xi took office, according to the Washington Post. The report said that tougher wording was in line with the CCPs recent impatience with Taiwan. In the past two years, the communist regime has stepped up military pressure on Taiwan, frequently sent military aircraft to intrude into the skies of Taiwan to conduct reconnaissance and demonstrations, and thereby kept the situation across the Taiwan Strait tense. The General Strategy for Taiwan Is Just New Words Ding Shuh-Fan, professor emeritus of the Graduate Institute of East Asia Studies at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times that he believes the general strategy for Taiwan is just a change of words in this years work report. Xi just found a new term for his era. Were all waiting for the general strategy to come out, he said. The CCP is probably still working on it. Maybe itll come out at the 20th National Congress. Akio Yaita, director of the Taipei branch of the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun, told The Epoch Times that in the past, the CCP had an anti-secession law for both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Perhaps after the 20th National Congress, that is, next years National Peoples Congress, a national unification law will be enacted, which is what they call turning passivity into initiative. But the two sessions this time obviously did not devote much attention to this aspect. In an interview with official media program Spotlight on Taiwan on Jan. 8, Sun Yafu, Vice President of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait said that cross-strait relations will undergo some changes in 2022, and that the 20th National Congress, to be held this year, will put forward guiding ideas for the work on Taiwan in the next five years, make new decisions and deployments, and possibly put forward some new propositions. Major Mistake in CCPs Policy Toward Taiwan Li Cheng-Hsiu, a military expert and associate researcher at the National Policy Foundation of the Republic of China (Taiwan), told The Epoch Times that the resolution claims that Taiwans problems must be solved and cross-strait reunification achieved as soon as possible as the CCP gradually gains strength and influence. In his opinion, this is closely related to the so-called great cause of rejuvenation of the Chinese nation mentioned by Xi Jinping, and the goal of general strategy can be the guiding principle of the CCPs policy toward Taiwan. But the so-called general strategy is only to reassure the mainland Chinese people that our work on Taiwan has reached a certain level; it can boast that it has curbed Taiwan independence; it can boast about the success of Xis work since he took office, Li said. But they know what the actual effect will be, otherwise there would not be so much support for Tsai Ing-wen in Taiwan. Since Xi took office, Li reckons, the CCPs definition of Taiwans independence has narrowed, pushing even moderate advocates inside Taiwan into opposition. Taiwanese naval personnel stand in front of a Ta Chiang Corvette during an inauguration ceremony in Yilan, Taiwan, on Sept. 9, 2021. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images) Although the CCP has not changed its Taiwan policy since 1949, adhering to the One-China principle and 1992 Consensus, opposing Taiwan independence and hoping to achieve reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, but why are fewer and fewer people supporting peaceful coexistence and development of the two sides [of the Taiwan Strait], especially in Taiwan, and their dislike of the CCP getting higher and higher? We see that the CCP is becoming more and more assertive and brutal, contrary to the popular sentiment of Taiwan, Li stressed. It is clear that the CCPs entire policy toward Taiwan, at least in terms of implementation, as a major mistake. In January, Zhou Zhihuai, the CCPs so-called Taiwan expert and top think-tank member, also said that the upcoming 20th National Congress would establish a unilateral mechanism to solve the Taiwan problem at its own pace under the guidance of the general strategy. In response to the so-called unilateral, Professor Ding Shuh-Fan analyzed that from a logical point of view, the CCP has given up hope to the Kuomintang and to the political parties in Taiwan. That would be unilateral, of course. Li Cheng-Hsiu also said that the CCPs assessment of Taiwans internal political situation and political development is that the DPP will remain in power. The old tone of expecting the government of the Republic of China and the people of Taiwan will slowly disappear, and the CCPs own policy toward Taiwan will be unilaterally proposed. Xis new policy toward Taiwan will remain the basis for peace and unification in order to ensure that his term of office is extended at the 20th National Congress. After all, cross-strait relations are not the most pressing issue for the CCP now, he said. These experts and scholars agreed that the CCP would take into account the changing situation and outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war in any action it decides on. After Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the United States, the European Commission, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, and Canada decided to exclude some Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system. Since then, the sanctions have been increasingly intensified, with Japan and the Republic of China joining in. Influence of Russia-Ukraine War on CCP Taiwan policy Beijing has been avoiding making a clear statement about the nature of Russias incursion into Ukraine. Akio Yaita reasons that at present, the CCP is still in a hesitant stage, indecisive. The CCP is ostensibly neutral, but at home it is fully supportive of Russia. If Russia wins, Xi will have have firmer plans on how to handle Taiwan at the 20th Congress after gaining Russias experience in Ukraine. However, if Russia loses, the CCP will be humiliated internationally, and there will also be voices within the Party holding Xi accountablesomething the anti-Xi forces are waiting for. Li Cheng-Hsiu, on the other hand, believes that the Russia-Ukraine war should bring a great deal of inspiration to the CCP, both in terms of military use, deployment, and preparation for working with Taiwan, as well as in terms of the overall direction that will be more focused on promoting cross-strait integration and peaceful reunification than on military intimidation. Could the CCP withstand a similar onslaught of sanctions as those imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine? The CCP relies on the U.S. market and earns a huge trade surplus from the U.S. every year. It cannot afford sanctions, Li said. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Ukrainian soldiers are on guard in Irpin, north of Kyiv, on March 12, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky /AFP via Getty Images) Fighting Rages Around Kyiv, Russian Forces Regroup for Fresh Offensive Fighting raged northwest of Kyiv on Saturday, with the bulk of Russian ground forces around 16 miles from the center of the Ukrainian capital, according to British intelligence, while sources told The Epoch Times that Ukrainian forces were battling groups of Russian saboteurs in several Kyiv suburbs. Elements of a large Russian column north of Kyiv had dispersed, likely to regroup for a fresh offensive against Kyiv and possibly to reduce its vulnerability to Ukranian counter attacks, Britains Ministry of Defense said in a situational update on Saturday. Beyond Kyiv, the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Mariupol remain encircled and continue to suffer heavy Russian shelling, British intelligence said. Fighting north-west of Kyiv continues, it added. Smoke rises over Irpin, north of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 12, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images) Roman Brovko, a Ukrainian filmmaker living in a suburb southwest of Kyiv, told The Epoch Times that, on Saturday, Ukrainian forces were battling groups of saboteurs in Obuchiv and Boryspil, municipalities near the capital. Overnight and into this morning, Russian forces attacked us with missiles, Brovko said. Two airports have been destroyed, he added, one in Lutsk and the other in Vasylkiv. Lutsk is around 250 miles west of Kyiv and Vasylkiv is around 22 miles southwest of the capital. Ihor Polishchuk, the mayor of Lutsk, said the military airfield in the city had been completely destroyed after being hit with four missiles on Saturday morning. It is difficult to say why these air strikes were carried out, as our airfield was put out of operation on February 24 when it was shelled for the first time. It could no longer be used, Polishchuk said, according to Ukrinform. Now the airfield has been completely destroyed. They hit a fuel warehouse. The airfield was probably fired at again only to increase panic and fear among the population, he added. Ukrainians cross an improvised path under a destroyed bridge while fleeing Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 8, 2022. (Felipe Dana/AP Photo) Ukrinform reported that the shelling of the Lutsk airfield killed four Ukrainian servicemen and wounded six others. Vasylkiv mayor Natalia Balasynovych said that the local airport had been destroyed due to Russian shelling and missile strikes. Today, at about 07:00 a.m., the enemy forces shelled the town of Vasylkiv, eight missiles launched, shelled the airport. As a result of missile attacks, the airport was completely destroyed, the airstrip was destroyed, the ammunition depot detonated and they are still detonating, she said in a video message, as cited by Interfax Ukraine. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said residents were preparing to defend the city, stockpiling critical goods, food, and medicine. The capital, near which the fighting continues, is preparing for defense. We continue to strengthen checkpoints, create reserves of food, medicine, and essential goods, Klitschko said in a video message on his Telegram channel. We also continue to ensure the operation of the critical infrastructure of the city, the life of the capital, he added. A Ukrainian soldier (L) carries rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) next to abandoned strollers in Irpin, north of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 12, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images) Brovko, who said hes about 7 miles away from a major front line near Kyiv, told The Epoch Times that there were repeated clashes during the day between Ukrainian forces and groups of Russian saboteurs in Obukhiv, a suburb 29 miles southwest of the capital, and Boryspil, around 21 miles from Kyiv. Several churches have been destroyed by Russian shelling, he said. Its really sad to see historical architecture turned to rubble. The governor of the Kyiv region Oleksiy Kuleba said fighting and threats of Russian air attacks were continuing on Saturday morning but later said some evacuations were moving ahead, according to Reuters. We will try to get people out every day, as long as its possible to observe a ceasefire, he said. Joseph Petito (C), father of Gabby Petito, whose death on a cross-country trip has sparked a manhunt for her boyfriend Brian Laundrie, speaks during a news conference in Bohemia, New York on Sept. 28, 2021. (John Minchillo/AP Photo) Gabby Petitos Parents Sue Laundries Parents Over Killing ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.The parents of Gabby Petito claim in a new Florida lawsuit that Brian Laundrie told his parents he had killed her before he returned home alone from their ill-fated western trip in a converted van. The lawsuit filed Thursday in Sarasota County Circuit Court contends that Laundrie told his parents on Aug. 28 that he had killed Petito, 22, his fiancee of about a year at the time. Petitos disappearance on the trip and the subsequent discovery of her slain body Sept. 19 in a Wyoming national park became a national obsession, augmented by the later search for Laundrie in a Florida nature preserve. The FBI concluded that Laundrie strangled Petitowith whom he had previous domestic quarrels and violenceand that Laundrie fatally shot himself in the Carlton Reserve swamp after returning home alone Sept. 1. The lawsuit contends that Christopher and Roberta Laundrie concealed that their son had confessed to the murder from investigators and Petitos parents while the search for Gabby Petito was ongoing. In doing so, Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie acted with malice or great indifference to the rights of (Gabbys parents) Joseph Petito and Nicole Schmidt, the lawsuit claims, adding that this conduct was shocking, atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. The lawsuit adds that the Laundries were making arrangements for him (Brian) to leave the country. No evidence was included to back up this claim. The lawsuit seeks damages of at least $30,000. An attorney for the Laundries, Steven Bertolino, said in a text message Friday that his clients were fully within their rights not to talk. He also denied the lawsuits claims in general. This lawsuit does not change the fact that the Laundries had no obligation to speak to law enforcement or any third party including the Petito family, Bertolino said. This fundamental legal principle renders the Petitos claims to be baseless under the law. Petito and Laundrie were both from Blue Point, New York, but moved to his parents Gulf Coast home in North Port, Florida, in 2019. It was Petitos van the couple took on their trip from Florida, which was intended to end on Halloween on the Pacific coast. The lawsuit says that until that trip and her disappearance, the families had a cordial relationship. Gabrielle Petito had hopes of becoming a travel influencer, a van-lifer and document her cross-country travels on various social media sites, the lawsuit says. Petito had been in regular contact with her parents and posted frequently on social media about their travels, including YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. The couple had a regular following before the murder mystery took hold. The FBI says Laundrie sent text messages from Petitos cellphone to her parents and others in an effort to pretend she was still alive. He was also charged with illegally using one of her credit cards before his remains were discovered in the Florida nature preserve. By Curt Anderson A Chippewa Falls family has sued the Chippewa Falls school district after their 14-year-old daughter suffered burns in a welding class. Michael and Jennifer Ebner, 4439 106th St., filed the lawsuit in Chippewa County Court against the district, the schools employee benefit plan and the districts insurance carrier. Attorney Brian Laule of the River Falls-based law firm Bye, Goff & Rohde is representing the family. The case has been assigned to Judge James Isaacson, who set deadlines this week for the defense to submit motions. Isaacson set a motion hearing for Dec. 22. According to the lawsuit, the 14-year-old girl sustained serious burn injuries during metals 8/welding class on Feb. 17, 2021. The class is taught at Chippewa Falls Middle School. Said injuries were proximately caused by the negligence of Chippewa Falls Area School District, its agents and/or employees, the lawsuit reads. Such negligence includes but is not limited to failing to have proper fire safety equipment, including fire extinguishers and personal protective equipment, and negligent failure to properly warn, train and instruct students and/or staff. Laule is requesting trial by a 12-person jury. The lawsuit doesnt state a dollar amount sought, instead saying it seeks damages and other relief in accordance with the allegations of the complaint. In a reply statement filed with the court, the benefit plan organization writes it has made medical expense payments on behalf of (the girl), arising out of the incident in question, paying bills totaling $20,129.63. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Google logo is displayed at the entrance hall of Google France in Paris on Nov. 18, 2019. (Michel Euler/AP Photo) Google, Meta Face EU, UK Probes Into Ad Bidding Agreement BRUSSELSBritish and European regulators threatened to crack down on Google and Facebook parent Meta over an agreement for online display advertising services, saying Friday that the deal may breach rules on fair competition. The fresh scrutiny in Europe, which has pioneering efforts to rein in big technology companies, strikes at the heart of Googles businessthe digital ads that generate nearly all of its revenue. In the ad tech marketplace bringing together Google and a constellation of online advertisers and publishers, the company controls access to the advertisers that put ads on its dominant search platform. Google also runs the auction process for advertisers to get ads onto a publishers site. The European Unions top competition watchdog opened an antitrust investigation into a 2018 pact for Metas Audience Network to participate in Googles Open Bidding program. The European Commission, the EUs executive arm, said the deal, which Google internally dubbed Jedi Blue, may be part of efforts to exclude ad tech services that compete with Googles Open Bidding program to the detriment of publishers and consumers. Britains Competition and Markets Authority announced a parallel investigation into the agreement, which is also the focus of a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google thats before U.S. courts. Google said the allegations made about the agreement are false, calling it a publicly documented, procompetitive agreement enabling Facebook to participate in its Open Bidding program, along with dozens of other companies. Meta said the non-exclusive bidding agreement with Google, and the similar agreements we have with other bidding platforms, have helped to increase competition for ad placements. Meta said it would cooperate with both the EU and UK inquiries. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that if the investigation confirms the watchdogs suspicions, this would restrict and distort competition in the already concentrated ad tech market, to the detriment of rival ad serving technologies, publishers and ultimately consumers. The European Commission said it intends to closely cooperate with the UK competition authority on the investigation. The watchdogs are looking into both the ad bidding agreement and whether Google abused its dominant position in the online ad market. If one company has a stranglehold over a certain area, it can make it hard for startups and smaller businesses to break into the marketand may ultimately reduce customer choice, the UK watchdogs chief executive, Andrea Coscelli, said in a statement. By Raf Casert and Kelvin Chan Growing Number of Countries Identify Cases of Deltacron Variant A growing number of cases of a hybrid COVID-19 variant dubbed Deltacron are being identified, including several cases in the United States. Researchers with Helix, a California-based genomic company, found two cases of COVID-19 infection caused by a hybrid of the Delta and Omicron variants, while researchers in France determined 18 people were infected by the hybrid. Cases have also been detected in the Netherlands and Denmark, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Delta was the dominant version of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, in many countries in 2021 but was displaced in most of them by Omicron by the end of the year. Experts so far havent seen any difference in the characteristics of patients who are infected with the hybrid and havent seen any signs that the Deltacron causes more severe cases of COVID-19, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHOs COVID-19 technical lead, told reporters in a recent briefing. Unfortunately, we do expect to see recombinants, because this is what viruses do, they change over time, she said, adding later that, this pandemic is far from over. In the United States, Helix scientists and collaborators with the University of Washington Medical Center and Thermo Fisher Scientific sequenced 29,719 samples between November 2021 and February 2022 and identified 20 cases where a person was co-infected with the Delta and Omicron variants and two additional cases where the infection was pinpointed as being caused by the variant resulting from the recombination of Delta and Omicron. Our study demonstrates the existence of co-infections, the presence of a recombinant population in at least one of these co-infections, and the existence of two infections consisting almost entirely of multiple copies of a recombinant virus. However, the mechanism by which a recombinant virus comes to dominate an infection remains somewhat of a puzzle, researchers wrote in the study, which was obtained by The Epoch Times prior to publication. Its scheduled to be published as a preprint on the server medRxiv in the coming days. Possibilities include the two infections starting as co-infections before the hybrid virus outcompeted the Delta and Omicron variants, according to the researchers, who were backed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. In France, a team funded by the government identified three cases infected by the recombinant, following earlier identification of 17 others, the team reported in a preprint study. Professor Phillipe Colson, one of the authors, told The Epoch Times in an email that there are too few cases right now to figure out the epidemiological and clinical features of this hybrid. We wonder what a large part of an Omicron BA.1 spike (without the N-terminal domain) may change in a Delta genome regarding virus transmissibility and clinical presentation, he added. Scientists in Cyprus were said to initially report the hybrid in January, though some experts said the identified strain appeared to be a result of lab contamination. John Moore, a virologist with Cornell University, said he wasnt sure the more recently reported hybrid was real or not; both the U.S. and French teams said their results are legitimate. Regardless, for now, theres no reason to worry, Moore told The Epoch Times in an email. Whats the point? If its not real, it will soon fizzle out. If it is real, what good does worrying about it do? Lets see what emerges over time, but I need a LOT more than whats here to be concerned about yet another scariant story, he said. Human trafficking for sex and labor is rampant at the southern border. The chaos of mass illegal immigration is giving cartels the green light to sell people for sex and labor. We hear all about it from former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott. And in America Q&A, we ask what people across the country think the role of Border Patrol should be. Then, whats it like to live the horrific reality of traffickingespecially sex trafficking as a child? Survivor now advocate Andi Buerger shares her story with us. Shes the founder of Voices Against Trafficking. We also speak with Alma Tucker, who supports trafficking survivors on both sides of the border. Shes the founder of International Network of Hearts based in San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Finally, in our second America Q&A, we ask what people know about the reality of human trafficking in the United States. If youre a victim of trafficking or think you know someone who might be, heres who you can contact for help. NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESOURCE CENTER HOTLINE 1-888-373-7888 or text INFO or HELP to BeFree (233733) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) 1-866-347-2423 *report suspected human trafficking/victims NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE HOTLINE 1-800-4-A-CHILD or 1-800-422-4453 SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-273-8255 NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT HOTLINE 1-800-656-HOPE or 1-800-656-4673 NATIONAL RUNAWAY SWITCHBOARD 1-800-RUNAWAY or 1-800-786-2929 MILITARY HELPLINE 1-888-457-4838 or text MIL1 to 839863 ALCOHOL & DRUG HELPLINE 1-800-923-4357 or text RecoveryNow to 839863 YOUTHLINE 1-877-968-8491 or text teen2teen to 839863 Chinese Premier Li Keqiang participates in a press conference at Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, China on Nov. 21, 2019. Li revealed at a press conference on May 28, 2020, that roughly 600 million Chinese citizens earn only 1,000 yuan (roughly $140) a month.(Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) Hundreds of Millions of Chinese Need Jobs: Premier Li Keqiang In 2022, 16 million Chinese people will join the workforce and need a job. At the same time, almost 300 million migrant workers will enter the cities, to earn money to feed their families in villages back home, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on March 11. In 2022, hundreds of thousands of veterans will leave the Chinese army and need to make a living in ordinary society. Meanwhile, a large number of Chinese enterprises are facing financial crises, and have to lay off employees who also need a way to earn money, Li added without specifying a number. Every year the new employment in Chinas urban areas must be at least 11 million, but itd be best if its more than 13 million, Li told reporters at a press conference after the closing ceremony of the regimes rubber-stamp legislature conference. Employment Statistics The Chinese regimes official data shows that over 10 million Chinese people in urban areas are registered as unemployed. However, this data doesnt reflect Chinas true unemployment rate, nor the overall employment status in the country. According to the regimes 2021 census, 63.89 percent of Chinas population lives in urban areas. Of the urban residents, only those who worked for companies that bought unemployment insurance have the right to register with the regimes unemployment system. Its not known how many employers buy unemployment insurance for their employees in China. Others who lost their jobs are called people who need a job by the Chinese regime, and theres no official data showing how many are in this group. At the March 11 press conference, Li said, This year, about 16 million people in urban areas will enter the labor market. These people include graduates from high school who cant go to college and those from vocational schools and colleges who graduate throughout the year. Li said, 10.76 million students will graduate from college this year. Most of these students will be part of the 16 million who need a job. The others will continue their studies for higher education levels inside or outside China, or will join the military. Miners prepare to go into an underground coal mine in Huaibei in Eastern Chinas Anhui Province on Feb. 16, 2022. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) In rural areas, 300 million farmers decided to become migrant workers because there are farmable land is limited and the income of a farmer is low. Those who decide to be farmers also need a supplemental job, according to Li. He gave an example of someone he met when he visited a northwestern village in January. A farmer told me that his older child was in college, and tuition was over 10,000 yuan ($1,580) per year, and his young child was in high school with a tuition cost of over 8,000 yuan ($1,260). Cultivating the land doesnt earn enough money. [He and his wife] have to find other jobs to pay for the tuitions, Li said. Veterans, who leave the military, need a job too. Its unclear how many unemployed Chinese veterans there are. In March 2017, the Chinese militarys PLA Daily reported that China had over 57 million retired soldiers in total. Hundreds of thousands of new veterans join them every year. Labor Market Intensely Competitive Millions of people from urban areas compete with their peers and the 300 million migrant workers from rural areas for the limited positions in Chinas labor market. To solve the issue, Li Keqiang encouraged people to take flexible employment, including setting up street stalls, an idea he promoted in 2020. State-run China News quoted Ning Jizhe, director of Chinas National Bureau of Statistics who said that in January 2021 China had over 4 million delivery personnel and over 1.6 million online product sellers. These people were implementing flexible employment. Here, I have to talk about flexible employment because more than 200 million Chinese people are in it. It has diverse forms and covers a wide range, Li said at the March 11 press conference. They work in the rain, in the wind. The work environment is really tough. There are 150 million enterprises in China, Li said. 100 million of them are individual industrial and commercial entities and they supply 300 million jobs. The individual businesses that Li talked about include small-sized restaurants, small-sized retailers, self-employed bus or truck drivers, and small workshops. They calculate every penny, pay their employees on a daily basis, and decide whether to continue the business every month, Li added. He said these businesses operate with difficulties. A vegetable vendor waits for customers at a market in Beijing, China on Jan. 17, 2022. (NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images) Even with hard work, these businesses are still struggling on the edge of survival because of the poor economic status in China. Now, the consumer demand is indeed relatively weak, Li admitted. To find a job, a lot of Chinese have to move to another city or even another province. Unlike the United States or European countries, the Chinese regime has a registration system that doesnt support people changing their location. Now, over 100 million Chinese people work in another province [not the province in which they are registered]. They have to travel back and forth for their job-related issues, pensions, students education, and so on, Li said. He promised to take action. As Li said at the conference, 2022 is his last year as Chinas premier. In the Chinese regimes culture, it is difficult for a leader to have solid achievements in his last year because officials might not put his demands into action. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pauses while speaking during a media briefing at the Pentagon on Nov. 17, 2021. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo) Ive Never Seen Morale So Low: Air Force Lt. Col. on Military Life Under Vaccine Mandates A lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) says morale for military personnel and contractors has been hard-hit by President Joe Bidens COVID-19 vaccine mandates, which require that everyone employed by the federal government get vaccinated against the virus or lose their job. Lt. Col. Adam Conrad, who asked that his name be changed to protect his identity, painted a grim picture of the state of USAF personnel, who have faced persistent fears of losing their jobs if they dont accept the relatively untested COVID-19 vaccines. Ive never seen morale so low, he told The Epoch Times. Conrad, like many service members across the military, faces the risk of losing his job if he doesnt take the vaccine. While he has submitted an exemption request, Conrad isnt optimistic that it will be granted, despite his relatively high rank in the service. Most service members who have sought such an exemption have had their requests denied, despite being judged by military chaplains as having a sincere belief against it. I have a sincerely held religious belief against the [COVID-19] vaccine due to how its created, Conrad said, citing the use of fetal cells from aborted infants during the development process of the vaccine. I started questioning the COVID vaccines due to the novelty of the mRNA technology. While researching, I came to have a sincerely held religious belief due to my anti-abortion stance, as well as the low risk that COVID poses to me. Based on reports received from those around him who have taken the vaccines, Conrad said the adverse effects from the vaccines likely pose more risk to him than the virus does. The ends couldnt justify the means by any stretch, he said. Conrad noted that he filed an exemption request at the end of August 2021, but has received no answer. He said that so far, all of the exemption requests returned from his higher command have been denied. To qualify for an exemption request, service members must first be evaluated by military chaplains. The military chaplain corps is trained to accommodate all religious beliefs, Conrad said. During their evaluation, servicemembers discuss their beliefs with the chaplainin this case, explaining why they hold serious moral qualms against the COVID-19 vaccines. If the chaplain is satisfied, he can give a recommendation that a request be accepted. After his own evaluation by a chaplain, Conrad was judged to be sincere in his opposition to the vaccine. Aside from religious or moral objections, Conrad said the USAF considers four key factors in deciding whether to grant an exemption: military readiness, unit cohesion, good order and discipline, and public health and safety. In other words, fulfilling a request should have no adverse effect on accomplishing the mission, he said. But Conrad said upper-level command has been intellectually dishonest in its interpretation of these four considerations and in its reasons for refusing a religious accommodation request. I have a real problem with the logic for denial that some of the denials coming back use, he said. Military readiness forms a strong basis for these denials. Excuses include things like being on patrol or being in close quarters with othersthey imply that you cant do your job without the vaccine. But people did these things since the beginning of the pandemic, well before the vaccine. David Younts, an attorney whos representing around 50 military clients seeking exemption requests, agreed with Conrads assessment and said the reasons for denial have been arbitrary and capricious. My clients have repeatedly experienced and we have seen intellectual dishonesty and blatant religious discrimination from Department of Defense [DOD] leadership, Younts told The Epoch Times. In fact, Younts said, in the Navy, the decision was made to deny practically all accommodation requests before they were even received, according to Younts. One of my clients helped exposed the Navys predetermined plan to deny all religious accommodation requests before they were even submitted, he said. I have been provided multiple examples of template denials where the wrong information was put into the boilerplate denial that did not even match my clients information or duty position. From the beginning of the mandate, many of my clients have been repeatedly told that their accommodation request would be denied even before it was submitted. For what appear to be clear political reasons, the DOD has refused to even consider natural immunity as a factor in my clients cases. If their requests are denied, service members can go all the way up to the surgeon general to dispute the rejection, Conrad said. However, he said the time frame to make the appeal is artificially short and purposefully limits the ability of service members to formulate an argument informed by legal, medical, and professional guides as to why their request should be accepted. The U.S. Air Force has decided to give members only a five-day calendar window to construct, research, write, and submit a full appeal package, but the USAF is under no such time constraint, Conrad said. [The USAF] gets as long as it wants to research its reasons for denial. Because of this, Conrad said service members have been advised to begin work on their appeal before they even receive the answer to their original request. Conrad said the five-day window is very wonky and way too short for a hail mary attempt to save your career. The time frame is particularly short in comparison to other procedures in the USAF. Conrad said service members have three days to sign a letter of counseling, which is a disciplinary form given to members for minor infractions. He also noted that there are examples from across the Pentagon of service members being given a much longer time frame to form an appeal, but that the secretary of the Air Force didnt grant that authority to commanders in his December 2021 memo outlining the five-day limit. The effects that the mandates have had on morale have been pronounced, according to Conrad. Ive never seen morale so lowand its not among the unvaccinated, he said. Conrad said many of the airmen who submitted to the vaccine have faced significant adverse effects. Recently, as the Biden administration has increasingly pushed for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, service members are nervous that theyll be forced to accept another vaccine. Even though the Pentagon has said the vaccine booster shots wont be required, the issue remains a concern for many service members. This concern has dragged morale even lower, Conrad said. Theres been a lot of angst about whether theyre going to require the booster, he said. Morale has also plummeted among civilian government workers and contractors. Under Bidens September 2021 vaccine mandates, federal contractors were subject to the same vaccination requirements as service members. In general, morale is not good, Conrad said. He said that among USAF service members, higher-ranking officers are more likely to seek religious accommodations than lower-ranking airmen. Conrad said those seeking religious or moral exemptions have faced scrutiny and ostracism from others in the service. If youre resisting this vaccine, some commanders say, Youre not a good leader or You dont care about the community or You dont understand science or Youre anti-science. Under this pressure, many service members have simply accepted the vaccine because they dont want to be seen as the person fighting the system, Conrad said. Younts said his clients have faced similar ostracism and argued that this is an abrogation of the constitutional rights of military service members. I have multiple clients that have been fired from leadership positions and isolated because of their religious faith, Younts said. I believe that the arbitrary and capricious denials of the accommodation requests are a violation of the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Fifth Amendment due process, and 14th Amendment equal protection. My clients fear this is an attempt to purge conservative evangelicals and orthodox Catholics from the military because of their religious beliefs. Even prior to the official mandate, my clients have faced the threat of criminal prosecution and been repeatedly berated by their leadership. I have clients who were not allowed to take holiday leave to see their families, attend church services, were forced to work from a car in a parking lot, and even restricted to base or to a ship because they were not vaccinated. Conrad said that amid the long odds of the situation, hell keep fighting for an exemption for as long as he can. While he has served in the Air Force for many years and wishes to remain in the service, he said hell likely retire if his request is denied and he has run through all avenues of appeal. I realize I might be on my last legs here, Conrad said. Fighting a stupid vaccine isnt how I wanted to go out. I dont think it serves anyone for me to put in retirement when I wasnt planning on it. He noted that hes currently scheduled for a competitively selected assignment in the near future. In December 2021, the Senate approved legislation barring the Pentagon from dishonorably discharging those who refuse to take the vaccine. A dishonorable discharge, which is roughly equivalent to a civilian felony conviction, has consequences that will follow former service members for their entire lives. However, even though service members cant be dishonorably discharged for refusing the vaccine, manyranging in rank from officers to enlisted personnelcontinue to face the threat of losing their jobs over the mandates. For many long-serving members of the military, losing their jobs puts them at risk of losing benefits that theyve accrued for years. People walk in Shibuya shopping area, during a state of emergency amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Tokyo, Japan Aug. 29, 2021. (Androniki Christodoulou/Reuters) Japan Mulls Offering Fourth Vaccine Dose on an Opt-In Basis Japans government is considering offering a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose for those who want to receive it as early as this summer, a local newspaper reported on Friday. An unidentified government official told Yomiuri Shimbun that Japan is able to secure sufficient vaccine supplies for individuals who wish to receive the fourth dose, given that 44 million surplus doses from the first and second vaccination programs were used for the third dose. The government intends to use COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna if the plan to roll out the fourth dose is confirmed, which could start by this summer, according to the report. Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto said that the ministry will ensure that Japan has sufficient vaccines to administer the fourth dose, though he noted that the final decision will be taken based on scientific data and how other countries respond, Japan Times reported. In considering a fourth vaccination, the health ministry will make sure there are enough vaccines. At this stage though, we will make our utmost efforts to allow those who want to receive booster shots to be able to get them as early as possible, Goto said. Japan has never enforced a mandatory immunization requirement for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. The Health Ministrys website explicitly stated that vaccination is encouraged but not compulsory. Vaccination will be given only with the consent of the person to be vaccinated after the information provided, the ministry stated, urging people not to force or discriminate against those who have not been vaccinated. Several other countries have already deployed the fourth dose of vaccine for people at high risk and immunocompromised, including Israel, Belgium, Cambodia, Chile, and Israel. South Korea began providing the fourth dose to high-risk citizens in early February, although healthy individuals are not yet encouraged to take it. About 28 percent of Japans population has received the booster, with 79 percent having been fully vaccinated. The government has agreed to purchase 93 million doses of Modernas vaccines and 130 million of Pfizers vaccine doses this year. In addition, Japan contracted to buy 150 million doses of the Novavax Inc vaccine, which is now under regulatory review and would be made domestically by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Japans Shionogi and Co. Ltd. is also developing a vaccine candidate, releasing interim results this month showing it was comparable to Pfizers shot in its effectiveness as a booster. Reuters contributed to this report. Actor Jussie Smollett speaks to Judge James Linn after his sentence is read at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago on March 10, 2022. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool) Jussie Smollett Starts 150-Day Jail Term in Protected Status CHICAGOJussie Smollett began a 150-day jail sentence for staging a hate crime against himself in protective custody, separated from other detainees and watched by security cameras and an officer, jail authorities said Friday. Sheriffs deputies immediately took Smollett to the Cook County Jail on Thursday night after Judge James Linn sentenced the actor to 30 months of felony probationstarting with a five-month term in jailfor lying to police that he had been the target of a racist and homophobic attack. Smollett loudly maintained his innocence and suggested he could be killed in jail. Your honor, I respect you and I respect the jury, but I did not do this, Smollett said Thursday. And I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. Smolletts sentence may put an endpending appealsto more than three years of legal drama following the actors report to police that two men wearing ski masks beat him, and hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him on a dark Chicago street and ran off. Smolletts attorneys filed an emergency injunction Friday seeking Smolletts release pending his appeal. An appellate court judge ruled prosecutors have five days to respond to the emergency motion, WMAQ-TV reported. His attorneys also filed a notice of appeal in Cook County Criminal Court. They had said Thursday night that they plan to appeal both the jurys guilty verdict and the judges sentence. One day earlier, a judge sentenced Smollett to 150 days in Cook County Jail following his conviction for lying to police about being the victim of a hoax hate crime in 2019. Smollett was also sentenced to 30 months of felony probation, ordered to pay more than $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago, and was fined $25,000. He began his sentence immediately after learning his fate Thursday. In a statement on Friday, the Cook County Sheriffs Office said Smollett is being held in protective custodytypical for people who may potentially be at risk of harm due to the nature of their charges, their professions, or their noteworthy status. Smollett has his own cell, monitored by security cameras and an officer stationed at the door and wearing a body camera, the sheriffs office said. Smollett is able to have substantial time in common areas to use the phone, watch TV, and interact with staff but other detainees wont be in common areas with him. Smollett faced up to three years in prison for each of the five felony counts of disorderly conductthe charge filed for lying to policeof which he was convicted. He was acquitted on a sixth count. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot praised the sentence, saying it sends a message that false claims and allegations would not be tolerated. The city feels vindicated in todays ruling that he is being held accountable and that we will appropriately receive restitution for his actions, she said in a statement. Smolletts sentence includes a payment of $120,106 in restitution to the city and a $25,000 fine. Smollett was convicted in a December jury trial, where witnesses included two brothers who told jurors Smollett paid them to carry out the attack and gave specific directions on what to do and say. Smollett, who knew the men from his work on the television show Empire that filmed in Chicago, testified that he did not recognize them and did not know they were the men attacking him. By Don Babwin and Kathleen Foody After becoming obsessed with the West Tennessee specialty, the Nashville-based chef and restaurateur dedicated his life to perfectingand preservingthis disappearing craft Pat Martin is one of a rare breed: an open-pit barbecue master who uses whole hogs, a West Tennessee tradition that requires a 24-hour cooking time at 200 degrees Fahrenheitas well as hours of prep. The French have their cheese; we as Americans have our barbecue. You drive 50 miles and it changes, Martin said. Born in Memphis, he first remembers a trip to Gridleys Bar-B-Q when he was 5 years old. His fathers job took them to the East Coast for several years, but then they moved to Mississippi to be near family. In high school, Martin bought his first cookbook, The Thrill of the Grill. A section about whole-hog barbecue really filed itself away in my brain, he said. During his first week at college in 1990, he found Thomas & Webb Barbecue, and it was an absolute epiphany, he said. Owner Harold Thomas personally put together his sandwich. He pulled it right off the hog, and I thought I have to learn how to do this, Martin said. He became a regular. On Columbus Day 1991, at a family reunion fish fry, Martin drove an hour to get a couple of hogs from Thomas, who also gave him careful instructions on how to build a brick pit for the occasion. Everyone loved it. Thats when he realized that I want to make people happy by making something to eat. Still, he didnt see it as a career. I was just going to go on making money and retire one day when I was 50 and open up a barbecue joint and kinda live my life out, Martin said. But then life happened: He graduated; found work; got married, divorced, and remarried; and went broke. As he went through the challenges of those years, he kept cooking the other classical ways, not only barbecue. I didnt think about it as a career until it slapped me in the face in 2006, Martin said. Thats when it all came together. He found a 12-table space in Nolensville, Tennessee, and opened Martins Bar-B-Que Joint, serving whole-hog pulled pork sandwiches. Martin had confidence in his food, but he had to learn the restaurant business as he went along. At first, he would run out each day. People would get angry, but always come back, he said. Months later, the line was out the door. Now, Martins has 10 regional locations. Open-pit barbequing is best, according to Martin. When you use a smoker, there is an entry for oxygen and an exhaust, he said. With a pit, its like a set of gills or a salamander. The entire pit breathes and you dont have as many hot spots. To preserve the tradition, hes written the book on it: Life of Fire: Mastering the Arts of Pit-Cooked Barbecue, the Grill, and the Smokehouse. Its sort of a mentor book, Martin said. Pit barbecue is all about the fire, and the procedure and the fire maintenance are the arduous parts. Once [you] learn that skill, [you] dont need barbecue recipes, he said. Pat Martin Age: 50 Comfort Food: Purple peas with chow chow and cornbread Favorite Drink: A good biodynamic wine or a Coke Ingredients He Cant Live Without: Great salt, great citrus, and chile flakes Guilty Pleasure: Pizza (and pineapple shouldnt be on a pizza!) Students and parents wearing face coverings wait in line for the first day of the school year at Grant Elementary School in Los Angeles, Calif., on Aug. 16, 2021. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) LA Parents Unhappy Students Must Continue to Wear Masks Though student mask mandates are expiring in California and Los Angeles County this week, students who attend the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) must remain maskedleaving parents and students frustrated. Lisa Sanchez, whose daughter is in LAUSD, called the situation a never-ending battle. Were very upset that the school hasnt lifted the mandate sooner, Sanchez told The Epoch Times. District officials claim to follow the scienceyet the science has spokenand here our kids are still masked. The states largest school district cannot change its indoor mask requirement without first negotiating an existing contract with the teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA); the contract includes a requirement for enforced masking for the entire 20212022 school year. Sanchez said she has grown frustrated with the way the teachers union is using masks as bargaining chips to negotiate their own benefits. Our childrens health is being used as bargaining chips for political gain, Sanchez said. We are the parents, and we want to see choice all the way around. Theres nothing to be lost in engaging in choicechoice is a win-win. Then everyones protected if they feel the need to be protected, and if other if people feel like they believe in natural immunity, we should be given a choice to opt-out. A child wears a face mask as they attend an online class at a learning hub inside the Crenshaw Family YMCA during the Covid-19 pandemic in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 17, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images) Angelita Rovero, a former LAUSD teacher who has two children in the districts schools, echoed these thoughts regarding the teachers union. The union is basically running the school board, Rovero told The Epoch Times. And theyre putting the kids last. Its not even about our kidsits about whatever agreements they are making for their benefits. This years contract between LAUSD and UTLA included a 5 percent ongoing raise, a one-time $2,000 stipend for this school year, and a one-time $500 technology stipend for last school year. Though either party can request to meet and bargain over potential changes to the mask requirement, any negotiations would likely come at a high cost for LAUSD. However, some parents say the continued medical mandates may eventually cost LAUSD enrollment. Some parentsincluding both Sanchez and Rovero, respectivelysaid that they would leave the district if LAUSD continues with its plan to enforce a student COVID-19 vaccine mandate at the beginning of the 202223 school year. As of December 2021, an estimated 34,000 students were unvaccinated. Sanchez said parents considering leaving the district are looking into getting permits for their children to attend schools in neighboring districts. A major point here is when we pull our kids out all these teachers that have been fighting to keep these mandates and all this stuff, theyre not going to have jobs, Sanchez said. Returning students walk the hallway at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles on April 27, 2021. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images) Oksana Sandler, who has two children in LAUSD, told The Epoch Times she would move her children to a neighboring school district if the vaccine mandate were enforced in the LAUSD in the fall. As a mother, the health and well-being of my children is utmost importance, Sandler said. And they dont feel safe, calm or peaceful in the LAUSDand Im not putting them through the same things they went through since September. Sandler also pointed out two bills recently introduced in the state legislatureProposition 866, which would allow children over 12 to make choices about their bodies around reproductive healthcare without notifying parents, and Proposition 871, which would add COVID-19 vaccinations to the states list of required inoculations for attending K-12 schools. Sandler said if the bills get passed, she will consider moving her family out of the state. This comes as LAUSD officials projected enrollment would begin to drop by about 4 percent each year over the next decadereaching below 400,000 in just two years. A spokesperson for the LAUSD, as well as UTLA, did not respond to a request for comment by press deadline. Landlord Groups Say Los Angeles County Created Rent Holiday LOS ANGELESTwo landlord groups asked a Los Angeles County judge this week to put a stop to the countys extended COVID-19 residential eviction moratorium, saying the rules were unconstitutional. The countys Board of Supervisors voted on Jan. 25 to extend the eviction moratorium in three phases, leaving some protections in place until the end of June 2023. Californias eviction moratorium ended in September. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles and the Apartment Owners Association of California, Inc., filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on March 7 seeking a preliminary injunction against the countys moratorium extension. The groups claimed in the lawsuit that the moratorium created a rent holiday. Los Angeles County had no comment about the lawsuit, spokesman Jesus A. Ruiz told The Epoch Times in an email. The countys extension will allow COVID-affected tenants throughout the county who say they have financial hardships to declare themselves unable to pay rent beginning April 1. On June 1, the county will restrict the eviction moratorium to allow only those who are below 80 percent of the areas median income to qualify. A for-rent sign is posted in front of an apartment building in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2017. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A thoughtful phase-out provides an opportunity for the County to consider lessons learned over the past 22 months and provides recommendations for the Board to consider related to tenant protections to create a healthier housing market post pandemic than that which existed before it began, the Jan. 25 motion by Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis stated. As in the past, landlords wont be allowed to evict tenants for causing a nuisance, allowing other people to live with them, or for keeping unauthorized pets. Jeff Faller, president of Apartment Owners Association of California told The Epoch Times that the main problem with the moratorium is that it gives renters the ability to declare themselves unable to pay without giving landlords an opportunity to participate in the process. According to the lawsuit, this violates the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. The landlord groups assert that this is unconstitutional and creates an opportunity for some renters to take advantage of the program. Its not like every tenant is going to do this, Faller said. But when you take away that accountability, it is awfully tempting. The lawsuit states the U.S. Supreme Court declared self-certification programs like the one Los Angeles County passed as unconstitutional in an August 2021 ruling. When renters self-certify their own financial hardship, the state doesnt allow a landlord to contest the certification and denies them a hearing, according to the lawsuit. Currently, a state program called Housing is Key has a process that determines whether renters are unable to pay rent, in cooperation with landlords. Apartment buildings in Los Angeles on Jan. 6, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Renters can still apply for funds to pay rent through the Housing is Key program, but that program ends March 31. As of March 9 in Los Angeles County, about 234,000 households applied for these funds. Of those, nearly 101,000 applications were processed and more than $1.2 billion was awarded. The apartment owner groups hope the court decides the matter quickly. People are really suffering, and we have to move quickly on this, Dan Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, told The Epoch Times. The initial eviction moratorium has caused some landlords to go two years without a rental payment from some tenants, Yukelson said. Its really been financially challenging for a lot of owners, Yukelson said. The first step is to stop the moratorium in court. Then the landlord groups may consider suing the county for damages, he said. Chris Gray, a new home sales and marketing expert in Irvine, California, told The Epoch Times the moratorium extension did not make sense. An affordable housing apartment complex in Chinatown, Los Angeles, on June 26, 2014. (Sarah Le/Epoch Times) We all want protection for anyone that was adversely, negatively affected by the pandemic, but we have to draw the line somewhere, Gray said. The majority of Angelenos are doing the right thing, Gray said. Theyre paying their rent, and they have to pay their mortgage. But Gray estimated about 8 to 10 percent of Los Angeles County renters will withhold their rent because of the extension. Protections are available for employers and employees, including compensating anyone who is out sick from COVID-19, Gray said. The obvious question is, how do the landlords get paid? How are they going to be protected over the next 15 months? Gray said. Its not fair to the landlord and its not fair to that renter, because that will lead to future evictions. Many investors avoid the Los Angeles rental market because of cumbersome regulations, Gray said. Most landlords are local family owners who have difficulty paying mortgages, taxes, and the utilities that are sometimes included in the rent. At the end of the day, this is not a landlordtenant issue, Gray said. This is a right and wrong issue. One Columbus man has his heart stuck in the Ukraine. Longtime Columbus resident Steve Sutton is engaged to a Ukrainian woman, Natalie Omela, who remains oversees. Sutton said he met Omela in May of last year while he went to the Ukraine with his friend, Malcolm Case of Norfolk. Sutton and Case have known each other for several years, having served in the Civil Air Patrol together for almost 20 years. Case met a Ukrainian woman through an online dating website and, as he described, roped Sutton into joining the site as well. Both men visited the Ukraine last spring to meet the women they had been communicating with, though Suttons did not go through with the meet up. During the May trip, Case ended up proposing to the woman he was speaking with Margo Balm. Omela was an attorney who completed legal paperwork for Balm, which was how she met Sutton. After returning to the United States, Case told Sutton that Omela was interested in him so Sutton and Omela began communicating through text messages. Sutton and Case returned to the Ukraine in October. They spent several weeks there, and Sutton proposed to Omela in early November at a restaurant. I said to Natalie, There's slang in the U.S. when a guy really likes a girl. He says to her, 'hey, I'm crazy about you.' What that means (is) he's crazy in love with her and that's what I am with you, Sutton recalled. As for Case, he proposed to Balm last spring after spending their last night together at an opera house and a nearby park. There's the most wonderful romantic park in the world as far as I'm concerned, Case said. You're overlooking the bay, you can see the likes of Eastern Odessa across the bay and there's twinkle lights in all the trees every night of the year. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the Ukraine on Feb. 24. Both Omela, who has a 28-year-old son, and Balm, who has a 40-year-old daughter and 22-year-old granddaughter, remain in the country. Sutton noted his shock in hearing the news; he didnt think the attack would actually happen. I thought (Vladimir) Putin would just make a lot of noise. It just completely blew me away, he said. Case reported his reaction to be anger at the actions of President Joe Biden and frustration with the situation. Both men try to communicate with their fiancees daily. Omela and Balm are pitching in for the war efforts where they can, Sutton added. Some days (Omela) is OK. And then I can just tell the way she's texting me that she has a lot of anxiety and fear, Sutton said. They have done some volunteer work over there, her and her girlfriend Margo. Getting some food and supplies for the soldiers there and other ways just to help out the war effort. Sutton said Omela is still going through the visa process. She still needs to undergo the required exam and interview, he added. Sutton noted that hes been coping with the situation by staying busy. I have an insurance business and I just try to stay active because if I think about it too long, it just destroys me, he said. Both Case and Sutton noted the resiliency and fighting spirit of Ukrainians. Case said he has visited the Ukraine almost every year since 2008. I love it there, Case said. The people are wonderful. It's a wonderful, beautiful place. And these people are good, hardworking people. Sutton agreed. I just fell in love with the country right away when I got there. They're so friendly and they like Americans. They didn't want this (to) happen, but they don't want to go back to being a satellite of Russia like they were before because they've just had freedom now for a little over 30 years, Sutton said. They're holding up against a very large army; they're holding their own. It's just amazing. I'm so proud of them. Hannah Schrodt is the news editor of The Columbus Telegram. Reach her via email at hannah.schrodt@lee.net. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Man Faces Prison in Accidental Shooting Death of Daughter, 9 HOBART, Ind.A northwestern Indiana father has pleaded guilty in the 2017 fatal shooting of his 9-year-old daughter as he warned his two sons never to play with a handgun. Eric Hummel, 38, entered his plea Thursday to reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent charges, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported. Hummel, of Hobart, could face up to 8.5 years in prison at his June 9 sentencing. Court records have shown that Hummel said that he was showing the 9 mm semi-automatic handgun to his sons and telling them to never play with it because it can kill someone when he accidentally shot and killed his daughter, Olivia. Authorities said he inadvertently shot Olivia in the forehead as she walked into the room. He sobbed while reporting the shooting during a 911 call, telling the dispatcher, This cant be real. Hummel told the 911 dispatcher he didnt realize the gun was loaded when he pulled the trigger. The girl died about 30 minutes later at a hospital. Businessess in Los Angeles place wood in from of windows to prevent crime on Nov. 5, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Man Shot Dead While Walking Dog in Los Angeles LOS ANGELESA 52-year-old man was shot dead while walking his dog on March 12 in the Mid-City community of Los Angeles, authorities said. The man and his dog were walking at about 5 a.m. near the corner of Genesee Avenue and Saturn Street, when a dark-colored sedan approached and stopped at the northwest corner of the intersection, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) reported. A suspect exited the car, and words were exchanged. The suspect then fired multiple shots at the 52-year-old man. The suspect got back into the sedan and drove the vehicle northbound on Genesee Avenue. The victim was discovered at about 6:15 a.m. by a passerby, who called 911. The dog was not injured and returned home on its own. LAPD West Bureau homicide detectives urged anyone with information regarding the shooting to call them at 213-382-9470 or Crime Stoppers at 800- 222-8477. The logo of Daimler's Mercedes-Benz luxury-car division is pictured on the roof of a building in Moscow, Russia, on April 5, 2016. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters) Mercedes-Benz Says Russian Nationalization Could Threaten $2.2 Billion in Assets LONDONMercedes-Benz has 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in assets that could be threatened by Russian proposals to nationalize the property of foreign firms that leave because of its invasion of Ukraine, the German premium carmaker said. The company said in its annual report released on Friday that the war in Ukraine raised a range of risks from disruptions to parts to energy supply or even cyber attacks. These risks could be exacerbated by the potential expropriation of assets of Russian subsidiaries, Mercedes-Benz said. Russias ruling party, United Russia, said this week a government commission had approved the first step towards nationalizing the assets of firms more than 25 percent owned by foreigners from unfriendly states. Mercedes-Benz has a car plant in the town of Esipovo 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Moscow with over 1,000 employees that produces E-class sedans and SUVs. It was opened in April 2019 with Russian President Vladimir Putin in attendance. It was the first plant in years to be opened by a foreign carmaker in Russia, where investment into the formerly burgeoning auto industry had dried up amid western sanctions and a stagnant economy. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Putin said the plant would produce 25,000 cars a year and that investment in the project had totaled just under $300 million. Mercedes-Benz said its Russian units, which were valued at 2 billion euros as of the end of 2021, have liabilities to banks of approximately 1 billion euros, for which the carmaker has issued a global guarantee. ($1 = 0.9086 euros) By Nick Carey The logo of the social network Instagram is seen on a smartphone, in Toulouse, France, on Sept. 28, 2020. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images) Meta Defends Policy on Calls for Violence Against Russia After Country Blocks Instagram Facebook owner Meta defended a change in its content policy after Russia mounted a criminal case and blocked Instagram in response to the move. Meta on March 10 announced a temporary change in its content policy that would allow users to express their views against Russias attack on Ukraine, allowing posts such as death to Russian invaders. The Meta statement reads: As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as death to Russian invaders. We still wont allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians. On March 11, Russian prosecutors started a criminal case, asking a court to designate Metawhich owns Facebook and Instagramas an extremist organization and prohibit its activities in Russia. A criminal case has been initiated in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, Russias Investigative Committee said. Such actions of the [Meta] companys management not only form an idea that terrorist activity is permissible, but are aimed at inciting hatred and enmity towards the citizens of the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, the Russian communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, said it will block access to Instagram starting March 14. Meta said the move would affect 80 million users in Russia. In light of that, the Russian Prosecutor Generals Office has demanded that Roskomnadzor block access to the Instagram social network, the Prosecutor General said in a statement on March 11. Last week, Roskomnadzor took action against Facebook and Twitter, effectively blocking the platforms inside Russia. Metas Response Nick Clegg, the global affairs president of Meta, shared a statement on Twitter saying the policy is only applicable in Ukraine and is a temporary decision taken in extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances. He said Meta has no quarrel with the Russian people. Metas policies are focused on protecting peoples rights to speech as an expression of self-defense in reaction to a military invasion of their country, he said. The fact is, if we applied our standard content policies without any adjustments we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces, which would rightly be viewed as unacceptable, Clegg continued. He also noted that there is no change at all in Metas policies on hate speech on Russian people and that Meta will not tolerate Russophobia or any kind of discrimination, harassment or violence toward Russians on our platform. Metas other services also are popular in Russia. Facebook last year had an estimated 7.5 million users and WhatsApp 67 million, according to researcher Insider Intelligence. WhatsApp will not be affected, Russias RIA news agency cited a source as saying, as the messaging app is considered a means of communication not a way to post information. Reuters contributed to this report. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he addresses a public meeting at Jerenga Pathar in Sivasagar district of India's Assam state on Jan. 23, 2021. (Biju Borg/AFP via Getty Images) Modi Says His Partys Election Victory Proves Indias Support for Pro-Active Governance Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on March 10 that his partys victory in four state elections demonstrated the peoples support for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) pro-active governance. The BJP won four of the five states that held elections in February and March, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which governs the national capital territory of Delhi, swept victory in Punjabs election. Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath became the first BJP chief minister to have retained office in Uttar Pradesh, Indias most populous state, for a second consecutive term. Uttar Pradesh is home to about a fifth of Indias 1.35 billion population and sends the most legislators to Parliament of any state. Modi said that this would be the first time a chief minister has been re-elected after serving a five-year term. These results are a big seal on the pro-poor, pro-active governance of the BJP, he said in a statement, adding that the partys seats have increased in Goa even after being in power for 10 years. The victory in the northern state has come despite the state and federal governments much-criticized handling of COVID-19, lack of jobs, and anger over the farm reforms law that Modi canceled last year after massive protests. We have improved the governance delivery system across the country and wherever there are BJP governments. I am not a person who will sit peacefully without taking the rights of the poor to their homes, Modi said. The BJP has long predicted that it would retain the state because of policies such as free staples for the poor during the pandemic, a crackdown on crime, and its popularity among the Hindu majority reinforced by the construction of a temple on the site of a razed mosque. The AAP, whose name means common man in Hindi, emerged in 2012 out of an anti-corruption movement. Party leaders said that they were ready to take on Modi nationally. Modi took to his social media on Friday to congratulate the AAP for their victory in Punjab, saying that the central government would extend all possible support for Punjabs welfare. The prime minister began a two-day visit to his home state of Gujarat on March 11, a day after the election results were released, and attended various roadshows arranged by the state BJP unit, The Indian Express reported. Reuters contributed to this report. Moving the World Past Peak China Commentary This is the second of two articles on the increasing risks of doing business with China, and how America and other Western-style democracies can move past it. The Russia-Ukraine war has shown it is impossible to rely on trade with, or investment in, a country bereft of democratic norms, especially a totalitarian regime like China where the government controls business. The dogmatic embrace of free trade, irrespective of the actions of the trading partners, a practice for much of the world since around 1990, has clearly endangered the global order. We discussed the inherent and escalating risks to investors and businesses from continuing to maintain normal trading relations with China in this column. In this article, well discuss some strategies that governments, businesses, and investors can use for moving beyond China as a base for manufacturing and investment, while maintaining it as a marketplace for goods from America and other democratic nations. Doing so is important, not only from a business and portfolio risk perspective, but also for geopolitical and geostrategic reasons. The Chinese regime has repeatedly shown malignant, bellicose, intent toward democratic and Western-style governments, institutions, companies, and individuals. The Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) brutal suppression of Hong Kongs pro-democracy protesters, its continuing bullying of Taiwan, its building and fortifying of man-made islands in the South China Sea, its hoarding of the global supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), and, at the outbreak of the CCP virus, imposing a travel ban within China while recklessly permitting travel abroad, to create a global pandemic, have shown that Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the CCP simply cannot be trusted to allow China to act reasonably in the community of nations. Their practices have made China an outlaw state. A World Made New Moving suppliers and investment out of China will require a number of steps, but all are achievable if democratic nations work together, much as they are working now to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. First, Western-style democracies need to vigorously embraceand perhaps even amendthe World Trade Organization (WTO) rules that exempt member states from compliance in pursuit of health and national security concerns. Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the legacy 1947 trade agreement now administered by the WTO, provides that where there is no arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where the same conditions prevail, signatory nations can take steps necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health. An amendment would specify that member states can adopt robust industrial policy, at their sole discretion and without oversight from the WTO, that favors industries that are imperative for the protection of their own populations and their own national security, another exemption covered by GATT Article XXI. Second, its important for financial institutions in democratic nations, including the World Bank, to work to finance and create robust national supply chain nodes in developing nations. Nations must agree to a unified industrial policy to do so, just as they agreed to WTO rules, the Geneva Convention, and other multilateral agreements. Supply chains work much like the poem, For want of a nail the kingdom was lost. At the top, or tier one, is the kingdom; tier two is the battle; tier three is the horseman; tier four is the horseshoe; and tier five is the nail (and there are even lower tiersblacksmiths, iron ore miners, coal minerswho fire the blacksmiths forge, etc.). As we saw with microchips, as well as car upholstery foam, interrupting the production of a final product, like cars at tier one, production is dependent on the lowest tier supplier that feeds tier one. And each of the lowest tier suppliers has its own chain of lower tier suppliers, and each of those has a lower tier, etc. Chinas command economy has been masterful at creating and integrating these supply nodes and maintaining them at any cost, even if they are not profitable, so long as they are necessary to maintain production of an important segment of its economy. (This follows a centuries-old similar practice, Keiretsu, that Japan had used to become the first Asian Tiger in the 1970s.) This is not to say that each leg of the supply chain needs to be within the national borders of the tier one supplier. Required raw materials and labor costs will necessarily require some parts of critical supply chains to be in other nations borders and even overseas. But they will be moved to countries that respect international norms, such as India or certain countries in Latin America, or to countries that are, if not democratic, at least not belligerent toward Western-style political values. Third, the democracies should deny China its comparative advantage from its blatant disregard of environmental concerns that most Western-style democracies observe. They should adopt the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a measure that would, in effect, impose a tariff on goods produced in countries with a poor record of carbon emissions. It is currently under consideration by the European Union. But instead of charging the importer, the tariff should be imposed on the exporter, not the democratic country importer. Democratic nations that have significant carbon emissions issues, but that have valuable productive capacity, like India, can be supported with technology transfers and World Bank loans and grants to clean up their carbon emissions and to supply them more natural gas to replace coal-fired generators and mills. If tariff rates are graduated to take account of their economic circumstances, the rates paid by these poorer, but democratic, nations are likely to be less than China. (Indias per capita income is about a quarter that of China.) An aerial view of the coal-fired power plant in Hanchuan, Chinas Hubei Province, on Nov. 11, 2021. (Getty Images) Fourth, exchanges around the world should require listed Chinese companies to adopt IFRS or GAAP, as appropriate to the exchange, in order to list their securities. This will not only make Chinese companies more transparent to investors and regulators, but also allow fairer competition for sector analysts, portfolio managers, and financial advisers. Its a fundamental issue of fairness. Finally, the democracies should agree to implement and follow the four principles of the International Labor Organization (ILO): The right to organize and collectively bargain and that prohibit forced labor, child labor, and discrimination in employment. Chinas reported abuses of its workers, including the use of slave labor, are legion and should never have been tolerated by the international community in the first place. Summary The global economy requires the same kind of liberal, rules-based order on trade and investment that we expect of nations in their political and military dealings with each other. And while the world is now punishing Russia for violating them, it is likely just a matter of time before we are forced to do the same to China. For more than 30 years, Western-style democracies, and particularly the United States, have traded with China as though it was Canada. Russias invasion of Ukraine has now shown the enormous economic, geopolitical, and geostrategic risks that politicians, Wall Street, the City of London, and government policymakers around the world have taken by dogmatically embracing free trade without regard to their trading partners underlying political conditions or values. Western-style democracies and their leaders should act now to start a five- to ten-year global initiative to inoculate their countries from those risks, in order to protect their critical national and health security products, to create alternative supply chains in more reliable nations, to penalize those nations that recklessly abuse the environment, to demand conformity with global financial reporting, and to adopt fair labor standards. We should embrace those nations that conform as friends, trading partners, and allies. We should eschew and punish those that do not. Read part I here. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting with Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, chairwoman of Vietnam's National Assembly, at the National Assembly in Hanoi, Vietnam, on March 1, 2019. (SeongJoon Cho/Pool via Reuters) North Korea Accused of Testing ICBM System and Restoring Nuclear Test Site SEOUL/WASHINGTONNorth Korea used what would be its largest ever intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system in two recent launches, and appears to be restoring some tunnels at its shuttered nuclear test site, U.S. and South Korean officials said on Friday. The reports are the latest to suggest the country may soon follow through on threats to resume testing long-range ICBMs or nuclear weapons for the first time since 2017. The escalation in North Korea tensions comes as South Korea on Wednesday elected a new conservative president. Yoon Suk-yeol has said that pre-emptive strikes may be needed to counter any imminent attack by the North and has vowed to buy American THAAD missile interceptors, while remaining open to restarting stalled denuclearization talks. Reclusive North Korea and the affluent, democratic South are technically still at war because their 195053 conflict ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. South Koreas military said on Friday it had detected unspecified activity to restore some tunnels at Punngye-ri, the Norths only known nuclear test site, which were demolished with explosives when it was closed in 2018. Analysts say that with few details on the extent of the demolition, it is unclear how quickly the site could be used again. It is also unclear if the activity is related to a number of small natural earthquakes recently reported in the area. The Pentagon and U.S. State Department declined to comment on matters of intelligence when asked about Punngye-ri. In what Washington called a serious escalation requiring a united global response, North Korea used a huge new ICBM system in launches on Feb. 27 and March 5, according to U.S. and South Korean officials. Seoul issued a strong condemnation and urged Pyongyang to immediately stop actions that heighten tension. The purpose of these tests, which did not demonstrate ICBM range, was likely to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. North Korea did not specify what missile was used, but said it tested components for reconnaissance satellites that leader Kim Jong Un said would soon be launched to monitor military activity by the United States and its allies. It says its military activities, including nuclear weapons, are its sovereign right and only for self defense. It accused the United States and its allies of threatening it with hostile policies such as military drills and sanctions. The U.S. Treasury, which has imposed a range of sanctions on North Korea over its weapons programs, announced fresh steps on Friday in response to the launches, targeting Russian individuals and companies it linked to Pyongyangs procurement activities for its missile programs. A senior U.S. administration official said before the announcement the aim of the new sanctions was to help prevent North Korea accessing foreign items and technology that enable it to advance its weapons programs. He said the steps would be followed by a range of further actions in coming days. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Yoon said they had agreed to ramp up three-way ties with the United States in responding to North Koreas evolving military threat. Japan is also considering imposing additional sanctions against North Korea, as well as other diplomatic options, Kishida told reporters after a phone call with the South Korean president-elect. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, in a call with her counterparts in Japan and South Korea on Friday, again condemned Pyongyangs launches and said Washington would continue efforts to seek diplomacy, the U.S. State Department said in a statement. Rockets and Satellites The United States and South Korea both said the missile system, known as the Hwasong-17, was unveiled at an October 2020 military parade in Pyongyang and reappeared at a defense exhibition in October 2021. Analysts said the tests probably only used one stage of the huge Hwasong-17, and may have adjusted its fuel use to fly at lower altitudes. The intelligence assessments, released simultaneously by the United States and South Korea, came as North Korean state media reported on Friday that Kim had inspected the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground. The facility has been used to put a satellite in orbit and also to test various missile components including rocket engines and space launch vehicles that South Korean and U.S. officials say require similar technology to that used in ICBMs. North Korea has historically used its space launches to try to hide its attempted advancements of its ICBM program, the U.S. official told reporters. At the Sohae station, Kim inspected facilities and ordered them to be modernized and expanded to ensure that various rockets could be launched to carry multi-purpose satellites, including a military reconnaissance satellite, the Norths KCNA news agency reported. I think that the North Koreans are genuinely working on a set of technologies that have applications across both ICBMs and satellites, said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. By Josh Smith and David Brunnstrom In this image from video, New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg is captured on undercover footage. (Project Veritas/Screenshot via The Epoch Times) NYT Reporter Pans Jan. 6 Overreaction, Says Newsroom Has Bullies Matthew Rosenberg also says paper 'might well lose' case against Project Veritas A New York Times reporter who has claimed its a lie that the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol was no big deal was captured on undercover video saying the left has overreacted to what happened. The lefts overreaction in some places was so over the top, Matthew Rosenberg, the reporter, told Project Veritas, a nonprofit journalism group. Rosenberg smiled as he said he was supposed to be traumatized by the breach but described himself and two colleagues he was with on Jan. 6 as just having fun and said he wanted to tell younger reporters at the paper who have said they were scared of the events of the day that you were not in any danger and to man up. Rosenberg, being taped at restaurants, also said that there were a ton of FBI informants amongst the people who attacked the Capitol. Rosenberg was one of the authors of a recent story that alleged there were false narratives being pushed by some about Jan. 6, including the allegation that the FBI planted agents to stir up the crowd and claims that Jan. 6 was no big deal. Rosenberg and a New York Times spokesperson didnt respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times. Rosenberg told Project Veritas, when confronted with the footage, that he was talking [expletive] at a bar but stands by what he said. Reporters Rosenberg named did not return inquiries except for Nicholas Fandos, who declined to comment. Rosenberg also said his employer may lose the defamation case brought against it by Project Veritas. That was a [expletive] up. We might well lose that one, he said. Project Veritas sued The New York Times in 2020 over the papers reporting on videos recording people in Minnesota involved in ballot harvesting operations. A New York Supreme Court judge, in a ruling rejecting The New York Times attempt to dismiss the suit, said the writers of the articles met the dictionary definitions of disinformation and deceptive' because of their failure to note that they injected their opinions in them. The case is ongoing. The reporters are human beings, Rosenberg said, so if our broader culture is in a moment where everybody thinks they know best, thats going to end up reflecting itselfwere part of that culture. I dont think they consciously are aware of these opinions. You inhabit the world you live in, he opined. Rosenberg was also captured on video describing some of his colleagues as part of a very vocal, loud minority that dominates social media and therefore has this hugely outsize influence, at one point saying theyre bullies who have successfully won concessions from management. At least some of the group have been subject to a certain amount of indoctrination at elite schools and have personalities that would have been considered toxic in years past, he added. An aerial photograph shows the scene of the fatal shooting of a teenager in Columbus, Ohio on April 20, 2021. (Ohio BCI) Ohio Police Officer Nicholas Reardon Cleared in Fatal Shooting of Teenager MaKhia Bryant An Ohio police officer was cleared in the fatal shooting of a teenager, authorities announced March 11. A grand jury in Franklin County declined to indict Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon, who shot teenager MaKhia Bryant on April 20, 2021. Reardon, who arrived with other officers in response to a 911 call, fired as Bryant wielded a knife and tried to assault another young woman. Under Ohio law, the use of deadly force by a police officer is justified when there exists an immediate or imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another, special prosecutors Tim Merkle and Gary Shroyer told news outlets in a statement announcing the grand jury decision. The shooting took place outside the foster home where Bryant lived and Shai-onta Craig, the other young woman, had previously resided. Craig told investigators she drove to the home after hearing from another woman who used to live there, who called her and reported that Bryant and a sibling were acting crazy, according to a summary of her interview, released by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost along with other materials. Craig said she and Bryant exchanged words inside the homean argument said to be over keeping the house cleanand that when she returned, Bryant charged at her while holding a knife. Craig, who was pregnant at the time, recalled an officer giving verbal commands to Bryant before the shots were fired. Michelle Martin, a lawyer for Bryants family, said in a statement that the family was disappointed in the grand jury decision. MaKhias family has long wondered why this officer opted for lethal force even though there should have been other non-deadly options available to deal with this situation, Martin said. Reardon told investigators he felt forced to use his weapon after Bryant didnt stop what she was doing. At the time I fired my weapon, I was in fear for the life of the female in pink, he said. The suspect had a knife drawn back in her right hand and was starting to swing it forward to stab the female in pink. Bryant didnt have a history of physical aggression, Angela Moore, the foster parent, told investigators, but had gotten into an argument several weeks before the incident with her sibling Janiah Bryant, who had called police and said she wanted to leave and would kill MaKhia if she had to stay, according to a summary of the interview. The U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the practices of the Columbus Police Department after Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther asked for a review of possible deficiencies and racial disparities shortly after the shooting. Orange County to Create 1st Cemetery for Firefighters and Police SANTA ANA, Calif.Orange County plans to set aside 10 acres of land to build a cemetery for veteran firefighters and police officers, which Supervisor Don Wagner said he believes to be the first of its kind in the nation. The men and women who have served us as first responders in a public law enforcement capacity or in our fire services, in the fire departments of this county. They put their lives on the line every day for us, Wagner said at the March 8 board of supervisors meeting. The idea here is to say thank you. Police officers and firefighters who spent more than 10 years risking their lives or served Orange County residents for more than 50 percent of their career would qualify for being buried there, according to the proposal, though the exact entrance criteria are still being discussed. The program, proposed by Wagner, aims to honor the sacrifices sworn police officers and firefighters made for Orange County. The proposed cemetery would use a small portion of Anaheims Gypsum Canyon site, where a state veterans cemetery is currently planned to be built. First responders offered enormous support for the idea, Wagner said, including the Orange County Fire Chiefs Association, the Association of Orange County Sheriffs Deputies, and a number of local city police departments including Tustin and Newport Beach. The Orange County Cemetery District, whose approval will be required for this project to progress, was also supportive, Wagner said. Supervisors unanimously approved sending a request to the countys Cemetery District on the first responder cemetery, though it is unclear when the project will move forward, as a state study of the proposed veterans side of the cemetery still has not occurred, which will be required before moving forward. Orange County Executive Officer Frank Kim said the next step will be the Cemetery District discussing the item in their own board meeting, before designing how everything could be laid out in the space. The Cemetery District is in the early stages of the planning and design of that space, Kim said. So pending the discussion with their board, my assumption would be that as they do their design, they would identify the space and allocate that as part of the build-out. Supervisors noted they will be looking into possible funding opportunities to help construct the first responder portion of the cemetery, though interment feesfor grave opening and closing serviceswill allow the Cemetery District to not incur any extra fees with the project. Vicki Pflasterers horse is so small he doesnt need to ride in a trailer. She takes him around town in her Honda Ridgeline pickup. The horse, named Short Stack, rides in the back seat. As they ride, the horse pokes his head between the front seats, because he likes to see where were going, Pflasterer said. Short Stack, a miniature horse, stands 28 and a half inches tall. With Short Stack in the pickup, Pflasterer has gone through the drive-thru window at Sonic a few times. One day, they did drive-thru business at the bank. A woman at the bank, who is a friend of Pflasterers, called her a little later and said, Did you have a horse in your car? Pflasterer brings Short Stack to Fonner Park three or four times during the racing meet. Short Stack is a big hit with kids, who like to pet the animal and have their photo taken with him. Pflasterer said if kids have never really seen a horse before, its nice for them to be able to touch and pet one. Short Stack also gets plenty of attention from adults, too, at Fonner. Its kind of funny because they want to get their pictures taken with him, too, Pflasterer said. Pflasterer used to load the horse up in her five-horse trailer. It takes a lot of work to put the horse and carriage in the trailer. It occurred to her that loading the horse in the pickup would be less work. One day she asked her husband, Jim, Do you suppose we can get him to jump in the back seat? Jim said that probably would work. Normally I put a tarp down just in case he has an accident. So I put a tarp down and we just kind of worked with him and he finally jumped in, she said. The first time she drove Short Stack in her pickup, a group of women in Cairo laughed hysterically when the horse got out, she said. Short Stack, who weighs about 200 pounds, still rides in the horse trailer at times. They always laugh when he jumps out of that, too, because its so big, she said of the trailer. When she takes the animal around town, the pickup is her preferred method of travel. Pflasterer jokes that she and the horse collaborate in Carpool Karaoke while theyre driving around town. When Pflasterer sings, it seems like the horse moves his head to the music. Some might say thats horsefeathers. But sometimes it seems like it, she said. What kind of music does the horse prefer? You know, weve done a little bit of everything, Pflasterer said. But he probably is partial to country. We like a little Shania Twain, Pflasterer said. Driving the horse in a pickup, she noted, saves on gas mileage. Short Stack, who grew up in Fremont, is 12 years old. Pflasterer bought the animal four years ago. The horses real name is Shadow. Short Stack is just a nickname. Pflasterer, who also has three full-size horses, sometimes shows Short Stack, and she has registered the horse as a service and therapy animal. Shes taken Short Stack to nursing homes in Grand Island and St. Paul. Encounters with Short Stack prompt many seniors to share their childhood experiences with horses. In one emotional visit, a woman talked about how she rode a pony to school. Short Stack began making appearances at Fonner Park in 2019. The arrangement began because one of Pflasterers girlfriends knows Kotulak. At Fonner, the horse sometimes draws light-hearted remarks from jockeys and trainers. Jockeys ask, Can I ride him? The horse, by the way, has his own Facebook page. Its called Me and My Shadow Miniature Horse Therapy. In one photo on the Facebook page, Short Stack claims that hes not little. Hes fun-sized. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 In this screenshot from the RNCs livestream of the 2020 Republican National Convention, North Carolina congressional nominee Madison Cawthorn addresses the virtual convention on Aug. 26, 2020. (Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images) Rep. Cawthorn Calls Zelensky a Thug, Ukrainian Government Incredibly Evil Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a thug and denigrated the Ukrainian government. Karl Rove, a Republican strategist, first mentioned Cawthorn made the remarks while speaking to a crowd in Asheville recently before WRAL-TV published footage of the first-term lawmaker speaking. Remember that Zelensky is a thug, Cawthorn was seen saying. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil and it has been pushing woke ideologies. It really is the new woke world empire. Other GOP lawmakers were quick to denounce Cawthorns statement, accusing him of favoring Russian President Vladimir Putin. Like 90 percent of the country is with Ukrainians and is opposed to Putin, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who last week came under fire for calling for a Russian Brutus to assassinate Putin. So when you see a member of Congress say things like this, the one thing I want you to know: theyre outliers. To my colleague in the House, I would push back and say its not Ukraine that is invading Russia, responded Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). It is Russia invading Ukraine. Two North Carolina Republicans hoping to defeat Cawthorn in the GOP primary later this year also took the opportunity to condemn Cawthorns remarks. Lets be clear, said state Sen. Chuck Edwards on Twitter. The thug is Vladimir Putin. We must unite as a nation to pray for President Zelensky and the brave people of Ukraine who are fighting for their lives and their freedom. I do not understand how anyone in American public office could call Zelensky a thug while Ukraine is under such vicious assault, said Michele Woodhouse in a statement posted to her campaign website. Conservatives in my district are terrified that we will lose this republican seat to a leftist Biden democrat if Cawthorn somehow wins the nomination. However, Cawthorn has made clear that he does not approve of Russias actions either. The actions of Putin and Russia are disgusting, Cawthorn said on Twitter on March 10, the same day the footage was released. But leaders, including Zelensky, should NOT push misinformation on America. I am praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, Cawthorn added. Pray also we are not drawn into conflict based on foreign leaders pushing misinformation. Cawthorns office didnt respond to a request for comment. Cawthorn is one of few GOP lawmakers to have criticized Ukraine, though a larger number of members of Congress, on both sides, have called for the United States not to send troops to Ukraine or impose a no-fly zone. The proper U.S. response to the Russian invasion has divided the old guard of the GOPincluding figures like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Graham who have called for heavy U.S. involvement in the conflictfrom more populist-leaning newcomers like Cawthorn, Senate candidate J.D. Vance, and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who have demanded that the U.S. stay out of the conflict. In a statement to a news outlet, a spokesman for Cawthorn explained his position further. Cawthorn supports Ukraine and the Ukrainian Presidents efforts to defend their country against Russian aggression, but does not want America drawn into another conflict through emotional manipulation, the spokesman said. Lou Ann Loveday and Betty Ann MacKinnon at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at Ikeda Theater at Mesa Arts Center, on March 11, 2022. (Linda Jiang/The Epoch Times) MESA, Ariz.Loneliness is a feeling that really has nothing to do with whether one is physically alone. Shen Yun Performing Arts reminds audiences that their spirits are always connected. Were never alone, and were connected from above. It doesnt matter which country, everyone doesnt want to feel alone, and they want to treasure their culture, and they want to treasure the training of their lives that theyve been given, Betty Ann MacKinnon said. Both Ms. MacKinnon and Lou Ann Loveday are retired dental hygienists from Calgary, Canada, who are in the United States for vacation. We both live in Canada and weve seen Shen Yun advertised since 2006, and so then we finally decided to do it here at this theater. And were amazed at the level of quality and expertise in the show, Ms. MacKinnon said. Shen Yun is based in New York and its dancers are trained in classical Chinese dance. It is a dance form with thousands of years of history and deep influences in other arts like martial arts, gymnastics, and acrobatics. The costumes, the color, and the pose of the dancers was absolutely fabulous, and they were very talented. The talent is just exceptional and I am going to recommend it to all my friends when it comes to Canada, Ms. Loveday said. Through dance and music, the company tells tales of ancient China. The bearing and form in classical Chinese dance allow dancers to express a large range of emotions, perfect for storytelling. They would do each dance, it just fully represented the meaning they were trying to portray. So you got the story, and you got the emotion, and you got what they were trying to show us about some of the history of Chinese artistry. And it was very awesome, Ms. MacKinnon added. China has a history of 5000 years. The five millennia has something for everyone and everyone has something they can relate to, no matter what nationality they are. The message was so good. It was inspiring to see the history and how they told the story. It was amazing, Ms. Loveday said. Yes, to see the artistry mixed with the history, the Chinese history, was inspiring because you felt like you were in their land. You didnt feel like you were separate. And they really did want to make you feel that you could understand it. So it was good, Ms. MacKinnon added. The emcees share that Shen Yuns name means the beauty of divine beings dancing, during the performance. And we certainly saw that in the show. And well remember it for years to come, Ms. Loveday said. Reporting by Linda Jiang 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. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov looks on during a press conference following talks with U.S. counterparts on soaring tensions over Ukraine, in Geneva, on Jan. 10, 2022. (Eloi Rouyer/AFP via Getty Images) Russia Tells US Convoys Carrying Weapons to Ukraine Are Legitimate Targets Russia has informed the United States that it views convoys carrying weapons to Ukrainian forces are military targets, a top Russian official said on March 12. We have warned the U.S. that the U.S.-orchestrated inundation of Ukraine with weapons from some countries is not just a dangerous move, but also an action that makes these convoys legitimate targets, Sergey Ryabkov, Russias deputy foreign minister, was quoted as saying by state media. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) declined to comment. The U.S. State Department didnt respond to a request for comment. A senior U.S. defense official told reporters Friday that there had been no signs of Russians targeting weapons shipments. The United States has been providing weapons to Ukraine, including anti-tank and anti-armor missiles. Ryabkov described such actions as escalatory. The escalatory component of Washingtons policy absolutely dominates, despite all the incantations that they are extremely responsible people and weigh every step they make, he said. John Kirby, the U.S. DoDs spokesman, told reporters recently that President Joe Bidens administration is weighing the calculus of the need and the potential risk of providing that need with every piece of material and system that were providing to Ukraine. Due to the U.S. intelligence community assessing the proposed transfer of Polish fighter jets to the United States, which would then hand them over to Ukraine, as high-risk, U.S. officials rejected the plan. U.S. Army Humvees drive along a rural road within miles of the Ukraine border, in Poland on March 11, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) But the United States has gone forward with other military aid that intelligence officials have deemed high-risk in terms of escalating the conflict, Kirby said. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, asserting the military action was necessary to demilitarize and de-Nazify the neighboring country, which was once part of the Soviet Union. Ukraine, the United States, and a number of other countries have said the invasion was unprovoked and shouldnt have happened. No countries have thus far sent troops to aid Ukraine, though the U.S. military and other NATO members have shipped arms, body armor, and other items to assist Ukrainian forces. No discussion is possible with NATO when members are giving weapons to Ukraine, Nikolai Korbinets, another Russian official, told Interfax on Saturday. The weapons intended to kill Russian servicemen. No dialogue with NATO can be possible in these circumstances, he said. Ukrainian officials have expressed gratitude for the shipments but have repeatedly called for more intensive involvement, including the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Russia has been warned, meanwhile, that attacking any NATO members will trigger an alliance rule that stipulates an attack on one member is considered an attack on all of them. Biden said in a speech Friday that hes attempting to avoid World War III by keeping U.S. troops out of the war. Ryabkov responded to Biden in his remarks Saturday, according to Interfax. We are not taking any steps, verbal, in the form of statements, whatever, which could be regarded as an escalation, there is none of this, Ryabkov said. Meanwhile, the U.S. top official is openly talking about the danger of a Third World War. This is an attempt to play on the nerves, an attempt to impose their own agenda on international community, to us the destructive goals of this line are evident. Ukrainian service members look for unexploded shells after fighting with Russian forces in Kyiv, Ukraine on Feb. 26, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images) RussiaUkraine (March 12): Around 1,300 Ukrainian Troops Killed Since Russian Invasion, Zelensky Says The latest on the RussiaUkraine crisis, March 11. Click here for updates from March 11. Around 1,300 Ukrainian Troops Killed Since Russian Invasion: Zelensky Around 1,300 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday. People are being killed. We are not happy that we have lost some 1,300 soldiers and Russia has lost about 12,000, Zelensky said at a press briefing. Zelensky said Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams had started discussing concrete topics rather than exchanging ultimatums. He said the West should be more involved in fighting Russia to prevent Russia from invading other countries. What is happening in Ukraine today will happen in Europe tomorrow. In order to prevent it everyone should fight, for themselves, fight here, in whatever way they can, he said. ___ Fighting Rages Around Kyiv, Russian Forces Regroup for Fresh Offensive Fighting raged northwest of Kyiv on Saturday, with the bulk of Russian ground forces around 16 miles from the center of the Ukrainian capital, according to British intelligence, while sources told The Epoch Times that Ukrainian forces were battling groups of Russian saboteurs in several Kyiv suburbs. Elements of a large Russian column north of Kyiv had dispersed, likely to regroup for a fresh offensive against Kyiv and possibly to reduce its vulnerability to Ukranian counter attacks, Britains Ministry of Defense said in a situational update on Saturday. Beyond Kyiv, the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Mariupol remain encircled and continue to suffer heavy Russian shelling, British intelligence said. Fighting north-west of Kyiv continues, it added. Read the full article here ___ Zelensky Says He Is Ready for Negotiation With Russia Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that hes ready to hold high-level peace talks with Russia, flagging Jerusalem as a possible location and expressing hope that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett could help broker a deal. Zelensky told foreign reporters at a briefing in Kyiv that holding lower-level technical negotiations in Belarus, Russia, or Ukraine would be unconstructive, calling instead for a meeting of leaders, potentially in Jerusalem. He took a positive view of Bennett serving as a mediator between the warring sides and called for Israel to be among the security guarantors for Ukraine. We are generally positive, Zelensky said of Bennetts role as peace broker. I am personally positive about anyones mediation But I dont call Bennett anyone because I think he can play an important role, adding that, it is very good to have such mediation. Read the full article here ____ Biden to Authorize Further $200 Million for Ukraine President Joe Biden is authorizing the State Department to provide additional aid to Ukraine of up to $200 million. The funds would cover weapons as well as military services, education, and training. The aid is part of broader U.S. support in the form of aid and sanctions. When Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that $1 billion in aid had been provided to Ukraine. The ongoing warfare has led to additional support, with Congress this week approving $13.6 billion in additional aid, a sum that includes $6.5 billion for the costs of sending troops and weapons to Eastern Europe and $6.8 billion for refugees and economic aid. Biden plans to sign the spending bill with the additional aid when he receives it next week. ___ Paris Says Call With Putin Was Difficult The office of French President Emmanuel Macron says his three-way call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin was very frank and also difficult. French officials said the Russian leader gave no indication during the call Saturday lasting more than an hour that he intends to stop the fighting in Ukraine. European leaders are working on what they describe as a punishing new set of massive economic sanctions against Moscow in the hope of getting Putin to change his mind. ____ Ukraine Says Russians Captured the Eastern Outskirts of Mariupol Ukraines military says Russian forces have captured the eastern outskirts of the besieged city of Mariupol. In a Facebook update Saturday, the military said the capture of Mariupol and Severodonetsk in the east were a priority for Russian forces. Mariupol has been under siege for over a week. ____ Scholz and Macron Call for an Immediate Cease-Fire in Talk With Putin German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin urging him to agree to an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine. Scholzs office said the 75-minute call Saturday was part of ongoing international efforts to end the war in Ukraine. It said the leaders of Germany and France called on Putin to begin the process of finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Further details of the call were not released. Separately, Scholz spoke earlier Saturday with President Volodymyr Zelensky to get his assessment of the current situation. ___ Russia Warns US Over Shipments of Military Equipment to Ukraine A senior Russian diplomat is warning that Moscow could target Western shipments of military equipment to Ukraine. Speaking Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow has warned the United States it would see the deliveries of Western weapons to Ukraine as targets. Ryabkov said Russia warned the U.S. that pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isnt just a dangerous move, its an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets. He also denounced the U.S. sanctions against Moscow as an unprecedented attempt to deal a serious blow to various sectors of the Russian economy, but noted that Moscow will act in a measured way to avoid hurting itself. Ryabkov said that Russia has no intention to expel Western media and businesses amid the soaring tensions with the West, adding that we arent going to escalate the situation. ___ US Soldiers Continue to Deploy to Europe U.S. soldiers are continuing to deploy to Europe, joining thousands already sent overseas to support NATO allies amid Russias invasion of Ukraine. About 130 soldiers from the 87th Division Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade gathered Friday at Hunter Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, and departed on a chartered flight. The soldiers are in addition to the estimated 3,800 soldiers from the Armys 3rd Infantry Division who deployed recently from nearby Fort Stewart. A division commander said that soldiers are being told to prepare for about six months overseas. The Pentagon has ordered roughly 12,000 total service members from various U.S. bases to Europe. The soldiers mission is to train alongside military units of NATO allies in a display of force aimed at deterring further aggression by Russia. The Pentagon has stressed U.S. forces are not being deployed to fight in Ukraine. ____ Fighting Rages Outside Kyiv Fighting raged northwest of Kyiv on Saturday, with the bulk of Russian ground forces 25 km (16 miles) from the center of the Ukrainian capital, while several other cities were encircled and under heavy shelling, the UK Defence Ministry said. Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said she hoped that several humanitarian corridors would open on Saturday for thousands of residents in the bombarded cities, including from the besieged port city of Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia. Air raid sirens blared across most Ukrainian cities on Saturday morning urging people to seek shelters, local media reported, after President Volodymyr Zelensky said the war had reached a strategic turning point. Russian forces appeared to be regrouping, possibly for a fresh offensive that could target the capital Kyiv in a few days, Britains defense ministry said on Friday. In a Saturday update, it said fighting northwest of the capital continued and the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Mariupol remained encircled under heavy Russian shelling. ____ Italy Seizes Russian Billionaires $578 Million Yacht Italian financial police has seized a Russian-owned superyacht valued at 530 million euros ($578 million) in the port of Trieste as part of seizures of oligarch wealth to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt the war on Ukraine. The Sy A yacht was identified by Italian police as belonging to belonging to billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko. It was seized Friday evening. Video shows police in cars with flashing lights approaching the triple-mast yacht and officers boarding it. Italian authorities last week seized some 143 million euros ($156 million) in luxury yachts and villas belonging to Russian billionaires in such picturesque retreats as Sardinia, the Ligurian coast, and Lake Como. ____ IMO Calls for a Safe Corridor in the Black and Azov Seas The International Maritime Organization, a U.N. oversight body for international seafaring and the law of the sea, is calling for a safe corridor in the Black and Azov seas to let commercial ships evacuate. Many of the waters are mined, and Russian navy vessels are off the shores of Ukraine. Explosions have hit at least two cargo ships in the area and dozens of others have been stranded. ____ Meta Defends Policy on Calls for Violence Against Russia After Country Blocks Instagram Facebook owner Meta defended a change in its content policy after Russia mounted a criminal case and blocked Instagram in response to the move. Meta on March 10 announced a temporary change in its content policy that would allow users to express their views against Russias attack on Ukraine, allowing posts such as death to Russian invaders. The Meta statement reads: As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as death to Russian invaders. We still wont allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians. Read the full article here Tom Ozimek, Mimi Nguyen Ly, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington, on Feb. 8, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) SCOTUS Should Uphold the Right of Religious People to Refuse to Serve the LGBT Agenda Commentary Lorie Smith owns a Colorado web design company called 303 Creative. It isnt merely her livelihood. She believes web design is how God wants her to live her life. Colorados public accommodations law forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. Smith is willing to serve all customers, including LGBT customers. Smith wants to design marriage websites. However, Colorado authorities claim the law empowers them to mandate specifically that she design websites for same-sex marriages. There she draws the line: Promoting same-sex marriage, she says, would compromise my Christian witness and tell a story about marriage that contradicts Gods true story of marriagethe very story He is calling me to promote. Smith sued the state, claiming violation of her First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion and freedom of speech. Her case, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (pdf), is now before the Supreme Court. That court agreed to examine only the free speech part of the case. This essay explains why, under the original meaning of the First Amendment, Smith should win. The state and would-be customers interfering with her business model have no more constitutional standing than a thug who disrupts a church service or shouts down a speaker. Public Accommodations Laws, SCOTUS First Amendment Cases Smiths case is legally difficult for two reasons. The first is that Colorados public accommodations lawlike those of many other stateshas metastasized far beyond its original purpose. As their name suggests, public accommodations laws originally applied to businesses, such as hotels and restaurants, serving standardized products to the public at large. Public accommodations laws prevented such businesses from discriminating against customers for reasons of race, religion, or ethnicity. These laws formed a very limited exception to the traditional rule that non-monopoly businesses may choose their own customers. However, the Colorado legislatureas with other state legislatureshas vastly expanded its public accommodations law. It has been extended to boutique services that use artistic skills to create niche products for a very limited clientele. Additionally, more and more victims groups have persuaded legislators to include them within the laws privileges. As a result, the Colorado public accommodations law now has 11 privileged categories and some subcategories. Several categories dont consist of victims in any real sense: They consist of people who voluntarily engage in bizarre behavior, but are unwilling to accept the social consequences. Expansions in public accommodations laws not only constrict economic freedom. Increasingly, they clash with First Amendment rights. Lorie Smiths case is one example; the famous Colorado Masterpiece Cake case is another (pdf). The second reason Smiths case is difficult is the nature of the Supreme Courts modern First Amendment precedents. These are almost all cases decided in the 20th century by liberalactivist justices. Those justices did too much guessing and not enough research. So what passes for modern First Amendment law often has little connection to the real First Amendment. Smith lost in the three-judge court of appeals by a 21 margin (pdf). In accordance with 20th-century Supreme Court precedents, the majority ruled that the state mandate didnt violate Smiths freedom of religion because it was neutral and of general applicability. Also in accordance with 20th-century precedents, the court ruled that (1) Smiths artistic expression is First Amendment speech but (2) the mandate overrides her free speech right because of Colorados compelling interest in protecting both the dignity interests of members of marginalized groups and their material interests in accessing the commercial marketplace. The ruling is utterly divorced from the real meaning of the First Amendment. Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press The First Amendment reads as follows: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Even though the amendment mentions only Congress, 20th-century SCOTUS decisions applied it to state governments as well. The correctness of those decisions is debatable, but lets accept them for present purposes. The amendment bans six kinds of government action: (1) establishingi.e., giving preferential treatment to (pdf)any particular religion, (2) prohibiting free exercise of religion, (3) abridging the freedom of speech, (4) abridging the freedom of the press, (5) abridging the right of peaceful assembly, and (6) abridging the right to petition. By the amendments original meaning, speech is in-person communication. The press is communication through a medium, such as a newspaper, letter, or (today) a broadcast or website (pdf). Thus, when Smith designs websites, she isnt exercising freedom of speech, as the court of appeals held, but freedom of the press. As originally understood, the First Amendment doesnt distinguish between political, artistic, or commercial messages. It doesnt distinguish between messages issued by natural persons, associations, or corporations, nor (contrary to a suggestion by the court of appeals) does it distinguish between messages that are gratuitous and those that are paid for. All are protected equally. Connections Among First Amendment Rights All six First Amendment rights are tightly related, for all derived from the same 18th-century practices. For example, in the 18th century, a great deal of political speech took the form of church sermons before assembled congregants, and important sermons often were printed in newspapers or pamphlets. Thus, a single chain of events could implicate freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press. Alternatively, speakers might address a political assembly, which then adopted formal resolves. Such resolves frequently were published in newspapers or pamphlets and/or converted into petitions. Again, a single chain of events could implicate freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and the right to petition. Freedom of the press almost always was (and is) inseparable from several other First Amendment rights. Establishing and operating a newspaper (or designing and maintaining a website) requires cooperation among financiers, reporters and other writers, technicians, managers, printers, suppliers, distributors, and customers. This cooperation requires speech, assembly, and written communication. What These Close Connections Tell Us Because of their close connections, all First Amendment rights have similar limits. For example, they dont extend to obstructing national defense in time of war, they dont extend to unfairly damaging the reputations of others, and they dont include violating others rights or disturbing the public peace. As the 1786 New Hampshire constitution affirmed: Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship GOD according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or disturb others in their religious worship. On the other hand, within their limits, these rights may not be impaired even by a law that, in the opinion of the judiciary, furthers a compelling purpose. Another common principle behind all these First Amendment rights is this: When you lawfully exercise rights, you may exclude people who seek to interfere. For example, a religious congregations right to free exercise encompasses a power to exclude disrupters and non-believers. The right to assembly encompasses power to exclude those who disrupt or refuse to follow the assemblys rules. A newspaper may exclude interlopers from wandering about the premises. Conservative and libertarian speakers on college campuses have learned that their right to speak often depends on excluding those who want to shout them down. The Results for Lorie Smith In designing websites, Smith is exercising both freedom of the press and freedom of religion. State officials have no more authority to censor her message or her religious choices than they have the authority to censor newspaper editorials or pastoral sermons. On the contrary, her press and religious rights give her the power to exclude anyone from her business who would interfere with her exercise of those rights. Robert G. Natelson, a former law professor, taught Constitutional Law and First Amendment. He is the senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver and authored both The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant (3rd ed., 2015) and several scholarly articles on First Amendment history. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Amy Graham and Brea Adams at the March 11 Shen Yun performance at the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Theater, in Salt Lake City. (Yue Yi/The Epoch Times) SALT LAKE CITY, UtahOn the evening of March 11, Utahns found themselves transported to a land and time far away. Shen Yun, a New York-based classical Chinese dance and music company, presented 5,000 years of Chinese history through acrobatic dance, lively storytelling, and eye-popping color. Graphic designer Amy Graham and interior designer and event coordinator Brea Adams attended the performance. It was very colorful, beautiful, very synchronized, said Ms. Graham, adding that the performance inspired many questions about China and Chinese culture. I want more understanding behind what it was showing because Im so curious. Fascinated! Much of Chinas classical heritage was lost during the last 70 years of communist rule, but Shen Yun works to bring this culture back. It made me a little bit sad to know that you cant find a show like this in China and that so many things have been lost, said Ms. Adams. But Im so grateful that Shen Yun is traveling and teaching and keeping the spirit alive. In ancient China, principles of Buddhism and Taoism were central to daily life. While that got turned on its head since the communist takeover of the 1940s, Shen Yun offers a glimpse of what those times were like. Ive never heard much of the spirituality in China, said Ms. Graham. There was a lot of reference to divine in the show. Both were glad to get out of the house to experience something enriching. I would just say that its a cultural experience and its a good thing to go see and learn and that everybody should go see it, Ms. Graham said. Ms. Adams agreed. I think that people needed to work together. I think that beauty, I think music, and I think dance, all transcend some of the things that are happening, she said, adding that shell be back with her daughter. Professor Beatrice Knudsen at the March 11 Shen Yun performance in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Sunny Chen/The Epoch Times) Beatrice Knudsen is a medical doctor and pathologist and professor at the University of Washington of Utah. She appreciated that Shen Yuns emcees explained the fact that the traditions presented in the show have largely been lost in China today. I love the variety in the choreography and the expression and I also really love the cultural context, she said. I think everyone liked to hear more about the cultural context. Culture gives the identity of the person, she continued. And so if you lose your culture, you lose your identity. And you dont know where youre coming from. So culture comes with tradition. That is passed on over so many generations. And I think if you lose that, its very tragic. Reporting by Yue Yi and Sunny Chen. The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006. U.S. Military Academy cadets attend the 2020 graduation ceremony at West Point, New York, on June 13, 2020. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images) Six West Point Cadets Overdose During South Florida Spring Break Visit PUNTA GORDA, FloridaSix West Point Military Academy cadets were hospitalized after overdosing on fentanyl-laced cocaine on March 10 in a suburb of Fort Lauderdale while on spring break. Two are listed in critical condition on ventilators, three are stable, and one has been released, according to police reports. West Point issued a statement the afternoon of March 11 acknowledging the March 10 events at a rental house and said they were going to investigate. The U.S. Military Academy is aware of the situation involving West Point cadets, which occurred Thursday night (March 10) in Wilton Manors, FL, said a statement from the academys public affairs office. The incident is currently under investigation and no other details are available at this time. According to reports, an unidentified woman was also taken to the hospital and treated but it is not known whether she suffered an overdose, or if she was affiliated with the academy. Four of the six students were using the laced drug and at least two of them immediately went into cardiac arrest, Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan said in a written statement. We are being told that four of those people had taken a substance that was believed to be cocaine laced with fentanyl when they went down into cardiac arrest. The statement went on to say that two students ran to another house for help while two other cadets administered CPR. The cadets giving mouth-to-mouth succumbed to the drugs as well. They went down, Gollan said in the statement referring to the two students giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he said. We were trying to get those two individuals back, so their heart was beating again, with Narcan. However, four of those individuals were still in respiratory arrest. Authorities fear that a bad batch of drugs may lead to other near-fatal situations. It brings great concern there could be more ODs over the next couple of days, just basing what we are seeing with the fentanyl we saw that was here, Gollan told reporters. This is a great concern because you have a drug thats laced with unknown substance here, and I mean, its just the beginning of Spring Break. Gollan reported that the six cadets were staying in the suburban Airbnb home with several other students. This incident comes two days after Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody released a statement on the increasing amount of counterfeit pills that are laced with fentanyl with some users overdosing and dying after taking just one pill. Spring break is underway, and while millions are flocking to Florida for vacation, I am asking students to take precautions while enjoying some time away from school, Moody said in her release. Deadly fentanyl from Mexico is flooding the illicit drug market and taking just one counterfeit pill laced with this synthetic opioid can kill. FILE This April 26, 2006, file photo shows different brands and dosages of fentanyl patches in St. Louis. Fentanyl is a narcotic that is typically administered to people with chronic pain, including end-stage cancer patients. It is also used as an anesthetic. It is considered 80 times more powerful than morphine and can kill by inhibiting breathing. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam, File) Opioids are a family of drugs that include prescription painkillers such as hydrocodone and oxycodone, as well as illegal drugs like heroin, she explained in her statement. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says, from 1999 to 2019, nearly 841,000 people died from a drug overdose, and in 2019 more than 71,000 died from drug overdoses and it was the leading cause of death in the United States. More than 70 percent of overdose deaths were caused by an opioid prescription, heroin or fentanyl (synthetic opioids), they said. Provisional data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Medical Examiners Commission 2020 Interim Report, indicate there were 3,834 opioid-related deaths reporteda 30 percent increase since 2019. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Fentanyl is a synthetic prescription opioidmade illegally and is 100 times more powerful than morphine. For example, the website stated, just two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose. Ashley Moody said a law was passed in 2017 that allows drug dealers to face murder charges if a fentanyl sale leads to an overdose. Texas Supreme Court Rules Against Abortion Providers, Effectively Ends Challenge to States Abortion Ban The Texas Supreme Court ruled on March 11 that state officials do not have the authority to enforce the states six-week abortion ban, which effectively ends the abortion clinics federal legal challenge to the law. The Texas Heartbeat Act, also known as Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), bans abortions after a heartbeat is detectedusually around six weeks after conceptionunless a medical emergency exists. It has no exception for pregnancies due to incest or rape. The law has a unique enforcement mechanism such that state officials have no role in enforcing it, but private citizens can file lawsuits against anyone who allegedly aids and abets in an abortion that violates the law. The exception is for individuals who caused the pregnancy through incest or rape, who cannot file such lawsuits. Because no state officials are involved in enforcing the law, abortion providers have found it difficult to bring legal challenges against particular individuals. Texass high court has nine justices, all of whom are Republicans. It ruled on March 11 that state medical licensing officials have no authority to enforce the law. The Court concluded that Texas law does not authorize the state-agency executives to enforce the Acts requirements, either directly or indirectly, they wrote (pdf). The ruling means the abortion providers cannot sue the state officials to challenge Texass abortion ban, effectively ending the legal challenge. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, praised the development. This measure, which has saved thousands of unborn babies, remains fully in effect, and the pro-abortion plaintiffs lawsuit against the state is essentially finished, he said on Twitter. TEXAS IS PRO-LIFE! Pro-life group Texas Right to Life called the decision a big victory for the state. We have said from the beginning that abortionists lawsuit should be dismissed, and were grateful that the law will continue saving thousands of lives, Kimberlyn Schwartz, the organizations media director, said in a statement. Nancy Northup, CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, an organization representing the abortion providers in the case, said in a statement: With this ruling, the sliver of this case that we were left with is gone. She said the six-week abortion ban is unconstitutional and continues unchecked in the state of Texas, adding, The courts have allowed Texas to nullify a constitutional right. The Texas Supreme Courts ruling is a matter of judicial procedure and did not focus on whether the abortion ban is constitutional. When the abortion ban went into effect on Sept. 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an effort to block the measure in a 54 ruling on the same day. Whole Womans Health, which operates four Texas abortion clinics as well as other clinics in five other states, had sued to overturn the law. Whole Womans Health also challenged the unique enforcement mechanism of the Texas law. Read More Abortions in Texas Plummet Following Enactment of Ban The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on Nov. 1, 2021. The court refused to stay the law and threw out most of the arguments against the law, but allowed the narrow challenge to continue against certain state licensing officials, ruling that they might have indirect authority to enforce S.B. 8. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch on Dec. 16, 2021, sent the challenge back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which sent the case to the Texas Supreme Court, at the request of Texas officials, who argued they were immune to the lawsuit since the law doesnt give them authority to enforce it. In a 21 vote, the 5th Circuit court panel asked the Texas Supreme Court to interpret S.B. 8 and determine whether the state officials are appropriate defendants under state law. The Texas court wrote on March 11: Senate Bill 8 provides that its requirements may be enforced by a private civil action, that no state official may bring or participate as a party in any such action, that such an action is the exclusive means to enforce the requirements, and that these restrictions apply notwithstanding any other law. We have been fighting back against this ban for six long months, but the courts have failed us, Whole Womans Health said in a statement. The group said that neighboring states are about to pass similar bans making it harder for people in Texas to get abortion care. It said that S.B. 8 is unsustainable and cruel and that people in Texas deserve access to abortion care. There is a beautiful moment in J.R.R. Tolkiens The Return of the King that emphasizes a key, reoccurring motif throughout the Lord of the Rings trilogy: In the deepest, darkest depths of despair, hope can still be found. After rescuing Frodo from the clutches of orcs in the Tower of Cirith Ungol, Samwise begins the slow trek up Mount Doom to help destroy the Ring of Power. Frodo, having lost his physical and mental fortitude to continue the trek, collapses. In this moment, Sam looks skyward and witnesses the clouds parting to reveal one bright star: The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. This gleaming metaphor seems to have vanished from the current discussions that surround Tolkiens masterpiece. However, considering the contemporary state of much of the world, it is becoming ever more necessary to expound the universal positive virtues that the books emphasize through the narrative devices of the heros journey, myth, and folklore. The One Ring, a replica from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. (Yudi Angga Kristanu/Shutterstock) Fans Defend The Rings Recently, The Lord of the Rings has been the center of online debates after Amazon Studios released a brief trailer of its upcoming series The Rings of Power. Almost instantly, social media was ablaze with angry fan reactions countered by journalistic defense of the studio. One scathing article against the backlash comes courtesy of the Milwaukee Independent titled, A Non-White Fantasy World: Why Tolkiens The Rings of Power Is No Less Authentic With a Cast of Black Characters. The pieces unending barrage of straw-man fallacies is intended to delegitimize fan reactions, and it misdiagnoses the source of frustration that stems not specifically from casting but from the mishandling and lack of respect for the source material. Several insider interviews and recanted publicity videos from Amazon show a focusbut not on the heroic journey to disband tyranny and uphold a civilizations lost values and culture. Instead, as the shows producer Lindsey Weber told Vanity Fair: It felt only natural to us that an adaptation of Tolkiens work would reflect what the world actually looks like. The power of The Lord of the Rings lies more in the universal struggle against tyranny that threatens the harmony of a race has become consumed by greed and power. Within the narrative, the races myths, legends, and culture are threatened by an all-encompassing evil. The weight of this struggle is placed upon the unlikely shoulders of two small hobbits: Frodo and Sam. Through this heroic journey, the audience experiences not only the universal struggle between good and evil but also the mixed cultural history of Middle-Earth. This history showcases a variety of failures, tragedies, and heroic success that exemplifies the unending renegotiation of good and evil as a cyclical wheel, worthy of retelling and reexamining. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo is handed Bilbos ring and he laments that such perilous times have befallen him. Gandalf reassures him and states: So do I and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. This speech, one of many hopeful instances, stresses the reoccurring moments throughout all history that must be faced by the unwilling. Yet many rise to the occasionsuch as Frodo and Samand muster the fortitude to thwart such tyranny. Myth, Culture, and Narrative World Building Countless academic articles and books have been published on Tolkiens influences for The Lord of the Rings. His endeavor to inscribe a mythology for England and its people borrowed from Norse, European, Greek, and Roman legends. These tales, woven into the expansive narrative world, establish a highly rewarding reading experience. Middle-Earths history and struggles are intermittently encountered by the audience through poems and songs regaled at various moments. They not only help structure and ground Tolkiens world but also generate deep characterization and tone. Throughout the course of the three books, there is an overwhelming tenor of struggle, loss, and decline. The elveswho have been in Middle-Earth for thousands of yearsare departing en masse; the dwarves once great Mines of Moria are abandoned and desolate; and the ancient Ents are saddened by the loss of their Entwives. This motif of cultural regression is felt in the landscape of Middle-Earth and is also experienced through the oral traditions of song, poetry, and myth-telling. Tales of tragedy, of once great kings and kingdoms, are all woven into the very foundation of the narrative, which gives the main struggle profound weight and power. The decadence and failure of eras predating most of the protagonists is the burden they all now bear. It is a painful lesson for every generation that reads the series, and a reminder to celebrate in the shared heritages that bind cultures and societies together or potentially face darkness that thrives on cultural decay and rot. This painful reminder strikes the hearts of Tolkiens fans who are criticizing Amazons series. For them, The Lord of the Ring is more than a corporate money-grab to cash in on the success of the fantasy genre and extol contemporary social issues. Instead, it is a mythic retelling of history, culture, and lore that should resonate with all humanity. The heros journey that forces one from the comfort of the status quo to face adversity and return changed is a tale that transcends race and skin color. It is universal to the human spirit. Frodo and Sams perilous trek through Middle-Earth to Mount Doom forces them to leave comfortable lives in the Shire and encounter true struggle and tyranny to defend all they hold dear. It is a story of legend, culture, myth, friendship, moral obligation, and triumph of good over evil. Focusing solely on the surface-level fantasy element and suturing it to contemporary culture wars was Amazons grave misstep, and the fan community is holding them accountable. A Ukrainian serviceman walks past the vertical tail fin of a Russian Su-34 bomber lying in a damaged building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 8, 2022. (Andrew Marienko/AP Photo) Ukraine War Will Change Indo-Pacific and World: Experts The Russian war on Ukraine will affect global strategy and alter the political and security landscape in the Indo-Pacific region for decades to come, according to defense and security experts. Russian President Vladimir Putins war on Ukraine is like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said Yasuhiro Matsuda, a professor of international politics at the University of Tokyo, during a recent interview with the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank. It will change the world. Matsuda said that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping shared a point of view with Putin, and that both believe the West is in decline and ultimately useless for their aims. He said hes concerned that Xis beliefs will become more extreme, as Putins apparently have, with increased age and isolation, and because the Chinese leader personally emulates Putin. I think that their worldview might become more and more extreme, he said. The personal dictatorship is very dangerous, he added, noting the amount of control that Xi personally holds over China. Matsuda said that while Xi may emulate Putin in his ruling of China, hes likely taken aback by the Russian militarys struggle to make progress in Ukraine amid stiff resistance, which might cause Beijing some reputational damage due to its support of Russia. This time, Xi Jinping is kind of disappointed by Putin because the Russian militarys performance is so bad. Xi Jinping bet on Putins gamble, but it was not successful, Matsuda said. Partnership Xi may be concerned that China is being encircled by U.S. influence in Japan and Korea, and through security partnerships such as the AUKUS trilateral security pact between the United States, Britain, and Australia, Matsuda said. For that reason, Xi likely was looking to use Russias war in Ukraine to divert allied resources away from the Indo-Pacific region and toward Europe, and resist U.S. diplomatic and economic pressures. Matsuda said Xi apparently has abandoned the CCPs core value of national sovereignty and allowed Ukraine to be invaded, even though the regime signed a 2013 treaty pledging to defend Ukraine in the event of a nuclear attack. Putin wouldnt have been confident enough to invade Ukraine without knowing that the CCP would tacitly support the invasion, Matsuda says. It has also been reported that Chinese officials explicitly asked Russian authorities to postpone the invasion of Ukraine until after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Amid Moscows military failures in Ukraine and growing claims of Russian war crimes, Chinese leadership recently reaffirmed that Russia is its foremost strategic partner. The CCP also committed to purchasing natural gas with rubles and opened the door for Russia to join Chinese banking systems to help ease the brunt of Western sanctions. Despite the apparent effort to split Western attention, however, the Pentagon stated that the Indo-Pacific remains its priority theater, adding that China is the pacing challenge and the issue of Taiwan is the pacing scenario. The Struggle for Taiwan The CCP maintains that the island of Taiwan is a breakaway province and must be united by force, if necessary, with the mainland. The island has been self-governed since 1949, however, and has never been controlled by the CCP. Tensions over the possible invasion of Taiwan by the CCP have raised fears of a war between nuclear powers, as its possible that the United States would join a war to defend Taiwans continued de facto independence. During a recent discussion of the war in Ukraine and its implications for the Indo-Pacific hosted by the Center for a New American Security, a defense-focused think tank, experts addressed the issue of how Ukraine was shaping Indo-Pacific strategy and the difficulty of gauging just how the struggles of the Russian military in Ukraine were coloring Xis plans for Taiwan. I think its impossible for us from the outside to actually adjudicate the trade-offs in Xi Jinpings mind, said Ashley Tellis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank. My own instinct is that he would be reminded more clearly than before about the risks of what a potential invasion entail. To that end, he said its vital that the United States ensure that Taiwan has enough military capabilities to convince Xi that a fight wouldnt be worth the outcome. The only way that you reinforce deterrence between China and Taiwan is that you make certain that [Taiwans] defensive capabilities are increased, Tellis said. Whether those capabilities are increased unilaterally or through the assistance of the United States. Thats the only thing that holds balance. Building a robust sense of Taiwanese nationalism and a capacity to resist China were the two variables that could realistically increase the cost to China in the event of a war, he added. Irrespective of what Xi thinks, objectively we simply make it harder for him to pursue unification through force, Tellis said. He said the United States now faces a global challenge in maintaining its support of the international liberal order in the face of CCP and Russian aggression. To that end, he said the ability to deter China and Russia, and balance the peace throughout the Indo-Pacific, could prove to be the test that makes or breaks the United States status as the most powerful nation on earth. It impacts our vision of how we see our own role in the world, Tellis said. If we dont do it right, then I think our status as a superpower itself becomes open for debate. Russias invasion of the Ukraine has brought devastation or death to hundreds of thousands of people. Whenever and however the brutal war ends, millions of Ukrainians will be displaced, as well as Russians vocally opposed to the war who fear President Vladimir Putins retaliation. Between the invasions beginning and March 6, more than 13,000 anti-war protesters were arrested. Russias crackdown on dissenters includes blocking access to Facebook and Twitter which could disseminate anti-war news that Putin wants hushed up. In early March, Putin signed legislation under which people suspected of spreading fake news about Russian forces could face up to 15 years in prison. The U.N. Refugee agency reported that 2 million Ukrainians have fled their country, mostly to Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. But the news agency Reuters found that, at the U.S.-Mexico border, a growing number of Russian and Ukrainian nationals have been encountered. In Mexico, the migrants buy throwaway vehicles and drive across the border into the United States to seek asylum. Assuming the Russian invasion continues, tens of thousands more displaced Eastern Europeans could eventually reach the U.S. to make their asylum claims. Illegal entry attempts could increase as visas become increasingly difficult to obtain. A Miami immigration lawyer fluent in Russian, Andrey Plaksin, said he is overwhelmed with calls and emails inquiring about the visa process and their availability. One option that might help Eastern Europeans get to the U.S. would be if they applied for a nonimmigrant tourist or work visa, assuming they could find a U.S. consular post open and accepting appointments. Once inside the U.S., they would face minimal chance of deportation. Almost immediately after the invasion began, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas granted Ukrainians living in the U.S. before March 1 temporary protected status for 18 months, protecting them from deportation for that period. Historically, TPS is quasi-automatically rolled over in 18-month increments for periods as long as two decades. By an overwhelming margin, Americans and Congress wants to help Ukrainian citizens and other countries that Putin may be determined to destroy. Eight in ten voters are following the Ukraine crisis closely, and 70 percent favor strong sanctions against Russia. But with the Russia-Ukraine war coming just weeks after the U.S. airlift that took Afghan nationals to overseas U.S. military bases and the American homeland, and with the illegal immigration invasion ongoing, many question how the country can environmentally sustain itself. Projecting Bidens first year immigration totals over his four-year term about 2 million illegal immigrants, 650,000 got aways, 1 million-plus lawful permanent residents and tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees and the U.S. will have about 8 million illegal immigrants that Customs and Border Protection processed, and roughly 2.5 million got aways now in the interior, safe from deportation. The Afghan resettlement is over, but a Ukrainian surge could surpass those numbers. To the existing totals, remember that demographers must include the roughly 3.1 family members that lawfully present immigrants, including refugees/asylees, will petition to be admitted to the country, as well as the families that theyll start or add to once in the U.S. Despite the Biden administrations ballyhoo about a future green America, hes ignored the huge carbon footprint that thousands of new immigrants will make as housing, roads, schools and hospitals are built to accommodate the needs of them and their offspring. Fifty years ago, the Rockefeller Commission Report, Population and the American Future, was submitted to Congress. The report urged population stabilization at the 1972 level, 211 million. Instead, population has soared to the current 334 million, and is projected to reach about 400 million by mid-century. Be mindful that these totals are pre-Bidens expansive open borders and resettlement policies. Fewer people would relieve, at least in part, many of Americas social ailments, including most obviously sprawl and overcrowding. Yet stable populations obvious benefits have escaped every presidential administration, Republican and Democrat, since Richard Nixon. A half-century of disregard for population growth has had no noticeable benefits for most Americans. For the donor class elite, however, growth is good for them. 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. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Ukraines NATO Membership Is Not Relevant or on the Agenda: Jens Stoltenberg Ukraines NATO membership was never imminent and will not be on the agenda in the near future, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday. It has been clear for a long time that membership for Ukraine was not something that was imminent, not something which is relevant in the near future, he said at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Stoltenberg emphasized that Ukraine has the right to pursue NATO membership and the organization respects every nations choice. Nonetheless, its up to the 30 NATO allies to decide whether Ukraine is ready for membership, he said. Local residents cross a destroyed bridge as they evacuate from their town in Irpin, near Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 7, 2022. (Jedrzej Nowicki/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via Reuters) Ukraines pursuit of NATO membership plays a critical role in the Russia-Ukraine war. In February 2019, then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a constitutional amendment committing the country to become a member of NATO and the European Union after the parliament passed the bill. Poroshenko told the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine days after he signed the amendment that joining NATO was a guarantee of security for Ukraine. On the Russian side, Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia needs to lay down red lines to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, saying that Ukraines growing ties with the alliance could make it a launchpad for NATO missiles targeted at Russia. However, the NATO allies were shy about clarifying their stance on letting Ukraine join NATO, though it was clearly not on their agenda before Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. As the war intensified and caused millions of people to flee Ukraine, some NATO leaders started to admit that Ukraines membership is not on the agenda and voice objection to membership for the former Soviet Union country openly. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on March 4 that Ukraines NATO membership will not take place. I also made it clear in Moscow and in my visit that this option [Ukraines membership of NATO] is not on the table and will not take place, he said during an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF. I said publicly that we all know that Ukraines NATO membership is not on the alliances agenda today, he added. That was understood by the American president, that [was] also understood by the French president. Scholz said he shares Russian President Vladimir Putins security concern and clarified to Putin that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO. The Russians were worried about the control issue of their security. [Putin was worried] that NATO has a military setup and rockets in Ukraine targeting Russian territory. That is why we tried to make it clear that this will not occur, he elaborated. As Russia carries out its invasion of Ukraine, the international interests of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are also coming into focus. Prior to the invasion, the CCP and Russia signed a no limits strategic agreement, and the CCP made public its intentions to take Taiwan. Sanctions are now driving Russian businesses to the Chinese banking system, and questions are growing on how closely the Chinese regime will support Russia amid the growing conflict. What is the real goal of the Chinese Communist Party? Will it take the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a strategic opportunity to similarly attack Taiwan? And what does it mean for the United States if the Chinese banking system gains the ability to compete with the U.S. financial system globally? Join host Joshua Philipp and distinguished guest speakers Stu Cvrk, Guermantes Lailari, and Alex Newman as we explore these topics in this special online event. Join the event: March 14, 8:00 p.m. ET, on EpochTV.com Moderated by: Joshua Philipp Host of Crossroads, Senior Investigative Reporter at The Epoch Times Distinguished Panelists: Stu Cvrk News Analyst and Retired US Navy Captain Guermantes (G-Man) Lailari Taiwan Fellow and Retired USAF Foreign Area Officer Alex Newman Award-Winning International Journalist Subscribe to the new Crossroads newsletter and stay up-to-date! Follow EpochTV on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpochTVus Twitter: https://twitter.com/EpochTVus Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/EpochTV Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/epochtv Gab: https://gab.com/EpochTV Telegram: https://t.me/EpochTV Parler: https://parler.com/#/user/EpochTV Signage is seen at the United States Department of the Treasury headquarters in Washington on Aug. 29, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters) US Adds Dozens of Kremlin-Linked Russians to Sanctions List Dozens of Kremlin-linked Russian individuals and entities have been added to a sanctions list over what the U.S. Treasury Department described as their enabling Putins war against Ukraine. Treasury said in a March 11 statement that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had issued new sanctions targeting Russian and Kremlin elites, oligarchs, and Russias political and national security leaders who have supported Russian President Vladimir Putins brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine. Putin describes the invasion as a special military operation to disarm Ukraines military and topple its government, a dual objective hes called demilitarization and denazification that he claims is needed to protect Russians living in separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine from abuse and genocide. Ukrainian leaders and their Western allies say thats all a pretext for Russian territorial expansion and subjugation of Ukraine, which Putin has suggested isnt worthy of statehood. The new round of sanctions target three immediate family members of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Russian tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, and all members of the Management Board of the sanctioned VTB Bank. Also designated are 12 members of the Russian State Duma, the countrys lawmaking assembly. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow in a Dec. 23, 2021, file photograph. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images) Fridays action means that all U.S.-based property and interests in property of the sanctioned individuals are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Also prohibited are any transactions by U.S. persons or within the United States that involve the property or interests in property of the sanctioned individuals. Treasury continues to hold Russian officials to account for enabling Putins unjustified and unprovoked war, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. OFAC is also issuing guidance to guard against the use of virtual currency to evade the sanctions, as well as guidance and authorizations to implement President Joe Bidens new executive order that imposes new import and export restrictions on Russia. Todays actions also further isolates the severely damaged Russian economy by prohibiting trade in products that are key to the economic and financial interests of all Russian elites, Yellen said. Bidens executive order bans the import from Russia of such items as vodka, caviar, and diamonds while prohibiting the export of luxury goods to Russia from the United States. Also banned is the supply in any form, be it exportation or sale, of U.S. dollar-denominated banknotes to the government of Russia or any person in Russia. Russia, for its part, is looking to retaliate with its own sanctions list. The lists are ready, we are working on it. This is by and large part of the daily work. They will be made public soon, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said, according to Russian state news agency Tass. Crippling sanctions imposed on Russia over its military actions in Ukraine threaten to cast the country into its gravest economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York, on Sept. 21, 2021. (Eduardo Munoz/Pool Photo via AP, File) US Designates Qatar as Major Non-NATO Ally; Colombia to Follow The Biden administration has designated Qatar as a major non-NATO ally (MNNA) of the United States, with Colombia soon to follow, opening up new avenues of cooperation between the nations. President Joe Biden confirmed Qatars status in a March 10 statement, fulfilling the promise he made to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Qatars emir, at the White House in late January. Qatar is the third Gulf region nation to become an MNNA nation, after Kuwait and Bahrain. I think its long overdue, Biden said at the time. Designating Qatar as an MNNA is targeted at reflecting the relationship between the two countries, Biden said. Qatar and the United States have collaborated on several critical issues in recent years, including in the evacuation of Afghanistan refugees following the Taliban takeover of the country in August last year. The White House also intends to make Colombia an MNNA, according to a March 10 joint statement by Biden and Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez. The designation is a recognition of Colombias significant contributions as a NATO global partner, its commitment to peaceful resolution of disputes, promotion of democracy, and rejection of Russias attack on Ukraine. This signifies the most important recognition of the importance that we have built over the years, Duque told CBS News. This will allow Colombia to have access to investment and trade and security in matters that will strengthen our relationship and protect Colombia. He pointed out that the MNNA status will allow the country to receive additional support in matters such as refugee protection and climate action. At present, the United States has designated 18 nations as major non-NATO allies. They include Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Tunisia, and Qatar. Besides these countries, Taiwan has also been given the privileges of an MNNA member but without any formal designations. The Major Non-NATO Ally designation is a powerful symbol of the close relationship the United States shares with those countries and demonstrates our deep respect for the friendship for the countries to which it is extended. While MNNA status provides military and economic privileges, it does not entail any security commitments to the designated country, according to the State Department website. A country designated as an MNNA can loan out equipment, supplies, and materials for cooperative research, testing, evaluation, and development. It can house U.S.-owned war reserve stockpiles and get the right to purchase depleted uranium ammunition. Such nations can enter into formal agreements with the U.S. Department of Defense for cooperative research and development projects in the field of munitions and defense equipment. In addition, companies from an MNNA country can bid for contracts that involve repair, maintenance, or overhaul of U.S. defense equipment outside of the United States. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observes the firing of suspected missiles in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 22, 2020. (KCNA/via Reuters) US Imposes Sanctions on Russians Involved in Building North Koreas Nuclear Weapons The United States on Friday imposed fresh sanctions on a network of Russian-based individuals and companies accused of assisting North Korea in procuring components for its nuclear weapons programs. The announcement came after Washington asserted that Pyongyang had used an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system in its two recent launches on Feb. 26 and March 4. The [Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea] continues to launch ballistic missiles in blatant violation of international law, posing a grave threat to global security, under secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said, referring to North Koreas official name. The sanctions targeted two Russians, Aleksandr Andreyevich Geyevoy and Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Chasovnikov, as well as three Russian companies, including Apollon, Zeel-M, and RK Briz. All of their property and assets in the United States will be blocked as a result of the sanctions. The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that North Korea has conducted 11 ballistic missile launches since the start of 2022, the most recent being on March 4, which Pyongyangs state-run media said was an attempt to test cameras installed on a spy satellite. After analyzing the new missile tests, the U.S. government concluded Thursday that the tests involved a new intercontinental ballistic missile system that North Korea first unveiled during a military parade on Oct. 10, 2020. The purpose of these tests, which did not demonstrate ICBM range, was likely to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said. The ICBM in focus is the Hwasong-17, North Koreas biggest missile, which could potentially fly up to 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles), far enough to strike anywhere in the United States and beyond. North Koreas state-run media said Friday that the regimes leader Kim Jong Un inspected the countrys satellite test site and called for its modernization on an expansion basis to enable various rockets to be launched. The report noted that Kim also set forth the task for building some facilities in the launching ground and gave detailed instructions about the matters of expanding the capacity of the engine ground jet test site. South Korea on Friday urged North Korea to immediately stop any act that raises tensions and regional security tensions. It also warned that Pyongyang appears to be restoring parts of the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, which the Kim regime razed in May 2018 as a sign of its commitment to end nuclear testing, Yonhap News Agency reported. The United States has been urging for a return for a dialogue, a call Pyongyang has ignored due to what it says are the U.S. and its allies hostile policies. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Volkswagen logo is seen as it launches its ID.6 and ID.6 CROZZ SUV at a world premiere ahead of the Shanghai Auto Show, in Shanghai, China, on April 18, 2021. (Aly Song/Reuters) Volkswagen Warns of Risks From Ukraine Crisis as Operating Profit Doubles FRANKFURTVolkswagen AG, Europes top carmaker, doubled its operating profit in 2021 but warned that Russias invasion of Ukraine and its impact on supply chains could hit business this year in unforeseen ways. Carmakers are scrambling to find alternative sources of vital parts made in Ukraine, including wire harnesses, from as far afield as China and Mexico, as Russias invasion halts assembly lines and breaks complex supply chains. The conflict has an impact on the entire global economy, on raw materials, on supply chains and therefore on our company, Volkswagen finance chief Arno Antlitz told journalists on Friday after publishing preliminary 2021 results. The impact of this cannot be conclusively assessed at this point in time, he said, adding the group was currently working on tapping other suppliers in Eastern Europe and North Africa to obtain wire harnesses. Volkswagen said there was a risk that the latest developments in the war in Ukraine will have a negative impact on its business. The company still proposed to raise its annual dividend by more than half to 7.50 euros per ordinary share and 7.56 euros per preferred share for 2021, after operating profit doubled to 19.3 billion euros ($21.1 billion) last year. The doubling of operating profit in 2021 was thanks to higher prices and a more favorable product mix, Volkswagen said, adding it expects an operating margin on sales of 7.0 percent-8.5 percent in 2022, compared with 7.7 percent in 2021. Sales are forecast to rise 8 percent-13 percent in 2022, compared with a 12.3 percent increase to 250 billion euros in 2021. However, this guidance is subject to the further development of the war in Ukraine and in particular the impact on the groups supply chains and the global economy as a whole, the company said. ($1 = 0.9162 euro) By Christoph Steitz and Tom Sims 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) Zelensky Ready to Negotiate, Open to High-Level Peace Talks in Jerusalem Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that hes ready to hold high-level peace talks with Russia, flagging Jerusalem as a possible location and expressing hope that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett could help broker a deal. Zelensky told foreign reporters at a briefing in Kyiv that holding lower-level technical negotiations in Belarus, Russia, or Ukraine would be unconstructive, calling instead for a meeting of leaders, potentially in Jerusalem. He took a positive view of Bennett serving as a mediator between the warring sides and called for Israel to be among the security guarantors for Ukraine. We are generally positive, Zelensky said of Bennetts role as peace broker. I am personally positive about anyones mediation But I dont call Bennett anyone because I think he can play an important role, adding that, it is very good to have such mediation. Bennett, acting at the request of Ukraine, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin last Saturday and has since spoken by phone several times with both the Russian leader and Zelensky. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends the Cybertech TLV conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 3, 2022. (Amir Cohen/Reuters) Moscow has said little about Bennetts mediation efforts, but Putin struck an optimistic note on the several rounds of technical negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian delegates in Belarus, saying he saw a positive shift in the discussions. There are certain positive developments there, as the negotiators from our side reported to me, Putin said on Friday at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, according to Russian state news agency Tass. Putin did not provide further details, saying only that he would talk about all of this later. High-level talks held on Thursday in Antalya, Turkey, between the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine ended with no progress on a 24-hour ceasefire to allow for the safe evacuation of civilians from besieged cities. Commenting on the several rounds of Russia-Ukraine technical negotiations that have taken place thus far, Zelensky said no substantial progress had been made because of ultimatums from the Russian side that were unacceptable to Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers are on guard in Irpin, north of Kyiv, on March 12, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images) Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cease military action, pledge never to join NATO and enshrine neutrality in its constitution, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory, and recognize the separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. Zelensky earlier signaled openness to a compromise with Putin on some of his key demands for halting the offensive in Ukraine, including on NATO membership and the status of the contested territories, but he insisted his forces would not capitulate. Im ready for a dialogue, but were not ready for surrender, Zelensky said in an interview with ABC News on Tuesday. On Saturday, Zelensky said he was happy with a signal from Russia that it was ready to start talking in earnest and not throwing ultimatums. Our diplomats are working and discussing the details of the agenda that may be between us and Russia, he added. Zelensky said thousands of people have been killed in Ukraine by Russian forces, which he blamed on the fact that Russia has not once confirmed the possibility of a meeting. And this is their responsibility entirely, he said. The aftermath of Mariupol Hospital after an attack, in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9, 2022, in this image taken from video provided by the Mariupol City Council. (Mariupol City Council via AP) Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the conflict would end when the West took action on Russias concerns, namely the killing of civilians in the pro-Russia separatist-controlled regions in Ukraine and NATOs eastward expansion. Lets hope. That needs to be done. Then it will all end, Peskov said. Putin describes the invasion as a special military operation to disarm Ukraines military and topple its government, a dual objective hes called demilitarization and denazification that he claims is needed to protect Russians living in separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine from abuse and genocide. Ukrainian leaders and their Western allies say thats all a pretext for Russian territorial expansion and subjugation of Ukraine, which Putin has suggested isnt worthy of statehood. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has driven 2.6 million from their homes, according to the U.N., with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg describing the exodus as Europes fastest-growing refugee crisis since the Second World War. Emojis are powerful storytelling tools. But those little symbols may say more about you than you realize. One survey by the dating site Match.com claimed that people who used emojis had sex more frequently that those who didn't. Meanwhile, Britain's The Telegraph reported that in the U.K., the wine emoji was the one most frequently used, while Americans favored the crown and Australians loved drug-related emojis [sources: Miller, Levy Gale]. On a less light-hearted note, there is the issue of emoji skin tones. Initially, all emoji skin tones (such as in the "thumbs up" or "praying hands" emojis) were white. But in 2015, the Unicode Consortium changed the default to Simpsons yellow, but allowed people to tint them in one of five skin tones. These were an immediate hit. Interestingly, the "pale skin tone" emoji seems to have fallen out of favor in the U.S., even among whites, according to an Atlantic article. The default yellow seems to have taken over, although African-Americans and others will use the darker skin tones on their emojis. Advertisement In some circles, the overuse of emojis may mark you as immature depending on your age and your circle of friends. Misuse may also demonstrate that you're hopelessly out-of-touch with the implied meanings of certain symbols [sources: Webster, Donnelly]. And employing too many smiley faces might cause your co-workers to question your intelligence. One study on emoji use found that "contrary to actual smiles, smileys do not increase perceptions of warmth and actually decrease perceptions of competence. Perceptions of low competence in turn undermined information sharing" [source: Glikson, et. al] Embarrassment and ignorance aside, just as with email and texting, digital emojis can have real consequences in your very analog life. We aren't talking about that eggplant icon you accidentally sent to your mom. Text an ominous little icon to the wrong person and you could be charged with a crime. Two South Carolina men were arrested in 2015 after using Facebook to send the following emoji: a fist, a hand pointing and an ambulance. Officials interpreted the message as a threat on the recipient's physical safety, a logical conclusion given that the men had already tried to attack the homeowner at his residence [source: Flacy]. In early 2016, a Frenchman was sentenced to three months in prison for sending a handgun emoji to his ex-girlfriend. The court determined his message constituted a death threat [source: Samuel]. In Israel in 2017, after exchanging several days' worth of inquiries from a couple looking to rent, a landlord received excited emojis (including a champagne bottle and a squirrel, among others) which led him to remove the property from the market in anticipation of his new tenants. When the prospective renters later backed out, he sued in small claims court to recoup the money he could've made while the home was off the market. He won about $2,000 in damages [source: Kaser]. The moral of the story? In this case, a picture was worth at least $2,000. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 For The Intelligencer Show More Show Less 2 of 3 For The Intelligencer Show More Show Less 3 of 3 The Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chapter of Habitat for Humanity is seeking volunteers for two dates to work on its new at 624 Hill Lane in Edwardsville. Volunteers are needed from 1-2 p.m. on Sunday, March 13 to install a silt barrier. Volunteers are also needed from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 19 to assist in pouring of footings and installation of rebar. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Seth Whitehead still remembers the last time gas prices were over $4 per gallon for this extended amount of time. It was 2008, and that time felt worse to Whitehead than now, because adjusted for inflation, $4 per gallon in 2008 is roughly $5 per gallon now, which might soon be a reality in Illinois. According to GasBuddy.com, the average gas price in Illinois for unleaded is currently $4.57 per gallon, while the national average is $4.33 per gallon. As of Friday in Edwardsville, the cheapest gas can be found at the Troy Road QuikTrip at $4.18 per gallon, along with $4.19 per gallon at the MotoMart on North Main Street and $4.29 at Sams Club. The Shell on Vandalia Street, MotoMart on Club Centre Court, Phillips 66 on IL-143, BP on North Main Street, and both Circle Ks are at the $4.59 per gallon mark. The MotoMart on Club Centre Court boasts the lowest diesel price in town at $4.59 per gallon, while BP on North Main Street has the highest at $5.19 per gallon. The average gallon of unleaded gas in Madison County is $4.426. The average gallon of unleaded gas in Missouri is $4.12. MotoMart off 1-270 in Spanish Lake, Missouri is $3.99 per gallon. According to AAA, oil hit its highest price since 2008 on Monday at $125 per barrel. The unfortunate reality is we lack the supply, and the demand is so high, Whitehead said. The high demand rebounded faster than anyone anticipated at record highs and the supplies were unable to keep up. Whitehead is the executive director of the Illinois Petroleum Resources Board. There are many factors that determine the gas and oil prices. With the pandemic creating labor shortages that hamper oil companies from increasing production, to a handful of policies, the country was already trending towards $4 per gallon being a common sight, but the import ban passed by the Biden administration sped up that process. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to ban the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal to the United States. This is in direct response to the most recent events of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last year, the US imported nearly 700,000 barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products from Russia. No European government body has officially sanctioned Russian energy imports, but corporations are doing its best efforts to stop relying on it. It seems unlikely that European countries will stop Russian imports because of how much they rely on them. If Europe banned imports, then wed see unbelievable prices, Whitehead said. Even with the increased gas and oil prices, the demand for electric vehicles is virtually the same because of the cost. An average Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus model costs roughly $45,000, including a $1,200 destination fee. The most telling part of the electric vehicle price is recently when Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk tweeted that we needed to increase gas and oil production within the country to keep everyday gas prices lower, since buying an electric vehicle isnt feasible for most Americans. We use so much in this country, Whitehead said, so we need to produce as much possible here to keep prices low. Now we have the ability to produce more as opposed to 2008. Whitehead added that the Keystone Pipeline wouldve prevented the US need to import crude oil from Russia and in turn wouldve had a positive impact on gas prices. Now, that oil is being sold from Canada to China instead of coming to the US. Its always good to be energy independent, Whitehead said. Obviously its good to produce as much renewable energy and not rely on other countries. As the summer driving season inches closer, summer-blend gasolines will be coming to gas stations, increasing the demand and keeping prices elevated throughout the summer and to the end of the year. What is kitten season, you ask? As the weather gets warmer many unaltered female cats are in heat. Then, 60 days later you have kittens! Kitten season starts in March and lasts up until October. Kitten season usually occurs twice a year, and in colder areas once a year. Cats can have more than one litter and have multiple fathers impregnate the female cat. On the afternoon of Feb. 16, officers from Camp Hill, North Middleton Township and Newville Borough police departments arrived at a trailer on Brittney Drive in North Middleton Township. The incident that unfolded there turned into a police-involved shooting that ended with one North Middleton officer injured and a gunman, Roger Wayne Ellis of Carlisle, dead. However, the day began with an arrest warrant, an official document signed by a judge (or magistrate) that authorizes a police officer to arrest the person or people named in the warrant. Warrants carry a multitude of variables that help determine the processes and procedures officials must follow. And there are various types of warrants, two of the main ones being arrest warrants and search warrants. The warrant issued for Ellis was an arrest warrant for fleeing and eluding police in Camp Hill in January. Camp Hill Police said they attempted to stop Ellis on Jan. 14 after he was identified driving a vehicle with a DUI-suspended drivers license. Ellis fled from police officers attempting to stop him and police said he committed numerous traffic offenses in the process. When police responded to Brittney Drive in North Middleton Township on Feb. 16, it was a situation where police were attempting to serve a more serious type of arrest warrant, according to Carlisle Police Sgt. David Miller. Carlisle police didnt take part in the initial warrant for Ellis, but responded to the scene later. So you have somebody who commits a very serious offense, has a history of very serious offenses, is believed to be someone that is a danger to society based on their crimes, based on their behavior that theyve had before, so in a case like that, were not just going to let a warrant sit around, Miller said. Were going to try to develop any leads we can, where the person might be staying, and well start trying to reach out that way, he added. If we find out that theyre possibly in a house somewhere, then were going to go up with officers and try to make contact with them at the house. As the warrant serving process unfolded, it eventually led to Ellis shooting a North Middleton Township officer in his bulletproof vest, before the same officer later shot and killed Ellis. Cumberland County District Attorney Sean McCormack announced on March 1 after a state police investigation that no charges would be filed against the North Middleton Township officer. McCormack said officer-involved shootings always include an internal review. The purpose of this is to ensure that everyone did everything properly. The District Attorneys Office is tasked with determining if any criminal laws, not departmental or safety violations, have been broken, he added. One of the things that we look to do is rather than have the police departments that were involved do an investigation of their own, we ask the State Police to come in from the outside, McCormack said. Thats a little bit different than what may occur in other instances, but that kind of brings hopefully an aspect of some trust that the investigation isnt just internally within the department going on. Thats what I hope, by bringing an outside agency that doesnt have any direct connection to those officers. The warrant process McCormack said individuals may face warrants for various reasons, including not paying for parking tickets, failing to show up in court or committing a crime. The warrants can be issued based on the level of charges, including summary charges, misdemeanors and felonies. Newville Police Chief Todd Koser said summary warrants, or warrants for traffic violations and non-traffic offenses like disorderly conduct or harassment, are the most common in his area. Officers can request the court issue a warrant upon filing the charges for misdemeanors, though it might not be granted, Koser said. Arrest warrants are always issued for felonies. Miller said that while there is federal case law, each state has its own rules pertaining to warrants. Particularly in Pennsylvania, all the rules of current procedure address what police officers can and cant do, and theres specific sections in there that address warrants, he explained. Warrants also involve a paperwork process that police officers use to ask a judge for the warrant to be issued, a request judges can deny or approve. There is an actual warrant application they call and then the criminal complaint is attached to it, Miller said. So you would have all the biographical information on our suspect, would have a description of the actual charges that were wishing to get, and then the affidavit would be ... a narrative based on the officers experience. They usually put in there a little bit about what happened and how they developed ... that person as a suspect, what they are hoping to accomplish by either arresting them or searching them. Miller said that for an arrest warrant, officers would document the investigation, how they developed the suspect and why they believe that person should be arrested. He said search warrants are similar in that officers write why they think the fruits or tools of a crime will be in that location, a description of that location, and other relevant information. Then well apply for a warrant and the judge will issue it if they agree with us, Miller said. He said officials often put information out to the public regarding warrants when they are issued in some cases so people can turn themselves in. If you look at the [Cumberland County] Sheriffs Office Facebook page, they put warrants on there. If you look at our Crimewatch page, we put warrants on there. So theres a lot of different ways it can get out there to the public eye, Miller said. Serving warrants McCormack said there are several different ways to execute a warrant and that the level of service depends on the potential danger to any of the individuals involved. You can be an officer on a traffic stop, run a persons name, discover they have a warrant, you take them into custody [and] its all there along the side of the road, McCormack said. Other situations where you know that you have a warrant for a person and you know where they are now, usually if theyre within your own jurisdiction, your department is going to handle it, unless you feel that there is some aspect of this particular person that might cause an issue or the safety of others, you might bring an outside agency in. But most of the time if theyre within your own jurisdiction, the department is going to handle it themselves. Miller said its not uncommon for police to tell individuals with warrants to go straight to the judges office, not to the police station. Koser said with summary warrants, officers and court officials typically notify individuals via phone or mail. We often contact the defendant and have them meet us at the MDJ (Magisterial District Judge) for preliminary arraignment, Koser said. Summary warrants can be served by taking a plea and collecting required costs for the MDJ or by taking the defendant forthwith to the MDJ. If contact cannot be made or the severity of the crime warrants it, we will plan to serve the warrant in person. Koser said at least two officers serve arrest warrants when possible and that advance notice is given to other departments if the warrant is being served in a different jurisdiction so that department can assist in serving the warrant. Thats why North Middleton police where on hand during the warrant process with Ellis. [In] certain more dangerous situations, you may have the United States marshal service get involved, McCormack said. Many times the marshals will be the ones serving warrants in extremely dangerous situations where we fear that either the officers, the person that were seeking to serve the warrant on, or other people in the community may be in danger; you may have as big a situation as where you have a special tactical team ... like a SWAT team or something. Miller said serving warrants can look like anything from sending a letter from the judges office to going out with a tactical team. Due to the vast number of potential circumstances that can arise when serving a warrant, there is no guarantee how the process will work. I dont think theres written policies for every situation, but what youll find is the police have certain standard procedures that before they make a determination on how theyre going to operate, theyre going to assess the situation and then make a determination what resources they need, McCormack said. Warrant frequency McCormack said the average police officer deals with warrants frequently. Many times its going to be the situation where they pull over somebody on the side of the road and theres a warrant for the persons arrest, he said. Sometimes when they have an encounter with a citizen and they run the name, they discover that the person has a warrant, so I mean thats part of a routine process. Miller estimated that during his 25 years of service hes been a part of around 200 warrants or more. Its a very common process, especially with things like COVID, we actually resorted to warrants more often because there were circumstances that just made sense rather than knocking on doors and searching a lot of places for someone, Miller said. Jonathan Birbeck, Magisterial District Judge in Carlisle Borough, said the Carlisle Police Department served 74 warrants in 2021 alone. Maddie Seiler is a news reporter for The Sentinel and cumberlink.com covering Carlisle and Newville. You can contact her at mseiler@cumberlink.com and follow her on Twitter at: @SeilerMadalyn Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. That release could not be found. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied receiving any communication on the alleged transfer of power from the embattled All Progressives Congress (APC)s caretaker chairman, Mai Mala Buni to the Niger State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello. A letter dated February 28 requesting a leave of absence, signed by Buni and addressed to Bello, copying the CECPC members and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), surfaced on Thursday. The letter reads, This is to please inform you that I will be embarking on a medical trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from today, 28th February, 2022. I will resume office upon my discharge from the hospital. In my absence, I hereby transmit the functions of my office as the National Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to you. This is to enable the Committee to conclude all arrangements leading to the National Convention slated for March 26th, 2022 and other duties that may be required of the office. I invite all members to cooperate with Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, by extending to him all the support that I have enjoyed from you. Please do accept the assurances of my best regards. However, INECs national commissioner and chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Festus Okoye, told Daily Trust in an interview that the commission is not in possession of such letter. He said, We did not receive any formal letter from the National Chairman of APC transferring power or duties. All registered political parties are obligated to comply with the provisions of the constitution, the Electoral Act and the Regulations and Guidelines of the Commission. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has again reiterated that it would gladden his heart to see a Southeasterner emerge as president of Nigeria after President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. Obasanjo who has maintained that the time has come to bring total reconciliation to Nigeria by supporting a president of Southeast extraction to emerge in 2023, repeated the sermon yesterday when the founder of New Nigeria Group (NNG) and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, paid him a visit in his Abeokuta, Ogun State country home. The former president said he also believes that there are a lot of things that Southeasterners can bring on the table. Beyond bringing unity to Nigeria or being the cement that holds the country together, I believe that Southeasterners can model hard work and entrepreneurship. That will help in wealth creation and fight against poverty, which is ravaging Nigeria, he said. He told Ohuabunwa that running for the office of the president of Nigeria was a tough job but expressed happiness that he (Ohuabunwa) has endured up till date and said he was looking forward to the final realisation of his vision to see Nigeria fully united and restored to a country that all Nigerians would be proud to call theirs. Fielding questions from journalists after the meeting, Ohuabunwa encouraged the people of the south, particularly the southeasterners to aspire to the office of the president because that is what has been done in the past to maintain the unity of the country. We had southern and northern protectorates, which came together to form Nigeria and since then, our founding fathers had always wanted to maintain peace by ensuring that there is rotation and that we share things. That is why the federal character principle is in the country's constitution. We are a nation of diverse ethnicities and geographies, and the only way we can maintain proper peace is to ensure that everybody is treated fairly, and rotation and power sharing are some of the methods of ensuring inclusiveness and making sure that Nigerians feel that they are part of it, he said. He noted that Southeasterners had made great contributions to Nigeria, starting from the days of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, and reminding them that they are not strangers neither are they just appendages. When it comes to political rights, we need to assert our rights and provide that leadership that Nigeria is lacking, and I hope that in 2023, God will offer us that opportunity and Nigerians will come behind us to take Nigeria to become the first world nation, he added. He said his ambition is to make Nigeria a first world nation; a globally competitive nation and a nation that works like the other countries, which Nigerians admire. Most importantly, I want a nation that works for all and creates job for the young people of Nigeria to exercise their creativity and innovation; not a nation of poor, corrupt, jobless people or that of terrorists and bandits. That does not describe us; we are going to change the narrative, he said. He said that Obasanjo as a president, showed the highest level of not only detribalization but also fairness and equity as he didn't discriminate. He believes in equity but also in merit because he took good people; I mean people like Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the Chukwuma Soludo and the rest of them worked for him and that is what he represents. He wants Nigeria to work, he added. He described the former president as a phenomenon and conscience of the country. He is the conscience of this nation and we must admit it. He speaks his mind. He is not an angel and he can't be perfect, but I have never seen a man as bold, audacious, and also, with a heart of humanity as Obasanjo. (Daily Sun) Calls for new tourism tactics to better assist Russian and Ukrainians BANGKOK: Sasiwat Wongsinsawat, Thailands ambassador to Russia, has said that Thailand needs to form new tourism tactics to better assist Russian and Ukrainian tourists. RussianUkrainetourism By National News Bureau of Thailand Saturday 12 March 2022, 09:58AM Photo: NNT Currently, there are about 6,000 Russian and Ukrainian tourists in Thailand who cannot return home due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, reports NNT. Mastercard and Visa earlier this week suspended services in Russia and cards issued in Russia including those being used abroad. The government is currently mulling over the use of cryptocurrencies as an alternative to traditional payments. He stated that countries competing with Thailand for tourism, such as Turkey, Egypt, and Dubai, had altered their marketing strategies to lure Russian visitors throughout the crisis. Thailand, the ambassador believes, should develop value-added items to diversify its tourism offerings. In December, Russians were the largest group of tourists in Phuket. That month, about 17,000 of them came to the island. They were a significant part of tourism since the pre-COVID times. However, as of Monday, Phuket had only about 2,700 tourists from Russia. Heroines Festival celebrations underway PHUKET: The ceremony for giving alms to monks in order to seek blessings from ancestors as part of the annual Heroines Festival was held at Wat Muang Komanraphat in Thepkrasattri, Thalang today (Mar 12). culture By The Phuket News Saturday 12 March 2022, 03:00PM The merit-making ceremony was presided over by Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew and saw food offered to monks in order to seek blessings dedicated to ancestors of Thalang City. Also present at the ceremony were Phuket Deputy Governors Amnuay Phinsuwan and Anupap Rodkwan Yodrabam, Thalng District Chief Bancha Thanu-in, members of the Thao Thepkasattri Foundation Committee and Thao Sri Sunthon, as well as other heads of government agencies. private sector agencies, relevant local government organisations and local residents. This years Heroines Festival marks the 237th anniversary of the two sisters, Chan and Mook, who lead the Phuket contingent in repelling the Burmese invasion in 1785. At 5:30pm today there will be a further ceremony at the same temple to honour grandparents and ancestors. Tomorrow morning (Mar 13) there will be a wreath laying ceremony at the Heroines Monument on Thepkasattri Road. Tomorrow evenings festivities will include the traditional light and sound show and historical play at Phuket Historical Park, for many years called Thalang Victory Field, in Baan Riang, Thalang. Local food stalls will be on offer throughout the festival while COVID-19 health and safety measures will be enforced throughout. Tourists and local residents are welcome to attend. Phuket tourism chief proposes solutions to Russian bank sanctions PHUKET: The President of the Phuket Tourist Association has proposed several solutions to assist Russians currently in Phuket navigate the challenges they are facing with their payment options. economicsIndianRussianUkrainetourism By The Phuket News Saturday 12 March 2022, 12:06PM A sign at a reception at a Phuket hotel warns that credit cards issued by sanctioned banks will not be accepted. Photo: Supplied Many Russian commercial banks are cut off from the SWIFT system and card payment giants Visa and Mastercard announced last Saturday (Mar 5) they were suspending their operations in Russia amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This meant thousands of Russian tourists in Thailand would no longer be able to use their Visa and Mastercard cards while abroad, often their preferred method of payment. Bhummikitti Raktaengam, the President of the Phuket Tourist Association, said yesterday (Mar 11) there are currently around 3,000 Russian tourists stranded in Phuket and unable to secure flights to return to their homeland, largely due to the fact they are unable to access financial funds. Mr Bhummikitti proposed three possible solutions to the Tourism Association of Thailand (TAT) and the Bank of Thailand (BoT) to overcome this issue, despite them seemingly ignoring the global sanctions imposed: 1) Allow Thai commercial banks to support Russias Mir payments system which provides electronic fund transfers. 2) Allow the usage of Chinese supporting payment systems such as UnionPay 3) Permit cryptocurrencies to be utitlsied as a way of payment Right now, there are probably about 3,000 Russian tourists stranded in Phuket, Mr Bhummikitti said. The majority would have arrived here in late February or early March but are now experiencing problems with accessing funds. This three-pronged proposal to TAT and BoT would offer a solution to this problem, he added. He further explained that some Russian tourists are unable to return on their previously booked flights due to widespread suspension of flights in and out of Russia. The direct flight from and to Moscow to Phuket has been discontinued, he said. This is true for Russian tourists on both eastern and western sides of Moscow. If they want to return to Russia then they will need to book fresh flights to alternative locations who may have a possible connection, or else travel over land. This can be very costly and availability is limited. A call centre was established in Phuket on Wednesday (Mar 9) to help tourists from Ukraine and Russia unable to return home because of flight cancellations and economic sanctions imposed. The call centre will be open from 8:30am-7pm until Mar 22. Mr Bhummikitti added that the numbers of Russian tourists arriving has dropped more than 75% recently due to Russias suspension of flights. He added that if the Russian invasion of Ukraine is prolonged then it is inevitably going to have an adverse affect on global tourism and travel expenses will increase significantly. We have already seen a significant rise in oil prices globally which will hinder the spending power of tourists everywhere, he said, adding that Thailand may have to focus on new tourist markets in future such as Australia, India and the Middle East to ensure its tourism industry stays afloat. Mr Bhummikitti said he thought economic sanctions imposed by Europe on Russia would eventually backfire. As a result, there would be even fewer tourists from Europe to Phuket. Police nab gun-toting duo of thieves PHUKET: Police have confirmed that they have successfully apprehended two men who robbed a young man at gunpoint in Kathu on Thursday (Mar 10) and who had previously stolen from a Burmese national last November. crimepolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Saturday 12 March 2022, 04:19PM The latest victim, 20-year-old Suwat Chae-iab, recounted to police that he was waiting on his motorcycle for his younger brother at the pavilion in front of Ban Na Bon School, Chaofa East Road in Wichit around 9:30pm on Thursday when the assault took place. As Mr Suwat was waiting outside, two teenagers driving a crimson-coloured Honda Scoopy motorcycle parked nearby. Suddenly one of the men alighted the bike, approached Mr Suwat and drew a firearm. The assailant pointed the gun at Mr Suwats waist and asked him to handover whatever he had in his pockets. Scared, Mr Suwat handed over his Huawe cell phone and B100 in cash before the two men sped off. Shortly after the attack, Mr Suwat went to the police to file a formal complaint although he admitted that he did notmanage to take note of the number plate of the assailants motocycle. Police confirmed after a subsequent investigation using local CCTV footage that they issued arrest warrants 93/2565 and 94/2565 through Phuket Provincial Court and had managed to track down the two men yesterday (Mar 11), naming them as a Mr Suthichai, or Arm, and a Mr Adisak, or Phi. They also confirmed that the two men had previously committed the robbery of a Burmese national on Nov 7, 2021, stealing B5,000 and a mobile phone. Police did not disclose any further details as to where precisely the men were captured or what charges they will face. Russia squeezes Kyiv as unimaginable tragedy looms in Ukraine KYIV: Russian forces inched towards Kyiv and pounded civilian areas in other Ukrainian cities yesterday (Mar 11), drawing warnings of unimaginable tragedy as the US and the EU moved to tighten the economic noose around the Kremlin. deathRussianUkrainemilitarypoliticsviolence By AFP Saturday 12 March 2022, 10:34AM Two men carry a corpse in a body bag to lay it next to others in a snow covered yard in Mykolaiv, a city on the shores of the Black Sea that has been under Russian attack for days, yesterday (Mar 11). Photo: AFP Sixteen days after Moscow shocked the world by invading Ukraine, the United Nations and others said it may be committing war crimes in cities such as Mariupol, which for days now has been besieged by Vladimir Putins forces. Yesterday officials in the southern port said more than 1,500 people have been killed during 12 days of Russian siege. Survivors have been trying to flee Russian bombardment in a freezing city left without water or heating, and running out of food. The situation is desperate, a Doctors Without Borders official said. Hundreds of thousands of people... are for all intents and purposes besieged, Stephen Cornish, one of those heading the medical charitys Ukraine operation, told AFP in an interview. Sieges are a medieval practice that have been outlawed by the modern rules of war for good reason. As Russia widens its bombardment and talks between Moscow and Kyiv seemingly go nowhere, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskys pleas for NATO to intervene have grown increasingly desperate. But yesterday US President Joe Biden again ruled out direct action against nuclear-armed Russia, warning that it would lead to World War III. Instead Washington added more layers of sanctions to those already crippling Russias economy, this time ending normal trade relations and announcing a ban on signature Russian goods vodka, seafood and diamonds. The US and the European Union also suspended the export of their luxury goods to Russia. Putin must pay the price. He cannot pursue a war that threatens the very foundation of international peace and stability and then ask for help from the international community, Biden said from the White House. He spoke as the United Nations said some 2.5 million people have now fled Ukraine and around two million more have been internally displaced by the war. Nobody buries them Yulia, a 29-year-old teacher who fled Mariupol, said her mother-in-law was still there, and told them the attacks dont stop. There are many corpses on the street and nobody buries them, she told AFP. In Ukraines second city Kharkiv, doctors at a hospital described spending two days pumping ash from the stomach of an eight-year-old child whose home was blasted by a Russian missile. He still has cinders in his lungs, Dima Kasyanovs doctor told AFP. Dnipro, an industrial hub of one million inhabitants, saw its image as a relatively safe haven shattered when three missiles hit civilian buildings yesterday. Images of its charred or destroyed buildings - including a kindergarten with windows blown out - now join those from Kharkiv and Mariupol as testimony to the brutal conflict. Today, we were supposed to host people who need a lot of support, said Svetlana Kalenecheko, who lives and works in a clinic that was damaged. Now we cant help anyone. The attacks on civilians prompted a new flurry of warnings from the Hague and the United Nations yesterday that Russia is committing war crimes. We are really heading towards an unimaginable tragedy, Cornish, of Doctors Without Borders, warned, insisting that there is still time to avoid it, and we must see it avoided. Catastrophe Meanwhile the Kremlin is slowly surrounding Kyiv, with Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak calling it a city under siege. He tweeted that it was ready to fight, with checkpoints prepared and supply lines in place, adding: Kyiv will stand until the end. The Ukrainian military has said Russia is trying to take out Kyivs defences to the north and west, where suburbs including Irpin and Bucha have already endured days of heavy bombardment. Russian armoured vehicles are also advancing on the capitals northeast. As the slow but steady advance continues, so has the tide of refugees. Around 100,000 people have been able to leave the northeastern city of Sumy, the eastern city of Izyum, and areas northwest of Kyiv in the last two days, Ukrainian officials said. Zelensky warned living conditions were deteriorating fast. In the Sumy, Kyiv and Donetsk regions, there is no more electricity. Yes, there are problems with heating. There is no gas, no water, he said. Its a humanitarian catastrophe. Murderers from Syria Foreign combatants have already entered the Ukrainian conflict on both sides, and yesterday the Kremlin ramped up efforts to bring in reinforcements, particularly from Syria. A furious Zelensky accused Russia of hiring murderers from Syria, a country where everything has been destroyed... like they are doing here to us" The global ripple effects of the conflict continued elsewhere. Last-minute Russian demands related to the conflict threatened to derail the near-complete process of reviving the Iranian nuclear deal yesterday. And the fighting spurred vows to bolster the European Unions defences, with EU leaders describing the invasion as a wake-up call. Theres no denying the fact that two weeks ago we woke up in a different Europe, in a different world, European Council chief Charles Michel said. Russia also moved yesterday to block Instagram and launch a criminal case against its owner Meta, as Moscow fired back at the tech giant for allowing posts calling for violence against Russian forces. We will not fight Talks have so far made no progress towards ending the fighting. Putin has said that negotiations are being held almost daily, and US and European stock markets rose yesterday on his comments that there had been certain positive shifts. But US Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking in Bucharest, said the Russian leader has shown no sign of engaging in serious diplomacy. At the United Nations, Western countries accused Russia of spreading wild conspiracy theories after Moscows envoy told diplomats that America and Ukraine had researched using bats to conduct biological warfare. The US envoy said Russia had made the claims as part of a false flag effort for using chemical weapons of its own in Ukraine. Biden warned Russia would pay a severe price if it used chemical weapons. But he again carefully steered clear of any indication that such an attack would be a red line that could draw direct US military action. We will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine, he said. LVIV, Ukraine Russian forces pounding the port city of Mariupol shelled a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said Saturday as fighting also raged on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv. There was no immediate word of casualties from the shelling of the mosque. Mariupol has seen some of the greatest misery from Russia's war in Ukraine as unceasing barrages have thwarted repeated attempts to bring in food and water and to evacuate trapped civilians. The Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey said that a group of 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, were among the people who had sought safety in the mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roksolana. Elsewhere, air raid sirens rang out across the capital region and artillery barrages sent residents scurrying for shelter. Fighting erupted in multiple areas around Kyiv. Russia's slow, grinding apparent attempt to encircle the city and the bombardment of other population centers with artillery and air strikes mirror tactics that Russian forces have previously used in other campaigns, notably in Syria and Chechnya, to crush armed resistance. Artillery pounded Kyivs northwestern outskirts. To the citys southwest, two columns of smoke one black and one white -- rose in the town of Vaslkyiv after a strike on an ammunition depot. The strike on the depot caused hundreds of small explosions from detonating ammunition. As of Friday, the death toll in Mariupol passed 1,500 during 12 days of attack, the mayors office said. A strike on a maternity hospital in the city of 446,000 this week that killed three people sparked international outrage and war-crime allegations. The ongoing bombardment forced crews to stop digging trenches for mass graves, so the dead arent even being buried, the mayor said. An Associated Press photographer captured the moment when a tank appeared to fire directly on an apartment building, enveloping one side in a billowing orange fireball. Story continues Russian forces have hit at least two dozen hospitals and medical facilities since they invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the World Health Organization. Ukrainian officials reported Saturday that heavy artillery damaged a cancer hospital and several residential buildings in Mykolaiv, a city 304 miles west of Mariupol. The hospitals head doctor, Maksim Beznosenko, said several hundred patients were in the facility during the attack but no one was killed. The invading Russian forces have struggled far more than expected against determined Ukrainian fighters. But Russia's stronger military threatens to grind down the defending forces, despite an ongoing flow of weapons and other assistance from the West for Ukraine's westward-looking, democratically elected government. The conflict has already sent 2.5 million people fleeing the country. Thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been killed along with many Ukrainian civilians. On the ground, the Kremlins forces appeared to be trying to regroup and regain momentum after encountering tough resistance and amassing heavy losses over the past two weeks. Britains Ministry of Defense said Russia is trying to reset and "re-posture its troops, gearing up for operations against Kyiv. Its ugly already, but its going to get worse, said Nick Reynolds, a warfare analyst at Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank. Russian forces were blockading Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, even as efforts have been made to create new humanitarian corridors around it and other urban centers so aid can get in and residents can get out. Ukraines emergency services reported Saturday that the bodies of five people - two women, a man and two children - were pulled from an apartment building that was struck by shelling in Kharkiv, The Russians' also stepped up attacks on Mykolaiv, located 292 miles south of Kyiv, in an attempt to encircle the city. As part of a multi-front attack on the capital, the Russians' push from the northeast appeared to be advancing, a U.S. defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to give the U.S. assessment of the fight. Combat units were moved up from the rear as the forces advanced to within 19 miles of Kyiv. New commercial satellite images appeared to capture artillery firing on residential areas that stood between the Russians and the capital. The images from Maxar Technologies showed muzzle flashes and smoke from big guns, as well as impact craters and burning homes in the town of Moschun, 20.5 miles from Kyiv, the company said. Residents in a devastated village east of the capital climbed over toppled walls and flapping metal strips in the remnants of a pool hall, restaurant and theater freshly blown apart by Russian bombs. With temperatures sinking below freezing, villagers quickly spread plastic wrap or nailed plywood over blown-out windows of their homes. Russian President Vladimir Putin created this mess, thinking he will be in charge here, 62-year-old Ivan Merzyk said. He added: We are not going away." On the economic and political front, the U.S. and its allies moved to further isolate and sanction the Kremlin. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. will dramatically downgrade its trade status with Russia and ban imports of Russian seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The move to revoke Russia's most favored nation status was taken in coordination with the European Union and Group of Seven countries. The free world is coming together to confront Putin, Biden said. With the invasion in its 16th day, Putin said Friday that there had been certain positive developments in ongoing talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators. He gave no details. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared on video to encourage his people to keep fighting. Its impossible to say how many days we will still need to free our land, but it is possible to say that we will do it," he said from Kyiv. Zelenskyy said authorities were working on establishing 12 humanitarian corridors and trying to ensure food, medicine and other urgently needed basics get to people across the country. He also accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of one city, Melitopol, calling the abduction a new stage of terror. The Biden administration had warned before the invasion of Russian plans to detain and kill targeted people in Ukraine. Zelenskyy himself is a likely top target. American defense officials said Russian pilots are averaging 200 sorties a day, compared with five to 10 for Ukrainian forces, which are focusing more on surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and drones to take out Russian aircraft. The U.S. also said Russia has launched nearly 810 missiles into Ukraine. Until recently, Russia's troops had made their biggest advances on cities in the east and south while struggling in the north and around Kyiv. They also have started targeting areas in western Ukraine, where large numbers of refugees have fled. Russia said Friday it used high-precision long-range weapons to put military airfields in the western cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk out of action. The attack on Lutsk killed four Ukrainian servicemen, the mayor said. Russian airstrikes also targeted for the first time Dnipro, a major industrial hub in the east and Ukraines fourth-largest city, with about 1 million people. One person was killed, Ukrainian officials said. In images of the aftermath released by Ukraines emergency agency, firefighters doused a flaming building, and ash fell on bloodied rubble. Smoke billowed over shattered concrete where buildings once stood. The United Nations political chief said the international organization had received credible reports that Russian forces were using cluster bombs in populated areas. International law prohibits the use of the bombs, which scatter smaller explosives over a wide area, in cities and towns. As a current print subscriber, you receive 24/7 access to our website and online e-edition at no additional charge. All you have to do is activate your access. To activate digital access, you will need your account number. You can find your account number on any recent subscription notice or bill. Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has said that Azerbaijan sent a five-point proposal to Armenia to normalize relations and is currently awaiting a response from the opposite side, Trend reported with the reference to the Anadolu agency. "The message is this: the factor of occupation is gone. In this situation, the Azerbaijani side, despite all the difficulties and problems of the past, is in favor of normalizing relations with Armenia," he said. He stressed that Armenia has not responded to Azerbaijan's proposal for almost a year. The minister noted that recently, the Azerbaijani side sent a new proposal to Armenia as a sign of goodwill. "We have proposed to the Armenian side some fundamental principles, which include the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We expressed our readiness to develop relations on the basis of certain principles. Armenia should consider this and give its answer," he said. Bayramov underlined that if Armenia sincerely wants to normalize relations, then this is a very good opportunity for them. "Armenia's response will be known in the near future, and we will, of course, take appropriate steps," he said. He added that a one-page proposal was submitted to the opposite side, where fundamental principles were identified and proposed. "If the Armenian side wants to normalize relations, it must immediately express its attitude towards this proposal. However, I would like to point out that all the principles mentioned in this document are the principles of international relations," he said. Moreover, he stated that these proposals include the issue of demarcation of the borders between the two countries, which Azerbaijan has repeatedly proposed. "The Azerbaijani side offered to resolve these issues, but Armenia always put forward preconditions. Preconditions for starting the process are unacceptable. A group of bilateral cooperation should be created, and this group should start working. There are five main points. Our proposals consist of five points," he said. A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10, 2020, brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s. The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city. The jury trial has been scheduled for one of the two men charged with abandonment of a corpse and tampering with evidence after the body of Mikayla Jones was found on the side of a Washington County highway last year. At a hearing in Washington County on Monday, the court scheduled a jury trial for Nov. 3-4 in the case against 24-year-old Ethan Civey. The area man is charged with one count of abandonment of a corpse, four counts of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution, and one count of possession of a controlled substance. The charges against Civey were originally filed on May 22. Andrew Pierce, 33, was also charged with abandonment of a corpse and four counts of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges. They each posted bail in May and were released from custody. On Oct. 25, Pierce's attorney motioned for a change of venue, which was granted, and the case was transferred to Ste. Genevieve County. A trial has not yet been scheduled in Pierce's case. On Nov. 22, Washington County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Hedgecorth motioned the court to appoint a special prosecutor to the cases. The court granted the motion and appointed the St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to handle the cases. Jones was 18 years old when she was reported missing on May 7, and search efforts began. On May 20, the teen's body was found near Route M between Caledonia and Irondale in Washington County. Civey and Pierce were allegedly seen with Jones before her disappearance. While interviewed by the Washington County Sheriff's Office, both men reportedly admitted that they had disposed of the teen's body, according to the police reports. The reports state that Pierce and Civey admitted to destroying drug evidence after Jones' death. In a press release following the discovery of Jones' body, Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen said investigators suspected the teen's death was due to an accidental drug overdose. Stacie Jones, Mikayla's mother, has remained adamant that her daughter did not have a history of drug use, nor was she known to hang out with anyone who used drugs. She believes foul play was involved in her daughter's death and that the evidence was clear. Stacie said she was very happy that the cases against Pierce and Civey had been handed over to a special prosecutor. The teen's mother made it clear that her primary objective was to attain justice for Mikayla. Since her daughter's death, Stacie has leased billboards and hung signs in windows of local businesses calling attention to her efforts in securing justice. A Facebook Page, "Justice for Mikayla," is dedicated to sharing updates, memorials, photos, and more. Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 8 Angry 5 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 15C. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight A few clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 4C. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. EDWARDSVILLE An Alton man was charged with threatening public officials after allegedly telling two police officers he was going to hire someone to kill them. Benjamin C. Etnier, 41, of Alton, was charged with two counts of threatening an public official, both Class 3 felonies; and disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. According to court documents, on March 8 Etnier allegedly threatened to hire an individual to kill or injure two Alton police officers; and was harassing a woman and threatening to injure her dog. Bail was set at $40,000. Other felony charges filed March 10 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include: Dustin E. Link, 38, of Alton, was charged with aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony, and domestic battery (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. According to court documents, on March 9 Link allegedly strangled and struck a household or family member. It was noted he has convictions for domestic battery out of Madison County in 2013 and 2014. Bail was set at $50,000. Joshua A. Stover, 27, of Moro, was charged with aggravated battery, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. On March 9 Stover allegedly pulled the hair of a senior citizen. Bail was set at $50,000. Daylon K. Richardson, 22, of Granite City, was charged with unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, a Class 2 felony, and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On March 9 Richardson allegedly had a .223 caliber rifle and was driving a Jaguar X when he tried to flee a Granite City police officer, reaching speeds in excess of 21 miles above the posted speed limit. He has a 2017 conviction for vehicular hijacking out of St. Clair County, making him ineligible to possess weapons. Bail was set at $80,000. Terra D. Gates, 32, and Lajuane T. Robinson, 44, both of the same address in Alton, were each charged with unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, a Class 2 felony. The cases were presented by the Alton Police Department. On March 9 the two allegedly had an Enders Ryall Services 12-gauge shotgun. Robinson has a prior conviction for unlawful us of a weapon by a felon. Gates has a prior conviction for unlawful possession of a controlled substance out of Madison County. Both are ineligible to possess weapons. Bail was set at $50,000 for Robinson and $30,000 for Gates. SPRINGFIELD River and rail improvements are needed in Alton to aid development, according to Illinois Senate testimony Thursday in Springfield. Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau President/CEO Cory Jobe told Illinois Senators that a Mississippi River cruise port in Alton, along with high speed rail, is critical to economic development in the Riverbend. "We must quit thinking of our waterways as only highways for commodities and freight," Jobe said. "The cruise ship industry is poised and ready to ramp up cruise experiences on Illinois waterways. Three cruise lines plan to visit Alton this year: American Cruise Lines (ACL), American Queen Voyages and Viking Cruise Lines. Combined, ACL and American Queen Voyages expect to spend 30 weeks in the Riverbend, bringing up to 400 visitors to Alton, according to a report by Great Rivers & Routes. The group's study states river cruises through the port of Alton have a $4.1 million economic impact. A turnaround port, where one group of passengers disembarks the vessel to travel home and a new group of passengers board, typically has a $5.6 million impact, it states. The group noted river cruise passengers have several activities available in Alton, including a history tour, a tour of the National Great Rivers Museum and Melvin Price Locks and Dam, a tour of the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site, shopping in Altons Historic Downtown Business District, gaming at the Argosy Casino Alton and day trips to Grafton. A partner report by the tourism group states a considerable investment has been made over the last 30 years in recognizing the "natural capital" of the region and its contribution to the local and regional economy. Great Rivers & Routes is seeking to update its 2007 Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan to account for new attractions and develop a robust strategy identifying and prioritizing projects involving the Mississippi River and outdoor recreation. They want to strengthen the region's brand as an outdoor recreation destination while establishing Alton as a regional innovation center and hub "that emerges as a preferred relocation destination." Jobe told state lawmakers Thursday that developing outdoor recreational opportunities goes hand-in-hand with attracting travelers. Great Rivers & Routes is working with partners and service providers, he said, to activate a regional plan that will "better utilize the region's natural resources, open spaces and byways." An overall effort, he said, needs to be bent toward growing the Riverbend's hospitality and tourism sector while making the area a preferred relocation destination that attracts and retains young families, retirees, displaced workers and start-ups. These changes will then put the region in a tremendous position for future, beneficial development, Jobe said. According to Jobe, the region has key tourism drivers that cant be replicated anywhere else: the confluence of the Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri Rivers and two national byways, the Great Rivers National Scenic Byway and Route 66. Becoming a gateway and regional hub for outdoor recreation is key to Altons continued growth and economic health," said Alton Mayor David Goins. "I am excited to work with mayors along the byway to embrace transformational change for our region and (the state of Illinois." Because the Missouri redistricting maps are not yet finished, local voters are urged to be careful about their voter ID cards they receive in the mail there will be two of them this year. The first card should have already arrived. St. Francois County Clerk Kevin Engler said that every two years they have to do what is called a canvass. By law, the cards have to be sent out before the April election. But in Jefferson City, they dont know for sure because the map hasnt been finalized, he said. So, now before the August Election, which is congressional, house and senate, I will have to send a new card to remind the voter about the changes. We reach out to you with a new voter ID, he said. Thats one of the ways that you look and find out your inactive voter rolls. If we send it to you twice and you dont vote in a federal election twice and we contact you multiple times, then we start sending you letters that you appear to be inactive and we take you off the rolls. On the card it normally says where the precinct is to vote and it is supposed to list what state house and senate district along with the U.S. Congressional District the voter lives in. However, the latest card that Engler sent out has less information than normal on it. We didnt send out the normal voter registration card, we used the cheapest postcard we could send. You are going to get a new one in a couple of months. Mark Marberry is a reporter for the Farmington Press and Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3629, or at mmarberry@farmingtonpressonline.com Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Officials in Poland's two largest cities have warned that they can no longer cope with the waves of refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The mayors of both Warsaw, the capital, and Krakow, Poland's second-largest city, said that they are struggling to accommodate the sheer number of people who are arriving - and urged the United Nations and European Union to intervene. More than 2.5 million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries since the war started on Feb. 24, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The vast majority - 1.5 million people - have sought refuge in Poland, with smaller numbers fleeing to other countries such as Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia. The head of UNHCR, Filippo Grandi, said the Ukraine exodus was "the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II." And with few signs that the war would abate, the agency has warned that an estimated 4 million people could flee Ukraine. In a Facebook post Friday, Krakow Mayor Jacek Majchrowski said that his government would begin sending Ukrainian refugees to accommodation outside the city, including in the surrounding province of Maopolska. "In the last several days, we have already received approximately 100,000 war refugees. Krakow is slowly losing its ability to accommodate further waves," Majchrowski said. "We have been helping Ukraine since the first days of the war, but as a local government, we are first responsible for the citizens," he said, adding that more arrivals could hinder "the functioning of the city." Krakow has a population of about 780,000. But in Warsaw, whose population is roughly 1.7 million, Mayor Rafa Trzaskowski also said Friday that his city "remains the main destination for Ukrainian refugees" and that roughly 300,000 have arrived so far. The "situation is getting more and more difficult every day," he said on Twitter. Local media reported that Trzaskowski urged the U.N. and European Union to intervene and support Polish cities grappling with the crisis. Most refugees want to stay near the border or in major cities, a spokeswoman for the Krakow mayor said Thursday, local media reported. But the influx, she said, has become "a huge organizational problem for the city." Majchrowski said that Ukrainian-speaking officials and volunteers would be posted at Krakow's main railway station around-the-clock to assist new refugees. On Twitter, Trzaskowski put out a call for donations for Warsaw's efforts. "Warsaw stands and will #StandWithUkraine. Support. Donate," he tweeted. London, KY (40741) Today Considerable clouds this morning. Some decrease in clouds later in the day. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 70F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 49F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Westerly, RI (02891) Today A few showers early, becoming a steady light rain for the afternoon. High 57F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Low 49F. Winds light and variable. Buy now, pay later is often advertised as a way of delaying payments on clothes or gadgets, but a leading UK charity has reported a concerning rise in people using the short-term credit for food shopping. One in twelve Britons are now using BNPL to cover everyday essentials, according to Citizens' Advice, with vulnerable adults relying on the service most. It also found that young adults, those in debt and those on Universal Credit were twice as likely to use BNPL for essentials than the general public. BNPL schemes are now offering higher credit limits without credit checks - leaving the financially vulnerable at risk of falling into significant debt, says Citizens Advice The charity said its frontline advisers had reported increased use of BNPL services, which include Klarna, Clearpay and Laybuy. It said there were examples where parents had used the delayed payment schemes to buy baby clothes while waiting for a benefit payment, for example, and that those in debt were using BNPL to do food shops. Some firms offering the BNPL payments are also contacting customers, some of whom are vulnerable, to tell them they can increase their credit limits by hundreds or even thousands of pounds. Citizens' Advice gave the example of a pensioner, Audrey, who used BNPL for her 40 food shop when she was running low on funds. Despite struggling to repay her debt, it said the provider had since bombarded her with offers to borrow hundreds of pounds more. The pensioner said: 'It was either use BNPL or starve, so I used it. 'I sort of knew I would struggle to make the repayments but I did not have any other way of getting food. I bought canned food as they are non-perishable and would last me longer. 'I have been struggling to repay the money. They constantly harass me, calling me for payments. It's really stressful as if I could afford to pay it back straight away, I would. 'This company also sends me texts and emails offering 100 credit and even 500. It makes no sense as I can't even manage to repay 40, how would I repay 100 or even 500?' 'I've been swarmed with offers of higher credit limits' Younger customers are also being offered the higher credit limits. Lewis, 28, who works at a legal start-up in London said he had been offered a credit limit of up to 2,000 through one BNPL provider. He said: 'I used a buy now, pay later service to help buy some furniture when I moved house last year. It's an expensive process, and I just wanted to split the cost of a couple of items over a three-month period. Credit cards have the advantage of section 75 purchase protection, as well as having the potential to improve a person's credit score if used responsibly 'Since then, I have been swarmed with offers and notices of increased credit limits as the providers are trying to get me to use their services again. 'I worked with StepChange a few years ago to help clear my gambling debts, so I'm very cautious of how I spend and where I lend from in the future. This whole thing seems very predatory for those who may be struggling with their finances. 'If I'd still been in thousands of pounds in debt when these services were popular, I doubt I'd have ever cleared it. 'These companies don't know my history so I don't think its right that they should be offering such high credit limits when they don't know if the person borrowing is able to repay them comfortably. A pensioner has reported being bombarded with offers of higher credit limits by a buy now, pay later provider - despite struggling to repay her initial debt (image posed by model) Citizens Advice has been calling for urgent regulation of the sector, including for consistent, market-wide affordability checks and for BNPL firms to make the consequences if things go wrong clearer for consumers. Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: 'The fact that people are turning to buy now pay later for their groceries really hammers home the urgent need for industry regulation. What happens if a buy now, pay later debt is not repaid on time? If BNPL debts are repaid on time, many companies do not charge any interest. But if they are paid late, there are usually fees to pay - and if the sum remains unpaid, the provider can use bailiffs to recover it. Clearpay's terms state: 'We give you till 11pm on the following day to make your repayment and then you will incur a late fee for a missed payment that is not resolved. This will be an initial 6 and a further fee of 6 if the payment is not made within seven days. If you are facing hardship, we have hardship policy that allows us to work with you to get you back on track.' Laybuy states: 'If you fail to pay within 24 hours of the due date, we will charge you a default fee of 6. If you do not rectify your default by making the missed instalment payment within the next seven days, we will charge you a further default fee of 6. We may also arrange for a debt collection agency to collect from you the amount you owe us.' Klarna states: 'If you do not pay for your order on time by the due date, you shall no longer be able to access Klarnas payment options for future purchases. For purchases where payments are frequently missed, Klarna may use debt collection agencies to recover your outstanding balance.' According to Citizens Advice, those chased for arrears by a bailiff can expect to be hit with an initial 75 penalty. Failure to pay up, resulting in a debt collector knocking on your door, can trigger a further penalty of 235 and a 7.5 per cent fee on any amount owed above 1,500. This means a debt of 2,500 may trigger total penalties of 150. People unable to clear the debt face being charged 110 for having valuables repossessed and sold at auction. 'As living costs spiral, we fear more people in desperate situations will see this unregulated form of credit as the answer. 'The government must keep pace with these firms and ensure consumers are protected.' Meanwhile, Gillian Percival, a benefits caseworker at Citizens Advice Copeland, added: 'Buy Now Pay Later is a double-edged sword. 'It can be useful if you understand what you're getting into, but if you're using it out of desperation you probably have no way to repay. 'We try to help people with food bank and fuel vouchers, but some people are embarrassed to ask for help if they're struggling. If they use buy now pay Later they're invisible. 'They don't need to speak to anybody, with a few clicks they can borrow instead. They can resolve their problems immediately without having to worry about the consequences.' People with health problems face paying almost as much for travel insurance as they are shelling out for their entire holiday after an exodus of big providers during the pandemic. Among them is Helen Galer, who has been battling breast cancer for the past eight years. She has been told she must pay nearly 1,800 if she wants to be insured for a two-week holiday with family and friends later this year that is costing her 2,400. She says she feels as if she is being 'treated like a leper'. Raring to go: Helen Galer, who works at a motorcycle shop, has been told by her oncologist that she is fit to travel James Daley, managing director of consumer group Fairer Finance, says people like Helen are victims of a contraction in the travel insurance market brought about by the pandemic and travel restrictions. He adds: 'Major players pulling out of the market have dramatically curbed the choice of cover available to those with health issues who want to travel abroad this year. 'Some are being refused cover while others like Helen are being charged exorbitant rates.' Helen, 56, works as a part-time shop assistant at Stevelin Motorcycles in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire. Although the initial cancer was successfully treated, she was diagnosed with secondary cancer as it had spread to her liver and bones. She gets regular immunotherapy treatment and she says her condition is under control. Despite her oncologist saying she is 'fit and able to travel', Helen says she 'was treated like a leper' when trying to get worldwide insurance cover for the tour this October with family and friends. The holiday of a lifetime includes a trip to Niagara Falls in Canada followed by a luxury train journey to New York and then seven nights aboard Cunard's flagship, the Queen Mary 2. Trip of a lifetime: Helen Galer is travelling to Niagara Falls in Canada, then on to New York She had previously booked the same trip in 2020 before having to cancel due to the pandemic. At the time, she had worldwide annual travel insurance from Insurancewith that cost just 242. But now despite her health not having changed in the past two years the only comparable worldwide annual cover she has been able to get is from AllClear Travel Insurance costing 1,774. Helen says: 'I enjoy my life to the full so I find it grossly unfair when travel insurers seem to want to stop me in my tracks. 'If it were not for my family and friends insisting that I share this fantastic trip with them, I would have seriously considered not going. Sadly, I may not be able to travel abroad again in the future not due to health issues but simply because I cannot afford travel insurance.' Insurancewith was part of Travel Insurance Facilities. But last July, this major provider of travel insurance stopped issuing new policies across its range of plans including HolidaySafe, Flexicover and Alpha. It is currently being investigated by City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to 'regulated activities, claims and complaints'. Spanish travel insurer Mapfre Asistencia also pulled the plug on the UK last year. Among its travel cover brands was InsureandGo which has since been taken over by insurer AllClear. Helen contacted Insurancewith last November to see if she could take out cover with it again. It was unable to provide her with a quote. Alarm bells started ringing as a string of insurers Avanti, PayingTooMuch, insurePink, Staysure, InsureCancer and even the Post Office all said no to her. Finally, she tried AllClear, the only company willing to offer her annual worldwide cover albeit at seven times the cost of cover she took out two years ago. Premiums on the rise for those with health issues The British Insurance Brokers' Association says the travel insurance market has contracted in the past couple of years and that premiums for those with health issues have risen. It adds: 'Unfortunately, when your health risk is deemed high this is reflected in higher premiums. But there should be no reason why specialist cover cannot be found for anyone who wishes to travel. As far as Helen is concerned, travel cover has been found.' Irrespective of whether you are in remission from cancer or have received successful treatment, you must mention it on any application for travel cover. Other serious health issues, such as a triple heart-bypass, will also limit choice and raise premiums. Even relatively minor conditions, such as high cholesterol levels, should be mentioned, otherwise a claim could be thrown out. BIBA warns that you should never travel without being insured because a serious injury that requires treatment can end up costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. Guy Bellamy, chief executive of AllClear, says: 'Our commitment is to ensure everyone has the right to travel and to do so safely and for those with preexisting medical conditions our priority is to offer them the best possible cover for a dream holiday.' For details of brokers that can help those with health issues, call 0370 950 1790 or visit biba.org.uk and click on the 'travel medical insurance directory' link. Britain's largest steel companies have halted imports of Russian coal as the West's attempts to sever ties with Vladimir Putin's regime gather pace. The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Tata Steel UK and British Steel have both ended their reliance on the country's coal which is used to power their blast furnaces. Tata, part of a giant Indian conglomerate, runs Britain's biggest steelworks at Port Talbot in South Wales. British Steel, acquired from administration by China's Jingye in 2020, makes steel for railway tracks from sites including Scunthorpe and Teesside. Severing ties: Tata Steel UK and British Steel have both ended their reliance on Russia's coal which is used to power their blast furnaces Conservative MP Richard Holden said: 'I'm delighted to see any company divest itself of Russian interests. We need to see that business go instead to the UK and its allies.' The coal is used to heat the furnaces to 1,800C and is a vital part of the steel-making processes. Britain has imported 3million tons of coking coal, the main type used in steelmaking, from Russia over the past four years. The country is second only to the US as a source of supply. Government data shows the UK imported 867,000 tons in 2018; 699,000 tons in 2019; and 722,000 tons in 2020. Figures for the first nine months of 2021 reveal 684,000 tons had already been bought, putting the UK on course for another bumper year. The UK received about 35 per cent of its coking coal from Russia in 2020. Last week, US president Joe Biden banned imports of Russian coal, oil, gas and all other energy products. Britain stopped short of emulating that ban. But Tata and British Steel voluntarily shunned supplies following the Ukraine invasion. Boris Johnson committed to phasing out imports of Russian oil by the end of the year to allow companies to find alternative supplies. The Government is also 'exploring options' to reduce natural gas supplies from Russia. The action by the steel giants is likely to prompt calls for a complete ban on imports of Russian coal. Industry sources said European steelmakers were likely to turn to Australia, Canada and others to make up the shortfall. Levelling Up Minister Michael Gove was last week urged to fast-track approval of an application to build a coal mine in North West England. Copeland mayor Mike Starkie said Gove should approve West Cumbria Mining's application for a 165million mine for coking coal, used to make steel in Whitehaven. Michael Gove, the levelling up minister, has been urged to fast-track an application to build a new coal mine in Cumbria The project has been approved three times by Cumbria County Council, but was called in by the Government for a judicial review last year. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng last week noted the review in Parliament, saying: 'We clearly want to move away from Russian hydrocarbons.' Western firms have moved to choke off the Russian economy and protect their reputations by cutting ties to the country. A British Steel spokesman said: 'We have ceased any trade relationships with suppliers and customers based in Russia. We do not anticipate supply disruptions and continue to operate according to our production plans. 'Our raw materials procurement teams are assessing the changing global supply chains and trade flows, and we have contingency plans in place should this be required.' A Tata UK spokesman said: 'We will ensure that customers will not be affected.' Big business: Tata Steel runs Britain's biggest steelworks at Port Talbot in South Wales Sheffield Forgemasters, which was nationalised last year, was exporting steel rolls to Russian plants but has stopped since the invasion of Ukraine. Construction contractors have bemoaned 'crippling' price hikes imposed by British Steel, blaming rising costs on the Ukraine conflict. Energy prices have shot up since the war in Ukraine triggered a squeeze on supply. Johnson has said the UK will attempt to source more energy domestically, which is likely to draw investment towards British projects including wind farms, fracking and mining. Figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that the UK imported 32million of coal, coke and briquettes from Russia in January; 590million of oil; and 289million of gas. Energy bills make up a huge portion of steelmakers' costs and British firms have repeatedly claimed they are at a disadvantage to European rivals. Holden said: 'The world has changed in the last fortnight. We need to look again at domestic supply.' When M&S boss Steve Rowe walks the shop floors, talking a mile a minute and constantly stopping to greet his staff, he seems to personify the spirit of the much-loved chain. Usually dressed in a suit bought from 'The Arch' the flagship store in Marble Arch in Central London he brims with enthusiasm about everything from cashmere hoodies to spa-worthy scented candles. Rowe, 54, has spent almost 40 years at M&S, having joined the company from school at the age of 15 and risen through the ranks to become chief executive. Team player: Steve Rowe (left) joined M&S from school at the age of 15 and worked his way up to chief executive So why is he leaving now, just as the business, which has been through one of the most troubled periods in its 138-year history, seems to have turned a corner? 'There is a danger with chief executives that hang around too long,' he says. The business, he argues, is at an 'inflexion point' where he has set it firmly on course for the recovery that has been elusive for so long. Now he is ready to hand over to others for the next phase of the transformation. 'The things that need to be done now, these are five-year jobs, so it's right to hand over.' When he took the reins six years ago, the much-loved retailer was in the claws of one of its worst crises. A string of chairmen and chief executives had failed to stop the rot as the company lost ground to online rivals and to new high street competitors such as Zara. By the time Rowe and chairman Archie Norman took over, it was a case of do or die. When Rowe put together a presentation on turning the company around, his first slide was entitled 'Putting out fires' and Norman described it as a 'burning platform'. Now, Rowe frankly admits that, although the company never actually came to the brink of bankruptcy like Debenhams, it could have gone hurtling down the road to ruin if they had not implemented their drastic recovery plan. 'A business as challenged as M&S was, with declining profits and sales, well you could see how there was a route that if we didn't change, we could easily go that way. It was a very real issue. 'M&S, like any other business, has no God-given right to exist. 'It has been hard yards, a really big programme of change. We have lifted up every stone in this business, had a good look underneath and we have not put them down again until we have fixed it.' How close did M&S get to the brink? 'Look, I don't think we were ever in quite the precarious state of the others, we had a good balance sheet. 'We weren't on a knife edge to be going bankrupt, it would be wrong to say that. But if we didn't change over a period of time well, it would not have been an attractive business. Have we optimised it, no but we are not on a burning platform right now 'You have to look back and you can probably argue that M&S profits were going backwards at a rate of circa 100 million a year. 'We had a store estate where the costs were only going one way, our returns per square foot were going backwards, we were losing market share every single year in clothing.' Changing times: Rowe has overseen a transformation programme at the high-street retailer Have all the fires been put out? 'We have been making the right business decisions and you can say those fires have gone. 'I don't want to put words in Archie's mouth but I think he would say the same thing. Have we optimised it, no but we are not on a burning platform right now.' Unlike many of his predecessors, Rowe can claim to be going out on a high note. His exit, he says, has been planned for some time. 'We didn't want any of the succession issues we had in the past.' He is alluding to Marks' history of being plagued with messy and abrupt transfers of power at the top, including the exit of his predecessor Marc Bolland in 2016 after disappointing clothing sales. New bosses: Co-chief executives Stuart Machin and Katie Bickerstaffe Buy one boss, get one free? Back in 2004, the chairman and chief executive were ousted dramatically in the middle of a hostile bid from Sir Philip Green. But some in the City were left scratching their heads about the fact Rowe is handing over to not one but two new leaders, chief executive Stuart Machin and co-chief executive Katie Bickerstaffe. It sounds like a kind of 'buy one boss, get one free' deal. Perhaps it's flattering that it takes two people to replace him, but who is actually in charge? 'Stuart is the CEO. Ultimately he has the last word,' he says. But why give them both the CEO title if they are not completely equal? 'That is a matter for the board, not for me. But we have to be absolutely clear where the stewardship lies. The team does report to Stuart,' he says. At other firms, joint chief executives have been a recipe for squabbles and fallings-out. Rowe, however, says that Machin, Bickerstaffe and strategy and finance chief Eoin Tonge are 'a great team'. 'The four of us have worked together very well and now it will be the three of them.' As for the business having its first female chief executive albeit one who still serves under a male boss he says: 'It shouldn't be about male or female, but I have to tell you Katie has been a real asset. She brings an added edge to the business.' He swerves a question on whether the two chief executives will have equal pay. 'The details will all be published as part of the normal package that goes in the remuneration report,' he parries. Regardless of whether or not it looks sexist to install the first female chief executive only to have her reporting to a male superior, Bickerstaffe and Machin will have their work cut out. 'When we go down the jobs list I would say to you we have made a good fist of fixing things and working out what to do. 'But is everything fixed to the point that it is market leading, no it is not. I would be the first to admit that. We have only done about five out of ten on the transformation journey.' Maintaining momentum He is acutely aware that M&S has had many false dawns in the past. 'We have got to maintain momentum in clothing and home, and in food. 'We have to show people this is a sustainable recovery, which is something we haven't done in the past. Without meaning to be arrogant, we have done everything we said we were going to do in my leadership on time and on budget.' Under Rowe's command, Marks has shut underperforming stores and opened new ones, as well as sprucing up drab shops. Its shares fell so far it lost its place in the blue-chip FTSE100 index in 2019. Since then they have risen strongly, hitting 2.50 earlier this year, but despite Rowe's best efforts fell back to 1.60 on Friday. The biggest transformation he says, is the 750million deal to sell M&S groceries through the online retailer Ocado. 'One day we might say this was as significant as moving from Penny Bazaars into high streets. Time will judge that one, but it is a massive move. 'We have built a digital and data engine, with 14million Sparks cards and four million users of our app.' Leaving will undoubtedly be an emotional wrench for Rowe, who is married with two daughters. He is a workaholic who loves nothing more than wandering the aisles of his local store in Bromley, Kent. He has 'no thoughts' on his next move as he has been so busy focusing on M&S. 'But I'm not hanging my boots up, I have not retired, if that's what you're asking.' Will he come to the annual shareholder meeting and ask awkward questions, as small investors are apt to do? 'Definitely not,' he laughs. He lacks the airs and graces of many chief executives, declining to move into his predecessor's grand office at the Paddington HQ, even getting rid of an express lift to the executive floor. Unlike most corporate bigwigs who haunt posh restaurants like The Wolseley, he holds court in M&S store cafes, among the mums and babies and the clattering cutlery. For lunch, he favours a prawn sandwich from one of his food halls. His dad Joe was a senior manager so M&S is in his DNA. 'I have worked hard and I have enjoyed every single second of my work,' he says. 'I am one of the luckiest people alive. Having a job I have been able to work and enjoy every day of my life is a rare privilege.' 'Will I miss it? Yeah, of course, but I am pretty sure I will visit the occasional shop. But M&S is one big family, you never leave. It is the biggest alumni group in the UK and I am looking forward to joining.' JEFFERSON CITY While most other states have finished work on new congressional boundaries, Missouri is one of just four without a map, as lawmakers here remain mired in personal feuds and disagreement over the lines. The acrimony within the Missouri Senate became even more pronounced in recent days as the small group of GOP senators opposed to party leadership worked to block bipartisan bills such as a sexual assault survivors bill of rights. Lawmakers, some frustrated by the intraparty squabbling, headed out of the capital city Thursday for a weeklong spring break. They come back to the Capitol next Monday, eight days before candidate filing for the Aug. 2 primary election ends. All 163 seats in the House and half in the 34-member Senate are up for grabs in November. Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said Thursday the candidate filing deadline is on the radar and didnt shoot down the possibility of moving against his fellow Republicans to force a vote on the blueprint. Everything is on the table, Rowden said. Well find a path and I want the path to be as smooth as possible. While the Senate has traversed a rocky road with little to show for its efforts, the House has sent more than 35 pieces of legislation to the other chamber since the session began in early January. To date only one measure, a supplemental budget bill, has received final approval in what has been a muddled, fractured Senate thus far. GOP leaders spoke to Gov. Mike Parson last week about various options for congressional districts, Rowden told reporters as the Senate took its break. He said he wanted to get a map to the governors desk to avoid having the courts draw congressional boundaries. Such a scenario could turn U.S. Rep. Ann Wagners suburban St. Louis 2nd Congressional District more competitive, putting the Republican seat in jeopardy, Rowden said. Another thing he dislikes about not approving a congressional map: It makes us look bad. A lawsuit calling on the courts to intervene in the stalled redistricting battle has already been filed, adding to the tension that has enveloped the debate. Dysfunction Dysfunction among Senate Republicans was on full display last week as the GOP faction blocked the sexual assault survivors bill of rights. The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder, R-Sikeston, held a press conference to excoriate the group of men. These guys need to halt their campaigning and work for the job that they are currently elected to do, she said. Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, had introduced an amendment to Rehders bill dealing with obscene material in schools. Rehder said both Democrats and Republicans had concerns and that Brattin should have worked through them during the committee process. Brattin is running for Congress in what is currently the 4th Congressional District. The incumbent, Republican U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Roy Blunt. The press conference, in which Rehder was flanked by 12 Republicans and nine Democrats, didnt calm tensions. Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, said the Democrats were eager to exploit the rift within the GOP caucus. With a mandatory adjournment date of May 13, Democrats best weapon to kill bills they dont like is to run out the clock on the legislative session. Democrats havent had to filibuster much this session; the GOP faction is doing most of the heavy lifting for them. I would expect you (the Democrats) to be there any time theres a fracture or a rift within the majority caucus, Eigel said after Rehders press conference. Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, chided Republicans for the fissures, saying Democrats are unified. I imagine if we went to dinner we could all sit at the same table, Rizzo said. Wed like to have a functional Senate. My own playground While the Senate spent much of Thursday morning conducting no business, the House rammed through more than a dozen pieces of legislation, sending a variety of bills to an uncertain fate in the Senate. House members have expressed frustration with the bottleneck, but a top GOP leader said he has no plans to intervene in the fighting. We can only worry about what we can control, said House Majority Leader Dean Plocher, a Des Peres Republican who is set to become speaker of the chamber next year. Plocher said the House has worked to send the Senate some high profile legislation that will benefit Missourians, including a bill that would prohibit hospitals and nursing homes from limiting the number of visitors during a pandemic or other emergency. Weve had some good debate on the floor. Weve had some good priorities that I think reflect the values of Missouri citizens, Plocher said. Hopefully the Senate will get to work on those in their due time. Despite concerns that the Senate will continue to flounder, Plocher said he does not plan to personally urge senators to set aside their grievances. I choose to play in my own playground and Im not going to play in someone elses sandbox, Plocher said. Its their purview to handle their business. Theyll do their job. Its an election year, meaning individual lawmakers seeking higher office are angling for attention from voters on hot button issues, including GOP talking points on abortion, anger over pandemic restrictions and education issues. House Republicans think theyve done their part to get their members voting records lined up for the August primaries. Our members have worked hard during these first months of session to address the issues the people of Missouri care about deeply. Were extremely proud of what theyve been able to accomplish and were hopeful the Senate will be able to take up many of these measures and pass them into law in the final eight weeks when we return from break, House Speaker Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, said in a joint statement with House leadership. Senate Republican leaders have had less success in the party discipline category. Rowden, addressing a lack of decorum in the upper chamber, said, We can do better and we should do better. Rowden gave the Senate a grade of C for its first half. We salvaged a little here at the end, he said. Exchanging words The Senate pushed through several bills Thursday after Rehder and Onder exchanged words on the Senate floor. The priorities included legislation boosting the amount of money Kansas City has to direct to the Kansas City Board of Police, and a bipartisan measure promoting literacy in Missouri schools. Rehder said she held the press conference to push back against the pontificating taking place in the Senate. You mean like your press conference? Onder asked. My press conference was far from pontificating, Rehder said. It was calling (out) the three, four angry mens caucus. Members of the faction in question include Onder, Eigel, Brattin, as well as Sens. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, and Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove. Sen. Eric Burlison, R-Battlefield, who some hope can act as a bridge between the regular Republicans and the faction, called for peace on Thursday. He said he hoped we can have a week where we can cool off. Like Brattin, Burlison also is running for Congress. He wants to take over for U.S. Rep. Billy Long, a southwest Missouri Republican who is seeking Blunts Senate seat. The Legislature comes back to town March 21. Originally posted at 1 p.m. Friday, March 11. Kurt Erickson 573-556-6181 @KurtEricksonPD on Twitter kerickson@post-dispatch.com Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Extracting natural gas from shale rocks could begin within a year if the Government lifts its controversial ban, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Energy exploration firm IGas has said it could prepare a planning application within weeks for a location in Nottinghamshire which could heat up to 125,000 homes. It added that, with Government help to speed up the process, it could begin a 'commercial pilot' in as little as nine months after approval was received producing gas that would be useable in homes. Controversy: Cuadrilla's test fracking site in Lancashire before it was ordered to seal the wells A ban on pumping natural gas out of shale rocks, known as fracking, has been in place since 2019 after an outcry over earthquakes in Lancashire linked to a pioneering site run by the Cuadrilla company. The ban effectively shut down Britain's fracking industry and Cuadrilla's wells are due to be sealed permanently in weeks. But with Britain facing an energy crisis, Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week reopened the door to shale oil extraction. Following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, spikes in oil and gas prices have triggered a debate on how the UK can become less reliant on energy from overseas. A clutch of political figures have called for a fresh look at fracking which involves pumping sand, water and chemicals into rocks at high pressure to release trapped gas or oil and advocates of the industry made the case for shale gas at a presentation in the House of Commons last week. The Mail on Sunday understands that Tory former Transport Minister Chris Grayling and Conservative MP Miriam Cates were among those in attendance at the event. Fracking 'could create 64,000 jobs' The presentation by trade body UK Onshore Oil and Gas, seen by the MoS, claims fracking in Britain could create 64,000 jobs and trigger 33billion of investment. Failure to develop UK shale gas will see 260billion of capital sent overseas, it claims. IGas had been developing a shale site at Springs Road in Misson, Nottinghamshire, before the 2019 moratorium. Planning permission for the site ran out in 2020 and an application to extend it was refused. IGas plans to formally close the site at the end of the year. Former Transport Minister Chris Grayling is understood to have attended an event in the House of Commons last week where advocates made the case for shale gas It is estimated that if the site was fully developed, it could create ten wells producing between 60billion and 80billion cubic feet of shale gas in total. IGas development director Ross Glover said a planning application could be submitted as early as next month if the moratorium were lifted. He added: 'There is a significant need for gas and we believe we can help, and much quicker than we originally thought. But we need a streamlined regulatory system which will enable us to get this going.' Charles McAllister, policy manager of UK Onshore Oil and Gas, said: 'A lifting of the moratorium would not be enough. The Government would need to make sure the planning and permit regimes do not inhibit development.' Environmental impact could cause public backlash The industry has argued that the impact on the environment is not as significant as some fear and that extraction techniques have improved. But a softening attitude towards fracking would probably cause a public backlash and anti-fracking campaigners have threatened to stage protests if the moratorium is lifted. IGas shares shot up 62 per cent last week in part due to hopes the fracking ban may be overturned. IGas is worth a modest 36million. Energy giants such as BP and Shell have shunned British shale. The renewed focus on fracking comes as Cuadrilla prepares to seal its two wells in Lancashire this week. The Government's Oil and Gas Authority has set a legal deadline of June 30 to seal the wells with concrete, which is estimated to take two to three months. Cuadrilla is urging the Government to withdraw the instruction. Life peer Lord Lilley, who attended the Westminster event, called for the Government to move quickly to allow fracking in Britain. He told the MoS: 'Just do it.' He said Britain is 'the only country in Western Europe sitting on massive gas reserves' while at the same time proposing to cement over the top of fresh wells. 'People say Putin's gone mad, but over there they must be thinking we have caught the same infection,' he added. City grandee Mervyn Davies has denounced Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine and pledged to protect the jobs of thousands of British staff working for Holland & Barrett, which is linked to two sanctioned oligarchs. Lord Davies has taken over the running of Holland & Barrett's parent company, private equity firm LetterOne, which was founded by Mikhail Fridman. 'I have made it very clear: I am 100 per cent opposed to everything that is going on. It is absolutely appalling,' Lord Davies said. 'I am totally appalled by what Putin is doing, it is just disgusting and it has to be stopped.' Staying: Lord Davies, who has taken over the running of Holland & Barrett's parent company, with his wife Jeanne The former banker removed Fridman and fellow oligarch Petr Aven, who own nearly 50 per cent of LetterOne, from the board earlier this month and froze their shareholdings. Lord Davies who served as a Trade Minister under Gordon Brown was hired as deputy chairman of LetterOne in 2015 and stepped up to be chairman of the business which says it supports 120,000 jobs through its investments. He told The Mail on Sunday: 'I felt I had a duty to customers, employees and the businesses to stay.' Fridman and Aven, who have been sanctioned by the European Union, cannot now receive dividends or benefit from their holding in any way. Their shares can only be unfrozen at the discretion of Lord Davies and the rest of the LetterOne board. There is no obligation to remove the freeze even if sanctions are lifted. Three other oligarchs, German Khan, Alexei Kuzmichev and Andrei Kosogov, have also resigned from the board, though none of them have been sanctioned. The trio own the remainder of LetterOne. Their holding has not been frozen. Lord Davies now in charge alongside chief executive Jonathan Muir defended his decision to take the helm, saying: 'I am not babysitting for sanctioned persons. I am here to protect jobs and to create enormous value for Ukrainian-related charities.' The company has promised a $150million donation, plus all dividends for the forseeable future that would have gone to the oligarchs, will instead be handed to Ukrainian causes. Fridman and Aven said the EU sanctions are spurious and unfounded and have vowed to contest them. Composer Olga Thomas, a British citizen who was born in Russia, is appalled by what is going on in Ukraine. She equates it to living in a sci-fi horror film. Thomas has enjoyed number one hits with music she composed for the Queen, including Royal Platinum Love Song written for the 70th wedding anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip in 2017. To celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, Olga has composed a new classical piece for charity titled The Four British Nations. It appears on the album EIIR: The Platinum Record, released on April 21. Dismay: Composer Olga Thomas, a British citizen who was born in Russia, is appalled by what is going on in Ukraine Have you got any family in Russia or Ukraine? MY elderly father is in Moscow and a distant cousin is in Ukraine. And I have a lot of friends in both countries. In Russia, some have been arrested for saying no to the war. To see what is happening in Ukraine is heartbreaking. It is something I would never have imagined, even in a nightmare. It feels like we are living in a sci-fi horror film. My family suffered so much through the Stalin years. They were put in the Gulag, a Russian labour camp. To me, Stalin was representative of evil as much as can be. And in my opinion, what is happening now is an extension of that. Why would anyone in a clear mind act that way? It is so aggressive and unreasonable. I cannot find any explanation why Putin is doing it. I don't know if I'll ever again be able to see my father, who is in his 80s. I am a British citizen and consider myself English. If I entered Russia, I might be considered an enemy for not supporting the war. What did your parents teach you about money? That it has to be earned. I was born in Moscow in 1961. My mother was a musician and my father a mathematician and engineer. They both worked hard and I was lucky because we lived in a lovely flat and didn't struggle at all. My education, at a prestigious music school for gifted children, was free. But like other middle-class families in Russia at that time, we did not have any savings. We had to be careful with money to live comfortably. That taught me to treat money with respect and not to waste it. Have you ever struggled to make ends meet? Yes. When I was 28, the year before I came to England, my mother became very ill with cancer. She needed specialist medical care and though we officially had free medicine in Russia, nothing was really free. I had to arrange proper care for her, first in the hospital and then, in the last few months of her life, at home. We didn't have palliative care in Russia then. When people were that ill, they were sent back home to die as it lowered the death statistics of the hospitals. She needed a huge amount of support from different hospitals and that was extremely expensive. At the time, I was teaching at the school for gifted children. They kindly gave me paid compassionate leave, which allowed me to give private lessons from home while I was looking after my mother. I gave a lot of lessons, but it was still not enough. I had to start selling the family jewellery. I don't regret doing so for one second, it was nothing. Giving a few extra comfortable minutes of life to my mother means everything to me. What has been your most lucrative composition? The music I wrote for a production of The Cherry Orchard in the West End in 1993. I was paid many thousands of pounds, which was a lot of money at the time. The production ran for half a year and I got royalties as well. Honour: Olga Thomas, who has composed music for the Queen, presented her with a CD What are you paid for the music you write for the Queen? Not much, only composer's royalties when it is played on the radio. I don't get anything at all from the sales: 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sales of my music for the Queen are donated to charity. I cannot imagine profiting from those sales because when I compose something for the Queen, it is a musical gift for her and the Royal Household. I am the resident composer for charity Cruse Bereavement Care, a voluntary role which I do for free because I find it rewarding. Her Majesty is its Royal patron, which is how I first came to give a gift of my music to the Queen. The first gift was called Themes Of Life And Glory, and it was dedicated to the memory of the Queen Mother. I never thought I would be invited to the Palace, let alone get to present the gift myself, but that was what happened. It was an amazing experience to talk to Her Majesty and give her my CD and to say a few words about love for our mothers. I will never forget that moment. What is the most expensive thing you bought for fun? Lifetime membership of the Groucho Club, a private members' club in London. I bought it in the early 1990s, it cost 2,000 and I had to take out a loan to pay for it. But I don't regret it. I enjoy going there with my friends. It's a special place. What is your biggest money mistake? Taking out payment protection insurance (PPI) on 15 store cards and credit cards. I trusted the people who sold it to me. I became so good at claiming PPI refunds that eventually companies started paying me more than they owed me as an apology In 2015, I began to claim it back. I became so good at claiming that eventually companies started paying me more than they owed me as an apology. In total, I got about 50,000 back. Then, under a pseudonym, I published a free template letter for other people to use and they started winning their cases too. It even impressed the Financial Ombudsman Service: it made a video about what I had done to show staff. They couldn't imagine that a normal, untrained person could do such a good job. The best money decision you have made? To pay a 73-piece orchestra, a choir and a top arranger to record my composition, Royal Platinum Love Song, for Her Majesty's platinum wedding anniversary. It celebrated her 70 years of marriage to the late Prince Philip. It cost me thousands of pounds and when I heard it for the first time, I couldn't believe my own piece was being realised in such an incredible way. That became my first number one song in the Classical Music Charts and multiple number ones have followed. Although I didn't make any money from the sales, and I haven't yet made my investment back fully from the royalties, it catapulted me on to the world stage. Park life: Olga Thomas and her husband own a four-bedroom flat close to London's Hyde Park Do you own any property? Yes. My husband and I own a wonderful four-bedroom flat in Central London, not far from Hyde Park. My husband, who is a chartered accountant, bought it on an interest-only mortgage in 1981 before we met. Now I am paying off the mortgage and the home belongs to both of us. I don't know how much my husband paid for it, but I think it is worth around 1.5million now. What is the one little luxury you treat yourself to? For every new piece I compose, I buy a piece of jewellery that is related to the new work. I'll spend anything from as little as 200 to 1,000. If you were Chancellor what is the first thing you would do? I would offer more support for the self-employed in creative jobs. What is your number one financial priority? To continue to have financial security. I would also love to find an investor to help me record with orchestras and raise more money for charities. Instant unlimited access to all of our content on tillamookheadlightherald.com. The Headlight Herald E-Edition Newsletter emailed to you each week, the night before the paper hits the street! This subscription is for NEW or RENEWING online subscribers. (The charge will appear as "Country Media Inc." on your credit card statement) Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. The 70th annual Daily Progress Spelling Bee Regional Finals, scheduled to take place Saturday at Albemarle High School, are being postponed. The decision was made late afternoon on Friday after the National Weather Service updated its winter weather advisory to include near blizzard-like conditions between the hours of 8 and 11 a.m. for the Charlottesville area. The event was slated to start at 9:30 a.m. We want students and their families to be safe when traveling to the spelling bee, and we expected that was not going to be the case. So postponing is the right decision, Richard Alblas, spelling bee coordinator for The Daily Progress, said. Students who were expected to take the stage come from public school districts across the region, as well as seven private schools in Charlottesville, Waynesboro and Staunton. A total of 16 students made it to the Regional Finals this year. The winner, sponsored by The Daily Progress, will move on to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is annually held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Maryland. This years national finals will take place during the week of Memorial Day. Last year was the first time since 1952 the Daily Progress Regional Spelling Bee Finals were canceled. That cancelation was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not a cancelation, merely a postponement, Alblas said. We will find a new date for the finals. I know how much our finalists look forward to this event, and we are committed to make sure they get the event they deserve. Kingsport, TN (37660) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 78F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A few passing clouds. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. At least 17 people were killed and dozens wounded in the Jebel Moon area of Darfur on Thursday in a militia attack, activists said. It comes after a similar attack killed 16 people earlier this week and just months after the area was rocked by violence late last year. Four villages were burned down in the attack, said the Coordinating Committee for Refugees and Displaced People in a statement. Aid groups have noted a sharp uptick in violence and displacement in Darfur following a peace agreement signed in October 2020. SOURCE: REUTERS This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate COHOES Norlite seems to recognize that it has a public relations problem. The owner of the facility, which burns hazardous waste to produce gravel and other aggregates, maintains a cheerful website devoted to telling anyone who stumbles across it that Norlite is darn great, despite what you might have heard. "We're part of the community," it declares. Swell. But a nice website filled with happy talk doesn't erase decades of bad behavior, especially if its message is disingenuous about both the past and the present. And a recent letter posted on the site titled "We Hear You, Cohoes, and We'd Like to Invest" is mightily disingenuous. It was written, purportedly, by Victor Creixell, chief executive of Tradebe, the Spanish company that owns Norlite. The topic is the five-acre site currently occupied by the Saratoga Sites public housing complex, which Norlite is hoping to purchase. Now, if you've been following this story, you know that the city and the Cohoes Housing Authority are engaged in the laborious process of moving residents, about 70 families, from the site next to Norlite. That's because the plant makes the housing an unpleasant and perhaps unhealthy place to live. Norlite isn't entirely to blame for the situation. It was built first, and it is indisputably true that the 1960s decision to place public housing adjacent to a gravel factory was a bad one. It was a fine example of environmental classism, otherwise known as poor people getting the shaft. Yet being there first doesn't excuse the callousness that has long characterized Norlite's operation. Take the decades-old problem of dust. DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos recently said that "Norlite continues to show a blatant disregard for the surrounding community by allowing dust to blow off their property" as he threatened to shutter the plant if the problem isn't addressed. Creixell doesn't deny the dust problem in his letter, but he characterized it as a mere "nuisance." Easy for him to say. The CEO might feel differently if he had to inhale the dust, as residents of Saratoga Sites do, or if he wiped it from his car windshield in the morning, as they also have done. His perspective might change if he were a parent in the housing complex worried that the dust is dangerous, which is the word a Columbia University geology professor used when describing it. If corporate executives in Spain are anything like their American counterparts, we can bet Creixell lives in a very lovely place far, far away from such unpleasant things as incinerators and dust pollution. But let's move on to the biggest whopper in Creixell's letter. Ready? Here it is: "The residents (of Saratoga Sites) are not being moved because of the presence nearby of our Norlite facility." Huh?! That statement is decidedly false, and if Creixell really believes it, he simply hasn't been paying attention and doesn't know what he's talking about. Both are distinctly possible. Safe to say, though, that the line did him no favors with the folks at Cohoes City Hall, where an incredulous Mayor Bill Keeler immediately penned a scathing rebuttal informing Creixell that he was, among other things, DEAD WRONG. "It was a lie," Keeler told me, adding that Norlite has been "spending more money on public relations and propaganda than they've been spending on complying with rules and regulations." Keeler also takes issue with Creixell's claim that Norlite has posed no health risk, especially since the plant was quietly burning toxic material that contained PFAS chemicals a practice now banned by the state. The mayor is also worried by what the company is proposing. You see, Creixell in his letter talks about turning the Saratoga Sites acreage into a research facility that would investigate new ways to dispose of waste, presumably the hazardous waste now burned at the plant. He asks readers to "imagine a place where top minds in science and engineering pursue new technologies to safely convert waste to something socially useful." No thanks, says Keeler. "I don't think the residents of Cohoes should be guinea pigs in their experiments," he said. It isn't just the families at Saratoga Sites who are impacted by Norlite. There are other homes nearby, as is the Hudson River and, on the opposite shore, the Lansingburgh section of Troy. So even after Saratoga Sites residents are moved, what happens at Norlite will continue to be of regional importance. And there's no reason that Keeler or anybody else should trust that the company will do the right things, not after what the mayor called "50 years of complaints" about how Norlite operates. If the cheerful website is a step toward building trust, then perhaps it's a good sign. But real trust will only come when Norlite treats its neighbors with respect and when executives like Creixell are honest about its impact. Dare to dream. cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill For 20 years, The New Paltz Women in Black have been raising awareness about everything from the horrors of war to racism by standing vigil in front of Elting Memorial Library every single Saturday. Last year was a big year politically and socially, and 2022 so far is shaping up to be similarly weighty, given the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Women in Black are ready. We condemn Russias assault in the strongest terms. We are horrified by it. Its shocking. Its terrible. It cant work. We never believe war will solve anything, says Ingrid Hughes, who heads up the groups anti-war efforts. The core group of about 10 women is debating behind the scenes if they blame Putin solely, or also NATO for isolating Russia. Sometimes emotions run strong, but they are all staunchly anti-war. Women in Black is a worldwide network of activists committed to peace and opposed to injustice, founded in 1988 in Israel in response to violence against Palestinians. (Black is a reference to mourning, though the New Paltz group doesnt wear only black.) When I read that women all over the world were taking to the streets to say no to war and violence, I thought: I have to be one of them, says Barbara Upton, who started standing vigil in New Paltz after 9/11. While there have been other WIB groups in the Hudson Valley over the years, including in Kingston and Woodstock, they dont appear to be currently active. We used to coordinate and do events together, but with time, things change. In 2022, the core group, whom Upton refers to as her sisters in the struggle, is focusing on five areas of concern: overcoming white supremacy, Palestinian rights, the environment, relevance (time sensitive issues), and anti-war. They use the acronym OPERA to refer to these. Anyone, not just women, is welcome to join the weekly vigil on Saturday from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m., for the whole time or even a few minutes and will be greeted with open arms and spare protest signs. WIB post regularly on their Facebook page to inform the community which topic will be addressed when. The women, who are all retirees, are especially excited when younger people join. Were a group of older women. We are thrilled by that; wed like more, says Upton, the only member of the founding group who remains active. A child of the 60s who was active against the Vietnam war, Upton is a former fundraiser at United Way of Dutchess. The WIB come up with their core issues together, often over coffee after weekly vigils, from racism (People feel so much license now to flaunt their racism. Its disturbing, says Hughes), to the environment, to Palestine (Upton: Until there is peace there, there wont be peace in the world). Event planned for women New Paltz Women in Black Rosalyn Cherry, a WIB member since 2010, who was involved in the regional movement that convinced then-Governor Cuomo to ban fracking in 2014, heads up the environmental actions. She has three specific goals this year: to push for funding for the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, to create community awareness of pensions or other funds that invest in fossil fuels (Divestment is important, she says), and to tackle single-use plastic, specifically when it comes to local restaurant take-out. Hughes had planned to spend this years anti-war vigils raising awareness that the beneficiaries of war are arms manufacturers and that wars continue all over the world. Then came Russias invasion of Ukraine. While planning vigils ahead of time is critical, the group leaves some slots open for late-breaking relevant topics they want to address through protest, like Ukraine. Downtime is the best time Make the most of your Hudson Valley weekend, every week with our newsletter. Its very important to stay current. Nothing is more important than the fact that democracy itself is under attack, says Upton, who plans to use some of their upcoming relevant vigil slots to focus on voter suppression bills and the freedom for all people to vote. There will also be a large scale event Saturday, March 12 at 12 noon, for International Women's Day, to bring attention to womens rights being under attack, especially working women enduring the pandemic without family leave and childcare. Theyre expressing concern for abortion rights and reproductive justice, as well as increased violence against women. Having so many issues to focus on weekly is overwhelming and isolating. But the WIB say standing together makes them feel less alone. It makes you feel you have allies, and in fact there are a great many people who think the way we do, says Upton. Hughes agrees, saying, Its grounding. They know its grounding for many people beyond the core group, too. People drive by honking and waving every weekend. We get tremendous response from people. Lots of horns tooting and fingers waving. We get the other finger, too, to be honest, notes Upton. Last year, someone on Twitter posted a photo of the Women in Black in front of Elting Library with a large overcome white supremacy banner. The tweet read: Were literally in the middle of nowhere in the Catskills, and there is a group of people today just hanging out in sub-freezing temps protesting against Trump and white supremacy. The tweet got nearly 10,000 likes and Uptons attention. We were all like, wow! recalls Upton. No matter that New Paltz is neither the middle of nowhere, nor the Catskills. She was happy to see that we were there, a little flash of hope. Upton, by nature an optimist, loves providing hope in the face of the serious problems confronting society. They are human caused, they can be human fixed, she says. I believe in the power of the people to right these wrongs. I dont think we are meant to be passive members in a democracy. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SARATOGA SPRINGS The attorney for the family of Darryl Mount Jr. wants a state Supreme Court justice to unseal the criminal record of a former city police sergeant who was present on the night in 2013 when the 21-year-old biracial man was found grievously injured in a dark alley. Attorney Brian Breedlove said in a November court filing that the criminal record of now-retired Sgt. Aaron Benware is relevant because he is a defendant in the Mount family's pending wrongful death lawsuit against the city. Benware was arrested on Aug. 22, 2019, and initially faced charges of stalking and criminal contempt for disobeying a court order. The alleged victim is not identified in the court filings that were available to the public. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a violation. His LinkedIn page says he retired the month after his arrest. In court filings, Breedlove accused officials of conspiring to let Benware plead to a reduced charge that allowed the case records to be sealed by City Court Judge Jeffrey Wait. An earlier charge against Benware from May 2019, for criminal mischief with destruction of property, was sealed by the same judge in 2020. "Benware was allowed to plead to disorderly conduct, a violation, in full satisfaction of all three class A domestic violence charges, Breedlove wrote in court papers. "Under the circumstances, given that Benware is a defendant in this case, it is painfully obvious that it is the citys interest to bury or minimize these charges. Allowing him to plead guilty to a violation would guarantee that the true extent of his misconduct would never see the light of day. Benware got a good deal. The city did as well." Attorney John Aspland, representing the defendants, argued in his filings that Benware's arrest should remain sealed and off-limits to Breedlove's questions unless Wait, the city court judge, decides otherwise. Aspland said Breedlove was given portions of the officers personnel file "in error" in June 2021, and is only using the charges as a means to discredit the former sergeant. "The acts underlying Mr. Benwares criminal charges occurred several years after the facts in this case," Aspland argued. "Even if these charges occurred more contemporaneously ... they have no bearing on Mr. Benwares liability, if any, as the acts are not at all similar to the allegations involving Mr. Mount." Breedlove questioned Benware and Assistant Police Chief Robert Jillson about the arrest in a deposition last August. Aspland wants the transcripts of those exchanges to be sealed as well. The city has been entangled in years of litigation involving Mount's 2014 death several months after he was pursued by police on Aug. 31, 2013. Police have always maintained that Mount sustained injuries to his head when he fell off a construction scaffold. Mounts family has contended his injuries, mainly to his face, are inconsistent with a fall; they believe the injuries were the result of violence meted out by police. A report released last month by James Montagnino, the city's new Public Safety commissioner, concluded that there was no evidence that officers used force against Mount but lambasted public officials for their failure to investigate the incident adequately. The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote. The case has remained contentious, in part, due to what has come to light about the lack of accountability by law enforcement leaders: In the aftermath of Mount's injury, then-Police Chief Gregory Veitch told a reporter for the Saratogian that the city was conducting an internal investigation of the incident. Veitch later admitted during a sworn deposition that there was no investigation. Aspland said Breedlove's claims about a possible conspiracy to cover up the charges against Benware were "speculative and rife with conjecture." He also requested that Breedlove destroy Benware's personnel file. Both attorneys declined to comment, as did Chief Shane Crooks who was promoted to his job the same month Benware was arrested. Contacted on Friday, Benware referred questions to Aspland. Breedlove's court papers also noted that he "was shocked to discover" there appears to be no internal affairs investigation into the charges against Benware. He called Benware "an integral part" of the incident that led to Mount's death. "The failure to produce an (internal affairs) investigation ... demonstrates the citys bad faith in responding to discovery," Breedlove wrote. "It also goes to prove a pattern and practice of 'cover up' of police misconduct, and frankly, lying to the public." Here are some Capital Region efforts and events helping the people of Ukraine. Send related news to tucitydesk@timesunion.com The city will hold a candlelight vigil outside City Hall, 97 Mohawk St. at 7 p.m. Monday, March 14, organized by the city and Capital Region Ukrainian groups. All are welcome. Groups participating include St. Peter & St. Pauls Ukrainian Catholic Church of Cohoes, St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church of Watervliet, St. Nicolas Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Troy, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (Capital Region Chapter) and the Ukrainian American Citizens Club of Cohoes. Niskayuna supply drive A medical supplies drive for Ukranians will be held Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Niskayuna Town Hall. At Town Hall, off Nott Street East, people can donate gauze, ace bandages, bandaids, burn cream and antibiotic cream. T-shirts will also be sold for $20 each, with all of the proceeds going to Ukrainian relief. Monetary donations can be made to 518ukranians.com or by check payable to St. Nicholas Ukranian Church. The items will be shipped to Poland, where truckers are driving the supplies to Lviv in western Ukraine. The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote. Studio raises funds Dance Fire Studio & Fitness raised more than $4,000 in one week and donated an additional $1,000 to help a Romanian non-profit buy supplies for Ukrainian refugees. The dance studio partnered with Rotary Club of Baia Mare, which is helping refugees who cross into Romania from Ukraine. The club will use the money to pay for transportation, food, housing and medicine. The club is also buying supplies that will be sent into Ukraine, including first aid kits, cans of food, thermal blankets, warm clothing, hemostatic bandages and medicine. The studio announced Saturday that officials had wired the first $5,000 to the Rotary. Donations can still be made online at the studio's website or in-person at the studio, 2341 Nott St E. Suite 104, Niskayuna. A commentary reprinted from the Miami Herald ("Biden should listen to this grieving parent's plea," Feb. 17) criticizes President Joe Biden for not meeting with a school shooting victim's parent. The piece makes it sound as though Biden and Democrats are culpable for not enacting gun control measures. The word "Republican" never appears. The reality is that Biden and Democrats have long been strong advocates for sensible gun regulation. What blocks it is a solid wall of Republican opposition. Maybe it's Republicans whom that parent should try to meet with. SCHENECTADY The owner of Thai Thai Bistro and Karma Bistro in Niskayuna has pleaded guilty to labor trafficking. The felony offense is one of 13 charges Piyamas Demasi had faced in connection with the crimes authorities contend she carried out against a female immigrant from Thailand she had hired to work at Thai Thai Bistro, according to the Schenectady County District Attorney's office. The admission covered the period between June 2017 and June 2018. The plea deal calls for Acting Schenectady Court Judge Mark Caruso to impose a penalty of one to three years behind bars with at least five years of probation once she gets out. It also gives Caruso the discretion to impose a sentence that consists of some local jail time and probation. If Demasi receives the latter, the deal stipulates she must pay for a yearly review by a forensic accountant of her businesses books and records to ensure she is complying with state tax and labor laws. Shell also have to make restitution of more than $8,500 to the victim and $4,000 to the state Taxation and Finance and Labor departments. Authorities say when the woman started working, Demasi, 45, forced her to pay thousands of dollars to sponsor her as an expert Thai chef for her to get a green card, which would get the worker permanent lawful status in the United States. Demasi demanded that the victim pay for all the costs she claimed were tied to the visa process as well as agree to continue working for the defendant for two years after the visa process was done, which the employee knew was against the law, officials said. Once the victim made initial payments, Demasi made her work as a server, not a chef as Demasi had represented on the visa application, and also stopped paying wages, forcing her to live off tips alone. Despite that, Demasi made the victim pay for legal bills from the visa process and demanded $10,000 more for her handling the visa paperwork. In 2018, the victim stopped working for Demasi after being forced to work for a time without tips or wages. When Demasi paid the victim it was in cash and Demasi failed to report her on state payroll and employment filings, meaning Demasi concealed her illegal arrangement with the victim while also avoiding paying taxes, prosecutors said. The victim eventually filed a complaint with Niskayuna police, who were assisted by agents from the federal Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General and Homeland Security. The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote. Sentencing will be May 20. District Attorney Robert Carney said in a statement that Demasi exploited one of todays most vulnerable workers, an immigrant who believed that her dream of permanent residence here ... depended upon complying with the demands of her employer. He commended the woman for her bravery and hopes she serves as an example to others going through similar extortion demands from unscrupulous employers. Prosecutors William Lemon and John Carson are handling the case. The defendant is represented by attorney Andrew Safranko. The cruel horse slaughter industry preys on horses, their owners and Americans who care about them. The article "The slaughter pipeline," March 6, following New York thoroughbred Tender Boy from the racetrack to a Pennsylvania auction demonstrated that every horse, no matter how loved, is one bad sale away from slaughter. While Tender Boy is now safe, thousands of other horses like him are not. A recent ASPCA survey revealed that 83 percent of Americans oppose horse slaughter Republicans, Democrats, Americans from both urban and rural areas strongly agree. Despite overwhelming public opposition and congressional efforts that shuttered U.S. slaughterhouses in 2007, approximately 23,000 American horses were shipped to Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses last year. Farmington, WV (26555) Today Showers early, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 66F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy. Low around 50F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. I support it; it gives students an advantage for scholarships. I'm not sure; there are pros and cons. I don't support it; it's unfair. I don't know. Vote View Results Tipperary is the fifth rainiest county in Ireland, but doesn't feature in the top 15 best counties for being a driver, according to a new survey by Chill Insurance. County Kerry, with an average annual rainfall of 61.5 inches per year, took the top spot, while Tipperary came in at number five, with 39.4 inches of annual rainfall. Counties Cork, Limerick and Galway, came second, third and fourth. Meanwhile, Tipperary is not in the top 15 best counties to drive, based on the number of reported collisions over the past year, the level of car thefts, and local pass rates. Longford takes the crown as the best county in Ireland for drivers thanks to the lowest level of car theft and the lowest average rainfall. Thanks to having the second-highest pass rate (66%) and a low level of car theft at just 1%, county Monaghan comes second. County Laois takes bronze thanks to being one of the safest places with one of the lowest levels of car theft. Kerrville, TX (78028) Today Partly cloudy with isolated thunderstorms possible. High 83F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. The crisis in Ukraine and the Northern Ireland Protocol will be high on the agenda as Taoiseach Micheal Martin meets UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the UK this weekend. On Saturday, the Taoiseach will watch the Six Nations match between Ireland and England at Twickenham alongside the Prime Minister following a bilateral meeting. The leaders are expected to discuss Irish and British relations and the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine as the Taoiseach visits the UK as part of a programme of events to mark St Patricks Day. Mr Martin told reporters on Friday: We will have some discussions, obviously, because right throughout the weekend the plight of Ukraine is upmost in our mind. The relationship and the very constructive partnership between the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States has been vital for standing up for democracy, freedom of speech and opinion the very basic standards that we share. I welcome what has been very constructive engagement between the UK, the European Union and the United States. I will take the opportunity to say that to the Prime Minister tomorrow and I think the British Government deserves credit for its leadership role on this issue internationally and thats been well reflected in the responses of eastern European countries. A spokesman for Boris Johnson said: The Prime Minister has been speaking to many world leaders about the ongoing situation in Ukraine and you can expect that to be raised as well as the ongoing talks around the Northern Ireland Protocol. It was added that Mr Johnson will support England during the rugby match, with Mr Martin joking he hopes Ireland emerge victorious as the pair watch together. The Taoiseach will also attend an Enterprise Ireland business event and roundtable at the Embassy of Ireland. The day will conclude with a dinner at which Mr Martin will be guest of honour of the St Patricks Day Ball Committee. On Sunday, the Taoiseach will attend Londons St Patricks Day festival and parade, which this year will celebrate community and key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Taoiseach will then travel to Washington DC for a series of engagements. Above: This Lent, Trocaire is helping families in Zimbabwe who are struggling with the effects of Covid-19 and climate change. After her husband died, Thandekile struggled to provide food for her two children, Nomatter (11) and Forward (8). Photo Credit: Cynthia R Matonhodze Trocaire and Poetry Ireland have launched their annual poetry competition and are calling for entries from Tipperary. Adults, both published and unpublished, can get creative and enter a poem or poems into this years Trocaire Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition, which is open to entries until Friday, May 6. This year marks the 12th year of the annual competition, which uses the arts to raise awareness about the leading global justice issues of our time. Poems in English or Irish are welcome in both categories (adults unpublished and adults published), with spoken word pieces actively encouraged as well as poems. The theme for this year is A Better Tomorrow. It explores how we can build a better tomorrow, all contributing as part of a global community. The effects of Covid-19 are still being felt throughout the world, particularly so in the developing world. And climate change makes us think, in a very real way, about the future of our earth and our society, and how we can come together to build a better tomorrow. Poets and spoken word artists are encouraged to explore the theme, from a local to global perspective. The attractive prizes on offer include a choice of a two-week stay at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, County Monaghan, or a tablet or time in a recording studio to the value of 300 (for spoken word poets), plus a years subscription to Poetry Ireland Review. For more information, visit https://www. poetryireland.ie/education/ trocaire-poetry-ireland- poetry-competition/ Right now we feature a quick gathering of local news on the topic of police action, court cases, shooting postscript and a tribute to a KCPD officer. Check TKC news gathering . . . Child injured in Thursday shooting was due to self-inflicted wound KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department said that the child injured in a shooting Thursday night was injured due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to a KCPD spokesperson, officers were dispatched to the 4800 block of Bales Avenue around 6:40 p.m. due to a "self-inflicted shooting." Mother faces new charges in her baby's death after Shawnee house fire Already charged with involuntary manslaughter in the house fire death of her baby, Karlie Phelps faces new charges. Several weeks after receiving her first charge, Phelps now also faces charges for violating a protection order and intimidating a witness. Woman charged with stealing $1M from Johnson County, KS court KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A former accounting supervisor with the Johnson County, Kansas, District Court is facing federal charges for embezzling more than $1 million. Federal prosecutors last week charged Dawna Kellogg with 8 counts of wire fraud and three counts of making and subscribing to a false federal tax return for crimes alleged to have occurred between January 2007 and June 2017. Ex-Kansas Highway Patrol trooper alleges his firing was the result of retaliation For nearly two years, KMBC 9 Investigates has been digging into allegations of sexual harassment within the ranks of the Kansas Highway Patrol. Now, there is a new turn.A male trooper says he was fired, retaliated against after a Facebook post supporting the women who came forward.Justin Dobler joined the Kansas Highway Patrol in 2017. Man paralyzed in 2013 KC police shooting gets seven years in prison for illegal gun A Kansas City man who won one of the largest local police settlements after he was shot by KCPD officers in 2013was sentenced Tuesday to more than seven years in federal prison for illegal gun possession in a separate incident. Philippe Lora, 45, was handed the 92-month sentence by U.S. Retired police chief talks about the role of student resource officers in schools KANSAS CITY, Mo. - There is still a lot we don't know about what happened at Olathe East on Friday. However, John Douglass can offer some perspective after working during several active shooter situations and spending time in schools as a former officer. Remembering Officer Vito Mazzara By Michael Bushnell On Sunday morning, February 27, 2022, Kansas City, MO., Police Officer Vito Mazzara, tragically took his own life. Those familiar with East Patrol and the Badges for Basics program rolled out by Mazzara and Officer Danielle Williams know the community-based outreach effort connected with people who lived on the fringe, often between homelessness and couch-surfing. Developing . . . A former local newsman offers his perspective and more resources on US partnership with a brutal, totalitarian Islamic regime. OR . . . GAS MAKES GREAT FRIENDS!!! Here's the crux of his ethical quandary . . . One reason I link you to the Atlantic story today is that Saudi Arabia continues to challenge the moral center of the U.S. and our leaders. Our government has tolerated a wide range of human rights restrictions and abuses by the House of Saud in part because our country has depended on Saudi's oil to power our vehicles. For quite different reasons, Russia has challenged our moral center, too, especially in its invasion of Ukraine. And in turn our political leaders have been much more willing to do what they can to punish Russia's dictator than, historically, they've been willing to criticize or work against whoever holds the title of king in Saudi Arabia. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Is Saudi Arabia's leader really an ally of the U.S.? In 2002, some months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- perpetrated mostly by men from Saudi Arabia -- I visited that kingdom with other opinion journalists from the U.S. and Canada. We spent time talking with private citizens, government officials,... Further reading . . . Should Biden Really Be Begging Saudi Arabia and Venezuela for Oil? The drop-off in Russian oil supplies offers the Biden administration an opportunity to reverse a failed policy and engage with Maduro's regime in a new, more realistic way. Biden has had more success in his outreach in South America. On March 5, high-level U.S. As Ukraine burns, Saudi Arabia and UAE try to get Biden to do their bidding On Wednesday, Joe Biden seemed to have found a path to the Gulf states' hearts. He got the United Arab Emirates to agree to urge members of OPEC+ (which includes Russia) to increase oil production. For a moment, the announcement by the UAE reduced oil prices. But on Thursday, they resumed their surge. Could Middle East nations come to the rescue as the Ukraine war drives up oil prices? The UAE suggested that it may support an increase in oil output within the framework of OPEC+. We ask energy expert Amena Bakr how likely that is to happen. Saudi Arabia and UAE leaders 'decline calls with Biden' amid fears of oil price spike The de-facto leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have declined to arrange calls with US president Joe Biden in recent weeks as the US and its allies have sought to contain a surge in energy prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. You decide . . . Despite politically charged slap fighting over the merits of returning to a cold war with Russia. Right now we take a quick peek at the people of Kansas City assisting with a humanitarian effort in the midst of increasingly devastating combat. Here's a TKC overview of the locals reaching out amid war . . . KC artist from Ukraine fundraising to support Ukrainian troops KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An artist from Ukraine is selling her artwork in the Kansas City area to help support Ukrainian troops. "The war must be stopped very soon," Tetiana Siedina, the artist, told KSHB 41 News on Friday. Her wish is to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine. KC siblings adopted from Ukraine, Russia share unique perspective KANSAS CITY, Mo.-The Kreidler family has been following the war in Ukraine very closely. Susan Kreidler spent time in both Russia and Ukraine while adopting her two children, Alexandr and Kristina. "I met some wonderful people over there. Good, decent people. They wanted the best for the little people. Ukrainian family reunited in Kansas City KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, those in the Kansas City area with family members overseas are still monitoring the situation. Dr. Alexey Ladokhin, KU Medical Center professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has been keeping close tabs on his parents in Kyiv and other family members in Ukraine. Olathe woman raising money for friends in Ukraine as invasion escalates An Olathe woman who served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine is raising money to help her friends who live there.She spoke with KMBC 9 about the horrors her friends are facing and the help they desperately need. Images of families hiding in basements show the new reality for Paige Barrows' friends in Ukraine. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner closes Moscow office over Ukraine war - Kansas City Business Journal Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP announced Thursday that the law firm is ceasing operations in Moscow in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "Alongside other global businesses, the firm stands in support with the people of Ukraine. Ukrainian family allowed into US after being stopped at US-Mexico border A Ukrainian woman and her three children crossed into the United States on Thursday after being turned away at the U.S.-Mexico border a day earlier, according to the family's attorney.On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris committed to taking in more Ukrainian refugees on an overseas trip, but just hours earlier, the Ukrainian family had been barred from claiming asylum in the U.S., according to their attorney and advocates on the ground.For nearly two years, the U.S. Ukrainians fleeing war who 'can't leave' pets behind Mounds of abandoned clothes and other personal items lie strewn along corridors leading out of Ukraine. The farther people carry their things, the harder it is, so they leave them behind, said Ludmila Sokol, a gym teacher fleeing Zaporizhzhia in the south. But their pets, they keep alongside them. Developing . . . A leading and internationally recognized artist based in Kansas City now stands at the forefront of the fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Peregrine Honig is part of the push from an elite group of creatives which hopes to achieve a historic impact on US policy by adding the ERA as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. Here's TKC art news that's more important than the blathering in so many self-indulgent local mags: CHECK KANSAS CITY'S OWN PEREGRINE HONIG JOINING WORLD RENOWNED ARTISTS FIGHTING FOR THE ERA!!! A bit more about this groundbreaking effort . . . "On March 19, Artists 4 ERA is launching an exhibition to raise awareness and funds for Vote Equality, a grassroots nonprofit promoting equal rights for all Americans. The campaign brings together a whos who of creatives, from street artist and activist Shepard Fairey, whose 2008 Hope poster became the iconic image for Barack Obamas campaign, to Erin Yoshi and Peregrine Honig. The ultimate hope? To use the power of art to tell stories and rally people so that women can, at long last, get equal billing in the U.S. Constitution." Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Brevard, NC (28712) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then partly cloudy during the afternoon hours. High 82F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 52F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. The turmoil, division and suffering that the world is currently experiencing leaves the mind and heart in a state that is far from feeling the inner peace we all desire. I feel our faith is being tested and we are being called to rise above it all, to lift our minds into another state of consciousness and to remain calm, strong and healthy. How does one do that when faced with enormous divisiveness, war, and serious health and social issues? One sure way is by going within through deep contemplative prayer and meditation. But knowing how to calm the mind and body so that we can feel this peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7) is a real challenge. We live in the material age; we are all so restless. How to accomplish stilling the mind is a daily practice. Moving from body consciousness to connecting with our soul takes willpower and concentration. There are many techniques of meditation. No two are alike. After searching extensively, I found that meditation is a very specific form of concentration in which the attention has been liberated from restlessness and is focused on God. Meditation is deep prayer. Meditation is the science of God realization. The Kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:21) My spiritual journey led me to the book Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, who founded the Self-Realization Fellowship in the U.S. in 1920. This beloved world teacher has come to be recognized as one of the greatest emissaries of Indias ancient wisdom to the West. His life and teachings continue to be a source of light and inspiration to people of all races, cultures and creeds. Our current president of Self-Realization, Brother Chidananda, has stated, India for millennia has been the steward of some of the highest spiritual truths. Yogananda reached back to the golden age of Indias high civilization, and brought the essence of Indias universal spirituality. That is yoga. Not to be confused with Hatha yoga, just one branch of yoga. Hatha alludes to a system of physical techniques and exercises, which help to calm the body for meditation. But Kriya yoga is the spiritual science of meditation, actual techniques for developing a deeper personal relationship with God. It is not a denomination or a sect of religion; and because of that, this spiritual dispensation the light of yoga can be a truly worldwide spiritual blessing on humanity as a whole. Paramahansa Yogananda often pointed out that one need not be of any specific nationality, race or religion to practice Kriya yoga and receive its sublime benefits. Its true universality as a science lies in the fact that its results can be obtained by anyone of any nation, of East or West. Through the steady daily study and practice of yoga meditation, we can experience a deepening sense of joy, love, compassion and peace. Regardless of ones spiritual beliefs, or lack thereof, whoever practices the science of Kriya yoga will eventually realize that the Divine is in everything and everyone, Yogananda wrote. We learn to dive deeper into meditation by stilling the body and calming the breath so that we can experience that great pearl of peace within. Its the scientific method of how to live a balanced and successful life by awakening our connection with the divine. By developing a daily spiritual practice through meditation, we naturally calm the body and soul, finding a deep inner serenity. May each of us, in our own way, seek and find that source of tranquility within so that in the days ahead we may strive to keep our hearts and minds at peace and find that eternal fountain of wisdom in spite of outer circumstances. Thought, volition and feeling are faculties of the soul; prayer spiritualizes them. Prayer is the lifting up of the soul, of the entire being of man, to God. Teach us to find Thy presence on the altar of our constant peace and joy that springs from deep daily meditation. Yogananda Lynn Walker has been a member of the Self-Realization Fellowship for more than 50 years. She is also a member of the Corvallis Meditation Circle and the Corvallis Interfaith Network. For more information about the Self-Realization Fellowship, visit yogananda.org. ABOUT INTERFAITH VOICES: This weekly column includes a regular rotation of writers representing the broad spectrum of spiritual voices throughout the mid-valley. The column is coordinated by the Rev. Barbara Nixon, who can be emailed at revbabs2000@gmail.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A preliminary hearing Thursday for two teens charged with planning a shooting at Westmont Hilltop Junior-Senior High School included footage of both inside the building and testimony that another student was told Logan Pringle would return again to "finish what he started." Stay up to date on COVID-19 Get Breaking News Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. Sponsored By: Dorsett Automotive Mark Bennett has reported and analyzed news from the Wabash Valley and beyond since Larry Bird wore Sycamore blue. That role with the Tribune-Star has taken him from Rome to Alaska and many points in between, but Terre Haute suits him best. Follow Mark Bennett Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Instant unlimited access to all of our content on triplicate.com. The Triplicate's E-Edition Newsletter emailed to you each week, the night before the paper hits the street! This subscription is for NEW or RENEWING online subscribers. (The charge will appear as "Country Media Inc." on your credit card statement) Dog owners in Connecticut would face a new requirement for sheltering their pets during extreme weather conditions and additional rules for tethering them under a bill advanced Friday by the legislative Planning and Development Committee. The proposal was prompted by concerns about the living conditions of a dog in Fairfield, which led to a police investigation. Police said the probe turned up no violation of animal control laws. Supporters of the bill said it would empower animal control officers to act in cases of abuse and neglect. Officials who responded to the Fairfield home said existing law was not as clear as it needed to be for them to take action, said Rep. Jennifer Leeper, D-Fairfield, the major proponent of the bill along with Rep. Laura Devlin, R-Fairfield. The bill defines adequate shelter as providing space for a dog to sit, lie down and turn, is soundly constructed, and during cold weather conditions is enclosed and insulated to an extent sufficient to permit a dog to maintain normal body temperatures, among other requirements. If a weather advisory or warning is issued by the National Weather Service, including for extreme heat or snow, posing a health or safety risk to a dog, depending on its breed, size, age, thickness of coat or physical condition, owners would be prohibited from tethering the animal outside for longer than 15 minutes and would be required to provide adequate shelter for the dog if they are outside for more than 15 minutes. The bill stipulates those conditions would only come into play if the owner is not outside with the dog during the weather event. The Connecticut chapter of the U.S. Humane Society advised lawmakers to consider temporary amnesty periods to give dog owners time to adjust to the new requirements. Rep. Doug Dubitsky, R-Chaplin, was among the three opposing votes during the planning and development committees meeting Friday. Dubitsky said changes to the bills language are needed, including to address the concerns of owners of sporting dogs who very often spend their lives outside and are perfectly happy and healthy doing so. Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, co-chair of the committee, said conversations would continue on how to best craft the legislation, but theres universal agreement among members to ensure dogs are safe and adequately cared for. The proposal, which has bipartisan backing in the General Assembly, received overwhelming support at a public hearing last month. Julie Loparo, president of the Westport Animal Shelter Advocates, described some of the cases of neglect that she and other volunteers have witnessed, including a mother golden retriever digging desperately in the dirt to create a hole for her young pups to provide them relief from 90-plus degree heat as the mesh shelter provides them with no relief inside their pen. Loparo said town officials were contacted about the clearly deplorable and cruel situations she observed, but they said they couldnt do anything because theres no definition of adequate shelter for dogs in state law. Speaking against the bill, Marlborough resident Carol Phelps said she is supportive of efforts to look out for the welfare of animals, but was concerned about a one-size-fits-all approach to address a very complex issue like shelter and tethering. It is possible a perfectly adequate and safe solution developed by a loving owner will fall short of the requirements of this bill, Phelps said in testimony. julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com (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 Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it. I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends. More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it. The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity. About me: I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS. Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line). Age: 42 Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed. I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it). The Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed a column of Russian military vehicles and manpower in Kharkiv Region. The relevant statement was made by Kharkiv Regional Civil Administration Head Oleh Syniehubov on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. The special operation forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed a column of Russian military vehicles in Chuhuiv District. According to the data from the Defense Staff, the destroyed vehicles included tanks, combat vehicles and refueling vehicles, the report states. The Armed Forces of Ukraine also neutralized the enemy manpower. Several enemies fled to the woods. The Ukrainian military and territorial defense forces are calling on local residents to stay alert and report on enemy locations if possible. mk Luhansk region experiences a difficult situation as a result of the Russian invasion. Currently, 70% of the region's territory is occupied, dozens of residents have been killed and wounded. "Luhansk region is now one of the hottest spots. In the newly Russian-occupied territories, peaceful protests are being repressed and dispersed. The situation is difficult: shelling is ongoing everywhere Hirska community, Popasna, Lysychansk, Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, and Kreminna Seventy percent of the territory of Luhansk region is already occupied," Head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration Serhiy Haidai posted on Facebook. According to him, the Russians shell all the infrastructure, schools, hospitals, kindergartens, hitting water and gas pipelines, power grids. At the same time, humanitarian corridors are not allowed to be restored or agreed upon. "The whole territory, which is now under the control of Ukraine, is being shelled. Dozens of civilians have been killed and dozens have been wounded," Haidai added. There is also a problem with humanitarian cargos, they are transported by all possible means: vehicles, minibuses, trucks, railways. Additional humanitarian aid centers are being set up in the towns of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk. "We are establishing two such large centers in large towns to make it more convenient for people," said the head of the administration. Haidai also informed that mobile communication was working in the government-controlled area, but with major interruptions, sometimes unavailable completely. Repair crews are trying to quickly establish communication, but this is a problem. Russian television already starts to be connected in the occupied territories. The head of the administration calls on residents of the temporarily occupied territories not to be afraid of the Russian occupiers. "Do not be afraid of the occupiers, do not believe in their propaganda, save your life and faith in Ukraine, do not go into the service of the enemy, serve only our people and your country, do not help the killers, do not join their terrorist organizations, do not betray the country, believe in victory!!!! Haidai emphasized. ol Since the onset of hostilities in Ukraine, 31 Russian battalion tactical groups have lost their combat capability, while sometimes Russian servicemen are taken prisoner in groups. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced this on Facebook, according to Ukrinform. As of 06:00 on March 12, the Defense Forces of Ukraine are repelling and holding back the Russian offensive. In Polisia, Sivershchyna, and Pivdennyi Buh enemy has suffered heavy losses in manpower and equipment, halted the advance, and tried to gain a foothold on the previously captured frontiers. In Donetsk direction, while trying to advance, Russian troops received a decent rebuff from Ukrainian defenders and were stopped in some areas, while in the res of them, the enemy significantly reduced the pace of advance. Since the launch of hostilities, 31 BTGs operating on the territory of Ukraine have lost their combat capability. The morale and psychological condition of enemy forces are on the decline, while in some cases, Russian soldiers surrender in groups. Over the last three days, small groups of Russian deserters were spotted retreating towards the state border. The enemy is experiencing a major issue with manning their reserves. On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops are shelling and destroying key infrastructure, conducting massive shelling of residential areas of Ukrainian cities and villages using artillery, rocket-propelled grenades and ballistic missiles. On February 24, Russian President Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops have been shelling and destroying key infrastructure, massively shelling and bombing residential areas. Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced. Russian invaders launched a rocket attack on the Kanatove airfield near Kropyvnytskyi. Andriy Raikovych, the head of the Kirovohrad regional military administration, reported this on Telegram, Ukrinform reports. "Kanatove came under rocket attack again. The enemy fired so hard that the whole of Kropyvnytskyi and the surrounding area trembled," the message reads. Earlier reports said that this morning, missile strikes were also launched on the city of Dnipro and on the Kyiv region - the village of Kvitneve and the town of Vasylkiv. On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops have been shelling and destroying key infrastructure, residential buildings as well as historical and architectural monuments. Ukraine will send humanitarian aid and try to save the Ukrainian people every day and demands that Russia ensure silence on each of these routes. The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his video address, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Today we again sent humanitarian aid to Mariupol. We will try every day to save our people. I am grateful to every driver who tries to accomplish this difficult mission. I am grateful to the representatives of the church who joined the efforts to protect the humanitarian corridor in Mariupol from shelling. Ukrainian troops, for their part, guarantee complete silence. [] The Russian side must ensure silence on each of these routes. Otherwise, what can Russia guarantee in any negotiations? Zelensky said. In his words, ceasefire commitments must be observed along the entire route, so that local residents can receive food, water, medicine and go to a safe area. This refers to Mariupol and other humanitarian corridors prepared by Ukraine, namely from Makariv, Borodianka, Trostianets, Sumy, Poltava, Lebedyn, Konotop, Velyka Pysarivka, Krasnopillia, Polohy, Tokmak, Hostomel, Kozarovychi, Mykulychi and Andriivka, Kyiv Region. mk Russian invaders are suffering enormous losses in Ukraine, which is the biggest blow dealt to the Russian army in decades. The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his video address, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Our Armed Forces are doing everything to deprive the enemy of any desire to continue the war against Ukraine. The losses of Russian troops are enormous. The dynamics of the invaders losses on the 17th day is such that it is safe to say that this is the biggest blow to the Russian army in decades. Theyve never lost more than that in such a time period, Zelensky said. Since the beginning of the invasion, 31 battalion tactical groups of the enemy have lost their combat capability. The Russian militaries are being taken prisoners not just alone, but in groups. Groups are trying to leave Ukraine and come back to Russia as well. The enemys losses in terms of technical capabilities are astounding: more than 360 tanks, 1,205 armored vehicles. And thats without counting the losses in the battles last night and in the morning. According to Zelensky, the enemy also lost about 60 aircrafts, more than 80 helicopters and hundreds of other advanced military equipment units, which Russia is proud of. Most of the worlds armies do not have as much as Russian troops lost during the invasion, Zelensky noted. mk President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz and President of France Emmanuel Macron the prospects of peace talks with Russia. Zelensky wrote this on Twitter, Ukrinform reports. I spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. We discussed countering the aggressor, RF crimes against civilians, Zelensky wrote. He also called on his partners to help in releasing the captive mayor of Melitopol. Prospects for peace talks also discussed. We must stop the aggressor together, Zelensky wrote. iy U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a memorandum authorizing the allocation of an additional $200 million from the state budget in aid to Ukraine which is resisting Russia's armed aggression. The text of the memorandum was published on the official website of the White House. By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the authority to direct the drawdown of up to an aggregate value of $200 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Ukraine, reads the memorandum. As noted, the decision is made under section 621 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA). As reported, this week both chambers of the U.S. Congress passed a large-scale budget bill, which includes, in particular, $13.6 billion assistance to Ukraine and its allies. ol Ukrainian army has liberated two more populated localities in Chernihiv region from the enemy and seized 10 units of Russian equipment. The defenders managed to liberate two more populated localities, prevent the enemy from establishing a pontoon crossing, and restrain the enemy's intentions to advance towards Kyiv. As a result, we have more than 10 enemy equipment trophies, the Operational Command "North" posted on Facebook, Ukrinform reports. The report notes that the army of the Russian Federation is no longer as strong as the Kremlin propagandists told about it on TV. The personnel are demoralized and cannot conduct active hostilities. Yesterday, the Ukrainian defenders liberated five more populated localities of Chernihiv region from the enemy. ol Azerbaijan has expressed readiness to host a meeting between Ukraine and Russia. Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan, told journalists on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Ukrinform reports citing Trend. "This proposal was made by the Ukrainian side. If there is such an intention, we are always ready to accept this meeting. Azerbaijan has previously hosted meetings between US and Russian generals, as well as a meeting within the framework of RussiaNATO dialogue. The logic here is that Azerbaijan is a member of neither NATO nor the CSTO. At the same time, Azerbaijan is the head of the Non-Aligned Movement," He noted that Azerbaijan continued to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine. According to Hajiyev, the presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey make efforts to end the war in Ukraine. ol Russian troops have not abandoned their plans to push their way deeper into Ukraine, but our Armed Forces are ready for such developments. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Defense, Anna Maliar, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "We must be aware and speak honestly that they (Russian troops - ed.) are still planning to advance deeper into our territory. We are stopping them as much as we can, but these operations are being planned. Therefore, we need to understand that there will be no victory in one day. We need to pull our strength and patience together and keep fighting," she said. According to Maliar, it is necessary to work through all options for further developments and realize that the enemy will not be able to occupy any Ukrainian territory. After all, there are no pro-Russian people left in Ukraine today. The Deputy Defense Minister stressed that the enemy had initially planned to fully conquer Ukraine, including the capital, in a few days, a week at most. Their plan never materialized due to strong resistance on the part of the Armed Forces and because Ukraine had been preparing for all scenarios. "The enemy is currently forced to adjust operation plans. And this turning point was due to them being no longer able to pursue their initial plan. After all, it got too complicated as the Ukrainians are learning to fight the Russian enemy. However, they are also learning the tactics of Ukrainian defenders. Time is on our side because the enemy is disoriented after failing to achieve its goal. But we should not relax. The enemy is regrouping troops, looking into achieving those goals as they havent abandoned them," said Malyar. On February 24, Russian President Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops have been shelling and destroying key infrastructure, massively shelling and bombing residential areas. Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced. The International Criminal Court has begun documenting and investigating Russia's war crimes in Ukraine. The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine reports that Russian and Belarusian military personnel involved in military operations on the territory of Ukraine are facing a simple choice to fulfill a criminal order or to act in good conscience and refuse deployment. This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to the Centers press service. For those decent Russian and Belarusian soldiers and officers who are now on the territory of Russia and Belarus, not agreeing with the order of their superiors to carry out punitive operations on the territory of an independent state, a website has been developed, with contacts of government organizations and detailed instructions on how to skip war," the Center noted. The organizations added that if they have already been deployed in Ukraine and made up their mind to surrender, they can use step-by-step instructions. "All Russian soldiers and officers who will lay down their arms and voluntarily surrender will receive full pardon and 5 million rubles in compensation," the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council emphasized. On February 24, Russian President Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops have been shelling and destroying key infrastructure, massively shelling and bombing residential areas. Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced. The International Criminal Court has begun documenting and investigating Russia's war crimes in Ukraine. Russian invaders slowed the pace of the assault on Ukraine and they were stopped in many directions. According to Ukrinform, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced this on Facebook. As of 24:00 on March 12, the enemy continued the offensive operation against Ukraine, taking measures to restore combat capability and regroup troops, as well as preparing for renewed offensive in the Polissia, Siversky, Slobozhansky, Donetsk, Tavriya and Southern Bug areas. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that during the entire period of hostilities in Ukraine, the enemy received fierce resistance. They did not achieve the goal of the operation in any of the areas. The nature of the actions shows the military leadership of the Russian Federation is not certain in matters of strategic objectives and the ultimate goal of the "special military operation." According to the statement, Russian troops suffered significant losses, slowed the pace of the offensive, and were stopped in many areas. Military and civilian infrastructure continues to be destroyed. In order to compensate for the losses, the invaders organized the training of additional forces for conducting hostilities on Ukrainian territory. The enemy did not carry out offensive operations in the Volyn direction. The military leadership of Belarus strengthened the protection of the border with Ukraine. There is a high probability of direct participation of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus in the military operation against Ukraine. There is an air reconnaissance of objects on Ukrainian territory with the help of UAVs, probably from Belarusian territory. No active offensive actions of the enemy were recorded in the Polissia direction. Measures are being taken to restore combat capability and regroup troops. The enemy is trying to reconnoiter and clarify the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and possible ways of launching an attack. Russian invaders continue to establish a system of logistics by creating repair bases in Belarus. In the Siversky direction, the enemy focused on improving the operational construction of troops and the group's logistics system. In the Slobozhansky direction, the enemy carried out offensive operations near the town of Izium, further trying to move in the direction of Sloviansk. After suffering losses near the city of Kharkiv, the enemy brought one of its battalion tactical groups to the Russian Federation (Belgorod region) to restore its combat capability. At the same time, they strengthened the group in this direction with units from the Northern Fleet. In the Donetsk and Tavriya directions, the enemy carried out assault operations and raids. They do not abandon attempts to storm the city of Mariupol. Russian invaders are trying to prepare reserves and go on the offensive in Sievierodonetsk, Vuhledar and Zaporizhzhia. The enemy had little success in the Volnovakha direction, capturing the eastern outskirts of the town and trying to move on. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine notes that the enemy does not refuse attempts to attack Kryvyi Rih. "They did not succeed. They are looking for weaknesses in the defense of Ukrainian defenders. In order to increase efforts, they involve the reserves of the Airborne Forces in the operation. In some areas, they are trying to keep the previously occupied positions," the statement reads. Italian authorities seized Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko's mega yacht, according to Italys finance police. The statement, seen by CNN, said the "SY A" vessel is worth about EUR 530 million ($578 million) and was in storage at the northeastern port of Trieste. It's one of the worlds largest superyachts, according to its manufacturer, Nobiskrug. Melnichenko was sanctioned by the European Union on March 9 as part of expanded punitive measures against Russian oligarchs. According to the EU, he owns the major fertilizer producer EuroChem Group and the coal company SUEK. The EU Council decision, which authorized sanctions against Melnichenko, noted he and 36 other business leaders met with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine began to discuss the potential economic impact of EU and US sanctions. The EU Council decision reads: "The fact that he was invited to attend this meeting shows that he is a member of the closest circle of Vladimir Putin and that he is supporting or implementing actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, as well as stability and security in Ukraine. "It also shows that he is one of the leading businesspersons involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the government of Russia, which is responsible for annexation of Crimea and destabilization of Ukraine." Having convened a meeting of the UN Security Council on "U.S. military biological activities in Ukraine," Russia has once again shot itself in the foot. This was stated by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, Serhiy Kyslytsia, who spoke at the Security Council on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent in New York reports. "We know quite well that the manic obsession with which Putin fantasizes about non-existent biological or chemical weapons or hazards in Ukraine is very dangerous. It may actually point at Russia preparing another horrific false flag operation," the diplomat said. He addressed the Russian representative: What else are you going to use against Ukraine? Cruise missiles, multiple rocket launchers, heavy aerial bombs? We have already experienced all of this. What is next? Ammonia, phosphorus? And what will be the next target? One more residential building? One more maternity hospital? One more school? Or maybe one more cultural heritage site? Kislytsia noted that documents and maps seized by the Ukrainian military from Russian prisoners of war confirm that the bombing of residential areas was planned in advance. Captive Russian pilots confirmed at a press conference in Kyiv that they deliberately dropped bombs on residential neighborhoods. "By calling this meeting, the aggressor state has shot itself in foot, once again," Kislytsia said, noting that the madness of Putin and his henchmen, including Russia's mission to the UN, has become even more obvious. According to the representative of Ukraine, Russia is indifferent to the safety of its own citizens, and neither does he care about the thousands of bodies of Russian soldiers abandoned in the fields of Ukraine. In his view, Russia's manipulation of the Security Council through such an insane delirium is an utmost disregard of its members and detrimental to the Councils credibility. In fact, the Security Council should consider war crimes and crimes against humanity, which the Russian Federation has been committing every day since February 24, 2022, Kyslytsia added. Kyslytsia appealed to Russias envoy to ask Moscow to release the mayor of Melitopol, kidnapped by the invaders. Kyslytsia also recited a few paragraphs from the appeal signed by 194 Nobel laureates: " The undersigned Nobel laureates voice our support for the Ukrainian people and the free and independent state of Ukraine as it faces Russian aggression. In a move that recalls the infamous attack of Nazi Germany on Poland in 1939 (using similar tricks of feigned provocation) and on the Soviet Union in 1941. As reported earlier, Russia convened a UN Security Council on March 11 to "discuss U.S. military biological activities in Ukraine." Alya Michelson poses for a portrait at home on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in Los Angeles. She is a Russian-born philanthropist and former journalist who now lives in Southern California. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times/TNS) By Trend Relations between Azerbaijan and the UK are based not only on energy cooperation, the UK Ambassador to Azerbaijan James Sharp said at the event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and the UK, Trend reports. "Links between our countries are also developing in culture, education and other areas," said Sharp. The ambassador added that the UK continues to support the demilitarization process of the liberated territories. James Sharp thanked President Ilham Aliyev, expressing hope that relations between the two countries will further strengthen. Jennifer Ann Hancock was born Nov. 20, 1956, in Atlanta, to William Roy and Martha Jones Hancock. She went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, in Gray. She was preceded in death by her father, William Roy Hancock, and her brother, Timothy Roy Hancock, as well as grandparents Your morning rundown of the latest news from overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Images Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Stevns, Denmark, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2022 ) :With three friends, all violinists like her, Nadia Safina fled the invasion of Ukraine to find peace at a music school in Denmark, a horrific ordeal that took 10 days. Now, "all we have is our talent. Not boots. Not clothes, not jewellery. Only our talent and our instruments," the 24-year-old says, a weary look of despair in her eyes. Safe but with her "heart in pain", she arrived this week in Stevns, an hour outside Copenhagen, far from the bombs falling on her hometown of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine which she fled on the first day of the war. The four women are now at the Scandinavian Cello School, which frequently welcomes artists from around the world but is now focusing exclusively on bringing over Ukrainian musicians. "We support them with exactly the same conditions as everybody else. We give them a place to study and to stay for free, and food," the school's director Jacob Shaw says. Thanks to his professional network, he was able to arrange for the four women's exodus on the first day of Russia's invasion on February 24. The school is now hosting six Ukrainian musicians who have fled the war, and three more are expected in the coming days. Nadia and her fiance Misha, both alto violinists, and his sister Ksenia Kusherova, also a 24-year-old violinist, had already planned to come to the school before the war broke out. "On February 24th, we woke up to the sound of bombs. It was scary. Really scary. Panic broke out everywhere in our dormitory, and we just packed up our stuff," says Nadia, still shaken by the events. Their first stop was her mother's place in Donets, a village in the nearby countryside. Then the women went to Lviv, where they picked up Ksenia's family, and left for Poland. They travelled by car, train and bus to reach Warsaw. "In Lviv, we waited eight hours on the platform in zero degrees and we couldn't get on a train. " Like all able-bodied men aged 18 to 60, Misha was not allowed to leave Ukraine. He returned to his hometown of Kriviy Rig in central Ukraine. Since then, Nadia has worried for his safety. The two are in constant contact. "We send messages, we speak every day, every hour." - 'Just want to return home' - Nadia thinks back on her life before the war. "I had three jobs, my studies, my students, my colleagues. I had everything I needed. And I had very big plans for my life." The conservatory and university in Kharkiv have since been bombed, the instruments destroyed. Her professor is still there, in a shelter, caring for his disabled mother. "We can't imagine what the future holds because they don't stop bombing us. We can't plan anything," she says despairingly. "I just want to return home, I want God to save our friends and our families. That is my plan now," she says. "But Putin is crazy. He won't stop anytime soon." In Stevns, a pastoral oasis nestled between the sea and countryside, she has a tidy room under the rafters. She practises her alto violin, either in her room or in the music hall in another building on the grounds, formerly a farm. With their friends Olesia Kliepak and Marharyta Serdiuk, who had to hide for several days in Kharkiv before joining the others in Poland, Nadia and Ksenia now appreciate the tranquillity in Stevns, though they are still sick with worry. A few hundred metres away, the beach provides some solace. Denmark is known for its ultra-restrictive asylum and refugee policy, but it has welcomed Ukrainians with open arms, making exemptions to its strict curbs to facilitate their entry to the labour market, among other things. The Scandinavian country of 5.8 million has said it is ready to take in up to 20,000 Ukrainians. Since the start of the conflict to March 8, around 850 Ukrainians had sought asylum or applied for a work permit. (@ChaudhryMAli88) London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2022 ) :Queen Elizabeth II's return to major public duties next week will not now take place as planned, after Buckingham Palace said she would not be at the annual Commonwealth Day service. The 95-year-old monarch had been scheduled to attend the annual event at Westminster Abbey in central London on Monday afternoon, joined by some 1,500 guests. Her expected attendance had been seen as a return to work after a period of fragile health, during which she had a mild bout of Covid. But Buckingham Palace said "after discussing the arrangements with the Royal Household, the Queen has asked the Prince of Wales to represent Her Majesty" instead. Prince Charles, 73, is the queen's eldest son and heir, who is expected to take over from her as head of the 54-nation Commonwealth when he becomes king. The queen, who has rarely been seen in public since October last year when she had an unscheduled overnight stay in hospital, turns 96 next month. She tested positive for coronavirus on February 20, and developed what the palace said were "mild" symptoms, which forced her to cancel a series of virtual audiences. But she was well enough last week to meet visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in person at her Windsor Castle home west of London. The palace gave no reason for her cancellation on Monday and added: "The Queen will continue with other planned engagements, including in-person audiences, in the week ahead."The queen last month became the first British monarch in history to reign for 70 years. Public events for her Platinum Jubilee are planned for early June. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Foreign Office Spokesperson on Saturday said the grave nature of Indian accidental missile-firing had raised several fundamental questions regarding security protocols and technical safeguards against the accidental or unauthorized launch of missiles in a nuclearized environment ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2022 ) :Foreign Office Spokesperson on Saturday said the grave nature of Indian accidental missile-firing had raised several fundamental questions regarding security protocols and technical safeguards against the accidental or unauthorized launch of missiles in a nuclearized environment. "Indian decision to hold an internal court of inquiry is not sufficient since the missile ended up in Pakistani territory. Pakistan demands a joint probe to accurately establish the facts surrounding the incident," the spokesperson said in a press release. The spokesperson said that the whole incident of Indian missile-firing indicated many loopholes and technical lapses of serious nature in its handling of the strategic weapons. "Pakistan, therefore, calls upon the international community to take serious notice of this incident of grave nature in a nuclearized environment and play its due role in promoting strategic stability in the region," the spokesperson said in a press release. The spokesperson said that they had taken note of the press statement by the Indian Press Information Bureau's Defence Wing regretting the "accidental firing" of the Indian origin missile into Pakistani territory on March 9 due to "technical malfunction" and a decision to hold an internal Court of Inquiry. "Given the short distances and response times, any misinterpretation by the other side could lead to countermeasures in self-defence with grave consequences.," it was further added. The spokesperson demanded explanation from the Indian side over certain questions arising out of the grave incident. "Such a serious matter cannot be addressed with the simplistic explanation offered by the Indian authorities. Some of the questions that need to be answered include: India must explain the measures and procedures in place to prevent accidental missile launches and the particular circumstances of this incident. India needs to clearly explain the type and specifications of the missile that fell in Pakistani territory. India also needs to explain the flight path/ trajectory of the accidentally launched missile and how it ultimately turned and entered into Pakistan? Was the missile equipped with self-destruct mechanism? Why did it fail to actualize? Are Indian missiles kept primed for launch even under routine maintenance? Why did India fail to immediately inform Pakistan about accidental launch of the missile and waited to acknowledge till after Pakistan announced the incident and sought clarification? Given the profound level of incompetence, India needs to explain if the missile was indeed handled by its armed forces or some rogue elements?" Indian defence ministry in a statement issued in New Delhi on Friday said "On March 9, 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile." The Indian defence ministry said, "The government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high level Court of Enquiry.""It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident" the Indian defence ministry statement added. Earlier, DG ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar, in a presser, had said that on March 9, a high-speed flying object launched from the Indian side violated Pakistan's air space and crashed inside Pakistan's territory in Mian Channu. European automotive manufacturer, PEUGEOT, here on Saturday officially launched operations in Pakistan for the first time in its distinguished history with its exclusive partner Lucky Motor Corporation KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2022 ) :European automotive manufacturer, PEUGEOT, here on Saturday officially launched operations in Pakistan for the first time in its distinguished history with its exclusive partner Lucky Motor Corporation. The partnership commenced with the opening of eight 3S dealerships in six cities, as well as a state-of-the-art facility for the assembly of cars in Pakistan, said release. Lucky Motor Corporation is a subsidiary of the Yunus Brothers Group, and has a legacy spanning over five decades, thanks to its robust and aggressive approach gaining considerable market share in the Pakistani automotive industry, and setting new benchmarks in terms of product offering and customer service. With the introduction of PEUGEOT, the company now aims to provide the best mobility solutions the European Brand can offer its customers. PEUGEOT is an inventive brand that has been a pioneer in the automotive industry for over 211 years guided by its brand values; Allure, Emotion and Excellence, which represent sharp design, intuitive driving pleasure and uncompromising quality. With its entry into Pakistan, these values will be upheld as the brand strives to provide the market with the latest innovations and mobility solutions. At the launch ceremony, Linda Jackson, CEO of the PEUGEOT Brand, said, " We are delighted with this partnership and what it means for the Pakistani market." Internationalization was a key focus for PEUGEOT, with the B and C segment SUV growth representing a great opportunity for us, she said. This was also bolstered by the evolution of the legislation of the country towards electrification which is in line with our own strategy. Samir Cherfan, Chief Operating Officer of the company for middle East and Africa Region, Stellantis, said, " We are excited to embark on this journey in Pakistan with our new partner, Lucky Motor Corporation. There was tremendous potential and opportunity for PEUGEOT in Pakistan, and the company was looking forward to serving customers in this exciting market. Asif Rizvi, Cheif Executive Officer, Lucky Motors Company, said, " Lucky Motors is set to change the automotive landscape of Pakistan by introducing Peugeot, the first locally made European brand in the country. " Pakistan, with its 220 million population, offered a great opportunity for someone to come in and disrupt the automotive market. He showed his confidence that the Stellantis with its 14 brand portfolio would be the one to do so. Lucky Motors was proud to become the first company in Pakistan to have multi-brand manufacturing and dealers. He said the e-2008 would be the next model launched, giving customers the freedom to choose between a 100% electric and a thermic version. Together, with support from PEUGEOT, Lucky Motors Corporation would assemble various models locally at state-of-the-art facilities, and was currently exploring opportunities to distribute multiple models by early next year, he said.. APP /ah Two women were killed and nine others injured after a vehicle plowed through an outdoor seating area of a restaurant in northwest Washington, D.C. at lunchtime Friday WASHINGTON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2022 ) --:Two women were killed and nine others injured after a vehicle plowed through an outdoor seating area of a restaurant in northwest Washington, D.C. at lunchtime Friday. A preliminary investigation shows that an elderly man lost control of his SUV while driving alone, and "he's remained cooperative," Commander Duncan Bedlion of the Second District within the Metropolitan Police Department told reporters. "All indications are this was truly accidental," Bedlion said. "There were no indications this was intentional."Eight people were taken to hospitals with various injuries, and five of them were in critical condition, including the two women who later died. Three others were treated and released on scene, according to D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services officials. "This is rare, we haven't had an incident like this in many years," D.C. Fire Chief John A. Donnelly said. "Hitting a crowd of people is a very serious event that results in a lot of injuries, that's what we're dealing with right now." Former Fullbright Student at Sarasota-Manatee Campus Returns to USF as an Instructor SARASOTA (March 9, 2022) -- Nefike Gunden arrived at the University of South Florida as a 22-year-old Fulbright scholar determined to make the most of her opportunity, improve her English and explore her career options possibly as a college professor. Now, seven years later, Gunden holds a PhD and teaches college-level classes in both the United States and her homeland of Turkey. Grateful to her parents, shes also appreciative of her alma mater, USF, where she earned a Master of Science in Hospitality Management as a Fulbright student and forged strong ties with staff and faculty. Its even where met her future husband, a student at the time as well. Its no wonder then that when it came time to take the first steps in her fledgling academic career, Gunden didnt think twice about where to go. She came to USF and now serves as an adjunct instructor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the Muma College of Business. The 28-year-old Gunden, who grew up in a family of five in a small town in Turkey and later its capital city of Ankara, marvels at how her life has come full circle. Its amazing in a way, and I am so happy to be back at USF, she said. Its like coming home. As a young girl, Gunden fell in love with the idea of living and studying abroad. Encouraged by her parents, she focused on education, consistently achieving high marks, all the while dreaming of life in Europe, Japan or the United States. Later as a top student at Gazi University in Ankara she applied for a Fulbright scholarship to pursue a masters degree in the U.S. As luck would have it, receiving the scholarship brought her back to Florida where a couple of years earlier she interned at Walt Disney World as a customer service specialist. At USF, she found a warm welcome from staff and faculty at the Sarasota-Manatee campus. Gunden didnt know it at the time, but the campus hospitality program now part of the Muma College of Business would become a second home to her. Faculty and staff were especially encouraging and urged her to focus on research, a message shes since taken to heart. Already, shes had three articles published and a fourth is pending. Dr. (Cihan) Cobanoglu and Dr. (Faizan) Ali were especially supportive, and they encouraged me to focus on research as much as on my studies, Gunden said. Dr. (Katerina) Berezina also was very supportive. I hope to model my career after hers. Gunden graduated with her masters degree in May 2017 and a year later was accepted into the doctoral program at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. It is always amazing to see our graduates doing great things, Cihan Cobanoglu, professor and interim dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, said. Nefike has completed her doctoral degree successfully and it is an honor to welcome her back to USF, this time as a professor. Returning to the classroom here felt completely natural, she said. She especially enjoys interacting with students and watching their progress. Fulbright changed my life, she said. When I was Fulbright student, I told myself that I would teach and get my PhD, and now Im an instructor and back at USF. The staff and faculty have all been very welcoming and supportive. They have always been there for me. Im so happy to be back here. What's up Vol Nation?! Check out @Sami_whamiii on this weeks episode of the Weekly Wrap-Up for news involving @tpusautk and their guest speaker @tomilahren, the largest increase to the HOPE Scholarship since its founding, @josiah.j.james declaring for the draft. As always, a wrap up of our The pandemic-fueled shutdown of the cultural economy reversed up to two decades of growth in some segments of the metro Denver arts sector, ac The Bishops Conference of Germany calls for a common witness of all Churches for peace, and say that all attempts to give war a religious legitimacy is completely unacceptable. By Lisa Zengarini The Catholic Bishops of Germany have joined the World Council of Churches (WCC) and European Churches in urging Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to take a clear stand against the ongoing war in Ukraine. The appeal was made on Thursday as they concluded their spring plenary assembly in Vierzehnheiligen. The crisis in Ukraine and its implications also for Christians was one of the main focuses of the meeting, which opened on 7 March with a special prayer for peace. Unreserved condemnation In their final statement, the German Bishops unreservedly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is causing so much suffering and devastation and threatening peace in Europe and the world. They conveyed their heartfelt solidarity with the Ukrainian people, while expressing admiration for their courage and endurance in facing their predicament. They said that, as much as the Russian need for security on the western front may be understandable, the reasons claimed by the Russian government to justify its actions are not convincing, and they insisted on Ukraines right to self-determination. Read also 10/03/2022 Ukraine: EU Bishops implore Russian Patriarch to intercede to stop the war A letter addressed to Moscows Patriarch and signed by the President of EU Bishops is an appeal to the Russian Orthodox Church leader to intercede with the government to stop the ... Europeans under shock The Bishops noted that not only Ukrainians, but all Europeans are "under shock", as Moscows military intervention is also an attack on Europe and its democratic values. Democracy, civil liberties and the rule of law, coexistence and cooperation between states based on binding and fair rules are all been fought against by those who want to deprive Ukraine of its freedom. This too, they say, explains why the European states and the other Western countries stand in solidarity with Ukraine and have decided to wage heavy economic sanctions on Russia. Read also 11/03/2022 Ukraine: Scandinavian Bishops appeal to Russian President to stop the war A statement by the Scandinavian Bishops, expressing outrage for Russias invasion of Ukraine, appeals for peace, and says the attack on a maternity hospital is a terrible symbol of ... All true religions reject war The statement also dwells on the controversial issue of supplying weapons to Ukraine and Germany's recent pledge to ramp up military spending, which have stirred some debate in the country, also within Churches, in light of its history. German Bishops say that arming Ukraine so it can defend itself from aggression may be legitimate, considering these extreme circumstances, but at the same warn on the risks of further escalating violence and suffering, reaffirming Church teachings against war and its commitment to non-violence. The horizon of peace must remain open even in times of war. All true religions reject war, which is a defeat of humanity. Those who recklessly trigger it commit a crime before God and man. Germany's Bishops therefore point out that all attempts to give war a religious legitimacy is totally unacceptable, and thank the many Orthodox and Catholic priests for addressing their faithful in a good Christian spirit". They say they are particularly touched by the voices of many Orthodox clergy who have condemned thr conflict and have appealed for peace. At the same time they urge the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill to speak out clearly and to distance himself from the war. So far, the head of Russia's largest religious body, has only generically expressed deep empathy with everyone affected by this tragedy", without mentioning the word war, in line with President Vladimir Putins description of the aggression as a military operation. On 6 March, on the occasion of the celebration of the Orthodox Forgiveness Sunday marking the beginning of Lent in Eastern Churches, Patriarch Kirill went further, saying that Russian intervention was somehow justified by the need to fight Western moral decadence and anti-Christian values threatening Russia. His remarks have caused dismay even in the Orthodox world. German Bishops insist that the world needs a common witness by the Churches, especially in times of distress. Listen to our report Welcoming refugees from Ukraine The statement further recalls the urgent need for ongoing solidarity with the Ukrainian people and with refugees fleeing war. They remark that the the relief efforts carried out by institutions, Churches and citizens across Europe is admirable. However, they say more donations are urgently needed to help alleviate the hardship in Ukraine and to welcome refugees. Ongoing prayer The German Bishops finally appeal to all Christians in Germany to continue to pray and work for peace. Let us ask God, who holds the fate of the world in His hands, for peace in Ukraine and in all places on Earth, the statement concludes. The head of the Latin Church in Jerusalem says the participation of fighters from Syria and the Middle East in the war in Ukraine is worrisome as it will further escalate the conflict. By Lisa Zengarini The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has expressed deep concern over reports that 16,000 fighters from Syria and the Middle East have voluntered to fight with Russian forces in the war against Ukraine. High risk of escalation Speaking to Sat2000, the TV channel of the Italian Bishops Conference, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa said he hoped the news wasnt true, because these foreign miltias would further escalate the conflict. I hope its a joke, because this would mean an escalation that no one wants and, above all, it is an incomprehensible manipulation and also an attempt to involve the Middle East. People try to get the Middle East involved virtually in everything, either directly or indirectly, the Patrriarch added. Russia's announcement on Friday On Friday, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that fighters from Syria and the Middle East would be allowed to fight alongside Russian troops, after President Vladimir Putin backed a plan to send volunteers to battle there. Russia has been a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the countrys civil war and turned the tide of the fighting against the Islamic State in the Baathist regime's favour when it entered in the conflict in 2015. Peskov said the decision to send Syrian fighters to Ukraine was acceptable, claiming that the United States were backing measures to send mercenaries to fight alongside the Ukrainian army. Read also 12/03/2022 Cardinal Parolin: Enough havoc of war, never too late for an agreement The Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin says in an interview: "We are falling back into the past instead of daring to take steps towards a different future, a future ... Israel's position Asked about the Israeli stance on the war, Archbishop Pizzaballa explained that Israel's position is not simple, because it has close ties both with Russia and Ukraine. There are many Russians in Israel, but there are also many Ukrainians here too, he said. According to the Latin Patriarch, it is therefore understandable that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has offered to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv, though, he said, I believe it will not be easy, because mutual mistrust is too deep now to achieve anything". On Saturday last week Bennett, accompanied by Housing Minister Zeev Elkin, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. The Israeli Prime Minister, acting after Kyiv asked him to launch a dialogue with Moscow following Russia's invasion, has also had phone calls with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Israel's leadership has decided not to follow Western hard line against Moscow, seeking to preserve its delicate security cooperation with Russia. It has not, for example, joined Western powers in forcefully condemning the Russian invasion, or providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, sending instead humanitarian aid. Listen to our report The impact of the war in the Middle East Concluding his interview with Sat2000, Archbishop Pizzaballa said that, though there still is no sign of an end to the war, he hoped reason will prevail on both sides, as the conflict is already having a disastrous effect in the Middle East: It is undermining all trust between peoples and any chance of rebuilding relations between communities, he said. Moscow, ID (83843) Today Some sun in the morning with increasing clouds during the afternoon. High 68F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will become overcast later during the night. Low near 50F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. The Bishops of Scandinavia send an open letter to the Bishops Conference of Germany, and express their fraternal concern over the direction and content of the German Churchs synodal process. By Devin Watkins As the worldwide Church continues along the path toward the Synod of Bishops in 2023, representatives of the Church in Scandinavian countries have reached out to the Bishops of Germany to express their concern over the local synodal journey. The Nordic Bishops sent those concerns to the President of the German Bishops Conference, Bishop Georg Batzing, in an open letter at the conclusion of their Spring Plenary Assembly. The Synod of Bishops, focusing on the theme of synodality, is currently in the diocesan phase of a 2-year journey which will conclude with a month-long meeting of Bishops in Rome in October 2023. Strong bonds between German and Nordic Churches The 8 Bishops from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland noted the long-running ties between their Dioceses and Germany. They expressed their gratitude for the strong bonds uniting them, including the many German priest, bishops, and nuns who have served in Nordic countries following the Protestant Reformation. At the same time, the Nordic Bishops said German Bishops risk reducing the Church to a visible communion at the expense of the sacramental mystery. The orientation, method and content of the Synodal Path of the Church in Germany fill us with worry. Concern for German Church direction Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, in Norway, told Vatican News Charlotta Smeds that the Nordic Bishops felt called to offer their thoughts on the direction the German Church is taking with the Synod on synodality. We simply wanted to express our anxiety and conviction that in order to make ourselves receptive to a newness of grace and a newness of life in the Church, what is needed is not simply deliberations and countless conversations, or majority votes, but also a rediscovery of the profound sacramental mystery of the Church, said Bishop Varden. Church both pilgrim people and mystical body In their statement, the Nordic Bishops said they are worried the Church in Germany is focusing excessively on the image of the pilgrim People of God, almost at the expense of other theological conceptions of the Church, such as the Church as corpus mysticum, as Bride of Christ, and as mediatrix of graces. Bishop Varden said the synodal path cannot forget that the Church is not only the People of God on pilgrimagewhich needs to be organized sensibly and needs an organized route mapbut is also the mystical body and the Bride of Christ. The statement recalled that the Church is also a mystery of communion: communion of humankind with the Triune God; communion among the faithful; communion of all the particular Churches with the Successor of Peter. Scandinavian Bishops pose for a group photo in Tromso Defending Catholic theology against spirit of the world The Nordic Bishops pointed out that true reforms in the Church have always set out from Catholic teaching founded on divine Revelation and authentic Tradition. Reform, they added, must always defend Catholic teaching and never capitulate to the Zeitgeist (spirit of the age an 18th-century philosophical idea typically associated with Georg Hegel). The Bishops called on the German Church to not focus only on structural change and thereby turn the Church into a project, the object of our agency." Rather, the Nordic Bishops said the Churchs life must be rooted in Christ. Only if we live out of the fullness of [Christs] revelation shall we measure up to this vocation. We can hardly expect a new fullness of Catholic vitality to follow from impoverishment of the content of our faith. Rich legacy for real renewal Bishop Varden noted that the German Church has a rich legacy of sanctity, of intelligent reflection, of tremendous contributions to theology, and pastoral charity. That legacy, he added, gives the German Church all the resources needed to effect a real renewal. The Scandinavian Bishops letter to their German brothers, concluded Bishop Varden, was a statement of solidarity but also of some fraternal concern. Victoria, TX (77901) Today Windy. Cloudy skies will become mostly sunny this afternoon. High 89F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 75F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph. ELIZABETH URBAN is News Editor for The Vidette. Urban can be contacted at emurba1@ilstu.edu. Follow Urban on Twitter at @eliizabethurban. IF YOU SUPPORT THE VIDETTE MISSION of providing a training laboratory for Illinois State University student journalists to learn and sharpen viable, valuable and marketable skills in all phases of digital media, please contribute to this most important cause. Thank you. Earth is surrounded by a scrapyard of old rockets, satellites, and other types of spacecraft. Space junk expert John Crassidis, SUNY Distinguished Professor with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University at Buffalo (New York) joins Rick Pantaleo on this weeks Science Edition of Press Conference USA to talk about the growing threat of space debris. The armed resistance to Myanmars military regime that seized power from a democratically elected government over a year ago is holding firm against a wave of brutal offensives in recent months and may even be gaining strength, analysts say. Having taken root in much of the countryside, they add, resistance forces are starting to pressure the overstretched military in some towns and cities as well. The military is having to fight not just out in the sticks; theyre having to fight right around these provincial towns, said Matthew Arnold, an independent analyst tracking Myanmars post-coup violence. Galvanized by the militarys bloody crackdown on the mass protests that met its February 2021 coup, towns and neighborhoods across the country have been banding together, mostly with crude rifles and explosives, to oppose the juntas power grab. At least 350 militias, so-called peoples defense forces, or PDFs, have announced themselves since the putsch. Sustained conflict Even seasoned Myanmar watchers struggle to grasp the full scale of a guerrilla war being waged by mostly remote and disjointed forces with little but a common cause to bind them. They say many of the PDFs are likely no more than Facebook groups. Others come and go or consolidate, and run the gamut from cells of a half-dozen urban warriors planting homemade bombs to army-like units of 1,000 or more fighters spread over wide reaches of rugged hills. Putting numbers on the resistance is almost impossible, said Anthony Davis, a Bangkok-based security analyst with Janes defense publications. But there can be no question that millions of people support PDF activity which certainly appears to have become entrenched and in some areas may possibly be growing, he added. Of Myanmars 330 townships, more than 250 have seen some form of armed resistance since the coup, said Arnold, and at least 150 nearly half have had sustained conflict. For me the most important story in all of this is that theres definitely been an effect of what you might call settling, where conflict has really settled into the bulk of townships of certain areas, he said. Along Myanmars borders, with India to the west and China and Thailand to the east, PDFs are teaming up with ethnic minority-led rebel armies that have been fighting with the military for autonomy for decades, drawing on their guerrilla combat knowhow and, more sparingly, weapons. Most of the countrys two-dozen or so rebel armies have kept out of the post-coup fight, holding to formal or tacit cease-fires with the military. But at least four have committed to the resistance: the Kachin Independence Army, Karen National Liberation Army and Karenni Army in the east and the Chin National Front in the west. With some 15,000 troops among them by some estimates, those four armies command only a fraction of the manpower of Myanmars roughly 350,000-strong military. Arnold, though, says the rebel groups provide enough of a foundation to help keep the wider armed resistance going. And for all its soldiers, the military is struggling to hold much of the countryside on so many fronts, says Min Zaw Oo, executive director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security, a local think tank. The PDFs usually do not fight head to head with the regime; in most cases they are easily chased out.... But the regime doesnt have sufficient troops to hold the area. By the time the [military] leaves the area, [the] PDFs come back, he said. In general ... the regime controls major cities and towns, but in remote areas where the PDF is active, these are the areas the regime could not establish control, he added. Some of that may be starting to change. Attacks increase Rebel army officials and PDF fighters told VOA last month of plans to step up attacks on urban areas. Arnold says that seems to be happening, with repeated attacks over the past few months on Loikaw, the capital city of eastern Myanmars Kayah state. In Myanmars west, he said guerrilla groups have also started harassing towns much more regularly in recent weeks. The resistance is becoming much more active in these kinds of provincial towns in these core regions like Sagaing and Magwe, where theyll do attacks on military bases or police stations right inside the town itself, said Arnold. Min Zaw Oo said the military was for now repelling most attacks on its positions in urban areas with relative ease, though. And while resistance forces were still growing in Sagaing and Magwe, he said the offensives the military began launching with the start of Myanmars dry season late last year were now pushing them back from towns in Kayah and just across the border in southern Shan state. Davis, from Janes, said the militarys dry-season operations were succeeding at disrupting the resistances still-germinal infrastructure and organization in some key areas. The thousands of civilians the offensives have displaced the United Nations says 440,000 since the coup are making it harder for PDFs and rebel armies to fight back as well, he added. It remains to be seen though whether these Tatmadaw successes which in many areas rely on scorched earth tactics are sustainable over time, Davis said, calling Myanmars military by its Burmese name. He and most other analysts are not predicting a definitive battlefield victory for a resistance movement still vastly outgunned and lacking a central command or even much coordination. But neither do they expect the resistance to fold in the face of a military reportedly straining to bolster its ranks by arming pro-junta militias, decommissioning whole police units to send them to the front, and giving civil servants combat training so they can guard key positions. If that doesnt reek of desperation, I mean, I dont know what does, said Arnold. A spokesperson for the regime could not be reached for comment. The regime labels resistance groups terrorists and claims it replaced the previous government legally for ignoring allegations of fraud in a 2020 election that local and international poll watchers say the militarys proxy party lost fairly and decisively. Rights groups say the regime has killed over 1,500 civilians since the coup and accuse the military of launching indiscriminate air and ground assaults on towns and villages amounting to war crimes. President Joe Biden on Friday announced that the U.S. will seek to revoke "most favored nation" (MFN) status for Russia. If approved by Congress, the move effectively ends normal trade relations between the two countries and allows the administration to impose new tariffs and sanctions in response to the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. Biden is making the move in coordination with the Group of Seven countries (G-7) and the European Union, marking further escalation of economic pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. "As Putin continues his merciless assault, the United States and our allies and partners continue to work in lockstep to ramp up the economic pressures on Putin and to further isolate Russia on the global stage," Biden said in remarks from the White House as he outlined steps designed to "squeeze Putin and hold him even more accountable for his aggression against Ukraine." MFN status is given based on the non-discrimination principle enacted by 164 members of the World Trade Organization. WTO members commit to treating each other equally so everyone can benefit from lower tariffs, fewer trade barriers and higher import quotas. Taking away MFN formally allows Western allies to increase import tariffs or impose quotas on Russian goods, or even ban them, restrict services out of the country and potentially sidestep Russian intellectual property rights. To enact it they must do so in accordance with their own national laws, which in the United States requires the approval of Congress. In the U.S., MFN status is also referred to as permanent normal trade relations. Biden is likely to find bipartisan support in Congress as American lawmakers have already begun efforts to review and reduce trade relations with Moscow. Earlier this week a bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed legislation that if passed would ban imports of Russian energy into the United States and suspend normal trade relations with Russia and its ally, Belarus. The bill was on hold as the White House asked for more time to get allies on board. Economic impact Following U.S. sanctions applied to Moscow in 2014 to punish Putin for his annexation of Crimea, the vast majority of Russian exports to the U.S. are oil and gas. Washington had already announced a ban on Russian energy imports ahead of Friday's announcement, which means stripping MFN may not affect much of the remaining bilateral trade. The move is mostly about isolating Russia as much as possible in all international fora, Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told VOA. "It's not that this is 'symbolic only', but the effect on it is far less than U.S. oil sanctions or the financial sanctions imposed," he said. EU's stripping of Russia's MFN status will have a more significant impact as the bloc trades much more with Russia. But as the EU is also winding down energy imports from Russia, Kirkegaard pointed out, there may not be much non-energy sector left to punish. He said taking away Moscow's MFN status also means that non-MFN tariffs will apply, which often is not much different from MFN levels. Ending MFN would also be much more impactful if the West can galvanize more countries to join, said Claude Barfield, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, speaking with VOA. The Biden administration is already pushing for a broader coalition of WTO members beyond the G-7 to announce their revocation of Russia's MFN status. An important question will be whether Russia retaliates by banning G-7 exports to Russia. "If so, Russia would ironically be helping isolate itself further and reduce trade with the West," Kirkegaard said. In addition to stripping Moscow's MFN status, the U.S. is also banning imports of goods from several signature sectors of the Russian economy, including seafood, vodka and diamonds. The G-7 is also trying to deny Russia the ability to borrow from leading multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Unlike the ban on Russian oil imports which affect what Americans must pay at the gas pump, the impact of further limiting trade with Moscow on the U.S. economy is likely very limited due to the small amount of trade affected. Companies take action Beyond steps taken by Western governments, multinational companies are also reexamining their ties with Moscow. Under pressure from stakeholders, many companies including Starbucks, McDonalds, Coca-Cola and Nike have shut down operations and ended sales. Financial entity Goldman Sachs is winding down its investments in Russia, while energy companies including Shell, BP and Exxon Mobil Corp. are reducing business ventures there. Barfield said these actions hit the Russian psyche more than its economy as they negate Kremlin propaganda that the invasion is intended to liberate Ukraine from Nazi oppressors. "It's a way of showing the Russian consumers that something else is involved here," he said. Moscow is planning retaliatory steps against companies leaving the country. Earlier this week, Putin said he would find legal ways to seize the assets of these international firms by introducing "external management." The Russian economic ministry said it could take temporary control of some of these departing businesses. Australia's already cool relations with China have declined again during the past few weeks over a new spate of incidents, experts in the Asia Pacific say. Canberra announced Thursday it would add military personnel to work more closely with allies despite China's objections in late 2021. In February the West-leaning nation decried a laser that a Chinese vessel had pointed at an Australian military plane, and that month the government raised its budget for Antarctic exploration another place where China is seen as a competitor. "China-Australian relations are maybe even worse than U.S.-China relations," said Derek Grossman, senior defense analyst with the U.S.-based Rand Corporation research organization. "It just seems like the atmospherics around China (and) Australia has hit a vitriolic level." New flashpoints Australia will increase military personnel by about 30% through 2040 to almost 80,000 people, Defense Minister Peter Dutton said in a statement Thursday. The increase is expected to cost $27.9 billion. It will help keep Australia safe as "our world is becoming increasingly uncertain," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in the statement. He said there would be a "particular focus" on Australia's AUKUS security partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States as well as its sea and air capabilities. AUKUS is a deal clinched last year to share military technology, including the prospect of nuclear-powered submarines. China criticized the deal as a possible source of nuclear proliferation. On Feb. 17, an Australian P-8A Poseidon military plane was illuminated by a laser coming from a People's Liberation Army (PLA) naval vessel, Australia's Defense Ministry said. The ministry called the use of the laser a "serious safety incident" with "potential to endanger lives." A representative of the Chinese National Defense Ministry said the PLA Navy vessel had "maintained safe, normative and professional operations all along in the whole process when encountering the aircraft attached to the Australian Defense Force." "Certainly, the incident with the Chinese warship lasing our P-8 Orion has created severe tensions," said Malcolm Davis, a senior defense strategy analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra. "I think it's really made us recognize we are in for difficult times in terms of China-Western relations, even more so than we've been in the last few years." Also last month, the Australian government said it would spend $583 million in Antarctica over the next decade. That budget would cover aerial drones and other autonomous vehicles to map inaccessible parts of East Antarctica, the prime minister's website says. Australian media cast the Antarctic plan as a counterweight to Chinese exploration. Australia claims more than 42% of the polar continent and operates three bases there. The Australian government wants to be seen at home as the keeper of a "pristine wilderness" that "can be visited" by tourists, said Stuart Orr, School of Business head at Melbourne Institute of Technology. He compared the Sino-Australian rivalry in Antarctica to the international space race, where achievements bolster public confidence in their leaders. Not the only flashpoints Australia and China have fallen out steadily since 2013. Australia angered China particularly in April 2020 by calling for a probe into the handling of COVID-19. In November that year, China stranded more than 50 Australian coal ships near its ports, placed tariffs on a string of agricultural imports and sent out a social media image suggesting that Australian soldiers were killing Afghan children. China worries most about the burgeoning Australia-U.S. alliance, analysts say. Washington and Canberra meet regularly with Japan and India for discussions about control over the South China Sea a waterway that Beijing claims as its own despite sovereignty challenges from five other Asian governments. Pro-U.S. European nations have thrown their support behind the U.S. and Australia over the past year. Just this week the White House said U.S. and British officials "resolved to broaden and deepen their alignment and cooperation" in the Indo-Pacific region. China and Australia have entered a spiral where one side's actions spark a reaction from the other, analysts believe. "China's buildup is at least partially in response to Australia's own buildup, so with these (troop increase) announcements by the Australian prime minister, I believe China is definitely going to pay attention to that and all these ongoing military preparations essentially will be geared toward that as well as those by the U.S.," said Collin Koh, a maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Federal elections set in Australia for May could set a new tone for "long-term strategic competition with China" and establish its role in a "U.S. integrated deterrence strategy," Koh said. China is especially watching any military-related developments, he added. Morrison's Liberal Party, which takes a tough line on China, lost ground last month in New South Wales state by-elections. That fate adds pressure on his ruling coalition to hold its advantage after the federal elections and sustain his government's stance toward China. Xiao Qian, the Chinese ambassador to Australia, sought to smooth relations Wednesday when he met with Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne in Sydney to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties. "It is hoped that the two sides will work together to review the past and look into the future, adhere to the principle of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and make joint efforts to push forward China-Australia relations along the right track," Xiao said. Western analysts were surprised this week when the European Union's foreign policy chief was quoted by China as having described that country as "a peace-loving superpower." Officials in Brussels insist that he never said it. The quote appeared in a statement put out by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday following talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and EU Vice President Josep Borrell, who has been responsible for foreign and security policy in the 27-member bloc since December 2019. Borrell was quoted as having told his Chinese counterpart that "China is a peace-loving superpower. [We] hope China will play a relevant role to encourage and enable cease-fire [in the Ukraine conflict] and push and promote the parties of conflict to step on a path of negotiation and political solution." Western analysts such as Stuart Lau, the EU-China correspondent for Politico Europe, promptly called attention to the quote. But when contacted by VOA, the EU press office in Washington suggested that the quote had been manufactured by China, which stands accused of parroting a number of Russian false statements about its two-week-old invasion of Ukraine. Borrell, whose official title is high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy and vice president of the EU Commission, "never called China a 'peace-loving superpower,' " said a statement provided by the press office and attributed to "an EU official." "We are only very well aware about their [China's] aggressive approach in South China Sea or internally," the statement said. "This is apparently somebody trying to put word[s] in his [Borrell's] mouth." The message Borrell meant to convey, the EU statement added, was "to appeal on China's declared commitment to multilateralism and respect of UN Charter and for China to live up to these commitments [and] to deliver its contribution to stability and security in the world; in this case to use its influence (both in Moscow and in the U.N. Security Council) and stop [Russian President Vladimir] Putin." Even before the latest fuss, Borrell had excited comment on social media by suggesting that no country was better positioned than China to pursue a negotiated end to the fighting in Ukraine. "It has to be China," he was quoted as having told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. "There's no alternative. We [Europeans] cannot be the mediator, that is clear. And it cannot be the U.S., either. Who else?" While several analysts agreed that China has an important role to play in ending the war, others argued that China's robust support for the invasion to date should disqualify it from any mediation role. Beijing "is very much part of the problem from the get-go," said Kevin Carrico, a lecturer on China at Monash University in Australia, in a phone interview with VOA. He described the notion of relying on Beijing to solve the crisis as reflecting an inability to see Chinese leaders as who they really are. Left-leaning former student leader Gabriel Boric vowed to improve the lives of all Chileans and attack deep inequality that has sparked massive protests, hours after being inaugurated Friday as the youngest president in the country's history. At 36, Boric was only 4 years old when democracy returned to the South American nation following a 17-year military dictatorship that both bloodied and set the groundwork for modern Chile. Boric has vowed that his young, inclusive government will attack poverty and inequality that he said are the unacceptable underbelly of a free-market model imposed decades ago by Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 1973-90. We come to give ourselves body and soul to making life better in our country, he said in a speech from a balcony of the government building, calling for unity to make Chile a dignified and just country. "The road will undoubtedly be long and difficult, he said. His four-year term begins at a moment when a constituent assembly is drawing up a new constitution for the country to replace one adopted under Pinochet. The Socialist Party leader of the Senate, Alvaro Elizalde, draped the presidential sash over Boric's shoulders during the ceremony in the legislative chambers in the port city of Valparaiso. Soon afterward, Boric swore in the leader of what he has called a feminist Cabinet which includes 14 women and 10 men. Ostentatiously informal, the bearded young leader declined to wear a tie for the inauguration. Boric won 56% of the vote in a December runoff against conservative Jose Antonio Kast. While his election initially scared investors, causing drops in stock prices and the peso, he has since stressed a pragmatic streak, vowing to maintain fiscal responsibility and naming a respected economist, former Central Bank president Mario Marcel, as finance minister. We are going to have to make the changes step by step because if not, the risk of falling back is too great," he said recently a stance that may be enforced by the fact his leftist coalition has only 37 of the 155 seats in congress. Even adding other center-left parties, his allies fall just short of a majority. Chile has long been seen as one of Latin America's greatest economic success stories, bolstered in part by its vast mineral industries. But it has been rocked over the past decade by repeated large protest movements some led by Boric demanding better education, pensions and health care, as well as a more egalitarian distribution of wealth. Boric takes office as well at a moment when large-scale immigration from Venezuela and other countries has caused unrest in northern Chile while violent protests by some Indigenous rights activists demanding historic territories have caused clashes in the south. It's also a moment of international turmoil due to fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. Boric has called for greater taxes on the wealthy to help finance improved health care, education and a universal pension plan to replace a privately run system that has proven inadequate for many. He's also pushed for a higher minimum wages and the creation of more jobs for women, in particular. He also campaigned for greater environmental protections in a country famed for its enormous copper mines. Any changes may result less from Boric than from a new constitution. The assembly drafting it is due to finish this year, offering it to voters for ratification or rejection. In his speech Friday, Boric said he hopes when his term ends in four years, we feel that it is a country that protects us, that welcomes us, that takes care of us and guarantees our rights and justly rewards contribution and sacrifice." Ukrainian officials say at least 35 people were killed and 134 wounded early Sunday when Russia fired about 30 cruise missiles at the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, a military base in western Ukraine near the countrys border with Poland. NATO troops in Poland are a scant 25 kilometers away. The military base, not far from Lviv, is where NATO units train with Ukrainian troops and where western military instructors conduct training. Russias military continued to pound cities across Ukraine with artillery and airstrikes. Seven civilians, including a child, were killed Saturday in a designated humanitarian corridor when Russia struck the convoy, forcing the civilians to turn around, Ukraines Defense Ministry said. Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said only nine of 14 humanitarian corridors were open Saturday. Vereshchuk said about 13,000 people were evacuated along the routes that had been agreed upon as safe passage exits for civilians. Also Saturday, a Russian missile attack destroyed a Ukrainian air base in the city of Vasylkiv, according to Mayor Natalia Balasynovych who said an oil depot also was destroyed. Russias Interfax News Agency quoted Balasynovych as saying Russian rockets also destroyed an ammunition depot near Vasylkiv. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Saturday that Russia is trying to create new pseudo-republics in Ukraine to break his country apart. "Ukraine will stand this test, the president said. We need time and strength to break the war machine that has come to our land. French and German leaders spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday, but France said in a statement they did not detect a willingness on Putins part to end the war. Ukraines Foreign Ministry tweeted Saturday that Russian forces shelled a mosque in Mariupol where 80 people were sheltering. The ministry did not disclose the timing of the attack, but it said some of those in the mosque were from Turkey. Ukraines military has reportedly said Russian forces have captured Mariupols eastern outskirts, and Ukrainian authorities have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged southern port city. Ukrainian officials in Mariupol said Friday more than 1,500 people have been killed since Russia began its assault on the city, a figure that has not been independently confirmed. On Friday, a senior U.S. defense official said Russia had widened its war in Ukraine by targeting areas in the west of the country and appears to be regrouping troops near the capital, Kyiv, as the United States and its allies increase sanctions on Moscow. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence, confirmed Russia had begun targeting sites in western Ukraine, hitting airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, part of a salvo of more than 800 missiles launched since the start of the invasion. Ukrainian forces were continuing to mount "an adaptive and nimble" defense that was frustrating Russian forces, the U.S. defense official said. The official also told reporters the U.S. is seeing signs that Russian forces, and the Russian air force in particular, are displaying a "general risk aversion" while also showing their inexperience. "This is not a military that has great expeditionary capability and experience," the official said. "Nothing on this scale." But the official also warned there are indications Russian forces are learning from their early missteps. VOA's Jeff Seldin and Cindy Saine contributed to this story. Some information also came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Finland's much-delayed Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor started test production on Saturday, operator TVO said, delivering power to the national grid, which over time is expected to reduce the need for electricity imports and lead to lower prices. Plagued by technological problems that became the subject of lawsuits, the 1.6 gigawatt (GW) reactor had originally been scheduled to open in 2009. It is Finland's first new nuclear plant in more than four decades, and Europe's first in almost 15 years. Olkiluoto 3 started test production at just over 0.1 gigawatt, a small fraction of its capacity, with a ramp-up to full, regular electricity output planned by the end of July. "OL3 significantly improves Finland's electricity self-sufficiency and helps in achieving carbon neutrality goals," operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said in a statement. Once fully operational, it is expected to meet 14% of Finland's electricity demand, reducing the need for imports from Russia, Sweden and Norway. "Olkiluoto 3 will decrease Finland's import dependency and it will become a cheaper price zone," Aurora Energy Research economist Alexander Esser told Reuters. Finland's net imports of power averaged 13 terawatt hours (TWh) over the last few years, which should drop to 5-8 TWh by 2025 with Olkiluoto 3 in operation, Esser said. Nuclear power remains controversial in Europe, with some countrie, such as Germany, phasing out reactors amid safety concerns. Others, including France and Britain, are discussing new developments. TVO is owned by Finnish utility Fortum and smaller energy and forestry firms. Finland is the only Nordic country with a large power deficit, said Marius Holm Rennesund, a partner at Oslo-based consultancy Thema. Thema predicts that Finnish wholesale power prices will drop to 60 euro per megawatt hour (MWh) in 2023 from a predicted average of 70 euro/MWh in 2022, although the expected reduction will also come from lower gas prices. In 2024, Finnish wholesale power prices will likely fall further to 45 euros/MWh, Rennesund said. When Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took the floor in a parliament debate on Ukraine this month, there was no doubt which side his government was taking in the conflict. "There can be no equal distances. You are either with peace and international law, or against them," he told lawmakers, after announcing a shipment of medicine and lethal aid to Ukraine. "We were always on the right side of history, and we are doing the same now," the PM said. But for many Greeks, after centuries of existential, religious and cultural ties with Russia, the choice is not as evident. "Greek public opinion has a Russophile dimension, friendly feelings linked to history, a common culture based on Orthodoxy and for some, mistrust towards the West," notes Nikos Marantzidis, professor of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies at the University of Macedonia. A post-invasion poll in February showed 20% of Greeks are "closer" to Russia while 45% support Ukraine. Just 8% said they would boycott Russian products, and 2% said they would avoid contact with Russians. About 75% of respondents condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's stance, but more than 60% were also critical of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kappa Research poll showed. Putin 'a great leader' "There is a minority, not an insignificant one, that continues to view Putin positively," Marantzidis said. "Whatever happens, a hard core of (about 10-15% of the electorate) will continue to see him as a great leader," he told AFP. Greeks have fought alongside Russia since the 18th century, with the fellow Orthodox state historically seen as a protector and powerful counterweight to regional rival Turkey. In 1827, Russia joined Britain and France in the decisive naval battle of Navarino that effectively decided Greece's independence from the Ottoman Empire. Marantzidis also notes residual anti-Western feelings in Greece over a near-decade of austerity cuts imposed by Germany and other EU states in return for debt rescue bailouts. And memories of NATO's bombing of fellow Orthodox Serbians in 1999 during the Kosovo war are still raw, he adds. Russians are also a prized demographic for Greece's tourism industry, with hundreds of thousands visiting annually. Just a year ago, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was among the guests of honor in Athens celebrations of the bicentenary of the Greek 1821 revolution. Twelve months later, relations with Moscow are frosty and thousands of Greeks have joined anti-war protests alongside Ukrainians living in Greece. 'Threats and insults' The Russian Embassy in Athens this week expressed concern about "threats and insults" towards its nationals in Greece and called on the police to investigate. Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was among the last heads of diplomacy to see Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov just days before the Feb. 24 invasion. But the deaths of nearly a dozen ethnic Greeks in Ukraine, members of a historic community of over 100,000 dating back to the 18th century, dealt a blow to relations. Athens blamed Russian air strikes for the killings, but Moscow denied its forces were responsible and blamed Ukraine. On Feb. 27, the Russian Embassy in Athens said Greek politicians and media should "come to their senses" and should stop parroting "anti-Russian propaganda." The Greek foreign ministry has condemned such language as undiplomatic, and government spokesperson Yiannis Economou fired back on Tuesday: "Nobody can sow dissent among us in any way." "Greeks are not historically naive or forgetful to be swayed by external voices," Economou said. On the Russian Embassy's Facebook page, pro-Russian Greeks and Ukraine supporters trade insults daily. Most express shock towards the Russian onslaught and attacks against civilian targets and call for an end to hostilities. More than 7,000 Ukrainian refugees have so far fled to Greece. "Your people resisted and beat the Nazis, now you are walking in their footsteps," said user Leila Rosaki. But many remain defiantly pro-Putin. "Putin will be remembered and go down in history as a great and worthy leader," writes Stelios Markou. "Bravo, chase them all the way to Germany like before," applauded Ilias Karavitis. "Zelenskyy is begging Europe and NATO to get involved, he is trying to start World War III. Pray that he shuts up," opined Nelli Ign. "May God protect President Putin and all the Russians fighting for freedom," said Thiresia Sakel. The Islamic State group is moving to solidify support for its new leader, sharing photos on social media showing fighters uniting behind his rule. One set of photos obtained by JihadoScope, a company that monitors online activity by Islamist extremists, and shared with VOA on Friday, shows a small group of fighters in Kirkuk, Iraq, giving bay'ah, or pledging allegiance, to the new IS emir. A second set of photos shows a larger group of fighters purportedly from the group's West Africa affiliate raising their weapons to the sky as they surround the black IS flag, also pledging allegiance to the new leader. Additional pledges have come in from some of IS group's media divisions. It also appears IS has set up specific social media accounts and channels, on apps such as Telegram, to collect and distribute more photos of IS followers pledging to follow the new leader, JihadoScope told VOA. IS on Thursday issued an audio recording in which the group confirmed the death of its former leader and his top spokesman and introduced its new leader, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. The statement, allegedly from the group's new spokesman, Abu Umar al-Muhajir, said Abu al-Hassan was handpicked by his predecessor and had been in command since early February. U.S. officials have declined to comment on the rise of Abu al-Hassan to IS emir or on his true identity. Reuters on Friday, citing Iraqi and Western officials, reported Abu al-Hassan is actually Juma Awad al-Badri, the brother of former IS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In a separate report, New Lines Magazine said last month that the new IS leader is likely a man known as Bashar Khattab Ghazal al-Sumaidai, a top judicial official. The author of the report, Hassan Hassan, stood by his report Friday, tweeting that it appears al-Badri is actually the new spokesperson. Regardless of the new IS leader's identity, officials and analysts expect the group to intensify its media campaign to demonstrate that he has the confidence of not only the group's top officials but also its rank and file. IS followed the same strategy after the death of Baghdadi in October 2019, flooding social media with images of fighters around the world pledging allegiance to Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. U.S. and Western intelligence officials later determined that Abu Ibrahim was actually Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla (also known as Hajji Abdallah, among several other names), a religious scholar who had been imprisoned with Baghdadi in 2004 at Camp Bucca, a U.S.-run facility in Basra, Iraq. For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, all times EST: 11:39 p.m.: People in California protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 11:06 p.m.: CBS News reports that Google will start sending air raid alerts to Ukrainian Android phone users. 10:36 p.m.: Britain will pay people to open their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, Reuters reports. 10:08 p.m.: An Associated Press journalist saw tanks firing on a nine-story apartment block and was among a group of medical workers who came under sniper fire Friday in the city surrounded by Russian soldiers. Here's a look at what's happening on the ground in Mariupol. 9:34 p.m.: Russia's invasion of Ukraine has unleashed a whole new round of anxieties for Europeans, The New York Times reports. 9:05 p.m.: Teenagers with three days of basic training are among those joining in Ukraine's defense. The BBC spoke to some of them. 8:28 p.m.: VOA's Yan Boechat has photos showing the fierce fighting near Irpin, Ukraine, about 25 kilometers north of Kyiv. 8:03 p.m.: Al-Jazeera has a graphic showing whith countries buy the most Russian weapons. 7:28 p.m.: A new mayor has been installed in Melitopol, according to CNN reports. The elected mayor was detained by armed men and accused of crimes by the prosecutor in Luhansk, a Russian-backed separatist region 6:52 p.m.: The International Atomic Energy Agency on Ukraine's nuclear power plants. 6:02 p.m.: For VOA, Yan Boechat reports Saturday from the town of Irpin, about 25 kilometers north of Kyiv, where Russian troops and Ukrainian soldiers are engaged in fierce fighting. Boechat was able to get inside the town and reach the last Ukrainian position very close to the Russian troops. 5:20 p.m.: The clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Amsterdam announced they were splitting from the Moscow church, Agence France-Presse reports. In a statement posted to its website it said that after a meeting, "the clergy unanimously announced that it is no longer possible for them to function within the Moscow Patriarchate and provide a spiritually safe environment for our faithful." They have asked to join the Constantinople Orthodox Church. 5 p.m.: For VOA, Yan Boechat reports Saturday from the town of Irpin, about 25 kilometers north of Kyiv, where Russian troops and Ukrainian soldiers are engaged in fierce fighting. 4 p.m.: In Irpin, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, some residents were sheltering in place, while others were grabbing their suitcases and fleeing across planks where a bridge had been. When I woke up in the morning, everything was covered in smoke, everything was dark. We dont know who is shooting and where, resident Serhy Protsenko told The Associated Press, as he walked through his neighborhood as explosions sounded in the distance. We dont have any radio or information. 3:30 p.m.: The United States on Saturday said it would rush up to $200 million in additional small arms, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine, as Ukrainian officials pleaded for more equipment to defend against heavy shelling by Russian forces. U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday authorized the additional security assistance, the White House said, paving the way for the "immediate" shipment of fresh military equipment to Ukraine, a senior administration official said. 2:48 p.m.: In Eastern Europe, refugees from Ukraine are being welcomed as a potential workforce More than half of the 2.5 million people who have fled Ukraine are now in Poland, but tens of thousands are also staying in Moldova and Bulgaria, which have some of the fastest shrinking populations. "Those who are now arriving in the territory of the EU are well-qualified and meet the demand for labor," said Sieglinde Rosenberger of the University of Vienna, though she warned the welcoming attitude could change. 2:15 p.m.: Russias attempt to block independent news of its war in Ukraine has been met with a surge in digital circumvention tools. Digital freedom groups report increasing use of VPNs and secure communication apps like Telegram as foreign media have evacuated their staff or suspended operations in Moscow and Russias media regulator has sought to block local sources of news. VOAs Igor Tsikhanenka reports from New York. 1:56 p.m.: Russian engineers have arrived to measure radiation at a Ukrainian nuclear plant, the seizure of which during Moscow's invasion of the country sparked international alarm, officials said. Russia occupied Zaporizhzhia, Europe's biggest atomic power plant, after its forces attacked it on March 4, Agence France-Presse reports. The plants reactors appeared undamaged after the assault despite a fire that broke out there after tanks bombarded it. 1:05 p.m.: The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, has launched a huge relief operation to aid and protect millions of Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion, both inside Ukraine and as refugees in neighboring countries, Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva for VOA. 12:55 p.m.: Britains defense ministry says in a tweet that its latest intelligence update finds Russia will need to find other sources to reinforce its overstretched regular forces. 12:51 p.m.: Donetsk regional governor says constant shelling is complicating efforts to get much-needed aid into Mariupol, Reuters reports. 12:02 p.m.: Russian officials say engineers from Russia's nuclear company Rosatom are checking radiation levels at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Ukrainian nuclear plant - Europe's largest - after its forces attacked it on March 4, AFP reports. 11:11 a.m.: Ukrainian officials accuse Russians of planning a referendum for "independence" in Ukraine's southern region, CNN reports. 10:38 a.m.: The U.N. Human Rights Office in Ukraine says that since start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 through March 11, it has recorded 1,581 civilian casualties: 579 killed, including 42 children; 1,002 injured, including 54 children, mostly caused by shelling and airstrikes. And it adds that the actual toll is much higher. 10:30 a.m.: A French presidency official says Russian President Vladimir Putin did not show a willingness to end the war with Ukraine during a call today with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to The Guardian. 10:27 a.m. Moscow says arms shipments to Ukraine are legitimate targets, as European leaders call for a cease-fire, CNN reports. 10:24 a.m.: The eastern Ukrainian town of Volnovakha has been destroyed after Russia's invasion, the local governor says, according to Reuters. 10:12 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says about 1,300 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of Russia's invasion, and that up to 600 Russian troops surrendered Friday, the Independent reports. VOA is unable to independently verify these numbers. 10:09 a.m.: Portuguese authorities have detained a rabbi over the naturalization of Russian tycoon and owner of Chelsea football club Roman Abramovich, according to RFE/RL. 10:01 a.m.: Thousands of Russian tourists are stranded in Thailands beach resorts because of the war in Ukraine, many unable to pay their bills or return home because of sanctions and canceled flights, The Associated Press reports. 9:49 a.m.: The Vatican says it's available for "any kind of mediation" to help stop war in Ukraine, and is willing to do everything possible to assist in reaching a cease-fire and brokering an end to the war in Ukraine, according to CNN. 9:28 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweets that he held talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron on how to counter Russia's aggression against Ukraine, including "RF (the Russian Federation's) crimes against civilians." 8:58 a.m.: UNHCR reports more than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Feb. 24. 8:18 a.m.: The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says people trapped in besieged southern city of Mariupol are desperate, and "there are reports of looting and violent confrontations among civilians over what little basic supplies remain in the city." 8:02 a.m.: Intense battles underway northwest of Kyiv and other cities are surrounded by Russian forces. 7:59 a.m.: Ukrainian officials say Russian shelling and threats of fierce airstrikes continue to imperil attempted evacuations. 5:53 a.m.: Ukraine says Russia has shelled a mosque sheltering 80 in Mariupol, The Associated Press reports. 5:23 a.m.: The BBC reports that Ukraine alleges Russia has abducted Melitopol's mayor. 4:54 a.m.: Agence France Press reports on how the invasion of Ukraine has some rethinking former German chancellor Angela Merkel: "Once hailed as the leader of the free world, the veteran center-right leader has been accused by some of increasing Europe's reliance on Russian energy and neglecting Germany's defense in what appeared to be a devastating miscalculation of Putin's ambitions." 4:29 a.m.: Agence France-Presse reports that Greece's history with Russia gives it what one expert called "a Russophile dimension." 3:51 a.m.: NBC News has the latest on Indian students stranded in Ukraine. 3:24 a.m.: Russia says sanctions could threaten the International Space Station, Agence France-Presse reports. 2:52 a.m.: The BBC, citing the UK Ministry of Defence, says Russian forces are now about 25 kilometers from Kyiv. 2:22 a.m.: Ukrainian refugees arrive in Guatemala. Reuters has the story. 1:53 a.m.: Agence France-Presse has video showing the aftermath of a missile strike in Ukraine. 1:23 a.m.: Al-Jazeera talks to Ukrainian refugees. 12:52 a.m.: NBC News has a list of companies that have cut ties with Russia. 12:20 a.m.: NBC News reports that a Ukrainian actor and TV host has been killed in Ukraine. 12:01 a.m.: Reuters looks into the effects of Russia's new law, which punishes people for discrediting the military. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. In 1626, a ship foundered in stormy seas and wrecked on Cape Cod, where the passengers were aided by the local Indigenous population and the Pilgrims in nearby Plymouth. Now the most in-depth scientific analysis of timbers found more than 150 years ago has provided the best evidence yet that they belonged to the ill-fated vessel known as the Sparrow-Hawk. The results of an international, multiyear study on the remains of the ship were published Friday in the "Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports." "I am just over the top about this news," said Donna Curtin, executive director of the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, which has been in possession of 109 timbers from the Sparrow-Hawk since 1889. The timbers have long been assumed to be from the roughly 12-meter) Sparrow-Hawk the oldest known shipwreck of English Colonial America based largely on where they were found, but there always remained some uncertainty. "Historical narratives get distorted over time," Curtin said. Historians do know that a small ship bound for Jamestown, Virginia, with a pair of English merchants and several Irish servants on board was driven ashore by a storm in 1626 in what today is the town of Orleans, based on the written accounts of Plymouth Colony Gov. William Bradford. "Ther was a ship, with many passengers in her and sundrie goods, bound for Virginia," Bradford wrote, going on to describe how the vessel had been at sea for six weeks, how the captain had become sick with scurvy, and they had run out of water and beer. As for the passengers, "The cheefe amongst these people was one Mr. Fells and Mr. Sibsie, which had many servants belonging unto them, many of them being Irish," he wrote. They are the first documented Irish colonists in New England, although as indentured servants they had little choice, and didnt stay permanently, Curtin noted. The passengers were initially aided by members of the Nauset tribe, who spoke English, then taken in by the Pilgrims for nearly a year before they eventually found passage on other boats to Virginia to farm tobacco. The unrepairable vessel, meanwhile, was buried by shifting sands and lost until 1863, when a storm uncovered the remarkably well-preserved wreckage that was presumed to be the same ship described by Bradford because of where it was found. Although the original name of the ship remains unknown, it has been referred to since the 1860s as the Sparrow-Hawk. The wreck has long been one of the museum's most intriguing artifacts, Curtin said. It has been studied and scrutinized by generations of maritime experts, but had never before gone through such a detailed analysis. The study was led by Calvin Mires, a maritime archeologist and researcher with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts; Aiofe Daly, an associate professor at the Saxo Institute at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark; and Fred Hocker, the director of research at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. They used wiggle-match dating, a form of radiocarbon analysis, and dendrochronology, the study of tree ring growth, to narrow down roughly when the Sparrow-Hawk was built. The wiggle-match dating indicated that the wood used to make the boat was harvested between 1556 and 1646, according to the study. The rings on a tree are like the "fingerprint based on the climate of the region in which the tree grew," Daly said. The ring patterns of the Sparrow-Hawk's wood matched tree-ring chronologies from 17th century southern England, according to the study. The same techniques were used to study the Vasa, a Swedish warship that went down on its maiden voyage in 1628, just two years after the Sparrow-Hawk wrecked. "We cannot say with 100% certainty that this is the Sparrow-Hawk," Curtin said. "But we can say with much more confidence than ever before that what we have is compatible with the story in Gov. Bradfords journal." Another clue that the Sparrow-Hawk is from the early 17th century is the oak and elm from which it is constructed, said the Vasa Museums Hocker, who specializes in the history of shipbuilding. "That combination of woods is a traditional combination of materials in shipbuilding in England in that era," he said. "Everything I looked at just screamed 17th century to me." Although they have been exhibited publicly in the past, the Sparrow-Hawk's remains are currently in storage at the Plymouth museum. More scientific study is planned, and Curtin would like to use digital modeling to construct a 3D image of the ship, with the goal of putting it back on public display in 2026, the 400th anniversary of the wreck. An annual rattlesnake roundup in the U.S. state of Georgia recently changed the format of this month's event to celebrate living snakes without skinning and butchering them, earning plaudits from animal rights activists. But no such changes are occurring at a huge rattlesnake roundup beginning this weekend in Texas, a festival that the activists say is barbaric. The two events are a marked contrast in how rattlesnakes are handled. They also show the huge divide in how they are seen by some, with the Georgia festival heralded by animal advocates and the Texas roundup shamed. A few rattlesnake roundups still persist, the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement full of scorn for the Texas festival, which is notorious for openly killing and skinning western diamondback rattlesnakes by the hundreds in front of crowds. Plans for the World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup this weekend in the Texas town of Sweetwater are full-scale ahead, with snakes set to be skinned and others milked of their venom. There's even a pageant for local young women, Miss Snake Charmer. The town of 11,000 is expected to swell to around 30,000 during the festival that runs Friday through Sunday, said Dennis Cumbie, one of the organizers. It's the biggest event in this town every year, Cumbie said. It's very much part of our culture. The same is true in the south Alabama town of Opp, where an annual rattlesnake festival that has drawn thousands for nearly six decades opens March 25. While organizers say the snake hunters who bring in big rattlers get rid of nuisance reptiles, opponents say Eastern diamondback snakes are declining in population. Sweetwater has held its rattlesnake roundup for more than six decades, and what we have figured out over 64 years is that we're not damaging the population of the snakes whatsoever, Cumbie said. Rather, organizers liken snake hunting to how other hunters keep deer numbers in check. In Georgia, organizers say the more humane format they launched for the first time last weekend was a success. Exact attendance figures are unknown because many people such as children are admitted free, but I've heard anywhere from 7,000 to 15,000, said longtime volunteer Jeffrey Cox, who has been helping to organize the Whigham Rattlesnake Roundup for the past four decades. Everybody was nervous about it and didn't know how it would go, Cox said. Then came perfect weather for the one-day Georgia show, and there were no complaints whatsoever, he said. We probably had more actual snakes there this year, even though it was a different format than what we've had. In Texas, the Sweetwater roundup is intertwined with the town's culture and draws visitors from all over the world. It began 64 years ago to keep snakes from overtaking the town and attacking livestock, pets and people, organizers say. Karen Hunt grew up in Sweetwater and recalls fellow Texans asking her about her hometown. Yes, we're the rattlesnake town, she would say. Now, as director of the Sweetwater and Nolan County Chamber of Commerce, Hunt fields calls from people in England, Germany and other parts of the world inquiring about the festival and making plans to visit. This does put us on the map, she said. What it does for our community is give us a sense of place. Hunters gather the snakes -- there's a contest for those capturing the largest ones -- and they're brought to the Nolan County Coliseum, where multiple parts of the snakes are harvested, Cumbie said. He's the chairman of the milking pit, where venom is extracted and then used to develop various drugs for a range of illnesses. The snakes' skins will eventually show up on cowboy boots, belts and other western wear. Rattles are used for souvenirs, as are the heads, Cumbie said. There's literally no waste, he said. We also butcher about 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) of them each year that we actually cook on the spot. Saudi Arabian blogger and activist Raif Badawi, whose conviction caused widespread international outrage, was released Friday after a decade in prison for criticizing the country's conservative religious establishment, his Quebec-based wife confirmed. Ensaf Haidar, who lives with the couple's three children in the city of Sherbrooke, tweeted that the 2015 winner of Europe's Sakharov human rights award "is free." A spokesperson for the family said it had no other comment. Badawi's sentence expired February 28, and Montreal-based human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler, who represents Badawi internationally, said last month the release from prison had been expected sometime in March. Cotler, a former federal justice minister and founder of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, had warned that Badawi still faced a 10-year travel ban, a media ban and a punitive fine that was handed down at the time of sentencing. "We're talking about a kind of prison without walls where he's deprived of travel for the next 10 years," Cotler said at the time. "That would be continuing the punishment outside of prison that he was having inside prison the severe pain of being deprived of being with his wife and children." Badawi was jailed in 2012 and sentenced in 2014 to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and a fine of 1 million Saudi riyals now about $340,000 for criticizing the country's clerics in his writings. Most of the floggings were suspended, but he eventually suffered 50 lashes before hundreds of spectators in the city of Jiddah in 2015. Badawi's feet and hands were shackled during the flogging but his face was visible. The punishment roused outrage and condemnation from around the world, including from many of Saudi Arabia's allies. Sakharov winner The European Union awarded Badawi the prestigious Sakharov Prize for human rights in 2015, and the U.S. State Department and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the kingdom to rescind the sentence. Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Sweden and stopped issuing work visas for Swedes in 2015 after the Scandinavian country's foreign minister described the Badawi decision as "medieval" and said the kingdom's ruling Al Saud family presided over a "dictatorship." Last year, both Canada's House of Commons and Senate urged the immigration minister to grant Badawi Canadian citizenship, but that hasn't happened yet. His wife, however, does have Canadian citizenship. Badawi's sister Samar also was imprisoned in 2018 in a crackdown targeting female activists who had peacefully advocated for greater freedoms, according to rights groups. She was freed last year. Canadian criticism of her case led the Saudi government to expel Canada's ambassador and withdraw its own ambassador. It also halted flights by its national airline and ordered Saudi students in Canada to return home. Samar Badawi and others had criticized Saudi Arabia's male guardianship laws, which gave husbands, fathers and in some cases a woman's own son control over her ability to obtain a passport and travel. They had also advocated for the right of women to drive. Both restrictions have since been lifted. Samar Badawi, who also faced a ban on travel, first came to prominence when she petitioned Saudi courts to remove her father as her legal guardian on the ground that he was barring her from marrying potential suitors. Years later, she spoke out in defense of her brother Raif. Div Venter is a South African man whose wife, Natalia, is Ukrainian. Natalia was in Ukraine when the Russian invasion began and has refused to leave, staying to care for her family and to help those needing medicine and food. But as Russia's invading forces close in, the situation for Natalia is quickly worsening. Natalia fled the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, after the first Russian bombs fell in the city. She is now in a small village in the southwest portion of the country. But on Thursday night, there were attacks just 60 kilometers from her location. Div asked her to describe to VOA what is happening in Ukraine. She sent this WhatsApp voice note: "What can I say about situation in Ukraine? This is not even like in hell. This is something like Armageddon. A lot of children died already, a lot of women died already. A lot of men died. A lot of city bombed already. A lot of city completely destroyed. Some small village absolutely does not have water, does not have electricity. The Russian military take away people's cell phone which live in small village. People really suffer. People does not have food. It's like completely, different, horrible life. You know. You don't know what will happen tomorrow." Div, 48, who owns a small roofing company, met Natalia, 46, through friends in 2019. They married the following year. Due to COVID-19, there were delays with processing her spousal visa in South Africa, so the two are apart. After Natalia fled Kyiv, Div put money into her bank account and she bought essential supplies for those in need, but she wanted to do more. "You know, Natalia called me last week Friday to say: 'Div, you know what, my people need help. My people need support. What can we do to help my people here? I have to keep myself busy. I cannot just sit and watch how everything goes to shambles here.' And I said to her: 'You know what, my love, I think that is a very good idea. Let me see what I can do from my side,' " Div told VOA. He immediately thought of Gift of the Givers, which has been doing disaster relief work for 29 years. In that time, the group has raised over $266 million in aid. According to the organization's founder, Imtiaz Sooliman, that money has been donated mainly by South African citizens. Sooliman said that after Div asked the group to get involved, Gift of the Givers has been giving money and building a network in Ukraine. "Stuff being bought is food items, socks, jackets, warm clothes, sanitary pads, diapers, medicines for individual patients wherever they can source it," Sooliman said. "So, I said, can't we replicate this process somewhere else? And then they started doing it in Kyiv and then they did it in Kharkiv and they brought in a fourth area it's [along] the Belarus border and all these areas are circled by Russian troops. We send money, find a shop, see what people need, buy the goods and start distributing, and that process is working very, very well." He said they're now getting requests from all over Ukraine, which he's asking Div and Natalia to sort through. But why doesn't Natalia cross the border and seek refuge? "Let's see what will happen in the next day or two," Div said in response to the question. "You know, if it will become too life-threatening, I'm sure that she will leave. I hope that she will leave. I said to her from the beginning, 'Please, Nata, just come back.' But I understand. She is very worried about her grandson." Natalia's parents, son and grandson are all in Ukraine. Saudi Arabia executed 81 men over the past 24 hours, including seven Yemenis and one Syrian national, on charges including terrorism and holding "deviant beliefs," state news agency SPA said Saturday. The number dwarfed the 67 executions reported in the kingdom in all of 2021 and the 27 in 2020. "These individuals ... were convicted of various crimes including murdering innocent men, women and children," SPA said, citing a statement from the interior ministry. "Crimes committed by these individuals also include pledging allegiance to foreign terrorist organizations, such as ISIS [Islamic State], al-Qaida and the Houthis," it added. Some traveled to conflict zones to join "terrorist organizations," SPA said. The men included 37 Saudi nationals who were found guilty in a single case for attempting to assassinate security officers and targeting police stations and convoys, the report added. Saudi Arabia's human rights records have been under an increasing scrutiny from rights groups and Western allies since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. It has faces strong criticism of its restrictive laws on political and religious expression, and the implementation of the death penalty, including for defendants arrested when they were minors. Saudi Arabia denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security according to its laws. SPA said the accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process. An Istanbul court on Friday sentenced Turkish journalist Sedef Kabas to more than two years in prison for insulting the president. Kabas has been in pretrial detention since late January over comments she made about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a political talk show. She is now released pending the outcome of her appeal. The freelance journalist tops the March list of most urgent media freedom cases published by the One Free Press Coalition. The coalition, made up of dozens of media outlets and nonprofits, focused on Kabas and nine other female journalists to raise awareness of the risks women encounter. All those featured have been attacked or threated because of their work. Some, like Kabas and Nobel Peace laureate Maria Ressa, are fighting court cases. Of the 293 journalists in prison for their work globally in December, 40 are women, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The New York-based press freedom group releases an annual snapshot of those in custody for journalism each year. The bigger risk for female journalists, however, is online threats and abuse. Ressa, who founded the Philippine news website Rappler, and Washington Post columnist and freelance reporter Rana Ayyub, who also appears on the March list, have both experienced extreme online harassment and trolling for their journalism. This is a threat to press freedom, said Elisa Lees Munoz, executive director of the International Womens Media Foundation (IWMF). Women journalists need to be able to report freely online without fear, without self-censorship, without worrying that their private information is going to be revealed, without threats against their families. About a third of female journalists say they considered changing careers because of threats, according to the IWMF, which along with VOA is part of the One Free Press Coalition. A survey in 2020 of journalists who identify as women found over 70% reported experiencing online violence. The joint report was compiled by UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists. A fifth of respondents said they experienced attacks or abuse in connection with harassment that started online. We're glad that we're able to highlight the cases of women on this day because they are out there suffering the same things that men are suffering but with the added impediment of being targeted because of their gender, Munoz told VOA, referring to International Womens Day, marked on March 8. The IWMF has noted an increase in online attacks against female journalists. One very stark trend is the amount of attacks that women journalists are receiving online and how much more difficult it's becoming for women journalists to do their jobs without being assaulted day in and day out, with some of the most vile and horrible messages that you can imagine, Munoz said. Attacks and attempts to discredit or diminish the work of female journalists has an impact on news coverage, Munoz said. The lens through which we have been learning about the world for the past several decades and even centuries, has come from the perspective of men and usually men in power, Munoz said. It's really important that we hear the news from a different perspective and from the very people who are experiencing their communities firsthand." For now in Turkey, Kabas is free pending the outcome of her appeal. I am happy that she is released, but her conviction saddens me, her lawyer Ugur Poyraz told reporters after the hearing. Poyraz added that as long as a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling against Turkeys insult laws stands, any decision to convict in these cases, whether in the case of Sedef Kabas or other cases, is null and void. The ECHR in October said Turkeys insult law should be changed. It added that the high number of detentions under the legislation indicates that it violates freedom of expression. More than 160,000 investigations were launched on suspicion of insults to Erdogan since 2014, the year he became president, Reuters reported. Of those, more than 12,880 resulted in convictions. The ECHR said Turkey's law should be amended to ensure people have the freedom to hold opinions and impart ideas without interference by authorities. Erol Onderoglu, the Turkey representative for media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, believes the law should not be applied against journalists. Another journalist spent one and a half months in prison arbitrarily because of this (legal) article, Onderoglu told VOAs Turkish Service. We demand an end to the use of the judiciary as a weapon against rights defenders and journalists. Hilmi Hacaloglu from VOA's Turkish Service contributed to this article from Istanbul. Some information in this report came from Reuters. Members of the Ukrainian community in Australia hold daily protests and raise funds as they stand in solidarity with compatriots under attack by Russian forces. Since the invasion, St. Andrew's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Sydney has become a beacon of prayer and pride. Most members of the congregation have friends and family living in Ukraine. The Reverend Simon Ckuj, a Melbourne-born priest, says even in troubled times, forgiveness is vital. "Despite the darkness that is overshadowing us, we must always focus on the light, and this is where the Church plays such an important role to help people, to guide them through these difficult times. I, too, feel rage. I, too, feel, you know, at times, even hatred, I dare say, to those who are committing these things, but that is what they want us to feel," said Ckuj. Teresa Huzij is a second-generation Ukrainian Australian. Her grandparents immigrated to Australia after World War II. Every day, she says, she is messaging relatives in Ukraine, sending her support. "Ukrainians have always been and will always be free, because that is who we are," she said. Australia has imposed sanctions on hundreds of Russian politicians, including President Vladimir Putin and military officials. Canberra has also spent $50 million (USD) on weaponry and ammunition for Ukrainian forces. The Ukrainian community has also raised money to send aid. Olexa Matiouk's parents moved to Australia when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. His grandparents and cousins still live there. He welcomes Australia's help for the Ukrainian people. "The support that the Australian government is providing is very good to see the fact that they are providing both military and humanitarian support. Originally, they were only considering humanitarian support, but I think that they can see that Ukrainians are fighting for themselves and that they are not going to collapse like Putin was expecting, and to see that military support shows a sign of solidarity," Matiouk said. Australia said Friday it would join the United States and Britain in banning imports of Russian oil. Australia is not a major importer of Russian energy resources, but a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the additional sanction would "collectively curtail Russia's revenue and ability to finance Russian President Vladimir Putin's unjustified war against Ukraine." The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, has launched a huge relief operation to aid and protect millions of Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion, both inside Ukraine and as refugees in neighboring countries. Latest U.N. estimates find at least 2 million people are displaced inside Ukraine, and more than 2.5 million refugees are sheltering in neighboring countries. The figures keep moving upwards in the fast-paced displacement crisis in line with the escalating war. Speaking from Rzeszow, Poland, UNHCR spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh says his agency is scaling up operations to keep pace with needs. He says access to conflict-affected communities in hard-hit areas such as Mariupol and Kharkiv, is severely restricted. Despite the dangers, he says UNHCR staff is committed to staying and delivering assistance when and where access and security allow. Our office there has scaled up its presence and operations in central and western Ukraine, where conditions enable more humanitarian access, and where needs are also growing as people evacuate to the west and onwards and become internally displaced, he said. Saltmarsh notes more than 12.5 million people are directly affected by the conflict in Ukraine, many of whom are likely to be on the move in coming days. He says the UNHCR is coordinating with local authorities to improve the reception conditions at international border crossing points. He says people are waiting in line for many hours in freezing conditions. Inside Ukraine, he says the UNHCR is prepositioning its supply stocks, has opened warehouses in several locations, and is distributing core relief items to the internally displaced. They include blankets, sleeping mats, jerry cans, and kitchen sets. We are working with the authorities and partners to establish and expand reception capacity for IDPs in a number of cities and towns in the area and provide key protection services. Many shops in Ukraine now require cash payments, so requiring cash support is absolutely critical, Saltmarsh said. He says the UNHCR is ramping up its cash-assistance program for IDPs, and emergency cash programs also are being rolled out in neighboring countries, where Ukrainians are expected to seek asylum. At the start of this crisis, the UNHCR had been planning to assist an estimated 4 million refugees. However, Saltmarsh says that figure might have to be revised upward as many more refugees are likely to flee as the war intensifies. The United States on Friday sanctioned two Russian individuals and three entities over their support for North Korea's weapons program, the Treasury Department said. The measures came a day after the Pentagon published an intelligence assessment that two recent North Korea missile launches were tests for a new intercontinental ballistic missile system. The sanctions target "a network of Russia-based individuals and entities complicit in helping (North Korea) procure components for its unlawful ballistic missile systems," the Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in a statement. "Much of this activity also violates U.N. prohibitions with respect to the DPRK," the statement added, referring to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. North Korea has carried out numerous missile launches since the beginning of the year, claiming the two most recent tests were for satellite development. A U.S. official said the launches on Feb. 26 and March 4 marked a "serious escalation." "The DPRK continues to launch ballistic missiles in blatant violation of international law, posing a grave threat to global security," Nelson said in the Treasury statement. Washington and European allies on the United Nations Security Council failed Monday to persuade China and Russia to back a text noting North Korea's "violations" of resolutions on missile technology. Despite international sanctions over its nuclear weapons, Pyongyang has ignored U.S. offers of talks since high-profile negotiations between leader Kim Jong Un and then-U.S. president Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. Instead of diplomacy, Pyongyang has doubled down on Kim's drive to modernize its military, warning in January that it could abandon a self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons. Russias attempt to block independent news of its war in Ukraine has been met with a surge in digital circumvention tools. Digital freedom groups report increasing use of VPNs and secure communication apps like Telegram as foreign media have evacuated their staff or suspended operations in Moscow and Russias media regulator has sought to block local sources of news. With speculation that President Vladimir Putin may go further and cut Russia off from the global internet, some groups are investigating a return to shortwave radio a medium more commonly associated with the Cold War era. Even by Russias heavy-handed censorship standards, recent weeks have seen an unprecedented censorship campaign unleashed on the free press and on the free flow of information following the armys invasion of Ukraine. The major challenge that the Kremlin is facing today is to protect the legitimacy of this war, says Gregory Asmolov, a Russian-born lecturer at the Digital Humanities Department of Kings College London. Asmolov has been studying the effects of propaganda in the digital age and expects the suppression of independent media only to increase in Russia in the immediate future. It is obvious that the Russian authorities have already lost the information battle outside of Russia. But internally, it is still a very sensitive matter. Thats why they need to control the narrative of the conflict, he said. Amid crackdown, a scramble to retain access to truthful news Responding to the governments draconian measures to curb their freedoms, many Russian citizens started searching for circumvention tools such as VPNs or virtual private networks that allow people to overcome some digital blocks so they can access their usual sources of information online. According to the website Appfigures, in the period between February 24 and March 5, downloads for the top 10 VPNs in Russia surged by 4,375 percent, from an average of 16,000 per day to more than 700,000 daily. Other tools that saw a spike in usage include the Tor Browser, Psiphon and NthLink apps, as well as secure messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp. Major international broadcasters, such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Deutsche Welle and others work closely with companies providing software that allows users in Russia to reach websites blocked by the Russian government. Russias media regulator blocked access to VOAs Russian language service and ordered Russias largest social media platform to remove the networks content over coverage of the war. This approach is similar to how we deal with censorship in countries like Iran and China, says Matthew Baise, director of digital strategy at VOA. Prior to the invasion there was very little use of circumvention in Russia. But in just the last week we have seen a significant spike, with as much as 40% of visits to golosameriki.com coming through these two vendors [Psiphon and NthLink]. Emerging and well-established tech giants also work together to restore access to their content for users in Russia. Earlier this week, Twitter became accessible in Russia again through the Tor network. Among other things, the Tor Project allows users in authoritarian countries to bypass government censorship and access blocked websites. Telegram embraced in both Russia, Ukraine Among the myriad circumvention and internet privacy instruments, the messenger Telegram has become especially popular in Eastern Europe since the start of the conflict, according to Gregory Asmolov. This tool has become central in proliferation of information. And its popular among both sides the regular users and the Russian authorities, who have shifted on this matter. They tried to block it several years ago, but now they are using it to spread propaganda. Telegram is also actively used by the Ukrainian side, by their government, Asmolov said. In recent days, internet users in Russia have been discussing one official document that was leaked to the public. Authenticity of the file was later confirmed by one of Russias ministries. The document calls for government agencies' websites to be swiftly transferred from foreign servers to the Russian ones and re-registered under Russias country code domain .ru. Some observers interpreted it as the government taking its first serious steps toward a long-planned isolation of the Russian internet from the World Wide Web in a case of crisis. Others argued that it could simply mean that the authorities are trying to create an extra layer of defense against the increased number of cyber-attacks on government websites since Russias invasion of Ukraine. Well, technically speaking, they can pull the plug even today and cut the entire country off the internet, says a system administrator in one of Moscows large firms, who chose not to be named for this story. The question is: will they go that far because no one has ever done it in Russia, and it might be very costly. But I wont make predictions anymore I was so wrong several times in the last two weeks already. And what if the Kremlin indeed decides to pull the plug despite the costs to the Russian economy and its people and cuts the country off from the internet? Technical experts say there are no VPNs, dark web browsers, or messaging apps that will be able to circumvent the blocks. Very few things will. But one of them is an old but proven method of reaching audiences in authoritarian states the shortwave radio. 'All new is well-forgotten old' Russian proverb In recent days a grassroots effort has started in the United States to test the transmission of Voice of America programming into Eastern Europe through shortwave radio. The effort was born out of a few phone calls and emails swapped by former and current broadcasters, says Kate Neiswender, a California-based lawyer who is spearheading a fundraising campaign for the group. The organizers of the effort called Shortwaves for Freedom are working with a local shortwave radio station, Miami Radio International, that started playing VOAs English language content a radio program Flashpoint Ukraine for East European listeners. The goal, organizers say, is to test the strength and the quality of the shortwave signal in that part of the world. \Russia has quashed any news reporting thats happening inside the country. They have criminalized journalism; in order to get around those kind of draconian measures, and I think its necessary to go back to a technology that is readily available to all who have a receiver. We are also investigating the medium range transmissions, Neiswender says. Critics of the effort say that there is no data on how many shortwave radio receivers there are in Russia and most importantly how willing the local population will be to use them should all other channels of unfiltered information be closed. The Shortwaves for Freedom is not working either with VOA, RFE/RL or their parent company the United States Agency for Global Media as of now, but its founders say they would welcome such cooperation. Terry Balazs, the director of USAGMs Office of Technology, Services, and Innovation, says USAGM has shortwave radio transmission capabilities that could be used among other techniques to help its broadcasters provide information to listeners in Ukraine, Russia, and other troubled regions. Shortwave radio audiences have been very small in many of these areas. However, during a crisis, some determined listeners may still seek out shortwave radios to hear these broadcasts," Balazs says. Journalist mass exodus In the meantime, journalists non-affiliated with the state media are leaving Russia in droves. In the days following the Kremlins attack on Ukraine, Russias independent media outlets TV Rain, Echo of Moscow, Meduza and others that had been the face of the countrys free press in recent decades were blocked by authorities. Some of their journalists had to flee Russia after receiving threats. Many international media followed suit with The New York Times withdrawing all its reporters from Russia for the first time in more than 100 years. In a note to his colleagues, the assistant managing editor of the paper, Michael Slackman, wrote: "Russian authorities are clamping down harder on news and free speech than at any time during President Vladimir V. Putin's 22 years in power, pushing through a law that effectively criminalizes independent news reporting about the war against Ukraine. The legislation Slackman talks about was signed into law by President Putin on March 4 and is dubbed The Law on the Fakes. The measure punishes anyone spreading false information about the actions of the Russian armed forces with up to 15 years in jail. Earlier, Roskomnadzor, the countrys telecom and mass media watchdog, said Russian media should cover the Ukraine military campaign only on the basis of information from official Russian sources. The regulator demanded that the media remove articles that called Russias war on Ukraine a "war" or an "attack." The only acceptable term for what is happening in Ukraine, according to Roskomnadzor, is a special military operation. The watchdog blocked several Russian media outlets that did not comply. On March 4, the popular social networks Facebook and Twitter were also rendered inaccessible in Russia. As of this writing, Russias telecom watchdog is looking at blocking Instagram because of a decision by its parent company, Meta Platforms, to temporarily lift a ban on calls for violence against the Russian military and leadership. Given the avalanche of recent digital bans in Russia, its citizens might have to completely readjust their information intake in the very immediate future. We left radio at the cemetery of ancient technologies, says Asmolov. And I assume many people dont even know how this type of radio (shortwave) even looks like. If we see that the internet is completely under [Russian] control and cannot offer any viable alternatives, then there will be more motivation to look for solutions in older technologies. Former Zambian President Rupiah Bwezani Banda, 85, died at home on Friday (March 11) after a short battle with colon cancer, his family and the presidency said. Banda, Zambia's fourth president who was in power from 2008 to 2011, was diagnosed with cancer two years ago and had been receiving medical treatment. "He died around 1900 hours today," said Andrew, Banda's second eldest child who initially confirmed the death to Reuters. Banda had held senior diplomatic posts under first President Kenneth Kaunda before being eventually named as vice president in 2006 by then-President Levy Mwanawasa. Banda served as acting president in mid-2008 when Mwanawasa suffered a stroke. Banda narrowly won October elections the same year on a ruling party ticket. His tenure was marred by allegations of graft and in 2013, Zambia's parliament stripped Banda of immunity from prosecution, clearing the way for investigators to arrest him for corruption-related offenses. Banda stood accused of abuse of office, corrupt acquisition of public property and misappropriation of public funds involving more than $11 million during his tenure as president, but was never convicted in a court of law and did not serve any jail time. Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. The United Nations Security Council convened on 11 March 2022, at Russias request, to discuss the presence of US-backed military biological laboratories in Ukraine. The Chinese Foreign Ministry had already asked the United States to provide an explanation for the 336 biological laboratories it maintains under various names in some 30 countries. After denying any involvement in this matter, during a hearing before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland acknowledged their existence, referring to them as "biological research facilities," and that her country was working with the Ukrainians to prevent those dangerous materials from falling under Russian control. The United Nations Secretariat has stated that it was never informed of the existence of military biological programs in Ukraine, a country that is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons. The United States and its allies accused Russia of sounding the alarm without any evidence. Once again, France blamed Moscow for using a biological weapon against Alexei Navalny and Sergei Skripal. The Western participants alleged that Moscow is preparing a biological false flag operation in Ukraine. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that it has known, since 2005, about the civil collaboration between the United States and Ukraine involving dangerous pathogens. On an unspecified date, the WHO asked Ukraine in an email to carefully destroy the pathogens stocked in its laboratories due to the risk of propagation. The Russian Defense Ministry said that it would release the documents seized from the Ukrainian labs; that it had proceeded directly to the destruction of 320 containers of pathogens; and that the research carried out in these labs included bat coronaviruses. The Secret of NIMH. Photo: MGM/UA Entertainment Co. More than ever, families are looking for distractions that dont cost a lot of money. If youre one of those families that already has an Amazon Prime account, theres a selection of films that work for any demographic that are available right now with your subscription cost. Now, Amazon Prime seems to be the most limited streaming service when it comes to this particular section of the virtual video store, but the shelves arent totally empty. Here are 20 films to distract the little ones or schedule an entire family movie night around. Babes in Toyland Two versions of this timeless Disney tale are on Amazon Prime, the 1961 musical and the 1986 TV movie with Drew Barrymore and Keanu Reeves. Despite the charm of young Keanu, the 1961 version is better, a vibrant classic for all ages that stars Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, and Ed Wynn. Big Top Pee-Wee It lacks the non-stop creativity of Tim Burtons original but theres enough joyous lunacy in the 1988 sequel adventure for Pee-Wee Herman to justify a look. Paul Reubens returns as Pee-Wee, who gets tangled up in a circus story that also includes roles for Kris Kristofferson, Penelope Ann Miller, and Valeria Golino. After the success of Ron Howards hit adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, it made sense that suitcases of money would be put toward trying to do it again with The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seusss beloved 1957 book. Mike Myers goes all in in the title role, supported by Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston, Dakota Fanning, and Sean Hayes. Fans of this movie really like this movie. The latest riff on the classic tale of the girl with the glass slipper, its a jukebox musical that stars pop icon Camila Cabello in the title role and Billy Porter as her fairy godmother. Critics gave it mixed reviews back in September 2021, but it has such a loyal fan base that keep watching and rewatching it on Prime Video. *The Court Jester God bless Danny Kaye. The brilliant comic actor stars in the 1955 musical comedy about a carnival worker who is aligned with a group of rebels modeled after Robin Hoods Merry Men. Of course, its the classic template of the incompetent outsider suddenly being needed to save the day when Kayes character becomes a spy in the Kings castle. Its a slapstick joy. Explorers Joe Dante directed this beloved 1985 sci-fi/adventure film starring Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix in their film debuts. Dante himself had some issues with the final product, which was rushed to meet a release date and then fell in the big shadow of Back to the Future, but the film gained an audience over the years, in no small part because of the careers that Hawke and Phoenix would develop. Fiddler on the Roof Norman Jewison directed the 1971 adaptation of the 1964 Broadway musical of the same name, and the result was a smash hit. It stars Topol as Tevye, a Jewish milkman trying to marry off his five daughters in his small village. A nominee for Best Picture, it was one of the biggest films of 1971, and played repeatedly on television in the 70s and 80s. Now you can watch it on your own terms. The fourth film from the animated madman Genndy Tartakovsky was dumped by Sony to Prime Video, which may not be great for the producers but is a gift to subscribers who love, Drac, Frankenstein, The Mummy and the rest of these goofballs. Transformania is reportedly the final film in the Hotel Transylvania franchise, although time will tell if they stick to that promise. Its a Wonderful Life Frank Capras classic often gets a ton of replay around the holidays, but its the kind of heart-warmer that works all year long. This is no mere Christmas movie but a story about the impact that one man can have on an entire community. It really defined the onscreen persona of Jimmy Stewart and has become a beloved film around the world, even in warm weather. *Jack and the Beanstalk Do kids still watch Abbott and Costello? The gifted physical comedians have an entire library of slapstick classics that have lost none of their power to entertain the little ones. Take this comic retelling of the classic fairy tale which landed in theaters in 1952. A quarter-century after its release, the Arnold Schwarzenegger holiday comedy has become something of a beloved annual event. The action star plays a father who is desperate to get his child a rare Turbo-Man action figure for the holidays. Hell have to get through Sinbad first. *The King and I The version of the classic musical thats on Prime Video right now is the 1999 animated one directed by Richard Rich. Based on both the 1956 classic with Yul Brynner and the Rodger and Hammerstein original, this theatrical release includes voice work by Miranda Richardson as Anna Leonowens, the schoolteacher who crossed paths with the King of Siam (voiced by Martin Vidnovic). Kirikou and the Sorceress The streaming services (other than Criterion) have a problem in general with their foreign film selections, and it gets worse when one looks for something for kids that was made outside of the Hollywood studio system. So its a pleasant surprise to find this French film that draws on the history of West African folk tales in a way that offers an alternative. This was once a Netflix original (in the States at least), but it has since been released on Blu-ray and now is available on other streamers too. Its a charming adaptation of the 1943 novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupery that has become a beloved classic (but the only one to try and stretch the story to a full-length feature). Smart, and visually striking, with great voice work by Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, and many more. Marley & Me We dont deserve dogs. David Frankel directed an adaptation of the bestselling novel by John Gorgan of the same name. Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson landed one of the biggest hits of their entire careers in this family dramedy, but its really a dog named Marley who steals the show. This family comedy has a very loyal fan base, and not just those who bow at the altar of Queen Cher. The singer/actress stars in the 1990 adaptation of the 1986 novel of the same name, a coming-of-age piece set in the 1960s about a teen girl trying to hold it together with her mother and young sister. It also stars Bob Hoskins and features a lovely performance from Winona Ryder. My Spy Delayed and rescheduled because of the pandemic, this action-comedy landed exclusively on Amazon Prime in June of last year to mixed reviews. It stars the reliable Dave Bautista as a CIA agent who gets trapped watching a precocious nine-year-old girl. A little violent for the real little ones, its worth a look just for Bautista. October Sky Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer) directed October Sky early in the career of the great Jake Gyllenhaal, based on the memoir of the same name. Gyllenhaal plays the son of a coal miner in 1957 who tries to become a NASA engineer. Really nailing its setting in the heartland of America as the space race was just getting started, its a big-hearted film. *Robinson Crusoe Get the little ones involved in one of the most beloved action stories of all time with the adaptation of the 1719 novel of the same name by Daniel Defoe. Believe it or not, Luis Bunuel directed this version starring Dan OHerlihy as the title character, making it the famous Spanish directors first English-language film. Animation great Don Bluth made his directorial debut with this twisted 1982 fantasy film, proving that he wasnt going to make movies that talked down or coddled his audience. Adapted from Robert C. OBriens novel, it turns the existence of average field mice into an elaborate fantasy world. Audiences of a certain generation were probably traumatized by its visuals at a young age. Pass the trauma on to your kids! Everyones favorite big green ogre has kind of become an internet sensation again in the 2020s. It almost feels like its time for a reboot, right? The third film, released in 2007, directed by Chris Miller, was released at a time when this series was literally one of the biggest in the worldit made almost a billion dollars and was nominated for Best Animated Film at the Oscars. Its not as good as the first two, but its fun enough for a list like this one. Small Soldiers The great Joe Dante (Gremlins) directed this 1998 sci-fi/family film about toy soldiers that not only come to life but essentially go to war with each other. Frank Langella and Tommy Lee Jones lend their excellent voices to the little guys and Kirsten Dunst plays one of the non-toy characters. Its not a great movie but may be a nice bit of nostalgia for Amazon Prime subscribers who were the right age when it came out in 1998. *The Spy Next Door In the 00s, Jackie Chan got paid. He starred in a broad, action-centered comedy every year or so, and The Spy Next Door was one of his most family friendly. Released in 2009, this certainly isnt anywhere near Chans best, but it does show off his skill sets in a way that could serve as a gateway for families to watch some of his absolute bangers once they get this one out of the way. Think Like a Dog This story of a 12-year-old who ends being able to communicate with his dog is undeniably goofy and kind of amateurly made, but its different than most other flicks in the family section of Amazon Prime, and so maybe its what youre looking for tonight. Josh Duhamel and Megan Fox star as the dog-talkers parents in this 2020 flick that barely got released because of the pandemic, buried on VOD by Lionsgate and now free on Amazon Prime. Tooth Fairy There was a time when most of Dwayne Johnsons on-screen appeal was about subverting his massive size. Just the idea that The Rock would play a tooth fairy was probably funny enough to a room of producers to get this 2010 film the greenlight, and the resulting film was a pretty big hit. Troop Zero Theres a film that premiered at Sundance starring Allison Janney and Viola Davis sitting right there exclusively on Amazon Prime and it feels like most people have no idea it exists. This cute period piece actually stars the wonderful Mckenna Grace of The Haunting of Hill House as Christmas Flint, an outcast who tries to take down the more organized scout troops and win a competition. Its sweet and funny. Where the Red Fern Grows A generation of 80s and 90s kids probably remembers watching this in a middle school classroom after reading the book of the same name. Released in 1974, its the story of a 12-year-old boy obsessed with hunting dogs and trying to work to buy pets of his own. Its a tender, character-driven story for the whole family that has survived generations. When Robert Zemeckis directed a live-action/animated noir in which cartoons and people lived and worked alongside each other, no one expected it to be one of the best movies of the late 80s. The movie is just perfect: funny, smart, thrilling, and inventive in ways that not a lot of blockbusters were in this era. The technology would need an upgrade, but the same basic film could be released today and be a hit all over again. You cant say that about many 30-year-old films. Kevin James stars in an 2011 comedy about a zookeeper who is unlucky in love but adored by the animals at the zoo at which he works, voiced by Jon Favreau, Sylvester Stallone, Adam Sandler, and many more. Things get really weird when Jamess character learns that the animals can talk, and he can understand them. Too reliant on physical humor, Zookeeper is what one would expect from a family Happy Madison flick aimed more at the whole family. Photo: Doane Gregory/Netflix The Adam Project doesnt feel like a real movie. It feels phony both from the outside Ryan Reynolds traveling back in time to meet his 12-year-old self and do battle against futuristic soldiers could be something youd see on a movie poster in a not-too-inventive showbiz satire and from the inside, too. Its an assemblage of ideas from other popular films that just hangs there with little cohesion. Its like watching a movie that hasnt been made yet. And the strangest thing is that The Adam Project seems to know this. The great challenge with Reynolds has always been how to handle the fundamental insincerity of his presence. He has a way of making everything he says feel predetermined. That can actually lead to some interesting performances, and hes at his best in roles that embrace this calculated quality: He made a great con artist/gambler in Mississippi Grind and a convincingly patronizing frat bro in Van Wilder. Last years Free Guy wasnt exactly great, but he was kind of perfect as a NPC, a non-playable character, who attains sentience; that robotic aura of his made sense for someone who existed entirely inside a video game. Shawn Levy, the director of Free Guy, is also the man behind The Adam Project, and the two films do share an almost psychotic, all-you-can-eat derivativeness. Reynolds plays Adam Reed, whom we first see piloting some kind of futuristic spaceship in the year 2050, while nursing a wound in his stomach, right before he makes a time jump to the year 2022. He lands in the woods outside the home that he lived in as a child with his widowed mother (Jennifer Garner). Twelve-year-old Adam (Walker Scobell) is scrawny and asthmatic, a wise-ass constantly picked on by bullies. But the boy quickly realizes that this wounded, buff, cynical soldier is his future adult self, and before we know it, the two of them are off on the next stage of Adams mysterious mission to undo the past. Its not actually that mysterious. The time-travel technology of the future was, we learn, invented by Adams late scientist father, Louis (Mark Ruffalo), in 2018, in a collaboration with wealthy businesswoman Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener). In 2050, Sorian has somehow used this technology to turn Earth into a hellhole. (We have to take the movies word for it or rather Adams, when he notes that The Terminator would be a good day in the future. We dont really see any such thing.) So the two Adams now have to jump back to 2018 and stop their father from turning time travel into a thing. I think. My brain shut off after a certain point. Its all quite silly, but at least the latter parts of the film allow us to spend some time with Ruffalo, who brings the kind of emotional openness and engagement that Reynolds refuses to. That is actually an interesting contrast between the two actors, and it could even be an interesting plot point in some future version of this movie that was put together with something resembling care. (Sadly, the great Keener is not as lucky as Ruffalo. Shes thoroughly wasted. In fact, shes worse than wasted. In some later scenes that present us with an awkwardly de-aged version of her, Keener is actually turned, through the magic of modern motion picture visual-effects technology, into a bad actress.) Regarding the movies premise: You probably have a lot of questions at this point. I assure you that The Adam Project does not answer any of them. Its a film designed to thumb its nose at geeks who might wonder just what exactly this movies conception of time travel entails, but it also isnt going to satisfy those of us who think films already spend too much time trying to make all their fake science work. This isnt exactly Claire Deniss High Life or Andrei Tarkovskys Solaris. Shawn Levy isnt going to counter nerdy obsessives with fuck-you formalism. No, Levy simply wants to entertain, which is certainly a noble goal. He has paced the film at such breakneck speed that he presumably hopes well be having too much fun to wonder how any of this works. But its not just the dorky sci-fi stuff that goes out the window. The emotional logic is discarded as well. When the two Adams meet, the older Adam assures us that the younger Adam is annoying as hell. And yet, the exact opposite seems to be true; the kid seems like a pretty average kid, while grown-up Adam is the irritating smart-ass. Is this intentional? Who knows? Who cares? The movie has lots of ideas, but it doesnt follow through on any of them. Over and over, it just moves onto the next disjointed plot point. Derivativeness in and of itself isnt always a problem. Even corporate cynicism isnt necessarily a problem. But when its all handled this shoddily, what comes through is crass, careless opportunism. Florence mayor draped David statue as sign of mourning for those killed in Ukraine war. Police in Florence arrested a man on Friday night for setting fire to the enormous black drape covering the replica of Michelangelo's statue of David in Piazza della Signoria. Florence mayor Dario Nardella covered the statue on 6 March, the anniversary of Michelangelos birth, in a symbolic sign of "mourning and pain" for the war in Ukraine. The man arrested, Czech citizen Vaclav Pisvejcv, is currently detained in the city's Sollicciano prison on charges of arson and is already known to police as a "serial defacer" of monuments, reports state broadcaster RAI News. Earlier this week Pisvejcv was cited for vandalising Francesco Vezzoli's monumental Pieta sculpture of a rampant lion, also in Piazza della Signoria, spray-painting the statue with the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag. Pisvejcv, who is also known for having hit Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic on the head with a painting in 2018, was apprehended by a security guard and a city police officer after setting fire to the drape over the David statue. Police extinguished the flames before the arrival of the fire brigade, and the city's fine arts service is to inspect the statue for signs of damage. Francesco Vezzoli sculpture spray-painted with colours of Ukraine flag. Photo Corriere Fiorentino. "David is the symbol of freedom, the Ukrainians for us are the David who fights against the tyranny of Goliath" - Mayor Nardella is quoted in Italian newspaper La Repubblica - "We hope to remove the drape soon. For the moment the idea is to keep it until the end of the war." There has been a mixed reaction in Italy to the covering of David, however, with many people of the view that it is ill-conceived to obscure the solitary hero as he faces down the might of the enemy on his own. Among those against the gesture is Eike Schmidt, director of the Uffizi Galleries, who told La Repubblica that "just like it was a mistake to cover the statues of the Capitoline Museums for the visit of the Iranian president in 2016, for alleged reasons of modesty, it is also a mistake now." Schmidt added that to cover statues, "for whatever reason, is tantamount to censorship, and therefore is opposed to the foundations of a free society. The burning of the drape around David occurred on the eve of a major pro-Ukraine rally in Florence, a city twinned with the Ukrainian capital Kyiv since 1967. The replica of David, sculpted by Luigi Arrighetti, was placed in Piazza della Signoria in 1910 after Michelangelo's original masterpiece was moved indoors to the Galleria dell'Accademia in 1873. The three Pieta sculptures by Michelangelo are currently on display together for the first time in an exhibition at the Museo Opera del Duomo in Florence, until 1 August 2022. Cover photo Tgcom24 - Mediaset Infinity. Melnichencko yacht seized in Trieste port. Italy's finance police have seized a super-yacht from Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko in the northern port of Trieste, the prime ministers office announced. The seizure of the 143-m vessel, called 'SY A' and valued at 530 million, is as high an eight-storey building and is the largest sailing yacht in the world, reports Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera The move is part of measures taken against Russian tycoons included in the EU 'black list' for sanctions following Russias invasion of Ukraine. Italys financial police (@GDF) has just frozen SY A - a sailing yacht worth ~530m located in the Port of Trieste. The yacht could be linked indirectly to Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko - an individual in the EU sanctions list. pic.twitter.com/fRg6ZTIQRH Ferdinando Giugliano (@FerdiGiugliano) March 12, 2022 The vessel, which can reportedly accommodate 60 guests and crew, is equipped with a large swimming pool, an underwater observatory and a helipad. The Corriere reports that Melnichencko is the main shareholder of the EuroChem fertiliser group and coal energy company SUEK. In 2021, Forbes estimated Melnichenko's net worth at $19.8 billion, making the 50-year-old tycoon the seventh richest man in Russia. Last week Italian police seized yachts and villas in Italy worth more than 140 million from five Russian oligarchs with links to president Vladimir Putin, as part of the west's response to Moscow's war in Ukraine. Photo Adnkronos Placeholder while article actions load The worlds leading climate scientists have issued six assessments of the state of climate-change knowledge since 1990. The first five were influential, driving efforts to build global climate agreements. The sixth report, issued four days after Russias invasion of Ukraine, has been largely overlooked. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Thats unfortunate. The new report of the International Panel on Climate Change sketches out the present and future of a changing globe. Among the most profound effect of global warming will be the impact on food production. According to the IPCC, climate change has reduced agricultural productivity by 12.5% since 1961. North America, long one of the worlds most productive agricultural regions, already feels the pain. The agony of Ukraine, another key grain producer, just hurts more. Jeffrey Dukes is an ecologist who directs the Purdue Climate Change Research Center at Purdue University. In recent years, hes led the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment. He contributed to sections of the sixth IPCC report related to North America and its agricultural products. I recently reached him by phone at his office in West Lafayette, Indiana. Here is a transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity. Advertisement Adam Minter: The new IPCC report predicts with high confidence that climate change will shift the ranges of North American agricultural production. Is it as simple as, corn moves north to Canada? Jeffrey Dukes: Its more complex than that. We can expect that corn will be grown further north. Crops will be in Canada, and theyll be growing more and different crops than they do currently. It also means that in a given location a crop will become more or less productive. In a given place, you may see the yield of some crops go up due to climate change, and for some crops the yield may go down. Probably in both cases the yields will be more variable year to year. Carbon dioxide concentrations are rising, which give plants the potential to grow faster when conditions are good. So you may get a good weather year, reasonably often at first, maybe less often further into the future. And with that increased CO2 concentration you may get fantastic yields. But then you may get more frequent years when you have really low precipitation, and if you dont have irrigated crops, youre seeing really low yields. Advertisement Then some crops being grown at the edge of their ideal regions right now may just start disappearing from those regions. AM: One of the misconceptions that many people have is that climate change will be all about drought, as weve recently seen in the American West and Southwest. But some places such as Iowa are actually going to become wetter. Whats the impact of that? JD: Much of the Upper Midwest is facing wetter conditions overall, especially in winter and spring. Unfortunately, projections dont suggest were necessarily going to be much wetter in the times of year when we need the precipitation, which is summer and fall, when crops are really growing. Having wetter conditions isnt so great if they happen in the winter and spring, because that affects when farmers can get into the fields. If the soils are too wet, you cant get your farm machinery in, you cant plant, especially in the flatter regions. So those wetter conditions are potentially shrinking your growing season. Advertisement In the summer and fall, we dont expect it necessarily to be much wetter. But we do expect it to be warmer. So the demand for water from the crops will actually go up. That will lead to drier soils, and more instances of drought and yield losses to dry soils than we have now. AM: Those wont be the only challenges. JD: We expect more weed and pest species are going to be able to survive in a given location. So farmers are going to have broader suites of challenges to managing pests. So thats absolutely a challenge. For people farming perennial crops, like fruit trees, theyll need to be concerned with the chilling hours. A lot of the fruit crops need a set time when its cold, but not too cold, to really sort of maximize their flowering and subsequent fruit set. And so if they dont get those chilling hours anymore, because essentially the warmer conditions have extended into what used to be their chilling hours, then they could see yields decline. Advertisement AM: What about wheat? Were hearing a lot about wheat shortages due to the war in the Ukraine. Is it going to become harder for American farmers? JD: Wheat is a plant that could benefit from the increase in CO2 concentrations and it should be able to grow in more places in Canada in the future. Right now I think its extent in the U.S. is really limited by economic factors, not growing conditions. If wheat became the economical choice to grow, sure, we could see a big expansion of it. We used to grow a lot more wheat here in Indiana than we do now. That didnt have anything to do with the shift in climate. I think, as a nation, were well poised to grow a lot of wheat now and into the future if it turns out that thats the profitable thing for farmers to do. AM: Are there ways to adapt beyond changing crop mixes? Advertisement JD: I think good forms of adaptation for climate change in North American regions require thinking about how to get maximum yields while growing cover crops [crops that cover and protect the soil instead of leaving it bare] and abandoning the concept of tillage. The farmers who are capable of keeping a live plant on the ground for the majority of the growing season are going to do their future selves a lot of good by retaining the soils that they have. The soils will be better able to hold onto moisture, better able to let moisture infiltrate. Those wetter springs are going to be less consequential, and the soils will hold more water into the growing season and fall. The abundance of soil fauna, earthworms and other things that will be growing there, will create a soil structure thats going to be super helpful to farmers going forward. AM: What is the argument for preserving biodiversity and ecosystems as a means of protecting agriculture in an era of climate change? JD: There are tons of different answers to that question, but for one thing, our agriculture species were all uncultivated species before, and they all have wild relatives. With these changing climatic conditions, and the changing mix of pests and diseases, we need all the genetic tools that we can have at our disposal. Advertisement There are other aspects that have to do with things like native pollinators. In many parts of the world, the native insects are responsible for a large fraction of the pollination of our crops. Pollinators dont live in intensely farmed agricultural areas, they live in more natural areas, so we need to protect some of these natural areas. AM: Id like to ask you to prognosticate a bit. In North America, will it become harder to grow the food that consumers want in coming years and decades? JD: I think that growing food in North America over the coming years and decades can be just about as straightforward as it is now with the improving technology that we have if we minimize the rate of climate change. But if we let climate change continue unchecked, then its certainly going to become much more difficult. Advertisement Some of this battle/opportunity for minimizing climate change is playing out in the heart of the Midwestern agricultural landscape. These lands that we are growing crops on, they can double as energy factories based on wind production or based on conversion to solar farms. Solar farms can be pollinator habitats, they can help neighboring farms grow pollinator-dependent crops. Theres a vision for a different, highly productive Midwestern agriculture that is providing energy not through ethanol, but rather through solar and wind. And simultaneously providing more food around the world than it does today. I dont think that necessarily has to be harder. I dont think this is a doom-and-gloom scenario. This could actually be more profitable and better for the planet. More Commentary From Bloomberg Opinion: Advertisement Russia Can Turn Food Into a Weapon in Future Crises: David Fickling Hard Hit by Drought, Farmers Get Creative: Adam Minter Climate Change Is Already Shocking Our Food Chain: Amanda Little This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Adam Minter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is the author of Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade and Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load Russias invasion of Ukraine caused many people to rethink their travel plans, but some of the top industry executives are still expecting one of the best summer seasons ever after more than two years of pent-up demand. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight This is a terrible tragic local event, Booking Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Glenn Fogel said at a Bank of America conference on Tuesday. But Fogel said that despite Americans likely feeling angry and sad about the war, he doesnt believe they are going to change their travel plans. Even with the potential for higher airfare due to spiking jet fuel prices, Fogel said a significant amount of travel that did not happen over the last two years has built up this incredible amount of demand, and this latent demand just wanted to burst out and travel. Booking, which gets about 90% of its revenue from international markets, said in a securities filing on Tuesday that room nights booked declined by roughly 10% against 2019 levels for the week ended March 6. Much of that was driven by Russia and Eastern Europe, while Western Europe remains modestly above 2019 levels, the company said. Advertisement The report and executive comments helped reassure the market, sending Booking shares up almost 5% that day. The stock had collapsed almost 30% between the companys mid-February earnings report and the first week of March. Booking, Expedia Group Inc. and Airbnb Inc. are all banking on a surge in demand this summer. The travel companies had been pummeled by pandemic restrictions and subsequent waves of the resurgent Covid-19. And while Airbnb benefited from people taking advantage of flexible work options to book stays in homes in more rural locales, Expedia and Booking were anxiously awaiting tourists return to cities. Expedia CEO Peter Kern said in a mid-February interview before the war broke out that he expected the summer of 2022 to be the biggest summer ever for travel. He was also anticipating that people would be looking at cities, betting that they are tired of going to national parks. He predicted cities in Europe with loads of cultural attractions and dining options -- like Paris and London and Florence, Italy -- would see enormous demand. Advertisement Speaking Thursday at Morgan Stanleys Technology, Media and Telecom conference, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said hes feeling obviously really good about where our business is, and that he sees no major changes to travel behavior in the last month. Airbnb has suspended operations in Russia and Belarus, and Ukraine isnt receiving bookings except for humanitarian aid. Lee Horowitz, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, estimates that cross-border travel will be around 16% higher in the first quarter of this year compared with 2019 levels. Even with some marginal weakness in eastern European travel and perhaps even some softness in European cross-border, strength in domestic and urban travel should still mitigate these impacts, he said. To be sure, even with western Europe being far from Kyiv, some U.S. travelers are scrapping their plans and staying on domestic shores. In the week ended Feb. 22, demand for accommodations in Europe was 18% higher than 2019 levels, but only 4% higher in the week ended March 6, according to market research firm YipitData. Advertisement Flight bookings and travel searches from the U.S. to Europe have declined since February, according to data from Montreal-based travel company Hopper Inc. Since Feb. 12, Europe has dropped to 15% of international travel bookings from 21% and far off a normal year when the continent accounted for about 30% of bookings. Searches for round-trip flights are 9% lower than expected levels since Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February. The trend is a reversal of the opening weeks of 2022, when waning concern about the omicron variant of Covid-19 spurred a strong rebound in North Atlantic demand. The more recent decline isnt seasonal and has seen no parallels in other regions nor in the domestic U.S. market, according to Hopper. We usually see travelers respond very quickly to these situations, Hopper economist Adit Damodaran said in an interview. The impact on flight searches after Russias invasion was almost immediate, he said. Advertisement Misty Lewis, a small-business owner from Houston, said she and her wife cancelled their June trip to the Amalfi Coast in Italy after the news of the war broke out. Instead, they have decided to go to the Hamptons. It was going to be me and my wifes first time to Europe, Lewis said. We talked about trying again next summer, she said, but it will depend on how the war evolves. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Jamestown, site of the first permanent English settlement in North America, is seen last month, sandwiched between the James River and a swamp. (Julia Rendleman for The Post) Retropolis The Past, Rediscovered A Dothan man has been arrested for the alleged murder of his daughter after her skeletal remains were found near Ozark in February, a local television station reported. Orlando Williams, 64, has been charged with one count of murder for the death of Tomekia Tiffany Williams, WDHN reported. In March of 2021, the Dothan Police Department took a report for a missing person, Tomekia Tiffany Williams, 38, of Jacksonville, Florida. Tomekia was from Jacksonville but was last known to be in Dothan. In February 2022, skeletal remains were found in a wooded area in Ozark. The remains were sent for forensic testing and have been confirmed to be Tomekias, according to Dothan police. The Ozark Police Department spoke to the last person Tomekia was known to be with, her father, Orlando Williams of Dothan. Information led investigators from the Dothan Police Department and the Ozark Police Department to begin a joint investigation. As a result, the Dothan Police Department charged Orlando Williams with one count of murder for the death of Tomekia Williams. Since Orlando Williams allegedly disposed of Tomekia Williams body in Ozark, the Ozark Police Department will have additional charges against Orlando. Williams is currently in the Houston County Jail with no bond set. GENERATIONS MAGAZINE: Our magazine is geared toward adults in pre-retirement and retirement years and promotes active aging and preventive health. It is published three times a year and is free to subscribers. All we need is your name and address. If you would like to receive future copies of the magazine, contact Brenda Hancock at 812-888-5146 or bhancock@vinu.edu. Generations, Area 13 Agency on Aging & Disability, is a program of Vincennes Universitys Community Services Division. Our agency connects individuals and caregivers to community resources and options for long-term care and in-home services. For more information, call 1-800-742-9002 or 812-888-5880 or visit our website at www.generationsnetwork.org Trusted local news has never been more important, but providing the information you need, information that can change sometimes minute-by-minute, requires a partnership with you, our readers. Please consider making a contribution today to support this vital resource that you and countless others depend on. In deciding to invade Ukraine, Vladimir Putin clearly misjudged everything. He had an exaggerated view of his own nations military might; my description last week of Russia as a Potemkin superpower, with far less strength than meets the eye, looks even truer now. He vastly underrated Ukrainian morale and military prowess, and failed to anticipate the resolve of democratic governments especially, although not only, the Biden administration, which, in case you havent noticed, has done a remarkable job on everything from arming Ukraine to rallying the West around financial sanctions. China could be reluctant to deal with Russia for fear of a backlash from consumers and regulators in more important markets. Credit: AP I cant add anything to the discussion of the war itself, although I will note that much of the commentary Ive been reading says that Russian forces are regrouping and will resume large-scale advances in a day or two and has been saying that, day after day, for more than a week. What I think I can add, however, is some analysis of the effects of sanctions, and in particular an answer to one question I keep being asked: Can China, by offering itself as an alternative trading partner, bail out Putins economy? No, it cant. The shock deaths of cricketer Shane Warne and Senator Kimberley Kitching should serve as a wake-up call to Australians about the prevalence of heart disease, doctors say, as a study shows COVID-19 may increase the risk for what was already one of the nations biggest killers. Modelling released by the Heart Foundation late last year found at least 27,000 Australians were likely to have missed their heart health checks during the coronavirus pandemic. The foundation warned this could potentially lead to a rise in preventable heart disease deaths in the next five years. Gemma Figtree, professor of medicine at Sydney University, said the pandemic had also led to weight gain and worsened mental health, which were closely linked to cardiovascular risk. Labor senator Kimberley Kitching died on Thursday from a suspected heart attack. Shane Warne died in Thailand on March 4. Both were 52. Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles added his voice, saying he had visited flooded communities on land that frankly should not have been built upon. But to want a home among the gum trees or equivalent has been a human desire throughout history. Ask any prime minister of earthquake-prone Japan, or any governor of wildfire-ravaged California, or even some of those who fled Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius blew its top in 79 AD. The local council in Lismore relocated to higher ground, but no one else followed suit. Credit: A home among the gum trees is lovely 99 per cent of the time, until the river floods it with stinking mud, or a cyclone flattens it, or a volcano entombs it in ash. And its not confined to the northern states. Witness the January rain pelting down in Geelong and Melbourne, causing flash flooding. Or the 2011 Victorian floods that divided Horsham, killed 6000 sheep and caused $2 billion damage. Thats when insurance comes in. But as anyone who has faced the trauma of a natural disaster can tell you: it is relatively easy to insure against fire, but in flood-prone areas the cost of premiums can be sky-high. There is nothing more terrifying than a fire front, but in fire-ravaged areas many properties survive. Every shop, pub, bank, supermarket in Lismore was wiped out. Fires are terrifying, but they dont wipe out every home. Credit:Nick Moir Bush fires are more terrifying but do less damage. Floods are less random and more destructive. And homeowners can take active steps to reduce fire risk, lopping tree branches, cleaning gutters, building fire retardant walls, installing sprinklers. But to flood-mitigate your property is difficult. The policy debate focuses on three areas: rebuilding with flood mitigation, a reinsurance pool to reduce premiums, and what the insurance industry likes to call becoming more cognisant about relocation. Loading Already state and federal governments have said they will rebuild Lismore, and not relocate. Indeed, the local mayor told The Drum this week that years ago the council relocated its chambers to higher ground but no one else wanted to follow. History will repeat. The Insurance Council of Australias has called for resilience funding to lift to $2 billion over five years to lessen the impact of natural disasters. And the industry can play tough. The Queensland town of Roma was once redlined by some insurers, who refused to insure against flood until the town lessened the risk. Two years after the catastrophic 2012 floods, Roma built stage one of a levee. Suncorp and other insurers cut premiums by 45 per cent. In 2019, a second stage was completed. Others call for the federal government to expand a $10 billion government reinsurance pool aimed at reducing premiums in cyclone-prone north Queensland. But the ACCC recommended direct subsidies instead. Such pools dont reduce the risk and provide false comfort for residents in the face of continual devastation, says Andrew Hall, chief executive of the Insurance Council of Australia. And governments are terrible at managing long-term capital with discipline such schemes always blow out, such as the NDIS, and can become a vicious cycle: expand the benefits, blow the budget, reduce the benefits. Such a scheme is not enough without a concerted effort to make flood prone areas more flood resistant. And once again it is the poor who suffer most. We expand suburbs and towns into floodplains because it is cheap and those who can only buy affordable housing are at the higher risk and face the most expensive premiums. If you want to determine your flood risk, inquire about the cost of a flood policy on your house. The big companies insure on a house-by-house basis and have a century of data. The price will tell you of the risk. The people of Lismore are staying put. Credit: The people of Lismore are staying put. Some of them should seriously reconsider. It is not impossible to relocate. Sometimes people will give up the gum trees. Nearly a decade after a wall of water tore through the Queensland town of Grantham and killed 12 people, almost 90 families moved and Grantham was reborn on a hillside. The price tag was $18 million. Brisbane has flooded three times in 10 years. Cyclone Larry was followed by Yasi and then Debbie and then the rain bomb. To rebuild again and again seems the definition of insanity, but a home is a home. The Insurance Council is fond of saying that the 97 per cent of government money goes into the clean-up and 3 per cent on resilience. That will have to change. The federal budget is fast approaching. My host at Fig Tree Bend, Rod Bruem is now an elected councillor at Ballina and Rous councils. His accommodation business in the region was completely washed out. Loading Bruem calls for an immediate safety net insurance system of small subsidies to make insurance affordable for those who want to take precautions. This is market failure on the part of the insurance industry and policy failure on the part of government. Even developing countries have tackled this problem with different schemes, why has Australia deemed it impossible? The Wiregrass Blues Society will be hosting a four-part lecture series on the influence Big Mama Thornton had on generations of musicians. The Path to Influence lecture series is possible through a $7,500 grant from the Alabama Humanities Alliance and will feature lectures, performances, and panel discussions. The Wiregrass Blues Society plans to honor Big Mama Thornton, an Ariton native, during this years Wiregrass Blues Fest, which is set for April 30 in Ozark. Thornton was the first to record Hound Dog, a song that would later catapult Elvis Presley to stardom. Looking at the scope of American music history especially the trajectory of blues music helping to birth rocknroll, I cannot think of one musician who has impacted that more than Big Mama Thornton, Jeneve Brooks, the Wiregrass Blues Society president, said. Born and raised in Ariton, Alabama, Big Mama was arguably the most influential musician to come from this area. Everyone in the Wiregrass needs to know about Big Mama Thorntons legacy. The Path to Influences series will be free and open to the public. The first date in the series will be March 23 from 10-11 a.m. at Enterprise State Community College and will feature a lecture by musician Shaun Murphy, who is one of the headliners for this years blues fest, and a panel with Gil Anthony and Dr. Ken Thomas. A second lecture in the series, also featuring Murphy, will be held at Troy University on March 23, but the time has been set. A third lecture in the series will be April 2 from 7:30-9 p.m. at the Carver Museum, 305 N. Foster St., in downtown Dothan with blues musician Debbie Bond delivering the keynote and a panel feature Erica Brown and Gil Anthony. The final date of the series will be April 3, 2-3 p.m., at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Ariton and will also feature Bond. The Wiregrass Blues Fest returns this year after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The music festival will be held Saturday, April 30, at the Dale County Ag Plex, 202 State Highway 123, in Ozark. Gates will open at 3 p.m. with performances from 3:30-11 p.m. The 2022 line-up will have performances by Shaun Murphy, Johnny Rawls, Crystal Shawanda, Rodney Justo, the Project Preservation Band featuring Lil Jimmy Reed, Marla Drake and Peggy Jenkins, and the Carroll High School Jazz Band. Blues Fest Tickets are available to purchase online at wiregrassbluessociety.org/wiregrass-blues-festival/. Wiregrass Blues Society members have special $10 advance ticket pricing until April 19. All other general admission tickets are $20. VIP tickets are available for $100. Guests can purchase tickets online or at the gate. Dodging victims exposes PM Raging is not only what the Morrison government does, its also Scott Morrisons own style of reaction (PMs fatal flaw floats to surface, March 11). Whether on the floor of the Parliament or responding to a journalist, Morrison is all bullying, blustering and hectoring. Its unattractive, unacceptable and boorish. Attack can be done skilfully and quietly: Paul Keating destroyed cant, hypocrisy and stupidity with mocking humour. His weapon was the surgical scalpel, Morrisons is the blunt axe. Morrisons hiding from flood victims seems to suggest he is very aware of his inability to be a nice, empathetic bloke. Trevor Somerville, Illawong Mr Morrison, three years ago, you believed God sent you a miracle. Unfortunately, you took that miracle for granted and wasted your opportunity to be a strong, wise, proactive leader. Following your belief systems reasoning further, it now appears that Gods wrath is raining down upon you as a result. This year, presuming God is still doing miracles, another one will be a lot harder to come by. Pam Timms, Suffolk Park It is clear from Waleed Alys article that Scott Morrisons fatal flaw is that he is a reactive prime minister who is incapable of planning and so, while staggering from one disaster to another, learns nothing from the experience. Whether it be building quarantine facilities or coping with climate change, there has been a lack of serious planning, so when the inevitable disasters occur, Morrison can only blame someone else or apologise. Peter Nash, Fairlight What has been clearly shown by the NSW and federal governments reaction to the floods is the message behind the Coalitions mantra of small government: Fend for yourself. Nicholas Triggs, Katoomba Seven to one shot To your correspondents slightly selective defence of the cattle industry (Letters, March 11) I would add that it takes about seven units of plant protein to produce one unit of animal protein. Rod Hughes, Epping Much has been written about where to place meat and plant-based products on supermarket shelves. Its obvious: on either side of the Soylent Green. John Bailey, Canterbury Do make this a race Pleasing to know the federal government will purchase an additional 130,000 vaccines for Japanese encephalitis (Billions spent to fight flu, COVID and encephalitis, March 11). Surely, this time we are at the head of the queue. Simon Staines, Mudgee Tracking back An integrated tramway system for Sydney (Two become one? Integration on the line, March 11)? Who would have thought? Well, the NSW government did, in the late 19th century, developing a system with almost 300km of track, and standardised rolling stock, a far cry from what we have now. Doug Walker, Baulkham Hills Jungle manoeuvres Thanks to the deluge, the grass at my place is so high that this morning I got lost while searching for my Herald (Letters, March 11). George Manojlovic, Mangerton EVs could drive renewal in manufacturing sector Your correspondents (Letters, March 11) raising the prospects of an electric vehicle industry in Australia is wishful thinking under this government. That would mean the government doing something pre-emptive, a word that is unknown in the conservative lexicon. The Coalition has done nothing at all, of any note, since it has been in office, so why would it start now? Its a shame because the prospects these days for manufacturing are much better than they were before everything was sent elsewhere. Cars these days are made robotically in large part, and a robotic installation in Australia, once up and running, would cost basically the same here, as in say, China. Labour costs would, of course, be higher. However, with the size of the buildings required, the roof carrying capacity for solar-produced energy may cover the cost of the power for the factory (for free). Australia is crying out for new industry. Stewart Copper, Maroubra Your correspondents wonder why the federal government isnt promoting the use of EVs. Simple: it hasnt worked out an electorally palatable way to tax them yet. Adrian Connelly, Springwood Ive got a great start-up business idea for Mike Cannon-Brookes: build an Australian electric car. Ill even waive my commission. Paul Mangioni, Darlinghurst Explain, envoy There seem to be increasing calls to expel the Russian ambassador. In my view, instead, the government should summon him daily to the office of the Prime Minister and ask him to explain the latest atrocity in Ukraine. Paul Hewson, Clontarf (Qld) Peace Corp to the rescue One way to increase the ADF (Better pay and conditions needed in $38b ADF recruitment drive: experts, March 11) would be to change its name to the Peace Corp, as with former US president John F Kennedys organisation. What a waste of personnel and hardware, with 60,000 people exercising their ability to kill people between fighting American wars. These people should be deployed to infrastructure projects and natural disasters and into our Pacific neighbours, as there will assuredly be plenty of disasters coming their way. It would be very popular for the young as a way of earning and learning without the fear of bullets. Steve Johnson, Elizabeth Beach Shameful neglect Sadly, one comes to expect that in the midst of troubled times, our news will be filled with opinions from politicians and their minions ducking and weaving, blaming and finger-pointing and promising the world to assure us that things will be better next time. Then I read the clear and hard-hitting account by Dr Cam Hollows (I saw the flood destruction first-hand, where was our government?, March 11) of his experiences assisting in flood-ravaged Coraki. That our fellow citizens are left to fend for themselves in the way described is shameful. That in the face of such shame, many of our politicians seem more interested in PR photoshoot stunts and blame-shifting is depressing. However, we can all take comfort and pride in our fellow citizens who simply roll up their sleeves and get on with fixing things. Thank you, Cam. Peter Robertson, Stanmore Thank you, Cam Hollows, for your wonderful and selfless aid. Yes, we all need to ask where government taxation is going if it cant be used more broadly for natural disasters. Remember that individual and other withholding taxes comprise close to 46 per cent of total estimated Commonwealth revenue of $513.7 billion in 2019-2020 (Budget Review 2019-2020 Index). We all want to help, but the government cannot abrogate its responsibilities at such times of community need. Natalie Mabbitt, Randwick Where do our taxes go? This idea that governments should only ever provide the bare minimum and any substantial help should be provided by volunteers and others in the community is nothing new. For years now the Smith Family has been running ads urging us to help children living in poverty. Is preventing poverty and other forms of hardship not what we pay our taxes for? The governments supporters seem to be those who prefer to pay as little as they can get away with, which leaves them plenty in their pocket so they can help out in an emergency. But these things are happening more frequently. When does an occasional emergency become a regular occurrence? David Rush, Lawson History for sale Your correspondent (Letters, March 11) wrote, We do not trample on human graves. True, the pyramids are difficult to trample on so we only loot them, and the bodies become scientific curiosities. Human history comes a poor second when theres global prestige at stake or a sneaky dollar to be made. David Gordon, Cranebrook Redback reminder It seems its not only funnel-web spiders that have been affected by weather-induced homelessness (Prepare to call the swat team as mosquitoes, snakes and spiders multiply, March 11). Never have I seen a redback spider in my house or anywhere around our busy outside living areas. However, I have in the past couple of weeks seen one crawling about in my dishwasher, another suspended over the outdoor setting table, and worse, crawling across my shoulder when sitting out on the deck. I regrettably had to kill them out of concern for my young grandchildren. Given the unimaginable clean-up flood victims face, the redbacks remind us its time for a big outdoor clean-up, and the relative simplicity of that task should be something for which we must be very grateful. Robyn Dalziell, Kellyville Whitlam to the rescue Your correspondent (Letters, March 11) is spot-on: Gough Whitlam was a statesman, and remains a much misunderstood prime minister. I believe the use of the ADF is warranted in situations like the latest floods. It is excellent training for the ADF to have to respond within a day to supply people on the ground and to provide pontoons, temporary bridges, radio and satellite communications, helicopters and transport. Scott Morrison has failed us again. Bruce Welch, Marrickville Your correspondent clearly shows the contrast between Whitlams immediate and effective use of the ADF after Cyclone Tracy in 1974, and Scott Morrisons delayed and chaotic response now. Contrast also, Whitlams belief that the role of government should be to reduce fear, not raise it, by introducing policies that would reduce the fear of unemployment, the fear of being unable to afford health care, and the fear of educational disadvantage, to mention just a few. Morrison has created fear and heightened division within Australia, economically, politically, environmentally, sexually and even religiously; and internationally with his bumbling diplomacy and hostile war rhetoric. All done for perceived political advantage, his only goal appearing to be re-election, at any cost. Alan Marel, North Curl Curl Postscript Its one of the most contentious questions to come before the court in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case. Were there, or were there not, Afghan men hiding inside a secret tunnel, discovered by Australian special forces in a village compound dubbed Whiskey 108 on Easter Sunday 13 years ago? The tunnel question is significant, for this reason. Lawyers for Nine, the defendants in this case, say two Afghan males were discovered in the tunnel when its concealed entrance was exposed by one of Roberts-Smiths SAS comrades that day. Nines case is that the fugitives gave up without a struggle, were searched and handcuffed, but later executed on site: in one case by Roberts-Smith, and in the second instance, by another soldier, Person 4, at Roberts-Smiths direction. Execution of unarmed prisoners is a war crime under the international rules of combat Australia has signed up to. One of the two men had a prosthetic leg, later souvenired by the troop and taken back to be used as a drinking vessel at the SAS bar, the Fat Ladys Arms, at Tarin Kowt. Thirty-three people perished in the fires, and many more deaths may have been caused by the pall of smoke that covered the east coast. More than 3000 homes were destroyed. What was unprecedented is now our future, the Royal Commission into Natural Disaster Arrangements report to the Morrison government in October 2020 said. The death toll from the floods stands at 22 after Sydney police on Wednesday found the body of a man who was reported missing in floodwaters in the citys west. Almost 3000 homes have already been written off in the Northern Rivers region of NSW alone. Loading It is a shame that Morrison couldnt make this connection for voters. The floods, like the fires, respected no state or local boundary. Yet Morrison talked himself into a needless argument over which local government area was more deserving of relief. He couldnt see the continent for the epicentre when he landed in Lismore. He sounded mean, while trying to demonstrate to all Australians that what happened here was off the charts. What were seeing here, particularly in Clarence Valley, Richmond Valley and Lismore, is on a whole another scale to the floods being experienced in other parts of the country, he told the local community. As bad as they are, whether that be in Brisbane Ill be up in Queensland tomorrow or down further south in Sydney and out in the Hawkesbury and Nepean, where theyre also used to floods. The next day in Queensland, he faced the obvious question: what about us then? Journalist: Will Gympie and Maryborough get the catastrophe assistance thats been in place now in NSW, parts of NSW? Prime Minister: Well, these things are being assessed. As I said yesterday, we moved firstly on those three areas in NSW, where were talking about a flood event that was two metres higher, actually more than two metres higher, than any flood in recorded history. The press conference ended with that pointed exchange. Just two questions from the local media, and he was off. He would have registered the problem, even if he is not ready to accept the policy implications. As he told people in Lismore, the environment has changed. We are dealing with a different climate to the one we were dealing with before. I think thats just an obvious fact. In other words, events politicians once viewed as unprecedented acts of mother nature are the new normal. But Morrison doesnt believe, yet, that the role of government should change in any meaningful way to meet this particular existential threat. Loading To paraphrase Morrisons technology, not taxes slogan for net-zero, his approach to climate disasters remains doggedly reactive, and performative: troops, not targets. More broadly, Morrison remains fixated on the formulas of the 1980s lower taxes and smaller government almost in defiance of the evidence before him. He told a business summit on Tuesday via zoom that he isnt following the big-government lead of his allies in the United States and Britain. Ive never really (got) caught up in the hoopla, of the Build Back Better camp, that opportunistically sees the post-COVID recovery as some opportunity to replace our market-based, business-led growth economic system, with a government-centred re-imagination of global capitalism. It was a revealing thing to say the day before his trip to Lismore. For Joe Biden and Boris Johnson, accelerated climate action is at the heart of their build back better programs. Loading Just as telling was the announcement Morrison made in Queensland on Thursday. Standing alongside the Defence Minister and potential leadership rival Peter Dutton, he promised an employment boom for our men and women in uniform. The government aims to have more than 100,000 personnel in the Australian Defence Force by 2040. The detail was less impressive than the headline the total increase is just 18,500, or 950 per year, over the existing plan. But it did show that Morrison is prepared to intervene when it suits. The irony is that Morrison has been sounding more like Labor leader Anthony Albanese lately, even as he pretends to honour the market. He is matching or trying to outspend Albanese, from aged care to returning manufacturing to Australia. But Morrison adds the rider that he will also cut taxes and reduce the size of government. He cant do both, of course. But neither he nor Albanese is ready for the debate on tax reform. The challenges of the 21st century the New Cold War, coronaviruses and global heating all demand a re-invigoration of the idea of government. This doesnt mean the federal government returns to its former role of running businesses in competition with the market, or as the monopoly provider. No one is suggesting we buy back the Commonwealth Bank, Telstra or Qantas. But it does mean a larger government by the standards we are used to. Taxes will eventually have to rise to meet the new demand. Meanwhile, the market is already making an adjustment, and it is not the one politicians anticipated. Our economy is increasingly geared towards caring and creative work. There are more people employed today in the female-dominated economies of healthcare and social assistance and education than there are in the old male domains of construction, manufacturing, mining and agriculture. And the professions another majority female sector along with the arts, media and information technology now employ more people combined than retail and wholesale trade. The market hasnt got softer; it is smarter and, dare one say it, more compassionate. It has completed a transition from an economy that prioritised the making of things and shopping to caring, education and innovation. Its high time that government shifted its thinking along similar lines not only to meet the existential threats and raise the standards of care from cradle to grave, but to help Australia educate and recruit the skilled workers we will need for our brain economy. Loading Australia, like its democratic peers, has been edging towards more active government since the global financial crisis of 2008-9. But we are stuck in emergency response mode. Politics still operates with a male-only brain. In crisis, it waves big cheques, calls in the troops and blame-shifts when the environment wont bend to a press release. While all the attention is on Morrison at the moment, the problem is structural. It goes back to Tony Abbotts decision to kill bipartisanship on emissions trading in 2009, the very year that began with the Black Saturday fires in Victoria, which claimed 173 lives. Hindsight tells us that a tragic pattern was set on Black Saturday, which repeated with the fire and floods on Morrisons watch. The data said the event was off the charts; but the response was business as usual. Lets hope the warnings are heeded, and the lessons learned, before the next catastrophe. Peter Hartcher is on assignment. After decades of crafting his image as the strong man of modern politics, Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has been out-manned. Conservatives will have to adjust. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a model of what the right strives to be; Putin is the caricature it sometimes contorts itself into. In her 2020 book Twilight of Democracy, historian Anne Applebaum tried to describe how and why some conservatives were succumbing to the lure of authoritarianism. Applebaum observes that after the fall of the Soviet Union, many of the anti-communists developed cultural despair, a deep pessimism about the direction in which the West was heading. Conservatives or paleoconservatives as the reactionary wing of conservatism dubbed its adherents lamented the loss of a better past. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraines Volodymyr Zelensky. Credit:AP, Bloomberg Putins propagandists created a narrative of Russia as a godly, Christian nation seeking to protect its ethnic identity which appealed to these nostalgics. Never mind, the usually dry author notes drolly, that only a tiny percentage of Russians actually go to church never mind that Russia is very much a multiethnic, multilingual state, with a far larger Muslim population than most European countries; never mind that Chechnya, a Russian province, is actually governed by sharia law, or that its government forces women to wear veils and tortures gay men; never mind that many forms of evangelical Christianity are actually banned. Putin tapped into the conservative notion that the West with its fashionable causes, pronoun wars, endlessly extending acronyms, gender cancelling, cancel culture and cultural relativism has lost confidence and is in decline. Federal Coalition parties face a serious challenge in the coming election from a well-resourced independent in their safest Victorian seat, according to research from across the political spectrum. With the federal election still yet to be called, the Nationals, Liberals and independent Rob Priestly are in a tight, three-way battle for the seat of Nicholls, centred on Shepparton in northern Victoria. The seat was held in 2019 by popular but retiring Nationals MP Damian Drum with a 20 per cent margin. Independent candidate for Nicholls and Greater Shepparton councillor Rob Priestly But recent polls linked to the Liberals, Nationals and Labor show Mr Priestly capturing between 16 and almost 20 per cent of first preferences, with the Nationals vote smashed by the departure of Mr Drum and the Liberals running a candidate where they hadnt in 2019. Beijing: China is experiencing its most significant COVID outbreak since the early days of the pandemic, igniting a flurry of new restrictions and mitigation measures as the countrys zero-tolerance approach to the virus is challenged like never before. Domestic infections topped 1,000 on Friday for the first time since the peak of the original Wuhan outbreak, a tally that has ballooned from just over 300 cases a day in less than a week. The country responded by locking down a city of 9 million people in the northeast and ordering the construction of makeshift hospitals there and in the eastern port city of Qingdao. An outbreak of the omicron variant in Shanghai saw schools shuttered again, while officials are said to be looking at diverting all international flights away from the financial centre to ease pressure on quarantine hotels. China isolates all virus cases, including those in the community, as part of its COVID Zero policy. The markets have been closed in Changchen, a city of 9 million people. Credit:Chinatopix/AP In a move that may signal Beijing is expecting a further spike in cases, authorities said late on Friday that they would allow the use of rapid antigen tests for the first time. While used widely in other parts of the world, rapid tests were previously restricted in China. London: As the biographer of Prince Harry and Meghan, he has been a vocal supporter of their campaign against fake news and online mistruths. So when Omid Scobie criticised the Duke of Cambridge for ignorant comments about the war in Ukraine which he suggested normalised war and death in Africa and Asia, legions of admirers around the world followed suit with outrage. Bernice King, Martin Luther King jnrs daughter, led the way in saying the Dukes comments were horrific. Prince William and Catherine, Duckess of Cambridge, were visiting the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London on March 9 when his remarks were caught on camera. Credit:Getty There was just one small problem - the Duke did not actually say it and is now facing a fake news backlash. The President, who has repeatedly appeared on social media from the capital, said some small towns no longer existed in the third week of Russian attacks, the biggest assault on a European country since World War II. Russian shelling has trapped thousands of people in besieged cities and sent 2.5 million Ukrainians fleeing to neighbouring countries. Ukraine accused Russian forces on Saturday of killing seven civilians in an attack on women and children trying to flee fighting near Kyiv. France said Russian President Vladimir Putin had shown no readiness to end the conflict that has been almost universally condemned around the world and has drawn tough Western sanctions on Russia. As Kharkiv endures daily shelling, families huddle in the hospital basement for safety. Credit:Kate Geraghty The Ukrainian intelligence service said the seven, including one child, were killed as they fled the village of Peremoha and that the occupiers forced the remnants of the column to turn back. Reuters was unable immediately to verify the report and Russia offered no immediate comment. Moscow denies targeting civilians since invading Ukraine on February 24. It blames Ukraine for failed attempts to evacuate civilians from encircled cities, an accusation Ukraine and its Western allies strongly reject. Zelensky said Moscow was sending in new troops after Ukrainian forces put 31 of Russias battalion tactical groups out of action in what he called Russias largest army losses in decades. Reuters could not verify his statements. We still need to hold on. We still have to fight, Zelensky said in a video address late on Saturday, Ukraine time, his second of the day. Saying about 1300 Ukrainian troops had been killed, he urged the West to get more involved in peace negotiations. The United States said it would rush up to $US200 million in additional small arms, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine, where officials have pleaded for more military aid. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow has warned the United States that Moscow could attack convoys carrying military equipment to Ukraine, calling them legitimate targets. In comments reported by the Tass news agency, Ryabkov made no specific threat. Any attack on such convoys before they reached Ukraine would risk widening the war. The Kremlin describes its actions as a special operation to disarm Ukraine and unseat leaders it calls neo-Nazis. Ukraine and Western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war of choice that has raised fears of wider conflict in Europe. A Ukrainian serviceman in Mariupol, which has been under siege for more than a week. Credit:AP Zelensky discussed the war with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, who urged Putin to order an immediate ceasefire. A Kremlin statement on their 75-minute call made no mention of a ceasefire. A French presidency official said: We did not detect a willingness on Putins part to end the war. Crisis talks between Moscow and Kyiv have been continuing by video link, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, according to Russias RIA news agency. He gave no details, but Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv would not surrender or accept any ultimatums. Conflict raged near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Saturday as officials said heavy shelling and threats of Russian air attacks were continuing to endanger attempts to evacuate civilians from encircled towns and cities across the country. Evacuation attempts Ukrainian officials had planned to use humanitarian corridors from Mariupol as well as towns and villages in the regions of Kyiv, Sumy and some other areas on Saturday. In Mariupol, which has endured some of the worst punishment since Russia invaded, efforts to bring food, water and medicine into the port city of 430,000 and to evacuate civilians, were prevented by unceasing attacks. More than 1500 people have died in Mariupol during the siege, according to the mayors office, and the shelling has even interrupted efforts to bury the dead in mass graves. Russian soldiers pillaged a humanitarian convoy that was trying to reach Mariupol and blocked another, a Ukrainian official said. Ukraines military said Russian forces captured Mariupols eastern outskirts, tightening their siege of the strategic port. Taking Mariupol and other ports on the Azov Sea could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014. Loading An Associated Press journalist in Mariupol witnessed tanks firing on a nine-story apartment building and was with a group of hospital workers who came under sniper fire on Friday. A worker shot in the hip survived, but conditions in the hospital were deteriorating: Electricity was reserved for operating tables, and people with nowhere else to go lined the hallways. Among them was Anastasiya Erashova, who wept and trembled as she held a sleeping child. Shelling had just killed her other child as well as her brothers child, Erashova said, her scalp crusted with blood. No one was able to save them, she said. There are reports of looting and violent confrontations among civilians over what little basic supplies remain in the city, the UNs Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Medicines for life-threatening illnesses are quickly running out, hospitals are only partially functioning, and the food and water are in short supply. People were boiling groundwater for drinking, using wood to cook food and burying dead bodies near where they lay, a staff member for Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) in the city said. We saw people who died because of lack of medication, he said, adding that many people had also been wounded or killed. Neighbours just dig a hole in the ground and put the dead bodies inside. Images of destruction A satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows damage to apartment buildings and fires with damage in the Zhovtnevyi district in western Mariupol. Credit:AP New satellite images captured on Saturday showed the extent of the damage caused by Russian shelling on residential parts of the city. In Zhivtnevy district, west of Mariupol, the images show a leafy apartment complex before and after shelling. The trees that once surrounded the buildings appear to have been razed and smoke can be seen rising from the apartment blocks, which are located across the street from a housing estate. Warehouses across the street also appear to have been damaged. The apartment buildings pictured before the Russian invasion, in June 2021. Credit:AP In a nearby street, craters pockmark the snow-coated ground, which is covered in what looks like vehicle tread marks. Another image shows damage to the Mariupol hospital which, was hit by heavy artillery fire last week. A satellite image of damage to the Mariupol hospital after Russian attacks. Credit:AP Sirens and tears On Saturday, the exhausted Governor of Chernihiv, around 150 kilometres north-east of Kyiv, gave a video update in front of the ruins of a hotel, which he said had been hit that day. There is no such hotel anymore, Viacheslav Chaus said, wiping tears from his eyes. But Ukraine itself still exists and it will prevail. Loading Russian rocket attacks destroyed a Ukrainian airbase and hit an ammunition depot near the town of Vasylkiv in the Kyiv region on Saturday morning, Interfax Ukraine quoted Vasylkiv mayor Natalia Balasynovych as saying. Ukraine said it expected a new wave of attacks on the regions around Kyiv, the countrys second city Kharkiv, and the Donbas region in the east, where Russian-backed separatists have expanded their control. Britains Ministry of Defence said fighting north-west of the capital continued, with the bulk of Russian ground forces now 25 kilometres from the centre of Kyiv, which it has said Russia could attack within days. Salisbury, MD (21801) Today Cloudy skies this morning followed by thunderstorms during the afternoon. High 81F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. By Trend The National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria has adopted a Declaration on Azerbaijan's Khojaly genocide, the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Bulgaria told Trend. On March 10, 2022, the National Assembly of Bulgaria adopted a Declaration to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide. The Declaration honors the memory of 613 people killed as a result of the massacre, as well as over 1,000 wounded and missing. I have a great number of people I consider to be in my orbit although I have never met them and never will. Thats fine with me. I have some common thread with each of them, and we will talk occasionally through whatever medium our paths crossed. Im very comfortable with it, which some folks think is odd, but theres really nothing weird about it. I want nothing from them and they want nothing from me, but we have gotten to know each other in very narrow ways. I have Neil Young friends in Philadelphia and Connecticut, a Tom Waits friend in the Netherlands, Grateful Dead friends all over, writer friends, grammar friends, and people who share my hopelessly bent sense of humor. Were constantly swapping bits of news and conversation. I imagine that my lack of hesitancy in corresponding with strangers stems from years of newspaper work. There have been many people through the years who I have never met face to face, yet have exchanged emails or notes with them for long stretches of time. Several of them have passed on, and their absence saddens me as if I knew them well. And sometimes Ill remember them at the strangest times. One such person was a fellow named Len Berube. He had lived in Ozark, and would send letters to the editor on occasion, and I was always happy to see them because that guy really knew how to turn a phrase. I dont remember the context of the quip thats stuck with me, but it could well apply to me also. I have washboard abs, Berube wrote. But there are a couple of loads of laundry on top. Berube came to mind one day last week at the end of my semi-annual doctors appointment. Id had blood drawn a day or two earlier, and the doctor had reviewed the bloodwork with me. I was getting ready to leave the examination room when the nurse stepped in with a small cup and a blue lid with my name written on it in Sharpie. I suddenly thought of the carnival game with the water pistol and the bulls-eye target with a hole in the center, and wished I had stopped on the midway last fall and played a couple of rounds to get a bit of practice. The nurse handed me the cup. We need a specimen, she said. Half full. Restrooms across the hall. I knew the drill. But once I got inside the small restroom, I realized this particular task couldnt possibly go as smoothly as it once might have. The cup was small and shallow. I had the wrong glasses with me. And there were a couple of loads of laundry obstructing my view. Ill spare you the details, but I was fortunate enough to complete the task without needing a shower or a mop. But as I tightened the lid on the cup, I noticed it was nowhere near half full. I fretted over it momentarily; should I push my luck and try to top it off? I didnt relish the idea of being called back to suffer the indignity of this again. I decided to leave the quarter-full specimen cup on the table and try to sneak out quietly. I paid up and made the next appointment six months out, and then slipped stealthily into the gray morning. Several hours later, I got an email notice that the results had posted in the patient portal, so apparently a quarter-cup of specimen enough. The nurse called the next morning, and told me it was all good, no worries, see you in six months. I was pleased to learn no gremlins lurked in my specimen, but what I was left with was an anecdote with nowhere to go. I would have shared it with Berube in some future exchange, but therell be none, as hes gone on to his reward. But I realized Im not really alone in these calendar-based revelations, and that all of us, sooner or later, will wind up in a physicians restroom with a plastic cup and mounting anxiety. Good luck. Bill Perkins is editorial page editor of the Dothan Eagle and can be reached at bperkins@dothaneagle.com or 334-712-7901. Support the work of Eagle journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at dothaneagle.com. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Wilmington, DE (19810) Today Cloudy. Periods of rain this morning. High around 75F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Low near 55F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. You have permission to edit this image. Edit Close The American Red Cross hosted a blood drive at the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022 in an effort to help curb a national blood shortage. (WDRB photo) Grab Vietnam managing director Nguyen Thai Hai Van is set to quit at the end of next month after two years at the helm. She delivered the news at a company meeting Friday, according to Tech in Asia. Calls to a Grab Vietnam media spokesperson went unanswered. It is unclear who will take over as the new chief. Van had joined the company in November 2019 after 17 years at Unilever Vietnam, and was appointed managing director in February 2020. She took over from Jerry Lim, who returned to a Singapore-based role as regional head of customer experience. On March 10, Grab increased all fares in Vietnam amid the surging gasoline prices. Weatherford, TX (76086) Today Foggy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 82F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low 67F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Weatherford, TX (76086) Today Foggy early with scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High near 80F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Low 67F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. National Nurses Week is May 6 to May 12, an annual celebration that recognizes the critical role nurses perform in our hospitals and for our community. This year, we recognize our nurses for their continued commitment and unfailing dedication to our patients and their families, and for alway Vietnamese nationals who fled Ukraine arrive in Hanois Noi Bai Airport on March 8, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy Over 4,500 Vietnamese nationals have evacuated Ukraine and reached neighboring countries, and two more flights are scheduled to bring some of them home on Sunday. Of the 2,800 who have reached Poland, 300 were repatriated on March 9. Around 950 arrived in Romania, and 287 returned to Vietnam on March 7, 660 in Hungary, more than 100 in Slovakia, and 20 people in Russia, a Friday press release of Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Around 610 people in Romania and 500 in Poland have registered for repatriation. Vietnamese missions in countries neighboring Ukraine are coordinating with local authorities and Vietnamese associations to receive evacuees and arrange transportation, accommodation and necessities for them. The country is set to dispatch two more rescue flights. The first one, expected to bring 283 people from Poland, will leave Hanoi Saturday afternoon and return the next morning. The second will bring back 276 people on the same schedule. On March 10 the government gave permission for 10 more rescue flights sponsored by a private company. There were around 7,000 Vietnamese in Ukraine, mainly in Kharkiv, Odessa and Kiev, before Russia launched its attack two weeks ago. If you know of local business openings or closings, please notify us here. Juliette Bridals by Ivana has relocated to 161 Glenworth Rd., Pottsville and is having a "relocation celebration" on May 19 at noon. Iqor has opened a new 30,000 square-foot call center in Allentown Life Advance Fitness at 436 State Ave. in Emmaus opens on May 11 Grocery Outlet Bargain Market is open at 561 S. Broad Street in Lansdale, in the former Super Foodtown location. The Caribbean Grill will hold its grand opening on May 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at 1800 Sullivan Trail in Forks Township. A new mafia-themed bar named Capo & Co. Keg and Cork Kitchen is hiring staff in Emmaus. The restaurant is at 1375 Chestnut St. and will feature a self-tap wine bar. Terrain on the Parkway, at 1625 Lehigh Parkway East in Allentown is open and renting apartments ranging from studio to three-bedroom size. Sports and Social opened April 28 in Allentown. The sports bar and restaurant at 645 Hamilton St. is part of a national chain. McCall Collective Brewing plans a May opening for its second location at 7743 Hamilton Blvd. in the Breinigsville section of Upper Macungie Township. The original brewpub is in Allentown. Project Paw cat cafe and thrift shop opens April 30 at 452 Northampton St., Easton. The cats in the cafe will be available for adoption. The business supports The Center for Animal Health & Welfare in Williams Township. McDonald's of Coopersburg is opening at 6690 Short Drive, Upper Saucon Township, just off Route 309. Oley Valley Inn in Oley Township is coming back as The Riedenau House, a farm-to-table restaurant. It will serve a German menu. Margaritaville resort, a Jimmy Buffett-inspired resort is coming to Monroe County. Construction in Tobyhanna and Pocono townships may begin next year, with an opening in 2024 at the site of the old Pocono Manor. La Dolce Casa, at 16 W. Broad St. on Tamaqua's main thoroughfare, has added La Dolce Casa Bakery and Italian Market just three doors away at 32 W. Broad St. in the former Bittner's General Store. Rutter's opens 3rd location in Berks at Route 222 and Long Lane in Maxatawny Township, north of Kutztown. Berks Nature opened The Rookery. The Rookery is in Angelica Creek Park, on top of the existing Nature Place structure. New Santiago's Restaurant at 125 S. Third St. in Coopersburg has reopened after about a year off. Obsidian Tattoo & Piercing Parlor of Bethlehem has expanded to Emmaus. The 173 Main St. location is open now. Ocean State Job Lot, a Rhode Island-based discount store, will open at the former site of the Kmart at Shillington Plaza in Cumru Township. Elpedio's Ristorante will open May 1 at the site of the Seipsville Inn in Palmer Township. King Wing has opened at 129 E. Third St. in south Bethlehem, serving buffalo wings, along with sandwiches. Royal Farms convenience store and gas station is headed to the site of the Brass Rail in Allentown on Lehigh Street. 3 Men & A Bagel is back open after a brief closing for surgery for the baker. The shop is located at 3350 Schoenersville Road, Bethlehem. Wert's Cafe is back after a brief closing following the death of owner Greg Wert. Vinyl Press Signs & Graphics has moved to 15 S. Second St. in Emmaus. A grand opening will be held May 5. Juliette Bridals by Ivana will hold a ribbon cutting May 19 at 161 Genworth Road, Pottsville. JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest bank in the U.S., is coming to downtown Allentown. The Easton Farmers' Market will open May 7 at Scott Park along Larry Holmes Drive. My Sister's Closet has relocated to the Bethlehem Village Shoppes at 3650 Nazareth Pike in Bethlehem Township. Fortunoff Backyard Store is open at Hamiliton Crossings. . Pocono Dessert Co. opens women owned coffee and dessert shop at 2185 PA-611 in Swiftwater Today Rain ending this morning. Remaining cloudy through the afternoon with some late day peeks of sunshine. Tonight Turning out partly cloudy. Tomorrow Pleasant with times of clouds and sun. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Former Deputy Health Minister Cao Minh Quang has been detained pending investigation of charges of negligence leading to losses for the state, police announced Friday. The losses have to do with failure to check implementation of drugs imported by a pharmaceutical company. Duong Huy Lieu, 74, former head of the Financial Planning Department under the Ministry of Health, is also being investigated for "negligence resulting in serious consequences" and has been placed under house arrest. Police said Quang and Lieu had failed to check and evaluate terms to buy drug ingredients at discounted prices negotiated by the Cuu Long Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company. The failure led authorities to miss the fact that the drug firm was able to get a discount of $3.848 million on a purchase, the obscuring of which led to losses. It was not clear how the firm hid the discount obtained and what was done with the money. Another former head of the financial planning department, Nguyen Nam Lien, is also being investigated on similar charges. In the same case, police had previously investigated Luong Van Hoa, former director of the Cuu Long firm, and Nguyen Thanh Tong, former deputy director, for "abuse of power or position in performance of official duties." Late last year, Quang had also been pulled up for disciplinary action by the Communist Party's Central Inspection Commission for "misconduct" at the health ministry. He had also been relieved of all his Party positions. Quang was the head of the Drug Administration of Vietnam from 2004 to 2007, then deputy health minister until 2013 before retiring. The Cuu Long Pharmaceutical Company, in the southern Vinh Long Province, has operated for over 40 years and owns four factories. Alhierd Bacharevic's epic novel, upon which this shatteringly powerful new piece from Belarus Free Theatre is based, was published in 2017 but feels horribly prescient in the light of current world events. It's mid 21st century and Russia has invaded and occupied its neighbouring countries, uprooting lives, throwing civilisation into disarray; nuclear weapons have been used and the new Western European union has been established (conspicuously not including the UK in Roman Liubyi's dramatic, stage-filling animations) while the gigantic new Russian Empire extends from what used to be Scandinavia, all across Eastern Europe, into the Middle East and well into Asia. Against this chilling backdrop unfolds a richly imaginative story that is part thriller, part identity mystery and part travelogue through this new Europe'. In Bacharevic's (somewhat) alternate universe, Belarus and other neighbouring states no longer exist, subsumed in the brutal expansion of Russia. Free expression and thought have been driven underground, something that the collective of remarkable artists that comprise Belarus Free Theatre, exiled for the time being from their own troubled country, understand only too well. Ramshackle stacks of books occupy the Barbican fore-stage, symbolising unfettered thought under attack. The image of burning books is a recurrent theme, notably in a heart catching final sequence that quotes the 18th century German poet Heine, volumes of whose work were famously incinerated by the Nazis: "wherever they burn books, in the end will burn human beings". Nicolai Khalezin and Natalia Kaliada's frequently playful, sometimes overwhelming, staging often feels more like a grim pageant than a play. Extended sections from the novel are solemnly recited at us before giving way to passages of furious, frantic movement, but in filleting a 900 page text down to a manageable stage duration (and at over three hours, some will still find Dogs Of Europe punishingly long), it's probably churlish to expect much more than that. If there are moments when Maria Sazonova's adrenalised choreography verges on the banal, or when having the surtitles (the whole thing is performed in Belarusian) prove an unwelcome distraction from Aliaksei Naranovich's mesmerising central performance, these quibbles are more than compensated for by the sheer brilliance of the stagecraft on display here. It is overlong, but the energy and invention are irresistible. Khalezin, Kaliada and their team throw everything at this story, in a sometimes bewildering, but more often galvanising multimedia assault on the senses. The imagery at the end of the first act, which sees the whole company, bar one, prone in a heap of black-clad, butchered humanity while fire and blood rains down around them, is unlikely to be forgotten by anybody who witnesses it. The astonishing genre-busting versatility of the 16-strong cast actors, dancers, clowns, tumblers, Foley artists is another source of wonder. The musicians, Marichka and Mark Marczyk, also known as Balaklava Blues, are also integral to the production, their contribution thrumming like a tapestry of sound through dialogue before exploding into joyous folk anthems, or driving, uneasy dancebeats, or, most potently, into guttural expressions of wordless pain and suffering, her extraordinary voice lamenting and ululating through the stage air like shards of breaking glass. Visceral, courageous and demanding, this re-mounting of Dogs Of Europe (it was first performed in Minsk in 2020, in defiance of the dictator Lukashenko) comes at a very apposite time in modern history. It examines what happens when we cease to think about the world we are living in, and it's both a warning and a call to arms. This is the very opposite of theatre as escapism, a point rammed further home by Marichka Marczyk taking her curtain call draped in the Ukrainian flag, and an impassioned, essential speech by Natalia Kaliada, directly eliding the real life stories of some of the talented people whose work we were just enjoying, with the atrocities happening right now on the other side of Europe. For all its fantastical elements, Dogs Of Europe feels like anything but a fantasy: it barely feels like a work of fiction. Janet Gates Conover and her husband, Joe, are life members of the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County. This article is based on Gates Radio Company research and documents, interviews with her father, Parker Gates, and family oral history and letters. The Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County is preserving the Governor John Wood Mansion, the History Museum on the Square, the 1835 Log Cabin, the Livery, the Lincoln Gallery displays, and a collection of artifacts and documents that tell the story of who we are. This award-winning column is written by members of the Society. For more information visit hsqac.org or email info@hsqac.org. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh paid tribute Saturday to soldiers who died defending reefs in the Spratly Archipelago against China 34 years ago. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh lays a wreath at Gac Ma memorial site in Khanh Hoa Province, March 12, 2022. Photo by Vietnam Government Portal PM Chinh paid floral tributes and burned incense at the Gac Ma memorial site in the central province of Khanh Hoa, which commemorates 64 Vietnamese soldiers who died defending reefs in the Spratly Archipelago on March 14, 1988, and lost Gac Ma. He wrote in the book at the site: "These are exemplary people who heroically sacrificed their lives to protect their countrys sacred sovereignty. These shiny examples are permanent evidence of heroism, of the heroic tradition of Vietnamese people." Early on March 14, 1988, the Vietnamese Navys Brigade 125 sent three ships with nearly 100 officers and soldiers to the Gac Ma (Johnson South), Co Lin (Collins or Johnson North) and Len Dao (Lansdowne) reefs in the Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago. The soldiers were transporting construction materials onto Gac Ma when four Chinese vessels arrived. A second-lieutenant and two soldiers then used a small boat to rush to the island to protect the national flag, but the Chinese soldiers opened fire, killing the officer on the spot. As the fight continued, one of the Vietnamese ships was damaged and sank. Another ship with 18 aboard was also attacked while defending Len Dao. The third ship managed to plant a flag on Co Lin that morning and successfully defended the island. Later on the same day, three other Vietnamese naval ships arrived at the site to support the defense of Co Lin and Len Dao. But Chinese forces had occupied Gac Ma. A total of 64 Vietnamese soldiers were killed in the battle, and they have been remembered as the Gac Ma soldiers. On Saturday, PM Chinh also visited brigades at the 4th Regional Command under the Vietnam People's Navy, which protects the Spratly Islands and the south central coast. He said the Navy needs to make accurate forecast of the situation at sea, timely advice on measures and take precise actions in dealing with different developments, in order to protect Vietnam's maritime economic activities and peace. Thank you for reading the Herald-Whig You have reached our free-content limit. If you are a current subscriber, please log in to continue viewing content or purchase a subscription by clicking the Subscribe button below. Thank you for supporting independent Journalism. Civil Engineer/GIS Specialist for Irrigation Projects, Damascus, Syria Organization: FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Country: Syria City: Damascus Office: FAO in Damascus, Syria Closing date: Wednesday, 23 March 2022 2200641 Civil Engineer/GIS specialist for irrigation projects Job Posting: 09/Mar/2022 Closure Date: 23/Mar/2022, 10:59:00 PM Organizational Unit : FNSYR Job Type: Non-staff opportunities Type of Requisition : NPP (National Project Personnel) Grade Level : N/A Primary Location: Syrian Arab Republic-Damascus Duration : Five months renewable depending on project funds availability Post Number : N/A IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAOs values FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality Organizational Setting The main aim of the FAO Syria Country Office is to assist government to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to develop the agricultural fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner. Reporting Lines Under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative in Syria, direct supervision of the FAO water team leader/senior water expert and in close collaboration of relevant programme and operations staff. Technical Focus The engineer will provide relevant technical assistance for efficient implementation of the irrigation projects. This includes collecting and analysing reliable data, building historical climate and water resources database, mapping irrigation and drainage schemes, conducting survey works; and developing related GIS maps. In addition, the engineer will support conducting Natural Resources Assessments (NRA), related field works for the socio-economic studies, and capacity building programmes. Tasks and responsibilities Conduct research to locate and obtain existing databases, thematic layers and grid data for relevant areas of FAO interventions using the sources from meteorology, forestry, water resources, irrigation and agriculture related divisions including but not limited to existing spatial data including maps of land cover, forest types, soil types, elevation, slope and rainfall, critical forest areas, climate series, terrain information, etc.; Establish water related database that would be utilised for the implementation of the water projects in all Syria Source, prepare, and structure GIS data in accordance with the requirements and guidelines defined by water experts in FAO projects; Describe all layer fields in the geodatabase and digitize/create new thematic layers; Produce maps and graphs in accordance with the design and criteria defined by technical staff; Perform required spatial analysis to assess infrastructure damage of irrigation systems, land cover, forest change and developments occurring in targeted areas including mapping of irrigation restoration needs; Establish a network connection with national technical staff (GIS and water catchment advisers) within the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform and the General Commission for Remote Sensing for collecting updated water/irrigation data; Any other GIS related responsibilities assigned to him/her; Follow up implementation of rehabilitation works; and participate in preparing designs; Assess damaged irrigation sites and survey reports, maps, drawings, hydraulic constructions and relevant infrastructure; Follow up establishment of WUA, calculation of crop water requirements and design irrigation schedules. CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING Minimum Requirements BSc degree in relevant fields such as Civil Engineering, agriculture water management or other related areas. Minimum 10 years of experience at the national level in the required field of expertise. Postgraduate degree is an advantage Working knowledge of English and Arabic. Syrian Nationality. FAO Core Competencies Results Focus Teamwork Communication Building Effective Relationships Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement Technical/Functional Skills Proven experience in preparation of written reports in an accurate and concise manner is an advantage. c9schuX Dh7qKS Fluency in written and spoken English is essential, strong presentation skills and ability to communicate effectively. Knowledge of water resources management and prior experience in development of related projects in water basins in Syria is an added advantage. Proven knowledge of water related database management. Ability to work at the project site in difficult conditions. Willingness to travel all over the country according to the needs of the programme. Experience in survey and design, quality control, construction management and ability to train other persons. Experience in managing a small team to undertake studies and design works will be essential. Experience in working closely with counterparts and providing training/capacity building. Experience in producing GIS maps for irrigation projects is an advantage. Expected Outputs: GIS maps for irrigation projects prepared Data Collected and analysed Climate and water resources database developed Field visits conducted Meeting/workshops/capacity building programmes arranged Reports on relevant activities prepared. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing) Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: Careers@fao.org Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/ For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/ Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances. Subject to certain exemptions, vaccination against COVID-19 will in principle be required. Vaccination status will be verified as part of the medical clearance process. FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions. HOW TO APPLY To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, and language skills Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications Incomplete applications will not be considered Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAOs behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date. If you need help, or have queries, please contact: Careers@fao.org Link to the organizations job posting: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1646947660799 Operations Assistant, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Childrens Fund Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina City: Sarajevo Office: UNICEF Office for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo Closing date: Monday, 21 March 2022 Operations Assistant, GS-5, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, temporary appointment (364 days) Job no: 548982 Position type: Temporary Appointment Location: Bosnia & Herzegovina Division/Equivalent: CEE/CIS School/Unit: Bosnia and Herzegovina Department/Office: Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina Categories: Finance and Administration, 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 Why working for UNICEF video How can you make a difference? Job organizational context: Under the supervision of the Operations Manager and in close collaboration with Human Resources, Finance and ICT Associates and Administrative Assistant, the Operations Assistant is accountable for procedural and some specialized operational and administrative support services, requiring thorough knowledge of UNICEF administrative, financial, human resources procedures, processes and policies. Purpose for the job : Under the supervision and guidance of the Operations Manager, the Operations Assistant is responsible for executing a broad variety of routine and some specialized tasks for the Operations section. Due to increased workload in the Country Office, the incumbent will provide support to existing Administrative, Human Resources and Finance functions in the tasks of transactional nature. Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks: 1. Administration provide support the existing function in transactional tasks: Administration of incoming invoices: registration and distribution Administration of the incoming correspondence: registration and distribution Management of engagements of UNICEF Individual Contractors for translation/interpretation and editing/proofreading services Selection of the Event Management companies for UNICEF events Administration of data collection for the annual report for Environmental Footprint and Accessibility Assessment Tool (EFAAT) Administration of Office inventory records, office supplies and issuing records of Property Inventory Receipt for equipment issued to UNICEF staff and consultants 2. Human Resources (specialized) provide support the existing function in transactional tasks: Drafts vacancy announcements in TMS for positions for review by HR Associate Ensures timely and efficient screening of applications for non-staff vacancies for minimum eligibility, taking into account qualifications, competencies, and post requirements. Liaises with candidates in the various stages of the recruitment process. Coordinates the scheduling of interviews and technical assessments. Records and maintains recruitment files, ensuring all necessary documentation has been prepared. Monitors life-cycle of recruitment process to update supervisor as necessary. Drafting selection reports for non-sensitive, non-staff recruitments for review by HR Associate Assists in HR non-sensitive transactional work 3. Finance/Invoice Processing provide support the existing function in transactional tasks: Administration of petty cash Finance filling (adding original invoices to appropriate payments, labeling finance folders, filling payments on a weekly basis) Drafting invoice processing in Service gateway during the absence of Finance associate, following up approval and, thereafter preparing payment orders, bank orders, collecting signatures in accordance with Signatory panel and following up with the correspondent bank. c9qvQA5 Dh7qKS Daily reconciliation of bank account with Vision when replacing Uploads electronic files and verifies results to destination system. Responds to client transaction status and other inquiries 4. Communications & Workflow Facilitates the communications and workflow of the Operations section to enhance the efficiency and timeliness of operations and outputs. Communicates routine and some non-routine information pertaining to the work of the team. Establishes and maintains the office filing and reference systems, both traditional and digital 5. Calendar/Meetings/Correspondence Management Maintains office calendar and arranges meetings Takes minutes of meetings, ensuring accuracy, attention to detail and coherence. To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have: Completion of secondary education is required; Technical or university courses related to the field of work and/or university degree will be considered as asset. A minimum of 5 years of relevant administrative or clerical work experience is required, preferably in Operations Similar experience from UN system organization will be considered as an asset Fluency in English and local languages is required For every Child, you demonstrate: UNICEFs values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA). The UNICEF competencies required for this post are: Core Competencies: 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) 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: For further information please contact Human Resources at UNICEF Office in Sarajevo, Ms. Marina Kadic at mkadic@unicef.org Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. Advertised: Mar 07 2022 Central European Standard Time Application close: Mar 21 2022 Central European Standard Time Link to the organizations job posting: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1646922568193 Normally, it is my husband saying squirrel to me when in mid-sentence I change gears to a new topic. But, last weekend, it was yours truly yelling at my husband to help me with a squirrel situation. "How can it be two months without you??" Bob Saget's widow, Kelly Rizzo, posts about her loss Willmar, MN (56201) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 61F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Overcast. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable. Travel firms in Vietnam are reporting a surge in outbound tour bookings as over 50 countries lift Covid-19 testing and quarantine requirements for Vietnamese tourists. Representatives of several tour operators said the number of Vietnamese tourists booking tours to Asia, the Middle East and Europe in March has increased two to three times over last month. Leading tour operator Vietravel said the company will take four groups of tourists to Dubai, three to Thailand, one to Maldives and another to Singapore this month. It will also organize a tour to India by charter flight next month. HCMC-based Pan American Travel said weekly tours to Dubai from now until April are fully booked. With visa procedures expected to take much time, the company is scheduling tours to Europe, the U.S. and Australia next month as visa procedures are expected to take much time. Hanoi-based Flamingo Redtours will take two groups of tourists to Dubai on April 28 and 30. Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, deputy marketing head at travel firm Vietravel, said her company is seeing positive signs in the outbound tourism market after many countries have adopted open tourism policies. Dubai, Thailand and Maldives are the destinations most preferred by Vietnamese tourists because of simple visa procedures and Covid-testing and quarantine exemptions. Ngo Van Thoa, director of Pan American Travel, said as of March 10, over 50 countries have scrapped PCR testing on arrival requirements for fully vaccinated tourists, including Croatia, Denmark, Dubai, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. The European Union (EU) lifted its non-essential travel ban and has allowed entry to all fully vaccinated travelers from outside the bloc, including Vietnam, from March 1. India is scheduled to resume regular flights after two years starting March 27 with relaxed travel rules. In addition to tour packages, many solo travelers have been flocking to travel abroad post Covid over the past weeks. On travel fanpages, more people are sharing tips on ensuring smooth trips in the new normal period. Vietnam is set to reopen full inbound and outbound tourism on March 15. The country has resumed commercial flights to 20 of 28 countries and territories that it had direct flights to before the pandemic. Under current regulations, fully vaccinated people and those who have recovered from Covid-19 need to self-isolate for three days after arriving in Vietnam. Everyone, except children below two, must have tested negative for the novel coronavirus using the PCR method no more than 72 hours before departure. Winchester, VA (22601) Today Showers early, then partly cloudy for the afternoon. High 76F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 52F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Nevada Vanadium is now a separate company, and its chief executive officer, Ron Espell, said the current schedule calls for production to begin in early 2024, if the Gibellini Project is permitted as a mine. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management was expected to release the draft environmental impact statement on the proposed mine in Eureka County in February, and Espell said the draft includes an alternative for Gibellini to be a renewable energy operation. The company that recently spun off from Silver Elephant Mining Corp. is looking at solar power to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the mine by half from 40,000 tons, and Espell said that BLM loved it. Thats what we are bringing to the table. The plan calls for solar panels on 32 acres, and Nevada Vanadium also may use electrical haul trucks, he said. Espell said the alternative energy plan is cutting edge, and Nevada Vanadium hopes to incorporate that plan, but if it doesnt make sense economically, were not going to do it. The company is in the process of a feasibility study of Gibellini. The study also will consider the price of vanadium, and that will need to be considered before a final construction decision, he said. The rate of return is 25% if the price is $10 per pound. Vanadium has many uses, including strengthening steel and in the aerospace industry and for batteries. Vanadium is lightweight and strong, and Espell said high-tech uses will drive demand. The alternative energy proposal added time to the EIS process, with a ripple effect throughout the draft document for the BLMs Battle Mountain District, Espell said. Nevada Vanadiums new online presentation predicts the BLM will issue the record of decision for the proposed mine in the second quarter of this year. The company plans to produce 10 million pounds of vanadium a year, mining the ore from an open pit, after roughly 18 months of construction time. Espell said the expectation continues to be 120 workers will be needed for construction and 113 workers for operations. It will be just heap leach and process facilities, he said, because the oxide ore doesnt require a mill, tailings dam or roaster so it makes it a lot less expensive. Vanadium will be leached with sulfuric acid, which will be brought in by rail to Carlin. Espell said closure plans call for rinsing a completed leach pad, and we actually recover acid for the next cell. Gibellini, which the BLM earlier stated was expected to be the first vanadium mine in the United States, also will produce yellowcake from the uranium that will be separated from the vanadium. Weve got to pull it out anyway, Espell said of the uranium, so the company decided to install a uranium recovery unit and precipitate yellowcake, which will be put in special steel drums and shipped by truck. One truck will go straight where it needs to go, so the yellowcake is never rehandled, he said. He said the average granite countertop has 18 parts per million of uranium, while the uranium from the vanadium mine will be 12 parts per million. The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services has already issued the uranium permit for Gibellini. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission assisted the health department, according to Espell. In the pre-EIS stage, the BLM received public comments on Nevada Vanadiums plan to process the uranium to sell roughly 50,000 pounds of yellowcake per year. Reno-based Great Basin Resource Watch wrote lengthy comments in September ahead of the draft EIS, and the executive director, John Hadder, said in February one of the organizations biggest concerns is how the heap leach facility will be handled, because of the acid leaching process. Another concern is the production of yellowcake that at some point will be converted to something very radioactive, he said, referring to the eventual use of yellowcake for nuclear power. The hazard comes later, although it is toxic and its very important that it is handled carefully. Another concern is water, Hadder said. Nevada Vanadium expects to lease 650 gallons per minute from the Fish Creek Ranch and pipe it to the mine site. There also is the dark skies issue, because Gibellini is in an area where the sky is dark and unaffected by lights, he said, adding that Nevada Vanadium proposed using lighting that is directed downward to help address that concern. Hadder said GBRW will take a hard look at the project as it proceeds through the state and federal levels. We want to make sure all concerns are being addressed as much as possible. Along with the uranium concerns brought up in comments, the BLM is looking at the sage grouse issue, and Espell said the project will generate credits with the Sage Grouse Ecosystem Technical Team with steps taken, such as installing electric lines, a water pipeline and the water tank underground to lessen disturbance for the sage grouse habitat. The power line coming from Calibre Minings Pan Mine will be moved from the access road, as well. Pan is roughly 18 miles from the Gibellini site. We have done everything we can to minimize impact to sage grouse, Espell said. The Gibellini vanadium project is roughly 20 miles south of the town of Eureka on BLM mining claims that include the 6,456 acres of the Gibellini site and 4,077 acres of the Bisoni claims that Silver Elephant acquired from CellCube Energy Storage Systems Inc. in 2020. Silver Elephant was the parent of Nevada Vanadium at the time, but Nevada Vanadium was spun out earlier this year to stand on its own as was a nickel subsidiary. A lot of investors want to invest in vanadium or nickel. Silver Elephant keeps its silver property, Espell said. Silver Elephants plan of arrangement provided for each shareholder of Silver Elephant to receive in exchange for every 10 pre-consolidation shares one share of Silver Elephant, one share of Flying Nickel Mining Corp., one share of Nevada Vanadium and two shares of Battery Metals Royalties Corp. Post-arrangement, Nevada Vanadium is a new Canadian company with 50 million common shares outstanding, holding a 100% interest in Gibellini, and Flying Nickel is a new Canadian company with 57.84 million shares outstanding and 100% interest in the Minago nickel project in Manitoba. Battery Metals will hold a 2% royalty on Nevada Vanadium and Flying Nickel and nearly 23 million shares of Nevada Vanadium, representing 45.9% of shares, and nearly 23 million shares of Flying Nickel, representing 37.9%, according to the announcement from Vancouver-based Silver Elephant. Silver Elephant, with a little more than 24 million outstanding shares after completion of the arrangement, holds a 100% interest in the Pulacayo silver project and the El Triunfo gold and silver project, both in Bolivia, as well as 31.73 million shares of Battery Metals, or 37.9%. John Lee, who is CEO and chairman of Silver Elephant, is chairman of Nevada Vanadium. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Two masked and gloved thugs break into a grand house in Dunedin, gag a woman and tie her hands and feet to a chair, then calmly blow off her husbands face with a shotgun and walk out the door. Two masked and gloved thugs break into a grand house in Dunedin, gag a woman and tie her hands and feet to a chair, then calmly blow off her husbands face with a shotgun and walk out the door. She fights nausea, but is perilously close to suffocation before their teenage son arrives home from band practice. Bound And off we go in Bound, a superb thriller from New Zealand author Vanda Symon published locally in 2011 but only now reaching bookshelves and library stacks in the rest of the English-speaking world. Our protagonist is police Detective Sam Shephard, newly promoted and five feet of gumption and sleuthing genius and an inability to get along with jerks at any level, but particularly the rich and powerful. When Shephard introduces herself by name, try not to hear the accent of D.S. Mike Shepherd of the wonderful Brokenwood Mysteries TV series go ahead, try. The motive for the murder and who benefits from the mans death are murky, especially when it develops that he was involved in dealing some unsavoury products that made the chief suspects richer by the day. They would be the two leading hoods in the oceanside paradise of Dunedin, a violent don and his creepy first lieutenant. No motive for the murder, but the evidence points to the two gangsters, convincing the rest of the Dunedin police department that theyve got their guilty villains. But Shephard who could have seen this coming? has her spidey sense tingling that the evidence is just a little too convenient. And as odious as the two men and their wives undoubtedly are, she starts to think that when the women alibi their husbands, that they could just be telling the truth. Heres where backstory kicks in. The two gangsters are believed to have killed a Dunedin police officer and seriously wounded D.C. Smithy, one of Shephards colleagues who has gone from a cheery fellow to a sullen perpetual downer. The murdered cop has been replaced in the unit by Paul, whos in a secret relationship with Sam. And her boss, D.I. Johns, is an awful human being who believes he can get the best work out of people by humiliating, belittling and constantly screaming in rage at them, while taking credit for their success and delegating blame to them for his own failures. Not to overlook her dying father and her mother, who treats Sam just as shabbily through passive aggression as does her bellowing boss. It should surprise nobody that Bound soon becomes a murders mystery, plural. This is a terrific whodunit, howdunit and whydunit that takes its magical New Zealand setting for granted and doesnt go out of its way to explain everything local to us outsiders. Author, pharmacist and radio broadcaster Symon said by email from New Zealand that shes now writing her sixth Sam Shephard book after taking time off to do her PhD on wait for it communication of science in crime fiction. And Symon has rewritten Bound and her other four Sam Shephard books to make them more Kiwi after being initially told that localizing her tales would turn away international readers. Just as with D.I. Johns, how some people ever get into management? Retired Free Press reporter Nick Martin was happy that murder didnt mar his time in Dunedin. He hopes to return there with his wife someday. Wally Chartrand is a spry man with salt-and-pepper hair and kind eyes that glimmer from behind his glasses. Holding his red drawstring medicine bag with white, yellow and black ribbon sewn onto it the colours of the medicine wheel and an intricately carved talking stick, he leads us into a small room on the third floor of the Swan Lake First Nation office in Headingley. Elders MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Wally Chartrand shares Turtle teachings. As part of this series, the Free Press is asking each knowledge keeper to share a story that is important to Indigenous culture. Wally Chartrand shares Turtle teachings: You know how the turtle has seven main points, meaning the tail, the body, the head, and the four legs. So the tail represents that fire of long ago and how it is that the fire for us as Indigenous people almost went out at one time, and the reason is because of colonization, because when the Europeans first came to Turtle Island they brought their own ideals and beliefs, and they thought their ways were better than ours. So, at one time here on Turtle Island, for us to practice our traditions or culture or ceremony was looked down upon. In some cases it was forbidden, and in some cases even against the law. So what the old people would do is when the sun would go down in the evening, they would go away from their villages, away from prying eyes and ears, and thats where they would go and hold their ceremonies. Thats how they barely kept that fire alive. click to read more As part of this series, the Free Press is asking each knowledge keeper to share a story that is important to Indigenous culture. Wally Chartrand shares Turtle teachings: You know how the turtle has seven main points, meaning the tail, the body, the head, and the four legs. So the tail represents that fire of long ago and how it is that the fire for us as Indigenous people almost went out at one time, and the reason is because of colonization, because when the Europeans first came to Turtle Island they brought their own ideals and beliefs, and they thought their ways were better than ours. So, at one time here on Turtle Island, for us to practice our traditions or culture or ceremony was looked down upon. In some cases it was forbidden, and in some cases even against the law. So what the old people would do is when the sun would go down in the evening, they would go away from their villages, away from prying eyes and ears, and thats where they would go and hold their ceremonies. Thats how they barely kept that fire alive. The body (of the turtle) represents the fire of today. So they say today that fire, its getting stronger, because more of our people are returning to ceremony, and more of our young people are also returning, trying to find who they are and where it is that they come from. But its not just our own people. Today, its very common for us to see those other three tribes the white nation, the Black nation, the yellow nation at our ceremonies. So today that fires getting stronger. The head represents the fire of tomorrow, and how it is now our responsibility to ensure that the fire will never go out again, meaning its up to us to pass on that knowledge, those teachings, those ceremonies, the songs, the knowledge of the medicines, and all those types of things, so that the fire will never go out again. The legs of Mother Turtle represent the four sacred directions, those four seasons of life: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and elderhood. And the old people, they tell us today that theres something wrong with that circle, and what they mean by that is the children. Were not teaching them the seven sacred laws: love, respect, honesty, humility, courage, wisdom and truth. We dont teach them, and thats why from time to time we open the paper and we see that somebody took somebodys life. Our young people theyre growing up not respecting that life cause they havent been taught. The youth, they call that the fast life; today thats what theyre living, theyre living the fast life. Today, they dont have time anymore to go and listen to those teachings and those stories from the elders cause theyre too busy on their electronics and so on, so today they dont have that time, and the parents, some of them, have forgotten their roles and responsibilities and thats why were seeing their children and youth growing up in foster homes, cause theyve forgotten their roles and responsibilities. We say that our children are a gift from the Creator. What happens when somebody gifts you something youre supposed to look after that, right? But some of our parents have forgotten that. Some of our elders, some of them are being stingy theyre being stingy with that knowledge, meaning that theyre not passing it on the way they were meant to. So, the elders, they tell us thats part of whats wrong with our circle today. They say all we have to do to make it strong again today is four things. No. 1: We have to teach our little ones those seven sacred laws early. No. 2: We have to find a way to slow down our youth, so that theyll go and make that time, theyll go and listen to the teachings and the stories. No. 3: We have to wake up our parents, so they realize, Hey, these are gifts, Im supposed to look after this gift. I have a role and responsibility. No. 4: All we have to simply do is open the doors and simply start inviting our elders back, cause theyre waiting for us. Theyre waiting so that they can come and teach us and share their stories. They say if we do those four things, just those four things, well begin making the circle strong once again. Thats that Turtle teaching, she represents truth when we talk about the seven teachings. In that sense, thats our truth. Close He begins to lay out seven smooth stones, which have been painted red, in a turtle formation. "This is one of the Turtle teachings I was talking to you about," he explains. His voice is soft and measured, like a deep, soothing whisper. It matches his calm demeanour. He points to one of the stones, a grandfather, and he begins to share a teaching that was passed onto him years ago. "It represents that fire of long ago. And how it is that this fire for us as Indigenous people went out at one time" Chartrand has shared this Turtle teaching and many others to countless people over the years. These teachings dont belong to him, or to anyone for that matter, he says. They are meant to be shared and passed on so that others can learn from them. Chartrand is the keeper of the spirit at Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre. The room in Headingley is a Ma Mawi branch office. The agency has other knowledge keepers and elders on staff, but he is the only one with this title. In the spirit of reconciliation, the Free Press is beginning a new series profiling knowledge keepers in the Indigenous culture. As the keeper of the spirit, Chartrands role is to connect people of all ages through the more than 60 programs offered by Ma Mawi. He participates in and facilitates everything from learning and training opportunities to sharing traditional teachings and being in ceremony. "Its about helping to bring relationships together in a healthier, stronger way," he says of his role, which falls under the executive management team at Ma Mawi. Chartrand was first hired in 1999 under the umbrella of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, a program to help residential school survivors. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS When we do things from our heart, thats part of being in ceremony as well, says Wally Chartrand, keeper of the spirit at Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre. Any group that received funding had to have a committee of elders. The group initially held a sharing circle once a month at KeKiNan Centre, an assisted living centre in Point Douglas. The elders talked about the loss of identity, culture, traditions and spirituality after 150 years of residential schools, but most damaging was the ability to be in relationships. The sharing circles helped Chartrand shape the projects focus trying to mend and rebuild relationships. His team at Ma Mawi developed mens, womens and family retreats that focused on relationships, using a simple format of yesterday, today and tomorrow. In the yesterday aspect, participants were asked how they learned to be in relationships whether through aunties, uncles or their broader community and what was healthy about them. In the today aspect, participants were asked how they viewed their current relationships, as a partner, a parent, with extended family and in the community, and to focus on what was healthy and what was not. In the tomorrow aspect, participants were given tools for building healthier, stronger relationships. I see myself as being a helper a helper from here, my heart. Wally Chartrand "We called it a code of honour. It was simple; that were respectful for one another, that we protect and provide for our families. It was just simple concepts, and it was really up to them on whether or not they wanted to utilize those tools and skills. Part of that was the belief coming in that our families, our communities, our moms and dads that nobodys broken, and if somebodys not broken they must have some skills, some strength and some talent, and how do we build on those?" The Aboriginal Healing Foundation program operated for 12 years, until funding ran out. Chartrand returned to working in the child welfare system, where he had worked previously, until four years ago, when he rejoined Ma Mawi. He is a knowledge keeper, a traditional pipe carrier, a sweat lodge holder and a sun dancer, though he humbly and graciously declines to be called an elder because he doesnt feel as though hes earned that right yet, even though people often label him as one. Maybe one day. For now, he is comfortable being called shkabeh, which means helper at ceremony. "I see myself as being a helper a helper from here, my heart," he says, placing his hand on his chest. "Because they say when we do things from our heart, thats part of being in ceremony as well." A member of Key First Nation in Saskatchewan, Chartrand grew up near Dauphin. He was raised by his great-kookum Anishinaabe for grandmother and his mother who was in and out of his life, depending on her circumstance. His "kookoo," as he calls her, was a devout Catholic, but she didnt have blinders on, he says. She would take him to gospel jamborees as well as to traditional Indigenous ceremonies. To this day, he says, he loves gospel music. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS After laying seven stones in ta turtle formation, Wall Chartrand points to the grandfather stone: It represents that fire of long ago. And how it is that this fire for us as Indigenous people went out at one time Chartrand has never met his father, a Portuguese man whose name hes always known, but nothing else. Not knowing his dad has played a big part in who he has become. Early on, even before he started dating, he decided that if he ever got to be a father he would not be like his own. If he ever had children, he would be a part of their lives no matter what. "I dont know if my dad had been a part of my life how that would have affected me but heres what I do know: there came a time in my life where I had to emotionally, you know, spiritually tell my dad, I missed out. I wish I could have had a relationship; I wish he could have been there," he says. "But also, part of me was like, You could have had that relationship had he chosen otherwise. Thats not for me to carry. In a lot of ways, Ive forgiven my dad in whatever decisions he made, but it doesnt mean that I forget." Fatherhood is one of Chartrands greatest joys. He has seven kids his oldest is 41 and the baby is 16 and five grandchildren. Behind the joy, there is grief. Two contrasting emotions permanently intertwined for Chartrand. He lost three of his children: a son who died when he was 10 months old in 1982, a 21-year-old daughter who died from an overdose in Toronto seven years ago, and his 34-year-old daughter, mother of three of his grandchildren, who died by suicide last May.' I always tell people that when I pray for others I pray to the creator, when I pray for me I pray to my kookoo, my son and my daughters now." Wally Chartrand "Her partner had gotten killed two months prior murdered and it just broke her heart," he said softly. "I dont think she could see beyond the decision." Chartrand is a man strong in his belief and in the teachings that he has been gifted. Of our ancestors, or relatives who have gone ahead to the spirit world, they dont always leave us completely, he says. "I always tell people that when I pray for others I pray to the creator, when I pray for me I pray to my kookoo, my son and my daughters now. Thats who I pray to for me, cause I always believe theyre still there somewhere, listening and hearing." When he was young, Chartrand would listen to his kookum tell stories in Ojibway. Recounting the stories of his childhood, Chartrands eyes glimmer when he goes back to that place in his mind, where he is a little boy sitting on the floor of their home absorbing the stories. Fresh, warm bannock and tea accompanied the conversations and teachings, many of them are long forgotten, or foggy, or asleep inside of him, but theyll pop up every once in a while. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Wally Chartrand, keeper of the spirit at Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, says he is still learning, listening, asking questions and sharing what he learns. In 1979, Chartrand attended his first sweat in Roseau River. For 20 years, he walked on and off the path of living a traditional way of life. In 1999, he stopped veering from the path and became committed to his walk and to helping others in their walks through ceremony and sharing teachings. "One of the things that Ive appreciated about our Indigenous culture when its related to spirituality, is Ive still yet to go to a ceremony where theyre belittling or downplaying Christianity. Instead, the outlook and how we view Christianity is that if it works for some people, then thats awesome. Thats a good thing. It works for them. So, thats what Ive really appreciated about our Indigenous community," he says. "If you flip it around, thats part of how this whole residential school era started to Christianize us." Chartrand says he is still learning. The only way to do that is to listen and ask questions, and to share the teachings and knowledge that have been gifted to us. "Theres a song thats called the Bear Song, in that song the words are Manidoo Mukwa, which is Creator Bear translated. But what that song is actually translated to, its speaking to those grandmother and grandfather spirits, asking for directions. And those grandmother grandfather spirits are all our relatives that have gone ahead of us already So, in our Indigenous ways, when we speak a name of an animal, it doesnt necessarily mean literally that animal. But theres other meaning that comes with that. Thats part of what I love about our traditions and our culture and that," he says. "For example, that rattle when we shake it To us, we hear the rattle sound, but thats their language. They understand exactly what that rattle is speaking to, and the same is with that drum. When you beat that drum da-dum-da-dum-da-dum thats what we hear, but again, thats their language. They understand exactly what that drum is saying. And the same goes with the songs were singing, we hear the chanting part, sometimes well pick up a word or two, but again thats their language, they understand exactly what were saying." "Our spirits understand all languages, they understand all cultures, all traditions. They understand." Chartrand lives in Hillside Beach with his partner, Theresa. He describes himself as a homebody who likes beading, and spending time with his family. He feels most comfortable in nature because thats where he says his spirit gets healed. He is an easy-going adventure seeker. He loves getting into his old Ford van, called Delilah, and going someplace with no destination in mind. "When I started walking back this way in 1999, one of my mentors, this elder, he said, You know what? This walk you wanna do, He said, go over here, go and learn. Go over there and go and learn. Go over there and go and learn. Take what you like, leave what you dont like. Dont make the mistake of just going to one, he said. Cause heres the thing, if you just go to that one, that persons only a human being." "He (a mentor) said, go over here, go and learn. Go over there and go and learn. Go over there and go and learn. Take what you like, leave what you dont like. Dont make the mistake of just going to one." Wally Chartrand Chartrand says its important to create an opportunity to listen and share stories, as well as document them. Its part of keeping our fire alive, though he understands that some elders may be leery of sharing for fear of people taking and manipulating stories for their own gain. He can only speak to his own experience. "You know what they tell us on a dark, clear night, you look up into the heavens and you count the hundreds upon hundreds, upon hundreds of stars out there. They say thats how many teachings there are, just on the circle of life teaching," he says. "Thats only one aspect and I barely know any of those teachings so in that sense, I know a little bit and I am willing to share the little bit that I know." Shelley.cook@freepress.mb.ca Twitter @ShelleyAcook OTTAWA - New Brunswick Conservative MP John Williamson says his province should go back to using the federal carbon price because at least it comes with rebates that could ease the current pain of prices at the pump. In this double exposure photograph, a sign displays the price of a litre of regular grade gasoline as people fuel up their vehicles at an Esso gas station, in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, March 8, 2022. A Conservative MP from New Brunswick says his province should go back to using the federal carbon pricing scheme because at least it comes with rebate cheques that could ease the current pain of the price at the pump. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck OTTAWA - New Brunswick Conservative MP John Williamson says his province should go back to using the federal carbon price because at least it comes with rebates that could ease the current pain of prices at the pump. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and ensuing moves by western allies to ban or reduce imports of Russian oil sent crude prices soaring and then gas prices followed. Gas prices this week exceeded $2 a litre in Vancouver and Montreal, and average close to $1.85 across the country. Filling a car with 50 litres of gas costs Canadians an average of $15.50 more today than it did a month ago, and almost $32 more than it did a year ago. The result is a scramble by politicians everywhere to find a way to give relief. Conservatives, longtime opponents of the "carbon tax," immediately saw scrapping it as the solution. Multiple leadership candidates and conservative premiers want the government to scrap next month's planned increase of $10 per tonne, which would increase the carbon price from 8.8 cents to 11 cents per litre. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said that's a non-starter, and the carbon price has nothing to do with why gas prices went up. "What we're seeing now is a result of what's happening in Ukraine largely and supply-chain issues related to COVID," he said Wednesday in a speech at the Canadian Club Toronto. And he said eight in 10 families in the provinces using the federal carbon-pricing system will get more back from the rebate program than they pay in carbon levies. The rebates are designed to prevent families from being worse off from the carbon price, but still having an incentive to save even more by reducing their fossil fuel use. The federal rebates vary by province depending on fossil fuel consumption. Alberta and Saskatchewan, which rely heavily on coal for electricity, have average rebates of $953 and $969 per family respectively. Manitoba and Ontario, where electricity is drawn mainly from non-emitting sources, averaged rebates of $705 and $592 in 2021. Federal documents suggest the average cost of the carbon price in 2021 was $439 in Ontario, $462 in Manitoba, $598 in Alberta and $720 in Saskatchewan. The rebates will go up in concert with the increased carbon price next month. Among provinces with their own carbon price, only British Columbia also has a direct rebate program. Williamson said Friday he still believes carbon pricing is the wrong way to address climate change. But given that the federal Liberals have a law requiring all provinces to have their own carbon price or use the federal program, Williamson said it would be better to use the plan that gives money back. "I'm trying to find the best, fastest way to deliver tax relief, financial relief to constituents in New Brunswick or I should say to New Brunswick households, New Brunswick families," Williamson said in an interview. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. New Brunswick cut its gasoline excise tax when the carbon price was introduced and last year also said it would use some carbon price revenues to cut income taxes. Guilbeault said it's about time the Conservatives acknowledged the federal carbon price comes with a rebate cheque for families. The Liberals have long accused the Conservatives of ignoring the rebate side of the carbon-price program every time they say carbon prices cost families more. "It's refreshing to see a Conservative MP acknowledge that our price on pollution puts money back in the pockets of middle class families," he said on Twitter. Trevor Tombe, a University of Calgary economist, said every cent of the gas price increase in the last month is because of crude oil prices. About one-third of the pump price of gasoline goes to federal and provincial taxes, and about one-sixth of the tax bill is the carbon price. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2022. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has told several school boards looking to extend mask mandates to stick to the province's end date because "they aren't medical experts." Ontario Premier Doug Ford removes his mask to take a question from a journalist as he attends a press briefing in Toronto, Friday, Oct. 22, 2021. The premier responded Friday to several school boards asking to extend mask mandates by telling them to stick to the province's end date because "they aren't medical experts."THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young Ontario Premier Doug Ford has told several school boards looking to extend mask mandates to stick to the province's end date because "they aren't medical experts." Several boards had said they'd like to keep mask requirements beyond the province's end date of March 21, even for just two more weeks, to watch for any increased COVID-19 transmission from next week's March break or to allow more time to boost youth vaccination rates. Ford made clear Friday that's not happening. "Let me be very clear to the school boards: They aren't medical experts," Ford said after an unrelated announcement in Barrie, Ont. "The chief medical officer is the expert and he has done his due diligence." Other experts such as members of the province's COVID-19 science advisory table and a coalition of children's hospitals, including Toronto's SickKids and CHEO in Ottawa, have said March 21 is too soon to lift mask mandates. Ford said chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore has consulted with local medical officers of health, such as those in Toronto and Ottawa. "Our expectations to the school boards and to the exception of the parents that want their kids to put masks on follow the direction of the chief medical officer, plain and simple." Toronto District School Board trustees voted during a meeting Thursday night to write a letter to the chief medical officer of health, the Ministry of Education and Toronto Public Health to request additional time for removing public health measures in TDSB schools. The trustees asked for a response by Wednesday, but Education Minister Stephen Lecce also indicated in a statement Friday that those types of requests won't be entertained. "School boards in this province are expected to implement this cautious plan, coupled with the ongoing improvement of air ventilation within Ontario classrooms," he wrote. Beyond the province's March 21 timeline, masking will still be "strongly encouraged," the TDSB said Friday in a letter to parents. "For the past two years, the TDSB has prioritized the health and safety of students, staff and school communities," the board wrote. "As we move to a more sustainable, long-term approach to managing COVID-19, you are encouraged to continue with the layers of protection that make you feel comfortable." The Toronto Catholic District School Board had voted Thursday to ask the ministry to let them keep mask rules in their schools for two weeks after March break to allow for more time for younger students to get vaccinated. TCDSB trustee Norm Di Pasquale said the board did what it could. "I thought that taking things from a local context was working and making a lot of sense and its too bad thats being taken away from us," he said. The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board had voted Thursday to keep mandatory masking until April 15, according to local media reports. Information provided this week by the government in announcing the lifting of restrictions said "individual organizations will continue to have the authority to keep requirements in place." A spokeswoman said Friday that only applies to Ministry of Health directives, not the Ministry of Education. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said forcing schools to drop mask mandates before they're ready is not the way to make people feel safe. "The experts say just a couple more weeks of simple masking up will get us to the finish line so why would Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce block that?" she wrote in a statement. Green Party of Ontario Leader Mike Schreiner said school boards should be able to make decisions on masking, in consultation with their local public health unit. "Throughout the pandemic, Doug Ford has constantly shirked responsibility and put the onus of decision-making on school boards on everything from hybrid learning to testing," Schreiner wrote in a statement. "But all of a sudden, hes now putting his foot down. Why?" Other measures such as cohorting and physical distancing in schools are also set to end on March 21, while staff vaccination policies are being lifted for school boards across Ontario as of Monday. The province had already stopped tracking COVID-19 in schools, and the TDSB said Friday that its additional measure of sending positive case notification letters to affected classrooms would continue to the end of March and then will be "reassessed." Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. In Guelph, the Upper Grand District School Board said mandatory masking will end in its schools on March 21, as the board doesn't have the authority to extend those rules after the province lifts mask requirements. "We know that the topic of masks can be a divisive one," the board said on its website. "We want to stress that students, staff and visitors are still welcome to wear masks in our schools, and this is their choice. Masking indoors continues to be strongly encouraged." The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board told parents that mask mandates would end March 21, but noted that everyone will have different comfort levels. "We have travelled a long and difficult road together these past two years and repeatedly we have seen that working together in a culture of respect and empathy is essential to a successful transition," director of education Camille Williams-Taylor said in a statement. The Ontario Principals' Council has also opposed the March 21 date, saying it "will jeopardize the safety of students, staff and our school communities." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2022. There is a potential new tax deadline that many tax professionals are talking about, and thats the date of the next federal budget, instead of the filing deadline of April 30. Opinion There is a potential new tax deadline that many tax professionals are talking about, and thats the date of the next federal budget, instead of the filing deadline of April 30. Specifically, there are fears of an increase in the capital gains inclusion rate and the possibility of other forms of tax increases. While we dont know the date of the federal budget, it should be well before the end of April. What we know for sure is that the government has racked up huge deficits over the last two fiscal years, and may be looking at ways to raise revenues to address those deficits. For the last decade or so, realized capital gains have had a 50 per cent inclusion rate. This means that half of the gain on the sale of any capital asset is included in taxable income. So, if you invest $10,000 in stocks, mutual funds or ETFs and they grow to $20,000, you pay no tax on the growth while you continue to hold that asset. However, if you sell the asset for net proceeds of $20,000, then you have a $10,000 gross realized gain. Half of that gain must be included on your income tax return in the year of sale. (This does not apply to a GIC or bond on which you have paid tax along the way on 100 per cent of the income earned, instead of 50 per cent.) The same rules apply to the sale of investment real estate, farmland, cottages (if not qualifying as a principal residence) or other capital assets. Way back when I was a young planner, we had a tax-free exclusion on the first $100,000 of capital gains. I have also seen a 75 per cent inclusion rate and a 67 per cent inclusion rate over the years. Theres a lot of speculation among accountants that this inclusion rate might increase. Politicians can argue - with only limited validity - that this is only an attack on the rich, because people who claim capital gains have higher than average incomes. The shortcoming of that argument is that when people claim a capital gain - like a pensioner with a $40,000 income selling the familys rural property for $100,000 - their income is automatically higher than average, but often only once. Either way, some people are selling capital assets with large gains now to guarantee themselves the 50 per cent inclusion rate, choosing to pay the tax now rather than defer it. If something is to be sold in 2022 anyway, then it makes sense to do it before the budget. However, if your intention is to hold the asset indefinitely, then the tax deferral may be worth more, even if the inclusion rate is higher in the future. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The Prime Minister has given direction to the finance minister to introduce new taxes on luxury cars, boats and airplanes (because we all buy those!), a 15 per cent minimum tax on high income earners (I pay 54 per cent - where do I sign up!) and an extra tax on large banks and insurance companies, while requiring them to pay a Canada Recovery Dividend. Several professional groups have made submissions to the government that any tax increases should be on consumption taxes like GST, and not on income taxes. There are even fears that gains on home sales over a certain amount might become taxable. But this is all speculation. Again, what we know is that the federal government reported a budget deficit of $274 billion, according to Stats Canada, for fiscal 2020. Although this will be much lower in 2021 and should fall further in 2022 based on recent strong economic growth, this is a federal government that may be clearly hungry for fresh revenue, so fasten your seat belts. Dollars and Sense is meant as an introduction to this topic and should not in any way be construed as a replacement for personalized professional advice. David Christianson, BA, CFP, R.F.P., TEP, CIM is recipient of the FP Canada Fellow (FCFP) Distinction, and repeatedly named a Top 50 Financial Advisor in Canada. He is a Portfolio Manager and Senior Advisor with Christianson Wealth Advisors at National Bank Financial Wealth Management, and author of the book Managing the Bull, A No-Nonsense Guide to Personal Finance. Sometimes, column-writing is like getting into a car and going for a drive, not quite knowing where you are going to end up. Opinion Sometimes, column-writing is like getting into a car and going for a drive, not quite knowing where you are going to end up. That was the case for me a few weeks ago amid the Ottawa occupation, when truckers and assorted other protesters took their unhappiness on a whole bunch of issues to Canadas capital, set up camp and refused to leave. As I mentioned in the column that emerged, it was the sight of farm equipment mixed in with transport trucks, campers and assorted other vehicles at the city events and at the border-crossing protests that prompted me to collect my thoughts around this cheeky display. I felt then, as I do now, that it reflected poorly on farmers and that it threatened to undermine the millions of dollars the industry has invested defending agricultures image to an increasingly skeptical public. I wrote with trepidation, wondering how representative those rallies were of the rural and farming community at large. The morning the column published in this newspaper, I watched outside my window as a convoy of 50 or so vehicles passed by on the highway, presumably on its way to the protests planned in Winnipeg for that day. Led by an RCMP escort and with their four-way flashers blinking, it resembled a funeral procession, except for the Canadian and F--- Trudeau flags rippling in the wind as they picked up speed on the open highway. In a way, it was a funeral of sorts. The sense of pride I used to feel when I saw our Maple Leaf died that day, making me sad. Sure enough, not long after that parade passed by my window, the emails started coming more responses to one column than Ive ever experienced. However, to my surprise, the vast majority of people who took the time to write were supportive and thankful to hear someone say out loud what they were thinking in private. They also confirmed my fears about how it reflected on farmers. I appreciate all that farmers do for society, but you are right that their involvement in the protest does not put them in a favourable light, wrote one reader. Now, I have an incredibly negative view of farmers for being selfish even if they are vital for our survival as the food bearers. I cannot help but think: unintelligent rednecks, wrote another. People have long memories. When the next farmer crisis comes along, my support for them will not be what it was, wrote another. Readers who did not agree with the column were also motivated to write, especially once it was picked up by farm publications in the Glacier FarmMedia network. One Farmtario reader felt so strongly about that one article, he wants his subscription cancelled, which is awkward because that publication isnt subscriber-based. Why would you not stand up for freedom? wrote another. Some felt I was overly divisive and that I misrepresented the true spirit of the protests, which, based on what they had heard were peaceful and caring and actually provided a service to the people of Ottawa because the streets were cleaner and crime dropped during their presence. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Several cited their own information channels to dispute the mainstream medias fake news version of events. Interestingly, news sources that I find credible are now reporting that some of those trucker-convoy channels have switched to promoting a pro-Russian perspective on the invasion of Ukraine. In this age of conspiracy theories, and knowing what we now know about how Russian-based organizations have used cyber-tactics to meddle in foreign affairs before, Im left wondering whether the alt-info network that arose around the convoy protests wasnt just opening up the channels for other disinformation campaigns to come. At its core, column-writing is not about telling people what to think. Its about inspiring them to think and I appreciate hearing from readers, whether they like or dislike what I write. Ultimately, I think we can learn a lot from whats happening in another part of the world right now about what it means to stand up for freedom versus tyranny. Laura Rance is vice-president of content for Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at lrance@farmmedia.com LANDER, Wyo. (AP) The aroma of sizzling meat in melted butter wafts from a cast iron pan while Jaden Bales shows his favorite way to cook up the best steak cuts from a big game animal. LANDER, Wyo. (AP) The aroma of sizzling meat in melted butter wafts from a cast iron pan while Jaden Bales shows his favorite way to cook up the best steak cuts from a big game animal. The deep red backstrap pieces, similar to filet mignon of beef, are organic and could hardly be more local. They're from a mule deer hit by a car just down the road from Bales' rustic home in a cottonwood grove beneath the craggy Wind River Range. Jaden Bales prepares mule deer backstrap stakes in his kitchen south of Lander, Wyoming, on Thursday, March 3, 2022. Bales collected the deer after Lander resident Marta Casey accidentally hit it with her car. Bales used a new state of Wyoming mobile app for claiming road-killed animals to eat. The app may be the first of its kind in the U.S. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver) Bales was able to claim the deer thanks to a new state of Wyoming mobile app that's helping get the meat from animals killed in fender benders from road to table and in the process making roads safer for critters. State wildlife and highway officials rolled out the app possibly the first of its kind in the U.S. this winter when Wyoming joined the 30 or so states that allow people to collect roadkill for food. The doe was crossing U.S. 287 south of Lander early on the morning of Presidents Day just as Marta Casey was headed out in her Subaru to go snowboarding. She hadn't been snowboarding in years. A world traveler who'd only settled in Wyoming a year ago, little did she know she was in for a whole new experience in rural living. I tried to slow down and get around it, said Casey. It was very ... yeah. After a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper took a report and promised to shoot the injured deer, Casey was a couple runs into snowboarding when she remembered the app she heard about from Bales, whom she had just recently met. She alerted Bales, who soon found the doe and used the app to claim it by entering the species and verifying that it wasn't killed illegally. Next thing Casey knew, Bales had hauled the doe home in his pickup truck and Casey was helping cut it up so they could hang the quarters in Bales garage. Wyomings new roadkill feature within the state Department of Transportation app helps people quickly claim accidentally killed deer, elk, moose, wild bison or wild turkey after documenting the animal and reviewing the rules for collecting roadkill to eat. Another purpose is to help people follow the rules. For safety reasons, roadkill in Wyoming may not be collected after dark, along interstate highways or in construction zones. National parks, such as Yellowstone and Grand Teton, also are off-limits for roadkill retrieval. Unlike in other states such as Alaska, roadkill meat in Wyoming can't be donated to anybody, including charities. The whole carcass must be retrieved, not just the antlers or hide. In Oregon, which allows people to claim roadkill with an online form, people must surrender the head and antlers to wildlife authorities within five days but in Wyoming the whole animal is fair game. The Wyoming app helps to collect data. By geotagging roadkill with their phones and documenting the species, app users will contribute to the data that help Wyoming wildlife biologists and highway officials decide where to install wildlife crossing signs and other ways of reducing critter deaths. Wyoming is famous for its abundant wildlife and big game migration routes that are among the longest in North America. From keeping roadsides mowed to installing warning signs and multimillion-dollar wildlife underpasses along migration routes, Wyoming officials have been trying to reduce the at least 6,000 animals killed on the state's roads each year. That's quite a lot. And we know that the majority of those are mule deer, Game and Fish Department spokesperson Sara DiRienzo said. Mule deer, so named for their mule-like ears, inhabit the western half of North America and are generally bigger than the whitetail deer found across the continent. Wyoming is home to about 400,000 mule deer, or roughly two for every three of the state's human residents. Although they're not rare and are still enthusiastically hunted, drought and diminishing habitat have played roles in reducing Wyoming mule numbers by almost 30% in the past 30 years. Mule deer already are struggling because of a number of factors. Roadkill collisions don't help that, DiRienzo said. Roadkill is indiscriminate, though, and includes a wide range of scavengers coyotes, eagles and skunks, to name a few that feed on highway-killed creatures and end up getting hit themselves. You can play the circle of life card and be like, Well, there is never something that is wasted, Bales said. But whenever youve got roadkill, it is really dangerous for any of the critters who come and try to eat it. In the case of Casey's deer, Bales, a spokesperson for the Wyoming Wildlife Federation that pushed for Wyoming roadkill legislation last year, got to the meat before any scavenging animals could risk getting hit. You don't have to know the person who struck roadkill to be able to claim it in Wyoming, but it's not a bad idea. Bales said he never would have claimed the deer without knowing it had died only a few hours earlier and was still fresh. Bales mailed in a lymph node from the animal to be tested for chronic wasting disease, a neurological illness similar to mad cow disease that's been spreading through U.S. deer populations for decades, and it came back negative. After cutting up the deer, Bales and Casey sliced the heart and ate it fried in observance of a tradition that Bales, an avid hunter, grew up with. From there, they carved off roasts and steaks and smaller bits destined for grinding up like hamburger. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Casey had never hunted before and had only eaten wild game a couple times but liked the idea of at least making use of the animal that put her car in the body shop. Its always been important to me to understand where our food comes from, she said. Bales prepared the prized backstraps using a family recipe that includes seasoned salt and fresh-ground fennel seeds. The verdict? Tender, tasty ... delicious. ___ Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver The release of Stats Canadas stellar Labour Force Survey on Friday, showing 337,000 jobs created in February couldnt have come at a better time as federal cabinet ministers are fanning out across the country to talk about what the workforce will look like in a net-zero economy. The release of Stats Canadas stellar Labour Force Survey on Friday, showing 337,000 jobs created in February couldnt have come at a better time as federal cabinet ministers are fanning out across the country to talk about what the workforce will look like in a net-zero economy. Federal Labour Minister Seamus ORegan held a roundtable discussion with labour leaders in Alberta earlier this week and is in Winnipeg on Saturday to do the same with labour and sector leaders. In an interview with the Free Press, ORegan was adamant that Ottawas $1 billion in workforce training and support for workers including those in sectors undergoing transitions, is not about killing the Canadian oil industry, which he boasted was the fourth largest in the world. ORegan took umbrage at the politicization of the initiative and specific accusations that some made against him in Alberta that he was out to end oil. I have never talked like that, he said. Where I come from in Newfoundland and Labrador, we rely on oil and gas royalties even more than they do in Alberta and Saskatchewan. ORegan also bristles at the use of the terminology just transition that the federal government is using in its discussions about the development of the kind of jobs that will be needed in the coming net-zero economy. Our focus in on emissions, he said. We just have to figure out how to lower emissions. ORegans stated support of the countrys oil and gas industry while also advocating for the lowering of emissions might be hard for some to square, but his point is that the oil and gas sector will remain vital for some time to come. Rather than just transition he prefers to just talk about sustainable jobs, like the ones created by the Cowessess First Nation 165 kilometres east of Regina that he visited this week where they have built a 10 megawatt solar power farm. It made my heart warm to see the pride on their faces, he said. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. There are many who believe that employment in the alternative energy industries will blossom in the coming years and the current spike in gas prices at the pump has emphasized the attractiveness of those new opportunities. Gas prices hit $2.00 per litre this week in Newfoundland, he said. Suddenly alternatives start to look better. Ottawa is preparing legislation that will create a support mechanism for the creation of these sustainable jobs (or the just transition) and ORegan and others are talking with stakeholders across the country. In Winnipeg he will be meeting with Bea Bruske the president and CEO of the Canadian Labour Congress and Kevin Rebeck president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour as well as Reg Helwer, Manitobas minister of labour and officials from Manitoba Building Trades. As part of these consultations, the government is accepting written comments until April 30, 2022, at just-transition-equitable@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca VANCOUVER - Most Canadians will move their clocks forward by an hour before going to bed Saturday night for daylight time. The structure holding up the glass roof is reflected in a clock on the wall of the interim House of Commons Chamber West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 15, 2018. Most Canadians will move their clocks ahead an hour before they go to bed Saturday night for daylight time. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang VANCOUVER - Most Canadians will move their clocks forward by an hour before going to bed Saturday night for daylight time. Yukon and most of Saskatchewan keep their clocks the same year-round, and the premiers of Ontario, B.C. and Quebec have said they're receptive to ditching the time change. B.C. Premier John Horgan's passed legislation three years ago to allow the province to permanently stay on daylight time. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. But Horgan said Friday that B.C. won't scrap the twice-a-year time change change without the three U.S. states in the same time zone Washington, Oregon and California also doing so. Horgan says he's hopeful a bill by Washington state's governor will get congressional approval this year, meaning it could be the last time B.C. residents "spring forward." Ontario Premier Doug Ford also said Friday he'd like to see the province stick with daylight time and he looks forward to long summer days. Most provinces as well as the territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories will move their clocks ahead one hour overnight Sunday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2022. Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version erroneously reported that Saskatchewan is on permanent daylight time. In fact, it is on permanent standard time. Ottawa businesses impacted by the weeks-long convoy protest will be able to apply for up to $15,000 to offset their losses starting Tuesday. Police work a checkpoint after authorities took action to clear a trucker protest that was aimed at COVID-19 measures before growing into a broader anti-government protest and occupation, in Ottawa, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. The federal government has announced funding for businesses in Ottawa impacted by the protest convoy that seized the city's downtown for more than three weeks. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston Ottawa businesses impacted by the weeks-long convoy protest will be able to apply for up to $15,000 to offset their losses starting Tuesday. The federal government previously announced a $20-million investment to help businesses cover operational costs incurred during the occupation. The province pledged another $10 million to support affected businesses. Ontario businesses will be able to apply for up to $10,000 in federal funds and $5,000 in provincial money through a portal on Invest Ottawa's website. Mona Fortier, MP for Ottawa-Vanier and president of the Treasury Board, said small businesses have shown incredible resilience throughout the pandemic, but especially during the three weeks when anti-vaccine mandate protesters occupied the city's core. "The occupation forced many small businesses to shut their doors or significantly reduce their hours," she said. "This impacted owners and employees' delivery of goods and resulted in significant revenue losses." Yasir Naqvi, the MP for Ottawa Centre, said the occupation dealt another blow to downtown businesses already hurt by the pandemic. "Our businesses for almost three weeks were absolutely, completely shut down," he said. "It was really necessary that we do everything to assist these businesses to reopen and to rebuild again as they work through this pandemic, and also the aftermath of the illegal blockades." The federal and provincial funds will help with lost sales and other added costs due to the protest, such as hiring security or lost inventory that had to be thrown out. Invest Ottawa president and CEO Michael Tremblay said the portal was designed to be simple, quick, safe and reliable. "We really do want to keep this agile and simple. Its extremely important these businesses have been through enough," he said. Tremblay noted it will take about three weeks for businesses that apply to receive funding. He said the program is expected to run over the next six or seven weeks. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Fortier said businesses in Gatineau, Que., across the river from Ottawa, will also be eligible for government assistance through a separate program if they suffered losses during the protest. She added that Monday will be a redo of Valentine's Day in Ottawa, asking Ottawans to celebrate the occasion by shopping local. "You can bring your loved ones and encourage local businesses, and then businesses can have a smile when they apply (for funding) the next day." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2022. This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, which is funding a project by Carleton University's School of Journalism and The Canadian Press. ELKO An Elko Police Department officer seized packages of heroin, meth and fentanyl during a traffic stop Wednesday night. A car was seen failing to make a complete stop at a stop sign around 9 p.m., and once pulled over off 12th Street, the driver could not produce a valid drivers license. Nicholas M. DeCarlo, 35, of Elko reportedly admitted to police that he was carrying drugs prior to being searched. The officer said he found seven small zip lock baggies with a white crystalline substance in one pocket, five baggies containing a reddish-brown hardened substance, and two baggies containing small blue pills stamped with an M on one side and 30 on the other. The first two substances tested positive for meth and heroin. The officer did not touch the pills believed to be fentanyl because he did not want to risk exposing myself to the illegal and deadly narcotic. DeCarlo was arrested on six counts of possession to sell a controlled substance, and driving with a cancelled drivers license. His bail was listed at $60,355. According to Nevada Department of Corrections records, DeCarlo has been sentenced to prison six times since 2007 on charges including drug possession, ex-felon in possession of a firearm, possession of stolen property, burglary, and possession of a stolen credit card. This weeks felony arrests: Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 4 A businessman who waited years for the city to accept his gift of flashing school zone lights says a contract dispute has stalled the program again. A businessman who waited years for the city to accept his gift of flashing school zone lights says a contract dispute has stalled the program again. Chuck Lewis, who owns Expert Electric, first offered to donate the solar-powered amber beacons to the city in 2017. He was frustrated because councillors kept debating the issue, so he briefly withdrew his offer. Shortly after, in September 2020, council approved it. The first set of lights, which better alert drivers to the 30 km/h school zone speed limit than speed signs alone, was installed on Bedson Street near Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary and Middle School in April 2021. However, Lewis says the project has been bogged down in a contract dispute since then. The (city) sent me a new contract and I was held liable for everything. There was no comparison to what I originally signed, he said. Lewis said the problem emerged several months ago when he contacted the city to arrange to install the second set of lights. (Each school zone requires two beacons). He said the city informed him a new contract was needed. When he received it, his lawyer advised him not to sign it. Lewis said he was advised the new terms are too vague, which would leave him at risk of legal claims if the lights malfunctioned and a child was hurt, or even for potential lost traffic ticket revenue. I said this isnt what I signed. We should be able to go back to (the first contract), this is what we agreed upon. And they never responded, said Lewis. The business owner said he believes the set of lights that was installed has improved safety. With all the obstructions tree limbs that are covering signage and everything else, the average person (may not) see the (reduced school zone speed limit) sign. If you have something blinking at you, like a beacon, it grabs your attention, he said. His company also provided a traffic safety course for students of the school where the lights are installed. In September 2020, the city expected a minimum of one pair of lights would be installed per month until 480 donated beacons were put in place. Lewis said each pair of lights would cost him about $7,000. At the time, the city also expected to pay for another 391 beacons, pending future budget approvals. Five years after his original attempt to donate the lights, Lewis questions the citys commitment to install them. Resumption of the program depends on whether a deal similar to the original contract can be secured, he said. They have to come back with something thats (acceptable) The last time they came back, what they proposed was so silly that nobody in their right mind would agree to it, said Lewis. Coun. Kevin Klein, who has championed the school zone lights proposal at city hall, said hes disappointed. We had told residents (the lights) were coming and once again weve disappointed residents. Were not doing what we said we would do, said Klein. When council gives a direction to do something, why does the public service feel they have the right to delay it as long as they want? Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. In an emailed statement on Friday, the city confirmed the project has been shelved over a legal agreement that couldnt be finalized. Municipal officials say they were waiting on a response from Lewis on the last proposed agreement. Action on the file went quiet and therefore the city considers the project shelved at this point, wrote Felicia Wiltshire, the citys communications director. The city was supportive of the proposed project and made a genuine effort to try to move the project forward. The statement notes municipal officials were concerned the program would require new mounting posts to be added at the citys expense and that the beacons would be installed over many years (leaving some school zones with them and others without them for a lengthy period). The fact the city would need to fund additional beacons, which was noted in the September 2020 report, was also listed as a concern. Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga Federal compensation for First Nations that havent had consistent access to clean drinking water is on the horizon, but communities that remain under long-term boil-water advisories are seeking action now. Federal compensation for First Nations that havent had consistent access to clean drinking water is on the horizon, but communities that remain under long-term boil-water advisories are seeking action now. Eighteen First Nations in Manitoba are eligible for financial compensation as part of a national $8-billion class-action lawsuit settlement agreement. Three of those are still under boil-water advisories, including one of the lawsuits lead plaintiffs, Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake). Mathias Colomb Cree Nation and Shamattawa First Nation are the other two. Shamattawa Chief Eric Redhead said he hopes the class-action settlement will be a step toward solving other problems caused by a lack of services in First Nations communities and a lack of federal funding to maintain basic infrastructure. "Im really happy that the lawsuit took place, because its unacceptable for anyone in this country, with the abundance of water that we have, for people to not have access to clean drinking water," Redhead said Friday. "The lawsuit holds the government (to) account for that, and the people who have been suffering from that get compensation for that. So its good news and I think its a long time coming, but I think this lawsuit also opens other doors to lack of services when we look at health care, education, all these underfunded programs." Shamattawas current boil-water advisory has been in place since December 2018, but water quality has been a problem for decades. Short-term advisories were often implemented off and on, Redhead said. "This is not just the past three years, this is an issue thats been ongoing for generations." The community of about 1,425 on reserve is scheduled to have its upgraded water treatment plant completed by October. Previously, residents received trucked-in water from the plant. However, the plants equipment was modified with the intention of distributing water throughout the community, without the need for delivery trucks. The plant wasnt built for that purpose and water quality didnt keep up, Redhead said. Some residents have reported skin rashes because of the non-potable water, he added. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. On-reserve members of eligible First Nations can receive compensation, and individuals can also apply for compensation under the First Nations drinking water class-action settlement, which was finalized late last year. Compensation is one step, Redhead said, but people still need clean water: "Theyd rather turn a tap and access the clean, drinkable potable water." The settlement agreement sets out legal obligations for the federal government to provide clean water to all First Nations into the future. However, Redhead said, the government has already made so many broken promises about water quality including Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus election campaign pledge to end all long-term boil-water advisories by March 2021 he doesnt put much stock in it. "Im not holding my breath that this settlement is going to fix the solution down the road," the chief said. "I hope Im wrong, but Im not holding my breath." katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Most of the health-care workers who went on leave when Manitoba made COVID-19 vaccines or regular testing mandatory for front-line care staff are returning to work now that those requirements are lifted. Most of the health-care workers who went on leave when Manitoba made COVID-19 vaccines or regular testing mandatory for front-line care staff are returning to work now that those requirements are lifted. About 13 per cent (15 of 119) of direct care workers on administrative leave have said they arent coming back to their positions, a Shared Health spokesperson said Friday. The provincial agency didnt provide other figures nor a regional breakdown to show where the majority of those workers are employed. Shared Health stated: Most of the 119 direct care workers in the health-care system who were on unpaid leaves of absence related to compliance with public health orders have returned to work or are in the process of doing so. Manitoba issued a public health order requiring front-line health-care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or agree to be regularly tested for the virus as of Oct. 18, 2021. More than 100 workers went on unpaid leave as a result, with the majority of those in the Southern Health region. As of late February, there were still 1,500 unvaccinated workers who required regular testing and 119 on unpaid leave: 75 in Southern Health, 16 in Prairie Mountain, 13 in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, eight at Shared Health, four in Interlake-Eastern, and three in Northern Health. The province removed those vaccine and testing requirements for health-care workers when it lifted all proof-of-vaccine requirements for Manitobans on March 1. Indoor mask requirements are being lifted March 15 in public places other than health-care facilities. Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Some clinics have decided to keep mandatory testing in place for health-care staff who are unvaccinated or dont disclose their vaccination status. C.W. Wiebe Medical Centre is one of them. The Winkler clinic has extended vaccine and testing requirements for staff until the end of the month. We will review at that time. We wanted to wait a couple of weeks past the lifting of the mask mandate in the area to see if that created an increase in cases or not, so weve deferred it till the end of March, said clinic administrator Jim Neufeld. A bigger issue is at play when it comes to staff shortages and nurses and support workers going on leave, said Winkler-based physician Dr. Ganesan Abbu: burnout and stress on the health-care system. Abbu said he believes more staff have left because of burnout than because of the vaccine or testing requirements. There were very few nurses that actually stepped aside because of vaccination. I think the issues of shortages on the medical floor as well as in the emergency department have been longstanding and pre-date COVID, he said. COVID just made it worse. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca The University of Manitoba and the union that represents its academics have begun arbitration proceedings with a shared goal of making salaries more competitive with Canadas other top research schools and addressing recruitment and retention. The University of Manitoba and the union that represents its academics have begun arbitration proceedings with a shared goal of making salaries more competitive with Canadas other top research schools and addressing recruitment and retention. The parties resumed efforts to conclude a three-year collective agreement between 2021-22 and 2023-24 on Friday. Toronto-based arbitrator William Kaplan is scheduled to oversee virtual meetings on general annual wage increase proposals throughout the weekend. U of M and the faculty association (UMFA) agreed to enter binding arbitration late last year to end a 35-day strike. Professors, instructors and librarians set up picket lines on Nov. 2, citing their employers low wages among the U15 a collective of major research-intensive universities and as a result, staffing shortages and turnover challenges at Manitobas largest post-secondary institute. "Unless we start making advancements were not going to be able to recruit and retain members, which is going to negatively affect the quality of education that students are able to get here in Manitoba," said Orvie Dingwall, president of UMFA. Statistics Canada data show the 2020-21 median assistant professor salary at the U of M was the lowest of the U15, a group that includes schools ranging from Queens University to the University of Saskatchewan. Associate professors earned the second-lowest amount on the list, with Laval University at the back of the pack. As for full professors, the median annual sum was only higher than the University of Montreal and Laval last year. While administration and academics made some progress in autumn on wage schedule adjustments, including increasing salary floors, ceiling and increments, they remain in conflict over annual salary hikes. Following numerous bargaining sessions and mediation attempts, the parties decided upon a neutral third-party arbitrator with a mutual goal for U of M to achieve "reasonable advancement" towards the 25th salary percentile of the U15. It will be up to Kaplan to define what that means. (Academics argued in favour of adjusting wages in line with average U15 salaries on Friday so all university employee earnings are accounted for, while the U of Ms legal team suggested medians are more appropriate because averages can be swayed by outliers.) UMFA representatives have tabled a proposal to increase wages annually by 3.3 per cent, 3.6 per cent and 2.5 per cent over the contract to meet that goal. The universitys plan, which suggests structural changes to the salary schedule that have already been decided upon amount to a four per cent increase throughout the three-year period, includes annual raises of 1.25 in the first year, followed by 1.50 and 1.75, respectively. "You have an important and unique task," said faculty association lawyer Garth Smorang, during a presentation to the arbitrator Friday. "This will be the first opportunity since 2013 for these parties to enter into a collective agreement unaffected by government interference." Smorang spoke at length about the tense labour relations between the U of M and UMFA in recent years, owing to the governments unconstitutional interference in 2016 contract talks and the introduction of now-defunct public-sector wage-freeze legislation, the Public Services Sustainability Act (Bill 28). The lawyer noted U of M educators received a 1.75 per cent raise between 2016 and 2020 while the salaries of their University of Winnipeg colleagues increased by seven per cent a result of UMFA negotiations taking place shortly before Bill 28 was tabled. Throughout the fall 2021 term strike, UMFA repeatedly called on the Progressive Conservative government to withdraw a more recent university wage mandate that professors claimed was preventing them from reaching an agreement with their employer. The Tory government maintained that public-sector bargaining mandates are not uncommon for stewards of taxpayer money a point the universitys representatives echoed on Friday. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Adrian Frost, U of Ms lawyer, urged the arbitrator to disregard both historical and current provincial mandates, as well as a 2016 labour dispute between the parties that he noted was addressed by the Manitoba Labour Board. "(This) award will hopefully reset the focus of the relationship between the parties, and that focus will be on the present and future rather than the past, as it has continued to be, even in this proceeding," Frost said. In their pitch, the universitys legal team discussed COVID-19 pandemic cost pressures and the affordability of Winnipeg in comparison to other cities in which U15 peers are located. The arbitrator does not have to take into consideration the universitys ability to pay. A decision is expected within 30 days of this weekends proceedings. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie LETS think the best of Winnipeg authorities and ascribe honorable intentions to their reluctance to evict bus-shelter squatters. Opinion LETS think the best of Winnipeg authorities and ascribe honorable intentions to their reluctance to evict bus-shelter squatters. The officials likely feel compassion for people who feel their best option is to stay outdoors during the winter. Who doesnt? We all feel sorry for anyone who has to spend nights in temperatures that are dangerously cold. The prevailing rationale seems to be respecting the rights of squatters to make their own decisions, even when they refuse frequent invitations to come in from the cold and sleep in institutional shelters where, at a minimum, they can rest on mats in a place that is warm. Theres also the Indigenous factor, an area of particular sensitivity in Winnipeg. Many of the squatters appear to be Indigenous, and their life choices are often related to generational dysfunction rooted in shameful colonial measures such as residential schools. For authority figures to regularly acknowledge living on treaty land and then roust Indigenous people from bus shelters in which theyve sought reprieve from the elements would seem like well-tell-you-where-to-go colonialism. Everyone agrees something needs to be done but, so far, no one has proposed a solution that is both decisive and effective. The problem and the search for solutions are not unique to this city, of course. Californias governor ignited considerable debate last week when he proposed mandated treatment for people who are homeless and living with addictions and severe mental illness. Critics were quick to say forcing people into treatment without their consent would be a dangerous violation of their civil rights. If we accept that no one in Winnipeg seems to have a better idea, perhaps were ready for a conversation about what California is doing. Winnipeg current position stand back and let downtown bus shelters be claimed by victims of drug addiction and mental illness seems unfair to passengers waiting for buses. Theyre understandably reluctant to enter close quarters with people who appear unstable and are often living in a litter of liquor bottles, needles and bags containing solvents. Its even more unfair to the people staying in the shelters, which are wide-open to the brutalities of passersby who can be even more dangerous than the frigid weather. The shelter at Portage Avenue and Edmonton Street was the site of a death on Feb. 22 and a weapons assault the next night. One at Portage near Garry Street was the location of a sexual assault on Jan. 22 and then it was burned down Jan. 27. Firefighters and paramedics were called to downtown Winnipeg bus shelters an average of almost five times a day during 2021. Winnipeggers concerned about homelessness have proposed addressing the roots of poverty, increasing treatment availability and building more government-subsidized housing. Such long-term vision is commendable, but of no immediate comfort to people who will sleep outdoors tonight. California will try a more aggressive approach if Gov. Gavin Newsom gets his way. His plan will compel some people experiencing homelessness to get court-ordered psychiatric treatment and medication. They wont have the option of declining. Theres no compassion stepping over people in the streets and sidewalks, Newsom told media. We could hold hands, have a candlelight vigil, talk about the way the world should be, or we could take some damn responsibility to implement our ideals, and thats what were doing differently here. The governor said people compelled into treatment would be represented by public defenders in new mental-health branches in civil courts. Judges would order clinical assessments to determine if people should be placed under care for up to 24 months. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Critics of the proposal said its an alarming violation of civil liberties to lock people up and subject them to treatment against their will. Proponents respond that mandated intervention is helping people who are not fit to help themselves. In Winnipeg, Coun. Kevin Kline last week called for a special meeting with stakeholders to come forward with potential solutions to the problem of people living year-round in Winnipeg bus shelters. Its to be hoped the meeting can consider the possibility that some people in Winnipeg bus shelters are too sick to realize they need care, that mandated treatment would be doing whats best for people incapable of acting in their own best interests. Perhaps its a more compassionate alternative than averting our eyes as we walk past the damaged individuals wasting away while on display. carl.degurse@freepress.mb.ca Carl DeGurse is a member of the Free Press editorial board. THE usual way we seek to understand the Manitoba policy process is to examine how elections, political parties, the legislature, the premier and cabinet, the public service and the courts contribute to government decision-making. Opinion THE usual way we seek to understand the Manitoba policy process is to examine how elections, political parties, the legislature, the premier and cabinet, the public service and the courts contribute to government decision-making. But an alternative perspective exists, which views policy-making as a mostly hidden process happening within a series of closed, specialized policy communities in which private elites interact with public officials to push policy demands, block unwanted policies or seek policy compromises they can live with. This is the world of lobbying, which can be highly important in determining who gets what, when, how and why from the policy process. Lobbying is a legitimate activity. It can increase the intelligence used in policy-making and the responsiveness of governments to needs and concerns within society. Not everyone, however, has a well-funded and well-connected lobbying organization working on their behalf. As one wit observed, the lobbying chorus sings with a distinctly upper-class accent. This does not mean, of course, that lobbyists always get what they demand. In 2008, Manitoba adopted a law on lobbying which came into effect in 2012. The law is meant to allow for legitimate activity while ensuring that inappropriate behaviour is discouraged. Since then, the number of lobbyists has increased, as has the sophistication of their lobbying techniques. Other jurisdictions have modernized their lobbying regulatory approaches; Manitobas approach remains limited and weak. That approach relies almost exclusively on public reporting by registered lobbyists about the targets and purposes of their lobbying efforts. Both organizational (in-house) and consultant (for-hire) lobbyists are required to register and report on the targets (MLAs, ministers or other public officials) and subject matter of their lobbying efforts. The lobbyist registrar (who doubles as the conflict of interest commissioner) has no enforcement power. Failure to comply with the law can lead to court fines, but this has never happened. The registrar does not prepare an annual report and/or appear before the legislature. The online registry of lobbyists is meant to provide transparency so the media and the public can see which groups, organizations and individuals are trying to influence decision-making. There are no user statistics available, but one suspects there are few visits to the site, which is not easy to navigate. Some interesting information is available, such as the frequency of contact with individual ministers. There is a section called intended outcomes of lobbying efforts, but the reporting on this topic is frustratingly vague. It uses such reporting categories as seeking to influence legislation but does not identify the bills in question. Here are some general findings derived from my exploration of the registry for the six years since the Progressive Conservatives took power in 2016: There was a steep rise in lobbying activity from 2017 to 2019, a development that reflects lobbyists establishing working relationships with a new government that was embarking on sweeping changes in a number of policy fields. The agenda of proposed legislation, spending and administrative actions drives most lobbying activity, but experienced lobbyists also stay in touch to anticipate and shape future policy thinking. The number of registered lobbyists fluctuates over time, with many registering for a limited period to pursue a particular issue. At the end of 2020, there were 90 consultant lobbyists registered and 62 in-house lobbyists registered. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Health is the policy field where the greatest amount of lobbying activity occurred, which is not surprising given that a drastic overhaul of the health system has been underway and the province has been coping with a pandemic. In 2021, there were 467 lobbying contacts with the health minister and other health officials. The next most frequent target was agriculture, with 130 contacts. Among the in-house lobbyists, certain organizations stand out. The team of representatives from the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses communicated frequently with government, especially on finance issues. The pharmaceutical industry, firms such as Glaxo Smith Kline and Merck, had a strong presence. Primerica Financial Services shows up regularly. Agribusiness and mining are well represented. Social-policy groups representing concerns related to poverty and Indigenous issues are active, but not to the extent of better-financed organizations. The ranks of the for-hire lobbyists include a number of former politicians and former political assistants to ministers. Many on the 2021 registry represented multiple clients, who are prepared to pay a fee for the connections and tactical knowledge former political insiders bring to the lobbying process. Lobbying is a necessary and rarely sinister activity. However, Manitobas lobbying system is unrepresentative and insufficiently transparent. The regulatory framework for overseeing lobbying needs to be strengthened, but that is a topic for another article. Paul G. Thomas is professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba. A point of pride for Canadians has long been that we are relatively free of handguns and the resulting scourge of injuries and deaths that are inevitable when citizens arm up, a plight that plagues our neighbours to the south. If we want to continue to be a country where handgun violence is relatively rare, its time to resume efforts to ban these weapons. A point of pride for Canadians has long been that we are relatively free of handguns and the resulting scourge of injuries and deaths that are inevitable when citizens arm up, a plight that plagues our neighbours to the south. If we want to continue to be a country where handgun violence is relatively rare, its time to resume efforts to ban these weapons. The need for such a restriction became clear at the March 4 meeting of the Winnipeg Police Board, when police reported 182 handguns were seized in 2021, a 35 per cent increase from the previous year. Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Elton Hall told the board, "Handguns have quickly become one of the biggest challenges facing front-line policing in Winnipeg today." His observation should concern Winnipeggers, who legally cannot own handguns except for target-shooting purposes and dont want criminals to have them either. Polls show about two-thirds of Canadians want all handguns banned. The public will is clear; whats considerably less clear is which level of government will step up and do what the electorate wants. Recent jurisdictional jockeying has seen the issue ricocheted between federal, provincial and municipal levels. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino (Adrian Wyld / Canadian Press files) Visiting Manitoba on Thursday, federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino answered media questions about gun violence by recounting measures his government is taking, such as moving forward with a national ban on military-style assault rifles. Unfortunately, he didnt mention the possibility of a national ban on handguns, perhaps because his government seems stalled on the issue. In November 2021, Mr. Mendicino said that rather than a imposing national ban on handguns, his government would help provinces and cities enact their own restrictions. Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said at the time he supports a handgun ban, but would rather it be on a national or provincial level so enforcement is uniform. Then-premier Brian Pallister said he wouldnt support a municipal or provincial ban, but might support the ban if it was national. While the politicians passed the hot potato, Statistics Canada reported an 81 per cent increase in gun violence between 2009 and 2019. Handgun-ban legislation should also impose tighter penalties for possession of guns illegally smuggled across the U.S. border, for home-made devices sometimes known as Zip guns, for those assembled from mail-order kits and for those manufactured with 3D technology. With the exception of legitimate target shooters, there is no valid reason for law-abiding Canadians to own handguns. While long guns are used by some for hunting and controlling pests on farms, the use of handguns for those purposes is illegal. And when they are used (unlawfully) for purposes other than target-shooting, handguns are used primarily to intimidate people, to shoot people and in the commission of crimes. With the exception of legitimate target shooters, there is no valid reason for lawabiding Canadians to own handguns. Responsible handgun owners who currently pursue their hobby of shooting on licensed ranges might initially oppose a ban but, as people skilled with firearms, one hopes they of all people will understand the danger of having a growing number of such weapons in the hands of untrained amateurs, many of whom are of criminal intent. Ottawas attempt to shift the ban responsibility to provinces and municipalities has been a non-starter, and for good reason. A patchwork of handgun bans would create the possibility of people travelling to neighboring jurisdictions in search of less-restricted access. A unified approach is essential. Municipal and provincial representatives should support and work together with Ottawa, but their joint mandate should be clear the handgun ban must be national. All nine provincial jails and correctional facilities started running critically low on toilet paper and medical supplies just a week after the first case of COVID-19 reached Manitoba in March 2020. All nine provincial jails and correctional facilities started running critically low on toilet paper and medical supplies just a week after the first case of COVID-19 reached Manitoba in March 2020. Those details were revealed in hundreds of pages of newly released government records which paint a picture of pandemic procedures and problems in Manitoba jails over the past two years. The documents, along with thousands of other records from the federal government and every province and territory in Canada, were obtained through access to information and freedom of information requests filed by Prison Pandemic Partnership researchers, led by University of Winnipeg associate criminal justice Prof. Kevin Walby. "One of the big things for me It shows in the beginning, Manitoba was really scrambling, like every other jurisdiction, so much so that they couldnt get some very basic supplies for the prisoners, let alone PPE they couldnt get soap or toilet paper for prisoners, let alone masks and face shields," Walby told the Free Press on Friday, noting it appears the department caught up after a few months. Another standout in the records for Walby was the release of inmates in the first wave of the pandemic, which didnt appear to happen in subsequent waves. "Manitoba did release some prisoners, about a dozen a day throughout April and May of 2020, (as part of) the strategy to manage population levels and prevent COVID transmission," he said. "They showed they can de-carcerate, they showed they can reduce jail, prison populations, that we dont need to throw so many people behind bars. We can have different ways of working on sentences in the community." The slowing of prisoner releases later in the pandemic showed corrections agencies across the country didnt learn the lesson "that was right there in front of them," Walby said. "They didnt do that in the subsequent waves and then we saw 26,000 COVID cases behind bars in Canada and 6,000 cases for workers and a transmission and infection rate six times higher than the general population," he said. JESSE BOILY / WINNIPEG FREE PRES Manitoba's provincial jails and correctional facilities couldnt get soap or toilet paper for prisoners a week after the pandemic began in 2020, a government study found. (Jesse Boily / Winnipeg Free Press files) Walby also runs the U of Ws Centre for Access to Information and Justice, which uses public records laws for public interest research. The wider pandemic papers research team was motivated to create the database for three main reasons: information disclosure for the families and friends of people in jails and prisons; open access to research; and as an audit of freedom of information legislation nationwide, he said. "We sent the exact same requests to every single jurisdiction, and you can see some of the jurisdictions did a pretty good job of responding and some of them just did terribly like Alberta really demonstrated they have no interest in freedom of information," said Walby, who was pleased with the way Manitoba responded. "I was almost kind of surprised, because sometimes Ive had some difficulties using FOI in the province." As Manitoba tensely waited for the pandemic to begin in earnest in early 2020, inmate programming was cancelled on March 18, while access to recreation was limited to small groups. No one was allowed to visit facilities, apart from legal services. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. By March 24 12 days after the first case was confirmed in the province corrections received hand sanitizer from an alcohol distillery. By March 25, in light of shortages of critical cleaning supplies, the accommodation services division began working with the custody division on proper disinfection procedures for isolation cells for COVID-positive inmates. All jails had supply rationing plans in place, while the department worked with alternative suppliers as countries around the globe raced to procure cleaning products and personal protective equipment. That same day, the number of inmates in isolation in provincial corrections facilities was 18; a Manitoba Justice COVID-19 central co-ordination team status update said the number in isolation was increasing daily. By Aug. 28, 233 inmates across the provincial system were in isolation, most of which were in the Winnipeg Remand Centre (141). erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @erik_pindera A new analysis of COVID-19 antibodies among blood donors shows Manitoba recorded the largest spike in infections of all provinces outside Quebec following the arrival of the Omicron variant. A new analysis of COVID-19 antibodies among blood donors shows Manitoba recorded the largest spike in infections of all provinces outside Quebec following the arrival of the Omicron variant. Results from a recent seroprevalence study conducted by the COVID-19 immunity task force show infection-acquired antibody levels nearly doubled in Manitoba between December 2021 and January 2022, from 8.18 per cent to 15.85 per cent. According to the report, the jump was the highest among Canadian Blood Services donors from nine provinces. Data from Quebec was not included in the comparative analysis. Manitoba also posted the highest infection-acquired seropositivity level in January among nine provinces. You had Omicron circulating really well when it was highly transmissible and thats why you ended up having this percentage of blood donors showing evidence of having been infected, Dr. Catherine Hankins, task force co-chairwoman, said in an interview Friday. On average, infection-acquired antibodies climbed from 7.5 per cent to 10.1 per cent between Dec. 25, 2021, and Jan. 15, among donors from all provinces. It takes one to two weeks before antibodies are detected, meaning infections captured in the study occurred up to the 2021 holiday period, the report noted. During that period, Manitobas public health capacity was overrun with demand for COVID-19 tests, as tens of thousands of people caught the Omicron variant. Public health orders restricted private gathering sizes but continued to allow most businesses, including restaurants and other public venues, to operate at half-capacity and with limits on alcohol service. Meantime, essential service providers, including the Winnipeg Police Service, personal care homes, hospitals, public transit, corrections, and emergency responders, were stretched thin as workers fell ill in quick succession. Hankins said its difficult to explain why Manitoba had a pronounced spike in infection levels compared to other western provinces, including Saskatchewan and Alberta, which logged infection-acquired seropositivity levels of 13.46 per cent and 13.99 per cent, respectively. This is a window on what was happening in the general population, she said. Its hard to know. Did you really party harder over Christmas? However, the rollout of second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the availability of booster shots, plus the implementation and adherence to public health measures, all likely influenced the higher infection level among Manitoba donors, Hankins said. I think whats striking is were talking about the Prairie provinces, said Hankins, a professor at McGill University in the school of population and global health. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba are consistently higher than Ontario. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. A federal analysis of public health measures in mid-December indicated Manitoba had the most stringent approach of the 10 provinces, but by early January, it had fallen to the middle of the pack as other jurisdictions tightened restrictions. However, Manitobas measures were tighter than Alberta and Saskatchewan until mid-February, according to the Bank of Canadas COVID19 stringency index. The prevalence of COVID-19 in the community noted by the task forces study reinforces the importance of public health recommendations as orders are lifted, Hankins said. The vaccines are holding and are important, but also are our non-pharmaceutical measures like putting on a mask in a crowded setting, Hankins said. Just lifting mask mandates and vaccine mandates and so on, doesnt mean that its now a free for all. The virus is still here so we have to use some judgement. You do not want to get this infection if you can avoid it. danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca The most striking part of the governments response to the first handful of COVID-19 cases in Manitoba two years ago is the extreme measures that were taken. The most striking part of the governments response to the first handful of COVID-19 cases in Manitoba two years ago is the extreme measures that were taken. It was clearly an overreaction to shut down schools, day cares, gyms, bars and restaurants and impose strict capacity limits in public places when there were just over 100 cases of COVID-19 in the province. It wasnt the wrong decision at the time; the government just didnt know better. Most of the decisions back then were driven by uncertainty. It wasnt the wrong decision at the time; the government just didnt know better. Knowing what we know today, the most effective response at the time would probably have been to impose a mandatory mask rule in all public places, enforce self-isolation and travel restrictions, put moderate capacity limits in public places and build fortresses around long-term care facilities to protect the most vulnerable seniors. There was no need to shut everything down, at least not during the first wave when the original strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was far less contagious than it is now. Mask use two years ago wasnt seen as an option, though. Public health officials, including at the World Health Organization, were still rejecting them as effective tools to reduce transmission in the public. They didnt know a lot about the virus in early 2020. They still believed only symptomatic people could spread it and had no idea it was airborne. "This virus spreads almost exclusively through close contact to infected individuals who are showing symptoms of infection," Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer said on March 12, 2020, the day the province announced the first case of COVID-19 in Manitoba. There is one principle the government followed two years ago that is sadly missing from todays approach: the province no longer errs on the side of caution when making public health decisions. We now know thats not the case. However, the scientific evidence on SARS-CoV-2 was evolving rapidly at the time. Just two months earlier, scientists werent even sure if it could spread between humans. The overreaction and draconian measures aside, there is one principle the government followed two years ago that is sadly missing from todays approach: the province no longer errs on the side of caution when making public health decisions. Politicians may have gone overboard during the first wave, most of which can be explained by the fact governments and scientists knew so little about the virus, including how to manage it. But the government felt it had a responsibility to ensure adequate protective measures were in place. It no longer does, even though Manitoba still has 417 COVID-19 patients in hospital, including 23 in intensive care units. If the government took that same proactive approach today, it would maintain the indoor mask mandate, make selfisolation mandatory for those who test positive and keep proofofvaccination rules in place. "What were trying to do here is to lessen the impact by proactive measures to make sure that our system stands up above all others," then-premier Brian Pallister said the day after Manitobas first case of COVID-19 was announced. It was also the day the province decided to suspend in-class learning in public schools for three weeks. "Were making sure that we do everything we can to protect the health and well-being of people here and were trying to do that in a proactive way that is not alarmist, that does not instill fear but rather instills a sense I hope of confidence." If the government took that same proactive approach today, it would maintain the indoor mask mandate, make self-isolation mandatory for those who test positive and keep proof-of-vaccination rules in place, including for health care workers, at least until COVID-19 hospital cases are under control. It may turn out we dont need any of those measures, the last of which (masks) are scheduled to be lifted March 15. However, public heath isnt about trying to do as little as possible and hoping it all works out. Its about taking proactive measures that are proportionate to the risks. "We can err on the side of caution or err on the side of delay," Pallister said when his government decided to close schools, just a few hours after Roussin said that morning schools would not be closed. "After discussions, weve decided to err on the side of caution." The Tory government doesnt err on the side of caution anymore when it comes to COVID-19. Maybe its because of political and public pressure, or just sheer exhaustion or all three. Whatever the case, the pendulum has swung from taking cautious, calculated steps based on evidence and public health projections to throwing all caution to the wind and hoping for the best. History shows thats not usually the best course of action. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca ELKO Political newcomers tossed their hat into the ring this week, running for election in several City and County races. Elko county commission For Elko County Commission District 4, attorney Travis Gerber and Ryndon resident Steven Grimes filed for office this week, vying for the seat currently held by Cliff Eklund, who will term out at the end of the year. Gerber, whose father Grant Gerber served on the County Commission, said Grant was a great advocate for Elko County. He grew up here, he understood the values, agriculture and mining. He knew the people of Elko County and loved them. Those are big boots to fill, but I had enough time with him I practiced law with him for 12 years and spent my life with him and that rubbed off on me and on my brother Zachary, Gerber said. Wed like to carry on that legacy and keep pushing forward those values. He added that he has been watching County Commissioners work with the new tax structure, watching how those funds are being prioritized and allocated. Im encouraged that the County is solvent, added Gerber, who lives in Spring Creek. That the County is improving its fire suppression and fire capability with the new engines that have been purchased and the new fire station in Lamoille. Citing his fathers stance on land use rights for grazing, Gerber said he was interested in making sure that Lamoille Canyon does not burn again. That could have been prevented and should have been prevented. He said he agrees with how the County Commissioners are proceeding. My goal is to continue that legacy and to continue making rational and solid decisions for the County. ------ Grimes said he has lived in Elko County since 2004, and wants to give back to this community as much as I can, or at least help and try to improve this community as I can. He pointed to the roads as one area he wants to fix, using his own grader for road work but the County cant get out there and do it. He also said he would like to fix the map cartography on apps. All these map services, and you try to find an address, it doesnt know exactly where to take you, Grimes said. Someone needs to step up and clean up the cartography. Grimes, who worked for Vega Construction before taking time off for shoulder surgery and rehabilitation, said is currently serving in the Civil Air Patrol, helping organize a local chapter of REACT for emergency and disaster response. Additionally, he is taking flight lessons to pilot a plane for search and rescue. He recalled how lost hikers or others stranded in the mountains could have been located, and said a REACT group could have made a difference. Grimes said he would also introduce or support an ordinance to protect employees who were fired based on their Covid-19 vaccination status. Employers need to be held accountable for their actions, he said. Grimes also explained he believed the County Commission needed people who get to work instead of saying why we cant get to work. Elko mayors race Mike Hagen, who manages Bristlecone Bikes, filed to run for mayor against incumbent Reece Keener. He cited Covid-19 regulations that closed businesses or limited operations as his reason for vying for office. There were no questions asked. The Mayor did nothing to do research into what was actually going on. The Mayor needs to be in control of things. I dont want to see that happen again, he said. Commerce is vital to our survival as a city and closing down businesses is retroactive to that, Hagen continued. Hagen said he lived in Elko for eight years. He lived in Reno, where he ran for mayor, but moved after Reno became too liberal. I came back to where it is safe. Elko is a very conservative town. Im very conservative, but Im not over conservative. I like to view myself just right of center. He said he is for legal marijuana and would like to see dispensaries open because thats a great source of revenue for the City. Thats going to take zoning. The town council said were not going to zone for marijuana dispensaries. Id like to see that changed. Adding more infrastructure to Elko is another of Hagens goals if elected. Specifically, he suggested constructing a bridge across the railroad tracks and the Humboldt River on the east end of town. A more direct route to Spring Creek. We have infrastructure money now, so thats viable. Hagen has been a manager of various businesses in Salt Lake City and Reno, and he said he believed Elko needed a mayor manager in addition to the City Manager. We need somebody who is going to direct this town in which we are not afraid to expand, he explained. A lot of people are afraid to change the small-town mentality and grow, but if were going to survive as a city, were going to have to grow and offer all the great things Elko has to offer to other people. Sheriff challenger Wells businesswoman Bella Cummins filed to run against Elko County Sheriff Aitor Narvaiza on Friday, stating that she is the peoples choice for constitutional sheriff. Our county became a constitutional county during Covid. Now it is time to stop just talking about it and implement the rights and benefits of the constitution into law enforcement so our citizens may realize them, Cummins said. She added that she cant be bought. I detest hiring practices, management and law enforcement by back door tactics and good old boy methods. We should all benefit by the tenants of the constitution and regulations should be enforced fairly and equitably. The owner of Bellas Hacienda Ranch in Wells cited her business experience for her knowledge of the law. I run legal businesses in this county and have done so for over 30 years. I understand the laws and no one is better equipped to serve the citizens of our county as sheriff, she said. I stand for law enforcement that follows the letter and spirit of the law for all people. And that includes opportunities for law enforcement personnel based on fair hiring and retention policies, she added. I will lead and protect all the people of our county. I will enforce the rights we are given under the great Constitution of the United States and see they are guaranteed to the citizens of our county. I represent freedom, fairness and accountability. Elko County School Board Eve Daz of Spring Creek filed to run against appointee Matt McCarty for Elko County School Board District 3. She has worked in the Elko Justice Court for eight years, but transferred to Elko Countys IT department last summer. Daz said she has three children, one of whom is just beginning his journey through the Elko County School system, and two who graduated from Spring Creek and are attending universities in Tucson, Arizona and Reno. She said she is running as a candidate who cares about the education that our community is raising. I want to do everything I can to ensure he has the opportunities his older siblings had. I care about my children, and I care about your children, she wrote in a statement. I can no longer stand by and hope for the best, she continued. The only way to a bright future is to be an active participant to ensure that our children and community are guided to a brighter future. Filing continues in the City Clerks office and at the Elko County Clerks office until 5 p.m. March 18. Love 3 Funny 5 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 LVIV, Ukraine (AP) Waves of Russian missiles pounded a military training base close to Ukraines western border with NATO member Poland, killing 35 people. The strike followed Russian threats to target foreign weapon shipments that are helping Ukrainian fighters defend their country against Russia's grinding invasion. Protesters hold banners during a rally against Russia's invasion of Ukraine,Friday, March 11, 2022, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) LVIV, Ukraine (AP) Waves of Russian missiles pounded a military training base close to Ukraines western border with NATO member Poland, killing 35 people. The strike followed Russian threats to target foreign weapon shipments that are helping Ukrainian fighters defend their country against Russia's grinding invasion. More than 30 Russian cruise missiles targeted the sprawling training facility that is less than 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the closest border point with Poland, according to the governor of Ukraines western Lviv region. Poland is a key location for routing Western military aid to Ukraine. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Lviv had largely been spared the scale of destruction unfolding further east and become a destination for residents escaping bombarded cities and for many of the nearly 2.6 million refugees who have fled the country. The training center in Yavoriv appears to be the most westward target struck so far in the 18-day invasion. The facility, also known as the International Peacekeeping and Security Center, has long been used to train Ukrainian military personnel, often with instructors from the United States and other NATO countries. It has also hosted international NATO drills. As such, the site symbolizes what has long been a Russian complaint: That the NATO alliance of 30 member countries is moving ever closer to Russias borders. Russian has demanded that Ukraine drop its ambitions to join NATO. People carry a giant Ukrainian flag to protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a celebration of Lithuania's independence in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, March 11, 2022. Lithuania celebrated the 32th anniversary of its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union on Friday, recalling the seminal events that set the Baltic nation on a path to freedom and helped lead to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis) Lviv governor Maksym Kozytskyi said most of the missiles fired Sunday were shot down because the air defense system worked. The ones that got through through killed at least 35 people and wounded 134, he said. Russian fighters also fired at the airport in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, which is less than 150 kilometers (94 miles) north of Romania and 250 kilometers (155 miles) from Hungary, countries that also are NATO allies. The airport, which includes a military airfield as well as a runway for civilian flights, also was targeted Friday. Fighting also raged in multiple areas of the country overnight. Ukrainian authorities said Russian airstrikes on a monastery and a children's resort in the eastern Donetsk region hit spots where monks and refugees were sheltering, wounding 32 people. A local citizen rests in a basement for shelter in the center of the town of Irpin, some 25 km (16 miles) northwest of Kyiv, Friday, March 11, 2022. Kyiv northwest suburbs such as Irpin and Bucha have been enduring Russian shellfire and bombardments for over a week prompting residents to leave their home. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Another airstrike hit a westward-bound train evacuating people from the east, killing one person and injuring another, Donetsk's chief regional administrator said. To the north, in the city of Chernihiv, one person was killed and another injured in a Russian airstrike that destroyed a residential block, emergency services said. Around the capital, Kyiv, a major political and strategic target for the invasion, fighting also intensified, with overnight shelling in the northwestern suburbs and a missile strike Sunday that destroyed a warehouse to the east. A woman who was evacuated from Irpin cries kissing a cat wrapped in a blanket at a triage point in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. A large scale evacuation operation of residents of a satellite area of capital Kyiv continued Friday, with more and more people deciding to leave areas now under Russian control. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) In Irpin, a suburb about 12 miles (20 kilometers) northwest of central Kyiv, bodies lay out in the open Saturday on streets and in a park. When I woke up in the morning, everything was covered in smoke, everything was dark. We dont know who is shooting and where, resident Serhy Protsenko said as he walked through his neighborhood. Explosions sounded in the distance. We dont have any radio or information. Chief regional administrator Oleksiy Kuleba said Russian forces appeared to be trying to blockade and paralyze the capital with day and night shelling of the suburbs. Kuleba said Russian agents were in the capital and its suburbs, marking out possible future targets. Galina helps clean the house of a neighbour that was damaged by a Russian bombing in Baryshivka, east of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) He vowed that any all-out assault would meet stiff resistance, saying: Were getting ready to defend Kyiv, and were prepared to fight for ourselves. Talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire again failed Saturday, and the U.S. announced plans to provide another $200 million to Ukraine for weapons. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned other nations that sending equipment to bolster Ukraine's military was "an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets. Russian soldiers pillaged a humanitarian convoy that was trying to reach the battered and encircled port city of Mariupol, where more than 1,500 people have died, a Ukrainian official said. Ukraines military said Russian forces captured Mariupols eastern outskirts, tightening their siege of the strategic port. Taking Mariupol and other ports on the Azov Sea could allow Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014. A smoke from shelling rises as a wreath of flowers is placed at a cemetery in Vasylkiv south west of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian forces appeared to make progress from northeast Ukraine in their slow fight to reach the capital, Kyiv, while tanks and artillery pounded places already under siege. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to break his country apart, as well as starting a new stage of terror with the alleged detention of a mayor from a city west of Mariupol. Ukraine will stand this test. We need time and strength to break the war machine that has come to our land, Zelenskyy said during his nightly address to the nation Saturday. Zelenskyy reported that 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers had died since the Russian invasion began Feb. 24. Antonina, 84 years-old, sits in a wheelchair after being evacuated along with her twelve dogs from Irpin, at a triage point in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. A large scale evacuation operation of residents of a satellite area of capital Kyiv continued Friday, with more and more people deciding to leave areas now under Russian control.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) The first major city to fall, earlier this month, was Kherson, a vital Black Sea port of 290,000 residents. Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russians were using blackmail and bribery in an attempt to force local officials to form a pseudo-republic in the southern Kherson region, much like those in Donetsk and Luhansk, two eastern regions where pro-Russian separatists began fighting Ukrainian forces in 2014. One of the pretexts Russia used to invade was that it had to protect the separatist regions. Zelenskyy again deplored NATOs refusal to declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine and said Ukraine has sought ways to procure air defense assets, though he didn't elaborate. U.S. President Joe Biden announced another $200 million in aid to Ukraine, with an additional $13 billion included in a bill that has passed the House and should pass the Senate within days. NATO has said that imposing a no-fly zone could lead to a wider war with Russia. Moscow has said it would establish humanitarian corridors out of conflict zones, but Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of disrupting those paths and firing on civilians. Russian forces have hit at least two dozen hospitals and medical facilities, according to the World Health Organization. A smoke from shelling rises as a wreath of flowers is placed at a cemetery in Vasylkiv south west of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian forces appeared to make progress from northeast Ukraine in their slow fight to reach the capital, Kyiv, while tanks and artillery pounded places already under siege. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said just nine of 14 agreed-upon corridors were open on Saturday, and that about 13,000 people had used them to evacuate around the country. The leaders of France and Germany spoke Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a failed attempt to reach a cease-fire. To end the war, Moscow has demanded that Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO and adopt a neutral status; acknowledge the Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014; recognize the independence of separatist regions in the countrys east; and agree to demilitarize. Thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been killed along with many civilians, including at least 79 Ukrainian children, the government said. Serhiy Kralya, 41, looks at the camera after surgery at a hospital in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine on Friday, March 11, 2022. Kralya was injured during shelling by Russian forces. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) The Russian invaders appear to have struggled more than expected against determined Ukrainian fighters. Still, Russias stronger military threatens to grind down Ukrainian forces. The United Nations has said the fighting has displaced millions of Ukrainians within the country on top of the millions who have left. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Elena Yurchuk, a nurse from the northern city of Chernihiv, was in a Romanian train station Saturday with her teenage son, Nikita, unsure whether their home was still standing. We have nowhere to go back to, said Yurchuk, 44, a widow who hopes to find work in Germany. Nothing left. Refugees who fled the war from Ukraine arrive at the Przemysl train station, southeastern Poland, on Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya where opposing cities were reduced to rubble. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) ___ Associated Press journalist Mstyslav Chernov in Mariupol and other reporters around the world contributed. ___ Follow the APs coverage of the Ukraine crisis at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine In the two weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine on the orders of Vladimir Putin, thousands have died, and the attacks reached a new level of horror when a Russian airstrike targeted a maternity and childrens hospital in the city of Mariupol Wednesday. As Ukrainians scramble to evacuate and find refuge in neighboring countries, Ukraine native Olena Belka of La Crosse is working tirelessly to bring her own family to the U.S., fearful for the lives of her siblings and their children. While the exact death toll is unknown, reports estimate some 600 to 800 civilians, at least 50 of them children, and 2,000 to 4,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed. When Belka was visiting family in Ukraine last month, residents were not anticipating an attack, with Belka saying officials stated, Do not worry about it. Belkas flight home had just landed when she learned the bombing had started. The Tribune talked to Belka the day after she arrived back in La Crosse, and now some 12 days later Belka says, We view this conflict completely differently being the second week into it. It is clearly a war against the Ukrainian people as the free European nation. And they fight for all of us with remarkable heroism. Belka interviewed with the Tribune this week, sharing her thoughts on government responses, local support, and her fight to get her relatives out of Ukraine her brothers, she says, are still in high spirit to resist but also very scared None of us believe anymore that the Russian government is rationalizing their actions at all. How has your view of the crisis in Ukraine changed since we last spoke? Belka: I am watching Russian news almost every day. They see this war as a defensive act, calling soldiers to become national heroes by killing so called Nazis among Ukrainians. (There is no) common sense Russians bombing suburbs and downtowns of the big cities where no military bases are present or despite the fact that President (Volodymyr) Zelensky is Jewish and gained 73% of all votes. Then suddenly threatening nuclear power? Our nation performs a great resistance but we dont know how long we can stand without help that President Zelensky (is requesting from) the U.S. and allies. What are Ukrainians supposed to do? (Must) we give up and let Putin take over our land because Ukraine is outside of the NATO bloc and has no real help? Wouldnt it be a green light to invade non-members of NATO such as Moldova, Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and Switzerland? Would NATO refuse to help if tomorrow the Russian army invades Sweden or Finland? Would Finland withstand this aggression on its own like Ukraine now does? (The) message (that) we send Putin may just be what we receive. How do you feel about the response from the U.S. government? What actions would you like to see from President Biden or local legislators? Belka: We all, as Ukrainian Americans and many American born-citizens, are ready to accept our brothers and sisters as refugees. We have the ability to help them to learn English, provide them with shelter, food and jobs. Most of the Ukrainians have bachelors and master degrees and helping these people will (benefit) our economy and international politics. The U.S. cares and this is the message we should immediately send to the world. We are endlessly thankful to all European countries for opening borders to Ukrainians. But shame on us! I called two senators in Wisconsin and was told there is nothing they can do to bring refugees (here) even for those Ukrainian Americans who live and have businesses in the States. If the U.S. government doesnt acknowledge the refugees, it doesnt acknowledge the fact that Russia has declared war on a European country. Would you vote for leaders of the greatest nation who dont take responsibility for their actions and guarantees of peace in the war time? If Biden and the administration cant make those executive decisions to accept refugees, people will make them for the U.S government. How are your efforts to help your family come to the U.S. going? What obstacles are you facing? Belka: So far, we hit the wall. I spoke to an immigration officer from Milwaukee and I explained that I would like to take full responsibility for two families, provide them with housing and sponsor them so they dont burden the government (with those responsibilities). Unfortunately, the officer said with the current policies on this crisis it will take me from five to 10 years to reunite with my sisters and brothers. We dont have 10 years we have days that usually start with the bombing on Ukrainian citizens and cost them lives. Do you feel U.S. residents, and the La Crosse community, are showing support for Ukraine? Belka: (Its been the) greatest support I have ever experienced. I am being (flooded) with messages (about) How can we help your family? Recently I was invited by my Danish friend Lisbeth Reynertson to the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center (for a concert which was adapted in response to the crisis) and dedicated to Ukrainian music. I sent my family a video of the choir singing a song in the Ukrainian language right from the middle of the deep Midwest: La Crosse. I also keep in contact with (family) every single day and send them messages (from) people who they dont know, who speak a different language (English) and who deeply care about them. I want them to be inspired and stay alive. Belka requests anyone who is able to assist with bringing her family to the states, or direct her to resources, to email her at lemsbelka@gmail.com. Any help would be highly appreciated, Belka says. Emily Pyrek can be reached at emily.pyrek@lee.net. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Wisconsin State Senate has passed new legislation to help protect health care workers, making threats of violence against them punishable by law. Under Assembly Bill 960, the threat of physical harm will be a Class H Felony. The Assembly passed legislation last month, and the bill was approved by the Senate on Tuesday. It will now be sent to Gov. Tony Evers to sign into law. Under current law, a threat alone is not a felony, but the act of violence is. Once signed, the Wisconsin Hospital Association will work with the Department of Justice to create signs and documents outlining the legislation for hospitals to use to educate staff, patients and visitors so they are aware of the penalties of threatening or physically harming a health care worker or their family. Republicans and Democrats agreed on a very important message today threatening a health care worker in Wisconsin is unacceptable, WHA President and CEO Eric Borgerding said in a release Tuesday. Our states hospitals and their thousands of staff thank the legislative leaders for championing this proposal and appreciate support from lawmakers of both parties in the Assembly and Senate. Added Borgerding, We know that threats of violence lead to both physical violence and emotional trauma for health care providers and their families. When health care providers choose to leave the profession for the safety of themselves or their families, we all lose. Our state, like all others across the nation, needs to reverse the troubling trend of increased violence and threats towards health care workers. The pandemic has caused increased stress and in turn heightened emotions and hostility, but even prior to the coronavirus incidents of harassment and violence against physicians, nurses, receptionists and other healthcare employees were on the rise. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, those working in the health care and social services industries are five times more likely to experience intentional injury caused by workplace violence than those employed in other fields, with a 2018 rate of 10.4 per 10,000 for related injury and illness requiring days away from work. Seven years prior, the rate was 6.4 per 100,000. Both Gundersen Health System and Mayo Clinic Health System have shared that their staff have been subjected to verbal and physical harm by patients or their family members, and Clark Draxler, clinical manager at Gundersen, testified at a Senate hearing in February in support of the proposed bill. This isnt about just about the wellness of health care workers this is also about everyones ability to access high-quality care when they need it, without enduring abusive and violent behavior from others, Draxler said in his testimony. Gundersen is the only area hospital with a Level II trauma center, and also the only with a behavioral health facility. As such, staff encounter more patients and may face extreme or intense circumstances. And while a business can make a person leave if they are belligerent or violent, it would be illegal, unethical and immoral to refuse a person necessary medical attention, Draxler says. We never turn a patient away, says Draxler, who notes violence against health care workers goes under-reported. At Gundersen, staff have been hit, kicked, sworn at and lambasted on social media. Draxler during his Senate testimony recalled a patient who, for the entirety of their two-month stay, verbally assaulted and threatened staff every time they entered the room, wrote about staff using their names online and threatened to start shooting in the hospital. Recently, a patient said they would punch Draxler and mimicked hitting him. Under current law, Draxler notes, there is no recourse for such an action. In the first situation, Draxler says an extended interdisciplinary team, including a physician ethicist, would meet with the patient daily to outline expectations to try to keep things under control. We dont want to set anyone up for failure the staff or the patient, Draxler says. In addition to the physical and emotional trauma faced by health care workers, patient enacted violence affects others seeking care, Draxler notes, taking away resources and time from others while the situation is being dealt with, and upsetting patients and visitors who hear or witness the incident. Staff he has talked to, Draxler says, see AB 960 as a positive, feeling, the state government is really paying attention to the needs of health care workers. Under the new legislation, if a threat is made, the city or county will respond to the hospital to take the complaint, and the DA would follow up. Draxler says legal action is designed for those who are intentionally causing harm. The bill is not meant to get people in trouble the person has to have decision-making capacity. We dont want to target someone who has (a condition which makes their actions uncontrollable), Draxler says. Emily Pyrek can be reached at emily.pyrek@lee.net. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Both Winona State University and Minnesota State College Southeast have ended their mask mandates in response to the recent decrease in Winona Countys case rate. Individuals may choose to continue wearing masks, and we should respect and support the choices of others, except when mask-wearing may present a safety risk, WSU wrote on its website. Masks are now only mandated at WSU when a person is inside the universitys Office of Health and Wellness Services. As for MSCSE, the college did remind its community on its website that masks may still be required at clinic sites and at off-site learning opportunities, depending on the rules at the location. Chad Dull, MSCSEs vice president of Student Success, said about the recent changes in the COVID-19 protocols, Safety is always our first priority, so we will continue to monitor CDC guidance and local data closely to set our policies. It is also important to us to live our #MSCSoutheastCares culture, which means that while masking is now optional, we treat everyones choices for safety with respect, Dull said. Saint Marys Universitys continues to have a mask mandate in place for some situations, including in classrooms, according to the universitys website Friday. For specific rules related to the mandate, visit the universitys website at smumn.edu. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The barbarity of the Russian assault on Ukraine is neither mitigated by the ineptitude of the Russian army nor can hearts be uplifted by the bravery of the Ukrainians. Murder on a colossal scale is taking place in plain sight on television day after day. At this writing, there are 3.5 million refugees and thousands of civilian casualties reported. This is killing, killing, killing without respite. The Russian economy is destroyed, and the consequence of this bloody slaughter is affecting the world economy. Even pusillanimous nations like India and Brazil feel the hot breath of the crazed organ grinder Vladimir Putin and his Russian bear. The invasion of Ukraine was folly and a criminal act, but its continuation has become pure and sustained evil. Some in the U.S. commentariat have suggested with amazing thought gymnastics that all this is because of the expansion of NATO. But if NATO hadnt expanded after the fall of the Berlin Wall, then Russia wouldnt have felt threatened and wouldnt have invaded Ukraine. Nonsense. Russia has felt threatened in Europe since the days of the tsar. If NATO hadnt expanded to include the Baltic nations of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, Russian troops would be billeted there right now. Had Ukraine joined NATO, the United States wouldnt be paying the price at the pump and Europe wouldnt be shivering out the last days of winter, wondering how it will get through the coming months without enough fuel to produce electricity. Security is the abiding fault line in Russias thinking about the West. Sure, St. Petersburg is close to the rest of Europe and could be overrun. And Moscow isnt so far from European neighbors that it couldnt be reached easily by an invader: Napoleon got there, and Hitler could have if he had been a better strategist. But most of Russia with its 11 time zones is geographically out of reach. That makes it hard to swallow the security argument. Putin wants to restore Imperial Russia and the empire that reached even farther under communism which makes him a diabolical romanticist. He wants to restore Russian hegemony over its former states: Ukraine first. Larry ODonnell, the MSNBC host, correctly postulated that for NATO, or the United States alone, to intervene to help Ukraine, nuclear war could result; war not just in Europe but also between the United States and Russia the very thing that dominated the world from 1945 to the fall of the Soviet Union. ODonnells argument reveals the impotence that comes with nuclear weapons and sets up this question: Can we never challenge Russia, China or any other country with a substantial nuclear arsenal and the ability to deliver its weapons into the United States and Europe? If that is so, does it inoculate Russia from invading the Baltic states? We know the reality that lurks behind Chinas ambitions for Taiwan. Is that more inevitable than ever? President George W. Bush said we would do whatever it takes to defend Taiwan. That is very unlikely now, if it ever was. It isnt that the reality of the international scene has changed so much as it has come into a clear and harsh light. However, one thing has changed: The slaughter, the unspeakable suffering in Ukraine will change the attitude of a generation to Russia in Europe. Russia will be a pariah, not a partner. The United States fears war with Russia, but Russia, much weaker in every way, must fear war with NATO and the United States. On a visit to Moscow, toward the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, I heard a four-star Russian general say, Never again. But the Ukraine invasion is again. Will Russia and other aggressors be deterred long after the last of the dead are buried in Ukraine, and long after the last body bag has gone back to Russia? Maybe for a generation, which is about how long it will take to rebuild the global economy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine has run its ghastly course. Llewellyn King is executive producer and host of White House Chronicle on PBS. He wrote this for InsideSources.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Hallways and rooms on the first floor of Beaver Dam Middle School were filled with music and art Thursday night as the school celebrated its first fine arts night. There was chorus performances, make and take art for all family members, small ensembles band and orchestra performances, a student art display, jazz band performance and Community Art Project. Kris Schumacher, a visual art and design teacher at the school said that there were 200 canvases for people that were open for everyone to make Jim Dine inspired hearts that will be hung up inside Beaver Dam Middle School. Dine was an American artist who worked in many mediums and styles, who used hearts as a motif throughout his career. Teachers at BDMS that planned the night were, choir teacher Maria Richards, orchestra teacher Dawn Gaylord, band teacher Deb Battenburg, visual art and design teacher Heidi Riter and Schumacher. The first ever Fine Arts Night at BDMS was a huge success, with approximately 200 people attending, made up of students and family members of all ages, Battenburg said. It was heartwarming to see the smiles and joy on students faces as they shared their creative passions with their families. Students and families went from listening to music, to admiring art in the halls, to creating their own artwork with their family members. We are excited to make a display for our community art project, for which over 100 people contributed a painted square. The evening was a truly joyous occasion, and we hope to make this an annual event. The event was supporting music and arts in the schools month. March is known as Arts in the Schools Month, originally proclaimed by the U.S. Department of Education that showcases the accomplishments of students in the arts. Follow Terri Pederson on Twitter @tlp53916 or contact her at 920-356-6760. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. JUNEAU Suzanne Immel recently joined the Dodge County ranks as director of human resources, replacing Sarah Hinze who left the position after nearly 20 years. For Immel it is a chance to engage with a smaller organization, something she enjoyed most as a 30-year railroad employee, a drug and alcohol abuse program coordinator and a two-year director of human resources for Fond du Lac County. I really wanted to expand on possibilities and reach out and look at counties that had a county administrator rather than a county executive, said Immel. There are a lot of differences. There seems to be a more tightly-knit group of people here and there were other things that I thought were of significant value. You have more of an opportunity to get to know and interact with people. Its much more personable. Theres a very knowledgeable team of people here and I think Im very fortunate to be here. She added, Everyone has been absolutely wonderful. I cant give them enough credit for how helpful they have been. Immel lives in the Fond du Lac area and is happy to be close to her two grown sons and seven grandchildren. The commute is shorter than she experienced in the past. Ive driven 10 miles and it took me an hour so 40 minutes is nothing, she said. Previous job experiences landed her in Chicago, Milwaukee, Gary and other locations. She obtained her bachelor of science degree in human resources management and her master of science degree in business and leadership from Marian University in Fond du Lac. A large challenge her department will have to face is employee recruitment and retention, especially during times of high retirements and a highly mobile workforce. She is enthusiastic about the incentives being offered at Clearview to attract and retain workers at a time when all workers are in high demand. Theyre offering some fantastic programs that can launch a whole career path for them, Immel said. I think its a marvelous opportunity to provide to people who want to take advantage of it. Diversity in the workplace is another goal. Government and private employers are fighting for the same candidate pool, said Immel. You have to be creative and do things that you would have never thought of before. You have to think outside the proverbial box to attract and retain great employees. There are a lot of things to consider. She added, Everybody is struggling to find people, and unless you change to the environment youre not going to flourish. Are we a premiere employer? I believe we are. Its about satisfaction with your work and how youre treated. We all want to make a difference. Is there any difference between government and a private employer? I dont believe there is from that standpoint. Immel is glad that the county seems to support its workers and said a happy workforce is imperative for success. When things arise well address them and keep moving forward, she said. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MIDDLETON In her junior year at Portage High School, while her classmates were learning geography and math, Marcy Egan Gorski learned to lip read. In 1971, when she was 16, Egan Gorski developed a tickle in her throat. What started as a day off of school turned into 10 days in isolation at Divine Savior hospital in Portage. She lost her hearing within 24 hours of that initial tickle. Multiple spinal taps confirmed her diagnosis: Spinal meningitis. They told my parents that they really didnt think Id live, she said. Once her condition improved, she was allowed to continue recovering at home, returning on Christmas Eve. I was considered a Christmas miracle, she said. When youre young you heal fast. Egan Gorski says she was sick for around 6 weeks, returning to school in January with the help of note takers and a speech therapist. She remained deaf and described the change as "being in a vault." For 24 years, Egan Gorski said prayer and community support kept her hopeful that one day she would hear again, but found it frustrating. I didnt want patience, I wanted a lightning bolt, she said. That lightning bolt came in 1995, when UW Madison announced an experimental surgery to install a cochlear implant on a deaf patient. Dr. G Mark Pyle was looking for an adult candidate who had lost their hearing after acquiring speech. Egan Gorski fit the criteria. At the time, Egan Gorski was raising two young boys, Alex (6), and Harry (2). One day, something Alex said inspired her to reconsider her options. [Alex] said I wish my mommy could hear, she said. I thought maybe now is a good time to start looking. This brought her to Dr. Pyle. She was able to get into his office by requesting a hearing check. I sat down and told [Dr. Pyle] Im the one youve been looking for. After appealing her insurances denial of the experimental procedure, Egan Gorski was approved for the procedure. Dr. Joseph Roche, a cochlear implant surgeon with UW Health, sadi surgeries like these werent as common in 1995 as they are today. Implantation really took off in the mid-90s, said Roche. Implantation was a very, very, very specialized procedure. For Egan Gorski, though, experimentation wasnt an issue. Her priority was just to hear again. There was absence of fear. I knew I was going to hear again, said Egan Gorski. Post-surgery, the challenge was to relearn what shed spent 24 years without. Music, she said, was something she particularly struggled with. According Roche, this is a common issue. A middle C on a piano versus a trumpet versus a French horn versus a flute is going to have a different sound to a hearing ear," said Roche. The implants struggle being able to pick up the finer details of the sound signal. He added that Egan Gorskis previous ability to hear was an asset in this case. Since her initial surgery, Egan Gorski has continued to advance her equipment, now completely digital. Shes taken up public speaking, sharing her story with small groups, even attending a convention in Dallas, Texas with the Cochlear Implant Club International. When I got my hearing back, I mean it came with a wave it was just awesome," Egan Gorski said. Because of people like Egan Gorski, the procedure has evolved over the years, now including people as young as a year old, as well as those who are over 100. The subjective information we receive from the patient is imperative to guiding what we do every day, says Dr. Sara Misurelli, assistant professor of surgery, UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and clinical audiology supervisor. The goal is that improvements will always be made. ELKO Businesses large and small that are having trouble filling job slots might take a close look at the many career and technical education students in the Elko County School Districts high schools for opportunities to fill future job openings. Need cooks? Need emergency medical technicians? Need someone with accounting skills? Need welders? Need dog groomers? Need child-care helpers? Need someone with carpentry skills? Need someone with automotive skills? The list goes on, and seniors in certain programs will be ready to hire upon graduation. Others may need encouragement to complete their training at community colleges or at universities or to use their skills for jobs to help pay for college. From a district perspective, we are looking for businesses who will be willing to provide work-based opportunities for students, said Heather Steel, the career and technical education (CTE) facilitator for the school district. Businesses could provide guest speakers to talk about their fields, provide internships and externships, job shadowing, workplace tours, provide paying jobs or help in other ways, she said, encouraging businesses to reach out to the district. Steel said if businesses have a gap to fill, lets look at creative ways to fill those gaps. It behooves businesses to be involved in workforce development. Currently, there are 77 different CTE programs in the school district spread out over eight high schools from Owyhee to Jackpot to West Wendover, with Carlin, Elko, Spring Creek and Wells in between, and those CTE courses give kids the skills that will lead them into the workforce, Steel said. There are 3,124 CTE students in the district close to 60% of all high school students. Were talking about a pretty significant population of these schools that could fill vacancies businesses are experiencing. We also have students learning skills preparing them for college, Steel said. She said that, for example, there are 529 students in family consumer science in the district, and they are developing skills that could lead to jobs in catering and restaurants. As a teacher at Elko High School, Steel has students who run a dog grooming businesses, learning business skills along with dog grooming. Grooming students handle the scheduling, grooming, bank deposits and learn customer service. They essentially run a business their entire senior year, Steel said. Students taking welding courses could be pre-apprentices at graduation, but they still need to take more training to become certified welders. Morgane Rexroad-Doucette, a senior at Elko High School, said she will have the basic emergency medical technician qualifications upon graduation, once she passes the EMT test, so she could work at the mines or in the firefighting field while she advances studies. I will be looking at becoming a pediatric physician, but I will start with becoming a paramedic, and then I may know what I want, Rexroad-Doucette said. I am sure I will end up somewhere in the medical field. She said she would only need a year and half at college to be a paramedic, and she will have 30 credits toward an association degree at Great Basin College when she graduates from high school. I have loved our CTE program. I think Elko High School has done an amazing job, Rexroad-Doucette said, especially crediting health sciences teacher Hilary Kohntopp. A health sciences program helps students learn the skills to become certified nursing assistants, but they will require 80 clinical hours and certification after graduation, Steel said, as she talked about the various programs offered. At Elko High School, students build storage sheds to sell, and CTE students studying furniture and cabinet making are building Adirondack chairs to sell. Other CTE students in the district install cabinets in peoples homes. Steel said woodworking and cabinet-making students would still require apprenticeships after graduation. The CTE programs vary at the districts high schools. For instance, at West Wendover, there are classes in graphic design, computer science, welding technology, furniture and cabinet making, foods and nutrition, human development and criminal justice. Steel said students in computer technology are building resumes to be more ready for college. Miranda Rainville, a senior at Carlin High School, said she took foods and early childhood education classes her freshman year, has taken three years of mechanical technology and is in her second year of welding classes. She has completed the test for mechanical technology and that will be on her diploma. She said she hasnt decided whether she will go to Great Basin College or Montana Tech University but will work on the side to make money. She has her eye on becoming a millwright or a mechanical engineer. The hardest thing about being a high school student going out into the world is the lack of experience, Rainville said, commenting that she would like to see businesses more supportive of high school students. She is president of the Family Career and Community Leaders of America club in Carlin and attended the state competition in Reno the week of March 7, and another FCCLA competitor, Garren Graves of Carlin, also is taking welding in her senior year. Graves said she is taking early childhood development, as well, and her plan is to attend the University of Nevada, Reno, to major in bio-medical engineering, and stick with that or be a pediatrician. She said the CTE classes develop critical thinking skills, and she is hoping for an internship at a mine to help pay for college, if Nevada Gold Mines resumes internships for students whose parents work at an NGM mine. Graves said NGM stopped the summer internships during the COVID-19 pandemic. A food science technology facility is planned at Spring Creek High School, so students can learn to process and package food for retail sales, and Wells has a food processing course that provides skills for students to enter the workforce. Another CTE course is heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, and there are floral greenhouse management, agriculture business and agriculture leadership courses, just to name a few more classes at one or more of the high schools. Anna Moss, a senior at Elko High School, is in the advanced floral class that sells and delivers floral arrangements once a month, and she said the class is a lot of fun, and I can learn about the principles of design, she said. Moss also is receiving college credits with her classes in agricultural business this year and earlier classes in agricultural leadership, and she plans to attend the University of Nevada, Reno, to major in ag sciences with a plant emphasis. The school districts CTE program provides college credit through any Nevada community college for certain programs if the students complete a three-year sequence and pass state assessments, according to a question-and-answer presentation Steel put together that highlights her efforts to reach out to businesses. One company she cited is Kinross Gold Corp., which recently offered to provide us with human capital to help us reach our objectives. They have really come on board ready to help. Kinross operates the Bald Mountain Mine in White Pine County that employs workers from Elko and Spring Creek, and the Round Mountain Mine in Nye County. Steel also said in her presentation that Elko County high schools will be switching from a three-year to a two-year completion requirement for CTE programs within the next two years to encourage equity and access, dual credit and more work-based learning opportunities. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CNN's Tim Lister reported from Kyiv, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Laura Smith-Spark from London, and Paul Murphy from New York. CNN's Celine Alkhaldi, Lindsay Isaac, Camille Knight, Joseph Ataman, Amy Cassidy, Sarah Dean, Niamh Kennedy, Matilda Kuklish, Max Foster and Jake Kwon contributed to this report. Judge rules boy to be tried as adult in death of 6-year-old BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) China's economy captured global attention again after setting a 5.5-percent economic growth target for 2022. The goal, though below last year's 8.1 percent, is sure to inject confidence and resilience into the global economy riddled with myriad challenges and uncertainties. Guided by "Xiconomics," the economic philosophy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China is following a path for high-quality development. China's GDP grew 8.1 percent year on year to 114 trillion yuan (18 trillion U.S. dollars), accounting for 18 percent of the global total. With a people-centered philosophy of development championed in Xiconomics, the Chinese people are living much better lives thanks to considerable economic growth. Following a development path tailored to its national realities and making notable and substantive progress toward common prosperity for all Chinese people, China has also committed itself to building a better world through common development and win-win cooperation. Meeting People's Needs "What we now face is the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life," Xi said in a report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017. From daily material and cultural needs to the desire for a better life, Xi's economic philosophy examines the needs of the Chinese people from a broader perspective and a higher level. "The thought, which creatively combines the aspiration of human beings for a better life with the practice of people-oriented development, is of global influence," Australian economist Guo Shengxiang told Xinhua in a recent interview. In practicing the philosophy, China has been advancing reforms in various areas of public concern, including housing, education and healthcare. With China's per capita disposable income rising 9.1 percent year on year in nominal terms to 35,128 yuan (5,545 dollars) last year, rapid improvement in Chinese people's lives had been seen in many aspects from dining tables to improved housing conditions, from rising pensions for the elderly to reduced air pollution. Amid rising global protectionism, it continues to advance high-level opening up and expand imports to meet people's needs for high-quality products and services. In 2021, China's foreign trade surged to 6.14 trillion dollars, up 21.4 percent year on year and crossing the 6-trillion-dollar threshold for the first time. Exports rose 21.2 percent, while imports went up 21.5 percent. Contributing over 30 percent to global growth in recent years, China has become a key anchor and driver for the world economy and will continue to be a stabilizer of the global growth. The 5.5-percent growth goal for 2022, which represents medium-high rate given China's large economic aggregate, can be reached through tapping the internal strength of the world's second largest economy, analysts said. President Xi's economic thought is full of oriental wisdom and is conducive to the development of the world, noted Honson To, chairman of KPMG China and Asia Pacific. "It is an advanced thought that suits China's national conditions and the development trend of the world," he said. Shared Development In the mostly arid, desert-capped northeastern Kenyan county of Garissa, the neat and dense solar panels installed by a Chinese company line up to form an "energy oasis." The project has benefited thousands of families and businesses since 2019. According to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Chinese-built 50 MW photovoltaic power station, the largest in East Africa, sets Kenya on the path of achieving green energy sufficiency and adds to its rich profile as the center of green energy generation in Africa. The Garissa solar plant in the African country is just one example. From the China-Laos Railway, the Port of Piraeus, to the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park, similar cooperation programs, carried out under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and designed to electrify common development, are flourishing in many parts of the world. Those projects, which feature Xi's vision for development featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared growth, have brought substantial benefits to local people. Take the China-funded expanded National Road No. 3, a key transportation artery inaugurated in Cambodia early this month. The 134.8-km road links the capital of Phnom Penh and the southwestern coastal province of Kampot. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen commented that the road is crucial to boosting economic and tourism development at the inauguration ceremony. "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," said Hun Sen. Ordinary Cambodian people also have high hopes for the road. Thun Sokleng, a 43-year-old farmer in Kampong Speu province, said "I believe that this road will contribute to improving living conditions of the people in the areas along it." From China's economic growth to the common development of countries worldwide, Xi's economic thought addresses the needs and difficulties of global development through cooperation frameworks such as the BRI and the Global Development Initiative. Since 2013 when Xi announced the BRI, over 140 countries spanning different regions, cultures and stages of development, as well as more than 30 international organizations, have signed BRI cooperation documents with China. The BRI cooperation is "not only aimed at promoting economic integration but also solving social problems in the countries taking part in this initiative, particularly issues like raising the level and quality of people's lives," said Alexander Petrov, a professor of St. Petersburg State University. Pursuing Multilateralism As the world is faced with stiff and complex problems, Xi said in 2021 that the way out of them is "through upholding multilateralism and building a community with a shared future for mankind." For years, China has upheld the international system centered on the United Nations and the international order underpinned by international law, observed World Trade Organization trade rules, and practiced true multilateralism against the headwinds of unilateralism and protectionism. In promoting mutual respect and equality, China has actively participated in the reform of the global governance system, and worked to make economic globalization more open, inclusive and balanced. "China does not just talk about multilateralism, but has taken real actions," said Jose Ignacio Martinez Cortes, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. At a time when the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines is tight, China has taken the lead in providing vaccines to developing countries in dire need. China has supplied more than 2.1 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, attesting to the true meaning of multilateralism. Natee Taweesrifuengfung, president of the Thailand-based Siam Think Tank, said that in the current international situation, China has held high the banner of multilateralism, actively promoted win-win cooperation, vigorously boosted world economic recovery, and has showed its sense of responsibility as a major country. Enditem Xinhua correspondents Shi Hao in Moscow, Zhu Yubo in Mexico City, Wang Yaguang in Bangkok, Wu Changwei in Phnom Penh also contributed to the story. (Source: Xinhua) Click the photo and watch the video. * Through enormous efforts, China is capable of feeding one-fifth of the global population with 9 percent of the world's arable land and 6 percent of the freshwater resources. * China has pledged to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. * China's whole-process people's democracy, which covers elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight, ensures that it is the people who are running the country. * As the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges unseen in a century, China seeks stable progress amid all headwinds. BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) In 1995, a book titled "Who Will Feed China?" speculated, "In an integrated world economy, China's rising food prices will become the world's rising food prices. China's land scarcity will become everyone's land scarcity." A "powerful answer" has been delivered. "Today, China's 1.4 billion people are eating well with a great range of choices," Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said during the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Aerial photo taken on Oct. 1, 2021 shows a view of the paddy fields in Yongji County of Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province. [Xinhua/Xu Chang] "Through enormous efforts, China is capable of feeding one-fifth of the global population with 9 percent of the world's arable land and 6 percent of the freshwater resources," said Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission. That China feeds itself well is but one anecdote of what has been dubbed the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, which is first and foremost about the people. For the People "Of all things, eating matters most, and food is the most basic necessity of the people," Xi said, stressing that despite China's industrialization, food supply should never be considered an insignificant issue. "How many days has it been since hunger is behind the Chinese people? Probably just the kids born after the 1980s," he added, evoking not-so-distant memories and wide agreements at the fifth sessions of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and the 13th CPPCC National Committee, also dubbed the "two sessions." Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, Xi has attended 10 annual "two sessions," where the "people" stood out as his most frequently used word. Yeshe Dawa, a national political advisor from southwest China's Sichuan Province, brought two photos to Xi depicting staggering changes of a village on a cliff at an elevation of 1,700 meters in his hometown. Xi carefully looked at the photographs one showing a ramshackle rattan and wooden ladder as the only access to Atulieer Village, and the other depicting a renovated steel ladder that is imposing and strong. Aerial photo taken in November 2019 shows a steel ladder built on the cliff in Atulieer Village, Zhaojue County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. [Xinhua] "Have the villagers moved down the hills to their new homes? How about children and the elderly?" Xi asked. "Some moved down and some stayed in the village, which is now a popular tourist destination. People's lives are getting better," Yeshe Dawa replied. Over the last 10 years, Xi has joined national lawmakers and political advisors in group discussions on 53 occasions at such annual sessions. The topics ranged from poverty reduction to equal access to education, epidemic control, rural revitalization, common prosperity and food security, among others. "When it comes to the wellbeing of the public, there is no such thing as a trivial matter," Xi said this year. "We must give extra attention and care to the people in difficulty, to help them resolve problems. We should further reform the social assistance system, and work for a comprehensive, effective, multi-tiered, and multi-category social assistance framework centered on basic living assistance, special assistance, and emergency assistance." People's Democracy Xi and other Chinese leaders joining NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members for extensive exchanges and discussions on important matters of national development and public interest is one of the features of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics. Among the issues raised by the NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members at the "two sessions" are "building a nationwide, unified health code," a digital technology registration tool that has become an everyday occurrence in the lives of people in China since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Proponents say the various codes in use across the country create inconveniences and confusion. Raising the threshold of personal income tax and slashing the medical insurance payment by rural people above 60 years old were among other important topics at the "two sessions." As always, one highlight of the annual sessions was the report on the work of the government. Thousands of opinions and suggestions were solicited via multiple channels from all walks of life. As of the end of 2020, China had 2.62 million deputies to people's congresses at all five levels. Of the total, 94.5 percent were from the county and township levels, all directly elected on a one-person-one-vote basis. Deputies to people's congresses at the city, provincial and national levels are elected by people's congresses at the next level below. China's whole-process people's democracy, which covers elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight, ensures that it is the people who are running the country. Seeking Stable Progress The annual sessions also speak volumes about China's general principle of maintaining stability while pursuing progress of the economy. For example, China has pledged to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 shows wind turbines at Changma wind farm in Yumen City, northwest China's Gansu Province. [Xinhua/Fan Peishen] Southwest China's Tibet is working to develop itself into a national clean energy base. By 2020, clean energy had contributed 89.1 percent of the total installed capacity of power generation in the autonomous region. "We will take proactive and prudent steps to advance carbon emissions peaking and carbon neutrality initiatives," Xi said. "When carrying out carbon reductions, we must also ensure the security of energy, food, and industrial and supply chains, as well as the normal life and work of our people. We must not distance ourselves from realities and rush for quick results." As the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges unseen in a century, China seeks stable progress amid all headwinds. On the current situation in Ukraine, Premier Li Keqiang said at a press conference at the end of the NPC session on Friday that China is deeply concerned and grieved. "We sincerely hope that the situation will ease and peace will return at an early date." On the vital China-U.S. relations, Li said, "We hope that the two countries will properly manage differences in a rational and constructive manner and respect each other's core interests and major concerns. There should be more dialogues and communication. Now that the door has been opened, it shouldn't be shut again, nor should there be decoupling." "I can tell you very clearly that no matter how the international environment may change, China will keep to the course of wider openness. Just as the course of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers will not be reversed," Li added. Video Reporters: Zhao Xu, Jiang Lei, Wu Hao, Zhu Yubo, Wang Huan, Jiang Chao, Liu Chang, Zhu Wanjun, Zhao Xiaona, Du Juan, Zhang Dailei; Video editors: Zhu Jianhui, Zhao Yuchao, Liu Xiaorui, Yin Le (Source: Xinhua) By Azernews By Ayya Lmahamad From 17:00 to 21:00 on March 11, Azerbaijani army positions came under Armenian fire from various directions, the Defence Ministry has reported. Members of the illegal Armenian armed detachment on Azerbaijani territory, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed, using various caliber weapons periodically subjected to fire Azerbaijan army positions in Aghdam, Khojavand and Khojaly regions. The Azerbaijan Army Units took adequate retaliatory measures in these directions. "As a part of taken measures, only the combat positions of members of the illegal Armenian armed detachment were targeted," the ministry reported. The Azerbaijan Army Units completely control the operational situation. 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. -- In 1994, Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons on a pledge the United States, Great Britain and Russia would provide security assurances to the Ukrainian people. The Budapest Memorandum that year recited the 1,800 nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory, including short-range tactical weapons and air-launched cruise missiles, would be eliminated. In exchange, the U.S., U.K. and Russia reaffirm(ed) their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine. They also pledged to refrain from economic coercion against Ukraine and to seek immediate United Nations Security Council action to provide assistance to Ukraine in the event of an act of aggression against the country. Ukraine returned all of the nuclear weapons to Russia by 1996. Vladimir Putin made the Budapest Memorandum moot with his first invasion of Ukraine in 2014. But this betrayal of Ukraine is well-remembered in Kyiv. Ukraines heroic President Volodymyr Zelensky noted it bitterly in a defiant speech accusing his Western counterparts of appeasement. Has our world completely forgotten the mistakes of the 20th century? he asserted. Ukraine was promised eventual membership in NATO 14 years ago, but nothing has happened as a result of Putins railings against the United States and his fervent opposition to Ukraines NATO membership. It was President Obama who dithered issued warnings to Putin that he dismissed and refused to provide the Ukrainian military with arms to defend themselves in 2014. Obama would not arm the Ukrainians. U.S. aid was limited to providing blankets and clothing. He refused to sell lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine even after Putin seized Crimea. Senator John McCain led an unsuccessful effort by a bipartisan coalition in Congress to provide weapons to the embattled nation. They are not asking for a single boot on the ground, McCain pleaded. Obama left Ukraine defenseless. It wasnt until Donald Trump became president that Ukrainians were provided any serious defensive weaponry. The U.S. should have been arming the Ukrainians not just out of our national interest, but also because we are the ones who disarmed Ukraine with our security guarantee. The Biden administration now tells Putin everything America wont do in Ukraine. We unilaterally disarmed by signaling in advance that no American forces would be sent to Ukraine. We volunteered not to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine to prevent Russian air dominance. Republicans and Democrats used to warn enemies nothings off the table. A policy of deliberate ambiguity should have been followed as our possible response to Russian bombing of cities with indiscriminate artillery and cluster bombs or worse. The Biden administration spurned an offer by the Polish government to transfer all its 28 MiG-29 fighter planes to the U.S. and handed over to Ukrainian pilots fighting the Russian invasion. That was too risky in Bidens view, notwithstanding strong bipartisan Congressional support for the transfer. Biden lags behind on Ukraine. His initial economic sanctions lacked punch. Excluded was a ban on imported Russian oil. The U.S. and allies buy $700 million worth of oil each day from Russia. Bidens reluctance to act was political calculation. The ban will drive up the cost of gas and increase the chances of a Democratic November wipeout. For nearly a week after introduction of the Ban Russian Imports Act by 18 bipartisan Senators, Biden wavered. He belatedly barred imported oil and other energy sources from Russia, while still re-affirming his green energy agenda that includes an assault on the U.S. oil and gas industry. Whats needed now is energy independence fueled by American producers. While President Biden vacillates, President Zelensky has inspired the world with his leadership and bravery. I need ammunition not a ride, he implores. The U.S. and Europe must find ways to come to the defense of the courageous, freedom-loving Ukrainian people. Email Jim Hartman at lawdocman1@aol.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Russia intensifies strikes around Kyiv as it warns US against arming Ukraine Council tenants across Wrexham urged to say no to cold callers Council tenants across the county borough are being urged to say no to cold callers. Wrexham Council says it has been made aware of a company operating in the area Home Rescue UK which is reportedly asking tenants to get in touch if they have any repair issues such as damp and mould, leaks or plaster damage. A spokesperson for the local authority said: If they operate like other companies theyll offer a free property survey and will ensure repairs are carried out and will use a legal company to get compensation for you. In order to complete this survey theyll have to access your house to take images which are then forwarded to a claims solicitor. They may also take other personal information from you and ask you to sign documents which they then take away. Trading Standards strongly recommend that consumers DO NOT deal with cold callers on the doorstep or on the telephone regardless of what product or service they are offering. Do not give any of your personal information to cold callers and remember if something seems too good to be true it probably is. If in doubt keep them out. If you require any advice regarding this matter or any other consumer matter please contact Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 08082 231133. If you have any concerns about your property please call your local estate office or the housing repairs team on 01978 298993 in the first instance to find out why a repair is taking so long to be carried out. If youre still not happy then you are advised to contact a solicitor. Multi-faith meeting in Wrexham hailed as unifying force for the local community A Wrexham sergeant has described the latest multi-faith meeting in the town as a unifying force for the local community. Sgt Dave Smith attended the event at the Wrexham Islamic Cultural Centre on Grosvenor Road last week (4 March). The well-attended public meeting aimed to encourage positive interaction between people of all faiths and beliefs, with a focus on finding agreement and common ground. Members of the Islamic Cultural Centre and Glyndwr Chaplaincy were also in attendance for the 90-minute session. Guests heard an informal sermon from local Imam Ahmed Gattani before joining a discussion led by Community Cohesion Officer and WGU Humanist Chaplain, Gareth Hall. Representing North Wales Police, Sgt Smith provided an overview of policing priorities within the town and highlighted his own work with a recently-launched multi-faith community forum. He said: I would like to thank Gareth Hall for opportunity to join the inter faith community at the Wrexham Islamic Cultural Centre. We were made to feel very welcome and it was a fantastic example of cohesion, and of different faith communities in Wrexham finding common ground. Events like these are important. They put real emphasis on coming together to celebrate the shared values we have with others. Tolerance, understanding and respect were the key messages that I picked up on, and I hope we see even more people in attendance at future meetings. As the fourth largest urban area in Wales, Wrexham has a diverse population and is home to people of many ethnicities and religious backgrounds. Discussing the importance of community integration, Gareth Hall said: As we work towards emerging from the COVID pandemic, and revitalising Wrexham and our neighbouring communities, we believe our local faith centres are a vital resource to help us all to reconnect and learn more about each other. Thank you to Sgt Dave Smith for joining us at the Wrexham Islamic Cultural Centre. We really value the input of North Wales Police in these interfaith discussions, and we look forward to building that relationship at future Finding Agreement events. Wales sends medical supplies to support the people of Ukraine The first shipment of medical supplies has been despatched from Wales to support the people of Ukraine. The medical supplies, including ventilators, bandages and face masks, left Wales on Friday morning and will be flown to Poland, then onto Ukraine. First Minister Mark Drakeford said: Wales stands in solidarity with Ukraine and its people. Wales links with Ukraine are long and deep, and we are ready to offer any practical support and humanitarian assistance that we can. The best way for the people of Wales to support Ukraine is to give money to the Disaster Emergency Committee, so supplies can be bought as near to their need as possible. However, we have been working with partners to identify medical supplies that are urgently needed. We have further medical supplies ready to go to Ukraine. If we can help the people of Ukraine in any way, we will. Welsh Government has already made 4m available for the Disaster Emergency Committee to provide support in Ukraine where it is needed most. Emilio Delgado, who spent more than 40 years entertaining generations of children playing the Fix-It Shop owner Luis on "Sesame Street," has died, according to his manager. He was 81. The female mountain lion was wearing a radio collar, and her behavior in northwest Nebraska in 2018 was telling a story. State biologists tracking her movements and watching her repeatedly returning to the same area could tell she was building a den, that she was expecting. And that August, in the Pine Ridge area near Chadron, they found her two kittens. They collected DNA samples and because the animals were too small to be collared they attached yellow ear tags. The kitten wearing tag NE 78 grew up and, like most young males, set off, searching for a mate and his own territory. Mountain lions leaving northwest Nebraska and the Niobrara River Valley often make the news when they head south and east, and are tracked in Norfolk, hit by cars near Fullerton and Arlington, or captured by trail cams and shot by poachers on the edges of Lincoln all of which happened in the past six months. But not all of them go south and east. They can go in any direction, said Sam Wilson, furbearer and carnivore manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. They all dont go in the same direction. Barbed-wire fences dont stop Nebraska cats from crossing the borders into South Dakota and Wyoming, and lions from those states visit Nebraska, Wilson said. Its likely always been the case that males born in Nebraska travel hundreds of miles and that might take them out of state. We get lots of back and forth. NE 78 headed north at some point, and he kept going. He crossed Interstate 90 and put the Black Hills behind him. He walked more than 250 miles, ending up near Ekalaka, Montana, in that states southeast corner. Wilson knows this because his office was contacted last month by a biologist at the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. NE 78 had been killed during Montanas hunting season, and officials there could tell by its ear tag that it was a Nebraska native. That was a first for Nebraska its mountain lions have been killed in neighboring states, but never in one more than a state away, Wilson said. Still, its life and death dont add much to what his office knows about mountain lions. Without a radio collar, it has no idea how the 3-year-old ended up near Ekalaka, no path of its travels. We have one piece of data, where the kitten was tagged, and they have one piece of data, where it was harvested. And thats the only thing we can learn from it. It was also a first for Montana. Officials there have long suspected lions from other states particularly the nearby Dakotas have moved into the area. But the tagged lion confirmed that, said Emily Mitchell, a Montana wildlife biologist. And thats important, she said, because it maintains biodiversity in the population. Its good to see that lions are coming in. Reach the writer at 402-473-7254 or psalter@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSPeterSalter Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The US-NATO war drive against Russia has been accompanied by a frenzied ideological propaganda campaign against all things Russian. The chauvinist campaign is aimed not just at legitimising but encouraging a social constituency supportive of war with Russia in the upper middle class. The degraded character of efforts to seek the removal from Manchester of a statue of Friedrich Engels reveals the pro-war agenda behind official handwringing over the fate of Ukraine. A memorial to a world historic figure who, along with Karl Marx, sounded the tocsin for a revolutionary socialist movement against nationalism, militarism and war, Workers of the world, unite! has been placed in question due to Russias invasion of Ukraine. This transparently anti-communist argument is made despite the declared hostility of Vladimir Putins capitalist regime to the October Revolution and its embrace of Great Russian chauvinism that is antithetical to the internationalist foundations on which the Soviet Union was established. For this reason, the popular hostility aroused by this attack is of great political significance. It is proof that the majority of working-class people have not been swept up in the official war fever and are hostile to it. The statue of Friedrich Engels following its unveiling in Manchester at a ceremony in 2017 (WSWS Media) The statue of Engels (1820-1895) was erected to mark the closing event of the 2017 Manchester International Festival (MIF) of the arts. Engels lived in Manchester for more than 20 years and his The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845) was a devastating Marxist exposure of the brutal poverty in the city. But the inspiration for Turner prize-nominated artist Phil Collins in fact came during a visit made to Ukraine, during which he negotiated acquisition and transportation of a Soviet-era statue of Engels to Tony Wilson Place outside the HOME centre for contemporary film and theatre. The Engels statue became available to purchase as a result of the anti-communist hysteria generated by the right-wing Ukrainian government. It was originally erected in Mala Pereschchepina, a village in Ukraine, in 1970, but was torn down in 2015, cut in half and left in two pieces. More than 600 people crowded into the nearby Bridgewater Hall car park to celebrate the statues inauguration, with a live projection link of the unveiling. In a filmed part of the event, Collins intercut the statues voyage across Europe with footage of working-class life in Manchester and live interviews with audience members. The statue has been warmly embraced by Manchesters working class. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, local newspaper The Mill tweeted this comment from HOME: In light of the illegal invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, we are in discussions with the co-commissioners of the artwork [MIF] and the artist Phil Collins about how best to respond. The Mill also tweeted HOMEs explanation that this was a previously co-commissioned piece of work. HOME deluged with support for Engels HOME clearly expected that an implied association with Russia would lead to support for the statues removal. They were wrong. The Mills/HOMEs tweets were responded to by hundreds of people, overwhelmingly supportive of Engels. One person tweeted of Engels, His politics are hated by Putin. In fact last month Putin blamed those politics for Ukraine no longer being part of Russia Lots of Russians oppose this war. Another commented, It started with anti-slavic [actions] a few days ago, now it's anti communist. This should end well. When a reader asked sarcastically if HOME had also banned playing Tchaikovsky, Matthew Booth, wrote, Not sure about that, but I saw a tweet earlier this week from someone who said they felt sick when they hear Tchaikovsky now. I'd like to say they were joking, but they weren't. Since then, the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra has removed Tchaikovskys 1812 Overture from its concert repertoire. Caio Almendra wrote, Engels was a German anti-war activist. Contemporary Russia is a capitalist economy that doesn't follow any of Engels writings and Putin hates communism. This has nothing to do with the war, has it? Readers quoted Marx and Engels that No nation can be free if it oppresses other nations. Doug Fender quoted Engels writing in 1887 of ...the impossibility of foreseeing how it will all end and who will emerge as victor from the battle. Only one consequence is absolutely certain: universal exhaustion and the creation of the conditions for the ultimate victory of the working class. He might also have quoted Engelss opening comment to that text, in which he predicted the carnage of World War One with startling accuracy several decades before it broke out: [T]he only war left for Prussia-Germany to wage will be a world war, a world war, moreover of an extent and violence hitherto unimagined. Eight to ten million soldiers will be at each other's throats and in the process they will strip Europe barer than a swarm of locusts. The depredations of the Thirty Years War compressed into three to four years and extended over the entire continent: famine, disease, the universal lapse into barbarism, both of the armies and the people, in the wake of acute misery, irretrievable dislocation of our artificial system of trade, industry and credit, ending in universal bankruptcy collapse of the old states and their conventional political wisdom to the extent that crowns will roll into the gutters by the dozen. Noticeable in the comments was a healthy sympathy for Engels as a socialist who had addressed the conditions of the working class, and its relevance for today: Supposedly we are the bastions of democracy yet here we are having a public conversation about a statue of a man whose Crime appears to be his pioneering thoughts on the plight of the poor. One tweet suggested the Mill read The Condition of the Working Class in England and maybe do an article about how much has changed? (Not much). No workingman in England ever treated me as a foreigner It is worth noting also what Engels wrote in 1845 of the working class: No workingman in England ever treated me as a foreigner. With the greatest pleasure I observed you to be free from that blasting curse, national prejudice and national pride, which after all means nothing but wholesale selfishnessI observed you to sympathise with everyone who earnestly applies his powers to human progressmay he be an Englishman or notto admire everything great and good, whether nursed on your native soil or notI found you to be more than mere Englishmen, members of a single, isolated nation, I found you to be Men, members of the great and universal family of Mankind, who know their interest and that of all the human race to be the same. Engels as a young man That class response has continued, forcing HOME to retreatposting a statement that there is not an intention to remove the artwork installation of Friedrich Engels from the front of our building. However, HOME then added, Given the origins of the artwork, everyone involved believes it is important that we consider its meaning in the context of the illegal invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army. We also want to do more to explain how the installation came to Manchester and the reasons behind this. Nick Thornsby, a local Liberal Democrat, described the statue as a particular insult to the people of Ukraine, for whom Engels represented a grim part of the countrys history. He suggested to at least temporarily remove the statue and replace it with a Ukrainian flag. Thornsby is a political ignoramus, who will no doubt be blissfully unaware of Engelss consistent championing of Ukrainian independence from Tsarist Russia. This has been a theme of various hostile right-wing and liberal figures since the statue was first erected. Local archivist Kevin Bolton, in a Guardian article in 2017, had opposed the statue being put up in Manchester on bogus grounds of it being Soviet propaganda, supposedly installed without appropriate discussion with the citys Ukrainian community. Bolton was drawn to the faded blue-and-yellow paint of the Ukrainian flag on the legs A part of me longed to repaint the statue in the Ukrainian colours. This has now been suggested as an alternative to removal. Ukraines far-right decommunization laws celebrate fascist Stepan Bandera and other Nazi collaborators What is the real significance of the Engels statues connection to Ukraine? The process of decommunization began in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union by the Stalinist bureaucracy, but accelerated in 2015. A year earlier the Maidan protests erupted in Kiev, backed by the US with billions of dollars and in which extreme right-wing and openly fascist forces played a leading role, ended in a coup ousting the pro-Russian government of President Viktor Yanukovich. The new pro-US, pro-European regime led by Petro Poroshenko outlawed all Soviet symbols. Laws authorised the removal of communist monuments (excluding World War II monuments) and the renaming of public places. In May 2015, 22 Ukrainian cities and 44 villages were renamed. In 2016, 51,493 streets and 987 cities and villages were renamed, and more than 2,000 monuments removed. While statues of great Marxist figures were torn down by Ukraines far-right government, the Ukrainian fascist Stepan Bandera and other Nazi collaborators were designated national heroes. Bandera, as head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B) and its military formation the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), oversaw the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Jews and Poles during World War II. In December 2019, Kievs City Council renamed Moskovsky Avenue in honour of Bandera and changed Avenue of General Vatutin into Avenue of Roman Shukhevych. As leader of the UPA, Shukhevych was instrumental in carrying out the ethnic cleansing of Poles and Jews in western Ukraine. In addition to being a general in the UPA, Shukhevych served as a commander in the Nazi-led Nachtigall Battalion and 201st Schutzmannschaft Battalion made up of Ukrainian far-right nationalists. Putin, a former Stalinist KGB official, is just as fervent an anti-communist as his Ukrainian opponents. He denounced the Bolsheviks for chopping the country into pieces, saying that Russia was robbed and declared as he invaded Ukraine, We are ready to show you what real de-communisation means for Ukraine. The statue of Friedrich Engels in Manchester in front of the HOME arts centre. The yellow and blue paint from when it was defaced in Ukraine are visible (WSWS Media) The defacing in Ukrainian colours of the Engels statue in Mala Pereschchepina (the village was formerly named Engels) was the result of the nationalist reaction actively promoted by western powers since 2014, as it escalated its provocations against Russia. But when the statue was taken down, the head of Mala Pereschchepina village council decided to preserve it until better days come. It was left outside in the grounds of a private creamery mill until Collins took ownership. The continuing struggle over the Manchester Engels statue reveals his lasting stature among the most class-conscious workers and youth taking their stand against the war fever being generated by Britains rulers. It is an indication of what is still to come. In 1845, Engels concluded his letter dedicating The Condition of the Working Class in England to the workers of Britain with words which remain as true now as then: Much remains to be undergone; be firm, be undauntedyour success is certain, and no step you will have to take in your onward march will be lost to our common cause, the cause of Humanity! An average of 400 workers a week left the National Health Service (NHS) in 2021. Around 110,000 NHS posts in England are unfilled, with nearly 6 percent of doctors jobs and 10 percent of nursing positions empty, according to the most recent figures. National Health Service workers at a hospital in southern England (WSWS Media) Among doctors, the worst hit region is the Midlands, with a 9 percent vacancy rate, but London, the North West, the North East and Yorkshire, the East of England and the South East all have vacancies of around 5 percent. For nurses, London tops the region with the most nursing vacancies, at 13 percent, with all other English regions exceeding a vacancy rate of 8 percent. Most acute is the shortage in mental health nursing, where one in six, or 17.1 percent, of all posts are unfilled. There are also well over 100,000 vacancies nationally in social care, and the sector is further handicapper by high staff turnover, with an estimated 34 percent of care workers leaving their roles in 2020-2021. Among the main complaints cited by departing staff are burnout, heavy workloads, low pay, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These were prevalent before the pandemic, but all of them have been compounded by the COVID-19 crisis. At the end of 2021, the NHS forecast there would be a further 230,000 cases of PTSD in England due to the pandemic, with healthcare workers being one of the primary groups to experience the debilitating disorder. During the first wave of the pandemic, 709 intensive care staff across six NHS hospitals were polled by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, with two in five reporting symptoms of PTSDdouble the rate of military veterans with recent combat experience. In one of the most comprehensive studies carried out, the University of Oxford placed the figures even higher, finding that 44 percent of NHS staff working with COVID patients had PTSD, with depression affecting 39 percent. Although the specific symptoms of PTSD can vary, many people experience vivid flashbacks and nightmares, involuntarily re-living traumatic events. As a result of the UKs bipartisan herd immunity policy, leading to several massive surges of infections, health workers have repeatedly witnessed the distressing deaths of COVID sufferers, often in conditions where providing care, let alone compassion to loved ones, was extremely difficult. The shortage of NHS staff is having a major impact on patients, with a study by charity Engage Britain raising significant concerns about the quality of their care. According to their surveys, over a quarter of adults (28 percent) believe they or a family member have received poor care due to workforce problems. John Hall, a former strategy director at the Department of Health and Social Care, and now Strategy Consultant for Engage Britain, stated that The UK has long had significantly lower numbers of doctors and nurses per capita than comparable systems More recently, the impact of working conditions is showing an increasing impact on the ability of the NHS to retain staff. Around 50 in every 10,000 staff working in hospital and community health services in June 2021 left the service within the next three months, citing work-life balance as the reason. This was a new record. Julian McCrae, Director of Engage Britain, stated that NHS workers across the country have spoken to us about feeling overstretched, undervalued and struggling to get support in a chaotic system. These shortages are crippling a health service facing record waiting lists. The Conservative governments criminal handling of the pandemic, placing the profits of the corporations above the health and lives of millions, put unbearable pressure on the NHS, creating long delays for treatment. A new record of 6.1 million are now waiting for medical procedures, with nearly a quarter of a million having waited for at least two years. Demand will only continue to grow. The Office for National Statistics predicts that there will be more than 17 million over 65s in the UK by 2040, with increasing health needs in old age. The UK has some of the lowest staffing and bed rates per capita across developed countries. The desperate situation is highlighted by the now expanded call for the recruitment of NHS reservists to help clear backlogs. They will assist with administering the COVID vaccine, specifically with the fourth round for the vulnerable, as well as helping patients who have been recently discharged. Piloted in 2021, across five sites, the number of reservists has so far reached 17,000, barely a scratch on what is needed. In any case, while the reservists may be able to assist in certain limited circumstances, most are vastly under qualified to cover the staffing gaps across the NHS. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has repeatedly blamed the NHS backlog on the pandemic. This not only sidesteps the fact that it was the governments herd immunity policies which were entirely responsible for the havoc wreaked by COVID in the health service, it covers over the decades of privatisation and austerity that have gutted the NHS. The past 10 years have seen the NHS budget cut as a percentage of GDP even as greater levels of demand are placed on the system. Swathes of the NHS have been privatised, some sold off to global investors, while what remains has become increasingly reliant on private patientswhich can contribute up to 50 percent of a hospitals incometo stay afloat. The pandemic was used as enormous opportunity to grant lucrative NHS contracts to private sector profiteers, providing PPE and tracing systems that were not fit for purpose. Some of the worst cuts have fallen on health workers, who have endured years of pay freezes culminating in the insulting 3 percent pay rise last yeara real-terms pay cutallowed through by the trade unions. Attacks on the health service will now proceed even more quickly to provide funds for Britains participation in the NATO confrontation with Russia. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published a paper pointedly explaining that to maintain Britains position as the largest European military power, ahead of Germany, defence spending would have to increase by about 20 percent, or 10 billion. Calls for military spending to trump all else mean the NHS budget is fair game. The Telegraph, house organ of the Tory party, writes in criticism that the post-Cold War peace dividend has been spent in areas such as the NHS, which has risen from accounting for less than 3 percent of GDP to more than 7 percent over the same period. It directly counterposes military spending, reduced as a share of GDP from more than 7pc in the 1950s to 2pc now. On Tuesday, addressing an audience at the Royal College of Physicians in London, Health Secretary Sajid Javid stressed his small-state Conservative beliefs and set out his plan for yet more NHS cuts. Claiming additional health spending necessarily meant making some serious trade-offs on everything from education to infrastructure, he demanded the health service become much more efficient. He highlighted the governments plan to use waiting lists as an excuse to more heavily involve the private sector and to dump ill patients on families. We cant continue to have a system in which we need more and more money each yearmore than double, on average, the rate of economic growth. Its just not sustainable. On Friday, the Biden White House and US corporate media continued blocking any investigation into what Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs of the United States Victoria Nuland called during congressional testimony earlier in the week, biological research facilities in Ukraine. State Department Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria J. Nuland speaks during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, Jan. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool) After three days of silence, the New York Times published an article entitled Theory About U.S.-Funded Bioweapons Labs in Ukraine Is Unfounded on Friday that reported on Nulands comments before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Times started off by stating that there is no evidence to support the claims by Russian state media that the US has been funding biological weapons labs in Ukraine. The Times then says that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department have all unequivocally denied the charges as though these statements are enough to back up the claims of no evidence. Then, the Times says, There are biological laboratories inside Ukraine, and since 2005, the United States has provided backing to a number of institutions to prevent the production of biological weapons. Instead of taking this information as the starting point for questioning the supposed peaceful aims of the Pentagon, the Times goes on to repeat verbatim the responses of the US to charges that the Defense Department is operating biological weapons labs. After quoting Victoria Nulands statement before Congresswhich included expressions of concern that the Russians may gain control of the biolab research materialsthe Times repeats the explanation provided by the State Department on Thursday. These were that Nuland was referring to diagnostic and biodefense laboratories during her testimony, that these labs are different from biological weapons facilities and that biodefense laboratories are for combatting biological threats in Ukraine. The Washington Post carried a similar report on Friday that extensively quoted a statement by Zelensky who said, No chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction were developed on my land. The Ukrainian president said that the biological laboratories are engaged in ordinary science not military technology and then said the allegations meant that Russia was planning to carry out a biological attack on Ukraine. They have already done such things in other countries and they will do so again, Zelensky said. The United Nations Security Council met on Friday at the request of Russia to discuss allegations of military biological activities by the US in Ukraine. Russias UN representative, Vasily Nebenzya, gave a report to the Security Council which made a series of assertions about the labs in Ukraine. Nebenzya alleged that Russia had discovered the truly shocking fact of an emergency cleanup by the Kyiv regime of the traces of a military biological program which is being implemented by Kyiv with support of the US Department of Defense. The Russian military, he claimed, now has documents which confirm that on the territory of Ukraine there was a network consisting of at least 30 biological laboratories in which very dangerous biological experiments are being conducted aimed at strengthening the pathogenic qualities of the plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other lethal diseases using synthetic biology. Responding to the Russian UN report, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield gave a perfunctory reply. Russia is attempting to use the Security Council to legitimize disinformation and deceive people to justify President Putins war of choice against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Thomas-Greenfield then repeated the White House position that Ukraine does not have a biological weapons program, and there are no Ukrainian biological weapons laboratories supported by the United Statesnot near Russias borders, not anywhere. If all of what Thomas-Greenfield presented at the UN is true, then why didnt Victoria Nuland say No when Sen. Marco Rubio asked her in the Senate hearing, Are there chemical and biological weapons labs in Ukraine? Given the reactionary and bloody invasion of Ukraine by Russia, there is no doubt that the claims that the US has been running biological warfare labs there are being used as a justification by the Kremlin for its military operation. However, this does not excuse the corporate media and publications like the New York Times and the Washington Post from acting like a media arm of the White House and the Pentagon and refusing to ask Nuland what she was talking about when she said the US was concerned about the research materials falling into the hands of the Russians. This should be the starting point of the demand that details about biolabs being operated under the direction of the Pentagon be fully disclosed to the American people, but this is the opposite of the position taken by the major US news outlets. Reuters reported on Friday afternoon that the World Health Organization had advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the countrys public health laboratories to prevent any potential spills that would spread disease among the population. The report also says that biosecurity experts are warning that Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities have raised the risk of an escape of disease-causing pathogens, should any of those facilities be damaged. Reuters said that Ukrainian officials in Kyiv and Washington D.C. did not respond to requests for comment. Dr. Bonnie Henry (Flickr/Province of British Columbia) British Columbia, Canadas third most populous province, announced Thursday that it was scrapping its mask mandate as of Friday at 12:01 a.m., and that its lone remaining substantive COVID-19 mitigation measure, the vaccine passport, will end April 8. Thursdays announcement is just the latest in a crush of decisions by provinces from coast-to-coast over the past five weeks that effectively implement the far-right Freedom Convoys demand that all anti-COVID public health measures be rescinded and the potentially deadly virus be allowed to run rampant. BC is ruled by a New Democratic Party (NDP) government. The NDP, its supporters in the trade union bureaucracy and various pseudo-left organizations, and the corporate-controlled media never tire of portraying this pro-big-business party as progressive and left. Yet its response to the pandemic, which is all but indistinguishable from that of the hard-right governments of Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, tells a very different story. Throughout the pandemic, the John Horgan-led BC NDP government has prioritized profits over the protection of human life. It has allowed most businesses in key economic sectors to continue operating during each of the provinces five successive waves of mass infection, and insisted that in-person classes in schools continue at all costs. At the federal level, the NDP, with the full-throated support of the trade unions, has propped up Justin Trudeaus minority Liberal government, which has overseen the ruling elites back-to-work/back-to-school policy that is responsible for more than 37,000 official COVID deaths. The true number, when excess deaths are taken into account, now well exceeds 60,000. BC Public Health Officer Bonnie Henry has been the public face of this homicidal policy in Canadas West Coast province. In the early stages of the pandemic, she won a certain degree of public popularity due to her straightforward and often emotional press briefings. At times, Dr. Henry appeared genuinely moved by the initial wave of trauma and death that swept across the province in the spring of 2020. But ever since, she has put her cultivated, empathetic public image at the service of a ruinous pandemic policy that has flouted science in the interests of profit and led to one wave of mass infection and death after another. Henry, who serves as the provinces public health officer at the pleasure of the BC NDP government, denies that COVID-19 is principally transmitted through the air, claims that schools are a low-risk infection setting, and refuses to urge the use of N95 masks. Her regular press briefings rapidly became the occasion for the promotion of manipulated data and pseudo-scientific falsehoods about COVID-19. She has consistently sought to downplay the threat posed by COVID-19 and argued against public health measures that would impinge on business profits and shareholder payouts. This profits before life agenda was often justified with cynical expressions of concern for the most vulnerable sections of the population. BC Public Health frequently claims that the vulnerable and working class suffer most from lockdown measures. In reality, it is these sections of the population who have suffered the most from the NDP governments homicidal pandemic policy, coupled with its refusal to provide the necessary financial and social support. It is the homeless, the elderly, the immunocompromised, the poor and the working class who have borne and continue to bear the full brunt of the virus lethal effects. Henrys role as a personable advocate of mass infection and death has earned her fawning corporate and state media coverage, locally, nationally and even internationally. On June 6, 2020, the New York Times ran a profile, titled The Top Doctor who Aced the Coronavirus Test, which specifically praised Henrys light touch, i.e., her refusal to issue public health orders closing nonessential businesses. British Columbia, for example, was the last major jurisdiction in Canada to close their public schools during the spring wave of 2020 and one of the first to reopen them. The tone the Times adopted was perfectly in line with that adopted by the local and national media. To this day, the BC medias coverage of the pandemic largely consists of regurgitations of the many falsehoods and anti-scientific claims made by Henry, whom it has sycophantically dubbed St. Bonnie. A veritable cottage industry of products featuring Henrys name or image has sprung up, including a limited edition of pink-heeled Dr. Bonnie Henry Fluevog shoes. There have also been Bonnie Henry dolls, cereals and even a wooden Christmas statue that portrays her as the third wise person of the biblical Magi. The provinces ruling establishment has repaid Henry for services rendered. In addition to her $300,000-plus annual salary, she has been granted honorary degrees from multiple universities in the province, including UNBC, UBC and Royal Roads. On August 2, 2021, the government announced that she was one of 16 invitees to be awarded the Order of British Columbia, the highest civilian order in the province. The working class has often been Henrys whipping boy for many of the NDP governments and her public health failures. During the provinces deadliest pandemic wave, the winter wave of 2020-21, as the virus was rampaging through long-term care (LTC) homes, killing tens of seniors daily, Henry pointed the finger at LTC workers for bringing the virus into the homes, despite the fact she refused to authorize widespread rapid-testing for employees. The social-democratic NDP government also refused to legislate an increase in paid sick days, forcing workers to return to the job infected. In the spring of 2021, Henry again attempted to throw workers under the bus, this time blaming itinerant workers at the Whistler ski resort for spreading the virus. No mention was made of their cramped housing conditions, or her refusal to close the resort until after spring break, by which time the outbreak had already spread to the rest of the province. The anti-worker sentiments Henry fosters are shared by the top layers of the provincial government, as evidenced by Premier Horgans infamous November 2020 claim that children are incapable of transmitting the virus, and that educational staff were solely to blame for the virus spread in schools. Henry has become notorious for a series of unscientific claims about COVID-19 associated with the far-right Great Barrington Declaration. She has continued to insist, together with the provinces official guidelines, that COVID-19 is spread through droplets expelled from the mouth during coughing, sneezing, or speaking that fall rapidly to the ground. Despite extensive scientific evidence showing that the main source of transmission is aerosols, small particles that linger in the air like smoke, Henry has repeatedly dismissed this mode of infection as insignificant. British Columbia Public Healths (BCPH) refusal to acknowledge aerosol transmission has drawn widespread international condemnation from world-renowned international scientists. A report released in the spring of 2021 specifically called out the province, saying, From the very beginning of the pandemic, British Columbia based its prevention measures on an explicit contact, droplet, and fomite theory of transmission. The report, whose lead author was Oxford University Primary Care Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, went on to note, Bonnie Henry appears at least partly driven by the urge to quell panic and maintain calm. The highly respected University of Colorado Chemistry professor Jose-Luis Jimenez, a leading advocate for workplace protections against the threat posed by airborne transmission, described BCs attitude towards aerosol transmission as one of the most retrograde on the planet. As recently as this January 15, official Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) guidance stated, Like most common respiratory viruses, COVID-19 spreads primarily through respiratory droplet transmission within a short range. Henrys rejection of airborne transmission is directly connected to her refusal to call for the provision of high-quality masks, like N95s, required to protect the wearer against aerosols, for all front-line workers, from teachers to bus drivers, let alone the population at large. During the first year of the pandemic, Henry frequently questioned the benefit of mask wearing and refused to implement mandates during the horrific second wave. She has attended mass sporting events maskless (including BC Lions and Vancouver Canucks games). She has also repeatedly insisted that masks are the lowest layer of protection and N95s are not needed in most situations, and frequently attends press briefings with a cloth mask. The response of Henry and the NDP government she serves to the devastating Omicron wavewhich has officially killed more than 7,000 people nationwidehas been to declare that Canadians must learn to live with the virus. Having earlier denied most British Columbians access to PCR tests, the BC Health agency overseen by Henry announced on February 10 that henceforth it would no longer release COVID-19 infection numbers. An Uber sign is displayed inside a car in Palatine, Ill., Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) Rapidly rising gasoline prices are placing financial burdens on rideshare and delivery drivers for such companies as Lyft, Uber and DoorDash. These drivers, who are classified as independent contractors rather than employees, are among the most exploited sections of the working class and had already been making meager incomes and few if any benefits. Gasoline prices represent the largest expense for these drivers. Prices had already been rising before the invasion of Ukraine and are now skyrocketing. At the beginning of 2021, the average gasoline price across the US was $2.25, according to GasBuddy. By the end of the year, it had reached a high of nearly $3.50, the first time it was above $3.00 since 2014. Drivers in California, where gasoline prices have long been the highest in the country, are being hit with prices averaging more than $5 per gallon, but other areas are rapidly approaching that mark, with the nationwide average now over $4 a gallon. In Massachusetts, for example, the average price has increased by two-thirds within a year, rising from $2.68 to $4.16 per gallon. As of March 11, the American Automobile Association (AAA) reported the national average had reached $4.33, an all-time high. For rideshare and delivery app drivers, whose compensation is largely based on a flat rate per mile, the skyrocketing price of gasoline is squeezing their already tight margins to the point that continuing to work is becoming economically infeasible. A petition to rideshare companies Uber and Lyft asking for adjustments to compensation to deal with this growing burden has so far garnered more than 7,000 signatures. Unsurprisingly, the companies have made only token moves to address these concerns. Delivery service DoorDash has suggested that drivers take advantage of the 2 percent cash back they can obtain by using its DasherDirect credit card to purchase gasoline and for car maintenance. This sop would barely make a dent in drivers rising costs, but would bring in more revenue to the company via interest charged on card balances. Similarly, Uber has instituted a measly 25 cents per gallon cash-back program. Scott Trowbridge, a rideshare driver in California for over five years, told Fox News, Our take has dropped and were paying outrageous gas prices. Theyre not compensating us. We are working a lot more for a lot less. Joseph Klappenger, who has driven for multiple food delivery and rideshare companies in the San Antonio, Texas area for five years, described his situation to local station KSAT. I was using this to pay for certain necessities like insurance and, you know, gas money, smaller bills that I had. But now I just dont do it anymore because its not profitable for me at all. He could fill up his Honda for $25 and go 400 miles. Now, that only gets him half a tank. In Minnesota, rideshare driver Kafi Ali told CBS, Its absolutely very bad, we have to maybe look for another job because of the gas. Boston Lyft driver Ed Bushard, complained to CBS, I went from approximately $100 a week in gas up to almost $150. The steeply rising price of oil will have widespread and very painful impacts on the working class as a whole. Russia is the worlds third-largest supplier of crude oil. With that source being rapidly shut off by US/NATO sanctions, and other suppliers not able or willing to ramp up production at a commensurate rate, the price of oil will almost certainly continue to increase rapidly. This will drive up not only fuel prices, but also a wide range of commodities and services dependent on transportation, or on oil as a raw material. The capitalist media is whipping up pro-war hysteria in the population through a relentless campaign of anti-Russian propaganda. There is a widespread anti-war sentiment in the American working class, as well as a more-than-healthy distrust of the government. But to stop World War Three, workers must also have a clear understanding of the geopolitical situation and of the history behind both the US-NATO drive to war and Putin's reckless invasion of Ukraine. World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to autoworkers in Detroit this week to find out more about what workers think of the war in Ukraine. Watch and share the videos below, and use the hashtag #SpeakOutAgainstWW3 to make your own statement opposing war. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Thursday a plan to increase the size of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) by 30 percent over the next 18 years. When implemented, the countrys permanent military ranks would swell from 59,000 to almost 80,000, with a further 21,000 otherwise employed by the Department of Defence. This would be the largest increase in the size of the armed forces since the Vietnam War. It is a major stepping up of the growth already set down in the 2020 Force Structure Plan. A Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter and an Australian Defence Force MRH90 land at Sam Hill Airfield in Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area in Central Queensland [Source: Australian Department of Defence] The announcement shows that the government is preparing for large-scale conflict in the Indo-Pacific region, effectively placing the country on a war footing. The personnel expansion is expected to cost at least $38 billion, on top of existing plans to increase military spending to $578 billion over ten years, including $270 billion on new military hardware. Morrison said we need a bigger ADF with more soldiers, sailors and airmen to operate the cutting-edge capabilities were getting to protect Australia. This was necessary because our world is becoming increasingly uncertain. In fact, there is nothing defensive about the rapid expansion of the countrys military, which is aimed at deepening Australias integration into the war plans of US imperialism. Growing uncertainty in the region is the result of US-led preparations for war with China. Washington sees the very growth in the Chinese economy as the main threat to its dominance in Asia and globally. Since the Obama administration announced its pivot to Asia in November 2011, the US has dramatically stepped up its presence in the region, expanding bases in Guam, Australia and the Philippines, strengthening alliances and conducting provocative military exercises in the South China Sea. The ramping up of Australian military expenditure is to prepare for a major role in conflicts with China, in order to assist the US drive for global hegemony and bolster the strategic and economic interests of Australian imperialism. Morrisons announcement came within hours of the US House of Representatives passing a budget containing a record $US782 billion for the military. Like the Biden administration, Morrisons Liberal-National Coalition government has seized upon the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an opportunity to escalate a planned military buildup. On Monday, the prime minister announced plans to build a $10 billion base for US, UK and Australian nuclear-powered submarines on Australias east coast. While the primary focus of the military expansion is China, Morrison was quick to commit $105 million to the war against Russia, including $70 million for lethal weapons, confirming Australia is ready to play a critical role in US-led wars anywhere on the globe. Morrison said the expansion would centre around building the capabilities associated with our trilateral security partnership between Australia, United Kingdom and United States (AUKUS). The AUKUS alliance, announced last September, will allow the US greater access to Australian military facilities, further transforming the country into a base for US operations. The pact includes equipping Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, the only purpose of which would be long-range operations off the coast of China. AUKUS was condemned by Beijing as a serious threat to regional peace and stability. A senior Chinese military expert warned in the Global Times the deal made Australia a potential target for a nuclear strike. While every announcement of greater defence spending is couched in terms of national security and protecting our people, the reality is every additional dollar expended edges closer to the brink of war between nuclear-armed powers. The latest announcement is part of a push to increase Australias capacity for high-tech warfare. Defence Minister Peter Dutton told the press conference: It will mean we can build warfighting capabilities in the domains of space, and information and cyber. There is not a hairs breadth between the Coalition and Labor. Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese has rushed to assure the Australian and US ruling elite that a government he leads would be even more hawkish than the Coalition. The Australians columnist Greg Sheridan noted this week: The Opposition Leader makes no criticism of the government from the left. Albanese used a speech at the Lowy Institute on Thursday to chastise the Morrison government for an enduring focus on announcements but not on the delivery of them. The Labor leader pledged to commit more than 2 percent of Australias gross domestic product to the military and ensure the ADF has the resources it needs to defend Australia and deter potential aggressors. While Albanese criticised the Coalition for being too slow to build military capacity, Labors primary thrust on national security is the need for maximum bipartisan consensus. All Morrisons initiatives to boost the military have Labors full support. While ever-increasing billions are committed to finance militarism and war, victims of recent floods in Queensland and New South Wales have been abandoned. The federal government has offered a pittance$1,000 per adult and $400 per childto people who have lost everything in the floods. Having received no advance warning of the impending floods, thousands of people waited hours, even days, for help that never came. Were it not for the self-sacrificing actions of ordinary people, hundreds, if not thousands, would have died. Days after the floodwaters receded, help finally arrived, in the form of thousands of military personnel, who, according to local accounts, have done little to aid the clean-up effort. The real purpose of this deployment is to normalise the presence of the military in civilian life, amid mounting social unrest. In one crisis after another, including the catastrophic 201920 bushfires, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the floods, the clear message from government to the working class is youre on your own. The logic of this was spelled out in an Australian Financial Review editorial this week, calling for the doubling of military spending and an end to the addiction of the political system to promising more money for endless worthy causes. As always, the working class will not only be the casualties of war they will be forced to pay for it. Wracked with domestic social, economic and political crises, and threatened by the rise of China as a global economic power, American imperialism is determined to assert its dominance through war. Labor, the Coalition and the Greens are all committed to the US-led war drive, both as a loyal ally, and as a means to further the interests of Australian capitalism. Australian capitalism is beset with the similar internal crises. Class tensions are mounting as cost-of-living increases outstrip wages and governments, Labor and Liberal-National alike, demonstrate in an endless string of disasters that they will not protect the health and lives of the population. The working class has no interest in being dragged into the barbarism of imperialist war. Instead, workers and youth should join their class brothers and sisters around the world to build a unified anti-war movement of the working class. Opposition to the relentless expansion of military forces and the drive to war must be based on a socialist perspective and a struggle against capitalism, the root cause of war. Students wear face masks during a ceremony to mark the 32th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) Contrary to the claims made by politicians and the media that the peak of the Omicron wave has passed, the daily COVID-19 infection and death rates have risen again massively since the beginning of the month. The even more contagious Omicron sub-variant BA.2, which is considered by experts to be the most dangerous of the SARS-CoV-2 variants, already accounts for 48 percent of all COVID-19 infections in Germany. The latest weekly report from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) states that the current renewed increase in transmitted COVID-19 cases is due to the easier transmissibility of the sub-variant BA.2 and the withdrawal of contact reduction measures. The number of people currently affected by COVID-19-related acute respiratory disease has increased in almost all age groups and is estimated to be between 1.2 million and 2.1 million. More than a million new cases were reported last week. The number of new infections is greater than ever before. According to the RKI, the highest incidence rates are still found in children and adolescents aged 5 to 24 years, with 7-day incidence rates of around 2,000 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by the age groups of 0 to 4 years and 25 to 44 years with incidences of around 1,800 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The number of outbreaks in old peoples and nursing homes has also continued to increase compared to the previous week. The RKI warns that around 2.2 million and 7.7 million people in the oldest and second oldest age groups respectively have not yet received a single vaccination. Despite this catastrophic situation, the Federal Government of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP) is insisting on eliminating almost all protective measures by March 20, ending mask mandates and completely excluding lockdowns. A corresponding bill by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) was passed on Wednesday in the government cabinet and is due to pass through the parliament and Federal Council, Germanys upper house, in the next few days. As Lauterbach and Buschmann confirmed to ZDF, the state governments will in future only be able to impose mask and test regulations in care homes and hospitals, as well as tests in schools and masks in public transport, in general. In particular, the draft law of the ministers provides for an end to the mask mandate in schools and supermarkets, as well as the requirement for restaurants, bars and other offers to the public to create an effective hygiene plan to prevent infections. As part of a hotspot regulation, the state parliaments will only be allowed to reintroduce mask rules, social distancing rules and access restrictions locally and for a limited period of time in order to respond to new outbreaks, worrying virus variants, or high numbers of cases. To this end, however, the relevant state parliament must first determine a concrete risk of a dynamically spreading infection situationa formulation that places virtually no limit on the discretion of the state politicians. After the parties of the traffic light coalition government decided in November to lift the law declaring an epidemic emergency of national significance, they are now going one step further with the amendment of the Infection Protection Act. Justice Minister Buschmann stated to the press with satisfaction that in everyday life there will be virtually no more restrictions. Health Minister Lauterbachs assertion that the new law still allows states to react appropriately to new outbreaks and a possible summer wave of COVID-19 is nothing more than a smokescreen. His cabinet colleague, Mr Buschmann, emphasised that the states will not be able to invent more far-reaching measures that are not provided for in the draft law, such as curfews and lockdowns, as well as business and school closures. When asked why neither incidence rates nor hospitalisations play a role in the amendment to the law, Lauterbach provocatively stated that explicitly no figures were mentioned, since this would make no sense from a medical point of view. In other words, no matter how many people become infected, hospitalized or die in the future, there will no longer be any mandatory measures. In the past, the government tried to argue that incidence rates and infections were no longer decisive due to vaccinations. Now, even hospitalizations and deaths no longer play a role. For a policy whose primary objective is to safeguard the capitalist economy in order to generate profits, the loss of human lives is of little consequence. In total, more than 125,000 people have already died of COVID-19 in Germany alone, and 250 more are added every day. While the incidence rate on Thursday was 1,388 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, the adjusted incidence of hospitalisations has been in the range of the highest warning level for weeks and is increasing. The number of cases is also exploding in other European countries. In Denmark, where the government stopped all measures at the beginning of February, the number of deaths is higher than ever before. The new law will massively intensify the spread of COVID, especially in schools and families. Although leading federal politiciansincluding Lauterbach himselfrepeatedly cited the alleged primacy of the federal states in school policy in order to beat back demands for better protection of children and young people, the federal government is now immediately preparing to enforce the abolition of mask mandates in schools. In Austria, a similar policy has led to more than 50 percent of all schoolchildren being infected with the coronavirus, of which more than 250,000 have been infected since the end of the Christmas holidays. Since the test capacity will be used as a priority for public institutions, and will not be increased, a particularly large number of the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions who live with their children and grandchildren, or are cared for by them, are at risk of dying. This is in line with a policy that does everything it can to reject responsibility for mass death and shift it to the private sphere. To use the language of the FDP, people should die freely and autonomously in the circle of their relatives. In a popular post, an account called Risk Family wrote on Twitter: How are the seven million at-risk patients under the age of 60 protected? Like the 700,000 high-risk patients under the age of 18? Fundamental rights such as the right to life and integrity no longer count? With these regulations, at-risk patients who do not live in the nursing home, but among us, are endangered. By what right are their fundamental rights further and massively curtailed? A foster mother of two children with disabilities wrote: Without masks in the supermarket we will no longer go shopping. Leisure activities, its impossible, except for walks in the woods. So we will be completely isolated, [our child], my wife and I. How long are we supposed to live like this? Is this even a life? What is the alternative? Risk our son infecting his little sister? Then both lives would be destroyed. Under the slogan #SchwereSchuld (severe guilt), countless social media users are demanding that politicians be held accountable for their murderous decisions. Other users point out that infected people who survive a COVID-19 infection often fall into the category of a vulnerable group due to Long Covida vicious cycle that points to the eugenic principle of survival of the fittest. The web developer Markus M. tweeted: It is not personal responsibility if nurses continue to burn out, life-saving surgeries are postponed, pupils are infected every few weeks, millions are ill with long covid and so onbut rather inhumane madness! Another Twitter user added: More illness, more death, more suffering and misery. Speak the truth and confront the politicians who actually want to walk over corpses and talk some bullshit about normality and freedom. The traffic light coalition is fully aware of the catastrophic consequences of its policies. Even the day before the announcement of the amendment to the law, Lauterbach indicated his agreement with a British study, according to which even relatively light courses of COVID-19 can be associated with the loss of grey matter in the brain, which means a massive increase in the risk of dementia. On Wednesday, the Minister of Health even stated that if the vaccination rate remains unchangedand the government does nothing to increase itthere will be 200 to 300 deaths every day for many weeks. A study by the University Hospital Tubingen, which interviewed around 1,900 people infected with the coronavirus, concluded that the risk of Long Covid is higher the more pre-existing conditions a patient has. Forty-six percent of the outpatients still suffered from symptoms 12 weeks after the infection, compared with 73 percent of hospital patients. Eighty-seven percent of the respondents stated that they had survived their COVID-19 infection at home. While the children and their relatives are being infected and killed in the interest of the profit economy, the federal and state governments are also slashing funds from public services in order to invest them in rearmament and war. This is most striking in the capital city of Berlin, where the SPD/Left Party/Green state government, the so-called Red-Red-Green Senate, recently decided to cut up to 90 percent of annual funding for public schools across the board. It's that time of year again. Yes, you'll be getting one less hour in bed and you're then going to have short-term time-zone calculation adjustments to make. So, why do we have to do this anyway? Does the use of Daylight Saving Time really make a beneficial difference to our lives? Does everyone do it at the same time on the same day? When did it begin? Is it a tradition that could be scrapped in the coming years? So many questions and an hour less to read. If only there was a place with all the answers. Read on... Daylight Saving: when did it all begin? The debate rages on about whether the practice of switching clocks twice a year should continue or be ditched. The system was first adopted in the US in 1918 but dropped the following year, only to be taken up again. In 1966 the act of changing the hour to take advantage of longer days in the summer months was made uniform across the US. However, not all the states went along with adopting Daylight Saving Time, a few holdouts kept Standard Time. It wasn't until 2006 that Indiana became the 48th state to conform with the practice, previously a large part of the state didn't bother with the time change. Now a number of states would like to do away with the twice annual time change and just stick with Daylight Savings Time. How does Daylight Saving Time work? Twice a year the majority of Americans change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time. The change happens on the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November each year. The shift is always done on the weekend at 2:00 am to limit the amount of disruption caused. There is a saying to help remember which way to change your clock, Spring forward, Fall back, so in the springtime you turn your clock forward one hour and in the autumn you turn your clock back an hour. The time shift allows people to take advantage of extra daylight during summer allowing them to save energy, as well as reducing crime and traffic accidents. Which states observe Daylight Saving? The only parts of the US that do not have Daylight Saving Time are Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. Arizona experimented with the change beginning in 1918, but decided to permanently opt out of the Daylight Saving Time in 1968. Although the state observes Standard Time, the Navajo Nation, a Native American territory in the north-east of the state, which also crosses over into New Mexico and Utah, does make the twice a year time shift. Hawaii is the only other state that currently doesnt observe Daylight Saving Time. Along with the other US territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, they are close enough to the equator that there is no significant difference in sunrise and sunset times across the year so there are no benefits from changing the hour. Ending Daylight Saving Time: states in change For some the twice annual time change is a bother, which has led to calls to end the practice of Daylight Saving Time. 29 states have introduced legislation to do away with the twice-yearly switch, 19 have passed legislation in the past four years to take up Daylight Saving Time year round. However, the ultimate authority to do so has been under the Department of Transportation since 1966 and they would need Congressional approval. But, if those states chose to keep Standard Time all year, they wouldn't need to ask the federal government for its OK. One other problem, depending on which poll you look at, Americans can't agree on whether to ditch the system or which system to go with if it were nixed. A poll back in 2019 found that 71 percent of Americans dont like switching their clocks back and forth twice a year. The catch is that according to the 2019 AP-NORC poll more Americans, 40 percent, would prefer to have Standard Time year round. Add to that, another pool taken by CBS just four years prior found that Americans were split about down the middle about whether they wanted the twice annual time change or not. Why do we change the clocks for Daylight Saving Time? The first person credited with suggesting the idea of changing our clocks to take advantage of the longer summer days was Benjamin Franklin while he was living in Paris. But the man credited with getting the ball rolling was a British builder named William Willett who suggested the idea to Parliament as a way for the nation as a whole to make better use of daylight. However, Germany was the first to implement the practice of seasonal time changes, desperate to save energy during the First World War. The policy quickly caught on with most European nations, the US and the United Kingdom along with its allies adopting the Daylight Saving Time by 1918. However, many nations got rid of the system in the years after the war only to adopt it again when there was a need to conserve energy. Does Daylight Saving Time really conserve energy? The Daylight Saving Time is credited with reducing crime, people are doing activities in the daylight so there are less opportunities for criminals, as well as saving lives and preventing traffic accidents. However, the primary reason for the twice-yearly shift comes from the energy savings it is purported to have. According to the US Department of Transportation study in 1975, the US experienced nearly a one percent daily savings on energy use during the yearly Daylight Savings Time period. However, those findings have been contradicted by more recent analysis performed in 2006 when Indiana implemented Daylight Saving Time statewide. Researchers found that residential energy consumption actually increased by around one percent. They ventured that although less lighting is needed, the longer summer evenings caused a spike in AC usage in households throughout the state. Friday, March 11, marked the second anniversary of the official declaration by the World Health Organization that the outbreak of COVID-19 was a pandemic. Two years into this global catastrophe, capitalist governments have effectively declared the pandemic over and announced a return to normal, despite persistent high rates of community transmission throughout the world. Dr. Michael Ryan (left) at a conference in 2020 when the WHO declared the pandemic a Public Health emergency of International Concern [Credit: Fabrice Coffrini] Many governments are lifting all mandates and curtailing testing and vaccination efforts. Global vaccination rates are down to levels last seen in May 2021 when campaigns were just underway to vaccinate populations. Vaccine inequity continues to plague lower-income nations. Budgets for pandemic response are being slashed, replaced with a massive infusion of funds to finance the drive to war. Two years ago, when the global death toll stood at less than 5,000, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus refered to the alarming levels of inaction from national governments. Today, with the official death toll at more than six million, the response of the ruling class can be termed nothing less than social murder, a crime that continues. The world remains under international health regulations that continue to deem the COVID pandemic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Some of these requirements include surveillance and mandatory case reporting. According to Clare Wenham, a researcher in global health policy at the London School of Economics, the WHO convenes every three months to reappraise the global situation against three criteria. She told the Financial Times, If the committee decides the outbreak is no longer unusual and unexpected, no longer risking international spread and no longer requiring a coordinated international effort, the PHEIC ends. The impact of the pandemic is staggering. Nearly one million people have died in the United States, 1.7 million in Europe, 1.3 million in Asia, 1.2 million in South America, and more than 250,000 in Africa. But these official figures far understate reality. According to the Economists modeling, excess deaths from the pandemic are closer to 20 million. This figure has been corroborated in a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet, which found that excess deaths from the pandemic through December 31, 2021 are three times higher than official figures. Excess deaths by region January 2020 to December 2021 (Source: The Lancet) Since New Years Day 2022, another 600,000 people have died across the globe, predominately from the supposedly mild Omicron variant. The seven-day moving average of daily global deaths remains at close to 6,600. However, the prediction made by Dr. Hans Kluge, WHOs Regional Director for Europe, that European nations could soon be entering a long period of tranquility after the Omicron wave passed is proving disastrous. As Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet said in mid-February, His [Hans Kluges] words promote a false reassurance that could breed complacency, even deceit. The WHO's Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 released an interim statement on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 that paints a grim picture. It cautioned that though global cases were declining, the situation remained tenuous and volatile, as many regions and countries have reported a sudden rise. It also warned that the drastic reduction in testing and resources would severely hinder pandemic response measures. The situation remains more than volatile. Since the release of the interim statement, new COVID cases across the globe have taken a sudden upturn. On February 28 the number of daily cases stood at 1.15 million per day, but by March 10 that figure had rapidly risen to 1.82 million. The seven-day average of new cases globally is 1.56 million per day and climbing again. Moreover, many of the major countries in Europe that are now seeing new surges where BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron variant just came off a wave of infections caused by the BA.1 subvariant. Proportion of sequences of the BA.2 (light purple) subvariant Germany, United Kingdom, South Korea, and Hong Kong (Source Covariants.org) The WHO added in their interim statement, At a global level, BA.1 has been the predominant Omicron lineage. However, the proportion of reported sequences designated as BA.2 has been increasing relative to BA.1 in recent weeks and is the predominant Omicron lineage in several countries. Germany reported more than 300,000 new cases yesterday, a pandemic high for the country. The seven-day average of COVID deaths has crept upwards, passing 200 deaths per day. In response to these developments, Germanys health minister, Karl Lauterbach, said during a coronavirus briefing yesterday, We are in a situation that I would like to describe as critical. We have strongly rising case figures again I keep reading that the Omicron variant is a milder variant, but thats only true to a limited extent. Like many of its major European counterparts, Germany has managed to fully vaccinate around three quarters of its population. More than half have received a booster, or third shot. The claims of the ruling class that the vaccine would solve the pandemic has proven bankrupt, as the continued spread of the virus leads to the evolution of new, vaccine-resistant variants. Recent studies from the University of Tokyo and Michigan State University on the BA.2 subvariant have confirmed that it is not only more contagious than its predecessor, BA.1, by 40 percent. It is about 30 percent more immune-evasive and can reinfect people who had a prior infection with BA.1. Modeling studies predict that BA.2 will dominate globally, and there have been calls to give BA.2 a unique Greek letter. As a case study, Denmark underscores the dangers posed by ignoring the threat BA.2 poses and lifting all mitigation measures to stem infections. The country boasts a fully vaccinated rate of 82 percent, and more than 60 percent of the population is boosted. It was also one of the first European countries where BA.2 came to dominate during this winters surge of infections. Denmark encountered the highest level of infections and deaths at any point in the pandemic. Like many countries, the official mantra was that the disease remained mild and mitigation measures were not required because a significant majority of the population had been vaccinated. This proved disastrous. The daily death rate continues its climb, reaching 45 per day. With a population of 5.83 million people, this is equivalent to 2,554 deaths a day in the US. Hong Kong, the autonomous region in China, is a densely populated area with almost 7.5 million people that had kept the virus in check for nearly two years. It is now experiencing a massive, deadly deluge of infections, inundating hospitals and leading to the health system's collapse. Daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million Hong Kong vs. the US (Source: Our World in Data) The seven-day average of daily deaths continues to climb, reaching 255 per day, and it has surpassed every other country, including Peru, on a per capita basis. An equivalent death toll in the US, on a per capita basis, would be more than 11,000 a day, almost three times higher than the winter of 2021 peak. Cases in South Korea continue to spiral upwards, with more than 325,000 infections reported yesterday. Deaths are also rising exponentially. A similar situation is evolving in Vietnam, where daily cases have increased over 150,000 per day, and deaths follow. These developments will significantly impact the US, which used the decline in cases coming off the Omicron peak to fast-track policies that have essentially ended all mitigation measures, including mask mandates in schools. Additionally, all funding for pandemic measures has quickly dried up despite hundreds of billions available for their war machines. Meanwhile, BA.2 subvariant sequences have climbed four-fold to around 12 percent over the last month, highest in New York City, where the first wave of the COVID pandemic had such a devastating impact. Instead of taking heed of these developments, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said it was time to celebrate again after removing all the mandates and strict COVID protocols. He added, We are not going to allow COVID to define us. Were far from out of the woods. COVID is still here. But we are beating it back! The only way to beat back the pandemic is through an elimination strategy to drive new infections to zero and not continue to play a dangerous game of social roulette with a constantly mutating virus. United States Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking at a press conference in Romania on Friday, pointed her finger at Russian actions in Ukraine and declared, We are clear that any intentional attack or targeting of civilians is a war crime. Period. An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian's army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Harris remarks were part of a litany from Washington invoking war crimes charges against Moscow for alleged atrocities in Ukraine. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations, accused the Russian government of war crimes, declaring that attacks on civilians [that] cannot be justified by anyin any way whatsoever. The Russian military is accused of bombing a maternity ward in a hospital in Mariupol, killing 3 people, and wounding up to 17. Photos showing the devastated hospital structure and a bloodied pregnant woman have been published widely. There should be no objection to the investigation of war crimes charges against Russia, on one condition: that this apply not only to war crimes by opponents of the United States but also to those committed by the United States itself. American presidents and military leaders must be brought to trial for the murder of countless civilians deliberately targeted by US imperialism. What has been done to Mariupol does not begin to approach the magnitude of the crimes perpetrated by US imperialism around the globe. Washington has deliberately attacked and targeted innocent civilians the world over. To list the war crimes of the US empire would fill the pages of a lengthy book. Among the chapter headings we would find the names Wounded Knee, Bud Dajo, My Lai, Fallujah, and photo after painfully familiar photo of the corpses of men, women and children surrounded by US soldiers leaning on their rifles. One could select at random any conflict in which the United States has taken part at any point in the past 30 years and find numerous war crimes for which Washington has been responsible but for which no one has been held accountable. On February 13, 1991, the US Air Force targeted two smart bombs at an air raid shelter in the Amiriyah suburb of Baghdad. The US military knew that the Amiriyah facility had been used as a civil defense shelter during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s but targeted it anyway, bombing it without any advance warning. About 1,500 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed. Wikipedia summarizes the findings of former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Neighborhood residents heard screams as people tried to get out of the shelter. They screamed for four minutes. After the second bomb hit, the screaming ceased. The account continues: People staying in the upper level were incinerated by heat, while boiling water from the shelters water tank was responsible for the rest of the fatalities. Not all died immediately; black, incinerated handprints of some victims remain fused to the concrete ceiling of the shelter and can still be seen today. No one has been held accountable for this immense war crime. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tweeted on Thursday, If Russian leadership would rather not be accused of committing war crimes, they should stop bombing hospitals. How many hospitals has the United States bombed? Here is a small sample: On October 3, 2015, US aircraft bombarded a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz for over an hour, killing at least 22 civilians, including 12 hospital staff and 10 patients. Evidence later revealed that the hospital was deliberately targeted. Clinton termed the bombing deeply regrettable. Hospital bombings are only war crimes when carried out by Putin. In August 2017, the US dropped phosphorus bombs on a hospital in Raqqa in Syria. The WSWS wrote, Both the targeting of a hospital and the use of phosphorous munitions are war crimes. These chemical weapons, which burn flesh to the bone and reignite inside wounds, are banned under the Geneva Conventions for use in civilian-populated areas. In May 1999, NATO warplanes bombed a major hospital complex in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, destroying the intensive care unit and damaging the maternity unit. At least 3 people were killed, pregnant women were hit with flying glass, and 20 babies were evacuated. The bloodshed is ongoing. In December 2021, the New York Times published the Civilian Casualty Files, an investigative report that exposed how US bombings killed thousands of civilians in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, and how the US government covered this up. A single airstrike in July 2016 killed 120 civilians in Northern Syria. Civilians are deliberately targeted. There is a secret military calculus to every strike, defining the tolerable number of civilian deaths based on the perceived value of the target. The Civilian Casualty Files documented that the US military, through its video monitors, watched children playing on the roof before killing them and reducing their home to rubble. The media is coldly indifferent, and a stony silence greets each new revelation. There are no meaningful investigations launched; no rapid fire questions from courageous reporters. The American media reserves its unfelt sorrow for the victims of the enemies of Washington. Targeting Putin for war crimes in Ukraine while covering up the crimes of American empire, the US media dredges up prejudices as old as the medieval Crusades. Well-rehearsed horror greets the deaths of civilized Europeans, while Arabs and Asians count for nothing. A piteous outcry is raised for light-skinned refugees from Ukraine, but those refugees of darker skin, fleeing from Americas wars, can drown in the Mediterranean. Washington declares its profound concern to document Russias war crimes, but Julian Assange has been mercilessly persecuted because he exposed the crimes of the United States. For his courageous publication of material detailing such crimes as the murder of Iraqi civilians by US forces, his life has been effectively stripped from him. Washington demands his permanent silencing and will stop at nothing to see him dead. The hypocrisy extends yet further. The United States, which is calling for charges against Putin, does not acknowledge the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over its own combatants. No American has been prosecuted by the ICC for war crimes, and the US government has obstructed all attempts to do so. Washingtons condemnation of war crimes in Ukraine is self-serving, and the moral outrage of the corporate media is manufactured and selective. The hand-wringing over Mariupol has a specific political function. The concern is not to protect the well-being of citizens but to demonize Russians as barbaric and inhuman. Tendentiously selected and presented by the state and the media, curated for public outrage, war crimes are useful for the fomenting of war. The bombing of a hospital in Mariupol is used to add emotional indignation to the dangerous demands for a NATO-imposed no-fly zone over Ukraine. Such a no-fly zone would inescapably lead to world war. There is no statute of limitations on war crimes. If Putin is to be sent to the Hague for his crimes, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and all their accomplices in the US killings of civilians should join him in the dock. Ukraine is becoming a rallying point for neo-Nazis and mercenaries from all over the world. They are being given the opportunity to fight, kill and gain experience under real war conditions. The resulting unrestrained banditry is exacerbating and prolonging the war. Moreover, the mobilization of such forces is a danger to the working class in the countries from which the mercenaries originate. Mussolinis fascist shock troops, who terrorised Italian workers after the First World War, the German Freikorps, who murdered socialists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht and the bourgeois politicians Walther Rathenau and Matthias Erzberger, and Hitlers Storm Troopers were recruited from such brutalised front-line fighters. Armoured vehicles of the Azov Regiment in Mariupol. (Image: Wanderer 777 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia) Ukraines role as a place of pilgrimage for militant neo-Nazis did not just begin with the start of the current war. The far-right militias that played a central role in the overthrow of President Yanukovych in 2014 and subsequently kept the war in the Donbas going are very well networked internationally, maintaining relations with militant neo-Nazi groups all over the world. According to Time magazine in January of last year, more than 17,000 foreign fighters from 50 countries have come to Ukraine in the last six years, as the WSWS has reported . In particular, the Azov Regiment, founded by the self-confessed neo-Nazi and anti-Semite Andriy Biletsky, plays a central role in recruiting and training far-right forces. The regiment was incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard in the autumn of 2014 and deployed in the fight against the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, giving it access to state-of-the-art weaponry provided by the US and other NATO member countries. Since the beginning of the current war, the recruitment of mercenaries has been official government policy. At the end of February, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the creation of an International Legion. He declared, If you have combat experience, you can join us and defend Europe with us. Since then, the Ukrainian government has been intensively recruiting volunteers, preferably with military training and combat experience, via social media and on special websites. It provides detailed instructions on how to join the fight against the aggressor, and refers people to the Ukrainian embassies, which will clarify experience and suitability and help with travel. Official Ukrainian video advert for the International Legion (screenshot) An official promotional video makes clear to whom the appeal is aimed. With a mixture of right-wing hero worship and vulgar Russophobia, it appeals to the basest instincts. The video begins with the words: This is an open call to all the heroes of the free world. Then, accompanied by images of battle scenes and heavy war equipment, it says of Russian President Vladimir Putin: He planned the blitzkrieg but got the blitz-fuck instead, when his numerous bastards who call themselves the Russian Army met Ukrainians armed with Stingers, Javelins, Bayraktars and an uncompromising willingness to protect liberty. Although recruitment is now taking place through official government channels, right-wing extremists continue to play a central role. According to research by Die Zeit, whose reporter claimed to be interested in volunteering, the boundaries between the states official International Legion and the far-right volunteer regiment are seemingly fluid. For example, according to a recruiter, the Azov headquarters in Kiev is the official place for gathering and training not only for the far-right regiment, but also for volunteers seeking to join the Ukrainian militarys International Legion. Olena Semyanka, the best-known leading figure of the Azov Regiments political wing, who has had herself photographed with a Swastika flag, told Die Zeit that she was now an assistant to a deputy of President Zelenskys ruling party and was supporting him in building up the International Legion. A right-wing extremist who also recruits foreign fighters for Ukraines official International Legioncan that be true? asks Die Zeit. Apparently, the answer is yes. Georgian and Chechen Legion The Georgian Legion and the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion, recruited from veterans of the Georgian and Chechen wars, also serve as a focal point for international legionnaires. Both were formed in 2014 to fight the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine because the Ukrainian army had largely collapsed following the right-wing coup in Kiev. Although the new government reinstated conscription, which had been suspended by ousted President Yanukovych, most soldiers were unwilling to fire on their fellow citizens in the breakaway regions. Hundreds of thousands evaded conscription by going into hiding or fleeing to neighbouring countries. The government systematically conducted raids to apprehend them. In February 2016, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence reported that 26,800 cases of draft evasion had been opened. Under these circumstances, the vehemently anti-Russian Georgian and Chechen legionnaires, notorious for their brutality, played a decisive role in keeping the war in eastern Ukraine going. The 2015 Minsk Agreement, which provided for a ceasefire and an autonomy arrangement for eastern Ukraine, was signed by the Kiev government merely to buy time. The Georgian Legion, commanded by former Georgian officer Mamuka Mamulashvili, prides itself on recruiting only battle-hardened professionals. In addition to Georgians, its ranks include numerous mercenaries from Western countries and Ukrainians who volunteered to fight against Russia in Chechnya and Georgia. A report that appeared in the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail on 13 February paints a picture of the character and ethos of these mercenaries. Igor Mazur, a Ukrainian ultranationalist has been fighting in wars around the ex-USSR since he was 18, the newspaper reports. In 1992, he went to Transnistria, where he joined the ultra-right Ukrainian Peoples Self Defence (UNSO). As a UNSO member, he fought against Russia in Abkhazia and in the first Chechen war, and supported the pro-Western regime change operations in Ukraine in 2004 and 2014. He then fought in the ranks of the Ukrainian army against Russian forces in Mariupol. Now, the 48-year-old has joined a reserve unit and is waiting to go to war again. Cooperation between the Ukrainian government and these ultra-right militias works well because many government members share their far-right views. For example, Andriy Melnyk, the Ukrainian representative in Germany since 2014, through whose embassy the recruitment of legionnaires is now being carried out, is an admirer of Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, whose Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) was responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of Jews and Poles. Tweet by Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk celebrating Stepan Bandera Melnyk is notorious for his undiplomatic attacks on the German government, which he accuses of providing insufficient political and military support. On Thursday, he told Die Welt that when it came to the survival of the Ukrainian nation, I dont give a shit what choice of words I use. He said the German governments decision to continue to buy gas and oil from Russia was a knife in the back of Ukraine, adding that Chancellor Olaf Scholz lacked determination in the fight for freedom. Melnyks crude behaviour and far-right views did not prevent the members of the Bundestag (German parliament) from hailing him with a standing ovation as he watched from the public gallery their approval of arms deliveries to Ukraine and the biggest German rearmament since Hitler. NATO support Most NATO governments are supporting or encouraging their citizens to join the fight in Ukraine, even though this is illegal in many countries. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said people from Britain who wanted to fight in Ukraine had her absolute support. The Latvian parliament unanimously supported allowing its citizens to take part in the war. The Danish government said it was not illegal for individuals to choose to go to war. The Canadian government announced that each citizen could decide for himself whether or not to fight in Ukraine. In a joint statement, the German interior, justice, and foreign ministries stated that German citizens who officially joined the Ukrainian army were not liable to prosecution, as long as they did not violate international law. The German government, the ministries said, did not want to prevent its citizens from going to Ukraine to fight as a matter of principle. This is despite the fact that recruiting a German citizen for military service in support of a foreign power is punishable by a prison sentence of three months to five years, according to the Criminal Code, and even the mere attempt to recruit for this purpose is punishable. In the meantime, numerous legionnaires from all over the world have set off for Ukraine. According to Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, 20,0000 volunteers from 52 countries had registered by 6 March. Many have come from Georgia and Belarus, but many are also said to be on their way from the US, Canada and Britain. According to the Ukrainian embassy in Washington D.C., up to 3,000 volunteers in the US have responded to Zelenskys call. Numerous reports about volunteers have appeared in the international media, making clear that there are many right-wing extremists among them. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which inquired among volunteers and in relevant chat groups, reported on March 7: Those who expect extremists among the volunteers are not wrong. On Telegram, a man asked how he can fight. His profile picture includes the saying, Loyalty and Honour, behind it is the Black Sun, a well-known runic sign of the neo-Nazi scene. And at another point, the article states: In the Telegram groups, there is no glossing over what the operation means. Fighters post close-ups of the faces of dead Russians, covered in blood, with their mouths half open. BuzzFeedNews writes: The Western foreigners who have come to Ukraine are a motley crew. There are idealists, adventurers and then there are the extremists who have seen opportunities to link up with far-right paramilitary groups fighting in Ukraine. British newspapers report that veterans with Afghanistan and Iraq war experience are heading out. The Mirror reports on a crack team of SAS veterans heading to Ukraine, funded by a country in Europe, still to be named, via a private military company. According to the newspaper, among them there are highly trained snipers and experts in the use of anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles. The Times writes: More than 150 former paratroopers who served in Afghanistan are on their way to fight on the front line with Ukraine against Russia. European Union (EU) heads of state ended a two-day summit at Versailles, France, yesterday addressing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Pouring fuel on the flames of the war, they adopted multiple anti-Russian measures: further arming Ukrainian army units and nationalist militias while pledging to cut off deliveries of Russian oil, gas and grain critical to the food and energy supply of Europe and Africa. French President Emmanuel Macron, left, looks at the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during a press conference after the EU summit at the Chateau de Versailles, Friday, March 11, 2022 in Versailles, west of Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel were joined by President Emmanuel Macron of France, which now holds the EUs rotating presidency, at a press conference yesterday afternoon. While COVID-19 infects over 4 million people and claims over 15,000 lives each week in Europe, they said nothing about the pandemic. Nor did they refer to the growing international wave of strikes against rising fuel costs. They called instead for massive, unspecified increases in EU military spending to conduct the full range of operations and missions, including warfare in space and cyberspace. They announced that the EU would continue pouring weapons into Ukraine, providing a further 1 billion in arms to Kiev. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had said earlier that the EU would increase its weapons supplies to Ukraine by 500 million. The decision was taken to add a further 500 million to the previously agreed-upon increase in weapons spending mentioned by Borrell, Michel said, without specifying how the money would be spent. Ukraine has previously called on the EU to supply it with anti-aircraft missiles, anti-drone weapons, mine-detection equipment, radio and radar equipment, night vision goggles and ambulances. While refusing to admit Ukraine into the EU, EU officials agreed to admit Ukrainian refugees into the EUbut only temporarily. Macron said, The path to our Europe is open to Ukrainians. Their struggle for democracy and the values that unite us has shown that Ukraine indeed belongs to our European family. However, he added, Can there be an exceptional and accelerated procedure for entry [into the EU] for a country that is at war? The answer is no. In the summit resolution, the EU pledged to phase out our dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal imports as soon as possible, referring to 2027 as a possible deadline. This disruption of world energy markets would massively increase oil and gas prices that are already surging. Moreover, the moves by Washington and the European powers to cut Russia and Belarus out of dollar-denominated transactions in international trade would accelerate the surge in food prices, as the region is a critical exporter of grain. Macron made clear these policies will have a devastating impact on workers living standards, but that the EU will proceed anyway. Europe and Africa will be very deeply destabilized in terms of food over the next year, he said. We must re-evaluate production strategies to defend our sovereignty in food as Europeans, but also re-evaluate our Africa strategy. Otherwise African countries will be hit in the next 12 to 18 months because of what cannot currently be planted. To justify its policies targeting the working class, the EU summit resolution issued a one-sided denunciation of Russia. It declared: Two weeks ago Russia brought war back to Europe. Russias unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine grossly violates international law and the principles of the UN Charter and undermines European and global security and stability. It is inflicting unspeakable suffering on the Ukrainian population. Russia, and its accomplice Belarus, bear full responsibility for this war of aggression While the Kremlins decision to invade Ukraine is undoubtedly reckless and reactionary, the EUs blaming of militarism, mass COVID-19 infections and social austerity on Russia is a pack of lies. First of all, it was not the Kremlin that brought war back to Europe, but the NATO imperialist powers. The Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 cleared the way for a wave of bloody NATO wars not only in the Middle East, starting with Iraq and Afghanistan, but in Europe itself. The Yugoslav wars of the 1990s were incited and backed by the NATO powers, who encouraged various Yugoslav republics to secede and then bombed Serbia and Kosovo in 1999. Moreover, the EUs posturing as a temporary haven for Ukrainian immigrants is of truly staggering hypocrisy. After NATO wars across the Middle East and Africa over the last 30 years, over 80 million people have become refugees worldwide. The EU has closed its borders to them, consigning millions to refugee camps and leaving tens of thousands to drown in the Mediterranean. Now, however, to denounce Russia and justify its right-wing policies, it is making an insincere and discriminatory show of concern, but only for specifically Ukrainian refugees. Finally, the EUs program of rearmament and war targeting Russia is to be waged overwhelmingly at the expense of the working class. As the EU floats plans to borrow 200 billion for rearmament, this will clearly be financed by massive social attacks on workers in Europe. Already Macron has pledged to increase the retirement age in France by three years. The far-reaching, essentially fascistic implications of this rearmament offensive emerge in bellicose articles in the bourgeois media. On the eve of the summit, German news magazine Der Spiegel published an article titled An angel with a sword is still an angel! Its author, Belgian philosopher Luuk van Middelaar, a former advisor to European Commission President Hermann Van Rompuy, praises the return of German militarism. He writes, After years of hesitation, the Federal Republic now intends to arm seriously. It has also started to support Kiev militarily. Berlin is breaking with its economic policy towards Moscow, recognising its dependence on gas as a strategic mistake What its eastern neighbours and several US presidents have failed to do over many years, Putin has achieved in one fell swoop: Germany has woken up geopolitically. Middelaar calls on the EU to become a major military power that can wage war on other major powers: If Europe wants to emerge as a power among powers, capable at some point even of commanding destructive military forces, it will need a different political language to talk about itself and its place in the world. The European Union will have to change its ethos and its demeanor. It must understand that it will then no longer be the angel that liberates the continent and the world from evil and tyrannybut a mortal, strategic and realpolitik actor Workers in Europe and internationally must be warned. After triggering two world wars in the 20th century, the European ruling classes will stop at nothing to impose their imperialist interests in the 21st. Having used Putins reactionary invasion to launch its biggest rearmament programme since Hitler, the German bourgeoisie is debating building nuclear weapons. As Focus magazine wrote, No fear of nuclear weapons: Why Germany must now talk about nuclear rearmament, German EU parliamentarian Manfred Weber declared: The basis of real European sovereignty is the ability for Europe to defend itselfat some point including nuclear weapons. The alternative to the EUs reactionary policies is the growing international class struggle against them. In Italy, fishermen are on a nationwide strike against skyrocketing fuel costs. According to the fishing sector of the Italian farmers association Coldiretti Impresapesca, fuel prices for fishing boats have risen 90 percent compared to last year. Spanish truckers are to go on indefinite strike on 14 March, demanding cuts in fuel taxes to compensate for rising fuel prices. In Albania, mass protests have erupted against fuel prices. Albanian police arrested at least 16 people Wednesday evening for illegal assembly. Street protests have been taking place for days in the capital, Tirana, and in other cities, against a 30 percent increase in oil and gas prices in one week. In Germany, too, strikes are underway. On Tuesday kindergarten teachers, particularly hard hit by the pandemic, went on strike. Pilots of the cargo airline Aerologic have also voted to strike. The European sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) are fighting to arm the growing opposition among workers and youth with a socialist programme. The threat of world war, the death of millions from the pandemic and mass social impoverishment can only be overcome by building an independent mass movement against capitalism and the struggle for workers power as part of the United Socialist States of Europe. Weather Alert ...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers and locations in Indiana... White River at Edwardsport and Elliston. Wabash River at Montezuma. .Multiple rounds of rain over the last few days, including today, will lead to minor flooding along lower portions of the White River and upper portions on the Wabash River. Additional rainfall later this week should keep portions of the White and Wabash above flood stage through Saturday. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize the dangers of flooding. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov/ind. This statement will be updated within the next 12 to 24 hours. && ...FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT TO SUNDAY EVENING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Wabash River at Montezuma. * WHEN...From late tonight to Sunday evening. * IMPACTS...At 18.0 feet, Montezuma agricultural levee is overtopped. Fourteen hundred acres of low bottomlands flood. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 10:45 AM EDT Tuesday the stage was 9.1 feet. - Forecast...The river will oscillate around flood stage with a maximum value of 16.4 feet early Saturday morning. - Flood stage is 14.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood && Russian invasion of Ukraine headlines - At least two killed after Russian missile hits a residential building in north-west Kyiv on Monday morning; at least two people were killed and twelve were wounded in the attack. - Russian journalist and TV producer Marina Ovsyannikova arrested after staging an anti-war protest during a nightly news broadcast on a state run channel. - Diplomatic talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected to restart after brief break. This comes as the mayor of Mariupol reports that the city's "last reserves of food and water are running out - 35 are dead and over 100 people are wounded after a Russian attack on a Ukrainian military base which sits around 10 miles from the Polish border - 2.8 million Ukrainians have fled their country since the invasion began - US warns China that military and economic support to Russia could bring about serious financial consequences for the country. - US journalist and award-winning filmographer Brent Renaud killed near by Russian troops in Kyiv; Fox News journalist Benjamin Hall has also been injured while in Ukraine. Russia - Ukraine conflict information - Can families in the US sponsor Ukrainian refugees? - Gas prices are up around the world. Where are people seeing the quickest increase? - Ukrainian officials say Russia is preparing a "false flag" operation on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant - How does the Russian government prevent protests against the Kremlin? Related News The brother of slain former caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the new leader of Islamic State, according to two Iraqi security officials and one Western security source. Al-Baghdadi brother in charge of IS Islamic State named its new leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi in a recorded audio message distributed online. The announcement came weeks after the death last month of Abu Ibrahim al-Quraishi, the man who in turn succeeded Baghdadi in 2019 and became the group's second so-called caliph. Both Baghdadi and Quraishi died by blowing themselves and family members up during U.S. raids on their hideouts in northern Syria. Islamic State, a successor to al Qaeda's notoriously bloodthirsty Iraq branch, has its roots in an Islamist insurgency against U.S. forces after they invaded Iraq and toppled Sunni Muslim dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. Islamic State in its current form emerged from the chaos of the civil war in neighbouring Syria last decade and took over vast swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. Baghdadi declared an Islamic caliphate from a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014 and proclaimed himself caliph of all Muslims. Islamic State's brutal rule, during which it killed and executed thousands of people in the name of its narrow interpretation of Islam, came to an end in Mosul when Iraqi and international forces defeated the group there in 2017. Its remaining thousands of militants have in recent years mostly hid out in remote territory but are still able to carry out significant insurgent-style attacks. Little known about Badri The new leader's real name is Juma Awad al-Badri, he is Iraqi and Baghdadi's elder brother, two Iraqi security officials told Reuters on Friday. A Western security official confirmed the two men were brothers, but did not specify which was older. It is the first time this has been revealed since Islamic State announced the new leader. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to media. Little is known about Badri, but he comes from a close circle of shadowy, battle-hardened Iraqi jihadists who emerged in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S. invasion. "Badri is a radical who joined salafi jihadist groups in 2003 and was known to always accompany Baghdadi as a personal companion and Islamic legal adviser," one of the Iraqi security officials said. The official said Badri has long been head of Islamic State's Shura Council, a leadership group that guides strategy and decides succession when a caliph is killed or captured. Research by the late Iraqi Islamic State expert Hisham al-Hashemi published online in 2020 said Badri was leader of the five-member Shura Council. The audio recording announcing the new leader said he had been named by Quraishi as his successor before his death. Badri's nom-de-guerre, also Quraishi, indicates that like his brother and his predecessor he is believed to trace his lineage from the Prophet Mohammed, giving him religious clout among fellow jihadists. Iraqi security officials and analysts have said that the new leader will continue trying to wage attacks across Iraq and Syria and that he might have his own vision for how those attacks are carried out. Does the new leader increase the global security threat? One of the Iraqi security officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday said Badri had recently moved across the border from Syria, where he has been holed up, and into Iraq. Badri will inherit control over financial resources that are significant, according to a report written in December by the United Nations sanctions monitoring team. "Recent assessments ... put the group's reserves at between $25 million and $50 million," it said, but added that Islamic State spends more than it earns, relying on "opportunistic extortion, looting and kidnap for ransom." Badri has two other brothers, one detained for years by Iraqi security services, the Iraqi security official said. The other brother's whereabouts is not known, but he is believed to be another Islamist radical, he said. Russia is an immense nation covering around one eighth of the inhabitable land on Earth. But the nation began as the Grand Duchy of Moscow a small portion of the Kievan Rus. Over the centuries, through countless wars the duchy grew to become the one of the most powerful nations in Europe. Here are some of the wars that shaped the Russian nation. From a vassal state to unification of Russian principalities The Golden Horde rolled across the Eurasian steppes to reach into Eastern Europe in the 13th century extending the frontiers of the Mongol Empire. The Grand Duchy of Moscow was a vassal to this sprawling empire. Prince of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich, who would later use the surname Donskoi, managed to unite the Rus principalities to throw off the Tartar Yoke. Although he wouldnt be the one to win full independence from the Mongols, he successfully led Russian troops against them in a series of battles that culminated in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. A hundred years later, Moscow would gain full independence when the Tartar Golden Horde was defeated at the "Great Stand" on the Ugra River during the reign of Ivan III, also known as Ivan the Great. Russia gets a window to Europe Moscow sits at the crossroad of several river systems that gives it access to the Baltic Sea and Black Sea as well as the Caucasus region. By the time of Peter the Great, Russia extended all the way to the Pacific but lacked a port in the west or south. In order to gain a window to Europe Russia fought the Great Northern War with Sweden, a military hegemon of the time, between 1700 and 1721. Upon its conclusion Russia was an empire and a major power player in Europe. Russia spreads south In search of a warm water port the Russian Empire fought numerous wars with the Ottoman Empire. During the 1770s a series of clashes would result in Russia making significant gains. In 1783 under Catherine the Great, Russia finally gained a permanent hold of the northern coast of the Black Sea and the strategic Crimea peninsula. The Napoleonic Wars Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Russia in 1812 with his Grande Armee but instead of facing him outright the Russians practiced a scorched earth tactic. When Napoleon was forced to retreat or let his army starve in a burnt-out Moscow the Russians harried his forces trudging through the unforgiving Russian winter. Russias army followed him all the way back to Paris where they defeated the French in 1814. Emperor Alexander I of Russia stayed on in Paris while the French state was reordered and a new constitution written up. That occupation by the Russians would sow the seeds of the Russian revolution and the end of the Tsars. The World Wars Russia fought against Germany in both World Wars. The first saw the country thrown into turmoil with the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 that would result in the Soviet Union after a bloody civil war. During the second, after suffering early loses to the invading German forces, the Russians came back to crush the Nazis, eventually occupying East Germany. The Cold War Success in World War II made the Soviet Union one of the two global superpowers. Although Russia and the United States never came into direct military conflict they would fight proxy wars around the periphery. Russia was instrumental in helping Vietnam defeat the US. The favor was returned when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The grinding war that resulted in the loss of thousands of Russian soldiers and a collapsing economy helped bring about the end of the Soviet Union. Post-Soviet Union conflicts After the Soviet Union broke up and the Iron Curtain came down Russia has played role in many of the conflicts in post-Soviet bloc nations. Early in President Vladimir Putins reign, Russia put down a rebellion in Chechnya for a second time with brutal force. It has invaded two of its neighbors Georgia and Ukraine. The former in 2008 and the later in 2014 and again recently. Russia has been accused of using tactics in Ukraine that it has employed in Syria as it helps the Assad regime fight forces opposed to his brutal rule. These include shelling civilian neighborhoods and hospitals which Ukraine has asked be tried as War Crimes at the International Criminal Court. China's economy captured global attention again after setting a 5.5-percent economic growth target for 2022. The goal, though below last year's 8.1 percent, is sure to inject confidence and resilience into the global economy riddled with myriad challenges and uncertainties. Guided by "Xiconomics," the economic philosophy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China is following a path for high-quality development. China's GDP grew 8.1 percent year on year to 114 trillion yuan (18 trillion U.S. dollars), accounting for 18 percent of the global total. With a people-centered philosophy of development championed in Xiconomics, the Chinese people are living much better lives thanks to considerable economic growth. Following a development path tailored to its national realities and making notable and substantive progress toward common prosperity for all Chinese people, China has also committed itself to building a better world through common development and win-win cooperation. MEETING PEOPLE'S NEEDS "What we now face is the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life," Xi said in a report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017. From daily material and cultural needs to the desire for a better life, Xi's economic philosophy examines the needs of the Chinese people from a broader perspective and a higher level. "The thought, which creatively combines the aspiration of human beings for a better life with the practice of people-oriented development, is of global influence," Australian economist Guo Shengxiang told Xinhua in a recent interview. In practicing the philosophy, China has been advancing reforms in various areas of public concern, including housing, education and healthcare. With China's per capita disposable income rising 9.1 percent year on year in nominal terms to 35,128 yuan (5,545 dollars) last year, rapid improvement in Chinese people's lives had been seen in many aspects from dining tables to improved housing conditions, from rising pensions for the elderly to reduced air pollution. Amid rising global protectionism, it continues to advance high-level opening up and expand imports to meet people's needs for high-quality products and services. In 2021, China's foreign trade surged to 6.14 trillion dollars, up 21.4 percent year on year and crossing the 6-trillion-dollar threshold for the first time. Exports rose 21.2 percent, while imports went up 21.5 percent. Contributing over 30 percent to global growth in recent years, China has become a key anchor and driver for the world economy and will continue to be a stabilizer of the global growth. The 5.5-percent growth goal for 2022, which represents medium-high rate given China's large economic aggregate, can be reached through tapping the internal strength of the world's second largest economy, analysts said. President Xi's economic thought is full of oriental wisdom and is conducive to the development of the world, noted Honson To, chairman of KPMG China and Asia Pacific. "It is an advanced thought that suits China's national conditions and the development trend of the world," he said. SHARED DEVELOPMENT In the mostly arid, desert-capped northeastern Kenyan county of Garissa, the neat and dense solar panels installed by a Chinese company line up to form an "energy oasis." The project has benefited thousands of families and businesses since 2019. According to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Chinese-built 50 MW photovoltaic power station, the largest in East Africa, sets Kenya on the path of achieving green energy sufficiency and adds to its rich profile as the center of green energy generation in Africa. The Garissa solar plant in the African country is just one example. From the China-Laos Railway, the Port of Piraeus, to the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park, similar cooperation programs, carried out under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and designed to electrify common development, are flourishing in many parts of the world. Those projects, which feature Xi's vision for development featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared growth, have brought substantial benefits to local people. Take the China-funded expanded National Road No. 3, a key transportation artery inaugurated in Cambodia early this month. The 134.8-km road links the capital of Phnom Penh and the southwestern coastal province of Kampot. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen commented that the road is crucial to boosting economic and tourism development at the inauguration ceremony. "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," said Hun Sen. Ordinary Cambodian people also have high hopes for the road. Thun Sokleng, a 43-year-old farmer in Kampong Speu province, said "I believe that this road will contribute to improving living conditions of the people in the areas along it." From China's economic growth to the common development of countries worldwide, Xi's economic thought addresses the needs and difficulties of global development through cooperation frameworks such as the BRI and the Global Development Initiative. Since 2013 when Xi announced the BRI, over 140 countries spanning different regions, cultures and stages of development, as well as more than 30 international organizations, have signed BRI cooperation documents with China. The BRI cooperation is "not only aimed at promoting economic integration but also solving social problems in the countries taking part in this initiative, particularly issues like raising the level and quality of people's lives," said Alexander Petrov, a professor of St. Petersburg State University. PURSUING MULTILATERALISM As the world is faced with stiff and complex problems, Xi said in 2021 that the way out of them is "through upholding multilateralism and building a community with a shared future for mankind." For years, China has upheld the international system centered on the United Nations and the international order underpinned by international law, observed World Trade Organization trade rules, and practiced true multilateralism against the headwinds of unilateralism and protectionism. In promoting mutual respect and equality, China has actively participated in the reform of the global governance system, and worked to make economic globalization more open, inclusive and balanced. "China does not just talk about multilateralism, but has taken real actions," said Jose Ignacio Martinez Cortes, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. At a time when the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines is tight, China has taken the lead in providing vaccines to developing countries in dire need. China has supplied more than 2.1 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, attesting to the true meaning of multilateralism. Natee Taweesrifuengfung, president of the Thailand-based Siam Think Tank, said that in the current international situation, China has held high the banner of multilateralism, actively promoted win-win cooperation, vigorously boosted world economic recovery, and has showed its sense of responsibility as a major country. The filmmakers behind some of this years Oscar-nominated live action shorts used their films as a platform to bring awareness about issues ranging from bride kidnappings in Kyrgyzstan, to the dehumanization of individuals in the U.S. correctional system. The directors and screenwriters of Ala Kachuu Take and Run, The Dress and Please Hold sat down for a conversation with TheWraps Brian Welk, to discuss the importance of presenting pressing issues to audiences despite obstacles such as having a low budget, tight deadlines and in some cases, a language barrier. I think its really important that the whole world try to watch this thing going on in countries like Kyrgyzstan. Only when the people are watching, when were aware of the fates of other people things can change, German-Swiss filmmaker Maria Brendle commented about her film Ala Kachuu about a young Kyrgyz woman named Sezim who dreams of attending college. Sezims dreams are thwarted when she is kidnapped for marriage to a man she doesnt know. Brendle began working on the film in 2016 and spent several years in Kyrgyzstan researching, observing Kyrgyz weddings and casting both locals and theater-trained actresses in her film. Warsaw Film School student Tadeusz Lysiaks short The Dress stars Anna Dzieduszycka as a lonely, short-statured woman named Julia, who longs for love and falls for a truck driver passing through the motel where she works as a maid. Lysiak has a brutal twist in the film, and said he decided to go in that direction after reading scientific reports about the percentage of women with a disability who are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Victims of that kind of assault are being silent because they have no platform to speak up, Lysiak said. Theres not a lot of people who are talking about it, so we made a movie about this specific part of this issue. As for the sci-fi social satire Please Hold, filmmakers KD Davila and Levin Menekse showed what a dystopian society would be like if artificial intelligence controlled the criminal justice system. Their main character Mateo is arrested by a drone and thrown into a fully automated jail cell as he desperately tries to get out. Davila said the film used moments of humor while continuing to tell the reality for a lot of people of color in America when it comes to the judicial system. Tim Burton fans looking for the real estate opportunity of a lifetime, take note. The famous house from Edward Scissorhands in Lutz, Florida is up for sale, according to Tampas Channel 8. If Burtons film about the weirdness of suburbia inspired anyone to move to the suburbs, there may never be a better chance than this. More from IndieWire While the Bogg family home is instantly recognizable to many movie lovers, whoever buys this house will get a lot more than just the iconic facade. In 2020, the house was sold to Joey Licalzi, who worked as a dishwasher on the set of Edward Scissorhands. Licalzi and his wife have proceeded to turn the house into a shrine to the movie, dubbed Scissorland. The front yard still features the famous topiaries from the movie, and the interior features touches like replica wallpaper that mimics the films sets. The Licalzis have turned the project into a communal effort, raising thousands of dollars on GoFundMe and soliciting memorabilia donations from fans of the film who want to see the house live on as if the Boggs family still lived there. But in recent months, the cost of maintaining the property has become insurmountable, prompting the couple to put it on the market and give fans and perspective buyers a rare look at the property. This is it! One-of-a-kind Scissorland shrine! Be one of the first families to battle for an epic, historical movie property, reads the listing for the three bedroom, two bathroom home. The Licalzis say that interest in the home has been high, so they are hosting an in-person open house on March 13. Edward Scissorhands was released in 1990. In addition to being a cult classic in its own right, the film is notable for launching the creative partnership between Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, who went on to make films like Ed Wood, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Alice in Wonderland together. None of their other films have inspired themed replica houses, at least as of yet. Story continues Scissorland currently has an asking price of $699,900. Those interested in a virtual tour of the property can check out the homes official Instagram account, Ourscissorland. Best of IndieWire Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Impactful winter storm spans 3000+ kilometres The potent winter storm trekking across the East Coast will leave a sprawling footprint across the United States and Canada. Were likely to see a swath of snow measuring thousands of kilometres long by the end of the weekend, stretching from the deserts of Arizona to the bays of northern Labrador. Winter storm watches and warnings span the length of the storms predicted track. GET THE LATEST: Batten down the hatches Atlantic Canada, major storm approaches This system will rapidly intensify once it reaches the U.S. East Coast, intensifying to potentially record-setting levels by the time it reaches the Maritimes on Saturday. If current forecasts verify, this could be the most intense low-pressure system ever recorded in Canada during the month of March. Watch the video above for more details on this sprawling late-season winter storm. Thumbnail courtesy of NOAA/NESDIS. Photo credit: Steffan Hill While many of Outlander's enthusiastic fans watch the show for its passionate love stories, rich exploration of history, and gorgeous costumes, at its core, the Starz series is rooted in science fiction. Claire Randall's entire life shifts when she travels back in time through the stones at Craigh na Dun, and without that journey, there would be no plot to thwart the Battle of Culloden, no stunning historic clothing, and no steamy sex scenes between Claire and her 18th-century husband, Jamie Fraser. Those stones are pivotal to the Outlander story. Unfortunately for those loyal viewers seeking to see Craigh na Dun in real-life, it's a fictional place, so there's not an exact real life location to plan a trip around. But here are a few places where you can catch a glimpse of the Outlander magic. The scenes where Claire goes through the stones were filmed at Kinloch Rannoch in Perth, near the eastern edge of Loch Rannoch. But don't travel there expecting to see the standing stone circle. For the show, the stones were created out of styrofoam and temporarily placed on site. "We built the stones at our studio. The stones are made out of styrofoam. You could pick them up by yourself," explained showrunner Ronald Moore on the Outlander Podcast. "They were sculpted by an artisan, a craftsman and painted to look like actual stone. And then we hauled them out to the actual location and we planted them in the ground." Photo credit: Steffan Hill The look of the stones was rumored to have been inspired by the Callanish Stones, which are located on the Isle of Lewis, but crafting the look of the props perhaps proved simpler than finding a location for the scene. "It took a long time to find the actual location for Craigh Na Dun because it had to fit a lot of masters," Moore explained. "It had to be big enough for all these stones to stand in a circle. It had to be level enough that dancers could actually dance around on it. It had to be on a hill with a bit of a view because we were going to have to climb up to this hill and then run back down it. It wasn't easy to find." Story continues If it's just the name you're interested in, there's a Craig Dunain (close, but no cigar) graveyard near Inverness. There is also a standing stone circle known as Clava Cairns near the city where Claire first fell through the stones. For those making a full day of visiting Outlander locations, it is very close to the Culloden battlefield, and open to the public. Photo credit: Arterra - Getty Images No plans to travel to Scotland anytime soon? You might be interested to know that stone circles exist in a number of different countries including Ireland, Italy, Somalia, and Ethiopia, among other places. If you prefer the armchair traveler life, shop Diana Gabaldon's full book series below: You Might Also Like If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Footwear News may receive an affiliate commission. A bold new iteration of the beloved Air Jordan 13 is hitting shelves soon. More from Footwear News Jordan Brand announced via the Nike SNKRS release calendar that the latest Air Jordan 13 Del Sol will drop mid-month in various sizing for different members of the family. The new look of Michael Jordans signature shoe features a premium white leather upper thats offset with bright yellow suede underlay panels toward the midfoot and heel. Adding to the bold execution is red Jumpman branding embroidered on the tongue as well as printed on the footbed. Capping off the look is a hologram on the ankle collar, a yellow midsole, and a black outsole. The lateral side of the Air Jordan 13 Del Sol. - Credit: Courtesy of Nike Courtesy of Nike When the sun beams down, life can feel a bit brighter and lighter. Passing along those good rays, the Del Sol Air Jordan 13 features a simple makeup with an OG look and packaging, Jordan Brand wrote for the SNKRS product description of the shoe. The Air Jordan 13 Del Sol will be released on March 19 via SNKRS at 10 a.m. ET and at select Jordan Brand retailers. The adults version of the shoe will retail for $200 while the little kids and toddler pairs will come with a $90 and $70 price tag, respectively. In related Air Jordan news, the classic Air Jordan 12 Playoffs is returning in full-family sizing this Saturday in celebration of the styles 25th anniversary. The shoe will be available on SNKRS and at select Jordan Brand retailers. The medial side of the Air Jordan 13 Del Sol. - Credit: Courtesy of Nike Courtesy of Nike A top-down view of the Air Jordan 13 Del Sol. - Credit: Courtesy of Nike Courtesy of Nike The heels view of the Air Jordan 13 Del Sol. - Credit: Courtesy of Nike Courtesy of Nike The outsole of the Air Jordan 13 Del Sol. - Credit: Courtesy of Nike Courtesy of Nike Best of Footwear News Sign up for FN's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Prince Harry will not be traveling to London to attend a service honoring the life of Prince Philip later this month. The Duke of Sussex's spokesperson confirmed he would not be attending the March 29 Service of Thanksgiving event at Westminster Abbey. The private event will be used to memorialize the Duke of Edinburgh who died April 2021 at 99 years old. Prince Philip's funeral service had a pared-down audience of 30 members of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II, and was closed to the public, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Prince Philip's funeral:Britain mourns death of Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Harry who lives in California with his wife Meghan Markle and two children Archie, 2, and newborn Lilibet returned to England for his grandfather's April funeral and also returned during the summer to see a statue of his mother, Princess Diana, unveiled. Prince Harry will not be attending the Service of Thanksgiving event in the U.K which will honor his late grandfather Prince Philip. More: Princes Harry, William reunite for late mother Diana's statue unveiling on her 60th birthday Harry has expressed hesitation returning to his home country due to security concerns. He is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the British government over whether he and his family will have protection when in the United Kingdom. The British government says he's not entitled to taxpayer-funded protection because he's no longer a working royal, though Harry argues that the threat level against himself and his family remains high. Harry's U.K. security: Prince Harry 'does not feel safe' bringing Archie and Lilibet to the U.K., lawyers say Harry wants to be able to pay for the protection, saying his private security team in the U.S. doesnt have adequate jurisdiction abroad or access to U.K. intelligence information. During a February hearing at the High Court in London, Harrys lawyer, Shaheed Fatima, said the prince does not feel safe when he is in the U.K. given the security arrangements applied to him. It goes without saying that he does want to come back to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities that are so close to his heart, she said. Most of all, this is and always will be, his home. Story continues A lawyer representing the British government, Robert Palmer, called Harrys claim unarguable and unmeritorious. Palmer said in a written submission that Harrys offer to pay for police security was irrelevant because personal protective security by the police is not available on a privately financed basis. Contributing: Maria Puente, USA TODAY; The Associated Press This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Prince Harry will not attend UK event honoring Prince Philip It's not often that Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) vote the same way. The defections by 17 House lawmakers of both parties in an otherwise widely bipartisan vote this week to ban Russian oil imports and impose further sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine highlighted how wariness of U.S. interventionism is a rare area of agreement on the far left and far right. The overwhelmingly lopsided vote included two progressives - Omar and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) - joining with 15 conservative Republicans registering their opposition. Omar said that she opposed it out of concerns that the move would have a "devastating impact" on the people of Russia and Europe and questioned whether sanctions would really hurt the Kremlin leaders waging war. And on the GOP side, Greene and others warned that banning Russian oil imports would result in even higher gas prices for Americans and potential reliance on other oil-rich nations such as Venezuela. "At least there are two of us who refuse to allow Biden to hurt Americans suffering from rapidly rising gas prices," Greene tweeted in response to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) explaining his opposition to the legislation. Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), another Republican who voted against the bill, similarly argued that the move "will make Americans poorer and less safe." "My compassion for Ukrainians won't force my hand to hurt my own people," Gaetz wrote in an op-ed for The National Pulse. To be sure, the vote demonstrated how lawmakers wary of the strategy to ban Russian oil were firmly in the minority. The legislation, which also authorizes sanctions for human rights abuses and calls for reviewing Russia's access to the World Trade Organization, easily sailed through the House, with 414 lawmakers voting in favor of it. That included the top congressional leaders in both parties. The widespread support for the bill is reflective of public sentiment backing sanctions on Moscow across ideological lines. Story continues A Wall Street Journal poll this week, for instance, found that 79 percent of Americans support a ban on Russian oil imports even if it drives up gas prices. "I think the heart of it is a very clear moral narrative. You have the clearest possible case of aggression against a country that did nothing to deserve the attack and whose leader, a former television comedian, has turned into the reincarnation of Winston Churchill, if Winston Churchill had been a Jewish comedian," said William Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. Americans, however, are drawing the line when it comes to direct military intervention. A NewsNation-Decision Desk HQ survey found that only 35 percent backed deploying troops into the conflict. President Biden said Friday that the U.S. and NATO allies would not engage in direct conflict with Russia in Ukraine, describing such a scenario as "World War III." The reluctance to send troops into Ukraine is reflective of public weariness with drawn-out U.S. involvement in foreign wars, particularly the lengthy conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 20 years. "It is no secret that really ever since Vietnam, the Democratic Party has had a group - I think never a majority, but always a group - of elected officials, who for reasons that are pretty easy to understand, are very, very cautious about new military interventions anywhere," Galston said. And former President Trump's "America First" platform also "made that sort of sentiment respectable, or at least viable, in a certain right-wing populist portion of the Republican Party," Galston said. A House vote last week on a resolution to declare support for Ukraine's sovereignty similarly passed with near-unanimous support of 426-3. Massie and Reps. Paul Gosar (Ariz.) and Matt Rosendale (Mont.) were the three lone Republicans to register their opposition to the symbolic resolution. Massie and Gosar also opposed the legislation to ban Russian oil this week. "For a year we have been living with an 'America last administration.' This bill is a case in point on how Americans are the last priority and the Democrats will bend over to help anyone but the voters here," Gosar said. A larger number of Republicans voted against this week's legislation: Reps. Greene, Gaetz, Gosar, Massie, Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Dan Bishop (N.C.), Glenn Grothman (Wis.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Tom Tiffany (Wis.), Clay Higgins (La.), Scott DesJarlais (Tenn.), Madison Cawthorn (N.C.), Bill Posey (Fla.) and Chip Roy (Texas). Democrats, meanwhile, were more widely in favor of backing the legislation reflective of their party's president's strategy toward the Ukraine crisis. The vote came a day after Biden announced that his administration would ban the imports of Russian oil, natural gas and coal. Bush said she had "deep concerns" that the ban on Russian oil imports would be used to justify more U.S. domestic drilling and lead to relying on oil from authoritarian governments. "I support sanctions that target the murderous Putin regime, Russian oligarchs, and corporate fossil fuel executives profiting off human suffering. I opposed the House bill to ban oil imports from Russia because it fails to address the underlying problem of imposing sanctions that are not accompanied with a clear diplomatic process for de-escalation, incentives for a ceasefire, and a condition of withdrawal of Russian military forces in Ukraine," Bush said in a statement. "This approach categorically makes our communities less safe, does nothing to jumpstart our transition to renewable energy, and further burdens regular, everyday people already financially strained by the ongoing pandemic and economic crisis," she said. The House is expected to take action in the coming days to further punish Russia for its attack on Ukraine. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that the House will vote next week on a bipartisan bill to revoke normal trade relations with Russia, after Biden called for such a move on Friday. This week's House bill had stopped short of an original bipartisan agreement crafted by the leaders of congressional committees with jurisdiction over trade policy that would have suspended normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. "By revoking permanent normal trade relations from Russia, and doing so with an historic level of coordination with our partners abroad, we will further counter [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's diabolical aggression against the people of Ukraine," Pelosi said. China has made important contributions to promoting world economic recovery, providing development dividends, and boosting global sustainable development, said overseas experts, noting that China's development experience can also be helpful for other countries. BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's commitment to pursuing high-quality development and building a community with a shared future for mankind has drawn global attention during its annual "two sessions," and will further benefit the world, say experts worldwide. This year's "two sessions," the gatherings of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, held closing meetings on Friday and Thursday respectively. Such topics as expanding high-level opening-up, promoting green development and boosting global cooperation have received intense global attention. China has made important contributions to promoting world economic recovery, providing development dividends, and boosting global sustainable development, said overseas experts, noting that China's development experience can also be helpful for other countries. BOOST GLOBAL COOPERATION Munshi Faiz Ahmad, former chair of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, said since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has been playing a very constructive role in an effort to enhance cooperation among countries to combat the virus in a coordinated manner. He also said that China has been sharing resources with many countries, rich and poor, in an effort to defeat the pandemic, adding that "China has succeeded in doing this because the democratic will of the people of China was fully behind the government policies as well expressed through the two sessions." Antoine Roger Lokongo, a professor of international politics and strategies at the Joseph Kasa-Vubu University, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, noted that Africa and other developing countries could learn from China's development. China's aid and investment are "profoundly transforming Africa, especially in fields of infrastructure and rural development," said Lokongo. PRIORITIZE OPENING-UP It is "enormously reassuring" that China continues to be committed to the process of opening-up at the "two sessions," said John Pang, a senior fellow at Bard College, New York. Pang noted that it is good to see China's support for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a major free trade deal which came into force on Jan. 1 in China and nine other countries. Khairy Tourk, a professor of economics with the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, said "We see foreign direct investment flowing into China," adding that giants like Tesla and Apple are expanding their operations in China. "I think the world feels grateful to China and its economic planners to keep the country on a trajectory that would promise better economic conditions not only in China but in the rest of the world," Tourk argued. PROMOTE GREEN DEVELOPMENT China is taking good steps to promote a green and low-carbon economy, said Alexandre Sebuhura, a senior lecturer of development studies at Kigali Independent University, Rwanda. Global challenges, for example climate change, will be dealt with once all countries push for co-existence between human and nature, Sebuhura added. Kostas Gouliamos, former rector of European University Cyprus, noted that China, sticking to people-centered policies, has moved faster to nurture green new drivers with the purpose of establishing a green technology innovation system. GUATEMALA CITY (AP) Two days after Guatemalas congress passed a bill increasing sentences for women who terminate their pregnancies, prohibiting same-sex marriage and banning discussion of sexual diversity in schools, President Alejandro Giammattei asked the congress to pull it back or face his veto. It was a surprising reversal for the president. Late Tuesday International Womens Day Guatemalas Congress passed the Protection of Life and Family law by a wide margin. On Wednesday, which Guatemalas Congress declared Life and Family Day, Giammattei said in a speech at the National Palace, This event is an invitation to unite as Guatemalans to protect life from conception until natural death. But in another speech Thursday, the president said the legislation violated two international conventions to which Guatemala was a signatory, as well as Guatemalas constitution. He did not specify which provisions were in violation, but emphasized that the legislation had not originated in his office even though he had declared Guatemala the Ibero-American Capital for Life. Giammattei said he had told the congress president that either he shelve the legislation or expect the presidents veto. Under the legislation, Guatemalan women convicted of terminating their pregnancies would now face sentences up to 10 years that before were a maximum of three. The Congress imposed even heavier penalties for doctors and others who assist women in ending pregnancies. Abortions are legal only when the life of the mother is at risk. The Guatemala legislation also explicitly prohibited same-sex marriage which was already effectively illegal and banned schools from teaching anything that could deviate (a childs) identity according to their birth gender. A conservative Guatemalan organization, the Family Matters Association, had raised a flag on Wednesday, asking Giammattei for a technical analysis of the legislation before signing it to avoid violating the constitution and Guatemalans rights. By Ali Kucukgocmen ISTANBUL (Reuters) -A Turkish court on Friday sentenced journalist Sedef Kabas to more than two years in prison after ruling that she insulted the president, despite a ruling by Europe's top rights court that the relevant law should be amended to safeguard free expression. Thousands of people have been tried and convicted under the law covering insults to the president in Turkey, including pro-Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas, one of most prominent opposition figures. Turkey is one of the world's top jailer of journalists and mainstream media is controlled by those close to President Tayyip Erdogan's government, with coverage favouring his administration. Kabas, a 52-year-old television journalist who mainly covers Turkish politics, had been in pre-trial detention since late January. She was sentenced to two years and four months in prison on Friday but released pending an appeal against the verdict, her lawyer Bahar Unluer Ozturk told Reuters. Kabas was acquitted of additional charges of insulting Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Transportation Minister Adil Karaismailoglu, Ozturk added. The alleged insult was in the form of a proverb related to a palace that Kabas uttered both on an opposition television channel and on her Twitter account. Her comments at the time drew condemnation from government officials, who appeared to take them as referring to Erdogan and the presidential palace. While the Turkish government has not commented publicly on the law, members of Erdogan's AK Party at the time decried Kabas' comments, calling them "unacceptable" and "immoral". The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) stated in October that the legislation outlawing insults to the Turkish president should be changed, after ruling that freedom of expression was violated due to detentions imposed under the law. More than 160,000 investigations were launched on suspicion of insults to Erdogan since 2014, the year he became president, with more than 12,880 convictions. More than 31,000 investigations were launched in 2020. The ECHR said Turkey's law affords the head of state a privileged status regarding the expression of information and opinion about them. It said the law should be amended to ensure people have the freedom to hold opinions and impart ideas without interference by authorities. (Reporting by Ali KucukgocmenEditing by Mark Heinrich) As a child, Charlotte Wagner looked forward to 4-H camp every summer. On Saturday, the 91-year lifelong Washington County resident was honored for 75 years of volunteer service at the group's statewide conference in Columbus. Even at 91, Charlotte Wagner remembers just how anxious and excited she'd get as a kid as peak tomato season approached in July in southeast Ohio. Wagner, a lifelong resident of Washington County, was tasked with helping her father harvest their tomato crop every summer. While the tomato harvest was the source of her impatience, it wasn't exactly what ginned up so much excitement in her at that time of year. Instead, it was the prospect of getting to go to 4-H camp in August. If Wagner and her father finished collecting and packing the tomatoes by then, she'd get to go to camp, something she looked forward to every year. >>Read More: Ohio marks second anniversary of first confirmed COVID cases "That was always my goal, to be able to go to 4-H camp," Wagner said. "That was my summer vacation and I just enjoyed 4-H so much because it was really the only thing I got to do." In fact, Wagner loved camp so much that as a teenager and adult she'd go on to volunteer for 4-H for 75 years. Students lead a "Sing a Song, Lead a Song" session at the Ohio 4-H Conference at the Greater Columbus Convention Center Saturday. Though the group started in 1902 as a youth agricultural organization, it offers many more activities and opportunities for civic engagement now. Wagner was honored Saturday for her decades of service at the organization's statewide conference at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. It marked the first time in two years the conference wasn't curtailed or moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The youth agricultural organization was founded in Clark County, Ohio, in 1902 by Albert Belmont Graham. But it's volunteers like Wagner who have helped 4-H to continue for 120 years, said Kirk Bloir, the state's 4-H leader and assistant director for Ohio State University extension programs. "Our volunteers are continuing to commit their time and energy and resources to help us all develop that next generation of community leaders," Bloir said. "So ... it's a virtuous circle. It really does a lot of goodwill and giving back to pay it forward." >>Read More: For Columbus airman, helping hospital workers during COVID-19 is bittersweet honor Story continues While 4-H began as an agricultural youth group, it's become much more than that. While members still raise livestock to compete in county fairs, they also may spend time learning about science and engineering or completing projects on topics like mental health or public speaking, Bloir said. The wide variety is part of what keeps young people interested in the organization and part of what brought Meredith Robinson, 18, of Chillicothe, to the statewide conference. While Robinson has shown livestock at the Ross County fair, on Saturday she was looking forward to learning more about a four-day service and learning trip to Washington, D.C. The trip, called an "urban immersion" experience prepares participants to compete in a diverse workplace and build cultural understanding of people who are different from them, according to Ohio State. "So 4-H does have an agricultural aspect, but it's also about civic engagement and community learning and service," Robinson said. "It's just so much more than agriculture to me. I love just helping out others within my community." Robinson will attend Ohio State in the fall and said she plans to pursue a career in extension education. Ohio State has extension offices that are heavily involved in 4-H and are located in each of the state's 88 counties. Although Robinson won't be involved in the same 4-H club she was part of in high school, she plans to volunteer at 4-H summer camps and get involved in collegiate 4-H initiatives. >>Read More: At war with COVID: What medical workers can learn from veterans about PTSD Zoey Conston, 13, from Fairfield County, waits for lunch to start during the Ohio 4-H Conference at the Greater Columbus Convention Center Saturday. I feel like my 4-H community has become my family, she said. If it's volunteers like Wagner who keep 4-H going, then it's young members like Robinson who for 75 years have driven Wagner, the 91-year-old said. Today, Wagner still helps organize a 4-H club in Lowell, Ohio, in the county she grew up in. The pandemic took a toll on the Lowell 4-H club, causing the boys and girls clubs to be combined. Membership varies from year to year and there are about eight or nine members in Lowell's club right now, Wagner said. Wagner isn't sure how much longer she'll volunteer with 4-H. But for now, as long as there are young people who want to get involved with the group Wagner holds so dear, she'll be there to help them join and organize. "I just want others to have that opportunity I had," Wagner said as she reminisced about summer camp. "I've just enjoyed 4-H so much." Clover the bear gets ready for the Ohio 4-H Conference at the Greater Columbus Convention Center on Saturday, which after two years of being on hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic welcomed volunteers and teens from throughout the state. mfilby@dispatch.com @MaxFilby This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: At 91, Ohioan has volunteered with 4-H for 75 years and counting Japan Airlines eastbound flight from Tokyo to London on March 4, 2022. Courtesy of Flightradar24.com Russia and the EU have restricted their airspace following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Many carriers are still flying routes that formerly crossed Russia or the EU, but are now detouring to avoid closures. The creative reroutes are adding up to four hours of additional flight time and thousands in extra operating costs. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced airlines to come up with creative routing to avoid closed airspace. On February 27, the European Union banned Russian aircraft from flying in its airspace to punish President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine. Shortly after, Russia retaliated with its own airspace restrictions, leaving carriers without direct paths between several city pairs. In response to the closures, companies have had to decide whether to suspend certain routes or take long detours around restricted airspace, with many airlines choosing the latter. In a February 27 flight from Belgrade, Serbia, to Moscow, Russian flag carrier Aeroflot added three hours of flight time because it could not fly directly to the city via EU airspace. Aeroflot routing from Belgrade, Serbia, to Moscow. Flightradar24.com Meanwhile, British Airways started rerouting its service between London and New Delhi to avoid Russia, adding an hour of flight time. The detours are costly for airlines. New York-based aviation consultant Robert Mann told ABC News that the extra fuel and labor to operate the longer routes could cost carriers up to $12,000 extra per hour. Despite the additional costs, airlines continue to come up with creative routings, even if it means pushing aircraft and pilots to nearly 15 hours of nonstop flight time. On March 4, a Japan Airlines Boeing 777-300ER spent nearly three extra hours in the air flying eastbound from Tokyo to London. Normally, the carrier flies westbound across Russia, but airspace closures forced it to journey across the Pacific and over the Arctic to get to England. JAP's average flight time between the two cities was 12 hours and 12 minutes before the invasion of Ukraine, but last Friday's flight time reached 14 hours and 50 minutes, according to Flightradar24 data. Story continues Japan Airlines former and current routings between Tokyo and London. Courtesy of Flightradar24.com Finland flag carrier Finnair is also taking a longer flight path to connect Asia and Europe after temporarily suspending those flights. Flightaware data shows the carrier flew an Arctic detour that put the total flight time at 12 hours and 55 minutes, which is about four hours longer than its normal nine-hour journey. Finnair routing from Helsinki to Tokyo on March 9, 2022. Courtesy of Flightaware.com In another interesting routing, Russian charter carrier Azur Air stopped in Morocco on its trek to Cancun, Mexico on March 8. The flight path takes the jet south of EU airspace and through Turkey to reach Agadir, Morocco. From there, the plane continues on across the Atlantic to Mexico. Azur's normal route from Moscow to Cancun crosses the EU and takes about 13 hours, according to Fightradar24, but Wednesday's total detour time took a whopping 22 hours. Azur's flight comes after Russia's aviation regulator, Rosaviatsiya, banned international flights to keep aircraft lessors from detaining planes. However, the company said on its website that it will continue flights for Russians abroad in several countries, including Mexico. Read the original article on Business Insider Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP, File GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger said his "biggest regret" was voting against Trump's first impeachment. "I wish I could go back in time and Vote for it, but I cannot," Kinzinger said Friday. Kinzinger has been a consistent critic of Trump and voted in favor of impeachment during the second House vote. Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said that his "biggest regret" in Congress was voting against the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump. Kinzinger made the remark in a series of tweets on Friday night, emphasizing that politicians need to be "transparent" and "admit regret." "The bottom line, Donald Trump withheld lethal aid to Ukraine so he could use it as leverage for his campaign," The Illinois lawmaker tweeted. "This is a shameful and illegal act, directly hurting the Ukraine defense today." Trump was impeached by the House but cleared by the Senate of two charges abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in connection to his alleged attempts to get Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election, Insider previously reported. Kinzinger, who is one of two GOP House members on the Jan. 6 committee, announced last year he will not seek another term. He has held his seat since 2011. "I wish I could go back in time and Vote for it, but I cannot," Kinzinger added. "What we can do now is to ensure that this NEVER happens again and that we all put the interests of our nation above our party." Kinzinger, who has publicly criticized Trump and voted in favor of Trump's second impeachment vote in the House, has expressed similar regret in the past. During an interview with CNN last month, the congressman was asked about what he will tell his son about Trump when he gets older. "I'm going to tell him he was the worst president the United States of America ever had," Kinzinger said. "He was a liar. He was a charlatan." Read the original article on Business Insider Piles of paper. Artem Cherednik/iStock Here are three of the week's top pieces of financial insight, gathered from around the web: A growing IRS backlog The IRS is still sorting through more than 20 million tax returns from last year, said Alan Rappeport in The New York Times. The agency was "turned into an economic relief spigot responsible for churning out checks and other stimulus payments to millions of Americans" during the pandemic. But its workforce of about 75,000 the same size it was in 1970 is struggling to reduce a backlog of about 24 million paper filings that "continue to clog creaky systems." At the IRS's primary paper-processing center in Kansas City, clerks must stamp each filing by hand. According to one employee, "a surprisingly large amount of time" is spent "looking for carts to put files on and staplers for stapling files together." Leaning back at work Not everyone is quitting their job. Many workers are just paying less attention to it, said Aki Ito in Business Insider. "The pandemic created ideal conditions" for some to "strategically dial back at work." The hot labor market has ensured job security, while the rise in remote work is making it harder for managers to monitor the effort workers are putting in. "Many Americans would call these employees lazy." But the workers I've spoken with say "they're making a considered, deliberate decision" as a form of resistance against "hustle culture." Executives think hauling people back to the office will make them feel like they are part of a team again. But after getting used to remote work, many employees "don't want to pal around with their co-workers." This new attitude "threatens to upend the all-consuming emphasis on career that has dominated America for decades." New rules for private equity "Pay attention to the SEC's overhaul of private capital," said Robert Armstrong and Ethan Wu in the Financial Times. Among a sweeping set of rule changes proposed for hedge funds and private equity is the requirement for public disclosure of large ($300 million) derivatives positions that can have market-wide effects. "Trades that can spread heavy losses to other firms should probably be public knowledge." Other rules aim to increase transparency, giving new protections to institutional investors clients that up to now were assumed to be capable of "fending for themselves." It's clear the SEC is focused on the theme that "private investments can have public consequences." But for private capital, this is "nothing short of a 1930s moment." Story continues This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here. You may also like The price China won't pay for Russia's war Ukraine says 20,000 foreigners have volunteered to fight Russia. Russia's now welcoming 'volunteers,' too. Satellite images show massive Russian convoy has broken up outside of Kyiv As of Friday, the average price for regular gas price in the Bremerton metro area reached $4.726 per gallon, a jump from a month ago when the average price was $3.957, according to AAA. Kyle Tomko has been providing taxi service in Kitsap for years and counts his customers as his friends. That makes it all the more difficult to raise prices to make sure the business' drivers can survive. It's something he struggled with before gas prices began hitting record high prices in the state and across the country this month. As of Friday, the average price for regular gas price in the Bremerton metro area reached $4.726 per gallon, a jump from a month ago when the average price was $3.957, according to AAA. The average retail gas price in Washington state rose from $3.98 on Feb. 28 to $4.73 on Saturday, according to GasBuddy. Prices at the pump in the U.S. have surged faster since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine. "I felt we wouldn't have to make any changes and boy was I wrong," said Tomko, a night manager of A-1 Taxi in Port Orchard. As of Thursday, A-1 has increased its taxi rates to $5 per pickup, $3 per mile and $1 per minute wait with a $10 minimum. That's a jump from $3 per pickup, $2.50 per mile and $1 per minute wait with a $6 minimum on March 1, according to Tomko. The average retail price of gas in Washington state rose significantly from the end of February to early March. A-1 Taxi never raised the rates in its first 10 years of service until last year, when the company saw a spike in maintenance and insurance costs, Tomko said. "It sucks you know. I love my job, I love the people I pick up," Tomko said. "I know some of our customers might not be able to afford this, but if we don't raise the price then we won't have drivers." "With no end in sight, we have to make drastic changes to make sure we stay afloat," the night manager said. Drivers at Yellow Cab Co. of Kitsap County are paying at least $25 dollars more on gas per day. They have no choice but to absorb the extra costs, said Alex Ramirez, the owner. "For the customer to go one mile, that's $5.20, so we can't charge them any more than we're already charging them, I explained to the drivers," Ramirez said. Story continues Kitsap Transit, which relies on diesel to power its fleet, is paying more than $5 per gallon, which is 67% higher than the $3 per gallon the agency budgeted for 2022, Kitsap Transit spokesperson Sanjay Bhatt said on Friday. If prices stay at $5 a gallon for a prolonged period, Kitsap Transit could spend $3 million more than the $4.96 million it budgeted for this fiscal year, according to Bhatt. The agency has established a $2.9 million reserve for fuel-price spikes in its budget. If oil prices remain at current levels for longer than a year, Kitsap Transit may have to tap its general reserves or review spending slated for capital projects, Bhatt said. "Yes, the spike in gas prices is taking a toll on our budget, just as it is on households," Bhatt said. Being a large consumer of fuels, Washington State Ferries has a program designed to address unpredictable spikes in fuel prices and maintain consistency, WSF spokesperson Ian Sterling said. WSF buys a certain amount of the fuels throughout its fuel hedging program, which allows the agency to negotiate the prices and purchase fuels up to two years in advance, meaning WSF won't be impacted much unless the price continues to be high for a long period of time, Sterling said. "We buy a significant amount of it (fuel) that way, so we're pretty stable at the moment," Sterling said. "Unless prices go completely ballistic and stay that way for an extended amount of time...it shouldn't have any impact on ferry operations or to customers." James Hike owns Hank's Grocery on Chico Way, which also sells gas. He said on Friday that he's noticed his customers' habits change to try to decrease their gas bill. "People are starting to wise up and drive less, you know, doing everything in one trip instead of spreading it out," Hike said. Visit https://data.kitsapsun.com/projects/lowest-gas-prices/ to find the cheapest gas in areas of Kitsap County, a webpage created by Kitsap Sun sourcing GasBuddy. Reach breaking news reporter Peiyu Lin at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter @peiyulintw. Support local journalism. Subscribe to kitsapsun.com today. This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Washington businesses, public agencies keep eye on rising gas prices For three months last winter, chef Jean Imbert retreated to his cabin in Brittany to re-read the great classics of French gastronomy that he had studied early in his career. He pored over Lart de la cuisine francaise by Marie-Antoine Careme, the 19th-century chef who cooked for Napoleon I and dazzled the Paris elite with his towering dessert centerpieces, and Le guide culinaire by Auguste Escoffier, famous for codifying the kitchen brigade system. But he also studied the contemporary recipes of chef Guillaume Gomez, who cooked for four presidents as the executive chef of the Elysee in France before being appointed an ambassador of gastronomy by President Emmanuel Macron last year. Imberts goal was straightforward, though hardly simple: I wanted to understand, at a deeper level, what French cuisine is, he says. I tried to use this as a starting point for my reflection. More from Robb Report A modern take on a classic Langouste en Bellevue, with a procession of jelly medallions down its back. - Credit: Boby Allin Boby Allin The result is his newest gastronomic destination, Jean Imbert au Plaza Athenee, which ushered in a new chapter for the storied five-star hotel, in Pariss majestically chic 8th arrondissement, when it opened in January. Sparkling crystal chandeliers hang from a gilded ceiling, softly illuminating the 20,000 gold leaves bedecking the dining room walls and enveloping the space in an amber-hued, candlelit glow. Cutting through the center of the room, a 40-foot-long Breccia-marble table evokes the long banquets found in the royal court of Louis XIV; large vases made from the same hold towering domes of delicate pink hydrangea. The monochromatic modernist decor has been replaced with opulent furnishings. - Credit: Boby Allin Boby Allin Such opulence is a major departure from the restaurants former life under legendary chef Alain Ducassethe previous decor was modern and monochrome, identifiable by its signature steel cloche banquetteswho handed over the proverbial keys to Imbert last spring after 21 years of steering the flagship restaurant. Some critics blasted the decision to replace the titan of French gastronomy with the 40-year-old Imbert as a political appointment meant to tap his online popularity and celebrity friends: Imbert holds no Michelin stars but has 453,000 Instagram followers, and his feed is filled with snaps of him posing with A-listers including Dua Lipa, Matt Damon, Madonna, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Lenny Kravitz and Pharrell Williams, with whom he opened Swan, in Miami, and ToShare, in Saint-Tropez and Ibiza. Story continues Putting the finishing touches on the vol-au-vent. - Credit: Boby Allin Boby Allin And yet Imberts dishes, some of which are based on recipes going back centuries, add an undeniable element of theater. Turbot stuffed with watercress arrives whole, filleted by servers tableside. The vol-au-vent is served deconstructed, a naked plate of quenelles, sweetbreads and truffles until the server ceremoniously tops it with a buckwheat puff pastry sheet and long drizzles of accompanying sauces. After eight years of Ducasses Naturalite concept, which banned meat in favor of healthier fish, vegetables and grains, Imbert is clearly not counting calories (and has reintroduced meat to the menu). Turbot stuffed with watercress. - Credit: Boby Allin Boby Allin But all that pales in comparison to the end of the meal. To signal the beginning of dessert service, the restaurant director rings a bell to command everyones attention. The lights dim and a screen at the front of the room opens to reveal a row of pastry chefs, who put the finishing touches on the desserts before serving guests. Vegetable macedoine. - Credit: Boby Allin Boby Allin For me, at this historic palace in the heart of Paris, on Avenue Montaigne, I always had the idea of telling the story of French history and French heritage, Imbert says, evoking the idea of planetary alignment in all his projects. But his true guiding force may be closer to home: his grandmother, Nicole, whom Imbert has often cited as an inspiration throughout his career. Four years ago, he booked the Plaza, still under Ducasse, to fete her 90th birthday along with 30 members of their family; with her passing last year, Imbert wont have the chance to reimagine a birthday celebration for Mamie, as he calls her, with the same restaurant now under his command. She wasnt there when I took over the Plaza Athenee, but the first symbol I thought of was her and the party we had here with my entire family, he says. I like symbols and meaning in things. So this made me happy. Best of Robb Report Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Mar. 12LAS VEGAS, Nevada Grand Canyon did its best to crash the party 1,091 days in the making. But for now the New Mexico State Aggies backed by the return of their full contingent of fans for the first time since 2019 still own the Orleans Hotel & Casino and find themselves 40 minutes away from another NCAA Tournament. Teddy Allen scored 25 points and Jabari Rice added 21 as the No. 1 seed Aggies held off a late charge from No. 4 Grand Canyon on Saturday night for a 75-70 win the Western Athletic Conference semifinals. "We didn't play our best tonight," New Mexico State coach Chris Jans said. "We've had better games. (But) I knew they're gonna play really hard. I knew there were going to compete their tails off. We've got a bunch of vets. They work really hard." The Aggies (25-6) advance to play either No. 6 Abilene Christian or No. 2 Seattle (8 p.m., ESPNU, 99.7 FM Las Cruces), who played a late Friday semifinal. The winner will be the WAC's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament. Whoever the opponent, the Aggies' fans will be waiting for them. They went toe-to-toe, and outshouted and outcheered the strong showing of purple-clad Lopes fans on Friday night. For Aggies fans, it was the first time many of them had been to the Orleans since March 19, 2019, when NMSU beat GCU in the title game of a packed arena to go to the NCAA Tournament. In 2020, with the No. 1 seeded Aggies already at the arena, the tournament was called off due to COVID-19. Last year, after an unusually challenging season played entirely outside the state of New Mexico, the Aggies did have a couple hundred fans allowed in the arena, but it was hardly the same party atmosphere of years past, or like it was at Friday night's game. That early energy pushed the Aggies out to a quick lead 24-13 just over 8 minutes into the game. The lead would remain double digits most of the game until the final five minutes when GCU managed to cut the Aggies lead to one possession. Story continues Then, they simply couldn't hit a shot. GCU hit one of its seven shots in the final 93 seconds of the game, grabbing four of its 19 offensive rebounds of the night, including one that led to a Chance McMillian dunk to cut the lead to 71-69 with 19 seconds left. Rice hit a pair of free throws and Allen, who was 12-of-12 at the line, hit two more with 6.5 left to ice the game. "We were switching (ball screens) one through five and we were giving them good matchups. Sometimes it becomes frantic like that," Jans said. "... I was just praying that we get a rebound. They were missing like every shot and you're watching it and you don't know if it's short or long or off. It was a tough situation. It felt like the last few seconds, last couple possessions were really long." GCU outrebounded NMSU 40-32, with several of their 19 offensive rebounds coming in that final sequence. The Aggies held the Lopes to 41.0% shooting and just 33 points in the second half a solid stat considering guard Holland Woods had scored 21 of his team-high 24 points in the opening 20 minutes. "We talked about that at halftime quite a bit, that he had 21 of their 37," Jans said. "We certainly wanted to put my focus on him, but at the same time, it can't be just about him because they have other good players as well." Box score: New Mexico State 75, Grand Canyon 70 President of the European Council Charles Michel says that Ukraine belongs to the European family, and the EU will support Ukrainians on their European path. At the end of the EU summit in Versailles he said the officials also discussed Ukraine's bid. They said that their Ukrainian friends are full members of the European family. The EU will stand next to them and quickly mobilize in order to strengthen the ties between the EU and the people of Ukraine and will support Ukrainians' choice on their path, which is the European path. Michel said the EU is here to support by any means - financially, humanitarianly - the men and women of Ukraine. The EU has European ambitions for peace, they are mobilizing equipment, including military equipment, and about EUR 500 million, which has been additionally allocated to our peaceful capabilities, the EU President said, adding that the EU representatives participate in the summit to support Ukraine. Deedee Magno, Jennifer McGill, JC Chasez and Joey Fatone getty (4) The most epic crossover ever happened in the '90s! Former Mickey Mouse Club cast members Nikki DeLoach, Deedee Magno, Chasen Hampton, Tony Lucca, Damon Pampolina and Jennifer McGill reunited at the first-ever 90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut, on Friday. As they kicked off the weekend's many panel sessions, host Christy Carlson Romano asked Magno, 46, about how she previously recalled going to prom with former *NSYNC member JC Chasez. "I asked JC to go to prom with me," Magno reiterated. "He said yes!" Magno and Chasez, 45, attended prom together at her school, Dr. Phillips High School, in Orlando, Florida. Several famous stars had attended the school back in the day, including Wayne Brady and DJ Khaled. RELATED: Mickey Mouse Club Reunion? Britney Spears Says 'I Would Definitely Show Up' At one point, McGill briefly chimed in with her own *NSYNC prom-related story. "Joey Fatone and I went to prom twice at Dr. Phillips," McGill, 44, said. "He went to the high school. Yeah, he went to prom with me twice." Added McGill, "We were in theater together. I moved to Orlando, so Dr. Phillips became the school I graduated from. It's where all of my friends are from." 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. Back in 2015, Magno posted a throwback photo of her attending prom with Chasez. "#tbt @JCChasez was my senior #prom date! post #MMC pre #NSYNC," she tweeted at the time. "We were babies! Thanks @MylinMusic for the pic!" Fatone, 45, also shared a pic from one of his prom experiences with McGill. Alongside the post, he wrote: "@JennMcGillMusic u ready for a throw back that Erik found :)." Deedee Magno JC Chasez twitter Jennifer McGill Joey Fatone twitter The Mickey Mouse Club was a variety show that originally aired in the 1950s but has been revived multiple times since. Most recently, it was brought back on social media in 2017 as Club Mickey Mouse but it ended in 2018. Story continues During Friday's panel at 90s Con, the cast from the 1990s installment spoke about working alongside some of the show's most notable alumnae Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Ryan Gosling. "We were all so wowed by the talent of the final round of additional cast members that joined with Nikki [DeLoach] and Christina and Britney and Justin and Ryan," said Lucca, 46. "Obviously, they raised the bar because they were younger." Added Lucca, "But at the same time, when people over the years have asked, you know, 'What was it like working with Christina and Britney?' And it's like, 'Well, it was cool but man, can I tell you about Rhona Bennett?' " McGill then recalled a conversation she previously had with a casting director about the younger generation of stars coming in after them. At the time, he said they "had to bring in young ones who match" where the current cast had "set the bar." Tickets for the first-ever 90s Con, taking place this weekend at the Connecticut Convention Center, can still be purchased through the event's website for Sunday. MIRAMAR BEACH The Moon Crush "music vacation" experience will return to South Walton County in April, again offering outdoor performances on a wide swath of lawn at the Seascape resort community just across Scenic Gulf Drive from the Gulf of Mexico. This year's Moon Crush is set for April 21-24 at Seascape, immediately adjacent to U.S. Highway 98 in the western edge of the county. This year's lineup features a dozen acts, with Lake Street Dive, Phil & Tim Hanseroth and Natalie Hemby taking the stage April 21; Brandi Carlile, Ben Harper and Zach Bryan performing April 22; Tedeschi Trucks, JJ Grey & Mofro and Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway entertaining April 23, and My Morning Jacket, Caamp and Brett Dennen closing out the four-day event April 24. First time around: 2021 Moon Crush brings Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell to Miramar Beach More live music: Drowning Pool to perform at Destin's Club LA A socially distanced crowd enjoyed the first Moon Crush four-day outdoor concert at the Seascape resort in South Walton County. The event, billed as a "music vacation," will return to Seascape in April. Both four-day and single-day passes are available through the Moon Crush website at https://www.mooncrush.live/, with four-day passes starting at $300 and single-day passes available for $65. An interesting seating option offered for Moon Crush is the "cove." An acronym for Contained Outdoor Viewing Environment, a cove provides reserved seating for anywhere from two to six people and offers the convenience of not having to go through the concert crowds for a trip to the restroom or to get drinks. The cove provides access to air-conditioned restrooms, a chair for everyone in the group and the option to have food and drinks delivered during performances. With a four-day pass, cove prices range from $700 for two people to $2,000 for four to six people, depending on the location on the concert grounds. People who want to turn their Moon Crush experience into part of a vacation at Seascape can make arrangements through the event's website. For those who want the vacation experience but not necessarily at Seascape, Moon Crush will help them find other lodging for their stay. Story continues Moon Crush is the brainchild of Andy Levine of Topeka not the Kansas city, but an operation that works to create shared music experiences. The idea came to him during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. He had plans to visit Miramar Beach in 2020 with his kids, but the ban on renting short-term vacation accommodations at the time prompted him instead to buy a home. He watched the people visiting the area, saw the golf course at Seascape, talked with local vacation rental companies and staged the first Moon Crush in 2020. The socially distanced event, featuring a diversity of acts from Sheryl Crow to Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit to The Revivalists, attracted 2,000 people. An event like Moon Crush is well-suited for South Walton, which already has a reputation for live music and signature events like the annual 30A Songwriters Festival, according to Matt Algarin, director of communications for Visit South Walton. "I feel like live music is woven into the fabric of our community," Algarin said. Algarin called the "music vacation" approach taken by Topeka with Moon Crush "a cool concept." He was particularly enthused by the cove arrangement, saying it represents "a unique take on a traditional music festival." In turn, Algarin added that an event like Moon Crush allows the area a chance to show off its other attractions, from the beach to state parks, state forests and the New Urbanist communities along County Road 30A. Andy Levine, organizer of the Moon Crush outdoor concert series that will return to Miramar Beach in April, came up with the idea for the "music vacation" during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. People coming to the area for Moon Crush "are going to attend the shows, but they're also going to get out and about, which benefits the restaurants and the retail shops," he said. "Any time you can have an event like that, that we know is going to draw in some good numbers, it's going to benefit the community as a whole," Algarin added. This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Miramar's Moon Crush 'music vacation' brings Brandi Carlile, Caamp Republicans dominate local races up for election in 2022. In fact, only Republican candidates qualified for the offices of sheriff and the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education. Aside from some statewide races that have garnered mudslinging attention on evening television ads, Tuscaloosa-area voters will have little motivation to head to the polls for the upcoming primary or general elections. Of the three Tuscaloosa County offices up for election this year, only Republican candidates qualified to run. CITY SEEKS CHANGE: Boosting morale for Tuscaloosa police officers with shorter week, longer hours And of those seats, just one Republican each filed the necessary paperwork to be on the ballot, virtually ensuring their elections, or re-elections, without opposition. Barring a mobilized write-in campaign, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy will assume a third term after the general election in November. Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy speaks during a news conference on July 1, 2019. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.] A Republican, Abernathy was the only candidate to qualify for the office of Tuscaloosa County sheriff. Likewise, Republican incumbent Randy Smalley will assume a new term representing Place 6 on the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education. With no Republican or Democratic opposition, Smalley is expected to earn the seat after Novembers election. And for the Tuscaloosa County Board of Educations Place 5, Republican Neal Guy is expected to assume the seat being vacated by Charles Orr, who opted not to seek re-election. With no Democrats qualifying to run, the winner of the Republican primary is expected to take theses offices without opposition in the general election. Voters will be called on, however, to settle some Alabama House of Representatives and Senate races. A monument to the memory of brothers Daniel P. Jones and Woodrow Wilson Jones, men who died aboard the USS Arizona Dec. 7, 1941, during the surprise attack was dedicated in Coaling Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. State Senator Gerald Allen speaks during the dedication ceremony. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.] After an Alabama Republican committee's decision to remove challenger Tripp Powell from the ballot, Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, faces no opposition in the upcoming primary . Allen is seeking a fourth term representing the Senate District 21, which now includes central and southwest Tuscaloosa County, including the city of Tuscaloosa, and all of Pickens County after redistricting efforts approved last year by the Alabama Legislature. Story continues His only opponent now is expected to be Lake View mother, grandmother and self-described "full-time activist" Lisa Ward, the only Democratic candidate qualify for the Alabama Senate District 21 seat. These include House District 61, where retired Northport police captain Ron Bolton will face Kimberly A. Madision in the Republican primary. The winner of this primary is expected to assume the seat being vacated by Republican Rodney Sullivan, who chose not to seek re-election. No Democrat qualified for this seat. The House District 62 race, which is being vacated by Republican Rich Wingo, who opted not to seek another term, will be decided in November. The lone candidates to qualify for this seat are Democrat Brenda T. Cephus and Republican Bill Lamb, the former, longtime financial director for the Tuscaloosa County Commission. Rep. Cynthia Lee Almond, R-Tuscaloosa, was sworn in to represent the Alabama House District 63 on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, by Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Brad Almond. The Alabama House District 63 race also will be settled in November. Incumbent Republican Cynthia Lee Almond, the lone candidate in a special election last year to succeed Bill Poole after he took the job as state finance director, was again the only Republican to qualify for this seat. Almond will face lone Democrat qualifier Samuel Adams in the November general election. Meanwhile, Democratic Reps. Chris England, in House District 70, and Artis A.J. McCampbell, in House District 71, are expected to be re-elected to their respective positions without opposition. The Alabama statewide primary election will be held May 24. The Alabama statewide general election is set for Nov. 8. Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com. This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: No Democrats qualify for Tuscaloosa County sheriff, school board races Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira has expressed his delight at the continued improvement of England hopefuls Marc Guehi, Tyrick Mitchell and Conor Gallagher. The consistency of the trio has played a big part in the club staying well clear of the relegation zone, despite a campaign of transition, and progressing to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Guehi, Mitchell and Gallagher will be expected to start Mondays visit of Premier League leaders Manchester City, which will be one of the last chances for England boss Gareth Southgate to look at players before he names his squad for the friendlies at the end of March. Chelsea loanee Gallagher made his Three Lions debut in November and his Palace team-mates are in the mix for the games against Switzerland and Ivory Coast this month. Centre-back Guehi is captain of England Under-21s while Mitchells impressive form at left-back will interest Southgate, who is without Ben Chilwell due to a knee injury. Theyve been playing well enough for Crystal Palace and Ive been really pleased with those performances, Vieira said when asked about the trio in Thursdays press conference. I think all the players that you mentioned are playing with a lot of confidence and with belief in themselves. Theyre doing really well and now its for the (England) manager who will have to make those kinds of decisions but I think its really interesting for them when you mention their names. I think when they have their names on the table, I think that means those players are moving forward and this is really interesting. After a mixed set of results during the winter months, Palace have now triumphed in three of their last four matches. The Eagles only claimed two league victories during December and January but are sitting comfortably above the relegation zone in the Premier League table, have an FA Cup last-eight clash with Everton to come later this month and have lost one of their last eight fixtures in all competitions. Story continues Vieira is eager for Palace to stay on an even keel though, adding: We have never been too high when things were going well and weve never been too low when we didnt have the result that we expected. Its important for us to be consistent emotion-wise and to believe about what we are doing and how we try to do things. It has always been this case. We know that there are still a couple of wins that we need (to secure safety) but the process of playing and the way we want to play never changes, it has always been the same. We have to keep believing, keep working and try to improve those details that will allow us to win more matches. Fire and rescue crews from Clayton and Smyrna were joined by first responders from throughout the state Friday during the dignified transfer service for Clayton Fire Chief John Pridemore. Clayton Fire Company spokesman Kevin Wilson said the procession started at the state medical examiners office in Wilmington and ended at Faries Funeral Home in Smyrna, escorted by the Clayton Fire Company; Citizens' Hose Company of Smyrna; and American Legion Ambulance 64, which serves the Smyrna-Clayton community. The route was planned from Second Street in Wilmington to I-95 south, then south on Route 1 to the north Smyrna exit, south on Route 13, west on Commerce Street in Smyrna, then south on Main Street to the funeral home. More: Clayton fire chief and town manager John Pridemore remembered as community servant, friend In his honor: Photos: Procession held for fallen Clayton Fire Chief John Pridemore Wilson said Chief Pridemore was honored by first responders by coming to attention and rendering a hand salute as he was taken from the medical examiners office and placed into the hearse for transport to the funeral home, where he was again saluted by firefighters, police and ambulance crews. The procession included motorcycle units from many Delaware police departments, while many Delaware fire companies honored Pridemore at overpasses along the route. "This is a very large and complex operation and without the assistance of the Clayton police, Wilmington, New Castle County, and Delaware State Police as well as many others it would just not be possible," Wilson said. He said the members and officers of the Clayton Fire Company thanked all the first responders as well as the public and apologized for any inconvenience caused by the event. Pridemore's funeral service will be Tuesday, March 15, at the Clayton Firehouse with visitation from 10 a.m. to noon followed by a full firefighter's funeral at noon. More: 'Full firefighter's funeral' service announced for Clayton fire chief and town manager Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Procession honors Clayton Fire Chief John Pridemore During the 1800s, the most easily traveled roads were paved with brick. By the late 1800s, many city roads were paved, often with brick, but some remained muddy messes. An article in the Times Recorder, dated March 16, 1892, stated: No street in the city now unpaved needs it worse than Maple Avenue. The traffic of two of the principal roads entering the city passes over it, and no street has been in a worse condition during the winter. A Mister M. Churchill, in a Times Recorder article dated March 15, 1889, had this to say about the care of city streets: There is not a cart-load of gravel in or about this town fit for street paving, and broken limestone has also demonstrated its unfitness for the street. Our gravel is of too many sizes, from that of a pea to a good-sized boulder, to pack solidly, nor has it the needful wearing qualities. The fine portions pulverize into dust and the big boulders stick to the surface of the street with the tenacity of barnacles, but without the same fixity of location, as they are rolled about by every passing vehicle. Broken stone when first applied is a terror to man and beast, and no driver will mount such a deposit unless compelled to bypassing teams. Ultimately, the uncovered fringes of the street become so bad the newly laid stone is driven over as a choice of evils, and in time it becomes tolerably smooth-in streaks where a channel has been blazed through, and about the time or very soon after becoming smooth, it is worn out and ready to be carted off, and we go on from year to year trying hard to make ourselves believe we are improving our streets. Sadly, the rural roads were in even worse shape. Several county roads were almost impassable mud-holes, especially after rainstorms. Evidently, even as late as 1916, when automobiles were replacing horse-drawn vehicles, not all the highways had been improved. The author of a Times Recorder article gave the following advice to motorists: When the driving wheels stick in the mud so deep that traction cannot be obtained, a good way to overcome the trouble is to throw brush or other material into the mud to thicken it and thereby gain traction. Story continues On Jan. 9, 1889, in a Zanesville Courier article, a mud-bound farmer who is disgusted with the old methods suggested ways to get our rural highways into better shape. In his opening statement, the anonymous farmer said, Better country roads is the cry which comes up from the mud-bound districts throughout Ohio. The people who have been paying taxes and 'working the highways' for fifty years, and hoping and waiting for some improvement in the 'system,' are becoming dissatisfied, and their lamentations find their way into the newspapers. This is encouraging and suggests an awakening on a subject of vital importance. Citing an article in the Akron Beacon, the farmer continued: You (Muskingum County) spend about $14,000 a year on your roads. In Darke County, which has just completed its system of pikes, they spend about $3,000. They have one-half more area than you and as heavy a rural population. They have one-half more roads to care for, but they do it at an expense of about one-fifth of yours. Why can't you do as well? He then announced his solution to the problem: Elect a County Road Board of one from each township; this Board to have complete control of all the roads in the county. The members to be elected for three years. The prime requisite for the good works of such a Board is this: Pay your taxes in cash. (One wonders what had been used besides cash to complete tax obligations.) The Board to look after all repairs; each member to have charge of road matters in his township and to inspect all the roads at stated periods and report repairs to the Board. Have the repairs done by a regular force of men under the control of the Board and the inspection of the County Surveyor or a competent expert. The disgusted Muskingum County farmer listed several ways for the board to raise money: 1st: By general taxation, and it will use this as far as possible. 2nd: The two-mile assessment plan, and 3rd: by tolls. The latter two are preferable. Build a road by the two-mile assessments and make it a toll road during the life of the bonds that have been sold to build it. The tolls may be used to reduce the amount of assessments. Or the road may be built and bonded and the bonds paid entirely from tolls. You would get good roads very rapidly in this way and the cost would hardly be felt. He noted the importance of staying on a project until it was finished: The work should always be done by skilled men, and when begun pushed through to completion with no stops, using machinery and steam roller. No one but a large contractor can afford to do this. When a road is disturbed an injury is done it. If left unfinished for any length of time, the work must be largely done over before it can be properly finished. He described his version of a good road: By 'good' is not meant a road that is good in the ordinary use of the term here, but a road that is as smooth as a plank road; well kept and good all the year round; as good in mid-winter as your clay roads are in mid-summer after a heavy shower. A road in which you will not find once in five miles a stone as big as a walnut or a patch of sand as big as your hat and no clay at all. This applies to a gravel road; a stone road is even better. In summation, the unknown farmer stated: Your laws are at fault and until you change them you will hardly get any better roads. Elect a County Board; give it all necessary power, and pay your taxes in cash. This system has been tried with the very best results. If you pay cash you will be sure to see that you get a dollar's worth of road for a dollar of cash. Make good roads and the farms on such roads would increase in value 50 per cent, in a very short time. Lewis LeMaster is a retired teacher of the Zanesville area. This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Roads much worse in the 1800s than today Mar. 12MACON A middle Georgia resident with a lengthy criminal history, convicted by a federal jury for his second bank robbery offense, was sentenced to serve more than 17 years in prison. Wesley Sorrow, 50, was sentenced to serve 210 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell after being convicted of bank robbery following a three-day trial that began on Nov. 15, 2021. There is no parole in the federal system. "Wesley Sorrow has a long criminal history," U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said in a news release. "Coupled with his decision to hold up a bank within days of arriving at a Macon halfway house for a previous bank robbery, he now has to pay a steep penalty for the criminal choice he made. Repeat offenders who continually disrupt the peace and the safety of the communities we serve will face the possibility of federal prosecution." "Previous federal prison time was apparently not a teaching moment for Sorrow because within a week of being released, he went right back to his bank robbing ways," Philip Wislar, the acting special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, said. "To anyone thinking about robbing a bank, the message from this sentence is clear. You will get caught, and when you do, you will serve a significant amount of time in prison." According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Sorrow was seven days into his residency at a halfway house after being released from federal prison for a bank robbery conviction in the Middle District of Georgia. On May 21, 2019, Sorrow walked into the American Pride Bank on Forsyth Road in Macon and presented a note to the bank teller demanding money. Sorrow took the cash and left the bank, returning to the halfway house. Sorrow was captured later that day, and cash stolen from the bank was recovered from his locker. Sorrow has a lengthy criminal history, which was considered at his sentencing, including a previous bank robbery, robbing a person at gunpoint twice, forgery and multiple drug charges. The case was investigated by FBI and the Bibb County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joy Odom and Robert McCullers prosecuted the case. NEW YORK Major League Baseball players who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus wont be allowed to travel into Canada to face the Blue Jays in Toronto and wont be paid for those games. Canadas government requires a person must have received a second vaccine dose or one dose of Johnson & Johnson at least 14 days prior to entry. The parties have agreed that any player who, as a result of such a governmental regulation is unable or ineligible to play in a championship season game (or games) due to his vaccination status will be ineligible for placement on the COVID-19 IL, but rather may be placed on the restricted list without pay or the accrual of credited major league service, during such period of unavailability, according to a letter from union deputy general counsel Matt Nussbaum to MLB senior vice president Patrick Houlihan, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. The agreement was first reported by Boston television station WCVB. Toronto opens at home against Texas on April 8. Its a concern, union head Tony Clark said Friday. I think as everyone knows appreciate and respect the decisions that are made, particularly in regard to player health and community health. But that is an issue, as one in the pandemic itself, that were navigating domestically, that were going to have to continue to try to work through here moving forward. The letter says the agreement covering unvaccinated players and travel to Canada expires at the end of the 2022 season. Unvaccinated MLB players cant travel to Canada to play Jays originally appeared on NBCSports.com European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the European Union is preparing a fourth package of sanctions against Russia for the war it unleashed against Ukraine. She made such a statement at the end of an informal EU summit in Versailles (France) on Friday. Von der Leyen said the EU will come up with the fourth package of sanctions. These sanctions further isolate Russia from the global economic system, increasing the cost of Putin's takeover of Ukraine even more. 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. Hungarys readiness and vigilance are stronger than ever, NATO said on its website, citing the chair of NATOs Military Committee after his visit to Hungary. Admiral Rob Bauer, in Hungary on Tuesday and Wednesday, visited a border crossing with Ukraine and attended the Exercise Eastern Shield, the website said. On Wednesday, he met Chief of Defence Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi and State Secretary of Defence Istvan Szabo to discuss the current security situation, NATOs response, and the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Bauer was then briefed on the Enhanced Vigilance Activities taking place in Hungary. The Hungarian Defence Forces are prepared to defend Hungarys borders and sovereignty. It is clear to see that Hungarys readiness and vigilance are stronger than ever, he said. He also praised Hungarian soldiers for helping the civilian authorities to deal with the increasing stream of Ukrainian refugees. I have been able to witness first-hand the compassion, dedication and professionalism of the Hungarian men and women in uniform, he added. In a speech to the troops at Exercise Eastern Shield, Bauer commended the Hungarian Defence Forces for their courage. I am proud that you are a part of the band of 3.2 million brothers and sisters in uniform that protect this Alliance, the website said. MTI Photo By Trend Despite the end of the Karabakh conflict and the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, there are cases of violation of the ceasefire, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov told journalists, Trend reports. In his words, this does not serve to strengthen peace, and such cases must be eliminated. He noted that the illegal Armenian military formations should definitely be withdrawn from Karabakh. All circumstances that impede peace must be eliminated, the deputy minister added. The EU cannot apply exceptional measures for the accession of a country that is at war to the EU, French President Emmanuel Macron has said. "We must show respect and solidarity with the people and leaders of Ukraine. And I can understand the emotional response and expectations that are there. Yesterday, the European Commission sent a very strong and clear signal about the fate of Ukraine in Europe and the path to its fate in it. Can we apply exceptional measures to a country that is at war without meeting the criteria? The answer is no," Macron said at a press conference following the informal summit of EU leaders the Chateau de Versailles on Friday. At the same time, Macron said that the EU also cannot leave neighboring Moldova with the presence of external forces in Transnistria, dependence on Russian gas and refugees, as well as other countries of the Western Balkans. The government has decided to maintain the cap on the price of petrol, the prime minister's chief of staff said, to rein in inflation and protect families from the impact of rising energy prices. Gergely Gulyas late on Thursday dismissed allegations that the government was unable to maintain the fuels cap or that fuel supplies were in jeopardy, saying supplies were continuous, though there are difficulties in some places due to increased demand. Vehicles over 7.5 tonnes and vehicles over 3.5 tonnes with foreign number plates will pay market prices at high pressure pumps, he said. A price cap of 480 forints (EUR 1.26) per litre will continue to apply to motorists filling up passenger cars and vehicles under 7.5 tonnes, as well as operators of farm machinery, he added. Gulyas noted consumption had increased in recent days due to petrol tourism, increased transit and panic buying. Meanwhile, Gulyas asked teachers to consider staying away from recently announced strike action or to postpone it. The government agrees with the demands of teachers and is in negotiations with the European Commission on pay hikes of at least three times 10%, he said. At the same time, the government must also consider the interests of students and their parents, he said. Sanctions Should Not Harm Russian Energy Supplies Gergely Gulyas, the prime ministers chief of staff, said late on Thursday that sanctions should not be introduced against Russian energy. In response to a question, he said such sanctions would harm many European countries as badly or even more so than Russia. The Hungarian and Dutch prime ministers and the German chancellor share the view that it is not Europe that we want to sanction. He added that they trusted common sense would prevail at the extraordinary summit in Paris because a significant number of member states, or possibly the majority, shared the same position. Hungarian oil and gas company MOLs president-CEO Zsolt Hernadi said that the company was able to fulfil all fuel demands in Hungary, refineries were working without interruption, and crude oil supplies to Hungary were undisturbed. Abuses of the cap must stop, he said. On an average day, petrol stations sell around 5 million litres of fuel, while in recent days this has tripled to around 15 million litres, he added. The refinery of Szazhalombatta is operating at full capacity and MOLs reserves are sufficient, he said. At the same time, he said triple demand cannot be managed by conventional means, not because there is not enough fuel but because they are not logistically prepared. As a result, intervention is needed and consumers must be directed back to the locations where they had previously received fuel, Hernadi said. If this is not done, the situation cannot be handled using conventional methods, he added. The newly introduced measures are needed to guarantee undisturbed fuel supply, he said. The government has decided to reduce excise tax by 20 forints, greatly helping to restore imports and even out logistics burdens, he said. Hernadi added that while supply and demand in the fuel market are uneven, filling stations will apply minor restrictions for various lengths of time. PM Orban: Hungary's Energy Supplies Guaranteed The most important issue for us has been settled favourably, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in Versailles early on Friday, declaring that there will be no [European Union] sanctions covering oil and gas; in other words Hungarys energy supplies will be guaranteed in the coming period. In a video recorded after an extraordinary EU summit posted on Facebook, Orban said: We listened to the French president and German chancellor who had talks with Putin. It cannot be ruled out that the conflict will drag on. We have decided that Europe will also join ceasefire talks. At the meeting, we thanked both the French president and the German chancellor for their efforts to restore peace, the prime minister said. We have done all this and well continue in the morning, he said. Opposition Calls for EU Measures to Curb Energy Crisis Opposition politicians on Friday called on the European Union to set up a fund to offset the fallout of the energy crisis, to stack up on energy resources and take steps against Russian blackmail. Momentum vice-president Marton Ilyes told an online press conference that it was not the EU or the opposition that was at fault but Russia, which is bombing nuclear plants and bombarding childrens hospitals in a neighbouring country. Russia and President Vladimir Putin are not reliable partners, which is causing price rises and shortages. He accused the Hungarian government of scrambling for solutions. Price caps are causing a dearth of goods, he said. Retailers who are not ready to sell at a loss are losing their property, he said. Ilyes said Prime Minister Viktor Orban has put all his chips on Russia. Electricity produced by the upgraded Paks nuclear plant would be more expensive than any other technology, he said. Meanwhile, the gas prices Russia and Hungary agreed on in the long-term agreement signed in September are confidential, so there is no way of knowing whether they are good or not, he said. The government was caught unprepared by the energy crisis, they have no reserves, plans or reliable allies, he said. Jacint Horvath, a candidate of the united opposition, cited reports of faltering fuel supply at pumps, and said many petrol stations in the countryside could not serve customers. The failed policies of the Orban government have led to the fuel supplies collapsing in Hungary, he said. With that, basic services such as public transport are at risk, he said. MTI Photo: Tibor Illyes Observing that app-based taxi firms such as Ola and Uber were operating in Maharashtra without valid licenses, the Bombay High Court directed all such aggregators to apply for valid licenses by March 16 if they wish to continue operations. In the meantime, the High Court refrained from outlawing such taxis, stating that it understood the move would be detrimental to commuters. "We are aware that the restriction will have a negative impact on passengers who use the services," a bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta said. The directions were issued by the bench during the hearing of public interest litigation filed by advocate Savina Crasto highlighting the lack of an effective grievance redressal mechanism for customers using the Uber India app. Read also: Royal Enfield Hunter 350 new spy shots emerge, reveals new details Crasto cited a November 2020 incident in which she booked an Uber ride in the city and was "dropped off mid-way at a shady dark place," and discovered that the company's app had no effective way to file a complaint. The Maharashtra government had yet to approve specific guidelines for issuing licenses and regulating the operations of such cab aggregators, according to the HC's previous hearings. Despite the fact that the Central government issued the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, which were intended to regulate such cabs, those in the state were operating under the Maharashtra City Taxi Rules 2017. CJ Datta stated on Monday that the above arrangement was unacceptable and in violation of the law. "What are you doing, Maharashtra government? This is complete defiance of the law. You're not abiding by the law. The law is clear: if the state government does not have rules, you (aggregators) must follow the guidelines set forth by the federal government. We'll put a stop to it (aggregators)," according to the High Court. Senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas, who appeared for Uber India, told the court the firm had no intention of flouting the law and added that it had an effective grievance redressal mechanism on its app. The HC, however, said such a mechanism alone was not adequate. The HC said having a license in accordance with Motor Vehicles Act was mandatory to regulate the operations of all such cab aggregators. Dwarkadas further said, on March 5 this year, the Union government had called a meeting with aggregators and stakeholders for suggestions on the Central aggregators' rules and guidelines. "We gave suggestions and objections through videoconferencing. The same was submitted in writing as well, and are currently under consideration," he told the court. The HC, however, asked if it meant aggregators could escape following statutory guidelines so long as the objections were not decided. "I have been told by my son that Ola, Uber drivers drive for long hours. My son took a picture and sent it to me. He had taken over the wheel of the cab along the Noida Expressway because the driver was dozing off after having been behind the wheel for 24 hours straight," CJ Datta said, adding that such were the conditions under which the drivers had to work. "We will give you (aggregators) seven days to apply for a license and another 10 days for the state to consider. The law has to be followed," HC said and directed all aggregators to apply to concerned region transport authorities (RTOs) across Maharashtra for license latest by March 16. "We are pained to observe that despite Central guidelines having been in place since 2020, the state government has permitted aggregators to function in Maharashtra without following the guidelines," it said. The state government must decide on applications not later than a fortnight from receipt and there must not be an unnecessary delay, the HC said, adding that, in the interim, cabs will continue to operate as they currently are. After four weeks, the HC will hold another hearing on the matter. With inputs from PTI Live TV #mute According to the aviation regulator DGCA, Indian carriers have boosted their domestic services by 10.1 per cent to 25,309 weekly flights in the upcoming summer schedule, up from 22,980 the previous season. IndiGo has increased its domestic flights by 10.4 per cent to 11,130 weekly services for summer 2022 as compared to 10,084 weekly services in the corresponding period last year, the regulator noted. The COVID-19-induced travel restrictions have badly affected the Indian aviation industry in the last 24 months. However, with COVID-19 infections decreasing, air travel has been picking up in the last couple of weeks. Also read: Britain looking for helicopters, jets belonging to sanctioned Russians The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, "the summer schedule of Indian carriers has been finalised after a virtual meeting held last month on airport slots. The summer schedule begins on March 27 and ends on October 29." The DGCA said, "It has been observed that 25,309 departures per week have been finalised to and from 112 airports. Out of these 112 airports, Gondia, Ziro and Puducherry are the new airports proposed by the scheduled airlines." The Centre-owned Alliance Air will be operating 17.6 per cent more weekly domestic flights (982 flights) in summer this year as compared to 835 services in the corresponding period last year, the regulator noted. The Tata Group-run AirAsia India will operate 1,601 weekly domestic services -- a 16 per cent jump -- in summer 2022, it mentioned. It said SpiceJet will be operating 14.2 per cent more weekly domestic services in summer 2022 as compared to the same period in 2021, it mentioned. Air India, which was sold last year to the Tata Group, has increased its weekly domestic services for summer this year by 10 per cent to 2,456, it noted. Vistara and Go First will be increasing its weekly domestic services by just 6.7 per cent and 1.9 per cent in summer 2022 as compared to summer 2021, it mentioned. Regional carrier FlyBig will operate 158 weekly domestic flights in summer 2022 as compared to 54 weekly services in summer 2021, it noted. With inputs from PTI Live TV #mute New Delhi: 'The Kashmir Files' team, including producer Abhishek Agarwal, director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri and actor Pallavi Joshi, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and said they received appreciation for their film. The film revolves around the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 and stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi in pivotal roles. Abhishek Agarwal shared pictures of their meeting with the Prime Minister on his Twitter handle and wrote, "It was a pleasure to meet our Hon`ble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi Ji. What makes it more special is his appreciation and noble words about #TheKashmirFiles. We`ve never been prouder to produce a film. Thank you Modi Ji." It was a pleasure to meet our Honble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi Ji. What makes it more special is his appreciation and noble words about #TheKashmirFiles. We've never been prouder to produce a film. Thank you Modi Ji @narendramodi @vivekagnihotri #ModiBlessedTKF pic.twitter.com/H91njQM479 Abhishek Agarwal (@AbhishekOfficl) March 12, 2022 Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri retweeted this and added, "I am so glad for you @AbhishekOfficl you have shown the courage to produce the most challenging truth of Bharat. #TheKashmirFiles screenings in USA proved the changing mood of the world in the leadership of @Narendra Modi." The film, which was released in theatres on March 11, earned Rs. 3.55 crores on its opening day. New Delhi: Gifting platform Ferns N Petals on Saturday said Lighthouse India Fund III has invested Rs 200 crore (USD 27 million) in it. The company plans to use the funds to invest in improving its systems and technology to enhance customer experience for all gifting occasions, Ferns N Petals (FnP) said in a statement. "We are very excited to partner with Lighthouse and look forward to learning from their deep consumer insights, developed through a focused investment approach," FnP Founder & Managing Director Vikaas Gutgutia said. The company, which operates through a network of over 400 franchised stores across India, also has operations in the UAE, Singapore, and Qatar and plans to further expand into Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and the UK soon. It expects a turnover of nearly Rs 600 crore in the current financial year. "With this fundraising, we plan to invest in improving our systems and technology to ensure a superlative customer experience for all gifting occasions," Pawan Gadia, CEO, Retail & Online at Ferns N Petals India, GCC & APAC Regions said. On its investment in FnP, Lighthouse Advisors Founding Partner Sachin Bhartiya said gifting is a large but highly fragmented market in India. Online gifting has hardly scratched the surface and has huge headroom to grow, with digital tailwinds supporting such growth. "FnP has all the required ingredients, including leading brand recall, its extensive supply chain network, a robust tech stack, and a seasoned management team, to capture a large share of this growth," he added. Lighthouse is a leading mid-market private equity firm focused on growth investments in India. It has over half a billion dollars of assets under management and has invested in over 25 companies across consumer brands, digital transformation, healthcare, and specialty manufacturing. Live TV #mute New Delhi: Edible oil firm Ruchi Soya, which is owned by Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved, will hit the capital market with its follow-on public offer (FPO) on March 24 to raise up to Rs 4,300 crore. In a regulatory filing late on Friday, Ruchi Soya said a committee of the board has approved and adopted the red herring prospectus (RHP). It also approved the bid/ issue opening date of March 24, 2022, and closing date of March 28, 2022. In August last year, the company had received capital markets regulator Sebi's go-ahead to launch the FPO. It had filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in June 2021. The company is coming out with the public issue to meet Sebi's norm of minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent in a listed entity. As per the DRHP, Ruchi Soya will utilise the entire issue proceeds for furthering the company's business by repayment of certain outstanding loans, meeting its incremental working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes. In 2019, Patanjali acquired Ruchi Soya, which is listed on the stock exchanges, through an insolvency process for Rs 4,350 crore. The promoters currently have nearly 99 per cent stake. The company needs to dilute a minimum 9 per cent stake in this round of the FPO. As per Sebi rules, the company needs to bring down promoters' stake to achieve the minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent. It has around 3 years to pare promoters' stake to 75 per cent. Ruchi Soya primarily operates in the business of processing oilseeds, refining crude edible oil for use as cooking oil, manufacturing soya products, and value-added products. The company has an integrated value chain in palm and soya segments, having a farm-to-fork business model. It has brands such as Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Gold and Nutrela. Live TV #mute New Delhi: Paytm Payments Bank on Saturday said it is taking immediate actions to comply with the direction of the Reserve Bank of India which has barred the company from opening new accounts amid "material supervisory concerns". This is the third time that Vijay Shekhar Sharma-promoted Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) is facing action from the banking regulator since its inception in May 2017. It has been prohibited from opening new accounts for the second time. "We are taking immediate steps to comply with RBI directions. PPBL remains committed to working with the regulator to address their concerns as quickly as possible. We shall notify when we recommence the opening of new accounts after obtaining RBI approval," PPBL said in a blog. Paytm Payments Bank was incorporated in August 2016 and formally began its operations in May 2017 from a branch in Noida. As per the last disclosed numbers, PPBL had around 6.4 crore customers. Sharma holds 51 per cent stake in Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL), while the remaining 49 per cent is held by Paytm. RBI has also directed to appoint an IT audit firm to conduct a comprehensive system audit of PPBL's IT system. PPBL in the blog said that existing customers can continue to operate banking and digital payments services without interruption. "The savings of existing users in their PPBL account, their fixed deposits with partnered banks and the balance maintained in their Paytm Wallet, FASTag or Wallet Card and UPI services are completely safe and functional. "Any new users coming to the Paytm app can create Paytm UPI handles, and link them to their existing PPBL account or to other bank accounts. However, new users cannot, until further notice, sign up for new PPBL wallets or PPBL savings or current accounts," PPBL said. Addressing to the customers, the blog said that the bank remains fully committed to maintaining high standards of compliance and continues to promote digital banking services for all. "Rest assured your accounts are fully functional and you can continue to enjoy our services," PPBL said. The RBI in June 2018 had prohibited PPBL from onboarding new customers on account of supervisory concerns. The restrictions were lifted on December 31, 2018. The central bank had also issued a show cause notice to the firm dated July 29, 2021, stating that Paytm Payments Bank had committed an offence under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 by submitting false information to RBI confirming completion of the transfer of Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit business by One97 Communications to PPBL. Also Read: Telegram gets new update, adds download manager, live streaming feature The RBI had imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on Paytm Payments Bank for the offence. Also Read: Centre to organise 'Consumer Empowerment Week' during Mar 14-20 Live TV #mute New Delhi: In response to surging gas prices, ride-hailing company Uber has announced that it is adding a surcharge on fares and deliveries in the US and Canada. Rideshare riders will pay a $0.50 surcharge on every ride and, on Uber Eats where trips are shorter, consumer fees will be adjusted to cover the equivalent of a $0.35 surcharge on every delivery. The company said that 100 per cent of surcharges will go directly to drivers and delivery people. The temporary fee is designed to reduce the burden of high gas prices, not to cover the full cost of a tank. The fee is temporary but lasts for at least the next 60 days, but "we will continue to review feedback and monitor gas prices throughout that period." "Importantly, we will also seize this moment to bolster our efforts to help more drivers make the switch to electric vehicles, which will both limit the impact of the volatility in fuel prices and lower emissions," the company wrote in a blogpost. "We have made a commitment to operate a zero-emission platform globally by 2040, and in Canadian cities with supportive policies, like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, by 2030," it added. Also Read: Flipkart Big Saving Days Sale: Smartphones, laptops, and more selling at discounted prices, check top offers The company said that drivers who switch to EVs can enjoy higher earnings potential due to Uber`s Green Future Programme, which provides incentives, such as $1 more per trip up to $4,000 annually, for drivers to transition from gas-powered vehicles to EVs. Also Read: WhatsApp Tips: Here's how to remove or change bank account on WhatsApp Pay Live TV #mute New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Friday held a grand road show in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh. The event was headed by Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain. Jain, who seemed confident of AAPs victory in Himachal Pradesh said AAP will form govt in Himachal Pradesh in the upcoming Assembly elections.. AAP workers in the leadership of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain held a roadshow in Shimla AAP will form govt in Himachal Pradesh in the upcoming Assembly elections. Health & education systems are in a bad state here: Delhi Health Minister & AAP leader Satyendar Jain pic.twitter.com/BwEnG4iaIk ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 The AAP minister also attacked the health and education systems of the state and said that his party will transform the system like it did in Delhi. Arvind Kejriwals AAP, which endorses it Delhi Model of governance, has just gained a sweeping win the Punjab Assembly Election 2022 by winning 92 out of 117 seats. After Punjabs massive win, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) decided to contest election from all the 68 seats in Himachal Pradesh. As part of its strategy to expand the electoral footprint in Himachal, the party would also be contesting the local body polls in Shimla next month, AAP leader Satyendra Jain told media. Himachal Pradesh is likely to go to the polls in December this year. Meanwhile, AAP leader Bhagwant Mann, who was the partys CM candidate in Punjab, is set to take oath as the chief minister on March 16. Mann and Kejriwal will also hold a roadshow in Amritsar on March 13 over the party`s victory in the Assembly polls. Live TV New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday (March 12) announced compensation for the kin of those who died in a slum fire in northeast Delhi's Gokulpuri area. Kejriwal also visited the spot where the blaze broke claiming seven lives. The Delhi CM announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to deceased adults families and Rs 5 lakh for the kin of deceased children as well as Rs 25,000 to those whose shanties were gutted. "When I woke up this morning, I came to know that fire here killed seven people and many shanties were burnt. I am deeply saddened with this incident. I pray to God that the deceased rest in peace, PTI quoted him as saying. Poor make their shelter after a lot of hard work. Govt will give Rs.10 lakh each to deceased adults' families, Rs 5 lakh to deceased children's families and Rs 25,000 to those whose shanties were burnt, the AAP convenor added. I'm saddened by fire incident in which 7 people died. Poor make their shelter after a lot of hardwork. Govt will give Rs.10 lakh each to deceased adults' families, Rs.5 lakh to deceased children's families and Rs 25,000 to those whose shanties were burnt: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal pic.twitter.com/atCRzT8qv3 ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 The Delhi CM also assured that the compensation will be released soon. "I will try to release this (compensation) very soon, in one-two days, so that you get the money soon," Kejriwal said. Earlier today, Kejriwal had expressed grief over the incident on Twitter. "Heard the sad news early in the morning. I will go to the spot and meet those affected personally," he tweeted in Hindi. A senior official of the Delhi Fire Services said the information regarding the fire near pillar number 12 of Gokulpuri village was received at 1.03 am, adding that 13 fire-tenders were rushed to the spot. The blaze was brought under control around 4 am, he added. Seven charred bodies were recovered from the site, the official further informed. (With agency inputs) Live TV Speed with which Ukraine's application for EU membership being considered incredible, but country still needs to be rebuilt after war von der Leyen President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen insists that the speed with which the European Union considers Ukraine's membership application is incredible, while stating that the country will need to be rebuilt after the war. She said this on Friday at the Chateau de Versailles (France) at the end of the informal EU summit. The application submitted by the President Volodymyr Zelensky launched the process of considering the status of Ukraine's candidate for the EU, she said. She recalled that between the day the application was received and the time the Council asked for a formal opinion from the Commission, a very short time was seen. It usually takes years, she said. This shows that in relation to the consideration of the application of Ukraine there is a completely different process, but the accession process itself is important, and there are conditions that Ukraine must meet to become part of the European Union, von der Leyen said. The President of the European Commission also said that a free, democratic Ukraine after the war will also need to be restored, too, with the help of the European Union. She emphasized that there is an incredible speed in the process in recent days, which really shows that Ukraine is part of the European family. New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Friday (March 11, 2022) announced the result of the Class 10 term 1 examinations. CBSE has sent the marksheets of class 10 term 1 examinations to the respective schools. In a unique move, CBSE has decided to share the performance of the Class 10 students with the schools over email. It is likely that the board may also release the result online. Additionally, students may simply check their results by contacting the schools. Students' performance of Term 1 exam of class X has been communicated to the schools by CBSE. Only scores, in theory, have been communicated, as internal assessment/practical scores are already available with the schools, said CBSE. #CBSE #CBSEexamresult #Students Performance of Term 1 exam of class X has been communicated to the schools by CBSE. Only scores in theory have been communicated as internal Assessment /practical scores are already available with the schools. CBSE HQ (@cbseindia29) March 12, 2022 The students who appeared in CBSE Class 10 term 1 exams can access their results on the official websites-- cbse.gov.in and cbseresults.nic.in, once released online. However, many reports suggest that the result will only be available in offline mode in the form of mark sheets this year. Students can access their Class 10 term 1 result on the official websites-- cbse.gov.in and cbseresults.nic.in, if the board releases it online. The board will release the scorecards of term 1 exams held in November-December 2021 and not release exam results as pass, fail or essential repeat. The final CBSE result for the academic year 2021-22 will be announced at the end of term 2 scheduled to be held in March-April 2022. CBSE will hold the Term-II examinations for Classes 10 and 12 from April 26, 2022. Term-II examinations for classes 10 and 12 to be held from April 26, 2022. This time exam timings will be 10:30 am and won't be conducted in two shifts. Further details available on the official website, said CBSE. Live TV CBSE Class 10th Term 1 Result 2022: The Central Board of Secondary Education announced CBSE Class 10th Term 1 2021-22 exam results today. The CBSE has sent the class 10 term 1 marksheets to schools. However, many students have been searching for their results online at CBSE's official website CBSE.NIC.IN. The students must be informed that CBSE is unlikely to release these results on their official website. There is no information available from CBSE as to when the CBSE Class 10th Term 1 2021-22 will be made available on CBSE.nic.in. All students, who are waiting for their results, are required to reach out to their schools to know their performance in CBSE Class 10th Term 1 2021-22 exams. Students' performance of Term 1 exam of class X has been communicated to the schools by CBSE. Only scores, in theory, have been communicated, as internal assessment/practical scores are already available with the schools, said CBSE in an official statement. CBSE will hold the Term-II examinations for Classes 10 and 12 from April 26, 2022. Term-II examinations for classes 10 and 12 to be held from April 26, 2022. This time exam timings will be 10:30 am and won't be conducted in two shifts. Further details available on the official website, said CBSE. New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry on Saturday has approved the motion to reduce cut off by 15 percentile, across all categories for the NEET PG exam, reported IANS. In an official communication to the National Board of Examinations, the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has said that it has been decided by the health ministry to reduce the cut off by 15 percentile across all categories. "After due discussion and deliberations, it has been decided by the MoHFW in consultation with NMC with prior approval from HFM to reduce the cut-off by 15 percentile across all categories i.e. the qualifying percentile for a general category may be reduced to 35th percentile, for PH(Genl) to 30th percentile and for reserved category (SC/ST/OBC) be reduced to 25th percentile," said the MCC`s letter to the NBE with the name of Dr B Srinivas, ADG (ME) and member secretary MCC. The step has been taken to fill up over 8,000 vacant seats for postgraduate medical seats and aims to prevent any seat wastage in times when medical professionals are needed the most owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Rohan Krishnan, President of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) Doctors Association welcomed the health ministrys step. "The examination was delayed twice due to Covid and the counselling process was also delayed due to the pandemic and court cases. This is the admission of the 2021 batch which is taking place in 2022 due to delay. Still, around 6,500 seats are vacant so we were expecting such steps from the government," he said. Talking about the impact the cut-off reduction would have on the students, he said: "Reducing the cut off does not mean reducing the merit criteria anyway." (With inputs from IANS) Live TV New Delhi: After being decimated in the five states that went to polls recently, the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party, will be held on Sunday (March 13) at 4 PM at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in Delhi, ANI reported. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will chair the CWC meeting. Congress was trounced in four states of Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand and lost Punjab to Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP. Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting to be held tomorrow at 4PM at AICC office in Delhi, to discuss poll debacle in 5 states and current political situation pic.twitter.com/wWg3rRwu4f ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 Earlier on Friday, senior leaders of the Congress party who are part of Group 23, who had questioned the party leadership and sought organisational overhaul, met at Ghulam Nabi Azad`s residence and discussed the successive defeats of the party in Assembly and Parliamentary elections. As per PTI sources, the leaders discussed the future and revival of the Congress, which has become even "more marginalised and isolated". Besides Azad, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, party MPs Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari and Akhilesh Prasad Singh were present in the meeting. Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi will hold a meeting of the Congress' parliamentary strategy group at her residence on Sunday morning to discuss plans for the remainder of the budget session. The second part of the budget session is starting on Monday after a recess. A look at Congress' election debacle in 5 states Punjab Congress faced a humiliating defeat in the 117-member Punjab Assembly, losing the state to AAP. Congress heavyweights Charanjit Singh Channi and Navjot Singh Sidhu lost their seats. Congress was reduced to 18 seats with a 22.98% vote share while AAP scripted a landmark victory winning 92 constituencies and 42.01% vote share. Uttar Pradesh Congress managed to win mere 2 seats in UP and secured 2.33% vote share. Goa Congress, which had emerged as the largest party in 2017, bagged 11 seats with 23.46% vote share in Goa in 2022. Uttarakhand Congress failed to upend BJP in Uttarakhand, securing 19 seats and 37.91% vote share. Manipur Congress won 5 seats and 16.83% vote share in the northeast state. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: The Delhi Police officials have issued a new order which states that the Delhi Police personnel who flout traffic norms in the capital will have to shell out double the penalty. While issuing the order on March 2, the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ajay Krishan Sharma said it has been observed that some police personnel dont wear seat belt either while driving the government vehicle or occupying the front seat beside the driver. All the police personnel be sensitized towards this issue and briefed that as per the amended Motor Vehicle Act, there is provision of double penalty for the traffic violation committed by the police personnel. Hence, all the officers/men posted under your command should be sensitized and directed to adhere the traffic rules and regulations strictly to avoid penalty as well as embarrassment to the department, the order said. Additionally, the new order also directed Traffic Inspectors (TIs) to brief all prosecuting officers that the violators should be dealt with according to the provisions of MV Act and other relevant laws irrespective of their class and category. If any police personnel either in uniform or driving government vehicle is found violating traffic norms, he should be prosecuted under appropriate provisions of the law and provisions made under section 210B of the MV Act, the order stated. As per the contents of section 210B of amended MV Act-1988, Penalty for offence committed by an enforcing authority any authority that is empowered to enforce the provisions of this ACT shall, if such authority commits an offence under this Act, shall be liable for twice the penalty corresponding to that offence under this Act. (With PTI inputs) Live TV A major fire broke out at a tannery cum godown in the congested Tangra area of Kolkata on Saturday evening, a senior official of the fire department said. Altogether 15 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames that spread to an adjacent building which has been evacuated. Two fire officials were injured while fighting the blaze and they were hospitalised, the official said. Several other nearby houses were also evacuated. The fire broke out at around 6.30 PM at a building, used as a tannery, on 3 Maher Ali Lane in the area. It is not yet known whether any person is stuck inside. "The cause of the fire is not yet known. Our personnel are working on a war footing to douse it. There were chemicals, rexin, and clothes stored inside the building, which helped the fire spread quickly," the official said. The boundary wall of the tannery has collapsed. Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose reached the place and supervised the rescue operations. "Our officers are trying to douse the fire. This is a congested area. It's quite tough for the fire tenders to enter the narrow lanes. However, they are trying their best," Bose told reporters. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called up Bose and enquired about the situation. Local people who had initially alleged that fire brigade personnel were late in reaching the area later helped them in the rescue operation. Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, tweeted a video of locals helping refill a fire tender with water and criticised the role of the department in carrying out the rescue operation. "Egiye Bangla in disastrous Disaster Management. Shame shame @MamataOfficial. The Fire & Emergency Services Department's efficiency has gone down during your tenure," Adhikari tweeted. "Egiye Bangla" (Bengal surges ahead) is the official website of the state government. Local Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay also visited the spot. Srinagar: The security forces have launched a massive crackdown on terrorists in Kashmir in the last 12 hours. The Jammu and Kashmir police on Saturday (March 12, 2022) morning said that four terrorists were gunned down in three separate encounters in the Pulwama, Ganderbal and Handwara area of Kashmir. Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar said that four terrorists were killed in encounters in Kashmir and the operations are still going on. He also informed that the security forces have launched multiple operations in Kashmir. IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said, "We had launched joint operations at 4-5 locations last night, so far two terrorists of JeM have been killed in Pulwama, one terrorist of LeT killed in Ganderbal and one terrorist of LeT in Handwara. All operations are in progress. And we are expecting contact will get established at other locations too, Kumar added. The first encounter started last evening in ChewaKalan village of Pulwama district in South Kashmir, where two terrorists are killed. According to the officials, Two more terrorists are believed to be trapped there. The second encounter broke out in the Kaubagh Nunar area of Ganderbal district in Central Kashmir, where one LeT terrorist was killed in the gunfight. The officials said that the operation is currently underway. One terrorist has been killed in an encounter that broke out at Nechama, Rajwar area of Handwara on Saturday morning, said Kashmir Zone Police. The Kashmir Zone Police tweeted from its official Twitter handle, "#Encounter has started at Nechama, Rajwar area of #Handwara. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow. @JmuKmrPolice." The encounter operation is underway. Earlier, three terrorists were killed on February 10 in Kashmir, out of which two LeT terrorists were killed in the Batpora area of Pulwama and one terrorist was killed in the Hazratbal area of Srinagar. 20 anti-terror operations have been executed in Kashmir till now this year and the security forces have managed to kill 35 terrorists including three top commanders and 9 Pakistani terrorists. Besides that security forces have also managed to arrest 16 active terrorists and more than three dozen terrorists' associates alive this year. Live TV New Delhi: The Army delegation of India and China on Friday held the 15th round of the China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side. The two sides carried forward their discussions from the previous round, which was held in January, for the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western Sector. As per the official statement, both sides had a detailed exchange of views in regard to the de-escalation of forces around the LAC, in sync with the guidance provided by the State Leaders to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest. Both India and China reaffirmed that such a resolution would help restore peace and tranquillity along the LAC in the Western Sector and facilitate progress in bilateral relations, the statement added. The two sides also agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector in the interim. The neighbouring nations also agreed to maintain dialogue via military and diplomatic channels to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest. Live TV Srinagar: A wreath-laying and memorial service was organised on Saturday (March 12) at the Dawar War Memorial to pay homage to Major Sankalp Yadav. The Indian Army, Civil Administration and locals of Gurez organised the event in commemoration of Yadav who laid down his life in an unfortunate helicopter accident while he was on a casualty evacuation mission in Tulail region of the Gurez valley on March 11, 2022. The event witnessed a huge gathering of locals, Civil Administration officials and personnel of Indian Army, Indian Air Force, BSF, JKP and CISF who came together to express their solidarity and support for the fallen hero, his bereaved family members, and Lieutenant Colonel Vivek Kumar Dwivedi, the pilot of the helicopter, who sustained grievous injuries and is presently admitted in the Army Hospital at Udhampur. A guard of honour and wreath laying was conducted at the war memorial, post which candles were lit and prayers were offered by the gathering to pay homage to the departed soul and recovery of the injured officer. The Army Aviation and Air Force sorties are the lifelines of Gurez valley during winters when the road access is cut off for around 4 months due to heavy snowfall and closure of the Razdan pass. It is then that these air warriors spring into action and aid the civil population and Armed forces deployed here in Gurez for their transport, maintenance, and medical evacuation. Without them, the very sustenance of this remote valley is not possible. The people of this valley are highly indebted to these air warriors for their service. The event highlighted the unity, patriotism, and unflinching support of the people of Gurez towards their Armed forces and expressed their deep condolences and gratitude towards the air warriors. Live TV Gurugram: An Iraqi national was duped of US $3200 by two men who posed as cops and stole the money from his bag, police said here on Friday (March 11, 2022). Rain, the victim who filed the complaint at Sadar Police Station, has been in the city for medical treatment of his wife at a private hospital, they said. They had both come to India on March 6, they said. According to police, the incident happened Thursday around 8.00 pm when Rain was visiting a restaurant where a friend of his from Riyadh had invited him. I was standing outside the restaurant when I was accosted by two cops who had come in a car. They were in plain clothes but claimed they were cops. They asked for my passport and ID. Unsuspecting, I handed out the documents. And then they proceeded to check my bag, and while checking it, they stole US $3200, Rain said in his complaint, according to the police. He said he found the money missing when he checked his bag, but by that time the fake cops' had fled in the car. An FIR has been registered against two unknown persons under sections 379 (theft)and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), police said They have recovered CCTV footage of nearby areas but have got no clue so far, they said. We are on the job and are trying to identify the car and the accused. They will be nabbed soon, said Inspector Dinesh Kumar. Live TV Finnish president urges ceasefire in Ukraine, addresses safety of Ukrainian nuclear facilities in telephone call with Putin - statement Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has called Russian President Vladimir Putin; during the conversation, he insisted on declaring a ceasefire in Ukraine and brought up the problem of safety and security of Ukrainian nuclear facilities, the Finnish presidential office said in a statement on Friday. "President Niinisto underscored the need to achieve an immediate ceasefire and to ensure a safe evacuation of civilians through humanitarian corridors," the statement says. Niinisto also brought up the subject of "safety and security of the nuclear energy facilities in Ukraine," it said. The Finnish leader also informed his Russian counterpart of a conversation he had previously had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who once again offered to hold direct talks with Putin. New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal posted a cryptic tweet on Saturday, asking if Lakshadweep Administrator Praful K Patel is being made the next Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Anil Baijal is the current Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. "Is Mr Praful Patel, Administrator of Lakshdweep, being made the next LG of Delhi?" Kejriwal tweeted. Is Mr Praful Patel, Administrator of Lakshdweep, being made the next LG of Delhi? Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 12, 2022 Baijal, a 1969-batch UT cadre officer, was appointed the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in December 2016. Unlike its recurring fight with previous LG Najeeb Jung, the AAP govt has been at loggerheads with the Baijal administration only on a few occasions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kejriwal government and the LG office were generally on the same page. However, there have been some instances when the AAP government and the LG office were at loggerheads. In June 2018, Kejriwal along with his Cabinet ministers Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai had sat on a protest in LG office against a strike by IAS officers and non-approval of the Doorstep Delivery of Ration Scheme by Baijal. Similarly, in July last year there was a flashpoint between the AAP government and the LG when the latter overturned the Delhi Cabinet's decision to appoint a panel of lawyers of its choice to argue cases related to the farmers' agitation. The AAP government had then reacted sharply with Deputy CM Manish Sisodia saying, What was the need of an elected dispensation if everything has to be done through the Centre via LG. Patel, who served as the home minister of Gujarat when Narendra Modi was the chief minister, took charge as Lakshadweep administrator in December 2020. There had been protests by political parties and activists against Patel for his reforms measures on the union territory. In May 2021, the Kerala Assembly had passed a resolution demanding recall of island administrator Patel and requested the Centre to intervene to protect the lives and livelihood of the islanders. ALSO READ: Arvind Kejriwal announces compensation for kin of those killed in blaze in northeast Delhi's Gokulpuri Live TV New Delhi: Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government for evacuating four Nepalese citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine amidst the military offensive by Russia. Four Nepali nationals have just arrived in Nepal from Ukraine via India. Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Government of India for the assistance in repatriating Nepali nationals through the #OperationGanga. Sher Bahadur Deuba (@SherBDeuba) March 12, 2022 Deuba took to Twitter to express gratitude for the Indian government and wrote, Four Nepali nationals have just arrived in Nepal from Ukraine via India. Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Government of India for the assistance in repatriating Nepali nationals through the #OperationGanga. The evacuation of the Nepalese students was done as part of India's 'Operation Ganga' the evacuation mission to bring back the Indians stuck in Ukraine after Russia began the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Earlier, the Indian government evacuated two Nepalese citizens from Ukraine. The evacuation of Nepalese nationals was done by the Indian government at the request of the Nepalese Prime Minister. Meanwhile, under Operation Ganga, India has brought back around 18,000 Indians including students from war-torn Ukraine. Meanwhile, The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported that so far, six Nepalis have been evacuated by India. Including four Nepalis brought from Ukraine on Saturday, a total of six Nepali nationals have been rescued by the Indian government, the report quoted the Nepali embassy in New Delhi as saying. Khadka said a total of 580 Nepali nationals have come out from Ukraine since Russia attacked Ukraine. Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognised Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. Live TV Dehradun: While the BJP has returned to power in Uttarakhand with a two-third majority in the 70-member Assembly, the defeat of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami from his Khatima seat has raised doubts and uncertainty over who will be the next chief minister of the state. BJP won 47 seats and got a vote share of 44.33 per cent. But Dhami lost out to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a margin of 6,579 votes in the Khatima constituency. Dhami got a total of 41,598 votes with a vote share of 44.8 per cent as against Kapri who got 48,177 with a huge vote share of 51.89 per cent. However, some BJP MLAs including Kailash Gahtori and Suresh Gadiya have expressed their willingness to give up their respective seats for Dhami to contest as he suffered defeat in Khatima. While there is uncertainty over the next chief minister of Uttarakhand after Dhami's loss, the BJP leadership has started consultations with the MLAs. Sources said that BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and others held informal consultations with the MLAs in Uttarakhand capital Dehradun. "To get a sense of the MLAs' mood, Vijayvargiya has met a few of them. The exercise has started to find the next chief minister after the party's victory and Dhami's loss," they said. After Dhami lost in the assembly polls, several names have started doing the rounds in Uttarakhand political circles. Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt is likely to emerge as the frontrunner. A party insider said that there is a section in the party which feels that Dhami should be given a chance for the hard work he put in to ensure a BJP victory. "However, there is another section which believes that making Dhami the chief minister will set a wrong precedent and in the future, many others will start claiming the post after losing the election," he said. Meanwhile, a day after BJP recorded a big victory in Uttarakhand, CM Dhami on Friday handed his resignation and that of his cabinet to Governor Lt Gen (retd) Gurmit Singh. "As we have got a new mandate and our tenure is complete we have tendered our resignation to the Governor. I have been asked to continue until the new government is sworn in," Dhami told reporters after coming out of Raj Bhawan. (With Agency inputs) Live TV Mumbai: Devendra Fadnavis, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, said he has received a notice from the Mumbai Police in a phone tapping case and transfer of IPS officers. The former Maharashtra CM has been asked to appear before the force at the BKC Cyber Police Station at 11 am on Sunday (March 13) and Fadnvis said he would appear before police to record his statement. "The Mumbai Police has sent me a notice under Section 160 CrPC, asking me to appear before them at BKC Cyber Police Station at 11 am tomorrow. I will go there and record my statement," Fadnavis said on Saturday. Slamming the state government, Fadnavis was quoted by ANI as saying, "Had the government caught the scamsters and those who are being probed by CBI on time and not brushed the matter under the carpet for 6 months, then I need not have exposed it. The government wants to protect them and somebody who exposed this is being called to the police station." He added, "As the Leader of opposition, I have the privilege to not reveal where I got the information from. But I was Home Minister once and I understand my responsibility. If an offence was falsely registered and if the police wants some help, I will respond. So, I will go to the police station tomorrow," Devendra Fadnavis said. Meanhwile, the Bombay High Court on Friday had restrained police from taking any coercive action till April 1 against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in the FIR registered against her last month in connection with alleged phone tapping. Shukla filed her plea earlier this week through advocate Sameer Nangre, claiming that she had been falsely implicated in the case, which has been registered in Colaba police station, and that the said FIR was politically motivated. The FIR was lodged following a complaint by senior police officer Rajiv Jain accusing Shulka of having put the phone numbers of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and NCP leader Eknath Khadse under surveillance. Live TV New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a two-day visit to poll-bound Gujarat, held another grand roadshow in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Videos and visuals released by news agency ANI show hundreds of people gathering to catch the glimpse of the leader amid chants and cheer of Modi Modi. #WATCH | PM Narendra Modi holds a roadshow in Gujarat's Ahmedabad (Source: DD) pic.twitter.com/YwSvBh64s7 ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 This is PM Modis second roadshow in Gujarat capital in his two-day visit, which is seen as the partys start of campaigning for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly Polls. Gujarat | PM Narendra Modi holds a roadshow in Ahmedabad (Source: DD) pic.twitter.com/JJHCasM7Fo ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 Gujarat has been a bastion of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for years with PM Modi as its chief minister for over two decades. Earlier today, the prime minister took part in a massive roadshow in Dahegam of Gandhinagar. Riding in an open jeep decked with floral garlands, PM Modi was seen waving at people during his roadshow which attracted a huge crowd in the city. Earlier on Friday, the Prime Minister addressed a Maha-Panchayat Sammelan at GMDC Ground in Ahmedabad and then met his mother Heeraben Modi at her residence in Gandhinagar. During the event, PM Modi said, "Gujarat is the land of Bapu and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Bapu always talked about rural development, self-reliant villages. Today, as we are marking `Amrit Mahotsav`, we must fulfil Bapu`s dream of `Grameen Vikas`." The Prime Minister also asked village representatives to plant 75 trees in every village during 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' to mark 75 years of India's Independence to help the environment recover. He also chaired a meeting of the Shree Somnath Trust to discuss the ongoing infrastructure up-gradation measures in the district. Modis Gujarat trip comes right after gaining a massive victory in four out of five states, including Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly Elections 2022 were held. Live TV New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently on a two-day visit to Gujarat, on Saturday (March 12, 2022) took part in a massive roadshow in Dahegam of Gandhinagar today. Riding in an open jeep decked with floral garlands, PM Modi was seen waving at people during his roadshow which attracted a huge crowd in the city. #WATCH Gujarat | PM Narendra Modi waves at people during a roadshow in Dahegam in Gandhinagar. (Source:DD) pic.twitter.com/SZ94nnm8uH ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 The prime minister also paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on the 92nd anniversary of Dandi March. Tributes to Gandhi Ji and all those greats who marched to Dandi in order to protest injustice and protect our nations self-esteem," PM Modi tweeted. Tributes to Gandhi Ji and all those greats who marched to Dandi in order to protest injustice and protect our nations self-esteem. Sharing my speech from 2019 when the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial in Dandi was dedicated to the nation. https://t.co/x6fd40R35C Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 12, 2022 The prime minister is scheduled to deliver the convocation address at the Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar`s Lavad area next. Gujarat | PM Narendra Modi dedicates to the nation the building of Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar. He will also deliver the first convocation address of the university shortly. Union HM Amit Shah along with Governor Acharya Devvrat and CM Bhupendra Patel also present pic.twitter.com/gqggZ6gtlY ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 "At 11 AM, I will be at the Rashtriya Raksha University, where I am honoured to be delivering the Convocation address. A building in the university will also be dedicated to the nation," PM Modi said in a tweet. At 11 AM, I will be at the Rashtriya Raksha University, where I am honoured to be delivering the Convocation address. A building in the university will also be dedicated to the nation. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 12, 2022 After this, PM Modi will inaugurate the 'Khel Mahakumbh' programme in the evening. Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil said, adding, "More than 47 lakh people have registered for the Khel Mahakumbh event. Different games will be organised at over 500 venues across the state." As per the Gujarat government's circular, Khel Mahakumbh has been declared an "iconic event" under the Centre's 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'. Different sporting events will be organised to encourage school and college-going students. PM Modi`s two-day visit to Gujarat began on Friday where he held a roadshow from the airport to the BJP office, Kamalam, followed by a meeting with the party leaders in Ahmedabad. Further, the Prime Minister addressed a Maha-Panchayat Sammelan at GMDC Ground in Ahmedabad and then met his mother Heeraben Modi at her residence in Gandhinagar. He also chaired a meeting of the Shree Somnath Trust to discuss the ongoing infrastructure up-gradation measures in the district. (With agency inputs) Live TV Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated 11th Gujarat Khel Mahakumbh in state's Ahemdabad. Earlier, PM Narendra Modi held a roadshow from Raj Bhavan to Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad. People thronged the route of the roadshow to greet the Prime Minister. They welcomed him with flower petals. PM Modi was also seen waving at people during his roadshow which attracted a huge crowd. The event, held at Gujarat's Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel stadium, saw mega crowds. "The crowd is telling us that you all are ready to touch the sky. Due to COVID-19, we were not able to organize Khel Mahakumbh. Started in 2010 with 16 sports and 13 lakh participants, Khel Mahakumbh increased to 36 general sports & 26 para sports in 2019," Prime Minister Modi said at the event. The crowd is telling us that you all are ready to touch the sky. Due to #COVID19, we were not able to organize Khel Mahakumbh. Started in 2010 with 16 sports & 13 lakh participants, Khel Mahakumbh increased to 36 general sports & 26 para sports in 2019: Prime Minister Modi pic.twitter.com/kQAaUYpubR ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 This is PM Modi`s second roadshow in Gujarat in a span of two days. On Friday, he had held a roadshow from the Ahmedabad airport to Kamalam, the BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar. PM Modi`s two-day visit to his home state kicked off on Friday with a mega roadshow from the airport to the BJP office, Kamalam, followed by a meeting with the party leaders in Ahmedabad. #WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates Khel Mahakumbh 2022 at Sardar Patel Stadium in Gujarat's Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/4BwrAipb8N ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister in his convocation address to Rashtriya Raksha University underlined the importance of technology for security measures and policing. He called for harnessing technology to nab the tech-savvy criminals. We all are familiar with the election symbols of various political parties like lotus, hand, broom etc. While lotus is Indias national flower, Congresss hand symbol goes with its slogan 'Congress ka hath, aam aadmi ke sath.' Whereas, there are several political parties out there with humorous names or symbols and bizarre policies. So now that the election extravaganza is over, let us have a look at them and enjoy some light moments after the intense political battle. The Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) election symbol broom, after it was allotted to the party, gave rise to many slogans like 'lagegi jhaadu udegi dhool, na rahega panja na rahega phool' and 'jhaadu chalao beiman bhagao'. The party, as its name goes, projects itself as the saviour of aam aadmi, but do you know which is the real aam party? Its Tamil Nadu-based party Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), whose election symbol is mango (aam). In Jharkhand, comb is the symbol of Babulal Marandis Jharkhand Vikas Morcha. One wonders what this symbol signifies, but it runs the risk of alienating bald voters as they might be envious of comb! All political parties always try to project themselves as pro-poor, but the Lok Janshakti Party had bungalow as the partys symbol. In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, DMKs symbol is the Sun. One wonders if that was the reason why its chief M Karunanidhi always used to wear sunglasses! However, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal has the ultimate symbol representing the main purpose behind the formation of any political party and for which they fight elections. Any guesses? Its the CHAIR! Apart from interesting symbols, there are also some parties with unusual names like Gareeb Aadmi Party, Hum Sabki Party, Aapka Hamara Party, Aazadi Ka Antim Aandolan Dal, Annadata Party, Bharat Ki Lok Jimmedar Party and Jagte Raho Party. But such amusing symbols or names are not just limited to Indian political parties. There are quite a few political parties across the globe with bizarre policies as well as slogans. In Canada, there exists a Rhinoceros Party, named so because according to the party, rhinoceros is an appropriate symbol for a political party since politicians, by nature, are thick-skinned. The Rhinoceros Party made bizarre promises of repealing the Law of Gravity, capturing the United States and Antarctica, and dumping the countrys nuclear waste in the Senate. The party also promised to break all its promises! In New Zealand, McGillicuddy Serious Party (McGSP) led a campaign with the slogan, If you want to waste your vote, vote for us. Live TV New Delhi: The presidential election for India will be held in July when the country will be getting its President for the next term. BJP's thumping win in Uttar Pradesh, as well as Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, will have a big impact on the presidential election. So while discussions have begun on who will be India's next President, here's looking at how India's President is elected. The President of India is elected by an Electoral College, which consists of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all the States and also of NCT of Delhi and the Union Territories. Nomination Each candidate running for the post of President of India files his/her nomination on the date set by the Election Commission and deposit a sum of money and submit a signed list of 50 proposers and 50 seconders. The proposers and seconders can be any of the electors eligible to vote in the Presidential election. Voting All the elected MLAs, in their respective state and union territories and all elected MPs, at Parliament, are given ballot papers (green coloured for MPs and pink coloured for MLAs) to cast their vote An elector isn't required to mark preferences for all Presidential candidates. He/she has to only mark their first preference for their vote to be considered in the election. ALSO WATCH: Old video of Navjot Singh Sidhu laughing at Bhagwant Mann's satires on politics goes viral Counting On the day of the counting of votes, all ballots are verified and the counting process begins, and firstly ballot papers are taken state-wise. After the state and UT, votes are counted ballot papers of the Members of Parliament are taken for counting. The Winner The winner of the Presidential election is not the person who gets the most votes, but the person who gets more votes than a certain quota. The quota is decided by adding up the votes polled for each candidate, dividing the sum by 2 and adding '1' to the quotient. Oath ceremony of the President-elect A day after the outgoing President demits the office, the President-elect takes the oath. The oath for President is usually administered by the Chief Justice of India. ALSO READ: Why Congress may lose 'leader of opposition status' in Rajya Sabha Live TV A BJP MLA in Odisha, suspended from the party, mowed down 15 workers of Bharatiya Janata Party by his SUV car in state's Khorda district. A total of 20 people are said to be injured in the incident, with 5 being critical. The incident happened when Prashant Jagdev rammed his car straight into a procession of around 200 BJP workers. Around 15 BJP workers, a BJD worker and 7 police personnel were injured in the incident. A probe has been initiated into the matter, said a senior police official was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Zelensky has substantive talk with Biden, leaders agree on further steps to provide defense-related support to Ukraine President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden had a substantive conversation, the leaders agreed on further steps to provide defense-related support to Ukraine and sanctions against the Russian Federation. "I had a substantive conversation with Joe Biden. I informed him about my assessment of the situation on the battlefield, about the crimes of the Russian Federation against the civilian population. We agreed on further steps to provide defense-related support to Ukraine and increase sanctions pressure on Russia," Zelensky wrote on his Twitter. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a two-day visit to Gujarat delivered the convocation address at the Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar`s Lavad area on Saturday (March 12) morning. In his address, he praised the security forces and underlined their contribution to India's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Bedore his address at the University, PM took on Twitter to express his gratitude and informed that a building in the university will also be dedicated to the nation. At 11 AM, I will be at the Rashtriya Raksha University, where I am honoured to be delivering the Convocation address. A building in the university will also be dedicated to the nation. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 12, 2022 Emphasizing the role of technology in the security of the country PM said, "Technology has now become a potential weapon in the security apparatus. Mere physical training is not enough to be in security forces, now specially-abled people can also contribute to the security sector despite not being physically fit." "We have seen during the covid pandemic, many policemen in uniform gave food and medicines to the needy during the lockdown. People saw the humane face of the police," added PM Modi. PM Modi suggested Police personnel should be trained in a way that changes the perception of people about the policemen. "There's a perception about police-stay away from them, the same isn't true about Army. Imperative that Police manpower should be trained in a way that they're amicable with people" Stressing on the need of reforms in the recruitment in security forces PM said, "After independence, recruitment in law and order needed reforms. Unfortunately, we were left behind." PM Modi`s two-day visit to Gujarat began on Friday (March 11) where he held a roadshow from the airport to the BJP office, Kamalam, followed by a meeting with the party leaders in Ahmedabad. Further, the Prime Minister addressed a Maha-Panchayat Sammelan at GMDC Ground in Ahmedabad and then met his mother Heeraben Modi at her residence in Gandhinagar. He also chaired a meeting of the Shree Somnath Trust to discuss the ongoing infrastructure up-gradation measures in the district. Live TV New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister C.M. Ibrahim on Saturday (March 12) resigned from the primary membership of the party. Ibrahim has also resigned from Karnataka Legislative Council. Addressing reporters in Bengaluru, Ibrahim said, "I'm resigning from the primary membership of the Congress. I have sent a signed letter to Sonia Gandhi (Congress National President). Adding that he is also resigning as MLC, the senior leader said, "I have sent in the letter addressed to Chairman Legislative Council to Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Siddaramaiah, he can get it accepted by submitting. I have done this because, in case my resignation is accepted, BJP will get majority in the council and can easily get the anti-conversion bill (which is pending in the Council) passed. I leave it to them." Ibrahim alleged that whenever he raised issues of development and functioning of the Congress, he was not given a proper response. Ibrahim who served as the union minister from 1996-98, called the grand old party a sinking ship adding that no one with self-respect can stay in the party. "I will reveal about my next move in 2 days. The Congress is a sinking ship. What happened in Punjab will happen in Karnataka also," IANS quoted him as saying. ALSO READ: Congress Working Committee meet on Sunday to discuss poll debacle in 5 states The senior politician who is likely to join JD(S) said he will announce his decision after holding deliberation with former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in the coming days. Ibrahim was unhappy over the selection of BK Hariprasad as the opposition leader in the Legislative Council, a post he was coveting. Ibrahim had left JD(S) after the 2004 Lok Sabha elections and was later associated with "AHINDA" (a social movement forged by minorities, backwards and Dalits) in Karnataka led by Siddaramaiah. He had joined the Congress in 2008. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: Defeating his nearest rival with a margin of over 1.81 lakh votes, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh claimed a stupendous victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022 from Noida Assembly seat and people are now speculating his position in the Yogi cabinet. After Pankaj Singh defeated Samajwadi Partys Sunil Chaudhary by a whopping margin of 1,81,513 votes, the next big question is if he will find a place in Yogi Adityanath's new cabinet. Media reports suggest the new government in UP is likely to be sworn-in, in the coming week. Meanwhile, in Dadri, Tejpal Nagar retained his seat by bagging 2.18 lakh (or 61.64%) votes. SP's Rajkumar Bhati was the next in line with 79,850 (or 22.57%) votes. The victory margin stood at 1.38 lakh, the EC showed. In Jewar, Dhirendra Singh got 1.17 lakh (50.53%) votes as he registered his second straight assembly win over nearest rival Avtar Singh Bhadana of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, who polled in 60,890 (or 26.25%) votes. The victory margin was 56,315 votes, according to the result on the EC website. With this the trio of BJP MLAs from Noida, Dadri and Jewar in Gautam Buddh Nagar district retained their respective seats. The BJP has won the peoples mandate once again in the politically crucial state with Yogi Adityanath set to become the chief minister for a second straight term breaking a 37-year-old record in the state. Live TV NEW DELHI: Bollywood actress and Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandez opened up about the trauma after some of her intimate pictures with conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar were leaked on social media without her consent. The actress spoke about the controversy and stated how she has been making sure to not let the incident turn her into a bad person. Speaking on the matter, the 36-year-old actress spoke to Shilpa Shetty on her chat show 'Shape Of You', and said, "For me, what I've learned over the years. Don't let it turn you into a bad person. Don't let it turn you into them. That's really important." Jacqueline added that there are times when she spots articles and social media posts that are randomly written about her. The actress mentioned, "No one's clarified it, no one's asked you and already you have like this war going on against you." Jacqueline added that such incidents can very easily turn one into a horrible person. "Someone who is upset with the way people behave, one can become very untrustworthy. Don't let it change you, don't let it turn you, don't let it upset you, don't let it steal your light. Stay good, stay positive," she told Shilpa. The 'Race 3' star aso added that she had sought professional help to deal with all the trauma the media glare and trolling can cause. The actress revealed that it was right after the pandemic in 2020 that she realised she was going through a phase of loneliness. Jacqueline said that she spoke to a therapist and shared her thoughts with them. For the unversed, Jacqueline Fernandez was in news lately for her closeness with conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar whose name has surfaced in Rs 200 crore money-laundering case. Her intimate pictures with the conman leaked online creating a flutter on social media. Speaking of her professional front, Jacqueline has her kitty full of projects like 'Bachchhan Paandey', 'Attack', Kannada action-thriller 'Vikrant Rona', 'Cirkus' and 'Ram Setu'. She was last seen in multi-starrer 'Bhoot Police'. Live TV New Delhi: Actor Pratiek Babbar was recently asked about his views on actors asking their spouses for permission before performing intimate scenes for a project. The outspoken actor expressed that he doesn't think permission is needed in such a scenario. Rather, he said, actors should have a discussion with their partners. The situation in question was the response Deepika Padukone received from a few fans after clips of her intimate scenes with Siddhant Chaturvedi from Gehraiyaan featured in the film's trailer. She was asked by netizens if she had sought permission from her husband Ranveer Singh before kissing Siddhant Chaturvedi on-screen. Coming to Prateik's point of view, he said that there are certain demands that come with being an actor and an artist's spouse should understand them. Speaking about the same, he told ETimes, "I don't think there's a permission that needs to be involved. Maybe actresses like that exist who have to take permission from their spouses. In my opinion, I think it's wrong. Because the spouse needs to respect what the other spouse is doing. This comes with the territory, being an artist or actor. Communication is the key. You must have a conversation about it, you must be on the same page. But taking permission?" He added, "Aap meri maa ho? Aap mere baap ho (Are you my mom or dad)? I absolutely disagree with the fact that I have to take permission. I do agree and firmly stand for having a conversation about it. Kaun hote ho aap muje dene ko permission? Mera career hain, apne pairon pe khade hokar hum kaam karte hai. Main apne baap se permission nahi leta (Who are you to give me permission? It is my career that I built and I work on my own. I do not seek even from my father). Pardon my language. I don't expect my partner to ask me for permission, definitely expect to have a conversation about it. Permission is, I think, a wrong word." Prateik is late actress Smita Patil and actor-politician Raj Babbar's son. He was born on November 28, 1986. On the work front, Prateik has 'Mumbai Saga', 'Brahmastra', 'India Lockdown' and 'Bachchan Pandey' line-up for release. NEW DELHI: MamaEarth founder and Shark Tank India judge Ghazal Alagh and her husband Varun Alagh welcomed their second child on Thursday. Sharing the picture on her Instagram handle, she wrote, And then there were 2, our second son Ayaan is here to make our lives even more fun. Ayaan means blessing from god and thats what he is. Thanks for all the kind wishes and blessings. #babyshark.. The duo has named their son Ayaan which means blessing from god. In the picture we can see mommy Ghazal holding hand with Varun, their elder son Agastya Alagh and the newborn. Now she has also shared another glimpse of her little toddler, while he can be seen sleeping comfortably in his moms arms. She wrote, We are taking our bundle of joy home and shower him with lots of love and goodness of @mamaearth.in. We had an amazing experience @cloudnine_care_ which made our delivery and stay super comfortable. Now on to raising two of my boys, building brands and transforming self. For the unversed, Varun and Ghazal tied the knot in 2011 and are proud parents of two sons - Agastya and Ayaan. Shark Tank India features Emcure Pharmaceuticals CEO Namita Thapar, Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal, SUGAR Cosmetics founder Vineeta Singh, BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover, Lenskart co-founder Peyush Bansal, boAt founder Aman Gupta and MamaEarth co-founder Ghazal Alagh as the judges. Shark Tank India was launched last year in December and is an adaptation of the popular US reality show Shark Tank. The show wrapped up on Feb 4 after airing 35 episodes. Shark Tank presents a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas to a panel of market leaders, who invest in their company and mentor them in return for equity stakes in their company. New Delhi: Aadhaar is one of the most crucial documents for Indian residents. The 12-digit ID card is required to receive several services offered by state and private agencies. Indian residents are required to share their Aadhaar card details to receive the benefits under various government schemes. And thats the reason why cardholders are required to keep their details updated. Since many had applied for Aadhaar cards years ago, the photo on the document doesnt really match with how you look today. So, if you want to change the photo on the Aadhaar card, heres good news. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) allows Aadhaar cardholders to change their details on the document. You can change details like phone number, address, e-mail ID, photo, and name, among others, using UIDAIs facilities. Cardholders can apply for a few changes on the official UIDAI website. However, for changing the photo on the Aadhaar card, cardholders are required to visit their nearby Aadhaar Enrolment Centre. Heres how to change photo on Aadhaar Card: Step 1: You will need to visit your nearest Aadhaar Permanent Enrolment Centre to change the photo on Aadhaar Card. Step 2: Upon reaching the centre, you will need to collect the Aadhaar enrolment form. You can separately down the form from the official UIDAI website. Step 3: Enter the details asked on the form. Step 4: Submit the form and complete the biometric verification. Step 5: The executive at the centre will take your photograph. Step 6: You will have to pay a fee of Rs 100 at the centre to change the photo on your Aadhaar Card. Also Read: Navi IPO: Sachin Bansal's fintech company files draft papers for Rs 3,350-crore IPO Step 7: You will get an Update Request Number (URN) with the acknowledgement slip. You can use the URN to check the status of your update request. Also Read: Ferns N Petals gets Rs 200 crores funding from Lighthouse India Fund III Live TV #mute New Delhi: The RBI has lifted all restrictions on HDFC Bank, permitting it to launch new digital initiatives, the private sector lender said on Saturday. "We would like to inform one and all that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted the restriction on the business generating activities planned under the Bank's Digital 2.0 programme, vide its letter dated March 11, 2022," HDFC Bank said in a statement. Digital 2.0 programme of the bank is designed to provide products to its customers for frictionless financial experience. It will help customers to move from a single transaction to a complete financial solution journey such as loan disbursement, payments and investment. In December 2020, the RBI had barred HDFC Bank from issuing new cards and launching new digital initiatives after repeated instances of technological outages at the lender, which is the market leader in the credit cards segment. The RBI action came after the bank's customers faced a number of incidents of outages in internet banking, mobile banking, and payment utilities over the past two years. Rivals ICICI Bank and SBI Cards seized the opportunity to narrow the gap with HDFC Bank. The action against HDFC Bank was followed by a ban on new card issuances by Mastercard and American Express due to their failure to adhere to data localisation rules. Following remedial action from HDFC Bank, the regulator partially lifted the ban on card issuances last year in August. However, the ban on launching new technology initiatives continued. With lifting of both the bans, the bank in the statement said it is fully committed to ensuring continued adherence to the highest standards of compliance with RBI recommendations. Also Read: Aadhaar Card Update: Change your old photo on Aadhaar in simple steps, check how "We have utilised this time to draw up short, medium, and long-term plans to meet the evolving digital requirements of our customers and we will roll out these initiatives in the days to come," it added. Also Read: Navi IPO: Sachin Bansal's fintech company files draft papers for Rs 3,350-crore IPO Live TV #mute New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cautioned the public against falling prey to offers to buy or sell old banknotes and coins. The apex bank has issued a tweet on its official Twitter handle stating that some elements are incorrectly using the Reserve Bank of India's name and emblem and urging people to sell old banknotes and coins through various online and offline platforms. Fees, commissions, or taxes are being collected. RBI has issued a warning that it does not deal in such things and never asks for such fees or commissions from anyone. The Reserve Bank warns the general public not to fall victim to such false and deceptive proposals. The Reserve Bank of India has stated that it has not delegated any authority to any business, company, or individual to impose any fee or commission on such transactions on its behalf. Demat account may be closed after March 31 If you have bought or sold shares or invested in equity funds and have not completed KYC on your demat account, do it as soon as possible or your account will be cancelled. SEBI, the market regulator, has given this until March 31. You will be unable to invest in the stock market otherwise. Live TV #mute Hyderabad: Hyderabad police have booked a case of cheating against Telugu film producer Bellamkonda Suresh and his son and actor Bellamkonda Sai Srinivas for allegedly cheating a financier to the tune of Rs 85 lakh. A case was booked on Friday against the duo by the Central Crime Station (CCS) police in the direction of a city court. VL Sravan Kumar had approached the court complaining that the producer and his son took the money in instalments from him during 2018 to make a movie. The petitioner claimed that the producer had promised to take him as an assistant producer for a film to be made under the direction of Malineni Gopichand. The financier informed the court that believing their word, he paid them the amount but they cheated him. The court had directed the police to file a case against Suresh and Srinivas. The CCS police registered a case under Indian Penal Code's Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 417, 420 (cheating), and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) As part of the investigation, the police asked the complainant to appear before the investigating officer with relevant documents and record his statement. Macron does not rule out exclusion of Gazprombank, Sberbank from SWIFT, embargo on energy resources French President Emmanuel Macron said he does not rule out the exclusion of another group of Russian banks from the SWIFT system and the embargo on oil and gas from Russia. "Nothing that you said is prohibited," he said at a press conference in Versailles, answering a question from a journalist who asked if the EU could decide in the future to cut Sberbank and Gazprombank off SWIFT and impose an embargo on Russian oil and gas. Macron said the further sanctions policy of the EU countries will depend on the development of events in Ukraine. New Delhi: Krafton, the developer of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), has announced that the registrations for Battlegrounds Mobile India Open Challenge (BMOC) will open from March 14, 2022. The Battlegrounds Mobile India Open Challenge is the South Korean developers first-ever edition of the semi-pro tournament for BGMI. Krafton has noted that BGMI players with Level 25 and above along with Tier Platinum 5 members and above can participate in the upcoming Battlegrounds Mobile India Open Challenge. With the Open Challenge, the tournament looks at leveling the playing field for many aspirational players while providing specialized opportunities to pro-level players," Krafton said. Following the registrations will begin in-game qualifiers, a total of 512 teams are expected to battle in Round 1 of the Battlegrounds Mobile India Open Challenge, and 256 teams will qualify for the 2nd round. Of the total 256 teams competing in the 2nd round, 64 teams will advance to the third round of the tournament. Finally, a total of 32 teams will qualify for the fourth round of the Battlegrounds Mobile India Open Challenge. 32 teams that will qualify in the tournament will progress to the BGMI Pro Series. Gamers stand a chance of winning a Rs 75 lakh cash prize by winning the BGMI Pro Series. The 32 teams will compete in a Round Robin format and a total of 16 teams will qualify for the grand finals of BMPS Season 1. Gamers will contest in the tournament in only online mode. Also Read: RBI lifts all restrictions on HDFC Bank; permits new digital launches Battlegrounds Mobile India or BGMI is a popular battle royale game that is available for Indian gamers. The title was launched by Krafton in the country after the Indian government had banned its other game, PUBG Mobile India, on grounds of national security and user privacy. Also Read: Aadhaar Card Update: Change your old photo on Aadhaar in simple steps, check how Live TV #mute New Delhi: WhatsApp released an in-chat payment tool that allows users to send money to anyone on their contact list over WhatsApp. It is a payment solution based on UPI that allows you to send and receive money. WhatsApp Pay, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), was released in India as a trial run in February 2018. Later, on February 7, 2020, WhatsApp gained NPCI's approval to phase-in its digital payment service. WhatsApp's payment service was initially available to about 10 million users in the country. To use WhatsApp Pay, the user must first send money to contact. After receiving the request from the other hand, the user can set up their UPI account on WhatsApp. WhatsApp Pay allows users to pay money to anyone in their contacts, after which it activates UPI ID. Users of WhatsApp Pay can send money by entering their UPI ID. Users can also pay using a QR code to send money to persons who are not on their contact list. If you're new to WhatsApp's payment feature, here's how you should get started. Users can pay money straight through chat; there is a rupee sign next to the attachment choice within the chat. The messaging software allows users to view their bank account balance in addition to sending and receiving money. Users can, for example, link more than one bank account to their WhatsApp payment account. When you add more than one account, WhatsApp allows you to choose your primary account. Users can deactivate a bank account or all bank accounts if they no longer want to utilise WhatsApp Payments. First, let's go over the steps for changing the primary bank account connected with WhatsApp Payments: On Android: Step 1: Open WhatsApp on your mobile device. Step 2: Select 'More Options' from the drop-down menu. Step 3: Choose 'Payments' from the drop-down menu. Step 4: Select the account you want to designate primary from the drop-down menu. Step 5: Select 'Make Primary Account' from the drop-down menu. On iPhone: Step 1: Open WhatsApp and go to the Settings menu. Step 2: Click Payments under the Settings menu. Step 3: Select the appropriate bank account by tapping on it. Step 4: Select Make Primary Account from the drop-down menu. Now that you've completed the task, you can repeat the process if you want to change your primary bank account on WhatsApp Pay. What if you wish to delete a bank account, or all of your bank accounts, from WhatsApp Pay? The steps are as follows: Step 1: Navigate to WhatsApp. Step 2: Select Payments from the drop-down menu. Step 3: Choose the bank account you want to delete from the drop-down menu. Step 4: Select - Remove Bank Account from the drop-down menu. Live TV #mute NEW DELHI: Kangana Ranaut-hosted show Lock Upp has turned out to be a game changer as the show has been getting a lot of appreciations from the audience and critics alike. As we all saw in the latest episode that Team Orange won the last task and so one of the team member was given an opportunity to enter the Jhol Ghar and so with maximum majority Munawar Faruqui was given the chance to enter the house. In the recently released promo, Munawar entered the Jhol Ghar and jailor Karan Kundrra gives him temptation to get homemade food along with the letter from the family but in order to get it, he had to nominate one contestant from his own team. Although, the decision was tough, but in the promo, Munawar was seen giving his name and finally gets an opportunity to enjoy the benefits. Whom is he going to nominate for the chargesheet? Well, only time will tell, for now keep watching this space for more updates related to Lock Upp. New Delhi: The United States President Joe Biden on Friday (March 11) said that the first-hand clash between NATO and Russia will lead to World War Three. Biden asserted that NATO will defend every inch of its territory but it will not a war against Russia in Ukraine. US President took on Twitter to inform that NATO will not be fighting a war against Russia in Ukraine as it want to would result in World War Three. "I want to be clear: We will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full might of a united and galvanized NATO. But we will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine," tweeted Joe Biden. "A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III. And something we must strive to prevent," Biden added. I want to be clear: We will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full might of a united and galvanized NATO. But we will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine. A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III. And something we must strive to prevent. President Biden (@POTUS) March 11, 2022 However, Biden said he has moved 12,000 troops along the borders with Russia, such as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania while asserting that Vladimir Putin will not be victorious in the war he has waged against Ukraine. Addressing members of the House Democratic Caucus on Friday, Biden stressed over "not fighting a third World War in Ukraine" but avowed sending an "unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of NATO territory". Biden also claimed that as a result of the US-led sanctions, the economy of Russia is badly impacted. Meanwhile, The G7 nations agreed to deny Russia "most-favored nation" status relating to key products, which will revoke benefits of Russia`s membership in the World Trade Organization. Live TV New Delhi: In the first of its kind sentencing against terrorism, Saudi Arabia executed 81 people on a number of terrorism-related crimes in one day, reported news agency AFP on Saturday. As per the report, this single-day execution exceeded the number of executions conducted by the kingdom in the last one year. Out of those executed, 73 were Saudi citizens, seven were Yemeni nationals and one was Syrian. According to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), all the 81 people who were executed were "found guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes. Many of the convicts were linked to known terror outfits like the Islamic State group, or to Al-Qaeda, Yemen's Huthi rebel forces or "other terrorist organisations. Most of these convicts were accused of plotting attacks on significant economic sites, had targeted or had killed members of the security forces, or had smuggled weapons into the country, the SPA added. The Saudi news agency clarified that the 81 convicts who were executed were tried in a Saudi court of law, with trials overseen by 13 judges over three separate stages for each individual. The oil-rich Gulf nation is known for one of the world's highest execution rates. Saturday's announcement marks the kingdom's highest number of recorded executions in one day and more than the total of 69 executions in all of 2021. Live TV Kyiv: For Ukranians getting out of their war-torn country is becoming tough. In a televised address on Friday (March 11), President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said only 7,144 people were evacuated from four Ukrainian cities on Friday. This is a sharply lower number than compared to those who managed to leave in each of the two previous days. Zelenskyy accused Russia of refusing to allow people out of the besieged city of Mariupol and said Ukraine would try again to deliver food and medicines there on Saturday. Almost 40,000 people left a number of cities through humanitarian corridors on Thursday, on top of the 35,000 who fled on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said, reported Reuters. Those who stayed in the cities of Chernihiv, Energodar, Hostomel and Kozarovichi had managed to escape on Friday, the President said. Authorities earlier said the situation in Mariupol was critical as Russian forces tightened their noose around the Black Sea port city and the death toll from shelling and a 12-day blockade reached almost 1,600. Residents of Mariupol, a strategically important city of over 400,000 in peacetime, have been without power or water for more than a week. "Russian troops have not let our aid into the city and continue to torture our people ...tomorrow we will try again, try again to send food, water and medicine," Zelenskyy said. Mariupol is the site of an intense battle. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said three people including a child had been killed in the bombing on Wednesday. The attack also left more than dozen injured, reports stated. This news sparked criticism worldwide. After an international condemnation of a Russian strike on a hospital in Mariupol and Moscow's claims the building no longer served as a healthcare facility, the Kremlin said it would investigate further. The defence ministry later denied hitting the hospital. But Ukraine President Zelenskyy rejected Russian assertions there had been no patients there. "Like always, they lie confidently," said Zelenskyy, who has accused Moscow of waging genocide in the war it launched two weeks ago. (With Reuters inputs) Live TV Lviv: Russian forces pounding the port city of Mariupol shelled a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said Saturday as fighting also raged on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv. There was no immediate word of casualties from the shelling of the mosque. Mariupol has seen some of the greatest misery from Russia's war in Ukraine as unceasing barrages have thwarted repeated attempts to bring in food and water and to evacuate trapped civilians. The Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey said that a group of 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, were among the people who had sought safety in the mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roksolana. Elsewhere, air raid sirens rang out across the capital region and artillery barrages sent residents scurrying for shelter. Fighting erupted in multiple areas around Kyiv. Russia's slow, grinding apparent attempt to encircle the city and the bombardment of other population centers with artillery and air strikes mirror tactics that Russian forces have previously used in other campaigns, notably in Syria and Chechnya, to crush armed resistance. Artillery pounded Kyiv's northwestern outskirts. To the city's southwest, two columns of smoke one black and one white -- rose in the town of Vaslkyiv after a strike on an ammunition depot. The strike on the depot caused hundreds of small explosions from detonating ammunition. ALSO READ: What weapons are being used in Russias invasion of Ukraine? As of Friday, the death toll in Mariupol passed 1,500 during 12 days of attack, the mayor's office said. A strike on a maternity hospital in the city of 446,000 this week that killed three people sparked international outrage and war-crime allegations. The ongoing bombardment forced crews to stop digging trenches for mass graves, so the dead aren't even being buried, the mayor said. An Associated Press photographer captured the moment when a tank appeared to fire directly on an apartment building, enveloping one side in a billowing orange fireball. Russian forces have hit at least two dozen hospitals and medical facilities since they invaded Ukraine on February 24, according to the World Health Organisation. Ukrainian officials reported Saturday that heavy artillery damaged a cancer hospital and several residential buildings in Mykolaiv, a city 489 kilometers (304 miles) west of Mariupol. The hospital's head doctor, Maksim Beznosenko, said several hundred patients were in the facility during the attack but no one was killed. The invading Russian forces have struggled far more than expected against determined Ukrainian fighters. But Russia's stronger military threatens to grind down the defending forces, despite an ongoing flow of weapons and other assistance from the West for Ukraine's westward-looking, democratically elected government. The conflict has already sent 2.5 million people fleeing the country. Thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been killed along with many Ukrainian civilians. On the ground, the Kremlin's forces appeared to be trying to regroup and regain momentum after encountering tough resistance and amassing heavy losses over the past two weeks. Britain's Ministry of Defense said Russia is trying to reset and "re-posture its troops, gearing up for operations against Kyiv. It's ugly already, but it's going to get worse, said Nick Reynolds, a warfare analyst at Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank. Russian forces were blockading Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, even as efforts have been made to create new humanitarian corridors around it and other urban centers so aid can get in and residents can get out. Ukraine's emergency services reported Saturday that the bodies of five people - two women, a man and two children - were pulled from an apartment building that was struck by shelling in Kharkiv, The Russians' also stepped up attacks on Mykolaiv, located 470 kilometers (292 miles) south of Kyiv, in an attempt to encircle the city. As part of a multi-front attack on the capital, the Russians' push from the northeast appeared to be advancing, a US defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to give the US assessment of the fight. Combat units were moved up from the rear as the forces advanced to within 30 kilometers (18.6 miles miles) of Kyiv. New commercial satellite images appeared to capture artillery firing on residential areas that stood between the Russians and the capital. The images from Maxar Technologies showed muzzle flashes and smoke from big guns, as well as impact craters and burning homes in the town of Moschun, 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) from Kyiv, the company said. Residents in a devastated village east of the capital climbed over toppled walls and flapping metal strips in the remnants of a pool hall, restaurant and theater freshly blown apart by Russian bombs. With temperatures sinking below freezing, villagers quickly spread plastic wrap or nailed plywood over blown-out windows of their homes. Russian President Vladimir Putin created this mess, thinking he will be in charge here, 62-year-old Ivan Merzyk said. He added: We are not going away." On the economic and political front, the US and its allies moved to further isolate and sanction the Kremlin. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. will dramatically downgrade its trade status with Russia and ban imports of Russian seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The move to revoke Russia's most favoured nation status was taken in coordination with the European Union and Group of Seven countries. The free world is coming together to confront Putin, Biden said. With the invasion in its 16th day, Putin said Friday that there had been certain positive developments in ongoing talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators. He gave no details. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared on video to encourage his people to keep fighting. It's impossible to say how many days we will still need to free our land, but it is possible to say that we will do it," he said from Kyiv. Zelenskyy said authorities were working on establishing 12 humanitarian corridors and trying to ensure food, medicine and other urgently needed basics get to people across the country. He also accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of one city, Melitopol, calling the abduction a new stage of terror. The Biden administration had warned before the invasion of Russian plans to detain and kill targeted people in Ukraine. Zelenskyy himself is a likely top target. American defense officials said Russian pilots are averaging 200 sorties a day, compared with five to 10 for Ukrainian forces, which are focusing more on surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and drones to take out Russian aircraft. The US also said Russia has launched nearly 810 missiles into Ukraine. Until recently, Russia's troops had made their biggest advances on cities in the east and south while struggling in the north and around Kyiv. They also have started targeting areas in western Ukraine, where large numbers of refugees have fled. Russia said Friday it used high-precision long-range weapons to put military airfields in the western cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk out of action. The attack on Lutsk killed four Ukrainian servicemen, the mayor said. Russian airstrikes also targeted for the first time Dnipro, a major industrial hub in the east and Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about 1 million people. One person was killed, Ukrainian officials said. In images of the aftermath released by Ukraine's emergency agency, firefighters doused a flaming building, and ash fell on bloodied rubble. Smoke billowed over shattered concrete where buildings once stood. The United Nations political chief said the international organization had received credible reports that Russian forces were using cluster bombs in populated areas. International law prohibits the use of the bombs, which scatter smaller explosives over a wide area, in cities and towns. Live TV Washington: The United States on Friday (March 11, 2022) accused Russia of violating nuclear safety principles in Ukraine and demanded its invading forces stop firing on nuclear power plants, but added that there were no signs detected yet of any radiological release. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a Twitter post that radiation monitors in much of Ukraine were still functioning although the United States was concerned by lack of data from safeguards monitors at Chernobyl or Zaporizhzhia, which is Europe`s largest nuclear power plant. Both sites are under Russian forces` control but are being operated by Ukrainian staff in conditions that the International Atomic Energy Agency says endanger the safety of the facilities. "We remain concerned about Russias reckless actions and violations of nuclear safety principles," Granholm said. "We are monitoring reports of damage to a research facility in Kharkiv. The near-term safety risk is low, but the continued Russian firing on nuclear facilities must cease," she said. ALSO READ | YouTube blocks Russian state-funded media channels globally After fighting and apparent shelling around the Zaporizhzhia plant a week ago, the Russian military accused Ukrainian forces of a "provocation." Granholm said the U.S. could not confirm reports that power has been restored to Chernobyl. Russia`s energy ministry said on Thursday that Belarusian specialists had restored electricity supply to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Ukraine and its allies are concerned about the risk Russia`s invasion poses to nuclear facilities across the country, including power plants and research centers. The head of a nuclear research facility in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv said the grounds of the institute had been struck by Russian shells during recent fighting, but the core housing nuclear fuel remains intact. Live TV New Delhi: US Department of Commerce on Friday (March 11, 2022) imposed latest controls on the exports of their luxury goods to Russia and Belarus. Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price said, "We have also imposed an import ban on Russian alcohol, seafood and non-industrial diamonds. The Department of State Spokesperson said that US will ensure no relief on sanctions will be given to Russia as it remains committed to Ukraine. "We are and we will remain committed to and united with Ukraine. There will be no relief from sanctions or other costs we have and will continue to impose on Russia until Putin reverses course and relents in his brutal aggression," Price said. Before US, the European Union had announced the ban on the exports of luxury products to Russia. The European Commission President said that in addition to revoking Russia`s benefits as a world trade Organization member and fresh measures against Russian elites close to the Kremlin, the EU will ban the export of luxury goods to Russia. Additionally, European Commission also said that the EU would prohibit the key goods in the iron and steel sector from Russia. Ban on investment in Russia`s energy sector is also on the cards, imformed EU. The developments came after EU leaders met with each other on Thursday and Friday in Versailles, France and pledged to announce new sanctions. Earlier, Price also informed that the US is acting in concert with their G7 partners and took some steps to hold Russia to account. He said, "We announced additional actions against wealthy Russian elites to ensure the govt of Russia pays a severe economic and diplomatic price for its invasion of Ukraine." More US troops deploy overseas US soldiers continued to deploy Friday to Europe, joining thousands already sent overseas to support NATO allies amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Pentagon has ordered roughly 12,000 total 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 is to train alongside military units of NATO allies in a display of force aimed at deterring further aggression by Russia. The Pentagon has stressed US forces are not being deployed to fight in Ukraine. The battalion's soldiers are in addition to the estimated 3,800 soldiers from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division who have deployed in recent weeks from nearby Fort Stewart, said Lt. Col. Lindsey Elder, the division's spokesperson. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: Amid war with Russia, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday (March 12) proposed meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Israels Jerusalem, ANI cited The Kyiv Independent. Zelenskyy has also asked Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to act as an intermediary, The Kyiv Independent reported. "I said to (Bennett) that at present it`s not constructive to hold meetings in Russia, Ukraine, or Belarus. These are not the places where we (the leaders of the involved countries) can agree to stop the war... Do I consider Israel, Jerusalem in particular, to be such a place? I think the answer is yes, Reuters quoted Zelenskyy as saying. Taking on the role of a mediator, Bennett had held a three-hour Kremlin meeting with Russian President Putin last Saturday, on Ukraines behest. As per an official, the Israeli PM has since spoken twice with Putin by phone and four times with Zelenskyy, Reuters reported. Moreover, a top Ukrainian adviser has denied a media report, citing an unidentified Ukrainian official, claiming that Bennett had urged Ukraine to cave to Russia. Israel, "just as other conditional intermediary countries, does NOT offer Ukraine to agree to any demands of the Russian Federation," the adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak said in a tweet. "This is impossible for military & political reasons. On the contrary, Israel urges Russia to assess the events more adequately," he added. Ukraine's foreign affairs minister Dmytro Kuleba asserted today that they were ready to negotiate to end the war but would not surrender or accept any ultimatums. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said that around 1,300 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the Russian invasion on February 24, AFP news agency reported. On Friday, Ukraine's President had accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of the city of Melitopol and urged the leaders of France and Germany to help secure his release. Russian forces had captured Melitopol, with a population of 150,000, on February 26. (With agency inputs) Live TV Some 1,800 people evacuated from Bucha, 1,000 residents of Hostomel arrive in Bilohorodka official On Friday, March 11, 1,800 people were evacuated from Bucha (Kyiv region), accompanied by the Ukrainian Red Cross, 1,000 residents of Hostomel arrived in Bilohorodka (Kyiv region), Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko has said. "Some 1,800 people from Bucha were evacuated today, accompanied by the Ukrainian Red Cross. The wounded from the Bucha hospital were also taken to a safe place. 1,000 residents of Hostomel arrived in Bilohorodka. First aid is provided on the site," he wrote on his Telegram channel. According to him, at the moment, further logistics are being provided in Kyiv and, if necessary, to the west of Ukraine. New Delhi: Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 and is evidently the largest military assault by one European state on another since World War Two. According to the Western countries the initial battle plan was aimed at swiftly toppling Ukraines government in Kyiv, but even after more than two weeks of military assault, Russia has control of only one Ukrainian city so far - the southern Dnipro River port of Kherson. During the first week of military assault, Russia shifted from strategic strikes against military targets using cruise missiles to a stalled ground attack and, currently, a broader siege of major cities, including bombardments using rocket artillery and cluster munitions, sometimes against residential buildings and civilian infrastructure. The war has forced millions of Ukrainians to flee their country and servive as refugees in other nations. ALSO READ | Russia-Ukraine war: President Zelenskyy alleges Russia kidnapped mayor of Melitopol Targeted missile attacks During the initial hours of the invasion, cruise missiles were widely deployed, and precision short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) were fired en masse in a war for the first time. According to U.S. estimates, the first Russian onslaught included more than 100 missiles launched from land and sea. On Friday, Feb. 25, Ukraine's military command said areas near the cities of Sumy, Poltava and Mariupol were hit by Russian 3M14 Kalibr cruise missiles launched at the country from the Black Sea. Stalled ground war In the two main fronts in the east and north, Russia so far has little to show for its advance, with Ukraine's two biggest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, holding out in the face of increasingly intense bombardment. Ukrainian civilians are supporting regular troops as they try to repel Russia's advance, including through civil defence units and independent militia that have formed across the country. ALSO READ | Direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War 3: Joe Biden on Ukraine Crisis Siege tactics Russia has shifted its strategy from directly attacking Ukrainian defences to siege warfare in recent days. Russian forces warned Kyiv residents to flee their homes last week before bombarding the city and rained rockets down on Kharkiv, flattening homes and other civilian infrastructure. Kharkiv region head Oleg Synegubov has said Russian missile attacks had hit the centre of Ukraine's second-largest city, including residential areas and the regional administration building. The Mariupol city council said Russian forces were constantly and deliberately shelling vital civilian infrastructure in the southeastern Ukrainian port, leaving it without water, heating or power and preventing it from bringing in supplies or evacuating people. Putin has fired 8 generals over losses in war Russian President Vladimir Putin has sacked his top eight generals and is reportedly furious at Russian intelligence officials over Moscow's losses in the Ukraine war, Kyiv has claimed. Ukraine's Defence Secretary Oleksiy Danilov claims that the Russian President has so far fired eight generals for poor strategy and a series of embarrassing defeats for Russia. [The enemy] had about 8 generals removed from their posts because they did not complete the task," Danilov was quoted as saying. "New ones have been appointed. We clearly understand what is happening in the Russian Federation. I can tell they're desperate," he added. The Russian never thought that "this nation is so united", stated Danilov. Meanwhile, Ukraine's ministry of foreign affairs has shared the details of the losses that Russia has incurred since the invasion of Ukraine started, noting that more than 12,000 Russian troops have been killed till now. The ministry also said that 353 Russian tanks, including 1165 armored vehicles of different types, 57 aircraft, 83 helicopters, 125 artillery pieces, and 58 MLRs, have been hit in the combat so far. The Ukrainians have alson destroyed facilities also include 60 cisterns, 558 vehicles, 3 vessels, 7 UAVs, and 31 Russian anti-aircraft warfare systems. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday called on the leaders of France and Germany to help secure the release of the mayor of Melitopol who Ukraine claims have been abducted by Russians, reported AFP. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the leaders of France and Germany to help secure the release of the mayor of Melitopol who Kyiv says was abducted by invading Russian forces: AFP (File pic) pic.twitter.com/BaJ7FCmyrp ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2022 Zelenskyy, who spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Frances Emmanuel Macron administration, said the detention of Mariupol Mayor Ivan Fedorov was an attempt "to bring the city to its knees. Meanwhile, Zelensky also called on Russian troops to heed the calls of residents in the occupied city of Melitopol who protested to demand their mayor be freed. He said that Ukraine expects the leaders of the world to show how they can influence the liberation (of) a man who personifies Ukrainians who do not give up. The Ukrainian leader also encouraged Ukrainians to keep fighting, saying it was impossible to say how many days we will still need to free our land, but it is possible to say that we will do it. Meanwhile, Russias invasion on Ukraines soil that began on February 24, grew more ruthless as Moscow allegedly pounded the port city of Mariupol by shelling a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said Saturday. Fighting also intensified on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, as Russia's expanding invasion bombarded cities into rubble. There was no immediate word of casualties from the shelling of Mariupol's elegant, city-centre mosque. The encircled city of 446,000 people has suffered some of the greatest misery from Russia's war in Ukraine, with unceasing barrages thwarting repeated attempts to bring in food and water, evacuate trapped civilians and bury all of the dead. Live TV Washington: American online video sharing and social media platform YouTube on Friday (local time) said that it is blocking Russian state-funded media channels globally "effective immediately." "Our Community Guidelines prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events, and we remove content about Russia`s invasion in Ukraine that violates this policy. In line with that, effective immediately, we are also blocking YouTube channels associated with Russian state-funded media, globally," YouTube said in a statement, CNN reported. Taking to Twitter, the tech company said that it began blocking RT and Sputnik`s YouTube channels across Europe, adding that it has already taken other steps since Russia began its military operations in Ukraine. "We paused monetization and significantly limited recommendations for Russian state-funded media channels. Both actions are global & indefinite," YouTube said on Twitter. "Our Trust & Safety team has worked to quickly remove violative content. We`ve removed hundreds of channels & thousands of videos for violating our Community Guidelines, including our policies around deceptive practices and misinformation," YouTube added. 1/ Our Community Guidelines prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events. We are now removing content about Russias invasion in Ukraine that violates this policy. https://t.co/TrTnOXtOTU YouTubeInsider (@YouTubeInsider) March 11, 2022 YouTube added that when people search for topics on Russia and Ukraine, "our systems prominently surface authoritative news content in both our Top News and Breaking News shelves, and will continue to as needed." It also displays information panels underneath videos from news publishers with government funding. Earlier, YouTube blocked Russian state media outlet RT from Ukraine only and also suspended its ability to monetize content globally. Live TV The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine is solving the problem of speeding up the transportation of goods along Ukrainian roads, which arose due to the large number of checkpoints. "Indeed, there is a problem that checkpoints appeared chaotically. Now we are discussing with all the heads of administrations the reduction in the number of these checkpoints. And the second question is that representatives of the National Police should also work at these checkpoints," Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Mustafa-Masi Nayyem said on Rada TV channel. He also said that the ministry asks those who carry humanitarian cargo not to go into the oncoming lane and give priority to cargo transport. Among the existing problems, Nayyem also pointed out mass cases of civilian refugees traveling from east to west of Ukraine into the oncoming lane. "As for the goods themselves, now we have no big problems with delivery. Thanks to everything that we have now implemented from the Headquarters, and from administrations that have organized themselves, a lot of goods are delivered thanks to private business and private haulers," he said. Sweden will provide Ukraine with protective gear, drones and binoculars, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Ann Linde has said. "Sweden's support to Ukraine continues to increase. Now providing additional essential equipment including protective gear, drones and binoculars as the latest contribution of Sweden's support to Ukraine. We continue to support the courageous people of Ukraine," she said on Twitter on Friday. Ukraine has received EUR 711.8 million in support from international partners over the past week, excluding $1.4 billion from the IMF, the Finance Ministry said on Friday. According to the report, Ukraine received EUR 300 million as part of the macro-financial assistance program from the European Union, EUR 311.8 million from the Supplement Loan For Second Economic Recovery Development Policy Loan from the World Bank and EUR 100 million from the European Investment Bank as part of the emergency Solidarity Package with Ukraine. The funds will be sent to the most necessary financing of the needs of the state. New American investment in any sector of the Russian economy could be banned from now on. On Friday United States President Joe Biden signed an executive order "prohibiting certain imports, exports, and new investment with respect to continued Russian Federation aggression." One clause bans U.S. residents "from new investment in any sector of the Russian Federation economy as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury." Any such decision will be taken by the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of State, the document said. First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva has made a post on her official Instagram page, expressing condolences on the death of famous writer, playwright, screenwriter, producer and film director Rustam Ibragimbekov. According to AZERTAC, the post says: I extend my deepest condolences to the family of People's Writer of Azerbaijan Rustam Ibrahimbayov over his death. I will always remember our meetings with him. May Allah rest his soul in peace." 22:25 11.03.2022 Ukraine's MFA calls on intl community to respond to kidnapping of Melitopol mayor by Russian occupiers President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in a video message posted on Saturday night said that over the past day, March 11, some 7,144 people had been evacuated through humanitarian corridors. "Today, Russian troops disrupted the work of most humanitarian corridors. But in spite of everything, they managed to save 7,144 people from Enerhodar, Bucha, Hostomel, Kozarovychi ... and these are 7,144 reasons to try to organize rescue tomorrow or the day after tomorrow for Ukrainians from the encircled places [by Russian troops]. We will do it. We will do everything to bring humanitarian cargo to Ukrainian cities," he said. "I have to say this with pain: Mariupol remains blocked by the enemy. Russian troops did not let our help into the city, they continue to torture our people, our Mariupol residents," the president added. He said that tomorrow another attempt would be made to send a humanitarian cargo with food and medicines to the city. Most Russians do not yet understand what awaits them, but the authorities understand everything, are afraid and are trying to close all free sources of information, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes. "Not a single country in the world wished harm to ordinary citizens of Russia, was not going to cause any damage until your government went to war against neighbors, civilians, war of annihilation," he said in a video message posted on Friday night. "No one wanted to return ordinary Russian life back to the 90s. This is the time of upheaval and poverty. A time of very limited opportunities for ordinary people and great inequality," he also said. At the same time, according to Zelensky, "perhaps now, due to the efforts of propagandists, most Russians still do not understand what awaits them. But the Russian government already understands this very well and very afraid of it." Therefore, he believes, they are trying to close all free sources of information. "And keep your smartphones and computers away from security forces on the streets. They're getting ready to check what people have on their phones, laptops. I specifically warn you: learn to resist the repression that your government plans to increase. Because thinking people should be in every country. And in Russia too. And Russia has them," he said, addressing the Russians. Losses among civilians from February 24, 2022, when Russia started the war against Ukraine, to 24:00 on March 10, 2022, amounted to 1,546 civilians (in the report a day earlier 1,506), including 565 dead (549), the Office of the High Commissioner UN Human Rights (OHCHR) has reported. "OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, especially in Government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration," the document reads. According to it, this concerns, for example, the towns of Volnovakha, Mariupol, Izium where there are allegations of hundreds of civilian casualties. These figures are being further corroborated and are not included in the above statistics. "Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes," the report reads. According to the UN confirmed data, a total of 564 killed: 106 men, 73 women, 6 girls, and 9 boys, as well as 26 children and 344 adults whose sex is yet unknown. A total of 982 injured include 83 men, 67 women, 14 girls, and 4 boys, as well as 34 children and 780 adults whose sex is yet unknown. Compared with the previous day, according to the UN, the number of dead children and injured children has not changed. OHCHR says that as of March 11 in Donetsk and Luhansk regions there are 622 casualties (128 killed and 494 injured); there are 481 casualties (103 killed and 378 injured) on government-controlled territory. On territory controlled by the self-proclaimed "republics", there are 141 casualties (25 killed and 116 injured). In other regions of Ukraine (the city of Kyiv, and Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Zhytomyr regions), which were under Government control when casualties occurred: 924 casualties (436 killed and 488 injured). OHCHR notes the report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, according to which as of 11 a.m. (local time) 10 March, 71 children had been killed and more than 100 injured. An increase in figures in this update compared with the previous update (as of 24:00 midnight on 9 March 2022 local time) should not be attributed to civilian casualties that occurred on 10 March only, as during the day OHCHR also corroborated casualties that occurred on previous days, the document reads. A captured Russian military spoke about the use of the tactics of "execution squads" to destroy deserters, the SBU reports. Putin does not believe in his own army and resorts to Stalinist repression. "However, this does not save him from the riots that have already begun to arise among the Russian military. Another captured occupier tells about this during interrogation at the SBU. They say that the army leadership has resumed the practice of 'execution squads' - echelons that follow the main forces of the Russian Federation and kill those who want to escape," the SBU said in a message posted on the Telegram channel on Saturday. The SBU informs that, according to the words of the captured occupier, as they move deep into Ukraine, the military of the Russian Federation begin to realize that they are far from having a peacekeeping mission. "But they made very clear that we will not return back, because echelons are coming after us, killing deserters who are trying to return home," the prisoner says. "Now, having become an accomplice in crimes, the invader regrets that they did not have the courage to act like the marines of the Russian Federation: '... near Odesa, 600 marines rebelled and did not leave the ship, because they understood what was happening.' The army of the invaders is demoralized and suppressed. So the victory of Ukraine is not far off!" the SBU said. Within 2-3 weeks, the Russian army will make another offensive attempt with the involvement of volunteers from the countries of the Middle East, said Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the head of the President's Office. "One need to understand very clearly: there will be another attempt to attack. Now the Russian troops near Kyiv are actually defeated, they are on the defensive, they are trying to move in small units. We are destroying them. They will try to throw reserves into areas where they have made progress. This, of course, will be a zone of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO), in the region of Mariupol, maybe Kharkiv region and near Kyiv," Arestovych said on air at the telethon on Saturday. According to his forecasts, this can happen within two-three or three and a half weeks with the participation of volunteers from the countries of the Middle East. "They are accumulating reserves. According to some reports, from Abkhazia, from Nagorno-Karabakh, trying under the guise of partial mobilization to recruit the military and renew 20-30 battalion tactical groups and again rush into battle. But you can imagine the combat capability of these people, who were gathered without combat coordination and thrown into battle? Well, we are talking about the Syrians. Do you remember how brave the Russian troops were at the beginning of the conflict, when they said that they would finish with Ukraine in 48 hours? And now the second army of the world is fighting and cannot cope with Ukraine without the Syrians?" head of the President 's Office said. "But these reserves will also fall. It may take us 10 days, a week ... After that, they will stop, because they will have nothing to fight with," he added. It is at this moment, according to Arestovych, "the Russian Federation will start real negotiations, and not pointless ultimatums." He also noted that the turning point in the war had already occurred a few days ago. Since the beginning of the war, Russia has brought more than 90 battalion tactical groups into Ukraine. Of these, almost 15 have already been completely destroyed and about 19-70 groups are not combat-ready. The probability of an attack by Belarus on Ukraine is "relatively small," Vadym Denysenko, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, believes. "The probability of an attack by Belarus is relatively small. If it appears, then they will quickly realize that they did it in vain," he said on Ukrainian TV channels on Friday evening. Denysenko stressed that at present Belarus has not declared war on Ukraine. "As of now, no Belarusians have entered the territory of Ukraine. And, frankly, I doubt very much that they will," said the adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In his opinion, there are several reasons for this. "A real opinion poll was conducted in Belarus - only 3% of the population say they are ready for war with Ukraine. Lukashenko cannot help but understand that this will be the beginning of the end of his reign if he starts marching into Ukraine with his army. And also let's not forget that the Belarusian army is not the Russian army: it is not the strongest army in the world. It is small. It consists of 40,000 people, real combat units number 7,000-8,000," Denysenko explained. At the talks in Moscow, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, whom the EU and the United States do not consider legally elected, and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to supply modern military equipment to Belarus. This was announced by the press secretary of Lukashenko, quoted by the state agency BelTA. "During the conversation, much attention was paid to the development of the military-industrial complex and the defense of the Union State. In particular, we agreed on the supply of the most modern models of military equipment by Russia to the Republic of Belarus in the near future. In turn, Belarus will increase the supply of modern agricultural, passenger equipment and other machine-building products," the spokeswoman said. According to her, Lukashenko and Putin also reached mutually beneficial agreements in the financial sector. "I would like to add that, as the President of Belarus said at the end of the talks, Russia has taken the most serious and unprecedented steps to support the economy of our country. In follow-up to the presidents' agreements on Monday, government delegations will hold talks in Moscow and work out concrete decisions on all the issues discussed," the spokeswoman said. Open database of documentary footage of Russia's war against Ukraine being formed in Ukraine The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy invites Ukrainians to join the formation of an open database of documentary footage of Russia's brutal war against Ukraine. "Truth is our shield. Media is our tool. Information is our weapon. The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy invites Ukrainians to join the formation of an open database of documentary footage of Russia's brutal war against Ukraine on the website: https://dattalion.com/," the ministry's press service said. The ministry notes that journalists, reporters, photojournalists and influencers do not always have access to documentary footage of the war. "But the world must know the truth about the atrocities of the Russian Federation against the civilian population of Ukraine. We share real raw photos and videos from the scene. Materials may be made anonymously. All information is free for journalists," the message says. At the moment, there are already more than 1,000 videos and photos on the DATTALION resource. The project can be found at: Website - https://dattalion.com/; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dattalion_/; Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dattalioncom/; Twitter - https://twitter.com/dattalion; LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/79455579. The government of Ukraine has decided to compensate local budgets for utility bills when accommodating migrants from the war zone, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Saturday afternoon. "According to a preliminary assessment, the communities of at least ten regions of Ukraine will receive specific money from the central authorities so that the IDPs are provided with everything," he said. According to the President, "Now is the time that requires us to be efficient in routine matters as well. Do your job one hundred percent, help colleagues, take care of your loved ones. And at the same time give everything that is needed for our defense. For our defenders." RTHK: 'Around 1,300' Ukrainian troops killed during assault "Around 1,300" Ukrainian troops have been killed since Russia attacked its pro-Western neighbour, the country's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday as Moscow's forces closed in on the capital Kyiv. Zelenskyy made the disclosure at a media briefing, the first time Kyiv had given such a toll since the beginning of fighting. On March 2 Russia said it had lost nearly 500 soldiers, but has not updated the figure since. The Ukrainian president claimed that Russia had lost "around 12,000 men". It's "a ratio of one to ten, but that doesn't make me happy", he said. The Russian army has committed around 150,000 soldiers to the invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces upped pressure on Kyiv on Saturday, pummelling civilian areas in other Ukrainian cities, amid fresh efforts to get aid to the devastated port city of Mariupol. Russian strikes destroyed the airport in the town of Vasylkiv on Saturday morning, about 40 kilometres south of Kyiv, while an oil depot was also hit and caught fire, the mayor said. The northwest suburbs of the capital, including Irpin and Bucha, have already endured days of heavy bombardment while Russian armoured vehicles are advancing on the northeastern edge. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak on Friday called it a "city under siege", while Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Saturday Kyiv was reinforcing defences and stockpiling food and medicine. The southern port city of Mariupol is facing what Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called "the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the planet", with more than 1,500 civilians dead in 12 days. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2022-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis, Azertag reported on March 12. Your Holiness, It is on the occasion of your Election Anniversary that on my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I am pleased to offer my most cordial congratulations and best wishes to you and, through you, all your fellow coreligionists. We attach particular significance to the relations between Azerbaijan and the Holy See that celebrate this year the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. We are delighted by genuine dialogue and mutual understanding at the highest level, forged throughout the years, between the Holy See and Azerbaijan committed to its centuries-long traditions of tolerance and multicultural values. I highly value your personal contribution to solidifying these ties and express my gratitude for your recognition of Azerbaijans leading role in promoting constructive interfaith and intercultural dialogue. Preservation of religious and moral diversity, including protecting Christian religious heritage, is among our state policies primary directions. In this regard, our countrys Catholic community enjoys extensive attention and care. In the meantime, the projects carried out by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the Vatican serve as a vivid example of the importance our country attaches to the protection of world cultural heritage. I believe we will continue our joint efforts to advance successfully the mutual engagement and fruitful cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Holy See to advocate universal values and ensure inter-civilizational understanding. On this memorable day, I wish you robust health and success in your supreme moral mission pursuing a triumph of humanism ideals. Sincerely, Ilham Aliyev President of the Republic of Azerbaijan President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Saturday that the losses of Russian troops in Ukraine are colossal, this is the biggest blow to the Russian army in decades. "The losses of the Russian troops are colossal. The dynamics of the losses of the invaders on the 17th day is already such that we can confidently say: this is the biggest blow to the Russian army in decades. They never had so many losses in such a number of days," Zelensky said. According to him, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 31 enemy battalion tactical groups have lost their combat capability. "The Russian military surrender not just alone, but in whole groups... The losses of the invaders in technical capabilities are just amazing. More than 360 tanks. A total of 1,205 armored vehicles. And this is without counting the losses in the battles this night and in the morning. Already about 60 aircraft. More than 80 helicopters. Hundreds and hundreds of units of other equipment. In particular, the most modern designs that Russia is proud of," he said. As the president emphasized, "the majority of the world's armies do not have as much of everything as the Russian troops lost during the invasion." Chinese side provides Ukraine with first batch of emergency humanitarian aid On Friday, March 11, the Chinese side handed over the first batch of emergency humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine reports. It is noted that, among other things, essential items that the people of Ukraine are in dire need of, etc., were donated. The embassy said also that China will continue to supply Ukraine with humanitarian aid. The Russian occupiers are planning to hold a pseudo-referendum on the territories of Kherson region temporarily occupied by them to proclaim the so-called KhNR, deputy of Kherson Regional Council Serhiy Khlan said. "In Kherson region, they prepare a referendum on the creation of KhNR," Khlan wrote on Facebook on Saturday. According to him, the occupiers call deputies of the Kherson regional council on the phone with the question "are they ready to cooperate with the invaders?" "I appeal to all the deputies of Kherson Regional Council. Dear colleagues, I am sure that you understand the consequences of your decision. The creation of KhNR will turn our region into a hopeless hole without life and future. Do not give them a single vote! Do not give them any opportunity to legitimize KhNR... Enter the history of Ukraine not as traitors whom nobody wants, but truly as citizens whose names will be remembered by the next generations," Khlan said. Leader of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemilev held a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which they discussed Turkey's support for Ukraine, as well as the situation in the territory of Crimea temporarily occupied by Russia. "Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Mustafa Dzhemilev met. During the meeting, the leader of the Crimean Tatar people and the President of Turkey discussed issues of support for Ukraine, the situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea, including threats to the Crimean Tatar people from the aggressor, protection and assistance to citizens of Ukraine who had to leave for Turkey during the war in Ukraine," the press service of the representative office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea said on Saturday. It reported that, according to preliminary data from the Turkish side, about 20,000 Ukrainians left for the country. "Mustafa Dzhemilev thanked President Erdogan for his unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea," the presidential office said. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is interrogating a captured fighter of PMC Wagner, who has had a combat experience in Syria and Donbas. "The SBU captured a fighter from Russian private military company Wagner. He boasts of his combat experience, successful operations in Syria and Donbas in 2014-2015," the Ukrainian special service said on Telegram channel. According to the statement, the captive fighter said he believed that the civilians in Ukraine will welcome the occupants with smiles on their faces and the task of the Russian military was to set free the population "from the Nazi." "The 2022-style Ukraine is an absolutely different state and our servicemen can defeat even the most professional occupants. For example, this Wagner fighter was captured during an intelligence operation near Novoukrainka when he was laying the route for the occupants' main tasks. They wanted to reach Kherson via the road towards Donetsk," the special service said. Scholz, Macron again call on Putin for immediate ceasefire in Ukraine German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and called on him to immediately cease fire in Ukraine and to resolve the conflict diplomatically, the German government's office informs. "German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke again on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday afternoon. The talks are part of an ongoing international effort to end the war in Ukraine. During a 75-minute conversation, the Chancellor and the French President called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and a diplomatic solution to the conflict," the message said. It was decided not to disclose the further content of the conversation," Scholz's office reported. They were informed that in the morning the Chancellor "has already spoken with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and found out his assessment of the current situation; they agreed to keep in touch." A fire that started at the oil depot in Vasylkiv, Kyiv region, as a result of a missile attack by Russian invaders this morning has been eliminated, the press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said on its Telegram channel on Saturday. "At 1320, a fire at the reservoirs with fuel and lubricants in Vasylkiv was eliminated. The fire started today at 0727 as a result of a missile attack by the enemy," the state service said. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called Israel a possible place to meet with the Russian president to end the war. "We spoke with Bennett. I told him that I consider it wrong, unconstructive to meet in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. These are not the points where we can find understanding and stop the war. I'm not talking about technical meetings, but about a meeting of leaders. Do I think that Israel can be such a land, and especially Jerusalem? I think yes," Zelensky said during a meeting with foreign media representatives in Kyiv on Saturday. He also said that he had a positive attitude towards the mediation of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the settlement of peace issues between Ukraine and Russia. "On Israel and Prime Minister Bennett's mediation. We are generally positive. I am personally positive about anyone's mediation... But I don't call Bennett 'anyone' because I think he can play an important role. First of all, because Israel is an important country. It has a lot of history and parallels. It has a large migration of Jews from Ukraine, Russia... I think that historically it is very good to have such mediation," Zelensky said. He also said that Israel should be among the security guarantors for Ukraine. Deutsche Bahn launches own logistics network for delivery of humanitarian aid to Ukraine The German concern Deutsche Bahn has organized a logistics network of road and rail components for the delivery of humanitarian aid from Germany to Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine press service has said. DB Schenker and DB Transa-Spedition collect and truck cargo to the Berlin hub, where the cargo is packed into containers and then transported by DB Cargo freight train to Poland for further transportation to Ukraine. On the night of Friday, March 11, the first train loaded with 15 containers left the Seddin marshalling yard near Berlin. They contain sleeping bags, mats, diapers, canned food, drinking water, warm clothes and baby food, as well as medical products such as syringes, plasters, gauze bandages. In total, in this way, some 350 tonnes of humanitarian aid will be delivered to Ukraine. The project is implemented due to the cooperation between the Polish branch of DB Cargo, Ukrzaliznytsia and the DB Schenker team at the site in Poland. DB has also set up a hotline for a "railway bridge" in Ukraine. There you can register the cargo, as well as coordinate its transportation. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some 1,300 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have died. "We have about 1,300 servicemen deaths today, while Russia has more than 12,000. One in ten," Zelensky said during a conversation with foreign media representatives on Saturday. When asked about the Russian prisoners of war, Zelensky said: "About the prisoners: I think that 500 to 600 people yesterday, it seems to me the military who surrendered, something like this. I cannot say the exact number. This number is changing, a lot of them ran, a lot of them are hiding somewhere in some buildings, someone is sneaking into Russia, that is, there is a little chaos, I would say this about it." By Azernews By Economy Service Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez has announced that the fourth drilling ship that purchased from South Korea is on its way to Turkey, Yeni Shafak has reported. Donmez stated that the new ship will be used in hydrocarbon exploration in the seas, the report added. We have been very busy with our work to bring a fully-fledged drilling fleet to our country, which is surrounded by seas on all sides. We are now looking forward to our fourth drilling ship, which is on its way to Turkey. Good luck," the minister wrote on its Twitter account. The modern ship is expected to be named Alparslan. Equipped with 7th generation cutting-edge technologies, the new drillship is 238 meters long, 42 meters wide and weighs 68,000 gross tons. The new generation drillship, which can go down to a maximum depth of 12,200 meters, will be able to operate up to a depth of 3,600 meters. The tower height is 104 meters. With its 200 crew capacity, the ship will carry the personnel who will implement the drilling works. Equipped with 7th generation advanced technologies, the ship has an active positioning system. Additionally, its double tower and two secure 7-ram blowout preventer (BOP) systems are among the remarkable features of the ship. Equipped with the MDP system, the ship has a wave damping structure on both towers. The drilling ship, which draws attention with its new generation superior features, will contribute to the production of Black Sea gas by 2023. The fourth ship departing from South Korea is expected to arrive in Turkey within two months. Turkey's drilling activities in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea continue at full speed. It currently continues its work with three deep-sea drilling and two seismic research vessels. Zelensky: Occupiers to be able to take Kyiv if they wipe it off face of earth, but they won't find friends among Ukrainians anymore President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian occupying forces would be able to take Kyiv if they razed it to the ground or killed all Ukrainians, but they would not receive support. "If there are hundreds of thousands of people or tens of thousands of soldiers that Russia is currently mobilizing, and they all come with hundreds or thousands of tanks, they will enter Kyiv. We understand this. If they do carpet bombing, and just decide to erase the historical memory of all this region, the history of Kyivan Rus, the history of Europe, they will enter Kyiv. If they destroy all of us, they will enter Kyiv," Zelensky said in an interview with foreign media published on the Telegram channel of the President's Office on Saturday. "And therefore, if this is the goal, well, then let them come in. But they will have to live on this earth on their own, as if without us. They will not find friends among us here," the head of the Ukrainian state said. Zelensky on talks with Russia: Now they start to talk on something, not throw ultimatums President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on the technical negotiation process between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations on ending the war, said that at present, a conversation has started from the Russian side, not ultimatums. "Our diplomats are working and discussing the details of the agenda that may be between us and Russia... You know, from the very beginning there were some ultimatums from the Russian side, we did not agree to them. The war deepened, there was no quick operation in three or four days... Now they have already started talking about something, and not throwing ultimatums," Zelensky said during a conversation with foreign journalists in Kyiv on Saturday. He also said he was "happy with such a signal from Russia." "I am glad, in principle, already at a signal from Russia. Over the past two years, I have never heard that there could be such a dialogue. And we have even applied dozens of times... I think that I have already held hundreds of negotiations with the leaders of other countries, to whom I gave every opportunity to be negotiators, mediators, mediators, to be at least someone to make a meeting [of the presidents of Ukraine and Russia]," he said. At the same time, Zelensky said "world leaders should know that the thousands of people who killed in Ukraine, this happened due to the fact that Russia has not once confirmed the possibility of a meeting." "And this is their responsibility entirely," he said. The head of state also said he considers Russia's departure from the tactics of ultimatums "a fundamentally different approach, which should be so." At the same time, he believes that there is not currently a sufficient level of involvement of Western leaders in the Ukrainian-Russian negotiation process. "Because if we are talking about clauses on security guarantees for Ukraine, then no one can simply trust Russia in Ukraine after such a bloody war. Therefore, other leaders, besides Russia, should offer these security guarantees," Zelensky said. He said he had already conveyed to some presidents the issues on the agenda between Ukraine and Russia regarding the end of the war. "Those who are in contact with the leader of Russia, they already have this and should discuss it. I know that the signals from them are not bad in terms of the proposals that came from our side. We'll see," the head of state said. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Saturday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed the prospects for peace talks and confronting the Russian aggressor. "Spoke with Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron. We discussed countering the aggressor, Russia's crimes against civilians. I ask my partners to help in releasing the captive mayor of Melitopol. Prospects for peace talks also discussed. We must stop the aggressor together," Zelensky said. Negotiations between Ukraine and the Russian delegation continue uninterrupted in video format, special working subgroups have been established, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak said. "Negotiations with the Russian delegation are now ongoing in a continuous video format. Special working subgroups have been created. Ukraine's positions are determined by the previous directives," Podoliak said on Twitter, attaching a joint photo with Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak. The United States will provide Ukraine with military assistance in the amount of up to $200 million, the relevant memorandum was signed by U.S. President Joseph Biden, the White House said. "By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the authority to direct the drawdown of up to an aggregate value of $200 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training," according to the text of the memorandum, published on Saturday. Russian occupiers shot down a column of civilians, which consisted exclusively of women and children, while trying to evacuate from the village of Peremoha, Kyiv region, the Defense Intelligence Agency of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Saturday. "On March 11, when trying to evacuate from the village of Peremoha (Baryshivsky district of Kyiv region) towards the village of Hostroluchia along the agreed 'green' corridor, the occupiers shot down a column of civilians, which consisted exclusively of women and children. The result of this brutal act seven killed. One of them is a child. The exact number of wounded is not yet known," the agency said. After the shooting, the occupiers forced the remnants of the column to return to the village of Peremoha and do not let them out of the village. At present, it is almost impossible to establish communication, as well as to provide humanitarian and medical assistance. Ambassadors of Ukraine to the countries of the European Union have been instructed to intensify efforts to obtain Ukraine's membership in the EU, strengthen Ukraine's defense capability and impose sanctions against the aggressor, Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak has said. He said the task of the Ukrainian diplomatic corps is to deliver a high-quality message to politicians and governments of the countries of the European Union: "a strong Ukraine within the EU is a guarantee of a strong Europe." "Everyone should make every effort in their place to achieve the goal. Without exception. We must not try, but achieve the result that Ukraine needs. Therefore, we work in full 24/7," Yermak said on Facebook following a meeting at the President's Office with Ukrainian ambassadors in the countries of the European Union. Ukraine, in the context of the war unleashed by Russia, needs financial support, as national budget receipts have fallen sharply, while spending, especially for humanitarian and military purposes, has grown, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. "We are interested in filling our budget, we have difficulties with this, because most enterprises do not operate, the private sector does not work for various reasons: somewhere there are bombings, somewhere people are just afraid, they just closed small and medium-sized businesses," he said at a press conference with foreign media representatives on Saturday. The head of state said Russia is also seizing facilities of the Ukrainian gas transportation system and nuclear power plants, which are important donors to the national budget. According to Zelensky, certain industries, for example, IT, or certain strategic enterprises are working and some kind of budget filling is underway, but "there is definitely a need for money." "Europe and the United States help here, allocate money. What they go for is the work of the government," the president said. At the same time, he found it difficult to estimate the amount needed to restore the economy. "I do not have time, and the government does not have time to calculate how much it costs and how it all ends," Zelensky said. He said that part of the assistance provided to Ukraine, in particular military assistance, is not free. "There is separate assistance from some countries that help us for free, but there are 'weapons today, but the bill later.' Therefore, I do not know how much all this costs," the President of Ukraine said. "It is true, there are more priority tasks than money," he said. Answering a question about the possibility of compensating Ukraine's losses at the expense of Russia's frozen funds, Zelensky called the right measure to block these funds and again expressed regret that this was not done preventively. "The fact that they froze the assets of the Russians is the right decision, it should have been done faster... We thought that it would have worked preventively, then there would have been no war. I am not 100% sure, but I do not see what the difficulty was in regarding the imposition of these sanctions before the war. I do not understand how bad it would have been, and I probably will never understand this," the President of Ukraine said. He also found it difficult to estimate how much this war would cost Russia. "Since, firstly, it has not ended," Zelensky said. The UK has sent humanitarian aid to Moldova for Ukrainian citizens who are fleeing the country due to the Russian invasion, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said. "We are providing vital humanitarian aid to those fleeing Russia's horrific attack on Ukraine. This shipment of hygiene kits and blankets to Moldova will ensure that those most affected by the conflict receive the crucial help they need," the minister said on Twitter. O. Gladkovskyi appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court with a request to transfer more than UAH 10 million in bail for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleg Gladkovskyi, defending the country within the Kyiv Territorial Defense brigade, insists that UAH 10,623,130 of bail in a fake criminal case be urgently transferred for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to his press service. The lawyers submitted a corresponding appeal to the High Anti-Corruption Court in early March. The appeal states that Oleg Gladkovskyi from the beginning of hostilities began to help the military both financially and with transport support, and also decided to stay in Kyiv and join the ranks of the Kyiv Territorial Defense. Considering that our fighters are defending Ukrainian lands in the most hot sectors of the front, every conscientious citizen does his best to win. Thats why Oleg Gladkovskyi decided to submit an appeal to the High Anti-Corruption Court for an urgent transfer of funds to the accounts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As previously reported, Bogdan corporation has already transferred automotive equipment worth more than UAH 100 million to the defenders of Ukraine. By Trend Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Zhaparov received on Friday a delegation of the Swiss Confederation, headed by Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Patricia Danzi, Trend reports with reference to Kabar. The press service of the Cabinet reported that the sides discussed the status and prospects of Kyrgyz-Swiss cooperation in trade and investment, financial, technical and humanitarian spheres. Akylbek Zhaparov congratulated the Swiss delegation on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two states. "Switzerland remains an important foreign policy partner for the republic. We highly appreciate Switzerland's assistance in the establishment of democracy, market economy, and social development in our country," he said. The chairman of the Cabinet informed the foreign delegation on the ongoing socio-economic reforms and implementation of the medium-term national development program of the country. He welcomed the approval by the Swiss Government of a new medium-term economic cooperation program with Kyrgyzstan and confirmed the readiness of the Kyrgyz side to fully support the ongoing projects and programs in the country. In order to strengthen the Kyrgyz-Swiss relations, Zhaparov proposed to organize an official visit of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov to Switzerland in 2022. In turn, head of the delegation Patricia Danzi noted that Switzerland highly values friendly relations with Kyrgyzstan and confirmed Switzerland's interest in active cooperation to support socio-economic and democratic development of the country, environmental protection and climate sustainability, conservation of glaciers and water resources and other priorities of the Kyrgyz Cabinet. By Trend Some 93.19 percent of the electors have voted in the early presidential election in Turkmenistan as of 17:00 (GMT +5), Trend reports via the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the country. According to the CEC, 93.22 percent voted in Akhal region, 95.39 percent - Balkan region, 92.78 percent Dashoguz region, 92.37 percent Lebap region, 93.57 percent Mary region, and 93.58 percent in the capital Ashgabat. Besides, 82.37 percent of the electors outside the country voted at polling stations abroad. The voting continues. Al-Azhar condemned Friday terrorist attack on a mosque in Afghanistans capital Kabul that left dozens of worshippers dead and injured. Egyptian authorities succeeded in releasing 20 Egyptian sailors who were held in Yemen over the past several days reportedly over charges of trespassing into Yemeni territorial waters without a permit. Russian President Vladimir Putin told French counterpart Emmanuel Macron Tuesday the West must stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and accused Kyiv of not taking talks to end the conflict seriously, the Kremlin said. Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry held a meeting on Wednesday with his Jordanian and Palestinian counterparts on the sidelines of the 157th ordinary session of the Arab League Council at the ministerial level, in an attempt to revive peace talks and resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. During the meeting, Shoukry discussed with Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Al-Safadi and Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riad Maliki the latest political developments that Palestine is witnessing, a statement by the ministry said. The meeting also touched on the most prominent areas of cooperation between Egypt, Jordan and Palestine and ways to further enhance their relations, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez said. The three foreign ministers stressed the importance of launching serious negotiations between Palestine and Israel in an effort to reach a comprehensive, fair and ever-lasting peace that guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, Hafez noted. The three ministers also expressed their aspiration for the concerned parties to actively engage in the peace process and to work towards addressing everything that undermines the chances of reaching a two-state solution and establishing peace in the region. Shoukry affirmed Egypt's continued support for Palestine at various levels, and agreed to continue coordination and consultation with all concerned parties during the coming period, according to the statement. This came ahead of the opening of the 157th ordinary session of the Arab League Council, which was headed by the Lebanese FM, where Arab foreign ministers called on the international community to revive the peace process in accordance with relevant international references and the Arab Peace Initiative. Ahead of the session, the Ministerial Committee of the Arab foreign ministers conducted a consultative meeting to set the agenda of the 157th meeting of the council. At the top of the agenda were the latest developments of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Turkish interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries, and Arab water security. Russia-Ukraine crisis In his speech delivered during the session, Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdallah Bou Habib called for revitalising existing mechanisms for implementing UN Security Council resolutions as regards the Palestinian cause, MENA reported. Egypt and Jordan have been in talks with regional and international parties to revive the long-frozen talks between the Palestinian and Israeli sides in accordance with the international resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative and the two-state solution with the aim of establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 border, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Bou Habib noted that the conflict in Ukraine has imposed itself on the world, especially as the world has not yet recovered from the coronavirus pandemic. During the session, which came upon a request in February by Egypt, Bou Habib stated that the repercussions of the Ukraine crisis will have a strong impact on the world, especially the Arab region. This requires more cooperation to provide the minimum level of maintenance for Arab national security, MENA reported him as saying. On that score, the Lebanese foreign minister called for accelerating steps to formulate a unified Arab position that suits Arab countries to face those challenges. Search Keywords: Short link: Egyptian and Tajik entities and companies signed on Thursday 11 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in many fields, including tourism, pharmaceuticals, construction, and textiles during a joint business forum for the two countries in Cairo. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, who was on an official visit to Egypt, attended the Egypt-Tajikistan Business Forum with the participation of more than 45 Tajik companies and a large number of officials from both countries. Rahmon met with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Thursday, where they witnessed the signing of other MoUs in several fields between the two countries. The MoUs signed during the joint business forum include one between the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tajikistan, a statement by Egypts General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), which hosted the forum, said. The MoU seeks to promote investment opportunities between the two countries in fields of mutual interest, the statement said. In a speech he delivered at the forum, Rahmon invited Egyptian businessmen to visit Tajikistan to establish joint relations between the two countries in various fields. Rahmon said that the two countries may establish joint projects in the fields of pharmaceutical industry, livestock farming, and bee honey production, the Egyptian cabinet said in a statement. There is also a possibility of cooperation in the export of fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products, as well as high-quality drinking water, Rahmon added. Holding expanded discussions with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on the sidelines of the conference, Rahmon reviewed cooperation opportunities with Egypt in the fields of agriculture, communication, pharmaceutical industry, and spinning and weaving. This is in addition to the opportunity for enhancing Egyptian-Tajik cooperation in the field of training and capacity building, Rahmon added. Delivering a speech at the joint business forum, Madbouly invited Tajik companies to learn about the investment opportunities available in Egypt in various fields and areas, including the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), the New Administrative Capital, and fourth-generation cities. Reviewing investment opportunities available in Tajikistan, Rahmon said his country has witnessed a progress in strategic industries and their priority sectors, including energy, transportation, agriculture, communication and tourism. Currently, Tajikistan is implementing more than 90 investment projects worth more than $4 billion, Rahmon said, noting that his country has established fruitful cooperation relations with all international financial institutions and maintained economic relations with 110 countries. We attach a special importance to establishing beneficial projects in the fields of energy, water, communications, transportation, agriculture, communications and infrastructure, Rahmon added. The Egypt-Tajikistan Business Forum aims at securing a platform for the private sector and businessmen from both countries to explore new fields of cooperation, the Egyptian premier said. The forum also seeks to encourage trade exchange and investments between the two countries, Madbouly added. Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, CEO of Egypts GAFI, said the forum comes amid the progress in bilateral relations between Egypt and Tajikistan over the past years. This progress in relations should help enhance investment cooperation and promote investment opportunities available for both countries in fields of mutual interest, including textile, pharmaceutical, construction and agricultural industries, Abdel-Wahab added. Abdel-Wahab stressed the continuation of efforts to encourage joint cooperation between Egyptian and Tajik investors to build serious partnerships that benefit the two friendly countries and open the way for new investments. This should contribute to providing more job opportunities, benefiting from the capabilities of both countries and building on the promising opportunities that Egypt and Tajikistan have, Abdel-Wahab added. During their meeting, El-Sisi and Rahmon witnessed the signing of four MoUs in the fields of agriculture, sports, education and scientific research and friendship and cooperation. This is in addition to an MoU for cooperation between the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO) and its counterpart in Tajikistan. Rahmons official visit to Egypt on Thursday is his second to the country since he took office in 1994 and coincides with the 30th anniversary of Egypt's recognition of the independent Republic of Tajikistan. Rahmon, however, also met with El-Sisi in September 2017 during the BRICS Xiamen Summit in China and in May of the same year on the sidelines of the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh. Search Keywords: Short link: By Trend Today, humanitarian aid will be sent from Azerbaijan to Ukraine once again, including food, medications and medical supplies, Trend reports. Silkway cargo plane will deliver 380 tons of humanitarian aid to Kyiv. The plane will take off from the Azerbaijani capital at 09:00 Baku time. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Baku Vladislav Kanevsky thanked the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Azerbaijani people for humanitarian assistance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Saturday of kidnapping the mayor of a city, calling it "a new stage of terror.'' Russian forces expanded their offensive in Ukraine, hitting new areas in the country's west. The West ramped up economic pressure on Russia, as the U.S. and its allies downgraded Russia's trade status, the latest in efforts to further isolate Russia for the invasion. The war has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee Ukraine, while others seek refuge in basements, subway stations and underground shelters. Here are some key things to know about the war: WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE GROUND IN UKRAINE? Zelenskyy said the mayor of the southern port city of Melitopol was kidnapped, equating it to the actions of "ISIS terrorists.'' "They have transitioned into a new stage of terror, in which they try to physically liquidate representatives of Ukraine's lawful local authorities,'' Zelenskyy said in a video address Friday evening. Kirill Timoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, posted a video which he said shows armed men carrying Mayor Ivan Fedorov across a square. Russian forces captured Melitopol, with a population of 150,000, on Feb. 26. The prosecutor's office of the Luhansk People's Republic, a Moscow-backed rebel region in eastern Ukraine, accused Fedorov on its website of "terrorist activities.'' The Biden administration, citing undisclosed American intelligence, had warned that Russia planned to detain and kill targeted people in Ukraine. New areas in western Ukraine came under attack Friday, as Ukrainian authorities said Russian airstrikes hit in the western cities of Ivano-Frankiivsk and Lutsk, far from Russia's main targets elsewhere in the country. Russia said it used long-range weapons to put military airfields in the two cities "out of action." Lutsk Mayor Ihor Polishchuk said four servicemen were killed and another six were wounded. New commercial satellite images appeared to show Russian artillery firing on residential areas that lie between Russian forces and the capital. The images from Maxar Technologies show muzzle flashes as well as impact craters and burning homes in the town of Moschun, outside Kyiv, the company said. This multispectral satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destroyed homes, impact craters and fires in the town of Moschun, Ukraine, during the Russian invasion, Friday, March 11, 2022. AP Ukrainian officials accused Russia of damaging a cancer hospital and several residential buildings in the southern city of Mykolaiv with heavy artillery. The hospital's chief doctor, Maksim Beznosenko, said several hundred patients were in the hospital when windows were blown out but that no one had been killed. Russia's Defense Ministry also said Friday that an offensive, led by fighters from the separatist-held Donetsk region, was further squeezing the southern port city of Mariupol. The Mariupol mayor's office said Friday that the number of people killed during the 12-day siege has risen to 1,582. Three more Russian airstrikes hit the industrial city of Dnipro in eastern Ukraine on Friday, killing at least one person, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry. Thousands of civilians and soldiers on both sides are believed to have been killed in the invasion. WHAT HAS THE AP DIRECTLY WITNESSED OR CONFIRMED? More shelling and airstrikes pummeled Mariupol on Friday, leaving apartment complexes on fire as temperatures hovered around freezing. The city of 430,000 has been without food, running water and electricity for 10 days. An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. AP A newborn girl nestled against her mother after Russian airstrikes hit the Mariupol maternity hospital where the woman was to give birth. Mariana Vishegirskaya had her baby, Veronika, via cesarean section in another hospital on the city's outskirts a day after the Wednesday attack at the hospital shocked the world. In Baryshivka, a village east of Kyiv, people surveyed the damage and boarded up windows after a Russian bombing reduced a restaurant and a cinema to hanging metal, dust, glass and other debris. Ivan Merzyk, a 62-year-old resident, said: "Putin created this mess, thinking he will be in charge here. Ukrainians are a free nation. We are not going away from here and we don't want to see any Russian here." WHO ARE 'VOLUNTEER' FIGHTERS FOR RUSSIA AND UKRAINE? Putin approved bringing "volunteer'' fighters from Syria and other countries to join Russia's offensive. Russia's defence minister said there had been "more than 16,000 applications'' from the Middle East. He said many were from people who fought alongside Russia against the Islamic State group. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the recruits include fighters from Syria, where Russia intervened in the civil war in 2015 on the side of President Bashar Assad. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government says about 20,000 foreigners have joined the so-called International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine to fight the Russians. The pro-Ukrainian fighters are given weapons when they arrive. About 100 Americans are among the fighters. The U.K. has warned veterans not to travel to Ukraine to fight there, saying those who do will be court-martialed. ARE PEOPLE BEING SAFELY EVACUATED FROM UKRAINE? Ukrainian authorities said there are plans for several evacuations and humanitarian aid delivery routes. The top priority remains to free people from the city of Mariupol and to get aid to its desperate population. Buses were being sent Friday to multiple Kyiv suburbs to bring people to the capital, where authorities say half of the metropolitan area's population, or around 2 million, has already fled. There were also efforts to create new humanitarian corridors around the cities of Kherson in the south, Chernihiv in the north and Kharkiv in the east. Russian forces were blockading Kharkiv and pushing their offensive in the south around three cities and towns, including the hometown of Ukraine's president, Kryvyi Rih. WHAT ABOUT RUSSIA'S CLAIMS THAT BIOWEAPONS ARE BEING DEVELOPED IN UKRAINE? Russia requested a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss its baseless claims that the U.S. was conducting "biological activities'' in Ukraine _ an allegation that has been denied by both Washington and Kyiv. At Friday's meeting, the United States accused Russia of "lying and spreading disinformation'' as part of a potential false-flag operation, a scenario that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned last month could happen as Putin seeks to justify his violent attack on Ukraine. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Friday that the U.S. believes Russia could use chemical or biological agents. The Pentagon said Friday it supports labs in Ukraine that are devoted to identifying and responding to biological threats. The labs are owned and operated by Ukraine. The work of the labs is not secret, and experts say they are not being used for bioweapons. China, meanwhile, is amplifying the unsubstantiated and inflammatory claims. WHAT'S THE VIEW FROM INSIDE RUSSIA? Moscow is making more moves to restrict access to foreign social media platforms. On Friday, Russia's communications and media regulator said it's blocking access to Instagram because it's being used to call for violence against Russian soldiers. That comes after the Facebook owner, Meta Platforms, which also owns Instagram, said it had "made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules on violent speech, such as `death to the Russian invaders'.'' Meta's statement stressed it would not allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians. Russia has already blocked access to Facebook and limited access to Twitter, but Twitter has launched a privacy-protected version of its site to bypass surveillance and censorship. Meanwhile, YouTube started blocking global access to channels associated with Russian state-funded media, and said it is removing content about Russia's invasion of Ukraine that violates its policy about minimizing or trivializing "well-documented violent events.'' Meta has barred Russian state media from Instagram and Facebook. ARE MORE SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA HAPPENING? U.S. President Joe Biden announced an agreement Friday with other nations to revoke Russia's "most favored nation'' trade status, which would allow for higher tariffs to be imposed on Russian imports. The U.S. also banned imports of Russian seafood, alcohol and diamonds. Western nations have been largely united in punishing Russia economically. French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday the European Union will continue applying pressure to Moscow and consider all options for more sanctions if Putin intensifies bombing and lays siege to Kyiv. Search Keywords: Short link: Abdel-Sanad Yamama was elected as the new leader of Egypts opposition El-Wafd party on Friday. Yamama, a member of the partys higher council and head of its political studies institute, will replace Bahaa El-Din Abu Shoqa the Egyptian Senates deputy speaker and leader of El-Wafd since 2015. Yamama, 72, will hold the post until 2026. The election was held at the headquarters of El-Wafd party in Gizas Dokki district. The judicial committee that was in charge of supervising the vote said the ballot was held between 9am and 5pm in an environment marked with transparency and competitiveness, with Yamama and Abu Shoqa only competing against each other. The committee said that the final tally recorded 1,668 votes for Yamama and 1,548 for Abu Shoqa. Yamama graduated from Cairo Universitys Faculty of Law in 1947. He also got a PhD in law from the French University of Nancy in 1988. He then joined El-Wafd in 2004 and was elected three times as a member of the partys higher council. Following his election, Yamama said: I intend to open a new page in El-Wafds long history. The first line in this page is that El-Wafd should reassume its true role as an opposition party defending liberal democracy, active political participation, rights, freedoms, social justice, and Egypts pioneering role in its Arab and regional sphere. Yamama said in an interview with Al-Ahram newspaper on Friday that he was not satisfied at all with the performance of Abu Shoqa as the leader of El-Wafd party over the last seven years. He turned El-Wafd into a pro-government party, and most of the decisions he took as a party leader were undemocratic, and so I am politically different from Abu Shoqa, said Yamama. El-Wafd is Egypts longest-serving political party. The party was founded following the breakout of Egypts 1919 nationalist revolution against the British occupation at the time. El-Wafd is a liberal-oriented party, advocating liberal democracy and free enterprise. Search Keywords: Short link: Ethiopia on Saturday vowed to investigate and take action against uniformed soldiers and others seen in a gruesome video burning a man alive in the country's northwest. The widely shared video, which sparked outrage on social media late Friday, shows an unarmed man being set on fire as a group of people, including some wearing Ethiopian army uniforms, taunt him in Amharic. Ethiopia's government communications service said on Saturday that the incident appeared to have occurred in the northwestern region of Benishangul Gumuz, which borders Sudan and South Sudan. "The video of the extremely savage act being circulated on social media outlets shows innocents being burned alive," it said in a statement, vowing to "investigate and take legal measures on those...who committed this inhumane, and savage act." The video could not be independently verified by AFP and it was not immediately clear if the atrocity was connected to the ongoing 16-month war in northern Ethiopia. The conflict in Africa's second-most populous country between government forces and Tigrayan rebels has killed thousands of people, with widespread reports of atrocities including mass killings and sexual violence. According to the UN, the fighting has also displaced more than two million people, driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation and left more than nine million in need of assistance. At least 750 civilians were killed or executed in the northern regions of Amhara and Afar after they became caught up in the war last year, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said Friday. The state-affiliated independent rights body also catalogued a litany of abuses, including torture and gang rape and enforced disappearances, saying some may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report said that Tigrayan rebels sexually assaulted girls and elderly women. It also accused federal and local security forces in Amhara and Afar of widespread arbitrary detentions. A joint investigation by the UN and the EHRC published last November detailed a vast array of rights abuses, mostly blamed on Ethiopian forces and Eritrean troops, who provided military support to Addis Ababa. Last week, the UN Human Rights Council announced that Fatou Bensouda, a former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), would head a UN investigation into a wide range of alleged violations committed by all sides in the war. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt has imposed an export ban on cooking oil, corn, and all kinds of cracked green wheat (fereek) for three months, Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea announced on Saturday, according to Ahram Arabic news website. Egypt has imposed an export ban on cooking oil, corn, and all kinds of cracked green wheat for three months, Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea announced on Saturday. The decision was taken in coordination with Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi in light of the countrys plan to secure citizens needs of basic commodities, especially with the advent of the month of Ramadan which will start in early April and witnesses an increase in the rate of consumption of food products. Starting Friday, Egypt banned the export of wheat, fava beans, lentils, pasta, and all kinds of flour for three months. Egypt, along with the rest of the world, is witnessing an increase in the prices of oil and non-oil commodities on the heels of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Egypt receives 80 percent of its wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine. However, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Wednesday that Egypt is witnessing a smaller increase in prices compared to other countries, noting that the price of wheat in Egypt has increased by only 17 percent compared to 48 percent in the international market. Madbouly offered assurance that Egypt has enough wheat reserves to last till the end of 2022. Egypts current strategic wheat reserves are sufficient to cover the coming four months, and it is expected via its local wheat supply season that starts in mid-April to augment its total stock to cover five more months, according to officials. In the meantime, the country is setting its eyes on 14 alternative markets, including non-European countries like the US, Argentina, Canada, and Paraguay to meet its grain needs. Egypt, under its food subsidy system, provides millions of citizens with key food staples at lower-than-market prices, including rice, pasta, cooking oil, and bread. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's Senate the consultative upper house of parliament will convene on Sunday and Monday to resume discussions over the articles of the new insurance law following a two-week recess. The discussions come after the government-drafted law was approved in principle on 27 February. The Senate, which has so far discussed 40 articles of the new law, will focus this week on the articles regulating the performance of the government-owned insurance funds. The law states this type of funds cover risks not usually accepted by insurance companies. "These risks are related to national and social objectives which are of no interest to private insurance companies." Hani Sirri, head of the Senate's Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, said the draft Unified Insurance Law aims to draw up new and comprehensive rules for regulating the insurance industry and market in Egypt. The past four decades have practically shown that the insurance market is in a pressing need for new legislative and regulatory rules, said Sirri, adding that technological developments and the creation of new insurance tools also require that a unified insurance legislation be passed. Sirri stated that the new law is necessary to cover a host of professions and services that were lately introduced into the insurance industry. It seeks to cover the rights of holders of insurance policies and private insurance funds, said Sirri, noting that the law also aims to streamline insurance rules to go in line with new international standards, and to speed up digitisation reforms and the use of financial technology in the insurance sector. Sirri pointed out that the law is meant to widen the scope of obligatory insurance operations in order to achieve insurance inclusiveness and reach out to poor and limited-income classes that are not currently covered by any kind of insurance, particularly health insurance. He explained that the new law will cover all kinds of insurance operations. "The law will regulate insurance companies, special funds, obligatory operations, such as highway accidents, and state the new supervisory rules for the insurance industry," said Sirri, adding that "at the end we will have a unified law that will regulate all forms of insurance in Egypt that is in line with international rules and methods and imposes stricter supervision." Deputy Senate Speaker Bahaaeddin Abu Shoka said the law is in line with Article 28 which states that the state shall do its best to create an investment-friendly climate and pay special attention to small, medium and micro-size enterprises in all fields. "In this respect, the law makes insurance compulsory for small-scale enterprises to encourage them to gain more ground in Egypt's economy," said Abu Shoka, adding that "the law is in line with Article 221 which states that the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority shall be responsible for monitoring and supervising non-banking markets and instruments, including capital markets, and insurance activities." Phoebe Fawzi, another deputy Senate speaker, said the law targets unifying all laws governing the insurance sector into one law. "This explains why the law is on unified insurance, not to mention that it is meant to go in line with international standards and technological developments in the insurance sector in order to attract more investments to Egypt in this field," said Fawzi. Search Keywords: Short link: President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has expressed Egypt's support for the role played by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in offering services for Palestinian refugees. The UN relief agency is the only mechanism with a humanitarian responsibility towards the Palestinian people, especially in the fields of education and health, the president said during a meeting with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini in Cairo on Saturday. El-Sisi also said that Egypt always stresses to all regional and international parties the necessity of providing support to UNRWA, particularly amid its current financial crisis and the coroanvirus pandemic. The Egyptian president voiced the country's readiness to support some of UNRWA's projects to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians, especially through the Egyptian initiative to reconstruct the Gaza Strip, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said. During the meeting, Lazzarini highlighted the challenges facing the agency, hailing Egypt's efforts in mobilising international support so that the UN body can push ahead with efforts to support the Palestinian refugees. He also hailed the country's keenness to improve the living conditions of the Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, added the spokesman. Following the mediation of a ceasefire between the Israeli and Palestinian sides to end the 11-day onslaught on Gaza in May 2021, Egypt allocated $500 million to reconstruct the Strip. Following the May conflict, Egypt has also dispatched massive engineering equipment and crews to participate in the Gaza Strip reconstruction alongside tonnes of humanitarian aid. The World Bank has estimated that rebuilding Gaza after the latest devastating war will cost up to $485 million. Search Keywords: Short link: Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Patricia Espinosa expressed hope that the UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, scheduled for November in Egypts Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh will be a turning point in climate action. Espinosa's statement came during her meeting in Cairo on Saturday with Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Foreign Minister and President-designate of COP27 Sameh Shoukry, and Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad. Egypt looks forward to enhancing cooperation with the UN regarding preparations for COP27, El-Sisi told Espinosa during the meeting, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. This comes as part of Egypts endeavours to build on the outcomes of COP26 held in November in Glasgow with the aim of reaching internationally applicable solutions and commitments to face climate challenges and securing the required international funding. Espinosa hailed Egypts efforts to combat climate change, given that Egypt is among the first developing countries to adopt decisive policies regarding climate change, the presidential statement read. She also praised Egypts efforts to tackle environment-related issues and support green transformation through building green cities, switching to clean transportation, issuing green bonds, and adopting the National Climate Change Strategy 2050. Egypts strategy was launched in November on the sidelines of COP26 to achieve five objectives, including fostering climate change action governance, increasing sustainable economic growth, strengthening adaptation and resilience, and enhancing scientific research. Egypt has repeatedly affirmed that it will work through COP27 to enhance international action against climate change at all levels to achieve the goals of the Paris agreement and will highlight the need for securing funding to help developing nations with mitigation and adaptation efforts. Egypt has vowed to speak for the aspirations of Africa regarding facing climate change, affirming that the African continent, which is not responsible for the climate crisis, suffers from the most negative consequences of the phenomenon at the economic, social, security, and political fronts. Over the past months, Egypt has also coordinated preparations for COP27 with international partners and climate officials, including US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry during his recent visit to Cairo and COP26 President Alok Sharma. El-Sisi took part in COP26, where he called on developed countries to fulfil their pledge to provide $100 billion annually to developing countries to address the effects of climate change. In a separate meeting on Saturday, Shoukry and Fouad discussed with Espinosa climate change adaptation efforts and the need to work on reducing the negative impact of climate change and securing the necessary funding. The meeting saw discussions about the need for countries to continue enhancing their nationally-determined contributions to reduce emissions. They affirmed the need to encourage all parties, including civil society organisations, to actively engage in climate action. Search Keywords: Short link: Five people were killed and three others, including a Chinese national, were wounded when "bandits" ambushed a construction site in a coastal region of Kenya, police said. The attack took place on Friday in Lamu County which lies close to the Somalia border. Workers had been constructing a bridge on the Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) when they came under attack. "Four people were shot fatally," a police report seen by AFP said. A motorcycle rider who was caught in the crossfire was also killed, the report said, adding that the anti-terror police unit was investigating the incident. The attack was claimed by the Al-Shabaab Islamist militant group. The Lamu region, which includes the popular tourist beach destination of Lamu Island, has suffered frequent attacks, often carried out with roadside bombs. Al-Shabaab fighters have staged several raids inside Kenya in retaliation for Nairobi sending troops into Somalia in 2011 as part of an African Union force to oust the jihadists. Search Keywords: Short link: A total of 2,179 Egyptian students enrolled in Ukrainian universities have filled out a government form to transfer to private and national Egyptian universities, Minister of Emigration Nabila Makram said on Saturday. Students can fill out the form here. This comes as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued for its 17th day on Saturday. The conflict has forced 2.5 million people to flee the country, according to the United Nations on Friday. Egypt has repatriated hundreds of Egyptians, mostly students, from war-torn Ukraine via Air Cairo planes and is planning to help them continue their education at private and national universities. Before the Russian invasion, around 6,000 Egyptians lived in Ukraine, including about 3,000 students, according to officials. So far, 80 percent of Egyptian students in Ukraine have left for other European countries, especially Poland, which had received 826 students as of Thursday, Makram told media. However, a small percentage of nationals are refusing to leave Ukraine, including students who want to continue their education in Ukraine or those who fear that their academic career may be affected if they leave the country. For example, some nationals in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson preferred to remain in the city, Makram added. Transferring to Egyptian universities Of the 2,179 Egyptian students who filled out the unified form to transfer to Egyptian universities, only 941 have proof of enrollment in their universities in Ukraine, Makram said. Submitting the proof of enrollment, however, is essential to join Egyptian universities, she added. Students wanting to transfer to Egyptian universities have three months to obtain the required documents from their universities in Ukraine. Starting 14 March, students will have two weeks to submit these documents to the Ministry of Emigration, the minister said. To submit the documents, students will have to visit the ministrys headquarters at 96 Ahmed Oraby street in Gizas Agouza district from 10am to 3pm Sunday through Thursday, Makram said. Students must bring their passports with residence permits stamped before 24 February, the first day of the conflict in Ukraine, and certificates of the courses they took in Ukraine, according to Makram. Students studying medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and engineering will have to undergo college entrance tests, she said. However, students of other disciplines can visit the national or private universities directly after learning about disciplines with vacant seats through their respective websites, she added. This special measure was approved in a cabinet meeting last week attended by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar. Students wanting to transfer to Egyptian universities have to submit proof of taking the Thanaweya Amma or other equivalent higher school certificates, the cabinet said in a statement. Students who fail to submit academic placement tests from Cairo University or Ain Shams University within three months will have their transference requests cancelled, the statement said. Students who successfully transfer to an Egyptian university will not be allowed to transfer to another in the country, according to the statement. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypts Ministry of Health and Population announced on Saturday that it will issue weekly, instead of daily, reports on the number of coronavirus infections and deaths, as the fifth wave of the pandemic gradually subsides. The weekly reports are scheduled to be issued on Saturdays as per directives by Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, the countrys acting health minister, according to a statement. The decision was taken after the country started witnessing a consistent decline in infection rates in the last two weeks, with a retreat in the occupancy rates at isolation hospitals, Hossam Abdel-Ghafar the spokesperson for the ministry explained. Following a remarkable rise in the two preceding months as a result of the fifth wave of the pandemic, with the country reporting 2,000 cases a day since late January, the countrys daily coronavirus infection and death tolls have been on a downward trend since the last week of February. On Monday, Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din said Egypt has gotten past the difficult phase of the latest wave of the pandemic, attributing January and Februarys spike to the highly infectious Omicron variant. The spokesperson expressed his hope that the decline of infections locally and globally continues, stressing the importance of getting vaccinated. He also urged citizens to continue adopting anti-coronavirus safety measures, especially during the month of Ramadan that will start in early April. On 22 December 2021, Egypt detected its first three cases of the Omicron variant in Egyptian nationals returning from abroad at Cairo International Airport. Since the pandemic hit Egypt in February 2020, the ministry has reported a total of 495,373 coronavirus infections, including 24,277 deaths and 424,831 recoveries. Search Keywords: Short link: By Trend The sown areas in Azerbaijans Aghdam district will be irrigated from the sources in the territories liberated from Armenias occupation, Trend reports. The corresponding structures are taking measures in this regard. The process of irrigating the sown areas in an unoccupied part of Aghdam took much time before the 44-day Armenia-Azerbaijan Karabakh war. The territory on which the Khachynchay and Aghdamkend reservoirs are located was controlled by Armenia. Trend's interlocutor, who has been engaged in farming for many years, said that during that period the fields were irrigated through artesian wells. The film crew of Trend Karabakh Bureau reviewed the work which is carried out on the sown areas in Aghdam and talked to farmers. After the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from the occupation by the Azerbaijani army under the leadership of victorious Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, President Ilham Aliyev, the use of water sources in these districts facilitated the work of farmers. The farmers thanked the president for the rapid work on irrigation. Now farmers will be able to irrigate crop areas in a timely manner. The farmers told the Trend film crew that the water from the springs in the liberated territories is rich in minerals. As a result, high productivity will be achieved during the sowing process. Presently, agricultural crops on 35,400 hectares are irrigated through the Aghdam Automatic Irrigation Department. Moreover, 75,000 people are provided with water. There are 986 sub-artesian wells, four pumping stations, 192 hydraulic structures, 365 kilometers of irrigation canals on the balance of the department. Farmers said that these sub-artesian wells were very productive several years ago, but big problems occurred after the occupation of the country's lands. These water sources are being cleared of mines. These sources are planned to be used in irrigation during the sowing process this year. Moreover, modern equipment will be installed at artesian wells and the activity in this sphere has already begun. Presently, Aghdam is already preparing for cotton sowing. In supporting Russias military operations against Ukraine, the Syrian regime has underlined its close military and other links to Russia, Syria was one of five countries that opposed last weeks UN General Assembly Resolution condemning Russias military operation in Ukraine. The resolution urged Moscow to immediately halt the use of force against Kyiv and immediately withdraw all its military forces from Ukraine. By opposing the resolution, the regime led by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad took a contrary position to 141 other UN countries. Syria believes the West provoked Russia and forced it to resort to military action in Ukraine. It has pledged to support Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Al-Assad declaring his support for the Russian military operation in Ukraine and describing actions by the West towards Russia as hysteria. Al-Assad said that Russia is not only defending itself, but the entire world, and the principles of justice and humanity, according to a read-out of a telephone conversation between the Syrian president and Putin. He claimed that what is occurring is a correction of history and a restoring of the balance after it tipped when the Soviet Union was dismantled. The enemy that the Syrian and Russian armies are fighting is one. In Syria, it is extremism, and in Ukraine it is Nazism, Al-Assad said. The statements were preceded by recognition by the Syrian regime of the secession of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in eastern Ukraine as independent republics. Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad said Syria supports President Putins decision to recognise the republics of Luhansk and Donetsk and will cooperate with them. The Syrian regime also recognised the independence of the two republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia that seceded from Georgia after a Russian military operation in 2008. It recognised the independence of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The relationship between Syria and Russia is strategic, though it evolved into more than that after Russia began its direct military intervention in Syria in 2015. Russia has gained much influence in Syria as a result, and Syrias leadership is always seeking to repay Russia for the decades of support it has extended to the country since the days of former Syrian president Hafez Al-Assad, Bashars father. Russias military intervention in Syria in 2015 restored Al-Assads power after he was close to losing areas under his control and weakened the armed Syrian opposition. According to statements by senior Russian military officials, Russia also took advantage of the Syrian conflict as a testing ground for weapons and tactics it is now using in Ukraine. Many observers have drawn parallels between what Russia is doing in Ukraine and its actions in Syria. The comparisons have prompted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to ask NATO to prevent Putin from transforming his country into another Syria. Addressing the NATO countries, Kuleba said, act now before it is too late. Do not let Putin turn Ukraine into Syria. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has also expressed concern that the worst is yet to come in the Russian-Ukrainian war. We should fear a siege, which the Russians are accustomed to doing. Remember Aleppo and Grozny, Le Drian said, referring to cities in Syria and Chechnya, respectively, bombed by Russia. Syrias opposition has sided with Ukraine and criticised the West, led by the US, for its relative inaction in Syria. There is a great difference between the position of the international community towards Ukraine and its position on Syria, said Salem Al-Meslet, head of the Syrian Opposition Coalition. The international community must bear responsibility in Syria and in Ukraine, he said, with the Syrian Network for Human Rights criticising what it described as the Wests double standards towards Russia in Syria and Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Syrian regime has begun to feel the impact of its support for Moscow, especially after the start of the sanctions against Russia. Within days, the Syrian lira dropped sharply on the international exchanges, and Syrian officials hinted at an imminent crisis in supplies of oil and wheat. Syrias support for Russia has also been manifested on the political plane. Coinciding with the 11th anniversary of the start of the Syrian conflict, the US Embassy in Damascus has announced that March will be a month of accountability for the Syrian regime and that the impunity will end in Syria. The US called a meeting in Washington of the Friends of Syria group on 3 March, which included the US, Turkey, France, Germany, Norway, the UK, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The attendees reiterated their commitment to seeking a political solution to the Syrian crisis in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Commenting on Washingtons new interest in Syria, Syrian opposition member Radwan Ziadeh said that I expect the Biden administration is working on developing a political and military strategy for Syria after what happened in Ukraine. It could include prioritising a push for a political transition and removing Al-Assad. Neither the Security Council nor the UN can do a thing because Russia is a permanent member [of the Security Council]. On the Syrian issue, Russia used its veto 13 times to paralyse the work of the Security Council, blocking the condemnation of the Syrian regime and preventing the International Criminal Court from investigating war crimes or crimes against humanity committed in Syria, Ziadeh said. The Syrian regime sent its National Security Chief Ali Mamlouk to Tehran, where he met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Al-Assad also received Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior adviser to Irans foreign minister, to discuss boosting cooperation between the two countries. This sent a message that Russia is not the only ally of the Syrian regime, and that Iran is also its stalwart ally. It shows that Tehran is ready to fill the vacuum in Syria if Russia is distracted by a long war in Ukraine, especially since Iran is likely to sign a nuclear deal with the international community soon. For ordinary Syrians, the war in Ukraine has made their lives worse. Amid opposite positions by the Syrian regime and the opposition on the war in Ukraine, there have been reports that the war has become a destination for Syrian young people looking for a new battle where warlords are looking to profiter. Recruiters are active in Damascus and areas under regime control, signing up young people to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine. They include 23,000 combatants who have fought alongside the Syrian regime as part of militias affiliated with the Syrian presidents cousin and National Defence Forces. The young people are said to be being paid $7,000 over seven months to defend facilities in Ukraine, which suggests that the Russian Hmeimim Base in Syria, the main hub of recruitment, anticipates the Ukraine war will last for months, not days. Other reports say that Syrians have decided to volunteer to fight alongside Ukrainian forces, especially after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky opened the door for volunteers from around the world to join his armys fight. It is believed that some have already arrived in Ukraine from Turkey and camps in northern Syria. Syrian political analyst Saeed Moqbel said that the Syrian situation has become more complicated with the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Syrias future is not clear because its fate depends on the volition of countries battling and interfering in the country. Syria has become a weapon in the hands of players in global wars. About 90 per cent of Syrians now live on the edge of poverty. 12.4 million, or 60 per cent of the population, suffer from food insecurity, the Syrian lira is in freefall, and food prices are skyrocketing. Meanwhile, political solutions to the crisis are blocked, the regime is tightening its grip on power, and the military weakness of both the opposition and regime makes them both dependent on the strength of others. *A version of this article appears in print in the 10 March, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: Russia on Saturday said its troops could target supplies of Western weapons in Ukraine, where the Russian army has been advancing since late February. "We warned the United States that the orchestrated pumping of weapons from a number of countries is not just a dangerous move, it is a move that turns these convoys into legitimate targets," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state television. He said Moscow had warned "about the consequences of the thoughtless transfer to Ukraine of weapons like man-portable air defence systems, anti-tank missile systems and so on." Ryabkov said Washington had not taken Moscow's warnings seriously and added that Russia and the US were not holding any "negotiation processes" on Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin sent Russian troops into Ukraine on February 24 and said he aims to "de-Nazify" the country. Moscow has been hit by a barrage of international sanctions since Putin sent in troops. Search Keywords: Short link: Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya where front line cities were reduced to rubble. The Ukrainian government said on Saturday that Russias troops have shelled a mosque sheltering more than 80 people in the besieged city of Mariupol. There was no immediate word on casualties. Bombardment intensified as Russian units fanned out to prepare their assault on the capital, Kyiv, a major political and strategic prize for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainians armed with portable missiles and Molotov cocktails have vowed to annihilate any Russian forces who enter the capital. Now in its third week, the war has expanded to areas closer to NATO members Poland and Romania, with Ukrainian authorities saying Russian airstrikes attacked sites in two western cities. Meanwhile residents in some besieged areas have faced so much firepower they cant even bury the dead. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of another, occupied city of Melitopol, calling it a new stage of terror. The West has ramped up economic pressure on Russia, as the U.S. and its allies downgraded Russians trade status the latest in efforts to further isolate Moscow for the invasion. The war has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee Ukraine, while others seek refuge in basements, subway stations and underground shelters. The Ukrainian chief prosecutors office says at least 79 children have been killed since the start of the invasion. Here are some key things to know about the war: Whats Happening in Besieged Mariupol? The Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey said Saturday that 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, were among the people who had sought safety in the mosque that was shelled. Ukrainian authorities have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in Mariupol, besieged by Russian forces and where Ukraines military said Russian forces have captured the citys eastern outskirts. Repeated attempts to bring in food and evacuate civilians have been cancelled due to relentless Russian fire, while Moscow accuses the Ukrainians of violating cease-fires. Mariupols mayor says the 12-day assault has killed over 1,500 people. Doctors Without Borders said some residents are dying for lack of medication, with the city without drinking water or medicine for over a week now. The aid group says people are resorting to boiling water from the ground or extracted from heating pipes. What of the Missing Mayor of Occupied Melitopol? Zelenskyy said the mayor of Melitopol, west of Mariupol and near Crimea, was kidnapped, and videos have emerged of local citizens there protesting the Russians presence, carrying flags and shouting. Kirill Timoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraines presidential office, posted a video which he said shows armed men taking Mayor Ivan Fedorov across a square. Russian forces captured Melitopol, with a population of 150,000, on Feb. 26. Another video subsequently published online showed hundreds of Melitopol residents marching in a central square, demanding the mayors release. The video could not be immediately independently confirmed. The prosecutors office of the Luhansk Peoples Republic, a Moscow-backed rebel region in eastern Ukraine, accused Fedorov on its website of terrorist activities. Whats Happening around the Capital and Elsewhere? In the northeast, Russian forces were blockading Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, even as efforts have been made to create new humanitarian corridors around it and other urban centers. Ukraines emergency services reported that the bodies of five people were pulled from an apartment building that was struck by shelling in Kharkiv, including two women, a man and two children. In Kyiv, an ammunition depot outside the city was shelled overnight, sending billowing black smoke into the sky, according to video provided by emergency workers. It was unclear immediately if were injuries or deaths. The Russians push on Kyiv from the northeast appeared to be advancing, a U.S. defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to give the U.S. assessment of the fight. Combat units were moved up from the rear as the forces advanced to within 30 kilometers (19 miles) of Kyiv. New commercial satellite images appeared to capture artillery firing on residential areas that stood between the Russians and the Ukrainian capital. The images from Maxar Technologies showed muzzle flashes and smoke from big guns, as well as impact craters and burning homes in the town of Moschun, 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) from Kyiv, the company said. The strikes in western Ukraine, in the cities of Ivano-Frankiivsk and Lutsk, were confirmed by Russia, which said it used long-range weapons to put military airfields in the two cities out of action. Lutsk Mayor Ihor Polishchuk said four servicemen were killed and another six were wounded. What has the AP directly witnessed or confirmed? An Associated Press journalist witnessed tanks firing on a 9-story apartment block in Mariupol and was among a group of medical workers who came under sniper fire on Friday. Conditions at a local hospital there were deteriorating, electricity was reserved for operating tables and the hallways were lined with people with nowhere else to go. Anastasiya Erashova, wept and trembled as she held a sleeping child. Shelling had just killed her other child as well as her brothers child. No one was able to save them. The city of 430,000 has been without food, running water and electricity for 10 days. In Baryshivka, a village east of Kyiv, people surveyed damage and boarded up windows after a Russian bombing reduced a restaurant and a cinema to hanging metal, dust, glass and other debris. Ivan Merzyk, a 62-year-old resident, said: Putin created this mess, thinking he will be in charge here. Ukrainians are a free nation. We are not going away from here and we dont want to see any Russian here. Are People Being Safely Evacuated from Ukraine? Ukrainian authorities said there are plans for several evacuation and humanitarian aid delivery routes. The top priority remains freeing people from the city of Mariupol and getting aid to its desperate population. Buses were being sent Friday to multiple Kyiv suburbs to bring people to the capital, where authorities say half of the metropolitan areas population, or around 2 million, has already fled. There were also efforts to create new humanitarian corridors around the cities of Kherson in the south, Chernihiv in the north and Kharkiv in the east. Russian forces were blockading Kharkiv and pushing their offensive in the south around three cities and towns, including the hometown of Ukraines president, Kryvyi Rih. Warsaws mayor has appealed for international help as the city becomes overwhelmed by refugees, with more than a tenth of all those fleeing the war arriving in the Polish capital. Its train stations have become crowded transit hubs, with many camping out on the floor. Are More Sanctions Against Russia Happening? U.S. President Joe Biden announced an agreement Friday with other nations to revoke Russias most favored nation trade status, which would allow for higher tariffs to be imposed on Russian imports. The U.S. also banned imports of Russian seafood, alcohol and diamonds. Western nations have been largely united in punishing Russia economically. French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday the European Union will continue applying pressure to Moscow and consider all options for more sanctions if Putin intensifies bombing and lays siege to Kyiv. Search Keywords: Short link: France and Germany urged Russia's Vladimir Putin Saturday to end the deadly days-long siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the French presidency said after three-way talks. "The situation is very difficult and humanly intolerable" in Mariupol, a source in the Elysee presidential palace said, after what it termed a "very frank and difficult discussion" with the Russian leader. "The only decision President Putin must take is to lift the siege." French President Emmanuel Macron's office also accused Putin of "lies" for alleging that Ukrainian forces had committed human rights abuses by using civilians as human shields. The 75-minute three-way phone call with Macron, the Russian leader and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz focussed on France and Germany's call for an immediate ceasefire and steps towards a diplomatic solution, sources in the French and German leaders' offices said. Macron told Putin "the Russian army's abuses must cease", the source said, warning that its actions could qualify as war crimes. They said the two leaders spoke separately before the call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who asked them to call on Putin to halt the fighting. Russian forces are closing in on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and bombarding several other cities. The offensive has driven millions of Ukrainians from their homes. Zelensky also asked the leaders to help secure the release of the mayor of the city of Melitpol, who he said has been abducted by Russian forces. "We are putting on maximum pressure and we will not let up," the French presidency said. Macron demanded "very strongly that the conflict cease as quickly as possible in order to avoid the worst, including (Russia) resorting to illicit weapons or destroying cities", it added. US President Joe Biden on Friday vowed that Russia would pay a "severe price" if it used chemical weapons in Ukraine. Macron has taken a leading role in trying to engage with Putin over Russia's offensive. The Elysee says he has had nine conversations with the Russian leader since meeting him at the Kremlin on February 7. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Search Keywords: Short link: A mosque in the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where 80 civilians were taking shelter, has been shelled by Russian forces, Ukraine's foreign ministry said on Saturday. "The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders. More than 80 adults and children are hiding there from the shelling, including citizens of Turkey," the ministry wrote on its Twitter account. It did not specify when the shelling took place. Mariupol has been under siege and bombardment for more than a week and is encircled by Russian troops. The situation in the strategic port city was "desperate", where civilians have been desperately trying to flee, but was without water or heating, and running out of food, a top Doctors Without Borders executive said Friday. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on Friday: "Besieged Mariupol is now the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the planet. 1,582 dead civilians in 12 days." Besieged Mariupol is now the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the planet. 1582 dead civilians in 12 days, even buried in mass graves like this one. Unable to defeat the Ukrainian Army, Putin bombs the unarmed, blocks humanitarian aid. We need planes to stop Russian war crimes! pic.twitter.com/CSFPSlzrTa Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 11, 2022 Three people, including a child, were killed when a children's hospital in the city was attacked on Wednesday, sparking international outrage. Against this backdrop, a new attempt is being made to open up a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to evacuate the city towards Zaporizhzhia, around 200 kilometres to the northeast, said Ukraine's deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk. For days, Ukrainians have claimed that the Russian military has been pounding the evacuation route, preventing people from leaving. As on previous days, humanitarian corridors were also to be opened again around Kyiv. "I very much hope that the day will go well, that the planned routes will be open and that Russia will meet its obligations regarding the observance of the ceasefire," Vereshchuk said in a video uploaded to the website of the Ukrainian presidency. As the Russian army continues to advance and besiege Kyiv, strikes hit the town of Vasylkiv on Saturday morning, about 40 kilometres south of the capital. Eight Russian rockets hit the local airport around 7:00 am (0500 GMT), which was "completely destroyed", said the mayor Natalia Balassinovitch, on her Facebook account. An oil depot was also hit and caught fire, she said. Search Keywords: Short link: Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned Saturday, calling for the punitive measures to be lifted. According to Dmitry Rogozin, the sanctions, some of which predate Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS. As a result, the Russian segment of the station -- which helps correct its orbit -- could be affected, causing the 500-tonne structure to "fall down into the sea or onto land", the Roscosmos chief wrote on Telegram. "The Russian segment ensures that the station's orbit is corrected (on average 11 times a year), including to avoid space debris", said Rogozin, who regularly expresses his support for the Russian army in Ukraine on social networks. Publishing a map of the locations where the ISS could possibly come down, he pointed out that it was unlikely to be in Russia. "But the populations of other countries, especially those led by the 'dogs of war', should think about the price of the sanctions against Roscosmos", he continued, describing the countries who imposed sanctions as "crazy". Rogozin similarly raised the threat of the space station falling to earth last month while blasting Western sanctions on Twitter. On March 1, NASA said it was trying to find a solution to keep the ISS in orbit without Russia's help. Crews and supplies are transported to the Russian segment by Soyuz spacecraft. But Rogozin said the launcher used for take-off had been "under US sanctions since 2021 and under EU and Canadian sanctions since 2022". Roscosmos said it had appealed to NASA, the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency, "demanding the lifting of illegal sanctions against our companies". @NASA , Canadian Space Agency @esa - # pic.twitter.com/0NM2Stuft1 (@Rogozin) March 12, 2022 Space is one of the last remaining areas where the United States and Russia continue to cooperate. At the beginning of March, Roscosmos announced its intention to prioritise the construction of military satellites as Russia finds itself increasingly isolated as a result of the war in Ukraine. Rogozin also announced that Moscow would no longer supply the engines for the US Atlas and Antares rockets. "Let them soar into space on their broomsticks," he wrote. On March 30, US astronaut, Mark Vande Hei, and two cosmonauts, Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, are scheduled to return to Earth from the ISS on board a Soyuz spacecraft. Search Keywords: Short link: A massive Russian armored column that's been at a standstill for days north of Kyiv has been dispersed on three sides of the Ukrainian capital, prompting fears the deployment is a prelude to a redoubled offensive. American defense officials say the Russian forces have moved 5 kilometers nearer to Kyiv, and artillery has taken up what are described as firing positions. The movement coincides with further military developments, including the shelling for the first time of the strategic eastern city of Dnipro, an industrial hub on the Dnieper River and Ukraine's fourth-largest city. The movements are accompanied by a series of airstrikes on air-defense facilities and military airfields in western Ukraine, about 130 kilometers south of Lviv, the city where more than 200,000 Ukrainian evacuees from across the rest of the country are sheltered. Ukrainian officials have been bracing for days for a concerted Russian push on Kyiv after satellites identified the buildup last week of a Russian column that at one point stretched for 60 kilometers. They and Western military officials were surprised when the column stopped advancing and remained stationary, with opinion divided over whether the Russians were encountering fuel shortages and other logistical re-supply problems or were preparing a slow regrouping and dispersal. Michael Kofman, an analyst with CNA, a Washington-based defense think tank, says the former scenario is likely, tweeting, "Looking at the Russian operation so far, they're having tremendous problems with logistics and communications." He added, "The whole effort seems shambolic." Whatever the reason for the sluggish dispersal of the column, the forces now have redeployed and are in much more menacing positions to mount an assault on the city. Satellite images from Maxar Technologies, an Earth-observation and space technology company, show the column of armored vehicles, tanks and artillery have been redeployed mainly in the forests and towns to the northwest of Kyiv, near Antonov military airport. Chinese officials in the northeastern city of Changchun on Friday ordered the city of 9 million to be locked down over a rise in COVID-19 cases. The dramatic move reportedly comes after just two cases of the omicron variant were reported Friday, with a total of 78 cases reported over the past several days. China, where the pandemic likely began, has a strict "zero tolerance" policy toward COVID-19, and authorities have pledged lockdowns for communities with even one case. People in Changchun are required to stay at home with only one person per household being allowed to leave for food and other necessities every two days. All nonessential businesses, as well as schools and transportation modes, have been closed. Residents also must submit to three rounds of mandatory testing. By Ayuko Kiyoshi, KYODO NEWS - Mar 12, 2022 - 11:35 | Feature, All, Japan Around ten years ago, Akihiro Suto was repeatedly rejected by Japanese real estate agencies when he tried to lease an apartment to live in with his same-sex partner. One agency finally agreed to do business with him, but at an extra cost, simply because he is a sexual minority. A recent survey found that certain groups of people like members of the LGBTQ community, foreigners, and the elderly are more likely to be denied rental housing in Japan compared with others due to prejudicial perceptions such as that properties are likely to be left dirty or that the tenants may quickly move out. Faced with such a reality, Suto, 32, has taken up the cause of equality, launching a real estate company of his own with a unique service to help make finding an apartment a pleasant experience for everyone, regardless of whether they are deemed "undesirable" tenants in Japan. Suto experienced having his and his same-sex partner's application rejected by about five or six different real estate agencies. The one agency that took him on only did so on condition he "paid an additional one month's rent on top of key money." Key money is a kind of goodwill, nonrefundable payment often required with the rental deposit when moving house in Japan. But Suto says he was told he had to pay the extra amount since he was competing against applications from heterosexual couples. When searching for housing, same-sex couples will often conceal their relationship for fear of being rejected, instead presenting themselves as prospective "roommates." But even so, landlords often shun two men applying to live together, arguing that they might somehow soil the property. Two women seeking to live together, meanwhile, are often rejected for the reason that their income might be "unstable," Suto explains. Suto founded his company, IRIS Inc., in Tokyo in 2014. So far, IRIS has mediated a total of 1,000 applications by sexual minorities to find housing without discrimination. This fall, the Tokyo metropolitan government is expected to introduce a same-sex partnership certification policy that recognizes LGBTQ couples in the whole metropolitan area. While currently only certain jurisdictions within the capital have similar systems in place, Suto expects that the Tokyo-wide policy will encourage more same-sex couples to use the certificates when applying for housing. Suto says that "Many couples feel hurt by the customer service they receive," and that his company also aims to focus on educating real estate agencies about housing traditionally discriminated against groups. According to a 2019 survey conducted by real estate information website operator Lifull Co., 46.5 percent of respondents who came under the categories of LGBTQ, foreign residents, the elderly, or persons facing economic hardship said that there were "few options for properties to move into." Respondents said they were judged to have certain risk factors such as income trouble, potential problems with neighbors, or as with elderly tenants, the possibility of dying alone unnoticed. Lifull in 2019 started its "Friendly Door" service, which provides consultations and introduces "undesirable" prospective tenants to sympathetic real estate companies. By the end of January, the service had cooperated with agencies in around 3,400 different locations, said Gong Yiqun, 35, a Lifull employee and Chinese national who started the program. Gong started Friendly Door after her relatives had trouble finding housing. To gain the cooperation of even more companies, the service is searching for support groups that can help assist with problems like disputes with neighbors and noise complaints. "It's silly that people have fewer housing options depending on their traits," Gong said. "Our goal is for this service to become no longer necessary," she said. KYODO NEWS - Mar 12, 2022 - 13:50 | World, All, Japan Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged other countries Saturday to join forces in dismissing attempts to alter the status quo in Asia by force, taking aim at China's assertive territorial claims in the region. During a visit to Malaysia, the former Japanese leader said in a speech that Russia's aggression in Ukraine poses a "serious threat" to the international order. "Unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or economic coercion pose a serious threat in Asia, too," Abe said. "We should raise a voice of opposition in unison." He was apparently referring to China's ambition to seize Taiwan, Beijing's militarization of outposts in disputed areas of the South China Sea, and repeated incursions by Chinese ships into Japanese waters around the Senkaku Islands, a group of East China Sea islets controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing. Abe is on a four-day visit to Malaysia through Sunday as a special envoy of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in commemoration of the 65th anniversary this year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Southeast Asian country. In his speech, Abe commemorated the 40th anniversary of Malaysia adopting the "Look East" policy aimed at emulating Japan's work ethic, and said Tokyo will continue to fully assist the initiative as a partner. Abe currently serves as a House of Representatives member and heads the largest faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Dubai-based Samana Developers has announced the launch of its key AED165 million ($45 million) residential project, Samana Waves, at Jumeirah Village Circle. Located beside Dubais main highways and in close proximity to the citys retail and leisure landmarks, the 27-storeyed tower's design embodies a resort theme with plenty of water features, green areas, event space. Samana Waves is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2025. Samana Waves, which spans over an area of 155,000 sq ft, is a G+3P+23 floors comprising 213 apartments with a mix of studios, studios with pools, 1 bedroom with pool, 1 bedroom duplex with pool, 2 bedroom with pool and 2 bedroom duplex with pool. The apartment prices start from AED449,000 onwards. The developer is offering a flexible payment option starting with a 10% on booking followed by 65 months at just 1%. Then on the sixth month, it will be 10% followed by 10% on the 12th month and another 10% on the 18th month. This flexible payment plan makes it an excellent option for those that are looking to move from the rented house to owning a home in Dubai, said a top official. "Samana Developers provision of 50% financing to its buyers boosts investor confidence in its real estate assets. Our properties guarantee a competitive 24% return at 8% per year over 3 years. That makes Samana projects an attractive proposition," remarked its CEO Imran Farooq. "At our new Samana Waves project, we created a luxury and close to everything what residents need Al Maktoum International Airport, hospitals, schools, malls, commercial districts, adjacent to Dubais key road network Al Khail Expressway and Mohammed Bin Zayed Highway connecting all cities of the UAE," he said. "Market indicators are pointing to a rising bullish trend which is expected to witness a growth of up to 7.9% during rest of 2022," he added.-TradeArabia News Service KYODO NEWS - Mar 12, 2022 - 15:12 | All, Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida indicated Saturday that Japan will consider concrete steps for additional sanctions on Russia in coordination with other Group of Seven members over its aggression in Ukraine. "Each country is about to work on concrete steps now," Kishida told reporters in Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. "We would like to take specific actions in partnership with other G-7 members." He made the comments, without going into detail, a day after the G-7 said in a joint statement that the group will slap further restrictions on Russia's exports and imports of key goods and technologies, among other measures. The statement said the G-7 members will independently revoke Russia's "most-favored nation" status under World Trade Organization rules, a status giving Moscow the best possible trade terms on key products. The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union. Kishida said the mayors of Ishinomaki and Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, offered to host refugees from Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion. "Based on the requests of evacuees, I would like to think how (Japan) can host them in coordination with local authorities," he said. Ishinomaki and Rikuzentakata were two of the cities that were hardest hit by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that rocked northeastern Japan. On Friday, the prime minister attended a ceremony in Fukushima in commemoration of the disaster. Related coverage: U.S. sanctions Russian firms after North Korea found testing ICBM system G-7 to take steps to strip Russia of trade benefits as WTO member Russian war threatening global food supplies: G-7 farm ministers By Maiko Sugano, KYODO NEWS - Mar 11, 2022 - 12:02 | Feature, All, Japan Cafe breakfast specials are becoming more internationalized in central Japan's Aichi Prefecture, which hosts the second-largest foreign population after Tokyo. In the "morning set" culture found all over Japan, customers who order a coffee, for example, get a light breakfast along with it. But while they would usually expect toast or an egg, they might now get breakfast foods from Vietnam, for instance, or Turkey. It can feel like a taste of abroad at a time when it is hard to travel overseas because of the coronavirus pandemic -- and even more so when the cafe serves food from a country with a tradition of eating breakfast outside the home, with expatriates gathering. Some even serve as locations for cultural exchange. At Bitte, a German-style bakery-cum-cafe located in a residential area in Nagoya's Tempaku Ward, Kazuyuki Suzuki, 52, offers breakfast sets including rye bread and ham, scrambled eggs with toast and bacon or sausage, or a bread buffet. A fan of German food, he opened the cafe in 2002 after quitting corporate life. The price of 500 yen ($4.30) for all sets has remained unchanged for 20 years. Suzuki buys his ham and sausages from a local maker who uses German production methods. With German-made tables, chairs, and other furnishings, Bitte attracts a wide range of customers, including elderly residents of the neighborhood as well as young people who come to take photos they can post on Instagram. Dalat Marimura is a Vietnamese restaurant located in Nagoya's Mizuho Ward. Run by Thao Kozuki, a 32-year-old Vietnamese woman married to a Japanese man, the shop's morning set is called "banh mi" -- a submarine sandwich filled with handmade ingredients like liver pate. Kozuki inherited a coffee shop from her grandmother-in-law and opened it as a restaurant in 2018. She has added Vietnamese meals, managing both to retain old customers and attract new ones. "As the COVID-19 pandemic has made overseas travel difficult, I hope people enjoy the feel of Vietnam here," Kozuki said. Dalat Marimura has become a popular place to experience Vietnamese culture. A Vietnamese cooking class started at the behest of customers and held twice a week is fully booked. Meanwhile, a Turkish restaurant called TR along a prefectural road in Tsushima offers a breakfast set from 6 a.m. on weekdays for the many Turks who work in demolition jobs and live in the neighborhood. Although the service has been temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when offered, the set includes all-you-can-drink cay, or Turkish tea, with a whole serving of vegetables, along with cheese, eggs, and bread. The large volume is "normal" for Turkish people, said TR owner Yun Yunus, 33, "because breakfast is important." Raised in Aichi, Yunus graduated from a university in Turkey before returning to Japan and opening the restaurant in 2019. According to Yunus, as part of Turkish culture, people eat breakfast together with their family members or friends on Sundays, and he welcomes customers to a buffet-style spread on such occasions. With the support of some of his compatriots, Yunus now operates three restaurants in the prefecture. "I want Japanese people to eat Turkish cuisine, which fuses Mediterranean and Arabic cultures," Yunus said. "Some countries have a lifestyle of having breakfast outside the home, which combines nicely with Aichi's breakfast culture," said Yuko Kawaguchi, 45, head of a nonprofit organization supporting foreign residents in Japan. For such cafes, success lies in fitting in with the local needs and customer base, she said. According to the Justice Ministry, as of the end of June 2021, Aichi had 269,685 foreign residents, compared with 541,807 in Tokyo. Brazilians formed the largest population of some 60,000, followed by 46,000 Chinese and 44,000 Vietnamese. Trucks and other cars gather during a truck convoy protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Hagerstown, Maryland, the United States, on March 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) WASHINGTON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A convoy of truckers and other drivers circled the Capital Beltway that surrounds Washington, D.C., on Thursday, the fourth day since their demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions began here early this week. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz visited the convoy camping outside a speedway in Hagerstown, a Maryland city approximately 70 miles (around 110 km) northwest of the capital, before riding in one of the trucks in the morning. Cruz also held a press conference in Washington, D.C., alongside Brian Brase, an organizer of the so-called "People's Convoy," after the ride. The Texas Republican's appearance came a day after he and Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, met with convoy participants on Capitol Hill. Brian Tyler Cohen, a progressive political host, tweeted on Thursday afternoon that Cruz "is simultaneously complaining about gas prices while riding shotgun" with the truck convoy in circles "over and over to protest mandates that don't exist." The convoy, a spinoff from protests in Canada staged by truckers upset with vaccine requirements earlier this year, is calling for an end to the national emergency concerning the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States that led to what they called "overreaching mandates." A U.S. transportation security agency announced on Thursday that it will "extend the security directive for mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs for one month, through April 18th," as states and cities are easing COVID-19 restrictions. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said in a statement that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) "will work with government agencies to help inform a revised policy framework for when, and under what circumstances, masks should be required in the public transportation corridor." "This revised framework will be based on the COVID-19 community levels, risk of new variants, national data, and the latest science," the TSA statement read. "We will communicate any updates publicly if and/or when they change." The United States has reported more than 79 million COVID-19 cases and 964,000 deaths, both the highest in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data. "Covid has moved to the back of many people's minds, but the pandemic isn't over," Tom Frieden, former CDC director, tweeted on Thursday afternoon. "To save lives now, we must keep pushing for better tracking and better access to vaccines, tests, and treatment globally," Frieden wrote. "To save lives from future pandemic threats, we must prepare better." The truckers started hitting the Capital Beltway in convoy on Sunday and took a break on Wednesday due to rain. Capitol Police said previously they did not expect the convoy to cause security problems in the Washington metropolitan area. Trucks and other cars gather during a truck convoy protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Hagerstown, Maryland, the United States, on March 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) Trucks and other cars gather during a truck convoy protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Hagerstown, Maryland, the United States, on March 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) Trucks and other cars gather during a truck convoy protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Hagerstown, Maryland, the United States, on March 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) PARIS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- One police officer got injured on Saturday morning in a knife attack in front of the city hall in Marseille, southeast France, French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported. According to Le Figaro, a man attacked three police officers in front of the city hall with a knife and injured one police officer before being neutralized. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was in Marseille Saturday morning for the inauguration of two police stations. Darmanin told the press that the suspect is a French citizen and is unknown to the police. The nature of the attack is unknown and the local authorities gave no other precise information about the suspect. Aerial photo taken on April 6, 2021 shows a view of the automated container terminal of Shanghai's Yangshan Port in east China. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe) BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China's economy captured global attention again after setting a 5.5-percent economic growth target for 2022. The goal, though below last year's 8.1 percent, is sure to inject confidence and resilience into the global economy riddled with myriad challenges and uncertainties. Guided by "Xiconomics," the economic philosophy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China is following a path for high-quality development. China's GDP grew 8.1 percent year on year to 114 trillion yuan (18 trillion U.S. dollars), accounting for 18 percent of the global total. With a people-centered philosophy of development championed in Xiconomics, the Chinese people are living much better lives thanks to considerable economic growth. Following a development path tailored to its national realities and making notable and substantive progress toward common prosperity for all Chinese people, China has also committed itself to building a better world through common development and win-win cooperation. MEETING PEOPLE'S NEEDS "What we now face is the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life," Xi said in a report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017. From daily material and cultural needs to the desire for a better life, Xi's economic philosophy examines the needs of the Chinese people from a broader perspective and a higher level. "The thought, which creatively combines the aspiration of human beings for a better life with the practice of people-oriented development, is of global influence," Australian economist Guo Shengxiang told Xinhua in a recent interview. In practicing the philosophy, China has been advancing reforms in various areas of public concern, including housing, education and healthcare. A staff member explains medical insurance policies to a resident at a hospital in Sanming, Fujian Province, Nov. 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong) With China's per capita disposable income rising 9.1 percent year on year in nominal terms to 35,128 yuan (5,545 dollars) last year, rapid improvement in Chinese people's lives had been seen in many aspects from dining tables to improved housing conditions, from rising pensions for the elderly to reduced air pollution. Amid rising global protectionism, it continues to advance high-level opening up and expand imports to meet people's needs for high-quality products and services. In 2021, China's foreign trade surged to 6.14 trillion dollars, up 21.4 percent year on year and crossing the 6-trillion-dollar threshold for the first time. Exports rose 21.2 percent, while imports went up 21.5 percent. A China-Europe freight train bound for Duisburg of Germany prepares for departure at Tuanjiecun Station in southwest China's Chongqing, Jan. 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Tang Yi) Contributing over 30 percent to global growth in recent years, China has become a key anchor and driver for the world economy and will continue to be a stabilizer of the global growth. The 5.5-percent growth goal for 2022, which represents medium-high rate given China's large economic aggregate, can be reached through tapping the internal strength of the world's second largest economy, analysts said. President Xi's economic thought is full of oriental wisdom and is conducive to the development of the world, noted Honson To, chairman of KPMG China and Asia Pacific. "It is an advanced thought that suits China's national conditions and the development trend of the world," he said. Aerial photo taken on Dec. 13, 2019 shows a 50-megawatt solar farm in Garissa, Kenya. (Xinhua/Xie Han) SHARED DEVELOPMENT In the mostly arid, desert-capped northeastern Kenyan county of Garissa, the neat and dense solar panels installed by a Chinese company line up to form an "energy oasis." The project has benefited thousands of families and businesses since 2019. According to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Chinese-built 50 MW photovoltaic power station, the largest in East Africa, sets Kenya on the path of achieving green energy sufficiency and adds to its rich profile as the center of green energy generation in Africa. The Garissa solar plant in the African country is just one example. From the China-Laos Railway, the Port of Piraeus, to the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park, similar cooperation programs, carried out under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and designed to electrify common development, are flourishing in many parts of the world. Those projects, which feature Xi's vision for development featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared growth, have brought substantial benefits to local people. Take the China-funded expanded National Road No. 3, a key transportation artery inaugurated in Cambodia early this month. The 134.8-km road links the capital of Phnom Penh and the southwestern coastal province of Kampot. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen commented that the road is crucial to boosting economic and tourism development at the inauguration ceremony. Aerial photo taken on March 1, 2022 shows the National Road No. 3 in Takeo province, Cambodia. (Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua) "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," said Hun Sen. Ordinary Cambodian people also have high hopes for the road. Thun Sokleng, a 43-year-old farmer in Kampong Speu province, said "I believe that this road will contribute to improving living conditions of the people in the areas along it." From China's economic growth to the common development of countries worldwide, Xi's economic thought addresses the needs and difficulties of global development through cooperation frameworks such as the BRI and the Global Development Initiative. Since 2013 when Xi announced the BRI, over 140 countries spanning different regions, cultures and stages of development, as well as more than 30 international organizations, have signed BRI cooperation documents with China. The BRI cooperation is "not only aimed at promoting economic integration but also solving social problems in the countries taking part in this initiative, particularly issues like raising the level and quality of people's lives," said Alexander Petrov, a professor of St. Petersburg State University. PURSUING MULTILATERALISM As the world is faced with stiff and complex problems, Xi said in 2021 that the way out of them is "through upholding multilateralism and building a community with a shared future for mankind." For years, China has upheld the international system centered on the United Nations and the international order underpinned by international law, observed World Trade Organization trade rules, and practiced true multilateralism against the headwinds of unilateralism and protectionism. A woman walks past the United Nations headquarters in New York, the United States, Sept. 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) In promoting mutual respect and equality, China has actively participated in the reform of the global governance system, and worked to make economic globalization more open, inclusive and balanced. "China does not just talk about multilateralism, but has taken real actions," said Jose Ignacio Martinez Cortes, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. At a time when the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines is tight, China has taken the lead in providing vaccines to developing countries in dire need. China has supplied more than 2.1 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, attesting to the true meaning of multilateralism. A handover ceremony of a batch of China-donated COVID-19 vaccine is held at Noor Khan Air Base near Islamabad, Pakistan, Feb. 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Tian) Natee Taweesrifuengfung, president of the Thailand-based Siam Think Tank, said that in the current international situation, China has held high the banner of multilateralism, actively promoted win-win cooperation, vigorously boosted world economic recovery, and has showed its sense of responsibility as a major country. (Xinhua correspondents Shi Hao in Moscow, Zhu Yubo in Mexico City, Wang Yaguang in Bangkok, Wu Changwei in Phnom Penh also contributed to the story.) A child is seen in a village for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Hajjah province, northern Yemen on Feb. 1, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua) ADEN, Yemen, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced Saturday that 10,200 children were killed or injured since the conflict escalated in Yemen nearly seven years ago. "The actual number is likely much higher," UNICEF Representative to Yemen Philippe Duamelle said in a statement. "Following the intensification of the conflict in 2021, violence has continued to escalate this year and as always children are the first and most to suffer," Duamelle said. A girl poses in a village for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Hajjah province, northern Yemen on Feb. 1, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua) Just over the first two months of this year, 47 children were reportedly killed or maimed in several locations across Yemen, he added. A Yemeni girl sits on a truck outside a charity in Midi district, Hajjah province, Yemen, on March 7, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua) The statement noted that "violence, misery and grief have been commonplace in Yemen with severe consequences on millions of children and families. It is high time that a sustainable political solution is reached for people and their children to finally live in the peace they so well deserve." A child walks in a village for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Hajjah province, northern Yemen on Feb. 1, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua) Yemen has been mired in a civil war since the Houthi militia overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014. ADDIS ABABA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Great Museum of Africa is set to preserve, promote and nurture African heritage, a senior African Union (AU) official said Friday. The remark was made by Cessouma Minata Samate, AU Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, as she emphasized the need to endeavor to promote and profile Africa's arts, culture and heritage, in which the Great Museum of Africa is set to play an important role. "We are launching the temporary site of the Great Museum of Africa, which will serve as a focal point institution of the museum and implement activities of the museum before the permanent site is built and operational," an AU statement quoted Samate as saying. "We are continuously exploring how to strategically share key messages related to the protection, promotion and preservation of Africa's rich cultural and natural heritage which is key to our development," the AU Commissioner said. The Great Museum of Africa is planned to be launched in 2023 as part of the first ten-year implementation plan of the AU's 50-year continental development Agenda 2063. The museum, which will be hosted by Algeria in the capital Algiers on behalf of the continent, will showcase, protect and promote the rich cultural heritage of the continent. Samate emphasized that this year has been a landmark year for the Great Museum of Africa. "A sign of greater things to come as we look to continue this journey with us and promote this important sector further, to ensure it contributes to the implementation and aspirations of the AU Agenda 2063 in including its 5th Aspiration, which specifically focuses on arts, culture and our heritage," Samate said. The AU has introduced continental policy instruments to ensure the promotion and development of this sector, across the continent. Angela Martins, AU Head of Culture Division, on her part emphasized the significant contribution of arts, culture and heritage sector to the integration of the continent, to the socio-economic development and poverty alleviation through job creation and social inclusion has been undoubtedly evident. Nawel Dahmani, Chairperson of the Technical and Advisory Committee of the Great Museum of Africa, commended the AU's ongoing cooperation with the host country Algeria for the success of the project thus far. "We hope that we can realize this within the set time frames and begin to take ownership of our history as we make more history for the future," said Dahmani. Indian AI start-up Haber has announced its foray into the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) market with its industry-transforming AI technology. Based out of Pune, Haber is a major provider of solutions that automate tedious manual processes such as sample collection, measurement, analysis and intervention at factories. The company has raised $27 million to date through three rounds of funding and is backed by Accel, Elevation Capital, Ascent Capital, Beenext, Temasek Partner Mukul Chawla and the founders of Grey Orange. Haber envisions building a strong team, clientele base and deploying over 200 eLIXAs in this region in the next 2 years. Habers expansion is the perfect example of how delivering value to the customer can make a business grow across geographical boundaries. With the economy booming and pacing up, AI is being introduced more into industries to achieve maximum efficiency. The process manufacturing industry has been no exception to this. There is a growing demand for reducing cumbersome and error-prone manual processes, said the statement from Haber. Its AI-based plug and play solution perfectly serves the needs of the industry and ensures maximum output. It reduces time waste and errors that may arise due to manual testing and dosing. It has built a first of its kind solution which automates the entire cycle from data collection, analysis and up to intervention. After having been tried, tested, and proven in the Indian markets, Haber is now entering the region, which is a very promising market, estimated to be valued at $2 billion across industries, said a top official. "Mena being one of the fastest-growing economies and the fact that its on the lookout for technology to transform the industry has made it the best location for Habers next step," remarked its CEO Vipin Raghavan. "The excellent talent pool in this region would further help us in setting up our own manufacturing unit and data science teams here to expedite our services," he noted. According to him, the AI solutions will ensure that the industries are at their most efficient as well as sustainable by reducing both water consumption and carbon footprint. Ensuring overall equipment efficiency has been the key behind Habers success. Since 2017, Haber has helped the industry save fifty billion litres of water and eliminate half a million tons of carbon emissions. Haber's entry into the region would thus not only support the industry but also create job opportunities for talent from various fields like engineering, data science and management. The expansion would further be supported by trade agreements between India and countries like UAE, which signed the free trade agreement late last week.-TradeArabia News Service Sonia Gandhi said the country is in the midst of an unprecedented health and humanitarian crisis (Photo Credit: File Photo) New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi called for acting in solidarity and helping the disadvantaged during the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak. Top Congress leaders on Thursday discussed the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown. Gandhi said while the 21-day nationwide lockdown may have been necessary, the "unplanned manner" of its implementation had caused chaos and pain to millions of migrant workers all over India. Besides Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders discussed the issue at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) through video conferencing. Addressing the meeting, Sonia Gandhi said the country is in the midst of an unprecedented health and humanitarian crisis. "The magnitude of the challenge before us is daunting but our resolve to overcome it must be greater," she said. She said the COVID-19 pandemic has already caused untold suffering across the world, but it has also "reaffirmed the bonds of brotherhood" that unite humanity. "In our country, those who are most vulnerable to the consequences of this pandemic are the poor and disadvantaged. We must come together for their sake and do all we can to support them through the difficult days that lie ahead," she said. She further said that "the 21-day national lockdown may have been necessary but the unplanned manner in which it has been implemented has caused chaos and pain in the lives of millions of migrant workers all over India". For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: CISCE has released an official notification regarding ICSE and ISC 2020 Exams. The official notification released by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations pertains to the false information that is being circulated on social media and WhatsApp regarding ICSE Class 10 and ISC Class 12 Exams 2020. According to the official notification, CISCE has stated that four fake documents dated April 1, 2020, March 28, 2020 and February 7, 2020 are being circulated. ISC and ICSE Exams 2020 Update The fake news and rumors are being circulated on social media stating that the remaining ICSE and ISC 2020 Exams are cancelled. In another fake news, it is mentioned that the CISCE revised exam dates are from April 16 to April 22, 2020. Further, another fake news that is being shared on social media states that the result will be declared on the basis of 6 subjects that students already appeared. Also Read: JEE Advanced 2020 Postponed Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Check Details Here CISCE Official Notification 2020 CISCE has made it clear and informed everyone to stay away from such fake news. The council has stated that the remaining ICSE and ISC exams 2020 are NOT Cancelled and the Revised Dates are NOT released as of now. For official updates and original notification, students and parents are advised to visit the only to visit the official website of CISCE, i.e. cisce.org. Candidates can also click on the below mentioned direct link to check the CISCE Important Notification 2020. ICSE and ISC Exams 2020 Official Notification Direct Link New Delhi: On day 11 of the coronavirus lockdown, there were reports about the Indian Railways planning to restore its passenger train services from April 15. The media reports said that the railways will start taking bookings after the lockdown is lifted in mid-April. Amid the uncertainty over the future of the lockdown, the reports gave credence to the point that the national curfew will end on April 15. However, the top railway officials have trashed the media reports on the resumption of passenger services. In a statement issued on Saturday, the Indian Railways categorically refuted the reports on the 'restoration plan'. 'Certain media reports have come on a post lockdown "restoration plan" with train details, frequency etc. It is to clarify that no such plan regarding the resumption of passenger services has been issued. All concerned would be duly informed about any further decision in this regard,' the statement by the Indian Railways said. (Coronavirus Outbreak Live Updates) In an unprecedented move, the railways had suspended the services of 13,523 trains for 21 days after the lockdown was announced by the PM on March 24. Its freight trains, however, continued to run during this period. There have been speculations on the extension of the lockdown after reports emerged that Air India will not take any booking till April 30th. The Centre, however, maintains that there is no discussion on the extension of the corona shutdown. On March 30th, the government had said there was no plan to extend the 21-day lockdown which came into force on March 24 midnight. India is under day 11 of the lockdown aimed at checking the spread of the coronavirus. People have been asked to stay indoors while only those providing or availing essential services are being allowed outside. There have been several reports and speculations that the lockdown may be extended beyond April 14. The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in India is nearing 3,000 as of Saturday. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had tweeted, saying Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has denied media reports claiming that the government will extend the lockdown. "There are rumours & media reports, claiming that the Government will extend the #Lockdown21 when it expires. The Cabinet Secretary has denied these reports, and stated that they are baseless," it said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the 21-day lockdown on March 24. There has been a massive exodus of migrant workers from big cities to their villages after being rendered jobless due to the lockdown. These migrant workers, who worked as daily wagers in big cities have started journeying towards their native villages. Many of them have been walking to their destination as there is no public transport. Centre has asked all state governments to seal the borders to stop the movement of migrants. State governments have been asked to provide food and shelter to these migrants wherever they are. (With agency inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: NASAs Mars rover 'Perseverance' has received a significant boost following the completion of important testing at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida. According to NASA, activities to measure mass properties of the Cruise Stage vehicle were performed successfully. Moreover, NASAs Mars Helicopter, which will be attached to Perseverance, was tested successfully. It is to be noted that the Mars Helicopter will help Perseverance to reach the surface of the red planet. NASA Mars Helicopter will be the first aircraft to fly on another planet. The twin-rotor, solar-powered helicopter will remain encapsulated after landing, deploying once mission managers determine an acceptable area to conduct test flights. Importantly, NASAs Mars rover 'Perseverance' will take the names of more than 1 crore people to the Red Planet. On March 5, 2020, NASA announced Perseverance as the new name for the Mars 2020 rover. The name Perseverance was suggested by seventh-grader Alexander Mather, who submitted the winning entry to the agencys "Name the Rover" essay contest, which received more than 28,000 entries from K-12 students from every US state and territory. The Perseverance rover is a robotic scientist weighing just under 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms). It will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize Mars' climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth, and help pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, is building and will manage operations of the Mars Perseverance rover for NASA. The agency's Launch Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management. The Mars 2020 project with its Perseverance rover is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis lunar exploration plans. Mars 2020 alias Perseverance will be launched towards the red planet in July 2020. The rover will land in a crater called Jezero, about seven months (February 2021) after departing Earth. Jezero is an area on Mars where liquid water flowed once. Perseverance will use a suite of high-tech tools to scout for signs of ancient alien microbes. The robot will have a laser blaster to analyse interesting rocks from afar. Also Read: Best Evidence For Elusive Mid-Sized Black Hole Found By Hubble Perseverance weighs 2,314-pound (1,050-kilogram). The rover currently is at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Kennedy is responsible for launch management. The rover is part of a larger exploration program that includes missions to the Moon to prepare for human missions to the Red Planet. Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis program. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Home Ministry has blacklisted 960 foreigners were involved in Tablighi Jamaat activities despite being on a tourist visa. Their visas have also been cancelled and the Delhi Police and DGPs of all concerned states have been directed to legal action against them. These foreigners participated in the congregation violating their visa conditions. The Tablighi Jamaat activists who have been blacklisted include 9 British, 4 American, 6 Chinese, 3 French nationals, 379 Indonesians and 110 Bangladeshis. The action will be taken against them under the Foreigners Act and the Disaster Management Act. "The home ministry has blacklisted 960 foreigners and their Indian visas have also been cancelled for their involvement in Tablighi Jamaat activities while coming on tourist visas," the home minister's office tweeted in Hindi. Also Read | COVID-19: CM Yogi Invokes NSA Against 6 Tablighi Jamaat Members Who Misbehaved With Hospital Staff These foreigners are among 1,306 people who attended the congregation, organised by the Tablighi Jamaat at the Nizamuddin Markaz. This has led to a sudden rise in number of coronavirus positive cases in different parts of the country. Meanwhile, Railways is scrambling to provide information regarding thousands of passengers who travelled on five trains with people who participated in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin area, many of whom have tested positive. All these trains began from Delhi between March 13 and March 19 - the Duronto Express to Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, the Grand Trunk Express to Chennai, the Tamil Nadu Express to Chennai, New Delhi-Ranchi Rajdhani Express and the AP Sampark Kranti Express. Also Read | Coronavirus Pandemic | Government Blacklists 960 Tablighi Jamaat Foreigner Members, Cancels Visas While there are yet no definite numbers with the railways on the actual number of people who could have come in contact with the participants of this event, sources say that each train carried around 1000-1200 passengers and other staff members which could put them all at risk. With PTI Inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: CBSE has released an important notification regarding Class 10 and Class 12 Board Exam 2020. In addition, CBSE has also released an update for students of Class 1 to 8 and Class 9 and 11. It is to note that CBSE had to postpone the Class 10 and Class 12 Examination between March 19 and Match 31 due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. As of now, the entire country is going through the phase of complete lockdown and CBSE is yet to release the revised board exam 2020 timetable. According to the official notification released by CBSE, the board will release the timetable 10 days before the commencement of the exams. Therefore students should not worry and carry on studying by staying at their respective homes. CBSE School Students to be Promoted CBSE has taken the decision to promote school students of Class 1 to class 8 to the next grade. In addition, the board has also decided to promote students of Class 9 and Class 11 on the basis of School-based assessments that includes project work, term exams, periodic exams, etc. Class 9 and class 11 students who are unable to clear their internal exams will have to appear for the school-based tests that will be conducted in offline or online mode. Also Read: CBSE Introduces Applied Mathematics Subject For Class 11 Students From the Academic Session 2020-21 CBSE Class 10 and Class 12 Board Exam 2020 Update As of now, the board has not released any revised board exam 2020 timetable for the exams that were being postponed during the period of March 19 to March 31, 2020. According to the official notification, the board is going to conduct the examinations of 29 subjects out of the total subjects that were being postponed due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. The board has chosen these 26 subjects on the basis of their importance for admission in higher educational institutes. CBSE Class 10 Board Exam 2020 Update According to the official notification, Class 10 board exam 2020 at all India level is over and therefore no exam is going to be held after the lockdown period is over. However, CBSE is going to conduct the Class 10 Board exams for the subjects of Hindi Course A, Hindi Course B, English Communication, English Language & Literature, Science, and Social Science for the students of North-East Delhi Centres. CBSE Class 12 Board Exam 2020 Update The board will conduct the Class 12 Exam 2020 for the subjects of Business Studies, Geography, Hindi (Elective), Hindi (Core), Home Science, Sociology, Computer Science (Old), Computer Science (New), Information Practice (Old), Information Practice (new), Information Technology, and Bio-Technology for the students from All India Centres. In addition, the board will conduct the Class 12 Exam 2020 for the subjects of English Elective N, English Elective - C, English Core, Mathematics, Economics, Biology, Political Science, History, Physics, Accountancy, and Chemistry for the students of North-East Delhi centres. It is to note that CBSE Board has not released any revised timetable as and when the Class 10 and Class 12 Board Exams 2020 for these subjects will be held. For latest updates, CBSE has advised to check its official website, i.e. cbse.nic.in. Koraput: Amid the ongoing 21-day lockdown, the churches in Odisha's tribal-dominated Koraput district are live-streaming masses to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. "Adhering to the government guidelines on maintaining social distancing, people have been barred from coming to churches," the bishop of Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC), Asish Paul, said. According to the bishop, the 45-minute prayers on Sundays and Wednesdays are being live-streamed and people are attending the online masses from home. Churchgoers have expressed their happiness at the arrangements. Also Read | Number Of COVID-19 Cases May Shoot Up In Delhi In Coming Days: Arvind Kejriwal Around 500 churches function under the JELC in Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts, sources said. New Delhi: The current 21-day lockdown may help reduce the projected number of symptomatic novel coronavirus cases in India by nearly 83 per cent till day 20 from the beginning of the intervention, thereby flattening the COVID-19 curve, scientists say. The modelling study by researchers from Shiv Nadar University in Uttar Pradesh considered the optimistic scenario, where cases are isolated immediately within one or two days since showing symptoms. "We also assumed 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the population resorted to social distancing," Samit Bhattacharya, Associate Professor at Shiv Nadar University told PTI. "In this optimistic scenario, we projected number of symptomatic cases can decline by almost 83 per cent by day 20 from the beginning of the lockdown -- 3,500 against 30,790 -- and deaths -- 105 against 619 -- as well," Bhattacharya said. The number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,965 in the country on Thursday while the death toll rose to 50, according to the Union Health Ministry. The researchers believe that under the most optimistic scenario, the 21-day lockdown, announced by the government on March 24 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, may help in slowing transmission and "flattening" the COVID-19 curve. The researchers said the typical goal of flattening the curve is to minimise the number of cases over extended days, to gain more opportunities for interventions to control the spread of the virus meantime, and reduce the burden on the health care system. At the beginning of the lockdown, India was in the second phase of the COVID-19 outbreak, with the disease spreading to close contacts, and there was no evidence for community transmission. However, the scientists said the country appeared to have slid into the third phase of the outbreak. Some infectious disease carriers can unusually transmit the pathogen onto a dozen-to-few dozen others, called super-spreaders, they said. The researchers estimated the number of symptomatic cases during the 21-day lockdown by considering a scenario where the basic reproduction ratio (R0) is 2.2, with super-spreading events triggered by COVID-19 carriers following the 20/80 rule, and an assumption of 30 per cent symptomatic cases. R0 is an indicator that quantifies the nature of spreading infection -- a number that describes how many people a newly infected person is likely to pass the virus to others, the scientists explained. For example, the R0 of influenza varies between 1.3 to 2, according to earlier studies, meaning that an infected person could potentially spread the flu virus to one to two others in a fully healthy population. They said the super spreading 20/80 rule means out of total infected persons, 20 per cent of them contribute in spreading 80 per cent of infections in healthy population. India, with a population density of 412 people per square kilometer, and an average range of 4.5 to 5 people in each family which typically has one person above 60 years of age is undoubtedly predisposed to the easy spread of highly transmissible COVID-19, the researchers said. They believe the country may also have witnessed a super surge in symptomatic cases. "Our prediction shows that India could have embraced about 5,000 and 30,790 symptomatic cases in the next 10 days and 20 days, respectively," said Naga Suresh Veerapu, Assistant Professor at Shiv Nadar University. "The projected number of cases can reach approximately 2,70,360 and deaths 5,407 by day 40 in the absence of an intervention," Veerapu said. A flattened COVID-19 curve for the next two or three months is difficult to comprehend, the scientists said. All measures that provide few opportunities for the virus to spread must be continued, which not only limit any individual's infection hazard, but also protect the entire community, they added. Also Read: Coronavirus Pandemic | PM Modi To Share A Video Message With Citizens Tomorrow At 9 AM These measures may include, avoiding large gatherings, 14-day quarantine for suspected cases of infection, systematic surveillance, and expanded testing for the identification of COVID-19 infections, continued work at home for employees, the researchers said. Practices such as respiratory hygiene, hand washing, and other protective activities at an individual level may help maintain a flattened COVID-19 curve, they added. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Pakistan is trying to treat the COVID-19 patients through plasma of recovered patients, and the first case in Pakistan, who recovered last month, donated plasma in Karachi. (Photo Credit: File Photo) Islamabad: Pakistan's coronavirus cases crossed 2,400 on Friday as the authorities struggled to stop big congregational gatherings despite government's notification limiting upto five the number of people attending such prayers to curb the spread of the deadly disease. Ministry of Health Services said that Pakistan's coronavirus cases jumped to 2,450 on Friday. Thirty five people have died due to the pandemic, while 126 have recovered so far. (Coronavirus Outbreak Live Updates) It further reported that the largest province of Punjab registered 920, Sindh 783, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 311, Balochistan 169, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) 190, Islamabad 68 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 9 cases. The number of cases were regularly on the rise in the country despite more than one week of partial lockdown to minimize movement of people. The government had earlier issued a notification limiting the number of people between three to five who can attend Friday and congregational prayers to fight the virus outbreak. The provincial and federal governments were also trying to convince people to stay away from mosques but without much success. Meanwhile, Pakistan is trying to treat the COVID-19 patients through plasma of recovered patients, and the first case in Pakistan, who recovered last month, donated plasma in Karachi. Earlier, Tahir Shamsi, a renowned hematologist of National Institute of Blood Diseases, said the technique could be used to treat patients and China also used it effectively. Meanwhile, Radio Pakistan reported that the World Bank has approved USD 160 billion emergency aid, including USD 200 million to Pakistan, over 15 months to help countries deal with the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Kolkata: A man was killed in a clash between two groups of villagers allegedly over the opening of a quarantine centre in a village school in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Saturday night. According to locals, it all started after some government officials reviewed the proposal to set up a quarantine centre at Talibpur village under Parui police station. The situation turned violent and the groups resorted to firing and hurling bombs indiscriminately. A clash broke out between two groups of villagers. Prima facie a man succumbed to bomb injuries, Superintendent of Police Shyam Singh said. ALSO READ | Spain Says Coronavirus Deaths Down For Second Straight Day At 809 A large police force has been deployed in the village where the situation remained tense but under control, he said. The police, however, did not say anything about the reason behind the clash. Local sources claimed that the administration has decided to set up a quarantine centre for suspected COVID-19 cases at a school in the village and it was not liked by a section of villagers while others were in favour of it. An altercation on the issue between members of the two groups led to a clash and a middle-aged was killed, they said. Earlier, stones were thrown at quick response teams in South 24 Parganas and West Midnapore districts when they stopped people from assembling. ALSO READ | 12 Tabligi Jamaat Members From Nepal Booked For Defying Lockdown In Muzaffarnagar In two incidents at the Bhangore area of South 24 Parganas and Goaltore in West Midnapore, police personnel were beaten up when patrolling teams stopped youngsters from gathering. A sub-inspector, two assistant sub-inspectors, and six constables were injured in the two incidents. Five persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Bhangore incident, while no arrests have so far been made for the West Midnapore incident. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Diriyah Biennale Foundation (DBF) has announced the successful completion of Saudi Arabias first contemporary art biennale featuring more than 60 acclaimed artists from Saudi Arabia and around the world, who presented artworks in a wide variety of mediums, including site-specific commissions by leading artists. The groundbreaking Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale opened on December 11 in the JAX district of the Saudi city of Diriyah. The inaugural edition of the Biennale was curated under the leadership of Philip Tinari (Director and Chief Executive of UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, China), and supported by a team of international curators; Wejdan Reda (Founder of Sahaba Art Consultancy in Jeddah), Shixuan Luan (Curator at UCCA) and Neil Zhang (Assistant Curator at UCCA). The Biennale took its title from the concept of Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones, a slogan that emerged during the 1980s as a metaphor for action at a time of social and economic transformation. Visitors were invited to experience artworks across six sections: Crossing the River, Experimental Preservation, Peripheral Thinking, Going Public, Brave New Worlds, and Concerning the Spiritual. Serving as a platform for global dialogue and exchange, the Biennale cultivated an interactive art experience by bringing together Saudi and international artists in a celebration of contemporary culture, and an accessible and engaging platform for all. More than 100,000 visitors experienced the Biennale over a three-month period. Rakan Altouq, General Supervisor, Culture Affairs & International Relations at Ministry of Culture and Vice-Chair, Diriyah Biennale Foundation, said: "We established the foundation with the clear vision to create long-term impact, positively shaping the future of the arts movement in Saudi Arabia and placing it rightfully on the global cultural map." "We are well into that journey. Through the first Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, we have celebrated Saudi artistic talent and we continue to engage with partners around the world whom we are proud and delighted to consider friends and ambassadors of the Biennales goals," he added. CEO Aya Al Bakree said Diriyah Biennale Foundation opened its doors in December not only as the first international contemporary art biennale in Saudi but also as a new platform for discovery and connection to its burgeoning cultural scene and creative communities. "Far more than an exhibition, the Biennale explored how it could serve many important communities as a platform for discovery, discussion, and education. Local and international artists and audiences came together not only in the exhibition spaces but through film screenings, talks, workshops, immersive experiences and tours. Our visitors included those for whom this was their first contemporary art biennale alongside seasoned art enthusiasts. But this is just the start, we look forward to sharing details of our Islamic Arts Biennale edition soon," he added. Tinari said: "As we reflect on the Biennale, we see how Saudi artists are contributing to the global conversation around contemporary art, and how the Saudi public has engaged with new forms of creative practice. We believe this has been a meaningful undertaking, bringing together artists and audiences in the name of dialogue and exchange." In addition to the main presentation, the Foundation hosted a wide-ranging public programme of events and activities for all ages. The programme drew inspiration from art and culture in Saudi Arabia and beyond, facilitating educational explorations and the sharing of knowledge and best practices with access to leading voices in the field. Saudi and international artists featured in the Biennale participated in talks and panel appearances, including Richard Long, Lulwah Al Homoud, Ahmed Mater and Han Mengyun. Also participating were Jeddah-based architecture studio Bricklab, whose installation was based on the architecture of the Diriyah Biennale building, which they had recently refurbished.-TradeArabia News Service Washington: The US on Friday criticised a Pakistani court for overturning the death sentence of British-born top al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted in the abduction and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi in 2002 in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attack, terming the verdict an "affront" to victims of terrorism everywhere. The US' response comes after the Sindh High Court on Thursday found the 46-year-old Sheikh guilty of the lesser charge of kidnapping and commuted his death sentence to seven years in prison. Sheikh has been in jail for the past 18 years. A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha also acquitted the three others - Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil- serving life sentences in the case. "The overturning of the convictions for Daniel Pearls murder is an affront to victims of terrorism everywhere," Alice Wells, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, said in a tweet. But the US' top diplomat for South Asia welcomed Pakistani prosecutors' indications that they would appeal the decision. "We welcome Pakistans decision to appeal the verdict. Those responsible for Daniels heinous kidnapping and murder must face the full measure of justice," Wells said. Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story on the alleged links between the country's powerful spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda. Also Read | COVID-19: CM Yogi Invokes NSA Against 6 Tablighi Jamaat Members Who Misbehaved With Hospital Staff Sheikh, who was the mastermind behind abduction and killing of Pearl, was arrested from Lahore in February 2002 and sentenced to death five months later by an anti-terrorism court. The incident had come three years after Sheikh, along with Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was released by India in 1999 and given safe passage to Afghanistan in exchange for the nearly 150 passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814. He was serving prison term in India for kidnappings of Western tourists in the country. "Justice has been done to my clients," said one of Sheikh's lawyers Khawaja Naveed. The case had strained the relations between Pakistan and the US when terrorism was at its height in Pakistan after the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. Also Read | Coronavirus Pandemic | Government Blacklists 960 Tablighi Jamaat Foreigner Members, Cancels Visas The verdict on Thursday came more than a month after Paris-based Financial Action Task Force warned Pakistan that stern action will be taken against it if the country fails to check the flow of money to terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) among others. The FATF, which supervises effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing, last year placed Pakistan on its "Grey List" of countries for failure to curb funnelling of funds to terror groups like the LeT and the JeM. If not removed from the list by April end, Pakistan may move to a blacklist of countries such as Iran that face severe economic sanctions. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Panaji: There is no community transmission of novel coronavirus in Goa, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Saturday, adding that six of the seven COVID-19 patients had foreign travel history while one was an infected person's brother. He said the lockdown in force must be adhered to strictly to effectively combat the virus outbreak. "There is no community transmission of coronavirus in Goa. Six patients had come from abroad and one is the brother of an infected person," he told reporters. "We have not progressed to community transmission stage because of lockdown and social distancing measures put in place," he said. Meanwhile, the state government has warned landlords not to evict tenants during the lockdown period. New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister and AAPs national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Friday held a meeting via video conference with all party MLAs to discuss the relief work carried out by them in their respective assemblies in view of the coronavirus outbreak. Kejriwal was joined by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain in addressing the party MLAs. AAP has 62 MLAs in the 70-seat assembly. The chief minister has asked all MLAs about the progress of all the relief work going on in their areas and how effectively the relief work is being done, Rajinder Nagar MLA Raghav Chadha told PTI. He also said that all MLAs have been told ways to further improve. The MLAs also shared their experiences. They clarified their doubts. The CM has explained all the schemes (related to relief work) of the Delhi government in detail to them and about its implementation. They were also told what all needs to be done and how it could be done, Chadha said. The number of coronavirus cases climbed to nearly 300 in the national capital on Thursday, with 141 fresh cases and two deaths reported in a day, according to the Delhi Health Department. New Delhi: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that there is an urgent need for an India-specific strategy to combat the coronavirus outbreak, which has been declared pandemic. Gandhi also asserted that the country must prepare for economic devastation. He said this while speaking at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting. The meeting was attended by party chief Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and other senior leaders discussed the health crisis through video-conferencing. At the Congress CWC meeting today, I emphasised the urgent need to devise an India specific strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and for Congress workers and leaders to help soften the blow by assisting the poor and the most vulnerable sections of our society in every possible way, Rahul Gandhi tweeted after the meeting. COVID-19 particularly attacks aged persons, people with lung disease, diabetics, persons with heart diseases, making them the most vulnerable, the former Congress chief was quoted as by Congress chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala. All state governments need to issue a special advisory for these categories and take care, Rahul Gandhi said at the meeting. We have looked at COVID-19 for two months since February and have spoken to experts. No country in the world has attempted a lockdown with huge migrant labour without arranging for their stay, food and ration and pushing them back home, he said in an apparent attack on the government. Rahul Gandhi called on the party to act as a watchdog and ensure that the most vulnerable and the poor are protected comprehensively. India has to fight COVID-19 with an India-specific strategy and consultation. India needs to prepare for the economic devastation, he was quoted as saying. With Agency Inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday discussed measures to combat coronavirus with chief ministers of different states and said that the government's first priority for the next few weeks should be testing, tracing, isolating and quarantining. He stressed that to make it happen, there should be proper coordination and effort down to the district level. Interacting via video conference, PM Modi said it is necessary to ensure the availability of separate and dedicated hospital facilities for COVID-19 patients. The prime minister also told the chief ministers the importance of formulating a common exit strategy to ensure the staggered re-emergence of the population once the lockdown ends, an official statement said. He highlighted the necessity of "maintaining supply of essential medical products, availability of raw material for manufacture of medicines and medical equipment" ALSO READ: Air India Suspends Contract Of Around 200 Employees He accepted Maharashtra Chief Ministers suggestion that religious leaders should be asked to refrain from holding large gatherings. CM Uddhav Thackeray made the suggestion during a video conference with Modi in the morning, the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) said. The prime minister accepted Thackerays suggestion and asked all chief ministers to speak to religious leaders from their respective states and ask them to tell the community members about the need for social distancing and avoiding large gatherings, the CMO said in a statement. He also supported Thackerays view that citizens need to be in good mental health during the lockdown period, it said. State Health minister Rajesh Tope, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray and senior bureaucrats also attended the video conference. ALSO READ | Congress Demands Immediate Announcement Of Financial Assistance Plan For Lockdown Affected People "Completion of lockdown will end on April 15 next. But it doesn't mean free will to move out on streets. We all must be responsible in slowing down. Lockdown and social distancing are the only way to fight #COVID19," wrote Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on twitter after the meeting. On Thursday, a total of 1,965 people have tested positive for coronavirus across the country while 50 people have died across the country. With Agency Inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Russian invaders kill 79, injure almost 100 children since war started in Ukraine, Ukrainian prosecutors say 12 March, 12:55 A child, wounded in a Russian shelling of residential districts of Kharkiv (Photo:REUTERS/Oleksandr Lapshyn) Invading Russian forces have killed 79 children and injured almost 100 since the beginning of Russias war against Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reported on its Telegram messenger channel on March 12. However, the statement notes that this figure is likely an underestimate, given the Ukrainian governments inability to inspect the places of shelling where the Russian armed forces are actively fighting." Most of the children were killed or injured in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Sumy, Kherson, and Zhytomyr Oblasts. Additionally, Russia has damaged or destroyed more than 280 educational institutions across Ukraine, with nine of them effectively being leveled to the ground: 110 educational institutions were damaged in Donetsk Oblast; 28 educational institutions were destroyed in Sumy Oblast; 17 educational institutions and over 10 children's medical institutions were destroyed in the capital city of Kyiv. On average, the invading Russian forces have destroyed 17 educational institutions per day. This is in stark contrast to repeated false claims made by the Russian government that it is not targeting civilian infrastructure. Up to seven million Ukrainian children are currently unable to attend school due to Russias unprovoked aggression against the country, as well as due to the deliberate destruction of educational institutions. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News US Senate approves $13.6 billion in emergency funding due to war in Ukraine 11 March, 17:23 The Senate approved the bill following the House of Representatives (Photo:buschap/Flickr) An emergency aid package of $13.6 billion to assist the Ukrainian government was passed on March 10 following a U.S. Senate vote on a $1.5 trillion dollar spending package. Of the $13.6 billion, $6.5 billion will be provided to the Pentagon, including $3 billion to support U.S. forces in Europe and $3.5 billion to replace weapons transferred to Ukraine. The State Department will then receive $4 billion, including for aid for refugees, economic assistance to the region, and foreign military funding. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will receive $2.8 billion, mostly for immediate humanitarian aid. Other funding is provided to enforce sanctions and media coverage of the war in Ukraine. The House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill on March 9. U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill, passing it into law. Russias full-scale war against Ukraine has lasted for more than two weeks: Friday, March 11 is the 16th day of the invasion. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News No person is above the law. Although this is the message the impeachment motion filed against Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana aims to postulate, the timing and circumstances of the move make it largely suspicious. As such an impeachment motion was demanded by lawyers, judges, Nepal Bar Association and other civil society groups for the last six months, it should have been lauded as a victory. Yet, the political colour of the motion and the consequent events have resulted in mixed responses across the legal fraternity. Further, it has also been apparent that this impeachment motion is not enough for the reform the Nepal judiciary sector currently needs. Parameters for impeachment Article 101 of the constitution has a provision of the impeachment motion against the CJ or any Supreme Court justice. A motion for impeachment may be lodged when one-fourth of the total number of the House of Representatives move a motion. For the impeachment motion to pass, two-thirds of the House of Representatives have to agree. The present motion has been registered by 98 lawmakers representing the ruling coalition. Although the requirement as per the law is only one fourth, more than a third have lodged the impeachment motion. The grounds for impeachment as provided in the constitution are the failure to fulfil duties due to serious violation of the constitution and the law, incompetence, misconduct or failure to discharge their duties honestly, or a serious violation of the code of conduct. The numerous controversies surrounding Chief Justice Rana are testament to the fact that all these parameters have indeed been met. Serious charges of bribery and corruption, often leading to behind-the-door deals, dubious and even erroneous interpretation of the law have shaken the confidence of the public (such as the cases of the second dissolution of the House and Ranjan Koirala). Besides this, there were several complaints about the administration of the Supreme Court during his tenure. Particularly notorious were issues pertaining to the non-allocation of dates to certain cases, misallocation of cases to selective benches and the formation of the constitutional bench. Due to the first-of-its-kind protests by the judges of the Supreme Court, joined by lawyers and later the Nepal Bar Association and the Supreme Court Bar Association, the cases have been allocated on the basis of a lottery system since December 1, 2021. Misconduct was also apparent when Rana became personally involved in the appointment of public officers, as a member of the Constitutional Council based on the controversial ordinance that amended the Constitutional Council Act, 2010. The constitutionality of the ordinance itself has been challenged. While the chief justice seems to have tick boxed on all the parameters warranting an impeachment, it is worth questioning why the impeachment motion has been lodged now although lawyers and other members of the judiciary had been demanding his resignation for over six months. If anything at all, the now-suspended chief justice seems to become a victim of politics rather than being impeached for his failure to fulfil his duties, flagrant misconduct and violation of the constitution and code of conduct of judges. The key question of independence The preamble of the constitution clearly states the commitment to an independent, impartial and competent judiciary. For Nepal to step away from being declared a failed state, this commitment needs to be realised in actuality. The importance of maintaining three separate and independent organs cannot be understated. News of collecting signatures of members of the House of Representatives threatening to file counter impeachment motions against four judges by the UML shows that the judiciary is being held hostage in these muddy mires of politics. An attack on the judiciary is in fact an attack on one of the guardians of democracy, and must immediately be put to rest. In a newly established federal state, such action sets a bad precedent in violating the principles of separation of powers and upholding the basic tenets of the constitution. Separation of powers is fundamental to a working democracy. All three organs of the government need to function independently and serve as a check and balance for any government to function effectively. Need for reform The constitution makes a fundamental distinction between the judges of the Supreme Court (generally referred to as justices) and the Judges of other courts, in terms of review of performance and their consequent removal. The Judicial Council under article 153 of the constitution oversees the review of performance and removal of judges of provincial high courts and district courts. More particularly, the mechanism entails a review of the performance of the judges, assessment of conduct and investigation of complaints made against them. If the judge is found guilty, the Judicial Council may take disciplinary action against or even dismiss the judge. If the judge is corrupt and commits abuse of authority, the Judicial Council also has the power to institute a case as per the relevant corruption laws. Whereas for judges of the Supreme Court and the chief justice, the process for removal is by lodging an impeachment motion under Article 101 of the constitution. Were judges of the Supreme Court imagined to be of such stature/calibre that a tool as uncommon and inviolable as an impeachment motion was imagined to remove them? Clearly, the suspended chief justice has failed to meet this test on several counts. This raises important questions about the appointment of judges and the chief justice as well. While the legislative intent behind these two distinctions is worth pondering on, there appears to be a need to rethink the effectiveness of the entire process of appointment, review and removal of judges. The process of appointment of the chief justice we currently follow is nominating the senior-most judge for the chief justice. This system is also in practice in India. In the UK, the president of the Supreme Court is chosen by an independent committee, based on the application of the candidates, detailed interviews, and fulfilment of the criteria laid down by the parliament. In the United States, the chief justice is nominated by the president and the decision is then confirmed by the senate. The question that comes to mind is whether a person, though unfit to be the chief justice, deserves to hold the position, merely by the reason of seniority. The debacle of CJ Rana shows it has severe consequences including the violation of rules, laws and principles but also the erosion of public faith in the institution of the judiciary. File: Cholendra Shamsher Rana It is further problematic that the chief justice is the head of the Judicial Council. Having CJ Rana as the head of the Judicial Council shows that the position is vulnerable to abuse. Further, the chief justice and other justices of the Supreme Court are excluded from being reviewed and/ or removed by the Judicial Council, at par with other judges. While the Judicial Council may file a case for corruption against the judges of other courts, there are no similar provisions for the judges of the Supreme Court. How can judges including the chief justice of the Supreme Court be prosecuted for corruption charges then? This seems to be a case of unequal treatment within equals, which in itself is a violation of the right to equality, enshrined under article 18 of the constitution. As to the working of the Judicial Council, the process of investigating a complaint, launching an investigation against the misconduct of a judge itself needs to be strengthened and made transparent. Due process needs to be followed so there is no abuse of powers. In the event of abuse of the process by any member of the Judicial Council, there need to be cogent methods of recourse against such members. With respect to the process of removal of the chief justice and other justices of the Supreme Court, the impeachment motion filed against the former chief justice Sushila Karki has already demonstrated how this provision can be misused by the legislative. The recent impeachment motion against Rana and the news of the counter impeachment motions being prepared only confirm that fact. For the judiciary to assert its own independence it cannot rely on the legislative or any other organ to serve as a check and balance. The crucial question Is the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Rana enough then? What about the charges of corruption, misconduct, violation of the law? How will they be dealt with in order to restore justice? Although the motion was filed over three weeks ago, the only new development is the formation of an impeachment motion recommendation committee. The political leanings and the pace at which this process is being undertaken demonstrate a mockery of the judiciary, abuse of the process and the travesty of the system. It, hence, shows the motion itself is not enough to reform the judiciary that the country currently needs. Lastly, before going into whether or not the impeachment motion will succeed, the very fact that such a motion was filed demonstrates the lack of accountability and failure of the judiciary to elect such a person unfit to the office of the chief justice. The judiciary has failed the test of the rule of law. By filing the impeachment motion, not only to make the judiciary accountable but to wield political clout, the legislature has also failed the test. Both these systematic failures of our two fundamental organs point towards the urgent and immediate need to reform the entire judicial system to maintain rule of law and restore democracy. LVIV, Ukraine, March 12 (Reuters) - A top Ukrainian adviser on Saturday pushed back against suggestions Israel tried to nudge Ukraine into caving to Russian demands during talks. Israel has been engaged in diplomatic efforts to try to end the war in Ukraine. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. A report in Israel's Walla news and Jerusalem Post had suggested, citing an unidentified Ukrainian official, that Bennett had urged Ukraine to give in to Russia. Israel, "just as other conditional intermediary countries, does NOT offer Ukraine to agree to any demands of the Russian Federation," Ukrainian adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter. "This is impossible for military & political reasons. On the contrary, Israel urges Russia to assess the events more adequately." (Reporting by Natalia Zinets, Matthias Williams and Dan Williams Editing by Mark Potter) Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, the ultra-low-fare national airline of the UAE, has launched exciting new seasonal routes to Santorini, Greece and Salalah, Oman providing UAE residents new travel opportunities and experiences over the summer period and beyond. To capitalise on the increasing demand for travel, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is offering an exciting promotion with 20 percent off selected flights from Abu Dhabi until the end of September with bookings made between March 8 and 9. The marvellous destinations provide affordable, hassle-free travel for tourists and residents in both Oman and Greece. Flights to Santorini start from June 3 on Mondays and Fridays and flights to Salalah start on April 29 on Mondays and Saturdays. Tickets are already on sale on wizzair.com and the airlines mobile app with fares starting as low as AED179*. The promotion allows travellers to book tickets on all flights from/to the UAE including the recently launched routes to Amman (Jordan), Aqaba (Jordan), Salalah (Oman), Yerevan (Armenia), Santorini (Greece) and Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan). Michael Berlouis, Managing Director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, said: We welcome the further easing of travel restrictions around the world and our exciting new seasonal routes allow travellers to plan their summer. Travellers can enjoy 20 percent off our attractive destinations with fantastic ultra-low-fare prices encouraging exploration. Our expanding network includes incredible historic and cultural experiences with safe, efficient, travel awaiting all our customers. We look forward to sharing our love of adventure and seeing you on board our aircraft soon. Starting from March 17, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will increase capacity on routes to Tel Aviv, Israel with five flights per week from Abu Dhabi. Flights operate on both Tuesdays and Sundays allowing convenient travel options with fantastic reduced fares for travel lovers. In addition, flights to Manama, Bahrain and Muscat, Oman have changed to a more convenient schedule to stimulate demand, the airline said. The removal of PCR test requirements has made travel simpler again with the easing of restrictions allowing for more spontaneous travel opportunities. Strategically located within the UAE, the Wizz Air Abu Dhabi network also provides ultra-low fare, hassle-free and efficient travel options to Alexandria (Egypt), Amman (Jordan), Aqaba (Jordan), Athens (Greece), Baku (Azerbaijan), Belgrade (Serbia), Kutaisi (Georgia), Manama (Bahrain), Muscat (Oman), Sarajevo (Bosnia), Sohag (Egypt), Tel-Aviv (Israel), Tirana (Albania) and Yerevan (Armenia) among others. -TradeArabia News Service The latest draft of the European Union's (EU) proposed legislative framework for governing virtual currencies, Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), still contains a provision that could limit the use of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies. Proof-of-work is the energy-intensive consensus mechanism that underlies popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH). The computing process has come under heavy scrutiny from lawmakers in the EU over energy concerns. A previous draft of the MiCA framework contained a strongly worded provision that proposed a prohibition of crypto services that rely on environmentally unsustainable consensus mechanisms starting in January 2025. But the provision was later scrapped following industry backlash. The EU parliamentarian in charge of the MiCA legislative framework, Stefan Berger, said at the time that the paragraph in question had been removed, but that a final decision had not yet been made. One version of the new draft, reviewed by CoinDesk, has a similar provision though significantly toned down from the original. It says that crypto assets "shall be subject to minimum environmental sustainability standards with respect to their consensus mechanism used for validating transactions, before being issued, offered or admitted to trading in the Union." If a proof-of-work consensus mechanism is operating on a small scale, it is exempt from having to meet sustainability standards, according to the provision. What qualifies as a small-scale operation has yet to be determined. Read more: Crypto Advocates Push Back on Swedens Call for EU Mining Ban It also says that energy-intensive crypto assets that are already in use in the EU before the legislation comes into effect, will have to "set up and maintain a phased rollout plan to ensure compliance with such requirements" as specified in another part of the framework. Another version of the measure, also seen by CoinDesk, would soften the language even further. However, it's believed the stronger version has a lot of support among parliamentarians. Story continues Although there are plans to move Ethereum from proof-of-work to a less energy-consuming consensus mechanism called proof-of-stake, it is unclear how bitcoin, the largest global cryptocurrency by volume traded, could transition from proof-of-work. So while there's been a huge push as of late to use renewable energy in bitcoin mining, the industry is still very much dependent on traditional energy sources, thus making the cryptocurrency potentially vulnerable under the stronger proposal. The crypto community has been swift to react, with some calling on citizens in the EU to contact their parliamentarians to oppose the measure. Ledger, a crypto hardware wallet provider, issued a statement saying: Individuals and organizations should be free to choose the technology most appropriate to their needs. Policymakers should neither impose nor discriminate in favor of a particular technology. This is deeply concerning and would have serious consequences for Europe. Pierre Person, a legislator in Paris and member of the Law Commission, condemned the newly added language in an extensive Twitter thread. In it, he addressed the impact that such regulation would have on European competitiveness in the growing crypto ecosystem. (9/9) Once again, we are going against the History. Once again, we are leaving opportunities to others while boasting of having a good regulation. If this text passes as it stands, we will pay the price in terms of our competitiveness and the interests of European citizens. Pierre PERSON (@Pierr_Person) March 11, 2022 The EU parliament is set to vote on the latest MiCA draft on March 14. UPDATE (March 3, 16:13 UTC): Adds information about alternative version. UPDATE (March 3, 18:23 UTC): Adds statements from Ledger and Pierre Person. People held plates filled with golden yellow basmati rice, light pink chicken shish taouk and deep green tabouli salad as they stood, waiting for a seat or table to clear at Sanaa's Gourmet Mediterranean on Saturday in Sioux Falls. Others rushed through the restaurant, carrying giant brown paper bags filled with take-out to eat at home. At one point, the line for the buffet-style lunch nearly reached the door as customers filed in to pay $20 that would go to World Central Kitchen's efforts to feed Ukrainians displaced from and fleeing the war. Customers at Sanaas Gourmet Mediterranean stand in line and fill tables during the lunch rush on Saturday, March 12. All the money from the lunch went toward helping Ukrainians through World Central Kitchen. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is reaching into its third week, with at least 2.5 million refugees fleeing the country and at least 1.85 million displaced within Ukraine, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. World Central Kitchen, founded by Chef Jose Andres, has been serving meals at the Polish border for Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of March and has set up kitchens in Kyiv, Lviv and other cities to help feed Ukrainian families. Im in our @WCKitchen restaurant Babo Gardens in Lvivthey are making beef & buckwheat with cabbage salad for lunch! We are packing up thousands meals here for refugees arriving to Lviv plus sheltersthis is only one of our 10 kitchens here working non-stop. #ChefsForUkraine pic.twitter.com/8GiFIyVgMP Jose Andres (@chefjoseandres) March 12, 2022 "It's always the people on the ground and the poor people that are left out, and they're (Sanaa's) directly impacting them and making a difference in a positive way," Jason Karimi, 33, an electrician who eats at Sanaa's every Saturday, said. "I think it's a really good relief effort." Story continues All proceeds from Sanaa's lunch will go to World Central Kitchen. It was too early to know Saturday afternoon how much money was raised during the three-hour lunch service. More: Sioux Falls community gathers at vigil to show support for Ukraine: 'It's everyone's pain right now' Sanaa Abourezk, the owner, told the Argus on Friday that she hoped to raise at least $1,000. She's worked with World Central Kitchen before, from helping feed people affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to local COVID-19 efforts. A diner at Sanaas Gourmet Mediterranean scoops up rice during Saturday lunch on March 12. All proceeds from the lunch went to help Ukrainians through World Central Kitchen. Throughout the lunch service, seats filled as quickly as they emptied, with three high school students running around with a spray bottle and dishrag, wiping down the tables and trying to keep up with the crush of customers. Abourezk handed out flakey ladyfinger baklavas, saying the shape made them easier to eat while standing up. Many customers spoke about Abourezk's generosity for hosting the fundraiser. "It's a beautiful thing that they do," Valerie Glamzber, 65, said. Glamzber's husband Clyde added that Abourezk was a "very compassionate, empathetic individual." More: South Dakota has some of the lowest gas prices in the nation. Why is that? Not everyone who stopped by was there to eat. At one point, a man walked up to the counter and gave Abourezk a donation for the cause, saying that he would come back later for food. In exchange for his donation, she placed a tinfoil-wrapped baklava in his hand. A sign at Sanaa's Gourmet Mediterranean stating that Saturday's lunch will be a fundraiser for Ukraine through World Central Kitchen on Saturday, March 12. The fundraiser also helped those who were looking for a way to support the Ukrainian people. "I was looking for a good way to donate to the Ukraine situation that I knew was going to get there and be the right thing, and she opened this up and I thought that's perfect," Mary Ann Marko, 80, said. "I know the food is always wonderful, so here we are." "It's one little thing I think that a lot of people can do." Leigh Rezaz, a 37-year-old nurse with the Department of Health, said. Update: In an email Saturday evening, Sanaa Abourezk wrote that the lunch fundraiser had raised over $9,000 for World Central Kitchen. Follow Annie Todd on Twitter @AnnieTodd96. Reach out to her with tips, questions and other community news at atodd@argusleader.com or give her a call at 605-215-3757. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Lunch rush at Sanaa's fundraises for World Central Kitchen in Ukraine MIAMI & DALLAS, March 11, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits (Southern Glazer's)the worlds preeminent distributor of beverage alcoholtoday announced that it will be matching 100 percent of all employee donations made to three charitable organizations supporting humanitarian aid in Ukraine during the next 90 days. Southern Glazers has chosen to support World Central Kitchen, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) through its matching campaign. Employees are able to contribute through the Companys internal giving platform, VolunCheers Online, in order to be eligible for the donation match. "Southern Glazer's stands in support of the Ukrainian people," said Wayne E. Chaplin, Chief Executive Officer, Southern Glazers. "We are deeply saddened by the crisis and our hearts are with those who have been impacted by this terrible situation. Our FAMILY values represent a spirit of inclusiveness and giving back that is part of our cultural DNA, which is why weve chosen to support three organizations that have stepped in to provide much-needed aid. Our employees never hesitate to lend a helping hand in times of crisis, and we are happy to amplify their generosity through this campaign." About Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits is the worlds preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol, and proud to be a multi-generational, family-owned company. The Company has operations in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. In 2021, Southern Glazers was selected as a U.S. Best Managed Company by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal, as well as named by Newsweek as a Top 100 Most Loved Workplace. Southern Glazers urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve, and enjoy its products responsibly. For more information visit www.southernglazers.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @sgwinespirits. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220311005073/en/ Story continues Contacts Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, LLC Cindy Haas Vice President, Communications & CSR Office: (305) 625-4171, ext. 1166 Mobile: (786) 498-7640 Email: cynthia.haas@sgws.com Sofia Estevez Manager, Communications & CSR Office: (305) 625-4171, ext. 1162 Mobile: (786) 457-6821 Email: sofia.estevez@sgws.com Even by superyacht standards, the Scheherazade is enormous. Valued at an estimated $700 million, the vessel stretches to more than 450 feet, which is significantly longer than a football field. It has two helipads, elevator access between floors and gold-plated bathroom fixtures. U.S. officials believe it could potentially belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin himself, according to The New York Times. A number of superyachts owned by or linked to Russian oligarchs have been seized in recent days due to the ever-growing list of economic sanctions against Russia amid Putins invasion of Ukraine. Some of the Russian leaders assets are believed to be registered in others names. Scheherazade, one of the largest superyachts in the world, anchors in the Bodrum district of Mugla, Turkey, in August 2020. (Photo: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Despite their size, yachts that wealthy individuals wish to keep out of the public eye can be hidden through shell companies, making it tough to figure out who owns it. People who work on such vessels are commonly made to sign nondisclosure agreements to discourage the information from leaking out. The Times reported that American investigators are currently digging into the Scheherazades ownership, citing multiple unnamed people briefed on the information. Italian authorities are also trying to decipher who owns the ship, the Times reported earlier in the week. The Scheherazade flies under the flag of the Cayman Islands, according to the tracking service MarineTraffic, and has been moored in the Italian town of Marina di Carrara since early September after arriving from Montenegro across the Mediterranean Sea. The Times earlier story included a tantalizing quote from a retired Italian clerk: Everybody calls it Putins yacht, but nobody knows whose it is. Investigators have so far reached no conclusions, according to the paper. The ships British captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, told a Times reporter he had never seen Putin aboard, although he had heard the same rumors. The Scheherazade appears to derive its name from the female protagonist in the Middle Eastern anthology One Thousand and One Nights who inspired a popular 19th-century symphony of the same name by Russian-born composer Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. Story continues In the classic tale, Scheherazade arranges to be married to a vengeful sultan who keeps marrying virgin brides and killing them the day after. But on her first night with the sultan, she begins telling a story so long, she is not finished by the morning. So she is allowed to continue the next night, and the one after, until the Sultan falls in love with her. The vessel Scheherazade was manufactured in 2020 by German shipbuilding company Lurssen. It does not appear on the companys gallery of masterpieces on its website, despite being one of the largest yachts in the world. It also appears to have little outdoor lounging space for a ship of its size, the trade site Boat International noted. Its visitors are instead largely shielded by dark glass. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Alex Iskold is "one of the luckiest people you've ever met," he says from his office in New York. He's the co-founder and managing partner of a venture firm, 2048 Ventures. He previously spent five years with Techstars as the managing director of its New York City program, where he invested in and helped more than 100 startups. Iskold has also cultivated a vast network of contacts -- contacts that he is putting to use for the second time in two years. The first time, Iskold and fellow VC Minda Brusse called on these friends and acquaintances to fund families in need during the pandemic, forming a kind of human blockchain, as The New York Times described it. According to Iskold, the effort ultimately spread $3 million to roughly 1,000 families, he says. Now, Iskold is reviving that earlier operation, dubbed the 1K Project, to provide much-needed help to Ukrainian refugees who've fled the country, as well as families that remain trapped within its borders, are suddenly jobless and, in a growing number of cases, no longer have a place to call home. "I never thought I would have to restart the 1K Project, but as soon as I realized what [Russia's invasion of Ukraine] would mean," he started making calls, he says. Like many people, Iskold is horrified by a war that, one month ago was hard to imagine yet has already displaced more than 2 million people and caused more than $100 billion in damage. But it's also personal. Iskold is Ukrainian. He spent the first 19 years of his life in the country, and he still has many cousins and friends and acquaintances there. Indeed, he says a third cousin and her family escaped almost immediately after Russian troops entered the country, while desperate others have stayed because they have sons and husbands who are between the ages of 18 and 60 and thus forbidden from leaving the country. Iskold's network has been quick to heed the call for help. Since tweeting out the news 11 days ago that he was resuscitating the 1K Project to funnel money to Ukrainians, a network of 30 volunteers, from developers to data analysts, has sprung into action to spread the word and ease the path to helping sponsor and recipients reach each other. Story continues As Iskold explains it, "The most powerful thing we've built is a distributed network [that quickly enables] sponsors and families to apply. Interested parties can find the forms on our site. There is a lightweight vetting process for sponsors and more strict vetting process for recipients. But once the sponsor and the family are approved, they get matched, and the sponsor is texted or emailed directions on how to fund the family through [the only money transfer service] Wise.com." The donations, made in $1,000 increments, are not tax deductible. For those who want to donate larger amounts and to receive a tax credit for them, Iskold says the group is using an outfit called OpenCollective.com as its fiscal sponsor. (To donate to five or more families, for example, 1K Project will send someone instructions on how to donate to OpenCollective; it will then dispatch the money to the families through that vehicle.) More volunteers -- and donors -- are needed. 1K Project -- which Iskold describes as "razor focused on helping families who have three-plus children," including women who are either in the war zone or who are otherwise displaced with their children -- already has more demand than it can meet. "We have a ranking algorithm and we're shortly going to fund 1,200 families," he says. "But we have 12,000 applicants and we can't fund everybody; we just don't have enough." As for how the money is being deployed, there are "so many use cases," says Iskold, who credits the Ukranian banking system for continuing to function in the face of complete chaos. Some families have used the funds to move to safer parts of the country, he notes; others who are already outside of Ukraine are using it buy food for their children. In all cases, the families are in highly distressed situations, he says. "We've heard from a bunch of families where they're sitting on their couch one day and the next day, the bombs completely blew away their homes and they have nowhere to live and they need to figure out how to get out of that place with [not much more] than a T-shirt." The stories pain him. "I'm getting thank-you messages and constantly crying," he says. Worse, he knows there's only so much that his sprawling and eager network can do. "There is just a ton of problems that we're hearing about that we're not able to help with, like ammunition for the army or medical supplies." In the midst of everything else, he worries about people he knows, particularly when they become hard to track. "You know how you see green dot [on your smartphone] and then sometimes you don't?" He is meanwhile doing what he can -- and seemingly making a dent. Since spinning up the 1K Project anew, people have donated $1 million to more than 800 families, help that is "exceptionally helpful for refugees" who've left everything behind in a flash. Alas, that need looks poised to balloon. "If families are displaced within Ukraine and lucky enough to get into refugee centers," says Iskold, "a lot of stuff is taken care for them. If they're not in refugee centers, they need food, they need help." An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian's army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka Videos that appear to show war crimes in Russia's war against Ukraine litter social media. Human Rights researchers are analyzing and cataloging these videos in real-time. The videos could one day be used in international criminal cases against Russians. The camera moves rapidly. Sounds of artillery echo in the distance. A pile of mangled metal and rubber burns. Injured people are carried away from the large building, some on stretchers and some on the backs of others. The video, posted and shared across social media early Wednesday, was one of several that showed the aftermath of what Ukrainian officials said was the Russian military's bombing of a children's and maternity hospital in southern Ukraine. Another video posted to Telegram on Wednesday, and verified by The New York Times, showed the inside of the hospital. It similarly was littered with debris from broken windows, fallen ceilings, and damaged walls. A person says that there is blood everywhere. Over the last several weeks, videos from inside Ukraine have spread across social media platforms, giving viewers across the globe a front-row seat to the atrocities of Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine. The onslaught of videos and images from the conflict has also provided researchers and human rights groups access to a trove of potential evidence as they seek to document atrocities and war crimes. "We do reconstructions of scenes to really understand how that evidence plays out," said Milena Marin, the senior advisor at Amnesty International's Citizen Evidence Lab. "We combine all that with the testimonies to have a complete picture as much as possible." The content comes from a variety of sources: often journalists or citizens on the ground who feel it's their "mission" to show what's happening to their cities, Marin said. On TikTok, Ukrainians have posted videos showing the aftermath of nights of shelling and other attacks, showing holes bored into the sides of buildings and debris littering streets. A chilling video captured Sunday by a freelance journalist in Irpin, Ukraine, appeared to show the moment a Russian mortar strike killed a Ukrainian family trying to escape violence. Story continues Access to these pieces of video and photo evidence is changing the way that human rights researchers operate, according to Marin. There's less need for on-the-ground researchers and translators, while organizations are able to quickly gather information directly from sources. The sheer amount of videos and images, however, can be daunting. "The content is overwhelming and the scale of this crisis is overwhelming," Marin said. What makes it more manageable for researchers is their ability to specialize. Marin and her team look for content specifically showing attacks on civilian areas or infrastructure, and strikes or attacks on "protected" spaces, like hospitals or schools. They're also hunting for videos that show the use of indiscriminate weapons, like ballistic missiles, and the use of banned weapons, including cluster bombs. "Those are all likely war crimes," Marin said. "That is important for us to document, hopefully for future justice and accountability mechanisms." Researchers have done similar, grueling work before, she said, pointing toward efforts to document crimes and human rights abuses in Syria and Yemen. But the "speed and the scale" of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has made this more challenging. "Multiple fronts, multiple cities being attacked at the same time lots of content coming through, and the nature of the content is particularly graphic," Marin said.. Researchers download and store content to prevent it from being lost forever Compiling online evidence of atrocities comes with a sense of urgency. Because of its graphic nature, there are concerns that social media platforms will remove pieces of evidence because the videos or photos violate policies against showing or inciting violence. "People report it because it's graphic, and then social media companies take it down. And that is literally evidence of war crimes," Marin said, adding that her team has long been in touch with social media platforms on the issue. A September 2020 report from Human Rights Watch found 11% of the 5,396 social-media videos it cited in reports from 2015 to 2020 had been removed from YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook. The companies, at the time, refused to grant researchers access to the removed videos for archival purposes, the report said. Social-media companies have previously been criticized for deleting content depicting human rights abuses during conflicts, including videos from the Syrian civil war. Researchers now download more content than they might currently need to prepare for potential takedowns, Marin said. In addition to collecting the evidence, teams looking into atrocities in Ukraine have to verify the content they're cataloging is legitimate amid a sea of misinformation and disinformation that has appeared since the war began last month. "It's always part of the equation," said Roman Osadchuk, a research assistant for Eurasia at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab. There is always the possibility that someone could share an old video from a previous conflict with the intent to mislead viewers, Osadchuk said. Others could also inadvertently spread misinformation, sharing videos they believe show one thing when, in reality, they show something else. Especially in the early days of the conflict, some videos posted to social media claiming to show the conflict actually used recycled footage and audio from previous conflicts. On platforms like TikTok, some clips originated from hyper-realistic video games, Insider previously reported. Researchers compare video to satellite imagery to determine authenticity The first step to verifying content is finding out where and when it was created. At Amnesty's Citizen Evidence Lab, Marin said researchers look for landmarks in the footage buildings, trees, and streets and match those with landmarks in satellite imagery, street-view captures, and ground-level photographs. Determining where a video was filmed is fairly easy, Marin said, but finding out when it originated can be far more complicated. "We've seen footage being recycled from one war to the other," Marin said. "I've seen a lot of the rhetoric, for example, from Russians that are trying to say that actually there's no war happening. They are saying that footage is from Syria." The researchers analyze weather patterns and shadows to see if they match the conditions when the video was claimed to have been recorded. They also look for "scars" on the Earth and debris from previous incidents. A weapons expert on the team helps figure out who may have launched an attack, analyzing evidence of equipment seen in the photos or videos, looking for insignia or clues relating to when a piece of equipment may have been manufactured and by whom. Videos and photos take a backseat role in criminal trials The primary importance of all these videos and images is about showing the world what is going on in a conflict, according to Bill Wiley, the founder and executive director of the Commission for International Justice and Accountability. "It gets the message out to the wider public what's happening," Wiley said. From a criminal evidence point-of-view, these photos and videos function as a "crime base," he said. Crime-based materials "constitute roughly 10%" of the evidence used in any international criminal prosecution, according to Wiley. More important to these cases is what he called "linkage evidence," or "materials generated by the perpetrating structure," like internal documents and reports from perpetrators and testimony from insiders. The International Criminal Court in February announced it planned to investigate Russia for "war crimes and crimes against humanity." Videos shared on social media, while important, do not themselves establish responsibility for the crimes, Wiley said. "I mean, we know the Russians are shelling in the cities, for example, but, it's important to keep in mind that criminal prosecutions are focused on individuals, not institutions or countries," Wiley said. "It is part of the puzzle but not the biggest piece," he added. Read the original article on Business Insider One of the more than 50 speakers at the Nov. 15, 2021, Spotsylvania School Board meeting was Lauren Mullikin, a junior at Courtland High School. It was the first meeting after the board voted to remove sexually explicit books from school library shelves and the community had lots to say about the issue. If you are scared of a community you are supposed to represent, this is not the job for you, said Mullikin, accusing several members of the board of displaying anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments. Since then, Mullikin and students at other county high schools havent stopped speaking at School Board meetings and advocating for better representation of student interests. Among other requests, they are asking for the establishment of a student advisory board and for a student representative to be seated on the dais at School Board meetings. I think a lot of times, people overlook what we say and disregard us, Mullikin said. Weve seen people online saying they dont think we write our speeches, but its all been us. This is our idea. There has been an uptick in student participation at School Board meetings since last year, when students were among community members asking for school to be open for in-person instruction and then for personal choice in whether or not to mask. There has been even more student participation since two board members spoke in favor of burning books at the Nov. 9, 2021, meeting, and there are signs that the board is listening. Last month, in response to requests, the board agreed to create time for student comments at the beginning of the public comments section of each regular meeting, to prevent students from having to wait until late in the evening for their chance to address the board. Mullikin and a group of Courtland High School students are working on setting up student town hall meetings with School Board members. These town halls would be open to students and staff only, not the general public, and only students would be able to ask questions. The idea is to give them a chance to question board members without the influence of parents, according to Mullikin and fellow organizers Brody Barr and Nick Bartram. Barr said he started paying attention to School Board meetings last summer and his involvement ramped up since the board fired Superintendent Scott Baker without cause in January. He said he doesnt like what he sees as the blatant politicization of the boards actions. They are public servants and I strongly believe they should not be political at all, Barr said. It isnt whether the board skews left or rightits that they skew at all. I think they should be there for the students and should listen to what the students have to say. Barr said he and the students he is working with want to fight disinformation about the school system and tone down the tense rhetoric theyve heard from parents and board members about issues like critical race theory and explicit library books. The adults are very passionate, but I dont know if they are going about it the right way, he said. They could take some notes from the kids. Bartram, who is an Eagle Scout, said he doesnt like seeing the board not follow its own policies. As a Boy Scout, I have to follow the rules of the troop, he said. I dont necessarily like them, but I have to follow them, and the board should have to follow their own rules. In addition to helping organize the town halls, Bartram said he has been busy researching board policies and parliamentary rules. Mullikin is planning to initiate a student letter-writing campaign, so those who cant attend board meetings can tell School Board members what they dont like and what they want to see happen. Mullikin said she has been involved in her school community through volunteer work and club participation, but this is her first time using my voice to change policy. She said she now looks forward to addressing the board during public comments. I research and I come prepared, she said, adding that her goal is to be nonaggressive and non-oppositional. Riverbend High School student Olivia Morse has been organizing student demonstrations before recent School Board and supervisor meetings. She said the message she wants to share is that Spotsylvania is a diverse community and that the School Board should represent all of it. There are so many different kinds of families here, Morse said. When you hold up one type of family and try to represent them on a board that is open to everyonethat is what irks me. During school budget negotiations, the students have been advocating for a fully funded budget under the hashtag #fundourfuture. They are asking for staff bonuses, for teacher pay raises, for student and teacher mental health needs to be addressed and for critical infrastructure needs to be met. Massaponax High School senior Dante Braden said those are the issues that matter to most students. He said its been painful for him to hear parents in the community accuse his teachers of indoctrinating him or trying to slip divisive concepts into the curriculum. Whats more a concern to me is not an abstract idea that something might be in the curriculum, but the leaking roof at Massaponax, having to attend classes in the auditorium because theres no substitute teacher to cover my class, or students who miss class time because their bus was late. Braden and other students are now working toward their top goal: getting the School Board to establish a student advisory board. Virginia Code permits the appointment of a student representative to the School Board. The student representative cant vote, but can advise, make motions and attend closed sessions. The students would like to see an advisory board made up of students from each high school either elected by their peers or appointed by each School Board member from a teacher-recommended list. That advisory board could then choose a member to attend School Board meetings, Braden said. Everyone says, Its for the students, he said. But what do the students really think or want? We need a student to communicate with them. The board members havent been in a classroom in years, but I was in one just a few hours ago. Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Saturday HomeStore open, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., 701 E. Dodge St., Fremont. The HomeStore sells donated items at discounted prices. Proceeds support the mission of Fremont Area Habitat for Humanity. Spring craft and vendor show, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fremont Eagles Club, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. Over 20 vendors are expected at the show. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont. Macaroni and cheese and grilled cheese fundraiser luncheon, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fremont Masonic Lodge 15, 350 E. 23rd St., Fremont. The fundraiser is sponsored by the Fremont/Elkhorn York Rite Masons. Proceeds will benefit Furever Home Inc. The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for kids (up to 12 years old). Alcoholics Anonymous womens heart-to-heart group, noon, Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont. Fremont Eagles Club open, noon to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business. The club is hosting a craft and vendor show from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Spiritual 12-Step Recovery Program, 7 p.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont. Fremont High School presents Oklahoma!, 7:30 p.m., Nell McPherson Theatre, Fremont High School, 1750 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets purchased online at fremont.booktix.com are $6 for students and $12 for adults. Tickets purchased at the door will be $10 for students and $15 for adults. Narcotics Anonymous The Lie is Dead meeting, 8 p.m., LifeHouse, 723 N. Broad St., Fremont. The hotline number is 402-459-9511. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10:30 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Sunday Alcoholics Anonymous Happy Sober Sunday Group, 9 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Narcotics Anonymous Seekers of Serenity meeting, 10:30 a.m., LifeHouse, 723 N. Broad St., Fremont. The hotline number is 402-459-9511. Fremont High School Choir Soup Lunch Fundraiser, noon to 2 p.m., Fremont High School cafeteria, 1750 N. Lincoln Ave., Fremont. Cost is a freewill donation. All proceeds will go to the FHS Choir. The soup lunch precedes the matinee performance of Oklahoma! Those attending the lunch can use the theatre or cafeteria entrance. The lunch will include a meet and greet with the cast and a photo booth from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Fremont Eagles Club open, noon to 6 p.m., 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business. Fremont High School presents Oklahoma!, 2:30 p.m., Nell McPherson Theatre, Fremont High School, 1750 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets purchased online at fremont.booktix.com are $6 for students and $12 for adults. Tickets purchased at the door will be $10 for students and $15 for adults. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Narcotics Anonymous Freedom Works Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont. Alcoholics Anonymous Sunday speaker, 7:30 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Monday TOPS Club (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), 9 a.m., First United Methodist Church, 850 N. Broad St., Fremont. Weigh-ins begin at 8 a.m. Visitors (preteens, teens and adults male and female) are welcome. The first meeting is free. For more information, call Janet Bloemker at 402-721-8952. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont. Lightkeepers Womens Group, 10 a.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Bingo, 1-2 p.m., Keene Memorial Library, 1030 N. Broad St., Fremont. All ages are welcome to enjoy an hour of bingo with prizes. Fremont Eagles Club open, 3 p.m. to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business. There will be a trustees meeting at 4 p.m. Digital Drop-In, 4-5 p.m., Keene Memorial Library, 1030 N. Broad St., Fremont. No appointment is necessary. Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont. Celebrate Recovery, 6:30 p.m., Fremont Church of the Nazarene, 960 Johnson Road. Fremont Board of Education meeting, 6:30 p.m., Main Street Education and Administration Building, 130 E. Ninth St., Fremont. The meeting is open to the public. Fresh Hope Mental Health Support Group, 7 p.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont. Narcotics Anonymous Freedom Works Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont. Alcoholics Anonymous 12x12 meeting, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Russias invasion of the Ukraine has brought devastation or death to hundreds of thousands of people. Whenever and however the brutal war ends, millions of Ukrainians will be displaced, as well as Russians vocally opposed to the war who fear President Vladimir Putins retaliation. Between the invasions beginning and March 6, more than 13,000 anti-war protesters were arrested. Russias crackdown on dissenters includes blocking access to Facebook and Twitter which could disseminate anti-war news that Putin wants hushed up. In early March, Putin signed legislation under which people suspected of spreading fake news about Russian forces could face up to 15 years in prison. The U.N. Refugee agency reported that 2 million Ukrainians have fled their country, mostly to Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. But the news agency Reuters found that, at the U.S.-Mexico border, a growing number of Russian and Ukrainian nationals have been encountered. In Mexico, the migrants buy throwaway vehicles and drive across the border into the United States to seek asylum. Assuming the Russian invasion continues, tens of thousands more displaced Eastern Europeans could eventually reach the U.S. to make their asylum claims. Illegal entry attempts could increase as visas become increasingly difficult to obtain. A Miami immigration lawyer fluent in Russian, Andrey Plaksin, said he is overwhelmed with calls and emails inquiring about the visa process and their availability. One option that might help Eastern Europeans get to the U.S. would be if they applied for a nonimmigrant tourist or work visa, assuming they could find a U.S. consular post open and accepting appointments. Once inside the U.S., they would face minimal chance of deportation. Almost immediately after the invasion began, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas granted Ukrainians living in the U.S. before March 1 temporary protected status for 18 months, protecting them from deportation for that period. Historically, TPS is quasi-automatically rolled over in 18-month increments for periods as long as two decades. By an overwhelming margin, Americans and Congress wants to help Ukrainian citizens and other countries that Putin may be determined to destroy. Eight in ten voters are following the Ukraine crisis closely, and 70 percent favor strong sanctions against Russia. But with the Russia-Ukraine war coming just weeks after the U.S. airlift that took Afghan nationals to overseas U.S. military bases and the American homeland, and with the illegal immigration invasion ongoing, many question how the country can environmentally sustain itself. Projecting Bidens first year immigration totals over his four-year term about 2 million illegal immigrants, 650,000 got aways, 1 million-plus lawful permanent residents and tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees and the U.S. will have about 8 million illegal immigrants that Customs and Border Protection processed, and roughly 2.5 million got aways now in the interior, safe from deportation. The Afghan resettlement is over, but a Ukrainian surge could surpass those numbers. To the existing totals, remember that demographers must include the roughly 3.1 family members that lawfully present immigrants, including refugees/asylees, will petition to be admitted to the country, as well as the families that theyll start or add to once in the U.S. Despite the Biden administrations ballyhoo about a future green America, hes ignored the huge carbon footprint that thousands of new immigrants will make as housing, roads, schools and hospitals are built to accommodate the needs of them and their offspring. Fifty years ago, the Rockefeller Commission Report, Population and the American Future, was submitted to Congress. The report urged population stabilization at the 1972 level, 211 million. Instead, population has soared to the current 334 million, and is projected to reach about 400 million by mid-century. Be mindful that these totals are pre-Bidens expansive open borders and resettlement policies. Fewer people would relieve, at least in part, many of Americas social ailments, including most obviously sprawl and overcrowding. Yet stable populations obvious benefits have escaped every presidential administration, Republican and Democrat, since Richard Nixon. A half-century of disregard for population growth has had no noticeable benefits for most Americans. For the donor class elite, however, growth is good for them. 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. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Hong Kong: Additional medical supplies arrive The Commerce & Economic Development Bureau today said the task force of ensuring medical supplies has been proactively co-ordinating with various government departments and units participating in anti-epidemic work on medical supplies needed. The bureau added that with the central governments full support, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has procured large quantities of medical supplies. Such items, which are arriving in Hong Kong in batches to cater for the needs of anti-epidemic work, include rapid antigen test (RAT) kits, proprietary Chinese medicines and personal protective equipment. The task force has swiftly distributed the medical supplies to frontline personnel, confirmed COVID-19 patients and people in need through relevant government departments, the Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link and other local organisations, to fight the virus together. It has so far procured more than 59 million RAT kits from the Mainland. Moreover, the task force has received over 130 million N95 masks, KN95 masks and surgical masks, as well as over 8.7 million of other protective equipment, including coveralls, gowns, goggles, face shields, shoe covers and surgical and examination gloves. These items will be distributed to frontline personnel according to the needs of various government departments. Additionally, more than 970,000 pulse oximeters have been received so far. Most of them have been distributed to the Hospital Authority for patient use. This story has been published on: 2022-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. A Colorado Springs school district is going on the offensive in the fight against the fast-growing fentanyl crisis in the city, the state and the nation. District 11, which has been impacted by overdose deaths in recent years, has launched its Fake and Fatal campaign, an initiative focused on educating and training staff members, students and families about the dangers of the synthetic opioid. We are hoping to get out ahead of this crisis and hopefully avoid more deaths, district spokeswoman Devra Ashby said of the project. The initial phase of the campaign, Ashby said, is to educate and train teachers and other employees about the seriousness of the fentanyl crisis and what they can do to combat it. The district has produced a comprehensive awareness video outlining the scope of the crisis in Colorado Springs and El Paso County, the lethality of the drug, and how easy it is to obtain. It also alerts staff members to the warning signs of an opioid overdose and what to do if one occurs. We recognize that we must start to prepare ourselves and be ready for an increased rise within our own community, said Cory Notestine, D-11s executive director of student success and wellness. We want to get in front of this. As the video explains, the rise in opioid deaths among teens is too complex to pin on a single cause, but many health care professionals believe the emotional upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to be a major factor. Colorado Childrens Hospital has identified a growing mental health crisis in children and teens across the state, exacerbated by feelings of isolation and hopelessness brought on by the pandemic. Because many youths havent yet developed coping mechanisms, their mental health struggles often manifest in complex and harmful ways. Some youths internalize their pain. Some act aggressively, taking their pain out on others. And some turn to drugs. Weve seen an elevated use of illegal substances to cope with the world that (teens) are living through, Notestine said. Several of our youth have engaged in illegal drugs that have caused overdoses, both in our community and within our school communities, and several of those students have lost their lives. A drug that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, fentanyl has become frighteningly simple to buy. Many drugs are being sold on social media, meaning just about any teen with a little money and a working Wi-Fi connection can obtain illegal drugs, the D-11 video explains, as easy as ordering a pizza. Additionally, because drug dealers are now selling fentanyl in the guise of other drugs like oxycontin and Xanax, many people are ingesting the deadly drug without knowing it. Fentanyl is being manufactured at extremely low cost, distributed to cartels and other nefarious individuals to be pressed into other pills, such as Percocet, Notestine says in the video. These other drugs are now being laced with lethal doses of fentanyl, unbeknownst to the purchaser. Law enforcement officials believe this is how five people died in a Commerce City apartment last month in what is thought to be the largest mass fentanyl overdose in the U.S. The victims thought they were using cocaine, officials said. The 2021 statistics are expected to be available in May, but Colorados 2020 overdose numbers are staggering. State health data show there were 10 times as many overdoses involving fentanyl in 2020 than there were just four years earlier. Opioid deaths saw a 54% increase in 2020, and fentanyl was a factor in nearly 70% of opioid deaths in the state. The next phase of the Fake and Fatal initiative, beginning this week, will be to make students and their families aware of the size and breadth of the problem District 11 is trying to combat, Notestine said. During its Feb. 23 meeting, D-11s Board of Education unanimously approved revisions to its first-aid and emergency medical care policy to allow Narcan to be stored in district schools and used by trained employees in case of an opioid overdose. Narcan or naloxone is an opioid antagonist that can reverse the effects of an overdose if administered properly and soon enough after the event. This is a serious issue throughout El Paso County, said board President Parth Melpakam. We wanted to make sure our students are safe and protected on our campuses. (Narcan) is an important resource our staff can use to keep our students safe and healthy. The board also recommended a policy revision that includes the administration of Narcan in the liability exemptions listed under the Good Samaritan law, which exists to shield people from being sued if they give emergency aid to an injured person. Narcan is not yet available in all D-11 schools, but school nurse lead Bobbi Lahey said several schools have already requested to have a supply on campus, and many district employees have requested to be trained in its proper use. Obviously, we hope never to have to use it, Lahey said. But its important to have it in stock and to have staff members trained to use it. We hope to eventually have it in every building. District officials hope that increased awareness of the seriousness and proximity of the fentanyl crisis will help avoid unnecessary deaths, Notestine said. Yes, this has become a national problem, but we need to fight it at the local level, he said. The fentanyl crisis is very real, and its right here in our community. Two so-called road improvement projects for Colorado Springs are causing concern in the citys older close-to-downtown neighborhoods. One proposal calls for high-speed, high-capacity buses to roll along North Weber Street from downtown through the Near North End and the Old North End, eventually terminating at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS). The other proposal would extend westbound Constitution Avenue, which now ends at Paseo Road, along the old Rock Island railroad tracks past the Bonnyville and Roswell neighborhoods and by Monument Valley Park to Interstate 25. Both projects were pronounced as high-priority city roadway improvements at a meeting early this month of CTAB, the Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee, which studies and makes recommendations for street and road changes in Colorado Springs. The North Weber Street proposal involves BRT, or Bus Rapid Transit. Large transit buses, sometimes operating in connected pairs, would provide rapid service with limited stops up North Weber Street to the area around the old Rock Island railroad tracks and East Fillmore Street. At that point the BRT right-of-way would shift from North Weber Street to North Nevada Avenue and run through a mainly commercial and light industrial area to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs campus. In its most highly developed form, BRT includes frequent service, with buses scheduled to depart the main terminals every five minutes. Because buses would be running in both directions, there could be a big fast bus (or double bus) passing a home or business along the route every two-and-a-half minutes. Bus Rapid Transit is a good idea for the North Nevada Avenue stretch of the proposal. That area is mainly commercial/industrial, and the city hopes the presence of the BRT will stimulate major redevelopment in the form of new apartment buildings, office buildings and shopping areas. But Bus Rapid Transit is not ideal for the North Weber Street section. From East Boulder Street downtown to East Jackson Street (near Penrose Hospital and Bon Shopping Center), North Weber Street is primarily single-family and two-family residential. That section of North Weber Street includes some of the oldest and most historic houses in Colorado Springs. The 15-block portion from downtown to East Del Norte Street (Steele Elementary School) is in the North Weber Street/North Wahsatch Avenue National Historic District. Big buses moving along at the speed limit going by every two-and-a-half minutes are not appropriate for a historic residential street populated mainly by families. The two neighborhood associations involved, the Near North End and the Old North End, are asking the city to not put BRT on North Weber Street. The two neighborhoods support BRT, but on major highways, such as I-25, where it is more appropriate and fits in. The other proposal extending Constitution Avenue westward past Bonnyville and Roswell to I-25 has been proposed before and rejected. In the late 1990s, a so-called East-West Expressway was to run along the old Rock Island railroad right-of-way, past the northern boundary of the Old North End, across Monument Creek, and then turn south past Monument Valley Park to a connection with West Fontanero Street and Interstate 25. The highway noise and the additional traffic generated by the proposed Constitution Avenue expressway posed real threats to residents in nearby neighborhoods. Neighborhood associations, such as the Old North End, took a firm stand that the old Rock Island right-of-way should be used only for a biker-hiker trail. On Jan. 9, 1996, Colorado Springs City Council settled the issue. There would be no East-West expressway. Council permanently designated the Rock Island railroad corridor as a trail. The railroad had been, for the most part, abandoned. City staff was directed not to bring this road issue before City Council again. But now the old Rock Island highway, or East-West Expressway, or Constitution Avenue extension, or whatever you want to call it, has been resurrected. It faces two major problems. One is that Horace Mann Junior High School is in the way. Either the school building will have to be removed, or the school will have a major four-lane highway jammed in right next to it. A bigger problem is going through or close to Monument Valley Park. When Gen. William Palmer, the founder of Colorado Springs, gave the park to the city, he specified it can only be used for park purposes. The League of Women Voters went to court and won a judgment that General Palmers parkland gifts to the city must be used for parks and nothing else. The Bus Rapid Transit proposal for North Weber Street is innocuously named the North Nevada Enhanced Transit Project Phase 1. The Constitution Avenue proposal is simply called the Constitution Feasibility Study. These projects involve, for many nearby residents, undesirable collateral side effects and likely unanticipated consequences. City leaders should drop these questionable projects from their highway priority lists. Tom Cronin and Bob Loevy write on national and Colorado political issues. Iowas two U.S. senators are calling on the Biden administration and Congress to quickly replace Russian oil with clean, American-made renewable fuels like Iowa biofuels. Biofuels can fill the demand and lower the cost to motorists because the cost of ethanol is much less expensive as biodiesel than just straight-up petroleum products, Sen. Joni Ernst told reporters Wednesday. That will make an immediate impact to the cost of fuel across the United States. Ernst and Sen. Chuck Grassley are introducing the Home Front Energy Independence Act to replace banned Russian oil with American renewable fuels currently available. The proposal would combine parts of previous legislation to make E15 available year-round, establish an E15 and biodiesel tax credit, direct the Environmental Protection Agency to finalize its E15 labeling rule and provide for biofuel infrastructure and compatibility with retailers. Iowas clean, American-made, renewable fuels are ready and available to meet our nation's needs right away, Ernst said. In fact, the current excess ethanol capacity domestically is nearly the same as the amount of Russian gas the U.S. had been importing roughly 83 million barrels versus 87 million barrels. With the national average price of gasoline hitting $4.17 a gallon, it's far past time for President Biden to make good on the promises he made on the campaign trail to Iowa farmers and producers and to pass our bipartisan legislation to unleash Iowa biofuel right now, Ernst said. As he travels around the state, Grassley said, he sees E15 priced 30 to 40 cents a gallon less than non-blended gasoline. It's very clear that biofuels provide a quick and easy solution for lowering prices at the pump, said Grassley, who is running for re-election. The proposed legislation is a clean-energy solution that can immediately lower gas prices and bolster American energy independence. He was critical of reported attempts by the Biden administration to get OPEC to increase production or to buy oil from Venezuela. This is an urgent or very urgent problem that is impacting families across the country, Grassley said. Iowa producers stand ready to meet the moment and to ramp up production. The answer is Iowa biofuels, not OPEC oil. Grassley was critical of the presidents energy program, which has included stopping the XL pipeline and some offshore drilling, with more restrictions on fracking. The president is probably going to be reluctant to do anything other than cry about importing more oil, Grassley said. Gas prices were going up before Russia invaded Ukraine and Biden announced the ban on importing Russian oil, which makes up about 3 percent of the U.S. supply. At the same time gas prices are rising, he said, President Biden is off talking about electric vehicles, which require rare earth minerals that come from where? Russia and China. Ernst and Grassley conceded it will take support from both parties to approve their legislation. I think its going to take the same bipartisan outrage from the Congress that forced him yesterday to say we aren't going to take Russian oil, Grassley said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 12.55 GMATD11 wrote: 14) A bullet train leaves kyoto for Tokyo traveling 240 miles per hour at 12 noon. Ten minutes later, a train leaves Tokyo for Kyoto traveling 160 miles per hour.If Tokyo and Kyoto are 300 miles apart, at what time ill the trains pass each other? a) 12.40 pm b) 12.49 pm c) 12.55 pm d) 1.00 pm e) 1.05 pm Catch up time= Distance between the 2/Speed of Train from K->T + Speed of Train from T->K 300/240+160 = 45 mins as Train from T->k started 10 mins late catch up time will be 12.55 If i calculate with other method 240(t+1/6)+ 160t = 300 i got t as 39 mins as Train from T->k started 10 mins late catch up time will be 12.49 WHEN CAN WE APPLY THE FORMULA TO CALCULATE Catch up time because in this case its not giving correct answer. 300/240+160 = 45 mins ---> This is wrongYou are assuming that train K->T started the same instant that the train T->K started. So train T->K traveled 1/6 * 160 miles more and hence the "kiss" time went down by 4 mins. i.e. 45 mins. However the actual time to intersect is 49 mins.as Train from T->k started 10 mins late catch up time will be--->When using the relative speed you assumed if one train were still, the other train will catch up at effectively 400 mph. So 400/6 miles is covered in 1/6 hr. This cannot be undone by simple arithmetic as adding 10 mins to the time of intersect. This doesn't work.In fact the correct assumption is that for the first 1/6 hr (10 mins), the slower train was still and only the faster train was moving. Bunuel wrote: Federal investigators, called in at the request of the management of Ploutos National Bank, recently apprehended a ring of seven embezzlers from among the bank's employees. The bank management decided to call in the federal investigators when they were unable to account for millions of dollars missing in their budget for this year. All the funds those seven individuals embezzled have been returned to the bank, and that accounts for about two thirds of the total amount missing. All seven of the accused have plea-bargained to avoid trial and are now serving in prison on reduced sentences. Which of following conclusions can most properly be drawn from the information above? (A) The Ploutos National Bank still has reason to suspect more embezzlers beyond the seven apprehended by Federal investigators. (B) In the past, no employee had ever embezzled funds from Ploutos National Bank (C) Federal investigators have the means at their disposal to detect any large illegal transfers of money. (D) The seven embezzlers would have wound up with longer prison sentences if they had not plea-bargained. (E) In initiating a federal investigation of their own company, the managers of Ploutos National Bank were subject to no fees from the federal government. OFFICIAL EXPLANATION The bank noticed that big bucks were missing, so they called in the feds. The feds apprehended seven embezzlers, and returning these fund accounts for 2/3 of the missing money. All seven of the embezzlers plea-bargained and consequently got shorter sentence than they would have received if tried and convicted. We don't know where that remaining 1/3 of the missing money went.What can we conclude?(A) is the credited answer. We don't know what became of that remaining 1/3 of the money --- we don't know, and presumably, the bank managers don't know either. Did other embezzlers take that extra missing money? We don't know for sure, but that's as likely a hypothesis as any. In that sense, bank managers certainly have reason to suspect more embezzlers.(B) is absolutely wrong. We don't know this at all. All we have is information about this one grand event this year. We don't know anything about the past.(C) is a good tempting answer, because we suspect that it's probably a true statement. Nevertheless, nothing in the prompt paragraph gives any specific support to this.(D) is a tricky one. Plea bargaining is inherently a gamble. If my case goes to trial, then I may be convicted and get a long sentence, or I may be acquitted and walk away a free man. Instead, if I plea bargain, I avoid a trial entirely, and get a guaranteed shorter sentence. I trade the risk of a longer sentence for the certainty of a short sentence. By plea bargaining, the embezzlers definitely got a shorter sentence than they would have gotten if they had been tried and convicted. The trouble is: if their cases went to trial, anything could happen: there's no guarantee that, in a trial, they would be convicted. If they got a good lawyer and a clueless jury (which happens more than you would like to think!), then they might have been entirely acquitted. Therefore, we can't necessarily conclude, if they didn't plea bargain, that they absolutely would have gotten stiffer sentences._________________ thanhmaitran wrote: Voters commonly condemn politicians for being insincere, but politicians often must disguise their true feelings when they make public statements. If they expressed their honest views - about, say, their party's policies - then achieving politically necessary compromises would be much more difficult. Clearly, the very insincerity that people decry shows that our government is functioning well. Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines this reasoning? A. Achieving political compromises is not all that is necessary for the proper functioning of a government. B. Some political compromises are not in the best long-term interest of the government. C. Voters often judge politicians by criteria other than the sincerity with which they express their views. D. A political party's policies could turn out to be detrimental to the functioning of a government. E. Some of the public statements made by politicians about their party's policies could in fact be sincere. After going through all the posts on this thread, I can see that while many of us have gotten the answer right, hardly anyone of us has gotten it right for the right reasons.The crux of the argument is this: Since achieving politically necessary compromises would be much more difficult with honest views than with insincerity, the insincerity of the politicians shows that our govt is functioning well.The reason given on this thread for accepting option A is that the option shows that achieving political compromises does not help in the proper functioning of a government. Or it delinks political compromises from the functioning of the government.Neither of these reasons is correct.If I tell you that achieving 760 on GMAT is not all that is necessary for getting admission in Harvard (which, as you know is true since there are many other requirements), does it mean that 760 on GMAT doesn't help in getting admission in Harvard? Or does it mean that 760 on GMAT is not linked to admission to Harvard?The answer to both the questions is No. Right?Just that one thing is not the "only" necessary requirement doesn't mean that it is not even one of the requirements. Right?Similarly, option A doesn't mean achieving political compromises is not good for the functioning of a government.Rather, if I change the conclusion to "the very insincerity that people decry is good for the functioning of the government", option A will become incorrect, for the abovementioned reasons.The reason option A is correct is that the conclusion says that the insincerity "shows" that the government is functioning well.It's like saying "your 760 on GMAT shows that you have gotten into Harvard".Now, if someone tells me that 760 on GMAT is not the only requirement for Harvard, my above statement will be weakened.Right?Similarly, since option A says that achieving political compromises is not the only requirement for the proper functioning of the government, it means that even if we achieve political compromises, other requirements may not be met, and thus, the government may still not be functioning well. Therefore, just by knowing that we have probably achieved political compromises, we cannot say that the government is functioning well.Does it make sense?Option B is wrong because it says "some" political compromises are not in the best long-term interest of the government. One major reason for rejecting option B is that "some" means "at least one". So, essentially option B says that at least one political compromise is not in the.... Do we really need all political compromises to be in the "best long-term interests" of the government?No. Right?Secondly, it talks about "political compromises" in general, not specifically "necessary political compromises", as talked about in the argument. It could be that some political compromises are not good, but probably none of them is necessary. Probably, all necessary compromises are actually good for the government. Right?Therefore, option B doesn't weaken the argument.Option D says "A political party's policies could turn out to be detrimental to the functioning of a government". This option uses "could", which means, as in option B, that some policies could be detrimental to the functioning of a government. Now, even if some of the policies are detrimental to the functioning of the government, does it mean that politicians should express honestly?No. Because the reasoning of the argument stands as is. If they express honestly, achieving politically "necessary" compromises would be much more difficult.Therefore, even if option D is true, the reasoning of the argument stands as is.Thus, option D doesn't weaken the argument and is incorrect._________________ Robinson, a 1978 graduate of Dan River High School, has been program director for the $10 billion project for four years. It is the largest and most powerful space science observatory in history, according to NASA. An astrophysics mission that is a follow-up to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb Telescope is 100 times more powerful and will allow a 13.5 billion-year look back in cosmic time to see galaxies being formed. It will allow us to characterize exoplanets to better understand the habitability of those planets, Robinson said via an audio interview Thursday morning. Exoplanets are planets outside the solar system that orbit stars other than the sun. Scientists will use the Webb Telescope to determine the origin and evolution of planets and other bodies in the solar system and compare them to exoplanets, according to NASA. There are thousands of exoplanets in nearby galaxies, Robinson said. The Webb telescope also enables NASA to better characterize the planets in the solar system, including Mars, by allowing a more detailed look at them. Growing up in the area, Robinson never dreamed he would one day work for NASA. Some people have a grand plan from kindergarten through life, he said. I had none of that when I was a youngster. But he had a knack for math and science, taking advanced math classes in high school. Growing up Black in Pittsylvania County, Robinson attended a segregated Southside Elementary School through fourth grade. His parents were tobacco sharecroppers. He later attended Mount Hermon and Glenwood elementary schools, and Blairs Junior High School before entering Dan River High School in the ninth grade. He went on to earn a dual degree in math and electrical engineering, studying at Virginia Union University in Richmond and Howard University in Washington, D.C. In spite of the challenges posed by segregation during Robinsons childhood, I still say those were the best school years of my life, he said. It helped that he had quality teachers who nourished students minds. We had really tough teachers who were incredibly smart and great teachers, he said. They brought that wealth of knowledge to the classroom. They also brought a wealth of discipline. Robinson also earned a masters of business administration degree in 1993 from Averett College (now Averett University) and attended Harvard Universitys Senior Executive Fellows Program at the Kennedy School of Government. After a stint at AT&T, Robinson entered the space industry in 1988 and has worked full-time for NASA since 1989. He worked in a variety of leadership positions for NASA before leading the Webb project, including NASA-level deputy chief engineer and deputy center director at the John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Launched Webb had been in development for more than 20 years and was launched Christmas Day and deployed in early January. It was almost canceled in 2010 and 2011, Robinson said. They were going through some major technical, programmatic problems, he said. A lot of the new technology was still immature. The Webb Telescope is NASAs largest and most powerful space science telescope ever built, according to NASA. The plan is for the telescope to travel to an orbit about a million miles away from Earth to undergo six months of commissioning in space. Astronomers worldwide will then be able to conduct scientific observations to broaden our understanding of the universe, NASA states. Webb will also complement the science achieved by other NASA missions. The telescope is an international project among NASA and its partners including the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Thousands of engineers and hundreds of scientists along with more than 300 universities, organizations and companies from 29 states and 14 countries worked to develop Webb, according to NASA. A typical day for Robinson is a lot less hectic than it was before the launch of Webb. He spends a lot of time at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, where the observatory is being operated. He also spends time on the phone with members of the Webb team and keeps NASA administration informed of the project. Top honor He recently received the Roy L. Clay Sr. Technology Pinnacle Award, which recognizes African Americans across the country who are tech pioneers. Known as the Godfather of Silicon Valley, Clay is most known for developing new software for Hewlett-Packard computers and paving the way for other African Americans in the tech industry. The software we see in Hidden Figures, they were using his programming, said Clay, referring to the 2016 movie about a team of Black women who played a large role at NASA during its space programs early years. Hes done many other things in pioneering the computer industry in Silicon Valley and the whole Bay Area. Robinsons endeavors seem to have inspired his daughters. Two of them have science-related careers, while the third works in business, he said. Robinson lives in Manassas with his wife, Cynthia Robinson. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. As far as monumental moments, March 13, 2020, may not stand out as pivotal. But it will be forever etched in history as the day the pandemic hit home for the Dan River Region. With each passing hour that day, it became crystal clear the novel coronavirus had infiltrated daily routines. Community events were canceled in sweeping fashion as life virtually came to a standstill. Then came the ultimate shock. Delivered via news release at about 2 p.m. that day, Gov. Ralph Northam ordered all Virginia schools closed for two weeks. In itself it would have marked the longest shuttering even compared with lingering impacts from a crippling snowstorm in the South. At the time, even health experts couldnt fathom the fallout of COVID-19 would linger as long as it has. But here we are. We really had no idea what we were in for with the novel virus, Dr. Scott Spillmann, director of the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District, told the Register & Bee last week. While we knew there would be certain problems along the way, we didnt think it would last more than a few months, especially past the cold weather. The two-year anniversary is marked with harsh realities. Some 24,707 cases of the illness caused by the coronavirus officially have been reported in Danville and Pittsylvania County. The true number is undoubtedly higher. A total of 450 residents family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers have died at the hands of COVID-19. When it all started, the economic impact dwarfed the implications to health and daily lives. After all, the precautions were put in place before any infections started swirling in the region. That soon changed. It was not until we had two outbreaks in long-term care facilities at the end of March [2020] that we all started to see the devastation that COVID-19 could cause, McKenna Luzynski, an epidemiologist with the Southside Health District, told the Register & Bee. Nursing homes, filled with vulnerable individuals, were hit hard in the early days. Stringent lockdowns all with an eye to keeping residents safe quickly became the norm. When it started, Chris H. Garrett, local health emergency coordinator with the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District, used the 1918 Spanish Flu as a benchmark for what was unfolding in real time. COVID-19 is a different disease, but the overall planning and time expectations do not change, he explained. It seemed to follow the same pattern. It soon became apparent those two-week shutdowns werent enough. The pause on life extended for the months ahead. Long hours To this day, Luzynski still goes to sleep each night with her work phone next to her bed in case someone needs her during the night. I worked an average of 60-70 hours per week, the epidemiologist said of the early months in the pandemic. We all worked late nights and all day on the weekends. Sometimes that meant being on the phone as late as 1 a.m. or answering a call at 4 in the morning. Our epidemiologists were easily working 15 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, Spillman said. Garrett said it wasnt uncommon to have people on the job for about 80 hours in a week. Over at Sovah Health-Danville, emotions were high for the uncharted territory. When our care team initially started diagnosing COVID-19 in our hospital, we realized that symptoms of the virus can vary among individuals and spread very quickly, Dr. Sheranda Gunn-Nolan, market chief medical officer for Sovah Health, said. These two fundamentals were critical in how we treated and responded to the virus. The health system with campuses in Danville and Martinsville wanted to ensure the community it was prepared and had contingencies ready. Our quick response and preparedness in unknown conditions demonstrates the power of our employees, the strength of our team, and the value of our community-centered care, Gunn-Nolan told the Register & Bee. We wanted to assure our community that our providers and clinical teams are well-trained and prepared to manage outbreaks of viruses and infectious diseases, including the coronavirus. We were in this together not just as a care team or hospital but as a community. Education Virginia, led at the time by the only governor who was a doctor, became the first state in the nation to cancel classes for the rest of the year. Few could have imagined the extent to which our lives and the education of our students would be disrupted, Pittsylvania County Schools Superintendent Mark Jones told the Register & Bee. During the initial days of the pandemic, we did not have the luxury of languishing in feelings of shock or disappointment. Instead, schools were thrust into coming up with an action plan that extended far beyond the educational environment. In Pittsylvania County, the school nutrition departments staff was among the first to respond. They put a plan in place for emergency distribution of meals the first week school was closed by order of Northam. Even after the governor extended his temporary closure to encompass the balance of the 2019-2020 school year, positivity in the face of adversity characterized the response of every department within our school system in the weeks and months that followed as they rallied to formulate plans to meet the needs of our students throughout the pandemic, Jones said. Danville Public Schools Superintendent Angela Hairston remembers watching TV as each state announced schools would be closed for the rest of the year. While I was not the superintendent at the time, I could see from afar that Danville was well positioned because of access to technology and the investment in access to the internet, she said. At the time, Hairston was the superintendent for Winston Salem/Forsyth County Schools in North Carolina. Superintendents across the country were warned to begin planning for virtual and remote planning, she explained. Some school districts ramped up their virtual learning plan, while others struggled with the concept. Many thought by fall of 2020 things would be back to normal, she said. Little did anyone realize a transformational shift in pandemic education was emerging. Averett University following step with other colleges throughout the nation shifted to online learning and moved most employees to a remote working mode. In fact, that decision was announced the evening of March 12, 2020, a day before a cascade of closures engulfed the area. It wasnt an easy determination to make, said spokesperson Cassie Jones. This decision was incredibly difficult, she wrote in an email to the Register & Bee. Our campus community thrives on close, personal connections and access to supportive relationships between our students, faculty, staff and the larger community. During a time of year when the college is full of energy, its campus was mostly empty. Then when we realized we had to extend the remote instruction for the remainder of the semester, it was an incredibly emotional time for all of us, as these decisions did not come easily, Jones explained. They were informed with countless hours of debating, strategizing and following the guidance of health officials, all while keeping our students at the center. It was a similar experience over at Danville Community College. Already on spring break, DCC added an extra week off for students. Later it also moved learning into the virtual realm. In March of 2020, we closed our campus and moved to virtual operations with the intent of returning to campus in a few weeks, DCC spokesperson Faith ONeil said. No one could have predicted the magnitude of the pandemic or how long it would last. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Updated 5:49 p.m. ARCHDALE Two children taken by a noncustodial parent on Monday have been found safe, according to a Facebook post from the Archdale Police Department. With the assistance of the Randolph County Sheriffs Office, Jayden Robertson, 13, and Isabella Robertson, 9, were located safe in the Seagrove area. The non-custodial mother, Tonya York was not with the children at the time of their discovery and remains at large, police said. Posted 4:01 p.m. ARCHDALE Authorities are looking for two children taken by a noncustodial parent, according to a news release from the Archdale Police Department. Officials received a report on Monday that the children, Jayden Robertson, 13, and Isabella Robertson, 9, were taken from a home on Belmont Drive by a noncustodial parent, police said. Jayden was last seen wearing jeans and a T-shirt and Isabella was last seen wearing a blue nightgown. Arrest warrants for child abduction have been issued for Tonya York, police said. She was last seen driving an older burgundy Chevy S10 truck. She may be in the southern part of Randolph County. Anyone who has seen these children or has information is asked to contact local law enforcement and the Archdale Police Department at 336-434-3134, or Detective Chewning at 336-434-7336. If you wish to remain anonymous you can contact Archdale Crime Stoppers at 336-861-7867. Crimestoppers pays cash rewards for information that leads to an arrest or solutions to serious and unsolved crimes. Note: District 6 includes Guilford County and part of Forsyth County; District 10 includes all of Yadkin, Surry, Stokes, Rockingham, Lincoln, most of Catawba and Iredell and part of Forsyth counties; District 13 includes all of Davie, Davidson, Rowan, Randolph, Alamance, Caswell, Person and parts of Chatham and Lee and a small section of Iredell counties. These boundaries will change with the new Congress after the 2022 election. WASHINGTON Heres a look at how area members of Congress voted recently. Along with roll call votes this week, the House also passed the Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2022. U.S. House Homeland security oversight: The House has passed the DHS Basic Training Accreditation Improvement Act to require the Homeland Security Department to send accreditation status reports on its training programs to Congressional oversight committees. The vote on Monday, March 7, was 390-33. Yeas: U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning, D-Greensboro, 6th District; Ted Budd, R-Advance, 13th District; Patrick McHenry, R-Denver, 10th District Cybersecurity partnerships: The House has passed the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act to authorize the Homeland Security Department to partner with private nonprofit groups on cybersecurity training efforts. The vote on Monday, March 7, was 403-19. Yeas: Manning, McHenry, Budd Tribal border agents: The House has passed the Shadow Wolves Enhancement Act to reclassify a special unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers (known as shadow wolves) working on Tohono Oodham Nation land in southern Arizona as special agents. The vote on Tuesday, March 8, was 387-33. Not voting: McHenry Yeas: Manning, Budd Black colleges: The House has passed a resolution condemning violence against historically Black colleges and universities. The vote on Tuesday, March 8, was unanimous with 418 yeas. Not voting: McHenry Yeas: Manning, Budd Military, security spending: The House has passed an amendment to a bill to fund the Defense Department, Homeland Security Department, and associated military and national security programs in fiscal 2022. The vote on Wednesday, March 9, was 361-69. Yeas: Manning, McHenry, Budd Domestic spending: The House has passed an amendment to a bill that would fund federal discretionary domestic programs in fiscal 2022, including an 11.8% increase in funding for the legislative branch and 6.7% overall increase in funding for nondefense programs. The vote on Wednesday, March 9, was 260-171. Nays: McHenry, Budd Yeas: Manning Importing Russian energy: The House has passed the Suspending Energy Imports From Russia Act to bar imports from Russia of natural gas, oil and petroleum products, and other energy resources. The vote Wednesday, March 9, was 414-17. Yeas: Manning, McHenry, Budd U.S. Senate Postal Service changes: The Senate has passed the Postal Service Reform Act. The bill would establish a health benefits program for Postal Service workers and retirees while ending a requirement that retirement health benefits be prepaid, and establish new budget and service reporting requirements for the Postal Service. The vote on Tuesday, March 8, was 79-19. Yeas: U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, both R-N.C. Trade diplomacy: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Maria L. Pagan to be a deputy U.S. trade representative. Pagan, currently a legal official at the Trade Representative Office, has been a trade lawyer for the federal government since the 1990s. The vote on Thursday, March 10, was 80-19. Yeas: Burr, Tillis Earmark spending: The Senate has rejected an amendment to the Consolidated Appropriations Act that would have barred funding for earmark spending on individual appropriations at the request of a member of Congress. The vote on Thursday, March 10, was 35 yeas to 64 nays. Nays: Burr, Tillis 2022 spending: The Senate has agreed to the House amendment to the Consolidated Appropriations Act that would fund federal military and discretionary domestic programs in fiscal 2022. The vote on Thursday, March 10, was 68-31. Nays: Burr, Tillis Targeted News Service Targeted News Service Seven Charlotte-Mecklenburg high schools will soon install body scanning equipment to screen students for guns and weapons. Eventually, officials say, all of the districts high schools will have the screening equipment, which is already in use in at least two schools in South Carolina and is used at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. A description from the company the district is buying the body scanners from says the equipment is faster than a traditional metal detector, doesnt require users to empty pockets or bags, and has technology to send a visual alarm to officials if a suspicious or dangerous item is detected. At four of the seven schools getting the new equipment first, those campuses saw two or more guns beginning in August, part of a record-high number of firearms reported in the district this school year. Six other schools, including three not yet getting body scanners Myers Park, South Meck, and West Meck each had one gun reported on campus last semester. The new equipment will be placed at the following high schools: Mallard Creek, Garinger, Harding University, West Charlotte, North Mecklenburg, Julius Chambers, Hopewell. Superintendent Earnest Winston told board members Tuesday the district has finalized the contract for body scanners, and officials are waiting on paperwork to be signed. He said scanners should be delivered within 30 days and will be rolled out in phases. Weapon detectors in schools Patrick Smith, the districts assistant superintendent of communications, said Wednesday that the body scanner Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will use is neither a metal detector nor a wand. Its the exact system used at Bank of America Stadium, he said. Walk right through and the scanner detects weapons and other suspicious objects, Smith said, and added: We will communicate the details of the scanners and provide information for families, students and staff as the equipment arrives, is installed and prior to implementation. The district is working with Evolv Technology for the body scanners, a district official confirmed Wednesday. Evolv Technology boasts a touchless security screening that delivers safety without sacrificing the visitor experience, according to its website. Evolv officials say their technology is not a metal detector. Unlike traditional metal detectors, Evolv Express uses advanced sensor technology and artificial intelligence to screen guests while they walk through at a natural pace without stopping and without handing over their belongings, said Fitzgerald Barth, director of corporate communications at Evolv. Express offers a dual lane, free-flow system proven to operate up to 10 times faster than traditional metal detectors, alerting operators to the presence of weapons while ignoring harmless personal items like cell phones, keys, and coins. Barth said when a potential threat is detected by the system, real-time image-aided alarms show guards where the potential threat is located on a person or in his or her bag. Theres minimal physical contact and it allows school staff to act quickly and efficiently. Clear backpacks While waiting for body scanners, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has conducted 60 random safety screenings at middle and high schools this school year. Winston said no firearms were found during those screenings, but vapes, tasers, pepper spray and over-the-counter prescription medication have been found. Also, the district just announced students at Hopewell High School and Cochrane Collegiate Academy will be the first to try out clear backpacks. Clear backpacks are part of a layered approach Winston is implementing in response to safety concerns on district campuses. Eddie Perez, a media relations specialist for the district, told the Observer on Wednesday that 25 firearms have been found on campuses this school year. Other district high schools will also get the backpacks and wider implementation is expected later in the spring. We met with high school students and one of the pieces of feedback we received is that students (want to) actually touch and feel and see what the clear backpacks look like, Winston said at a board meeting Tuesday. In December, the district bought 46,000 clear backpacks totaling $441,791. Tips and security personnel In January, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools began training on the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System for grades 6-12. Its been launched in all of the districts middle, high and K-8 schools. The program is designed to help prevent violence in schools, homes and communities by educating students and adults on how to recognize warning signs and act immediately by telling a trusted adult or submitting an anonymous tip. Winston said so far, officials have received 500 tips from middle and high school students through the app. The district also has begun hiring 53 campus security associates. When the Corolla Wild Horse Fund first heard about a lonely foal wailing for his mother, the rescue group hoped it wouldnt have to intervene. But as days dragged into weeks, there was still no sign of Brios mom along the Outer Banks, and Brio was running out of time, the group said in a Facebook post. The foals legs began to waver, his coat became tattered and he started to lose weight. It was clear that Brio was certainly not going to thrive on his own, and most likely would not survive, the rescue group said. So, it took him in. Brio was born last summer and had been with his mom in the wild up until late February, according to the rescue group. Suddenly, he was abandoned. When rescuers picked Brio up to bring him to the farm on the North Carolina mainland, they realized how dire his situation was, according to the groups Facebook page. Rescuers found that Brio had pneumonia, was malnourished and had a leg condition that may have been due to hoof issues. We discovered just how thin he had become, the group wrote online. Its hard to tell under all that hair, but once we got our hands on him we could feel every single one of his ribs and his hip bones. Its possible that Brios mother abandoned him because she finished weaning him or she realized he was sick and left him, according to the group. In the worst scenario, she may have died. We have been keeping a close eye out for her, but the majority of the area where they lived is very remote and difficult to access. We are incredibly lucky that Brio turned up in a more populated area, the group said. Otherwise, we may not have known that he was alone and things could have ended much differently for him. Since Brio wasnt in any immediate danger when the group was first notified, rescuers met with veterinarians and determined it would be best to see if mom would come back. If she didnt return, Brios other relatives were roaming around the area in a herd nearby, which rescuers hoped the young horse might join. But after observing how Brio and the herd wanted nothing to do with each other, the rescue group realized the tiny horse was lacking in social skills. Brio is very small and immature for his age and does not seem to have developed proper social skills when it comes to interacting with other horses. This alone put him at great risk of being injured or killed in the wild, the group said on Facebook. But now that hes at the farm we can safely introduce him to other horses once hes well enough and he will have good role models from here on out. Brio was put on antibiotics and will have another appointment so vets can examine his leg condition, the group said. Once he feels better, he will get a bath to help restore his poor coat, and start meeting new friends. While the rescue looks forward to Brios recovery, it acknowledged that taking animals out of the wild is always unfortunate for the program. Its very hard to lose a horse from the wild, especially a young one like Brio, but there is no doubt he would have not have survived on his own and needs more care than we could have ever provided in the field, the group said on Facebook. We are very cautiously optimistic that he is going to pull through, but these situations can go sideways fast. The team thanked their caretakers and veterinarians and asked Brio supporters for good vibes, prayers and support in his recovery. He is a fighter, and we will continue to provide the best possible care for him, the group said. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who once advised President Donald Trumps White House on undermining the 2020 election results, and who was a target of the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, has now found a democracy worth defending. Its in Kyiv. Taking to Twitter, Perry denounced Russian strongman Vladimir Putin as a murderous thug whos targeting civilians (and) committing war crimes as his forces try to shatter the eastern European nation. Congress must stand united to demand (Putin) and his thug regime are brought to justice, thundered Perry, a veteran, who played a key role in Trumps abortive plot two years ago to oust his acting attorney general and replace him with one more sympathetic to Trumps fact-free and debunked claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. Perry isnt alone, of course. Other Republicans, apparently immune to the epic cognitive dissonance it takes to simultaneously condemn Russia and stand in solidarity with Ukraine, even as they retain membership in a political party that dismisses the sacking of the Capitol as an exercise in legitimate political discourse, also are bravely and unironically stepping into the breach. Take House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. During a recent appearance on Fox & Friends, the chambers top Republican criticized President Biden for dragging his feet on providing military assistance to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys government. The challenge that we have is, its the actions that we could have done before from this administration to make sure today wasnt happening, McCarthy told the network. We could have supplied the weapons to Ukraine. Theyre not asking for American troops, theyre just asking for the ability to fight. McCarthy also noted that Ukraine has been outgunned by Russia and said that we could have deterred this from ever happening. McCarthy had no such reservations, however, about Trump, as journalist Aaron Rupar notes. The GOP House leader, whos been working diligently to purge his conference of all Trump apostates staunchly opposed Trumps impeachment for using military aide (sic) to extort Ukraine, Rupar recently observed on Twitter. Its safe to say that the Republicans who embraced Trump, and looked the other way at his warm embrace of the murderous thug in Moscow whose regime meddled in the 2016 elections, now face a credibility gap as wide as the Volga River as they race to get on the right side of history. And itll take some doing. In a Fox News poll released last month, prior to the Russian invasion, more Republicans had a negative view of Biden than they did of Putin. Its clear there is bipartisan consensus in the House and Senate to support Ukraine with weapons and impose even tougher sanctions on Putin, Perrys fellow Pennsylvania Republican, Rep. Dan Meuser, wrote on Twitter after joining a bipartisan call with Zelenskyy last weekend. Now rewind a year. Hours after the murderous horde stormed the Capitol in January 2021, Meuser still joined with seven of his home-state GOP colleagues to object to Pennsylvanias election results. And, just like his Republican colleagues who all won reelection under the same ground rules, Meuser did not contest the legitimacy of his own contest. Some attempted violent overthrows of democratically elected governments just hit differently, it seems. Despite his own sagging poll numbers, Biden got a small bounce from his State of the Union address, which prominently featured tough talk on Russia and ardent support for Ukraine. Voters narrowly approve of Bidens management of the growing crisis, 46-42% in a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll. That might not be enough to save Biden and his fellow Democrats as they try to hang onto the House and Senate this fall. But they can spend every minute between now and November reminding voters that, when it counted, the congressional GOP was missing in action when it was their turn to defend democracy at home. John L. Micek is editor in chief of The Pennsylvania Capital-Star in Harrisburg, Pa. Under slogan "In the spirit of resistance of people's hammer, we commemorate the 18th anniversary of the 12 March Uprising", This morning, ceremonies of 12 March Uprising were launched on the grounds of the March 12 Martyrs Stadium in Qamishlo with participation of Jazira and Deir ez-Zour' components. The co-chair of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration in the Jazira region, Talaat Younes, said: "The authoritarian Baathist regime with a chauvinistic mentality tried to create strife between the components and perpetrate a great massacre against our people, but the peoples of the region thwarted the plans by raising the pace of struggle." Will of the people triumphed. Younes indicated that the peoples of NE Syria and their military forces have struggled and are still struggling to achieve their freedom, protect all the gains of the revolution, and build a democratic Syria. He made the point clear that Damascus government's adherence to authoritarian policies that have become a reason for deepening of the Syrian crisis, and said: "The Syrian people are no longer accept the authoritarian policies of the Syrian regime, they see the Autonomous Administration project as the best solution to the Syrian crisis. Younes affirmed the Autonomous Administration's readiness in northern and eastern Syria for dialogue in order to solve the Syrian crisis and build a democratic constitution for all of Syria. Jawaher Othman the Member of the Martyrs Families Council in the Jazira region confirmed that the 12 March Uprising comes as a torch for the peoples resistance that has thwarted all chauvinistic policies, and said: The Syrian regime tried to create a war between the Kurds and Arabs, but it failed in achieving these goals. She explained: "The Syrian regime practiced all policies of exclusion against the Kurds to break their will and annihilating them, but their will triumphed over all its policies, and our gathering together today is clear evidence of failure these policies." A.K ANHA A sign posted along Crossroads Parkway is giving a hint of things to come to the property that sits in the shadow of the Mountain View Meadows housing project and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana headquarters. Crossroads Commercial Center now has 17 commercial lots available and 46 lots overall, in an effort to build up more business between Helena and East Helena and help serve the growing residential and business community. The property is within a stone's throw of state Highway 12, where a steady stream of traffic rolls by. Tyler Warne, broker and owner of Coldwell Banker Commercial, said the signs have been up since December and he receives a couple of calls a week about the property. He said the projects could also be a blend of commercial and multifamily units. Mark Runkle, the property owner and developer of Mountain View Meadows, said he hopes to have an upscale commercial center -- referred to as "The Crossroads" on the Mountain View Meadows website -- complete with a nice restaurant. He noted state Highway 12, which runs by the property, has 23,000 vehicles a day and Interstate 15, which is 1.5 miles away, has 15,000. But it could be a few years. He said he is holding back from promoting the commercial property until he gets more of the residences in for Mountain View Meadows, which is a master-planned community that is now approaching 500 units. Were not expecting things to move to quickly until we get more housing and apartments in that area, he said. I think well be highly occupied with residential for the next year or two and well see what comes along. He added that it is his theory that commercial projects have to come to us and he doesnt need to make a big effort to go out and sell. Warne agreed. "Historically, commercial always follows rooftops," he said. Runkle noted the Blue Cross headquarters will be complemented by a senior living community to be built by St. Peters Health and Immanuel Living, a Kalispell-based Immanuel Lutheran Communities subsidiary. Officials said it will include 150-200 units on about 20 acres of commercial property and bring more residents to the area. Runkle said there is flexibility for commercial projects as lots range from a half-acre to as large as 20 acres. He said he believes he has the largest commercial lots in the city. Warne, who is also with Green and Green Realty Associates, said the center would be good for some smaller commercial businesses as well, such as chiropractors, lawyers and dentists. He also said he would like to see a grocery store or high-end grocery store. Warne believes the commercial center would draw people not only from East Helena, but Montana City, Clancy and North Jefferson County as well. Its just in the right spot, he said. While the project is in Helena, Warne and Runkle said East Helena also identifies with Mountain View Meadows as students who live there attend East Helena schools. Warne said what makes Crossroads and Mountain View Meadows unique is that they have city infrastructure and are ready to go. Warne said the east side of Helena is where he thinks the path of progress will be in the future. He said whatever is built on the property will have to be approved by the Mountain View Meadows architectural board. He is certain the Crossroads development will happen. I am pretty optimistic on Helena in general he said, adding that there are few places in the United States where you can live and recreate from your front door. People have a high demand on this kind of living, he said. I am bullish on Helena. Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021. Love 8 Funny 4 Wow 0 Sad 7 Angry 10 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A Helena man charged in the death of a 2-month-old infant is set to go to trial next month. Kellen James Maharg was charged with felony deliberate homicide or in the alternative felony murder. Maharg was arraigned in the 1st Judicial District Court on Dec. 28 after being arrested and booked in Flathead County. According to prosecutor Mary Barry, Maharg bonded out in Flathead County shortly after his arrest. A jury trial for Maharg is now set for April 18. On Dec. 7, a Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office deputy was dispatched to St. Peter's Health emergency room for reports of a possible assault on an infant. The deputy learned that emergency responders were dispatched to a residence on Cayuse Road at 8:56 p.m. following a 911 call requesting help because a 2-month-old boy was not breathing. Emergency Medical Technicians were able to get the child breathing and took the infant to the emergency room. The deputy was informed by Child Protective Services that the infant had what appeared to be facial bruising, an extremely elevated blood sugar level and trouble breathing consistent with trauma. Court documents state that medical personnel believed that the infant had been shaken violently. The boy was life-flighted to Logan Health Center in Kalispell for special care. An emergency room physician would inform the deputy that a CT scan indicated a brain bleed on the infant. The child began seizing while at the hospital and the doctor would place the child on life support and arrange the Kalispell trip. The defendant reportedly told the doctor that the infant was asleep in his crib at home. The defendant said would check on the child every 10 or so minutes. The defendant claimed he had not noticed the child was sick nor did he have any symptoms indicating he was ill. One of the times he checked on the child he found the child unresponsive and not breathing so he "tried to wake him by shaking him," according to court documents. According to medical records, upon the infant's arrival at Logan Health, the defendant reportedly admitted to nursing staff that he was responsible for the bruising on the boy's face. Court documents state that the defendant said he "lost it" and "slapped" the infant. Medical staff advised detectives that the extent of the child's injuries were from more acute trauma to the head or face than would be expected from slapping, as reported by the defendant. They said the injuries were more consistent with a more violent event. Medical records indicate the boy suffered a traumatic brain injury with right temporal, frontal and frontoparietal lobe subdural hematoma with coexistent subarachnoid hemorrhage, bilateral retinal hemorrhages, cervical ligamentous injury and right facial swelling. The bruising observed at St. Peter's was no longer visible once at Logan Health. The infant ultimately would die Dec. 14. The last treating physician noted the cause of death was hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy with a contributing factor of non-accidental traumatic injury to the child, respiratory arrest and status epilepticus, according to court documents. After performing an autopsy, the deputy medical examiner noted the cause of death was homicide. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 4 Sad 11 Angry 35 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. cwalker Follow cwalker 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 A few weeks ago I got a phone call from my good buddy Ed Dowd at the Mattoon Chamber, warning me that his column for the week might be a bit different in content. When I gently protested by coughing into the phone and weakly croaking that Id been sick the whole week, and to take it easy on poor ol me with the heavy editing and formatting, I was immediately chastised by Carolyn Cloyd, chirping in on speakerphone in the background, to (ahem), Suck it up, buttercup. She then asked me if I knew the name Audie Murphy. When I said no her response was, Youre dead to me. Ouch. For Audie Murphy, considered one of the most decorated veterans of WW II and a man who went on to a successful film career, mostly in westerns, has been mentioned in the Journal Gazette twice this month, both in Eds column and, in a moment of totally happy random circumstance, in last Saturdays Little Known Characters column by Cal Campbell. And I say happy because that means he already covered the biographical details I dont want to look up. You know what I might have to look up? Westerns. Because inexplicably, I know virtually nothing about the entire hats and horses genre. How is this possible? Name a landmark western and I guarantee you I havent seen it. Magnificent Seven? High Noon? The Wild Bunch? Heck, if that sentence didnt take me five minutes to write because those are the only classics I can think of. I only know about Shane because its used as a plot point in the Samuel L. Jackson police-corruption thriller The Negotiator. For crying out loud youd at least think Id have seen just one Clint Eastwood spaghetti western, given we share a name, but nope; although the Westerns? note in my Throwback column idea notebook has the words Pale Rider written down next to it, so stay tuned. And thats also a big no to more modern, latter-day efforts like Silverado, Tombstone, Bad Girls, and The Quick and The Dead, although I do love the part in Quigley Down Under where Tom Selleck makes Hans Gruber from Die Hard look real stupid by shooting a bucket from over 1,200 yards out with his experimental Sharps rifle. The only Westerns Ive actually seen are Back to the Future Part III (better than you remember), Westworld (a staple of late night T.V.), True Grit (the re-makeonly as an excuse to get out of something else), and Bone Tomahawk (Kurt Russell vs. troglodyte cannibals). Ohand the double feature of 1966s Jesse James Meets Frankensteins Daughter and Billy the Kid Versus Dracula. For obvious reasons. And speaking of Hollywood cheapies, lets mosey along to Audie Murphys 1957 oater The Guns of Fort Petticoat, selected by me this week for two reasons. Oone, it played in Mattoon, on a 1958 Skyway double bill alongside Jailhouse Rock (Elvis as Youve Never Seen Him Before! Singing! Brawling! Romancing!) and two, because it was the only one of Audies movies I could find online for the price of on-the-house. And you know what? I had a lot of fun. Petticoat stars Murphy as a lieutenant for the Union in the late days of the Civil War who just cant buy a break. His commanding officer is about to launch a deadly attack on a peaceful tribe of Native Americans, hes confined to quarters for objecting, and when all heck breaks loose his attempt to warn his Texas hometown about the sure-to-follow reprisal attacks falls on deaf ears as the remaining townfolk, consisting of the women left behind as the men have all joined the Confederates, think hes a Union turncoat. But eventually he trains the ladies of Petticoat how to handle firearms, a last stand is prepared at a dilapidated mission and were treated to the kind of classic defend the base gambit thats always cinema gold, even if this one is capped by a perfunctory drumhead trial back at his original post to face charges of desertion followed one of those squeaky-clean well aint life grand endings that always makes me kind of squirm. Im not saying that someone always has to be revealed to secretly be a killer robot for a movie to have weight, but geez, its always weird to me when characters practically go cartwheeling out of the final scene before the Columbia Pictures logo fades in when literally just seconds before they were all blasting buckshot into banditos at medium range. Still, I say I liked his movie with some amount of reservation; because like I said, my experience watching one dusty 75-minute western from an era when there were literally hundreds of these things being shoveled out into the marketplace to barnstorm the movie screens of small towns probably doesnt provide me with enough context, very much like if someone came up to me and said they loved Yess 1987 album Big Generator but they still havent heard Roundabout yet. Fair enough, I suppose. But hey, it was way more entertaining to sit through this than virtually all those Kenny Rogers Gambler movies I sat through last year, and not to mention shorter. And Murphy, with a, lets just say, slighter, physical build and higher-pitched voice than the barrel-chested ultra-men who usually starred in these things, was a refreshing change of pace. And the more I watched him, the more I saw a kind of James Dean thing going on with him that really made me wish he had a few more movies with street races in his filmography, or at least Frankensteins daughter. But hey, I did it. I watched a western. So I can check this one off my notebookfor now, at least. Hows that for sucking it up? "The Throwback Machine" is a weekly feature taking a look back at items of interest found in the JG-TC online archives. For questions, comments, suggestions, or his "Song of the Day" recommendation, contact him at cwalker@jg-tc.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Welcome back to another thrilling episode of 'Long Story Short' podcast where Lee Enterprises' reporters Sierra Henry and Kelsey Watznauer talk about the latest Central Illinois news. This week, Henry and Watznauer talk about exciting developments in men's college hoops and provide updates on two fatal shootings. For more on any of the stories mentioned, check out pantagraph.com, herald-review.com and jg-tc.com. While you're there, consider our subscription options to support #localjournalism. Subscribe to "Long Story Short" for free at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify. Music by Podington Bear. Contact Sierra Henry at 309-820-3234. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_sierrahenry. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 VALPARAISO Nearly a year after dropping a bag of cocaine outside Chesterton High School where he taught, Patrick Miller pleaded guilty to a reduced charge as part of a proposal that will allow him to escape a felony conviction and time behind bars if he stays in line during the next year. If the 61-year-old Jackson Township resident violates the terms of the agreement, he will be convicted on the felony and faces whatever sentence is decided by the court, according to Friday's hearing before Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer. Miller, who was represented by defense attorney Jason Denny, pleaded guilty to a reduced felony count of possessing cocaine, according to the proposed plea agreement. Clymer agreed to take the plea under advisement until March 17, 2023 during which time Miller is required to continue being monitored under pretrial supervision and continue seeing a counselor, the agreement says. He was also ordered to complete 15 days or 90 hours of community service. If he complies with these terms and has no new arrests during the next year, the conviction will be entered as a misdemeanor and he will be sentenced to time served, the proposal says. If he fails, he will be convicted on the lower level felony and face up to 2 1/2 years behind bars. A parent told police she was picking up her daughter from practice at Chesterton High School at about 4:30 p.m. April 15 when she noticed a small baggie containing white powder in the parking lot. She took it home and provided it the next day to police, who confirmed it was cocaine. An officer viewed surveillance footage from April 15 of the area in question and watched as Miller pulled keys from his pocket and then the bag in question fell to the ground unnoticed at 12:18 p.m., according to charges. The officer then watched as the parent picked up the bag about four hours later. Miller, who reportedly teaches adults in the wake of his arrest, later told police he went to Illinois, picked up two friends and the package in question, which he assumed was cocaine, according to the charges. He then gave several differing stories about how he came into possession of the cocaine, police said. He admitted to having used the drug in the past, but reportedly refused to take a drug test. The Duneland School Corp. said it cooperated with Chesterton police during the investigation and had taken "immediate steps to remove the staff member from employment." "At no time were students involved in the incident," according to the school district. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 ASSUMPTION Liana Havryliuk Creamer answers the phone whenever it rings. If her son or daughter-in-law are calling, she never knows when shell get the chance to hear from them again. Creamer lives in Assumption but is originally from Ukraine, where her son and his family are now. Creamers son, his wife, and their daughter fled from their home in Kryvyi Rih to Ternopil after seeing their city bombed. I hope they dont see it again, Creamer told Lee Enterprises on Thursday. But even in Ternopil, Creamer said her family spent Wednesday night taking shelter in a basement after air raid sirens went off across the city. Creamer spoke about her story and the war in Ukraine to students at Central A&M High School in Moweaqua on Thursday. She appeared before them wearing a traditional Ukrainian dress handmade by her great-great-grandmother over 130 years ago. She hopes shell be able to pass it down to her own granddaughter one day. This is what gives me power, she said. Civilians like her son are preparing to fight alongside Ukrainian soldiers if necessary, Creamer told the students. And theyre not just fighting for themselves. Theyre fighting for you as well, she said. After Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February, Creamer said she knew she had to do something. She started contributing to various humanitarian efforts including organizing donations from residents of Chicagos Ukrainian Village, where she travels weekly to teach. It didnt take long for Creamers Central Illinois community to come together and support her. She spoke to the Assumption City Council at the beginning of March. Soon, blue and yellow lights, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, lit up at the library, at city hall, and even at some peoples homes. Her testimony of what is going on is so devastating, said Assumption Mayor Derek Page. Talking about (the war) really did put it in perspective because we have somebody here in our community that is scared for her family, Page said. The Central A&M School District, where Creamer works as a family consultant for Baby Talk, partnered with the Assumption Community Pride Association to start collecting monetary donations for Ukrainian relief funds. Moweaqua pharmacist Terry Traster also organized donations for NATO aid kits that will go directly to Ukrainians. Many Central A&M students wore blue and yellow shirts to school and made artwork, cards, and letters of encouragement for Ukrainians. Creamer was taken aback by the outpouring of support. It sort of surprised me, but it is so good to see. It just warms up my heart, Creamer said. Every small action means a lot. Creamer can teach students an important lesson on empathy, said Central A&M Superintendent DeAnn Heck. I think they're learning that this world is a big place, but it's not so big that we don't know people that are being impacted by something, Heck said. Creamer hopes to see the U.S. government taking more action to support Ukraine soon. She thinks the U.S. should work with NATO to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine. NATO has previously rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys calls for a no-fly zone due to fears it would further escalate conflict with Russia and put more lives in danger. She also wants to see the U.S. do more to welcome Ukrainian refugees. Many Ukrainian refugees have fled elsewhere in Europe, but Creamer believes Ukrainians with family members in the U.S. should have easier paths into the country. Aside from donating money, Creamer said theres much more everyday Americans can do to help Ukraine. She told students on Thursday to beware of Russian propaganda and to make sure theyre reading and watching news about Ukraine. On her personal Facebook page, Creamer regularly posts photos and videos from Ukrainians still in the country. Its important for people to see what the effects of war really look like, she said. The war is more terrible than you imagine, she said. She also asked for people to be understanding and not complain about side effects of sanctions and bans against Russia, like rising gas prices. Although the higher prices can be frustrating, Creamer thinks any sacrifice is worth it. Do not be upset with this, she said. It could save a Ukrainian life. Even praying helps, she said. Heck said people all over Assumption and Moweaqua have been changed by Creamers story. Central A&M communities are so giving, Heck said. This is truly family. When one of us hurts, we all hurt. Creamer left for Ukraine on Friday. On Thursday, she said planned on taking with her multiple bags of donations and medicine, along with the letters and artwork from Central A&M students. She hopes to bring back her granddaughter, who is a U.S. citizen. Creamer wants people to understand that the world is smaller than they might think. Most importantly, she wants all people to speak out against injustice. Do not be silent, because silence is killing. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 For decades, House Speaker Michael Madigan and everyone around him insisted that the man was always very scrupulous and extremely careful about not only the language that he used, but the language he allowed to be used in his presence. For instance, if a property tax client of his law firm began to speak about legislation they were interested in, Madigan insisted he would immediately stop the conversation in its tracks and inform the client that he could do nothing for them. And nobody else ever said otherwise. And thats why these new Chinatown revelations in Madigans indictment are so startling to so many. For instance: On or about June 23, 2017, after [Ald. Danny Solis] informed MADIGAN that: (i) representatives of Company C would meet with MADIGAN so that MADIGAN could seek legal work for his private firm; (ii) Company C still needed to deal with [Solis] in terms of zoning for the [Chinatown] Apartment project; and (iii) I think they understand how this works, you know, the quid pro quo, the quid pro quo, MADIGAN said, Okay. . . . Very good. The Madigan of legend wouldve immediately stopped all dealings with Solis when he mentioned quid pro quo. But the Madigan portrayed in the indictment kept right on meeting with Solis for more than a year and allegedly conspired to pass state legislation to clear the way for a Chinatown real estate project and obtain a state position for Solis, all in order to obtain legal fees for his law firm and perhaps a contract for his sons insurance firm. Those Chinatown property tax legal fees, by the way, wouldnt have generated nearly the same income as any of Madigans prestigious Loop skyscraper clients. Madigan comes off as a common legislative grifter, eagerly and relentlessly using his power to chase after small potatoes. The venality of the former House Speaker was one of the primary focuses of the Ken Griffin-backed slate of statewide Republican candidates which began its public roll-out last week. All of the candidates did their best to blast Madigan and connect their opponents to the indicted former pol. The Republicans say the Madigan issue still polls quite well and it must (at least in the GOP primary), because the man was most certainly front and center last week. By my count, his name was mentioned 27 times, not including the press conference. For instance, comptroller hopeful Shannon Teresi pointed out that incumbent Susana Mendoza began her career in the ward organization controlled by Ald. Danny Solis and once referred to Madigan as her mentor. Steve Kim highlighted Attorney General Kwame Raouls acceptance of Madigan campaign money. Secretary of state candidate John Milhiser claimed that as a former US Attorney he, worked closely with the FBI, with the Northern District of Illinois in these investigations. There'll be more prosecutions, more indictments coming down, Milhiser predicted. Rep. Tom Demmer, the slates candidate for treasurer, claimed House Republicans created an environment where it became ... impossible for [House Democrats] to refuse to hold their leader accountable. And by the time the next term rolled around, Mike Madigan didn't have enough support to remain Speaker of the House. And gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin said the state needs a governor who will fight the Madigan Pritzker corruption that has plagued our state for decades. His running mate, Rep. Avery Bourne, said she fought against Madigans income tax hikes. Theyre hardly the only Republicans who use the Madigan name to blast the other party. The state party and all the other candidates for governor all frequently recite the name like he never left the stage. And, for their purposes, he hasnt. And even some Democrats are quick to cite Madigan. Everything that is tied to Madigan is called into question, Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago) told the Better Government Association last week. Williams made her statement after she and a group of her colleagues requested that Gov. JB Pritzker temporarily freeze funding for some state construction projects that the BGA found were requested by Madigan. Pritzker quickly agreed to the freeze, but members of the Latino Caucus pointed out that they had actually requested the projects. After a quick double-check, the governor un-froze the funding. I think Williams statement was right. Madigans involvement should be checked out whenever warranted. But, as celebrated Madigan foe Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) told Ben Joravsky at the Chicago Reader: All the best and worst things that have occurred in this state have his fingers on them. Rich Miller publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Becoming partly cloudy and windy. High near 90F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Mostly cloudy and becoming windy. High near 90F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Mostly cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%. TAZEWELL, Va. A Tazewell County teacher is facing 176 felony charges after being indicted by a Tazewell County grand jury Tuesday. John Michael Sharpe, a music teacher at Tazewell Middle School and Tazewell High School, faces a minimum of more than 200 years in prison if convicted on all counts placed against him by the grand jury. The 29-year-old Tazewell resident had been employed as a teacher in Tazewell County for four years. Before that he had worked in McDowell County, West Virginia. Tazewell County Sheriff Brian Hieatt said his office received a complaint of inappropriate conduct with students against Sharpe last December resulting in his office beginning an investigation. The investigation led to Sharpe being indicted on 148 counts of possession of child pornography, 27 counts of enticement and one count of electronic procurement. Hieatt said the investigation was conducted outside the school system, but said the school system was cooperative throughout the process. Commonwealths Attorney Chris Plaster said all of the charges are class six felonies and carry prison time that could total 2,280 years if Sharpe is convicted on each count. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 260 years. Plaster said the case is a story about broken trust. It is my offices job to make sure the victim receives justice, Plaster said. Although no physical relationship or violence is alleged at this point, this is an ongoing investigation. This is a story about broken trust. Trust a young girl placed in a person of authority. Trust the school system placed in him to protect our children and not abuse or exploit them. Tazewell County Public Schools issued a statement Friday saying Sharpe had been relieved of his duties with the school system. We hold all employees to high standards of conduct and share in the concern over the allegations, a written statement from Tazewell School Superintendent Dr. Chris Stacy said. We will continue to cooperate and work with law enforcement and other agencies involved in this matter. Plaster said the case was not the fault of the school system or social media, but of John Sharpe. He said the school system did nothing wrong. Plaster and Hieatt said there is an appropriate level of contact outside of school, and encouraged parents to be vigilant in monitoring their children. They also encouraged anyone who feel they may have been a victim of Sharpe to come forward. We sincerely hope there are no more victims out there. At this point we fear there may be, Plaster said. Major Harold Heatley of the Tazewell County Sheriffs Office said all the indictments against Sharpe involved one victim. He said the office has interviewed 20 to 25 people emphasizing the investigation was ongoing saying the office is receiving phone calls about the situation. Sharpe, who has no previous criminal record, was arrested and has retained counsel. A $10,000 secured bond was set. A court date has not been scheduled. Few people pass 405 E. Oliver St. Its hard to spot, tucked on what is a side street between the Amtrak railroad tracks and Green Mount Cemetery. For the past two decades, maybe more, this enclave within the larger Greenmount West neighborhood has been ground zero for local artists. It took nearly a year and $3.8 million for a neighborhood-based nonprofit community group to bank the funds to preserve 405 Oliver St. as the industrial building it is a place for creatives to have their artist studios and workshops. Advertisement Once a sleepy industrial backwater (the adjacency to the railroad was an asset), the place has changed with the times. As old Baltimore plants such as Lebow clothes, Crown Cork & Seal and Brannigans dressmakers left, the sculptors, photographers and painters moved in. They christened this particular Oliver Street building the Area 405 after an art gallery and event space. The name stuck. The artists put together galleries and shows, and attracted patrons and curators from other arts communities, sometimes outside Maryland. Advertisement Earlier this week, came a statement that through a robust capital raise and a unique public-private partnership, Baltimores critical and historic artist/maker space, Area 405, has been purchased by 405-417 East Oliver Street Partners, an LLC formed by nonprofit organization Central Baltimore Partnership and Baltimore-based real estate developer Ernst Valery and the Aequo Fund. The propertys private owners had decided it was time to sell. Property values have been rising throughout Baltimore and, within a seven-month period, appraisals for 405 increased $700,000. And while Greenmount West may not be on everyones radar as a much improving and vacant-house free neighborhood, it is. (It was once 40 percent vacant). Ellen Janes, director of nonprofit Central Baltimore Partnership, and Ernst Valery, Area 405 co-developer, at Area 405, a hub of art studios and workspaces in Baltimores Greenmount West neighborhood. (Edward Weiss Photographer -- Special to The Sun) Homes have been nicely rehabilitated on streets near the west stone wall of Green Mount Cemetery. The Guilford Hall Brewery opened last year around the corner from Area 405. A vacant lot became a group of new rowhouses. Penn Station, a quick walk from 405 Oliver, is now undergoing a major rehab. What changed hands is a 120-year-old, 71,744-square-foot building often felt to be the heart of Baltimores Station North Arts District. Area 405 is Baltimores largest hub of art studios and workspaces used by more than 40 artists, including some of Baltimores best known, said Ellen Janes, director of the nonprofit Central Baltimore Partnership. In a statement, Mayor Brandon Scott said: I am happy to see that Area 405 will be improved, its mission of housing makers and artists will be preserved, and additional activation will be expanded in order to preserve affordability and instill equity in the neighborhood. Advertisement The idea is to save the buildings use for the arts community and add to the number of studios in spots once used as storage. There is some space in the back of the property that may accommodate affordable apartments for artists. Also saved is a popular tool library where any city resident may use large table saws or borrow shovels and portable drills. Credit should be given to the local philanthropic community for getting behind the $3.8 million purchase. The Robert W. Deutsch, France-Merrick and Goldseker foundations, Baltimore Citys Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund and another entity, the Reinvestment Fund, came up with significant donations or loans. Breaking News Alerts As it happens Be informed of breaking news as it happens and notified about other don't-miss content with our free news alerts. > The State of Maryland also backed the project with $1.2 million, funding that was championed by Delegates Maggie McIntosh and Stephanie Smith and Senators Cory McCray and Bill Ferguson. The building once housed the C.M. Kemp industrial manufacturing plant. Kemp employees were busy during World War II making metal devices for securing landing craft to beaches. It also served as a venetian blind factory, and in previous lives, had been a brewery. An industrial workhorse, Area 405 also was a place that produced the small furnaces that melted lead for the linotype machines used in printing. Advertisement As an arts venue, Area 405 has hosted weddings and other social events. At least two plays, Sweeney Todd and Romeo and Juliet, were performed here. The oldest use was the 1848 Albion Brewery, later known as the Berger Brewery. Ernst Valery, the Area 405 co-developer, completed the Nelson-Kohl apartments on Lanvale Street (just north of Penn Station) and the Ministry of Brewing, formerly St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Butchers Hill. Look for the first construction work to address building code issues at Area 405. Creation of new work studios will follow. The Central Baltimore Partnership is now looking for new arts tenants. TAYLORSVILLE Alexander County joins 11 counties and 60 cities in North Carolina as a Certified Local Government (CLG) through the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service. Commissioners approved an agreement to become a CLG at their March 7 meeting. Connie Kincaid, Business Development Manager with the Alexander County Economic Development Corporation and staff liaison for the Alexander County Historic Preservation Committee, presented information about the CLG program and the associated benefits. The National Historic Preservation Act established the CLG program to provide financial and technical assistance to preserve historic properties in counties and municipalities that have their own historic preservation commission and a program meeting federal and state standards. Kincaid said one of the primary benefits of being a CLG is the ability to compete for grant funding to advance local historic preservation efforts. The county will also receive technical assistance and training from the State Historic Preservation Office and participate in nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, as well as other benefits. Commissioners expressed their appreciation to the Alexander County Historic Preservation Committee for their work and dedication. On a related note, commissioners heard a report from Audrey Thomas, historic survey specialist with the State Historic Preservation Office, regarding the Taylorsville Comprehensive Municipal Study which was completed over the past year. She said the architectural survey creates a lasting record of historic places, promotes a better understanding of local heritage, and identifies significant properties. During the project, Thomas surveyed 176 individual buildings in the town including industrial, institutional, religious, commercial, and residential properties. In June 2021, the Downtown Taylorsville Historic District was placed on the state study list identifying the potential for National Register listing. Thomas determined that 33 buildings in the district are eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. She said there would be no obligations or restrictions on private property owners; however, they would be eligible for tax incentives during federal and state-approved preservation projects. Theres always a cost to protecting property rights. No rational person has ever suggested otherwise. In free societies that place a high value on the individual right to own and control private property, its more expensive for governments to build roads or public facilities. Its harder to piece together parcels of land for redevelopment. And what your neighbors choose to do with their property may annoy you. These costs are well worth paying, however, because the alternative is a more stagnant and stultifying society. If youre unsure whether some future politician or bureaucrat might confiscate your property, or diminish its value through capricious regulation, youre less likely to invest significant resources in it. Youre less likely to take chances. Youre less free to live as you choose. These are significant costs, as well. An underappreciated accomplishment over the past decade is that North Carolinas protection of property rights has gotten a lot stronger. Still, each leap forward drew passionate critics. When in 2012 the General Assembly essentially did away with forced annexation, critics predicted dire economic and financial consequences for cities and towns. When the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the states nearly 30-year-old Map Act in 2016, critics predicted that having to compensate people in the path of future roads for government restrictions on the use of their land would make road-building inefficient and unwieldy. Neither objection held water, in my view. North Carolinas annexation and road-corridor regulations were wildly out of step with those of most other states, where somehow municipalities and highway departments managed to deliver their services without relying on unjust laws. Our latest leap forward in property-rights protections came in December. But neither state lawmakers nor state judges are responsible. It came from a federal court, in response to a case involving a homeless shelter in North Wilkesboro. The Catherine H. Barber Memorial Shelter opened its doors in the Wilkes County town more than three decades ago. When board members expressed a need for a larger space to accommodate the growing needs of the shelter, a local dentist and his wife stepped up to donate the two-story office building that had previously housed his practice. Barber Shelter officials were delighted until the local zoning board denied its application for a conditional-use permit, citing a potential loss of property value among neighboring parcels as well as an alleged threat to public health because of the shelters location on a busy highway. Rather than take the rejection on the chin, the Barber Shelter took the zoning board to court. Represented by the Institute for Justices Diana Simpson, the shelter argued that other, similarly situated businesses would have received permits to operate in the same location. U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Bell agreed, writing in his order that the board apparently believes incorrectly that it can say the magic words traffic and safety and this Court will rubber stamp the classification no matter the facts. Examining those facts, Bell concluded that North Wilkesboro intentionally treated the Shelter differently from other similarly situated uses, and there is no rational basis for the difference in treatment. While there are certainly circumstances in which courts should defer to the informed judgment of administrative agencies, he wrote, such deference cannot be an excuse for the Court to abdicate its duty to protect the constitutional rights of all people. To their credit, the town manager and North Wilkesboro Board of Commissioners decided not to appeal and will pay $180,000 in attorney fees. Indeed, Mayor Marc Hauser went out of his way to be supportive. The Catherine Barber shelter provides a much-needed service for the less fortunate, he said. Personally, I would like to see them expand their hours and offer more services. Heres wishing them all the best in their new facility. So the Barber Shelter is relocating as planned. And local officials in North Carolina and beyond got a clear message: infringing on property rights may be costly for you. John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member and author of the new novel Mountain Folk, a historical fantasy set during the American Revolution (MountainFolkBook.com). It grew out of a labor march in New York City that gave rise to International Women's Day on March 8. In February 1908, 15,000 women marched in NYC demanding better pay and the right to vote. The Socialist Party of America declared the first National Woman's Day a year later to remember the event. At an international women's rights conference on March 8, 1910, a German activist named Clara Zetkin suggested the creation of an International Women's Day. This eventually became a month-long event. " " Gertrude Bell traveled the world and worked almost exclusively in the realm of men, defying gender norms and stereotypes of the feminine role in world affairs. Hulton Deutsch/Getty Images/Flickr/HowStuffWorks It's safe to say the majority of women in Victorian-era England weren't afforded too many opportunities for adventure. In fact, most women from the 1830s through the turn of the century were expected to fall quietly into the social mold created by men, since they were regarded as "irrational, sensitive, and dutiful." Let's just say world traveler, skilled mountaineer and noted archaeologist Gertrude Bell was not your average Victorian woman. Perhaps best known for the role she played in the creation of the country now known as Iraq, Bell has been called "Queen of the Desert" and the "female Lawrence of Arabia." It's also been said that Bell was "one of the few representatives of His Majesty's Government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection." But Bell's legacy is complicated, and as Mark Browns wrote for The Guardian in 2018, "there are also many uncomfortable truths in Bell's life that have been swept under the carpet." She fervently opposed women's right to vote, serving as the secretary of the northern branch of the National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage as well as being on its national executive committee. And according to some scholars, her role in the establishment of Iraq left an enduring painful mark on the country and its people. Born Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell on July 14, 1868, the English native grew up in Washington New Hall now known as Dame Margaret Hall in Washington, County Durham. Bell's family was considered affluent and progressive, and after she lost her mother at a young age, she developed a close relationship with her father, Sir Hugh Bell, 2nd Baronet, a wealthy mill owner. Bell's unique educational and professional path began at Oxford, where she became the first woman to earn first-class honors in modern history. Soon after graduation, she developed a passion for travel and accompanied her uncle, Sir Frank Lascelles to Tehran, Persia, where he served as the British minister. Bell later went on to chronicle the journey in her book, "Persian Pictures." Over the next ten years, she traveled around the world and became fluent in French, German, Arabic and Persian. Advertisement "Queen of the Desert" But linguistics wasn't Bell's only passion she was also uncharacteristically outdoorsy for the era and spent several summers mountaineering in the French region of the Alps. On one particularly treacherous journey in 1902, Bell was caught in a blizzard and spent more than 50 hours on a rope before she was able to head back to a local village with her guides. Despite the resulting frostbite on her hands and feet, Bell went on to scale the Matterhorn in 1904 and in her book, "A Woman in Arabia: The Writings of the Queen of the Desert," she wrote of the harrowing experience, "it was beautiful climbing, never seriously difficult, but never easy, and most of the time on a great steep face which was splendid to go upon." " " Famed British diplomat and administrator Sir Percy Cox (second from left) and Gertrude Bell speaking with an Arab leader during a visit to Mesopotamia on March 1, 1917. Mansell/LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Bell was also passionate about archaeology, an interest she initially developed during a family trip to an excavation of the ancient Greek city of Melos, in 1899. In the years that followed, she went on several archaeology trips, including a trek across the Euphrates River in 1909, and a trip with archaeologist Sir William Mitchell Ramsey to Turkish archeological site Binbir Kilise. Advertisement Bell's Middle East Diplomacy But it was Bell's work with the British government in the Middle East that is perhaps the biggest part of her legacy. After her initial request for a Middle East posting was denied at the start of World War I, Bell began volunteering with the Red Cross in France. She eventually garnered a position working with T.E. Lawrence, otherwise known as "Lawrence of Arabia," in the Arab Bureau, a collection of British intelligence officers based in Cairo and tasked with coordinating imperial intelligence activities in the Middle East, as detailed in the book "The Arab Bureau: British Policy in the Middle East, 1916-1920," by Bruce Westrate. In response to several British military defeats, Lawrence devised a plan to recruit Arab people to oppose the Ottoman Empire; Bell helped him drum up support for the strategy. At the time, she was the only woman working for the British in the Middle East. The British eventually defeated the Ottoman Empire and Bell played a significant role in the region's next steps. "After World War I, British policy makers were divided over how they could govern Iraq and other territories conquered from the Ottomans," Brandon Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Ph.D., associate professor of history at California State University, Stanislaus and author of "The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy: Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq," writes via email. "One faction within the British government wanted direct colonial administration for Iraq on the model of India and actually run by the India Office. The other faction, which included Bell, favored indirect colonial rule through an Arab head of state." According to Wolfe-Hunnicutt, British leaders attempted to follow through with direct colonial administration, but the resulting fallout resulted in a redirection. "Britain tried the first approach right after the war," he says. "But then Iraqis rose up in a national revolution and Britain was compelled to try the other approach the one favored by Bell." Bell went on to attend the 1919 Peace Conference in Paris and chronicled more of her political and social work in her 1920 book, "Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia." She was also involved in the 1921 Conference in Cairo with then-colonial secretary, Winston Churchill, that established the boundaries of Iraq. In her work after the war, Bell also played an instrumental role in bringing King Faisal to power in Iraq in 1922. For her efforts to preserve the region's cultural heritage, local people reportedly often addressed her as "khutan," which means "queen" in Persian and "respected lady" in Arabic. King Faisal later named Bell as the director of antiquities at the new National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad. " " Gertrude Bell stands second from left in the second row, the only woman among the members of the Mesopotamia Commission, set up in 1921 to discuss the future of Mesopotamia at the Cairo Conference. Also pictured, T.E. Lawrence (fourth from right, second row) and Winston Churchill (center front row). General Photographic Agency/Getty Images Advertisement Death and Subsequent Legacy The museum was Bell's last passion project in July 1926, she overdosed on sleeping pills and died in Baghdad. King Faisal arranged a military funeral for her and Bell was laid to rest in Baghdad's British Civil Cemetery. But while Bell is often celebrated for her efforts in the Middle East, she remains a complicated historical figure for many. In Wolfe-Hunnicutt's opinion, Bell was a controversial figure who had a lasting impact on the Middle East an impact that is still very much playing out in the modern era. "She was a British imperialist who was complicit in denying Iraqis a right to national self-determination," Wolfe-Hunnicutt says. "I think that the seeds of the chaos and violence that engulfed so much of Iraqi history in the 20th century were planted in the aftermath of World War I. I wish the British would have just let Iraqis manage their own affairs." HowStuffWorks may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Now That's Cinematic Bell has been portrayed onscreen several times. In 1992, actress Gillian Barge played her in the ITV television film "A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia," and in 2015, Nicole Kidman took on the role in Werner Herzog's "Queen of the Desert." Lifeline Charlotte Centre, located in Concord, is asking for help with relief efforts needed as a result of the Russian attacks on Ukraine. The humanitarian crisis in Eastern Europe is worsening every day. Over 2 million Ukrainians have already fled the country and are now refugees. The number is rising each day. They are searching for safety, scared about the uncertainties that lie ahead and worried about those they left behind. Neighboring countries are struggling to meet the needs of the rapid influx of so many people. Lifeline Christian Mission is ready to ship shelf-stable meals to partners that work in neighboring Eastern European countries. Lifeline meals funded and packed in March will be shipped to these organizations and then distributed to refugees. Lifeline is asking for help to fund and pack meals so it can send relief to meet the needs of the rapid influx of so many people. Here are three ways you can help from Concord: 1. Donate to help fund the meals. Give to lifeline.org/CLT. $25 = 100 meals $100 = 400 meals 2. Help pack the meals. Lifeline has a Centre in Concord at Gibson Mill. The address is 325 McGill Ave. NW, Suite 175. You can pack meals by yourself, with your family, or come with a group. Its fun, doesnt take much time, and it helps people in need. You can sign up to pack meals at the Lifeline Charlotte Centre at lifeline.org/CLTpack. 3. Create your own fundraising campaign to share to your social media network. Get started today. Go to lifeline.org/CLTmeals. Lifeline officials said many of us feel helpless to do anything for a place so far away, but you can make a difference now to help the refugees who have lost so much. Bernard Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff (April 29, 1938-April 14, 2021) has been identified as perhaps the operator of the largest financial fraud operation in history. His net worth at one time was estimated as approximately $64.8 billion. Born in Queens, New York City, his family were emigrants from Poland, Romania, and Austria and practiced the Jewish faith. Madoff attended the University of Alabama for one year prior to transferring to and graduating from Hofstra University in 1960 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. Madoff briefly attended Brooklyn Law School, but left after his first year to establish the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Madoffs investment firm employed his brother Peter Madoff as senior managing director and chief compliance officer. His two sons, Mark and Andrew, were also employed in the firm. When his two sons learned that their father was running a massive Ponzi scheme, they notified authorities on Dec. 19, 2008. The following day, FBI agents arrested Madoff and charged him with one count of securities fraud. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had previously conducted multiple investigations into Madoffs business practices but had not uncovered the massive fraud. The Madoff investment scandal defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars. After being arrested, Madoff confessed that he began the Ponzi scheme in the early 1990s, but federal investigators believed that the fraud began as early as the mid-1980s. Madoffs firm never was legitimate as confessed by Madoff after his arrest. Without going into an extensive explanation of how the fraud worked, a simple explanation would be that the scheme was to deposit a clients money into a bank account, rather than invest the money which should then generate steady returns for the clients. If a client wanted a return on their investment, the firm would use the bank money to pay the requested funds. Madoffs firm would create false trading reports on the clients investments which showed better than average returns. These monthly statements seemed to satisfy those that invested their money in Madoffs firm. Following his arrest, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies and admitted to turning his wealth management business into a massive Ponzi scheme. On June 29, 2009, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed. The federal government was able to recover enough money from Madoffs firm to begin paying out $772.5 million to more than 24,000 victims of the Ponzi scheme. The remainder of the money has not been recovered. On July 29, 2019, Madoff asked Donald Trump for a reduced sentence or pardon, to which the White House and Donald Trump made no comment. In February 2020, his lawyer filed for compassionate release from prison on the claim that he was suffering from chronic kidney failure that threatened his life. He was hospitalized for this condition in December 2019. The request for a pardon or reduced sentence due to the severity of Madoffs crimes was denied. Madoff died of natural causes at the age of 82 in the Federal Medical Center prison near Butner, North Carolina, on April 14, 2021. On a personal note: If you want more information on how the Ponzi scheme works you can get a more detailed explanation in my authored book, "The Fugitive Lawyer." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A man was shot and killed in Little Italy in Southeast Baltimore early Saturday morning, Baltimore police said. Officers arrived around 1:19 a.m. at the 800 block of Stiles Street for a reported shooting. Officers located an adult man suffering from gunshot wounds. Emergency medical services pronounced the man dead at the scene. Advertisement Police have not yet identified the man or his age. Homicide detectives are investigating and ask anyone with information to call 410-396-2100. Anonymous callers can contact the Metro Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-866-7LOCK-UP or submit a text tip by visiting the MCS Maryland website. Baltimore Police are investigating four other non-fatal shootings Saturday. Advertisement Officers were called to West Baltimore around 2:20 a.m. to a local hospital in the Midtown-Edmondson area for a walk-in shooting victim. An adult man was shot in the hip in the 2800 block of Edmondson Avenue, police said. Detectives are investigating the shooting on Edmondson Avenue and ask anyone with information to call investigators at 410-396-2477 or contact Metro Crime Stoppers. Breaking News Alerts As it happens Be informed of breaking news as it happens and notified about other don't-miss content with our free news alerts. > A separate shooting was reported in the Northwest District midday Saturday. Officers were called to the 3800 block of Hayward Avenue in Arlington shortly before noon where they found an adult man who had been shot. The man was taken to a hospital in grave condition, police said. Due to the severity of his injuries, homicide investigators have been notified. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 410-396-2466 or contact Metro Crime Stoppers. Shortly before 4 p.m., Southern District officers were called to a reported shooting in the 2500 block of West Patapsco Avenue. There they found an adult man who had been shot. The victim, who has not been identified, was transported to Shock Trauma. Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 410-396-2100 or call Metro Crime Stoppers. Around 7 p.m. police were called to the 5000 block of Windsor Mill Road near Leakin Park for a report of a shooting. An adult male with several gunshot wounds was found when officers arrived. The man, who has not been identified, was taken to an area hospital. Advertisement Southwest District detectives are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call 410-396-2488. The downtown Winston-Salem office of Wells Fargo & Co. is being permanently closed on June 1 by the bank as part of its latest round of branch closings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 100 N. Main St. branch is one of 11 identified by the bank to its federal regulator, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Closing notices were posted at the downtown branch Friday, and at the branch at 1525 Harris Blvd. in Charlotte. Wells Fargo spokesman Josh Dunn said the ATM at the downtown branch will remain available, while branch deposits will be transferred to the 701 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive office. This is not an easy decision or one that we take lightly, Dunn said. We continually evaluate our branch network, and make adjustments based on changing customer needs, market factors and economic trends. This process leads to both expansion and consolidations. On Dec. 28, Wells Fargo disclosed it has temporarily closed the downtown Winston-Salem branch, as well as branches at 3001 Randleman Road in Greensboro and 124 E. Main St. in Jamestown. However, the downtown branch was listed Friday as open on the banks website. Wells Fargo would still have eight Winston-Salem branches, as well as one each in Clemmons, Kernersville and Lewisville. Branches continue to play an important role in the way we serve our customers, and we continue serving customers through our branches while prioritizing safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Wells Fargo said in a Dec. 28 statement. There have been at least 41 branch closings in North Carolina. That includes its 720 Coliseum Drive branch in Winston-Salem, as well as two locations in Greensboro and one each in Blowing Rock and Dobson. The latest round of branch closings raises the total to at least 824 nationwide since the initiative began in earnest on July 21, 2020. Overall, Wells Fargo has dropped from about 6,600 branches in 2009, when it acquired a collapsing Wachovia Corp. and gained an East Coast presence. As of Dec. 31, it was at 4,777 branches. Wells Fargos branch-closing decision is the second involving a downtown Winston-Salem banking office in recent months. In October, Truist Financial Corp. told its regulator, the N.C. Commissioner of Banks, that it was shifting drive-through operations at 150 N. Marshall St. into the 200 W. Second St. branch within its former corporate headquarters. Truist has 13 branches in Forsyth County. Bank of America recently closed its branches at 698 Hanes Mall Blvd. and at 2899 Reynolda Road. Both branches already had been closed temporarily in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Open Bank of America branches in Forsyth are at 1209 Silas Creek Parkway, 4001 University Parkway and 426 S. Stratford Road in Winston-Salem, and 205 E. Mountain St. in Kernersville. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The N.C. Supreme Court reinstated a mans conviction for his role in the murder of a Jonesville police officer in 1996. Marc Peterson Oldroyd, 49, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, attempted armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in 2014. Oldroyd was sentenced to a maximum of 12 years and nine months in prison. But in March 2020, the N.C. Court of Appeals overturned the convictions, ruling that the indictment should have included the specific names of the people Oldroyd and two other men Scott Vincent Sica and Brian Eugene Whittaker had planned to rob at a diner before one of them shot Jonesville Police Sgt. Gregory Keith Martin to death on Oct. 5, 1996. On Friday, the N.C. Supreme Court reversed the lower appellate courts decision, saying that the indictment provided sufficient information for Oldroyd to prepare a defense to the charges. The court also said the indictment also provided specific enough information to protect Oldroyd from possible double jeopardy being prosecuted twice for the same crime. According to the ruling, Sica, who committed suicide in 2016, and Whittaker had planned to rob the Huddle House in Jonesville on Oct. 5, 1996. Sica and Whittaker were going to steal a truck, drive to the back entrance of the diner and go into a rear entrance. But the plan got sidetracked when Sica found the back door was locked. Oldroyd was supposed to be in a getaway truck in a nearby parking lot. If the plan had gone as scheduled, Sica and Whittaker would have robbed the diner, ditched the stolen truck and met back up with Oldroyd to get away. Instead, Martin stopped Sica and Whittaker on Interstate 77 and asked both men to step out of the truck. Martin then proceeded to search the vehicle, including a bag that contained masks the two men were going to wear for the robbery. Sica pulled out a gun and fired nine times. Five of the bullets struck Martin in the head and a sixth one grazed his head. Martin died at the scene. Martins murder would remain unsolved for 16 years. In 2012, Sica, Oldroyd and Whittaker were arrested and charged in Martins murder. Sica was convicted in March 2014 of first-degree murder and other charges and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He died in 2016 of autoerotic asphyxiation, according to an autopsy report. Oldroyd and Whittaker both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, attempted armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in 2014. Whittaker is currently serving a maximum of 17 years and seven months in prison. Because the N.C. Court of Appeals decision was divided, Yadkin County prosecutors had the right to seek an appeal with the N.C. Supreme Court, which is what they did. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful. (Malala Yousafzai) In 2012, Malala was shot by the Taliban. When she recovered, she continued to work for female rights and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. She is among many women who will be praised during Womens History Month. Ukraines voices have been heard across the globe, and the responses have been supportive. Russias president uses his power to destroy innocent people who do not adhere to his demands. Many times, voices of despair are not heard. Powerful people will continue their rule until a united effort of moral people work to eliminate religious, racial, social and gender prejudices. When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. (Jimi Hendrix) Most people encounter problems and heartbreaking events. The biblical account of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:1-29 is interesting and meaningful. Understanding the advice presented in his story provides a way to deal with problems. Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of Judah. His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord. (2 Chronicles 17:6) When Jehoshaphat was informed that the armies of two kings were marching toward Judah to overtake his country, he was anxious and overwhelmed. In 2 Chronicles 20:12 he said, Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. He told his people to be brave because God was near. The spirit of the Lord spoke to Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:15-17, Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but Gods. Tomorrow march down against them. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you. The Lord intervened, and the enemy soldiers fought each other. The power of Judahs God was recognized as the fear of Him spread to the surrounding kingdoms. In dark times, it is important to follow the lessons learned from the Bible. God is always near. Facing problems and praying for guidance will keep the spirit strong. Being grateful for lifes blessings and praising God will fill the heart with joy. Thoughts from two religious leaders reveal that as the anguish of the invasion of Ukraine and the persecution of Jesus remain heavy on the spirit, the rituals of Lent will lead to the joy that comes with the risen Christ. Archbishop of Philadelphia, Nelson J. Perez, recently met with priests from the area. In the meeting, Father Ruslan Borovyi, pastor of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Philadelphia said, In Ukraine there are a lot of ashes nowadays, and they are not just symbolic . ashes from hospitals, from universities, from cities that are already bombed. And these ashes are mixed with blood, with tears. I hope God really gives power to those ashes, that Ukraine could stand against the Russian enemy, (https://catholicphilly.com/2022/03/news/local-news/rich-blessed-season-of-lent-begins-with-heavy-hearts-over-war-in-ukraine-says-archbishop/) Bishop Mark J. Webb, a Methodist Bishop, wrote a message which included beliefs from the UMCs Book of Discipline. I invite you, in the name of the Church, to observe a holy Lent: by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on Gods Holy Word. As we enter this Lenten season, our world is faced with the reality of war and the ruthless invasion of Ukraine. The Christian conscience has struggled with the harsh realities of violence and war. We yearn for the day when people will live together in peace and justice. We believe war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ. We are called to love our enemies, seek justice, and serve as reconcilers of conflict. Let us boldly pray to God on behalf of all being affected by war, believing that through God, hearts, minds, and spirits will be transformed and turn from the path of war to the path of peace. (https://www.unyumc.org/news/article/from-the-desk-of-bishop-webb-praying-for-ukraine-this-lenten-season) I truly believe the only way we can create global peace is through not only educating our minds, but our hearts and our souls. (Malala Yousafzai) Earl Crows column is published Saturdays in the Winston-Salem Journal. Email him at ecrow1@ triad.rr.com. The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has been available to children ages 5 to 11 in the Triad and statewide for about 4 months. However, just 27% of the 893,000 North Carolina children in that age range, or about 241,000, have received at least one vaccine dose. In Forsyth County, the rate is 24% fully vaccinated, or about 8,500 out of 35,400 of those ages 5 to 11 in the county. Its becoming a growing concern of local and state public-health officials. During an N.C. Department of Health and Human Services virtual fireside chat this week, assistant secretary for children and families Charlene Wong said that a lot of kids are still vulnerable to getting the virus, getting sick and having any long-term symptoms that an infection may cause. Wong spoke about the need for vaccinating more K-12 students since most public school districts, including Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, have transitioned in recent weeks to mask-optional policies. Wong said between 30% and 40% of children who become infected with COVID-19 could experience long-term symptoms, such as fatigue, brain fog and breathing issues. That could limit, if not prevent, those children from participating in school and sports, she said. Forsyth County health director Joshua Swift said in his Thursday COVID-19 update that among those ages 12 to 17 in Forsyth, the fully vaccinated rate is at 48%, which mirrors the statewide rate. The vaccine became available on April 7 to those ages 16-17, as well as May 13 to those ages 12 to 15. There has been little vaccination movement in the 5-to-11 and 12-to-17 age ranges over the past two months in Forsyth even with the omicron surge saturating the county for about a six-week period. The lower-than-projected vaccination levels in K-12 grades have not been affected significantly by the constant push to keep students in the classroom. Senate Democrats successfully defeated Wednesday a Republican veto override attempt on Senate Bill 173, the Republican-sponsored Free the Smiles legislation that would have allowed parents to opt out of school mask mandates. Not as effective Dr. David Priest, an infectious diseases expert at Novant Health Inc., said that while the COVID-19 vaccine for children has proven to be very safe, but in several instances not as effective as we would like. The dose for those ages 5 to 11 is significantly smaller than for those 12 and older. It doesnt mean the vaccine has no value; it does, particularly for the most vulnerable children, Priest said. It just doesnt have the rigorous protection that vaccine manufacturers would like. Thats a dosing issue and maybe the dosage needs to be adjusted. Priest said additional research is being conducted, particular for those under age 12, and vaccine clinical trials are under way for those under age 5. That includes determining whether a two-dose or three-dose regimen is best for those under age 18. Thankfully, children continue to do quite well with COVID, although there have been several hundred deaths in the U.S., generally in those who have other medical problems, Priest said. Priest said he encourages parents to talk with the pediatrician about any vaccine concerns. Forsyth, statewide updates Forsyth County has had an additional COVID-19 related death, while the local daily case count reversed a recent downward trend, according to Fridays DHHS update. A total of 14 deaths have been reported in the county so far in March, following 69 in February and 73 in January. Those months represent the highest and second highest totals since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Altogether, there have been 775 COVID-related deaths in Forsyth. Statewide, 30 additional COVID-related deaths were listed in Fridays update, bringing North Carolinas total COVID-related deaths to 22,922. DHHS listed Forsyth with 57 new cases, compared with 36 in Thursdays report, 38 Wednesday and 20 Tuesday. The Forsyth case count is at 91,667 for the pandemic, with the daily count below 100 for 10 consecutive updates. The statewide new case count was 1,849 in Fridays update, compared with 1,783 Thursday, 1,833 Wednesday and 894 Tuesday. DHHS lists COVID-19 cases and deaths on the day they are confirmed by medical providers and public health officials, so people could have been infected or may have died days or weeks before their cases were counted. Swift has said some of the recent deaths in Forsyth are among people who had been battling COVID-19 for weeks, if not longer. Forsyths positive test rate over the past 14 days was 4.4%, down from 4.9% on Thursday. The statewide rate was 2.9%, down from 3% Thursday. Fridays update had Forsyth averaging 8.1 cases per 100,000 residents over the most recent 14-day period. Thats down from 82 per 100,000 residents in the Feb. 11 report. Local public-health officials say it may be several weeks before communities learn what effect ending mask mandates will have. Those officials still encourage residents to wear a mask in indoor public settings if they believe there is a risk for exposure. COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide dropped from 1,012 on Thursday to 965 on Friday. Hospitals in the 17-county Triad region had a combined 170 COVID-19 patients Friday, down 29 from Thursday. Statewide, 106 patients are on ventilators, including 19 in the Triad region. There were 21 children hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, including four in the Triad region. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. In 1983, our family made a cross-the-USA car trip. When we stopped for meals or a motel wed often be asked, Wherere yall from? I began replying something like this: Were from a place in the continental United States where almost 700,000 people dont have any representation in the U.S. Congress, we pay more federal taxes than several states, were more populous than two states, and we could even be drafted. Unfailingly I was met with a look of total bewilderment. We were from Washington, D.C. Almost 40 years later, further comparisons shape an even grimmer portrait of unfairness. The vote-less citizens of Washington pay more federal taxes than are paid in 21 states, pay more federal taxes per capita than any state, have a larger budget than 12 states, have a larger gross domestic product than 17 states, have a triple-A bond rating and are first in educational attainment. U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 17: Congress shall have power To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States. George Washington finalized the location of the District at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers in Maryland and Virginia in 1791. In 1801, the seat of the U.S. government was officially moved there from Philadelphia. Thirty-nine square miles were ceded back to Virginia in 1846, substantially to allow continued slave trading in Alexandria. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in the remaining, and enduring, 61 square miles. For more than a century after that, with one exception from 1871 to 1874 District of Columbia citizens didnt even have the right to conduct their own local affairs, with their own money, as local communities do nationwide. They had congressional overseers. Congressmen often imposed their personal preferences upon the hapless, vote-less District things they could never enact for the entire United States or in their home states, but which nevertheless showed get-tough attitudes to impress their own distant constituents. Underfunding was normal for this largely Black city, as was segregation until the 1950s. Some relief came from the 23rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Ratified in 1961, it gave District voters as many electoral votes for president and vice president as the least-populous state (three) an agreeably insignificant addition to 535 other votes. In 1973, Congress Home Rule Act at least gave the District its current popularly elected mayoral and city council government, but all laws are subject to congressional review. Congressional Republicans are currently talking about repealing home rule should they regain the majority. Most other nations of the world do not deprive the residents of their capitals of voting participation in their national governments. We shouldnt either. Its grossly unfair and a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a treaty the U.S. signed in 1992. Possible remedies: All but a small downtown enclave of Washington could be made a state simply by congressional action, as it has done to admit all the other states beyond the original 13. But D.C. is overwhelmingly Democratic, like most other major cities, so Republicans are not enthusiastic. Most of the District could be ceded back to Maryland and D.C. citizens would then vote there. But neither District residents nor the Maryland legislature (which would have to agree) are enthusiastic. The Constitution could be amended to give District residents congressional and Electoral College votes as if it were a state. That was proposed by Congress in 1978. Only 16 states ratified the amendment (of the 38 required) within the seven-year time limit. Most states were ignorant and/or dismissive of the existing unfairness, just as our 1983 cross-country trip encounters showed. Republican states are, once again, unenthusiastic. Creative lawsuits have been tried (claiming taxation without representation and denial of voting rights and equal protection, for example), but they have inevitably, and unsuccessfully, butted up against the exclusivity of Article I, Section 8, Clause 17. So, heres my attempt at education about this remote, painful, undemocratic injustice. Its unfair, theres little justification for it and its fixable. Statehood is the path of least resistance, but it will take a thoroughly Democratic Congress and president to get there. Peter H. Wolf is a retired District of Columbia trial judge who lives in Winston-Salem. Beating addiction to fuel wont end U.S. need for oil Dan Rodricks tribute to Bob Bruninga is fitting (The remarkable Bob Bruninga believed we could lick our addiction to fossil fuels, March 8). But licking our addiction to fuel does not equate to eliminating our need for oil. According to the University of Wisconsin, in 2018, 19% of U.S. crude oil was used for gasoline, 11% for diesel fuel, 4% for jet fuel and 1% for home heating oil. The remaining 65% is used to produce the tires, battery case, seating fibers and foams and plastics on Mr. Bruningas interesting cars, not to mention the asphalt roads on which he drove. In fact, in addition to most plastics, many pharmaceuticals, the gases used to produce steel and glass, even the ink used to write and print Mr. Rodricks columns are crude oil byproduct. Advertisement Yes, conservation is essential to preserving our way of life. But wind, solar or nuclear cannot produce any of these essential byproducts. And a cleaner environment will not result in exporting dirty industries to China, India and Russia as the net global carbon footprint would be zero. We in the West need to take on the challenge of developing truly clean, optimally efficient energy use simply because no one but us can and will do it. Warren Hartenstine, Havre de Grace Advertisement Bill is a win for small businesses, workers and Maryland Small businesses are a key part of the economy in Baltimore and across the state, but many of these business owners face tight budgets and struggle to provide benefits to their employees. Thats especially true when it comes to health insurance; often the cost of coverage is out of reach for them. A bill pending in the General Assembly (H.B. 709/S.B. 632) would help that. It would establish a new state fund that would provide up to $45 million a year in subsidies to help small businesses provide health insurance for employees. This would help many more Marylanders get affordable health coverage, giving them peace of mind and ensuring they have access to the care they need. This bill would benefit business owners as well; employees with good benefits are more loyal and likely to stay in the job, which reduces turnover costs. As we get more and more Marylanders insured, the costs for uncompensated health care go down, which reduces overall costs for everybody. This bill is a win for small businesses, a win for workers and a win for our entire state. I urge the General Assembly to stand with small business and make it law. Jasmin Shaw, Baltimore Making Baltimore cooler and healthier together I am writing in response to the article titled, Could smart surfaces keep Baltimore cool (and healthy)? published March 8. Low-income neighborhoods in cities are disproportionately overheating and dealing with significantly worse side effects than the more well-off communities. The division of inequality is clear: Neighborhoods filled with lush trees are highly protected above those with bare front yards. In thinking long term, more smart surfaces would decrease overall heat leading to increased outdoor activity, reduced obesity rates, a decline in energy bills, air pollution and hospitalization. All positives, but will this modernization of infrastructure invite new wealthier community members to push out the current citys population? I also think the reasoning that smart surfaces also benefit tourists undermines, once again, the communities that are struggling. But if we can muster up enough community support, from tourists and residents alike, we could make Baltimore cooler and healthier together. Penny Naden, Baltimore Advertisement Blame your long commute for your empty wallet The American thirst for gasoline is coming to an unwanted fruition. One of the contributing problems, aside from the type of vehicle we drive, is the fact that far too many people not working remotely have become dedicated to living far from where they work. The environment be damned, they love living in the rural parts of a state or even neighboring state far from the metropolis where theyre employed. It never bothered people to set themselves up for an hour commute previously, as they discovered digital ways to make the drive time productive, day, and the local governments looked at ways to increase the lanes of interstates and major roads. The idea of electric cars is an ideal dream, but there are lots of bugs to be worked out. Now the increased price of gas is hitting home, and it is time for all Americans to reconsider their commute and realize that they truly need to move closer to where they work, shop and have services such as day care. Georgia Corso, Baltimore History was made last week by highly competent and confident women. Two of them were seated behind President Biden during the State of the Union and another accepted her nomination to the Supreme Court. It is notable that such firsts should arrive during March, Womens History Month, a time to reflect on the accomplishments and contributions of other highly competent and confident women. We need not look far away to find them. They are among us today, in plenty, and they have been here among us all along. A decade ago in March 2012, these opinion pages included a guest column submitted as The Illustrious Mrs. Lindsay Patterson. That column was a tribute to Lucy Bramlette Patterson, an 1882 graduate of Salem Female Academy. Twenty years later, as president of the Salem Alumnae Association, she organized celebrating the centennial anniversary of the school, its founding then acknowledged as 1802, 30 years later than todays better celebrated 1772. A century ago, Lucy Patterson offered a life of service to our Winston-Salem community, to North Carolina, to the nation and to the world. Her spirit of service is reflected today in the work of organizations across our community most predominantly women-centric and women-empowered helping make our community better for others and, hence, better for us all. After World War I, when a devastated Europe was in desperate need of assistance, Lucy Patterson helped with humanitarian relief for the Balkan states in Eastern Europe. In her efforts, she became friends with Queen Marie of Romania; King Alexander of Yugoslavia bestowed on her the Cross of Mercy for her humanitarian aid to the people of Serbia. She was made an honorary member of Kola Sestara, an organization for the relief of widows and orphans. Back home on June 1, 1921, the nation awoke to news of the horrible massacre of Black citizens in Tulsa, Okla. That may have seemed distant from Winston-Salem, but not to Lucy Patterson. That fall, she rented her three-story, showplace home on Depot Street (later renamed Patterson Avenue in her honor), for a month to a newly formed local North State Film Company for making a silent film with Black actors, including many local Black residents as extras. A Credit to His Race was an uplifting drama portraying a Black male physician discovering a cure for a plague then frightening the public. He was helped by a Black female teacher who volunteered to test the vaccine. It premiered in Winston-Salem before playing to critical acclaim in Chicago, Harlem and in theaters across the country. With the ratification in 1920 of the 19th Amendment recognizing the right of women to vote, Lucy Patterson did more. At her first opportunity in 1922, she ran for Congress to represent the Fifth District of the day. Her opponent was the longtime incumbent, Major Charles Stedman, the last Confederate still serving in the U.S. Congress. He outspent Pattersons $125 campaign fund by 10 to 1, but he only defeated her at the polls by 2:1. Nevertheless, for the next 20 years, Patterson served on her partys national committee, serving for many years as North Carolinas chairwoman. Women have made great strides in contributing to the betterment of all our communities Winston-Salem, the state, the nation, the world. They have done so despite staunch resistance to societal changes supporting their participation in all civic matters as equals to men who have historically controlled the power. They have done so with grace and aplomb, as one would need in the face of such ham-handed and condescending attempts at flattery exemplified by some men in such positions. During his time as a U.S. senator from 1879 to 1894, spanning the years Lucy Patterson attended Salem Academy, former N.C. Gov. Zebulon Vance was the commencement speaker one year. In the presumptive manner of men of his day and some still today? he offered this advice from the platform: Young man, when you want a wife, get one with the Salem Academy brand. They are warranted not to cut in the eye or fade in washing. Theyll take that today, senator, as competent and confident, thank you. During March and April, the North Carolina Collection at the Forsyth County Central Library is featuring the exhibit, Lucy Bramlette Patterson Our Lady of Letters. In celebrating her service to our communities in several areas of interest, the exhibit also recognizes those organizations mostly women-centric who are continuing service in those same areas today. Women making history its worth knowing. Randell Jones is an award-winning history writer and creator of the Lucy Bramlette Patterson Our Lady of Letters exhibit at the Central Library. The exhibit will be accessible online soon through the Forsyth County Public Library. He lives in Winston-Salem. For years, Joe Schulz had talked to his father about one day taking over the family farm in Seward County and becoming the fifth generation to do so. But the path seemed uncertain, if not impossible, when he graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2018. I always figured Id farm at some point, but I didnt know when, Joe Schulz said. I had conversations with my dad in high school and college, but, with farming trends, it didnt make a lot of sense. Years of low commodity prices had hurt family farms across the state and nation, including the Schulz operation, which was focused on growing 1,300 or so acres of corn and soybeans near Goehner. That was, until 2018, when a new company showed up in Seward County looking for farms to raise thousands of chickens for a proposed processing plant near Fremont. Lincoln Premium Poultry wanted ag operations in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa to produce rotisserie chickens for Costco. And though the Schulzes were hesitant at first, they decided the poultry barns offered a new potential revenue stream and an opportunity for Joe Schulz to become the latest generation in his family to farm near Goehner. We decided it was a good way to expand the family business while bringing another family member in and diversifying our operation, he said. While both of the proposed poultry operations in Lancaster County met opposition one in the southwest part of the county will be built after litigation; the other near Raymond Central High School was denied a permit by county commissioners the poultry barns were welcomed with open arms one county to the west. Jonathan Jank, president and CEO of the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership, said the Schulzes are one of seven families in the county raising chickens for Lincoln Premium Poultry. Nearly all of them have similar stories, Jank said, with the new barns often bringing a young person back to their hometowns to become the latest to work in the family business. Its been amazing to see fourth and fifth generations come back to the farm, he said. Thats what Ive realized when analyzing commodity prices going up and down: Livestock diversifies operations. Though Schulz Poultry is less than 4 years old, it tapped into a branch of Joe Schulzs family tree that was nearly a century old. His great-grandfather, Erle Smiley, founded and ran a hatchery in the Seward area in the 1930s, later becoming an international poultry judge. But, between then and now, the family had switched its focus to row crops. In that time, large-scale poultry barns largely disappeared from Nebraska so much so that the Schulzes held a town hall meeting to inform their neighbors about the barns they hoped to build. We held an open house in Goehner because people didnt know what poultry barns looked like, said Jim Schulz, Joes uncle and a partner in Schulz Poultry. It was more curiosity than opposition. In the end, the Schulzes proposal to build the barns sailed through the Seward County Planning Commission and county board before becoming reality. The first chickens arrived at four barns on the Schulz property in March 2019. Four more opened in January. Each of the eight barns holds 45,000 birds, which arrive at just a couple hours old and spend the next 42-44 days in the barns. During that time, producers follow a regimen regarding temperature, food, light, etc., prescribed by Lincoln Premium Poultry. Once birds reach the right age, theyre transported from their home barns to Fremont, where Lincoln Premium Poultry processes 2 million birds a week, said Jessica Kolterman, a Seward native and spokeswoman for the company. The seven poultry farms in Seward County represent just a small portion of the companys operations, which stretch from York County on the west into Iowa and from Dixon County to eventually southwestern Lancaster County. The plant in Fremont processed its first chickens in September 2019. The whole organization was about a $550 million investment by Costco, and farmers invested close to that collectively, Kolterman said. In Seward County alone, its probably about a $35 million investment. Jank had similar numbers, citing a 2018-19 estimate that placed the increase in property tax valuation for Seward County subdivisions at $35 million, and that was before the Schulzes built four more barns. Latest figures linked 40 new jobs to the 40 broiler barns. The ripple effect doesnt stop there, either, he said. These poultry facilities are the best of both worlds, Jank said. You talk to local implement dealers, the bank, the car dealerships all have been positively impacted by projects. It impacts insurance, restaurants, all those things. Joe and Jim Schulz echoed those sentiments, noting that those working to build the barns often visited restaurants in Goehner, Utica and Seward, and if they needed equipment, they headed to the hardware store in Beaver Crossing. I think it helped a lot in that way, Joe Schulz said. Weve got a full-time guy and a part-time guy, so were adding to the economy, and were paying a lot of property taxes to our school district. And helping guarantee the future of the Schulz farm relied heavily on revisiting its past, something that isnt lost on Jim Schulz. It means a lot, he said. My grandfather had five sons, so he had a built-in succession plan for his business. My dad and uncle farmed together for 50 years. Theres probably a tear in the eye of my dad and grandpa looking down. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Irish Whiskey Cask Scottish Oatmeal Stout, a beer celebrating Celtic culture, is now available in the U.S. Originally developed a decade ago by Scottish brewer Innis & Gunn to mark St. Patricks Day, this limited-edition beer hadnt been available in the U.S. until recently. Abroad, it received numerous international distinctions including Best in Class-Porters and Stouts at the Alberta Beverage Awards and Grand Gold at the Global Monde Selection Awards last year. Dougal Gunn Sharp, Founder, Innis & Gunn said: Ireland is known for its great stouts, and Scotland for its great whisky, and of course, both nations share Celtic culture, character and an innovative spirit. To celebrate this, we set out to turn convention on its head by brewing an incredible Scottish stout, then aging it using the best Irish Whiskey Casks. Our Irish Whiskey Cask Stout is brimming with Celtic attitude. Dont let the dark black color of the beer fool you, the stout is purposely matured for mellowness. The oats give it a slightly sweet creaminess and rounded mouthfeel according to beer industry magazine Brewbound. Described as warming and perfect for the winter months the beer is complex yet smooth, its bitterness balanced with a long, chocolatey finish. Read here for other ways to get your oats, or go inside with one of western Pennsylvanias last remaining estate-grown oat farms. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 GRAND ISLAND Eight horses were scratched from Friday afternoons racing at Fonner Park because of a quarantine implemented amid equine health problems. A 21-day quarantine has been placed on Barn R, where more than 100 horses are stalled. Two horses were euthanized in the last week one Wednesday and one Thursday. The cause of their illness has not yet been identified. Fonner Park Chief Executive Officer Chris Kotulak described the quarantine as a precautionary step. While we have yet to confirm if there has been an outbreak of a virus, we have decided to err on the side of caution and enact immediate precautions, Kotulak said in a statement. The livelihood of many has been affected. The health and welfare of all beings in our stable is always a grave concern. And everyone has a role to play to return to normalcy. The illness is believed to be the equine herpes neurological virus. But it is only believed that because of some of the symptoms that the horses have shown, Kotulak said in an interview. Wednesday, Kotulak was notified that a horse in Barn R had a high temperature and was displaying mobility issues. Blood and nasal swab samples were taken and driven to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. Tests were completed Thursday and the lab results were inconclusive. Additional samples were sent for testing Thursday. That same day a second horse showed similar symptoms. Unfortunately, both horses were euthanized, according to Kotulaks statement. The horses that were scratched Friday came from trainers who are stabled in Barn R. Horses in that barn are not allowed to race at Fonner. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture has been notified. It was involved in a discussion with the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, the state veterinarian and the Fonner Park stewards. Among other steps, precautions have been mandated that disallow any horseman with horses in Barn R to have contact with any other horses in the stable area, according to the Fonner news release. Any horses that arrive may not leave the entire stable area until the quarantine is lifted. Fonner Park has also begun protocol to routinely sanitize the paddock, the starting gate and other common areas for horses. Fonner will use a three-stage quarantine process. During the first seven days of the quarantine, which began Thursday, horsemen from Barn R are allowed to put their horses on the outdoor walkers. Each walker will be designated for use by a specific trainer. Those walkers will be sprayed down with disinfectant after each use. After seven days, if there is not another outbreak, we will then allow those horses and only those horses from Barn R to train on the training track, which is adjacent to Barn R, Kotulak said. After two weeks, if there is no longer an outbreak, horses from Barn R will be allowed to train on the main track after standard training hours. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Nebraska Cultural Endowment board of directors has announced that Maggie Smith of Omaha will take the helm of the statewide arts and humanities funder starting mid-March. Smith most recently served as director of operations at KANEKO, where she co-led fundraising and development strategy while overseeing marketing, communications, programming and operations. Prior to joining KANEKO in 2019, Smith taught college writing courses while working in innovative product and program management at Yahoo. In addition to her tech industry experience, Smith also co-founded a nonprofit in Dublin, Ireland, focused on creativity and writing. She managed strategy in development, marketing and operations while creating curriculum and teaching. We are excited to have Maggie leading the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, said Rita Stinner, president of the board of directors. Maggies extensive experience in arts and humanities, embracing and celebrating diversity, nonprofit management, relationship building and fundraising are just what is needed to meet the goals of the Endowment. Recent legislation doubled the amount of funds that will support Nebraskas arts and humanities organizations via the Nebraska Cultural Endowments public matching fund, the Cultural Preservation Endowment Fund (CPEF). This arrangement allows the NCE to facilitate an increase in the CPEFs value by $10 million if the Endowment raises $10 million in matching funds through private contributions. Smith will lead the efforts to raise these private donations, which will yield combined endowment funds of more than $40 million, resulting in more than $2 million in annual distributions to arts and humanities programs across the state. Nebraska Cultural Endowment is the first and only cultural endowment in the nation to sustain both the arts and humanities through privately supported and publicly matched resources. Established in 1998, NCE funds are distributed to partner agencies, the Nebraska Arts Council and Humanities Nebraska. These two organizations, in turn, provide funding to arts and humanities organizations across the state. Learn more at nebraskaculture.org. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Nebraska Community Blood Bank (NCBB) is partnering with Food Bank of Lincoln and Food Bank of the Heartland for the Save 1, Feed 1 campaign. Throughout March, NCBB will be donating funds to the food banks on behalf of every presenting blood donor. According to Food Bank of the Heartland, thousands of Heartland families are still experiencing unforeseen financial adversity and food insecurity due to the lingering effects of the pandemic, causing many to seek food assistance for the first time. Currently one in nine people with one in six being children are facing food insecurity. Most food banks can provide between four and five meals for every dollar donated because when they buy food, they buy by the truckload. Therefore, each blood donation throughout the duration of this campaign has the ability to both save up to three lives and provide between four and five meals to Nebraskans facing food insecurity. In addition, according to Feeding America, over 225,000 people in Nebraska are facing food insecurity. Food insecurity refers to the USDAs measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members, and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. A total of $112 million in funding is required to meet food needs annually. To make an appointment, call 402-486-9414 or visit ncbb.org/save1feed1. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Gov. Pete Ricketts signed a proclamation declaring March 21-25 as Nebraska Severe Weather Awareness Week, a time to remind Nebraskans that community preparedness can minimize the dangers of the annual severe weather season to the lives and property of Nebraskans. In addition, Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Assistant Director Erv Portis has announced winners of the annual Severe Weather Awareness poster contest. The winning and honorable mention posters will be featured in NEMAs 2022 Severe Weather Awareness Calendar. Three students from Fredstrom Elementary School were honored for their poster designs. Winning third place was Abigail Strilkivsky, 9, with her poster titled, What to Do vs. What Not to Do During a Tornado. Receiving honorable mention recognition were Addison Dimmitt, 9, and Ezra Tanner, 9, also from Fredstrom. We want all Nebraskans to take some time during Severe Weather Awareness Week to prepare for spring and summer severe weather, Portis said. The devastating impacts of extreme events can be reduced through improved readiness. Make a safety plan, create a preparedness kit and review proper safety precautions. Its just a good practice for those of us who live in areas affected by tornadoes, floods and severe thunderstorms. For more information on severe weather awareness or preparing for severe weather, visit: https://nema.nebraska.gov/. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Mahone Fund has announced plans to honor a long time educator and community leader at the annual Reaching for Rainbows Pursuit of Excellence event in Kenosha. Educator and Mahone Fund Board President Bryan Albrecht will be presented the Living Legend Community Award at the event on Tuesday, April 12. The award is given to an individual or organization whose lifetime accomplishments represent Mary Lou and Arthur F. Mahones multicultural, humanitarian and educational philosophy. The 2021 recipients were two long time community servants Alvin Owens and Gary Vargas. In January, Gateway Technical College President and CEO Albrecht announced plans to retire this fall. In his 38-year career in education he received several professional accolades for his work, including being selected for the National Coalition of Certification Centers Founders Award and the Wisconsin Association for Career and Technical Educations Lifetime Achievement Award. Bryan has been a member of the Mahone Fund Board for over 12 years. He has presided as Board President for nine years ushering in a period of tremendous stability and financial growth, said Debbie Ford, vice chair of the Mahone Fund Board. Bryans devout stewardship created a trajectory of enormous success for the Mahone Fund leading to an increase in the amount and number of scholarship distributions, increase in active volunteers and community awareness activities. It is inspirational to reflect on the impact the Mahone Fund has made throughout our community. I am humbled to receive this recognition and will use it to strengthen the important mission of service to others, Albrecht said. Bryans overall impact on education and youth is hard to quantify. His dedication and commitment to ensuring students from all walks of life have access to quality education is displayed in his daily life, from his contributions to the success of the Mahone Fund, to the continued growth of Gateway Technical College, and the partnerships he created so that the youth and community have the resources and chances to keep bettering themselves through education. He exemplifies servant leadership that has helped our Mahone Fund CEO scholars achieve their dreams and become mentors and leaders in their own way. Shebaniah Muhammad and Terri Wruck, co-chairs of the Mahone Scholarship Committee, said in a joint statement. Proceeds from the annual event support the funds Career Exploration Organization mentoring program, which aids low-to-moderate income youth in their pursuit of higher education by supporting college prep, career planning and community service engagement activities. Participants in this program create a pipeline for the Mahone Fund Scholarship program which will award more than $250,000 in college scholarships to area high school students this year. Over several decades, Gateway has developed a meaningful relationship with the Mahone family because our missions align with strengthening our community through service. Together through the Mahone Fund we commit to inspire hope and opportunity through education and community trust, Albrecht said. Bryan and I have developed a lasting friendship beyond his role with the board. We both understand the importance of establishing partnerships to create sustainable impact and create positive outcomes for the greater good in this community said Tim Mahone, chairman of the Mahone Fund. His boundless commitment to our organization as well as his tremendous support for others makes Bryan a true Living Legend. The Mahone Family is grateful for Bryans transparent and unwavering commitment to perpetuate and uplift my parents. The Mary Lou & Arthur F. Mahone Fund mission is to provide educational opportunities for economically and academically deserving youth, while supporting healthy lifestyle initiatives in communities of color. The Fund is a component of the Kenosha Community Foundation. The Reaching for Rainbows Pursuit of Excellence event will be held at the Carthage College Todd Wehr Center with an hors doeuvres reception from 5 to 6:15 p.m. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. Event organizers are working in consultation with Carthage Collage staff to monitor all campus COVID-19 protocols. To purchase individual tickets at $50 per person, obtain sponsorship, or to donate, visit mahonefund.org or contact Karen Kaiser at the Kenosha Community Foundation at 262-654-2412 (office), or e-mail kkaiser@kenoshafoundation.org. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 1. Yes. Raising the bar for future developments will boost the citys housing market. 2. Yes. It will help in newer areas, but more needs to be done to change Killeens image. 3. No. The new standards will just slow down homebuilding and drive away developers. 4.No. The ordinance will do little more than drive up the price of new homes in the city. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say what the effect will be until they have been in place for a while. Vote View Results Baltimore will increase funding for the rehabilitation of vacant properties and other housing initiatives following the death of three city firefighters this year who were battling a blaze in a vacant rowhouse. About $100 million will come from the citys $641 million pot of federal American Rescue Plan money awarded to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Advertisement Announced Friday on the one-year anniversary of the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, nearly $40 million will be dedicated to eliminating and preventing blight through investments in targeted city redevelopment zones, housing upgrades for seniors and improving the citys permit process to expedite redevelopment. Another $58 million will be spent on strategic capital investments such as creating 170 affordable rental and owner-occupied units in Park Heights. The remaining $4 million will be dedicated to initiatives to keep residents in their homes and prevent vacant properties. Advertisement We will use everything, every resource at our disposal to eliminate blight and ensure that our residents have access to resources that will keep longtime residents in their homes and foster anew homeownership in the residents of Baltimore, especially the Black middle class, Scott said. Scott and city housing officials were poised to announce an investment of American Rescue Plan funding into Baltimores housing stock late last year, but delayed the move after a fire claimed the lives of fire lieutenants Paul Butrim and Kelsey Sadler and paramedic/firefighter Kenny Lacayo. The three died in January when a burning vacant home partially collapsed, trapping them inside. A fourth firefighter, John McMaster, was seriously injured in the blaze, which is among the deadliest in Baltimores history. Following their deaths, Scott issued a directive for a 30-day review of all city agencies, calling on the agencies to provide an accounting of efforts to reduce the number of vacant properties and share ideas for enhancing those programs. Vacant properties have been a persistent problem in Baltimore, where about 15,000 homes sit empty, posing a potential fire danger to city residents and emergency personnel. The results of that study were 50 actionable recommendations, said City Administrator Chris Shorter, some of which were used to determine the recipients of city housing funding. Among the recommendations to be implemented: a further review of the citys permitting process to make it easier to redevelop a vacant home, and expanded assistance for existing homeowners, particularly seniors, so homes do not fall into vacancy. Scott called the citys current permitting process long outdated. Fridays news conference was held in the citys Uplands development, a vast swath of new construction in West Baltimore, once part of the Uplands Apartments complex. Redevelopment of the site, which includes mixed-income multi-apartment homes, rowhouses and free-standing houses, was begun in 2006 by then Mayor Martin OMalley. Advertisement Scott and a host of other officials, including Congressman Kwesi Mfume and a half dozen members of City Council, stood against the backdrop of a fenced off, uncompleted portion of the development. Uplands is due to receive $12 million from the American Rescue Plan allocation to support a second phase of the development to include 150 units of affordable rental housing. Scott said drivers on nearby Edmonson Avenue can expect to see apartments rise on the empty plot of land in the next few years. Other neighborhoods that will be targeted for funds include Park Heights, ODonnell Heights, Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello and Somerset and Perkins homes. Democrat Mfume, speaking to a sizable crowd that included numerous housing advocates, recalled his swearing in as a member of Baltimore City Council 43 years ago. Eliminating blight was a priority then, he said, but some of the homes vacant then are still vacant today. It pains my heart to know 43 years later we still have to work on this issue, he said. Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy called the infusion of American Rescue Plan funds critical resources at a critical time. In addition to the funding, Kennedy announced the creation of a program called Buy Into Baltimore, a new single-access point for potential buyers homeowners or developers to shop for city-owned vacant properties online. Advertisement Maryland Policy & Politics Weekdays Keep up to date with Maryland politics, elections and important decisions made by federal, state and local government officials. > City officials debuted a website for the program Friday. Lets get started now, she said, evoking cheers from the crowd. Housing advocates in attendance were cautiously optimistic about the infusion of money into an issue they estimated would cost at least $1 billion to completely address. Peter Bain, a member of the board of directors at Virtus Investment Partners, said Scotts proposal builds on successful redevelopment efforts in other areas of the city, such as Greenmount West, which have eliminated vacant buildings without displacing residents. This is doable, he said. Pastor George Hopkins said he was pleased to see Scott coordinating with leaders who are already doing revitalization work on the ground. Advertisement Part of it is not just the money. Its the community leaders organizing everybody. Nobody is being displaced. The people who live in the community are part of the community, he said. That being a part of it gives us great hope. KEARNEY Kim Carlson doesnt require students to purchase expensive textbooks for most of her courses. Instead, the University of Nebraska at Kearney biology professor utilizes a variety of free or low-cost resources to educate them. As a member of UNKs Open Educational Resources Committee and a parent whose pocketbook is directly impacted by the soaring price of college textbooks Carlson recognizes the need to remove this financial barrier. Simply put, There are kids who cant afford these books, she said. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of college textbooks increased 88% from 2006 to 2016. The Education Data Initiative reports that the average full-time, undergraduate student spends more than $1,200 on books and other course materials each year, forcing some of them to work extra hours, skip meals or ignore other expenses to pay the bill. One in five students surveyed by the Education Data Initiative indicated the cost of books and materials directly influenced their decision on what classes to take. Our students shouldnt have to choose between food security and textbooks, and they shouldnt have to choose their career based on the cost of books, said Rochelle Reeves, an associate professor and curriculum librarian at UNK. Reeves is another member of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Committee, a group working to expand the use of free and reduced-cost learning materials at UNK, where the average student pays around $1,000 per year for books and supplies. Since colleges and universities cant control the price of traditional textbooks, the OER program focuses on removing them from the equation. OER uses free and publicly available teaching and research resources, as well as materials available through Calvin T. Ryan Library at no additional cost to students, to make courses more affordable. This includes open-access textbooks, e-books, videos, modules, tests, journals, websites and other tools. To qualify as an OER course, a students cost for materials cant exceed $40, with the exception of lab kits. For her genetics class, Carlson worked with a company called Skyepack to design a custom e-book using her own presentations and notes, along with other open-access materials. Instead of paying nearly $300 for the newest edition of a textbook, her students get unlimited access to the e-book for just $39. The process didnt cost Carlson anything. The students really, really like it, she said. Grades in my class are much better, and the students are more actively engaged. Carlson, a co-chair in the UNK Department of Biology, believes the new class format makes her a more effective instructor. OER gives faculty more control over their course content, allowing them to select materials that are both relevant and interesting to students. Its a lot of fun to change it up and kind of refresh yourself, said Carlson, who convinced a couple colleagues to create their own e-books for upcoming courses. STUDENT SAVINGS Supported by a grant from the University of Nebraska System, UNK launched its OER program in 2015 as a pilot project that included four introductory-level classes in biology, English, political science and teacher education. The campuswide initiative has continued to grow since then. From fall 2015 through fall 2021, a total of 86 courses were offered as part of OER, with more than 2,600 students enrolled in these classes. There are 57 courses with a combined enrollment of nearly 1,800 students designated as OER this semester. Now part of the Office of Graduate Studies and Academic Outreach, the program has saved UNK students more than $500,000. I think we have great momentum, but we want to see even more growth, said Reeves. Known systemwide as Open Nebraska (ONE), the program is a priority project for NU System President Ted Carter, who continues to support initiatives that make higher education more accessible. OER and a complementary e-book program have saved NU students more than $9 million across the system. This semester, NU campuses started using a new marking system that allows students to see which courses use free or reduced-cost materials when theyre registering. Support is available for the teachers, too. Each faculty member participating in the OER program is assigned a librarian and instructional designer to help them set up their courses and identify resources. Faculty also receive stipends to convert their courses to OER. Carlson and the other committee members know OER doesnt work for every course, but theyd like to see affordable materials offered in as many classes as possible. Its the best thing for our students, Carlson said. MINDEN The students at C.L. Jones Middle School in Minden think their teachers are superheroes. Eighth-graders in Whitney Maulsbys journalism class think so highly of their teachers they cast them as the Avengers in their short film, Educators: Infinity War. The class will present their short film to their families and community members during a formal red carpet premiere Tuesday at the Minden Public Schools auditorium. The doors open at 6 p.m., and the event will begin at 7 p.m. When Maulsby first began teaching the journalism class at the Minden middle school, she noticed students often would gravitate toward news stories that were prevalent but negative. One semester we had some extra time, and I told them they had to do a positive project. I basically just said, Any story we can figure out about our school that would promote it in a positive light, and we cant be negative. Its going to be something that makes people happy, Maulsby said. The students chose to make a short film. Maulsby was expecting a five- to 10-minute movie, but they ended up producing a 30-minute short film. The class also wanted to be able to show their production to the community in a unique way. We had just built our new high school and had a brand-new auditorium, and so we invited people to this fancy formal event where we had a premiere. We showed the movie and we had food and a VIP room that people could come. From then its just grown even more every year, Maulsby said. This is the fifth year the eighth grade class has made a film in the journalism class. Eighth-grader Brody Sexton originally had the idea to portray the teachers as superheroes because he felt they deserved the recognition for all the things they do. The class thought it was the perfect way to honor their teachers who have persevered through the pandemic and the challenges teachers face each day. The class based their movie on the 2018 film, Avengers: Infinity War. One of the biggest issues was not being able to do a lot of special effects or as much action as a high-budget film. They also had to change the ending because so many people die in the Hollywood version. Finding the right teachers to fill the roles of each Avenger was a little tricky, but they all easily agreed on who would play War Machine. CLJMS seventh grade math teacher, Heath Wragge, is deployed with the Army National Guard in Kuwait. When they asked him if he would be involved, he was happy to take part in the production. We emailed him and asked him if he would do it. We kind of wrote his scene of him alone. He filmed it for us, Maulsby said. The kids were really adamant that he be included. The journalism class only meets two to three times a week so they often will meet before or after school to work on the project. The teachers have been flexible, meeting before or after school to film their parts. The students wrote the scripts and help shoot the scenes while Maulsby does most of the editing. The class has seen bits and pieces of the movie, but they wont get to watch it in its entirety until the premiere. Thats what Im excited for is their faces and the laughter, Maulsby said. During the premiere, each student in the class gets to pick a teacher to join them in the VIP room. They made them special invitations to tell them why they are a superhero to the students. There will be snacks and drinks available for all in attendance as well as a drawing for a gift basket. There will be a freewill donation. The seventh grade journalism class will show a miniature film at the event that will get the audience involved. There will also be art-stop motion pictures shown during the event. The films can be watched online on the Whippet Nation Network on YouTube. Maulsby never expected for junior high students to be able to produce a film, and she is always impressed each year how her students adapt and help everything run smoothly. This class in particular has brought back life into the building that maybe weve lost because of all the things weve been going through. Thats the whole purpose of the movie is to bring back the excitement for teachers that we used to maybe have that may have faded. Theyre very talented. And Im glad I said yes, because at first I thought it was too much, and its turning out to be really cool, Maulsby said. LEXINGTON Kathleen Jourdan has been found not guilty on all counts after a jury of 10 women and two men deliberated for four hours on Friday, March 11. After a six day trial Kathleen was found not guilty of second degree murder and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. She shot and killed her husband, Joshua Jourdan, in a pickup pulled over on the side of I-80 on June 17, 2020. Kathleen had claimed she acted self-defense after suffering years of abuse during her relationship with Joshua. Dawson County Attorney Elizabeth Waterman prosecuted the case. Brian Davis and Brian Copley represented Jourdan. YORK Julie Hoffman of York has been named as this years Star of the State honoree, chosen from a number of nominees from across the state. This program honors extraordinary voluntary efforts to make this world a better place. Hoffman has worked with others to pursue the fundraising and creation of the Peyton Parker Lane Playground project in York. This local project will result in a more than $1 million, 22,000-square-foot all-inclusive playground. It will be the largest of its kind in Nebraska. The mother of two sons Peyton and Parker Hoffman learned about the joys, challenges and blessings of having special needs children in a family. They were perfect in every way, Hoffman says of her two boys, who needed constant care but also provided constant love to her, their family and everyone around them. In 2010, Peyton unexpectedly passed away at the age of 11. Parker died in 2019 at the age of 19. It was exactly three years ago this month when Hoffman said she was consumed with grief and a wonderment of who I really even am now, if I dont have a child at home to care for. When her boys were alive, Hoffman and her husband, Chad, were committed to making sure their sons were included in everything at school, in activities with other kids, regardless of their physical abilities. She watched them be included by other kids and in many school activities which created lasting bonds and deeper understanding of the fellow man. Peyton and Parker benefitted from those friendships, those experiences, but the other kids did as well, Hoffman says. To this day, those kids reach out to me and say their friendships with Peyton and Parker led them to wanting to work with special needs kids, or be in medical care, and they say they see the world in a different way because of knowing them. When you have a special needs child, you are blessed. We were blessed. We would have never been the parents we became without them, we would have never become who we are as people. Along the way, they met other parents with similar family blessings, like Paul Jaekel and April McDaniel, who in January 2020 invited them to come to a grassroots meeting about possibly pursuing an all-inclusive playground in York that could provide equal access and opportunity for everyone of all ages and abilities. We went to the meeting and I was asked if I just wanted to run with it, Hoffman recalls. I said, Absolutely. The newly formed committee went before the York City Council in March 2020, where they received the citys blessing and promise the large playground can be located at Mincks Park, just north of the aquatic center. The pandemic began shortly afterward, but that didnt stop Hoffman, McDaniel and the rest of the committee members from pursuing funds. The project needed at least $1 million, they knew that from the start as this will be the largest all-inclusive playground in the state when it is finished. And in just 16 months, we were just slightly under our goal of $1 million, all locally raised, Hoffman said. It has been an incredible, humbling experience, to see this entire community come together in such a way. So many people are so excited about this project and we are blown away by the generosity as well as the understanding of its importance. The Star of the State program was created to recognize individuals who tackled the challenges of the past year with grace and fortitude. Nominations came in from across the state and were reviewed by a committee within Lee Enterprises. The program is sponsored by Woodhouse Auto Family. Hoffman has been working tirelessly behind the scenes, doing presentations, speaking to groups, making phone calls, staying in contact with the York Community Foundation, which has been the agency collecting the funds and helping plan the features. Hoffman also handles all the writing of thank you cards on Monday mornings to the many donors who have come forward. Suddenly a woman with a broken heart because her sons had passed and uncertainty about navigating her own life had a new purpose, a new passion and a way to keep alive the memories of her boys. She certainly acknowledges McDaniel in this effort McDaniels son, Lane, had special needs and also passed away at a young age in his sleep in 2014. His name is also included in the title of the all-inclusive park, Peyton Parker Lane Playground. These two mothers took their grief and turned it into action. She also notes the idea for this project was Jaekels and their grassroots committees work is what has made this a success. We couldnt have done any of this without so many volunteers and so many who came forward with funds, Hoffman says. The project price has exceeded $1 million, but they are getting very close to the end goal, she said, with only about $118,681 still needed. Donations continue to come in and so do the calls from other communities in the state, including Hickman and North Platte, who have heard about the Peyton Parker Lane project and are interested in pursuing the same where they live. Former Husker great Eric Crouch and Unlimited Play are the contracted creators of the playground, as they specialize in this type of work. She said the equipment has been ordered and arrangements have been made for the project to begin in May. This is going to be a place of joy, for children in wheelchairs to be at the same eye-level of their peers on play equipment, for grandmothers who want to be able to play with their grandchildren regardless of their abilities, for people of all ages and strengths to just enjoy life, Hoffman said. This has been a wonderful experience and we just cant wait to move closer to seeing this dream become reality. Other finalists throughout the state are: Tara Dunker of Beatrice, an extension educator and community volunteer; Connie Giese of Fremont, community volunteer; Sandy Manfull of Grand Island, Paws for Prevention and Out of the Darkness Walk event coordinator; Jamie Rejda of Lincoln, executive director of the Downtown Syndrome Association for Families in Nebraska; and Dan Kathol of Omaha, a community volunteer. To donate to the Peyton Parker Lane Playground project, Hoffman can be reached at Jeppp62495@hotmail.com. The controversial decision by the city to purchase Maple Grove Motel to house the unsheltered is being revisited, not due to resident objections but rather the findings of a property inspection. The La Crosse Common Council is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Monday at the South Side Neighborhood Center, after a resolution from Mayor Mitch Reynolds invoking inspection contingency. According to the resolution, first shared on News8000, the sale was dependent on an inspection showing the property was in condition acceptable to the city. However, the inspection uncovered significant issues with the building. The resolution concludes that the city no longer wishes to purchase the property, and city staff are directed to take any and all steps necessary to effectuate this resolution. The council in February approved $1.5 million to buy Maple Grove Motel, using American Rescue Plan funding, with the intent to use it as temporary housing for the homeless population. The building can accommodate 32 persons. Currently, the city is utilizing the Econo Lodge for the unsheltered through the end of April. Some residents in the neighborhood of the Maple Grove Motel have expressed displeasure with the plan to provide shelter at the location, with a petition circulating by Citizens for Sensible Homelessness Solutions. The group believes using the motel for the homeless will strain police resources, offer only enough space for less than a third of La Crosses unsheltered persons, and will require those currently using the motel to leave. Over 500 signatures were obtained as of Saturday morning. The Salvation Army, in a March 9 letter to City Council members, stated their own concerns about Maple Grove Motel, including a lack of transparency in the process, no operational plan and traffic dangers. The Salvation Army noted it was also not in favor of the use of Econo Lodge, preferring a scattered site model. However police chief Shawn Kudron earlier this month said that Due to just the many, many factors that are involved with our unsheltered population its desirable for the police department that there is a centralized population. Parks, Recreation & Forestry Department director Jay Odegaard, who presented the initial proposal to the council, said at the time, At the end of the day it is all of our goals to reduce the number of unsheltered people in the community. Emily Pyrek can be reached at emily.pyrek@lee.net. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Flossie Wong-Staal Flossie Wong-Staal (1947-2020) was born Wong Yee Ching in Guangzhou, China, in 1946. Her family fled to Hong Kong in 1952 after the Communist Revolution. During her time in Hong Kong, Wong-Staal attended the Maryknoll Convent School where she excelled in science. Her teachers there as well as her family encouraged her to pursue her education in the U.S. When her teachers suggested she change her name to something English, her father suggested Flossie after a massive typhoon that had recently struck the area. She received her B.S. in bacteriology and her Ph.D. in molecular biology from UCLA. She did her post-doc work at University of California San Diego, and after that, went to work for Robert Gallo at the NIH. There she began her research into retroviruses, and soon after, became the first researcher to clone HIV. In 1990, Wong-Staal was recruited to the University of California San Diego, where she started the Center for AIDS research. Her work there led to new treatments for HIV/AIDS patients. In 2002, she joined Immusol, a biopharmaceutical company she founded with her second husband, where she focused on therapies for Hepatitis C. The Institute for Scientific Information named Wong-Staal the top woman scientist of the 1980s and, in 2019, she was inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame. Sponsored by AAUW La Crosse; researched by Ann Brice. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A Christian social activist and bestselling author who once worked with Mother Teresa will speak in Lancaster this month. Shane Claiborne will be the keynote speaker at Seeking First The Kingdom, an event at Lancaster Church of the Brethren, 1601 Sunset Ave., March 26 and 27. The event is hosted by the churchs Spiritual Renewal committee. The events theme is Living simply in a complex world. Mother Teresas life work was not far from that mission: as the world became more complicated, she remained dedicated to helping people get basic needs to survive. Mother Teresa said there are Calcuttas everywhere with poor, homeless, dying and destitute people needing care if only we have eyes to see, says Claiborne. This marks the first Seeking First the Kingdom event since 2019; the COVID-19 pandemic led to the events cancellation in 2020 and 2021. Committee chair Jay Wenger says the event brings people together to learn how to live a more Christ-like life. Don Fitzkee, Lancaster Church of the Brethren pastor of worship and member of the Spiritual Renewal Committee, says Claiborne was a perfect fit to speak at the event. Shanes views on peace, simplicity and radical discipleship are needed now more than ever, Fitzkee says. Claiborne who lives in Philadelphia with his wife Katie Jo, is founder of the Simple Way, a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia with a mission to guide people to spread the message to love God, love people and follow Jesus in neighborhoods around the world. He also leads Red Letter Christians, a group that aims to combine Jesus with Justice, with Tony Campolo. Red letter refers to Jesus teachings to his disciples about how we should live printed in red in many editions of the Bible. Claiborne worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India, during a summer break in 1996 from Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. The experience shaped Claibornes future and life purpose, and he says it helped him better understand the plight of the poor and those facing other social challenges. His 10 weeks in Calcutta convicted him to support a consistent life ethic which protects all human life from conception to natural death. This life ethic opposes abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide and euthanasia. It opposes war and gun violence. As a peacemaker and passionate pacifist for non-violence, his travels have taken him to troubled areas worldwide from Rwanda to the West Bank, Afghanistan and Iraq. Christianity isnt just about right believing, but right living, says Claiborne. Faith impacts social justice issues, he says, as Christians follow Jesus who sought to transform the world with love. His life work is to write and travel nationally and internationally speaking about peacemaking, social justice and Jesus. The author of 15 books led to praise from readers including Philip Yancy, Bono and Archbishop Desmond Tutu to name a few. Red Letter Revolution: What if Jesus Really Meant What He Said? co-authored with Tony Compolo received praise from President Jimmy Carter who said, This book by a young and an elderly Christian will help you decide how we Christians could change the world if we took the red letter words of Jesus literally and seriously. Claibornes most recent book is Beating Guns: Hope for People who are Weary of Violence, released in 2019. Hes working on his next release, The Book of Life, Womb to Tomb, to be published by Zondervan in early 2023. Jesus still has a really great reputation and the Spirit is still moving, Claiborne says. Ive got a lot of hope for a generation that takes Jesus seriously, once again. Attendees at the Seeking First the Kingdom event can choose between four sessions offered at two different times. Two of the sessions are Spanish-language Bible studies. We are pleased to be able to offer two sessions for our Spanish community with Joel Pena, Alix Sable, Lancaster Church of the Brethren associate pastor. Registration includes a light lunch on Saturday. There is no cost to attend the event, but a free will offering will be accepted. Sponsors are invited to help underwrite the cost. Childcare is not provided. Advance registration for Saturday is requested by March 21. For more information and to register and/or sponsor the event visit lancob.org. Legislation to expand access to abortions in Maryland and mandate that most health insurance plans cover the procedure cost-free for patients easily passed the House of Delegates on Friday, a step toward broadening access in Maryland even as the U.S. Supreme Court mulls allowing severe restrictions on abortion in other states. Delegates also backed enshrining the right to abortion as part of the fundamental right to reproductive liberty alongside contraception and prenatal care in the states constitution, something that would require the approval of voters in November. Advertisement Maryland law has explicitly protected a womans right to obtain an abortion since 1992, when voters statewide approved a referendum on the issue by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. But abortion rights supporters have argued that the procedure remains too difficult to obtain for many women, rendering it a choice in name only, and that adding the right to the state constitution would safeguard against any future political efforts to curtail or restrict it. The proposed Abortion Care Access Act would allow nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and physician assistants to perform abortions and create a program at the Maryland Department of Health, backed by a $3.5 million annual budget, to train medical professionals. Private insurance companies, except those with legal exemptions, would be required to waive deductibles or cost-share charges to completely cover the procedure. Advertisement A veto-proof majority of delegates backed the proposal after several days of intense, often emotional debate in the chamber and protests outside the State House. The Maryland Senate, where Democrats also hold a veto-proof majority, has not yet considered either proposal. As elsewhere, the issue intensely divided delegates along stark moral terms, as a matter of ensuring a womans basic human rights and autonomy or tantamount to endorsing the murder of an innocent child. We have a fundamental right to control our own decisions around pregnancy, said Del. Ariana Kelly, a Montgomery County Democrat who sponsored the Abortion Care Access Act and spoke in support of the constitutional amendment as well. Kelly and other supporters argued that the limited number of clinics offering abortions and the cost of the procedure for lower-income women with high insurance deductibles leave some unable to actually make those difficult decisions themselves. Kelly said rules allowing only physicians to perform abortions are outdated and were written before medical advances like medication abortions. Allowing nurses and other medical professionals to perform abortions could significantly expand the number of providers in the state and make abortions easier for patients to obtain. The legislation helps women by making sure that care is affordable, either through insurance or through Medicaid, Kelly told her colleagues on Friday, because low-income women and middle-income women should have the same right to make their own choices about their reproductive lives as rich women do. Del. Brooke Lierman, a Baltimore Democrat, recounted being raped while in college and recalled agonizing over the thought of what she might do if she became pregnant as a result. What happened to my body that night was not my choice, but the choice of what was going to happen to my body in the future was my choice, said Lierman, arguing Maryland should guarantee that every woman can freely make that same choice. Advertisement Republican opponents objected to spending public money to teach medical professionals how to provide abortions and to mandating special enhanced insurance coverage for the procedure. The Democratic majority rejected numerous efforts to amend the legislation. Maryland Policy & Politics Weekdays Keep up to date with Maryland politics, elections and important decisions made by federal, state and local government officials. > The abortion proposals go too far and upset a long-standing moderate balance in the state, said Del. Jason Buckel, an Allegany County Republican. He acknowledged most Marylanders support legal abortion, but said he worried the state is moving toward the furthest extreme of those who believe abortion must be allowed under any circumstance, for anyone, at any time and paid for by the taxpayer. Del. Teresa Reilly, a Republican representing Cecil and Harford counties, said both bills ignored so many people in our state that believe this is a form of killing the innocent, while Del. Rick Impallaria, a Republican for Baltimore and Harford counties, said the proposed amendment would turn the states constitution into a satanic document. The move to cement abortion rights in Maryland comes as legal access to abortion guaranteed by the 1973 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade is again at issue nationally. The Supreme Court is considering whether to uphold a Mississippi law that would ban all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a decision that could roll back or even overturn Roe v. Wade. That could allow tight restrictions or outright bans on abortion in dozens of conservative, Republican-controlled states to go into effect but would not affect access to abortions in Maryland, where abortions legality has been considered settled law for decades. Advertisement House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, the sponsor of the proposed constitutional amendment, acknowledged during hearings last month its hard to imagine a Texas- or Mississippi-style law in Maryland. But the Baltimore County Democrat described the amendment as a guarantee against future politicians trying to scale back abortion access or using abortion funding as a political bargaining chip. Constitutional amendments require the support of three-fifths of members in both chambers of the General Assembly and approval by voters, a high threshold that would make Jones amendment if passed far more difficult to repeal. It also would give voters the opportunity to weigh in on any future move to roll back abortion rights. Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, is an opponent of abortion but has repeatedly called it a matter of settled law in Maryland. A spokesman for Hogan, who holds the power to potentially veto the expanded access law but not a proposed constitutional amendment, did not respond to questions about the proposals on Friday. SPRING BASKET RAFFLE: Mountville PTO will host their spring basket raffle from March 14 through March 31. The event will be held in person with virtually viewing as well. In-person viewing times will be 5:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15; during the School Art Show on Tuesday, March 23; and 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31, at Mountville Elementary School, 200 College Ave., Mountville. Winners will be picked on Friday, April 1, and basket winners will be able to pick their winnings up between 4:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, at Mountville Elementary School. Cost of tickets are $2 each accepted as cash or checks (mailed to Mountville Elementary School). For more information or to view baskets for raffling, visit facebook.com/MountvilleElementaryPTO/. MEETING: The Disabled American Veterans, Red Rose Chapter 80 will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at the East Petersburg Fire Company, 6076 Pine St., East Petersburg. For more information, contact Jeff Butch, 717-475-3009; jbutch1@mac.com. MEETING: Grave Concern will host their quarterly meeting and program at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at the Lancaster County Mennonite Historical Society, 2215 Millstream Road. Free and open to the public. Title: The cemetery and murder at Duffys Cut, presented by Mattew Patterson. Patterson will discuss the latest forensic evidence regarding the murder of 57 Irish railroad workers in 1832 at Duffys Cut in Malvern. For more information, call 717-341-5561; iu13stevestuart@yahoo.com. Community Calendar runs as space is available. Three weeks notice of an event is appreciated. Please place the date of the event or the deadline date to register at the top of the press release. Email your information to news@lnpnews.com. The York Daily Record/Sunday News and a coalition of four other news organizations in Pennsylvania, including LNP Media Group, on Friday filed a federal lawsuit against York County Clerk of Courts Dan Byrnes, alleging that his policies and customs of redacting court records and delaying and denying access to documents violate the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions. The American system of justice is founded on principles of openness and transparency, the lawsuit states. Contemporaneous access to criminal case files ensures that the public learns about important cases while they are still newsworthy, promotes accuracy in reporting, safeguards the fairness and legitimacy of criminal proceedings, and fosters meaningful public debate about and greater understanding of the criminal justice system. In York County, Pennsylvania, the publics presumptive constitutional right of access to judicial records in criminal cases is routinely violated, the complaint later continues. In a statement, Byrnes wrote that his office flatly rejects the unfounded claims made in this frivolous lawsuit. The Clerks office has balanced the needs of the press and public with the privacy rights of individuals including victims involved in criminal cases, Byrnes said. During my tenure the Clerk of Courts Office has actually expanded free public access to the public, especially to those facing a financial barrier to information. This offices decisions on these matters are in accordance with criteria set by the courts and guidance provided by state agencies, he added. What the suit seeks The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg and seeks declarations that Byrnes policies and customs violate the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions, as well as preliminary and permanent injunctions barring him from redacting court records and delaying and denying access to these documents. The York Dispatch, Spotlight PA and WITF are also plaintiffs in the case. Paula Knudsen Burke, a Pennsylvania-based attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, is representing the news organizations at no cost. Journalists from news organizations across the state regularly rely on court records to produce timely and comprehensive reporting about whats happening in the judicial system, Burke said in a statement. When that access is improperly delayed, limited or denied, its not only unconstitutional, but it also makes it more difficult or even impossible to provide the reporting that hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians depend on to better understand public safety and how their local courts are operating. Sasha Dudding, E.W. Scripps legal fellow at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of Press, is also working on the case. In an interview, Dudding said the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has heard from reporters all over Pennsylvania who are experiencing similar issues with access to court records. Court records, she said, enable reporting that gives people information about what the courts and law enforcement are doing as well as how public money is being spent. But this isnt just about reporters trying to get documents, Dudding said. I mean, all sorts of people rely on access to court records, from students to researchers, genealogists, family members of people involved in court cases. This is a right of access that the Constitution of Pennsylvania and the U.S. guarantee for everyone, she added. And that right of access really is used by everyone. Next, Dudding said, the attorneys will seek preliminary injunctive relief. Byrnes, she said, will have an opportunity to respond. The court will eventually issue a ruling. We do hope that it sends a message to elected court officials throughout the state that there are consequences when they deny constitutionally guaranteed access to court records to the people that they represent, Dudding said. We hope that other court officials see this case and act accordingly. Changing practices In the past, the York County Clerk of Courts Office had a public computer on which people could view court records in criminal cases at no cost using a software called Laserfiche. Though that computer was later removed, individuals could still use terminals in the Court Self-Help Center in the York County Judicial Center to look at these records. On Feb. 10, 2021, Byrnes emailed several reporters and editors in York County and stated that his office would start charging them for copies of court records effective March 1, 2021. Byrnes was charging 65 cents per page, the lawsuit states, though the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania Public Access Policy set a cap of 25 cents per page. Thats along with assessing a flat $17 CD-ROM fee for electronic copies of court records. The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sent a letter to Byrnes asking him to lower his fees on March 31, 2021. Next, Byrnes disabled Laserfiche on the computers in the Court Self-Help Center, which meant that members of the public and press could no longer electronically view court records, the lawsuit outlines. The York County Clerk of Courts Office does not keep paper files. On April 22, 2021, Byrnes responded to the letter and reported that he had updated the fees. He stated that he still had work to do to create a mechanism so that your client can view any public documents at no charge while protecting privileged information, according to the lawsuit. Following additional conversations, Byrnes, the lawsuit states, set up two ways through which the public and press could access court records at no cost. But Byrnes office is making improper, extrajudicial redactions to court records and denying contemporaneous access to documents that the public and press are entitled to under the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions, the lawsuit alleges. Thats in addition to impounding certain cases, the lawsuit asserts, and entirely denying access to some court records. In Pennsylvania, the lawsuit states, parties and their attorneys have the sole responsibility for making sure that filings comply with confidentiality requirements. The clerk of courts is not authorized to redact confidential information, the lawsuit asserts. And if parties do not follow the conditions, that shall not affect access to case records that are otherwise accessible. Between Sept. 7 and Sept. 30, 2021, the lawsuit states, reporters asked for 42 court records from the York County Clerk of Courts Office. Heres how long it took for the press to receive them: Same day: Six. One day later: 13. Two days later: 17. No access: Six. Most of the court records 32 of 42 were redacted, according to the lawsuit. Whether this is happening because of confusion and misunderstanding or through a deliberate effort to block access to public records, it is a shame that taxpayers dollars will be spent to defend Mr. Byrnes improper management of his office, said Randy Parker, executive editor of the York Daily Record, in a statement. This is a simple matter: The public has a right to public records and one bureaucrat cannot subvert the laws of this state. Byrnes, a Republican, was elected as York County clerk of courts in 2019. He previously served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked as a project manager for a steel fabrication company. The clerk of courts is elected to four-year terms. The York County Clerk of Courts Offices budget for 2022 is $2.68 million. Byrnes salary is $89,235. His mother, Susan Byrnes, founded the Susan P. Byrnes Health Education Center on South George Street in York and is a former York County president commissioner. Manheim Township police are asking for help investigating a shooting that happened Wednesday. Police say eight shots were fired into an occupied house in the 900 block of Sterling Place in Lancaster around 2:25 p.m. Wednesday. It is not immediately clear if there were any injuries. Police released photos and a video of two people police have identified as suspects. Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to contact Detective Anthony Lombardo at (717) 569-6401 ext. 1587. Lancaster city police are searching for a man wanted for having a firearm despite being ineligible to carry one. Police identified Angel Rojas, of Lancaster, as the driver of a vehicle that crashed into houses on the 600 block of Hershey Ave. sometime on Tuesday. Occupants of the vehicle fled on foot after the crash. A firearm was recovered at the scene of the crash, according to police. However, Rojas is not licensed to carry a firearm. Court records indicate Rojas previously pleaded guilty to felonies and misdemeanors in 2017, including having a firearm with an altered serial number and having a firearm without a license. Police filed a criminal complaint for Rojas with charges including prohibited possession of a firearm, firearms carried without license and other traffic offenses. Police have issued a warrant for Rojas arrest. Anyone with information on Rojas whereabouts should call the Lancaster City Bureau of Police at (717) 735-3300. THE ISSUE Lancaster County has two major opportunities to fund improvements to its broadband infrastructure, which data suggests is worse than any of its surrounding counties, LNP | LancasterOnlines Colin Evans reported in last Sundays Lancaster Watchdog column. The first is funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, of which Lancaster received $106 million. The federal money can be used to make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure, according to the Department of the Treasury. County commissioners have yet to specify how they will use (most of) those funds, despite having started to receive them last May. The second source is future grants from the newly created Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority, an 11-person group tasked with managing at least $100 million in funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress last year. Unless you dont have broadband access, you may not appreciate just how necessary it is in 2022. Many of us use the internet every day without thinking much about it. To do schoolwork. To apply for employment. To take care of our health care needs. To pay bills. To do our banking. To work from home. To get materials from the public library. To conduct business. The COVID-19 pandemic only has amplified the need to be connected reliably to the internet and highlighted the gaps in internet access here. Two years ago, when schools had to turn to remote learning, The Steinman Foundation and the Lancaster County STEM Alliance in conjunction with Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 stepped in to ensure access to broadband internet for families with school-age children who did not have it. (The Steinman Foundation is a local, independent family foundation that was funded by the companies that make up Steinman Communications; those companies include LNP Media Group.) And even before the pandemic, many people living in southern Lancaster County struggled with slow download speeds that made using the internet frustrating and difficult. As LNP | LancasterOnlines Evans noted last Sunday, a February report from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania found that 27% of Lancaster County internet users had download speeds under 25 megabits per second, or Mbps, in 2021, tied with Berks County for the worst percentage among Lancaster and its neighboring counties. For 24% of users, upload speeds were under 3 Mbps, the worst figure among Lancaster and its neighbors. The language of megabits and upload and download speeds may be hard to decipher, but suffice to say: This is bad. According to research for the Economic Development Company of Lancaster County, approximately 11,000 to 17,700 addresses in this county are not served by broadband providers. And Comcast is the only provider that currently offers a low-cost program available to eligible low-income households. The EDC is preparing a report which could be released in the late spring or summer about broadband access, affordability and adoption in Lancaster County. Ezra Rothman, the EDCs director of strategic initiatives and partnerships, told LNP | LancasterOnlines Evans that the report will identify where gaps in the county exist and provide a set of specific recommendations about how Lancaster County can fill them. Theres significant funding. This is a really, once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-generation ... opportunity with the funding thats available to deal with broadband now, Rothman said. We are really heading into a unique time and a unique opportunity to address this. Unfortunately, Lancaster County Commissioners Ray DAgostino and Josh Parsons did not respond to Evans requests for comment on whether they would use current funding or pursue grants to improve the countys broadband infrastructure. Evans noted that Commissioner John Trescot, who joined the board in February, was unavailable to comment. The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program is the part of the American Rescue Plan Act that designates funding for state and local governments. The program allows Lancaster County to choose how to allocate its $106 million under a set of specific allowed uses. (Some money has already been used to address staffing shortages at the county prison and other facilities.) In January, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released its final rule on how those federal relief funds should be spent; the rule takes effect April 1. Lancaster County must decide how to use its funding by the end of 2024 and spend it by the end of 2026. Eliminating the gaps in broadband coverage in Lancaster County would be one excellent use of federal pandemic relief funds. As Evans reported, the federal government recommends prioritizing areas without access to 100/20 Mbps speeds. The Treasury Department, he noted, also recommended that governments invest in fiber-optic infrastructure and focus on last-mile connections from households to larger broadband networks. As he pointed out, Neighboring York County, which received $87 million in rescue plan act funds, committed last year to spending $25 million on expanding fiber access to underserved areas and assessing whether county-owned and leased 911 towers could be used to improve internet access. The silence of DAgostino and Parsons on this subject is mystifying. This is a matter worthy of public discussion and investment. And this is one area in which the commissioners could deploy the expertise of Trescot, their newest member, who is a retired engineer and business executive. If the commissioners want to further improve the economic fortunes of this county and prepare this countys students for the workforce, expanding broadband access should be among their priorities. Expanding broadband access also would enable this countys local health care systems to more effectively practice telemedicine, which undoubtedly would advance the well-being of county residents. Research clearly links increased broadband availability and adoption to better economic, social and educational outcomes, Kathryn de Wit, a project director with The Pew Charitable Trusts broadband access initiative, wrote last May. For the benefit of our communities and economy, the time has come to bridge the digital divide between Americans who have access to broadband and those who dont once and for all. Indeed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, I want peace. More than 2 million Ukrainians have already fled their country as refugees. As America empathizes with the cruelty and evil of war, we must reflect on how war is never the answer. Retrospectively, we have learned of the governmental lies and failures of the Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The Costs of War project estimates that about 929,000 people have been killed directly in the violence of the U.S. post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere. Additionally, it estimates that 38 million people have been displaced and that the cost of these wars has been $8 trillion. We must empathize with their suffering, also. In my view, we become complicit in these wars that are fueled by the military-industrial complexs lobbying efforts. Today, we are even threatened with the unconscionable prospect of nuclear war. So, how does peace happen? What I believe we need is a new world order, based upon the example of Costa Rica and Panama, both of which have no national military. If these two nations can exist without a military budget, why cant we? We must strengthen the United Nations efforts toward peace, deterrence, diplomacy, human brotherhood and human rights. New treaties to abolish nuclear weapons and national military forces are needed. An international peacekeeping force under the United Nations with strong checks and balances would help to provide security to all nations while generating collaboration, minimizing armed conflict and promoting safe business. Lets call for an end to the age of empires and superpowers. Without nationalistic military spending in the world, there would be no war to be had. Peace requires a new military budget zero! Beware the military-industrial complex. Ajay Marwaha, M.D. East Lampeter Township South Africa: President concludes North West Imbizo on a high note President Cyril Ramaphosa has described his Presidential Imbizo in the North West province as a success after holding a fruitful session with community members. The President arrived at the Mmabatho Stadium in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality on Saturday where scores of residents had gathered. He interacted with people and listened to their experiences of daily life in the province, service delivery challenges as well as their initiatives and solutions to improve socio-economic conditions. The President was flanked by a number of his Cabinet Ministers, including Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu and Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe, among others. The President told the community members that he had heard their cries and that government will be focusing more on service delivery. We had a very fruitful session with the community the residents were able to raise their concerns and complaints but they also put suggestions forward, and what we need to do better, so I found it very enriching. We are going to be focusing more and more on service delivery. Many of the issues that were raised were of a service delivery nature, there was so much enthusiasm that nearly all of them wanted to speak, the President said. President Ramaphosa said it had been great to hear people speaking openly and freely as this is what enriches democracy. An Imbizo gives us the opportunity and the platform as government to interact with our people and communities. And, as I said, the North West has been chosen as the first province to test drive this Imbizo process and it was very successful, he said. The Imbizo also provided an opportunity to inspire new thinking, different ideas, and suggestions on how to fix the challenges that exist. I am grateful that the Ministers were present and were able to respond to many of the issues that have been raised. He said the District Development Model was moving into top gear. We are going to be utilising it more and more so that as the government we stop working in silos, we must work together in an integrated way. I am very pleased that most of the replies that were given here are a clear demonstration that we are now becoming more and more integrated and we are going to address the challenges that our people have faced. The President told the community members that government will focus more on service delivery and the Ministers would return to the area with a number of programmes focusing on what needs to be done. Now this is the way we are now going to move forward as government in an integrated way and a cooperative way doing things together so that they can improve the lives of our people but most importantly so that the can create jobs, he said. During the Imbizo, one of the residents pleaded with the President to do away with Section 100 in the North West. In response, Minister Nkosazana DlaminiZuma assured communities in the North West that plans are in place to exit the Section 100. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2022-03-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Dakota graduated from Bret Harte in 2013 and went to Davidson College, NC where she earned a bachelor's degree in Arab studies. After spending time studying in the Middle East and Europe, she is happy to be home, writing about the community she loves. Follow Dakota Morlan 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 March 11, 2022 Professor Barbara Creel, along with students from the New Mexico Innocence and Justice Project, just argued a long-running case before the New Mexico Supreme Court. The question presented was whether the District Court decision to grant a new trial based upon DNA should be upheld in the case, which was the first opportunity the Court has had to interpret the New Mexico DNA Statute. Over the course of the years, many individuals have worked tirelessly on this case. Students have assisted on research for the appellate briefing, helped review the records, volunteered their time to learn and practice the argument, craft questions, and research the cases on Exculpatory cited by the State, and the case briefs. A student team of five were given the rare opportunity to attend the argument at the Supreme Court, and later met with the Attorney General. Professors Veronica Gonzales-Zamora, George Bach, David Stout, Lysette Romero Cordova, and J. Kennedy assisted in mooting the argument and moral support to Professor Creel. Jamshed Jehangir, a UNM School of Law 2L, said: Working on the Hobbs oral argument was an incredible way to apply the cumulative knowledge and skills that Ive garnered during my first year and half of law school: I leaned on theory from my 1L criminal law class when discussing homicide and self-defense; utilized skills and techniques from ELA I and II in order to structure a sound and persuasive argument; pulled advocacy methods and strategies from ETP and Mock Trial; and of course employed nearly all the content from Professor Creels Wrongful Convictions class in order to understand the importance of post-conviction innocence work and the vital role it plays in our criminal justice system. "Helping Professor Creel prepare oral arguments for the Supreme Court of New Mexico was an incredible insight into what it takes for a case to this level. Putting years of hard work into a 30 minute argument was an exciting challenge and watching Professor Creel argue before the Court was the cherry on top. Wildly grateful to have the opportunity to help shape the Criminal Justice System for the better," says student Tea Davidson, who also helped work on the case. Students who worked on the case, Maggie Maestas (1L), Kristin Guin (1L), Krista Russell (1L), Jamshed Jehangir (2L), Tea Davidson (2L) along with Professor Barbara Creel. This case was an entire law school effort, and we could not be prouder of the collaborative teamwork and community efforts that went into this case. Congrats to all! Scientists say a fossil of the oldest known octopus ancestor suggests that the animal lived before the dinosaurs. The researchers have estimated the fossil is about 330 million years old. It was discovered in what is now the western American state of Montana. The fossil was donated to Canadas Royal Ontario Museum in 1988. But it was not considered an important find for many years as scientists studied other fossils found at the same site. But then some researchers discovered that the fossil showed the many limbs of an animal and began to study it further. The 12-centimeter fossil has 10 limbs, each with two rows of suckers. Modern octopuses have eight limbs. The scientists say the ancient creature likely lived in shallow ocean areas. The researchers say the fossil suggests that octopuses lived millions of years earlier than scientists believed. This means that the animals developed before the dinosaurs. The team recently reported its findings in the publication Nature Communications. It's very rare to find soft tissue fossils, except in a few places, Mike Vecchione told The Associated Press. He is a zoologist with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History who was not involved in the study. This is a very exciting finding. It pushes back the ancestry much farther than previously known," Vecchione said. Christopher Whalen is a scientist with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He was a co-writer of the study. He told the AP the well-preserved fossil showed evidence that the ancient octopus had the ability to release a dark liquid to help it hide from predators, just like modern octopuses. The creature, known as a vampyropod, was likely the ancestor of both modern octopuses and vampire squid, the researchers said. Such creatures are more similar to an octopus than a squid. The team said until now, the oldest known definitive vampyropod was believed to have lived around 240 million years ago. The scientists named the fossil Syllipsimopodi bideni, after American President Joe Biden. They said they decided on the name to show respect for Bidens science and research policies. Im Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press reported 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 fossil n. part of an animal or plant that lived a long time ago that has been preserved in rock limb n. the arm or leg of a person or animal sucker n. an organ that some animals use to hold or stick to something shallow adj. not deep preserve v. keep something the same or prevent it from being damaged or destroyed predator n. an animal that hunts and kills other animals for food definitive adj. certain and not likely to change Taiwans military experts have been studying how Ukraine has defended itself against the much larger Russian military. The island territory is planning in the event China decides to use force. Like Ukraine, Taiwans own forces are much smaller than its neighbors. Taiwans government has not reported any unusual activity by the military in China, but it has raised its alert level. China views independent Taiwan as part of its country. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has backed the idea of asymmetric warfare, to make its smaller forces more mobile and harder to attack. Ma Cheng-Kun is an expert on the Chinese military at Taiwan's National Defense University. He said, "Ukraine's military has been making full use of asymmetric warfare, very effectively, and so far, successfully holding off Russia's advance." Ma said Taiwans armed forces have been actively developing light weapons that would make full use of asymmetric warfare. "From Ukraine's performance we can be even more confident in our own, he said. Taiwan has also been developing missiles that can reach far into China. Recently, the defense ministry said it plans to more than double its yearly missile production to close to 500 this year. Natural barrier Taiwans government has repeatedly pointed to the Taiwan Strait as a natural barrier that separates it from China. Ukraine has a long land border with Russia. Experts say Taiwan can also easily detect Chinese military movements and prepare ahead of an invasion. China would need to move hundreds of thousands of soldiers and ships which could easily be targeted by Taiwanese missiles. Su Tzu-yun is a researcher at Taiwans top military research group, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research. He said to put soldiers in Taiwan, China would have to cross the strait, so its a much higher risk for China. Question of American support The war in Ukraine has renewed the continuing debate whether United States forces would come to aid Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. The U.S. does not give a clear answer to this in either direction. But the Biden administration sent a team of former defense officials to Taiwan shortly after Ukraine was invaded. Lo Chih-cheng is a senior lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. He observed that the action should settle the debate if the United States can be trusted. "At this time, it sent a message to the other side of the strait, to Taiwan's people, that the United States is a trustworthy country," he said this week. Taiwan is a major producer of semiconductors, the important electronic parts that run everything from advanced weapons to automobiles. That and the surrounding water, Taiwanese believe, make its defensive position different from Ukraine. However, the Biden administration repeatedly ruling out sending troops to Ukraine has caused unease for some in Taiwan. Chao Chien-min is the former head of Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council. He said, "Do people in Taiwan really think now that the West and the United States will still come to save us?" Im Gregory Stachel. Ben Blanchard reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. Words in This Story ___________________________________________________________________ alert n. the state of being ready for something you have been warned about (such as an attack) asymmetrical adj. having two sides or halves that are not the same advance n. forward movement strait n. a narrow waterway between two pieces of land that connects two large bodies of water detect v. to discover or notice the presence of (something that is hidden or hard to see, hear, taste, or feel) We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. The University of California, Berkeley called the states recent Supreme Court ruling devastating news for students who have earned a seat in the class for the upcoming school year. The states highest court chose not to look at a case first decided in the summer of 2021. That is when a lower court said the university must limit the number of students on its campus to about 42,000 for the 2022-2023 school year. Right now, about 45,000 students are at UC Berkeley. UC Berkeley is one of the top public universities in the United States. The school said it received over 128,000 applications for the upcoming freshman class. In order to meet the lower number, the university said it would bring in more students who live in California. As a result, international students and those from other American states would get fewer seats. In addition, the university said it would ask some students to take classes from home early in the school year before coming to campus in 2023. Others will have to wait one year to start their college education if they still want to come to Berkeley. The university is also asking students to consider off-campus study programs in Sacramento, the states capital, or Washington, D.C. How did this happen? The legal case was brought by a group of people who live in the city of Berkeley. They formed an organization called Save Berkeleys Neighborhoods, or SBN. The group said the university had not been truthful about the number of students it meant to accept each year. It also said the school did not consider how its increasing enrollment would affect the surrounding neighborhoods. UC Berkeley like several California schools does not have enough housing for its increasing enrollment. SBN said the university planned in 2005 to increase the number of students on campus by only 1,650 over 15 years. However, as of 2018, the number of students increased by over 8,000 without enough new housing. The larger amount of students, SBN said, caused an increase in noise and waste. Because they could not live at school, they moved into the neighborhoods around the school, causing higher housing costs. As a result, SBN asked the local court to restrict the schools enrollment. The situation in Berkeley is similar to other disputes between large California universities and their cities. The cities of Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara are also dealing with increasing numbers of students and universities that do not have enough housing. Housing vs. education In recent years, California state leaders have been working to help more students get into college. In 2021, they added $47 billion in education-related spending to increase the number of students going to public colleges. Groups like SBN say the state has not required universities to build more housing while it has been pushing them to accept more students. On the other side, universities like UC Berkeley say environmental restrictions in California make it difficult for them to build new housing for students. Save Berkeleys Neighborhoods argued that UC Berkeleys failure to limit the number of students violates a state environmental law put in place in 1970. And the school said lengthy environmental reviews for new buildings have limited its attempts to build more housing for students. State lawmaker Scott Wiener said he would find a way to permit colleges to build student housing more easily. When the California Supreme Court said it would not review the lower courts decision, SBN offered to work with UC Berkeley to permit 1,000 more students for the upcoming school year if most of them were from California. The university declined the offer. A spokesperson told the local newspaper that decisions on the number of students are made by elected officials and school leaders and not by a small group. The university also plans to appeal the decision later this year. Jesse Livezey recently completed his advanced studies in physics at UC Berkeley. He said he does not believe there is a serious conflict between the university and the city. Everyone is concerned about the high cost of housing in northern California. Its a big problem in the Bay Area that goes way beyond UC Berkeley. I dont feel like weve hit some breaking point, or something is now unsustainable. Livezey said that rejecting qualified students is not a way to solve the housing problem. I would love for those students to be able to come to Berkeley and I think thats what should happen, Livezey said. Im Jill Robbins. And Im Dan Friedell. Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press and documents published by organizations and courts in the story. Do you know about university housing problems where you live? Tell us about it in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. Quiz - Legal Case May Limit Put Limit on Students at University of California, Berkeley Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz Words in This Story devastating adj. causing great damage or harm campus n. the area and buildings around a school or college application n. the formal written request for something such as a job or place at a school enrollment n. the number of people or participants in something; the number of students attending a school unsustainable n. not able to last or continue for a long time; not sustainable An Albany man has been arrested and is suspected of sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl. If not for Jane Does courage, former Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston, a man who stands convicted of raping her and now faces spending the rest of his life in prison would no doubt be on his way toward securing a second term representing this area in the Legislature. After decades of passionate debate, protests and lawsuits over its removal, a Confederate statues residence on Marylands Eastern Shore will come to an end Monday. The century-old Talbot Boys Statue, located on the county courthouse lawn in Easton, is the states last public monument of Confederate figures who fought for the South during the Civil War. The copper sculpture features a 13-foot-tall boy holding a Confederate flag and lists the names of Talbot County men who joined the Confederacy and died in the war. Advertisement [ UPDATE: Talbot Boys Statue, Marylands last public Confederate monument, is removed ] Six months after the Talbot County Council voted to approve its removal, preparations to remove the statue were set to begin Sunday before a crane will remove the statue from its base Monday. It then will head to Cross Keys Battlefield in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where it will remain. Hundreds of Talbot County residents, part of a group called Move the Monument Coalition, raised $80,000 to relocate the statue from its prominent courthouse display to a private park in the care of Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, a nonprofit. Advertisement The county council voted 3-2 on Sept. 14 to remove the statue after the coalition garnered support from residents, national activist groups, high-profile politicians and celebrities. The resolution was a reversal from a 2020 council vote to keep the monument in place when one councilman, Frank Divilio, changed his vote in favor of removal. Were all feeling very gratified and deeply grateful that the County Council made the decision that it made, said Ridgely Ochs, a leading member of the Move the Monument Coalition. Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. > The controversial statues presence in the Eastern Shore was affirmed previously in a 2015 council decision not to remove the statue because the federal government recognizes Confederate soldiers as U.S. veterans, the council said at the time. More than 100 Confederate monuments were renamed or removed in 2020 during the countrys civil rights movement following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Around 700 Confederate statues are positioned currently by government buildings and other public places throughout the country, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Talbot Boys Statue, dedicated in 1916, has been the subject of lawsuits in recent years. The ACLU sued Talbot County in 2021 over the monument, stating that the statue erected during the height of the Jim Crow era is a racist symbol that honors white supremacy and is consequently unconstitutional. The lawsuit, brought also by the Maryland Office of the Public Defender and the Talbot County branch of the NAACP, has since stayed. The decision to remove the statute divided Talbot County residents. About 37,000 people live in the county, which is 81% white. A coalition called Save the Talbot Boys, formed in 2015, also received public support in its quest to preserve the statues position as a symbol of local history. Now that the monument will finally come off its perch overlooking the courthouse lawn, county residents can work toward mending division while continuing to fight for racial equality in the criminal justice system, said Richard Potter Jr., president of the Talbot County branch of the NAACP. Potter hopes the county will commission a group of bipartisan residents in the future to select a replacement for the Confederate statue with a new monument dedicated to the Civil War and Talbot County that is not offensive to its residents. Advertisement This issue divided our county deeply, Potter said. We now have to go through a period of reconciliation and then move forward as a community. The PCPA will present new production, "Mother Road" at the Severson Theatre in Santa Maria from March 10 to the 27th. Local featured LHS alumnus describes life in Ukraine Contributed Lufkin High School graduate Derek Odom poses for a photo with the Lviv Railway Station in the background in Lviv, Ukraine. Contributed Lufkin High School graduate Derek Odom participates in a clean-up for Anomaly, the organization he volunteers with in Lviv, Ukraine. Contributed Derek Odom poses in front of a hookah bar in Lviv, Ukraine. Everyone here is doing their part, the entire community doing whatever they can to help defend their free country from this senseless invasion by Russia. That statement is how Derek Odom, a 2001 Lufkin High School graduate, describes the current state of Ukraine. Odom lived in Lufkin until he was in his 20s before moving to Austin for college and work. In 2017, Odom left his job in Austin, intending to travel to Europe and work as a freelancer for an indefinite amount of time. He spent time in several cities but never felt fully connected to any of them, he said. On a whim, one day in Budapest, he purchased a train ticket to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. I had no idea what to expect, but I had seen a YouTube video showing that they were famous for their coffee and chocolate, he said. That was enough to convince me to check it out. Odom quickly discovered Lviv had much more to offer than just coffee and chocolate, he said. I found a city of just over 700,000 people with a rich cultural history, beautiful Austro-Hungarian architecture reminiscent of Vienna and Prague and a formidable IT hub, he said. I quickly fell in love with the country and its people. Odom was spending his time in Lviv teaching English to tech companies, and when he decided he wanted to stay long-term, began volunteering for an organization called Anomaly. The organization focuses on providing unconventional solutions to problems in Ukraine including education, social reform and helping veterans and their families. When I decided that I wanted to stay here long term, volunteering was the best option because it allowed me to give back to the country in some way while also earning temporary residency, he said. In addition to teaching English to veterans and kids, we organize clean-ups, host environmental meetups and movements and participate in anti-corruption efforts to help build a stronger Ukraine. Odom was in Lviv for the first seven days of the invasion and spent the first two {span}waking up to air-raid sirens and spending quality time in my 300-year-old bunker, he said. He is now in Krakow, Poland.{/span} Apart from the anxiety and uncertainty about what was to come, we felt somewhat safe in the West, he said. Walking through the quiet streets could feel like a normal day at times. But I began to notice that everyone we passed shared the same somber expression. By day three of the invasion, however, there were battle-ready soldiers patrolling the city, and Russian saboteurs could be caught marking potential targets, Odom said. They were no-doubt reporting intel back to the Kremlin, strict curfews at night, covering and removing ancient statues in anticipation of bombing, block posts formed around the city checking everyone entering or exiting and block tanks if necessary, he said. Citizens who volunteer for territorial defense teams run the block posts throughout Ukraine. And there were over 30,000 residents in Lviv alone already involved in territorial defense. Many more had volunteered as reserves in case more were needed. Now instead of music playing, Odoms favorite restaurant has a medical expert demonstrating how to tie a tourniquet, he said. The depressing reality that everyone here just a few days ago thought they would never have to face, he said. Kids going to school must now have to have their blood type pinned to their backpacks because Russia continues to intentionally bomb schools and shoot children. But these are the bravest people Ive ever seen. Its as if they were always ready for this somewhere deep within themselves. I suppose you can never be too comfortable when you share a border with the terrorist state of Russia. It was also around this time that the mass exodus from the East was hitting Lviv, Odom said. Being the hub city for western Ukraine, all train lines carrying refugees headed west would come through Lviv, he said. Many would stay with hosts and shelters that had been pre-arranged in the city, and others would head to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary or Romania, he said. The freezing train platforms were jam-packed for the first three days, and there was understandable anger, stress and confusion, he said. After all, the majority of those leaving the trains had just endured a crowded 24-hour journey with their children, animals and all life possessions they could carry, unsure if they would ever be able to return home, and their fathers and husbands are most likely fighting in the East. But it was not only a time of mass exodus, as more than 100,000 Ukrainians who were living in safety abroad chose to come back and fight for their country in whatever way they could, Odom said. We went to donate blood with our friend Yura shortly after the invasion started, and what we saw brought me to tears, he said. Hundreds of people had already formed a line to assist their countrys defenders and victims. And this was true in all areas. Volunteering to host, feed and supply refugees with necessities, volunteering for territorial defense. Volunteering at the railway station, volunteering to make net camouflage, Molotov cocktails and many other things. Things began to become much more organized by day four and onward, Odom said. There are now hundreds of volunteers including Odom and his friends working around the clock handing out food, assisting passengers with train information, organizing crowd control, providing medical care and even playing the piano in front of the station to try to lift peoples spirits, he said. There also is a designated, warm area where mothers and children can be safe, receive medical care and get food, water and rest, he said. It was heartwarming to see everyone come together in these terrible times, he said. Odom encourages anyone who doesnt know much about Ukraine to watch the Netflix documentary Winter on Fire, about the 2014 revolution in which ordinary Ukrainians fought for democracy. The images and bravery in the documentary are being repeated today, simply under a different context, he said. I believe it is difficult for a Western audience to understand how beautiful the country is and that it is not some gray, sad Soviet state with nothing to do with the West, he said. People in their 20s here truly understand the cost of freedom better than many of us in the United States or Europe. They have parents who witnessed the Chernobyl disaster. Their grandmothers were born in the dreadful Soviet Union. Their great-grandparent lived through Holodomor, a Ukrainian genocide that killed millions in 1932-33. And now they must fight and defend everything for which previous generations sacrificed so much. Odom thinks this is one of the main reasons Vladmir Putin is attempting to dismantle Ukraine and prevent it from strengthening its alliances with the West. The irony is that Russias actions will only strengthen Ukraines resolve and increase opposition to the archaic government, he said. As President Zelensky said, life will win over death and light will win over darkness. The Harford County Caucus of African-American Leaders has called for the termination of acting county health officer Marcy Austin and county procurement director Karen Myers over their handling of a federal grant to aid the elderly. Speakers at a news conference Thursday alleged that Austin and Myers lied about their involvement in and knowledge of the cancellation of a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments Older Adult Home Modification Program. The money would have been used to fund a three-year program to install safety modifications in the homes of low-income seniors. Advertisement Abingdon resident Keisha Jennings-Eakin was one of four grant writers who secured the grant last August with the help of then-health officer David Bishai, and was to be the sole-source provider for the grant. Jennings-Eakin runs the The Right Turn, a local business that specializes in helping people with physical, cognitive or age-related limitations to remain in their homes and live independently. Advertisement After Bishai was terminated in October, Jennings-Eakin was removed as the sole-source provider, or the person responsible for completing the work. Health department spokesperson Ronya Nassar said this is because a competitive bidding process was required to properly award the grant money. After Dr. Bishais departure, Ms. Austin initially refused the grant because proper procurement rules were not followed, Nassar said in a statement after the news conference Thursday. The health department revised the procurement process to meet HUD requirements for competitive bidding and was awarded the grant on Feb. 12, Nassar said. The county is in the final stages of completing the request for proposals for the grant and is working with the countys procurement department. We are grateful to have received this grant from HUD to assist the elderly in Harford County, Nassar said. After Bishais departure, Jennings-Eakins said she was excluded from the project. She said shed like to be able to work on it, but would be nervous and hesitant to do so, worrying that the health department would look for reasons to let her go. As a minority small business owner, she said, it was difficult finding a partner within local government. I have truly lost hope that the truth and fairness will prevail in this manner, Jennings-Eakin said. Ive lost trust in working with my local government. Advertisement The caucus has filed a public information request for documents they say support their claims. We believe the documentation will make it very clear that in this case, theres unfairness and untruthfulness in terms of how this happened to this particular small business owner, an African-American female, said caucus President Jim Thornton. Cassandra Beverley, a Bel Air lawyer, affirmed Jennings-Eakins qualifications and maintained that she has been treated unfairly. We have no confidence that she will receive the fair treatment that she deserves while Marcy Austin and Karen Myers are in charge, Beverley said. Council member Andre Johnson said he does not believe anything that comes from the county health department or procurement office. He said he would call on his fellow council members to look at this issue as an ethics violation. We, as a County Council, must restore good governance and ethical standards in how we do business in this county for all of our citizens, Johnson said. Advertisement Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. > Despite Johnsons concerns, County Council President Patrick Vincenti said he supports Austin. My County Council colleagues and I fully support Ms. Austin in her role as acting health officer and have no desire to see her removed from that role, Vincenti said in a statement released by Nassar. When reached for comment, Austin sent The Aegis the same responses issued by Nassar and Vincenti, adding that the county is definitely moving forward with the HUD grant. Advertisement Cindy Mumby, the countys government and communications relations director, said that County Executive Barry Glassman has no intention of firing Myers. The parent company of a Madison-based investment group that claims to solicit money for UW-Madison alumni-connected ventures even though it isnt affiliated with the university settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week for allegedly misleading investors, among other charges. New Hampshire-based Alumni Ventures Group, which has affiliate firms all over the U.S. including in Madison, has agreed to repay $4.7 million to affected funds, as well as a $700,000 penalty per the charges. The Groups CEO, Mike Collins, is also to pay a $100,000 penalty, according to the SECs March 4 order. The regulator found that the companys website and other marketing communications told investors that they would be charged industry standard management fees, typically a rate of 2% annually over 10 years with 20% carried interest. Instead, Alumni Ventures charged 20% up front which several local investors who the Wisconsin State Journal interviewed over the past week say is unconventional. Management fees are what keep a venture capital fund operational, and help pay salaries and other costs, explained John Neis, managing director of Madison-based Venture Investors, who has 38 years of experience in the venture capital sector. The SEC also found that the company allegedly comingled funds without informing investors. The SEC order lists three funds under the name Bascom Ventures, a Madison-based affiliate of the Group. Bascom, according to its website, has operated a total of five venture capital funds, which appear to have invested in businesses both in Madison and nationally for at least the past half decade. Its unclear how many of those ventures have connections to university alumni. Bascoms Twitter biography reads UW-Madison alumni making smart, simple investments in UW alumni-connected ventures, and its LinkedIn bio similarly states Bascom Ventures is a community of accredited UW-Madison alums who pool money into a VC fund to invest in UW-connected companies. A Wisconsin Alumni Association web page does say the company is not affiliated with the UW. Both the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association said in separate email statements they also have no affiliation with Bascom, declining to comment further. The name connects to what UW-Madison describes as the symbolic center of campus Bascom Hill and Bascom Hall, named after former UW President John Bascom. University spokesperson John Lucas said in an email that upon its launch, UW-Madison did work with Bascom Ventures to make its separation from campus more clear. It was conversations with (Bascoms) team to ensure their logo and imagery on their website didnt lead people to assume a campus affiliation, Lucas wrote, declining to comment on why UW-Madison didnt go further than that. The group may be using publicly available email lists to solicit (on) campus, and the ability to request these lists is open to anyone under state public records law, Lucas wrote. The companys investment portfolio includes a few Madison businesses (that it denotes as being from the Midwest on its website) such as Quiver Quantitative, a Madison-based alternative data startup launched by two UW-Madison graduates. Other investments include cultivated seafood startup Cultured Decadence (now UPSIDE Foods) as well as Janesville-based nuclear technology company SHINE Medical Technologies and recently closed music streaming startup Live Undiscovered Music, or LUM. Even more appear to be from Texas, California, New York and other U.S. locations. No UW-Madison affiliation is mentioned. AV is a different kind of venture capital firm built for bringing individual investors a simple way to access great investments which historically had been an exclusive, hard-to-access asset built for technical, institutional investors, Alumni Ventures said in an email statement Wednesday in response to the SEC order, and on behalf of Bascom. More than two years ago, AV quickly made its marketing materials more clear when regulators reached out with these disclosure questions. Since updating all operations to be compliant with this agreement in early 2020, more then 4,188 well-informed new investors have joined AV because they love the access we bring them to great deals and the simplicity of how we do it, the company added. That is pretty unusual Carrie Thome, who is the managing director for Madison-based NVNG Investment Advisors and the former WARF chief investment officer, said that in her yearslong career, she has not seen many examples of the SEC fining an investment fund for misleading investors on management fees in the way described in the SEC report. Of a firm charging 20% up front for management fees, that is pretty unusual, Thome said. The typical structure is that you pay on the committed amount while the investments are being made, she explained, adding, I hope (the order) doesnt set back the ecosystem that we have growing in Wisconsin and that ensuring trust is important for the venture capital sphere. Ken Johnson, also a WARF alumni and managing director of Madison-based Kegonsa Capital Partners, voiced a similar view to Thomes, calling the SECs $700,000 fine substantial. Editor's note: This story corrects a mischaracterization of the SEC settlement. The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Chandler Halderson, who has been found guilty of killing and dismembering his parents, is requesting to be absent from his own sentencing scheduled for next week, according to court documents. Defense Attorney Catherine Dorl filed a motion Friday that asks the court to waive Haldersons appearance at the Thursday sentencing. Its a request that is rarely if ever made, particularly in a high-profile homicide case. Halderson, 23, was convicted in January of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and other charges in the murders of his parents, Bart and Krista Halderson, as well as lying to law enforcement when he initially claimed his parents were missing after they left the Windsor house the family shared for a Fourth of July weekend trip last summer in northern Wisconsin and never returned. Chandler Halderson has a right to be present at his sentencing and speak before the judge, but he signed an affidavit giving up those rights. Mr. Halderson consents to be absent from the sentencing hearing in this case, Dorl said in the motion. He waives any rights he has to be present and not only consents but requests to be absent. Dorl had not responded to a request via email for her to elaborate on why Halderson does not wish to appear. During his trial, Halderson was similarly silent. He declined to testify on his own behalf, and his defense rested its case without calling any witnesses. State law requires a defendant to be in court for sentencing, but Dorl argues that requirement can be waived if the defendant refuses to be brought to court. Dorl notes that a defendant can lose the right to be present at trial either by engaging in misconduct or by simply consenting to not being there. In the affidavit that Halderson signed, he states that no one is threatening or forcing him to give up his rights. He states that he does not want to attend his sentencing in person, nor through Zoom or by phone. Haldersons first-degree intentional homicide conviction carries a mandatory life sentence. On Thursday, attorneys can argue whether he can ever be eligible for parole. Prosecutors alleged Halderson killed his parents shortly after his father discovered hed been lying about having a job and going to school. He then concocted a story about his parents going away for the Fourth of July holiday and tried to burn his parents remains in the family fireplace before distributing them around southern Wisconsin, they said. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MOUNT PLEASANT Kelly Gallaher, a frequent critic of village government, is being sued for defamation by the villages attorney. The attorney, Chris Smith, is suing Gallaher. He is suing her personally, not through his official capacity as a representative of Mount Pleasant in legal matters. The Village of Mount Pleasant is not involved in the litigation in any way, Village Administrator Maureen Murphy said in an email. Neither Smith nor Gallaher agreed to comment directly on the lawsuit, which was filed Monday. Smith v. Gallaher Since 2015, Gallaher has operated the A Better Mount Pleasant social media pages, through which she primarily criticizes Mount Pleasant village government and, more recently, Foxconn. In a social post to Tuesday, Gallaher alleged via A Better Mount Pleasant that the village is trying to intimidate her with the lawsuit. The post reads, in full, ...aaand now they are suing us. #intimidation. The lawsuit is related to allegedly baseless claims Gallaher made about: The length of time the village has been internally considering extending the length of its elected officials terms from two years to three . An allegedly false allegation Gallaher made regarding a statement Smith made to The Journal Times. Two to three Gallaher opposes the change to the lengths of the terms. She asserts it is a move to give the current board members more power, while village officials have said the longer terms could be more enticing to potential candidates and also could create more stability in local government. The change would prevent more than half of the Village Board trustee seats from being flipped in a single election. Currently, four trustee positions out of seven are up for election one year, then three positions the next, then four again, then three, etc. If three-year terms are put in place, no more than three trustee seats would be up for election in any single year. Currently, the lengthening of terms from two years to three will not go in effect until 2023. If put into place, Mount Pleasant would become the only municipality in Racine County with three-year terms for municipal representatives. Contested Mount Pleasant elections have been rare. Even since controversies involving Foxconn controversies have arisen, trustee elections have been more likely to be uncontested than contested. Gallaher has been leading the circulation of a petition which she said she plans to submit Monday that could force a referendum to be passed by village voters before the term extension could be put in place. The change would not affect any current trustees terms; they would need to win their next election to serve a three-year term. Allegedly false claims The village said changing the length of trustees terms has been a matter of internal discussion since 2018, as stated in a Feb. 10 Journal Times report that is at the heart of the lawsuit. After the publication of that story, on March 3, Gallaher posted to A Better Mount Pleasant Facebook: The Village Attorney lied to The Journal Times saying term length discussions date back to 2018 ... They are lying to you and the media. It matters ... Please share. She provided no evidence to support that assertion. According to the lawsuit, Smith reported he suffered emotional distress because of Gallahers defamatory conduct. Smith said he contacted Gallaher on March 3, demanding that she remove the defamatory post from the AMBP Facebook page and Gallahers Twitter account. The post has since been deleted. On March 4, Smith reported that he sent a proposed correction to Gallaher that he wanted her to post, seeking to have her set the record straight. The suggested correction said, in part, we (A Better Mount Pleasant) posted a statement which falsely accused the Mount Pleasant Village Attorney of lying to the media regarding the dates in which the Village Board discussed the length of terms for village officials. The Village Attorneys statements were truthful, and that is why yesterdays post was removed. That correction was posted online. On a social media post containing the correction, Gallahers husband, Dan Dimler, commented: So, they threatened a lawsuit, huh? Typical. Also on March 4, Smith said he demanded that Gallaher email the Correction to any individuals to whom she emailed with the allegedly false claims. On Wednesday, March 9, two days after the lawsuit was filed, The Journal Times received an email containing the correction, although reporters were already aware of the correction Gallaher posted on social media. Next steps The lawsuit states that Smith is seeking judgment against Kelly Gallaher in the form of general and actual damages, punitive damages, costs and attorneys fees, (and/or) such other relief as the Court deems just and proper. Gallaher has until April 21 to reply to the allegations in court. Past controversies Gallaher has been embroiled in allegations relating to Mount Pleasant before, but this is the first time shes being sued over it, according to online Wisconsin court records. To combat Gallahers A Better Mount Pleasant, someone set up a blog called Lets Make A Better Mount Pleasant, a website that no longer exists. Posts on the website, which pointed toward conservative viewpoints as opposed to Gallahers more liberal stances, targeted and criticized Gallaher by name. Gallaher publicly alleged it was Village President Dave DeGroot who was running the page; she made the allegation in the Reply All podcast. But the person running the page was revealed to likely be South Shore Fire Chief Robert Stedman, although he denied involvement. Stedman was not reprimanded for his conduct because, according to an outside investigator brought in by the village, there was no evidence that he (Stedman) engaged in the alleged conduct while at work or on village time, or that he was speaking in his capacity as fire chief. A Better Mount Pleasant has fewer than 250 followers on Twitter and 2,200 on Facebook. The description of the allegations against South Shore Fire Chief Robert Stedman have been updated in the online version of this story. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A former Madison man was sentenced Friday to 30 years in federal prison for trafficking five teenagers for prostitution and attempting to traffic a sixth. U.S. District Judge James Peterson told James Coney that despite what Coney said in court Friday, that he never forced anyone to do anything, it was subtle forms of coercion that effectively put the girls under Coneys control during a period between May 2017 and March 2018, when Coney trafficked them for sex, some of them between Wisconsin and Illinois. Its not right for you to tell yourself you never forced anyone to do anything, Peterson told Coney. A jury found Coney, 33, guilty of the charges more than a year ago, but his sentencing was delayed while Peterson decided whether a misstep by prosecutors sending some exhibits to the jury that included statements that were not testified to in court warranted a new trial that was sought by Coneys attorney, Robert Ruth. The jury was given a corrected set of exhibits and an instruction to deliberate based only on the new set of exhibits it was given. In October, Peterson rejected Coneys motion for a new trial and set the case for sentencing. The case began in December 2017 when the mother of one of the girls reported her missing to Fitchburg police. The following month, she was found in Chicago, where she had been with Coney. Police arrested Coney in March 2018 in Lake Delton, where he was found with another one of the girls. In court Friday, the mother described the despair and horror she felt as she tried to find her 16-year-old daughter. At one point she found a phone number for Coney and called him, only to be lied to when she asked if her daughter was with him. I told you if you dont return my daughter Im going to put you under the jail, she said. She said her daughter was going through a tough time because the girls father had died, and Coney took advantage. She was vulnerable when you came into contact with her and she followed your lead, said the mother of the girl, who is now 21 and continues to feel the effects of the abuse she endured from Coney. Selling kids, she said. They were being sold. I dont understand. I never will. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Pfluger sought a 30-year sentence for Coney, arguing that because his scheme involved trafficking children instead of adults, he deserved a greater sentence than those previously doled out to other sex traffickers who had dealt with adults. She said Coney has taken no responsibility for what he did, and Peterson agreed with that, reminding Coney that while he was in jail awaiting trial he called his victims from jail in flagrant violation of Petersons no-contact orders. Ruth sought a 15-year sentence, the minimum Coney could have received under federal law. Ruth argued that some of the victims, though they were teenagers, had looked to Coney to help them live the highly sexualized lifestyle they already sought. A claim by one of the investigators that Coney stole (the) innocence of the girls was an exaggeration, Ruth said. Coney apologized for the role that I played and said his life as a child, in which his role models were pimps, thieves and drug dealers, left an impression on him. I was way in over my head, he said about the life he led later as an adult. I got in too deep in the lifestyle. I thought until a few weeks ago that its a normal lifestyle but it isnt. With good time and credit for the time Coney has spent in custody on his federal case, his time in prison will be about 23 years, Peterson said. That will be followed by 25 years of supervised release. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, spoke with MyPillow CEO and conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell about the efforts of Lindell and former President Donald Trump to have the 2020 Wisconsin presidential election decertified, a Vos spokeswoman said Friday. According to Angela Joyce, spokeswoman for Vos office, Vos told Lindell: We couldnt do that (decertification) its not a possibility. We cant do this. Its not going to happen. Lindell said during a podcast episode Thursday that he spoke with Vos for 90 minutes; Joyce said that Vos and Lindell had actually spoken for 30 minutes. Election law experts and the nonpartisan counsels to the state Legislature agree that it is impossible for the 2020 presidential election to be decertified. Michael Gableman, the former state Supreme Court justice leading the Vos-ordered probe of the 2020 election, has asserted that decertification is possible and encouraged the Legislature to look into doing that. Gableman on Thursday appeared on the conspiracy-minded podcast hosted by Steve Bannon, the former Trump adviser facing multiple criminal charges related to contempt of Congress and fraud. Gablemans appearance was followed by an appearance by Lindell. Gableman is now reportedly scheduled to appear later this month at an event in Utah, hosted by a group that disputes the validity of President Joe Bidens election victory. The event reportedly may also feature former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, who on Wednesday was indicted on criminal counts of conspiracy related to election tampering and misconduct. Vos has been publicly complimentary of Gablemans work, even as elections officials have noted multiple inaccuracies in his reports and as Gableman continues to make unsubstantiated claims about the 2020 election. I have a confession to make. I have been living a lie. The fraud has persisted for over a half a century, though it has only come to light this past year. And I need to come clean about it before March 17. That is, of course, St. Patricks Day, which for my birth family has been a holiday on par with Christmas in importance and veneration. It was the only day when my five brothers, two sisters and I felt entitlement because of our last name. My parents, who sometimes struggled to procure enough milk, bread and cornflakes for a family of 10, always managed to purchase plenty of green derbies, neck ties, carnations and four-leaf clover pins for us to wear to school to show off our ethnicity. Uncle Don McGrath, for whom my father worked as a salesperson, permitted his employees and their families to watch Chicagos annual South Side parade from behind the stores display windows as the marching bands and floats with leprechauns made their way down Ashland Avenue. This was a heady perk, especially when March in Chicago came in like a lion, and everyone else lined the sidewalks in the frosty outdoors. When St. Paddys fell on a school day, my mother, Gert, whom we could never fool by faking bellyaches to ditch school, had no hesitation when it came to writing notes to eight different teachers to excuse our absences for the celebration. And in our teens, when we joined other South Side Irish youth in chugging quart bottles of beer on summer nights at Kennedy Park, even the police seemed sympathetic to the tradition, issuing warnings, confiscating our Blatz and Old Style, but never calling parents or hauling us in. My father, Charlie, the head of our clan, was the life of every party, telling stories and prompting laughter with his twinkling eyes and charm. He was elected president of our neighborhood association, trustee of Evergreen Park and offered a job on radio, all thanks to his gift of blarney. He bequeathed his powers, and my siblings and I became the eulogists, speechmakers and toastmasters at funerals, anniversaries and other social functions. I was repeatedly drafted as master of ceremonies for retirement parties at both schools where I worked, and I hosted the campaign kickoff event for our school administrator when he ran for Congress. I was even asked to do stand-up at the Christmas gala my friend threw for his employees. I flopped, having overestimated the open mindedness of the audience which wanted to run me out of the banquet hall on a rail all in jest, of course. In the tradition of world heavyweight champion James J. Braddock, Charlie Jr. was our Irish strongman and brawler. Kenneth and Kevin inherited Dads tart wit. And following the lead of legendary troubadours, from Irish tenor John McCormack, to rockers Bono, Sinead OConnor and Van Morrison, my older brother, James, entertained U.S. troops with his band, The Unclassified Three, at Army bases all over Europe during his military service. Predictably, I had Mariannes father, Tom, paged at a parish St. Patricks Day party to ask for her hand, proposing marriage to her later that night at a romantic dinner at the Italian Village. The next day we learned that Tom and his wife, Ruth, won a trip to Ireland in the parish raffle. Ive chronicled it all and published half a dozen other stories about the Irish bloodline and the stereotypes manifest in our family history. Most of which I must now retract, for I fear its all a lie. Last spring, on a whim, Nancy treated herself to a DNA test from Ancestry.com, just for fun. Instead, it felled our family tree: 35% German; 33% Russian, Pomeranian; 13% Baltic; 9% English (and northwestern European); 5% Greek, Albanian, Peloponnesian; 3% Balkan; and 2% Swedish and Danish. For the first time in our lives, we were speechless. My desperate hope was that the 9% portion that included northwestern Europe, indicated, at the very least, a smidgen of Irish blood. But the shaded portion of the DNA map which included the United Kingdom and Scotland, steered totally clear of the Emerald Isle. James is researching the possibility that our father was adopted, or that a mix-up occurred at the hospital at birth. But photos of Grandpa Ray, all but indistinguishable from photos of Dad at the same age, call his theory into question. Subsequently, James had his own DNA tested with findings similar to Nancys. What does it all mean? Is it a definitive resolution of the age-old debate of nature vs. nurture? Does the power of suggestion trump chemical and genetic composition? Did our presumption of Irishness hypnotize us into cultural assimilation? Even worse, cultural theft? Can we McGraths no longer do what we do? Be who we are? As for me, well, I dont know. As a former Irishman who tends to believe in a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, I read up on the Pomeranians and found they were especially fond of folk dancing. And lately, and especially after both of my hips were replaced last year, Ive been feeling a mysterious urge to shuffle and shimmy. McGrath, formerly of Hayward, now lives in Port Charlotte, Florida, and is an emeritus English professor at the College of DuPage in Illinois: profmcgrath2004@yahoo.com. On this week's "Center Stage" political podcast, Milfred and Hands assess the field of GOP candidates seeking to unseat incumbent Gov. Tony Evers. Click the play button to listen. Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch is ahead in the polls, thanks to a big advantage in name recognition. But most voters don't know who any of these three are. That means Kevin Nicholson, who lost a bid for the party's nomination for U.S. Senate in 2018, and state Rep. Timothy Ramthun, R-Campbellsport, still have time. And could former Gov. Tommy Thompson jump in? What about Eric Hovde, who narrowly lost to Thompson for the 2012 U.S. Senate Republican nomination? Kleefisch is the establishment candidate, even if she doesn't want to admit it. Nicholson is running in the anti-establishment lane, and Ramthun is the conspiracist's friend, according to our political podcasters. They play clips of the candidates in public and wish Ramthun a happy birthday while complimenting, sort of, his Easter-colored suits. Looming large is former President Donald Trump, whose endorsement could sway a lot of voters in the Republican primary. Unfortunately for the winner, Trump's blessing also could hurt the party's nominee in the general election. Find and follow Center Stage, with Milfred and Hands on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcasting app. You also can listen to past episodes of "Center Stage" and see the podcast's webpage by clicking here. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Scott Milfred | Wisconsin State Journal Scott Milfred has been the editorial page editor for the Wisconsin State Journal since 2005, and previously covered the Wisconsin statehouse. Milfred and his editorial page team were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for editorial writing. Follow Scott Milfred | Wisconsin State Journal 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 KETCHUM A former fire captain and paramedic has announced he is running for the District 26 Senate seat to represent Blaine, Lincoln and Jerome counties. Ron Taylor from Ketchum has filed to run for the seat held by outgoing Sen. Michelle Stennett, the Senate minority leader who announced in February she wont be seeking another term. I dont consider myself a politician, I consider myself as a public servant, said Taylor, who is a Democrat. I spent the last 27 years of my life doing public service, and I just retired, and found myself wanting to get back in to public service, but in a different area. Taylor has lived in the Wood River Valley for 39 years. He recently retired from a 27 year career as a firefighter and paramedic, 22 of those years were with Wood River Fire and Rescue, where he held the rank of captain on the fire side, and on the EMS side he retired as a paramedic of 15 years. He said hes had a lot of practice being a team member, running a team, and working toward a common goal with diverse people under adverse circumstances to come up with a positive outcome. In emergency services, Taylor said, there are a lot of different agencies that work together very well under adverse pressure-cooker conditions, and everybody works toward that common goal of making things better for people. My career has taught me how to listen to people and understand what their needs are, Taylor said. You cant work in emergency services and be solo. You need to rely on a team. This is his first campaign for a public office, although his career with emergency services had political aspects to it by nature of the many agencies and entities that share responsibilities in Blaine County, he said. Taylor and his wife both volunteer at the Mountain Humane animal shelter for over 20 years. He has also volunteered for the crisis hotline, where he served as board member for a number of years. Taylor said he looks forward to talking to people to formulate his platform, rather than setting an agenda at the outset. I see myself as someone who will take the time to listen to the people, not just of Jerome, Lincoln and Blaine county, but to the people of Idaho and hear their concerns and figure out what it is that they would really like to see addressed, and then work with them and with my fellow legislators to come up with the best and most reasonable solutions. The District 26 Senate seat is also being sought by Rep. Laurie Lickley and Eric Parker, who will face off in the May 17 Republican primary. Love 2 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 BOISE A bill that would eliminate most property taxes and increase Idahos sales tax is dead, for now. The legislation would have eliminated most property taxes levied on those who qualify for the homeowners exemption, and reduce property taxes by an estimated 65% to 70%, Sen. Jim Rice, who introduced the bill, told a legislative committee earlier this month. It would leave in place voter-approved bonds and school levies. In a Senate GOP news release, Republican senators said they need to analyze the impact these changes will have, but are running out of time this session. Lawmakers hope to end the session in the coming weeks. Instead, it will be the tool needed to continue the conversation so that all voices are heard, all numbers are analyzed, all models are perfected, and all concerns are given thoughtful consideration, the news release said. To offset the reduction in property tax revenues, the bill would have increased Idahos sales tax to 7.85%, from the current 6% rate. That wouldve made Idahos sales tax the highest in the nation, surpassing Californias 7.25% rate, according to the Sales Tax Institute, a Chicago-based consulting firm. The proposal drew skepticism and opposition from lawmakers, local government officials and analysts. They said the shift to an increased sales tax could harm renters, and local governments would be subjected to the whims of fluctuating sales tax revenues. Theres not a municipality around that thinks its a good idea, Joe Borton, a Meridian City Council member, previously told the Idaho Statesman. The House Revenue and Taxation Committee introduced the bill last week, but the legislation wont advance to a hearing. Senate GOP leadership President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, of Boise, Majority Leader Kelly Anthon, of Rupert, Assistant Majority Leader Abby Lee, of Fruitland, and Majority Caucus Chair Mark Harris, of Soda Springs said they will search for a long-term property tax solution in the meantime. This is the beginning of making major improvements to the tax structure of our state, they said in the release. Our focus is, and remains, the financial well-being of the people we represent. There is a lot to learn about any property tax reduction bill. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A shooting at a Henry County business Friday afternoon has claimed the life of a Martinsville man. Donny Shermaine Martin, 44, of Martinsville was shot multiple times in the stomach and pronounced dead at the scene, and Stephen Darnell Holland, 39, of Axton has been charged with the murder, a Henry County Sheriffs Office release stated. At approximately 12:23 p.m. the 911 Communications Center received a call that a person had been shot in the Kuntry Boys Tire & More parking lot at 8985 A.L. Philpott Highway. When deputies arrived they found Martin lying on the ground, the release said. Capt. Wayne Davis said on the scene about 40 minutes after the shooting that his department had a person of interest who had been detained for questioning. Investigators could be seen inside a fenced-in area in the back of the store. The Forensic Crime Scene Investigation Unit was on the scene, and the entire area had been taped off with crime scene tape while over a dozen people looked on as police continued their investigation. Through the course of the investigation, it was discovered that Martin and Holland argued and Holland allegedly produced a gun and shot Martin multiple times, the release said. The body will be taken to the Chief Medical Examiners Office Roanoke for an autopsy, the release stated. Holland has been charged with first degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and has been jailed in the Henry County Jail under no bond, the release said. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Henry County Sheriffs Office at 276-638-8751 or Crimestoppers at 276-632-7463. The Crimestoppers Program offers a reward of up to $2,500 for information related to crime and the amount is determined by the nature of the crime and the substance of the information given. Bill Wyatt is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at 276-638-8801, Ext. 2360. Follow him @billdwyatt. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. ValleyStar Credit Union announces Mendy Shaffer as its interim chief financial officer, Robert Sparrow as its chief risk officer and Justin Barnes as its chief lending officer. Shaffers role is to identify and secure investment and financing opportunities. She came to ValleyStar in 2018 as the vice president of accounting. In her new role, Shaffer identify and secure investment and financing opportunities. She has a bachelors degree in business administration from Averett University and a master's degree in business administration from Radford University. She obtained American Bankers Association, Stonier Graduate School of Banking, Banking Leadership designation through The Wharton School and attended the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Financial Management School and Southeast Region Credit Union School of Management. Her skill set will advance sustainable and scalable strategies in financial technology and capital growth for ValleyStar, stated Mike Warrell, CEO of ValleyStar Credit Union, in a press release. Sparrows role is to assess and mitigate risk. He joined ValleyStar in 2013 to lead compliance for the credit union and manage human resources. He has a bachelor's degree in business management and accounting from Hampton University. His licenses and certifications include Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Specialist and Credit Union Enterprise Risk Management Expert. Robert has played an integral role in assessing risk and optimizing decisions to ensure our team and our members are at the center of all we do at ValleyStar,'' said Warrell. Barnes' new role has him working to diversify the ValleyStar lending portfolio. He started at ValleyStar in 2018. In his past role as VP of commercial lending, he grew the team to more than $160 million, adding multiple lenders in five new markets. He attended Virginia Western Community College and is a 2009 graduate of the Virginia Bankers Association School of Bank Management at the University of Virginia. Barnes began his career in financial services in 1999. Under Justins leadership, ValleyStars commercial lending team saw tremendous growth,'' said Warrell. In 2020, ValleyStar expanded its lending services into Augusta County, where the commercial team contributed to almost a dozen new housing developments. The team earned a CUNA National Excellence in Lending Award for ValleyStars efforts in building a responsive and contactless program as an alternative to the national Paycheck Protection Program. Theres no way around it: Travel has a big environmental impact. If commercial aviation were its own country, it would rank sixth in terms of total carbon dioxide emissions (between Japan and Germany), according to a 2019 fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Whoa. The onus of reducing the carbon impact of travel rests on many shoulders, from corporations to countries. But the fact remains that the decisions of individual travelers matter as well. So what can environmentally conscious travelers do to reduce their impact? Flying less frequently or less far is one option, but not an attractive or feasible one for many travelers. And buying carbon offsets or other price-intensive measures can help (in theory), but not everyone can afford them. Thankfully there are many low-cost or free ways to reduce the environmental impact of travel. In fact, some of them can even save you money. 1. Skip premium cabins Yes, flying at the front of the plane is the dream. And using points and miles makes this dream a possibility for many. But its expensive both in terms of cost and carbon impact. An analysis by the World Bank's Environment and Energy Team, Development Research Group estimates that first-class fares can cause up to nine times more emissions than economy fares because of the space they require on aircraft. So, taking a single flight in first class could be the equivalent of nine flights of the same distance in economy. This ones a win-win for budget- and eco-conscious travelers. Avoiding the markup on premium seats can reduce both the cost and carbon impact of air travel. Your knees might not thank you for cramming into an economy seat, but the climate might. 2. Use Google Flights' new carbon feature Googles flight search tool is an excellent choice for travel experts and newbies alike. And it has recently added a carbon emissions feature that makes it invaluable for environmentally minded travelers. The best part of this feature is that you dont have to do anything to use it: Its baked into the flight search results automatically. Google shows the estimated carbon dioxide emissions for each flight and highlights the option with the lowest emissions. This acts as a behavioral nudge that lets you choose the most environmentally conscious option with all other variables being the same. In the example pictured, the Qatar Airways flight costs a bit more and has slightly lower emissions than the Singapore Airlines flight. However, in many cases, the lowest-cost flight is also the least carbon intensive. This makes it easy to make a small difference on the impact of your flight without spending much (or any) more. 3. Dont accept a rental car upgrade Have you ever booked the cheapest (and smallest) rental car available, only to receive a much bigger vehicle at the counter? This can feel like a small victory akin to being upgraded on a flight but it comes with a carbon cost. In addition to being cheaper, economy cars are also generally more fuel efficient. So getting upgraded to a sport utility vehicle isnt always a good thing. Just ask the rental car agent if any smaller cars are available. You might get some arched eyebrows in response, but theres no issue with taking the downgrade. Sometimes there are no small cars available, which is the reason for the upgrade, but its worth asking. This carbon-conscious trick is not only free it can save you gas money. 4. Turn down the hotel AC and heat when you leave All in all, hotel rooms are pretty efficient. Theyre much smaller and easier to heat, cool and light than a typical home. And theyre generally built with energy conservation in mind (since hotel companies foot the bill). Yet, for the most part, hotel rooms are under constant climate control, even when unoccupied. This means youre always stepping into a perfectly room-temperature environment when returning, but its also a waste of energy. This ones easy: Simply turn down your heat or air conditioning when leaving the hotel room for the day. The minor inconvenience of a chilly or warm room is easily offset by the energy savings. You might even take your eco-consciousness a step further and consider booking hotels that are committed to protecting the environment. The bottom line Being an environmentally responsible traveler is not a zero-sum game. You dont have to travel less, or buy a bunch of carbon offsets, in order to make a difference. Small behavioral nudges such as turning down the AC or rental car upgrade can make a meaningful difference. In fact, you can have it both ways saving money and reducing your carbon footprint at the same time. Sam Kemmis writes for NerdWallet. Email: skemmis@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @samsambutdif. The article 4 Cheap Ways to Be an Eco-Conscious Traveler originally appeared on NerdWallet. The Moroccan Health department received Friday two field hospital systems worth over $ 1.6 million donated by the U.S. government, through AFRICOM, to bolster the Kingdoms Covid -19 response capabilities. The first system is a five-bed Intensive Care Unit valued at $960,000, while and the second is a mobile emergency room is worth $700,000. They are part of the broader military partnership between Morocco and the United States, said the U.S. embassy in Rabat in press release. This mobile field hospital donation follows the recent donation of a $1.5 million 30-bed field hospital that will help combat infectious disease outbreaks in Morocco and is part of the more than $20 million invested in Moroccos COVID-19 pandemic response. In January, the U.S. government provided Morocco seven ultra-cold chain freezers, which strengthened the countrys storage capacity of vaccines against Covid-19. The United States had also donated Pfizer and Johnson vaccines against coronavirus. Morocco is an important U.S. partner on a range of humanitarian, disaster preparedness, and security issues. The United States and Moroccos first responders annually participate in multiple regional exercises and engagements together for disaster preparedness, such as COVID-19 response. These exercises and bilateral engagements include: African Lion, Maroc Mantlet, and the Disaster Response and Casualty Care. A volunteer disinfects the area as it snows during the COVID-19 lockdown in Changchun in northeast China's Jilin province Saturday, March 12, 2022. China on Friday ordered the lockdown of the 9 million residents of the northeastern city of Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area attributed to the highly contagious omicron variant. Credit: Chinatopix Via AP China instituted new COVID-19 restrictions Saturday that included urging the public not to leave Beijing and closing schools in Shanghai while the leader of Hong Kong warned that its coronavirus outbreak has yet to reach its peak. In Beijing, where five new cases were reported, part of the Yosemite housing complex in the northeastern district of Shunyi was locked down after an infection was found there. Residents were ordered to undergo testing. The government said the infected person was a close contact of an earlier case in the capital. "Please do not leave Beijing unless necessary," a spokesman for the capital's Communist Party committee, Xu Hejian, was cited as saying by state TV. The government reported 588 new confirmed cases and no death in the 24 hours through midnight Friday. Its numbers are low compared with some countries, but authorities say they are ready to lock down communities if one case is found. The Shanghai city government, where 22 new cases were reported Saturday, announced schools would switch back to teaching online. Public attractions including the Oriental Pearl TV tower began requiring visitors to show negative results from virus tests, according to news reports. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam warned the territory's wave of infections may not have peaked despite stringent controls on travel and business. It reported over 27,600 new confirmed cases. Residents line up for coronavirus screening during the COVID-19 lockdown in Changchun in northeastern China's Jilin province Saturday, March 12, 2022. China on Friday ordered the lockdown of the 9 million residents of the northeastern city of Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area attributed to the highly contagious omicron variant. Credit: Chinatopix Via AP A volunteer disinfects the area as it snows during the COVID-19 lockdown in Changchun in northeast China's Jilin province Saturday, March 12, 2022. China on Friday ordered the lockdown of the 9 million residents of the northeastern city of Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area attributed to the highly contagious omicron variant. Credit: Chinatopix Via AP Volunteers prepare to disinfect the area during the COVID-19 lockdown in Changchun in northeast China's Jilin province Saturday, March 12, 2022. China on Friday ordered the lockdown of the 9 million residents of the northeastern city of Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area attributed to the highly contagious omicron variant. Credit: Chinatopix Via AP A resident walks in the snow during the COVID-19 lockdown in Changchun in northeastern China's Jilin province Saturday, March 12, 2022. China on Friday ordered the lockdown of the 9 million residents of the northeastern city of Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area attributed to the highly contagious omicron variant. Credit: Chinatopix Via AP "At this moment, we could not comfortably say that we have passed the peak," Lam said at a news conference. "We'd rather take a very cautious stance." The new cases in mainland China included 134 in Jilin province in the northeast, where the industrial city of Changchun with a population of 9 million was put on lockdown Friday. Changchun and the Jilin provincial capital, also called Jilin, are "still at the peak of community transmission," the province's party secretary, JIng Junhai, said in a statement. On Saturday, the government announced Mayor Wang Lu of Jilin was replaced but gave no reason. The mayor of Jiutai district in Changchun also was dismissed, the Communist Party-owned Global Times newspaper reported. Yucheng in Shandong province also was on lockdown under China's "zero tolerance" strategy, which aims to find and isolate every case. Explore further China fights new COVID-19 spike with more selective approach 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Now that COVID-19 surges have subsided in South Florida, patients are arriving at local clinics with neglected medical conditions that have advanced into dangerous stages. For Floridians lacking insurance or easy access to care, forgoing doctor follow-ups and preventative screenings has had particularly harsh consequences. With diabetes, heart disease and other diseases out of control, patients must navigate the high costs of medication and limited access to care amid a rush of people finally seeking treatment. "As the country opens up again, people are getting back to seeing their providers and they are being identified with breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and some of the other things that early detection could have prevented," said Yolette Bonet, newly retired founding CEO of FoundCare, the Federally Qualified Health Center, which just opened its seventh clinic in Palm Beach County. Shevie Brown, 35, felt a lump in her right breast several years before the pandemic. But as coronavirus swept through the state, Brown said she felt afraid to seek care. Her lump grew larger. Finally, in the spring of 2021, when the lump grew so large it became noticeable through clothing, Brown went to a FoundCare clinic in Palm Springs to get re-examined. "I got scared because I realized this was my health," Brown said. The clinic arranged for her to see an oncologist who diagnosed her with stage 3 breast cancer. Brown, who has now undergone surgery and chemotherapy, encourages others who delayed care to get checked out as soon as possible. "If I hadn't gone, I wouldn't be here today." One in three Americans have delayed or skipped medical care during the pandemic, according to two surveys funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In addition, a year-long survey by Prevent Cancer Foundation found half of all Americans are missing important cancer screenings, with minorities at higher risk. But with case levels declining, reluctance to seek care is waning, too. By midday on a recent Thursday, Rose Philius, a nurse practitioner, had seen 28 patients for women's health services at the FoundCare clinic in West Palm Beach. One patient had an abnormal pap smear prior to the pandemic and never followed up. Philius will send her to an oncologist to fast-track her biopsy, fearful that cancer may now have spread. "We were never closed but people were afraid to come," she said. Other factors have been issues in delayed care, too, Philius explains. "Some patients lost their jobs during the pandemic and lost their health insurance. Others have language barriers and no one to help them navigate the system," she said. Chris Irizarry, CEO of FoundCare, said telemedicine has helped his doctors reach residents who are still hesitant and suffering at home with concerning medical issues, but the effort is not wide enough, yet. "We are trying to get tablets into households in areas of need so that they can increase the utilization of telehealth because some care is better than no care at all," Irizarry said. "We want to encourage patients to come to our centers but if they actually don't feel comfortable yet we want them to at least speak to our providers because we know the importance of preventative medicine." In Hollywood, Dr. Sheridan Major-Moore, clinical director and family medicine physician at Broward Community & Family Health Centers said the demand for primary care at this stage in the pandemic is overwhelming. "Our patients were trying to avoid getting COVID and the result is a lapse in care," she said. "They have uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressures ... . We had many of those cases, anyway, but now it's exacerbated. When they are coming in, they have multiple conditions that require addressing because they have been away from care for so long." Major-Moore said for patients who already had chronic conditions and haven't had lab work done in two years, "it's often like starting over." Some stopped taking their medications altogether after losing their health insurance, she said. A big issue, she said, is many people gained weight during the pandemic. "Obesity increases the risk for hypertension heart disease, so many different conditions. We are hoping as things improve with COVID a lot of our patients will become more active and start to eat better again. Clinics like FoundCare and Broward Community & Family Health Centers are federally funded and provide medical, dental and mental health care on a sliding fee scale. Getting an appointment, however, can take several weeks. As demand picks up, community clinics are extending their hours and adding some same-day appointments. FoundCare's Irizarry says he has added more doctors and recently opened another clinic in West Palm Beach. "We are taking measures to meet the demand," he said. Patient levels this month are double what they were during the delta wave, and many visits at that time were virtual, he said. While COVID killed more than 70,000 people in Florida, doctors worry that medical conditions that fell by the wayside could add to that death toll. "We have to make it easy for patients to get help for these diseases," Major-Moore said. "They existed in large numbers before, and they're going in even larger numbers now." With children in the last group to become vaccine eligible, parents' concerns about COVID exposure have led to a decline in visits to the pediatrician. In Miami, Dr. Tina Carroll-Scott, provides medical care to mostly minority children who lack insurance or are on Medicaid. She says children are coming in after missing appointments for two years. "I'm dealing with kids who have acute asthma and aren't on medications and kids who haven't had immunizations or routine physicals," said Carroll-Scott of South Miami Children's Clinic. "What we also have seen is an uptick in mental health and developmental issues. There are children on the spectrum who could have gotten speech or behavior analysis and now they have more advanced developmental issues that haven't been addressed." Carroll- Scott said with her patients it takes outreach and hand-holding to get them caught up on missed checkups and screenings. "I think we will be dealing with the repercussions of coronavirus for years to come," she said. Explore further How COVID-19 has affected cancer care More information: 2022 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Visit sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Missoula law enforcement is searching for a man suspected of selling fentanyl pills to teenagers last May that led to three overdoses, including one death. Christopher R. Clark is charged with two counts of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs and three counts of criminal endangerment, all felonies. On May 29, 2021, Missoula police responded to a house on Bordeaux Boulevard for a report of an 18-year-old woman who was unconscious and not breathing from a possible drug overdose, according to charging documents filed in Missoula County on March 2. She was taken to the hospital, where she later died. Medical staff advised that the cardiac arrest she experienced was likely from a respiratory arrest following an opiate overdose, charging documents said. The woman was one of three overdoses from a party that day. The second overdose was a 17-year-old male, who survived. He had gone to the first victims house for a party, where he had reportedly taken half of what he thought to be a Percocet, purchased from Clark. Clark also attended the party. The boy went for a drive with the first victim and others when he overdosed (he had taken the other half of the Percocet and a Xanax). He was driven to Providence St. Patrick Hospital. He was discharged in the morning and returned to the 18-year-olds house to grab some belongings. Clark was still there. Charging documents say the 17-year-old had purchased pills from Clark about eight times over the past few months. Shortly after the second overdose happened, law enforcement responded to a gas station on South Reserve Street for a CPR that was in progress. The third victim was given Narcan, a drug that helps to counteract overdoses. An acquaintance of this victim said she had picked him up from the first womans house, and that he had taken what he thought was a Percocet pill. When he was picked up by his friend, the man was not coherent and was dry-heaving, pale and had his eyes rolling back in his head. He was transported to Community Medical Center for treatment and survived. Officers spoke with several people that had attended the party they reported seeing the first victim take multiple Percocet pills, which had come from Clark, throughout the evening, court documents say. One witness said the pills were pressed to look like Percocet, but that they knew the pills would test positive for containing fentanyl, charging documents said. Party witnesses confirmed Clark was at the party selling people drugs. After the victim died, Clark posted on social media that he had a pack of a thousand pills and some of them could be dirty. Authorities went to Clarks house. Charging documents allege that Clark answered, saying he knew why law enforcement was there and agreed to be interviewed. After being read his rights, Clark admitted to selling pills to several people at the house party, saying he had received the pills from a friend out of town, court documents said. After he had sold some to the victims, he returned them to his friend because they were causing overdoses, he told police. A sample of the pills provided by one of the victims was sent to the Montana State Crime Lab, which confirmed it was fentanyl. The deceased 18-year-olds toxicology report was positive for fentanyl, cocaine and other substances. Clarks present location is not known. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 3 Angry 9 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Sitting in her brand-new apartment building on South Ninth Street, Ladonna Simmons-Kneedler gazed out the window at Missoulas snow-covered mountains thinking back on her experience with homelessness. Simmons-Kneedler found housing through the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness program, more commonly known as PATH. After experiencing homelessness in Missoula for about four years, Simmons-Kneedler was able to connect with a PATH advocate through the Poverello Centers Homeless Outreach Team. PATH Missoula's three-person team is housed at the Western Montana Mental Health Center. Its federally funded through the Department of Public Health and Human Services and has been around for about five years. Simmons-Kneedler shared that after her marriage ended, she experienced alcohol addiction, which catapulted into health issues. In 2018, she ended up in Missoula without a house, living at the Poverello Center. Here, she built relationships with other residents and members of the outreach team, who encouraged Simmons-Kneedler to get an advocate. The homeless outreach team was instrumental in telling me all the time, dont give up,'" she said. "The shelter workers are fantastic." They eventually connected her with Winnie Lohof, PATHs lead care coordinator. From there, Lohof was able to get Simmons-Kneedler housed in just a few months. Winnie was determined, and after two months she got me in here, Simmons-Kneedler said. When Simmons-Kneedler arrived at her new home last December, she had just a backpack with some toiletries and extra clothes. The apartment complex is recently built and a 55-and-older community. Simmons-Kneedler is the first tenant to live in her unit. I remember the day Winnie walked me up here and showed me my apartment, and I just couldnt believe it, she said. Simmons-Kneedler stressed the importance for people experiencing homelessness to seek help and find an advocate. Im grateful for what I have," she said. "But it was a long road with many encouragements. Ive been here a little over two months now, and things just keep getting better and better. Simmons-Kneedlers story is one of the many successes out of the PATH program. Since Lohof was brought on to the PATH team in October of 2020, she and the team have housed more than 35 clients, all of whom remain safely housed. Clients have ranged from individuals who are imminently homeless to people who have been homeless for several years. Most of the time, people are facing homelessness due to circumstances that are out of their control, Lohof said. This can be evictions, increased rents or landlords who have decided to sell or re-do the property. PATH mainly works in Missoula County, but will get referrals from other parts of western Montana from time to time. The program has a wait list now and gets about three referrals a day. Many individuals come to PATH without any form of identification, so getting people copies of birth certificates and social security cards is a frequent starting point for cases. Were here to help them, and that just takes such a weight off of their shoulders, Lohof said. Ensuring people are wrapped up in services is also a part of the work PATH does. Mental health support, therapy, medication and case management are all resources PATH provides, Lohof said. Staff also do outreach every week by going to shelters and encampments to see how they can support people. We just want Missoula to see our houseless community members as community members," Lohof said. "I think we forget about that a lot and its heartbreaking to me." PATH recently partnered with Burns St. Bistro for a donation drive to bring in household items. Lohof said the drive amassed such a large volume of items that PATH is having to use a storage unit to hold everything. The drive also enabled PATH to give a recent client a mostly furnished house when he moved in with all the basic household essentials. Lohof encourages any landlords to reach out to PATH to talk about working with the program, adding shes seen local property management groups shred housing applications as soon as they see the person is homeless. We really just need someone to give them a chance, Lohof said. The clients I work with are the hardest working people Ive ever met. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 12 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Overdose calls in Burke County have seen a jump over the last two weeks, and one of those calls took place at a Morganton high school. Around 11:30 a.m. Monday, the Morganton Department of Public Safety and Burke County EMS were dispatched to Freedom High School for a suspected overdose, said MDPS Capt. Jason Whisnant. MDPS officers arrived at the scene within minutes and it was reported a student believed they were overdosing after taking gummy bears that were laced with an unknown substance, he said. Officers administered Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, as a precaution, Whisnant said. Burke County EMS Capt. Brad Browning confirmed the student was transported to a local hospital. Cheryl Shuffler, public information officer for Burke County Public Schools, said the school system recently partnered with the Burke Substance Abuse Network to provide training for school counselors. She said BSAN leaders set up a simulated bedroom with suspicious items that adults might not be aware could be related to drugs or other destructive behaviors. They had five minutes to search the room, she said. For example, if there was a wad of cash hidden in something or false bottoms on a soda can just to make the counselors aware of where kids are hiding stuff and the kinds of things kids are hiding. According to Shuffler, school counselors went through the room and learned about the different ways teenagers hide things and warning signs to look for. She said the program is available to individual schools and for parents and community members as well. But the Monday overdose at Freedom wasnt the only call of the sort in the county recently. Browning said it was just one of 26 overdose calls EMS personnel have responded to since Feb. 18. Burke County Sheriff Steve Whisenant said 14 of those 26 calls took place in the last week, and two of them resulted in deaths though officials wont be completely certain overdoses caused the deaths until autopsy and toxicology reports are returned, a process that could take several months. The rise in overdoses is a startling trend officers have noticed in the last couple of years. Capt. Whisnant said in 2020, MDPS officers administered Narcan 24 times. In 2021, that number rose to 39. So far this year, MDPS officers have had to administer Narcan 10 times, Whisnant said. The potency of what people are taking is much higher than it was years ago, and there are so many unknown substances in illicit drugs, Whisnant said. Youre gambling with your own life every time people inject these drugs. Apart from the recent spike in overdoses, officers have seen another startling trend in overdose calls. Were seeing younger and younger people experimenting with drugs, Whisnant said. Talk to your children. Talk to your teenagers. Talk about the dangers. Experimentation with marijuana in 1980 is completely different than experimenting with drugs in 2022 due to how contaminated the drugs can be with very deadly substances. He said investigators have seen things like speedballing, where methamphetamine and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid the FDA said is 80-100 times stronger than morphine, are mixed. Evidence of that came in a Thursday evening release from the Burke County Sheriffs Office, where deputies arrested a man for possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl. The release said the fentanyl seized could have caused 500 fatal overdoses. Whisnant said officers have seen an increase in people carrying Narcan or having a friend or relative carry Narcan in the case of an overdose, and encouraged anyone struggling with addiction to reach out to resources like Burke Recovery, a local nonprofit that offers substance use treatment, and A Caring Alternative, which offers behavioral health and substance use disorder services. Addiction is hard to treat, its challenging to treat, but it is treatable, Whisnant said. Those struggling through addiction need to hold on to hope that itll get better. Chrissy Murphy and Jason Koon are staff writers. Murphy can be reached at cmurphy@morganton.com or at 828-432-8941. Koon can be reached at jkoon@morganton.com or at 828-432-8907. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Chrissy Murphy Chrissy Murphy has been covering crime, breaking news and city government for The News Herald since May 2018. Follow Chrissy Murphy 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 COVID-19 has claimed five more lives in Burke County even as active cases of COVID-19 continued to decline in Burke County and the state on Friday. The latest deaths brings the county death toll from the virus to 338. The Burke County Health Department said the people were in their 70s, 80s and 90s and were hospitalized prior to their deaths. Two of them died from COVID-associated complications and three died COVID-related complications, according to the department. The Burke County Health Department reported 32 new cases of the virus between Wednesday and Friday with 177 currently active cases on Friday, down from 195 active cases on Thursday afternoon. The countys positivity rate was at 3.63% on Friday. Thats a bit higher than the states positivity rate of 2.9% on Friday. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported 1,849 new cases and 960 people hospitalized throughout the state. In Burke County, UNC Health Blue Ridge reported it had 10 COVID-19 patientssix unvaccinatedwith two of them in the intensive care unit on Friday. It also had nine patients in its virtual hospital. The state reported 30 new deaths for a total of 22,922 deaths on Friday, up from 22,892 deaths due to the virus on Thursday. Because of the declining numbers, the health department said, starting next week, it will only release an update briefing on Fridays. The countys COVID-19 dashboard will continue to be updated on Tuesdays and Fridays, the department said. The health department said last week that NCDHHS updated its mask recommendations for schools and local governments to move to voluntary masking, as long as COVID-19 trends continue to improve. The health department said its staff, which has continuous face-to-face interaction with patients and/or clients, will continue to wear a face covering. It is asking those coming in for appointments to wear a mask/covering as well. The health department is conducting COVID-19 testing from 8-11 a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8-11 a.m. on Friday, and as need in the afternoon, according to the department. The health department is encouraging people to stay home when they do not feel well, practice good hand hygiene, keep a safe distance from others in crowded spaces, start better managing any chronic health conditions as soon as possible, and get a COVID vaccine and booster when eligible. The health department, located at 700 E. Parker Road, Morganton, offers COVID vaccines from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays. The department offers Pfizer, Moderna and J&J COVID-19 vaccines. Appointments are needed for both testing and a vaccine and can be made by calling the health department 828-764-9150. For general questions about COVID-19, call the county health department public information line at 828-764-9150 or visit the COVID-19 webpage at burkenc.org/COVID-19. Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force meeting discusses rising numbers of cases, and resources available to the public Char-Koosta News The Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force met virtually on Wednesday, March 2 to discuss Montana Missing Persons Updates, the Snowbird Fund, LINC grant applications, and LINC Coordinators. "When you look at December and January, we did see a decrease in overall missing persons totals," said Brian Frost, the Missing Persons Specialist with the Department of Justice. "We're slowly climbing back up; Indigenous persons continue to make up a parentage of the missing person population, despite accounting for only seven percent of Montana's population. On Wednesday morning, there were 190 active person cases. Of the 190, 58 were identified as Indigenous, accounting for approximately 30.5 percent of all missing persons. "What's interesting is that 34 of those missing people are under the age of 21, and when we look at the male to female ratio, it's 28 males to 30 females," Frost said. Law enforcement identified 23 missing Indigenous people as runaways, implying that they went missing on purpose. Twenty Indigenous people have been missing for over a year. "So, you're talking about a third of all our active missing Indigenous people being gone for over a year," said Frost. "We see that the majority of our missing persons have been missing for less than three months, or certainly less than a year," Frost said. "I believe it is important to emphasize that there is a lot more to the 190 active people than statistics. "Just to reiterate, this is not just a reservation issue per se; these statistics come from all different law enforcement agencies that have an active missing Indigenous person throughout the state of Montana," Frost said. "You'll notice that Billings has the most, followed by Blackfeet, which is a recent trend, and Crow Agency had a few, but they have come down a little." Blackfeet has increased in active missing persons cases. Teal Whitaker, a SnowBird Fund representative, presented important information about funds available to assist communities in their search for MMIP. The SnowBird fund is the first of its kind, with a $500 grant that increased to $1,000 for families to search for their missing loved one. Applicants for the grant have requests for a wide range of needs including gas money, volunteer supplies, a plane ticket in one case, and essentially whatever applicants require. "The funding is intended to support anything that assists families, individuals, or whoever is conducting the search in conducting the most thorough search possible," Whitaker said The applications are reviewed and approved by an Indigenous-led committee. "This committee has been absolutely critical to the fund because the committee members have all brought great knowledge and guidance to the fund," Whitaker said. Within the next year, the SnowBird fund will consider increasing funds for applicants who require more than $1,000, such as those who may need to rent a boat for search purposes or other costly items. The application is simple and the entire turnaround process can take up to 48 hours. In terms of outcomes, they granted $6,000 in total over 11 grants last year, and were able to triple the fund's size thanks to generous contributions from a variety of individuals and organizations. They will continue to raise awareness of their services so that those in need are aware of them. Individuals can apply online at SnowBirdfund.org. Montana Senate Bill 312 established the Looping in Native Communities (LINC) Grant Program to support Montana tribes' efforts to identify, report, and locate missing Native Americans. The Missing Indigenous Peoples Task Force oversees the grant program. The Task Force approved the four LINC grant applications that will all begin the process of joining the network. The grant program initially included the ability to award tribal colleges a competitive grant to create and manage a central administration point for the Looping in Native Communities network. The Montana Department of Justice awarded $25,000 for a single tribal college. Nobody applied in the first round, but Blackfeet Community College, which was already working on a system in response to Ashley Loring HeavyRunner's disappearance, was able to find a need for the grant fund. When the application was reopened for a second time, they applied and were awarded the fund. As a result, Blackfeet Community College created a website with a reporting portal to serve as a safe place to start the process of reporting a missing Indigenous person. Visit the website at www.mmipmt.com The goal is to get all Native communities comfortable sharing missing person data; if an individual does not want to go directly to law enforcement, www.mmipmt.com serves as a go-between reporting for law enforcement and the community. According to Dana Toole, Bureau Chief of the Montana Department of Justice Special Services, people who are concerned about a missing person should call 911 or their local law enforcement. Families do not have to wait 24 hours or 72 hours to report someone missing. In fact, acting as soon as you are concerned is the best course of action. For those who do not call 911 or local law enforcement and instead use the Missing Indigenous Person Web Portal, it alerts local law enforcement of the tribal communities linked to that website. LINC coordinators and law enforcement are notified, and it is the LINC coordinator's responsibility to confirm that law enforcement received the report and will then contact the family. "It's kind of like a triple check to make sure all of that person's information got to the people who can help," Toole explained. CSKT Police Captain Louie Fiddler and officer William Mesteth are the LINC Coordinators for CSKT. Ellie Bundy is the Presiding Officer of the Montana Missing Indigenous Peoples Task Force, and she also plays an important role in guiding families through the difficult process. Jami Pluff serves as the coordinator of the CSKT MMIP workgroup. All these individuals have contributed to the development of the CSKT tribal community response plan and can assist in guiding families through the difficult process. Last year, tribes had another opportunity to apply for the LINC grant, and four of Montana's eight tribes did so. "There is $25,000 in a fund balance that could be distributed," Dana said. "We wrote the application last fall so that it would be a non-competitive grant of $6,250 to match tribal funds, so that each of Montana's eight tribes could apply for the same amount of money." Because only four tribes applied, the funds were divided in half. "The task force's guideline is that we have to develop another application, so people can apply for the balance of the funds," Toole said. It must be equitable, so that all eight tribes have access to the same information and opportunities to apply for the remaining balance. All grants must be completed by June 2023, and the task force must decide how to design the next applications. The Task Force is hoping that the remaining tribes will use the next application, which they expect to make available fall of 2022. In general, the applications were all for funding for LINC coordinators or tools that the LINC coordinator might require. The Missing Indigenous Peoples Task Force in Montana has been hard at work and will meet once a month to continue working on the collaboration and communication required to improve the response to missing Indigenous people in Montana. For up-to-date information on missing people in Montana, go to the Missing Persons Clearinghouse page on the Montana Department of Justice website. Morgantons homeless population has been growing rapidly over the last 10-15 years, leaving city officials and the public looking to answer a major question: Where are they coming from? City Manager Sally Sandy offered several possibilities during a presentation about homelessness at Monday nights city council meeting, including a statement that other municipalities, counties and law enforcement agencies are bringing their homeless to Morganton. Growing population In July, there were about 70 homeless people living in Morganton. Thats according to the point-in-time count held that month, and its a far cry different from the homeless population the city had about 15 years ago, said Capt. Jason Whisnant with the Morganton Department of Public Safety. He said at the Monday night meeting hes been a lifelong Burke County resident and has worked at MDPS for more than 20 years. In my earlier years at public safety, there was a handful of homeless folks that you could count on one hand and we all know who those folks were, Whisnant told the city council at the meeting. You had Cat Man Theodore Lambert and you had Cowboy and a few more of those guys, but typically you could just count them on one hand. But the homeless population has grown exponentially in the last 10-15 years, Whisnant said. At Julys point-in-time count, about 70 people were identified living around 22 camps and Whisnant said that number is likely a low estimate. Whisnant provided more statistics from the point-in-time count to The News Herald, including a survey of the homeless population where only 33% of respondents said they were from Morganton and Burke County. The majority of the respondents 40% of them said they were from out of state, Whisnant said, and another 27% said they were from other areas around North Carolina. He said its not out of the realm of possibilities that other municipalities are bringing their homeless to Morganton, but law enforcement do not believe other agencies are forcing people to come to Morganton. Instead, they think if other agencies are bringing a person to the city, its because the person requested it. Allegations and responses Sandy named a few agencies and municipalities she believed were bringing members of their homeless community to Morganton, and among those was the Catawba County Sheriffs Office. An initial statement from CCSO Capt. Aaron Turk said bringing people experiencing homelessness to Morganton is not a practice authorized by the agency, nor is it one deputies are permitted to exercise. In a Friday evening follow-up, a statement from Turk said the sheriffs office learned of Sandys comments from a media outlet Friday morning. That led him to talk to Assistant City Manager Sonja Marston by phone, who said she would find out the specifics of the allegation made at the meeting Monday night. When Marston called Turk back around noon Friday, she told him the information Sandy used was 4th hand and it came from an employee at a Morganton Dollar General. According to Turks statement, Marston said the information hadnt been fully confirmed or corroborated, and she apologized for any statements that may have been inaccurate. The News Herald spoke with Turk late Friday, who said its possible a deputy may have brought a person to Morganton if, for example, they requested to be brought here. Anythings possible, Turk said. Were not definitively saying that it hasnt happened, what were saying is that our practice is that deputies are not permitted to do it, we have no information on our side that its happened. Turk said without a more specific time frame to guide search efforts, the sheriffs office wouldnt be able to find the internal records within calls for service, statistics and data. He said he checked with CCSOs patrol commander who checked with platoon lieutenants who all said they didnt know of the sheriffs office dropping anyone off in Morganton. He said the area serviced by the sheriffs office doesnt really have an impactful homeless problem that causes them to be taking those experiencing homelessness from one location to another frequently. But if they were to interact with someone who said they were from Morganton or wanted to get to Morganton, and the sheriffs office had decided to offer transportation, it would be more likely they would transport the person to the Burke/Catawba county line and ask the Burke County Sheriffs Office to pick them up and finish the transportation. He also said if a person needs shelter, the sheriffs office typically refers them to the Salvation Army shelter in Hickory. Sandy told The News Herald late Friday that she still believes other municipalities bring their homeless to Morganton. She said its something thats been reported multiple times by multiple people over the last several years, including by a former director of Burke United Christian Ministries. I do believe there are homeless persons finding their way to Morganton from other communities, Sandy told the newspaper by text message. I believe some are getting here with assistance and because of our many services here. Chrissy Murphy is a staff writer and can be reached at cmurphy@morganton.com or at 828-432-8941. Follow @cmurphyMNH on Twitter. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The annual Made in Montana Tradeshow hosted wholesalers Friday at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds. The Montana Department of Commerce organizes the event that features 115 Montana-based vendors. Saturday is open to the public. Shop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the latest in Made in Montana food, home, gifts and more. Free admission and free parking. Entrepreneur Rachel Jenkins, who owns Montana Made & The Lilliepad Boutique in Deer Lodge, was announced as the 2022 Retailer of the Year Friday at the annual tradeshow. Consumers are excited to purchase authentic handmade or grown (in) Montana merchandise, Rachel Jenkins said. What inspires me is meeting new vendors and being able to tell their story and how their products are made. I want shoppers to know they are truly helping local Montana families when they purchase items from Montana Made. Each year, Montana retailers are nominated by their peers to receive the Retailer of the Year Award. Other tradeshow award winners: Best in Show Overall - Windrift Hill, based in Conrad, makes 45 types of soaps, 21 scented lotions, and 13 scented body butters using natural clay oxides, herbs, oils and farm fresh goats milk. Best in Show New Exhibitor - Montana Block, based in Billings, builds unique wooden kitchen products, specializing in End-Grain Butcher Blocks. Best in Show Honorable Mention Lake Missoula Tea Company, based in Missoula, offers tea from around the world. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 After closing its Butte office about two years ago, the Volunteers of America is back and has taken up residence on the first floor of the Hennessy building on North Main Street. Christa Ziegler, the Volunteers of America Montana state director, said the location of the building is good for the organizations purposes because its within walking distance of places like the Butte Rescue Mission and the bus station that veterans may need. The decision to re-open an office in Butte came from a big increase in Buttes veteran population over the last couple of years, and a desire to provide more direct service to them, Ziegler said. I was not happy that they left before, said local veterans advocate Mike Lawson, Theyre a big help to people. Lawson said that the key to helping veterans in Butte is that all the different resources, Volunteers of America included, network and talk to each other to get veterans paired up with the services they need. This, Missoula-based Program manager for the western Montana part of Volunteers of America Martin NoRunner said, is one of the things the Butte office hopes to accomplish. Were here to hopefully create the relationships for our veterans in the communities that theyre in with the folks that are able to help them. Volunteers of America works with any organization in Butte that works with the homeless population, Ziegler said. NoRunner said Butte is one of the last best places in western Montana with affordable and available housing that hasnt been flooded with people, which makes Butte a good location for Volunteers of America to not only help local homeless veterans, but homeless veterans in other parts of western Montana. We can take those folks that are homeless in other areas and filter them into Butte, NoRunner said. We feel that we can be a conduit here to help facilitate a positive response to the homelessness thats cropping up around other parts like Kalispell, Missoula, Helena, Bozeman, places in western Montana. Volunteers of America offers a wide range of services including homeless services, youth services, veteran services and mental health services. The Butte office, which opened in October 2021, focuses exclusively on veteran services, offering many programs to help veterans who are homeless or in danger of losing housing. The organization provides temporary financial and rental assistance to qualifying veterans, including a rent subsidy for up to two years, case management services, legal services, utility and other assistance including child care, groceries and anything else that could be a barrier for a veteran staying in or obtaining housing. It also offers the Homeless Veterans Reintegration program, which helps homeless veterans gain employment so they can eventually become self-sustaining. To qualify, a veteran who is either homeless or at risk of being homeless must not have been dishonorably discharged, must meet the income requirements of being 50% or lower Area Median Income per their household size, and must have been federally activated, NoRunner said, meaning that veteran was at some point in active duty for the federal government. The Veterans Administration may be looking at changing this in the future, as there are Reservists and National Guardsmen/women who were locally or state activated, but not federally, NoRunner said. A veteran himself, Volunteers of Americas mission is close to NoRunners heart because he once was on the other side of their services, a few years before he got hired there in 2020. So it was full circle, spectrum-wise, of me coming from being a veteran in need of support, to a veteran helping provide supportive services for veterans that have found themselves in the same position, NoRunner said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 ARCHIVED - Return to face-to-face GP appointments in Spain triggers attacks on doctors Reports of violence towards medical staff in Spain spiked 39% in 2021 It doesn't seem five minutes since the nation was applauding frontline health workers from their balconies for their efforts amid a worldwide pandemic. But within weeks of GPs reverting to face-to-face appointments in 2021, verbal and physical assaults on doctors and nurses soared 39% on the previous year. The rise in attacks has been attributed to the huge additional workload placed on staff at clinics and hospitals which has led to the closure of certain departments and frustration over excessive waiting times. The positive figures for 2020, with a 35% reduction in attacks, proved to be no more than a mirage due mainly to three months of lockdown, the widespread fear of entering health centres and catching Covid, and above all the huge increase in telematic health care when mobility restrictions were more intense. According to the Observatory of the Medical Association (OMC), as many as 612 attacks by members of the public were reported in 2021 171 more than a year earlier and very close to the record of 677 in 2019. In fact, last year was the second worst figure on record, and concerns will be running high in Murcia and Alicante where health centres have reverted to pre-Covid normality. "Neither heroes nor villains. We are just professionals at the service of citizens who demand zero tolerance for aggression," said Gaspar Garrote, the coordinator of OMC. The highest number of cases per 1,000 doctors occurred in Catalonia, Cantabria, Extremadura, Andalucia and the Balearic Islands, but Garrote stressed that this may not only be due to greater violence but also to a high level of awareness amongst professionals when it comes to reporting incidents. However, what is clear to medical associations is that there are almost certainly more doctors and other health professionals who have been harassed, coerced or injured than those on the OMC register. "They remain invisible because they do not report the attacks, usually out of fear, especially in rural areas where the victim and their relatives are likely to be known to the assailant. Some of the appalling verbal insults endured by health staff include: "From prison you can get out, but not from the cemetery" and "you're all b*****ds and I'm going to come back with a knife". Why do doctors face so much abuse? According to OMC, the fundamental reason for the return of violence against doctors to peak levels "is the return to face-to-face care". "Proof of this is that in 2021 face-to-face attacks accounted for 89%, 18 points more than in the year of confinement, when 29% of verbal abuse was made during telephone or videoconference consultations." But a second contributing factor is "the precariousness and lack of resources in the public health sector". The triggers of violence that increased the most in 2021 were anger over waiting times for appointments or consultations and disagreements over sick leave. However, as in previous years, the main cause was discrepancies in medical care, accompanied by problems with prescriptions or tensions linked to anti-Covid measures. And a breakdown shows six times out of 10, the victim is a female doctor aged between 35 and 55, with attacks most likely to take place in consulting rooms during the morning, with a high incidence on Tuesdays. Whilst primary care is the area with the highest number of cases, conflict also occurs at the doors of hospital emergency rooms and outpatient clinics. OMC claims that the main aggressors are women, aged between 40 and 60, and in around 50% of the cases, she is the patient herself. In 48% of the incidents, threats are made, and in 39% insults are thrown. And a study carried out by the OMC shows that in 2021, 79 attackers, 20% of those who ended up in court, were given prison sentences. Of the more than 258 prosecutions for attacks on health professionals, 185 resulted in convictions. Meanwhile, a recent macro-survey by SATSE nursing union found that 70% of nurses suffered physical or verbal aggression during the pandemic and that in 80% of cases, their relationship with patients has worsened in the last two years. Energy minister Gwede Mantashe has presided over the worst period of load-shedding since Eskom first implemented rotational power cuts in 2007. Citing independent estimates, the Democratic Alliance (DA) states that South Africa has shed 4,136 GWh since President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Mantashe in 2018. CSIR data suggests that this figure is likely closer to 5,797 GWh. In comparison, approximately 1,325GWh was shed under Mosebenzi Zwane the energy minister who served before Mantashe. As a result of this failure, the DA has called for the ministers head, together with President Cyril Ramaphosas entire Cabinet. The economic cost of this load-shedding crisis has resulted in record unemployment and a very high cost of living for vulnerable South Africans, said DA MP Kevin Mileham. Mantashe must take responsibility for the dysfunctional regulatory environment and planning of our electricity supply sector. Mileham also said that the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPP), which falls under National Treasury and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, has ground to a halt. [There is] no indication from the department whether successful bidders will move towards the implementation phase, Mileham said. The failure to meet the 27 January 2022 deadline to reach financial close has cast further doubt on the programmes potential to start generating electricity and alleviating the electricity crisis. Mantashe has also been pushing for new coal power plants despite the unwillingness of investors to fund such projects. This unwillingness is likely due to the global drive to transition to renewable energy sources. However, Mileham claims that Mantashe is actively standing in the way of renewable energy and worsening the electricity crisis. The Department of Energy has created a backlog of over 100 renewable energy projects which are trying to secure government permissions, Mileham said. For the most part, this has been due to Mantashes Department stifling renewable energy through red tape, delays, bureaucracy, and sabotage. To put this in perspective, Vietnam was able to build solar energy capacity equivalent to six coal power plants in 2020 alone, he added. In February 2022, Mantashe said that the use of coal is being unfairly attacked, explaining that the R131 billion loan from Western countries to move away from coal cannot replace the R130 billion per year generated from coal mining. He had also previously explained that implementing renewable energy generation is expensive and that South Africa should focus on cleaner coal power generation. In response to claims that he had done nothing to alleviate load-shedding in South Africa, Mantashe previously said his department had done its part to ensure Eskom had access to 1,996MW of emergency power. Mantashe blamed Eskom for delays in procuring the power, saying that the power utility was toing and froing about the agreements with the governments preferred bidders in the programme. However, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter refuted this claim, stating that Eskom had not yet received final documentation from the IPP office to allow them to sign the power purchase agreement. The maximum price methodology [also] hasnt been finally addressed between the [National Energy Regulator of South Africa], the IPP office, and the [Department of Mineral Resources and Energy], De Ruyter said. Regarding the emergency power Mantashe said his department has made available for Eskom to buy, the DA said it is also concerned about the ministers push for the Karpowership deal which is entangled in accusations of corruption. The project also failed to secure the requisite certifications and permissions. Because of this, Mantashe has had to repeatedly grant Karpowership an extension on the projects financial close. Another point of concern raised by Mileham is Judge Raymond Zondos recommendation that Mantashe be criminally investigated in connection with Bosasa installing security systems at his three homes. Zondo instructed law-enforcement agencies to conduct further investigations into Mantashe, Jacob Zuma, Nomvula Mokonyane, and Mokonyane to prosecute them on corruption charges. For these reasons, the DA said it is pushing for Mantashe to be removed from Ramaphosas Cabinet. If we are to secure our energy future, minister Gwede Mantashe must be first out the door, Mileham said. The introduction of a tax on heated tobacco products at 25% less than combustible tobacco over the past two years gives a small nod to harm reduction but is really aimed at reducing overall nicotine consumption. Interviewed a week after this years budget, SA Treasurys Chief Director for Economic Tax Analysis, Chris Axelson, told Medical Brief that a flat tax rate on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) based on the amount of liquid they contain has been agreed upon in principle. This will be regardless of whether the ENDS contains nicotine or a non-nicotine liquid. While having a nicotine content baseline was an attractive policy idea, it just gets incredibly complicated to enforce. Axelson explains his team reviewed the global research on harm reduction via ENDS and heated tobacco products and produced a taxation discussion paper in December last year. Theres a lot of noise out there. It drew heated discussion and input from the tobacco industry, health groups and international tobacco harm-reduction groups. If we wanted to tax optimally, one option was to base that on the amount of nicotine in the product and then tax those with no nicotine at a lower rate. Its a nice policy design idea, but almost all countries tax on a flat rate based on the amount of liquid (not nicotine concentration). Its incredibly simple but unfortunately, it doesnt target nicotine content. So, our proposal is a flat tax rate based on the amount of liquid (regardless of nicotine concentration or the absence of nicotine). Work already far advanced Axelson says that while not a done deal, it was, at least a start, so we can get the administration running with the revenue service. His department would be submitting draft legislation to parliament, which would then come under Standing Committee on Finance scrutiny before the president promulgated a bill, hopefully effective by January 2023. The overall intent was to include products similar to combustible tobacco in the tax net. Its quite clear that some [ENDS] have large amounts of nicotine in those liquids and are similar to other activities that cause harm. We also have concerns that they could be a gateway to smoking while causing potential harm. The tobacco industry talks about how theyre trying to wean people off combustibles. Theres a lot of mixed research out there and were worried about the impacts. We do need to broaden the scope of products within the tax net. Its also a signal from government that you need to be careful with these products, especially when it comes to children. You have all these flavours like blueberry and candy, while the design logos are targeted at teenagers, he says. Axelson explains that there was currently no tax regime for these products and the intention was to try and reduce their consumption and induce caution at their use. Medical Brief asked Axelson about Snus, a steam-pasteurised oral smokeless product that has almost totally displaced combustible tobacco in Sweden and Norway, rendering their populations far healthier than other European nations. He was unaware of any taxation intent for it in SA at present, but well have to check the scope before we do the legislation. He adds; So, we do recognise that if theres a lesser harm, the tax should be lower but this has been called into question by some organisations and international institutions. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has given some very good guidance, as have some other countries. Policy is a very difficult thing; were trying to work out the best approach and have consulted widely. The legislation should help sort things out. Tax must be more risk related Letlape Dr Kgosi Letlape, president of the African Harm Reduction Alliance, welcomed the lesser taxation of harm-reduction tobacco products but said the taxation difference should be far greater to enable lower-income users by far the majority of smokers to switch. The tax needs to make these products accessible and affordable. At present, theyre on average priced the same as cigarettes, which does very few people any good, Letlape says. Letlape, who founded the Africa Medical Association (AMA) in 2006 and is the former chairman of the South African Medical Association (SAMA), and past president of the World Medical Association (WMA), believes the tax needed to be proportionate to the risk. Its better than nothing, but its still too high. I agree with the principle of a simple taxation formula. You dont want to tax at one percent per milligram. Thats too complex. The simpler the better. There was a complex array of ENDS and vaping devices some with cartridges, some disposable, some rechargeable making a pragmatic nicotine content taxation policy almost impossible, he concedes. Letlape hit out at the national health department (NDOH), saying it blindly followed the WHO by equating harm-reduction products with combustible tobacco, which harm-reduction advocates globally consider inappropriate and outdated. The NDOH needed to punt Snus and fund what would be a hugely cost-effective and harm-reducing national campaign to switch ubiquitous traditional snuff users to this chewable tobacco. Our biggest problem is with the health department. Treasury just wants to ensure they dont lose revenue. If theyre getting excise tax from combustible tobacco and were converting people to non-combustibles, theyll potentially lose out. In the United States, theyre taxing non-combustibles at a much higher rate than combustibles but then theyre outright anti-harm reduction, which makes it enormously difficult, he says. Letlape believes the major stumbling block to be the WHO, which he claims is being funded by the globally influential Broomberg conglomerate. Covid-19s deadly blow to health budgets A key Medical Brief source in Treasury said that worldwide, Covid-19 had severely jeopardised health budgets, with a World Bank study of 50 countries showing many, including South Africa, to be in a debilitated state. In this context, its a good time to push excise taxes. Weve never recommended bans such as happened with alcohol and tobacco during our initial lockdown and curfews, in spite of the Medical Research Councils findings of reduced pressure on hospital trauma units. Prohibition in a modern democracy is not the right tool. The right tool to prevent harmful externalities is to get the tax to the right level, he stresses. Pressed on the fiercely debated NHI, he reveals very little work has been done over the past five years because Dr Nicholas Crisp, the current deputy DG responsible, was both acting NDOH director general and caught up with running the fast-shifting anti-Covid-19 campaign. Theres been significant underspending on NHI grants and it needs to pick up steam. We cant allocate budgets if that steam is not there yet. They themselves [the NDOH] have been underspending on NHI and asked us to spend the money elsewhere, like the shift to interns, he confides. Chris Bateman is a veteran freelance healthcare journalist and former News Editor of The SA Medical Journal. By Chris Bateman, first published on Medical Brief. Republished from BizNews with permission. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has announced that South Africas mobile network operators have already bid R8 billion in its radio frequency spectrum auction. Icasa also confirmed that the auction is not yet over and will continue on Monday, 14 March, at 09:00. South Africas telecommunications industry regulator kicked off its auction for precious cellular network capacity on Tuesday with an exclusive Opt-In round. The Opt-In round is governed by stricter rules and banned Vodacom and MTN from participating. This allowed smaller players to acquire specific spectrum without bidding against South Africas mobile networking giants. Only two companies could win during the Opt-In Auction. Telkom and Rain walked away victorious, bidding nearly R2.7 billion on three tranches of spectrum. Liquid Intelligent Technologies elected not to bid, and Cell C lost. The main phase of the auction began on Thursday. Unlike the Opt-In round, which was a single-round sealed bid auction, the main stage is conducted as a simultaneous multi-round ascending auction. Under this format, participants bid on all the available spectrum simultaneously. Bids are sealed until the end of the round, after which they are revealed to all bidders. The main stage will end when bidders do not submit newer bids or waivers. Each bidder gets three waivers, which allows them to pass on bidding in a round while remaining eligible to bid in the next. Icasa said it would make a public announcement after the conclusion of the main stage, including the winners for each lot and the amount they will need to pay. Generally, spectrum auctions of this nature can take weeks to clear, Icasa noted. Icasa also announced that it would join the litigation between E-tv and communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni. Icasa hereby announces that it has joined the litigation in support of the Minister to see this process concluded without further delay, the regulator stated. Icasa has noted the switch-off date announced by the Minister; and is in full support of governments commitment towards the implementation and completion of the digital migration process across the country. Ntshavheni announced last week that South Africas final switch-off date for analogue TV broadcasts is 31 March. South Africa has been lagging behind and this process must be concluded sooner rather than later and Icasa is calling on all broadcasters and stakeholders in general to support the conclusion of this process, Icasa said. The hearing is scheduled to occur next week, 1415 March 2022. An American Canyon Police Department vehicle pursuit that started just before midnight Thursday ended with the arrest of two Vallejo residents who previously evaded an American Canyon police pursuit last week, police say. Shortly before midnight, ACPD officers identified a white Dodge Challenger that had previously escaped a police pursuit on California State Route 29, in American Canyon and near Vallejo city limits, and attempted to stop it, according to an ACPD press release. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. In response to the traffic stop, the vehicle fled from the officers, and drove the wrong way onto State Route 37, the press release says. California Highway Patrol air operations then monitored the vehicles travel, and eventually directed ACPD and Vallejo Police Officers to the 100 block of Mayo Street in Vallejo. The passengers fled from the Dodge Challenger on foot and were found at a residence on the 2000 block of Georgia Street in Vallejo. Derrick Lyles, 39, and Daja Fuimaono, 24, were arrested and booked into Napa County jail at 12:37 a.m. on Friday, according to the booking log. Lyles was booked on investigation of two felony charges recklessly evading a police officer and evading a police officer by driving the opposite way of traffic and several misdemeanors. Fuimaono was booked on investigation of a felony charge of conspiracy to commit an injurious act along with several misdemeanors. Both were wanted out of Solano and Contra Costa counties for numerous felony and misdemeanor charges, according to the press release. With the city of Napa still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Napa City Council prioritized goals to both complete that recovery and fortify the citys sustainability in several areas at the councils annual goal-setting workshop. The focus areas prioritized by the council include: recruitment and workforce stability, adopting and implementing the citys general plan, economic development and recovery, housing, and climate change. These areas serve to guide the creation of the citys fiscal year 2022-2023 budget, which needs to be approved by the City Council before the new fiscal year that arrives on July 1. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. The purpose of the workshop is theres a certain amount of money we can kind of look towards using, and maybe for something that has become more prominent in the public mind, said Mayor Scott Sedgley of the February workshop. One example is climate change Eight years ago that wasnt in the discussion but now it is, and justifiably so. Topping the list of priorities, recruitment and workforce stability were recognized by all councilmembers as a vital, foundational goal given the citys high number of vacant positions and slow progress in filling those positions this year. About 60 positions were purposefully left vacant in fiscal year 2020-21 in response to budgetary concerns around the pandemic, and the citys 2021-2022 budget included a goal of filling those positions by June 2022. But not that much progress has been made to fill vacant positions, in part because hiring has been slow in many sectors of the economy, according to Human Resources Director Heather Ruiz. The citys currently carrying out a public relations campaign including radio ads, signage, social media posts, and decals on city vehicles to encourage people to apply. Additionally, the citys working on a new onboarding program and is using hiring incentives for certain positions. Councilmember Liz Alessio said stabilizing the citys staffing is an important goal because thats what allows the city to be able to carry out its duties to the public in the first place. Councilmember Bernie Narvaez said current staff members have done a great job considering the number of vacancies, but making progress on the citys goals will benefit from filling those staffing gaps. We still have a demand in hiring in a lot of key areas, so how we align our priorities with our capacity to get them done is a challenge, Narvaez said. Another goal the council prioritized was finishing up and adopting the citys general plan essentially the long-term planning document for the city and housing element, which is an aspect of the general plan, this year. (Indeed, Alessio said, that effort has been delayed by staff shortages.) Both documents have been in the works for years, and a draft of the general plan became available for public review last month. Review of the general plan is currently ongoing, and, following adoption, the goals of the general plan in areas such as land use, housing, transportation, parks and recreation, economic development and health and safety will work to form the foundation of the citys policy direction. The citys current general plan was adopted in 1998. The council also prioritized economic recovery and development. Though the city of Napas economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is still going strong, costs are also continuing to increase year over year. Several economic development efforts are ongoing, however, including the citys implementation of an ordinance allowing adult-use cannabis sales, the Make it In Napa Initiative to help support the citys art and creator community, and much more. Housing was also recognized as a priority by the council. Councilmember Mary Luros said her top priority is housing and affordability in Napa, and she noted that housing is one category that persists as a great need year over year, in part because housing is a category that impacts other categories. Napa has not been a traditionally affordable community," Luros said. As we feel the squeeze on housing, its all interrelated for sure. If we dont have enough housing, then we have a traffic problem because people have to commute, which leads to climate change issues. And the councils final priority area was climate change. Alessio said the city may consider hiring a staff member specifically focused on climate change. Luros said the council likely needs to chip away at how to handle climate change at the level it can, considering how broad of a category it is. Weve got to set priorities within that priority, Luros said. You can reach Edward Booth at (707) 256-2213. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. As many may recall, by the mid-1970s, up to 350 U.S. corporations were investing in apartheid South Africa, controlled by the Afrikaner-led white minority government. These corporations were taking advantage of slave labor, strengthening the economy, and supporting a police state to control the majority non-white population. The banks were even more important to maintaining rule, as some of the largest American financial institutions directly loaned the government millions to literally fuel and arm the government. U.S. economic sanctions were finally imposed when Congress overrode President Reagans veto of the sanctions bill in October 1986. This country, the EU, and the overwhelming majority of U.N. countries have condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the U.S. has led efforts to enact serious economic and financial sanctions to halt the invasion and murder of Ukrainians and severely disable the authoritarian Russian economy. All U.S. corporations should immediately withdraw investments and operations in Russia. Many companies have moved swiftly by issuing statements, but many have not acted at all. Many large corporations, including Citigroup (which last year joined Bank of America in a bond deal to fund Russian coal), and many large U.S. recognized companies continue to have significant investments and operations in Russia and need to get out. Below is the most recent information about how corporations have responded to the call to recognize economic sanctions against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-200-companies-have-withdrawn-russia-some-remain Please call on all U.S. companies to totally withdraw all investments and cease operations in the Putin-led state of Russia and halt the invasion of Ukraine. John Harrington Napa Consider the Thermometer Reviewed by Mike Hoye / 2022-03-08 Keywords: Editorial I want to tell you a story about measuring things. It starts with a simple one, the thermometer. Even though a rough understanding of basic principles of the thermometer are two thousand years old, for centuries the whole idea of measuring temperature was dogged by superstition. How, the question went, could you measure an experience as subjective and ethereal as temperature? Even though you could demonstrate the basic idea in ancient Greece with glass tubes and a fire the idea was absurd, like asking how much a poem weighs. It was more than 1600 years between the first known glass-tube demonstrations of the principles involved, and Santorini Santorio's decision to put a ruler to the side of one of those glass tubes. It was most of a century later before Carlo Renaldini suggested that Christiaan Huygens's suggestion to measure against the freezing and boiling points of water be used as the anchor points of a universal scale. (Isaac Newton's proposal for the increments of that gradient was 12, incidentally, a decision I'm glad we didn't stick with. Forty years later Andres Celcius had a better idea.) The first precision thermometersusing mercury, one of those unfortunately-reasonable-at-the-time decisions that have had distressing long-term consequenceswere invented by Farenheit in 1714. More tragically, he proposed the metric that bears his name, but the tool worked. And if there's one thing in tech that we all know and fear, it's that there's nothing quite as permanent as something temporary that works. In 1900, Henry Bolton describe this long evolution as, "encumbered with erroneous statements that have been reiterated with such dogmatism that they have received the false stamp of authority." Today, of course, outside of the most extreme margins, these questions are behind us. Computing, as a field, is much less than a century old; most of the metrics we've tried to establish haven't proved out, and so many of the benchmarks we've chosen are justarbitrary. (Nobody's counting lines of code anymore, but why are sprints two weeks?) But we've got tools that the smartest people in the 17th century didn't. We can take our raw material, these huge piles of precision data-ore, and feed it into math furnaces that can anneal it, polish it, and harden it to a point. But computing is as broad as any field of human endeavour has ever been; at the intersection of math, engineering, art and the social sciences. How could you measure something like that? The whole idea is absurd. You might as well be asking how much a poem weighs. Which brings me to these lightning talks. It's still early days. This field is so young, so often dogmatic and superstitious. But I'd like to introduce you people who are building thermometers. Take a look around you, at the ridiculous comforts of modernity that can only exist because we share this single consistent yardstick. The glass in your windows, the beams in the walls. Bread baked just so, served on ceramic plates and cut with knives that hold an edge. And then ask yourself, what about all this software, all these ideas we take out of heads and turn into machines. What could we build, if we weren't starting with loose clay, shaping it outside in the weather? You might want to be there: I think it will be pretty cool. Facebook owner Meta Platforms said Friday that a temporary change in its content policy, only for Ukraine, was needed to let users voice opposition to Russias attack, as Russia opened a criminal case after the company said it would allow posts such as death to the Russian invaders, Reuters reported. Russian prosecutors asked a court to designate the U.S. tech giant as an extremist organisation, and the communications regulator said it would restrict access to Metas Instagram starting March 14. The company said the decision would affect 80 million users in Russia. A criminal case has been initiated ... in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, Russias Investigative Committee said. The committee reports directly to President Vladimir Putin. It was not immediately clear what the consequences of the criminal case might be. Meta Global Affairs President Nick Clegg responded after the Russian government action with a tweeted statement saying that the company aimed to protect rights to speech as an expression of self-defense reacting to the invasion of Ukraine and that the policy only applied to Ukraine. If we applied our standard content policies without any adjustments we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces, which would rightly be viewed as unacceptable, Clegg wrote. We have no quarrel with the Russian people. There is no change at all in our policies on hate speech as far as the Russian people are concerned, he added. Two weeks into Russias war in Ukraine, a Meta spokesperson said on Thursday the company had temporarily altered its rules for political speech, allowing posts such as death to the Russian invaders, although it would not allow calls for violence against Russian civilians. Meta said the temporary change aimed to allow for forms of political expression that would normally violate its rules. Its oversight board said on Friday that it had been briefed by the company on Ukraine-related policies and that context was important for content policies and enforcement. Internal Meta emails previously seen by Reuters said the temporary policy changes on calls for violence to Russian soldiers had applied to the markets of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine. The emails seen by Reuters also showed the U.S. company had temporarily allowed posts that call for the death of Putin or Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. We hope it is not true because if it is true then it will mean that there will have to be the most decisive measures to end the activities of this company, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Beijing closes over 60 subway stations due to COVID-19 outbreak Armenia FM meets with US National Democratic Institute president 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 Mark Milley: Potential for significant international conflict between great powers is increasing EU: Poland fines in rule of law dispute now top $170 million Putin and Lukashenko discuss ongoing situation Greece and Bulgaria say new LNG terminal will help reduce dependence on Russia German vice chancellor calls for rapid construction of LNG terminals Rally of Resistance Movement takes place in France Square Robert Kocharyan takes part in opposition march Mario Draghi calls on EU to abandon requirement of unanimity in making foreign policy decisions Finland and Sweden not yet decided whether to join NATO Croatian president uses veto power to block Finland and Sweden from joining NATO Slovakia will seek exemption from the EU embargo on Russian oil imports NEWS.am digest: Blinken meets Mirzoyan in US, people detained during protests in Yerevan Turkish Foreign Ministry on meeting of special envoys in Vienna Opposition rally in central Yerevan starts with Sirusho's performance Italy to face serious issues in winter if Russian gas supplies are cut off now Johnson announces new military aid to Ukraine in amount of 300 million euros Resistance Movement rally on France Square in Yerevan EU hopes to adopt sixth round of sanctions against Russia at next EU Council meeting Peaceful rallies of disobedience held in Spitak Spain extends OVID-19 entry restrictions Vayk joins demand for Nikol Pashinyan's resignation Putin and Macron discuss Ukraine Citizens demanding Pashinyan's resignation block road from Vayots Dzor to Yerevan Peaceful rallies of disobedience held in Vanadzor demanding PM's resignation Citizens demanding Pashinyan's resignation block Gyumri-Yerevan highway Sirusho: Today I will join our compatriots in France Square Third meeting of Armenia and Turkey special representatives held in Vienna Dollar rises slightly after long decline, euro also goes up in Armenia Civil disobedience actions in regions: Yerevan-Goris highway blocked Azerbaijan settling occupied Armenian Hadrut, Shushi cities of Artsakh New colors and new services: Team Telecom Armenia completes rebranding Armenia legislature speaker receives France-Armenia Friendship Group delegation France senator: We are leaving for Armenia with Senate group Putin signs decree on economic measures against unfriendly countries Armenia legislature speaker: Authorities have repeatedly proposed dialogue to opposition Backpack action of protest being held outside Armenia parliament (PHOTOS) Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD statement does not correspond to reality Armenia defense minister receives Kansas National Guard delegation Armenia Police: Yerevan-Sevan motorway reopened Ned Price: Mirzoyan-Blinken meeting will launch US-Armenia strategic dialogue Mirzoyan, Nuland discuss Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement process Civil disobedience actions are carried out in some Armenia cities Armenia 2nd-President Kocharyan, ex-deputy PM and now lawmaker Gevorgyan trial to resume Pashinyan to Morawiecki: This year we mark 30th anniversary of Armenia-Poland diplomatic relations No new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia Central Bank leaves refinancing rate unchanged at 9.25% Demonstrators demanding PM Pashinyan's resignation block Sevan-Yerevan motorway Police: 117 demonstrators apprehended in Yerevan Kansas National Guard leadership visiting Armenia Bloomberg: EU new gas partners Armenian member of Turkey legislature says he was thrown at table of wolves Italian PM slams Lavrov for his 'Hitler' statements in interview with local television South Korea and US plan to start air force exercises on May 9 Police special forces apprehend Armenia ex-president Robert Kocharyans son Police: 70 people apprehended from Yerevan streets World Press Freedom Index 2022: Journalism as a profession is humiliated in Armenia Newspaper: Armenia ruling party MPs are worried Borrell speaks on possible disconnection from SWIFT of new Russian banks Cyprus becomes first EU country with full 5G coverage Police apprehending participants of civil disobedience actions in Yerevan State Department: Deepening US-Armenia cooperation in nuclear energy will strengthen bilateral relations Peaceful disobedience actions resume in Yerevan early morning Mirzoyan: Armenia appreciates US support for developing energy sector Blinken underscores US commitment to help Armenia, Azerbaijan find sustainable peace, prosperity Eurozone economic sentiment falls much more than expected in April Apple faces big fine Armenia ex-president joins discussion in France Square Poland wants the EU to set a clear date for stopping Russian oil imports Armenia FM meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Armenia FM meets with Director of USAID Samantha Power Ann Linde says Finland will almost certainly apply for NATO membership Police beat reporters, obstruct their work in Yerevan European Commission may relieve Hungary, Slovakia of embargo on Russian oil purchase Resistance Movement to continue large-scale civil disobedience actions on 3 May in Yerevan and regions EU countries to continue to pay in euros or dollars for Russian gas Resistance Movement participants return to France Square Russian and Turkish defense ministers discuss current situation in Ukraine Ukrainian intelligence accuses Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan of helping Russia evade Western sanctions NEWS.am digest: Turkey says they have agreements with Armenia on border clarification Teresa Wall McDonald and Al Anderson stand at the ends of the SKC LED informational sign that is slated for construction soon. The old Joe's Jiffy Stop store will be demolished before fall. The Ministry of Defense (MOD) Russia has released the footage of the use of its Ka-52 "Alligator" helicopters in Ukraine, Interfax-AVN reports. These helicopters have destroyed the armored vehicles and convoy of vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces, the Russian defense ministry said. It is stated that guided and unguided missiles were used in order to destroy the facilities of the Ukrainian army. The Russian Armed Forces, continuing their attack on a wide front, have reached the Novodonetskoye, Novomayorskoye, and Pavlivka settlements in Ukraine. In one day, their advance was 21 kilometers. The Russian defense ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, informed about this Saturday morning. "On the morning of March 12, they struckwith long-range weaponsthe facilities of Ukraine's military infrastructure. Vasilkov [(Vasylkiv )] Airbase and the Ukrainian armed forces' main centerin Brovary [city]for radio engineering intelligence have been rendered inoperative. During the day, the Russian [military] aviation and air defense () have shot down five drones (). The [military] aviation has hit 145 facilities of Ukraine's military infrastructure. "Since the beginning of the [Russian military] operation [in Ukraine], 3,491 facilities of Ukraine's military infrastructure have been rendered inoperative," the Russian defense ministry spokesman added, in particular. NATO and its partners will launch exercises in Norway on Monday aimed at coming to the rescue of one of its ownand just a few hundred kilometers from the border with Russia, AFP reported. Some 30,000 troops, 200 aircraft, and 50 vessels from 27 nations will take part in the Cold Response 2022 exercise, the largest exercise involving NATO troops this year. Kicking off on March 14, the maneuvers will enable Western nations to hone their combat skills in Norway's cold climate, including in the Arctic, on the ground, at sea, and in the skies. The exercise will be held just a few hundred kilometers from the Russian border, and while it was planned long before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, it now has added significance because of the ongoing war there. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called his talks with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan "extremely fruitful and constructive," Anadolu Agency reported. The Cavusoglu-Mirzoyan meeting took place Saturday, on the sidelines of the second Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey, and lasted about half an hour. The parties discussed the avenues for normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia. "The steps aimed at the full normalization of bilateral relations were discussed. I want to note with satisfaction that we are making efforts to establish peace in the Caucasus. The steps between Turkey and Armenia are positively perceived by Azerbaijan, too. Baku supports this process. Peace and stability in the region are in the interests of all parties," the Turkish FM told reporters after the aforesaid talk. Cavusoglu recalled that earlier, the special representatives of Turkey and Armenia had held two meetings toward normalizing relations between the two countries. "Mirzoyan, in his turn, stated that the Armenian side is ready to continue the process without preconditions. He noted that Yerevan is determined in the efforts aimed at peace and stability in the South Caucasus," Turkish media reported. A conversation with Johanna Godoy Gallup's Regional Director for the World Poll in Latin America and the Caribbean During times of crisis, like a pandemic, challenges that existed before the crisis are only amplified. Is this true for women and girls in your region? Tell me about how women's lives were affected. Godoy: Unfortunately, the pandemic has worsened the already challenging situations that many women in Latin America find themselves in. Women's lives have been affected in different areas, but the three that stand out to me are the increased violence we are seeing toward women and girls, their higher levels of unemployment and lower earnings, and the burnout they are feeling and mental health issues that go with that. Let's talk about violence toward women and girls first. This is not a new problem in Latin America. Before the pandemic, the region already had some of the highest levels of femicide and domestic violence in the world. The pandemic only heightened the frequency of abuse, because women were forced to share the same space with their aggressors for long periods. During the pandemic, the United Nations has reported an increase in calls to Violence Against Women (VAGW) helplines. For example, in Argentina, at the start of the pandemic, the number of calls increased by 39%, while in Mexico, they increased by 53%. Another example is Brazil, where the cases of femicides increased by 22% between March and April 2020. Switching quickly to women's incomes and jobs, although the pandemic has had a general financial impact on the region, it has been worse for women. Many women in the region had to temporarily quit their jobs and dedicate their time to activities at home, childcare, remote schooling and care for members of the family, among others. This made it even more difficult for them to achieve financial independence. In 2020, the World Poll found that 46% of women in Latin America said they did not have enough money at times to provide food for their family, while 35% of men said the same. Lastly, the consequences of the pandemic, such as quarantine and mobility restrictions, remote school and work activities, and increased violence against women, have all negatively affected the day-to-day lives of Latin American women. This is reflected in worse wellbeing and mental health during these challenging times. More than 50% of women in Latin America reported having experienced stress "yesterday" in 2020, while 44% of men reported having felt that way. One of these challenges, we know, might be whether people think women are treated with respect. It was the lowest in the world in your region before the pandemic. What's the climate like now? Godoy: Latin America continues to be the region with the lowest levels of perceived respect for women. In 2021, a median of 63% worldwide reported that women were treated with respect, while in Latin America only 30% thought this way. Eight of the 10 countries with the lowest perceptions of respect for women are in Latin America, with Jamaica, Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Honduras ranking the lowest. This perception will not improve significantly when the pandemic is over; it requires actions aimed at awareness campaigns, implementation of public policies and modification of the judicial system. What's the one biggest challenge for women in your region as we enter our third year of the pandemic? Godoy: It is very difficult to identify one main challenge when women in Latin America face multiple adversities. But now that we are entering a third year of pandemic, a priority is to reinsert women into economic activities and education, generating opportunities in which work and family goals can be achieved and household income increased at the same time. The aim needs to be economic independence, resulting in a greater feeling of security to face, and overcome, situations of violence, mistreatment and inequality. Tell me about some of the positive changes you are seeing for women -- if you are seeing any. What gives you hope? Godoy: Despite the important challenges that women in Latin America continue to face, there are improvements that give me hope that we are making strides toward more gender equality in the region. An example of this is the leading role that women are taking in the Chilean government. For the first time in a Latin American country, the composition of the cabinet is predominantly female (14 women of the total of 24 officials). Women have taken positions that historically had been assigned to men, like the secretary of the interior. Changes like this recognize and dignify the role of women. In terms of the gender-based violence, there are important initiatives that have had an impact on raising awareness of this serious problem. In Brazil, for example, because of the difficulty in reporting domestic aggression, there is a campaign that focuses on different, creative ways of reporting it so people can get help. Actions like putting a red X with lipstick on the palm of a woman's hand or adding a panic button on an online app have been promoted as ways to alert people so they can support the victim. In some cases, remote working has opened opportunities for women to reinvent themselves and generate income while at home. There has been a proliferation of female entrepreneurs during this challenging time. They are creating businesses in areas such as cooking, jewelry and teaching, which have become valuable opportunities for them to obtain financial independence. These actions are not enough to make a drastic change in the society, but definitely they are a starting point to position women better in the region and ensure women's roles are respected and recognized. Lastly, when you look into the future, what part do you see women in your region playing in building a resilient world -- when it eventually recovers from the pandemic? Godoy: Latin American women have demonstrated their strength during these challenging and difficult times, not only through the multiple responsibilities they have managed to carry out (work and family) but also in the impact they have had in the health sector. In many countries in the region, women have a high presence in this sector. These have been challenging years, but where women have shown their ability and leadership, it has been an opportunity to recognize their achievements. This is a great example that is being passed on to new generations. In Chile, there is an organization that focuses on girls' education, giving them tools to achieve their goals. Currently in the region, there are many organizations fighting for gender equity. In some cases, they have been able to implement radical legal and social changes, but the road is still long. The first steps are being taken to build an equality-based region and respect the important role that women have in building a better world. Read more stories about women around the world on our International Women's Day page. Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 12 (ANI/PNN): Leading premium beauty brand Manish Malhotra Beauty exclusively by MyGlamm, launches its FIRST EVER national TVC (https://youtu.be/SCYULyGXdkA) around the message "Backstage to Backstreets". The campaign featuring ace couturier and leading fashion designer Manish Malhotra showcases how every girl next door is a beauty superstar, flaunting on the runway of her life. Bringing haute couture glamour from backstage to backstreets, she turns every moment into an iconic occasion. Over the years, Manish Malhotra Beauty, exclusively by MyGlamm, has given a premium experience of makeup and skincare that has raised questions on general beauty standards and has spread across the movement of positivity and self-confidence. While being aspirational, it is easily accessible and affordable for all women. The brand, much like Manish himself, believes in celebrating individuals and embracing authenticity to the fullest. The campaign highlights the element that Manish Malhotra is the designer of an individual's dreams. Today, women create their own magic every day and are showstoppers walking down the makeup aisle! Leading the runway of fashion and beauty, Manish has inspired the world to believe that elegance and glamour are a way of life and a frame of mind. The film features a flow between an alluring segment of the fashion world behind the stage with dazzling lights and oozing confidence in the colour and charisma of a household. It depicts how fashion and beauty are part of every little corner and beating heart, stating how fashion and beauty live at the core of every activity. The film ends with Manish saying 'Backstage to Backstreets' encapsulating the messaging and identity of the brand fulfilling his role as the beacon of harmonic conversations, thus representing a manifestation of the core campaign message. The categories of products that Manish Malhotra Beauty exclusively by MyGlamm offers to consumers cut across makeup and skincare that are aesthetically showcased in the film - highlighting a small yet significant role the products play in the everyday life of women. Commenting on the campaign Sukhleen Aneja, CEO, Beauty & FMCG Brands, Good Glamm Group, says, "We are extremely excited to launch the first-ever national TVC of Manish Malhotra Beauty exclusively by MyGlamm. I think it is a fitting ode to the revolution that Manish, with his expertise and vision, has helped ushers in a beauty democracy, which is being shaped, owned, and expressed in ever-changing ways by consumers themselves, with their choices to embrace the new. The film messaging 'Backstage to backstreets' is a representation of Manish Malhotra Beauty as not just a brand but a lifestyle that is aspirational, accessible and affordable showcased through the premium range of products." Fashion Designer Manish Malhotra commented, "After three years of continuous success, it brings me immense joy to drive into the scale of things for the Manish Malhotra Haute Couture Makeup's first TVC. With bigger things waiting ahead, our makeup boasts of the premium quality we have carefully created for contemporary society. We are the only beauty brand that has no brand endorser as we were very sure that the brand's stars are the consumers themselves, with each of them owning their spotlight. It gives me great pleasure in being able to bring a beauty line that not only promises quality but an array of products that keep growing and waiting to offer you so much more." The campaign will debut on TV and social media channels - Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. This TVC team consists of Apratim Majumder, CMO, MyGlamm, Ritu Kothari, Head of Category - Beauty, Manish Malhotra Beauty exclusively by MyGlamm, Pallavi Maini, Sr. Brand Manager, Manish Malhotra Beauty exclusively by MyGlamm. Production House is the Big Mama Productions, Writer - Sohini Das Gupta, Director - Sohini Das Gupta, Producer - Gaurav Khindaria and Music Director - Micu Launched in 2018, Manish Malhotra Haute-Couture makeup emerges as the first-ever beauty portfolio from an Indian design house. The brand made a mark in the world of beauty, stepping into women's vanity cases across the country with its own makeup line. Manish Malhotra Beauty aims to bring vegan, cruelty-free makeup and embrace clean natural beauty tracing back to our Indian heritage to bring alive the time tested beauty solutions. Created in collaboration with leading DTC beauty and personal care brand, MyGlamm, the makeup line introduced products cutting across lips, eyes, face and nails for women to enjoy some magic and glamour in their everyday lives. Owing to the makeup line's enormous success, the brand is progressively taking more significant strides to expand its range into related extensions with the entire range of Luxe Sanitising Care Range launched in September 2020, followed by the Manish Malhotra Luxe Artisanal Skincare range launched in December 2020, making him the first designer in the country to launch a skincare range. 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 12 (ANI/NewsVoir): India's leading online travel company, MakeMyTrip, has announced an annual celebration to recognize and reward the growing community of homestays hosts in the domestic travel market. The platform will reward properties for their unique attributes and features including location and view of the property, amenities, in-stay facilities, stay options for specific needs and requirements, and more. To be held annually, this is India's first traveller choice award exclusively conceptualized for homestay properties and hosts. Speaking about the importance of this initiative, Vipul Prakash, COO, MakeMyTrip, said, "MakeMyTrip's Homestay Awards is an endorsement of the growing significance and contribution of this segment to the overall tourism sector. At one level, the idea behind this platform is to promote micro-entrepreneurship at the grass root level, and at another, to encourage travellers to explore India like a local by spotlighting the best homestays across the country." Hosts will be able to nominate their properties under specific categories on MakeMyTrip's mobile application/website starting April 10, 2022. The comprehensive selection process will entail voting by travellers in the initial leg beginning first week of May followed by shortlisting of winners by eminent judges. The final winners will be felicitated at a grand event in August later this year. Echoing thoughts on the contributions of the homestay ecosystem to the entire travel & tourism industry, Sunil Suresh, Group Chief Marketing Officer of MakeMyTrip, said, "The search for a home away from home during the pandemic led to adoption of new concepts like workcation, staycation etc. In the last two years, the homestays segment has shown tremendous potential and scope for growth - at the back of active contributions and determination of hosts to serve travellers despite all adversities. We are thrilled to create something special for India's growing hosts' community; and look forward to celebrating their journey and showing our appreciation for their hard work and commitment towards continuing to enrich stay experiences of Indian travellers." MakeMyTrip will announce the nomination details including the criteria and selection process pertaining to the awards on its website and social platforms soon. MakeMyTrip Limited is India's leading online travel company. We own and operate well recognized online brands, including MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and redBus. Through our primary websites and mobile platforms, travellers can research, plan and book a wide range of travel services and products in India as well as overseas. Our services and products include air ticketing, hotel and alternative accommodations bookings, holiday planning and packaging, rail ticketing, bus ticketing, car hire and ancillary travel requirements such as facilitating access to third-party travel insurance and visa processing. We provide our customers with access to all major domestic full-service and low-cost airlines operating in India and all major airlines operating to and from India, a comprehensive set of domestic accommodation properties in India and a wide selection of properties outside India, Indian Railways and all major Indian bus operators. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) According to E! News, the service, which will take place at Westminster Abbey, will give the public an opportunity to pay tribute to the former Duke of Edinburgh, who died on April 9, 2021, at age 99. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his funeral last spring was limited to 30 people. While Harry has not said why he won't make the trip, he reportedly "does not feel safe" in the U.K. after losing police protection. The Prince has been in an ongoing legal battle against the British government to have the UK-based security reinstated for his California-based family, which includes his wife Meghan Markle and their children 2-year-old Archie and 9-month-old Lilibet. As per E! News, in early 2020, after Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step away from their royal duties, they lost access to receive tax-payer-funded security while in the UK and were told that they could not pay for protection with their own expenses. (ANI) A lawyer for late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins' husband called actor Alec Baldwin's arbitration demand an attempt to avoid "liability and accountability" for his "reckless actions" that led to the death of Hutchins. Brian Panish of Panish, Shea, Boyle and Ravipudi Law, who represents Hutchins' husband Matthew, told Fox News the only action that ended the production of 'Rust' was Halyna Hutchins' death at the hands of Baldwin. "Alec Baldwin once again is trying to avoid liability and accountability for his reckless actions before and on October 21 that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins, as demonstrated by today's arbitration demand for indemnification from the Rust production company," Panish said in a statement. For the unversed, the arbitration demand, filed on Friday by Baldwin's lawyers, included insight into the 63-year-old actor's role as a producer of 'Rust'. Baldwin's lawyer Luke Nikas stated, "This is a rare instance when the system broke down, and someone should be held legally culpable for the tragic consequences. That person is not Alec Baldwin." In the arbitration seeking move against his fellow producers on the film, Baldwin wants to invoke a provision in his contract that could indemnify him in all current and future lawsuits. The actor claimed he was in charge of creative aspects but did not deal with hiring and budgets. Baldwin's arbitration demand claimed the actor and his company had signed a clause in his contract for 'Rust' that he bears no financial responsibility for legal fees or claims from Hutchins' death, according to Fox News. The filing also included personal text messages shared between Baldwin and Matthew after the death of Halyna. "Baldwin's disclosure of personal texts with Matt Hutchins is irrelevant to his demand for arbitration and fails to demonstrate anything other than Hutchins' dignity in his engagement with Baldwin," Panish told Fox News. "It is shameful that Baldwin claims Hutchins' actions in filing a wrongful death lawsuit derailed the completion of 'Rust.' The only action that ended the film's production was Baldwin's killing of Halyna Hutchins," he added. The wrongful death lawsuit, filed on February 15 on behalf of Matthew and the couple's son in New Mexico, names as defendants Alec Baldwin and others who "are responsible for the safety on the set" and "reckless behaviour and cost-cutting" that led to the death of the cinematographer. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's office, which is conducting the investigation into Hutchins' death, made no comment at the time the lawsuit was filed. On October 21, 2021, Hutchins was killed by a live bullet in a prop gun discharged by Baldwin on the set of 'Rust' at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Sante Fe, New Mexico. "I didn't pull the trigger," Baldwin told during an interview on December 2. (ANI) Actor Yami Gautam, who is basking in the success of her recently released movie 'A Thursday', visited the Delhi Commission for Women with her co-star Neha Dhupia. The actors had an engaging conversation with Swati Maliwal - Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Women and other dignitaries on various initiatives undertaken by them for ensuring safety for women in the capital. The trip to the national capital turned out to be a heart-warming experience for Yami and Neha to meet the entire team and to see their passion for this noble initiative. Also, the actors got to know in detail about the '181' helpline number to register complaints about violence against women and the patrol vans which are dispatched immediately to ensure prompt action is taken. Taking to social media, Yami shared, "An engaging conversation with @swati_maliwal Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Women and other dignitaries on various initiatives undertaken by them for ensuring safety for women in the capital of India. It was a heart-warming experience to meet the entire team and to see their passion towards this noble initiative." "Also got to know in detail about the '181' helpline number to register complaints about violence against women and the patrol vans which are dispatched immediately to ensure prompt action is taken. It was a fulfilling feeling to know they had watched 'A Thursday' and appreciated our work on highlighting the subject of women safety and need of stricter laws to safeguard them," she added. Meanwhile, 'A Thursday' is the story of playschool teacher Naina who takes as many as 16 kids hostage. She intends to cause no harm, only wants her demands to be met. The movie is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. The film was directed by Behzad Khambata and produced under the banner RSVP Movies and Blue Monkey Films. (ANI) Even though American TV personality and former athlete Caitlyn Jenner has been thrilled about her family's new Hulu show, she's also disappointed that there won't be any role for her to play in the forthcoming series. According to People magazine, recently while expressing her support for the streaming service's upcoming reality series, which stars Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, and Kylie Jenner, Caitlyn tweeted, "I was there when this started from day one. I watched it grow." "And doing the show for almost 20 seasons was one of the highlights of my life. To be able to work with my family for all those years, connect with the fans, it was incredible. Happy that it continues for my family," she added. In a follow-up statement on Friday evening, Caitlyn echoed her sentiments about how happy she is for the show and her family, while also explaining it is "unfortunate" that she will not be taking part in it. "Of course at the same time it is unfortunate to not be given the opportunity to continue with the show. With that said, I cannot emphasize enough how happy I am for my family that it continues!" she wrote in a second tweet. Hulu had released the first official trailer for 'The Kardashians' in February. It will premiere on April 14 with new episodes airing every Thursday, as per People magazine. (ANI) The entrance to Mother's Ruin, in the 2900 block N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago, on March 10, 2022. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) If youve ever craved hot, crispy waffle fries paired with a creative slushy cocktail, then youre in luck. Mothers Ruin celebrated its grand opening Friday in Avondale. Advertisement Were just a pretty casual neighborhood bar that has decent food and drinks, said T.J. Lynch. He co-owns the bar and restaurant, which soft opened March 3, with business partner Richard Knapp. Yeah, were not doing anything too elaborate or too crazy. They founded the first Mothers Ruin in New York in 2011, then opened a Nashville, Tennessee, location in 2019. Advertisement Our menus are all fairly similar, Lynch said. Chef and partner Nick Pfannerstill created the food menus, with some regional differences. Interior of Mother's Ruin, 2943 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) And then the special thing about Chicago is weve partnered up with Toby Maloney, Lynch said. So our cocktail game is definitely going to be specific to the city. Maloney is also a partner and head mixologist at The Violet Hour, the award-winning cocktail bar in Wicker Park. Mothers Ruin has become perhaps best known for its rotation of creative slushies, including a spicy Paloma slushy with a five-chile molasses swirl, and a bourbon Galliano chocolate milkshake. We did a Bananas Foster slushy, which we got to light on fire, Lynch said. So that was really fun. Each slushy flavor only stays on the menu for a few days. The spicy fried chicken sandwich ($15) has become one of the fan-favorite foods at the sister locations, but its a side that has stolen the spotlight. Advertisement Our Old Bay waffle fries ($9) are always super popular, said Lynch. Theyre probably the No. 1 seller right now. They come with most sandwiches, including a falafel burger ($15). You can order the house-made waffle fries human-style ($5), a play on In-N-Out Burgers animal-style. At Mothers Ruin, that means smothered with green chile queso, chorizo, red onion and the house Mamas Sauce. Something Im excited about thats different in Chicago is the green chile beer cheese nachos with carnitas ($16), Lynch said. I think if you took those carnitas off and put them in a taco, it would be one of the top three carnitas tacos in the city, but Im obviously biased. Theyre also making red velvet Oreo bombs ($11) for dessert only in Avondale. The space was last a seafood restaurant and bar called Los Dos Leones. Its been probably three years from when we secured the lease until now, so its been quite the road, Lynch said. The pandemic delayed their plans. There was one point we thought, Its not gonna happen. Advertisement They did a fair amount of work in that time to make the space their own. The bars original, Lynch said. We really liked the shape of it. We kind of extended it a little bit, but tried to keep as many touches from the old space as we could. They dont take reservations, or have hosts or servers. You just come in and find a seat, Lynch said. And then you just order your food and drinks from the bartender and we run it out to you. Accordion windows will open the whole front when the weather is nice. A sidewalk patio is planned for the coming weeks. The historic Polish cathedral, St. Hyacinth Basilica, and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance can be found nearby. Advertisement We kind of pride ourselves on being available and there for the community, Lynch said. We felt its kind of like our responsibility to be consistent for everybody, and they can rely on us, no matter what. Takeout food is available now, but not cocktails. Theres no phone or website yet. Its open daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., and Saturdays to 3 a.m. Mothers Ruin is also open 365 days a year, until 2 and 3 a.m., to appeal especially to a hospitality industry crowd. Whenever they get off work, Lynch said. And need to go somewhere to relax, with some good food and drinks. They need to be able to count on us to be open. 2943 N. Milwaukee Ave., instagram.com/mothersruinchicago More notable new restaurants, listed in alphabetical order: Don Pablos Kitchen & Bakeshop A Chilean empanada pop-up shop has found a home. Owners and spouses Pablo Soto and Julie Morrow-Soto opened Don Pablos Kitchen & Bakeshop in Uptown on Feb. 11, just one week before new next-door neighbor Millys Pizza In The Pan. Their clasica empanada ($8) stuffs rustic pastry with sirloin steak, hard-boiled egg and black olives. A dramatic Greek tragedy ($7.50) holds artichoke hearts, cremini mushrooms, kalamata olives and feta cheese. They also make alfajores ($2.25), the delicate sandwich cookies, filled with house-made dulce de leche. 1007 W. Argyle St., 773-293-7040, donpablosbakeshop.com Advertisement Pho No. 1 Brewing Co. Likely incurring the envious wrath of immigrant moms everywhere, husband and wife Son Ton and Ngocanh Do are balancing doctoral degrees in neuroscience even as they expand their Jefferson Park Vietnamese restaurant to a second location with a new brewery. Pho No. 1 Brewing Co. opened in Belmont Heights on Feb. 19. The Vietnamese noodle house does indeed make traditional pho, plus a pricier dry-aged New York beef noodle soup ($21.50). Wings in four flavors include a caramelized fish sauce ($12.50). The Vietnamese iced coffee ($5.50) slow drips your brew through a classic stainless steel phin over sweetened condensed milk. Theyre working on their own beer, but meanwhile, they offer Off Color and other local craft beer on tap. 7958 W. Belmont Ave., 773-417-7645, facebook.com/pho1brewing Taurus Express Catering Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > Sweet steak sandwich fans have a new destination for takeout or delivery. Owner Martel Pugh celebrated the return of his Taurus Express Catering at the South Loop Food Company, a virtual food hall thats actually in Bronzeville, on Feb. 8. (Theres no relation to Taurus Flavors, the closed iconic shop where the sweet steak was invented.) Pugh has been in business since 1988, specializing in the South Side sandwich, plus hoagies ($10 each, including fries). You can order through online ordering food companies. 2537 S. Wabash Ave., 708-808-0005, facebook.com/TaurusExpressCatering In other restaurant news: Jimmys Pizza Cafe, the popular New York style pizzeria owned by Korean-American-Chicagoan pizzaiolo Jimmy Kang, reopened in his new location in Ravenswood on Feb. 20 with his signature white pie ($20) and beignets ($5). Advertisement 2434 W. Montrose Ave., 773-293-6992, jimmyspizzacafe.weborder.net Know of a Chicago-area restaurant thats new and notable? Email food critic Louisa Chu at lchu@chicagotribune.com. More in restaurant openings: Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here. The Supreme Court on Friday posted in April the hearing of a plea filed by the mother of an Army officer seeking direction to the Centre to take immediate steps through diplomatic channels for repatriation of her son, who is lodged in jail in Pakistan for last over 23 years. A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices AS Bopanna and Justice Hima Kohli agreed to list the matter in the first week of April, after advocate Saurabh Mishra, appearing for the petitioner sought an urgent listing of the matter. The petition filed by 82-year-old Kamla Bhattacharjee, mother of Captain Sanjit Bhattacharjee, sought directions to the authorities to intervene in the case on an "urgent humanitarian basis" through diplomatic channels of the External Affairs Ministry and intervene in his case. In March last year, a bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India SA Bobde had issued notice to the Centre in the case. The plea stated that her son, who was commissioned as an officer of Gorkha Rifles Regiment of Indian Army in August 1992, was lodged in Pakistan's jail. The family was informed in April 1997 that her son, who had gone for patrolling duty on the border at night time in Gujarat's Rann of Kutch, was apprehended by the Pakistan authorities while carrying out operation reconnaissance along the international borders on April 20. It added that the petitioner's family is entitled to be apprised with information, apropos the steps that have been taken by authorities in the past 23 years to ensure justice to the Army officer, who has been languishing in jail for past over two decades in Pakistan, especially in the absence of any case registered against him. (ANI) The Karnataka Anti-Corruption Bureau Court on Friday granted bail to ousted AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala, the close aide of late Tamil Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha and four others in connection with the jail perks case. Sasikala, her relative Ilavarasi and others were present in the court. The court had directed them to provide bonds of Rs 5 lakh each and asked them to be present for next hearing on April 16. Sasikala and Ilavarasi were released last year after their four year term in the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail. However, it was alleged that they were given preferential treatment in the prison violating all norms and guidelines. The government had formed a team under retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar to probe the matter. The ACB has also lodged a case as allegations of corruption cropped up against jail officers. The ACB, after obtaining permission from the government, had submitted a charge sheet against the accused - Sasikala, Ilavarasi, and prison staff Gangaraju, Suresh and two officers. The Vinay Kumar team was formed after the allegations surfaced and sensational charges by then Karnataka DG (Prisons) D. Roopa, and its 295 page report confirmed Sasikala was given preferential treatment and a separate kitchen functioned for her in the central prison. Sources say that Sasikala was allowed to wear her own clothes and she was given a cook. A pressure cooker and spices were found in her cell. She was also provided a separate visitor's room and the corridor in the jail was barricaded for her. She also enjoyed free movement. The CCTV footage showed Sasikala talking to a visitor for four hours and footage showed Sasikala and Ilavarasi moving out of their block holding a bag, sources said. The investigation was ordered by then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. --IANS mka/vd ( 310 Words) 2022-03-11-20:02:03 (IANS) While there is uncertainty over the next chief minister of Uttarakhand after Pushkar Singh Dhami lost in the assembly polls, the BJP leadership has started consultations with the MLAs. On the other hand, the Goa BJP is waiting for direction from the central leadership to elect its new chief minister. Sources said that BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and others held informal consultations with the MLAs in Uttarakhand capital Dehradun. "To get a sense of the MLAs' mood, Vijayvargiya has met a few of them. The exercise has started to find the next chief minister after the party's victory and Dhami's loss," they said. After Dhami lost in the assembly polls from Khatima constituency, several names have started doing the rounds in Uttarakhand political circles. Minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt is likely to emerge the frontrunner. A party insider said that there is a section in the party which feels that Dhami should be given a chance for the hard work he put in to ensure a BJP victory. "However, there is another section which believes that making Dhami the chief minister will set a wrong precedent and in the future many others will start claiming the post after losing the election," he said. The BJP has retained power for a second term in Uttarakhand by winning 47 seats in the 70-member House. The BJP leadership will soon appoint central observers to select the chief ministers in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur. "The party parliamentary board, a key decision making body, will appoint central observers to call the legislative party meeting to select the chief ministers in four states," a party insider said. The Goa BJP is also waiting for a direction from the central leadership to kick-off the process of forming the next government. A senior party functionary said that the best suitable face will be the next chief minister of Goa'. When asked if there is a possibility that incumbent chief minister Pramod Sawant, who successfully led the party in the assembly polls, will be replaced, he said, "Chances of Sawant have not been ruled out, he is the first choice, but the opinion of the central leadership and others will also be taken into consideration." The BJP has won 20 of the 40 assembly constituencies in Goa. --IANS ssb/bg ( 398 Words) 2022-03-11-20:42:05 (IANS) The Congress' 'G-23' leaders, at their meeting held on Friday after the party's debacle in the latest round of Assembly polls, are understood to have sought that there be no more delay in electing the new party President while an AICC session should be called to discuss the poll results, sources said. The meeting was held at senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence here, and was attended by Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Anand Sharma and Akhilesh Prasad Singh while some other leaders joined virtually. As per sources, the leaders sought accountability for the poll debacle be fixed and changes be made in the composition of the Congress Working Committee, the party's highest decision-making body. The issue of organisational polls was also discussed. The meeting was held a day after results came out for Assembly elections held in five states, with the party losing its stronghold Punjab, failing to mount a serious challenge in Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand, besides getting virtually demolished in Uttar Pradesh. There is simmering tension within the Congress after the poll debacle, and the G-23 leaders are reportedly miffed with the style of functioning of the party leadership. One prominent leader said that "it is time that the first family of Congress steps aside and paves the way for a new leadership or act in tandem with the party leaders and be available 24x7 for party work, or else there won't be a revival of the Congress in the country". The leaders pointed out that the present set-up is non-performing and it has to be changed as the party is not "someone's fiefdom" and everyone has a stake in it. --IANS miz/vd/arm ( 292 Words) 2022-03-11-21:06:05 (IANS) Raneesh Joseph, a Keralite with his Ukrainian wife Victoria and their two-month-old baby Joseph Rafael, returned to Kochi from Ukraine's Sumy in a chartered flight of Air Asia. He was in the headlines for the last few days because of coordinating with the Malayali students in Sumy for evacuation. His Ukrainian wife, Victoria from Sumy is visiting Kerala for the first time. Raneesh was working as a student coordinator in Ukraine. They were married in 2019. With them, a total of 180 people were reached tonight at Kochi airport from Delhi in this chartered flight. Raneesh Joseph said, "I am very happy now. For 14 days we stayed together as a family in Sumy. Everyone helped back and forth. Endured a lot. Arrived here after traveling for four days without rest. Very happy to see the family. We travelled first by bus, then by train and then by flight. Many of those who were with us helped to care the baby. Now we need to take a rest." Victoria said, "There were a lot of problems. But now I'm so glad to see everyone. This is my first visit to Kerala." (ANI) The members of the Delhi Gymkhana Club (DGC) have welcomed the observations made by the Supreme Court on Friday, asking the Centre why it is difficult to hold elections in the club and that the current Administrator, Om Pathak, of the club cannot continue perennially. Former club President, Air Marshal P.S. Ahluwalia (retd) said the club is totally funded by the members and there is no funding by the government, corporates or the public at large. "It is therefore imperative that the members elect their own governing body of the Club. It has been over one year since an Administrator was appointed. Till date no wrongdoing has been established by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Therefore, how does it justify the takeover? A duly elected governing body must be given control immediately," he added. Former General Committee member of the DGC, Rajeev Sabharwal said the club members welcome the observations made by the apex court. "This will instill confidence in the minds of members of the club and also reaffirm the faith in the decision at the highest level of judiciary," he said. The Supreme Court on Friday observed that elections must be conducted and the DGC administrator cannot continue perennially, as it gave four weeks to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to conclude the proceedings into the matter. A bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and C.T. Ravikumar told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, that "Elections must be conducted sometime, what is the difficulty...administrator cannot continue perennially. Elections have to take place. You cannot have associations without elections." Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing Delhi Gymkhana Club members, said: "We want to hold the elections. The administrator cannot continue in perpetuity." Kaul cited the apex court order, passed on September 30, last year, directing the NCLT to decide the entire matter afresh within four months' time, and if not decided within this period, then the Administrator should conduct elections to install a duly elected committee. He said the four-month period was completed in February, yet the Administrator is not ready to hold the elections. Justice Khanwilkar told Mehta that a self-operating order was passed in September last year. Mehta requested the court to grant two weeks to the NCLT to complete the proceedings in the matter. Concluding the hearing, Justice Khanwilkar said: "It must be made clear, if the tribunal is unable to complete the proceedings (within four weeks), the self-operating order will come into play, thereafter the Administrator would have to install a committee by conducting elections." The bench made it clear that it will not entertain any request by the Centre to extend the time period for the tribunal to complete the proceedings. The top court was hearing a plea filed by Sabharwal and other club members challenging the February 15, 2021 NCLAT order, which dissolved the club's GC and directed the Centre to appoint an Administrator to manage its affairs, after the Ministry of Corporate Affairs moved the tribunal alleging corruption, mismanagement, and nepotism in the club. On September 30, in a major relief for the former general committee of the club, the Supreme Court, while hearing the appeals filed against the NCLAT, remanded the matter back to the NCLT and asked it to settle it within four months. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, in April 2020 moved the NCLT under sections 241 and 242 of the Companies Act, 2013, seeking to supersede the club's general committee and allow it to nominate 15 persons as directors to run the club's affairs. The NCLT in June, 2020, had asked the government to constitute a five-member special committee to enquire into the affairs of the club, among other issues. --IANS ss/vd ( 630 Words) 2022-03-11-21:30:04 (IANS) The Special Cell of Delhi Police said on Friday that it has arrested two sharpshooters of Kala Jatheri, Lawrence Bishnoi and Naresh Sethi gang, who were involved in the killing of two siblings in Gurugram to establish their supremacy in liquor business in Delhi-NCR. The accused have been identified as Vikash Kant and Hoshiyar alias Rinku. Two pistols and eight live cartridges were recovered from their possession. Special Cell DCP Sanjeev Yadav said that a team under the supervision of ACP Sanjay Dutt was working on a tip-off for some time now. The officer said that in February, the two sharpshooters killed two siblings -- Paramjit and Surjit -- in Gurugram. It was learnt during the investigation that the deceased were aides of jailed gangster Kaushal and they had rivalry with a man named Ajay Jaildar from their own village, who was being supported by the Kala Jatheri gang. "To establish supremacy in liquor business in Delhi-NCR, the accused decided to kill the siblings in order to settle scores with their rival gang," Yadav said. The Special Cell got a tip-off that the accused would visit Dwarka to meet their associates. Accordingly, the police laid a trap and arrested the duo. --IANS atk/arm ( 215 Words) 2022-03-11-21:30:06 (IANS) Commuters violating traffic rules on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway between the Delhi-Gurugram border and Kherki Daula toll plaza will soon be spotted by drones and bike patrols. The Gurugram traffic police in collaboration with the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) will soon introduce drones in the skies of Gurugram to spot traffic violators. These drones will be connected to the GMDA's Integrated Command & Control Centre (ICCC) to keep a close watch on traffic violators and issue traffic fines. In the first phase, around four to five drones and five bike patrols will be introduced to keep a vigil on traffic violators, especially lane violators who often cause accidents on the E-way. Giving more details about the initiative, DCP (Traffic) Ravinder Kumar Tomar told IANS, "We have noticed that wrong lane driving causes accidents on the carriageway. So to avoid this, we had requested the GMDA officials to introduce drones on the E-way which has been accepted. Soon these drones will be introduced." However, Tomar mentioned that there were some issues on the height of drones as the air pressure affects the stability of drones, along with some other technical reasons, which will be taken care of by the GMDA engineering wing. Tomar said, "Apart from drones, we will also deploy police riders on the expressway between Delhi-Gurugram border to Kherki Daula toll plaza which will include two patrolling vehicles and four motorcycle riders equipped with a walkie-talkie to keep a close watch on the violators." The Gurugram traffic police have already deployed 10 teams to monitor wrong lane driving, he added. "We believe that drones could play a major role in monitoring traffic movement in the accident-prone areas. With this facility, one can provide accident information, vehicle breakdown information and others after dialling 112. The response time to reach the spot is around 5 to 10 minutes," the DCP said. --IANS str/arm ( 324 Words) 2022-03-11-21:44:01 (IANS) Police sources said that the Sarpanch, identified as Shabir Ahmad Mir, was fired at from close range by militants in Audura village in the evening. "He was immediately taken to district hospital in Kulgam town where doctors declared him brought dead. "Security forces have reached the village to carry out searches to nab the assailants," a source said. On March 9, militants killed a Sarpanch in Khonmoh on the outskirts of Srinagar city. He was affiliated with the PDP. --IANS sq/vd ( 107 Words) 2022-03-11-22:02:03 (IANS) The government has appointed retired Vice Admiral G. Ashok Kumar as a National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC) within the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) under NSA Ajit Doval for creating common purpose among the many ministries, government departments and private players, with a say in matters of maritime security, sources said. However, the scope of the Maritime Security Coordinator's role has not yet been made public. "This will not be an easy task, given the bureaucratic inertia to change, instinctive turf protection tendencies, and sometimes conflicting goals, which are characteristics of government organisations across the world. Admiral Kumar's task will, frankly, be quite unenviable," said a senior government official. Reading between the lines, and when viewed alongside the recent hike in the Budget of the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard, it offers indications of a fresh seaward outlook in the government. This could be for a multitude of reasons, such as enabling growth to a $5 trillion economy, countering China's advances in the region, increasing employment opportunities, etc. While there is a sea of challenges that the NMSC has to work upon, there is also an ocean of opportunities. "He has numerous low-hanging fruits ready for the picking in the short term," the official explained. Greater integration among agencies involved in coastal security and fast-tracking the National Maritime Domain Awareness project are two such initiatives that could be undertaken on an almost immediate basis. For the medium term, policies and strategies to support initiatives related to the blue economy, climate change and security of energy should be on his priority list. For instance, encouraging and driving formulation of a national maritime strategy may help in aligning efforts across sectors, which are currently operating in silos, the official said. He will also need to align closely with the Niti Aayog, which has already prepared a draft maritime policy. "If the Security Council Secretariat and the Niti Aayog can converge their efforts, the Indian maritime world will receive significant impetus and direction," the official added. For the long term, Admiral Kumar would need to ensure that processes and structures are established to secure and promote India's continued growth as a maritime power, matching its economic and social growth. Some of the greatest powers in history have risen through maritime endeavours -- commercial, scientific, cultural, as well as military. China is doing it today, with an enviable merchant fleet, extensive maritime explorations, and the largest Navy in the world, to name a few. India needs to catch up fast. Beyond these, the single greatest opportunity that this appointment presents is a chance to bring the oceans back into the consciousness and imagination of all Indians. The government has sown the seeds for this, through SAGAR, Sagarmala, Mausam, and many more initiatives. Calling upon all the leadership, management, diplomatic and creative skills that he gained in the Navy, Admiral Kumar will need to don the mantle of skipper once again to guide this ship to its destination, the official said. --IANS sk/arm ( 516 Words) 2022-03-11-22:30:05 (IANS) Churches Respond to Growing Humanitarian Needs in Ukraine and Bordering Countries Hosting refugees, providing food, helping in hospitals, and ringing church bells as a warning when shelling startsthese are some of the many ways churches are responding in Ukraine and bordering countries as the war continues. 23-year-old mother Paulina closes her eyes for a moment as she and her children spend time in their new temporary home in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary, 9 March 2022. With the recent influx of refugees arriving in Hungary following the Russian invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, the Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Nyiregyhaza Kertvaros is working hard to accommodate and support people arriving in the city. 23-year-old mother Paulina alongside her husband, a new-born baby and two daughters are staying in a house offered as accommodation for incoming refugees by congregants from Nyiregyhaza Kertvaros. Being 8-months pregnant when starting the journey from Ukraine to neighboring Hungary, Paulina gave birth to her third child the same day she and her family crossed the border. Having started going into labour while still being on the way, Paulina was rushed from the border crossing to a nearby hospital in Fehergyarmat in order to give birth. Hospital staff reportedly said it was a miracle the child and mother are both healthy and well. Photo: Albin Hillert/LWF NEWS PROVIDED BYNEWS PROVIDED BY World Council of Churches March 11, 2022 GENEVE, March 11, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ --The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate reports that it is helping all those in needthe military, hospitals, and refugees all over Ukraine. Monasteries are providing all possible humanitarian aid to refugees, internally displaced persons and all those affected by the war. Refugee reception points have also been organized at churches through joint efforts of the clergy and volunteers. Some provide 24-hour aid, giving out warm clothes, mats, sleeping bags, water and medicines. Queues and checkpoints at the borders of Ukraine are overflowing with refugees, with 10-kilometer lines formed at some points. "We are trying to help everyone," reported one parish in Lviv, as packages of food were taken to a centre for refugees, which was operating at the Arena Lviv stadium. There, churches are working with the Department of Social Protection of the Lviv City Council. "The clergy and all the employees of our churches are making every effort to help all those who need it," the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate reported. Many retired doctors among parishioners also are pitching in to help. Ukrainian Orthodox Churches are also providing basements for the possibility of shelter from shelling and bombing, with churches helping to sound the alarm of impending attacks by ringing the church bells. Fr Mykolay Danylevych, deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, has reported that priests are also accompanying many with prayer. "Priests pray, comfort and reassure people, and provide spiritual and even psychological help," he said. Needs are growing There is an urgent need for humanitarian support in Ukraine and in the countries to which many refugees are fleeing Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, as well as Belarus and Russia. ACT Alliance members are responding to these needs for humanitarian support. Churches are organizing fundraising; collecting clothes, food and hygiene items; and organizing accommodation for refugees. ACT has issued an alert and is supporting national members through its Rapid Response Fund, while an appeal for multi-country support will assist in scaling up the response in Ukraine and neighboring countries. Catholic Relief Service (CRS) and Caritas partners are providing immediate support to meet ongoing needs as the situation intensifies. "CRS and partners on the ground are preparing across Ukraine and in bordering countries, ready to provide safe shelter, hot meals, hygiene supplies, transport to safe areas, counseling support and more," reported CRS. The Red Cross is providing lifesaving aid to those in needboth in Ukraine and in neighboring areas. "Many of the people affected were already vulnerable before the conflict and now face an even harsher situation as they are losing their homes and their livelihoods, being forced to seek shelter wherever they can or fleeing their country in search of safety. They urgently need food, water and shelter, but also emergency medical care, protective measures and psychosocial support to avert an even greater humanitarian catastrophe," said Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies regional director for Europe. His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, announced a major fundraising effort that will help those most affected. Archbishop Elpidophoros also announced the creation of the Ukrainian Relief Effort, which was established in collaboration with International Orthodox Christian Charities. "We join our spirit to the spirit of His All-Holiness and exhort all our Faithful: offer prayers and tangible support for all the Ukrainian People, those of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and those of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, those of the Ukrainian Catholic and Jewish communities, and all who find themselves in the dire circumstances of war," stated Archbishop Elpidophoros. Hungarian Interchurch Aid set up a 24-hour refugee support point on the Ukrainian side of the border at Beregsurany. The line of refugees trying to cross into Hungary at this crossing is kilometres long, according to reports. The support point was set up at Asztely, near the border crossing, in a heated pavilion, which will be supplemented with additional tents and mobile toilets in the coming days. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) launched a call for donations to support the churches and people of Ukraine, who are fleeing their homes and seeking shelter, basic necessities such as food and water. LWF general secretary Rev. Anne Burghardt said this "support is vital for people desperately seeking shelter from the gunfire and bombing. Every donation counts." Bishop Christian Alsted, who serves in the United Methodist Central Conference that consists of Nordic, Baltic and Eurasian countries, including Russia and Ukraine, offered a pastoral word on the crisis, and urged prayer as a form of response as well. "We pray for a change of hearts and minds of leaders, we pray for de-escalation and dialogue instead of violence and war," stated Bishop Alsted. "I call on all our congregations to intercede for the people of Ukraine, and for the leaders in the world, who have the power to bring an end to war." SOURCE World Council of Churches CONTACT: Media Office +41 79 507 6363, media@wcc-coe.org Back in 2002, Valerie Merians and Dennis Johnson were frustrated at what they felt was the Bush administrations rush into the war in Iraq, and to vent some of that frustration, they decided to publish an anthology of protest poetry, Poetry After 9/11. Fast forward to 2022 and Merians and Johnson are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the publisher established for that project, Melville House. I had a chance to quiz them over email about how to keep an independent publisher going for so long, particularly when they had no intention of becoming a going concern when they published that first anthology. Advertisement Merians attributes the presss longevity, at least in part, to an attitude of mulishness, a deep belief that you can do what you want to do, a spirit that came in handy after the initial success of Poetry after 9/11 and a second book of literary criticism was followed by three books that edged the company into debt. The starving artists were well-acquainted with that kind of challenge, and bolstered by working with each other, Merians and Johnson persevered. Advertisement From that origin story, Melville House now has a staff of 15, offices in Brooklyn and London, and over 700 books in its catalog. Melville House as a publisher is a good story, but its the books that are the most interesting part of that tale. In preparation for my exchange with the founders, I tallied the number of Melville House books on my shelves, 22! A truly amazing number for an independent small publisher. There must be some secret sauce in there. But looking at what Ive collected, its tough to find a through-line. What ties together David Graebers classic exploration of debts and credits, Debt: The First 5,000 Years; one of the best academic satires Ive ever read, Lars Iyers Wittgenstein Jr; and a groundbreaking history of the musical genre, Krautrock, birthed out of postwar trauma, and now ubiquitous as samples in American hip-hop, Future Days: Krautrock and the Birth of a Revolutionary New Music by David Stubbs? Melville House books including "Debt: The First 5,000 Years," "Poetry After 9/11: An Anthology of New York Poets" and "Future Days: Krautrock and the Birth of a Revolutionary New Music." (Melville House) Merians puts it simply, the books they publish reflect the tastes of the owners of the company. Melville House operates as all of publishing once did before corporate consolidation, when the actual people like Alfred Knopf, and Richard Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster were running their namesake companies. Some of that taste remains rooted in the power of publishing to inform the public on important matters. After it looked like the Torture Report on the post-9/11 governmental abuses would be buried on a Friday afternoon just before Christmas as a PDF on a government website, Johnson vowed to publish a version people could read, turning it into a company bestseller. Other projects, like a series of books capturing the last interviews with figures like James Baldwin, Frida Kahlo, Fred Rogers, Lou Reed and Toni Morrison, or another series of novellas in the public domain (The Awakening, Bartleby, the Scrivener, et al.) are simply the product of what Johnson called whimsy, a love for the material and a trust that others would love it as well. When asked about the biggest threats to continued operation, Johnson mentions the already tight and shrinking margins endemic to publishing, currently being made worse by the hegemony of Amazon, which Johnson has spoken out against repeatedly over the years. Advertisement Johnson says Amazon simply makes it harder to and harder to stay in business, and not only for Melville House, but for all publishers subject to the companys power and influence. But after 20 years of fighting, theyre not going to quit any time soon. John Warner is the author of Why They Cant Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities. Twitter @biblioracle Book recommendations from the Biblioracle John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books youve read. Advertisement 1. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles 2. Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin 3. The Every by Dave Eggers 4. Fidelity by Wendell Berry 5. Apeirogon by Colum McCann Dan B., Holland, Michigan Advertisement I think Dan will enjoy the heartwarming novel, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison. 1. Camino Island by John Grisham 2. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins 3. Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe 4. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr 5. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro Advertisement Lianne P., Downers Grove This feels like a reader who might enjoy spending some time in the quiet, yet powerful world of the novels of Kent Haruf. Plainsong is the specific recommendation. 1. The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan 2. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 3. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood 4. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami Advertisement 5. Lexicon by Max Barry Mary T., Madison, Wisconsin Theres a good mix of the real and the speculative in the books on this list, which brings to mind one of my all-time favorites and a book Ill recommend in this space at least once every year for time immemorial, Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. Get a reading from the Biblioracle Send a list of the last five books youve read and your hometown to biblioracle@gmail.com. Delhi Police said on Friday that they have arrested five sharpshooters of Sonu Dariyapur Gang, who were involved in a number of criminal cases. A country made pistol, a Scooty and Rs 39 lakh looted cash were recovered from their possession. The accused have identified as Narender, Naseeb, Vicky, Sagar and Deepak Sharma. Recently, they had committed a robbery in central Delhi's Desh Bandhu Gupta Road area. Central Delhi DCP Shweta Chauhan said that on March 7, a person named Manoj Kumar had lodged a complaint with the police alleging that he was robbed of Rs 91 lakh by some unknown robbers. "Manoj was returning to office after collecting Rs 91 lakh from a party in Chandni Chowk area. When he crossed the Faiz Road traffic signal, some unknown persons came from behind and kicked the Scooty he was riding. After that, the accused held Manoj at gunpoint and sprayed pepper spray in his eyes and took away the bag containing money," said the DCP. After receiving the complaint, an FIR of robbery was lodged and a special team was formed to look into the matter. The police scanned the CCTV footages of the nearby areas and learnt that one of the accused was following Manoj from the Karol Bagh area. As they were wearing masks, their identity could not be ascertained. "Later we learnt that the accused were sharpshooters of Sonu Dariyapur gang. We then scanned the CDR of 200 cellphones. Finally, we identified one of them as Narender who was previously involved in a murder case," the DCP said. The police learnt that the accused were hiding in Himachal Pradesh and a team was sent there. However, the accused somehow got a hint, and fled to Punjab. The police then reached Punjab with the use technical surveillance. The accused were finally held from Rajpura in Punjab. --IANS atk/arm ( 323 Words) 2022-03-11-22:40:03 (IANS) Though it is a decades old problem, the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (SYL) issue has been simmering with renewed rigour since July 2020 when the Supreme Court asked Punjab and Haryana to settle the matter. Of the multiple states in northwest India, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and some part of Uttar Pradesh share the same water infrastructure and are regulated by two bodies and agreements: The Bhakra Beas Management Board and the 1994 Upper Yamuna River Board's agreement/MoU between upper riparians of Yamuna, namely Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. In the SYL, it is the two states of Punjab and Haryana that have kept the dispute burning for over four decades now. Delhi has no direct stake in the dispute, but a major share of Delhi's water comes through Haryana and all it is worried about is that it should continue to get uninterrupted water supply of its share. With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) set to form the government in Punjab, the question now is whether the new government will go ahead with the completion of the canal or continue to protest? What exactly is the problem with the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal? The main rivers involved are Ravi and Beas. The states involved are Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi and Rajasthan. Prior to Punjab's bifurcation, out of 15.85 million acre feet (MAF) water of the two river basins, Rajasthan was allotted 8 MAF, Punjab received 7.20 MAF while J&K had a share of 0.65 MAF. Post 1976, when the Punjab Reorganisation Act was operationalised, Haryana was allotted a share of 3.5 MAF, which earlier Punjab had refused to share. With revision in water flow in 1981, Punjab was given 4.22 MAF, Haryana 3.5 MAF and 8.6 MAF went to Rajasthan. A canal linking Sutlej with Yamuna to provide water to southern parts of Haryana was planned. Work for the over 200 km canal is completed in Haryana but the stretch that runs across Punjab is incomplete. In July 2020, the Supreme Court had directed the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana to negotiate and settle the issue. But why is Punjab opposing? The Green Revolution was responsible for ensuring that India became self-sufficient in food grain production and Punjab had a major role to play in it. The state claimed that the food it grew was for the whole country but the water used was its own groundwater and hence there was no need to share any surface water with any other state. Moreover, given the history of violence in Punjab, the powers that be feel that secessionist tendencies may try to benefit from the opposition to water sharing. Instead, Punjab has been demanding a tribunal to discuss the issue afresh. It has also demanded working out water availability, which, according to the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), under which water sharing arrangement works for Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and even Delhi, has gone down over the decades. Will things change now with the change of guard in Punjab? --IANS niv/arm ( 520 Words) 2022-03-11-22:46:03 (IANS) Inspector General, Bastar range P. Sundarraj also said that the gunfight broke out when the DRG and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were carrying out a joint operation in the jungle under Naimed police station area. CRPF officials said that the gunfight started at around 8.30 a.m. near Kaika and Mosla villages when the security forces came under fire and retaliated. When the exchange of fire stopped, the body of a male Maoist along with a .12 bore rifle and Maoist-related material were recovered from the spot. On February 12, a CRPF official was killed and a trooper injured in an exchange of fire with Maoists at Putkel village under Basaguda police station limits in Bijapur when a team of CRPF's 168th battalion was out on a road domination duty. --IANS ams/vd ( 181 Words) 2022-03-11-23:06:06 (IANS) The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is currently running 60,929 shakhas across the country, marking an increase of 5,277 shakhas since March last year. Till March 2021, about 55,652 RSS shakhas were running across India. This was revealed on the opening day of the three-day meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, a top decision-making body of the RSS, which got underway in Ahmedabad on Friday. The RSS also witnessed an increase of more than 2,000 in its Saptahik Milan' (weekly meetings) from 18,553 in March last year to 20,681 in March 2022. An annual report for the year 2021-22 was shared in the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha. Talking about the national scenario, the RSS annual report flagged the violence that was unleashed in West Bengal post the declaration of Assembly election results in may last year. "If violence, fear, malice, and violation of law become rampant in the society, not only will there be unrest, instability, but democracy, mutual trust etc. will also be destroyed," the report said. Talking about need to answer divisive conspiracy with the right narrative, the report said, "Today in Bharat, while on the one hand the age-old cultural values, traditions and sense of identity, unity and integrity of the country are awakening, and Hindu Shakti is standing up with self-respect, the inimical forces which do not tolerate this are also conspiring to create a vicious environment in the society." The report mentioned that it is necessary to create an effective and strong ideological discourse based on truth and facts about nationality, Hindutva, its history, social philosophy, cultural values and tradition etc. "At the same time, emphasis will also have to be laid on the manifestation of conduct and behaviour relevant to current times, based on Bharatiya values of life in personal, family and social sphere, and it is desirable that this endeavour becomes widespread, especially among the younger generation. Like-minded persons and forces who agree with this, should also be included in this effort," it said. --IANS ssb/arm ( 346 Words) 2022-03-11-23:14:03 (IANS) Two terrorists are trapped and the encounter is still underway. An encounter broke out at Chewaklan area of Pulwama between security forces and terrorists on Friday late evening. Another encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists at Serch area of Ganderbal in the early morning of Saturday. A Sarpanch was shot dead in Kulgam on Friday. Further details are awaited. (ANI) Seats have been earmarked for Prime Minister, ministers and party leaders, lone members and other Independent members outside any alliance. A delegation from Austria led by Wolfgang Sabotka, President of the National Council of Austria, will be on an official visit to India from March 13 to 17. The delegation will witness the proceedings of Lok Sabha from 'Special Box' on Monday. (ANI) Expressing grief, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that he would meet the people affected in the fire incident in jhuggis (shanties) in the Gokulpuri area of the national capital in which seven people are reported to have lost their lives. The Chief Minister said that he will himself meet the families of the victims soon. In a tweet in Hindi today, the Chief Minister said, "I got to hear this sad news in the morning. I myself will go there and meet the victims." Delhi Police today morning informed that about 30 shanties were burnt down and seven people lost their lives after a fire broke out in the Gokulpuri area. Speaking to ANI today morning, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police of North East Delhi, Devesh Kumar Pandey said, "At 1 AM today, there was a fire incident reported in Gokulpuri Police Station area. Immediately after gathering information, our teams reached the spot with all the rescue equipment. We also contacted the Fire Department which responded very well. We all managed to douse the fire by around 4 am." "...30 shanties have been burned down and seven people lost their lives," he added. Delhi Fire Service department informed on Saturday that the fire was brought under control on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. Seven bodies have been retrieved from the site of the incident. The department officials further informed that as many as 13 fire tenders were rushed to the site after gathering information about the incident. Further probe in the matter is underway. (ANI) With this increase in new infections, the country's active caseload has gone up to 40,559. The weekly positivity rate is 0.52 per cent. The government data shows that 89 COVID-19 fatalities pushed India's death toll to 5,15,803. Meanwhile, as many as 5,185 people have been recovered from COVID-19 infection in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 4,24,31,513, as per government data. At present, the recovery rate is 98.71 per cent. The Union Health Ministry also informed that about 179.91 crores (1,79,91,57,486) COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. (ANI) A survey of around 1,300 Zurich school children, their parents and teachers suggested that the more time children spend in external daycare, the more likely they are to exhibit problematic behaviour. However, this behaviour generally disappears at the end of primary school. The study was published in the journal, 'PLoS one'. Around 67 per cent of the children in the survey received external childcare before entering kindergarten. 32 per cent of these children attended a daycare centre, and 22 per cent a playgroup. Another 22 per cent received care from an external family member, 3 per cent from acquaintances or neighbours, and 12 per cent from daycare mothers. The researchers asked the children as well as their parents and teachers about externalizing or internalizing behaviour problems, delinquency and substance use. The survey showed that the observed behaviours in primary school-aged children differed depending on the respondents and the type of external daycare. According to the parents, primary school pupils were more likely to show aggression, display symptoms of ADHD, and experience anxiety and depression the more time they had spent in a daycare centre before entering school. This finding was also supported by some of the children's own assessments. According to the teachers, hyperactivity, lack of impulse control, inattention or aggression were more likely to occur in school children who had spent more than two days a week with a daycare mother or at least three days a week in a playgroup. How can these findings be explained? "It's possible that external childcare may lessen the strength of child-parent attachment and interaction," said first author Margit Averdijk. But it is also possible that children in centre-based care or playgroups learn problem behaviour from their peers and sometimes use it to get attention from caregivers. "Although we can't directly check which of these mechanisms the most likely explanation for our results is, both of them support our findings," explained the researcher. The good news is that the problematic behaviour observed in primary school-aged children decreases as the children get older and mostly disappears from the age of 13. Symptoms of ADHD were the only ones to persist into adolescence. Moreover, the researchers found no evidence that generally links external childcare settings to delinquency and substance use in adolescents. An exception was the link between daycare attendance and substance use, which persisted into young adulthood for those from vulnerable backgrounds. "Our study indicates that these children are also more likely to experience anxiety or depression as they grow older, which may become more acute as a result of the parent's absence," Averdijk explained. "Our study sheds light on some possible unfavourable links between external childcare and children's later development," said last author Manuel Eisner. However, the professor of sociology urges not to jump to conclusions. He added that while the study meets the highest scientific standards, it was based on observational data and surveys that do not always allow clear conclusions to be drawn about causation. Furthermore, the study was not able to take into account the quality of childcare received outside of the family. (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for harnessing technology in the security apparatus, saying that the latest tools should be utilised to nab the tech-savvy criminals. The Prime Minister in his convocation address to Rashtriya Raksha University underlined the importance of technology for security measures and policing. He called for harnessing technology to nab the tech-savvy criminals. "The earlier scenario was very different as the security forces had more time to prepare. Now technology, transportation and communication have improved. Today's policing requires skills like negotiating and other soft skills needed to function in a democratic scenario," PM Modi said. He said that the Gandhinagar area has National Law University, Raksha University and Forensic Science University and emphasized the need for synergy among the institutions through regularly combined symposiums to create a holistic education in these related fields. "Never make the mistake of treating this as a Police University. This is a Raksha University that takes care of the security of the country in its entirety," he added. "The movement under the leadership of Gandhiji against the injustice made the British government realize the collective power of Indians," the Prime Minister while speaking about the Dandi March. The Prime Minister said that the earlier notion of internal security during the colonial time was based on instilling fear among the masses. He stressed the need to change the image of police and security personnel. PM Modi noted the humane work by the police personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Post-independence, there was a need for reforms in the country's security apparatus. A perception was developed that we have to be careful of the uniformed personnel. But it has transformed now. When people see uniformed personnel now, they get the assurance of help," the Prime Minister stated. PM Modi also stressed on stress management for the security personnel. He noted the shrinking support system for police personnel in dealing with the stress of the job and emphasized the need for experts to help in relaxation through initiatives, including Yoga. "Stress-free training activities is the need of the hour for strengthening the country's security apparatus," he added. The Prime Minister also urged the students that they should always keep the values of humanity integral to their uniform and there should never be a dearth of service spirit. "We are seeing greater participation of women in the defence sector; be it science, Shiksha (education) or Suraksha (security), women are leading from the front," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid rich tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of the 92nd anniversary of Dandi March, saying that the historical event made the British government realize the collective power of Indians. PM Modi dedicated a building of Rashtriya Raksha University to the nation and delivered its first convocation address in Gandhinagar. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Governor of Gujarat Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel also attended the convocation address by the Prime Minister. (ANI) A tradition originating over six decades ago was welcomed back to downtown Chicago Saturday after the citys St. Patricks Day parade was canceled the past two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of Chicagoans and guests of the city dusted off their best green attire and accessories and layered up to brave the cold to watch as parade cars, floats and more filed on by down Columbus Drive Saturday afternoon. Advertisement Earlier Saturday, crowds gathered around the Chicago River between Orleans Street and Columbus Drive almost three-quarters of a mile, a much wider area than years past to see it turn its signature brilliant green in celebration of the holiday. In keeping with tradition, the dyeing and parade take place the Saturday before St. Patricks Day, which falls on Thursday this year, unless the holiday itself falls on Saturday. Advertisement Several of the areas politicians were in attendance, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Gov. J. B. Pritzker, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. The river dyeing tradition celebrated its 60th anniversary this year, but last years dyeing was also significant as residents and visitors of the city were surprised when the river glowed green after the parade was once again canceled. Both the river dyeing and the parade, which is in its 65th year, didnt happen in 2020 after Mayor Lori Lightfoot canceled the events. Mia Sanchez, 12, and Solimar Rivera, 12, are both in sixth grade at St. Gall School. The girls walked in the parade with family on behalf of the local nonprofit Big Shoulders Fund. It was Sanchezs first time in the parade this year, while Rivera said shes been participating in the parade since she was 5 or 6. Sanchez said last year was actually the first year she really wanted to take part in the parade, but it was canceled for the second year in a row. She said she usually celebrates St. Patricks Day but was even more so excited to celebrate this year with everyone at the parade. Being a part of this community and marching with everyone, I love it, Sanchez said. Rivera said she was really upset when the parades of the last two years were canceled because being in the parade has become a tradition for her and her family. In lieu of the parades, Rivera and her family would still dress up in green and celebrate in front of their house by wishing people and giving out candy to passersby. Both Sanchez and Rivera said they are definitely looking forward to coming back next year. Cousins Rhea Allen, of Stonington, Illinois and Shannon Lewis, of Tennessee, said theyve got the Irish in us, are spending the weekend in the city and saw the river dyeing and parade for the first time. Allen said it was spectacular watching the river turn that bright green color, while Lewis added, It was cold, but it was fun. Advertisement Lewis said its her first time visiting Chicago and wants to plan a trip back when its warmer out because she feels she hasnt even touched the tip of the iceberg on everything to go around here. Life is back to normal, Lewis said. It feels good to see everyone out and celebrating. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 27 The dyeing of the Chicago River commences, as seen from the 39th floor penthouse ballroom at the Royal Sonesta hotel, on March 12, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) Brothers David Rocas and Manuel Rocas along with their friend Gorje Dacosta are visiting Chicago from Luxembourg. The group, who said they are all Portuguese, said their first time celebrating St. Patricks Day in Chicago was so far a success starting with the river dyeing in the morning and continuing with the parade. David Rocas said he was in Chicago two years ago for St. Patricks Day when the event ended up getting canceled due to the pandemic, and he had to fly back all of a sudden because Trump was closing down the airports. Fast forward to Saturday, David Rocas along with his brother and friend finally got to see Chicagos St. Patricks Day festivities for the first time. Ive been in Dublin before also for the holiday, David Rocas said. Its really big. This does compare. Its fun. Advertisement They said prior to Chicago, they were in New Orleans celebrating Mardi Gras. The trio all said they would return to the city for St. Patricks Day in the future with pleasure. Its cool to see people having fun after two years of COVID, Dacosta said. Its great to see people celebrate this day. Its great to see everybody smiling on the streets, David Rocas added. Everybodys having fun. Dhami has lost Uttarakhand Assembly elections from his own Khatima constituency despite BJP's thumping victory in the state. He was defeated by Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a margin of 6,579 votes. Dhami got a total of 41,598 votes with a vote share of 44.8 per cent as against Kapri who got 48,177 with a huge vote share of 51.89 per cent. Following the poll results, two MLAs including Champawat MLA Kailash Gahatodi and Kapkot MLA Suresh Gadiya also extended their support to the chief minister and offered to give up their seats for him. "After Champawat MLA Kailash Gahatodi and Kapkot MLA Suresh Gadiya, four more BJP MLAs have now offered to give up their seats for acting CM Pushkar Singh Dhami. Half a dozen MLAs are ready to leave their seats for the CM," BJP's state media in-charge Manveer Chauhan told ANI. The BJP won the popular mandate for the second consecutive term in Uttarakhand, bagging 47 seats in the 70-member Assembly. (ANI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced an ex-gratia for families of seven people who were killed in a fire that broke out in the shanties of the Gokulpuri area in the national capital. Kejriwal today visited the site where the blaze broke out last night. "I am saddened by the fire incident in which seven people died. The poor make their shelters after a lot of hardwork. The Delhi Government will give Rs 10 lakh each to deceased adults' families, Rs 5 lakh to deceased children's families and Rs 25,000 to those whose shanties were burnt," Kejriwal said. Delhi Police informed that a forensics team has been rushed to the mishap site to conduct tests to ascertain the cause of the fire. "As many as 60 shanties were also completely burnt. We are yet to know the reasons behind the fire," Chief of the Delhi Fire Services Atul Garg said. Delhi Police today morning informed that about 30 shanties had burnt down and seven people lost their lives after a fire broke out in the Gokulpuri area. Speaking to ANI this morning, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police of North East Delhi, Devesh Kumar Pandey said, "At 1 AM today, there was a fire incident reported in Gokulpuri Police Station area. Immediately after gathering information, our teams reached the spot with all the rescue equipment. We also contacted the Fire Department which responded very well. We all managed to douse the fire by around 4 am." "...30 shanties have been burned down and seven people lost their lives," he added. Delhi Fire Service department informed on Saturday that the fire was brought under control on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. Seven bodies have been retrieved from the site of the incident. The department officials further informed that as many as 13 fire tenders were rushed to the site after gathering information about the incident. Further probe in the matter is underway. (ANI) Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that the Space Centre in Jammu will be named after former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Satish Dhawan. The Union Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi unlocked the Space sector and the scope for private players was created and with this, the government have established space-tech centres in other parts of the country. "Vice-Chancellor has approved to keep the name of the space centre in Jammu on Satish Dhawan. Not many people know that Satish Dhawan was a resident of Jammu and Kashmir and was a real Dogra pride," he said while addressing media persons in Jammu. He further said that this will be the second of its kind teaching institute in Jammu after Thiruvananthapuram and the first course will start from this year in B.Tech in Aviation and Aeronautics. "At first 60 students will be taken and the selection process will be through IIT-JEE," he added. Further talking about the recent assembly elections, the Union Minister said that BJP is a 24x7 party and all the party workers live in working mode. "BJP is a 24x7 party, we live in working mode. Under the leadership of PM, BJP gave birth to a new political culture. As a result, other parties have been forced to think that if we have to determine our political role, then we have to follow the political culture of BJP. For 50-60 years, the Congress party has created a trend in this country that whenever the election comes, the election should be won by taking the name of religion and caste," he said. He further said that the vote that AAP has secured in Punjab is not 'Pro-AAP' it's an anti-establishment and incidentally BJP was not part of the establishment in Punjab. "We were actually living up to the commitment of the Alliance Dharma that is NDA Dharma because Akalis our oldest partners. There were suggestions we should part ways but we never did. This time also Akali's who walked out, we didn't walk out and we have to start fresh and time was very limited. But BJP is going to be the only single viable option in Punjab and for the people of Punjab," he added. The BJP retained power in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa in the results of assembly polls declared on Thursday. AAP registered a landslide victory in Punjab. (ANI) A petition has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking to facilitate diplomatic interventions and negotiations on behalf of a woman, who has been sentenced to death by a Yemen Court, for the murder of a Yemeni national in 2017. An appeal court in Yemen on March 7, 2022, dismissed an appeal filed by Indian citizen Nimisha Priya, who has been sentenced to death for the murder of a Yemeni national in 2017. The petition has been moved by "Save Nimisha Priya - International Action Council" to assist Nimisha Priya and her family. The organization has been formed in the month of September 2020 by a group of Non- Resident Keralites - Indians, working in different countries and also in different parts of India. Nimisha stands accused of the murder of Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national, who died in July 2017 after she allegedly injected him with sedatives to get to her passport that was in his possession. Nimisha had alleged abuse and torture by Mahdi. In the plea moved Delhi High Court, the petitioner's lawyer, Subhash Chandran KR told the court that Nimisha Priya, after her sentence by a trial court in 2020, had filed an appeal against the death penalty in an appeal court in the Yemen capital. However, the appeal court has upheld the death sentence. "Though another chance of appeal to the Supreme Court still exists, Nimisha Priya is unlikely to be spared the punishment awarded by the lower court for the 2017 murder. The apex court rarely sets aside the verdict of the appeal court as it will only examine if any procedural errors affected the outcome of the case, not its merits. She can hope to come out of the death row even now only if the victim's family accepts blood money and she manages to get relief from legal procedures," the petitioner said. The Respondents herein are well aware of the instant case as the Embassy of India in Yemen engaged a lawyer to contest the appeal before the appeal court thereafter huge outcries made by the petitioner, read the plea. The petitioner mentioned that even after the appeal, judgment whereby the sentence to death is upheld, the negotiations are not started yet with the victim's family. "Neither Nimisha's family members nor the members of the Petitioner organization are able to travel to Yemen for negotiations at present as the respondents have declared a travel ban for Indians to Yemen since 2016," the petitioner said. "In this context, strong and timely interventions of Respondent Indian authorities to facilitate the negotiations are highly warranted considering the current socio-political situations in Yemen. The Petitioner and family of Nimisha are facing serious challenges to deal with the ongoing legal process there. Even the trial court judgment of 2020 is not received yet. If the family of the victim agreed to pardon her by receiving "blood money" the petitioner is unable to pay the same as financial transactions to Yemen is also restricted by the Indian authorities," the petitioner said. In these circumstances, the petitioner sought to issue direction to the Centre to facilitate diplomatic interventions as well as negotiations with the family of the victim on behalf of Nimisha Priya to save her life by paying blood money in accordance with the law of the land in a time-bound manner. The petitioner also sought to issue direction to respondents to immediately initiate necessary steps for filing a formal appeal before the Supreme Court to save the life of Nimisha Priya in accordance with the law of Yemen and to make necessary arrangements for receiving the money collected or to be collected by the petitioner in India and transfer the same to the account of the family of the victim in Yemen through the official/diplomatic channel if the family of the victim is ready to pardon her by receiving the blood money. (ANI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a Popular Front of India (PFI) member from Kerala's Kozhikode airport in a money laundering case on charges of raising foreign funds for "anti-national" activities, sources said on Saturday. Immigration authorities intercepted Abdul Razzak BP, a divisional president of the PFI's Perumpadappu unit in Malappuram, on March 9 based on an Enforcement Directorate Lookout Circular (LOC) issued against him, said the source, adding Razzak was trying to escape from India. The ED officials later took Razzak in custody and he was produced before a special court the next day in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow. The court remanded Razzak to seven days ED custody, said the official sources. It is learnt that a team of ED officials had conducted searches at premises linked to Razzak and others in December last year and claimed to have seized some incriminating documents linked to the case being probed by the agency against him. ED officials, privy to the investigation, raised suspicion that Razzak was involved in raising funds from foreign countries as well as within the country for "PFI's anti-national activities". The ED has been investigating the "acquisition" of some foreign assets, including a bar-cum-restaurant in Abu Dhabi, by PFI leaders after the seizure of some documents in raids conducted on December 8 last year on its members in Kerala as part of the money laundering case. The ED then carried out raids at the residences of Razzak; Shafeeque Payeth, a member of the PFI and its linked outfit Social Democratic Party of India at Peringathur in Kannur; Ashraf M.K alias Tamar Ashraf/Ashraf Khader, a PFI leader based in Muvattupuzah, and the office premises of Munnar villa vista project at Mankulam in Munnar. The ED claimed to have inputs regarding 'money laundering activities of the PFI through various projects in Kerala, including the Munnar villa vista project which is being built by the PFI leaders to launder proceeds of crime generated in India and abroad'. ED officials mentioned about "acquisition of foreign properties by the PFI leaders, including a bar and restaurant in Abu Dhabi". The Islamic organization was formed in 2006 in Kerala and is headquartered in Delhi. The central probe agency has been investigating the PFI's alleged "financial links" on charges of fuelling the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in the country, the riots in Delhi that took place in February 2020, and a few other instances. The ED is also probing Razzak's connection with purported illegal funding to "disturb communal harmony and incite riots" post the alleged gang rape and death of a Dalit woman in 2020 in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. In February last year, the ED had also filed a charge sheet in this case before a special court in Lucknow. (ANI) With the administration of more than 18.18 lakh vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 179.91 crores on Saturday, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The number was achieved through 2,10,32,993 sessions of vaccination. As per the provisional report of covid vaccination doses coverage, till 7 am on Saturday, 2,11,51,469 Precaution doses have been given to the citizens of age more than 60 years, which included 42,99,668 to the Health Care Workers (HCWs), and 65,26,610 to the Frontline Workers (FLWs). Apart from Precaution Dose, this 1,79,91,57,486 vaccine doses include "1,04,02,528 (1st doses) and 99,83,044 (2nd doses) taken by the HCWs. As many as 1,84,11,281 FLWs have taken their 1st doses while 1,74,74,281 have taken their 2nd dose of coronavirus vaccine. 5,57,96,876 (1st dose) and 3,33,42,579 (2nd dose) for the age group 15-18 years, 55,31,82,397 (1st doses) and 45,42,13,529 (2nd doses) of the people of age group 18-44 years, 20,25,01,441 (1st dose) and 18,24,75,997 (2nd dose) for the age group 45-59 years," the statement showed. "5,185 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and the cumulative tally of recovered patients (since the beginning of the pandemic) is now at 4,24,31,513, thus resulting in India's recovery rate of 98.71 per cent," it further adds. The release also states that in the last 24 hours 3,614 new covid cases have been reported and India's Active Caseload is presently at 40,559. These active cases constitute 0.09 per cent of the total positive cases of covid 19. On Friday a total of 8,21,122 tests were conducted, thus adding so far to the 77.77 Cr (77,77,58,414) cumulative tests in India. While the rate of testing is increasing in the country, its Weekly Positivity Rate stands at 0.52 per cent and the Daily Positivity Rate is reported as 0.44 per cent. (ANI) Troops of Assam Rifles have recovered two weapons and ammunition in Mizoram's Aizawl, as informed by the officials. A press statement issued by the PRO of IGAR(East) stated that "In its crusade against smuggling activities, Aizawl Battalion of Headquarter 23 Sector Assam Rifles under the aegis of Headquarters Inspector General Assam Rifles (East) recovered one Caliber Miniature Rifle, one Caliber Pistol, and ammunition from Kanan Veng area of Aizawl." The troops recovered one 0.22 Caliber Miniature Rifle, one 0.22 Caliber Pistol, 12 rounds of 0.22 Calibre ammunition. The recovered arms and ammunition were handed over to Mizoram Police Department, Aizawl on Friday, for further legal proceedings. (ANI) A medical student evacuated from Ukraine on Saturday said that the medical studies in Ukraine are less expensive compared to India so more students prefer it. Jayesh Sarmalkar, a third-year student at a medical university in Lviv, Ukraine, said, "We are two different countries so the teaching pattern is different but medicine studies are almost the same. In India, it takes Rs 1 crore for an MBBS student to graduate but in Ukraine, it costs only Rs 30 to Rs 40 lakhs. Government colleges are affordable in India but seats are less and private institutions here increase fees gradually every year. There has to be a structure to monitor this." Jayesh said that the final year students returning from Ukraine will have to appear Foreign Medical Graduates Examination(FMGE) which is one of the mandatory requirements for an Indian citizen who has a medical degree from a college outside India to practice medicine in the country. "The academic year of the last year students will end soon and these students have to take the FMGE, it is one of the toughest exams in India. I request the government to increase the number of seats and allow the students to continue their studies," said Jayesh. He said, "Two days back my Ukrainian university has informed me that they are going to start online classes soon to complete the studies before the academic year changes. But the war is still going on, many universities have been completely destroyed, so we don't the exact situation." Achita, Jayesh's mother said they tried for her son's admission to colleges in the country but they were not affordable. "We tried in India in many colleges, but we couldn't afford it here so we sent him to Ukraine to pursue Medicine. The course is the same in Ukraine too but if we see the fee structure, there is a huge difference". Adding to it, she said that the government must look into it and work on the fee structure in the Indian medical colleges. "Not only the middle class but many medical colleges in India are not affordable by the business families as well. I would request the government to work on the fee structure here so that our money remains here in India." Approximate 18,000 students who returned from Ukraine had registered in 33 medical universities of Ukraine to pursue Medical. Out of this, a total of 2000 students were from Maharashtra, according to the Maharashtra government. Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh, while addressing a meeting on Wednesday, said, "We are working on alternative strategies to help these medical students continue to pursue their medical careers." (ANI) Indian Medical students who had to leave Ukraine following the Russia-Ukraine conflict appealed the Central government to help them pursue their course in their home country. "I don't want to go back to Ukraine, expecting the Central government to do something about our education here", said Pratisksha Sharma, a medical student who returned from Ukraine. Pratisksha, a student of Vinnytsia National Pirogov Medical University, while narrating her escape from the war-torn country, said, "I was supposed to come back from Ukraine on February 24. I was in a bunker in Kyiv for three days. Then I went to the Hungary border from where I flew back to India through the Indian Air force flight." Speaking about her studies, Sharma said, "As of now, we are having online classes. If our government is accomodating us in Indian colleges, then I would study in India. If they are not accomodating us, then I will clear my KROK exam in Ukraine and go to some other safer country to finish my studies." Ukrainian medical examination, KROK, is a Licensing Examination, an obligatory part of state certification for awarding the qualification of doctor or pharmacist. According to Pratisksha, medicine is a subject that needs lots of practical classes and studying it online will not make any sense. "Practical information is very important. We need live experiences. I don't think online education will work for us and later there will be issues saying that we don't trust you guys as you are from this batch that didn't have proper classes. We don't want that semi-educated tag on us," she added. "It's difficult to go back there but KROK is important. I don't want to go back and I am expecting the Indian government to do something," she added. Narendra Sharma, the father of Pratisksha Sharma, said, "She came back now, we are waiting for the government to do something because there are a lot of children who are bearing the brunt of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. If she is not getting an opportunity here, we will try to send her somewhere abroad safer. She wants to become a doctor. I want the government to take steps to provide opportunities here in India for the children who are evacuated from Ukraine." He added, "The way the Central Government has brought back children from Ukraine safely, in the same way, the Indian government should take steps to provide them education in India." India has evacuated over 20,000 of its citizens from war-hit Ukraine under Operation Ganga (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday highlighted the participation of the youth of the country in taking responsibility to promote "every campaign of New India" and said that they have proved India's potential. Addressing on the occasion of the inauguration of 11th Khel Mahakumbh in Gujarat, PM Modi said, "From Startup India to Standup India, from Make in India to self-reliant India and 'Vocal for Local', the youth of India themselves have taken the responsibility of every campaign of New India. Our youth have proved India's potential." The Prime Minister lauded the participants of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics who brought glory to the country by winning medals in the tournament and said that this is the beginning and the country would win many medals in the future. "The country with the largest young population is also emerging as a power in the field of sports. Our sportsmen have proven this change in Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. India won seven medals for the first time in Tokyo Olympics. The same record was made in Tokyo Paralympics as well. India won 19 medals in this tournament. This is the beginning. The day is not too far when India would be waving its flag after winning many gold medals," he said. Mentioning the dignity and pride of the tricolour, PM Modi said that the winners of medals on the international stage have teary eyes when they receive medals and the national flag waves in front of their eyes. "The youth who have returned from Ukraine have come from the battlefield amid bombs. But when they reached here, they said that they have felt the dignity of the tricolour in Ukraine. When our sportsmen stood on the podium after winning the medals, and tricolour was unfurled, and the national anthem was played, you must have seen tears of pride and happiness flowing from their eyes. This is patriotism" PM Modi said. PM Modi is on a two-day visit to his home state Gujarat. (ANI) Chicago police officers at the Fraternal Order of Police building on Oct. 13, 2021, before a meeting to address Mayor Lori Lightfoot's policy that officers provide their COVID-19 vaccination status. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Mayor Lori Lightfoot will put Chicago police officers and other city workers who dont get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Sunday on nondisciplinary no-pay status, her administration said late Friday. The city will also consider disciplining workers, though it will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis as the Lightfoot administration balances its public health policies with staffing problems in the Police Department. Advertisement All city employees, including Chicago police officers, who fail to comply may also face disciplinary action, up to and including termination. These decisions will be addressed at an individual and department level, and are being undertaken in a manner that will not impact public safety or the continuity of everyday government operations, her office said in a statement. Lightfoots latest pronouncement comes after the city won another round in court this week in its legal battle with the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police over the vaccine mandate. But she faces pressure not just from the police union which has appealed the latest legal ruling and claims the mandate will results in an exodus of officers but also from a group of aldermen still seeking to undo the rule. Advertisement The lawsuit filed last year by Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 and other police unions against the city resulted in a February arbitrator ruling that upheld the requirement for city employees to be vaccinated, and set this Sunday as the deadline to get the first shot. A judges decision this week to deny the unions request to reconsider, and to lift a previous order pausing the vaccine policy, were additional setbacks for the local FOP, whose president, John Catanzara, has for months insisted the mandate violated union collective bargaining agreements. The FOP has appealed that ruling, but Catanzara acknowledged to his membership in an online video Friday that unvaccinated officers could be placed on no-pay status Monday. However, he said the arbitrator indicated Friday that officers who have pending vaccine exemption requests will be excused from the rule until they receive a determination, and that those denied exemptions will get a six-week reprieve. Catanzara said hundreds of officers could fall into that category. Those statements could not immediately be confirmed by a City Hall representative. On Wednesday, when announcing the appeal, Catanzara said: I dont know what happens over the next 72 hours. All I can tell you is we are not going to stop punching. This easily can be all averted before this cliff becomes a reality. Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara during a rally outside City Hall ahead of a City Council meeting on Oct. 25. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) The cliff was a reference to the just-under 2,800 Chicago police officers who remain unvaccinated and, according to Catanzara, may walk off the force soon unless they get religious or medical exemptions to the vaccination policy. Catanzara in recent weeks has sounded the alarm over what he said will be a bloodbath in Chicago if his predictions of a mass resignation come true. He did not immediately respond to questions Friday on why he thinks a substantial share of those 2,800 officers will quit. Advertisement As of March 3, 30 members of the Police Department and 21 Fire Department employees were on no-pay status, according to a city spokesperson. Some city employees have lost pay over failing to comply with an earlier deadline to report their vaccine status or to submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. The arbitrators ruling noted that 6,621 Chicago police officers applied for religious exemptions as of December, about 58% of whom were still waiting for approval or denial. Only 1.5% of requests had been granted. Citywide, 11% of all accommodations have been granted, while 52% are pending, according to the ruling. Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Catanzara in February urged union members who have been denied exemptions to keep submitting requests and to even file a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging health care discrimination. This is all to pave a way for a future legal fight over the exemption process itself, he said. Advertisement Also Friday, 12 aldermen sent a letter to Lightfoot announcing they would call a special City Council meeting if she did not respond to their concerns over the vaccination mandate. The council members flagged a clear and present danger to public safety should first responders be disciplined. The aldermen also pointed to natural immunity of workers who have been infected with COVID-19 which public health experts do not recommend as a substitute for vaccination and condemned what they said were lopsided numbers for exemptions across city departments. We cannot afford to lose one more police officer, firefighter, paramedic and city worker at this critical time, the aldermen wrote. Under Lightfoots directive, all city employees had until Oct. 15 to report their vaccination status but could choose to undergo regular COVID-19 testing, rather than get shots, through the end of the year. After police unions challenged the vaccine mandate in court, though, a judge suspended the Dec. 31 date for members to be fully inoculated, saying that needed to go through arbitration. Other unions representing city workers, including firefighters, sought to do the same but failed when an arbitrator sided with the city in December. In February, the same arbitrator also handed a defeat to the police unions. As the citys newest deadline for the first shot nears, Lightfoot faces tough choices about enforcing the mandate. Police Department staffing is significantly down since 2019 and the city has struggled to recruit replacements for cops who have left the job. Chicago is also in the midst of a major crime spike that began in early 2020. Advertisement Cook County Judge Raymond Mitchell, in denying the FOPs bid to toss the arbitration result Wednesday, made a plea for the two sides to come together despite the contentious road they have gone down. While nodding to his belief that Chicago needs its police and that extraordinary and unrelenting challenges plagued both city leadership and police, the judge said it wasnt too late to sit down one more time. These have been tough times. Relationships may have frayed, Mitchell wrote. But even now, the parties to this case still have it within their power to negotiate a compromise. That same day, Catanzara in a YouTube video castigated Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown as having absolutely stupid leadership. Chicago Tribunes John Byrne contributed. ayin@chicagotribune.com Advertisement gpratt@chicagotribune.com Hailing from Alwar in Rajasthan, Monish Dixit, a student of National Law University Bangalore, arrived in the national capital on February 28 without intimidating his friends or family. After a few days, he received his college results in which he had failed in one semester. Tweeting in despair, Monish put out the word that he is attempting suicide. A friend of his acted swiftly and informed the Central Delhi Police. Upon tracing the location, Monish's was located near Signature Bridge. Timarpur Police Station was then pulled into the action and police personnel reached the spot. After Monish spotted the police, he jumped into the river but with the help of divers, he was pulled out. The police said that he is currently admitted to a hospital and is undergoing treatment. (ANI) Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brigadier (Dr) B D Mishra (retd) on Saturday interacted with the school students and said that their academic pursuit should not be confined to seeking a job but for knowledge, urging them to become job providers and not job seekers. The Governor interacted with students of Gyanangush Residential School, Tinsukia of Assam at Raj Bhavan, Itanagar. The First Lady of the state Neelam Misra was present on the occasion. The Arunachal Pradesh Governor advised the students to study well, play hard and be disciplined. He asked them to avail maximum benefit from the good facility provided by the school and become good and useful citizens. "Interacted with the students of Gyanangush Residential School, Tinsukia, Assam at Raj Bhavan, Itanagar. Advised them to study hard, play well and be disciplined and become good citizens of India," the Governor tweeted. He said that their academic pursuit should not be confined for seeking a job but for knowledge, which gives confidence and spirit for enterprise. The Arunachal Pradesh Governor exhorted the students to prepare themselves to face future challenges, imbibe nationalism, high moral character and camaraderie amongst the students. The Governor advised the children to be entrepreneurial and not run after Naukari (Job). "Exhorted the students to work hard, study for knowledge and not certificate, be entrepreneurial and not run after Naukari (Job). They should become job providers and not job seekers," he said in another tweet. Earlier, the students visited and moved around the Raj Bhavan compound by the officers of Raj Bhavan. The children had a field day clicking photographs of the fully bloomed flower squares. They also witnessed at the sunset the ceremonial retreat, the lowering of the National Flag at Raj Bhavan by the officers and Jawans of the Indo Tibetan Border Police stationed there. Total 110 students along with escorting staff members of Gyanangush Residential School, Tinsukia met the Governor and the First Lady of the State. (ANI) The Delhi High Court recently denied pre-arrest bail to an accused named in an alleged red sandalwood smuggling-theft case. It is alleged that the petitioner had booked a train ticket for six people. One of the accused was arrested on February 3, 2022, at New Delhi Railway Station. He was carrying the red sandalwood/red sanders in his bag from Vishakhapatnam to New Delhi. Justice Asha Menon dismissed the pre-arrest bail plea moved by Mukhter Ahmed and observed, "When it is clear that it is necessary to arrest the accused for proper investigation of the offence or preventing the accused from causing evidence to disappear or even to prevent the person from committing further offences, including of similar nature, the police officer can make an arrest." The High Court referring to the Supreme Court judgement in Arnesh Kumar case observed, " In the present case, the Investigation Officer (IO) has to find out all the links in this smuggling of red sandalwood/red senders, the extent of theft and smuggling and person involved and ultimately, the role of the applicant as the king-pin of the entire activity on account of which he financed the travel expenses of the persons he had sent to Vishakhapatnam from Delhi." This is not a case in which the applicant deserves pre-arrest bail. The anticipatory bail application is accordingly dismissed, the court said in March 10 order. The Court said that it is also to be noted that the applicant has been most reluctant to join the investigation. The IO is thus unable to move forward in tracing out the links. Advocate Amit Gupta, the Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) had opposed the application on the ground that the applicant has not participated in investigations, though a month has gone by and even after his first application for anticipatory bail was dismissed by the Sessions Court on 10 February 2022. It was further submitted that co-accused Arif during his interrogation had stated that he was an employee of the applicant whereas now, it was being claimed that Arif was a freelancer and had only a business connection with the applicant. Six tickets had been booked through the wife of the applicant and a mere business relationship does not explain this fact. It was necessary to investigate the role of the applicant as smuggling and theft of red sandalwood/red sanders was a serious matter. On the other hand, the counsel for the applicant/petitioner had argued that Arif was a freelancer who used to make leather and other goods from the applicant to sell in various parts of the country to earn a living and it is due to his connection that the tickets were booked on the mobile phone of the wife of the applicant. It was contended that the FIR was registered under sections of theft and recovery but what was stated in the status report filed by the police was that the log of the red sandalwood/ red sanders had been smuggled and that Arif has been found without a transit permit to move the wood from Vishakhapatnam to Delhi. There was no reference to a theft. He submitted that the no case of forest Act is made out against the applicant and in any case, the punishment prescribed was only imprisonment for six months or a fine. Thus the applicant could not be arrested. He also said there was a delay in the registration of FIR. (ANI) After the Congress debacle in the Assembly elections in five states recently, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy on Saturday said that the BJP has become stronger because the Congress has become weaker as an opposition. "It is absolutely false that we are working as somebody's agent. We will oppose the BJP with our own strength. The BJP has gained strength because Congress has become weaker," Roy told ANI. "Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's party is very weak, we have seen this in the Assembly elections. They did not get a single seat in the Assembly. Congress is very weak in West Bengal," the TMC MP added. Roy said that the party should introspect why it is getting so weak. "Congress got only two seats in Uttar Pradesh. They lost power in Punjab and could not return to power in Goa and Uttarakhand. They should introspect on why the party is getting so weak. TMC has a stronghold in Bengal, but Congress does not seem to have a stronghold anywhere," he said. "TMC has to stride ahead on its own and we will put in our effort for that. We are the opponents of Congress and BJP. We are different from Congress," Roy added. Talking about the upcoming second part of the Budget session set to begin from March 14, the TMC MP said that the BJP would be aggressive after registering wins in the four states but TMC will oppose the government over issues relating to the public and policies of the government. "We will hit out at the government over the economic condition. We will discuss the sale of the public sector. We will also discuss the government's policy over Ukraine," he said. (ANI) Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President K Sudhakaran on Saturday warned the party members that strict action will be taken against those who are insulting Congress leaders on social media. His statement came in the wake of a social media campaign allegedly by the Congress workers in Kerala targeting Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and KC Venugopal over the party's electoral failure in five states. In a press release Sudhakaran said, "After the elections in five states, it has been noticed in Kerala that Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and KC Venugopal are being attacked on social media. KPCC is monitoring this. It cannot be accepted." He said that the Congress leadership will look into the reasons for the election defeat and make the necessary changes. "Discussing on social media will party more weaken. Party workers should recognize this and refrain from such activities," he added. The Kerala chief said that the workers and leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and KC Venugopal have worked day and night for the victory of the Congress party in the elections held in five states while adding that the tendency to put the responsibility of failure to someone's shoulders cannot accept. "Everyone has a collective responsibility for successes and failures. Responding publicly on social media in a way that defames leaders can be considered as a breach of discipline. The Congress party fully ensures democracy inside the party. Criticisms and comments should be discussed in party forums. Organizational action will be taken against those who respond publicly in social media," Sudhakaran added. The results of five assembly polls came as a shock to the Congress which was hoping to do well to revive its prospects for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and to fend off the emerging challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress to replace it as the fulcrum of anti-BJP politics in the country. (ANI) According to Delhi Police, two persons were shifted to LBS Hospital after the incident. One of them was declared brought dead and the other is undergoing treatment for his injured leg. The person who died in the accident has been identified as Rahul. The Kalyanpuri Police Station received information about the incident at 2.46 am on Friday. Police said the driver of the care has been booked. They said the car is registered in the name of Ashwani, a resident of Kalyanpuri. (ANI) A woman was allegedly raped in a bus in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district. Dhar police have arrested two people on Saturday in connection with the case while the third accused is absconding. "We have arrested two persons in a case of gang rape. Yesterday a woman has complained of rape. Police registered a case of gang rape against three persons. Search is on to find the other accused", said Aditya Pratap Singh, Dhar SP. According to the Manawar police station, on Friday the bus in which the woman was travelling was going from Kukshi to Manavar and she was supposed to get down in Longsari. The driver, conductor and cleaner did not drop her in Longsari. Then other people raised questions and they said that they will drop her in Gandhwani. When the bus was empty, the conductor stopped the bus and raped the woman at a secluded place between Gulati Road and Balipur Road. Then the driver and the cleaner also tried to rape her. When the girl started shouting, it caught the attention of the passers-by. When the local people went to her, the woman told them about the whole incident. People caught the driver, but the cleaner and the conductor fled. The Manawar police station also registered a case of gang rape against the rapist conductor and the cleaner and driver who cooperated. The Manawar police station registered a case under sections of gang rape. "The absconding will be arrested soon. Police registered a case under sections 376,376 D,376(2)K of IPC and other sections", added Aditya Pratap Singh. (ANI) The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) is now shifting its war to neighbouring Pakistan as it comes under mounting pressure from the Taliban in Afghanistan, which has waged a fierce war against IS-K militants since seizing power in August last year, RFE/RL reported. IS-K has claimed responsibility for a string of high-profile attacks in Pakistan, underscoring the growing threat it poses to the predominately Muslim nation of some 220 million people. In the deadliest attack, an IS-K suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shiite mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar on March 4, killing at least 64 people and wounding scores of others. It was the most lethal attack in Pakistan in nearly four years. Since it first emerged in 2015, Islamic State's local affiliate in Afghanistan has focused its violent campaign within that country, fighting against Afghan and foreign forces as well as the Taliban, a rival militant group. Experts believe IS-K militants have moved from their bases in Afghanistan and established cells in major Pakistani cities, RFE/RL reported. The IS-K assaults have provoked fear and alarm in Pakistan, which has also witnessed a dramatic surge in attacks by the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a rival extremist group that has close ties with the Afghan Taliban. IS-K has already carried out five attacks this year. On March 8, IS-K claimed responsibility for a roadside bomb that killed five members of the security forces and wounded 28 people others in southwestern Pakistan. The growing attacks prompted Moazzam Jah Ansari, the police chief in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to declare IS-K a "bigger threat to peace and security in the province compared to the TTP". Many IS-K fighters are former members of the TTP, which was thrown into disarray and driven out of its bases in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt by a massive military offensive in 2014. But the TTP soon found itself fighting turf wars with the Afghan Taliban. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the rivalry has intensified. The Afghan militants have waged a nationwide hunt for IS-K members and even targeted the country's small Salafi minority to curb alleged support for the group from among its members. Underscoring the rivalry, the Afghan Taliban condemned IS-K's deadly attack in Peshawar. The TTP, meanwhile, said that such attacks do not align with its jihad, or holy war, in Pakistan. --IANS san/arm ( 401 Words) 2022-03-12-19:32:01 (IANS) Of the 60 members of the new Manipur Assembly, as many as 48 are crorepatis with average assets of winning candidates amounting to Rs 3.75 crore, while 23 per cent of them have criminal cases and 18 per cent have serious criminal cases registered against them. This was revealed by the Manipur Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) that analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 60 winning candidates in the Manipur Assembly elections, results of which were declared on March 10. The BJP won 32 seats, National People's Party (NPP) won seven, Janta Dal (United) six, Congress five, Naga People's Front five, Independents three while Kuki People's Alliance won two seats. Criminal cases Out of the 60 winning candidates analysed in 2022, 14 (23 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves. In 2017, two (3 per cent) MLAs had declared criminal cases against them. A total of 11 (18 per cent) winning candidates have declared serious criminal cases against them. In 2017, two (3 per cent) MLAs had declared serious criminal cases against them. Party-wise, seven (22 per cent) out of the 32 winning candidates from the BJP, four (80 per cent) out of five from Congress, one (14 per cent) out of seven from NPP, one (17 per cent) out of six from JD(U) and one (33 per cent) out of three Independents have declared criminal cases against them in their affidavits, the ADR analysis showed. Five (16 per cent) out of 32 winning candidates from BJP, four (80 per cent) out of five from Congress, one (14 per cent) out of seven from NPP and one (17 per cent) out of six from JD(U) have declared serious criminal cases against them in their affidavits. Crorepati candidates Out of the 60 winning candidates analysed, 48 (80 per cent) are crorepatis, as compared to 32 (53 per cent) in 2017. Party-wise, 25 (78 per cent) out of 32 from BJP, six (86 per cent) out of seven from NPP, all five (100 per cent) from Congress, five (83 per cent) out of six from JD(U), five (100 per cent) out of five from NPF and two (67 per cent) out of three Independents have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore. The average of assets per winning candidate is Rs 3.75 crore, compared to Rs 2.16 crore in 2017. The average assets per winning candidates for BJP is Rs 2.91 crore, Rs 3.45 crore for NPP, Rs 2.80 crore for JD(U), Rs 6.20 crore for NPF, Rs 4.38 crore for Congress, Rs 64.29 lakh for Kuki Peoples Alliance, and Rs 12.22 crore for three Independent candidates, the ADR analysis said. --IANS niv/arm ( 463 Words) 2022-03-12-19:50:02 (IANS) After humiliating defeat in the five state elections, the big Sunday Congress Working Committee meet could be a stormy one as resignations may pour in from the leaders who have been involved in election management. In the past however, Sonia Gandhi had offered to quit but it was rejected by the CWC while the rebel group within the party wants change in the leadership and reforms within the setup. The rebel group is not ready to tackle this move of the party but after the poll debacle in 2019 Sonia Gandhi's son Rahul Gandhi who was party president then, had quit and Sonia had to take over in August 2019. Speculations apart, the CWC may witness a stormy session. The CWC members loyal to the Gandhis may offer to quit. If Such things happen, the Congress has to choose a new leader and sources say that party may have to continue with the interim President and majority of the CWC members may suggest Priyanka Gandhi's name. The highest decision making body of the Congress -- the Congress Working Committee (CWC) is to meet on Sunday at 4 p.m. to discuss the poll debacle in five states. The meeting comes in the wake of the G23 leaders putting pressure on the party to advance the internal polls and had met at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence. The G23 leaders in the meeting on Friday discussed the issue that there should be no more delay in electing the new president of the party and an AICC session should be called in to discuss the poll debacle, sources said. Sources also said that it is necessary to fix the accountability for the poll debacle and urgent changes are required in the composition of the CWC. Sources said that the organisational polls were also discussed in the meeting at Azad's residence. The meeting was held a day after party's drubbing in the Assembly elections held in five states. The Group-23 (G-23) leaders who met at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence included Senior Congress leaders Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Anand Sharma and Akhilesh Prasad Singh while some leaders joined virtually. There is simmering tension within the Congress after the poll debacle, and the G-23 leaders are reportedly miffed with the style of functioning of the party leadership. The Congress lost Punjab, a state under its control, to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and could not put up a fight in three other states where it was hoping to form the government -- Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. --IANS miz/skp/ ( 435 Words) 2022-03-12-20:08:03 (IANS) A Chicago police sergeant has died by apparent suicide in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood on the South Side, the department announced Saturday afternoon. Early this morning, the member was discovered inside a residence located in the 22nd police district, police Superintendent David Brown said in a statement. Advertisement The sergeants name was not released. The cause and manner of death will be determined by the medical examiner but at this time the death appears to be an apparent suicide, the statement said. Advertisement With a heavy heart an investigation was being conducted, according to the statement, which added: The loss of an officer is a stark reminder of the many sacrifices and demands members of law enforcement face each and every day. This tragic situation underscores the importance of prioritizing our mental and emotional health and wellbeing. If the medical examiners office rules the sergeants death a suicide, it would be at least the fourth Chicago police officer to take their own life since since 2021 and at least the 13th since 2018. On July 14, 2021, Officer Christian Furczon was discovered in the parking of an elementary school in the 6100 block of South Melvina Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiners office. Furczon, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:35 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiners office, which said Furczon died by suicide. On March 5, 2021, Jeffrey T. Troglia, 38, died after shooting himself inside his home in the citys Mount Greenwood neighborhood on the Far Southwest Side, authorities said. He had about 15 years on the job and was assigned to a gang team. Four days earlier on March 1, Town Hall District Officer James Daly, 47, shot himself to death in a locker room inside the districts police station, 850 W. Addison St., on the North Side. A 21-year Chicago police veteran, Daly worked the overnight shift and was expected to retire that week, sources have said. Dalys and Troglias deaths came about seven months after a high-ranking Chicago police official, Dion Boyd, was found shot to death by suicide in his office in the Homan Square police facility on the West Side. The Chicago Police Departments problem with officer suicides was highlighted in a 2017 report by the U.S. Justice Department regarding the citys policing practices. At that time, one Chicago police official told the Justice Department that CPDs suicide rate was higher than the national average among police. Check back for details. Advertisement rsobol@chicagotribune.com In a bid to sail through the no-confidence motion by the Opposition parties, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is trying to woo dissidents to lend support to his government to bring it out of choppy waters. Khan spent a hectic day in Lahore on Thursday to rope in "migratory birds", he was also briefed on the political developments in the province and sought assurances from some "suspect" parliamentarians amid rumours about their support to the opposition aspiring to government ouster through a no-confidence motion, reported Dawn. The development comes amid growing discontent against the Imran Khan government, with Pakistan's main opposition parties filing a no-confidence motion against the Pakistan PM on Tuesday in the National Assembly. Rumours about the change of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar also surfaced earlier in the day and several names were highlighted on electronic media but they eventually died down. In the past two days, CM Usman Buzdar has met five PML-N dissident MPAs -- Mian Jalil Sharaqpuri, Ashraf Ansari, Faisal Niazi, Muhammad Ghiasuddin and Azhar Abbas, reported Dawn. The prime minister began his day in Lahore by holding meetings with Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and discussed political developments in Punjab, reported Dawn. The premier held meetings with the provincial ministers including those who are rumoured to have joined hands with the dissident groups or the opposition in Punjab. He also held meetings with women MNAs and MPAs in the CM's office conference room. The prime minister also held meetings with provincial ministers Samsam Bukhari and Hashim Dogar who had gone to meet provincial minister Nauman Langrial -- a leader in the absence of Jahangir Tareen. The premier also met ministers Dr Akhtar Malik and Asif Nakai who had earlier gone to attend the luncheon hosted by Aleem Khan, reported Dawn. The Jahangir Tareen group members, however, stood resolute and decided not to meet the prime minister and even went on to deny the group membership of four ministers who met the prime minister. Meanwhile, ahead of a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan by Opposition parties, Islamabad Police on Thursday night stormed Parliament Lodges and made 19 arrests including key opposition members of the National Assembly, the highest legislative body of the country. (ANI) Ukraine's immediate neighbours like Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania are already preparing for a massive deluge of refugees from Ukraine, European Times reproted. What worries them, and other European countries like the United Kingdom, France and Germany, is the influx of "undesirable" elements from countries like Pakistan, the report said. Credible reports filtering from the war-zone talk of Pakistani students being evacuated from Ukraine to be temporarily stationed in Romania. About 130 students have so far reached Romania, of which 70 have returned to Pakistan. The remaining were to be flown back home by March 10, European Times reproted. What has alerted the countries around Ukraine is the disappearance of three of them from the hotel in Romania. They were found to have reached Germany via land route. This incident has rung warning bells across Europe where Pakistani immigrants have taken part in crime and militant-related activities. The Pakistani migrants' involvement in the London 2005 bombing is a glaring example. Their involvement in moving money, men and material for al Qaeda and other allied terrorist groups have been extensively documented, European Times reproted. On February 24, Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine in response to calls from the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics to defend themselves against intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. (ANI) "Our Community Guidelines prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events, and we remove content about Russia's invasion in Ukraine that violates this policy. In line with that, effective immediately, we are also blocking YouTube channels associated with Russian state-funded media, globally," YouTube said in a statement, CNN reported. Taking to Twitter, the tech company said that it began blocking RT and Sputnik's YouTube channels across Europe, adding that it has already taken other steps since Russia began its military operations in Ukraine. "We paused monetization and significantly limited recommendations for Russian state-funded media channels. Both actions are global & indefinite. Our Trust & Safety team has worked to quickly remove violative content. We've removed hundreds of channels & thousands of videos for violating our Community Guidelines, including our policies around deceptive practices and misinformation," it said on Twitter. YouTube added that when people search for topics on Russia and Ukraine, "our systems prominently surface authoritative news content in both our Top News and Breaking News shelves, and will continue to as needed." It also displays information panels underneath videos from news publishers with government funding. Earlier, YouTube blocked Russian state media outlet RT from Ukraine only and also suspended its ability to monetize content globally. (ANI) Social media videos showed fires in the area, and Vitaliy Kim, head of Mykolaiv Region Administration, said that there were "active hostilities near Guryivka," to the north of the city. "We're trying to push them further," Kim said on his Telegram channel, according to CNN. In a series of messages, Kim said the bombardment amounted to "indiscriminate shooting at civilian targets," including a cafe and apartment block. (ANI) Since Russia's military operation began in Ukraine, thousands and thousands of people of Ukraine are fleeing to different countries. Most of the border-sharing countries have warmly accepted refugees from Ukraine. Over the course of two weeks, about 100,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Krakow, and 200,000 in Warsaw. But now, both of the cities are not able to accept refugees. Even, in Romania, a total of 343,515 Ukrainian citizens have entered the country, of which 258,844 have since proceeded onward to other countries, while over 84,000 Ukrainians are currently staying in Romania, American Broadcaster CNN citing Romania official reported on Thursday [local time]. Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24. (ANI) The United States has announced sanctions against two Russian individuals and three entities over their support for North Korea's weapons programme. "The DPRK continues to launch ballistic missiles in blatant violation of international law, posing a grave threat to global security," Brian Nelson, under-secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, was quoted as saying, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported. "Today's actions respond to this threat by targeting a network of Russia-based individuals and entities complicit in helping the DPRK procure components for its unlawful ballistic missile systems," he added, according to the treasury department. The department said the two Russian individuals and three Russian companies have been helping Park Kwang-hun, a North Korean representative based in Vladivostok who was designated by both the US and the United Nations in 2018 for procuring supplies for North Korea's illicit weapons programs. "As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the individuals and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC (office of foreign assets control)," the treasury department said in a statement, according to Yonhap News Agency. This comes a day after the US said that the North had tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system in its recent missile tests, conducted February 27 and last Saturday (Seoul time). "After careful analysis, the US government has concluded that the DPRK's two ballistic missile tests on February 26 and March 4 of this year involved a relatively new intercontinental ballistic missile system... This is a serious escalation by the DPRK," Sputnik News Agency had reported quoting an official. (ANI) MQM-P also summoned an emergency session of the Rabita Committee, Pakistani channel ARY News reported citing sources on Friday. The MQM-P central leaders have expressed their resentment against the federal government for not fulfilling its promises, according to ARY news citing the sources. PM also made a visit to the MQM-P Bahadurabad office on Wednesday, a day after the joint opposition submitted the no-confidence motion against him and the National Assembly Secretariat. During the meeting, matters pertaining to the overall political situation and ongoing development projects in Sindh including Karachi were discussed. After the meeting, MQM-P convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui told the media that the Pakistani PM had come to Karachi to meet the party and they offered him tea. When asked about the no-confidence motion, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that the no-trust move was not discussed in today's meeting. Meanwhile, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Pakistan's People Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) are sure about removing Pakistan PM from the throne. (ANI) Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow confirmed facts revealed during the military operation that prove the Kyiv regime is destroying evidence of military biological programmes. "We confirm facts revealed during the special military operation in Ukraine, which prove that the Kyiv regime has been destroying the evidence of military biological programmes Kyiv was implementing. They were funded by @DeptofDefense," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. She said that the Western states are posing a threat to the citizens of Russia, Ukraine, and all of Europe by supporting the Ukraine nuclear facilities. "Carrying out attacks against their own nuclear facilities is already becoming a hallmark of the Ukrainian leadership. Kyiv, as well as the American masters of Vladimir Zelenskyy and the US vassals in NATO, are the ones to blame for this. Without such support, these provocations would be pointless," the diplomat said, according to TASS News Agency. "The Western political adventurers, who encourage Zelenskyy's actions, endanger the lives of not only the citizens of Ukraine and Russia but of all of Europe," the spokeswoman said, as per TASS. (ANI) The national bank of Ukraine has also reported that all the systems are operating despite the war situation in Ukraine. NBU further informed that all the obligations were met as the Ukrainian government made all the preparation ahead of Russia's military operation in Ukraine. However, Ukraine is still struggling with other things as Warsaw and Krakow have said that they could no longer accept the refugees from Ukraine. Over the course of two weeks, about 100,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Krakow and 200,000 in Warsaw. Adding to Ukraine's problem, the Southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv was under fire after heavy shelling by Russian forces erupted, according to American broadcaster CNN. After that, another news came from the Eastern area of Ukraine where Russia has 70 per cent control of Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast. (ANI) Leaders of the Group of Seven nations have promised to continue reducing their reliance on Russian energy, "while ensuring that we do so in an orderly fashion and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative and sustainable supplies," according to a joint statement on Friday (local time). The leaders -- representing the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan -- said they "remain resolved to isolate Russia further from our economies and the international financial system." To stand with the people of Ukraine, Group of Seven partners are committed to taking more action that will financially isolate Russia, put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his enablers, the statement read. They each agreed to deny Russia "most-favored nation" status relating to key products, which will revoke benefits of Russia's membership in the World Trade Organization. The leaders said they were working collectively to prevent Russia from obtaining financing from leading multilateral financial institutions including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. According to ot it, G7 leaders are united in the determination to hold President Putin and his regime accountable for this unjustified and unprovoked war that has already isolated Russia in the world. "The world should join together in calling on President Putin and his regime to immediately stop its ongoing assault against Ukraine and withdraw its military forces. We stand in solidarity with those who are bravely opposing the invasion of Ukraine," the statement read. The Group of Seven also urged Russia to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access to victims of its assault in Ukraine, and to allow safe passage for civilians wishing to leave. "We call for, and commit to provide, humanitarian, medical and financial support to refugees from Ukraine," they said in a statement. They said that additionally, private sector companies are leaving Russia with unprecedented speed and solidarity. (ANI) A second suspect has been charged with murder after the pair shot a man selling Jordan gym shoes on Facebook Marketplace after arranging to rob him the West Side in August, prosecutors said. Roger L. Cooper, 21, appeared at a Saturday hearing that was live streamed on YouTube where Cook County Judge Kelly McCarthy ordered him held without bail. Advertisement Cooper, of the 3300 block of West Fulton Boulevard, was charged with first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery in the death of 26-year-old Torrence Sumerlin, police said. Earlier, another suspect, DeShawn London, 20, was taken into custody for the same fatal shooting that happened Aug. 20 in the 2400 block of West Polk Street. London, who was in court earlier this week, was also charged with trying to escape, police said. Advertisement In court Saturday, prosecutors said a witness who was asked by London and Cooper to hang out the day of the fatal shooting told investigators she thought they were going to buy weed, but the two were planning a snatch and run robbery of a man who was selling a pair of Jordans online. The witness drove the two to the Polk Street address where London and Cooper exited a silver BMW and walked to gangway where they waited for Sumerlin, who arrived in a black Dodge Charger. The suspects left the gangway wearing ski masks. The witness heard a gunshot, followed by another, before Cooper and London returned to the BMW and sped away, prosecutors said. Sumerlin dropped the yellow shoes as he collapsed from being shot in the chest. Sumerlin was pronounced dead about 20 minutes after the attack, at 10:58 a.m. that day. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiners office. Sumerlin had recently opened an online store where he sold hard to come by Nike gym shoes, according to a police report. Hed meet customers in person and took a gun with him that day because he did not know the people he was selling to, the report said. At some point Cooper was questioned by detectives about the fatal shooting, and he lied telling them he was just a lookout, but eventually, several witnesses identified him as one of the robbers, prosecutors said. Cooper, who is on probation, has a pending case for another Marketplace robbery, and has two armed-robbery convictions, is due back in court Tuesday. dawilliams@chicagotribune.com Hundreds of people from the Tibetan community gathered in the City Centre in the capital city of Australia to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day. Over 150 Tibetans and Tibet supporters participated in the protest rally in Canberra. Karma Singey, Representative of the Dalai Lama delivered Kashag's statement to the crowd, reiterating the repressive policies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under which Tibetans inside Tibet still continue to suffer. Kalsang Tsering, the President of the ACT Tibetan Community and the Australian Tibetan Communities Association, talked about his own personal experience of not being able to see his father for over a decade due to tightened security measures and surveillance by the Chinese authorities inside Tibet. Kelsang Dolkar, Media Liaison Officer of the ACT Tibetan Community, also addressed the crowd about activist and scholar Go-Sherab Gyatso's 10 years imprisonment and also talked about the recent death of Tsewang Norbu under the Chinese authorities after he attempted to self-immolate on February 25 in Tibet. Jay Moran, the Regional Director of Amnesty International talked about witnessing the 2008 spontaneous Tibetan plateau wide protest in Tibet that led to worldwide demonstrations and protests, and how she had thought that it would lead to freedom for Tibet. Although she was disappointed that the Tibetans still had to fight for their rights and freedom, on behalf of Amnesty International, she pledged their support to always stand by the Tibetans for their fight for justice just cause. The rally continued through the city centre, ringing with slogans demanding freedom for Tibet, human rights and justice for Tibetans inside Tibet. In front of the Chinese embassy, emotions ran high as the majority of the Tibetans present at the rally were either former political prisoners or were family members of former political prisoners who had suffered for many years under the brutal regime of the CCP. Wu LeBao, a Chinese dissident whose activism and vocal criticism of CCP's censorship and influence in Australia led to his name being black-listed in China, showed his support for the Tibetan cause and admiration for the determination of the Tibetan community to stand up for their cause for so many years. Dadon, a former political prisoner and beloved member of the Canberra Tibetan Community, spoke outside the Chinese embassy in Mandarin, letting them know that even though the Dalai Lama had sincerely and open-mindedly endeavoured to hold dialogues with the CCP to obtain genuine autonomy for Tibet, they had ignored these attempts. Tibetans all over the world would continue to resist and challenge the brutal and illegal occupation of Tibet by the CCP. Protest rallies in Sydney, Melbourne and other states Similarly, the Tibetan community in Sydney organised a protest rally from Dee Why to Mantin place. (ANI) Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has described the recent US warning that Russia may use chemical weapons in Ukraine, as another attempt to demonize his country. "Such claims are worth a penny. The US official, as always, did not bother to provide any evidence. This is another attempt to demonize our country," the ambassador said, as quoted by the Russian embassy's Telegram channel. "Our country, unlike the United States, eliminated all available stocks of chemical warfare agents in 2017. This fact has been documented by the OPCW. It is pointless to argue with this fact," Antonov added. (ANI) A Nepali journalist living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was arrested by UAE police officials for publishing social media posts criticising the Nepali Embassy in Abu Dhabi, according to a media watchdog. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned the arrest of the journalist Umakanta Pandey and urged the Nepali government to facilitate his immediate release. Pandey who is affiliated with Ujjyalo Radio Network was arrested on February 15 under cybercrime charges following a statement he published on Facebook when he was in Nepal in early January, in which he accused the Nepali embassy in the UAE of wrongdoing in regards to Visit Visas in the UAE. "The problem of visit visa in UAE will never be solved because the [Nepali] embassy itself is promoting and supporting the visit visa", said Pandey. It is reported that more than 5,000 Nepali citizens travel to the UAE on a visit visa every month, with many suspected of engaging in illegal employment in hopes that they can remain in the UAE. The journalist claimed that he had substantial evidence regarding the misdeeds of the Nepali embassy. According to the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), following his arrest, a court in Dubai sentenced Pandey to three months in prison and issued him a fine of 20,000 Dirham (approx. USD 5444). The FNJ has further revealed that Pandey is facing additional difficulties with hiring a lawyer to represent him during his trial, as Nepali lawyers in the UAE are not willing to take his case for fear of persecution. The FNJ met Nepal's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Narayan Khadka on March 3 to ask the ministry to facilitate the release of Pandey. Following this discussion, the Nepali Embassy in Abu Dhabi also agreed to aid with Pandey's case, despite earlier denying any involvement with the incident. FNJ General Secretary, Roshan Puri, said: "Complaining to the Nepalese embassy about the status written while living in Nepal and arresting and imprisoning a Nepali journalist by the UAE police for cybercrime is against the universal recognition of freedom of expression and a direct interference on freedom of expression. FNJ draws the attention of the Government of Nepal, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nepalese Embassy in the UAE to investigate the incident and take immediate steps for the release of Pandey." IFJ said: "No one should be arrested merely for their opinion. The IFJ urges authorities to immediately withdraw the charges against Umakanta Pandey, and calls on the Nepali government to facilitate his release, and take action on this blatant violation of media freedom." (ANI) Imran Khan government's bizarre interpretation of the floor-crossing clause has not only left legal experts bewildered, but has also demonstrated that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will do anything it takes to ensure the failure of the no-confidence motion in National Assembly, local media reported. The interpretation of the clause by the cabinet members shows how the constitutional government is preparing to stretch the limits of a constitutional process and its requirements to the maximum according to its convenience, the Dawn newspaper reported. The cabinet ministers have insisted that Imran Khan, as the leader of his party, can ask the speaker of the National Assembly to disqualify the dissident PTI MNAs and reject their vote in the no-trust motion if they turn up in the Parliament despite being ordered not to do so as this shows their disobedience against the leader. However, this bizarre interpretation of the floor-crossing clause has been totally rejected by legal experts as the clause is only triggered when a legislator casts his vote against his own party thereby crossing the floor to the other side. Thus, it is voting that is considered the act of floor crossing, and the MNA, therefore, is disqualified. To disqualify a member before he casts his vote is synonymous with punishing a person for his intent instead of his action, according to the media outlet. Moreover, the speaker of the assembly cannot disqualify a member as his role only allows him to determine if a member has crossed the floor and send a reference to the Election Commission if he finds the member guilty. It is the Election Commission that will then decide if the member should be disqualified. Thus, PTI's interpretation of the floor-crossing clause is not only a mockery of the law but also shows their malicious intent to fail the no-trust move in whatever way it is possible. The cabinet ministers stating that they will stop those who plan to defy the orders and still go to parliament shows how the ruling party is threatening its own members and proclaiming the same openly. This has emanated a dread that a constitutional crisis looms large as the government is actually ready and willing to go down any path in order to win, reported the Pakistani publication. Notably, the opposition parties in Pakistan are jettisoning mutual hatred to oust Imran Khan as they submitted the no-trust motion in the National Assembly Secretariat on Tuesday. (ANI) The prices of a number of essential commodities including fuel and wheat increased significantly on Friday following Sri Lanka's decision to relax the controls over the value of the Sri Lankan rupee, local media reported. The Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) depreciated to LKR 260 per US dollar on Thursday, The Island reported. The Sri Lankan Rupee has depreciated by Rs 57 against USD in a span of seven days. The All Ceylon Bakery Owners Association increased the price of a loaf of bread by LKR 30. The new price of a loaf of bread is between 110 and 130 rupees. The country's biggest wheat importer. PRIMA increased the price of a kilogram of wheat flour by LKR 35, the report said. At the same time, the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC,) the country's second-largest retail fuel distributor, increased the selling price of diesel by a massive LKR 75 per litre and petrol by LKR 50 per litre. With the rise in fuel prices, LIOC has effectively taken itself out from the local petroleum market and is pricing its products in line with economic realities, the report said citing Former Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila. In terms of a 2003 agreement between Sri Lanka and India with respect to LIOC's entry into the local market, the Indian enterprise had the right to increase its fuel prices unless Sri Lanka absorbed the losses. LIOC operates 211 fuelling stations in the Island country, the report added. Former Minister Gammanpila said that the country lacked the wherewithal to meet the economic crisis. "There is no point in denying that fact. The sacking of Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila wouldn't make a difference at all," the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader was quoted. He also urged the government to work out a proper strategy at least now. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had removed Gammanpila from the ministerial portfolio on March 3 within 24 hours after a group of dissident constituents of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) unveiled an alternative economic plan, the report said. Sri Lanka has been reeling under a severe economic crisis in recent years, with the COVID-19 pandemic virtually bringing the significant tourism industry of the island country to a standstill. In addition, a foreign exchange crisis, heavy Chinese debts, and a failed move to shift the country's agriculture to 100% organic has intensified the difficult situation. Notably, India in the last six months has provided assistance on several fronts to its island neighbour to tide over its economic crisis. (ANI) The probe is being conducted by the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, Xinhua news agency reported. Last month, a Chinese court has sentenced a former senior political advisor of the Community Party, to life in prison for accepting bribes. The court found out that Ma Ming, who was the Vice-Chairman of Inner Mongolia, had accumulated more than 150 million yuan in wealth and was sentenced to life. (ANI) The acting Foreign Minister of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi will be attending the third regional meeting on Afghanistan to be held in China later this month, a Taliban spokesperson said on Twitter. The announcement comes after the acting Foreign Minister Muttaqi met with China's ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relations as well as the upcoming regional meeting on Afghanistan in China, Tolo News reported. "The meeting focused on enhanced relations between both countries, political and economic issues as well as the convening and participation in the regional foreign ministers' meeting to be held in China at the end of this month," said Hafiz Zia Ahmad, deputy spokesperson of Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Minister Muttaqi said he would attend the meeting (in China), expressing optimism about a favourable outcome for Afghanistan," Ahmad added. Previously, the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that his country is preparing for the third foreign ministers' meeting among the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan, adding that his country is willing to contribute to the durable stability and security in Afghanistan, the report said. The first meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's six neighbouring countries included Iran, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan and was hosted by Pakistan in September last year. The second meeting of the foreign ministers of the regional countries was held in Iran last October in which the participants issued a joint statement and called for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan, the report added. Notably, the Taliban representatives are also attending the ongoing Antalya Diplomacy Summit in Turkey. US Special Representative Thomas West on Friday met Taliban's acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in the Turkish city of Antalya and discussed the political and economic situation in Afghanistan. "With colleagues, Amb Beth Jones, Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts and Charge d'Affaires McCary @USAmbKabul, spent productive time with Taliban delegation. Covered critical issues for the Afghan people: economic stabilization & growth, education, & commercial air travel," West tweeted. (ANI) An independent United States government agency, the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, sent a letter to the Biden administration calling for Russia's expulsion from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) due to the country's invasion of Ukraine, CNN reported on Saturday. The letter was reportedly sent on Friday and was addressed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland. "We urge you to use the US position in Interpol (and in particular Interpol's Executive Committee and its Advisory Group on Financial Matters) to make it clear that any failure to act against Russia's abuse of Interpol will have grave consequences for the U.S. contribution to Interpol's budget and Interpol's legal immunities in the United States," the letter, directed to Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, read. Interpol is a global agency that facilitates police across its 195 member countries to collaborate on criminal investigations. Interpol issues what are known as Red Notices to request the location and arrest of an individual pending their extradition. If Russia is suspended from Interpol, it would bar the country from continuing to participate and therefore put in requests for Red Notices, but it would not remove Red Notices that are already in the system, the report said citing Ted Bromund, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an expert in Interpol. On Thursday, Interpol pledged to change the procedure for accepting requests from Russia amid numerous calls to expel the country from the organization but promised to keep communication channels open, Sputnik News Agency reported. Moscow will not be able to send requests directly to member states. It will have to do it through the general secretariat to be checked for compliance with Interpol rules, the report added. (ANI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday extended greetings to his Mauritian counterpart Alan Ganoo, the Government, and the people of Mauritius on the occasion of their National Day. "Warm greetings to FM Alan Ganoo and the Government and people of Mauritius on the occasion of their National Day. Our Neighbourhood First and SAGAR policies will keep adding to the strength of the truly special #IndiaMauritius partnership," Jaishankar said in a tweet. Mauritius, a small island country in the Indian ocean, celebrates its National day on March 12 to commemorate its independence from British rule on the same day in 1968. India, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives on Thursday agreed upon a roadmap for further cooperation to enhance and strengthen maritime regional security and countering terrorism as well as Transnational Organised Crime at the 5th NSA level meeting of Colombo Security Conclave. Earlier in January, PM Modi and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth jointly inaugurated the India-assisted social housing units project in Mauritius virtually. They also launched the Civil Service College and 8 MW Solar PV Farm projects in Mauritius that are being undertaken under India's development support. "We have pledged to alleviate the housing programmes by building more houses and without losing side on the need to provide other facilities. Thanks to the generous grant of 20 million USD by the government of India and add some 25 million USD under the Indian Line of Credit," the Maldivian Prime Minister had said. (ANI) "Four Nepali nationals have just arrived in Nepal from Ukraine via India. Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi and the Government of India for the assistance in repatriating Nepali nationals through the #OperationGanga," tweeted Deuba. Notably, amid the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, Indian authorities, along with rescuing Indian citizens in the war-torn country, are also extending their help to the foreign nationals stranded there. Earlier, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had also expressed gratitude towards PM Modi for rescuing Bangladeshi nationals stranded in Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga', according to government sources. As per the sources, India had rescued nine Bangladeshis from Ukraine. Further, a Pakistani student, Asma Shafique, who was also rescued by the Indian authorities, had thanked the Indian embassy in Kyiv and PM Modi for their support. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday lauded authorities who facilitated the smooth conduct of 'Operation Ganga' launched by the Government of India to bring back students from war-hit Ukraine. Notably, India has evacuated over 20,000 of its citizens from war-hit Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga'. (ANI) Walter Polovchak, 12, arrives at Juvenile Family Court with his attorney, Julian E. Kulas and his sister Nataly, 17, on July 19, 1980. Walter's father wants to return to Ukraine but Walter wants to stay here. (Roy Hall / Chicago Tribune) A black-and-white photograph from August 1980 shows 12-year-old Walter Polovchak, small and skinny with hair falling onto his forehead, flanked by adults as he walked into a courthouse for a custody hearing. He wore a button-down shirt tucked into slacks and a serious expression. By all accounts, Walter was a normal kid attending a court hearing that was far from an ordinary family dispute. Advertisement Born in Ukraine but taken to Chicago by his parents in 1980, Walter was mired in a geopolitical firestorm between two empires during the Cold War. His parents had decided to go back to Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, but Walter and his older sister, Nataly, refused. He was dubbed the the littlest defector by the media during a yearslong court battle between his parents and the U.S. government that raised complex questions about personal freedoms, parental rights and government overreach. His parents eventually returned to their home country without their two oldest children. Advertisement Decades later, Walter, now 54, lives in Des Plaines with his wife. He has two children and says he lives the life he fought for all those years ago. Walter Polovchak lets his T-shirt express his feelings on Dec. 31, 1981, during a legal setback. "I'm happy to be in America," it says. (Walter Kale / Chicago Tribune) But when Russia invaded Ukraine in February, he began reliving his own early history, his childhood in the Soviet Union and his adolescence embroiled in a fight to stay in the U.S. He condemns the invasion of his home country, which has been independent for about 30 years. Im shocked, heartbroken, Walter told the Tribune. He is a proud Ukrainian American, a hard-won identity intertwined with some of the most significant events in recent world history. In the years since the long court battle, the Soviet Union fell and Ukraine became an independent, democratic country. Walter traveled back and forth and reconciled with his parents, who are now deceased. He met a younger sister who was born after his parents returned to Ukraine. Now, he and his older sister are aghast to watch what is happening in their former home. Theyve sent money, and frequently check on relatives who live there. Until the 23rd of February, I could not in my heart believe Russia would do that. We are brothers and sisters. We are intermixed. We are intermarried, said Nataly Hunt, 59, Walters older sister, adding that she doesnt believe the Russian people support the governments actions. Its evil beyond evil. I fell in love with this country Michael and Anna Polovchak came to the U.S. in January 1980 with their three children: Nataly, Walter and a younger son, Michael. They settled in the Belmont Cragin area of Chicago. Advertisement Walter says he and his sister liked it in the United States. He recalls his surprise going to a grocery store and seeing aisles and aisles of food out in the open, rather than behind a counter. Dogs and cats have their own aisles for food, he said with a chuckle. But about six months after emigrating, his father wanted to return to Ukraine. In his 40s, he had trouble adjusting to a new country, his children said. Walter and Nataly wanted to stay. The standoff which set off a nearly six-year legal battle that cleaved the family in two began on a sunny July day. Walter Polovchak, center, arrives with his attorney Julian E. Kulas to the attorney's office on May 27, 1983, in Chicago. (Bob Fila / Chicago Tribune) In a memoir, Freedoms Child, published in 1988, Walter recalls adjusting the chain on his bike in his cousins yard when he was picked up by police and taken to a police station. Walter and Nataly, then 17, had run away from home to avoid having to return to the Soviet Union. They had been staying with the cousin. At the station, Walter told officers he did not want to return. So instead of taking the boy home, the officers started custody proceedings in Cook County, upon the advice of the State Department, according to legal filings. That day, without his parents, Walter filed an asylum claim, which was later granted. He was also eventually temporarily placed in the states custody. That set off two court battles: one in family state court and one in federal court. Advertisement Walter remembers the difficulty of those years intense media attention, fears that the KGB might be able to reach him in America, and occasionally being picked on in school. But the two eldest Polovchak children have remained steadfast in their decision, grateful for the lives they built in the United States. Life here at the beginning was difficult at times, Walter said, as he had to learn the language and acclimate to a new culture. But he said he enjoyed freedoms here not available in the Soviet Union. Walter Polovchak and his sister Nataly at Walter's eighth grade graduation on June 15, 1983, at Gray Elementary School in Chicago. (Jerry Tomaselli / Chicago Tribune) I was adjusting to life here, learning language, exploring, seeing freedom of religion, movement, speech and press, Walter told the Tribune. I fell in love with this country. Michael and Anna Polovchak eventually returned to Ukraine with their youngest son. They continued fighting to bring their son home, and by the accounts of their lawyers, were devastated. A 1980 Tribune photograph shows Walters father, Michael, after a court hearing. He is slightly hunched over with a hand over his face. An unusual and sensitive case Around 1984, Harvey Grossman, then a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, traveled to the Soviet Union to visit Anna and Michael Polovchak to meet with them about the case. Grossman, on behalf of the ACLU, was representing the parents, arguing that their rights had been violated. Advertisement The whole thing was very upsetting, Grossman recalled to the Tribune. They were all distraught. Outside the court, a pained Michael Polovchak wrestles with the judge's decision to place his son Walter, 12, in the state's custody until a request for permanent residency is reviewed on July 19, 1980. (Walter Neal / Chicago Tribune) The parents were fighting for Walter on two fronts. In state court, their lawyers argued that Walter was improperly removed from his parents custody. The Illinois Appellate Court, and later, state Supreme Court, agreed, reversing a lower courts ruling that made Walter a ward of the state. By that time, though, the Polovchaks had already returned to the Soviet Union, and they could not send for Walter because the U.S. Department of Justice issued an order that said Walter could not be removed from the country. The Polovchaks had additionally filed a claim in federal court that said their rights were violated when a court granted Walter asylum without notifying or hearing from the parents. They argued they were deprived of their right to raise their son. A 1985 opinion from a U.S. appeals court mostly sided with Walters parents and the lower court that had ruled in their favor, though it acknowledged Walter, at 17, has rights that grow more compelling with age. The opinion ruled that the parents rights were violated, but remanded the case back to a lower court to fashion a remedy that takes into account Walters interests as well as those of his parents. But the issue was moot. Walter turned 18 a month after the decision. Advertisement In the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion, the judges wrote that the Polovchak case raises unusual and sensitive issues in the area of federal immigration law. When a minor seeks political asylum over the objections of his family, his interest in choosing his own residence for political purposes is pitted against the right of parents to raise their child in the environment they deem proper, according to the opinion. Walter Polovchak, left, who became a U.S. citizen on Oct. 8, displays his selective service card outside the post office at Adams and Dearborn streets after registering for the draft on Oct. 23, 1985. Polovchak, 18, who refused to return to the Soviet Union with his Ukrainian parents six years earlier, said, "To keep this country strong, you've got to register." He was accompanied by his lawyer, Julian Kulas. (Carl Hugare / Chicago Tribune) Though effectively not applicable to Walter, the ruling was precedent-setting, and was cited more than a decade later in the case of Elian Gonzalez, the 5-year-old boy who was rescued at sea after his mother drowned trying to flee Cuba for Miami. The boys relatives in Miami fought to keep him in the U.S., while his father sought to have him returned to Cuba. The case ignited similar controversies, and the boy was eventually returned to his father. From a legal standpoint, Grossman, the ACLU lawyer, said the Polovchak case was fairly straightforward. It was really the political brouhaha around the case that was complicated and noisy, he said. Grossman believes that if the government which he said had an interest in Walter that was about Cold War politics rather than the childs well-being had stayed out of it, the family would have been able to work through their issues. Advertisement He was a pawn in a political game that was created primarily by the Reagan administration, Grossman said. Praying for Ukraine Today, Walter and Nataly live pleasant lives with their families, far from the dramatic events of their childhood. Russias invasion of their home country, though, gives rise to an eerie feeling of history repeating itself. Nataly recently attended a church service with a multicultural group of friends, including people from Russia and Belarus. The group gathered to pray for peace, and for the people in Ukraine. I feel guilty, looking at myself here everyday, thinking I have health, I have a job, wonderful grandkids, she said, and there are people in my country running for their life. Nataly Hunt is seen at home in Champaign on Friday, March 11, 2022. She and her brother Walter Polovchak sought asylum in the U.S. in the 1980s when their parents wanted to return to Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) Nataly, Walter and their younger brother, who eventually came to the U.S., have been sending money to their family members abroad. They heard from their younger sister that she is safe. Advertisement My cousin sends us messages, Nataly said, adding that he is not far from Kharkiv. Its all constant shelling, constant shooting. Nataly, who now lives in Champaign, spends a lot of time with her church community in prayer. Her Russian friends have been supportive, she said. Looking back, Nataly knows she and Walter had to grow up fast. But both feel grateful they were able to make the choice for themselves to stay in the U.S. Id rather have nothing and be free in mind, Nataly said. mabuckley@chicagotribune.com This comes after Pakistan Prime Minister addressed a public meeting in the Lower Dir district, the Dawn newspaper reported. The election commission has directed him to explain his position and appear before him or send in a lawyer on March 14 for the purpose. "It was conveyed to you that public office holder including prime minister cannot participate in election campaign or canvass in any local council or announce any development scheme after issuance of election schedule," read the notice. The notice added that Imran Khan was advised to abide by the provisions of the revised code of conduct. Ahead of the no-confidence motion against his government, Imran Khan on Friday used derogatory language for Opposition leaders and threatened them with consequences once the motion fails. Imran Khan launched a scathing attack on the troika of opposition figures, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif, the three leaders who are spearheading the no-trust move against him while addressing a public meeting at Dir Scouts Ground in Balambat. Khan referred to the trio of Opposition leaders as "Showbaz Sharif, Diesel and Dakoo". He, however, kept his choicest slur for the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) [JUI-F] chief, brushing aside advice that he himself said had been received from the head of the country's armed forces. (ANI) The use of force by deploying a heavy contingent of police commandos and the anti-terrorist force to expel volunteers of Ansarul Islam from Parliament Lodges shows how the Imran Khan government has now resorted to violence to suppress opponents, reported local media. Notably, Islamabad Police on Thursday night stormed Parliament Lodges and made 19 arrests including key Opposition members of the National Assembly after members of Ansarul Islam, a uniformed volunteer force set up to protect the leadership of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), entered the Parliament Lodges in large numbers, reported the Dawn newspaper. The police commandos broke into the suite of JUI leader Salahuddin Ayubi and arrested activists of Ansarul Islam, dragged them out of the room, shifted them to the police prisoner vans and took them to an unknown place. With Prime Minister Imran Khan issuing warnings of dire consequences for leadership of Opposition parties after the introduction of a no-confidence motion against him, it is not surprising that the JUI-F brought volunteers to their Parliamentary residences, said the media reports, adding that resorting to violence by turning the official residences into a battlefield for hours shows the ire of the government over the no-trust motion moved against it. The situation could have easily been diffused by involving the National Assembly Speaker, who is supposed to ensure that no one is forcibly stopped from casting their votes. However, the government does not seem to want to settle down things, according to the media outlet. The tensions are further aggravated by warnings from Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid that the government would not let anyone take the law into their own hands. Also, the ruling party planning a public meeting near National Assembly a day before the no-confidence vote shows that Imran Khan has decided to first fight the no-trust motion outside the House as his grip on his legislators has loosened. Any further violence by the government, in case the situation is not in its favour, will solidify the popular belief that politicians cannot think beyond power and self-interest in Pakistan, added the media reports. Notably, this comes amid growing discontent against the Imran Khan government, with Pakistan's main Opposition parties moving a no-confidence motion against the Pakistan PM in the National Assembly. (ANI) As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to evolve, some analysts say that Beijing is controlling messaging on the war to favour its strategic ally, Moscow. Observers say Chinese state media outlets, along with social media companies have been suppressing voices critical of Moscow's military action, the Voice of America (VOA) reported. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, which has led to a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Russia. These punitive measures have led many international businesses to leave the Russian market. The Russian Defense Ministry said the "special operation" is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. Since the start of the Russian military operations, the Western countries have accused Beijing of siding with Moscow even as it claims to take a neutral position. Last month, an affiliate of China's state-owned Beijing News, accidentally posted on Weibo, the Chinese Twitter, censorship instructions related to posts on the Russia-Ukraine war, VOA reported. "Do not post anything unfavorable to Russia or pro-Western," the now deleted directive said. "If using hashtags, only use those started by People's Daily, Xinhua, or CCTV." Last week, a popular Chinese video streaming company refused to broadcast English Premier League matches because of the league's planned shows of support for Ukraine. Carl Minzner, a senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Chinese foreign policy "has been locked into a pro-Russia" stance, since the signing of the joint statement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi and Putin issued a 5,000-word joint statement ahead of the Winter Olympics last month outlining how the two nations approached different issues, with the statement released following a meeting of the leaders in Beijing. The New York Times reported last week that Chinese officials asked the Russian government to hold off on invading Ukraine until the end of the Winter Olympics. Yaqiu Wang, a senior researcher on China at HRights Watch said Beijing "prevents Chinese people from knowing the truth" about the conflict since Beijing and Moscow are strategic allies. "Information control has always been the foundation of the Chinese Communist Party's rule of China," Wang told VOA. "Without censorship and propaganda, without covering up its abuses and deceiving the public, the party simply wouldn't be able to stay in power." (ANI) "Discussed the latest developments in #Ukraine and #Cyprus matters w/#EU High Representative @JosepBorrellF on the margins of @AntalyaDF," he tweeted. On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics requested help in defending themselves from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. In response, Western nations have imposed comprehensive sanctions on Moscow. In addition, they introduced sanctions on Belarus, accusing it of supporting Russia's operation in Ukraine. (ANI/Sputnik) The protest was organised by Tibetan Women's Association (TWA). Tibetan women activists protested against China and raised slogans for the freedom of Tibet. "We are remembering the year 1959 where Tibetan women staged a protest in Tibet. We want freedom for Tibetans living inside Tibet," said Lhamo, a Tibetan activist from TWA. Tenzin Passang, an activist from Students for a Free Tibet said, "It's Tibetan women uprising day today and we are protesting to commemorate this day. We demand the world and the international community to see the situation in Tibet and make China accountable for gross human rights violations in Tibet." The Tibetan Uprising in 1959 began as a spontaneous act of peaceful protest demonstrations against the Chinese in the capital Lhasa which later turned violent in which thousands of Tibetans were killed by the marauding soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). (ANI) The enemy forces also destroyed a local oil depot while the fire broke out at an ammunition depot, reported The Kyiv Independent. As the conflict worsens, the death toll continues to rise with each passing day. According to Ukraine's media outlet, Russia's war killed a total of 79 Ukrainian children. The Prosecutor General's Office said that almost 100 children have been injured since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The indicative estimates of Russia's losses were shared by the media outlet on its Twitter handle. As per the data as of March 12, according to the Armed forces of Ukraine, more than 12,000 enemy forces have been killed with 362 tanks being destroyed. Moreover, 83 Russian helicopters, 62 MLRs, 58 planes and 585 vehicles have been knocked out. Additionally, 135 artillery pieces, 60 fuel tanks, 7 UAVs, 1205 armoured personnel carriers and 33 anti-aircraft warfare have been ruined. On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics requested help in defending themselves. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. The west however denies these claims by the Russians and in response, Western nations have imposed comprehensive sanctions on Moscow. In addition, they introduced sanctions on Belarus, accusing it of supporting Russia's operation in Ukraine. (ANI) Chinese government is using Uyghur-speaking government officials and other individuals to promote the idea of cultural nourishment as a way of forcing Uyghurs to give up their ethnic and cultural identities and promote Chinese culture. This was reflected in the address delivered by the Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 2022 sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC), and its advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) this week. Slogans from an address to parliament by Xi -- including "cultural nourishment" and the "consciousness of the whole of the Chinese nation" -- were immediately promoted by pro-government representatives from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), drawing scorn from the Uyghur diaspora, reported the Radio Free Asia. Dilnar Abdullah, an ethnic Uyghur dancer and a CPPCC representative is being used by the Chinese authorities to promote the "consciousness of the unity of the Chinese nation". She is also working to assimilate Chinese culture into school education in Xinjiang. This is an old and familiar tactic used by the Chinese government to promote the adoption of Chinese culture in Xinjiang. Statements by Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, U.S.-based vice chairman of the Executive Committee of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) tell the same story. "The Chinese government uses them, so of course, they champion ethnic unity," he said. "What they're calling cultural nourishment here is assimilation by means of Chinese culture." Some Uyghurs have become a puppet for the Chinese regime. They have become government mouthpieces. Kokbore called Dilnar and the other Chinese government appointees "puppets". We can say she is a tool of theirs. If they tell her to do something, she does it. In this way, the Chinese government can say they're doing things that Uyghurs themselves want," he added. For years, Chinese authorities have subjected Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in Xinjiang to arbitrary arrests and detentions in internment camps, physical abuse, and restrictions on their religious practices and culture in what the United States and legislatures of several other Western countries say amounts to genocide and crimes against humanity. (ANI) A 31-year-old British Pakistani man Muhammad Gohir Khan, charged for conspiring to kill Netherlands-based blogger and activist, Ahmad Waqass Goraya was sentenced to life in prison at the Kingston-upon-Thames court on Friday. Khan will serve a prison term of 13 years, inclusive of the days already served in custody and only after that he will be eligible for parole. Gohir Khan was charged in June last year with conspiracy to murder Goraya. During the trial, the prosecution maintained that Khan was hired by persons who appeared to be based in Pakistan to carry out the "intended killing" of Goraya. The prosecution said that Khan had travelled to Rotterdam, Netherlands last year as part of a conspiracy to murder Goraya and that he had undertaken a reconnaissance mission outside his home and even bought a tool with the aim to succeed in his mission. It further reported that the financial rewards for his actions were believed to be significant, with a payment of 100,000 on offer. At the time, the prosecution said, the defendant was in significant debt, with no clear means of paying his creditors. Khan was "enthusiastic" about "carrying out the killing to earn the money and to carry out further attacks" in the future, the prosecution told the jury.The jury was also told how Pakistan-based middleman Muzamil allegedly contacted Khan in 2021 with an offer to pay 80,000 for the job while telling him about his own commission of 20,000. It is unclear who Muzamil was working for, but evidence that 5,000 was paid into a Pakistani bank account and received through a hundi transfer in London was shared in the court.At the last hearing, the jury had heard the defence counsel make a final statement in which the prosecution's allegations against defendant Khan were rebuffed. Though Khan was born and largely raised in the UK, he left for Lahore when he was 13 to attend school and lived as a boarding student at the Sharif Education Complex. He returned to London in 2007, without taking final exams for he had to struggle with lessons often being in Urdu. Khan is the third youngest of six siblings. His parents moved from Pakistan to the UK in the 1970s. He was born and raised in London and has lived at his Forest Gate address his entire life. He is married with six children aged between 11 and three. (ANI) On Twitter, Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka wrote, "Keenly look forward to welcoming Hon'ble Finance Minister @RealBRajapaksa to #India next week. His visit will consolidate ongoing efforts to further strengthen the economic partnership." In the mid of January, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar held a virtual meeting with the Sri Lankan Finance Minister where the two Ministers reviewed the progress in extending the Indian credit facility of USD 1 billion for importing food, essential items and medicine and USD 500 mn for importing fuel from India. Jaishankar, during the meet, said that India will continue to extend a helping hand to Sri Lanka amid these tough times of the COVID-19 pandemic. As per the statement by MEA, the two Ministers agreed to remain in close touch for guiding mutually beneficial bilateral economic cooperation towards long-term economic partnership for shared progress and prosperity. (ANI) Baloch Voice Association in Geneva, Switzerland organized exhibitions, conferences and seminars to protest against thousands of cases of enforced disappearances in Pakistan's Balochistan region. The three-day program on enforced disappearances organised by BVA elicited overwhelming responses from media and members of the public. Media houses such as France 24, UN media and local media all covered the events. Eminent speakers deliberated on the topic. The sum and substance of the discussions in the conference were that known cases of enforced disappearances in 2021, which are backed by evidence, was 1156 in Pakistan. It had tripled in 2021. Of these 266 were women, 28 children were under 13. On account of pressure, both international and domestic, 344 were released. Those released were not necessarily those detained in 2021 but include those who have been in detention for a long time. Significantly, 162 dead bodies were also released. According to the Human Rights Council of Balochistan, only during the month of December 2021, more than 63 people were abducted and are missing while 37 were killed. According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, 8122 cases of enforced disappearances have been registered officially. Most of them are still unresolved. Independent local and international human rights organizations put the numbers much higher. 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 3000 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture. Human rights group Amnesty International has called for Pakistani authorities to end the use of enforced disappearances as a tool of state policy, as it releases a new briefing documenting the effect of such illegal abductions on the families of those who go missing. Earlier, in January 2014 a mass grave was discovered in the Tootak area of Khuzdar. 167 bodies were recovered from the site. Human rights organisations believed the bodies belonged to previously abducted individuals who were killed and dumped however the recovered bodies were later buried by authorities without any DNA testing. Pakistan's establishment has been long criticized over its practice of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by International bodies and local human rights organisations that dare to speak out on the issue. Before being elected as Prime Minister, Imran Khan had admitted in multiple TV interviews the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and vowed to resign if he was unable to put an end to the practice, holding those involved responsible. Families of the abducted victims have long been protesting for the safe recovery of their loved ones in the provincial capital Quetta, and their protest camp has now completed more than 4608 days. The organizers of the campaign have long been engaged in efforts to highlight the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan at international platforms, organising events around Europe and in the United States, focusing on advocacy activities in the European Parliament, the US parliamentary houses, and the United Nations. (ANI) 'Before Next Spring,' a film about a Chinese student drifting through Japan while forming friendships with people he encounters, was released nationwide on March 11. As Li Gen's directorial debut, "Before Next Spring" tells the story of exchange student Li Xiaoli (played by actor Xie Chengze), who goes to Japan to study in a remote part of Tokyo called Fuchinobe for a year. Being clumsy and reluctant to bother his family, he looks for work to support himself but repeatedly suffers from failures. With the help of his alumnus Qiu Qiu (played by actress Qiu Tian), he finally finds a job in Nankokute, a Chinese restaurant, where the acting manager Guan Wei (played by actress Qi Xi) decides to take care of him. However, trouble ensues when clerk Qingmu (played by actor Niu Chao) regards him as his love rival. Li Gen's own experiences in Japan inspired the semi-autobiographical drama. It is very much an ensemble piece with Matthieu Laclau and Tsai Yann-Shan skillfully weaving together the appealing characters and exploring the themes of contemporary youth, loneliness, and goodbyes. "I chose the subject of goodbyes because I missed the warmth in life and family love at home," Li said at the premiere held on March 6 in Beijing. "First, I wanted to portray these characters and their relationship in my film, but later I found every one of them was facing a kind of farewell. So the theme of farewell found me." Xie Chengze, the leading actor, also studied in Japan. "It is not easy living overseas. When I acted the character during the filming, I borrowed experiences from my own too." Li is the son of famous actor Li Xuejian, a household name in China, who suffered from nasopharynx cancer more than two decades ago. Li Gen's mother, Yu Haidan, rarely appears at public events, but she showed up at the premiere to congratulate her son on his film and thanked everyone who supported their family. "I felt if I became a director, my father might not have been so tired and hardworking anymore. Maybe I could even earn some honors and make him proud. But at last, I found being a director is not easy and is a tough job," Li Gen said. Li Xuejian has healed from cancer and started participating in some movie and TV projects. According to his wife Yu, he is currently filming his role in the upcoming and much-anticipated sequel to the Chinese sci-fi blockbuster "The Wandering Earth." Director's father had attended an advanced screening at last year's Beijing International Film Festival, where "Before Next Spring" was shortlisted to compete for the festival's Tiantan Award. "He presented this film as a birthday gift to me. After I finished, I thought, this lad can direct," Li Xuejian said at the time. China's aspirations to become a great power in the Arctic region is hanging in the balance as Russia's invasion of Ukraine will surely increase the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Arctic region, reported The Arctic Institute, a thinktank involved with dedicated research on Arctic security. Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has intensified the cooperation between NATO and Finland and Sweden, the two Arctic nations that are not members of NATO. On March 3, the seven nations Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, in a joint statement condemned Russia's 'unprovoked invasion' of Ukraine and noted the 'grave impediments to international cooperation, including in the Arctic, that Russia's actions have caused.' In the Arctic, it is hard to imagine that the US, Canada or the five Nordic countries would want to deepen economic cooperation or integrate China into regional decision-making forums in case it chose the siding with Putin's Russia. China is having difficulties in choosing sides in the conflict. Putin hoped that China at the international forum will support Russia however China chose not to vote. At the same time, China has criticized the Western sanctions against Russia. The seven members of the Arctic Council, have temporarily paused participation in all meetings of the Arctic Council in light of 'Russia's flagrant violation' of Arctic Council principles. The future of Arctic governance is uncertain as it is difficult to imagine that the leaders of the other seven Arctic states would travel to the ministerial meeting on the Arctic Council in Russia, reported the think tank. Notably, the Arctic Council works towards the Arctic as a "region of peace, stability and constructive cooperation, that is a vibrant, prosperous, sustainable and secure home for all its inhabitants, including Indigenous Peoples, and where their rights and wellbeing are respected." In 2018, China published its first-ever Arctic strategy. The Chinese government declared: "As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China shoulders the important mission of jointly promoting peace and security in the Arctic." However, in the current circumstances, the Ukraine war poses a major challenge for China's arctic vision. Climate Change also constitutes a key security threat in the Arctic and China remains the biggest carbon emitter in the world. China's anti-American sentiments will also become a hurdle for the country to fulfil its aspirations it has for the Arctic region. Moreover, the Ukraine crisis will have a very negative impact on the world economy, and therefore, on China's economic growth. The closure of the Russian airspace is likely to disrupt the transportation of cargo between China and Europe. Moreover, the Ukraine crisis will have very negative impacts on the world economy, and therefore, on China's economic growth. Due to coronavirus restrictions, there are no Chinese tourists travelling to Europe but the closure of the Russian airspace is likely to disrupt the transportation of cargo between China and Europe. (ANI) UN human rights chief said that she is talking to the Taliban about serious human rights abuses that threaten the country's women and girls, Khaama Press reported. Bachelet further said that despite being threatened in recent months, Afghan women and girls have continued to demand justice for their rights in recent months. According to Bachelet, Afghan women and girls must play an active role in demonstrating fearlessness, expressing an open mind about society's problems and finding ways to reflect their realities and aspirations, Khaama Press reported. Taliban imposed a number of restrictions on women and girls after taking power last year in Afghanistan. The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically since the Taliban took control of Kabul. A combination of a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions on the Taliban, have plunged the country, already suffering from high poverty levels, into a full-blown economic crisis. (ANI) Pakistan's joint opposition accused the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser of not being neutral on the no-confidence move against the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and has decided to bring a no-trust motion against him. Raising questions over neutrality, a total of 100 members of the National Assembly (MNAs) of the joint opposition have signed a no-trust move against the Speaker. "We are bringing a no-trust move against him as he las lost his neutrality," they alleged. The opposition accused the speaker of calling MNAs and summoning them for meetings. Notably, if a no-confidence motion is submitted against the National Assembly speaker then he would not be able to chair the proceedings of the assembly, reported ARY News. This comes at a time when Fawad Chaudhry, Information and Broadcasting Minister said that the National Assembly Speaker would not accept any vote going against the party lines citing article 63 (1) (a) of the Constitution. "The National Assembly Speaker will not accept such votes against the party lines," he said and added, "the speaker has the authority to give declaration under the article 63 (1) (a)," reported the news channel. Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman exuded confidence in the success of the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against Prime Minister Imran Khan as he claimed to have the support of over 172 members in the National Assembly (MNAs), local media reported. Notably, in order to make the no-confidence motion against the prime minister successful, the joint opposition requires the support of 172 MNAs. The Opposition parties in Pakistan are jettisoning mutual hatred to oust Imran Khan as they submitted the no-trust motion in the National Assembly secretariat on Tuesday. However, the Imran Khan government has exuded confidence to defeat the no-trust motion. (ANI) Badly dependent on Chinese loans and investments to shore up its sagging economy, Pakistan endorsed all the acts of human rights violation by China, said a media report. Di Valerio Fabbri, writing in Geopolitica.info said China's all-weather ally Pakistan has given a decent burial to its own Muslim identity to support Beijing in the Uyghur issue, as well as in Hong Kong and Tibet. Earlier, in an interview with CNN while the Winter Olympics was on, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, turned a blind eye to the suppression of Muslims of the Uyghur community in China and said the situation in the Uyghur Autonomous Region was not what the Western media portrayed, Fabbri said. Following a meeting between Imran Khan and President of China Xi Jinping in Beijing, a joint declaration said, "The Pakistan side expressed its 'commitment to One - China Policy' and support for China on Taiwan, South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinxiang and Tibet." Pakistan endorsed all the acts of human rights violation by China even as 243 global groups called for action against China over human rights violations on the eve of the Winter Olympics, Fabbri said. "The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will open amid atrocity, crimes and other grave human rights violations by the Chinese government, 243 NGOs from around the world said today," said the Human Rights Watch in a recent statement last January, Geopolitica.info reported. While talking to a group of visiting Chinese journalists in Islamabad, however, Imran Khan revealed the real reason behind his endorsement of the oppression by China of fellow Muslims in Xinxiang. The Chinese version was completely different from what was appearing in the western media he acknowledged. "Because of our extreme proximity and relationship with China, we actually accept the Chinese version," he said, as quoted in Dawn newspaper. Imran Khan, the self-proclaimed champion of the Islamic causes, has no way but to support China's suppression of Uyghur Muslims in Xinxiang. Caught in the web of Belt and Road Initiative and with growing dependence on China for economic aid, leaders in Pakistan have no option but to publicly support China's policies, even oppression of fellow Muslims, Geopolitica.info reported. Khan in his visit to Beijing for the Winter Olympics committed to the Chinese to strengthen the flagship BRI project in China, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is facing several problems in Pakistan. Common people in Pakistan are unhappy with CPEC for issues like forcible land acquisition, inadequate compensation and the overbearing presence of the military in public life. Khan during his visit to Beijing also signed an agreement with China to begin the second phase of the CPEC; and in the bargain endorsed China's oppression of fellow Uyghur Muslims. Though Imran Khan before coming to power was a critic of CPEC because of the secrecy surrounding it and unequal priorities in investment, leaving some provinces of Pakistan neglected. Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, when in opposition, had demanded complete transparency in CPEC investments, Geopolitica.info reported. Dawn, too, in an editorial had demanded greater transparency in Chinese financing of CPEC projects. US-based international development research lab AidData said in a report in 2021 that a substantial chunk of Chinese development financing under the CPEC consisted not of grants but loans at or near commercial rates, Geopolitica.info reported. About half of this so-called development finance was in the form of export buyers' credit, money lent by Chinese institutions to Pakistan for purchase of equipment and goods to be bought by Chinese companies partnering in the implementation of projects. The details of these lending do not appear in books of the Pakistan government, Geopolitica.info reported. (ANI) Zelenskyy said that he requested Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to mediate peace talks. "We spoke with (Israeli Prime Minister Naftali) Bennett, and I said that today it is not right [to hold] meetings in Russia, in Belarus. I'm not talking about technical meetings - I'm talking about leaders' meetings. Do I think that Israel can be such a land, and Jerusalem? Yes, I think so. And I told him that," RT News quoted Zelensky as saying. So far, Russian and Ukrainian delegations have met three times in Belarus to discuss the ongoing conflict. Apart from reaching some understanding on establishing humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from the combat zones, the two sides have failed to achieve any tangible results, RT News reported. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron have urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to call an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. "Scholz, Macron urge Putin to call an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron made the proposal during a call with Vladimir Putin on March 12," The Kyiv Independent tweeted. (ANI) Pakistan's Finance Ministry confirmed that there is an acute shortage of Wheat in Pakistan and asserted that the wheat stocks in the country stand at 3.3 million tons which is barely enough to last through the end of April given annual demand of 30 million tons. Echoing similar sentiment was Pakistani President Imran Khan's announcement last week to import two million tons of wheat from Russia. This move was taken to augment the country's depleting reserves, reported Business Recorder. The yield of the most commonly used staple, wheat was also lower than last year. A press release by the Finance Ministry confirmed that wheat sowing was achieved only at 8.98 million hectares, 2.2 per cent lower than last year. However, with the current situation in mind, only a bumper yield of over 3.2 tons per ha can help the country. Else, the exorbitant import bill will be hard for Pakistan to pay in midst of the economic crisis that the country is going through. Moreover, the market is witnessing extreme volatility due to ongoing conflict in the Black Sea region, it is unlikely that prices will stay within this range for more than six months. According to BR Research's in-house estimates, Pakistan's wheat import bill in the worst-case scenario may climb up to USD 4.25 billion during FY23, with likely import bills clocking between USD 2.5 - USD 3.5 billion. Although this represents a tremendous year-on-year increase over the estimated import bill of USD 0.75 billion during FY22 (and nearly USD 1 billion in FY21), coughing up an additional USD 2 - USD 3 billion is not impossible for an economy of Pakistan's size. Consider that Pakistan's cotton import bill doubled from USD 0.75 billion to USD 1.5 billion between FY19 and FY21, reported Business Recorder. (ANI) US Senator Marco Antonio Rubio has called for the release of a Hindu teacher Notan Lal who was falsely accused of blasphemy and imprisoned for 25 years in Pakistan's Sindh province. "Notan Lal was arrested for committing "blasphemy" based on false testimony and sentenced to 25 yrs in a Pakistan prison. Sen Rubio calls for Lal's release and an end to the persecution in Pakistan, a country of particular concern for religious freedom violations #ExpressionNOToppression," Rubio tweeted. Currently, Notan Lal is in a prison in Sukkur in Sindh. He has a wife and four children. "Notan Lal is detained for blasphemy-related offenses," the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a statement. On September 15, 2019, Lal, the owner and principal of a private school in Ghotki, was detained after a student accused him of insulting the Prophet Muhammad during an Urdu lesson. Lal was charged with "insulting the Prophet Muhammad" (Sec. 295-C), according to the USCIRF statement. The accusation against Lal prompted protests and riots in Ghotki, where a Hindu temple was vandalized and Lal's school was damaged. On February 7, 2022, Lal was sentenced to life in prison and fined 50,000 rupees, the statement added. In a recent study on the blasphemy issue in Pakistan, a local Think Tank, Centre for Research and Security Studies had revealed that from 1947 to 2021, as many as 89 people were extra-judicially killed over blasphemy accusations in the country. It further stated that a total of 1,287 citizens were accused of committing blasphemy from 2011-21, the period in which Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) remained most active and expanded its support base across the country, reported European Times. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's government's failure to control incidents of blasphemy and an apparent soft- corner for the extremist Islamist groups, for political purposes, will have far-wider consequences for Pakistan in the coming months. In addition, the Taliban's victory in Afghanistan has emboldened the hard-line Islamist forces in Pakistan. All these factors are indicating that there will be more incidents of blasphemy killings. (ANI) "The lists are ready," Ryabkov said on Russian broadcaster Channel One, adding that the sanctions will be made public soon, reported Xinhua. According to Ryabkov, Moscow sees no indication that the United States was ready to continue dialogue on Ukraine. The diplomat also warned Washington against transferring weapons to Ukraine, adding that these weapons will become legitimate targets for the Russian forces, reported the news agency. On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics requested help in defending themselves. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. The West however denies these claims by the Russians and in response, Western nations have imposed comprehensive sanctions on Moscow. In addition, they introduced sanctions on Belarus for supporting Russia's operation in Ukraine. (ANI) Members of the Tibetan community and other activists marked the 63rd anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day outside the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on Saturday. Remembering their homeland that has been under illegal Chinese occupation since 1950, the protestors recalled the loss of their language, culture and way of life in Tibet, and urged the world to join their voice for freedom of Tibet from the Chinese yoke. Later in the day, they were joined by more supporters, and over 60 persons gathered in Asakusa, a busy area that is rich with cultural and religious symbolism. They raised slogans and expressed their worry over continuing human rights violations by China in ethnic minority areas. The organisers called the Chinese government to respect its own Constitution and give the ethnic minorities in China their basic rights so that they do not feel like second class citizens, even if they are living under occupation by a brutal regime. March 10 marks a very important day for Tibetan people all over the world. It was on this day in 1959, when the Tibetans revolted against the forcible occupation of their motherland by the Chinese Communist Party. The Tibetan uprising in 1959 began as a spontaneous act of peaceful protest demonstrations against the Chinese in the capital Lhasa which later turned violent in which thousands of Tibetans were killed by the marauding soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). (ANI) "Russians shot at a column of women and children in Kyiv region, who were trying to evacuate along a previously agreed "green" corridor. The result of this brutal act - seven dead. One of them is a child," the Ukrainian defence ministry said in a Tweet. Media outlet The Kyiv Independent reported that the attack took place on March 11 as a column of women and children was leaving the village Peremoha in Kyiv Oblast, using the approved corridor. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of targeting a humanitarian corridor. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba today said that Russians are trying to organize a sham separatist "referendum" in Kherson, mimicking what they did in eastern Ukraine and Crimea in 2014. "Following 2014 playbook, Russians now desperately try to organize a sham 'referendum' for a fake 'people's republic' in Kherson. Given zero popular support, it will be fully staged. Severe sanctions against Russia must follow if they proceed. Kherson is & will always be Ukraine," Kuleba tweeted. Notably, Kherson has been under the control of the Russian forces. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President's aide Mykhailo Podolyak said that the negotiations with Russian delegation are underway in a continuous video format. Among the top priorities of the talks is expanding and setting up humanitarian corridors, especially for the city of Mariupol, according to the state-run media. However, the delegations met in person three times, with no conclusive results. The last meeting on the Russia Ukraine war took place on March 7. (ANI) China's commitment to pursuing high-quality development and building a community with a shared future for mankind has drawn global attention during its annual "two sessions," and will further benefit the world, say experts worldwide. This year's "two sessions," the gatherings of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, held closing meetings on Friday and Thursday respectively. Such topics as expanding high-level opening-up, promoting green development and boosting global cooperation have received intense global attention. China has made important contributions to promoting world economic recovery, providing development dividends, and boosting global sustainable development, said overseas experts, noting that China's development experience can also be helpful for other countries. BOOST GLOBAL COOPERATION Munshi Faiz Ahmad, former chair of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, said since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has been playing a very constructive role in an effort to enhance cooperation among countries to combat the virus in a coordinated manner. He also said that China has been sharing resources with many countries, rich and poor, in an effort to defeat the pandemic, adding that "China has succeeded in doing this because the democratic will of the people of China was fully behind the government policies as well expressed through the two sessions." Antoine Roger Lokongo, a professor of international politics and strategies at the Joseph Kasa-Vubu University, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, noted that Africa and other developing countries could learn from China's development. China's aid and investment are "profoundly transforming Africa, especially in fields of infrastructure and rural development," said Lokongo. PRIORITIZE OPENING-UP It is "enormously reassuring" that China continues to be committed to the process of opening-up at the "two sessions," said John Pang, a senior fellow at Bard College, New York. Pang noted that it is good to see China's support for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a major free trade deal which came into force on Jan. 1 in China and nine other countries. Khairy Tourk, a professor of economics with the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, said "We see foreign direct investment flowing into China," adding that giants like Tesla and Apple are expanding their operations in China. "I think the world feels grateful to China and its economic planners to keep the country on a trajectory that would promise better economic conditions not only in China but in the rest of the world," Tourk argued. PROMOTE GREEN DEVELOPMENT China is taking good steps to promote a green and low-carbon economy, said Alexandre Sebuhura, a senior lecturer of development studies at Kigali Independent University, Rwanda. Global challenges, for example climate change, will be dealt with once all countries push for co-existence between human and nature, Sebuhura added. Kostas Gouliamos, former rector of European University Cyprus, noted that China, sticking to people-centered policies, has moved faster to nurture green new drivers with the purpose of establishing a green technology innovation system. Tolo News reported citing officials of the intelligence department of Kunduz that these people have been arrested after separate operations in different parts of the province. "In connection with this incident, we have arrested a group of four people who martyred two members of the Islamic Emirate forces and seven vaccinators, including four women and two men. The perpetrators have pleaded guilty," said Mawlawi Najibullah Haroon, chief of the Kunduz intelligence department, Tolo News reported. According to the media outlet, the detainees have confessed to killing seven vaccinators and two members of the Islamic Emirate. "I was sent to Kunduz to go there and kill the Mujahideen and the vaccinators," said Abdul Qadir, one of the detainees. "There were four of us in the case of the murder of a passenger in the Angorbagh area, we confess to our crime," said Samiullah, another detainee. The seven health workers administering vaccinations were killed more than two weeks ago in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province, Tolo News reported. The families of the victims are asking the Islamic Emirate to punish the perpetrators. (ANI) "Russia's invasion threatens not just Ukraine's democracy; it threatens democracy and security across Europe," CNN reported quoting Harris who was speaking at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting on Saturday in Washington. Speaking about her recent trip to Poland and Romania, Harris said that she emphasized that the "greatest strength" of the alliance is its unity. "The United States stands firmly with the Ukrainian people in defense of the NATO alliance," Harris said further. On March 10, US Vice President announced nearly USD 53 million in new humanitarian assistance to support civilians affected in Ukraine. "During her trip to Warsaw, Poland, today, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced nearly USD 53 million in new humanitarian assistance from the United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to support innocent civilians affected by Russia's unjustified invasion of Ukraine," the White House said in a statement. According to the statement, this additional assistance includes support to the UN World Food Program (WFP) to provide lifesaving emergency food assistance to meet immediate needs of hundreds of thousands affected by the invasion, including people who are displaced from their homes and who are crossing the border out of Ukraine. In addition, it will support WFP's logistics operations to move assistance into Ukraine, including to people in Kyiv. (ANI) According to Pakistani newspaper Dawn, on December 3, 2021, Kumara, 49, who was the manager of a factory in district Sialkot, was lynched by a mob, comprising hundreds of protesters, including the employees of his factory. The mob had tortured him to death and later burnt his body. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against 900 workers of Rajco Industries by Uggoki Station House Officer, Armaghan Maqt under sections 302, 297, 201, 427, 431, 157, 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7 and 11WW of the Anti-Terrorism Act. ATC judge Natasha Naseem chaired the case's hearing in Lahore's Kot Lakhpati jail on Saturday and summoned 14 prosecution witnesses on Monday. Meanwhile, all the accused pleaded not guilty. In the trial, challans were distributed among 40 witnesses and all the accused. According to challans, videos, digital evidence, DNA evidence, forensic evidence, eyewitnesses, including Kumara's colleague who had tried to save him from the mob, were made part of the investigation, Dawn reported. It further revealed that the footage from 10 digital video recorders in the factory was sent for forensic analysis, while the accused were traced through the videos from social media and footage recovered from the mobile phones of 56 accused. (ANI) Sergei Ryabkov, the country's Deputy Foreign Minister, said Russia has warned the United States of the consequences of arms transfers to Ukraine. Convoys with foreign weapons recklessly supplied to Ukraine will become legitimate targets for the Russian armed forces, he said. He also added that lists of retaliatory personal sanctions against the US and the West are ready and will be made public soon. In addition, Ryabkov said that Russia could resume a security dialogue with the US if Washington is ready for it, Ukrayinska Pravda reported. At the same time, Ryabkov noted that he "would not say that Russia's proposals on security guarantees remain fully in force, as the situation has changed". Ukraine has claimed that the Russian command has enlisted recruits and "alternatives" -- conscripts who work as community service workers instead of military service -- against Ukraine. A video made public by the Ukrainian Security Service shows a man saying that his unit, which was abandoned in Ukraine, was formed from "alternative conscripts" who were not supposed to be deployed for military operations or even tours of duty. According to the captured "alternative", their military task was to divert fire from the Ukrainian armed forces while some more trained personnel carried out military operations. --IANS san/arm ( 240 Words) 2022-03-12-20:56:03 (IANS) Ukraine armed forces said that two Russian helicopters were shot down in Kherson Oblast, according to a local media outlet. The Kyiv Independent reported that one of the pilots reportedly survived and will be taken to the hospital. Earlier Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Russians are trying to organize a sham separatist "referendum" in Kherson, mimicking what they did in eastern Ukraine and Crimea in 2014. "Following 2014 playbook, Russians now desperately try to organize a sham 'referendum' for a fake 'people's republic' in Kherson. Given zero popular support, it will be fully staged. Severe sanctions against Russia must follow if they proceed. Kherson is and will always be Ukraine," Kuleba tweeted. On Sunday, Ukraine said that the Russian fired at the convoy that was evacuating women and children in the Kyiv region, killing seven people including one child. "Russians shot at a column of women and children in Kyiv region, who were trying to evacuate along a previously agreed "green" corridor. The result of this brutal act - seven dead. One of them is a child," the Ukrainian Defence Ministry said in a tweet. The Kyiv Independent reported that the attack took place on March 11 as a column of women and children were leaving the village Paremoha in Kyiv Oblast, using the approved corridor. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of targeting a humanitarian corridor. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President's aide Mykhailo Podolyak said that the negotiations with the Russian delegation are underway in the continuous video format.Among the top priorities of the talks is expanding and setting up a humanitarian corridor, especially for the city of Mariupol, according to the state-run media. However, the delegations met in person three times, with no conclusive results. The last meeting on the Russia Ukraine war took place on March 7. (ANI) According to Pajhwok Afghan News, the figures do not include casualties inflicted by natural disasters in the country. Reports say that unidentified gunmen killed five members of a family, including three children, in Herat city. A body was recovered while unknown gunmen killed a man in Baghlan province's capital Pul-i-Khumri. Reports showed four people were injured when a mortar shell exploded in Tirinkot. Similar explosion claimed the lives of three people and injured one in Ghazni province. In Helmand's Marja district seven people were injured when a mortar shell exploded, Pajhwok Afghan News reported. Further, a girl body was found in Dasht-i-Barchi area of Kabul last week. In Qala-i-Naw, the capital of Badghis province, a woman committed suicide, two people were killed in the Pasaband district of Ghor province while two people were wounded in a blast in Faizabad. Last week, two teachers and a student were wounded in security forces firing in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province, in Kabul city's Baraki Square a security personnel killed two people when a personal dispute turned violent. In Balkh province capital Mazar-i-Sharif, intelligence personnel shot dead a man when he refused to stop at a checkpoint. According to reports, a money changer was killed in the Sancharak district of Sar-i-Pul province. At least nine people were killed and 24 others injured in the previous week, according to reports, said the Afghan media outlet. (ANI) New York [US], March 13 (ANI/Xinhua): The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced Saturday that 10,200 children were killed or injured since the conflict escalated in Yemen nearly seven years ago. "The actual number is likely much higher," UNICEF Representative to Yemen Philippe Duamelle said in a statement. "Following the intensification of the conflict in 2021, violence has continued to escalate this year and as always children are the first and most to suffer," Duamelle said.Just over the first two months of this year, 47 children were reportedly killed or maimed in several locations across Yemen, he added. The statement noted that "violence, misery and grief have been commonplace in Yemen with severe consequences on millions of children and families. It is high time that a sustainable political solution is reached for people and their children to finally live in the peace they so well deserve." Yemen has been mired in a civil war since the Houthi militia overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014. (ANI/Xinhua) A $700m superyacht being repaired in an Italian dry dock may belong to Vladimir Putin, according to US intelligence officials. The ownership of the 459ft Scheherazade has come under close scrutiny since Russias unprovoked assault on Ukraine, and the vessel could be associated with Mr Putin, intelligence officials told The New York Times. American officials told the newspaper that no final conclusions on ownership have been made, but the link backs up a claim made by a former crew member that it was for Mr Putins use. The officials say that Mr Putin keeps little of his personal wealth in his own name, instead using homes and boats that are held in the name of Russian oligarchs. Mr Putin spent long periods during the Covid-19 pandemic in the Black Sea city of Sochi, where the Scheherazade made trips in the summers of 2020 and 2021, the officials added. The Biden administration is investigating ownership of super yachts associated with Russian oligarchs as part of the enormous sanctions levied on Russia. The yacht is currently undergoing repairs in the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara. Guy Bennett-Pearce, the Scheherazades captain, has denied that Mr Putin owns the yacht, or has even has put a foot onboard it. If the US government wanted to seize the yacht out would need the help of the Italian government before it left for Russian waters. Following US and European Union sanctions against Russia, officials impounded a 213ft yacht owned by Alexei Mordashov in Imperia, Italy and Igor Sechins 280-foot yacht in the French port of La Ciotat. Under US and most European laws, the frozen assets remain owned by the oligarch but cannot be transferred or sold. Both men will continue to own their yachts but will be prevented by authorities from moving them to pro-Russian locations. To seize a yacht government prosecutors would have to prove that the property was part of a crime. Mar. 11Leonard Cummings got the news late Thursday night. The U.S. Senate had just approved a $1.7 million federal budget appropriation to complete the restoration of the Abyssinian Meeting House, a Portland landmark that is one of the oldest Black churches in the United States. The funding is part of more than $200 million allocated for 105 Maine projects included in a $1.5 trillion omnibus funding package that's now on its way to be signed by President Biden. "I'm still jumping in my seat," Cummings, 87, said Friday morning. "All you can do is praise the Lord and the spirits of yesterday. How can you express 25 years of struggle? All I can say is, 'Thank you.' " Cummings and his family have led the Committee to Restore the Abyssinian since the city sold the boarded-up, fire-damaged, tax-delinquent building to the restoration group for $250 in 1998. Through the years, the group struggled to raise just over $1 million to restore the timber frame building from its brick-and-mortar basement to its hand-hewn roof beams. Volunteer members pieced together funding from various sources, including federal agencies, historical foundations and anonymous donors. But as of 2020, they still needed more than $1 million to complete the project as a learning center and community meeting space. Their efforts got much needed attention and a funding boost following the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement that it awakened in Maine. The Abyssinian was included in the 2020 Juneteenth rally and protest march through Portland, and it was featured in a Press Herald story about Cummings and the committee. "People here responded so beautifully," Cummings said, noting that donations to the committee since June 2020 have exceeded $400,000. With the $1.7 million budget appropriation, he said, "we have enough money now to give the people of this city and this state one fine building." Story continues Built in 1828, the Abyssinian is the nation's third-oldest meetinghouse constructed by a Black congregation, after churches in Boston and Nantucket. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a senior member of the Senate appropriations committee, helped to secure the funding for the Abyssinian. "The Abyssinian is a cultural landmark that preserves an integral part of our nation's history, as well as African-American heritage in Maine," Collins said in a written statement. "I strongly advocated for this investment to help support the ongoing efforts to renovate and restore the Abyssinian so that current and future generations can learn about this historically significant building, as well as the people who worshiped and preached (there)." U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent, and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, also sought the funding. Pingree pushed for it as a senior member of the House appropriations committee. "The Abyssinian Meeting House is a vital part of Black history and of Maine's cultural heritage," she said in a written statement. "After a 25-year effort to restore the landmark, this critical federal funding will finally bring this nearly two-centuries-old historic site back to life." Located in Portland's historic East End, the Abyssinian is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a northern hub of the Underground Railroad and the anti-slavery movement. In 2013, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the Abyssinian as one of the most endangered historic places in the United States. In 1826, six free Black men Reuben Ruby, Caleb Jonson, Clemant Tomson, Job Wentworth, Christopher Manuel and John Sigs published a letter in a Portland newspaper announcing their plan to build a church for the Black community. They said they no longer wanted to be relegated to the balconies and back pews of Portland's white houses of worship. "Pardon our misapprehensions, if they be such," the men wrote, "(but) we have sometimes thought our attendance was not desired." The Abyssinian thrived through the 1800s as the religious and cultural heart of Portland's Black community. But church membership took a serious blow in 1898, when the SS Portland was caught in a terrible storm and sank during a return trip from Boston. At least 194 people died when the steamship went down, including 19 crew members who attended the Abyssinian. Two of them were church trustees. The congregation never recovered, and the church eventually closed. It was sold and converted into a tenement, with an added floor dividing the soaring sanctuary into several low-budget apartments. Cummings credits city leaders with contributing to the restoration of the Abyssinian through the years, most recently former City Manager Jon Jennings. With recent donations, the committee last year was able to complete the installation of historically accurate windows and doors that restore the building's exterior to its appearance in the 1830s, Cummings said. The $1.7 million in federal funding will allow the committee to complete the interior restoration, install facilities for a learning center and community meeting space, and develop programming for visitors. Committee leaders are expected to draw up a timeline for finishing the project in the coming weeks. "We've worked hard for this," Cummings said. "This building will present Black history and Black struggle that was lost in time and was never told." The Daily Beast Claudio Peri/Pool/ReutersROMESince the beginning of Russias invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis has floated the idea that he wants to take a trip to Kyiv to try to broker a ceasefire. But now he says he would prefer to go to Moscow to try to talk some sense into Vladimir Putin, who he has not outwardly condemned in the now nearly three-month-old war and only did so lightly in a lengthy interview with an Italian newspaper.I feel that before going to Kyiv, I must go to Moscow, he told Corriere D Alec Baldwin ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images Alec Baldwin, facing multiple lawsuits over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the film Rust, claims he's protected from any financial responsibility. In a filing on Friday, the actor again denied responsibility for Hutchins' death after a gun he was handling went off during rehearsal for a scene, striking the cinematographer with a live round. Baldwin's attorney claims a clause in his contract shields him from financial liability, The New York Times and TMZ report. "Someone is culpable for chambering the live round that led to this horrific tragedy, and it is someone other than Baldwin," the lawyer writes. Hutchins' family filed a lawsuit against Baldwin last month, alleging he's one of a number of people "whose reckless behavior" resulted in her death. The Friday filing again provided Baldwin's account of the shooting, saying Hutchins instructed him to position the gun in a way that it was "directed toward her" and told him to pull back the hammer, leading it to go off unexpectedly. Baldwin also says assistant director Dave Halls announced the gun was "cold," meaning free of live rounds. "Hutchins and Baldwin shared a core, vital belief: that the gun was 'cold' and contained no live rounds," the filing says. Baldwin "trusted the other professionals on the set to do their jobs" and believed "actors should not unilaterally check guns," as this is the armorer's responsibility, the filing also said. And although Baldwin was a producer on Rust, his attorney writes that he didn't have "authority to choose the crew or otherwise direct the non-creative aspects of the film," nor was he aware of any safety issues on set. Hutchins' widow, Matt Hutchins, previously criticized Baldwin for "not [accepting] any responsibility after having just described killing her," arguing the idea that "the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd." Story continues You may also like The price China won't pay for Russia's war Ukraine says 20,000 foreigners have volunteered to fight Russia. Russia's now welcoming 'volunteers,' too. Satellite images show massive Russian convoy has broken up outside of Kyiv Alec Baldwin filed new court documents on Friday, denying responsibility for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of "Rust" last year and arguing he is shielded from financial liability. In an arbitration demand, Baldwin claimed his contract as a producer required Rust Movie Productions to "indemnify" him and his company El Dorado Pictures from any financial obligation related to issues with the production of the film, according to The Washington Post. The actor also requested the production crew cover his legal fees, The Post reported. The Hill has reached out to Rust Movie Productions LLC for comment. Baldwin, who was producing and starring in the western film, is facing several lawsuits after allegedly shooting Hutchins last October on the New Mexico set of "Rust" with a prop gun that contained a suspected live round. Director Joel Souza was also wounded in the incident. Hutchins's family filed a wrongful death suit against him, and the actor was also sued by the lighting director for the film, which is now postponed indefinitely. The actor and producer has repeatedly denied blame for the death of Hutchins and said those filing lawsuits against him were motivated by money. In a high-profile interview with ABC News in December, Baldwin maintained the gun misfired and that he did not pull the trigger. "I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me," he told ABC. In Friday's filing, Baldwin's attorneys also claimed someone else was to blame, The Post reported. "Someone is culpable for chambering the live round that led to this horrific tragedy, and it is someone other than Baldwin. Baldwin is an actor," the filing reads. Attorneys said Baldwin was not instructed properly in safety training and that Hutchins asked Baldwin to cock the gun before firing, according to The Post. When he pulled back the hammer to cock it, the gun discharged. Attorneys for Hutchins's family told CNN that Baldwin was "trying to avoid liability and accountability for his reckless actions." The production crew behind "Rust" is also facing a lawsuit from Hutchins' family. In court documents, attorneys for the late cinematographer's family said Baldwin and the production team "disregarded" at least 15 industry standards. Andy Murray beat Taro Daniel at Indian Wells (Mark J Terrill/AP) (AP) Andy Murray showed all his famed fighting qualities as he shrugged off a nightmare first set to beat Taro Daniel and secure a major career milestone at Indian Wells. Murrays 1-6 6-2 6-4 win in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open, in which he also had to hit back from a break down in the deciding set, lifted him alongside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in earning 700 tour-level victories. The match marked Murrays first appearance since confirming he is to link up with Ivan Lendl for a third time and the duo will have plenty to work on after a first set in which the Scot was distinctly second best. Murray had the first chance at a breakthrough as Daniel was forced to save two break points on his own serve before the qualifier hit back to assume full control. As Daniels level waned at the start of the second set, Murray took full advantage to surge into a 5-0 lead and, although he was broken again before he belatedly wrapped it up to level, his display of emotion at the end spoke volumes. Daniel was far from finished, rallying to move into a 2-0 lead in the decider, and, even when Murray broke back, the Japanese player had another break point to regain control. But he missed his chance and was punished by Murray, who took advantage of his third match point opportunity to wrap up his historic victory. Austin Community College will no longer be requiring face masks on its campuses starting March 21. The Board of Trustees implemented the mask mandate shortly before classes began in August for everyone aged 2 and older in response to surging COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and despite Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order prohibiting mask mandates. The decision to lift the requirement comes about a week after Austin-Travis County moved to Stage 2 of the areas risk-based guidelines. The COVID-19 transmission rate and average daily hospital admissions are continuing to decrease after the omicron variant outbreak peaked in January. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also relaxed its mask guidance on Feb. 25 to say people in counties with low or medium COVID-19 levels do not need to wear masks. More: As COVID-19 cases drop, Austin ISD to make masks optional starting Monday Richard Rhodes, chancellor of Austin Community College, lifted the mandate a few days after the Board of Trustees gave him the authorization on Monday to adjust COVID-19 health and safety measures for students, employees and others on ACC campuses. These decisions do not come lightly," Rhodes said in a news release. "We have convened with health experts, discussed among our Emergency Operations Center, and weighed the feedback of our Return to Campus Committee a cross-section of representatives across the college to learn more and explore what changes make sense for our community." ACC has said 107 students and 89 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since July 2020, although the campus has not reported any cases of that were directly transmitted at the college or campus centers, according to a news release. More: UT student leaders demand more COVID-19 safety precautions Along with lifting the mask mandate, the college's health screening app will remain available but not required, and the college will expand access to events and activities on campus. Vaccines are offered at clinics on campus but are not required for students, employees or visitors. St. Edward's University, a private university, made face masks optional for everyone on campus starting March 7, while other public universities in Central Texas, such as the University of Texas and Texas State University, have not had a mask mandate in effect since Abbott's executive order. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin Community College to lift mask mandate as COVID cases decline Bella Hadid will donate her Fashion month earnings to Ukraine and Palestine (Getty Images) Supermodel Bella Hadid has joined her sister Gigi in donating her autumn/winter 2022 Fashion Week earnings to humanitarian aid for people in Ukraine and Palestine. In a post to Instagram this week, Hadid shared several photographs of herself dressed in Ukraines national colours and the Palestinian keffiyeh, a patterned scarf which has become a symbol of Palestinian solidarity. The UN Refugee Agency estimates that more than two million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homeland since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of the country on 24 February. The attack has been condemned by world leaders as unprovoked and unjustifiable, with the UK, US, EU and others imposing sanctions on Russia. In a lengthy caption accompanying the Instagram post, Hadid said the invasion of Ukraine and its impact on her Ukrainian friends and colleagues had been a very emotional and humbling experience. To watch my Ukrainian friends and colleagues working hard here in Europe, so close but so far from their families/friends/homes in Ukraine who are experiencing one of many brutal occupations and invasions happening right now in the world is a very emotional and humbling experience for me, she said. To hear their stories and emotions firsthand is devastating and I wholeheartedly stand with them in support. I stand alongside every person that has been affected by this war and the innocent people whose lives have been changed forever from the hands of power. Hadid said she will be donating her earnings to organisations that are providing refuge and medical aid to displaced Ukrainians and Palestinian people. Our eyes and hearts must be open to all human injustice. May we all see each other as brothers and sisters, beyond politics, beyond race, beyond religion. At the end of the day, innocent lives pay for war- not leaders, she added. The 25-year-old, who has walked for the likes of Versace, Balenciaga and Coperni this year, said she had been inspired to donate her earnings by her elder sister Gigi and fellow model Mica Arganaraz. Story continues Gigi previously pledged to donate her earnings from this seasons fashion shows to aid those suffering from the war in Ukraine, as well as continuing to support those experiencing the same in Palestine. Having a set Fashion Month schedule has meant that my colleagues and I often present new fashion collections during heartbreaking and traumatic times in history, she wrote on Instagram on 6 March. We dont have control over most of our work schedules, but we would like to walk for something. In the days following Gigis announcement, Vogue magazine faced backlash on social media after it edited out Gigis reference to Palestine when sharing the news. The fashion magazine had initially shared the models full pledge to its official Instagram account but was accused of fanning the flame of anti-Semitism. Social media users later noted that the original caption on Vogues Instagram post had been edited to remove the reference to Palestine, spurring criticisms from prominent figures. Mehdi Hassan wrote on Twitter: So @GiGiHadid pledges to donate her earnings from Fall 2022 to relief efforts for occupied Ukrainians *and* occupied Palestinians and then @voguemagazine magazine just erases the Palestinians from its @instagram post on her pledge? Bella and Gigis sister, Alana, also commented on the edited Instagram post, writing: WOW, you removed Palestine. She is supporting both the crisis in Ukraine and Palestine. Its a sad time when you can be bullied out of factual reporting. Vogue has since edited the caption for a second time to include Gigis reference to Palestine. An editors note on the post reads: We have updated this caption to accurately reflect Gigi Hadids statement on her donation. The Independent has contacted Vogue for comment. "Let's go for 800 now." That's what Andy Murray told the early afternoon crowd at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden after notching his milestone 700th career singles victory. Murray, the 34-year-old Brit, got off to a slow start but regrouped to beat Taro Daniel of Japan 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Friday in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open. On-court commentator Andrew Krasny jokingly asked Murray to go ahead and list all 700 wins after the match. "About five or six years ago, I could remember all my matches and all the points, but now I struggle to remember what happened last week," Murray said. "So (700 wins) was a target I sort of set for myself at the back half of last year and obviously very happy to get it here." Murray becomes the 18th man to reach the 700-win milestone and the first-ever Brit. No. 700 didn't come easy. Daniel, who beat Murray in Australia and has an Indian Wells win over Novak Djokovic to his name, stormed out of the gate, winning the first set 6-1. More: Andy Murray won his 700th match; who else is in the 700-club might surprise you More: BNP Paribas Open: Managing foot pain key to Rafael Nadal's success in 2022 More: BNP Paribas Open: Russia's Daniil Medvedev new No. 1, but it's not time for celebration Andy Murray hits a shot during his match against Taro Daniel at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., March 11, 2022. But Murray got his feet under him and won the first four games of the second set to win it 6-2, and that set up a tense final set. Daniel earned an early break, but a forehand winner in the sixth game by Murray allowed him to break back and tie the set at 3-3. In the ninth game with the score tied 4-4, Murray got frustrated during his service game when he had to delay a serve because a patron was being ushered into the luxury box behind the court. He lost the next point and fell behind 40-30, but he fought back and when he eventually won that game he let out a roar and a fist pump to go up 5-4. Murray then jumped out 40-0 in his break attempt to win the match and on the third match point, Daniel hit a shot long and Murray was able to celebrate for good. Story continues Murray may also be the beneficiary of good karma. He announced earlier this week that he will donate all of his prize money for 2022 to Ukrainian aid. If you're keeping a tote board, that will now mean at worst $30,130 if he loses his next match. Murray will now face No. 31 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan on Sunday. More: Andy Murray to donate his earnings for all of 2022 to help children of Ukraine Alison Riske completes legendary comeback Alison Riske won 12 of 13 games, after losing the first nine, to complete perhaps the biggest comeback ever at the BNP Paribas Open Friday on Stadium Court. The 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over 8th-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain gave the unseeded American her first top-10 win in three years. The match looked lopsided for the first 45 minutes, as Muguruza dominated with her serve and powerful backhand. It appeared as though she would win every game in the match after going up, 6-0, 3-0. But with the crowd behind her, Riske somehow found it within herself to win six consecutive games to take the set. That gave her the momentum going into final set, with Muguruza frustrated and playing under pressure. The win was the third consecutive for Riske against Muguruza. Riske will now play the winner of the match between American Madison Keys and Japan's Misaki Doi. American Alison Riske waves to the crowd after defeating Garbine Muguruza of Spain during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., on March 11, 2022. Seeded women start with wins Iga Swiatek: The No. 3 seed from Poland lost her first set to Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina but then won 12 of the next 13 games to turn it into an easy win 5-7, 6-0, 6-1. Simona Halep: The 2015 BNP Paribas Open champion was also pushed to three sets, but the No. 24 seed here emerged with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia. Sorana Cirstea: A Romanian just like Halep, Cirstea topped Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 7-5 to move into the next round. Seeded losers Karolina Pliskova: The No. 7 seed from the Czech Republic was knocked out in the first round by Danka Kovinic 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. Tamara Zidansek: The Slovakian who was seeded No. 19 was upset in the first round by Croatian Petra Martic. This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Andy Murray collects 700th singles victory Theres three different things that make up a vlog, David Dobrik, then a rising YouTube star, explained to Casey Neistat, a veteran YouTuber and filmmaker. Neistats camera pans to show a swimming pool, where a member of Dobriks ensemble, the Vlog Squad, balances on a jet ski, attempting to toss a basketball from half-court distance over his shoulder and into a hoop. Its like, interesting things, cool visuals and funny stuff. And this is not funny unless someone gets hurt. As Dobrik's following grew, his stunts became more elaborate. People got hurt. It wasnt funny. When Neistat began filming his first feature-length documentary Under the Influence in 2019, the older, wiser YouTube star wanted to capture the phenomenon of David Dobrik, the then-22-year-old and fifth most-viewed creator on the platform. Neistat followed Dobrik as he moved into multimillion-dollar homes, performed for crowds of screaming college kids and bought his friends Teslas as casually as if treating them to lunch at Chipotle (where they could have ordered Dobrik-branded burritos). Now, as Under the Influence premieres at SXSW, Neistat is telling a far different story than the one he set out to document. In fact, he threw out two years of post-production work once his already-controversial muse became a bonafide persona non grata online. I definitely started the process of making this movie in good faith. I think it was undeniable, Davids phenomenon. Thats not to praise the content he was making itself, but certainly, the phenomenon that was David was something absolutely extraordinary, Neistat told TechCrunch. It was clear that his content, I think to say it generously, was walking a very fine line, even back then. At the time, Dobrik was on top of the world, filming prank videos with celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Justin Bieber and transcending the bounds of social media to make guest appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. But his pedestal was built on the sheer luck that he got away with so many dangerous stunts. Eventually, Dobrik went far enough that it toppled over. Story continues Within two years as Neistat continued to document Dobrik found himself at the center of two serious scandals. In March 2021, Insider reported that a woman in one of his videos claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a Vlog Squad member on the night they filmed a video about group sex. Dobrik lost sponsorships with brands like Hello Fresh, SeatGeek, EA Sports and DoorDash; he was demonetized on YouTube; and he stepped down from Dispo, the venture-funded social photo-sharing app that he co-founded. Early investors including Spark Capital, Seven Seven Six and Unshackled committed to donate any potential profits from their investment in the app to organizations working with survivors of sexual assault. But all the while, Dobrik was hiding another secret: The year before, a risky stunt went so wrong that his friend and collaborator Jeff Wittek nearly died. David Dobrik documentary film still Image Credits: Casey Neistat "There was no such thing as a power dynamic to me" Dobriks stunts were always dangerous. When Neistat first visited his mansion in 2019, Dobrik greeted him at the door with a flamethrower, which he wielded haphazardly, like a Nerf gun. There was never a naivety on my part, even in my relationship with David, that everything was perfect, Neistat told TechCrunch. Part of my interest in telling this story was to try to reveal how this is done, and how he tried to get away with what he was getting away with. Yet documenting the highs and lows of Dobriks at-times dangerous pursuits is arguably its own flavor of sensationalism. Early in the documentary, when Jonah (whose real name is Nick Antonyan hes called Jonah in the vlogs because he looks like Jonah Hill, and his body type often makes him the butt of hurtful jokes) drives a motorbike over a ramp and into a pool, he punctures a hole in his stomach. Lets get Jonah to the hospital, and David, lets get this footage into editing, a Vlog Squad member told Dobrik. Jonah proved to be OK after his trip to the emergency room, yet this near-miss didnt appear to be a wakeup call for Dobrik, who continued to pursue the next biggest stunt, regardless of whether it could put his friends who also acted as business collaborators in danger. I remember very clearly, one of the first questions I asked David was, These people that weve seen in your videos, are they your friends or your coworkers? And his response, thats included in the movie, is he hesitates, Neistat said. It caught me off guard, because I expected him to be almost offended at that question. Dobriks newfound wealth gave him access to flamethrowers, motorcycles, jet skis and heavy machinery for riskier stunts, but unlike Hollywood, where on-set stunts are heavily regulated, Dobrik was not required to hire safety professionals, so he didnt. Its certainly an understandable suggestion to draw parallels between the content that David made and something like 'Jackass,' but theres one extraordinary, bold line between the two, and that line is one of consent, Neistat told TechCrunch. Steve-O is a friend of mine, and every member of the Jackass team knows exactly what theyre signing up for. They know what the cost is going to be to them physically. They know what their liability is, they know what their return is, they know what the transaction is. It is consensual, and I think that is the extraordinary difference between the things that you see on YouTube especially when youre looking at sort of an ensemble cast of characters like Davids videos and something like Jackass. Of course, accidents still happen in Hollywood, but on YouTube, theres no possible way that a platform could regulate what happens during filming, even if it wanted to. Even though YouTube bans dangerous or threatening pranks, the guideline is usually only enforced to stop people from participating in potentially deadly viral challenges. When YouTube added the rule in 2019, the company specifically referenced trends like people eating Tide Pods or trying to light themselves on fire. While Dobriks pranks could (and did) cause serious injury, his videos werent removed from YouTube. We dont allow pranks that make victims believe theyre in serious physical danger for example, a home invasion prank or a drive-by shooting prank, YouTube wrote at the time. We also dont allow pranks that cause children to experience severe emotional distress, meaning something so bad that it could leave the child traumatized for life. Many of YouTubes biggest stars have followed this same formula they start with low-budget pranks, and as their channels pick up steam and bring them riches, theres no boundary to the potential for their antics. Its a form of wish-fulfillment for young viewers if you and your friends lived in a big mansion with unlimited cash, what mischief would you get up to? This endless pursuit of sensationalism is where I think someone like David lives. The more sensational it was, the crazier the stunts, the more views it had, Neistat said. A number of creators on YouTube have pursued a similar trajectory, and it has never ended well. YouTubes top trending video of 2021 featured Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) following a similar pursuit of sensationalism he buried himself alive for 50 hours, though Donaldson did hire a medic to keep watch on standby. Another prominent YouTuber, Logan Paul, faced consequences for prioritizing shock value over his responsibility as a creator with a massive platform. In conversation with TechCrunch, Neistat brought up Pauls suicide forest scandal, in which the YouTuber visited a Japanese forest known to be a common site of suicides and made jokes about a dead body he encountered. YouTube cut ties with Paul, who said his poor judgment was a result of being misguided by shock and awe. Similarly, YouTube demonetized Dobriks channels in the aftermath of the sexual assault allegations against a member of his Vlog Squad. Recently, Dobrik said on his podcast that he still isnt making money on YouTube. TechCrunch asked YouTube if Dobriks channels remain demonetized, but did not receive a response. On screen, Neistat asked Dobrik, Theres something gross about a guy using his social media platform and his influence to attract young women, and then you make a video out of it. Did any of that occur to you as wrong or inappropriate? At that time, there was no such thing as a power dynamic to me, Dobrik replied in the documentary an admission that he never considered how his position as a super-sized social media star could change the way people interacted with him. I didnt see that as anything weird. Looking back at it now, its really gross. David Dobrik documentary film still Image Credits: Casey Neistat "I should be dead" A month after the Insider article was published, another bomb dropped: Vlog Squad member Jeff Wittek revealed in his own YouTube documentary that, the previous year, Dobrik had swung him around on an excavator. The construction equipment requires a license to operate, and Dobrik didnt have that or any other safety supervision for the stunt. Dobrik subsequently lost control of the heavy machinery and, as Neistat depicts in a horrifyingly gory scene, Wittek slammed into the side of the crane and broke open the side of his face. Since then, Wittek has had at least nine eye surgeries and cut ties with Dobrik, who continues to pay his medical bills. I shouldnt be here anymore, Wittek told Neistat in the film. I should be dead. Neistat told TechCrunch that Dobrik has seen the documentary, but they havent spoken about it in fact, they havent spoken since their final interview, which took place after Insider published sexual assault allegations against Dobriks collaborator. TechCrunch asked Dobriks team for comment on the film, but did not hear back before publication. Jeffs accident had a tremendous impact on how I was conducting interviews, and my professional relationship with David, Neistat said. And then when Kats article came out, that was a dramatic, dramatic shift in how the movie was captured. It was very heavy, and you can hear in the tone of my voice just how it kind of became a little bit more contentious, and I became more confrontational with him. In that final interview, I think one of the first questions I asked him was, Do you feel responsible? In a podcast published days before Under the Influence premiered at SXSW, Dobrik expressed remorse for the egregious incidents that the documentary centers around. Yet in the documentary, he doesnt seem to grasp the implications of his mistakes. The [Insider article] was written because this place wanted clicks, like, it wasnt written because the companys going and looking after the victim and making sure shes OK, Dobrik said to Neistat in the documentary. A few weeks ago, Wittek made a podcast episode called Dear David about why he was no longer friends with the figure who propelled him to fame. Ill have life-long brain injuries, and I saved him from fucking everything. He couldve got deported, he couldve got put in jail for manslaughter, he couldve got sued for everything, Wittek said on his podcast. I took it on the chin, and then to see [the documentary] ... that just made me completely lose all respect for this guy, and lose all hope he could ever turn around and become a better person. Dobriks career has certainly taken a sizable hit, but he continues to post on YouTube, where he still has 18.3 million subscribers. He even has a Discovery show called Discovering David Dobrik, a docuseries in which he travels the world with his friends. The show was announced and filmed after both of these scandals came to light. Even in his first interview with Dobrik, Neistat observed that the young star looked haggard and overworked. Its prescient to see it now, Neistat told TechCrunch. But its not a coincidence that so many top YouTubers like Dobrik, Donaldson and Paul follow this same trajectory: They strive to make each video more engaging than the last, but eventually, there seems to be just two paths. Either you burn out or make a career-altering mistake before you take a beat to slow down. I think that theres always a pursuit. Its relevant for a musician how do you keep your music interesting? Neistat said. But what makes individuals like David Dobrik different is that their pursuit is not coming out with the next song or making the next movie. Their pursuit is, how can I be more sensationalist? And that is a very, very, very dangerous pursuit, because the minute you achieve something that was crazier than the last, you then have to go past that. A Cayce Police Department investigation impeded staff at an assisted living facility from giving residents medication, among other impediments to care, according to a report filed with state care facility regulators. The administrator of Twilite Manor, a Cayce assisted living facility on Forrest Street that has been clouded by controversy since a residents death, told the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, because of the (Cayce police) investigation, I was not allowed to get in and administer meds. The health and environmental department regulates assisted living facilities. When they did allow me, I gave medication to all clients who the police had not put on transport, the administrator wrote in the report, which was submitted Feb. 28 to the health department. The administrators report places some of the blame on Cayce polices investigation for three citation against Twilite Manor in the wake of the residents death. Those three citations were for not having given the residents medication, not having fed residents breakfast and being understaffed, all on the day of the death. Controversy surrounded Twilite Manor after a man died in the facility in February. In the following days, disputes among the police department, state health regulators and social services about the facilitys conditions only heightened the confusion. The newly uncovered report by Twilite Manors administrator also disputes polices findings and reinforces what a disabilities advocate told The State the day after police moved all of the about a dozen residents of the facility that police overreacted and harmed residents more than helped them through the investigation. A spokesperson for the Cayce Police Department did not comment on the specifics of the administrators report. At the time of the residents death and investigation, the police department said, We were not sure when the remaining residents would receive food, medications, medical attention, or the general assistance they needed and deserved. Story continues Our officers felt grave concern for the remaining residents, the police department said. We knew their well-being was in imminent danger. The police department said in late February that officers actually helped residents get their medication on the day of the investigation. Care of residents matters very much to the police, department spokesperson Ashley Hunter said in late February. Police caused problems? Twilite Manor voluntarily closed after residents and an employee found 69-year-old Timothy Frank Catalano dead on Feb. 18 at about 9:30 a.m. He had died from a lung condition, the Lexington County Coroners Office concluded. Cayce police investigated and said they found that residents had not been given medications or fed that morning. Another resident needed to be hospitalized immediately for an unspecified condition. The polices finding were contradicted by state regulators, who said that residents were not in immediate danger from living at Twilite Manor. But by the end of the regulators inspection, they concluded that Twilite Manor was understaffed on the day of Catalanos death. The home was required to have two staff members working at the time of the death but only had one. The report by the facilitys administrator said that another staff member was scheduled to work but was late on the day of the death. After back-up staff arrived, the police didnt allow the second staff member to perform ... duties, the report said. Residents and staff were confused and traumatized by what was going on, the report said. Residents at the facility were fed breakfast, the report said, but it doesnt specify if they were fed was before or after police arrived. Residents also received lunch despite all that was happening, the administrator wrote. Reopening plans The administrators report gives health regulators plans to correct the three citation. All staff will be required to contact the administrator if running late, breakfast will be served at posted times, and all staff will be trained to give medication. Filing the plans with regulators came as part of a request by Twilite Manor to reopen. The facility could open again as soon as Monday, March 14, health regulators said Friday. Regulators were scheduled to inspect the facility Friday to ensure it had an adequate food supply and staffing. WIS reported that after the inspection, regulators requested further documentation from the facility about staff training. The Department strongly requests the Facility complete and provide evidence of the in-service trainings and health assessment prior to its reopening, the health department said. Those trainings include first-aid, medication management and CPR training among others, WIS reported. How the health departments request might affect Twilite Manors reopening is unclear. Health regulators never stripped Twilite Manor of its licenses to operate, and Cayce police havent charged anyone associated with the facility with a crime. Past controversies Twilite Manor has been hit with problems before the most recent controversy. In January, the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office charged an employee of Twilite Manor with financial fraud and exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The office alleged that the employee stole a residents debit card and used it to make purchases. In 2020, a blind, diabetic resident sued Twilite Manor after losing both feet to gangrene while under the facilitys care. The parties agreed to an alternative dispute resolution, and the lawsuit was dismissed. Prices for gas and diesel fuel, over $5 a gallon, are displayed at a petrol station in Monterey Park, California on March 4, 2022. - Californians filling up their cars on March 4, winced at the spiraling cost of gasoline, but largely shrugged as residents of the state that has long had the highest gas prices in the United States. FREDERIC J. BROWN / Contributor / Getty Images Last week, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said America's sanctions on Russia will hurt the US "in a profound way." The US is already dealing with skyrocketing inflation, and the sanctions could exacerbate the pain of rising prices. Three experts shared what could happen next for American taxpayers. As the US has imposed a range of economic sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine, several high-profile commentators have warned that Americans will also be on the receiving end of the pain cause by unprecedented financial measures. Last week, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said America's sanctions on Russia will hurt the US "in a profound way." The sanctions are weaponizing the dollar, he said, and it'll be American taxpayers that'll end up paying for it. Famed economist Mohamed El-Erian has also cautioned that the economic consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war will spill over into other countries. In February, the Consumer Price Index rose 7.9% year-over-year, marking the fastest pace since 1982. Gas prices in the US have skyrocketed to levels not seen since 2008. Sanctions could put even more stress on already weakened supply chains, adding to pricing pressures. "The US is choosing to shorten supply chains to reduce dependence on undependable or hostile trading partners," Eric Leve, chief investment officer at wealth management firm, Bailard, told Insider. Given Russia's role as a major wheat exporter, Leve anticipates the lack of supply to be seen on grocery shelves as global prices for the commodity surge. Russia is also a critical supplier of palladium and nickel, and supply chain disruptions in the auto and steel manufacturing will trickle into consumer products, and cause longer waits for electric vehicles. Aleksandar Tomic, economist, professor, and associate dean at Boston College, says that while price spikes could be dramatic, they may not last long because the American economy is positioned to withstand it, unlike some European nations. Story continues "Probably within a year the US will be able to stabilize its supply and production," Tomic told Insider. "Domestic production could pick up, but it'll be temporary, especially if the West isn't really serious about sanctions and willing to look the other way and keep trading with Russia." The bigger issue, said Tomic, is if the war drags on and destroys the production capacity of Ukraine. Then the question is how quickly can the US and Europe create an entirely new segment of the supply chain. "We will be seeing very high prices over the next year, with spikes in energy prices, food prices everything at the consumer level. I would not be surprised if inflation hit double digits," he said. Markets, too, have seen heightened volatility since war in Ukraine began. Jorge Pesok, chief compliance officer at blockchain and software firm Tacen, expects ongoing pandemic repercussions and interest rate hikes to contribute to more market fluctuations, which Americans will have to deal with in addition to rising costs at the gas pump and in stores. He also noted that the strength of the dollar could wane, echoing Ken Griffin's point last week that the weaponization of the dollar damages its status as a reserve currency. "The U.S. has shown the power it wields by controlling the reserve currency which is a fact that is unlikely to be lost on countries around the world," Pesok told Insider. "Ongoing geopolitical tensions could well push central banks to diversify away from the dollar." He also highlighted the prominent role cryptocurrencies have played in Ukraine's humanitarian crisis, and suggested that, if the dollar loses value, a new monetary world order could be on the horizon. While the US will most likely face economic consequences, an unlikely act of aggression from Russia could create catastrophe. Professor Tomic doesn't expect a boots-on-the-ground conflict between the two countries, but he thinks the most viable scenario would be a cyberattack on something like the New York Stock Exchange or electronic transaction systems. "If Russia feels threatened enough, it then becomes a question of what type of cyber-warfare will happen," Tomic said. "The more we isolate them [with sanctions], the less they have to losemy guess is if they retaliate it'll be in the cybersphere." Read the original article on Business Insider Happy Saturday, neighbors! Let's get this day started. Here are the most important things happening today in Mobile. First, today's weather: Mostly sunny; windy, cooler. High: 51 Low: 28. Are you a local real estate agent? Let us help you generate leads, build your brand in Mobile and stand apart from the competition. Click here to learn more. Here are the top 3 stories today in Mobile: Yesterday was the last day to receive a COVID-19 test at the Festival Centre testing site. The Mobile County Health Department announced that the Response Team would no longer be administering tests, but vaccines will still be available at the site. Anyone with symptoms of the virus is still encouraged to stay home and contact their healthcare provider. (WKRG News 5) A Mobile Police Department officer was fired after being arrested for driving under the influence. The department says Christopher Colbert, formerly a patrolman for Precinct One, was off duty when he was found asleep behind the wheel of a vehicle near the eastbound I-10 exit ramp to Dauphin Island Parkway. Colbert was first hired by the department in September of 2019. (WKRG News 5) A Mobile woman who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, Mar. 17. Kari Kelley had previously pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the capitol building. Prosecutors are recommending that she serve 30 days in prison, three months of probation, 60 hours of community service, and pay $500 in restitution. (Fox 10 News) Today in Mobile: Sew And Tell At Mobile Public Library (9:00 AM) St. Pawtty's Day At Mobile County Animal Shelter (1:00 PM) From my notebook: Have you taken a Bienville Bites Food Tour yet? Walk to locally owned, iconic restaurants for a memorable and delicious experience you will never forget! Get your tickets now for today's tour at 1:00 p.m. (Visit Mobile) Stop by the Mobile County Animal Shelter to meet Knucklehead, the energetic hound mix. This two-year-old pup is heartworm negative, and his $40 adoption fee covers his neuter, vaccines, wormer, and a microchip! (Facebook) The History Museum of Mobile has been nominated for a Nappie Award! Vote online today for the museum in the "Best Museum" category. (Facebook) Story continues More from our sponsors thanks for supporting local news! Featured businesses: Loving the Mobile Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved: Send a friend or neighbor this link so they can subscribe Get your local business listed in front of readers Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door this Saturday! I'll see you soon. Sean Peek About me: Sean Peek is a writer and entrepreneur with a degree in English Literature from Weber State University. Over the years, he has worked as a copywriter, editor, SEO specialist, and marketing director for various digital media companies. He currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners. This article originally appeared on the Mobile Patch World War II veteran Richard Jenkins of Oconto listens during a program at Oconto City Hall on Feb. 23 during which he received a commemorative medal from the Czech Republic. The American flag, the U.S. Army flag and the Czech Republic flag can be seen tucked into the bouquet in the foreground. OCONTO After World War II ended, Richard Jenkins and thousands of other U.S. Army comrades were sent into then-Czechoslovakia to stabilize the country and maintain order. The Oconto man is among the increasingly rare living survivors of that era, but even nearly 77 years later, the people of what is now the Czech Republic havent forgotten what those soldiers did. Two Czech Republic Army officers visited Oconto on Wednesday to present Jenkins with a commemorative medal and certificate from the nations minister of defense honoring him for his service. We really appreciate, and we are really glad, to have people like Mr. Jenkins, which helped liberate our country, Lt. Col. Jiri Klepetko told the crowd of roughly 100 local veterans and officials during a program at City Hall. Jenkins, who is nearly 98, was visibly moved by the honor. This isnt about me, he said forcefully Its about the United States. We did it, not me. Klepetko explained that in 2020 they had wanted to start presenting the medals which have a 75 on them to signify the 75th anniversary of the end of the war. But the pandemic delayed those plans, and so far, theyve only done this about eight times in the eastern half of the country. More will be presented in the western half in the coming months. While it's difficult to find U.S. veterans who served in Czechoslovakia at the time, Klepetko said it was important for his nation to memorialize that we still have a partner here. The commemorative medal presented by the Czech Republic to World War II veteran Richard Jenkins of Oconto on Feb. 23. Ron Christensen, the veterans service officer for Oconto County, read a 1945 clipping from Czech newspaper New Day to mark the departure of the U.S. troops. At this moment, we realize what America has done for us, and what an important asset for our political conception, the American political structure has signified, the paper wrote. The vengeful hands of the Nazis were stopped by the coming Americans. (The city of) Pilsen knows it and will never forget. Jenkins was a boots-on-the-ground participant in those events, Christensen said. In 1945 he was there. This event today to honor Mr. Jenkins is an example of a commitment to never forget. Story continues Jenkins was a member of the 8th Armored Division that attempted to quickly push through the Hurtgen Forest on the border of Belgium and Germany, according to an entry into the Congressional Record made by U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Green Bay. As part of the 130th Ordinance Battalion, Jenkins provided crucial support to ensure the United States' success in the Battle of the Bulge, he wrote. In late May, a few weeks after Nazi Germany surrendered, the 8th Armored Division was ordered to Czechoslovakia to assist in the processing of prisoners of war, operating displaced person camps and guarding vital installations. The successful liberation of Czechoslovakia as a result of the impressive effort of U.S. troops and the citizens of Pilsen is still celebrated today, Gallagher wrote. The Pilsen Festival in the Czech Republic celebrates the key assistance the United States and our troops played in liberating the country from Nazi rule. Without heroes like Mr. Jenkins, we may not be able to celebrate these freedoms. Richard Jenkins, 97, a World War II veteran from Oconto, accepts a commemorative medal from the Czech Republic recognizing his role in liberating the nation. Presenting the honor is Lt. Col. Jiri Klepetko Gallaghers remarks were read at the program by a member of his staff, Kerry Niemcek Skaleski. Letters from state Sen. Richard Wimberger and state Rep. Elijah Behnke lauding Jenkins service were also read. While Jenkins recall of dates and some events from that period has faded, he retains vivid memories of a ghastly scene he and fellow soldiers witnessed where Czechs slaughtered by the Nazis had been buried. They loaded us all in a truck to go see the mass grave, he said. It was a pretty gruesome thing. Jenkins watched as residents who had collaborated with the Germans were forced to dig up the site, which contained the remains of at least 250 people. It was such a mess ... several feet deep of rotting corpses, he said. Its impossible to imagine how bad it was. Jenkins, a native of Watersmeet, Michigan, graduated from high school in 1942. Like many others from the area, he found work in Detroit before entering the service. After the war, Jenkins used the GI Bill of Rights benefit to attend college and learned how to design components for televisions. While attending an expo in Chicago, he came across a booth offering jobs in Oconto. He came to Oconto and worked for the late Peter DeWitt, who had formed Holt Instrument Laboratories, which built a variety of devices to measure electrical loads, including ones used to calibrate electrical systems on submarines. After the company closed, he worked as an electrical engineer for Schreiber Foods in Green Bay. In addition to the Honorary Commemorative Medal of Merit in Liberating Czechoslovakia and the accompanying certificate, Jenkins also received a bottle of Czech liqueur from the other officer, Maj. Jan Pekar, along with a bouquet of flowers from the officers wives. Are these edible? Jenkins joked, eliciting laughs. Pekar told him the herbal liqueur was good for your stomach but only to take a small amount. I dont drink, Jenkins lightly protested. Well, Pekar responded, its good for your friends. RELATED: Oconto, Marinette, Forest, Florence counties seek to boost ATV/UTV visitors with help from Department of Tourism grant RELATED: Man pleads not guilty after he's accused of pulling up on his bicycle and shooting an Oconto man FOR MORE OCONTO COUNTY NEWS: Check out our website! Contact Kent Tempus at (920) 354-6075 or ktempus@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Czech Republic commends Oconto man for his service there in WWII A Houston-area grand jury chose not to charge Deshaun Watson, ending the criminal case against him after several massage therapists accused him of sexual misconduct. More than 20 sexual abuse lawsuits against Watson are still ongoing, but it appears teams are more interested in Watson now that he wont be criminally charged. The trade market for Deshaun Watson now is expected to ramp up, quickly, according to an ESPN report after the grand jury news broke. Teams shied away from dealing for Watson in 2021, creating a bizarre situation where he refused to play for the Texans amid a trade demand he had made before the allegations became public. Watson could still be suspended over the conduct described by the massage therapists, who say he was a serial predator who sexually harassed and assaulted them after booking appointments. But a Harris County prosecutor said Friday the grand jury decision meant the criminal case against Watson was over. Friday, the league essentially said it was still in a holding pattern. The NFL said in a statement that it has been closely monitoring all developments in the matter which remains under review of the personal conduct policy. Several teams desperately need a quarterback, and Watson would be a major upgrade for several more. But the Giants have said already that they wont be playing in the Watson sweepstakes. Were not trading for Deshaun Watson, co-owner John Mara said in January. Theres so many reasons why we wouldnt do that. For cap reasons we couldnt afford it but more importantly with the allegations that are out there, its just not the right thing for us. When Russian forces began shelling his home city of Kyiv, Misha Katsurin was confused why his father Andrei hadnt called to see if he was safe. After four days he phoned Andrei, who works in a monastery in a small town near the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, and described that Russian forces were indiscriminately bombing civilian areas. Ukraine latest - live updates He didnt believe me, he started to argue and tell me that in reality Russia was saving Ukraine from the Nazis, Mr Katsurin told The Independent. It was like a conversation with the deaf. Mr Katsurin, 33, made an emotional post on Instagram about the conversation, which quickly went viral receiving more than 135,000 likes and shares. Hundreds commented on the post about their own experiences trying to talk to relatives in Russia who were in denial about the reality of the brutal invasion. I realised that this problem is much bigger, he said. So Mr Katsurin created the website Papapover, which translates as Papa Believe, which offers a step-by-step guide on how to speak to Russians who have been indoctrinated by years of misinformation and continue to maintain total loyalty to President Vladimir Putin. Its really hard when the people closest to you dont believe you. Its very hard to keep calm, Mr Katsurin told The Independent. My father is a kind person. He is against killing other people. I dont blame him. Like we are victims of Russian aggression, they are victims of Russian propaganda. Mr Katsurin says the key to dismantling that belief system is patience. Each of us need to talk from a position of love. To say we dont want to argue, and to speak with compassion rather than anger. Since launching his website Mr Katsurin said he had been flooded with stories of Ukrainians trying to convince some of their 11 million Russian relatives of the truth about the invasion. Since the war began, Russia has criminalised independent media, banned social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram, and filled the airwaves with lies. Story continues Just as Russian military forces have stepped up their bombardment of Ukrainian cities in the face of stiff resistance, the information war has taken a disturbing turn in recent days. The Kremlin has claimed that Ukraine is developing chemical and biological weapons - which the US Government believe is a false pretext for Russians to use them. We are so afraid of this, Mr Katsurin said. This is what they use as a provocation to use biological and chemical weapons themselves. One of the countrys chief propagandists, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, this week insisted there had been no invasion after meeting the Ukrainian foreign minister for peace talks. After the Russians bombed a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Lavrov claimed it was used as a military base by the Ukrainian Azov Battalion and other radical groups. The Russians have also falsely claimed that images of wounded women and children were paid actors. Mr Katsurin said the only means left to convince the Russian people of the atrocities being committed by their army was for people with relatives and friends to call them. Right now relatives are the only channel of information to them. So the only way to connect with them is for relatives to call them and explain what is going on. Misha Katsurin with his two young children. They escaped to Hungary with his wife when war broke out (Instagram/Misha Katsurin) Before the war began, Mr Katsurin ran several restaurants in the Ukrainian capital. Now, his 250 employees are living in underground bunkers and working to feed the military and civilian population of Kyiv, which is being threatened on all sides by advancing Russian forces. He escaped the city and took his wife and two young sons to safety in Hungary. He has since has relocated to Ternopil in western Ukraine where he is working with a team of IT experts to produce information war projects. His Papa Believe website is one of these, he said. The others he isnt able to speak about. Mr Katsurin agrees his tech-savvy compatriots have been highly effective at sharing their stories and harnessing the sympathy of the world, and are grateful for the support they have received. But without Nato imposing a no-fly zone to halt the Russian artillery and aerial attacks, he fears his country could be overrun. We appreciate all of the help of the West, of the media, of the weapons, all the love that everybody is sending here, but we need Nato to close the skies. There is no peaceful way out of this. Trump rape accuser E. Jean Carroll (L), Former President Donald Trump (R). Eva Deitch/Getty Images (L), Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images (R). A Manhattan federal judge has barred Donald Trump from countersuing rape accuser E. Jean Carroll. Judge loses patience as Carroll's defamation suit against Trump drags on for three years. Carroll alleged Trump raped her in the 1990s, then sued after he scoffed, 'she's not my kind.' A federal judge in Manhattan has barred Donald Trump from countersuing rape accuser E. Jean Carroll in a fiery new decision that accuses the former president of "dilatory" and "frivolous" delay tactics. "In the Court's view, characterization of defendant's previous and threatened future actions as dilatory, in bad faith or unduly prejudicial would be a bootless excercise. They are, in varying degrees, all three," US District Judge Lewis Kaplan said in a 23-page ruling. Carroll, an advice columnist, hailed the decision as a victory for American women. E. Jean Carroll (@ejeancarroll) March 11, 2022 The ruling puts an end to Trump's attempt to use New York's anti-SLAPP law to countersue Carroll and seek attorney's fees if successful. Anti-SLAPP laws discourage people from using lawsuits to silence their free speech; Trump had argued that it had been his free speech right to call Carroll's allegations false and scoff "she's not my kind" after she accused him of raping her in a Manhattan department store in the 199os. The law went into effect in New York in November of 2020, but Trump waited more than a year to request permission to use it in a countersuit, a pointless delay that the judge said was part of a pattern. The judge noted that Carroll's lawsuit, filed in June of 2019, consists of just a single count of defamation. "Ms. Carroll's complaint, briefly summarized, alleges that the defendant raped her years ago and that his much more recent denial coupled with other disparaging and insulting remarks defamed her." Story continues Trump had scoffed, "she's not my type" in denying Carroll's accusations. But from the start, Trump "attempted to delay the progress of the lawsuit through frivolous motions practice." He added, "Taken together, these actions demonstrate that defendant's litigation tactics have had a dilatory effect and, indeed, strongly suggest that he is acting out of a strong desire to delay any opportunity plaintiff may have to present her case against him." Trump attorney Alina Habba did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but she told the Law & Crime news site that Trump's legal team is "disappointed" by the ruling. Her statement added, "we eagerly look forward to litigating this action and proving at trial that the plaintiff's claims have absolutely no basis in law or in fact." Carroll's attorney, Roberta A. Kaplan, said in a statement that she agreed with the judge's characterization of Trump's delay tactics, and with his assessment that the case 'could have been tried and decided one way or the other long ago.'" "My client E. Jean Carroll and I could not agree more," the attorney added. Read the original article on Business Insider Prime Minister requests PPP facilitation for Van Phong EZ development Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on March 12 demanded favourable mechanisms be issued to facilitate public - private partnership (PPP) in infrastructure building, so as to boost the development of the Van Phong Economic Zone (EZ). Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and officials look at a map of the local development planning while visiting the Van Phong Economic Zone on March 12. (Photo: VNA) Established in 2006, the Van Phong EZ is located in Van Ninh district and Ninh Hoa town of central Khanh Hoa province. It is a multi-sectoral EZ with an international container port, an oil refinery industry, and a point of transit for petroleum and petroleum products playing the key role. It also includes tourism, services, industry, aquaculture, and other economic sectors. Van Phong serves as the economic centre of Khanh Hoa, an investment magnet, and a driving force for economic development in neighbouring areas. As of 2021, it attracted more than 150 investment projects with registered capital totaling over 4 billion USD, including over 120 domestic projects and 30 foreign ones. Most of the nearly 100 projects already operational are small ones. Visiting the zone, PM Chinh said Van Phong boasts outstanding potential and great competitiveness in economic development, especially sea-based economy and tourism. However, he noted, as it will be hard to achieve fast growth if the EZ relies solely on public investment, Khanh Hoa, ministries, and sectors need to work out mechanisms and policies, especially those boosting PPP in infrastructure building, to promote its development. PPP models should be stepped up basing on the principle of harmonising interests among the State, people, and businesses, he added. Visiting the Hyundai Vietnam shipyard in the Van Phong EZ, the Government leader expressed his hope that Hyundai will continue expanding its investment, increase the proportion of domestically-made components in its products, improving manufacturing quality in tandem with environmental protection, bettering its workers material and spiritual life, and contributing more to the local budget, thereby helping promote relations between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea. The shipyard posts annual revenue of over 500 million USD, contributes more than 5 million USD to the local budget each year, and is providing jobs for more than 5,000 workers. The same day, PM Chinh examined the site set to be the starting point of an expressway from Khanh Hoa to Buon Ma Thuot city of Dak Lak province in the Central Highlands. This road will be about 115-130km long and invested with over 21.9 trillion VND (957 million USD). He asked ministries and sectors to work with the two provinces to accelerate preparations in order to submit this project to the National Assembly for consideration in the coming session. He stressed that the expressway holds great significance since it will help connect eastern areas with western ones, and the north with the south, thus contributing to the development of the entire Central Highlands region./. Police are investigating a shooting early Saturday on Chapel Street in East Hartford that left one person dead and another injured. Just before 2 a.m., police responded to reports of shots fired and found a vehicle on Chapel Street, a short distance from Main Street, with a man apparently the victim of gunshot wounds. The man was treated at the scene and rushed to a local hospital, where he later died. Police did not name the man, pending an examination by the medical examiners office and notification of next-of-kin. A second victim, a woman, sustained a gunshot wound to the arm. She is being treated for non-life threatening injuries. Police in East Hartford and the Connecticut States Attorneys Office are investigating. Anyone with Information is asked to contact East Hartford Police Detective Patrick Sullivan at 860-291-7611, or call the East Hartford Police Anonymous Tip Line at 860-289-9134. Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com. Emma Raducanu became an overnight sensation after her U.S. Open win last Sepand has been such a part of the tennis conversation in the last six months, it's easy to forget that there are many things in the game she's never experienced before. After Friday, she now has her first win in the desert and her first win at any Masters 1000 event, outlasting veteran Caroline Garcia of France 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. In matches like Friday's, that means she's learning on the fly. She said she was happy with her ability to realize what went wrong in the second set and make a tactical change to right the ship. "It was definitely a tough match to win. Caroline is a really tricky opponent because she is really aggressive and plays very quickly," Raducanu said. "As soon as I dropped my ball speed and pace, she took advantage of that in the second set. I'm just glad that I managed to adjust for the third." You could tell this one meant a lot to Raducanu as she fist-pumped throughout the match and screamed with joy after the win. More: BNP Paribas Open: Kotsyuk of Ukraine makes powerful statement on and off the court More: BNP Paribas Open: Emma Raducanu returns to Indian Wells with nagging injury in tow Emma Raducanu runs down a shot during her win over Caroline Garcia during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., March 11, 2022. She's only gone 3-6 in her six tournaments since the U.S. Open win, battling injuries and a bout with COVID-19. That includes her one-and-done effort in Indian Wells in October when she lost her first match to Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-4. "Today's match definitely meant a lot to me," Raducanu said "It's my second win of the year. I haven't played so many. But I've just had these injuries and niggles. To come through in a big tournament, I think it definitely means a lot." She added that it meant more because after having to retire mid-match in Mexico in her last event with a leg injury, many people, even those in her camp, didn't think she'd play at Indian Wells at all. Story continues In making the decision to give it a try, she said she listened to her medical, team her coach and most importantly, her body. Emma Raducanu hits a shot during her win over Caroline Garcia during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., March 11, 2022. "Honestly after Mexico, I flew home, pretty much everyone was like, 'You're done. Hopefully Miami is 50/50.' At the time, that's like four weeks of rehabbing, coming back," she said. "I'm like, 'You guys, I feel like I can listen to my body here.' It was starting to get better. I'm just really glad that I definitely came. I think that it's definitely just important to kind of listen to your body, how it's feeling. Regardless, the medical experts, they're all top on their job, but if you're really in tune with your body, I feel you get a good grasp of the decision to make." Raducanu, the No. 11 seed, will now face unseeded Petra Martic on Sunday in the next round. Martic upset the No. 19 seed Tamara Zidansek 7-5, 7-6. Raducanu said she was buoyed by taking the court after her countryman Andy Murray who notched his 700th career win. The two crossed paths in the hallway. "When he was coming off, I was there waiting for the match," she said. "It's always like a weird one when you're following someone who has just won. You're like, I really want to do the same. It kind of gives you the extra fuel. I was really happy for him. He gave me like a fist bump, it was really cool." Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com. This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Emma Raducanu shakes off injury, looks sharp in return to Indian Wells The family of Emmett Till has appealed to Mississippis top prosecutor and federal authorities to pursue criminal charges against the woman whose accusations against him led to his 1955 murder, a striking reflection of Jim Crow-era violence that galvanised the Civil Rights movement. Deborah Watts, one of Tills cousins and a co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, said the organisation has collected more than 250,000 signatures petitioning for murder charges against Carolyn Bryant Donham, a white woman who accused the Black 14-year-old boy of harassing her in 1955, and among the last-living witnesses to his killing. We will bear witness to the hatred that has been embedded in our DNA since the slave ships arrived, Ms Watts said from the state Capitol on 11 March, according to the Clarion-Ledger. We made a promise to [his mother] that we would persist and thats why were here today. Ms Donham, then 21 years old, testified that Till grabbed her waist and made sexual advances against her at a grocery store she owned with her husband Roy. A few days later, Roy Bryant and his half-brother JW Milam then armed themselves to kidnap Till before torturing, beating and shooting him in the head and sinking his body into the Tallahatchie River. His body was discovered three days later. Following a murder trial, an all-white jury acquitted the men. Months later, they admitted to their crimes in an interview with Look magazine. A federal investigation reopened the case in 2018 following the publication of Timothy Tysons The Blood of Emmett Till that includes a confession from Ms Donham claiming that her allegations at the time were false. In December, the US Department of Justice announced that a renewed probe into the killing had ended, after Ms Donham denied to the FBI that she ever recanted her testimony and provided no information beyond what was uncovered during the previous federal investigation, according to federal prosecutors. Story continues The governments re-investigation found no new evidence suggesting that either the woman or any other living person was involved in Tills abduction and murder, the Justice Department said in a statement on 6 December, 2021. Even if such evidence could be developed, no federal hate crime laws existed in 1955, and the statute of limitations has run on the only civil rights statutes that were in effect at that time. As such, even if a living suspect could now be identified, a federal prosecution for Tills abduction and murder would not be possible. Michelle Williams, chief of staff for Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, said in a statement this week that the office was unlikely to pursue another investigation. This is a tragic and horrible crime, but the FBI, which has far greater resources than our office, has investigated this matter twice and determined that there is nothing more to prosecute, Ms Williams said in a statement. Mississippis Republican Governor Tate Reeves said in a press conference on Friday that the lynching of any teenager is of significance and certainly something that we as a society should do anything in our power to make sure that we bring anyone that committed that crime, or any other, to justice. Ms Watts said on Friday that family holds the state responsible for bringing justice forward. You have the opportunity. You just need the will and the courage to make that happen, she said. The Till familys call to action follows years-in-the-making congressional approval of legislation to designate lynching a federal hate crime under the Emmett Till Anti-Lynch Act, among dozens of bills introduced over the last several decades to officially ban such violence in the US. A photo from 2020 showing the new emergency department at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. A registered nurse suspected of sexually assaulting an emergency room patient at an Oxnard hospital was arrested Friday afternoon, authorities said. The 37-year-old man, who lives in Santa Barbara, was arrested around 3 p.m. at St. John's Regional Medical Center, said Sgt. Scott Aaron of the Oxnard Police Department. The man works in the ER, authorities said. The arrest followed a recent investigation involving a female patient in the emergency room. The patient alleged the nurse had digitally penetrated her during the visit and also asked her to orally copulate him, according to police. Roundup: Son charged in Moorpark stabbing death, more local crime news An investigation launched by the police department's family protection unit found enough evidence for a probable-cause arrest of the nurse. The man was released from Oxnard police custody after posting a $100,000 bail bond, official said. The Star generally does not name suspects until they have been formally charged by the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. Oxnard police believe there may be other victims. Anyone with information or who had a similar experience is asked to call Detective Kevin Adair at 805-385-7663. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Nurse suspected of sex assault at Oxnard emergency room Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962. In honor of Womens History Month and the 60th anniversary of Carsons seminal work, I wanted to look back at this remarkable woman and her lifes work. Silent Spring represented a watershed moment for what became our modern environmental movement. Carsons book and activism raised our national consciousness and concern about all living organisms and public health, specifically the use and long-term deleterious impacts of synthetic pesticides such as DDT. While researching information about Carson, I came across a recent CT DEEP publication called "Women in the Environment" developed for use as an educational material by teachers. The following information comes in part or directly from that publications section about Rachel Carson. Bill Reid Carson was born May 27, 1907, in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Exploring the outdoors and nature were always an interest to Carson. Her love of writing also emerged at an early age when she wrote poems and stories while still in elementary school. Carson attended Pennsylvania College and was introduced to the study of biology, which drew her interest and enthusiasm. A woman at that time was not encouraged to pursue a career in, or even study science, and Carson often was discouraged from continuing on her path. Still, she graduated in 1929 and found a summer position at Woods Hole Biological Laboratory in Cape Cod. Carsons love for the ocean blossomed during her time at Woods Hole and in the fall, she began her masters degree in marine biology at Johns Hopkins University, under a full academic scholarship. She graduated in 1932. Carsons first job after graduation was with the United States Bureau of Fisheries as a writer producing radio spots about fish. According to CT DEEP, Her writing ability and scientific background led to further duties that included developing and editing government reports and creating nature stories. In 1941 she published her first book, Under the Sea Wind, uniting fiction with scientific facts for an approachable and accurate text. By 1949, Rachel had risen to the rank of editor in chief of the U.S. Wildlife Services publications. She continued to work on her own literary projects, and in 1951 she published her award-winning book, The Sea Around Us. Story continues Carson began writing full-time in 1952 when she left the Wildlife Service and moved to Maine to be closer to the ocean. Her next book was The Edge of the Sea, focusing on the ecological link between different habitats. It was groundbreaking work explaining ecology and the importance of plant and animal diversity to create a balanced system. In the early 1960s Carson began work on her most famous book, Silent Spring. This work would address her concerns about the widespread use of DDT, a common pesticide, and its dangerous effect on bird populations. It took four years to compile data and research supporting the position that DDT needed to be banned and pesticide use controlled, so that overuse would not result in environmental damage. When Silent Spring was published in 1962, the issue of pesticide use was volatile. A special committee was formed by President Kennedy to look into the issue of environmental protection. The work led to the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 and the banning of DDT in the U.S. by 1972. Carson, however, never saw the culmination of her work because she died in 1964 from cancer. An early environmental spokesperson, she worked toward protection of natural resources and environmental health. In 1972, the EPA banned the use of DDT in the United States. Sadly, she died in 1964 and did not live to see the banning of DDT. Her influence in the area of science and importance in conservation and ecology has lasted long past her death. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a national wildlife refuge in Maine was created in her honor. Today, the Rachel Carson Council continues her work providing information on environmental issues. Carsons influence on the environmental movement cant be denied and her role is even more poignant when we learn about the unfounded criticism aimed at her by the chemical industry as a result of Silent Spring. Carson closes Silent Spring with a stark warning that bears remembering to this day. The control of nature is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and philosophy, when it was supposed that nature exists for the convenience of man. It is our alarming misfortune that so primitive a science has armed itself with the most modern and terrible weapons, and that in turning them against the insects it has also turned them against the earth. Back in 2015, at the suggestion of Norwich Bulletin reader Richard Waterman, I purchased first editions of Carsons Under the Sea Wind, The Sea Around Us and Silent Spring. They are wonderful books that clearly demonstrate Carsons scientific knowledge and literary skill that together made her writing more accessible to all readers. Perhaps that is one of her lasting legacies. I urge readers of this column to learn more about Rachael Carson and her work. Let us always remember and celebrate this amazing writer and scientist not only during Womens History Month, but throughout the year. We are fortunate to live in a beautiful place called The Last Green Valley. I hope youll join me and others as we continue to enjoy it, care for it, and pass it on. Information for this column was gleaned from Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and Women in the Environment: Educational materials and resources that focus on the contributions woman have made to the study and protection of our environment from past to present produced by CT DEEP Kellogg Environmental Center, Derby, CT. It can be found at: https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DEEP/education/general/WomenintheEnvironmentpdf.pdf Bill Reid is the Chief Ranger of The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor and can be reached at bill@tlgv.org or 860-774-3300. This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Remembering Rachel Carson and Silent Spring, 60 years later Mar. 12VALDOSTA A proud moment. Valdosta High head baseball coach Brad Porter admits he almost got choked up as his son, senior infielder Cole Porter, signed with Berry College Thursday afternoon. "As the head coach, I'm just so proud of another one of our players going to play beyond here," Coach Porter said. "It just shows that the program we have in place does a good job of preparing these guys for college baseball and turning out athletes that college coaches want to play for them. I'm just super proud as a head coach. "As a dad, it's extraordinary. I sat back and started counting last night. It's over 100 guys that have played for me that went on and played college baseball, professional baseball. It's different when it's your son. I'm super proud of him, because I get to see behind the curtain at the work he puts in and the dedication he has. He's truly committed to his craft. He's truly committed to being a student-athlete. It's extraordinary to see the work he puts in and I couldn't be prouder." Cole took his time to make sure he made the right call on his next step after high school. Having seen time all over the field as a pitcher and at various positions, Cole has focused primarily on the shortstop position as a senior. After putting pen to paper on his letter of intent with Berry, he spoke about what his signing day means to him and his family. "For me, it means a lot of hard work has paid off," Cole said. "I went from a guy that was always really small and never really was a guy people thought could go to college like that. For me and my family, it just shows that working as hard as you can trying to achieve something is accomplishable. You can do it as long as you work as hard as you can. "It also shows that the coaches we have here are amazing. Without them, I don't think I get here. I think it also shows the community we have here with our players and the friendships we've built is just as strong as the coaching staff. Without them, I feel like I don't get pushed as much as I can and I'm not here either. It means a lot to me." Story continues For Cole, as much as he loved the Berry College baseball program, his first thought was could he see himself getting a degree there and finding something to do for the rest of his life if baseball doesn't work out. Cole, who plans to major in education in college, doesn't see his path changing much from what his dad has done for so many years. "If baseball doesn't work out for me as far as playing it, I want to go coach and teach it to other people," Cole said. "Berry would allow me to do that. I want to major in education because I kind of want to follow in the footsteps of my dad and I either want to go into college coaching or high school coaching. I want to teach just like he does." Growing up, Cole admits at times it was difficult for him always being labeled a coach's kid. In spite of that label, playing for his dad at Valdosta the last four years, Cole said, has been the best four years of his life. "I've loved it," Cole said. "It's been the greatest four years of my life. Every day, I get pushed harder than everybody else just because I'm his son and I feel like that's helped me get to where I am today. Playing for him has just been a blessing." Shane Thomas is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times. BALTIMORE A federal team helped clear a backlog of between 200 and 300 cases that had piled up in the overwhelmed Maryland medical examiners office, state and federal officials confirmed Friday. The state office located in Baltimore, officially called the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, once a national model, has been suffering in recent years from staff shortages and increasing delays that has left families waiting to bury loved ones and potentially putting criminal cases at risk, in addition to jeopardizing its national accreditation. Delegate Kirill Reznik said he was told during a call to the office that the case backlog had been addressed by a team sent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that was there this week. The Montgomery County Democrat has been following the staff shortages closely and introduced legislation to require the examiners office to staff appropriately. We called today and were told they cleared the backlog, he said. It probably doesnt solve the problem of understaffing. But I imagine itll take a while to build back up to that level if they dont staff up and hopefully this gives them the opportunity to staff up. Its great news. Officials from the Maryland Department of Health didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. A FEMA spokesman confirmed federal personnel were sent to the Maryland office but provided no details. The Maryland medical examiners office had requested assistance last month from the federal governments Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams. FEMA, which takes such requests for federal assistance from states and coordinates support, referred calls to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The medical examiners office is charged with investigating suspicious and unattended deaths, including homicides and drug overdoses. Those deaths have spiked in recent years and only grew during the coronavirus pandemic. Story continues The office has been overseen by an acting chief since last month. Dr. Victor W. Weedn resigned after a tumultuous year on the job during which the pace of staff departures quickened. The National Association of Medical Examiners sets a standard of 250 autopsies a year per examiners, but Maryland examiners typically exceed that level. State records show some examiners were performing 390 autopsies a year in the most recent fiscal year and at times even more. For years, the office on West Baltimore Street in the University of Maryland BioPark had been given provisional accreditation. But full accreditation was restored during the pandemic as the association loosened the threshold. The accreditation is seen as important to instill trust in the findings. The examiners official website lists a dozen examiners in addition to the acting chief and a deputy, down from 20 listed in state documents in December. There may be even fewer full-time examiners now, though the state has approved multiple new positions and approved bonuses and pay raises. Hiring qualified pathologists has been a national problem because there arent enough to go around. The office has been trying to fill the gap by rehiring retired examiners, which may have contributed to the exodus as those eligible left and returned to lighter work loads. They could earn $850 a case and also collect their pensions while avoiding some of the most complex cases. Raoul Pal, ex-Goldman Sachs hedge fund boss and founder of RealVision TV. Real Vision Television The most likely outcome of the ongoing war is that Ukraine won't surrender to Russia, according to Raoul Pal. Pal expects stocks to rally once Russia's invasion ends, as that would give markets clarity on the situation. Don't buy commodities gold, bonds, and dollars are safe bets, the former Goldman Sachs hedge-fund boss said. Raoul Pal believes investors need to figure out how to protect themselves against geopolitical uncertainty, as Russia's war with Ukraine rocks financial markets. With that in mind, the former Goldman Sachs hedge-fund manager has outlined three possible scenarios for how the conflict could end, and what it means for assets. "Economic events are much more forecastable," Pal, currently CEO of Real Vision TV, said. "Geopolitical events have many more different nuances." Pal, who once revealed that 98% of his portfolio is in crypto, shared in a video this week that he's now starting to buy bonds, some gold, and some dollars as the market awaits clarity on the impact of Ukraine's crisis. Pal laid out 3 possible outcomes to Russia's invasion of Ukraine Best case: Russia and Ukraine reach a ceasefire agreement, and recognize splinter states. (Ends in Western sanctions easing over time, but a food crisis and global recession still happen). Highest probability case: Ukraine doesn't negotiate or surrender, and Russia installs a puppet government. (Western sanctions still hold, and NATO amasses weapons on the borders.) Worst case: Poland enters the conflict, oversupplied with weaponry to support Ukraine. (NATO vs. Russia in an all-out war.) Within the next two to three weeks, it'll be clear which scenario plays out, Pal said. He described the first as a "dirty, ugly resolution" that could see stocks rally, because there's a chance the West will undermine its own sanctions on Russian commodities. "So they'll sanction them on a bunch of stuff. But they'll say through the back door, 'Listen, we need the copper. We need the nickel. We need the oil. We need the gas' which is a bit of a shitshow. But that's the state of the world," he said. Story continues Under the second, Pal again expects equities to rise. If Russia's assault ends, so does uncertainty for investors. "Clarity is what markets want," he said. Investors are already testing the third, trying to assess whether tensions between the West and Russia, as well as China, will lead to World War III. If not, then markets could gain, he believes. Many on Wall Street are worried about the risk of stagflation a combination of stagnant economic growth and rampant inflation as commodity prices soar due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Faced with this risk, the US government and the Federal Reserve could decide to support the economy via stimulus measures which they did during the pandemic. Tech stocks were boosted by easy money in 2020 and 2021, but dropped after the Fed vowed to reduce its balance sheet. "I've been waiting to buy tech, and I don't think we can get there until we start to see the monetary spigots opening up again," Pal said. "I think they will come, and I think they'll come in form of transfer payments," he added, referring to direct handouts of money to individuals. Pal feels buying commodities at their current elevated levels isn't a good idea. If the Ukraine crisis ends, half of them will fall 50% within minutes, he said. "The ramification of the high commodities, which is slowing growth, makes bonds a good bet," he said. "The ramifications of the 'weaponizing' of reserves makes gold a good bet." Pal advised investors to filter out possible propaganda, and to consider the bigger picture. "It's best not to try and be too clever, too cute, pick the exact scenario. But go at the toppest-level macro to say, 'OK, what are the things here that can help protect me'?" "And those will be gold, bonds, dollars and I like crypto, but I would prefer it if we had the central bank printing." Read more: Meet the crypto lawyer joining 'a room of geniuses' to head up FTX Europe. He lays out how the Tomorrowland partnership is one step in the path to transatlantic domination and shares 2 under-the-radar risks of spot crypto Read the original article on Business Insider (AFP via Getty Images) France moved to within sight of a first Six Nations title and Grand Slam since 2010 after beating Wales 13-9 at the Principality Stadium. Victory over England in Paris next week will see France crowned kings of Europe just 18 months before hosting the World Cup. But Les Bleus were pushed all the way by last seasons Six Nations champions before ultimately overcoming a sizeable hurdle. Those that stayed away the stadium was some 11,000 short of its 74,500 capacity missed an absorbing Test match. Flanker Anthony Jelonch scored the games only try after just nine minutes, yet that did not detract from a heavyweight contest when both teams did not give an inch. Full-back Melvyn Jaminet converted Jelonchs score and kicked two penalties, while Wales captain Dan Biggar booted three penalties in what was Frances severest test of their Six Nations campaign so far. Wales will close their Six Nations campaign at home to Italy next weekend, while France go for Grand Slam glory, and the home side, especially, can take a huge amount from a display crammed with character and desire. Wales boss Wayne Pivac made four changes from the side beaten by England last time out, with fit-again Josh Navidi, fellow flanker Seb Davies, prop Gareth Thomas and centre Jonathan Davies called up. Nick Tompkins missed out due to concussion, and there was no place in the matchday 23 for back-row prospect Taine Basham. France, meanwhile, showed a solitary switch as wing Gabin Villiere replaced Damian Penaud, who was sidelined after testing positive for Covid-19. Anthony Jelonch scored the only try of the match (PA Wire) France were quickest out of the traps, with skipper Antoine Dupont immediately testing Wales defence before Jaminet kicked a third-minute penalty after Navidi drifted offside. Wales were level two minutes later, though, as a 40-metre Biggar penalty punished French obstruction. But France were quickly back in charge when Jelonch rounded off a flowing move to touch down after Les Bleus initially looked like they had blown the chance when Villiere ignored an unmarked Dupont alongside him. Story continues Jaminet converted and Wales also lost scrum-half Tomos Williams, who was removed from the field by medical staff after suffering a head injury. A second Biggar penalty narrowed the gap, then Wales saw prop Gareth Thomas go off for a head injury assessment, with Wyn Jones joining the action. Given the level of disruption, Wales regrouped strongly, threatening through number eight Taulupe Faletau and wing Alex Cuthbert to give France plenty to think about. (PA Wire) Thomas rejoined the action and Wales continued pressing, being handed a strong attacking platform after Biggar launched a 60-metre touchfinder. Wales were on top as the interval approached, and Biggar completed his penalty hat-trick, making it 10-9 at half-time and setting up an engrossing second period. Jaminet opened the second-half scoring when he landed a short-range penalty, but Wales then drove a close-range line-out after a brilliant Biggar kick, only for hooker Ryan Elias to be held up over the line. France were unquestionably flustered, and Wales continued to hassle them, moving into the final quarter on top in terms of territory. At times, it was backs to the wall for Les Bleus, yet the defensive structure given to them by their former Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards survived considerable scrutiny. Pivac and his France counterpart Fabien Galthie rang the changes, but it was the home side who maintained momentum, keeping their opponents under pressure as the clock ticked down. Wales, despite unremitting efforts, could not find a way through, and French relief was palpable as they kicked the ball out of play to set up next weeks enticing Paris spectacle. Flash Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he supported the idea of allowing volunteers from abroad to provide military assistance to Donbass. Western countries and Ukraine do not hide that they are gathering mercenaries and sending them to Ukraine, Putin said at a meeting with permanent members of Russia's Security Council. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin that he had received "a huge number of applications from various kinds of volunteers from different countries" who would like to come to Lugansk and Donetsk in order to "participate in what they consider a liberation movement." "The largest number is from the Middle Eastern countries. There are already more than 16,000 applications," Shoigu reported. "If you see that there are people who want on a voluntary basis, especially not for money, to come and help people living in Donbass, you need to meet them halfway and help them move to the war zone," Putin said after listening to his report. Putin also backed Shoigu's initiative to transfer Western-made weapons captured by the Russian military in Ukraine to the forces of Donbass. French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris to attend a 2019 summit on Ukraine. (Chesnot / Getty Images) Official photographs of French President Emmanuel Macron usually depict him looking composed and confident. But in recent pictures released by Elysee Palace after his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Macron looks drawn, haggard, even despairing. The messaging seems clear: Dealing with Putin is taxing. But it's election season in France, and Macron's shouldering of a difficult statesmanlike task talking with a volatile Russian leader who is waging Europe's biggest land war since 1945 appears to be paying political dividends for the 44-year-old French president. Macron, perhaps more than any other Western head of state, has engaged intensively with Putin for years including during the run-up to the war in Ukraine, and continuing during the more than two weeks since the start of the massive Russian offensive. After his latest parley with Putin last week, Macron appealed for a "complete truce" in what has become an all-out Russian assault on Ukrainian cities and towns. France, he said, was committed to protecting civilians and would continue to apply "diplomatic pressure, so that this war stops as soon as possible." In part because it bolsters France's image as a major world player, the French public is generally happy to see the country's leader take on a high-profile diplomatic role. In France, it goes down fairly well with citizens if the president is seen to be playing an active role on the international stage, said Douglas Webber, emeritus professor of political science at INSEAD, an international business school headquartered in France. That boost comes just in time for next months two-round presidential election. A report published this week by the Elabe pollster for BFM television indicated that one-third of those surveyed planned to vote for Macron in the first round, a jump of more than 8 percentage points from the previous week. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen trailed, with 15% of the intended votes. That gives Macron the biggest first-round lead heading into a presidential vote since 1965, according to Mujtaba Rahman, the Eurasia Groups managing director for Europe. Story continues Even so, Macron has come under fire in some quarters for his longtime efforts to engage with Putin to the point of courting him. The French president's supporters call it a laudable effort to keep the lines of communication open with an autocratic leader often hostile to the West; his detractors suggest Macron may have been taken in by the wily former KGB officer. For a long time, he didnt understand Putin, said Michel Duclos, senior fellow at Institut Montaigne. He was under the illusion that Putin was a rational actor and had security interests that one could understand. But after a visit to Moscow by Macron weeks before Putin launched his Ukraine invasion on Feb. 24, the French leader sought to make it known that he had a clear-eyed grasp of just how far the Russian leader might be willing to go in his bid to subdue Ukraine. Macron well understood that there was a different person sitting across from him, Duclos said. While Macron wasnt able to dissuade Putin from invading, some veteran observers believe his ongoing contact provides a useful window into the Russian leader's thinking. Macron wanted to use diplomacy to determine Putins intentions, said Judy Dempsey, nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and editor in chief of Strategic Europe. He has no illusions, but as a leader, he felt a certain responsibility to try. The desire to keep lines of communication open, even with interlocutors whose goals might be considered repugnant, is a classically French one, said Olivier Costa, research professor at the French National Center for Scientific Research and an expert on French politics. There is a French tradition that goes back to [Charles] de Gaulle of France finding its own way between two blocs, Costa said. The idea is that someone should speak to the Russians. [Macron] has always said that someone needs to speak to Putin." But, Costa acknowledged, "not everyone is of that view. Macron has also been in regular contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, expressing emphatic support for the Ukrainian side, but his outreach has been far more weighted toward Moscow. At times he has sought to serve as a bridge between the two sides, as when he spoke with both Putin and Zelensky on Feb. 28, four days after Russia invaded, and said he pressed for an immediate cease-fire. A shift in emphasis from domestic politics to a pressing international crisis is clearly benefiting Macron. Just weeks ago, his political opponents were busy criticizing his immigration policies and his governments handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, public discourse is centered on the war in Ukraine, which has triggered an enormous refugee exodus and caused heart-rending harm to starving, freezing, bombarded Ukrainian civilians. No other candidate has an international profile," Costa said. "He is strategically playing that role and underlining the international dimension to show how weak the other candidates are. Moreover, three of Macrons leading rivals in the upcoming election Le Pen, Eric Zemmour on the extreme right and Jean-Luc Melenchon on the hard left are in an extremely awkward position vis-a-vis Putin, having publicly praised him or taken Russian money. Zemmour recently called Putins demands completely legitimate, and last week, Le Pen had to destroy fliers that featured a photo of her shaking Putins hand. Melenchon, for his part, has been trying to explain away previous statements he made in support of Putin, most notably concerning Syria. The discomfit of his rivals has been a political gift to Macron. At the moment, he is making hay, Dempsey said. France currently holds the European Unions rotating presidency, so Macron is positioned to speak more broadly for Europe as well. The Ukraine crisis dovetails neatly with the French leader's long-standing wish to shake up the EU, moving away from wielding mainly soft power and toward ramping up the bloc's defense and security capabilities. While there was some support for that point of view, it had been largely theoretical until war in Ukraine, analysts say. Now the more muscular approach advocated by Macron looks prescient. There has been a change of mind-set in the EU about becoming a power, Costa said. Ukraine is an occasion to say, Now we need to do something.'" The bloc is taking steps no one would have anticipated six months ago; for example, buying and delivering $500 million worth of weapons to Ukraine, a historic first. Macron is also riding a wave of almost unprecedented alignment within Europe over Ukraine. Sweden abandoned its rule of neutrality and sent tanks to the defenders. Germany, in a momentous about-face, reversed its long-standing policy of not sending arms to conflict zones. Even Switzerland, whose confidential banking policies make it a haven for parking ill-gotten gains, joined in sanctions and signaled willingness to freeze Russian oligarchs' accounts. Even if Macron has little to show so far in his dealings with Putin, his associates express confidence that he is well positioned to play a role in any negotiated settlement distant though that prospect may seem. And the French leader has not minced words when it comes to denouncing what he considers bad-faith actions on Putin's part, such as when Russia offered evacuation routes for Ukrainian civilians but wanted to direct those fleeing the bombardment into Russia or its ally Belarus. All this is not serious, Macron said in a broadcast interview. It is moral and political cynicism, which is unbearable to me. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. None of the top Republican who ran to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the failed September recall election will be challenging his reelection hopes in 2022. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) None of the top Republicans who ran to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in the failed September recall election will challenge his bid for a second term this year, leaving the task for now to little-known challengers who will face the buzzsaw of the governor's multimillion-dollar reelection campaign. That puts Newsom on a seemingly clear path to reelection this November, four years after he was elected by the largest margin of any California governor over the last half-century. But rising voter concerns about crime and homelessness in California along with Newsom's tepid job approval rating could still hurt him politically if a surprise big-name challenger jumps in at the last minute, though that is not expected. Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, once considered the Republican Party's best hope to defeat Newsom, announced Thursday night that he would forgo entry into California's 2022 gubernatorial race, blaming the spectacle of last year's Republican-led recall campaign. Newsom beat back the recall effort in part by accusing his GOP challengers of being Trump loyalists backed by far-right and anti-vaccine extremists. Its harder than ever before to get ahead in California. We all know it, which is why a majority of Californians believe our state is on the wrong track," Faulconer said in a statement released Thursday night. "I want to run for governor to change this, but the lingering effects of the circus that unfolded toward the end of last years recall make it extremely difficult to relaunch the type of campaign I would want to run." The field of candidates currently challenging Newsom includes Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle, a conservative, seasoned politician from Northern California, and independent candidate Michael Shellenberger, a longtime activist on energy and homelessness issues. Dahle has never run for statewide office and Shellenberger, who supported Newsom's recall, ran for governor in 2018 as a Democrat and was backed by less than 1% of California voters. Story continues Friday is the deadline to file to run for governor and other political offices in California, so there's always a chance of a late entry. Dan Newman, a political consultant for the governor, said Newsom is in a strong position politically because California voters have overwhelmingly supported him. "Californians have been clear and consistent repeatedly and overwhelmingly supporting the governor's leadership during an unprecedented series of crises," Newman said. "So he'll stay focused and take nothing for granted, regardless of how many Trump sycophants run against him." Republican political consultant Tim Rosales said the reluctance to challenge Newsom was not surprising. Not only does Newsom have nearly $25 million stashed away in his reelection campaign account, he handily defeated the recall attempt less than six months ago. Among the more than 8.4 million Californians who voted in the recall, 61.9% favored keeping Newsom in office, and 38.1% supported ousting him. "Democrats have the advantage and not only at the ballot box, but also among the donor community," Rosales said. "The interest among Republicans is on the congressional races, not only in California but nationally. That's occupying most of the energy on the Republican side." Rosales noted that the last Republican to mount a formidable campaign for California governor was Meg Whitman, a former EBay chief executive. She spent a record $177 million on her campaign, only to lose to Democrat Jerry Brown in 2010. After the recall went down to defeat in September, four of the top Republicans hoping to replace Newsom all said they would consider challenging him again in the 2022 race and, eventually, all decided not to. Along with Faulconer, conservative talk show host Larry Elder, who topped the field of recall replacement candidates, said in January that he would not run. Among the other Republicans, Rancho Santa Fe businessman John Cox and Assemblymember Kevin Kiley of Rocklin, Calif., also said they would not challenge Newsom. Cox also lost to Newsom in the 2018 gubernatorial race, and Kiley has opted to run for Congress. Matt Lesenyie, a political scientist at Cal State Long Beach, said it's telling that Faulconer, a well-qualified moderate Republican who led one of California's largest cities and could have widespread appeal in the state, doesn't think he has a shot. "He looks at the field, he's got good advice, good advisors, but he looks at it and says, 'Nah. Why bother?'" Lesenyie said. "He's a guy who could speak to California; that is to say, he could put a winning face on the Republican Party to show a way to win here." But Lenenyie said the California GOP has been distilled down to a dense conservative core, moving it further from moderate voters and the state's left-leaning majority. "What's gonna win here somebody who's OK with the environment and isn't waging a culture war in a state that's really progressive," he said. The absence of a big-name Republican challenger in the race to lead California, where the conservative icon and future President Ronald Reagan served two terms as governor, reveals just how far the GOP's prospects have fallen in the state's preeminent political races. Democratic registered voters in California also outnumber Republicans by a nearly 2-1 margin, helping explain why no Republican has won a statewide political campaign since 2006. In California's races for U.S. Senate in 2016 and 2018, no Republican won enough votes in the June top-two primaries to advance to the general election. Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla also lacks a major challenger thus far, despite this being his first Senate campaign after he was appointed to the seat by Newsom in late 2020 to fill a vacancy left when Kamala Harris was elected vice president. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Mar. 11The Harford County Caucus of African-American Leaders has called for the termination of acting county health officer Marcy Austin and county procurement director Karen Myers over their handling of a federal grant to aid the elderly. Speakers at a news conference Thursday alleged that Austin and Myers lied about their involvement in and knowledge of the cancellation of a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Older Adult Home Modification Program. The money would have been used to fund a three-year program to install safety modifications in the homes of low-income seniors. Abingdon resident Keisha Jennings-Eakin was one of four grant writers who secured the grant last August with the help of then-health officer David Bishai, and was to be the sole-source provider for the grant. Jennings-Eakin runs the The Right Turn, a local business that specializes in helping people with physical, cognitive or age-related limitations to remain in their homes and live independently. After Bishai was terminated in October, Jennings-Eakin was removed as the sole-source provider, or the person responsible for completing the work. Health department spokesperson Ronya Nassar said this is because a competitive bidding process was required to properly award the grant money. "After Dr. Bishai's departure, Ms. Austin initially refused the grant because proper procurement rules were not followed," Nassar said in a statement after the news conference Thursday. The health department revised the procurement process to meet HUD requirements for competitive bidding and was awarded the grant on Feb. 12, Nassar said. The county is in the final stages of completing the request for proposals for the grant and is working with the county's procurement department. "We are grateful to have received this grant from HUD to assist the elderly in Harford County," Nassar said. After Bishai's departure, Jennings-Eakins said she was excluded from the project. She said she'd like to be able to work on it, but would be "nervous and hesitant" to do so, worrying that the health department would look for reasons to let her go. Story continues As a minority small business owner, she said, it was difficult finding a partner within local government. "I have truly lost hope that the truth and fairness will prevail in this manner," Jennings-Eakin said. "I've lost trust in working with my local government." The caucus has filed a public information request for documents they say support their claims. "We believe the documentation will make it very clear that in this case, there's unfairness and untruthfulness in terms of how this happened to this particular small business owner, an African-American female," said caucus President Jim Thornton. Cassandra Beverley, a Bel Air lawyer, affirmed Jennings-Eakin's qualifications and maintained that she has been treated unfairly. "We have no confidence that she will receive the fair treatment that she deserves while Marcy Austin and Karen Myers are in charge," Beverley said. Council member Andre Johnson said he does not believe anything that comes from the county health department or procurement office. He said he would call on his fellow council members to look at this issue as an ethics violation. "We, as a County Council, must restore good governance and ethical standards in how we do business in this county for all of our citizens," Johnson said. Despite Johnson's concerns, County Council President Patrick Vincenti said he supports Austin. "My County Council colleagues and I fully support Ms. Austin in her role as acting health officer and have no desire to see her removed from that role," Vincenti said in a statement released by Nassar. When reached for comment, Austin sent The Aegis the same responses issued by Nassar and Vincenti, adding that the county is "definitely moving forward" with the HUD grant. Cindy Mumby, the county's government and communications relations director, said that County Executive Barry Glassman has no intention of firing Myers. A Montgomery County judge on Friday sentenced a local man to life in prison plus 12 years for the 2018 Clarksville stabbing death of his wife, 41-year-old Leila Chanane. Hamid Houbbadi was found guilty by a Montgomery County jury in January of first-degree murder, first-degree murder in perpetration of a crime and especially aggravated burglary in connection with Chanane's death. She was found dead in a neighbor's driveway on Bellamy Lane on Oct. 20, 2018. Investigators said she'd suffered nine stab wounds to the back and chest area. Houbbadi was found face down inside the victim's home with apparent self-inflicted wounds, including several slits to the wrist and neck, officials said. Hamid Houbbadi disclose motive for 2018 stabbing death of wife, sentenced to life in prison. Houbbadi was given a life sentence for the two murder charges, which were merged. He received an additional 12 years for the burglary charge. The sentences are to be served back to back. Related: Clarksville estranged husband accused in wife's stabbing death pleads not guilty: Takeaways Before Friday's sentencing, the motive behind Chanane's death had not been discussed. Houbbadi: Stolen money, eviction and divorce On Friday, Houbbadi stood before Judge Robert Bateman and wiped away tears as he told the court why he killed his wife. He said she broke into his safe and stole thousands of dollars from him before he called the police to report her. He also mentioned that he was frustrated about being evicted from his own home. At the time of his wife's death, he was staying with a friend in Franklin, Tennessee, because Chanane had filed an order of protection against him. During trial, testimony revealed that Chanane had temporarily lived in a Nashville domestic violence shelter. Houbbadi explained that he drove to Clarksville on the night of Chanane's murder to pick up a prescription medication from Walmart. His credit card was expired, he said, so he went to the house to get some money. He wasn't supposed to be at the Bellamy Lane home that night due to the order of protection. Story continues Leila Chanane, 41 While he was in the house, he saw a contact number for an attorney on a magazine. Chanane was seeking a divorce. That's when Houbbadi said that he, "lost it." My money gone, she kicked me (out) from the house," he said. "I just want to say I'm sorry for what I did. I wish I never gone to my house," he said as he wept. Attorney Charles Bloodworth said husband and wife met in Morocco in 2014, and Houbbadi had done "everything right," up until the night of the murder, noting that Houbbadi had a clean record and had sponsored Chanane to come to America. She has taken his money hes been evicted from his own house, and shes seeing a lawyer about getting a divorce," Bloodworth said. That explains, without excusing. What you heard today was sincere remorse if he could take it back. Bloodworth said Houbbadi wasnt thinking clearly because he was under provocation. General District Attorney Robert Nash told Bateman that Houbbadi's lack of criminal history didn't matter. Chanane was the victim of a surprise attack and stabbed nine times. The driveway where Leila Chanane was found dead. Her estranged husband, Hamid Houbbadi, was found inside the victim's home with self-inflicted injuries and has been convicted in her death. This is egregious to go through these lengths to commit this premeditated murder I guess over money," Nash said. What Houbbadi didn't explain was how the power to the home had been cut off for about 20 minutes after his arrival. "Now, when Leila (Chanane) comes home, there's no lights on the house ... this was a surprise attack," Nash said during the January trial proceedings. He told the judge Friday that the back to back sentence for murder and burglary was warranted because Houbbadi is a violent offender. Alexis Clark can be reached at aclark@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Clarksville man receives life in prison for stabbing death of wife Mar. 12GAYLORD A state police investigation into inappropriate messages a northern Michigan priest sent to high school students found no criminal wrongdoing, according to the Michigan Attorney General. A complaint claiming Father Bryan Medlin of the Gaylord Diocese sent inappropriate text messages to high school students was sent to the Michigan Attorney General's office on Dec. 10, as previously reported. An investigation by the Michigan State Police and the AG's office found no criminal behavior in Medlin's conduct with students. Nonetheless, investigators said Medlin sent "several" teenagers and young men between 16 and 18 years of age messages online and via text that contained sexual content and racially insensitive statements, according to records released Friday by the Michigan Attorney General. The recipients of those messages included high school students at both St. Mary's in Lake Leelanau and St. Francis High School in Traverse City. Partially redacted documents including interview notes and screenshots of text messages collected during MSP's investigation show Medlin made inappropriate comments to students in person, via text and via social media platforms, dating back to at least 2019. Former and current St. Mary's students interviewed said Medlin discussed female students' bodies and said he would date the female students if he was in high school, according to MSP reports. The MSP investigation was carried out by State Police Detective Sgt. Mike Fink and State Trooper Andrea Tillman. "While the allegations against Fr. Medlin did not meet the threshold of criminal behavior beyond a reasonable doubt, we appreciate that the Diocese of Gaylord referred this matter to our office for review," Attorney General Dana Nessel said in an emailed statement. "We take seriously all reports of sexual abuse and pledge to be a safe haven for victims, to conduct a thorough investigation of available evidence, and to charge individuals, when possible." Story continues The documents released to the Record-Eagle by the AG's office reveal the message that sparked the investigation was sent to three St. Mary's students on Nov. 18 at 9 p.m., months after Medlin had been promoted from St. Mary's to the National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods in Indian River in Cheboygan County. In the message, Medlin calls his advice to the students "Holy and horney wisdom", wishes the students luck in an upcoming football game, offers them personal prayers and advises them on what kind of sexual conduct they are allowed based on their team's margin of victory in the game. Medlin's text discusses "downrivers finest topless bars" and said he will be back at "gtacs" for confessions. Other parts of the message include statements such as "Just go find a room and get crazy with your gf" and "tackle your gf to the ground (remove your pads) roll around the ground make out for 60 sec". MSP investigators interviewed the three St. Mary's students who received the message. The teens told investigators Medlin would sit with them at lunch on occasion and make inappropriate comments about women and girls, according to the reports. During the MSP probe, the teens recounted a comment by Medlin to students about a cleavage, a joke about men having erections in the mornings and the priest saying he wished he were back in high school so he could date the female students at the high school. The interview notes also indicate the text message that sparked the investigation eventually circulated between students at St. Francis High School as well. A teacher at one of the schools heard students talking about the message and reported it to the diocese, according the investigative records. Screenshots of other text messages included in the reports show Medlin using a variety of explicit language when messaging students. Other messages investigators obtained showed Medlin commenting to students about a "nice looking black woman" and worrying about a terrorist attack when seeing a "bunch of Muslims". Not all of the messages turned over to investigators were profane, offensive or sexual in nature, but for some of the students interviewed, the frequency of Medlin's correspondence and the timing some where sent as late as 11:30 p.m. were questionable, according to MSP reports. MSP investigators also interviewed a former student who said he wrote a letter to the Diocese on behalf of his classmates and himself about Medlin's behavior. Another document shows that, in 2019, a student sent a letter to the Diocese complaining about Medlin's behavior. The student said Medlin used profanity around students, made racially insensitive comments, called a student a "paper molester" and shared one student's confession. The documents do not clarify whether the former student interviewed by investigators is the same student who sent the 2019 letter. The students said Medlin never made physical advances on them or made them feel physically uncomfortable and many students said they thought Medlin was making the comments he did to seem cool, according to the MSP reports. According to the Gaylord Diocese "Protocols For Ministry To Minors And To Vulnerable Adults", clergy and adults employed by the diocese are prohibited from making comments of a sexual nature to minors outside of sanctioned lessons and communicating one-on-one with minors by electronic communication. The ages of the students who received the texts with sexual content are censored in the documents provided by the AG's office. The Diocese of Gaylord released an official statement regarding the findings of the investigation on Thursday. When asked for comment on the investigation on Friday, Mackenzie Ritchie, Diocese of Gaylord communications director, directed the Record-Eagle to Thursday's statement. The Diocese of Gaylord will now begin an internal review and investigation by Church authorities, according to Thursday's statement. Medlin will not be terminated but remain on administrative leave, the statement said. "The security and safety of all those within our care, particularly our young people and the most vulnerable, are of the utmost importance and we will continue to promptly address inappropriate behavior and misconduct," Ritchie said in the statement. In September, Medlin was appointed to be the pastor of the National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods in Indian River in Cheboygan County after spending time as the pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Leelanau County. In August, Medlin was also appointed to be the assistant director of vocations for the diocese. Vocation directors play a main role in recruiting teens and young adults to become future members of clergy. Their duties typically include visits to schools and parishes within their diocese to speak to young people. Documents sent to the Record-Eagle from the Attorney General's office show that on Dec. 10, Medlin declined to talk to police investigators, as advised by his legal counsel. Instead, Medlin sent a statement through his attorney. "He corresponded with some former student athletes to keep in touch about school and sports programs, with the intention to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life," the statement reads. "At no time was anything obscene or illegal discussed or transmitted, and Father Bryan wholly denies any criminal wrongdoing or intent." Medlin's lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment Friday. When asked if the previous Bishop knew about Medlin's behavior prior to the investigation, Ritchie responded via text: "This is addressed in our statement when the messages were made known to the diocese, the matter was immediately referred to the Michigan Department of Attorney General and the Michigan State Police for investigation." ERBIL,Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq will host another round of talks between regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the foreign ministry in Baghdad said on Saturday, without giving further details. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein revealed the development during remarks at a diplomatic forum in Antalya on Turkey's southern coast cited by local media. A foreign ministry spokesman confirmed the comments to Reuters. The talks will be the fourth round hosted by Baghdad between officials from its two neighbours and mutual adversaries, according to local media. The Saudi foreign ministry did not respond to request for comment. Diplomats hope the opening of direct channels between Iran and Saudi Arabia will signal an easing of tensions across the Middle East after years of hostilities that have brought the region close to a full-scale conflict. Talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Friday faced the prospect of collapse after a last-minute Russian demand forced world powers to pause negotiations for an undetermined time despite having a largely completed text. Negotiators have reached the final stages of 11 months of discussions to restore the deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme, long seen by the West as a cover for developing atomic bombs. (Reporting by Amina Ismail; Additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Writing by Moataz Mohamed; Editing by Mike Harrison) Mar. 12KEESEVILLE Romania is right in the neck of Russia, and Keeseville resident Maria Holderman is there assisting with relief and humanitarian efforts for thousands of Ukrainian refugees displaced by the ongoing Russian invasion. The businesswoman, educator and author of "Children of the Decree: A Journalist's Battle to Save Romanian Orphans and Herself," was inspired to put her boots on the ground through the power of social media. "We have a group that is called Romanians for Progressive Values," Holderman said. "We are about 1,000. They are professional people here that want to make a change. Some are lawyers. Some are immigration lawyers. Some have connections directly with ambassadors or they can open a door to ambassadors. Some are professors, and they can spread the word there." COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES Group members are in Romania doing groundwork, and other members are in the United States assisting and connecting information from Romania. Holderman was doing that before she left for her mother country. "What is going on in Romania and what we need to do here?" she said. "Do we need to raise money? Do we need transportation to bring someone, let's say three people from what town in Ukraine to the border? We have six borders there, right. At every border there, we have our people, our volunteers. These people now are able to get the resources." Convoys of buses and vans transport Ukrainian refugees to specific locations once a way is found despite difficulties. "One, the internet there is down most of the time," Holderman said. "Two, there are attacks with misinformation. This lady from Odessa, she was a friend of a reader who bought my book, saw what I was doing and that woman reached out to me two days ago. I said, 'Okay, this is how we do it.'" Connections are created and tracked on spreadsheets. "Which houses can take refugees, which hotels," she said. Story continues "Initially with the onset of the war, there were less refugees. They wanted to stay closer to the border, so they could go back at one point. Well, it didn't work that way. The attacks are intensifying. The news is that almost all big cities are attacked, are under siege right now, okay." TO DONATE Donations to the group's relief efforts can be made through PayPal.Me/roconectuk. More than 84,000 Ukrainians have fled to Romania, according to media reports. "More refugees are coming," she said. "There are about 1 million. Initially, we had estimated about 100,000 coming to Romania. But this number is not even real. It's much, much higher than that." The group coordinates drivers with buses to pick up the refugees. "They don't have to pay for anything," she said. "We want them to reach the border. We are trying to provide them with information, which border would be the best for them based on where they are." LOGISTICS UNDER WARFARE Before the recent bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukrainians could take a ferry. "They can go to the border that crosses the Danube River," Holderman said. "The Danube is the longest river in Europe. So, that's where it goes into the Black Sea. Once they get there, that's what we are concerned. We have phones to provide. We try to find everything, and this is crazy because we are talking in four languages. "There are people that are Ukrainian. There are people that are from Russia. There are people who are Hungarians and Polish and English." The different nationalities try to synthesize all data to know exactly where to send refugees, what transportation to use, how to get the refugees out, and what is the safest route. "These are elderly people," she said. "Do they resist to walk, to cross, to wait 20 hours? Twenty hours was the waiting time at the border. Twenty hours, okay, you think about that. Men between 20 and 60 cannot leave. "So you are talking about grandparents. You are talking about elderly, and we're talking about mothers with younger children." Last Tuesday, Holderman assisted in extracting five people from Odessa including an 80-year-old grandmother, an elderly father, a daughter and her two children. "The Romanian Embassy here gives out locations, phone numbers, direct person where to contact, the best way to get them out," she said. "We bring them wherever they want if they want to apply for asylum. We have people to assist them. We really want them to reach the border. When they reach the border, they will be taken care of. "We have food. We have supplies. We have transportation. We have buses there to reunite them and bring them to different locations. We put them in churches, kindergarten schools or wherever we can because the hotels are already full at this point with them." DISRUPTING MISINFORMATION Initially, the group looked at locations closer to the border. "Now, more and more are coming, coming," Holderman said. "Things are extending even in my own city where I was born in Dragasani, Romania. They are offering hotels and all kinds of things. We need to get them out. The biggest struggle right now is the misinformation is reaching them faster than we can reach them." For example a week ago, Ukrainians believed that they will win the war, and tomorrow the war will end. "That's what I was told," she said "We're trying to bring them the right information with phone numbers and direct contact. The Russian propaganda tells them the Romanians will not welcome you with open arms. "Don't believe this and that. Then it is very hard to convince them that everything is put in place." Once Ukrainians arrive at the Romanian border crossings, they have access to the internet. "They give them phones," she said. "They give them everything that they need. That's where our work is to try to get as many people out before it is too late. I have the premonition that it will get uglier. Uglier." Her sister, Livia, a teacher, lives in Craiova, a big commercial city west of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. "This is a university city," Holderman said. "She is there, and she works and verifies lists. She sees this post, I have 14 rooms for a big hotel. Her job is to check these sources. She makes phone calls. She has a daughter, who is a student of medicine in her fifth year. "Their job, what they are doing is checking all of these information that comes through social media. Are they real? Is it another scam or something? Her job is to make phone calls, talk to the director, get the direct phone number. After she does her part, all of this will go into our data base." INFLUX INTEL The group's intel is fluid. "It's changing, changing every hour," she said. "Let's say if this place is full, then it's still there but we cross it out and we add others. Entering the data, keeping up with this technology, updating the data to centralize all the data by hour and extending, extending, extending, further from the border and from Bucharest." The Romanians are helping. They are opening their doors. "The girl who stays at my house in Bucharest, is working to get supplies," she said. "Initially, they drop everything to Bucharest. They bring them to a closer location, let's say a kindergarten. After they centralize everything, they sort blankets, clothes, whatever. "They go either directly to the border or where they are to serve the needs. Once they get to the border, they are centralized somehow based on age, the sick can get immediate care, if they need diapers if they have babies, baby powder, whatever they need. The help is right there, and these people don't sleep for days." Email Robin Caudell: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com Twitter:@RobinCaudell You are here: World Flash The first batch of Chinese humanitarian aid has reached Ukraine. The consignment, which includes 1,000 family kits containing daily supplies worth 5 million yuan ($800,000), crossed the Ukraine-Romania border on Friday, having being delivered by plane to Bucharest Airport. The packs contain blankets, towels, cutlery, damp-proof mats, buckets and torches, and were sent from Beijing by the Red Cross Society of China. Ukraine's Red Cross Society will receive the consignment when the truck convoy containing the aid arrives in the western Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi. A second batch of materials will leave the Chinese capital on Sunday. Bill Maher was back Friday night from a brief hiatus, but he was also happy to enjoy his first maskless studio audience in two years. Its great to see you, and I can finally see you, Maher said at the top of his HBO show, Real Time. I dont want to see another mask unless its on a surgeon or a Michael Jackson impersonator. To celebrate, Maher had a special one-on-one conversation with actor/writer/director Kenneth Branagh, whose coming of age story Belfast is nominated for seven Academy Awards in this years ceremony. More from Deadline Maher had Branagh outline the films background for the audience, a story which is based on Branaghs own experiences growing up in Northern Ireland. One morning, Branagh said, he was playing with his Catholic neighbor. That afternoon, he was warned not to do that, as the religious tensions known as The Troubles divided the country into Protestants and Catholics, culminating in a vast number of Catholics being forced out of the country. Branagh likened those dark days to the US civil rights movement, calling those times in Northern Ireland a dark, dark period of history. He said, We loved our Cathoic neighbors, and remarked about how they all lived together in similar styles and worked the same kinds of jobs. But in one fell swoop, that all changed. While some, like Branaghs parents, tried to live what he termed an independent existence, where Im not with either tribe, neutrality wasnt an easily accepted option. Thats why Branagh said he chose to tell the Belfast story through a nine-year-olds eyes. Its because theres a simplicity to it, he said. At that age, You can be pure and very open. Why, Maher asked, did Branagh choose to make Belfast now? One reason is that his parents had a hard time speaking about what happened. We never, ever spoke about it, he said. Story continues What came out of those times is an uneasy truce today between the neighbors two religions, Branagh said, a peace that has to be won every day. As the demographics change again and the possiblity arises that Catholics could dominate in Northern Ireland, Maher asked if things could erupt again. Branagh said that the shaky peace after 30 years of conflict at least points out what can be possible, and how universal it is to desire peace. He said one of the things that appeals to the audience for Belfast is a universal themes of family and the need for understanding. Ive seen a guy from Congo with tears streaming. Thats my story. A girl from Iran also told him, Thats my story. Those reactions point to a common humanity, all the stuff that releases you from the terrible pressure of holding these fixed positions, where you refuse to understand what people are trying to say, Branagh said. Following Branagh, a panel discussion with Frank Bruni, professor of public policy at Duke University and author of The Beauty of Dusk: On Vision Lost and Found, and Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor of Newsweek and author of Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy, talked about the need for an off-ramp in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and how the medias focus on woke issues is undermining society. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. A legislative committee has approved $106 million to expand nursing school programs, build new water infrastructure and repair faulty dams, recommending several projects across the state to receive federal pandemic relief funding. The Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding, a bipartisan committee made up of members from the state House and Senate, approved five projects Thursday that had been previously approved by subcommittees reviewing requests for a piece of Oklahomas $1.87 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funding. Final approval is needed from Gov. Kevin Stitt to release the funds. This is a game-changer for western Oklahomas health care system, said Diana Lovell, president of Southwestern Oklahoma State University, which received approval from the committee for $10 million to complete a new 55,000-square-foot facility that will expand the schools nursing and pharmacy program. The university graduated 128 bachelors of nursing students in 2021, Lovell said, but the expansion can increase that number to 300 by 2030. Murray State College received approval for $1.78 million to expand its nursing program, which had to turn away 138 applicants this year because of a lack of space, college President Tim Faltyn said. Efforts continue to address Oklahoma's nursing needs Rep. Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, who presented the two projects, said he hoped to bring another four proposals before the committee at its next meeting. If we get all of these proposals across the finishing line I think we are looking at 1,000 (new) nurses, Hilbert said. Kyle Hilbert Patti Davis, president of the Oklahoma Hospital Association, told lawmakers last month that investing in hospital staffing is a critical need and that the number of nurses needed to be increased by 40% just to meet current demands. We continue to see our hospitals report they have less ability to staff a bed, Davis told the Health and Human Services Working Group of the Legislatures Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding last month. They have a bed, they have the equipment, but they don't have the staff to put at that bed. Story continues Before Thursdays meeting, the committee had only approved $2 million in relief funds to map the state's broadband infrastructure and $7.5 million for the Oklahoma Children's Hospital to expand its emergency department to accommodate more kids with behavioral health concerns. Water projects win funding approval Also approved by the committee on Thursday was another $95 million in funding for water infrastructure projects across the state, including 17 miles of pipeline to improve the Lugert-Altus Irrigation District. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board will receive $50 million to disburse through community-based grants for local water repair projects and dam repairs. States have to allocate their federal relief funding by the end of 2024 and spend it by 2026, giving Oklahoma lawmakers the chance to be deliberate about which projects they choose. Theres a reason the federal government has given us so long to administer the program because this is very complex, said Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City. We are trying really hard to make sure these are statewide projects, and I think we are doing a good job of that. The federal stimulus funds were meant to help states recover from the pandemic, and state officials said everything from water to addressing nursing shortages impacts public health. The committee also voted Thursday to close the application portal at the end of the month, which has already received nearly 800 requests. This story is provided in part through a grant by the Kirkpatrick Foundation. To support work like this, please consider purchasing a digital subscription today at https://cm.oklahoman.com/specialoffer/. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma panel approves $106 million in federal aid for nursing, water Mar. 11A 38-year-old Spokane man was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison Tuesday after a jury found him guilty of seven counts of sexually assaulting two young girls. Travis Carney was sentenced to spent at least 30 and a half years in prison with an end of sentence review committee determining his release date after that time. Carney raped two girls from 2014 to 2019, starting when they were just toddlers. A jury found him guilty of three counts of child rape, one count of attempted child rape and three counts of child molestation in December. The jury also found there were aggravating factors, which allowed Spokane County Superior Court Judge Annette Plese to sentence Carney above the standard sentencing range of 240 to 318 months. The moment news broke that Prince Harry was dating an American actor named Meghan Markle, the media exploded into action to find out everything there was to know about her. Just two days later, the Sun splashed an exclusive interview with Meghans half sister on its front page with the headline: Dont fall for my little sis, Harry, shed be the next PRINCESS PUSHY And thus began the media career of Samantha Markle. Samantha, 57, is Meghans paternal half sister and her elder by 17 years. From that very first interview with the Sun, wherein she described her shallow half sister as driven by social climbing, with behavior certainly not befitting of a royal family member, Samantha has been ready and willing to trash Meghan to anyone who might want to listen. Over the years, she has publicly accused Meghan of lying about her upbringing and abandoning her family. Now, interviews and a BuzzFeed News analysis of social media suggest that she has spread even more insidious and false claims. In an investigation spanning months, BuzzFeed News found evidence that for the past four years, Samantha has apparently used various Twitter accounts including her current one, which she apparently used to communicate with this reporter not just to criticize Meghan but to also propagate and give credibility to damaging and potentially defamatory claims about her half sister. There is also evidence that suggests Samantha has for years been coordinating with and feeding information to the person behind one of the oldest and most influential anti-Meghan YouTube accounts, a woman who has been a driving force behind what is perhaps the most persistent, insidious, and damaging conspiracy theories about Meghan: that she faked her two pregnancies, that her children were born to a surrogate, and that her children might not even be hers. Samanthas Twitter account has spread these same baseless theories, even as Samantha has avoided making these claims in mainstream media interviews, allowing her to maintain a veneer of respectability while still smearing her half sister. Story continues How close Samantha a self-described author, screenwriter, and counselor who has multiple sclerosis and has used a wheelchair since 2008 actually is with the duchess is a subject of debate. In television appearances and interviews, Samantha has emphasized her importance as a member of Meghans extended family, and in her 2021 autobiography, The Diary of Princess Pushys Sister, she describes a childhood of babysitting, ice cream outings, and frequent telephone calls as Meghan grew older and began her acting career. Meanwhile, the duchess has consistently denied any relationship whatsoever with her half sister. In her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan claimed to have seen her on only a handful of occasions growing up and said she was raised as an only child. In a 2018 email with her then-communications secretary Jason Knauf (made public as part of a privacy and copyright lawsuit the duchess filed against the publishers of the Mail on Sunday), she described Samantha as an opportunist who began a career creating stories to sell to the press when news of her relationship with Harry broke. In part because of these claims, Samantha has filed a defamation lawsuit against Meghan. Although Samantha no longer enjoys the media prominence that she was given in the drama-filled lead-up to Harry and Meghans wedding, where she firmly established herself as one of her half sisters harshest critics, she has remained a semi-regular figure on (primarily British and Australian) news shows commenting on the Sussexes. For this story, BuzzFeed News sent a detailed list of questions to Samantha through various channels, including a Gmail address provided by her partner. From that Gmail account, a person replied, youre crazy, and added: you were told IN ADVANCE that these are untruths and will be proven so by the ip amd mac addresses they originated from. The person added, i will pursue stalking and harrasment charges, as well as slander and libel AGAINST YOU first, and then your media enployer for letting you do this, you are NOT the fair journalist you say you are in your emails. Samanthas lawyer, Douglas Kahle, emailed BuzzFeed News to say that Ms. Markles email and other accounts have been hacked on several occasions and it is very likely that those statements were made by third parties to defame our client. He did not specify which statements he was referring to. Still, evidence indicates that the veneer of authority Samantha has donned for media appearances and in her autobiography is belied by her Twitter accounts promotion of unfounded theories about her half sister and her apparent behind-the-scenes dealings with Meghans most zealous online detractors and critics. She is, in short, Meghans biggest troll. Much has been written about the strange phenomenon of people doubting celebrity pregnancies, but with the Duchess of Sussex, this doubt is catapulted to a whole other dimension. A corner of the anti-Meghan internet believes that the duchess wore a moonbump, or fake belly, while she was pregnant with her two children, Archie and Lilibet. Videos of Meghans pregnant stomach moving as she walks or sits and rises from a chair are pored over, as are photos of the wrinkles in her clothing around her midriff. One 86-second YouTube video titled, What the Hell is that Popping Noise as Pregnant Meghan Markle Stands up? and which shows Meghan rising from squatting down to pet a dog during an official engagement in January 2019 has nearly 240,000 views. There is even a contingent of people who believe no children exist and Meghan and Harry have been using lifelike baby dolls during public appearances. This may seem like your run-of-the-mill conspiracy theory, but theres a much more sinister undertone to it. Although there has never been a case where judges had to make a ruling that concerns the royal family, British law regarding inheritance of titles specifies that heirs must be born of the body. Therefore, by British law there is a genuine question about whether or not a child born via a surrogate can inherit the throne opening the door to excluding from the line of succession the first two children of color ( Black through Meghan) to be born into the royal family. Years of Twitter screenshots found by BuzzFeed News show that Samanthas accounts have professed the belief that her half sisters children were conceived via IVF and born via a surrogate. As recently as in January 2022, her Twitter account has asked if the children even exist. Samantha has apparently used a number of Twitter accounts over the years, and there are hundreds of archived screenshots of tweets from these accounts denigrating her sister. But for this story, BuzzFeed News is focusing mainly on the tweets sent from her current account, @TheMarkleSammy. This is because Samantha apparently communicated with this reporter using that account and has not claimed that it specifically was hacked. Also, in communicating with this reporter over Facebook Messenger, someone who seemed to be Samantha referred to DMs to this reporter from this Twitter account. Samanthas Twitter account is mostly private, and tweets are regularly deleted from it. But BuzzFeed News was able to log these tweets because this reporter followed the account in January when it was public. (The account recently blocked this reporter.) Samanthas Twitter account has endorsed many unfounded theories about Meghan and claimed to have inside knowledge that they were true things that Samantha has apparently never said in any of her mainstream media interviews. Tweets from Samanthas account many of which were deleted after BuzzFeed News reached out for comment have claimed that Meghan has used a doll in place of her son in paparazzi photos. They have floated the theory that Harry and Meghans son Archie might have Down syndrome. They have challenged her half sister to provide proof that she had a miscarriage. They have implied that Meghan may have been involved with Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. And, for years, tweets from her account have said that Meghan used a surrogate for her pregnancies and faked carrying her children by wearing a padded stomach. They have stated that Meghan and Harry used IVF for both of their children specifically, they claimed that her father had told her Meghan had frozen her eggs when she was working as an actor and picked them up when she went to Los Angeles the month before her wedding to Harry. They have also publicly voiced the claim that Samanthas half nephew and half niece should be removed from the British line of succession. The tweets even took it a step further than most pregnancy truthers and suggested that Archie might not be Meghans biological child at all or that both children might not be Harrys and should have their DNA tested. Samantha's Twitter account also shows interactions between herself and many prominent explicitly anti-Meghan online figures most particularly, between herself and a woman known online as Yankee Wally. Yankee Wally as in Wallis Simpson, the American siren for whom Edward VIII gave up the British throne is a Welsh pensioner in her mid-60s whose real name is Sadie Quinlan, as has been reported in previous stories. Over the past four years, she has established herself as one of the loudest, most explicitly critical, and most persistent anti-Meghan voices in royal social media circles. Look at me. Ive got 47,000 [YouTube] subscribers. Wow. How did I do that? I was a brothel keeper who had a nervous breakdown, she said in a telephone interview with BuzzFeed News. Quinlans social media history includes multiple Twitter accounts and multiple suspensions and she helped popularize Megxit in its original meaning. Despite what many people believe, the term Megxit didnt come into being as an obvious portmanteau when Harry and Meghan announced that they would be stepping back as working members of the royal family in January 2020. As media outlets such as Vanity Fair and Refinery 29 have reported, the word Megxit has been used by the most dedicated Meghan detractors since early 2018 as both a pejorative and a name for their online community. (They called themselves Megxiters and, in response, dedicated pro-Meghan accounts organized and dubbed themselves Megulators.) By the spring of 2019, Quinlan had shifted her focus to YouTube, where she seemed determined to prove that Meghan was faking her first pregnancy. Yes I truly believe that meghan Markle was NEVER pregnant. I believe she is barren ie totally incapable of carrying a baby, Quinlan wrote to BuzzFeed News. I really feel uncomfortable talking about this but its also extremely important that this situation is put right because of the Royal line of succession. As it stands, Archie and Lili are 6th and 7th in line to the throne! Thats just insanity! As a British taxpayer Im not happy paying for a FRAUDULENT pair of children because their mother is too proud and ambitious to admit the truth. While there are now countless other YouTubers who have built their brands by tapping into the wellspring of anti-Meghan sentiment online, few if any have done it quite as effectively, or for as long, as Quinlan and with so little effort. Quinlan had a separate account before the one for which she is now known. That first account was called Yankee Wally Archificial Harrison, a play on the name the Sussexes gave their child, Archie Harrison. Early videos uploaded to that YouTube account were very different from the format she uses today photo montages of Meghan highlighting discrepancies in her pregnant stomach over soundbites or dramatic music, and even tarot card readings for Harry and Meghan. She soon landed upon the format that she continues using to this day simply talking into a screen recording app as she scrolls through stories about and photos of the royal family on her phone. Using this format, Quinlan started posting videos to her current primary account, Yankee Wally. Since she began posting videos to her Yankee Wally channel on May 12, 2019, she has uploaded nearly 600 videos and currently has almost 48,000 subscribers. According to YouTube, her videos have been viewed more than 19.5 million times. With only a few exceptions, every video on her channel is about the Sussexes, with titles like Debunking the lies of narcissist #MeghanMarkle will take days, and Meghan Markle is uncultured, uncivil spoilt and rude. But she CAN see 500 yds with her rat-eyes. There are also videos devoted to propagating unfounded theories about Meghan, like she was a yacht girl, or prostitute, during her acting days a popular, long-lasting, but unfounded rumor amongst the most hardcore anti-Meghan accounts. Of the top 10 most viewed videos from Quinlans Yankee Wally account, five concern Meghans alleged surrogacy. Searching YouTube's most-viewed videos for Meghan Markle surrogate, the third result, with 410,000 views, is Yankee Wallys. But virtually all of the other top videos about Meghans alleged fake pregnancy differ in one key way from Yankee Wallys: Despite provocative titles like SURROGACY hint in Lilibet birth announcements/Harry & Meghan disrespect Queen/violate privacy (a video with nearly 500,000 views by royal commentator Lady Colin Campbell) they almost never explicitly say that the duchess faked her pregnancy. Instead, they talk around the issue, saying that these rumors are circulating and asking why Meghan never addressed these rumors, or why Meghans childrens birth announcements were worded in a certain way and if that indicates that she used a surrogate. Not so for Yankee Wally. And a large reason why she is so willing to eschew the tap-dancing legal language used by other YouTubers who dabble in the conspiracy theory of Meghans fake pregnancy is because of her wholehearted, unreserved belief that it is true. In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Quinlan kept coming back to the effect a surrogacy could have on the line of succession. She emphasized that she believes the children are biologically Meghan and Harrys, and in emotional tones she told BuzzFeed News that her videos are in no way meant to be attacks on Archie and Lilibet. Oh my God, oh crikey, no way, she said. I am not a stalker. I dont want to see Harry and Meghan in my life. But at the same time, lets just get them those children off the line of succession. Because they dont belong on it. They dont belong on it and its wrong to put them on it, she said. I am not going to accept those children of his as heirs to the throne. No way. No way on Gods green earth will I ever accept that, because those children were born from surrogates. Quinlan continued, The only way anything is going to stop is if Meghan stands up and says, This is the truth, a surrogate gave birth to both my children. Id like to put this on the public record. I would honestly, Id take a holiday, Id be gone, she said. It would make my life so much better and my job would be complete. I wouldnt need anything, I dont care about anything else. I care about the lineage to the crown. So thats what would stop me, she said. For Meghan to tell the truth, and the truth, the biggest lie, is the surrogacy. Quinlan cited Samantha as a source when discussing Meghans supposed surrogate pregnancy in videos, and in an interview she told BuzzFeed News that the duchesss half sister had spoken to her: Samantha said she was barren and couldnt have children, Quinlan said. She did not have a miscarriage, either. In a subsequent email to BuzzFeed News, Quinlan changed her account and denied that Samantha had told her this, stating, Sam did NOT tell me that Meghan cannot have children. I really do not want Sam to be mentioned in this claim at all. I came to my own conclusion both as a mother and truthseeker. Quinlans current YouTube account contains evidence to support her claim that she has a longtime association with Samantha. A December 2020 video titled, A message from Samantha Markle! her book is almost here! shows screenshots of Quinlan DMing with the Twitter account @RealMarkleSammy. According to a tweet last year from Samanthas current Twitter account, Samantha had been using @RealMarkleSammy before abandoning the account for @TheMarkleSammy. Another video on Quinlans Yankee Wally account, Samantha Markle has given me permission to publish our DMs, also contains screenshots of a conversation Quinlan said she conducted with Samantha. In this video, the person Quinlan identifies as Samantha is DMing from @MarkleSammy64; a tweet from Samanthas current account said she once used @MarkleSammy64. According to the DMs, screenshots of which are shown in the video, the person Quinlan says is Samantha asks Quinlan to address these lies circulat[ing] about me, which she says were put out by Meghans PR to discredit her. (At the time, rumors about Samanthas relationship with her estranged daughter Noel Rasmussen were running rampant on royal Twitter.) Quinlan told BuzzFeed News that she is happy to let Samantha use her platform to get her message out. Shes got my phone number and my email and she knows that Im always willing to say anything she wants me to say, Quinlan said. She always tells me what I can put out and what I cant. Quinlan describes Samantha as her friend in multiple videos and even uploaded a clip of the duchesss half sister being interviewed on an Australian news channel to her account with the title, Proud to call #samanthamarkle my friend. Shes [sic] as much honest as her sister is a liar. In a recent email, Quinlan said that shes been unable to contact Samantha for quite a few months now and said, As far as I'm aware we parted as friends. In a DM from Samanthas Twitter account to BuzzFeed News, a person who seemed to be Samantha wrote that they didnt know Quinlan personally but that Quinlan seemed to be nice and sometimes very funny. In a recent message to this reporter from Samanthas Facebook account, someone who seemed to be Samantha wrote that they only knew of [Quinlan] what is on you tube and Twitter. A subsequent Gmail message, sent from the account provided by Samanthas partner, said that sadie [Quinlan] has NEVER been given permission to publish ANY DM"s OR ANYTHING ELSE for that matter, sadie published a dm of ours once last year, and i have message that tells sadie she has no permission to do that and to never do it again. Quinlan said that she knows Meghan could bring a lawsuit against her. Meghan Markle did not give birth to those children, she said. Theyre biologically hers but they werent born of her body. And if they want to sue me, sue me. Bring it on. Im willing. Quinlan said that if she did go to court, I would demand the birth certificate, and the true birth certificate, and where did that baby come from because it did not come from Meghan. Throughout the interview, Quinlan made it clear that in attacking Meghan, this retired woman has found a new community of Meghan-hating friends all over the world. She said that her YouTube channel was monetized by another person and that I dont receive any of the money. She added, Money is not my motivation and never was. Still, she said she does receive tips and PayPal donations from her fans, which she uses to feed her cats, which eat like kings and queens. I suppose you could say my life is online, she said. Thats my life and I should, maybe Im ashamed, I feel a bit ashamed telling you that, but it's the truth. And Ive never been happier than I am now. BuzzFeed News first reached out to Samantha in January. Then, after two months of research and reporting, BuzzFeed News reached out to her again on March 2, and again on March 3, where attempts to contact Samantha were made via Twitter, Facebook, publicly listed telephone numbers, and possible email addresses. On March 3, hours after BuzzFeed News reached out to Samantha for comment, a person writing from Samanthas Facebook account told BuzzFeed News that they could not comment due to the legal proceedings. The next day, this reporter traveled to Samantha's home in Florida. Her partner, Mark Phillips, shirtless, answered the door and refused to ask Samantha to come forth. He then instructed BuzzFeed News to email Samanthas lawyer and, when asked for Samanthas email address, gave the Gmail account. A person who seemed to be Samantha then communicated with BuzzFeed News over Facebook Messenger. When shown a screenshot of a 2018 tweet from an account with Samantha's name, this person claimed the account had been hacked by the Sussex Squad, the name that online supporters of Harry and Meghan use for themselves. When BuzzFeed News asked about a tweet sent from Samantha's current Twitter account in January questioning whether Harry and Meghans children exist, the person messaged, I made it clear I cant meet you.. This is not about Megxit.. I dont go into chat rooms.. sorry lets discuss Sarah Lathem [sic] and Sunshine Sachs PR lol And Jason Knauf Tell Meg the attempt failed she cant flip the script.. ta ta Soon after these messages were sent, this reporter received messages from the Gmail account threatening charges of trespassing and stalking. For those who dont follow the royal family closely, Sara Latham is a publicist who worked for Hillary Clinton and then, for a time, for Harry and Meghan. She is currently employed by Buckingham Palace working on the Queens Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Sunshine Sachs is the name of a Los Angelesbased public relations company that represented Meghan when she was an actor and currently works on a project-by-project basis with the duke and duchesss personal media team. Unlike Quinlan, who makes no excuses or apologies for her life or the blatantly negative content she produces, Samantha seems to deny what has been posted on her Twitter account. One of the last messages sent to BuzzFeed News from the Gmail account ends with the words: DONT PRINT LIES. Leigh Wood will look to lean on home support at the Nottingham Arena this evening, as he puts his WBA featherweight title on the line against Irelands Michael Conlan. The main-event fight represents Woods first defence of the title he won from Can Xu last July, while Conlan (16-0, 8 knockouts) became interim champion by securing a decision victory over TJ Doheny in August. Wood (25-2, 15 KOs) comes into this contest riding a two-fight win streak, having last suffered a loss in 2020, when he was on the wrong end of a majority decision against James Dickens. Both of his recent victories were achieved via TKO, however, so the 33-year-old will enter this weekends headline bout high on confidence. This clash with the charismatic Conlan, 30, will represent a tough test for Wood, though, as the Olympic bronze medalist looks to win the biggest title of his pro career and remain undefeated. Im going to destroy you, beat you to a pulp in your home city, Conlan told Wood at the weigh-in, with the Englishman calling his challenger a skinny rat in response. Follow round-by-round updates from Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan and all the undercard action at the Nottingham Arena, below. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan Wood fights in home town of Nottingham against Irelands Conlan Wood puts WBA featherweight title on the line in main-event bout Interim champion Conlan enters contest undefeated as a professional Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 22:35 , Alex Pattle Its time for the main event... Leigh Wood (25-2, 15 KOs) steps out in front of a hometown crowd in Nottingham to defend the WBA featherweight title against the undefeated Michael Conlan (16-0, 8 KOs), who has a sizeable Irish backing tonight, too. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 22:27 , Alex Pattle Caoimhin Agyarko def. Juan Carlos Rubio via unanimous decision (100-90, 100-90, 98-92). Agyarko retains the WBA International middleweight title and remains undefeated! Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 22:25 , Alex Pattle Story continues Agyarko vs Rubio Round 10 Rubio has shown great heart to stay in this contest and keep throwing throughout. But his head is snapped back by yet another right hand. Agyarko misses with a couple but does sneak in a short left hook. The Northern Irishman is clearly intent on a seventh straight finish, although he was warned by his corner not to take too many risks. He wont get the stoppage, but thats a fine performance from Agyarko, who shows respect to Rubio after the final bell. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 22:20 , Alex Pattle Agyarko vs Rubio Round 9 The Killers Mr Brightside plays on the arena speakers between rounds, and the crowd continues to sing it as this penultimate frame begins. The atmosphere is building in Nottingham; it should be crackling during the main event. Agyarko slings a right hand straight through his opponents increasingly fragile guard. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 22:16 , Alex Pattle Agyarko vs Rubio Round 8 In Rubios last outing the sole defeat of his pro career so far the Mexican was troubled by right straights throughout. Agyarko is going to that punch more and more here, keeping his hands low then drilling forward the right. Rubio is tiring and is getting caught by spearing right straights and heavy left hooks! He looks a little hurt now, his left eye swelling shut! That wont help him defend against the right hands of Agyarko... Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 22:13 , Alex Pattle Agyarko vs Rubio Round 7 Dont load up too much, put the shots together, Agyarko is told by his coach. Agyarko is straight into the middle of the ring, throwing a right straight. The London-born Northern Irishman misses with a couple of wild hooks, however. Hes not quite heeding his coachs advice. Double-jab, right hand lands for Agyarko, though! Thats more like it. But he loads up again by winging a left hook while leaning backwards, and is then caught with a short left shot from Rubio! It appears to wobble Agyarko slightly, and Rubio connects with another left hand that has his opponent moving awkwardly. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 22:08 , Alex Pattle Agyarko vs Rubio Round 6 Agyarko is starting to establish authority here. He backs up Rubio but waits for his moment to throw the right shots. He times a right hand as Rubio is throwing, then varies his punches with the Mexican against the ropes. It seems that Rubio is just getting warn down gradually now. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 22:04 , Alex Pattle Agyarko vs Rubio Round 5 Clubbing left hook lands for Agyarko! He leans forward slightly with his hands low and chin out, baiting Rubio to throw. Agyarko bounces now before ramming a short right straight into the face of his opponent. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 22:01 , Alex Pattle Agyarko vs Rubio Round 4 Rubio lands a jab but misses with a left straight as he steps in. Agyarko backs up the Mexican now. Both men land punches at the same time, with Agyarkos seemingly more powerful... Lots of feinting from Agyarko, who then connects with a looping left hook. Rubio lands his own left, though. Agyarko ends the round on top, however, coming alive with some spiteful straights as a tired-looking Rubio stumbles a little in the corner! Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:56 , Alex Pattle Agyarko vs Rubio Round 3 Big counter left straight from Rubio! It knocks back Agyarko slightly! Perhaps that was more due to Agyarkos balance, or lack thereof, than Rubios power. Now the Mexican connects with an overhand right after moving his head to the left of the centre line. Agyarko goes southpaw and throws a left hook to the head, then one to the body. Hes back in an orthodox stance and misses with a somewhat wild uppercut. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:52 , Alex Pattle Agyarko vs Rubio Round 2 Rubio has fast hands, which he shows off here, moments after Agyarko is warned by his coach about the Mexicans speed. That said, Agyarko is not slow himself. He lands a rapid left hook on the angle then demonstrates some terrific head movement to lean back and away from a shot. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:49 , Alex Pattle Agyarko vs Rubio Round 1 Southpaw Rubio suffered his first pro defeat in his most recent bout, so it will be interesting to see how the 23-year-old responds here. Agyarko, 25, is on the front foot early on! He backs up Rubio against the ropes and throws a few heavy shots. Rubio counters with a stinging left hand, however! Each middleweight is stepping on the others lead foot a little in these early exchanges, such can be the dynamic of opposing stances. Agyarko has already tripped a couple of times. He lands a tidy right uppercut, though! Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:41 , Alex Pattle The WBA International middleweight title is on the line next! Undefeated champion Caoimhin Agyarko (10-0, 7 KOs) defends against Juan Carlos Rubio (18-1, 9 KOs) in the co-main event. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:24 , Alex Pattle Terri Harper def. Yamila Belen Abellaneda via unanimous decision (99-91, 99-91, 99-91). Harper wins the vacant WBA Intercontinental womens lightweight title! A great response by the 25-year-old to her devastating knockout loss last time out just four months ago. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:21 , Alex Pattle Harper vs Abellaneda Round 10 Final round. Abellaneda comes forward with a right hand, then the women clinch against the fence. Harper is still southpaw. She lands a couple of decent shots in close. A sharp counter left just connects for the Briton, then another powerful one! Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:18 , Alex Pattle Harper vs Abellaneda Round 9 Harper is southpaw again. She swings a left hook that grazes Abellaneda, then follows it with a more accurate right hook. Piercing right straight from Harper. The women clinch to end the round. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:15 , Alex Pattle Harper vs Abellaneda Round 8 Harper is back in an orthodox stance and connects with a lead left hook to the body. Impressive head movement from the Briton as she frustrates Abellaneda. Lots of feints from the fighters now. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:12 , Alex Pattle Harper vs Abellaneda Round 7 Harper is fighting out of a southpaw stance now, per instruction from her team. The Briton seems hesitant to commit to shots from southpaw but does connect with a swift left hook nicely. The women trade left hands late in the round. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:09 , Alex Pattle Harper vs Abellaneda Round 6 A spearing jab snaps back the head of Abellaneda. The Argentine leans to her left and thrusts a hook into Harpers ribs. Shes soon backed up by Harper again, though. We see a brief pause in the action for an accidental low blow from Harper. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:07 , Alex Pattle Harper vs Abellaneda Round 5 Abellaneda is foregoing the jab and simply ducking to throw overhand rights. Harper is not opposed to throwing her own right hand, the surgical reparation of which kept the Briton out of the ring for a year. Harper digs a short left hook into the cheek of Abellaneda late in the round. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:03 , Alex Pattle Harper vs Abellaneda Round 4 The cut around Harpers eye seemed to come from an accidental clash of heads. Abellaneda lands a neat one-two but is then caught by the same combination from Harper. Great right uppercut again from Harper! She steps back before landing the shot on the counter. Now the Briton catches Abellaneda on the end of a jab. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 21:00 , Alex Pattle Harper vs Abellaneda Round 3 Relax, find your distance, and just work your jab, is the message from Harpers corner. Feint, feint, jab. Feint, feint, jab. Harper is light on her feet early in this third round and catches Abellaneda with a straight right upon entry. A harsh left hook connects for the Briton! Abellaneda is backing up... Harper is cut around her left eye, its hard to tell where it came from.... She lands a tidy right uppercut, though, seemingly not too fazed by the cut. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:57 , Alex Pattle Harper vs Abellaneda Round 2 Again Abellaneda presses forward. Again Harper finds some success with her jab. Abellaneda tries for a hook and uppercut, but neither makes it through Harpers guard. Nice variation of shots from Harper, and some slick head movement to roll under a hook. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:54 , Alex Pattle Harper vs Abellaneda Round 1 Harper is quick out the gates, taking the centre of the ring. The women trade jabs before Abellaneda comes forward with a one-two. A big overhand right almost lands for the Argentine. Now shes leading the dance, forcing Harper towards the ropes. A stiff jab lands for the Briton, however. And another that snaps back the head of Abellaneda! Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:50 , Alex Pattle The vacant WBA Intercontinental womens lightweight belt is on the line. Ten rounds to come. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:42 , Alex Pattle Next up, Yorkshires Terri Harper (11-1-1, 6 KOs) takes on Yamila Belen Abellaneda (13-4-1, 3 KOs) of Argentina in a womens lightweight contest. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:41 , Alex Pattle What a performance from @BoxerCully who gets the finish in the fifth round #WoodConlan pic.twitter.com/LKmnlPqags DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 12, 2022 Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:41 , Alex Pattle Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:28 , Alex Pattle Gary Cully def. Miguel Vazquez via fifth-round TKO (0:41). Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:24 , Alex Pattle Cully goes over to embrace Vazquez. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:23 , Alex Pattle Cully vs Vazquez Round 5 A straight left hand drops Vazquez! Its so early in the round, and the Mexican is not going to make it! Hes counted out and Cully scores a big win! Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:22 , Alex Pattle Cully vs Vazquez Round 4 Cully touches gloves with Vazquez out of respect after the Mexican comes forward with a decent combination. Cully now backs up his opponent, however, leaning on him on the ropes. The Irishman sneaks in a couple of left hands while also showing good head movement. The pair are now back in the centre of the ring and Cullys head is snapped back by a jab. A left and right hook from Cully stun Vazquez, though! A one-two is the follow-up, and the Mexican staggers back but is able to grab Cully and clinch with his back on the ropes! Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:18 , Alex Pattle Cully vs Vazquez Round 3 Vazquez is entering with jabs to the head then right straights to the body. Its getting a bit predictable... And hes dropped to a knee by a short left straight from Cully! Vazquez survives the rest of the round... Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:16 , Alex Pattle Cully vs Vazquez Round 2 Vazquez is lunging in with his hands low. Hes caught with a counter right hand from Cully. The Irishman backs up Vazquez against the ropes, but the experienced Mexican circles away. A fine spell for Cully and he cuts Vazquez on the former champions left eye! Good head movement and footwork from Cully late in the round. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:11 , Alex Pattle Cully vs Vazquez Round 1 Southpaw Cully with some snapping jabs early on. Vazquez targets the body. Nice hook connects for Cully. He holds the centre of the ring. Vazquez lands some nice counter hooks to the body, though, and now he takes the middle of the ring. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 20:06 , Alex Pattle Next up, Irelands Gary Cully (13-0, 7 KOs) takes on former lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (44-10, 17 KOs) of Mexico. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:53 , Alex Pattle Erica Anabella Farias def. Sandy Ryan via split decision (93-97, 97-94, 95-94). Wild scoring, which is becoming increasingly unsurprising. But the correct result overall, as Indy Sport sees it. Victory for the former two-weight world champion, and a first pro defeat for Ryan. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:47 , Alex Pattle Ryan vs Farias Round 10 The Nottingham crowd roars on Ryan. Farias is docked a point midway through this final round for leading with her head again! Its a real brawl here. Left hook lands for Ryan. Overhand right connects for Farias, who then unloads to the body of the Briton. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:43 , Alex Pattle Ryan vs Farias Round 9 Farias is warned for leading with her head. Ryan backs up the Argentine but is still not all there with her accuracy. One-two lands for Ryan, but shes caught with a right hook immediately after. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:41 , Alex Pattle Ryan vs Farias Round 8 Farias is keeping her taller opponent at bay by throwing hooks and overhands as Ryan tries to enter. Again the women clinch. Ryan gets a nice lead uppercut in, but shes on the receiving end of some harsh counter shots for her trouble. Weve got to go now. Weve got to go, shes told by her head coach at the end of the round. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:39 , Alex Pattle Ryan vs Farias Round 7 Left straight, right straight from Farias. She follows it with an uppercut and hook. The Argentine swings hooks into the body of Ryan then squeezes an uppercut through the guard but it only grazes the Briton. A hard left overhand connects for Ryan in retaliation. The women clinch, Ryans nose bleeding now. A couple of decent jabs from Ryan after the women separate, but its Farias who lands the heavier shots with her hooks to the body and head though some are blocked. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:35 , Alex Pattle Ryan vs Farias Round 6 Lead uppercut and left hook combination from Farias! This is getting quite scrappy, with Ryan getting suckered into a brawl and missing with a lot of shots. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:34 , Alex Pattle Ryan vs Farias Round 5 Big overhand right and left straight the key shots for Farias in a strong fifth round for the Argentine! We start now, Ryans coach tells her, when she says shes not hurting her opponent to the body enough. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:29 , Alex Pattle Ryan vs Farias Round 4 A short right straight lands to the reddened face of Ryan. She returns fire with her own right straight. Now a left hook to the body of Farias! But the Argentine lands an overhand left! Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:26 , Alex Pattle Ryan vs Farias Round 3 Immediately Farias looks for a left hook. Now she starts winging that shot off both sides, before catching Ryan with a short right straight. The Argentine backs up Ryan against the ropes and pours on hooks to the head and body! Ryan clinches Farias and the pair are separated, presumably to Ryans relief. She gets back behind the jab, but the round turns into a brawl late on! A left hook lands for Farias, but a left hook and right straight connect for Ryan! She appears to wobble Farias slightly there... Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:23 , Alex Pattle Ryan vs Farias Round 2 A slow left hook misses for Farias, but she goes to the shot again and lands clean! She tries for one more, which grazes Ryan. The Briton looks to slow the pace down from behind her jab. The women clinch as the round comes to an end. Keep that distance the same, Ryans coach tells her. We know what shes gonna do, big left hook. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:20 , Alex Pattle Ryan vs Farias Round 1 Farias refuses to touch gloves with Ryan and heads to her corner, but the referee calls the Argentine back and forces her to show her opponent some respect. Off we go. Ryan, the taller fighter, with some nice counter jabs and a high guard to block Farias hooks. Farias with a left hook to the body then jab to the head, though, landing with both shots nice work. Ryan parries a big overhand right then soon lands a nice straight-hook combination. The Briton then digs an uppercut into her opponents ribs. Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:15 , Alex Pattle First up is a womens super-lightweight bout between Derbys Sandy Ryan (3-0, 2 KOs) and Erica Anabella Farias (26-5, 10 KOs) of Argentina. Ten rounds to come... Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:08 , Alex Pattle Full prelim results: Thomas Whittaker-Hart def. Simon Krebs (light-heavyweight) Thomas Carty def. Michal Boloz (heavyweight) Nico Leivars def. Jose Hernandez (featherweight) Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:06 , Alex Pattle And heres the main card for this evening, from the first contest to the main event: Sandy Ryan vs Erica Anabella Farias (super-lightweight) Gary Cully vs Miguel Vazquez (lightweight) Terri Harper vs Yamila Belen Abellaneda (womens lightweight) Caoimhin Agyarko vs Juan Carlos Rubio (middleweight) Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan (WBA featherweight title) Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:04 , Alex Pattle Heres how the final prelim bout of the evening played out: An impressive pro debut from @nico_leivars who dominates from start to finish #WoodConlan pic.twitter.com/GzGSu2aXQh DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 12, 2022 Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 19:01 , Alex Pattle The main card is upon us! Will we see a new WBA featherweight champion crowned in tonights main event? Or can Leigh Wood see off the challenge of the undefeated Michael Conlan? Well find out in due course... Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 18:35 , Alex Pattle Well have round-by-round updates from the main card at 7pm, but to whet your appetite, heres a snippet from this evenings prelims. Thomas Whittaker-Hart making light work of Ben Thomas! GONE IN LESS THAN 60 SECONDS @thomashart1995 pic.twitter.com/GhIShfnIpO DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 12, 2022 Leigh Wood vs Michael Conlan 18:01 , Alex Pattle Leigh Wood will look to lean on home support at the Nottingham Arena this evening, as he puts his WBA featherweight title on the line against Irelands Michael Conlan. The main-event fight represents Woods first defence of the title he won from Can Xu last July, while Conlan (16-0, 8 knockouts) became interim champion by securing a decision victory over TJ Doheny in August. Wood (25-2, 15 KOs) comes into this contest riding a two-fight win streak, having last suffered a loss in 2020, when he was on the wrong end of a majority decision against James Dickens. Both of his recent victories were achieved via TKO, however, so the 33-year-old will enter this weekends headline bout high on confidence. This clash with the charismatic Conlan, 30, will represent a tough test for Wood, though, as the Olympic bronze medalist looks to win the biggest title of his pro career and remain undefeated. Im going to destroy you, beat you to a pulp in your home city, Conlan told Wood at the weigh-in, with the Englishman calling his challenger a skinny rat in response. Mila Kunis, who was born in Ukraine, has said that she used to tell people she was Russian. The Friends with Benefits star was born in the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi. In 1991, when she was seven, her family fled from Soviet Ukraine to the United States. In a new interview with Maria Shriver for Conversations Above the Noise, Kunis said: People were like, Oh, youre so Eastern European. I was like, Im so LA! What do you mean? Like, my whole life I was like, I am LA through and through. Kunis said that because she identified so strongly as an American, for a long time, being Ukrainian felt irrelevant to her, despite having close friends in the country and visiting it with her husband, the actor Ashton Kutcher. She said that whenever people would ask her where she was from, shed say she was Russian for a multitude of reasons. Kunis continued: One of them being when I came to the States and I would tell people Im from Ukraine, the first question Id get was, Where is Ukraine? And then Id have to explain Ukraine and where it is on the map, and I was like, Ugh, thats exhausting. She soon realised that if she said she was from Russia, people would know where she meant. I was like, great, Ill just tell people from Russia, she said. Kunis said everything changed for her when Russia invaded Ukraine last month. This happens and I cant express or explain what came over me, but all of a sudden I was like, Oh my God, I feel like a part of my heart just got ripped out, she said. It was the weirdest feeling. Maria Shriver and Mila Kunis (YouTube) She said she will no longer be telling people shes from Russia. Hell no, Im from Ukraine! she said. Kunis and Kutcher have raised over 13m to aid victims of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Last week, the couple announced that they will match donations of up to $3m (2.5m) to help supply humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees. In a video appeal, Kunis said there was no place in this world for this kind of unjust attack on humanity. Read The Independents live updates on the conflict here. 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. Pro-life activists demonstrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., Monday, November 11, 2021 as the court hears oral arguments for Whole Womans Health v. Jackson and United States v. Texas regarding the Texas abortion laws. Missouri state Rep. Brian Seitz (R) introduced a bill in the state House that would ban the termination of ectopic pregnancies. These pregnancies, which occur when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the uterus, most often in the fallopian tube, can be life-threatening for the pregnant person if left untreated, and the fetus can't survive being carried to term, according to Mayo Clinic. The bill, if passed into law, would make performing, inducing or attempting to perform or induce an abortion for such a pregnancy a class A felony. Insider reported that such a charge could carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Ectopic pregnancies comprise roughly 1 to 2 percent of all U.S. pregnancies, according to a 2020 study published by American Family Physician. Those that grow and cause the fallopian tube to rupture account for 2.7 percent of all pregnancy-related deaths in the country. Missouri state Rep. Keri Ingle (D) pointed out that Seitz's bill would criminalize those devices or drugs used to treat ectopic pregnancies, according to Newsweek. "Do you know that one of the one of the medications that you're trying to outlaw is one of the main drugs given to an unruptured ectopic pregnancy?" she asked him, per the outlet. Ingle said that very "pro-life" people she knew had undergone treatment to terminate ectopic pregnancies and would be "horribly offended by the language in the bill," Newsweek reported. Seitz said that the bill would not prevent the legal use of ectopic pregnancy treatments, except in cases in which a woman was a victim of sex trafficking or was outside the care of a hospital or doctor, according to Newsweek. "They don't have the hospital machinery to tell if this is an ectopic pregnancy," Seitz said to Newsweek. "They might just think it's a normal pregnancy, and they want to abort that child. I would like to see that sort of unlawful activity stopped." TEMECULA, CA Mt. San Jacinto College has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the California Apprenticeship Initiative for a new Automotive and Transportation Technologies Apprenticeship. On April 1, the college's Automotive and Transportation Technologies program will receive the California Apprenticeship Initiative Grant to highlight new and innovative apprenticeships. According to a spokesperson for the college, the grant program was created to increase the middle-skilled labor workforce in California in nontraditional and innovative sectors. Middle-skilled workers are highly sought after in today's market and make up the largest labor force in California and the country, and this apprenticeship and grant can help more students achieve their professional dreams. "The grant will also help COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery efforts and provide equitable opportunities for those who often experience inequalities when recovering from an economic crisis," they said. Mount San Jacinto College receives this grant alongside Chaffey College and Riverside City College. All three are part of the Inland Empire/Desert Regional Consortium. "Apprenticeships offer students a unique experience of both real-world experience and in-class learning," an MSJC spokesperson said. "The programs look to bridge the gap between industries struggling to find trained workers and individuals looking for competitive, high-wage employment." California registered apprenticeship programs offer the opportunity for On-the-Job Training in the industry and continuing related instruction while attending MSJC will have fees waived. The program duration is typically two years, according to the school. Apprentice introduction into the workplace ordinarily occurs in the second school term, the school said. Learn more about the college's apprenticeship program at www.msjc.edu/apprenticeship. Mt. San Jacinto College serves nearly 24,000 students annually in a district covering 1,700 square miles from the San Gorgonio Pass to Temecula, with campuses in San Jacinto, Menifee, Banning and Temecula. MSJC awarded a record-breaking 3,848 degrees and certificates to 2,173 graduates in May 2021. Interested students should email apprenticeship@msjc.edu. This article originally appeared on the Temecula Patch NYPD Crime Stoppers The Museum of Modern Art in New York City was evacuated on Saturday after police said two people were injured during a stabbing. The New York City Police Department told The Daily Beast two people suffered non-life-threatening injures during the incident that occurred around 4 p.m. They were taken to a local hospital where they were in stable condition. Scores of museum-goers were also forced to evacuate the midtown Manhattan museum onto the snowy streets, and police asked all residents to avoid the area. In a briefing, an NYPD official confirmed that authorities were looking for a white male suspect wearing a black jacket and blue surgical mask who was a former member of the museum. Investigators reported that the suspect came to the museum Saturday to view a film being played but was denied entry because his membership had been revoked via a letter sent the day before. He became upset and jumped over the reception desk and stabbed two employees in the back, collarbone, and back of the neck. The spokesman confirmed that the suspect is known to the police department because of prior incidents, including one that occurred at MoMA. The suspect, whose photo the NYPD released late Saturday, is also said to be known to museum employees because he regularly visited as a member. A press secretary for Eric Adams said Saturday that the New York City mayor had been briefed on the MoMa incident and said it appears to be an isolated, criminal incident. Neither victim is suffering from life-threatening injuries at this time, the spokesperson added. The mayor will continue to monitor the situation and the progress of the two victims. Weston Pagano, a music supervisor who was inside MoMA but quickly evacuated after getting a tip from a friend who was on a lower floor, told The Daily Beast he saw two women being carried out of the museum on stretchers. The two women were conscious, which was a relief to see, Pagano told The Daily Beast. One had visible blood on her left side and shouted something as she was being loaded in, but I couldnt make out what it was. Story continues Tina Rook, who was at MoMA on Saturday, told The Daily Beast that she didnt see it happen, but patrons were told they had to evacuate from the museum immediately. We only heard there was a stabbing and got evacuated, Rook said. Ana Alves, a Brazilian newspaper reporter and a visiting scholar at Columbia University, told The Daily Beast she was on the fourth floor of the museum looking at Matisses Swimming Pool with a couple when the lights blinked a little. All of a sudden a security guard appeared urging us to evacuate, Alves said, noting that at first she thought it was a false alarm, or maybe a power outage. She said it took about two minutes to get down to the ground floor to leave the museum, using a combination of stairs and escalators. I only realized it was serious when I got to the lower floor and saw museum staff crying, Alves said, noting that police were outside the building when she exited. She said she learned that the emergency situation was a stabbing later, when a friend texted her the news. Its scary, she added. We always assume museums are safe. I guess metal detectors will be a necessary inconvenience once again. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Netflix has released the trailer for the upcoming original Korean film Yaksha: Ruthless Operations, featuring Park Hae-soo of Squid Game and GOT7s Jinyoung, and is set to premiere on April 8. The film follows a secretive mission carried out by the National Intelligence Services black ops team who are in search of a missing, high-ranking North Korean official. Directed by The Prison director Na hyun, Jinyoung stars as a member of the black ops team alongside Park, who plays an upright but unwilling prosecutor. The film also features Sul Kyung-gu of Memoir of a Murderer as the leader of the team. The film is set to premiere on April 8 on Netflix and will be the first film project that Park has starred in since Squid Game, which was released in September 2021. Featured Image via The Swoon Story continues Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! First Asian American curve model for SI Yumi Nu speaks out about fatphobia in Asian culture Meet Teresa Magbanua, the Filipina Joan of Arc Who Fought Colonizers in 3 Philippine Wars Boba liberals: The meaning of the term used to describe the Asian Americans everyone loves to hate During the Chinese Exclusion Act, an ingenious backwoods chef from China helped make Yosemite National Park a reality An emergency management official in a county hit hard by a tornado outbreak in Iowa last weekend said delayed tornado warnings did not hinder local response times. Nevertheless, the National Weather Service (NWS) is currently implementing procedural changes to avoid a repeat of the delays that communication platforms experienced amid a deadly outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes last weekend, according to an NWS spokesperson. The communication delays lasted between two to seven minutes, primarily impacting weather.gov and Wireless Emergency Alerts from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. CST Saturday during the height of the storms. Daryl Herzmann, a system analyst for the Iowa Environmental Mesonet, a branch of Iowa State University that archives weather data, told AccuWeather that on Saturday he had been watching issuances through the various data systems that he helps operate when he noticed something was off. "There was one point in time where there was no tornado warning showing up on my display and I thought that was puzzling because I knew that there was a tornado on the ground at the time," Herzmann said. He logged into the NWS Chat, where he saw the weather service was alerting members of the media and emergency management that they were noticing a dissemination delay with their products. "I then started double-checking some things on my end," Herzmann said. "I have some diagnostics on data flow, so I was able to see that sure enough there was a latency." The technological issue stemmed from one of the communications pathways experiencing a brief message backlog. This was traced to a network hub in Dallas-Fort Worth, where forecasters were using a satellite backup rather than their primary land-based connection since the latter was offline due to a damaged fiber optic cable, NWS director of public affairs Susan Buchanan told AccuWeather via email. She added that even with the technical difficulties, tornado warnings were issued and communicated to the public in advance of every tornado that touched down in Iowa on March 5. Story continues "Our systems engineers quickly took action to identify and resolve the issue causing the communications delay as soon as it was detected," Buchanan said. Buchanan listed a few factors that combined to contribute to the messages backing up: the Dallas-Fort Worth is not only a network hub but also a multi-unit facility that combines the forecast office and river forecast center, resulting in higher message output. However, since the fiber landline the office would normally use had the damaged fiber optic cable, the office instead had to switch to using a satellite backup connection, which has comparatively less throughput, or the ability to send data over a given amount of time. Factor in the increase of messages within the hub cluster due to the severe weather and you've got an increase in messages outpacing the satellite connection's ability to relay them. It created a "choke point" for the outgoing products, as Herzmann explained. Once the hub was taken out of the network, "warnings began flowing with no delay," Buchanan said, adding that the office was kept offline until its primary network was repaired. Drone footage showed extreme tornado damage in Winterset, Iowa, after an EF3 twister hit. (Scott Graupner via Storyful) While this was being addressed, the NWS took measures to ensure the warnings got to the public in a timely manner, including activating the NOAA Weather Radio and the Emergency Alert System to broadcast warnings once they were issued, forecasters issuing warnings early to compensate for the delay in communications and forecasters providing real-time decision support services through the NWS Chat and live-tweeting warnings. National Weather Service forecasters were able to issue warnings with an average lead time, or the time interval between when a warning is issued and the tornado occurs, of 20 minutes. The national average is 10 minutes, according to Buchanan. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP "One short-term option under consideration would move to the earlier use of service backup in this type of situation, rather than use the satellite-based backup, to prevent message build-ups," Buchanan said. She added that "service backup" occurs when another forecast office takes over forecast responsibilities for another office until it can operate properly once more. "We are also considering other avenues by which we can quickly address this issue," she said. The NWS has communication redundancy in place to compensate for technological mishaps, as was shown on Saturday, stressing the importance of quick communication when minutes, even seconds, can save lives during severe weather. April 12 - April 13, 2020, served as a reminder of the importance of seconds when an outbreak of severe weather claimed the lives of at least 34 people across six states. The Phillips family in Moss, Mississippi, ran into a closet-sized "safe room" for shelter. "I was in there about 20 seconds when it hit," Andrew Phillips told The Associated Press at the time. Other than that room, next to nothing of the family's house was left standing. Amber Phillips stands outside the family's safe room, located on their property in Moss, Miss., following a tornado, Monday, April 13, 2020. While the rest of their home was obliterated in a matter of seconds Sunday afternoon, Andrew Phillips, his wife Amber and their kids, ages 2 and 6 months, survived the storm without a scratch inside the small safe room, which doubles as a closet. (Andrew Phillips via AP) Among the several tornadoes to tear through Iowa on March 5 was an EF4 tornado with peak winds of 170 mph, the National Weather Service said Monday. It was on the ground for nearly 70 miles, leaving the longest path of destruction across the state since a tornado in 1984 tracked 117 miles across southern Iowa. It was also the first EF4 tornado in the state since Oct. 4, 2013, when an EF4 tornado tore through Woodbury and Cherokee Counties. The EF4 tornado on Saturday tracked from the city of Winterset in Madison County to Newton in Jasper County, claiming the lives of at least six people -- four of whom were from the same family -- and injuring another five. In Lucas County, another death was reported from a separate tornado. Tornado damage can be seen in Madison County, Iowa, on Sunday afternoon, March 6, 2022. (Twitter/Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds) Madison County Emergency Manager Director Diogenes Ayala told AccuWeather that the county had been aware that it was under a threat of bad weather. The Storm Prediction Center issued the first severe weather outlook for parts of Iowa five days ahead of the event, with an "enhanced risk" issued Saturday morning, Buchanan said. AccuWeather forecasters had also warned of the potential for violent weather days in advance. The NWS office in Des Moines had also started briefing local officials three days in advance about the severe weather potential. There was plenty of time to take cover, Ayala said, but "even if you had 50 minutes," that didn't change the fact that it was a dangerous EF4 tornado that touched down and tore a path of destruction. "There are houses that are completely gone. Like they were never there," Ayala said. "We have a lot of damage. We have trees that will take decades to grow back to where they were. Lots of parks were affected. We have a lot of things that were affected by this storm." The cold weather that followed the storms did little to help, the snow covering debris and prompting officials to temporarily postpone debris removal efforts on Monday. As of Friday, the tally of confirmed tornadoes stood at 24 across Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The NWS offices in Wilmington, Ohio, Davenport, Illinois, Little Rock, Arkansas and Des Moines confirmed an additional 11 tornadoes as of Wednesday night from the weekend outbreak. For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform. Olga Khomenko, 37, has been spared jail so she can travel to Ukraine to rescue her daughter. (PA) A mother who admitted taking her daughter to Ukraine against a court order has been spared jail so she can travel back to rescue her from the war. A judge said simple humanity led him to the decision not to send Olga Khomenko, 37, to immediate custody so she could retrieve her daughter from the war-torn Kyiv region following the Russian invasion. The court heard the girl is currently living in the Ukrainian capital with her grandmother and can hear the bombs raining down. The judge was told the pair tried to escape the city by train but their attempt failed when the railway station was bombed and Ukrainian soldiers turned them back. On Friday at St Albans Crown Court, Khomenko entered a plea of guilty to abducting a child and faced as many as five years behind bars. She was given a two-year suspended sentence. Watch: Kyiv awakes to echo of gunfire and explosions Bombed buildings in the residential neighbourhood near Kharkiv Metro Station. (Getty) Anti-tank constructions are seen in central Kyiv, Ukraine. (Reuters) Khomenko took the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to Ukraine in 2017 following the breakdown of her marriage to a man who she alleges was violent and abusive, the court heard. She was last week granted 72 hours bail by the court to travel to Ukraine but only made it as far as the Polish border before having to turn back to adhere to the time limit. She was desperate to be sentenced quickly in the hope of getting back her passport to make another attempt. Judge Michael Kay said I wish her every success after handing down the sentence. He said: This court is in an impossible situation. I cannot begin to understand what the situation is on the ground in the Kyiv region. I imagine the system has broken down in terms of authority and the enforcement of the rule of law. It is a desperate situation, only truly desperate measures can be taken. Read more: Johnson rules out no-fly zone despite Russian hospital strike Putin calls in reinforcements: 16,000 Middle Eastern fighters to join Russian invasion of Ukraine British public will be asked to take Ukrainian refugees into their homes Story continues I have never known a sentencing exercise in which the issue of saving a child in a foreign country has been a factor. Its a decision that I would be amazed if any crown court has made before. These are extraordinary times, he added. The criminal justice system has to have humanity. He said he was aware of the arguments put forward by the prosecution, adding but simple humanity informs me that the only appropriate sentence is one of two years imprisonment which will be suspended for two years. Khomenko, who stood in the dock, cried as the sentence was passed. Judge Kay ordered the immediate release of her passport, which is currently being held by authorities at Gatwick Airport, so she can travel overseas. Oleksey Beregoviy, a musician of the Kyiv-Classic Symphony Orchestra. (Reuters) A police officer says goodbye to his family as they flee from advancing Russian troops in the town of Irpin outside Kyiv. (Reuters) Khomenko left the court with a suitcase and the intention of going straight to the Polish border to attempt to retrieve her daughter. The court heard how she divorced her husband in 2015 after an allegedly abusive marriage which led her to stay in womens shelters on several occasions. After settling in Ukraine with her daughter, she was eventually extradited to the UK in 2020 after being arrested the previous year in Paris under a European arrest warrant and has been awaiting trial since, the court heard Ahead of the sentencing, Stephen Vello QC, defending, pleaded with the judge to pass the suspended sentence. He added: In short, this defendant is [the daughters] best chance of escaping the warzone and if she fails to escape the warzone, I hope it isnt in any way over exaggerating that, [the daughters] life may or may not continue to exist for the months hence. It really is that important. Mesa Police Department Authorities arrested a man Thursday suspected in a Jan. 28 double homicide near Main Street and Alma School Road in Mesa. Aaron Thomas, 53, from the Laveen area in southwest Phoenix, was taken into custody by Mesa police. About 2:55 a.m. Jan. 18, officers responded to a shooting call from a woman at a house near the 1500 block of West First Place in Mesa, police said. She told them there were two people shot in the back residence of the house. The woman said she had heard loud banging in the back of the residence and when she went to investigate, an unknown man pushed past her and ran away, according to Mesa police. The man was wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt and a black mask and was carrying a black backpack. Officers found a man and a woman dead in the house. The victims were identified as Mottio Paschal, 32, and Makinley Charnoski, 24. Homicide detectives developed a lead that led to the person who drove Thomas to the area on the night of the murders and parked down the street. The person admitted to driving Thomas to the area to purchase "pills," Mesa police said. The person also said that Thomas came running back to his car with a black backpack and was wearing a black hoodie and jeans. Detectives located Thomas at his house on Thursday and took him into custody. Thomas admitted to being in the area that night but did not admit to going to the residence where the homicide took place. He claimed that the person who drove him there did. A handgun matching the caliber of the weapon used in the murders was recovered at Thomas' home, according to Mesa police. Thomas was booked into a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed robbery and one count of misconduct involving weapons. Reach breaking news reporter Haleigh Kochanski at hkochanski@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @HaleighKochans. Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Aaron Thomas of Phoenix arrested in double killing in Mesa Social media post: China: U.S. has biological weapons labs in Ukraine. PolitiFact's ruling: False Here's why: Chinas government is amplifying debunked claims about non-existent U.S. biological weapons labs in Ukraine, bringing the falsehoods back into the spotlight on social media. A March 9 post on Instagram describes remarks from Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian, who said on March 9 that the U.S. has such biolabs in Ukraine. The post is a screenshot of Zhao at a podium with text that says, "China urges Pentagon to disclose alleged biolabs in Ukraine as soon as possible." The text also says, "Beijing believes the laboratories in Ukraine are just the tip of an iceberg," and the U.S. controls 336 biological laboratories in 30 countries around the world. A caption on the post reads, "Russia found over 30 biological labs (with evidence of bioweapons) in Ukraine formed by the Pentagon in areas bordering Russia. If true, this is more than a bit concerning." The post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. Following Zhaos remarks, U.S. government officials said unequivocally that the U.S. does not have biolabs in Ukraine. The claims distort U.S. government support of Ukraines public health laboratories that research infectious diseases. Zhaos remarks were posted March 9 in a video on Twitter. According to the English translation, he said, "Presently the U.S. biological labs in Ukraine have indeed attracted much attention. According to reports, in these facilities a large quantity of dangerous viruses are stored. Russia has found during its military operations that the U.S. uses these facilities to conduct military plans. According to data released by the U.S., it has 26 labs in Ukraine." But the U.S. is "not developing biological or chemical weapons inside Ukraine. It's not happening," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said during a March 9 press briefing. Story continues And White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Twitter on March 9 that Chinese officials were echoing conspiracy theories from Russia. "The United States is in full compliance with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention and does not develop or possess such weapons anywhere," Psaki wrote. Andy Weber, former assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs, is now a board member of the Arms Control Association Board, a nonprofit that advocates for effective arms control policies on a global scale. Weber said the U.S. Department of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction Program has provided technical support to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health since 2005 to improve its public health laboratories, whose mission is analogous to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Work by these labs has been instrumental in stemming the spread of COVID-19. The Cooperative Threat Reduction Program began after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 to reduce the threat of existing weapons of mass destruction. It is also known as the Nunn-Lugar Program (named after the senators who passed the Soviet Threat Reduction Act) and is housed within the Defense Departments Defense Threat Reduction Agency, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation. In the wake of disinformation about these labs, the Department of Defense released a video attempting to explain their work. All the labs in the program are "owned, operated and manned by host governments to meet local needs," it said. Psaki warned March 9 that the claims by Russia and China appear to be falsely laying the groundwork to justify further violence: "Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them. Its a clear pattern." Our ruling A spokesperson for the Chinese government said the U.S. has biolabs in Ukraine. The claim originated with the Russian government and has been previously debunked by U.S. government officials and weapons control advocates. Following Zhaos March 9 remarks, U.S. government officials strongly refuted the claims again, saying the false narrative was being used to lay the groundwork for further violence in Ukraine. Our Sources Foreign Policy, "False Claims of U.S. Biowarfare Labs in Ukraine Grip QAnon," March 2, 2022 Instagram post, March 9, 2022 PolitiFact, "There are no US-run biolabs in Ukraine, contrary to social media posts," Feb. 25, 2022 Twitter post, March 9, 2022 Twitter video, March 9, 2022 U.S. Department of Defense, "Transcript: Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby Holds a Press Briefing," March 9, 2022 This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: PolitiFact: China repeats false claim that U.S has biolabs in Ukraine (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about the state of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv and responded to their concerns about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine during a three-way phone call on Saturday, the Kremlin said. The Kremlin did not elaborate on Putin's comments about the state of talks, 17 days into the war that began when Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. On Friday, Putin said there had been "certain positive shifts" in the talks, which have been taking place in Belarus, but gave no details. The Kremlin statement said Macron and Scholz raised questions about the humanitarian situation arising from what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine, and Putin responded with allegations of human rights abuses by Ukrainian forces. It did not cite evidence in support of those allegations. The three leaders agreed to keep in contact, the Kremlin said. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Alexander Smith and Mark Potter) By Catarina Demony LISBON (Reuters) - A rabbi responsible for the certification that allowed Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and others to obtain Portuguese citizenship is not allowed to leave the country and must present himself to authorities when required, Lusa news agency said on Saturday. Officers of the Judicial Police, the national criminal investigation agency, detained rabbi Daniel Litvak on Thursday as part of an ongoing public prosecutors inquiry into how Chelsea soccer club owner Abramovich was granted citizenship. Abramovich has been sanctioned by the British government over his links to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He has denied having such ties. He was granted Portuguese citizenship last year based on a law offering naturalisation to descendants of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from the Iberian peninsula during the Mediaeval Inquisition. Applicants' genealogies are vetted by experts at one of Portugal's Jewish communities in Lisbon or Porto. The Porto community, where Litvak is the rabbi, was responsible for Abramovich's process. There is little known history of Sephardic Jews in Russia, although Abramovich is a common surname of Ashkenazi Jewish origin. Citing a judiciary source, Lusa said authorities took "coercive measures" against Litvak while he waits for legal proceedings to move forward. The Judicial Police did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. Representatives of the Jewish community in Porto did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lusa said Litvak, who was preparing to travel to Israel when he was detained, was asked to hand over his passport and must periodically present himself to authorities. Porto's Jewish community has denied any wrongdoing and said it was the target of a smear campaign, adding that Litvak oversaw the department that certifies Portuguese nationality on the basis of criteria that "have been accepted by successive governments". Story continues In a statement on Friday, the Judicial Police and the public prosecutor said there were suspicions of money laundering, corruption, fraud and falsification of documents in the process of granting citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews. Close to 57,000 descendants of Sephardic Jews have been granted citizenship since the law was implemented in 2015, according to official data. (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Hugh Lawson) The Las Vegas Raiders are locking down one of the NFL's top pass rushers. Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby has agreed to a four-year, $98.98 million contract extension with $53 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Crosby had one year with $3.99 million in salary remaining on his rookie contract. The #Raiders are signing Pro Bowl DE Maxx Crosby to a four-year, $98.98 million contract extension with $95M in new money and $53 million guaranteed, sources tell me and @RapSheet. A massive payday for a rising star. Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 11, 2022 The Raiders confirmed the deal. This condor belongs in Vegas We have signed @CrosbyMaxx to a multi-year contract extension https://t.co/VAifJw4Cs0 pic.twitter.com/8kRjdECNZe Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) March 11, 2022 The $24.75 million annual value will make Crosby the fourth-highest paid edge rusher in the NFL, according to OverTheCap, behind only T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett and Joey Bosa. Maxx Crosby earned his new Raiders contract Crosby has been a member of the Raiders since the team selected him out of Eastern Michigan in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft. Since then, he's become one of the biggest mid-round success stories in the NFL. Per Pro Football Focus, no defender in the NFL had more pressures than Crosby's 108 last year, and the service also had him as the second-most valuable edge rusher in the league. Going by more conventional stats, Crosby had 56 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, eight sacks, seven passes defended and tied for fourth in the NFL with 30 QB hits, per Pro Football Reference. Story continues In three seasons, Crosby has posted 25 total sacks for the Raiders. He received his first Pro Bowl nod last season. Crosby's massive extension is also a happy development after his personal struggles with alcoholism, which led to him checking into rehab in 2020 after his rookie year. From ESPN: "It got to a point after my rookie year my life became unmanageable," Crosby said. "Alcohol, partying and all that s*** became too much of a distraction in my life. It became just overwhelming. I've always had issues with drinking and partying throughout high school and college. I've been able to slip by and get by, but it became too much for me and it's always been that one crutch. "Alcoholism runs in my family and I'm an alcoholic. So, for me, I knew it was something that was always a crutch. I always knew I had a problem. I knew I couldn't just drink like everybody else. I got ahead of it. My first year of sobriety is always the hardest and that was last year. I had a lot of ups and downs. Mentally it was really tough for me. But going in, I'm almost a year-and-a-half sober now and life is great. I'm really enjoying every single day. I'm enjoying the work." Crosby now has the day he checked into rehab tattooed on his right forearm: 3-11-20. He picked two years to the day to sign his life-changing contract. Russia has warned the United States that Western shipments of weapons to Ukraine could become legitimate targets if they continue, raising the risk of a possible escalation of the conflict. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, told state television that Moscow had warned about the consequences of the thoughtless transfer to Ukraine of weapons like man-portable air defence systems, anti-tank missiles and so on. We warned the United States that the orchestrated pumping of weapons from a number of countries is not just a dangerous move, it is a move that turns these convoys into legitimate targets, he said. He added that Russia and the White House were not currently holding any negotiation processes on the war in Ukraine. The warning comes as President Joe Biden insisted last night that the US or Nato would not enter into a direct conflict with Russia or send fighter jets from Poland to the Ukrainian air force as it would equate to the start of World War Three, something we must strive to prevent. Follow the latest updates below. 12:25 PM Kyiv 'will be new Stalingrad', Ukrainian MP warns The fight for Kyiv will be Russia's new "Stalingrad if they want to make it so", a Ukrainian MP has said, as attacks on the capital continue to intensify. Sviatoslav Yurah told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme: "It's a massive town of millions and if the Russians try to come in they will have quite a fight on their hands - this will be their Stalingrad if they want to make it so. "Nobody is going to surrender - I can definitely guarantee you that." Stalingrad was the deadliest battle of the Second World War, when around 1.1 million Soviet and 800,000 German and Romanian troops died. Story continues 12:23 PM Russian engineers inspect captured Ukrainian nuclear plant Russian engineers have begun to measure radiation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which it seized on March 4. Officials from Russia's nuclear firm Rosatom arrived at the site on Friday, the Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom said in a message on Telegram. The Russians told Ukrainian personnel they were there "to evaluate the radiation level" and "help to repair the plant" which was hit by shells, Energoatom said. The Ukrainian agency said that the Russians had come directly to the site because Ukrainian personnel had refused to collaborate with them. 12:14 PM Macron and Scholz have started a call with Putin French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have started a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, the French presidency said. Macron had said at a European Union summit on Friday that he and Scholz would hold a fresh call with Putin in the coming hours after a previous three-way exchange on Thursday. 11:48 AM Zelensky: Russian army has suffered largest losses in decades Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has released a new video address to the nation on Facebook. Zelensky said Russian forces have suffered their largest losses in decades, and claimed that 31 Russian battalion tactical groups have been left incapable of combat. He also demanded the release of the mayor of Melitopol who was reportedly kidnapped by Russian forces yesterday. 11:44 AM Germany to organise airlift of Ukrainian refugees from Moldova By Daniel Wighton in Berlin German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed Germany is working with international partners on an airlift for Ukrainian refugees from Moldova, the first airlift of its kind since Russias invasion in late February. Baerbock said on Saturday doing so was "absolutely sensible" after meeting with her Moldovan counterpart Nicu Popescu in the capital Chisinau. Germany has already committed to bring 2,500 refugees from Moldova as a first step. People will be flown out of Moldova directly or from neighbouring countries with larger airport capacity. While many of the refugees may elect to stay in Germany, Baerbock said they may also be transferred further afield, for instance across the Atlantic to the United States or Canada. The EU has said all Ukrainians will be granted one-year visas to stay in any EU country. 11:35 AM Tom Odell sings TikTok war anthem for Ukraine in Bucharest British singer-songwriter Tom Odell sang his hit 'Another Love', which has become a symbol of Ukraine's resilience on social media platforms like TikTok, to refugees passing through Bucharest's main railway station on Friday. Odell is due to perform at a concert to raise funds for the Red Cross to help Ukrainians in the Romanian capital on Saturday, alongside Romanian DJ Armin van Buuren and Ukrainian singer Jamala, who won the Eurovision song contest in 2016. British singer Tom Odell sings inside the North Railway Station, a Romanian transport hub that has witnessed the arrival of thousands of people fleeing Ukraine following the Russian invasion, in Bucharest, Romania, March 11, 2022. - INQUAM PHOTOS/Reuters 11:26 AM Melitopol residents protest Russia's kidnapping of city mayor Defiant residents have gathered in Melitopol to demand that Russian forces release Ivan Fedorov, the Melitopol city mayor who was kidnapped on Friday. The Ukrainian parliament had previously confirmed the kidnapping on Twitter, saying that a "group of 10 occupiers" was responsible for the incident. You can read more about it in our posts from 8.05am and 9.37am. In Melitopol, defiant residents gathered near occupied district administration demanding that Russians release the kidnapped Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov - video by Odessa reg governor Maksym Marchenko pic.twitter.com/nCrE6OtQd0 Myroslava Petsa (@myroslavapetsa) March 12, 2022 11:20 AM UK, France and Germany say Iran nuclear deal could collapse because of Russia Britain, France and Germany have warned Russia that its recent demand to have its trade guaranteed with Iran risks the collapse of an almost-completed nuclear deal. Negotiators have reached the final stages of discussions to restore the JCPOA deal, which would lift sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. However, last Saturday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded widespread guarantees that Russian trade with Iran would not be affected by sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. "Nobody should seek to exploit JCPOA negotiations to obtain assurances that are separate to the JCPOA," Britain, France and Germany said in a joint statement. "This risks the collapse of the deal." 11:16 AM Belarus denies plans to join Russian invasion but is 'rotating' troops at border Belarus's chief of general staff Viktor Gulevich said that the country has no plans to join the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but is sending five battalion tactical groups (BTGs) to its border on rotation to replenish forces already stationed there. A top Ukrainian security official earlier warned Belarus not to send troops to Ukraine, saying Ukraine was showing restraint towards Belarus despite the country being used as a launchpad for Russian planes. I want to underline that the transfer of troops is in no way connected with (any) preparation, and especially not with the participation of Belarusian soldiers in the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine, Gulevich said. 11:11 AM Russian says list of retaliatory sanctions against the West is 'ready' Russia has prepared a list of its own sanctions against Western individuals in response to the sanctions implemented on the country as a result of its invasion of Ukraine, the deputy head of the foreign ministry has said. The list, which includes Western politicians and business owners, is ready and will soon be published, RIA News reports. Live on Russian state-owned television channel Russia 1, Sergei Ryabkov said: The lists are ready. We are working on this. It is a big part of our day-to-day work. 10:55 AM Russian attacks continue in areas planning evacuations Russian forces continue to attack places where civilian evacuations had been planned, the governors of Kyiv and Donetsk regions have said, according to Reuters. Evacuation plans had been made to create humanitarian corridors in cities including Mariupol, which is in the Donetsk region, to move civilians to safety. Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said: "Humanitarian cargo is moving towards Mariupol, we will inform you how it develops... The situation is complicated, there is constant shelling. "The situation is extremely difficult." 10:38 AM Portugal detains rabbi over Abramovich naturalisation Portuguese prosecutors have detained a rabbi and carried out raids over the naturalisation process of Roman Abramovich. Portugal's Public Prosecution Service said on Friday that it had detained the leader of Porto's Jewish community, Daniel Litvak, as part of their investigation into possible cases of "influence peddling, active corruption, falsification of documents, money laundering or even tax evasion". Local media reported that Litvak was arrested on Thursday as he was preparing to travel to Israel, and will appear before a judge on Saturday. Portuguese prosecutors had announced in January that they were investigating the naturalisation of Abramovich, who was granted Portuguese nationality in April 2021 under a 2013 Portuguese law that allows all descendants of Sephardic Jews, who were persecuted and expelled from the country at the end of the 15th century, to obtain Portuguese nationality. A certificate attesting to his descent was issued by the Jewish Community of the city of Porto in northern Portugal. 10:34 AM Moment mayor of Melitopol kidnapped by Russian forces 10:29 AM eBay stops transactions in Russia eBay has stopped all transactions with addresses in Russia as a result of the shutdown of payment providers and major delivery services, the company said in a statement. According to information on eBay, all accounts of sellers from Russia will be set to "away", Interfax reports. All of their active fixed-price ads will be hidden from search results, and buyers will not be able to make purchases. Active listings or listings in the auction format will be marked as completed, and bids on them will be cancelled. 10:27 AM Zelensky appeals to Russian mothers: Do not give your son to death or captivity Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a direct appeal to Russian mothers, asking them to check where your son is and not to give your son to death or captivity after Russia revealed that there were conscripts amongst the forces conducting the Ukraine invasion. Speaking from the presidential office in Kyiv, Zelensky broke into Russian as he asked mothers of young Russian men: do not send your children to war in a foreign land. Do not believe that they will be sent just somewhere for combat areas, or just somewhere in non-combat conditions. He further pleaded in his most recent video address, which was published on Friday: Check where your son is, and if you have even the slightest suspicion, any doubt that your son may be sent to war against Ukraine, act immediately. Do not give your son to death or captivity. In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office and posted on Facebook early Saturday, March 12, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pauses as he speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine. - Ukrainian Presidential Press Office 10:16 AM Pictured: Kyiv bombarded as Russian assault intensifies A Ukrainian serviceman exits a damaged building after shelling in Kyiv, on March 12, 2022. - Aris Messinis/AFP A warehouse storing frozen products is seen on fire after shelling, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the village of Kvitneve in Kyiv region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released March 12, 2022. - State Emergency Service/Reuters A firefighter enters a house to extinguish a fire after shelling on the 17th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Kyiv on March 12, 2022. - Aris Messinis/AFP 10:02 AM Russia: Negotiations with Nato impossible after it provided Ukraine with weapons The Russian Foreign Ministry said it will not negotiate with Nato, after the military alliance provided Ukraine with weapons, Interfax reports. The ministry said: Currently the countries of the alliance (and more broadly - the European Union), not giving a damn about international law and their own codes of conduct, are supplying airborne weapons for the Ukrainian armed forces. Weapons destined to kill Russian servicemen. "There can be no kind of dialogue with Nato in these conditions. In the past few years the relationship between Nato and Russia through the fault of the alliance has fallen to zero. 09:48 AM War in Ukraine pushes Taiwan to bolster military readiness The Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted Taiwan to bolster its own military defences to protect against potential future threats from China. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited army reservists on Saturday who are training under a new scheme to improve war readiness. Under the new programme, which began this month, reservists get two weeks of training, rather than the previous five to seven days, and spend more time on combat fighting. Tsai said: "The recent situation in Ukraine once again proves that the protection of the country, in addition to international solidarity and assistance, depends on the unity of the whole people." Freddy Lim, an independent lawmaker who sits on the defence and foreign affairs committees, told Reuters that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made many Taiwanese people more determined to defend the island and has boosted public support for reservist training reform and civil defence. "In the past, before Ukraine, we were called alarmist when we made these efforts. That's not the case anymore," he said. "Like Ukraine, I believe we have a very strong will to defend our country." 09:37 AM Zelensky: Kidnap of Melitopol mayor a sign of weakness of the invaders 09:23 AM Mariupol mosque shelled by Russian forces; 80 civilians inside A mosque in Mariupol, where 80 civilians were taking shelter, has been shelled by Russian forces, Ukraine's foreign ministry said. "The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders. More than 80 adults and children are hiding there from the shelling, including citizens of Turkey," the ministry said. There have not yet been reports of casualties. The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders. More than 80 adults and children are hiding there from the shelling, including citizens of Turkey. #StopRussianAggression#closeUAskyNOW pic.twitter.com/Uel5AoyZUt MFA of Ukraine (@MFA_Ukraine) March 12, 2022 09:17 AM Nato ex-official says Russia unlikely to 'gain much success' with Kyiv assault Rose Gottemoeller, the former deputy Secretary General of Nato, said she is "sceptical" that Russian forces will "gain much success" in their attempts to capture Kyiv. Speaking to the BBC, Ms Gottemoeller said: "I'm wondering if they [Russian forces] have the ability to regroup at this point, because their logistics are in such bad shape, they don't really have the fuel supplies they need for a push on to Kyiv." Gottemoeller added that reports of fighters being recruited from Syria to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine demonstrates the "barbaric approach to this invasion" taken by Putin. "They are extremist groups - they are people that have been fighting in Syria, they are some of the most violent extremists that have been encountered in warfare," she said. 09:10 AM Fresh wave of attacks on Kyiv, Kharkiv and Donbass expected Ukraine expects a new wave of attacks on the Kyiv, Kharkiv and Donbass regions after a slowdown in Russia's offensive, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian President's chief of staff, said on Saturday. Arestovych also said that Ukraine did not expect Belarus to join the Russian invasion force. 09:06 AM Russian rockets destroy airbase near Kyiv Russian rocket attacks destroyed an airbase near the Ukrainian town of Vasylkiv, in the Kyiv region, on Saturday morning, Interfax Ukraine quoted the local mayor as saying. Vasylkiv Mayor Natalia Balasynovych said the rocket attacks also hit an ammunition depot. 08:57 AM Donate money rather than goods to Ukraine, aid workers urge An aid worker on the Ukraine-Romania border has urged people wishing to support refugees to donate money rather than material items. Cassandra Nelson, from the humanitarian group Mercy Corps, said: "A lot of people in Europe are really keen to help by sending goods, what we call material aid. "Please don't do this. Unless there is a very specific request for something like a certain type of medicine, money donations are best. "We don't want to give people stuff they don't need, they know what they need, so we want to give them the money for that. "This will give them a bit more dignity and freedom to do what they need to do at this time." 08:33 AM Pictured: Ukrainian refugees seek safety in Brussels Ukrainians who fled their country amid the ongoing Russian invasion queue outside an immigration office in Brussels, Belgium on 12 March 2022. A temporary reception centre for people fleeing Ukraine was set up in Brussels, where they will be allowed to start immigration formalities. - Olivier Hoslet/Shutterstock Ukrainians who fled their country amid the ongoing Russian invasion queue outside an immigration office after spending the night, in Brussels, Belgium, 12 March 2022. - Olivier Hoslet/Shutterstock Ukrainians who fled their country amid the ongoing Russian invasion queue outside an immigration office after spending the night, in Brussels, Belgium, 12 March 2022. - Olivier Hoslet/Shutterstock 08:18 AM Macron criticises UK for Ukrainian refugee response The French President Emmanuel Macron criticised the British government for failing to live up to its "grand statements" on helping Ukrainian refugees. Speaking at an EU summit in Versailles, Mr Macron criticised Britain's visa policy and said it makes the process harder for Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war. He said: "Despite all the grand statements... the British government continued to apply current rules that meant they did not welcome Ukrainian refugees who wanted to reach British soil saying they have to travel hundreds of kilometres in order to apply for a visa. "I would hope that the Ukrainian men and women who have lived through horror and crossed Europe to reach their families on UK territory will be better treated." In response to Mr Macron's reported remarks, the Home Office pointed to previous comments from Home Secretary Priti Patel, which stated: "We are now making the process quicker and simpler by removing the need to physically visit visa application centres for many of those who are making the perilous journey across Europe." 08:09 AM Ministry of Defence intelligence update on Ukraine Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 12 March 2022 Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/UIDAtnUZ80 #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/3eqsm7jHwU Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) March 12, 2022 08:05 AM Mayor of Melitopol kidnapped by Russian troops The mayor of southern Ukraine's Melitopol was kidnapped on Friday by Russian soldiers occupying the city, Volodymyr Zelensky said. "A group of 10 occupiers kidnapped the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov," Ukraine's parliament said on Twitter. It said the mayor was seized when he was at the city's crisis centre dealing with supply issues. In a video message late on Friday, Mr Zelensky confirmed the abduction, calling Mr Fedorov "a mayor who bravely defends Ukraine and the members of his community". "This is obviously a sign of weakness of the invaders... They have moved to a new stage of terror in which they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of legitimate local Ukrainian authorities," he said. "The capture of the mayor of Melitopol is therefore a crime, not only against a particular person, against a particular community, and not only against Ukraine. It is a crime against democracy itself... The acts of the Russian invaders will be regarded like those of Islamic State terrorists." 07:55 AM Humanitarian corridor from Mariupol could open today Humanitarian corridors out of Ukrainian towns and villages, including from the southern port city of Mariupol that has come under sustained attack from Russian forces, will be open on Saturday so civilians can evacuate, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. Ms Vereshchuk added that she hoped Russia would observe a ceasefire to allow the humanitarian corridor to take place. She said Ukraine plans to evacuate residents of several towns and villages in the regions of Kyiv and Sumy and some other areas where there is ongoing combat. "I hope that the day will go well, all the planned routes will be open and Russia will fulfil its obligations to guarantee the ceasefire regime," Vereshchuk said in a video address. A Ukrainian serviceman takes a photograph of a damaged church after shelling in a residential district in Mariupol, Ukraine, Thursday, March 10, 2022. - Evgeniy Maloletka/AP 07:36 AM Sanctions could cause International Space Station to crash, warns Russia Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned. Dmitry Rogozin said the sanctions could disrupt the operation of Russian vessels servicing the ISS and called for them to be lifted. He added that this could affect the Russian segment of the station, which helps to correct its orbit, and could cause the 500-tonne structure to "fall down into the sea or onto land". 07:24 AM Humanitarian corridors to open in Sumy Humanitarian corridors have been agreed for the city of Sumy, located in the north-east of Ukraine, the region's military administrator said. Dmitry Zhyvytsky, from Sumy's Regional Military Administration, said in a post on Telegram that evacuation will begin at 9am local time (7am GMT) with vehicles departing from six destinations around the region. All of the vehicles are headed to the central city of Poltava, and are expected to arrive between 1-2pm. 07:19 AM Shelling causes fire at Kyiv warehouse A food storage warehouse in Kyiv caught fire in the early hours of this morning as a result of shelling, according to the Ukrainian State Emergency Services (SES). The SES said the shelling had taken place at 3.40am on Saturday morning and that the fire had been localised around 7.54am, with firefighters still working to put out the blaze. No casualties have been reported so far. A frozen food warehouse is seen on fire after shelling, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the village of Kvitneve in Kyiv region, Ukraine, on March 12, 2022. - SES via Reuters/SES via Reuters 07:06 AM 'Democracies are rising to meet this moment', says Biden As Russia refuses to back down from its invasion of Ukraine "democracies are rising to meet this moment" by tightening their squeeze on the Russian regime and its leader, said US President Joe Biden. "Democracies are rising to meet this moment, rallying the world to the side of peace and security. We are showing our strength and we will not falter." Democracies are rising to meet this moment, rallying the world to the side of peace and security. We are showing our strength and we will not falter. pic.twitter.com/UsMf8z8P45 President Biden (@POTUS) March 12, 2022 06:57 AM YouTube blocks access to Russian state-funded media YouTube is immediately blocking access around the world to channels associated with Russian state-funded media, it said on Friday, citing a policy barring content that denies, minimises or trivialises well-documented violent events. The world's most used video streaming service, which is owned by Alphabet Inc's Google, said Russia's invasion of Ukraine now fell under its violent events policy and violating material would be removed. YouTube spokesman Farshad Shadloo said the blocking of the Russian outlets was in line with that policy. Previously, YouTube had blocked leading Russia state-backed channels RT and Sputnik across Europe. 06:35 AM Guatemala receives first arrivals of Ukrainians fleeing conflict Guatemala on Friday received its first arrivals of Ukrainian families fleeing their homeland since Russia's invasion of its neighbor last month, authorities said. The eight Ukrainians were the first to arrive in the Central American country "for humanitarian reasons," an immigration spokesperson told Reuters. Another flight carrying more Ukrainians arrived several hours later, officials said. It is unclear how many may have arrived privately in Guatemala since the Russian attacks on Ukraine began. "I don't know what the future holds for us, but I hope the war ends soon," said one of arrivals in a video. Guatemala's announcement was the first on Ukrainian arrivals from the Central American countries known as the Northern Triangle - also including Honduras and El Salvador - which have themselves seen much of their populations emigrate due to violence and poverty. A Ukrainian family fleeing their homeland following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, arrive at La Aurora International airport in Guatemala City, Guatemala March 11, 2022. Guatemala Ministry of Foreign Relations/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES - Guatemala Ministry of Foreign Relations /Reuters 06:21 AM Russian forces stalled on mission to encircle Kyiv Russian ground forces attempting to take Kyiv have been forced to stop while they refit and resupply combat units after failed attacks days earlier, said the Study of War, a research organization focused on US national security NEW Report from @TheStudyofWar and @criticalthreats: #Russian ground forces attempting to encircle and take #Kyiv began another pause to resupply and refit combat units on March 11 after failed attacks March 8-10. https://t.co/oYOfgTb8P1 pic.twitter.com/qu3qQsY8CL ISW (@TheStudyofWar) March 11, 2022 06:14 AM A bombed out apartment building in Kharkiv . . pic.twitter.com/tcEoevVAGK (@verkhovna_rada) March 12, 2022 06:01 AM Images show Russian military units continuing to deploy closer to Kyiv, says Maxar Technologies Satellite images taken on Friday showed that Russian military units were continuing to deploy closer to Kyiv and actively firing artillery toward residential areas, Reuters reports, citing a US private company. Maxar Technologies said multiple homes and buildings were on fire and widespread damage and impact craters were seen throughout the town of Moschun, northwest of Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Reuters could not independently verify what was shown in the images. 05:45 AM Russian forces squeeze Kyiv, surround Mariupol Russian forces inched towards Kyiv on Saturday and pounded civilian areas in other Ukrainian cities as concerns grew over the besieged southern port of Mariupol, where officials said more than 1,500 people had been killed. Air raid sirens sounded Saturday in several cities, including the capital Kyiv, Odessa, Dnipro and Kharkiv, according to Ukrainian media. More than two weeks after Moscow shocked the world by invading Ukraine, the United Nations and others said it may be committing war crimes in cities such as Mariupol, which for days has been under attack by Vladimir Putin's forces. Survivors have been trying to flee Russian bombardment in a freezing city left without water or heating and running out of food. The situation is "desperate," a Doctors Without Borders official said. "Hundreds of thousands of people... are for all intents and purposes besieged," Stephen Cornish, one of those heading the medical charity's Ukraine operation, told AFP in an interview. "Sieges are a medieval practice that have been outlawed by the modern rules of war for good reason." 05:29 AM UK looks to ban luxury exports to Russia The UK is intending to further ramp up pressure on the Kremlin with plans to ban exports of luxury goods to Russia in the latest move to isolate Vladimir Putin. Details of the plans will be set out in the coming days, Downing Street said. It came as Boris Johnson joined with other G7 leaders on Friday to commit to further increase the pressure on the Russian president's regime. The group agreed to take steps to deny Russia "most favoured nation" status on key products, which No 10 said would significantly reduce the ability of Russian businesses to export. Sharing the news on Friday evening, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK stood "united with our G7 partners", and would "continue strengthening our response" to put a halt to Russia's aggression against its neighbour. But Labour said the ban on luxury goods "should not have taken this long". 04:56 AM Lawmaker calls for block on Instagram after Meta allows hate speech against Russians Russia on Friday condemned Meta Platforms' move to temporarily lift a ban on calls for violence against the Russian military and leadership, and an influential parliamentarian called for Instagram to be blocked in Russia. In a temporary change to its hate speech policy, Meta Platforms will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters. "Meta's aggressive and criminal policy leading to incitement of hatred and hostility towards Russians is outrageous," the Russian embassy in Washington said in a statement on Friday. "The company's actions are yet another evidence of the information war without rules declared on our country," it said. 04:37 AM Eastern Europe embraces Ukraine refugees as workforce Eastern European countries are embracing the millions of Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion as a potential workforce but analysts warn it be challenging to integrate them all. Some 2.5 million people have already fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations, which calls it Europe's fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II. More than half are now in Poland but tens of thousands are also staying in Moldova and Bulgaria, which have some of the fastest shrinking populations. "Those who are now arriving in the territory of the EU are well-qualified and meet the demand for labour," said Sieglinde Rosenberger of the University of Vienna, though she warned the welcoming attitude could change. Other experts asked how eastern European countries, which have a lower GDP than their western counterparts, can handle a huge influx. Acutely aware of the burden, some countries have already called for more assistance. 04:29 AM Footage released by Italian media of authorities in Trieste seizing a huge yacht belonging to the Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko Sanzioni contro la Russia: A Trieste, nel rimessaggio del porto, e stato sequestrato dalla Guardia di Finanza lo yacht a vela piu grande del mondo, del valore di 530 milioni di euro. Lo "SY A" e riconducibile all'imprenditore russo Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko. pic.twitter.com/xj0V728Qsa Tg La7 (@TgLa7) March 11, 2022 04:24 AM Technicians have started repairing damaged power lines to Chernobyl power plant Technicians have started repairing damaged power lines to the site of the Russian-controlled Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant that were entirely cut earlier in the week, said the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Ukraines regulatory authority told the Agency that efforts to repair one section had been successful, but off-site electrical power was still down, indicating there was still damage in other places. Repair efforts would continue, however, "despite the difficult situation outside" the site, said the IAEA. "Emergency diesel generators have been providing back-up power to the site since 9 March, and the regulator has reported that additional fuel had been delivered to the facility. However, it remains important to fix the power lines as soon as possible, it said." The regulator lost communications with the site on 10 March, said the IAEA, but has continued to receive information about the situation there through the plant's senior off-site management. Satellite images of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant - MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 03:51 AM Abramovich's US hedge fund investments frozen, reports WSJ Some US hedge-fund firms that have investments from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich have been told to freeze his assets after Britain imposed sanctions on him, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Britain froze assets and imposed a travel ban on the Russian owner of Chelsea football club on Thursday along with six other senior Russians because of their links to President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine. Fund administrator SS&C Globe Op said in a message to one hedge-fund firm that accounts attributed to Mr Abramovich are blocked from transacting, the Journal said on Friday, citing people familiar with the instructions. Other funds have received similar messages, the Journal added. 03:43 AM Russian forces prepare for possible assault on Kyiv Russian forces have bombarded cities across the country and appeared to be regrouping for a possible assault on the capital Kyiv, Reuters reports. The governor of the Kharkiv region, on the Russian border, said a psychiatric hospital had been hit, and the mayor of the city of Kharkiv said about 50 schools had been destroyed there. In the besieged southern city of Mariupol, the city council said at least 1,582 civilians had been killed as a result of Russian shelling and a 12-day blockade that has left hundreds of thousands trapped with no food, water, heat or power. Russias defense ministry said the Black Sea port was now completely surrounded and Ukrainian officials accused Russia of deliberately preventing civilians getting out and humanitarian convoys getting in. A new effort to evacuate civilians along a humanitarian corridor appeared to have failed. An explosion is seen in an apartment building after Russian's army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) - AP 03:25 AM Colgate-Palmolive halts all investment in Russia Deeply saddened by the impact on people in the region. In Russia we've ceased all capital investment/media/advertising/promo activities & suspended import/sales other than essential health & hygiene products. More: https://t.co/6c25oin3ON. We hope & pray for a speedy resolution. Colgate-Palmolive (@CP_News) March 12, 2022 03:12 AM UN experts say Russian media law amounts to information 'blackout' A Russian law giving Moscow stronger powers to crack down on independent journalism is placing Russia under a "total information blackout" on the war in Ukraine, UN independent experts said on Friday. Moscow last week blocked Facebook and other websites and passed a law that imposed a prison term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally "fake" news about the military. The move prompted the BBC, Bloomberg and other foreign media to suspend reporting in the country, although the BBC said it was resuming English-language reporting from Russia on March 8 because of the "urgent need to report from inside Russia". "Russia's recent adoption of a punitive 'fake war news' law is an alarming move by the government to gag and blindfold an entire population," three independent U.N. experts appointed by the top U.N. rights body, the Human Rights Council, said in a statement. 03:09 AM Russian rapper Face denounces the war on Instagram The popular Russian rapper Face has taken to Instagram where he has 1.7 million followers to denounce the war on Ukraine, according to local media. He joins a growing number of Russian performers taking a stance against the war. Nadya Tolokonnikova, the founding member of the anti-government band Pussy Riot recently shouted "F**** Putin" at a concert in New York. Russia has threatened to imprison anyone who criticises the war for up to 15 years. INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 09: Musical group Pussy Riot performs onstage at YouTube Theater on March 09, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Timothy Norris/Getty Images for ABA) - Timothy Norris /Getty Images North America 02:50 AM $700m superyacht may belong to Putin, say US officials A $700m superyacht being repaired in an Italian dry dock may belong to Vladimir Putin, according to US intelligence officials. The ownership of the 459ft Scheherazade has come under close scrutiny since Russias unprovoked assault on Ukraine, and the vessel could be associated with Mr Putin, intelligence officials told The New York Times. American officials told the newspaper that no final conclusions on ownership have been made, but the link backs up a claim made by a former crew member that it was for Mr Putins use. The officials say that Mr Putin keeps little of his personal wealth in his own name, instead using homes and boats that are held in the name of Russian oligarchs. Scheherazade - credit Giovanni Romero _ TheYachtPhoto.com.jpg 02:42 AM Pictured: Scenes of devastation in the city of Kharkiv as a building that housed a school is ruined by Russian attacks KHARKIV, UKRAINE - MARCH 11: A view of a building that housed a school, which was destroyed as a result of clashes between Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, in Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 11, 2022. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) - Anadolu Agency KHARKIV, UKRAINE - MARCH 11: A view of a building that housed a school, which was destroyed as a result of clashes between Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, in Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 11, 2022. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) - Anadolu Agency KHARKIV, UKRAINE - MARCH 11: A view of a building that housed a school, which was destroyed as a result of clashes between Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, in Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 11, 2022. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) - Anadolu Agency 02:24 AM Russia squeezes Kyiv as 'unimaginable' tragedy looms in Ukraine Russian forces inched towards Kyiv and pounded civilian areas in other Ukrainian cities Friday, drawing warnings of "unimaginable tragedy". Sixteen days after Moscow shocked the world by invading Ukraine, the United Nations and others said it may be committing war crimes in cities such as Mariupol, which for days now has been besieged by Vladimir Putin's forces. On Friday officials in the southern port said more than 1,500 people had been killed during 12 days of attacks. Survivors have been trying to flee Russian bombardment in a freezing city left without water or heating, and running out of food. The situation is "desperate," a Doctors Without Borders official said. "Hundreds of thousands of people... are for all intents and purposes besieged," Stephen Cornish, one of those heading the medical charity's Ukraine operation, told AFP in an interview. "Sieges are a medieval practice that have been outlawed by the modern rules of war for good reason." As Russia widens its bombardment and talks between Moscow and Kyiv seemingly go nowhere, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky's pleas for NATO to intervene have grown increasingly desperate. 02:14 AM US sanctions Russian board members at Novikombank and ABR Management The US on Friday sanctioned several board members at Novikombank and ABR Management, including Vice Governor of St. Petersburg Vladimir Nikolaevich Knyaginin, over the Ukraine crisis, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. In mid-February, Russia's lower house of parliament voted to ask Mr Putin to recognise two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent. Eleven members and speaker Vyacheslav Volodin were added to the sanctions list on Friday. "Today's designations further hold to account those actors who were directly responsible for Russia's illegitimate and unlawful recognition ... and facilitating the sham pretext used by Putin to justify the ... unprovoked war against Ukraine," the Treasury said. Justifying the move at the time, Mr Volodin said: "Kyiv is not observing the Minsk agreements. Our citizens and compatriots who live in Donbass need our help and support." The Minsk agreements are a pair of accords signed in 2014 and 2015 in the hope of ending violence between pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and the Kyiv government. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbor's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists. 02:04 AM US imposes new sanctions on Russian billionaire and members of Putin spokesman's family The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, three family members of President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson and lawmakers in the latest punishment for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Those hit by Friday's sanctions include 10 people on the board of VTB Bank, the second-largest lender in Russia, and 12 members of the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement. "Treasury continues to hold Russian officials to account for enabling Putin's unjustified and unprovoked war," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was targeted on March 3. Friday's measures extend to his wife and two adult children. They lead "luxurious lifestyles that are incongruous with Peskov's civil servant salary," the Treasury said in a news release. The Kremlin did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. 01:45 AM Don't send your children, Zelensky tells Russian mothers Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday called on the mothers of Russian soldiers to prevent their sons being sent to war in Ukraine. "I want to say this once again to Russian mothers, especially mothers of conscripts. Do not send your children to war in a foreign country," Zelensky said in a video address released on Telegram. "Check where your son is. And if you have the slightest suspicion that your son could be sent to war against Ukraine, act immediately" to prevent him being killed or captured, he said. "Ukraine never wanted this terrible war. And Ukraine does not want it. But it will defend itself as much as necessary," he added. On Wednesday, Russia for the first time acknowledged the presence of conscripts in Ukraine and announced that a number of them had been taken prisoner. 01:41 AM Today's top stories Mar. 12President Joe Biden on Friday ordered a national ban on some imports from Russia, including seafood. It's a move intended to punish that country for its invasion of Ukraine, but the ban has ripple effects that could wash ashore in Alaska. Russian seafood competes with Alaska products for shelf space and consumer attention, particularly pollock and crab. Officials here said Friday's announcement could benefit the Alaska fishing industry. But the effects may be limited to a few key sectors the major Seattle-based trawlers that haul up millions of pounds of pollock, largely for export, and hard-hit Bering Sea crab fishermen. There will be some effect on salmon fishermen, experts say, but the embargo's impact is less clear in that industry. "It's a big deal for crab," said Jamie Goen, executive director of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. The group represents about 350 members, including 60 boats in Alaska's crab fleet. "Ninety percent of king crab that came into the U.S. in recent years is from Russia. ... With this ban, that's nearly a billion dollars of crab that's getting cut off," she said. Harvests of other crab species are down significantly, and while the import ban has the potential to close much of America's access to crab, she said it is worthwhile. [President Biden banned the importation of Russian crude. What does that mean for Alaska?] "The crab harvesters support this ban," she said. "We think it's good to show unity with Ukraine in this, and it's important to take this step given what Russia's doing." Members of Alaska's congressional delegation, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and state legislators have sought an import ban since 2014, when Russia banned the importation of American seafood, cutting off an important market for Alaska products. Alaska's all-Republican congressional delegation welcomed Friday's announcement as long overdue. They introduced legislation last month in the U.S. House and Senate to ban Russian seafood imports to the U.S. as long as Russia keeps its ban in place. Story continues Members of the delegation said Friday they would continue to advance their legislation despite the executive order from the White House. "Executive orders can come and go, but if you can pass something legislatively, that's much more enduring," Sen. Dan Sullivan told reporters, calling the ban "a bright spot for Alaska fishermen." Rep. Don Young said in a statement that he is "pleased to see President Biden following (his) lead," and that he would continue to push legislation to ban Russian seafood imports "as a standalone bill or as part of a broader sanctions package." Russia exported $1.2 billion in seafood products to the U.S. in 2021. That made Russia the eighth-largest seafood exporter by value to the U.S. last year. The main products were snow crab, king crab and cod, according to data from the National Marine Fisheries Service. [Alaska lawmakers press ahead with plans to sell state's investments in Russia] The loss of that supply means the remaining sources of seafood can command higher prices. "Prices are higher, probably going to be higher. But that's good that's good for the industry, it's good for the communities that have processing plants and for the fishermen living in them," said Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak. "Across the board, landing taxes when the price is higher are going to be higher, and some of us are running around 35-year-old boats that need a few repairs," said Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna. Boat repairs are bought locally, which means more money in local economies, he said. "When there's a boost to exvessel values, there's a boost to retail values, and across the board, it's more value to Alaska," he said. However, some in Alaska's seafood industry have concerns about the embargo. Chris McDowell just finished a short bairdi crab fishing season on his boat, the 55-foot F/V Marsons. He said crab prices are already high because of harvest cuts in the Bering Sea, and if there's no Russian crab, there could be little to no crab available on shelves. He worries that in the long run, that could cause lower demand for crab as Americans stop eating it. Duncan Fields, a former member of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council who now works as a consultant, said he's heard those worries, too. Under ordinary circumstances, higher prices for any kind of seafood would bring a clear benefit to fishermen. But these aren't ordinary circumstances. "I just think we're dealing with too many variables. I don't think it will hurt exvessel prices. But you're dealing with fuel costs, transportation costs, labor costs and unknown market variabilities because of the war in Europe. So there's just too many variables to make a prediction about direct impact," he said. Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute director Jeremy Woodrow said in a statement that it is "far too early to understand the potential positive or negative impacts to the Alaska seafood industry specifically." "We are working closely with our industry partners to remain responsive to the yet-to-be-understood implications of the ban and greater conflict," Woodrow said. McKinley Research Group consultant Heather Brandon, whose work focuses on the seafood industry, also said it was too soon to predict the impacts of the ban on Alaska's industry. "International seafood trade is complex, and it would be hard to say precisely how a U.S. ban on Russian seafood will play out as far global redistribution and changes in consumption," Brandon said. For example, the lack of Russian seafood will reduce supply, but the war in Ukraine means there's less demand for Alaska salmon roe, a popular item in Ukraine, Fields said. Also, some companies use Ukrainian factories to turn Alaska fish into products for sale in Europe. Those processing plants may no longer be available. Daily News reporter Nathaniel Herz contributed. Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson met with GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri in his office on March 9, 2022 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images Party-line confirmation votes have become the norm in recent years in a deeply divided Congress. Despite "cordial" meetings with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Republicans demure on how they'll vote. Confirmation hearings for the SCOTUS nominee are scheduled to begin on March 21. All the "productive conversations" Senate Republicans said they've had with "impressive" and "well-qualified" Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in recent days have yielded plenty of photo ops but no commitments to support her historic nomination to the Supreme Court. Jackson, who currently serves on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and could become the first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court, has met privately with over a dozen Republican lawmakers since President Joe Biden named her as his pick to replace retiring Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. The exhaustive interview process has included lengthy visits with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee which is scheduled to launch hearings about her latest nomination on March 21 as well as leaders from both parties. The sticking points Republicans have cited about Jackson include her efforts to reduce mandatory minimum guidelines during her time at the US Sentencing Commission, the arguments she made on behalf of Guantanamo Bay detainees during her time as a public defender, and whether she views the US Constitution as the final word on jurisprudence or a jumping-off point to advance ideological goals. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, recently asked for access to more of Jackson's records from the Sentencing Commission. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson meets with Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley on March 02, 2022 in Washington, DC. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images "How do you know what's missing until we get it all?" Grassley told reporters at the Capitol when asked what else, specifically, he'd like to examine. He added that Judiciary members already have "500 of her cases to go through" to bone up for the anticipated cross-examination in committee. Story continues Many maintain, however, that any confirmation fight must not get personal. "I promised her that we would not have any of the Kavanaugh-like circus," Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said he told Jackson. "It should be a dignified and civil procedure." Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's nomination and confirmation process in 2018 was a wildly partisan brawl packed with allegations of sexual assault, televised yelling matches, and frayed relations across the board. It culminated in a 50-48 vote in which Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who was facing a tough reelection that year in a pro-Trump state, was the only one to cross party lines. All three of former President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominees got confirmed on near party-line votes. 2017 nominee Neil Gorsuch garnered just three Democratic supporters all of whom, including Manchin, were on the ballot in November 2018. Kavanaugh peeled off only Manchin. And 2020 nominee Amy Coney Barrett moved through 52-48 solely on GOP votes. Could Jackson buck the trend? Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who praised Jackson after their meeting on Wednesday but also backs Grassley's records request, declined to predict the final outcome. "I thought the White House started well on this by saying, yeah, we'll meet with every senator who wants to meet, we'll do the meetings in person," he told Insider while on his way to a Senate vote. "I would say, 'Keep on that line, give us the documents, and move forward.' But we'll see." Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey escorts Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson to his office for a meeting on Capitol Hill on March 8, 2022 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images Making the rounds While the White House declined to confirm her meeting schedule to date, an Insider review of public statements and confirmation with the relevant lawmakers' offices show that Jackson has met with all but three Senate Judiciary Committee members, including nine of the 11 GOP panelists and 10 of the 11 Democrats. Those still on her to-do list include Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Tom Cotton of Arkansas. "I'm not talking about that," Graham, who favored fellow contender South Carolina District Judge J. Michelle Childs, responded when Insider asked him about meeting with Jackson. "Graham expects to meet with the nominee before the Judiciary Committee hearing," Graham's staff later wrote in an email. Fellow South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott was also dismissive. "No idea," Scott said when asked about meeting with Jackson before the Judiciary Committee hearings. Scott had favored Childs for the Supreme Court and earlier wrote he was disappointed she wasn't Biden's choice. Other Republicans sounded a little more accommodating. "We're trying to set it up, hopefully for next week," Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told Insider on March 10. Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, who is retiring at the end of this term, said playing a part in history is appealing. "I think a lot of people, including me, would love to vote for the first Black woman to go on the court," Blunt told Insider at the Capitol, though he added that "judicial philosophy should be the thing that senators are looking it." Blunt added that he hasn't nailed down a specific meeting date but "she's on my schedule and I look forward to talking to her." Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah appears willing to wait his turn. "We're going to be talking after the hearings," Romney told Insider of his scheduling plans. Meanwhile, Jackson's already met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who represents her home state, and centrist dealmakers Manchin and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who described Jackson as a "phenomenal pick" after their meeting, said she's playing things perfectly so far. "She's one of these people that has just such a great spirit and I think she's going to be very additive to the group of nine," Booker told Insider between votes in DC. As for potential pushback from Republicans, Booker noted that Sens. Collins, Graham, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska backed Jackson just nine months ago in a 53-44 vote. "I think it's a good sign, as you know, that she got confirmed by the Senate twice before," Booker said. Read the original article on Business Insider The Senate on Thursday night passed a $1.5 trillion spending package covering the rest of this fiscal year and providing $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine. The bipartisan 68-31 vote capped months of delays and sometimes tense negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, with the drama continuing and tempers occasionally flaring in recent days as lawmakers pushed to clear the bill before current government funding expires at the end of day Friday. The omnibus bill, as its known, now heads to President Joe Bidens desk. The Senate also approved a short-term extension of current federal funding, which the House had also passed, giving congressional clerks time to finish processing the larger bill. The White House told reporters Friday that Biden will first sign the stopgap measure, ensuring that government agencies can stay open until the annual funding bill is ready. The Senate vote on the omnibus funding package came after lawmakers voted down three GOP amendments, including one from Sen. Mike Lee of Utah to defund the administrations vaccine mandates, another from Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana to add hurricane relief money and a third from Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana to remove earmarks from the spending bill. Why it matters: The threat of a government shutdown is gone until the end of September, and members of both parties can tout some victories in the final spending package. Democrats secured a nearly 7% increase for non-defense spending to $730 billion allowing them to enact their agenda and move beyond domestic spending levels set under former President Donald Trump. Republicans secured an almost equal increase in defense spending, which will total $782 billion. This bipartisan funding package represents a robust and unapologetic investment in the American people: it will give our troops a raise, provide more money for schools and Head Start Programs and Pell Grants, reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, fund the Presidents cancer moonshot, and open the floodgates for funding the Bipartisan Infrastructure law, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said. Schumer called it the strongest, boldest and most significant government funding package weve seen in a long time. The process, however, left plenty of room for complaints lawmakers had little time to review the 2,741-page bill, for example and the increases in spending left budget hawks again calling for caps on discretionary spending. And for all the boasting lawmakers have been doing about the spending package, the White House and health care experts are also warning that lawmakers failure to approve $15.6 billion more in pandemic funding this week may force the nations Covid-response efforts to be cut back. Like what you're reading? Sign up for our free newsletter. A Texas judge on Friday blocked the states Department of Family and Protective Services from conducting investigations of parents of transgender children for potential child abuse. District judge Amy Clark Meachum wrote in her ruling that a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal against the DFPS holds a substantial likelihood of success. The groups filed the lawsuit after Texas governor Greg Abbott in February ordered the DFPS to conduct investigations of parents of transgender children. Abbott announced the order following a legal opinion by state attorney general Ken Paxton declaring the use of sex-change procedures and the prescription of puberty blockers to children as child abuse. 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 wrote in a letter to DFPS. However, Abbotts order and the DFPS investigations violate separation of powers by impermissibly encroaching into the legislative domain, Meachum said on Friday, according to the New York Times. Meachums injunction blocks all such investigations until the conclusion of a trial in the suit, which was scheduled for July. In their lawsuit, the ACLU and Lamda Legal accused Abbott and the DFPS of violating the rights of transgender children. Their actions caused terror and anxiety among transgender youth and their families across the Lone Star State and singled out transgender youth and their families for discrimination and harassment, the lawsuit states. A state employee identified as Jane Doe, who is the mother of a 16-year-old transgender girl, testified in court on Friday after the DFPS opened an investigation against her. Doe said in an earlier court filing that she feels betrayed by my state and the agency for whom I work. More from National Review Ken Paxton Drew Angerer/Getty Images The all-Republican Texas Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the state's Heartbeat Act, which bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, on Friday, The New York Times reported. Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas, wrote on Twitter that the court's decision "closes the last back door" against legal challenges to the law by abortion providers. What this drives home, as plainly as anything could, is how critical it was that a 5-4 #SCOTUS majority held that state court clerks could *not* be defendants. As many of us suggested back in December, *that* was the critical moment. Today's ruling just closes the last back door. Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) March 11, 2022 Per the Times, the Heartbeat Act was designed to escape judicial review in federal courts, as abortion bans before the point of fetal viability around 23 weeks are considered unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade (1973). The Texas law empowers private citizens to sue anyone who "aids or abets" a woman in obtaining an abortion. Therefore, the Texas Supreme Court ruled, government and medical licensing officials cannot be sued over the law because they play no role in enforcing it. Commentators across the political spectrum have expressed concerns about the enforcement mechanism. Hannah Cox of the right-libertarian Foundation for Economic Education tweeted that the same legal workaround could be used to threaten "gun rights across the country & any number of other civil liberties." The legal precedent established here is about to be a devastating blow for gun rights across the country & any number of other civil liberties. This is why I often dislike Republicans even more than Democrats. Y'all constantly play yourselves to get cheap wins. https://t.co/Dpd4wSZQBA Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) March 11, 2022 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, however, tweeted that the court's decision is a "major victory" and that the law "has saved thousands of unborn babies." Story continues Today I secured a major victory in the Texas Supreme Court re. the Texas Heartbeat Act (SB 8). This measure, which has saved thousands of unborn babies, remains fully in effect, and the pro-abortion plaintiffs lawsuit against the state is essentially finished. TEXAS IS PRO-LIFE! Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 11, 2022 A New York Times analysis published Sunday suggested that, even after factoring in out-of-state abortions and abortion pills delivered by mail, the number of abortions among Texas women has likely fallen by about 10 percent since the law took effect in September. Michael New, a business professor at the Catholic University of America, suggested in National Review that the drop could be more drastic because the studies cited by the Times assumed every woman who obtained abortion pills carried out an abortion. "Some women," he argued, "might have simply wanted to have abortion pills available in the event of a future unplanned pregnancy." You may also like The price China won't pay for Russia's war Ukrainian family denied entry at U.S. border after fleeing war There's a way to bring down gas prices, but you won't like it LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine, a major global producer of agricultural products, has banned exports of fertilisers given the Russian invasion, the agriculture ministry said on Saturday. Ukraine has already banned exports of some agricultural commodities and introduced licenses for its key export goods - wheat, corn and sunflower oil. "The cabinet of ministers is introducing a zero quota for the export of mineral fertilisers that is a de facto ban on the export of fertilisers from Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement. It said the ban would help "to maintain balance in the domestic market" and applied to nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and complex fertilisers. Ukraine traditionally starts spring field work in late February or in March. Farmers say they will start sowing in safe areas as soon as they can. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday the country must sow as many crops as possible this spring, despite the Russian invasion. The country's agriculture producers' union said this week farmers were likely to reduce areas sown to sunseed, rapeseed and corn this year, replacing them with cereals - buckwheat, oats and millet. Ukraine, the world's largest exporter of sunflower oil, had forecast before the invasion that it could export more than 60 million tonnes of grain, including 33 million tonnes of corn and 23 million tonnes of wheat, in the 2021/22 July-June season. The agriculture ministry said Ukraine had exported 43 million tonnes of various grains in the 2021/22 season as of Feb. 23, the day before the invasion. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Ros Russell) Ukrainian farmer Kohctahtuh Xomehko showed the kind of determination and fortitude currently on display by his fellow countrymen and women during an online meeting with farmers in the Midwest. Ukraine farmer Kohctahtuh Xomehko. Kohctahtuh (pronounced Konstantine) said his heart is in great pain but hes extremely confident the Ukrainian army can defeat the invading Russians. He also showed the same resolve when asked if farmers in Ukraine will still be able to plant this years crops amid the war. Im 100% sure we can win because its about people, not just weapons, Xomehko said from his farm during a Zoom call hosted at the Macon County Farm Bureau in Decatur attended by several board members and media. Were together working all the people in Ukraine, he said. I understand our army is not that big, but were very motivated. There are people you know who are dying. Well never forgive the Russians. Ukraine farmers are helping their army by providing and transporting diesel fuel and fabricating metal objects for the army to flatten tires on Russian vehicles. Ukrainian farmers also plow a majority of their fields, which has made it difficult for some Russian tanks to cross without getting stuck. When asked how other nations, including the U.S., can help resolve the conflict, Xomehko called for air support. We need support to close the air. We dont need soldiers, he said. But thus far the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has rejected Ukraines demand to implement no-fly zones. Meanwhile, reports suggest roughly 2 million Ukrainian refugees had fled the country in recent weeks. But Ukrainian farmers remain determined to produce their crops this year. Yes. 100% well be planting, spraying and fertilizing, Xomehko said when asked about his spring plans to grow crops including corn, soybeans and wheat. But, there is no area in Ukraine that is 100% safe. We have areas with more bombs, and areas with less bombs. The online meeting with Xomehko was made possible in part by Loran Steinlage, an Iowa farmer and field engineer for DAWN Equipment, and Macon County Farm Bureau Board member Paul Butler, who is in an international grain marketing group. Story continues DAWN provides ag equipment parts to farmers in Ukraine but pulled its employees out of the country just weeks before the war broke out. Im worried about $5 diesel and how high our fertilizer prices will go, Butler said. But our problems are pretty small in comparison. Scott Irwin, University of Illinois ag economics professor, said war in Ukraine will also continue to have a widespread effect on world markets for some time. There are really two issues, Irwin said in a recent U of I farmdoc video. One is with old crop. Trade estimates suggest theres 600 million bushels of corn already contracted (from Ukraine). Its trapped and I dont see any way that will get out of there very easily for weeks and maybe months. Theres even bigger problems with what will end up getting planted (in the Black Sea region) this spring, he noted. It could potentially put a huge hole in global grain balance sheets. Irwin suggested the U.S. needs to think outside the box in these extraordinary times and consider measures such as possibly opening up acres in the Conservation Reserve Program for a year to increase domestic crop output. This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association. For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com. This article originally appeared on Star Courier: Ukraine farmer shows great resolve amid Russian invasion LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russian forces have shelled a mosque in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where more than 80 adults and children, including Turkish citizens, have taken refuge, Ukraine's foreign ministry said on Saturday. Ukraine has accused Russia of refusing to allow people out of Mariupol, where a blockade has left hundreds of thousands trapped. Russia blames Ukraine for the failure to evacuate people. "The mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxolana (Hurrem Sultan) in Mariupol was shelled by Russian invaders," the foreign ministry said in a tweet. "More than 80 adults and children are hiding there from the shelling, including citizens of Turkey." It did not say if there were any people killed or wounded. Moscow has denied targeting civilian areas in what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine. (Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Matthias Williams; Editing by Frances Kerry) Kyiv CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D'Agata asked Ukraine's Minister of Culture and Information Policy, Oleksandr Tkachenko, how he thinks his country's troops are managing as they battle to keep Russia's invading forces from taking major cities and as Russian artillery pummels civilian infrastructure. Tkachenko vowed that the people of Ukraine would never give up, but he said they urgently need more big weapons, including aircraft and missile defense systems. The minister reiterated calls for the U.S. and its NATO allies to declare and enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, to stop Russia's aerial bombardment. Washington and other capitals have ruled that out, fearing it could lead to a much wider war if Western and Russian aircraft went head-to-head. "That's the most important things which we need right now, and, of course, financial support, because [Ukraine's] economy is not in the best shape," he said. Arguing that his country is in not just at war with Russia, but in a "fight for freedom in Europe," Tkachenko pleaded with Western powers not to fear Russia. "If Ukrainians are not afraid of Russia, why should states and bigger powers should [be] afraid [of] this crazy guy sitting in a bunker?" he asked, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "This is not about nuclear war, this is about defense of Ukraine It's who was killed yesterday in Mariupol in this maternity hospital that was bombed, and when you see eyes of kids that have flown to Poland and that are now without parents, then you should tell them why not impose a no-fly zone, or why you are not giving us aircrafts and air defense system right now." Watch more of D'Agata's interview with the information minister in the player above, and his latest report from Kyiv is below. Young students offer pep talks on free hotline At least two dead in car crash at D.C. restaurant MLB training facilities open after lockout ends Members of Kyiv defense battalion seen holding their rifles. Mykhaylo Palinchak Ukrainian veterans in Poland are heading back into their country to take the fight to Russia. Ivan, 53, who received military training in the Soviet-era, called Russians "bandits and thieves." He was joined by Viktor, 35, who fought in the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015. HREBENNE, POLAND For two men heading into a war-zone, Viktor and Ivan seemed remarkably calm as they waited in a line of cars to cross the border from Poland into Ukraine. There was a look of fearlessness and determination in their eyes. Over 1.5 million Ukrainians have fled into Poland since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked war in late February. When asked why they were headed in the opposite direction, they told Insider, "To defend Ukraine." Viktor, 35, is a Ukrainian veteran who served in Donetsk one of the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine that Putin recognized as independent in the lead-up to Russia's invasion. He fought pro-Kremlin rebels there from 2014 to 2015. Ivan, 53, did two years of obligatory military service in Ukraine during the Soviet-era. They said they plan to join the army or the Territorial Defense Forces Ukraine's volunteer force to thwart the Russian military assault. The two men, who declined to give their last names, are colleagues truck drivers who lived in Poland when the conflict began. Now they're headed home, determined to bring the fight to the Russians, whom Ivan called "bandits and thieves." They said their family members, who are in the Russian-occupied cities of Sumy and Kherson, aren't doing well. When asked what the US and wider would could do to help Ukraine, they said "close the sky." "Close the sky" is a phrase that's been echoed by Ukrainian refugees that Insider has spoken to across Poland over the past week. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for, they want NATO to institute a no-fly zone to help end Russian airstrikes wreaking havoc across their country. Story continues But the alliance has firmly ruled this out, as it would require NATO to shoot down Russian warplanes. This would effectively amount to a declaration of war by the 30-member defensive alliance, pitting nuclear powers against one another in a potentially catastrophic conflict. Understandably desperate to see the brutal war in their country end, however, Ukrainians continue to push for this. "We have enough fighters," Ivan said, pointing to a bus full of Ukrainian men in front of his vehicle who were also heading across the border to take the fight to Russia. Even before Russia launched the invasion, Ukrainian veterans in Poland were gearing up to re-enlist. Ivan also said he wanted to give a "big thank you to the US" for the help it's given Ukraine, which has included lethal aid like Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger missiles. Ivan and Viktor wouldn't give their last names and refused to be photographed for safety reasons. "You can take our picture when we get back," Ivan said with a smile. When asked whether he thought Ukraine would win the war, Ivan said, "No doubt about it. 100%." Read the original article on Business Insider In one episode of Love Is Blind, the Netflix reality dating show in which people get engaged sight unseen, contestant Natalie Lee speaks to her father, Don, just before her wedding ceremony. Of all the things Ive done in my life, Don says, beaming at his daughter, being your dad is my greatest achievement ever. The moment is striking, not only because its a reprieve from a rather criticized, chaotic second season that concluded last week but also because its a sharp departure from the stale image of expressionless, strict Asian parents the media has often been criticized for portraying. But Dons singular representation of parenting alone isnt what makes the shows depictions of Asian immigrant parents groundbreaking. The range of personalities exhibited by several of the parents of Asian cast members allow for a more nuanced understanding of parenting, simultaneously challenging viewers to look at parental love outside squarely Western forms of affection, experts said. And its critical, because good parenting does not exist solely within the confines of the white sitcom family. You need consistent depictions of authenticity and to have varying types of authenticity because were not all the same either, Ana-Christina Ramon, director of research and civic engagement in the division of social sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, told NBC Asian America. Natalie Lee, right, in season 2 of Love Is Blind. (Netflix) After dating and becoming engaged sight unseen, cast members then move into apartments and settle into their regular lives, weathering the typical challenges of dating, including the art of gaining parents approval. In addition to Lee, two other Asian Americans on the show, Abhishek Shake Chatterjee and Deepti Vempati, both of Indian descent and engaged to each other, also took part in ceremoniously meeting the parents, who show varying degrees of concern and warmth. Don sticks out as the ride-or-die proud dad on the show, who appears to accept Lees fiance, Shayne, immediately without question. The act of instantaneous acceptance likely aligns more with what many perceive to be parental love in the Western sense, said Stephanie Chan, associate professor of sociology at Biola University in California. Story continues Experts said that this style of parenting, associated with more verbal affirmations of care, is often fully accepted as the most conventional example of love. But Lees mother, Nan, whos eventually won over, is at first visibly concerned and perhaps a bit disappointed about the swift, reality show engagement. The contrasting reactions, said Anthony Ocampo, a sociology professor at California State Polytechnic University, are both forms of parental affection, though they may seem at odds with one another. From her moms point of view, her skepticism didnt seem like it was about not approving or not trusting her daughters choices. I think, deep down, she just doesnt want her to get hurt, Ocampo said. Whereas with Natalies dad, his way of showing love is to accept the choices she makes without judgment. Abhishek Chatterjee, center, in season two of When it comes to meeting Chatterjees family, his mother, Sita, is forthright, refusing to take his side after he reveals that he felt no physical attraction to Vempati. She underscores how Vempati could easily find someone who loves her "the way she is." Being very frank, Im very much identifying with her right now more than you, Sita declares, before telling her son that Vempati doesnt deserve someone who gives her even half a percent less. Though Asian parents are often cast as overly worried about optics, the scene shows empathy. Im sure that Shakes mom, as a woman, knows what its like to be dismissed based purely on looks, and she was like, Nope, this may be my son, but Im gonna let him know he cant treat women like that and feel OK about it,'" Ocampo said. At the end of the series, Vempatis mother, GV, gives viewers one last emotional glimpse at another profoundly moving relationship after her daughter declares at the altar, before families and friends, that instead of marrying Chatterjee she has chosen herself. Through tears, GV tells Vempati that shes proud. Its a pure example of unconditional love, Ocampo said, and Vempati's emotional well-being took precedence. The media has given the impression that good parenting is done through a largely white, Western lens, even though those ideas are the minority, globally, Ramon said. Growing up watching '80s and '90s sitcoms of white families like on Full House or Growing Pains, there was a particular way that you saw white parents show love, Ocampo echoed. They talked to their kids like they were friends, hugging them all the time, or saying I love you all the time. Those models sometimes give people the impression that thats the only way a parent can show love. And other families of color are often multiracial or raceless, with the cultural aspects scrubbed from the family unit. Hollywood thinks, Oh, lets make this universal. And by eliminating cultural references, they really make it more of a default whiteness. Theyre representing that you can just plug in anybody, Ramon added. While Asian immigrant parents are never as extreme or one-dimensional as the trope viewers see on screen, their method of discipline has been wrongly interpreted as disregard for their child's emotional well-being. Oftentimes immigrant parents, having dealt with racism upon arriving to the U.S., or discrimination in their workplaces, bring those experiences into their parenting styles. Ocampo said many recognize that their own children are not on the same playing field as the American aka white kids, and may stress that they need to work twice as hard to compete. Asian immigrant parents know that the decision to come to the United States is a huge risk, and so the success of their American-born children is proof to their families and loved ones back home that the risk was worth it, Ocampo said. That the sacrifices they endured were worth it. And while some kids of immigrants may interpret criticism and honesty as lack of approval, Chan said that in many cases its a reflection of the closeness Asian parents feel toward their kids, and a form of guidance that others cannot provide in a way a true friend would. One reason that Love Is Blind was able to provide more dimension, Ramon suspects, is that it was a reality show. It could to depict the actual behaviors of Asian immigrant parents in a way that white writers and producers, who might construct what they think is an accurate portrayal, may not be able to. This is how real people are, Ramon said. Amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the US is urging Israel to take a harder line against Russia and cease accepting its dirty money. What we are asking among other things is for every democracy around the world to join us in the financial and export control sanctions that we have put on Putin. We have to squeeze the regime, we have to deny it the income that it needs, US under secretary of state for political affairs Victoria Nuland a former UN ambassador to Nato told Israels Channel 12 News on Friday. You dont want to become the last haven for dirty money thats fueling Putins wars, she added. Thus far, Israel hasnt joined the US and the EU in levying tough sanctions against Vladimir Putin and his cronies, or in giving military aid to Ukraine. Instead, the country has sought to balance its relations with Ukraine and Russia. People wave Ukrainian and Israeli flags during a protest against Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, in Israel's Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 12, 2022 (AFP via Getty Images) It has received thousands of refugees from Ukraine and sent humanitarian aid like medical equipment to the former Soviet republic, while Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett became the first foreign leader to meet with Vladimir Putin since the war began during a visit to Moscow on Saturday. Mr Bennett has also reportedly urged Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish and an admirer of Israel, to accept Russian terms for a ceasefire, which would likely include formally ceding eastern regions of Ukraine to Russian influence and backing away from a goal of joining Nato. High-net worth individuals already appear to be heading from Russia to Israel, with 14 private jets taking off from St Petersburg and landing in Tel Aviv in the last 11 days. Roman Abramovich, right, with Chelsea Women head coach Emma Hayes, left, on a club trip to Israel (Shahar Azran/Chelsea Football Club) (PA Media) Russian-Israeli oligarch Roman Abramovich, known for his past ties to Putin, has been a particular target of sanctions in other countries including the UK and Canada. Earlier this month, a number of prominent Israeli leaders including those from Yad Vashem, the countrys official Holocaust memorial and museum, urged the US to avoid sanctioning Mr Abramovich, given his prolific financial support of Jewish causes. The memorial later announced on Thursday it would suspend ties with Mr Abramovich, despite a recently announced eight-digit donation he made to the institution. Elizaveta Peskova attends a restaurant opening in January 2022 Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS via Getty Images The US Treasury Department announced a new round of sanctions against "Russian and Kremlin" elites. Those sanctioned included the family of Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for Vladimir Putin. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said those targeted had enabled "Putin's unjustified and unprovoked war." The United States unveiled new sanctions on Friday targeting Russian officials and oligarchs who it said had enabled an unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. Those sanctioned include the wife and children Dmitriy Peskov, the man who has served as spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the last two decades. In a statement, the US Treasury Department accused the family of living "luxurious lifestyles that are incongruous with Peskov's civil servant salary." Peskov's daughter, Elizabeta, 24, is something of a social media influencer, with nearly 250,000 followers on Instagram, where she can be seen wining, dining, and exercising. The day after Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, she posted the words "no to war" on an Instagram Live story. The story was later removed. Her last post is from Feb. 14. Russia is preparing to ban Instagram, according to a government spokesperson, in apparent retaliation for the Meta-owned platform flagging content from accounts controlled by the Kremlin. Elizaveta Dmitriyevna Peskova, the daughter of Putin spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov, has nearly 250,000 followers on Instagram. Screenshot/Instagram Others sanctioned Friday include Viktor Feliksovich Vekselberg, a businessman with close ties to the Kremlin and an estimated net worth of more than $6 billion, according to the Treasury Department. Assets now frozen by the US include a $90 million jet and and a $90 million yacht named Tango. Ten people on the management board of VTB Bank were also sanctioned, as were 11 members of Russia's legislature who voted to recognize the Donbas region of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces as independent nations. The sanctions mean that all assets owned or partly by the individuals in the US are now frozen. Story continues "Treasury continues to hold Russian officials to account for enabling Putin's unjustified and unprovoked war," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. "Today's actions also further isolates the severely damaged Russian economy by prohibiting trade in products that are key to the economic and financial interests of all Russian elites." Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com Read the original article on Business Insider The legal battle waged by Village Roadshow against Warner Bros. over the allegedly botched release of The Matrix Resurrections may still be sent to arbitration, but an L.A. judge allowed the case to proceed while the issue remains undecided. The order gives Village Roadshow an incremental win in a case thats since expanded to include claims that the major studio is shutting it out from being a co-owner and financial partner on dozens of projects that are being developed based on movies it shares the rights to. More from The Hollywood Reporter In a testy Friday afternoon hearing before Judge David Cunningham, attorneys for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow sparred over arguments that the case should be sent to arbitration before consideration of whether the major studio should be blocked from excluding its partner of 25 years from current projects, including Wonka and Edge of Tomorrow. Diana Torres, representing Village Roadshow, argued that the case belongs in court and that an injunction is necessary to keep Warner Bros. from continuing to violate its contractual obligations. Its not like nothing is happening, she said. Theres active development on 15 of our films right now that were being shut out of. Thats what were seeking to remedy. Warner Bros. attorney Daniel Petrocelli responded that an order forcing them to challenge an injunction eviscerates our contractual right to arbitrate. Heading into the hearing, both sides have been quarreling over whether it was appropriate for Village Roadshow to take its case out of arbitration to sue in Los Angeles Superior Court. Village Roadshow argues it will suffer irreparable harm if it isnt allowed to move for an injunction. It claims its being excluded from co-financing or co-owning sequels or remakes to key franchises that are currently being developed based on movies it shares the rights to with Warner Bros., including Sherlock Holmes, the Oceans series, Ready Player One, I Am Legend, Where the Wild Things Are and Yes Man. Story continues Petrocelli, however, pointed to language in the agreements between Village Roadshow and Warner Bros. dictating their relationship holding that any disputes arising out of their contract will be sent to arbitration. He argued that the issue of arbitrability should be decided before Cunningham considers whether to issue an injunction. Asked whether Village Roadshows case is covered by the parties arbitration provision, Petrocelli answered that the question should be decided by an arbitrator and not the court. The courts only function on the motion is to determine the validity of the arbitration contract, which neither party is disputing, he said. After Warner Bros. insisted that its motion to take the case out of court should be heard first, Torres replied that the studio neglected to mention that the parties contract has a carveout for claims seeking injunctive and nonmonetary relief. She claimed that the major studio is violating its contractual obligations to allow her client to participate in projects in which it has rights. Torres said, For years, Wonka was on the parties mutual list of films to which Village Roadshow had finance and derivative rights. It was on for years. We were involved in the creative and budgeting process. We got the script. We were giving input. And then we get a lawyer letter saying Oh, its not one of our films.' Matt Kline, also representing Warner Bros., responded that its too late for Village Roadshow to move for an injunction because it received the letter informing it that its no longer a part of Wonka in June 2021. If they were really worried about preserving status quo, if they really needed injunctive relief, the time to file was nine months ago, he said. Kline added that Village Roadshow is now being excluded from projects because it improperly disclosed the script for the movie Wonka by suing in court. Ultimately, Cunningham sided with Village Roadshow by allowing it to file a motion for preliminary injunction at the same time Warner Bros. files its motion to compel arbitration. A hearing was set for May 17. Click here to read the full article. All those who are sure Boris Johnson disastrously mismanaged the virus need to think again (AFP via Getty) I can exclusively reveal that the public inquiry into the UKs coronavirus response will satisfy no one. Anyone with an opinion has already decided the pandemic was handled badly and they know who to blame. It is a whitewash before it has even started. We have been here before. The Chilcot inquiry into Iraq managed to avoid being accused of being a stitch-up only by taking so long and by burying its finding that Tony Blair had not set out to deceive. No wonder Baroness Hallett, the chair of the Covid inquiry, will wait until next year before she starts her public hearings. The government published her draft terms of reference yesterday, and she wrote an open letter to the public setting out her initial timetable. She has already been accused of being part of a government plan of delay. Afzal Khan, the shadow justice minister, said: We feared all along that the government were trying to kick the inquiry into the long grass to hide their mistakes, and here we are. He knows already that mistakes were made, and by whom. The purpose of an inquiry would seem to be to prove him right. But all those who are sure that Boris Johnson disastrously mismanaged the virus, leading to the worst death toll in Europe, an accusation routinely made by Labour against the government, should look at a study published by The Lancet, the medical journal, on Thursday. It estimates excess deaths in 191 countries in the first two years of the pandemic, 2020 and 2021 that is, the number of people who died who would not have been expected to die in an average year before coronavirus. As Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said at a news briefing early on in the pandemic, when journalists were suggesting that we were doing badly compared to other countries, excess deaths, or all-cause mortality, is the most reliable way of comparing outcomes between countries. That is because different countries record deaths from Covid in different ways, and there is often an element of doubt about whether Covid was the cause of death. The Lancet found that the UK tends to attribute more deaths to Covid than other countries. The best way to strip out these problems of definition is to look at excess deaths. There are still problems The Lancet tries to adjust for other events, such as heatwaves, that caused significant extra deaths but the figure for excess deaths is better than any other. Story continues These are difficult numbers to compile and check, which was why Professor Whitty was suggesting it would be some time, even after the main waves of infection were past, before fair comparisons between countries could be made. But now the Lancet authors (all 96 of them) have done the work and the 2020-21 results are in. The Lancet study shows the UK had slightly more excess deaths during those two years than the global average: 127 per 100,000 people compared with 120. Compared with other western European countries, we had a lower rate than Italy (227), Portugal (202), Spain (187), Belgium (147) and the Netherlands (140). Our rate was about the same as France (124) and Germany (121), and higher than the Scandinavian countries (Sweden was 91) and Ireland (just 13). Our rate was lower than that of the US (179). A few countries including Australia, New Zealand and Iceland recorded negative excess deaths, that is fewer deaths than would have been expected. These figures are a useful baseline for the Covid inquiry, and they put into perspective some of the self-hating narrative of the past two years. In David Remnicks immortal words in The New Yorker, England is the one country where ... the people feel schadenfreude toward themselves. When that tendency is combined with fierce partisanship, it is no wonder that so many people in England and it is different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, although the excess death rates are not have convinced themselves that Boris Johnson is uniquely incompetent. To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter by clicking here No doubt he could have done better, but he has two cast-iron defences when Lady Hallett comes calling. One is that he followed the advice of the governments scientific advisers. This was especially true in the first wave, when everybody knows that the government acted too slowly. If that is true, and it may be, then it wasnt Johnsons fault. In later waves there were undoubtedly differences of emphasis between ministers and scientists in late 2020 the scientists may have been right; in late 2021 the ministers probably were but at no point did professors Sir Chris and Sir Patrick disagree explicitly with government policy in public, still less did they resign. The other thing the Lancet figures should tell us is that we still know little about why some countries were worse affected than others. The certainty and conviction of those who have acted as prosecution, judge and jury in the case against the prime minister are at odds with the uncertainty and unknowability of the science let alone of the assessors of the social and economic costs of the pandemic. Let us hope that Lady Hallett is given the time to come to considered conclusions on these difficult questions. The title sequence of Apple+s new blockbuster mini-series, WeCrashed, depicts a forlorn unicorn trampling through the bustling rooms of a co-working space. If the significance of this imagery is lost on you, then so too will most of this programme, which requires a degree of LinkedIn literacy (and tolerance thereof) to meet head on. The unicorn an irritating business term for a start-up with a valuation of greater than $1bn is WeWork, the office space company, with beer on-tap and ping pong, that soared to a $47bn valuation in just a few years and then, as the title of the show somewhat spoils, came crashing down. WeWorks founder and CEO was Adam Neumann, an Israeli former Naval officer, played here with mesmeric zealotry by Jared Leto. Leto portrays Neumann from his late twenties through to the present day a feat of ageless vampirism that the 50-year-old Leto is supremely equipped for. Neumann (who describes himself repeatedly as a serial entrepreneur, with such intensity that you wonder what other things he might have done serially) has a vision for WeWork, and unlike so many entrepreneurial success stories, less of a work ethic and more of a messiah complex. You know youre not God? his co-founder Miguel McKelvey (Kyle Marvin) tells him. You have to admit, I do look a bit like him, Adam replies. But, in the ego stakes, hes matched pound-for-pound by his wife, Rebekah, an actor, former yoga teacher and first cousin of Gwyneth Paltrow, whose brittle perfectionism is brought to life, with relish, by Anne Hathaway. When Leto and Hathaway are on-screen together (and thats much of the show, whose strapline is A Love Story Worth $47bn) there is that special alchemy that shows like Big Little Lies and True Detective achieve: Oscar-winning movie stars who can transcend the contraction of their format. Hathaway, particularly, has such a luminous star quality that Im sure Id be transfixed just seeing her read the phonebook on the screen of my Apple Watch. Story continues And star power is something that governs this New Age couple. Youre a supernova, is Rebekahs tiger mom refrain, which she wheels out both when Adam is acquiring his first properties, and when hes being ousted as CEO. For all Adams cult-leader charisma, shes the one pulling the strings or pulling other things, as she fires him up for a new investment by wanking him off in an abandoned warehouse. At their wedding she refers to them as two cosmic voyagers; a ceremony that has only come about after she physically contorts him into a position to propose to her. I manifested you, she tells him afterwards. Like many of the tech start-up dramas that have followed David Finchers The Social Network, WeCrashed is overlong and over-literal. The problem is, perhaps, that at the same time as being a parable about the pitfalls of profligacy (At some point in life you have to ask yourself: how much is enough? an investor asks Neumann at one point, which is, as Shakespeare would say, the rub) the creators of WeCrashed know that its audience is likely to have some sympathy for the hoop dream of hustle culture. Why else would you watch an eight-part series that gives pitch decks and floorplans a gravitas normally afforded to great works of art? Despite the fact that Neumann is depicted as half-Tommy Wiseau from The Room, and half-Viktor Navorski from The Terminal (he even says bite to eat, which will have Terminal fans cheering), WeCrashed wears its satire very lightly. Ultimately, the story of the decline and (partial) fall of WeWork is not that interesting. It doesnt have the tension of the founders fallout at Facebook or the sheer fireworks of self-combustion at Theranos. So the heart of WeCrashed becomes, instead, this oddly sympathetic love story off-putting personality types attract, you might say between Adam and Rebekah. For all the talk of unicorns and rental leases and IPOs, the real drama is a human one. Neumanns oft-repeated motto for WeWork was Its not what you can see, but who can see you. To bastardise its own words, WeCrashed isnt about what you are seeing, but who you are seeing do it. BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) The Louisiana State Police have hired an outside consultant to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the scandal-plagued agency, a potentially years-long process intended to help restore public trust following a string of high-profile beatings of Black motorists. Col. Lamar Davis, the state police superintendent, said Friday the overall assessment will include an in-depth review of troopers' body-worn camera video as well as the agency's culture and policies on use of force, hiring and training. I dont like how we got here, but we're here," Davis told an oversight committee at the state Capitol. "Were owning it. Were fixing it. The $1.5 million outside review comes amid federal grand jury investigations into the beatings, including the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene, 49. Troopers initially blamed Greenes death on a car crash after a high-speed chase in northeast Louisiana. But The Associated Press last year published long-withheld body-camera video showing white troopers jolting Greene with stun guns, punching him in the face and dragging him by his ankle shackles as he wailed, Im your brother! Im scared! Im scared! Greenes death was among at least a dozen cases over the past decade in which the AP found state troopers or their bosses ignored or concealed evidence of beatings, deflected blame and impeded efforts to root out misconduct. Federal prosecutors are also examining whether state police brass obstructed justice to protect the troopers who arrested Greene, including one who later admitted bashing the motorist in the head with a flashlight. Meanwhile, a newly convened legislative committee is investigating allegations of an attempted cover-up surrounding Greene's death and what Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards knew about the case and when. That panel will begin hearing testimony next week. The outside consultant, the Bowman Group, is contracted through the end of May 2023 to drive organizational change and improved public safety services," state police said in a statement. Story continues Davis described the contract as an emergency request that allowed the agency to forego issuing a request for proposal. He pledged to make the groups findings public. The outside review will proceed whether or not the U.S. Justice Department conducts a pattern and practice investigation of potential racial profiling by the overwhelmingly white male force, Davis said. This is a need of our agency, Davis told AP. What I cant do is wait and continue to wait knowing that I have deficiencies. One person has been arrested after a group of spring breakers from West Point suffered a mass fentanyl overdose at a vacation rental in Florida, authorities said Friday night. In a statement, a spokeswoman for the city of Wilton Manors, north of Fort Lauderdale, did not provide details about the arrest, but said authorities from the city's police department and the Broward County Sheriff's Office took someone into custody. In a statement earlier, the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. said it was "aware of the situation involving West Point cadets" that occurred in Wilton Manors on Thursday night. The school declined further comment citing an ongoing investigation. The Wilton Manors spokeswoman said that six male students on spring break from New York State, none of whom were identified, overdosed on fentanyl. Paramedics who arrived at the rental home on Thursday afternoon found four of the men in cardiac arrest in the front yard, Fort Lauderdale Fire Chief Steve Gollan, according to NBC affiliate WTVJ of Miami. An investigator in a hazard suit stands outside the Spring Break home of West Point cadets who overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl, according to reports, in Ft Lauderdale, Fla., on Friday. (WTVJ) Four are thought to have used cocaine laced with the powerful synthetic opioid that has a potency dozens of times stronger than morphine, Gollan said, according to the station. The other two overdosed when they tried to administer CPR and were exposed to the drug, Gollan said. All six were from West Point, and two were revived using Narcan, the emergency overdose treatment, the station reported. Two remained hospitalized in critical condition, the station reported. The Wilton Manors spokeswoman said a woman was also hospitalized after feeling sick. These are healthy, young adults, college students in the prime of their life, and getting this drug into their system, its unknown what the recovery will be, Gollan said, according to the station. He added that the incident was "extremely alarming" given the timing, during the first week of spring break. Obviously if theres a bad batch, its normally not isolated just to one buyer, it normally goes to everyone that purchased that same substance from whoever they got it from," he said, according to WTVJ. "It brings great concern that there could be other ODs over the next couple of days just basing what were seeing with the fentanyl that was here. Joseph DOrazio, an associate professor of clinical emergency medicine at Temple University and an expert on fentanyl use, told NBC Nightly News that despite the drugs potency, casual contact doesnt typically result in an overdose. People across Britain and the wider world have been deeply moved by the courage and resilience shown by the citizens of Ukraine over the last week as their country came under attack from Vladimir Putins Russia, an invasion that brought international condemnation and has already seen the aggressor become a pariah state on the world stage. While many were caught up in the violent warfare playing out across Ukrainian cities, more than a million others have been forced to flee for safety in neighbouring states like Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. Both the resistance and the refugees need the help and generosity of Ukraines European neighbours to survive their ordeal and millions of Britons have already donated generously to fundraising drives and supported causes like The Independents Refugees Welcome campaign, which seeks to persuade the British government to do more to help asylum seekers escaping the conflict. At a local level, charitable endeavours have meanwhile sprung up across the country to take in and deliver supplies to the frontline. Below is a list of some of the places across Britain currently accepting donations of goods like clothing, toys, medicine and food to help those under siege in their hour of need. It is by no means a definitive record, however, so please check your local listings for other collections in your area. Readers are also encouraged to share further information and links to other regional hubs in the comments section that follows. Anyone planning to vist a drop-off centre is further advised to check up on the sites social media accounts or call ahead beforehand for more information on which resources are most in demand to avoid a surplus, given that the situation on the ground is changing all the time. London The Polish White Eagle Club in Balham, South London The organisers are accepting clothing, bedding and other items to help refugees in Ukraine. They say they have already been overwhelmed with donations, however, so members of the public are advised to contact them before dropping off supplies. Story continues Address: 211 Balham High Road, SW17 7BQ 02086721723 " width="500"> North London Collection Centre The organisers here say items needed include nappies, sanitary items, towels, reusable cutlery, toothbrushes and underwear. Address: 233 Willesden Lane, NW2 5RP There is a local collection point at 233 Willesden Lane if you wish to make donations to help Ukraine. See below what is being collected. pic.twitter.com/z2x2N2nj7v Life In Kilburn (@LifeInKilburn) March 1, 2022 UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Students at the university are collecting for Ukrainian refugees but no longer require food items. Instead, medical supplies, toiletries, hygiene products and clothes are needed. Address: 16 Taviton Street, WC1H 0BW If you are in Bloomsbury, you can also donate for Ukraine #SSEES Student Society led by @freyaproudman has been doing an incredible job this week and there are over 100 boxes heading to Lviv https://t.co/jYRXtz0sdH @MetroUK pic.twitter.com/0W6MLrmd1u UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies (@UCLSSEES) March 2, 2022 Lewisham Donation Hub Takes donations every Sunday from 1-4pm. Items particularly needed are posted on the organisations website on Saturdays so donors are advised to check there first. Address: 261 Lewisham High Street SE13 6AY Rest of England The Polish Integration Support Centres British and Polish Solidarity with Ukraine campaign has been collecting donations at sites across the country since 27 February and will continue to do so until at least 4 March (theyre also behind the Balham site listed above and have two additional sites in Wrexham). #StandWithUkraine The Polish Integration Support Centre have been working tirelessly to help and support the Ukrainian people with essentials to be sent out to those who need it. Please contact your local centre to help, please see further details below. pic.twitter.com/HhSIoarUUB SalfordMayor (@salford_mayor) March 1, 2022 It is asking for foil survival blankets, toys, nappies, sanitary towels, crayons, towels, first aid kits, sleeping bags, metal cups, thermal clothing, hair brushes, shampoos, toothbrushes, childrens clothes and bandages. These can be donated at the following locations (again, donors are advised to call ahead to check whats needed as the situation is constantly evolving): St Francis Church, Chester Collecting Monday-Friday 10am-2pm Address: Grosvenor Street, Chester, CH1 2BN 07858457164 Oswestry, Shropshire Collecting Monday-Friday 5pm-9pm Address: 54 Laburnum Drive, SY11 2QR 07544061801 Continental Convenience Store, Whitchurch, Shropshire Collecting Monday-Friday 9apm-8pm Address: 36 Green End, Whitchurch SY13 1AA 07528014924 Polish Merseyside, Liverpool Collecting Monday-Friday 8pm-9pm Address: 254 County Road, Liverpool, L4 5PE 07919203069 Polish Club, Bury Collecting Monday and Thursday 8pm-9.30pm, Saturday 11am-1pm and Sunday 11am-1.30pm Address: Back East Street, Bury, BL9 0RU 07432113290 Vilnius Polish Centre, Manchester Collecting Monday 2pm-8.30pm, Tuesday 2pm-10pm and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 2pm-7pm Address: Worsley Road, Manchester, M30 0RU 07432113290 BeeHouse, Manchester Collecting Monday-Friday 12pm-10pm Address: Deansgate Locks, 2 Whitworth Street, Manchester M1 5LH 07432113290 Other sites around the country include: Polish Social Club, Southampton This organisation is collecting supplies to be sent specifically to Medyka on the Polish-Ukrainian border to support refugees fleeing the fighting in their homeland. They are asking for donations of: nappies and wet wipes, including nappies for elderly; dry sanitary products; thermal clothes and gloves; batteries, flashlights and candles; food for children long term and dry; warm blankets and sleeping bags; Painkillers; dressings; face masks and hand gels; dog/cat food. For more information, check out the clubs Facebook page. Address: 507 Portswood Road, SO17 2TH " width="500"> Common Ground, Oxford Collecting from 8am to noon on Thursday, according to the organisers latest Facebook post. Clothes are not currently a priority but medical supplies and toiletries needed. Address: 37-38 Little Clarendon Street, Oxford OX1 2HF Westbury, Wiltshire Seeking clothes, blankets, sleeping bags, childrens toys, pet food and long-lasting dry food supplies like pasta and rice for delivery to a hostel in Zgierz and a volunteer centre in Lodz in Poland in order to pass on to Ukrainian refugees. Address: Daykin Estates, Unit 4 Rockhaven Business Park, Commerce Close, Westbury BA13 4FZ Malvern Bakehouse, Worcestershire This local bakery has been collecting baby clothes, soft toys, first aid items, blankets and sleeping bags to be delivered to refugees in Poland. However, it has been so overwhelmed by the generosity of the public that it cannot take any more supplies so is instead directing donors to the collection point below. Address: Unit 6, Phoenix Works, Windsor Road, Redditch, B97 6 DJ " width="500"> Country Living has more information on other local donation sites across England, Scotland and Wales. Wales Sklep u Pauli, Bridgend This Polish supermarket is accepting donations for Ukraine during opening hours 9am to 7pm Monday-Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sundays. All donations welcome barring clothing. Address: 8 Derwen Road, Bridgend, CF31 1LH Park Vets, Cardiff Accepting donations at its Cardiff site but says it is in need of assistance transporting items to a larger collection point in Newport. If you can help, please contact the business. Clothing is no longer required but volunteers are collecting food with a long expiry date, toiletries and medical products until 7pm on Wednesday 2 March. Address: Sanatorium Road, Cardiff, CF11 8DG 02920382211 Supermarket ABC, Newport Organisers say they are especially keen to receive donations of baby products (including nappies, modified milk, bottles and wet wipes), feminine hygiene items, thermal blankets, sheets, pillows, rain coats, toiletries and hygiene products. Instant food like soup, dried fruit and nuts, pasta, canned meat or fish, coffee, tea and sugar is also appreciated. Address: 158-152 Chepstow Road, Newport NP19 8EG 01633961601 Rogue Fox Coffee House, Newport Le Pub at 14 High Street in Newport is also accepting donations during opening hours as part of the Women of Newport campaign group, as is the Rogue Fox Coffee House (Monday-Friday 8am to 4pm). Organised by local resident Kamila Jarczak, this latter operation is asking for toiletries, baby nappies (different sizes) and wipes, sanitary products, dog and cat food, batteries, flashlights and candles, thermal clothes, hats and gloves, duvets, blankets, sleeping bags and pillows. Address: 3 Clytha Park Road, Newport NP20 4NZ 01633250647 " width="500"> Supermarket ABC, Swansea Organisers say they are especially keen to receive donations of baby products (including nappies, modified milk, bottles and wet wipes), feminine hygiene items, thermal blankets, sheets, pillows, rain coats, toiletries and hygiene products. Again, instant food like soup, dried fruit and nuts, pasta, canned meat or fish, coffee, tea and sugar is also appreciated. Address: 18 Woodfield Street, Morriston, Swansea SA6 8AQ 08438868235 Wales Online has more information on other donation sites open across the country. Scotland Edinburgh Donations are being taken at many of the citys Polish supermarkets, cafes and at St Andrews Ukrainian Catholic Church, the details of which are as follows. Address: 24 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh EH6 8SA 01315563447 Aberdeenshire In Dyce, local resident Paula Sledzinska has set up a collection point and has asked for flasks, hot water bottles, protein bars, bandages, dry foods like rice and pasta, sleeping bags, wet baby wipes, sanitary pads/tampons, first aid kits and pet food. She has set up a Facebook page with more information, which currently reports that donations have had to be paused temporarily for lack of storage space. Address: Craigievar House, Howe Moss Ave, Kirkhill Industrial Estate AB21 0GP 07578272767 There are also donation points in Inverurie, Fraserburgh, Banff and Ellon in the same county while the Ukrainian Crisis Pet Appeal Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire is working to coordinate drop-offs and donations to support animals caught up in the conflict. Mossgiel Organic Farm, Mauchline, Ayrshire Clothes, blankets, duvets, sleeping bags, toys, nappies and canned food are being accepted here, with regular updates posted on the farms Twitter account. Address: West Mossgiel Farm, Tarbolton Road, Mauchline KA5 5LL Oban, Argyll and Bute The Oban Helps Ukraine Facebook page is meanwhile a useful resource for updates on where you can donate in that region. A YouTube couple who stayed in a Target location after closing is facing charges. Charlotte Fischer and Johnson Larose were charged with conspiracy and third-degree criminal trespassing. The couple filmed the prank and posted it on their YouTube channel. A couple who stayed at a Pennsylvania Target overnight for their YouTube channel is now facing up to seven years in prison for the prank. Police said the YouTube couple, 24-year-old Charlotte Fischer, and 25-year-old Johnson Larose dubbed "Saucy and Honey" were arrested and charged with conspiracy and third-degree criminal trespassing, Fox 29 reported. "I mean, no regrets just living life and having fun, it's kind of sad that all of this came out of it, we were expecting a fine nothing crazy," Fischer told the news station. Police responded to the Target location in Chester County on Feb 21. after an alarm went off. Upon arrival to the scene, police said they did not find anything in the establishment, the outlet reported. However, the following day security footage reviewed by employees showed the couple in the Target, prompting an investigation. Fox 29 reported that the duo was filming a "24 Hour Overnight Challenge in Target" for their subscribers. The video shows the couple hiding boxes before employees left for the night and roaming around the dark store with their flashlights. At one point in the video, the couple said they took a nap behind their box fort. Although per their video, the couple said that they were going to remain in the store for 24 hours, they left the building through an exit at about 3 a.m, setting off the alarm, according to Fox 29. Police said, Fischer and Larose then returned to the store about 8 a.m. to wrap up their video. The report noted that they did not take any merchandise from the store. According to the report, their bail conditions restrict them from going to any Target locations in the state. The pair is set to appear at a hearing on March 24. Police said that the couple had about 17,700 subscribers when the video was released, Fox 29 reported, but as of Saturday, they now have just over 20,000. Read the original article on Insider Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor to the southern city of Melitopol and equated Russian forces to "ISIS terrorists" during a video address late Friday night. "Today in Melitopol the invaders captured mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov. A man who courageously defends Ukraine and the people of his community. Obviously, this is a sign of the weakness of the invaders. They did not find any support on our land. Although they counted on it. Because for years they have been lying to themselves that people in Ukraine were supposedly waiting for Russia to come," Zelensky said. Zelensky said that the move constituted a "crime against democracy" and added that Ukraine demanded the release of the mayor. "They have switched to a new stage of terror, when they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of the legitimate local Ukrainian authorities. It is clear to any democratic state in the world that a legitimately elected mayor is a true representative of the people," the Ukrainian president said, later hitting Russia over its "autocratic rule." Footage that appeared to show Russian soldiers taking Fedorov away in Melitopol was broadcasted by CNN. Ukrainian Deputy Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Tymoshenko also confirmed on Friday that the mayor had been taken away by the Russian military. "According to preliminary information, the mayor of the city of Melitopol, Ivan Fyodorov, was abducted an hour ago by the invaders," Tymoshenko said. The development comes as at least one top U.S. official has now accused Russia of engaging in "war crimes." The Russian invasion, which has reportedly hit sites like a Holocaust memorial and a children's hospital in Ukraine, has been widely condemned by the international community. I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, This is genius. Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine, of Ukraine, Putin declares it as independent. Oh, thats wonderful, Trump explained on a radio show the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. So Putin is now saying, Its independent, a large section of Ukraine. I said, How smart is that? And hes going to go in and be a peacekeeper. Thats the strongest peace force, Trump added. We could use that on our southern border. Thats the strongest peace force Ive ever seen. ... Heres a guy whos very savvy. ... I know him very well. Very, very well. In the days that followed, Trumps comments generated a lot of justified condemnation. But it bothered me that most of the criticism seemed to center on Trumps use of the terms savvy and genius, and not wonderful. The former are descriptive terms while the latter is normative. After all, one can believe that Putin is brilliant while also being evil. But saying that the initiation of lawless slaughter is wonderful is morally grotesque. Its all the more repugnant when you realize that Trump was celebrating Putins propaganda that he was merely sending in peacekeepers while suggesting theres nothing wrong with Russia falsely declaring conquered territory is independent. Eventually it dawned on Trump that he misread the moment. At the Conservative Political Action Conference he offered a real condemnation. The Russian attack on the Ukraine is appalling. Its an outrage and an atrocity that should never have been allowed to occur. Reasonable people can debate the depth of his sincerity. Though it seems to me that if your first reaction to lawless slaughter is to marvel at the wonderful brilliance of it, youve told us who you are. But we already knew who Trump is. From his respect for the Chinese governments slaughter of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square to the invasion of Ukraine, Trump has long demonstrated his instinctual attraction to brutality and strength. Just last Saturday, he praised the authority shown by North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and joked that he wished his generals had been as terrified of him as Kims are of their supreme leader. Overlooked in the bloody days since his initial celebration is how utterly wrong Trump was about the man he claims to know very, very well. Trumps problem is the problem with all power worship. It clouds the mind and corrupts the soul, rewriting not just objectivity but moral calculus too. As Orwell observed, power worship leads us to believe that whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible so any moral objections are seen as not just folly, but the whining of suckers and losers. Trump and his die-hard defenders insist Putin wouldnt have invaded Ukraine if he were president. Given that Putin continued his conquest of eastern Ukraine throughout Trumps presidency and that Putin had a reasonable hope that Trump would try to pull out of NATO if reelected, not to mention his reluctance to impose sanctions and his abiding strongman-sycophancy, it doesnt seem Putin was intimidated by Trumps strength. The more interesting question is, why would Trump object to Putins invasion of Ukraine if he were president? He didnt seem to see anything particularly wrong with Putins initial attack. He claims he would have stopped Putin, and yet once the invasion happened on President Bidens watch, he deemed it wonderful. Normal former presidents tend to think our national interests extend beyond their time in office. But not Trump. Indeed, a few days ago, Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that China will invade Taiwan because theyre seeing how stupid the United States is run. He added, Theyre seeing that our leaders are incompetent. And of course theyre going to do it. This is their time. Earlier on, as Russia massed more than 100,000 troops at the Ukrainian border, Biden was castigated for seeming to suggest that a minor incursion into Ukraine by Putin might not invite as forceful a response from the U.S. and the international community as a full invasion might. Many on the right correctly condemned Biden for sending a provocative message of weakness. Its hard to fathom how Trump the putative 2024 GOP nominee peddling idiocy about Putin and China wouldnt invite similar or greater outrage. But thats what power worship does. And, like Trump himself, his worshipers can see the world around them only through a prism of us-against-them, in which principles simply dont count. Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch. Goldbergs column is provided by Tribune Content Agency. The Union Pacific Railroad Museum will host a virtual presentation of historian David Becks lecture, Unfair Labor? American Indians and the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, at 6 p.m. Tuesday online. Beck is professor of Native American studies at the University of Montana. He is the author of several books, including, The Struggle for Self Determination: History of the Menominee Indians since 1854, (Nebraska 2005), and is coauthor with Rosalyn LaPier of City Indian: Native American Activism in Chicago, 1893-1934, (Nebraska 2015). This presentation uses the 1893 worlds fair as a lens to reveal Indigenous responses to the vast changes of the late nineteenth century, according to a press release from the museum. The impact of newly built railroads on Indigenous communities in 19th-century United States and Canada cannot be overstated. They both hastened the demise of Indigenous economies and provided a useful tool for Indigenous people to travel to places where they could earn a living. One such instance was traveling to and from Chicago and the Worlds Columbian Exposition, the press release stated. Indigenous people from across the world came to Chicago in 1893 to work at and/or enjoy the Exposition. However, Native Americans rarely used the railroad to obtain permanent jobs in the cities, Beck said. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, very few American Indians worked in cities, he said. Chicago, for example, which was a hub of Native American activism, counted only a few hundred Indigenous Americans among its population. But Indigenous people regularly used the railroads for transportation, Beck said. Leaders of tribal nations traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with the president by rail. Oftentimes, they did this to try to ensure that the United States would meet its treaty obligations to Indigenous communities. By the 1920s, Indigenous leaders were traveling by rail to Washington to meet with attorneys and to lobby Congress for permission to sue the United States for breach of its treaty and trust obligations in the Court of Claims. Native Americans also used the railroads to work temporary and seasonal jobs, Beck said. Indigenous people who worked in Wild West shows traveled across the U.S. by rail, he said. And Indigenous children, when they were taken from their homes and sent to far-away boarding schools, were often sent by rail. Railroads were the vehicle for pioneers who had little regard for the people who lived on the land they wanted. Railroads led to a rapid increase in westward migration by immigrants and white Americans, who were enticed to move into recently acquired Indigenous lands through widespread advertising campaigns that spread even to Europe, Beck said. And by the 1880s and 1890s, the United States was breaking up reservations with a policy that confiscated land from the tribes and turned it over to individual Indigenous people and sold the remaining reservation lands to non-Indians. The railroads themselves played a role in taking and using Native Americans land, Beck said. Railroad officials connived to acquire Indigenous lands, and railroads were often run through Indigenous communities with congressional permission, he said. Railroads divided hunting grounds and, of course, white invaders and entrepreneurs who arrived by rail and built towns along the railroad lines illegally took Indigenous lands and resources. And they used the railroads to transport their newly acquired wealth in minerals or cattle or timber to market. One thing that Indigenous people did in response was to use the railroads to travel to Washington to protest to government officials the abuses they were facing in their increasingly surrounded homelands. The virtual lecture is free, but registration is required at uprrmuseum.org. The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is located at 200 Pearl Street in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and is open Friday and Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free, reservations are encouraged but walk-ins are welcome. Go to www.uprrmuseum.org to reserve your visitation time. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Iowa called Russian President Vladimir Putin an "evil thug" and said the U.S. shouldnt have taken consequences off the table to deter Putin from invading Ukraine. Pompeo, who served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency before becoming secretary of state under former President Donald Trump, spoke at a fundraiser Friday for the Republican Party of Iowa at Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport. He was joined on stage by former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who served as U. S. ambassador to China in the Trump administration from 2017-2020. The pair addressed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, U.S. policy toward China and the 2022 election with Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann in an interview-style discussion. Both Pompeo and Branstad criticized President Joe Biden's response to global threats, including to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as slow and weak. "This fear that taking action to defend a friend and an ally is provocative is a mistaken understanding of how you actually deter these bad guys," Pompeo said in an interview prior to the fundraiser. "The only thing Vladimir Putin understands is power and risk." Earlier this week, the U.S. rejected an offer by Poland to transfer its MiG-29 fighter jets to a U.S. base in Germany in an effort to restock Ukraines air defense. The Pentagon officials this week said the proposal raised "serious concerns" for the entire NATO alliance and ran a "high risk" of escalating the war. Some Republican senators, including Iowas Joni Ernst, have called on the Biden administration to change course. Pompeo, in an interview ahead of his remarks, said the United States "should absolutely support the effort to get aircraft and aircraft defense systems and weapons into the hands of Ukrainians and allow them to take this fight to Vladimir Putin. "What I'd do today is I'd be making sure we provided the Ukrainians with everything they need," Pompeo said. "They've shown their willingness to fight. They've been surprisingly good, I think, to Vladimir Putin. I don't think he expected this. And so we ought to provide them the resources (and) the tools on every flight intelligence, hardware, ammunition all the things they need to defend their own nation." He did not say whether he supported U.S. troops in Ukraine, but said "we're a long ways from that making sense." Pompeo has been criticized for recent comments he's made about Putin that have been construed as praise for the Russian president. Pompeo described Putin as "very shrewd" and "very capable, and said he had "enormous respect for him" while speaking to the Center for the National Interest. "Ive talked about Vladimir Putin being very capable, but I think thats true," Pompeo said Friday. "We should then prepare for a capable adversary. I was taught when I was a cadet at West Point, know your enemy. I know who Vladimir Putin is. He is an evil thug in charge of 1,000 nuclear weapons and a military of some scale. Branstad added that China and Russia only respond to showings of strength. "As long as we keep showing weakness it just encourages them to go further. I think it's important that we restore America's rank," Branstad said. Will Pompeo run for president in 2024? Pompeo has made frequent trips to the Hawkeye State, the first on the presidential-nominating calendar, earning speculation that hell make a bid for the Oval Office. "Im going to be in the fight for conservative values till the good Lord takes me from this place," Pompeo said when asked whether he'd make a bid for the Republican presidential nomination. "What Ill be doing in 23 or 24? I dont know. But between here and there, Im in places like Iowa,." The National Democratic Committee is considering a change to the presidential nomination calendar that could bump Iowa from its first-in-the-nation perch. In remarks to reporters after Fridays event, Kaufmann, who leads the RNCs Presidential Nominating Process Committee, said he believed the Republican Party was likely to still keep Iowas first-in-the-nation status. The panel backed a report that would keep Iowa as the state to kick-off the presidential nominating process. Former President Trump has hinted at running again for the Oval Office in 2024. The Iowa GOP held a Republican caucus in 2020 as other state GOPs canceled theirs to endorse the incumbent president. If Trump ends up running, Kaufmann said he would "make sure that the welcome sign is out for everybody." "And I have to do that or my words ring empty when I say that everything needs to start in Iowa," Kaufmann said. Commodity group leaders and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig recently visited Mexico in an effort to increase exports of manufactured products and agriculture goods. Leading trade missions such as this opens doors for Iowa agriculture, deepens important relationships and allows us to explore new market opportunities for Iowa, said Naig, a Republican running for re-election. Mexico continues to be a critically important export destination for Iowa agriculture as our farmers remain focused on delivering quality, consistent and affordable products to customers around the world. Iowa companies exported $3.1 billion in goods to Mexico in 2021. Mexico is Iowas third-largest export destination overall and the second-leading export market for corn, pork and soybeans. Iowa exported $824 million in corn, $451 million in pork and $350 million in soybeans to Mexico in 2021. In addition, Mexico is Iowas largest destination for animal feed and sugars. In 2021, Mexico imported $324 million in animal feed and $203 million in sugars from Iowa. Mission participants included members of the Iowa Beef Industry Council, Iowa Corn, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Soybean Association, protein industry representatives and Iowa Economic Development Authority staff. JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSIONS: The Iowa House and Senate took up similar legislation making changes to the judicial nominating process for district court judges. However, the key difference could be a sticking point. The Senate approved Senate File 2132 that would change the makeup of the commissions that nominate district-level judges. It would remove a judge as chair of the commission, and replace that person with an individual appointed by the governor. It was approved on a party-line 32-15 vote. Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, said the proposal weakens the concept of a fair and independent judiciary. Sen. Julian Garrett, R-Indianola, said judges as chairs have too much influence on the commissions, and said sometimes the judges chairing the commissions act inappropriately. He cited a recent example in Fort Dodge, where a judge was accused of favoring a candidate and presenting misleading information about another. House File 2481 passed on a nearly party-line vote after it was amended to remove the language the Senate approved. It would increase the number of people recommended for appointment to the bench from three to five to give the governor more options, Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, said. It also would allow judges from a county contiguous to a judicial district where there is an opening to apply for the judgeship, which Holt said could increase the number of applicants. Rep. Mary Wolfe, D-Clinton, said she was hell no on the bill until the language giving the governor more control of the judicial nominating process was removed. However, she voted against the House bill, which was approved 58-33 with one Democratic vote. CHILD CARE: Senate Republicans advanced two bills that are designed to address child care access and affordability, although Senate Democrats were not supportive of either proposal. House File 2198 would allow 16-year-old child care workers to supervise school-age children without additional supervision. While the bill is designed to allow flexibility in child care staffing, opponents said it could be dangerous to allow younger workers to operate without sufficient supervision. I do not believe this is the answer to our workforce shortage, Sen. Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, said during a subcommittee hearing on the bill. The bill previously passed the House on a party-line vote. It is now eligible for consideration by the full Senate human resources committee. House File 2127 would allow a child care provider to charge families in the states child care assistance program for the difference between the state reimbursement rate and what a provider would typically charge for child care. Sheila Hansen, of the progressive policy advocacy group Common Good Iowa, said many families in the states child care assistance program are among its lowest-income families. The proposal previously passed the House with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing. It, too, is now eligible for consideration in the full Senate human resources committee. GARBAGE SEARCH: A Senate-approved bill that would legalize law enforcement searches of a suspects garbage faced pushback Wednesday from Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee. Senate File 2296 stems from a Clear Lake case in which a defendant successfully appealed a conviction and sentence for drug possession charges because the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained from a warrantless search of his garbage containers set out for trash collection. House Judiciary Chairman Steve Holt, R-Denison, said the decision upended the status quo that has long held there is no expectation of privacy for garbage placed outside. Thousands of cases have been solved through the use of forensic evidence found in a defendants garbage, he said. However, Rep. Mary Wolfe, D-Clinton, told the committee the state Supreme Court is the final arbiter of private liberty interests in the Iowa Constitution. If lawmakers want to change that privacy standard, they should amend the Constitution rather than attempt to do it through legislation. The decision in the Clear Lake case, written by a justice appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds, was a correct interpretation of the separation of powers, Wolfe said. Just as Justice Christopher McDonald said it would be inappropriate to legislate from the bench, it would be wrong to attempt to overturn a Supreme Court decision through legislation, she said. The committee, on a 12-7 vote, moved the bill ahead to the full House for debate. PUBLIC ASSISTANCE: Legislation that potentially could save the state Department of Human Services millions of dollars will advance to the full House Appropriations Committee despite concerns it could lead to the cancellation of benefits for thousands of recipients of Medicaid, childrens health insurance and food assistance. Many of the same concerns raised when House File 2438 was approved by the Human Resources Committee were repeated to an Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday. The bill would update DHSs information technology to make sure the people who need (assistance) are getting it, our error rate is down and our fraud rate is down while being responsible with taxpayer dollars, said Rep. Anne Meyer, R-Fort Dodge. The bill requires that someone applying for public assistance complete a computerized identity authentication process. The questionnaire is to contain questions tailored to assist persons without a bank account or those who have poor access to financial and banking services or who do not have an established credit history. Lobbyists warned that discrepancies could cause many recipients to lose benefits, if only temporarily. In a fiscal note, the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimated that implementing the technology upgrade would cost DHS $14.2 million in the first two years. The verification changes would decrease state costs $13.1 million annually. The agency estimated the verification process could mean around 7,400 Iowans would lose Medicaid coverage, with smaller losses in other assistance programs. The savings look good, but Rep. John Forbes, D-Urbandale, said when people lose their benefits they tend to get sicker and spend more time in hospitals, which increases costs. There are people who game the system, but this will create more problems than it solves, Forbes said. Rep. Joel Fry, R-Osceola, who said he has not supported previous public assistance integrity legislation, said his interest is that people who are eligible receive the benefits they are eligible for. When people are on our programs who arent eligible, it takes away from those who are eligible. PLANNING AND ZONING: A bill approved 13-5 by the House Local Government Committee would require cities to expand their planning and zoning commissions and boards of adjustment if they extend their zoning jurisdiction beyond the city limits. SF 2285, unanimously approved by the Senate, would require cities to add two members if they expand their zoning jurisdictions into the unincorporated area up to 2 miles beyond the city limits. One of those members must be a member of the county Board of Supervisors or its designee. Both people must be residents of the area outside the city where the zoning jurisdiction is being extended. One of the appointees would have to own land actively used for agricultural purposes. CONFIDENTIAL JUDICIAL RECORDS: The Iowa House approved House File 2485 Wednesday to give lawmakers and the public access to confidential information held by a judicial nominating commission about charges against judges and employees of the judicial branch. It would be a rarely used power, but essential for the Legislature to exercise its constitutional responsibility of oversight over the judiciary, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Steve Holt, R-Denison, said Wednesday. Opening those otherwise confidential records to the public may have a chilling effect on the willingness of people to be open with judicial nominating commissions, said Rep. Mary Wolfe, D-Clinton. The Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation into a district court judge accused of making improper comments during the process of selecting nominees for the governor to appoint to the bench. Although Wolfe said an amendment offered by Holt made the bill slightly better, she recommended a no vote. It was approved, with 57 Republican votes for the bill and 38 Democrats and a Republican voting against it. Repatriation efforts by the Moroccan government managed to repatriate more than 2800 Moroccan students from war-hit Ukraine since February 15, according to official data. Moroccan flag carrier RAM has organized 16 flights to neighboring countries where Moroccan consular services assisted students who left the war zone. Royal Air Maroc had planned in late February, special flights to Bratislava (Slovakia), Bucharest (Romania), Budapest (Hungary) and Warsaw (Poland). Most Moroccan students in Ukraine were following medicine, pharmacy or dentistry studies and the government is mulling measures to ensure they continue their studies at Moroccan universities, spokesman for the government Mustapha Baitas said. Morocco had moved its consular service from Kiev to Lviv where it was helping Moroccans leave the country. So far 7000 Moroccans fled Ukraine as Morocco urged its citizens to leave the country since early February before the start of the war. Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer is a vocal supporter of the constitutional-carry handgun bill. If approved, the bill, sponsored by state Sen. Tom Brewer, would eliminate the requirement that individuals secure a permit to carry a handgun in Nebraska. Well, Im a proponent of the Constitution, Kramer said Friday afternoon after the Legislature gave 35-9 support in its first vote on Legislative Bill 773. I dont think anybody should have to pay a fee to exercise their constitutional right to carry a firearm. His opinions are shared by many others, he said. Every person I have talked to in the public either doesnt have an opinion of (the bill) or theyre in support of it, said Kramer, who is running for a fifth term in office. I havent talked to anyone who is against it. He added that there are differing views among members of law enforcement across the state. Its mixed opinions among the sheriffs when weve discussed it in our meetings, Kramer said. Opinions are stronger in heavier populated areas and larger cities. I dont particularly understand why, because criminals are carrying concealed (weapons) and were not going to change that by having the good people get a concealed-carry permit. Kramer said he has absolutely zero concern about the potential impact should the bill become law. My people are trained any time they go into a situation, you assume that (a subject) is armed until you can prove that theyre not, Kramer said. This changes nothing as far as law enforcement goes. Well still handle the situations until we can confirm who we are dealing with. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. All five west central Nebraska state senators voted yes Friday as the Legislature gave 35-9 first-round approval to Legislative Bill 773, Gordon Sen. Tom Brewers constitutional carry handgun bill. Sens. Dan Hughes of Venango and Matt Williams of Gothenburg did not speak on the floor during eight hours of floor debate Thursday and Friday. Both were among lawmakers taking turns acting as presiding officer during the debate. Williams, an official co-sponsor of LB 773, was in the chair Friday when senators voted 36-9 to shut off debate and when they voted to advance the bill. Following are highlights of floor comments by their other regional colleagues: Sen. Tom Brewer, Gordon (principal sponsor) This has been a six-year process. I made a promise to folks when I first got elected that I would make this a priority bill, and I have done that over and over. ... Sadly, this bill is simply what I would call a coat motion. ... Currently, in the state of Nebraska, it is legal to open carry. Not an issue. But what were saying (currently) is if you put on your coat and you cover that firearm, now youre a criminal. If you want to do anything other than that, youre going to have to pay for it. ... This is not a law about everyone. The bottom line is that this is for law-abiding citizens so they dont have to jump through hoops for what is (a) right. (Bill introduction, Thursday) If you look at those who fought the hardest to see this bill not make it to this point and led the filibuster, they were primarily from Lincoln. All right, I get it: The Lincoln police chief doesnt like it. (The) Lincoln mayor doesnt like it. But we live in a place thats much different outside of Lincoln. We live where we have limited law enforcement. We live in a place where good people know each other. And we dont need to see good people brought up on charges because they simply want to be able to carry a gun concealed to protect themselves (and) protect their family. (closing speech, Friday) Sen. Mike Jacobson, North Platte (co-sponsor) My understanding is LB 773 says, if this bill becomes law, that I can take what I already have as a right today to open-carry a handgun, but now I have the ability to put it in my coat and not be breaking the law. Thats what were debating today. Thats what were debating in LB 773. And I can tell you theres not one person I can think of in my district who doesnt think thats a good idea, including law enforcement out in the 42nd District. ... At the end of the day, I want to see 773 become law. I think its basic, its fundamental, its the right of the people who live in this state. And we need to get that passed. (Thursday) Sen. Steve Erdman, Bayard (co-sponsor) I have received numerous emails about this bill, 773. I have yet to receive one from my district (47) asking me to be opposed. But I have gotten several more than several from the districts of the east ... asking me to be opposed. Sen. (Justin) Wayne said yesterday were elected to represent the whole state, and hes exactly right. But first and foremost, I need to represent those people who sent me here to do the job they expect me to do. So theyve expected me to come here and protect their rights, and thats exactly what 773 does. (Thursday) Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Old Hickorys latest disciple. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Senator Tom Cotton may be best known for calling for the deployment of the U.S. Armed Forces to stamp out protests for racial justice in the summer of 2020. But long before his scandalous op-ed was published in the New York Times, the Arkansan had a reputation for being relentlessly reactionary on a wide range of issues, and extremely ambitious; he clearly fancies himself a presidential contender, and seems to be preparing for a possible 2024 run. Both of these qualities were evident in the big speech Cotton delivered this past week at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which was advertised as an effort to reconcile the legacies of Reagan and Donald Trump. The speech was mostly an extended owning-the-libs exercise full of the usual provocations and smears. But its noteworthy that the glue Cotton used to fuse the sunny Gipper to the saturnine mogul was their common admiration for a third president, Andrew Jackson. Trump, of course, famously loves Old Hickory, whos known for his unapologetic racism and a foreign policy based on hyper-belligerent isolationism. While Cotton cited Reagans praise for Jackson as one of our greatest heroes and made a big deal out of the fact that his image was displayed in the Oval Office during the Reagan presidency, said image shared space with portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, along with sculptures of western saddles, a cowboy, and a buffalo. The Reagan Library explanation of the Jackson portrait says that Reagan mainly valued him as the first western president (as defined in the early 19th century). But Cotton mostly deployed Jackson as a partisan weapon against the Democrats who have abandoned him. He said: Democrats today are busy cancelling their partys founder. Theyve erased his name from their dinners. Theyve denounced his legacy as evil. Theyve even tried to remove his image from the twenty-dollar bill. The Democratic Party today is hardly democratic and certainly not Jacksonian. They reflect the tastes and prejudices of a small, over-educated elite clustered in a few of our great cities. They serve the interests of the wealthy and the powerful. They speak the alien language of the campus-seminar room and import its culture into the corporate boardroom. This is interesting rhetoric coming from a man with two Harvard degrees who immediately stamped himself upon entering Congress in 2012 as an enemy of the interests of regular folk in public policy, as Molly Ball noted in an early profile of Cotton: He was the only Arkansas Republican to vote twice against the farm bill and five times against disaster-aid fundingtwo initiatives that national conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation see as symptoms of big government, but that many rural Southerners rely on heavily. Cotton also was the only Arkansan to vote for a budget drafted by the Republican Study Committee that would slash spending, voucherize Medicare, and raise the eligibility age for Social Security to 70. As a Georgia native with a grandfather, a great-uncle, and a cousin named after Andrew Jackson, Id be willing to let Cotton appropriate Old Hickory despite all the grotesque incongruities. But his speech devolved into sheer delusion when he tried to paint anti-racist protesters who tried, unsuccessfully, to tear down the statue of Jackson in Washington, D.C.s Lafayette Square as the heirs of John C. Calhoun yes, that John C. Calhoun, the arch-defender of slavery. Cotton said: In the summer of 2020, a mob of Calhouns progeny, filled with hate for America, came with ropes and chains to tear down that statue. But no matter how much they pulled, and struggled, and screamed, that statue of Old Hickory would not fall, would not yield, would not crumble. One hundred seventy-five years in the grave and his legacy still captures so much about America. Defaced by radicals, but still standing tall. The differences between Calhoun and Jackson, a slaveholder, actually had nothing to do with their common devotion to the Peculiar Institution. And Cotton gave the argument a new wrinkle when he touted Jackson as a crime-fighter: Here we can take inspiration once again from Old Hickory. In 1818, criminals and marauders used lawless portions of Spanish Florida as bases to attack and kill American citizens. In response, General Jackson invaded Spanish territory, rooted out those responsible, and then conquered the Spanish capital just for good measure. We should show the same resolve in the face of crime and lawlessness today. What exactly was the crime and lawlessness Jackson was punishing in 1818? There was a lot going on, by most accounts. Yes, there were some troubling, fatal attacks on United States citizens launched from Spanish Florida. But in addition, there was a long-frustrated desire among many Americans to seize Florida from Spain; there were land speculators gambling on it. Many of Jacksons fellow slave-holders were frustrated by Spanish Floridas status as a refuge for runaway slaves. And those who were committed to the great early 19th-century cause of Indian removal which found its champion in Andrew Jackson were determined to bring to heel the Seminole tribe that Spain had allowed (along with the runaway slaves) to govern itself. As University of Houston historian Matthew Clavin explained in a recent book, Jacksons campaign can be interpreted as an part of a broader effort to restore white supremacy: In the aftermath of the War of 1812, Major General Andrew Jackson ordered a joint United States army-navy expedition into Spanish Florida to destroy a free and independent community of fugitive slaves. The result was the Battle of Negro Fort, a brutal conflict among hundreds of American troops, Indian warriors, and black rebels that culminated in the death or re-enslavement of nearly all of the forts inhabitants. By eliminating this refuge for fugitive slaves, the United States government closed an escape valve that African Americans had utilized for generations. At the same time, it intensified the subjugation of southern Native Americans, including the Creeks, Choctaws, and Seminoles. Cotton did not mention the racial implications of this law and order mission, and indeed portrayed it as exemplary. This parallels his willingness to tout Old Hickory as the beau ideal of the Republican Party without acknowledging Jacksons racism and his shoot-first, ask-questions-later attitude during the unauthorized invasion of Spanish Florida. Clearly Tom Cotton will go to great lengths in his longstanding crusade against Republican support for criminal-justice reform or anything other than the most atavistic crime policies. Though his speech was meant to tie Reagan and Trump to the same ideological heritage, he couldnt resist including an attack on the First Step Act of 2018, the modest criminal-justice reform bill that Trump took vastly exaggerated credit for in his appeals to Black voters in 2020. Without a shred of evidence, Cotton blamed the spike in selected violent-crime statistics accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic as totally attributable to this mild and mostly unimplemented law, which he called the worst mistake of [Trumps] tenure. You have to wonder if Trump himself will soon respond to Cottons attacks and repudiate the criminal-justice reform initiative his son-in-law Jared Kushner reportedly talked him into signing, after years of slow bipartisan progress. It could be a necessary move for any Republican looking to make old-school racist crime demagoguery a major part of their 2024 presidential campaign. Correction: An earlier version of this piece erroneously suggested that Andrew Jacksons invasion of Spanish Florida was principally racial in motivation, and implied that Senator Cotton was praising it as such. Though the issue of fugitive slaves was a contributing factor, it was not the sole reason for the invasion; the senator did not reference the issue in his speech, and we do not know how it figured into Jacksons personal motivations. We regret the error. Editors Note: To keep up with Collin Mayfields reporting from Ukraine, follow him on Instagram @collin_mayfield. KHARKIV, Ukraine At about 5:09 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2022, Russian forces launched an artillery barrage into Kharkiv, Ukraines second largest city located only 20 miles south of the Russian-Ukrainian border. I did not hear the blasts from my hotel; rather I was woken by a colleague still in the United States. Collin, its happening, she said without saying hello. The invasion the world was anxiously awaiting, the invasion many thought might never happen, had come. Within a few hours of the initial bombardment, Russian troops crossed into Ukraine from nearby Belgorod. Artillery hit the city throughout the day as Russian armor pushed to the northern outskirts of Kharkiv and met fierce Ukrainian resistance. Ukrainian forces pushed the Russians back farther north. A young boy was killed when Russian artillery hit his apartment, and 56 others were killed that Thursday, according to Ukraines health minister. Shelling was audible from my room in the Kharkiv Palace Hotel located in the city center. There seemed to be a relative sense of calm at the hotel as staff served drinks to the backdrop of classical music. The lobby was a media circus. Journalists not out reporting worked in the lobby, whether writing, editing or broadcasting. There were between 30-40 journalists, mostly working in teams. Moscow had been alerted of our presence in the hotel. The Russians wouldnt intentionally bomb a hotel filled with journalists, would they? we wondered. Taking position Meanwhile, the city was preparing for the upcoming insurgency. Civilian militia, clad in jeans and flak jackets, unloaded Kalashnikov rifles and crates of ammunition and grenades from a sedan in downtowns Freedom Square. They stashed the armaments in a nearby building, across from the Kharkiv Oblast administrative building. Regular Ukrainian army and national guard scrambled to their positions throughout the city. Young soldiers no more than 18 years old, with pockmarked faces, readied their Kalashnikovs and filed into their barracks or defensive positions, eager to defend Ukraine. Pitched fighting happened near Tsyrkuny, a village in the city suburbs, the next day. Ukrainian forces withheld the Russian advance. Shelling intensified. Hotel staff instructed us to shelter in the basement, and if we were out in the city, to shelter in the metro station. I tried reporting from the metro, but as I stepped to the station door I was accosted by about six Ukrainian police. We have to make sure you not give information to the Russians, a policeman said in broken English. We mostly communicated through Google Translate. The police searched me thoroughly while deleting everything war related from my phone and camera. They emptied my backpack on the ground and checked every crevice of it. They photographed me alongside my passport and different press credentials. After about 45 minutes I was released, the first of six detainments so far. Length has varied from only a few minutes to well over an hour. Blood in the snow Two days after the initial ground invasion, I visited the frontlines with the help of a local fixer, which is a translator and guide, named Vlad. He took us through a Ukrainian army checkpoint and convinced the captain to let us photograph the front, though the captain barred photography of troop faces. Russian armored personnel carriers, specifically MT-LBs, were littered, burnt out at the rear of the Ukrainian lines. There was also one Russian tank. Soldiers were rapidly digging in the cold winter mud and setting up anti-tank obstacles and other defensive structures. The captain warned us to be cautious of our steps, as unexploded ordnance remained, including a few rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and some 30 mm rounds. I kept to the hard pavement and avoided the snow as much as possible. When I did venture into the snow, I closely followed footprints tread earlier snow can easily hide dangers. It was the most nerve-racking experience of my life. One wrong step would kill me. A single Russian corpse, likely a conscript thrown into battle, remained in the snow. He had an unexploded but dented RPG between his head and the ground, with a few others behind him. No one wanted to move him for that reason the explosive could detonate. Internal organs hung from his torso and bones protruded from his frozen hand. His face was unrecognizably mutilated. As far as I know, he still lies on Kharkivs northern edge. While I photographed the corpse and the burnt-out personnel carrier in the background, Ukrainians shouted at us to run to safety. The Ukrainians had fired artillery at the Russian lines and now an incoming barrage was heading our way. I ran across the snow back towards the trench, praying not to step on anything deadly. I rushed into the trench and my boots sunk into the muck. It wasnt safe to leave until the Russian artillery ceased; there was nothing to do but light a cigarette and wait. Fortunately the barrage was further down the lines and avoided us. Once the artillery stopped, we drove back to relative safety. The next stop was the Kharkiv Railway Station. Thousands of refugees packed in to flee the city. Train fares were suspended to get as many people to safety as possible. Young and old fled, though men largely said goodbye to their families. Ukrainian men aged 18-60 are barred from leaving the country. Women, children and old men shoved their ways onto the platform to the backdrop of ever louder fighting. The only men to flee were migrants and refugees from other conflicts. Fighting and shelling Sleeping was impossible that night. The shelling was close enough to rumble the hotel. Small arms fire was sporadic and the hotel staff called us repeatedly to shelter in the basement. Eventually day came. Early the next morning, Russian forces blew up one of the citys major gas pipelines. Russian forces reentered Kharkiv after, and heavy fighting occurred closer to the city center. Ukrainian defense officials say that Ukrainian troops destroyed half of Russian military vehicles sent into Kharkiv. No one left the Kharkiv Palace during the day, as martial law was in effect and either police or militia would accost anyone who was not a local. Detainments are always a hassle. Ive made it a habit to swap photo memory cards and keep one hidden in my boot, a spot that has yet to be checked by police. The fighting intensified anyway. The war was clearly visible from the hotel. Militia patrolled the streets keen to accost anyone they suspected of being a Russian saboteur. Multiple army trucks passed by, ferrying Ukrainian troops to the front. A BTR, a wheeled armored vehicle with a 30 mm cannon atop, sped past the hotel. Ukrainian forces regained much of Kharkiv by afternoon. They reported dozens of demoralized Russian troops surrendering. The Russians increased their bombardment of the city that night. Hotel staff urged us into the basement again. Rather than sheltering, my colleague Fin and I snuck to the top floor to try and see the barrage with a local named Chris. We heard and felt the shelling, but could not see it. There was a shadowy figure walking in the street below. It was past the six oclock curfew. A police car started driving up to the person from behind, and he or she started to run. The person ran into a shadow and the police car pulled up beside him or her. A shot rang out, and the police car sped off. I think he just f-ing killed him, Chris said in a strange mix of shock and resignation. Fin was more skeptical of what we saw and thought there was no way to know what really happened. There are similar, alleged reports of summary executions in Kyiv, Mariupol and other cities. This is the brutality of martial law. The entire country is on edge, and untrained militia can be trigger-happy. Still flying The next morning I woke to the loudest bombardment yet. Again we heard the occasional gunfire ring out. The Russians continued escalating their assault on the city, even destroying power stations to cause outages. It was time to get out. We hired Vlad again. He rapidly zig-zagged his car through anti-tank obstacles and makeshift barricades of tires or pallets. We left the city behind to ever increasing bombardment. The divided highway leading south to Dnipro had seven roadblocks where passersby were searched and identified. Some were staffed by regular army with modern Kalashnikov variants; other checkpoints were maintained by motley bands of militia and police. One grizzled old militia man, in jeans and a vintage camouflage jacket, held an antiquated percussion cap rifle. Security is tight at checkpoints. Photography of roadblocks and military installations is strictly illegal under martial law to avoid information getting to the Russians. Everyone in the vicinity is identified and searched. An anti-tank obstacle south of Kharkiv was painted with the words Putin is a d*ckhead. We got out of Kharkiv just in time. Russia deployed Sukhoi SU-34 bombers within hours. Cluster munitions dropped by the aircraft devastated civilian areas, some of which we drove through. Cluster munitions are indiscriminate bombs that spray smaller bombs across a much wider area with the goal of crippling vehicles and killing scattered personnel. Bomblets often fail to explode and linger on the landscape, and they can pose a deadly threat for years to come. Cluster munitions are widely considered a war crime because of their disproportionate harm to civilians compared with other weapons. Over 100 countries have banned their use. Just over 20 use them, including China, the United States and Russia. The next day, Mar. 1, a 3M-54 Kalibr Russian cruise missile hit the Kharkiv Oblast administrative building, though not directly. Between nine and 11 people were likely killed, with upwards of 40 injured. According to Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov, three children died in the blast. Two weeks later the battle still rages. Dozens of BM-21 Grad missiles continue hitting residential areas. One missile took off a womans leg, and she died from blood loss soon after. At least 133 civilians have died, with an unknown number of Russian and Ukrainian troops killed. Hundreds of civilians have been wounded so far. The city is mostly empty now. Most civilians have fled west. Widely dubbed the 21st Century Stalingrad, Kharkiv has been largely reduced to rubble. Yet, as of now, the Ukrainian flag still flies in the city center. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a new law Thursday that will end the requirement to have a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public. Meanwhile, local law enforcement officers are coming to terms with the legislation theyve opposed from the beginning. I hope that maybe our concerns will not come to fruition once the law takes effect, said Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones. That would be nice, but were not feeling that would be the case at this point just based on the experience of being involved in law enforcement all these years. The law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, and individuals will need a conceal carry permit until that date. Jones was on the executive committee of the Alabama Sheriffs Association where he worked to express the concerns of sheriffs around the state to the legislators working on the bill. We just disagree on that one particular area in regard to removing the requirement, said Jones, who was recently inducted as the president of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, succeeding Sheriff Derrick Cunningham of Montgomery County. Were the ones that do the job, were the ones that day in, day out know what effect a change in the law can have upon our ability to do our job. For a time, Jones said, he attended meetings with the sponsors of the bill and those working to draft it. He said the permit is used as a tool that helps law enforcement protect the community by removing a weapon from the hands of an individual who should not have it, which can lead to uncovering evidence of additional crimes and preventing a future crime. Were going to do the best we can to face the challenges that we believe it will present under the new circumstances, Jones said of the new law. Im 100% in favor of the Second Amendment. Thats never been an issue, but what we are concerned about is the safety of our communities. Thats our job. Thats what we do. Opelika Police Chief Shane Healey is in agreement with Jones. These bills, as they sit, will be detrimental to public safety, Healey said in February. Since then, legislators have made a few adjustments in response to the concerns law enforcement officials pointed out. They heard what we had to say, Jones said. They listened, but we feel that they still acted contrary to our advice in regard to what we were making them aware of as far as how it would affect our ability to do our job. But they did listen. Jones said legislators did work to find some kind of compromise. It did end up having some elements that work to assist law enforcement, Jones said. But again, it goes back to our primary concern that the main thing it does is eliminate the requirement for the permit. One of these additions was to establish a prohibited persons database that will be operated by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and will keep a list of individuals who should not have a firearm in their possession. Its well intended, Jones said. I certainly recognize that. However, like any database there are going to be gaps in the submission of data that will obviously present a problem with that not being fully effective. Another alteration to the legislation allows law enforcement officers to continue to be able to ask about a weapon and to secure it if necessary. If an officer is dealing with a situation where a citizen has a firearm, Jones said the new law will allow officers to act and utilize reasonable suspicion to secure the weapon that might have been used in a previous crime or indicates it may be used for future crime. With the addition of the database and continuing to allow officers to ask questions about guns, Healey said the revised legislation doesnt completely take away the tools officers use to keep the community safe like the original bill would have. I would say the new bill is a compromise between both sides to accomplish what their goal was, but also to try to still give law enforcement some tools to be able to try to keep people safe, Healey said. I think it would be a decent compromise. Jones also said the law will provide sheriffs departments with options for the loss of revenue they may have once citizens are no longer required to purchase a permit. Jones and Healey said the sheriffs department and police department will be working to train staff and officers to ensure everyone understands the new law and applies it correctly. Both departments will be working closely with other law enforcement agencies across the state. Permits will still be offered for those who would like one, but they will no longer be required as of Jan. 1. Individuals will still be required to have a permit when carrying a concealed weapon in states that require one. Jones said hes talked with several Lee County residents who told him they plan to continue to get conceal carry permits and who expressed their concern about eliminating the requirement. Once the law comes into effect, Jones expects to see more people carrying firearms, and if thats the case, he asks citizens to learn gun safety and how to carefully handle the weapon. the news was saying russia is only 9 miles outside kyiv, is there an update on that? (not directed at you, op, just an open question!) what exactly would it take for russia to be removed from the security council? im guessing itll never happen because of china, but im still curious Reply Thread Link there's actually no means or mechanism to kick a permanent member off the Security Council, which is what Russia is. which completely sucks because they need to be removed. Reply Parent Thread Link ugh, maybe the un will surprise us all by adding a new amendment that allows them to remove them. im not hopeful, but Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Why do people keep saying that Kamala is an embarrassment to the US? I get that maybe she laughed at an inappropriate point, but out of what we went through with Trump they honestly think SHE is more embarrassing? Help me understand. Reply Thread Link (I think we can guess.) Reply Parent Thread Link the opposing party is always going to lambast their rival's figureheads Reply Parent Thread Link she speaks like a robot, there's a weird uncanny valley effect Trump is embarrassing like a senile racist old uncle is embarrassing, but it feels natural edit: oh forgot to say it's not totally her fault. the admin saddles her with all the bullshit they don't want to deal with and send her out to peddle the most outrageous shit which doesn't do her any favors wrt sounding like a normal person Edited at 2022-03-12 01:08 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Because she's a black women and they won't let her be human or make even slight errors. Reply Parent Thread Link Trump existing doesn't make her less of an embarrassment though. Reply Parent Thread Link Apparently that was actually fake which was buried in the replies :( sorry Edited at 2022-03-12 12:47 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link Ukrainian intelligence: 18 Russian battalion tactical groups (BTGs) have lost their combat capability in action, 13 more have been completely destroyed. In general, Russia was believed to have had a total of 120-125 BTGs deployed against Ukraine. Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) March 11, 2022 Love to read stuff like this. Love to read stuff like this. Reply Thread Link Well, I'm at work while my mom drives my dad to the airport, where he will be flying out to Poland, then crossing to UA to deliver supplies to family and others. They're in the west, he should be okay, but you know... Couldn't talk him out of it, so hoping for the best. Should be fine. Reply Thread Link I hope he stays safe while he's over there <3 Reply Parent Thread Link i hope your dad stays safe. what he's doing is wonderful. but i hope he stays safe. Reply Parent Thread Link I hope your dad stays safe!! Reply Parent Thread Link i hope your dad stays safe. Reply Parent Thread Link All kinds of good vibes for your dad and family. Reply Parent Thread Link Good luck to your dad, may he stay safe! Reply Parent Thread Link I guess it's too late for this argument, but did he confirm this with some charity organization? Local (Baltic) charities keep reminding people not to drive to the Polish border to help because they're restricting refugee flow. Might be meant only for people with cars and people staying inside the border though. Reply Parent Thread Link Along with everyone else, hoping and praying your dad stays safe. Reply Parent Thread Link Godspeed and a hurry home to your wonderful dad! Reply Parent Thread Link you should be very proud of your dad (stubborn ole thing). that's a good man. Reply Parent Thread Link Your dad is an extraordinary man. Reply Parent Thread Link when will putin's people turn against him and take him out seriously Reply Thread Link He has more supporters than detractors. Decades of brainwashing and lies have them believing everything he says and explaining away anything that doesn't fit his narrative. Edited at 2022-03-12 02:48 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I can't find the tweets about it since it's probably far down my timeline, but Putin seems to be going after people in the FSB, so here's hoping at some point they decide to take him out to save their own butts. Reply Parent Thread Link the rich and connected will probably have him [redacted] if he loses all the money and power he's given them. I don't see any other way tbh, but this is coming from an american's point of view. do the russians really have more to lose? Reply Parent Thread Link Theyre not staeving, so who knows. Reply Parent Thread Link I think its going to be the oligarchs who take him out most of putins money is well hidden but theyve been getting rocked left and right the more sanctions on them the more pressure they will feel to remove him At least thats my theory! Reply Parent Thread Link The Scottish charity @DniproKids has been doing amazing work for years with orphans in Dnipro. Now they are evacuating them into Poland. Sadly, not clear if @ukhomeoffice will let them into UK. https://t.co/XMhSSjMvj1 Uilleam Blacker (@BlackerUilleam) March 11, 2022 Reply Thread Link WHO predicts rise in Covid-19 due to Russias all-out war in Ukraine. The WHO said on Mar. 11 the rise would likely be due to an increase in the movement of people, low vaccination rates in Ukraine and some receiving countries, & a halt in vaccinations, treatment and testing. The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 12, 2022 Supposedly Ukraine has low vaccination rates anyway, but theyve also been targeted by Russian antivax disinfo campaigns to spread distrust and destabilize the country, which Im sure many of us are familiar with Supposedly Ukraine has low vaccination rates anyway, but theyve also been targeted by Russian antivax disinfo campaigns to spread distrust and destabilize the country, which Im sure many of us are familiar with Reply Thread Link i didnt even think to check what covid would do during all this. hope they get more vaccinations soon. Reply Parent Thread Link relatedly: antivax and other COVID-related bots have been quiet since the start of the invasion, while all the (inherently antisemitic) New World Order and Ukraine war related activity has grown https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/mar/04/bot-holiday-covid-misinformation-ukraine-social-media Reply Parent Thread Link It is more dangerous that they have low vaccination levels also on non-covid related illnesses, at least among kids. In Poland I think we would probably vaccinate some kids as ex. in Warsaw you cannot send your kid to kindergarten without them Reply Parent Thread Link This is probably my third comment ever on ONTD (and Ive been around since the Dark Knight party posts lol lol) but just want to add to the chorus of thanks to OP for continuing to put out these posts <3 Edited at 2022-03-12 05:41 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link the more voices on ontd, the better. glad you decided to comment. Reply Parent Thread Link Jerusalem Post: "Bennett told us to surrender," according to an official in Ukraine's government. "We have no intention of doing so. We know Putin's offer is only the beginning." https://t.co/nWR5C01NV9 Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) March 12, 2022 I think everyone knew that he would, but its nice to have confirmation. The article also says that Israel asked Ukraine to stop asking for military aid. Bennett is a shitbird. I think everyone knew that he would, but its nice to have confirmation. The article also says that Israel asked Ukraine to stop asking for military aid. Bennett is a shitbird. Reply Thread Link But Bennett will be more than happy to have Ukrainian Jews come to Israel so they can displace even more Palestinian people. Reply Parent Thread Link Its so sad when you look at many world leaders or heads of state. Totally disproves the notion that the cream rises to the top. Because it seems that like 60-80% of countries are led by shitbirds; with a few that have decent or good leaders. Yikes! Reply Parent Thread Link No surprise Bennett's advice is to surrender. Reply Parent Thread Link What a great thing to say to a man fighting for his country, very helpful. Reply Parent Thread Link lol fuck Israel, the absolute shittiest in literally every situation. Reply Parent Thread Link Another of Putin's errand boys. How quaint. Reply Parent Thread Link Stop asking for military aid?? Wtf Reply Parent Thread Link But of course please lets continue to give military aid to Israel so they can keep bombing Palestine fuck off Reply Parent Thread Link i'm confused about the patches being taken off? is that a good or bad thing? Reply Thread Link Same and google isn't helping. Reply Parent Thread Link (The person tweeting the photo is personal aid to VP) It's a sign of respect for a soldier to give their hard earned patches to their civilian commanders. It means, "we stand with you". Pamela Parkington (@BigDogMom3) March 11, 2022 Good(The person tweeting the photo is personal aid to VP) Reply Parent Thread Link thank you! i was about to call my dad, but i wasn't sure if he was back from his work trip yet lol Reply Parent Thread Link 3rd speech of the day: to AND his Look at this lovely lady. P*tin chucked her in jail for protesting this war. She got out. And is still protesting: Yelena Osipova, brave survivor of the Siege of Leningrad, out protesting again in St Petersburg. Soldier! Lay down your arms and be a real hero. pic.twitter.com/lkwUtLXddQ Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) March 11, 2022 Slava Ukraini. Heroiam slava. the 11th was a busy day for Volodymyr:3rd speech of the day: to Sejm of the Republic of Poland AND his March 12th speech is already up. Non-fucking-stop.Look at this lovely lady. P*tin chucked her in jail for protesting this war. She got out. And is still protesting:Slava Ukraini. Heroiam slava. Reply Thread Link good on you, Yelena! Reply Parent Thread Link reading how their police are very happy to brutalise protestors, I applaud her bravery but am terrified for her Reply Parent Thread Link I saw photos of this lady getting arrested. Theres something incredibly grotesque about seeing young strong men push and pull an old woman. Reply Parent Thread Link I need to find the article from when she was rested last week I believe. She is WELL KNOWN to the officials in St Petersburg as a survivor of the Siege of Leningrad. It's on all her official ID even. She was very happy to be out on the streets with the young people protesting with her. They looked out for her and yelled at the police dragging her when they threw her in the paddy wagon. When the cops got a call from higher ups that was effectively, "you idiots, the fuck did you do let her go!" and they went to let her out of custody, Yelena straight up said 'Nah, I'm here with my young friends here, I'm good." She was teaching the people arrested before her protest songs, and they were eating it up. I think she even gave some of them her contact information. They don't DARE touch her again. She is literally considered a Hero of Russia. I'm hoping that it's enough to keep this gem safe and causing good trouble. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link but Hey still good to admit it even tho I still wont vote for him Thread (and admission): 1) I want to be honest, in congress I have only a few votes that in hindset, I regret. My biggest regret was voting against the first impeachment of Donald Trump. Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) March 12, 2022 Future 2024 Republican (Independent?) Presidential candidate continues laying the groundwork for his future campaign but Hey still good to admit it even tho I still wont vote for him Reply Thread Link Not enough. He should admit WHY he didnt vote for the impeachment of Trump. its probably in line with why hes backing down now. Reply Parent Thread Link Next he should bring up voting rights. Reply Parent Thread Link He's done, I think. The first commandment of GOP politics is, "Thou shalt never publicly criticize a GOP president." Reply Parent Thread Link My first boss, David Remnick, interviews Stephen Kotkin, the king of Soviet history and the reason I went into this whole Russia business, and the result does not disappoint. Holy shit.https://t.co/GRIEAzcqaR pic.twitter.com/PqMuFBQlR9 Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) March 12, 2022 This is an interesting article/interview. Reply Thread Link Putin has approved bringing in volunteer fighters from the Middle East, particularly Syria, to fight in Ukraine. Because people from countries he already invaded are eager to help him invade another country /s and have deep experience in the climate, terrain, and geography of Ukraine /s and look forward to not being paid by a nearly bankrupt country /s The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published a promotional video offering each Russian pilot a reward if they defect to Ukraine with their aircraft. USD 1M per aircraft and USD $500K per helicopter Not happy about people from Syria being expected to fight, but the sarcasm and offering of money for Russian aircraft is Edited at 2022-03-12 04:28 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link China has taken a particularly tepid stance on Russia, with leaders in Beijing looking to hedge their bets. Since the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine, China has said all the right things in support of Russia, its professed strategic partner. Chinese officials have faithfully repeated Russian propaganda, refusing to describe the unprovoked attack on Ukraine as a war or invasion, while echoing the Kremlin claim that NATOs expansionist desires are the root cause of the conflict. But Beijings actions are telling a different story, underscored by the March 9 Foreign Ministry announcement that the Chinese Red Cross is supplying almost $800,000 in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The amount is small, but the gesture is significant in the current context: Chinese leaders are hedging their geopolitical bets. It was just over a month ago that Russian leader Vladimir Putin met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The two issued a joint statement describing bilateral relations as superior to political and military alliances of the Cold War era, and cooperation as having no limits. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, however, Chinas behavior toward Russia has been circumspect and restrained, its officials proclaiming solidarity with Russia without following up in substance. Before Russian troops attacked, Chinese officials spoke against Western sanctions. But once the United States and European Union started imposing sanctions and disconnecting Russian banks from the SWIFT financial network, leading Chinese financial institutions began quietly adhering to the restrictions, according to the Bloomberg news service. Another section of the February 4 Putin-Xi statement offers insight into Chinas say one thing, do another approach toward Russia: The two countries endorsed a need for consolidation, not division of the international community, a need for cooperation, not confrontation. It goes on to say the two oppose the return of international relations to the state of confrontation between major powers. Just weeks after publication of these sentiments, Putin decided unilaterally to blow up the post-World War II order, ushering in a new era of geopolitical confrontation that may prove just as fraught as the Cold War. Putins impulsive actions are also fueling a Western economic crusade against Russian-style illiberalism. Xi likely feels embarrassed and used by Putin, and Chinese officials similarly cant help worrying that, given the Wests restored unity of purpose, Chinas global economic interests and geopolitical aspirations stand to suffer. Its no surprise, then, that Beijing has been a vocal proponent for an end to the war. This conflict is very bad for Beijings business, tossing a monkey wrench into Xis Belt and Road vision. The economic disparity in Chinas relationship with Russia is another factor behind Beijings tepid response to Russia in the Kremlins time of extreme financial need. When it comes to commerce, Russia is an afterthought for China, accounting for merely 2 percent of Beijings overall trade turnover. To the extent that Beijing increases its trade volume with Russia amid the stifling Western sanctions, it will do so while imposing humbling terms on its supposed friend, purchasing energy, for example, at bargain-basement prices. Chinas strategic partnership with Russia was useful to Beijing only to the extent that it could widen the gap between the U.S. and EU, thus creating space for continuing Chinese economic expansion. This underlying pillar of the partnership has now come crashing down: Putins Ukraine adventure has forged the very geopolitical environment, namely Western strategic unity, that China desperately wanted to avoid. Virtually overnight, Russia has gone from asset to major liability for China. Though unarticulated, the message that Xi is sending Putin with Chinas evident reluctance to toss Russia an economic lifeline is: Its nothing personal, its strictly business. By Eurasianet.org More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: More Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine to be repatriated Two repatriation flights for Vietnamese people in Ukraine are expected to land in Hanoi on March 13. Flight VN58 will leave Poland for Hanoi at 4:40 am and the other departing from Romania will arrive in Hanoi at 11 am. More Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine to be repatriated Around a total of 500 people will be transported by the two flights which will be conducted by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines. The passengers will be taken home free of charge under a co-operation agreement signed between Vietnam Airlines and Sun Group on supporting the repatriation of Vietnamese people and their family members from war areas in Ukraine back home. Around 600 Vietnamese people in Ukraine were previously repatriated through two flights conducted on March 8 and 10. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) shakes hands with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan during their meeting in Antalya, Turkey, on March 12, 2022. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Saturday in Antalya to discuss ways of ending decades-old hostilities. (Xinhua) ANTALYA, Turkey, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Saturday in Antalya, a southwestern resort city of Turkey, to discuss ways of ending decades-old hostilities. The two ministers attended a joint press conference after they met on the sidelines of the ongoing Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which has gathered around 2,000 politicians, diplomats, journalists, and scholars from more than 70 countries since its opening on Friday. The Turkish minister told the press that said his meeting with Mirzoyan was "very productive and constructive," noting special representatives of the two neighbors have conducted two rounds of talks trying to normalize their ties. Turkey strives for stability and peace in the South Caucasus, said Cavusoglu, adding "Azerbaijan also supports this process." "Stability and peace in the region are for the benefit of all of us," he noted. Mirzoyan, for his part, said the Armenian side will continue to normalize ties with Turkey "without preconditions." "Armenia has a decision for peace and harmony in our region," the Armenian minister said. Turkey and Armenia severed the diplomatic ties in 1993 after Turkey chose to support Azerbaijan when the Caspian country was fighting a war with Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. In 2020, Armenia lost control of the territories around Nagorno-Karabakh in a war with Azerbaijan. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (3rd L) meets with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (1st L) in Antalya, Turkey, on March 12, 2022. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Saturday in Antalya to discuss ways of ending decades-old hostilities. (Xinhua) Talks to revive the deal have been held in fits and starts in Vienna since April, including representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain, the European Union, and Iran. Last week, Russia demanded that Western sanctions not impact relations between Tehran and Moscow, an idea that Western powers have rejected. The revival of the landmark nuclear accord between Iran and world powers is essentially ready but external powers are still presenting some roadblocks. The European Union's foreign policy chief says the final text of an agreement to revive a landmark nuclear accord between Iran and world powers is "essentially ready and on the table," but a pause is needed in the talks due to "external factors." Moscow demanded guarantees last week that Western sanctions related to its invasion of Ukraine would not hamper economic and military relations between Iran and Russia. The United States and European countries have rejected the idea, saying they have nothing to do with restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the 2015 nuclear deal is officially known. "As coordinator, I will, with my team, continue to be in touch with all JCPOA participants and the U.S. to overcome the current situation and to close the agreement," Josep Borrell said on Twitter on March 11. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter that Tehran agreed that a pause could result in "momentum for resolving any remaining issue and a final return." U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said on March 10 that there were a few issues still to be resolved -- an indication that the Russian position is not the only stumbling block that still needs to be cleared out of the way. Former President Donald Trump in 2018 pulled the United States out of the agreement that lifted most sanctions on Iran in exchange for the Islamic republic's curbing its nuclear activities. The U.S. move reimposed tough economic sanctions on Tehran, which has been violating some provisions of the deal, saying it was no longer applicable. Talks to revive the deal have been held in fits and starts in Vienna since April, including representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain, the European Union, and Iran. The EU has served as a chief interlocutor between the U.S. and Iranian delegations following Tehran's refusal to meet face-to-face with the Americans. Russia's envoy to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, dismissed suggestions that Moscow was the reason the talks had stalled. "The conclusion of the deal does not depend on Russia only," Ulyanov told reporters after meeting EU coordinator Enrique Mora. "There are others actors who need additional time and who have additional concerns, and they are being discussed," he added. By RFE/RL More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Ministry of Economy said it could take temporary control of such businesses where foreign ownership exceeds 25%. The Russian government is reportedly considering seizing and nationalizing companies that have left the country. Many of the Wests biggest brands have announced that they will be shuttering operations in Russia. The Russian government is reportedly considering seizing and nationalizing the assets of foreign companies exiting Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. Seen as retaliation for Western sanctions and the exodus of hundreds of international businesses, the move is more egotistical than pragmatic as it would have little economic impact at this point. In a meeting with government officials, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin could find legally viable ways to seize international firms, according to The Moscow Times. The government would push to introduce external management and then transfer these enterprises to those who actually want to work. There are enough legal and market instruments for this, Putin was quoted as saying. The Russian Ministry of Economy said it could take temporary control of such businesses where foreign ownership exceeds 25%. In a statement, Russias ruling party, United Russia, said the first step towards this has already been taken with the approval of such measures by the governments commission that assesses the laws to be proposed to the Russian parliament. According to the proposed bill, the external management of the international companies in question would initially last for three months. After that, the government would put the businesses up for auction. However, according to the partys statement, companies from unfriendly nations would be able to prevent the nationalization process if they chose to relaunch operations in Russia. On top of formal sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the European Union, major Western businesses and brands have taken steps to suspend, or have already suspended operations in Russia, with Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Pepsi shutting down operations earlier this week. Other companies like Apple, H&M, IKEA, Ford and many others either paused sales, imposed restrictions or closed stores in Russia last month. According to the latest data compiled by the Yale School of Management, more than 340 companies have left Russia or cut operations. Due to mounting pressure and criticism at home, even those companies that are still operating in Russia might be forced to follow suit as this conflict has now become a matter of ESG (environmental, social and good governance) investing. However, none of the Western businesses that left the country, or are planning to, produce goods there, and the supply chains of products to Russia have already been interrupted, though some assets that will be left behind have value. The retaliation will go further than this, too. According to a Guardian report, the Russian government is reportedly planning to seize $10 billion in planes leased by foreign companies to Russian state-owned airline Aeroflot. In another retaliatory move, the Kremlin said yesterday it would ban the export of over 200 products, including electronic goods and telecoms equipment, which follows a decree issued earlier this week that would allow Russian entities to steal Western patents. The Kremlin also has a ban on wheat and agricultural products to the Eurasian Economic Union, Forbes reports. Russias retaliation and the escalation of its attack on Ukraine was met with further sanctions from the Biden administration on Friday, which banned imports of Russian alcohol and seafood, which will have a huge impact on the countrys vodka and caviar sales. Ukraine itself has also passed a law allowing it to seize property owned by the Russian government or its citizens without any compensation. By Michael Kern via Safehaven.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Despite pledges to contribute to global efforts of reducing emissions, China will continue to maximize the use of coal in coming years as it caters to its energy security, the top Chinese policymakers said this week. Chinese President Xi Jinping has told representatives from its biggest coal-producing region, Inner Mongolia, that China "could not part from reality" and that it is "rich in coal, poor in oil and short of gas," Reuters reported on Friday. The energy transition is a long process and China cannot just "slam the brakes" on coal, according to Xi. China's energy mix continues to shift to a greener one, but coal still represented more than half of its energy mix, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy. In 2020, the latest available data, coal's share fell to 57 percent, compared to 58 percent in 2019. But Chinese coal exports rose to their highest level since 2014, and domestic coal output also rose, the BP review found. Last month, China said it would help run its coal-fired power plants at full capacity in a bid to ensure energy security, despite the climate goals of the world's largest polluter. China is concerned about its energy security after the autumn 2021 power crisis and, most recently, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which pushed energy commodity prices sky-high. China, the world's largest coal consumer and largest greenhouse gas emitter, has said it targets to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060, but last autumn's power crisis and record-high global coal prices amid an overall energy shortage made energy security a top priority for the country. A few months ago, China ordered a ramp-up of coal production, which hit record-highs for both December 2021 and the whole of 2021. China plans to increase its crude oil, natural gas, and coal production, boost reserves of energy commodities, and keep stable imports to ensure its energy security amid skyrocketing commodities prices, the top Chinese economic planner said last week. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: GRAND ISLAND, Neb. Eight horses were scratched from Friday afternoons racing at Fonner Park because of a quarantine implemented amid equine health problems. A 21-day quarantine has been placed on Barn R, where more than 100 horses are stalled. Two horses were euthanized in the last week one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. The cause of their illness has not yet been identified. Fonner Park CEO Chris Kotulak described the quarantine as a precautionary step. While we have yet to confirm if there has been an outbreak of a virus, we have decided to err on the side of caution and enact immediate precautions, Kotulak said in a statement. The livelihood of many has been affected. The health and welfare of all beings in our stable is always a grave concern. And everyone has a role to play to return to normalcy. The illness is believed to be the equine herpes neurological virus. But it is only believed that because of some of the symptoms that the horses have shown, Kotulak said in an interview. On Wednesday, Kotulak was notified that a horse in Barn R had a high temperature and was displaying mobility issues. Blood and nasal swab samples were taken and immediately driven to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. Tests were completed on Thursday and the lab results were inconclusive. Additional samples were sent for testing on Thursday. That same day a second horse showed similar symptoms. Unfortunately, both horses were euthanized, according to Kotulaks statement. Late Friday afternoon, Fonner Park was awaiting lab results. The horses that were scratched Friday came from trainers who are stabled in Barn R. Horses in that barn currently are not allowed to race at Fonner. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture has been notified. That department was involved in a discussion with the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission, the state veterinarian and the Fonner Park board of stewards. Among other steps, precautions have been mandated that disallow any horsemen with horses in Barn R to have contact with any other horses in the stable area, according to the Fonner press release. Any horses that arrive may not leave the entire stable area until the quarantine is lifted. Fonner Park has also begun protocol to routinely sanitize the paddock, the starting gate and other common areas for horses. Fonner will use a three-stage quarantine process. During the first seven days of the quarantine, which began Thursday, horsemen from Barn R will be allowed to put their horses on the outdoor walker wheels. Each walker wheel will be designated for use by a specific trainer. Those wheels will be sprayed down with disinfectant after each use. After seven days, if there is not another outbreak, we will then allow those horses and only those horses from the R Barn to train on the training track, which is adjacent to the R Barn, Kotulak said. After two weeks, if there is no longer an outbreak, horses from Barn R will be allowed to train on the main track after standard training hours. Dr. Joanne Li is a Maverick in every sense of the word. University of Nebraska President Ted Carter uttered that compliment Friday in describing Li, chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, during a ceremony that symbolically installed her as the 16th chancellor of the metropolitan campus. With Li being on the job for almost nine months, Carter and other NU officials said she hit the ground running. They praised her for having a Maverick mentality, a play on the universitys team name, in reference to her ability to build relationships and her determination to continually improve the university. Like a true Maverick, she has big ideas lots of them, Carter said. Joanne Li is not afraid to think differently, to ask hard questions and take a new path from what has been done in the past. Li offered a preview of some of those ideas when speaking to the media before the ceremony. Drawing on experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic, Li said the past two years have created a need to think differently. We really have to use this opportunity to reflect, she said. Li, who struggled to afford college as a first-generation student from Hong Kong in the late 1980s, outlined a series of goals to help students achieve an affordable and quality education in a timely fashion. More than one-third of UNO students are eligible for Pell grants and 40% are first-generation college students. Li said accomplishing those goals would help Nebraska meet its workforce development challenges and be economically competitive. Nebraska reached a new national low when it reported a 1.7% unemployment rate based on seasonally adjusted figures from December. But as of Friday there were more than 48,000 job openings on the states website NEworks. Were going to be laser focused to make sure we invest in our people, she said. There are a lot of jobs in Nebraska that need to be filled, but they need to be filled with a quality workforce. They need to be filled by people (with) a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) kind of discipline. But they also need to be trained as an independent critical thinker with our arts and humanities. During Fridays ceremony, Li said she sees opportunities for the university to work with community colleges to meet the demands of the workforce. She envisions UNO offering working professionals opportunities to upskill or re-skill. She added a goal for the university to offer more than double the number of internship opportunities for students. In fact, this very day and from this point onward, I want to commit to working with our business leaders and employers in the region to provide paid internships so that our students can get one foot in the door of the house of opportunities, she said. Li positioned UNO as a partner of Omaha and reflective of a growing metropolitan area. Our people are our strength, she said. UNO builds on our collaboration with the community a true character of an urban university. That partnership was referenced earlier in the ceremony by Mayor Jean Stothert, who envisions Omaha growing to become one of the top 25 cities in the U.S. during the next 50 years. We will accomplish this by building a community of opportunity for all, by growing our economy and by caring for our less fortunate friends and neighbors, she said. The students, faculty, staff and alumni at the University of Nebraska at Omaha will be part of the next decades of success. In addition to outlining a vision, Li also reflected on UNOs recent accomplishments. Those include the university reaching a record $31.5 million for sponsored research projects so far this fiscal year, which began July 1, 2021. Li also noted the continued student enrollment growth, which has risen nearly 23% in the past five years. Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A Winnebago man was sentenced on Friday to 25 years in prison following a manslaughter conviction in the 2020 killing of a young Indigenous woman. Jonathan Rooney, 27, was convicted in December of voluntary manslaughter and destruction of evidence in the killing of his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kozee Decorah. He was sentenced to 120 months on the manslaughter charge and 180 months for destruction of evidence. Shortly before 8 p.m. May 16, 2020, the Winnebago Police Department received a call from Decorah reporting that she, Rooney and their 4-month-old son were in an SUV that was stuck in the mud in a remote part of the reservation. According to court documents, an officer arrived in the area around 8:03 p.m. and found the vehicle unoccupied. Officers checked the area on foot and went to the couples apartment in an unsuccessful attempt to locate them. Shortly before midnight, officers searched two cabins on private property near where the car was found. In the second cabin, Rooney was found lying naked on a mattress with the child. According to court documents, Rooney told officers that Decorah had gone outside to get cell service. Officers noticed an outhouse and a large tree branch on fire about seven yards from the cabin. Upon investigating, officers observed an odd smell and found what appeared to be human remains in the fire, including a round, white object that was later identified as Decorahs skull. Blood was found on the floor and front porch area of the cabin where Rooney was found, and the burned body was identified as Decorah through dental records. A cellphone and Rooneys clothing were also burned in the fire, according to court documents. After Rooney was detained by police, he continued to deny any knowledge of Decorahs whereabouts. An officer on the scene observed that Rooney smelled of fire smoke and had multiple defensive wounds on his face, shoulder and arm, according to court documents. A chain saw and a can of gasoline were found in a nearby vehicle. Decorahs friends and family said that she was a victim of domestic violence who had recently made plans to leave the state with her three children. According to court documents, Rooney admitted to hitting Decorah when questioned by an FBI agent. During sentencing, Judge Robert Rossiter said that Rooneys actions are unforgivable and that he had disposed of Decorahs body without care or remorse. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The president and vice president of the Nebraska State Board of Education said Friday theyre in no rush to revive the controversial health education standards the board put on ice last September. Board president Patsy Koch Johns and vice president Robin Stevens said the board has no plans at this time to revive the standards. They said the board must address concerns about the standards-writing process before considering a restart. We at this time have not discussed any plans about bringing it back, Koch Johns said. The two leaders commented in a press release aimed at clarifying the boards recent actions regarding academic standards. Koch Johns also spoke to The World-Herald. They pushed back on the perception that the boards recent actions regarding standards were bringing it closer to reviving the standards. In February, a majority of board members voted down a motion by member Kirk Penner to permanently scrap the health standards. This month, the majority voted to draft a policy expressing the boards intent to develop academic standards in all subject matter areas, including health. That policy has yet to be adopted. In the release, Stevens said the board will need a specific vote to restart the health education standards process, and this is not currently an item under consideration by the Board. To be clear, he said, the conversations, around ensuring the proper policies and processes are in place, are necessary before even considering future draft health education standards. In an interview Friday, Nebraska Commissioner of Education Matt Blomstedt told The World-Herald that its unlikely the standards would be revived this year. Reviewing the process the department uses to develop standards, and potentially making changes, will take time, he said. I think Im pretty confident in saying its not 2022, and I would find it highly unlikely its 2023, he said. For more than a year, the state has wrestled with the idea of writing health standards for Nebraska schools. Local school districts currently write their own. The state standards would be recommended but not required for districts. The initial draft of the standards proposed a year ago was praised by advocates of LGBTQ children as inclusive. The standards contained language recognizing diverse family structures, gender identities and sexual orientations. After complaints the material was not appropriate for children and reflected a political agenda, most of those references were stripped in a second draft. But that draft was still was criticized by Gov. Pete Ricketts, who said it promoted gender ideology. The board postponed them indefinitely Sept. 3. Subsequently, then-board president Maureen Nickels appointed an ad hoc board committee to troubleshoot what went wrong with the process. On March 4, the board adopted six recommendations from the committee. One of the recommendations was to draft the policy expressing the boards intent to develop academic standards in all areas. Penner, who voted against the recommendations, said he disagrees with the boards position that it can write standards beyond the core academic areas authorized by the Legislature. He said the reason the standards failed has nothing to do with process. The issue isnt the process, its the content of the health standards, he said. Another recommendation adopted by the board at its March 4 meeting calls for writing a policy to define the boards role in the standards-writing process. Board members also voted to have the Nebraska Department of Education hire a consultant to review the standards process and suggest improvements. Blomstedt said Friday that he probably wouldnt get a consultant on board until summer. I would probably aim for June time frame, thats usually when we have some chance to dive into those things, he said. The intent is to examine the process, including looking at how other states do it, before attempting a redo of health standards, he said. Meantime, critics have been unsuccessful in stopping the health standards with legislative action. A bill in the Legislature this session would have made clear that the board can write standards only in core academic areas. With 20 days left in the session, that bill proposed by State Sen. Joni Albrecht remained in the Education Committee on Friday. In his budget request to state lawmakers, Ricketts included language that would have barred the education department from using any of its appropriation to research, adopt or implement state sex education standards for schools. Members of the Appropriations Committee this past week advanced the budget to the full body without the language, but an amendment has been offered to add it in. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Each week The Pantagraph profiles a different community member. Know someone we should talk to? Email kheather@pantagraph.com. Name: Grace Nichols Position: Trustee on the Mount Hope-Funks Grove Park District Board Nichols, 31, was recently honored in the Humanitarian and/or Voluntary Leadership category of the Outstanding Young Persons of Illinois awards program. 1. What was your reaction to receiving this honor? My reaction was gratitude and a bit of shock. In working with Bloomington-Normal Young Professionals, I am surrounded by hardworking and inspiring individuals every day. The opportunity to reflect on a state level what dedication to the community means to myself, my family and my community is an incredible opportunity! 2. What experiences do you think helped you earn this honor? Dedicated time to my commitments truly helped me achieve the recognition. I don't just show up, I truly invest in what I am working to achieve on the boards and committees I serve. Being a part of the vision for the future has helped me continue to strive for the big picture over the immediate needs. 3. Why are parks important for our communities? I joined the Mount Hope-Funks Grove Park District Board to serve as a trustee for parks and events for my three children. My first experience after moving to the community was at the annual Halloween party. Our park district is a bit more than simply a park we utilize the previous elementary school to supply a recreational center and also hold events, classes and community opportunities. I was raised in Minier, and those small-town events drastically improved my childhood. Joining helped me play a role in making that possible for others. 4. What did you take away from your time on the West Bloomington Revitalization Project? The West Bloomington Revitalization Project could be a book! I held so much value for my time served on the board. During my term we moved buildings, provided an apartment rental and established Friendship Park. I was able to volunteer for the Bed Blitz, and also used the bridge with community financial literacy to provide credit and budgeting workshops at the Tool Library. The people I met serving on the board were influential in making me a more motivated community member to influence change and improvement for others. Eventually, when we welcomed our second child, I left the board to join my current role in our hometown. 5. Are there any upcoming events, or how can other people get involved? We have a few exciting updates coming soon that are not publicly released at this time. We are providing an Easter egg hunt at 10 a.m. April 9 in the park by the downtown McLean library. Cookies, drinks and a craft will be provided at the library after the hunt. This is partnered with the Mount Hope-Funks Grove Library and other community organizations. For young professionals, we are welcoming many new members and holding our new member social on March 15! We are striving to provide this network to others between 23 and 40 years of age in the community to help them find leadership growth and support their professional and personal well-being. Contact Kade Heather at 309-820-3256. Follow him on Twitter: @kadeheather Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. NORMAL The Illinois Board of Higher Education will consider Illinois State University's proposed College of Engineering at its meeting on Tuesday. The action item requests approval for the college and two departments: electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Board documents say the college would house three majors in electrical, mechanical and general engineering. The new college has been in development for over a year, with ISU's board approving the administration to officially move toward getting state approval last May. "We're very excited that this is on to the IBHE for consideration and we will await the board's decision," ISU spokesman Eric Jome said. He said the application involved a lot of work from many people around campus, but the university would wait for the vote before commenting much further. IBHE's agenda for Tuesday includes a presentation by ISU President Terri Goss Kinzy. IBHE board documents say that the proposal includes a focus on equity, including recruitment and opportunities for groups underrepresented in engineering, including people of color and women. That focus includes both students and faculty and staff. The documents also mention that the university has worked with industry partners, including Rivian Automotive Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland, in developing plans for the college. Capital projects for the new college have been estimated at around $44 million. Initial enrollment is expected to be around 130 students, growing to 520 students by the fourth year. The board documents note several similar colleges or departments at other area colleges and universities, including the Caterpillar College of Engineering and Technology at Bradley University in Peoria. Of Illinois' downstate public universities, only ISU, Eastern Illinois University and University of Illinois Springfield do not have separate engineering colleges or schools. There also seems to be strong existing interest for an engineering college at ISU, with more than 7,1000 searches for "engineering" on the university's website in the past year. IBHE is also expected to vote on multiple new associate degrees for Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg and hear an a panel discussion on ways to close equity gaps in higher education. ISU's proposed programs are the only new four year university or college programs on the agenda. The IBHE meeting is being held by a webinar, with registration required to watch or provide public comment. People who want to watch can register on the IBHE website at www.ibhe.org. Contact Connor Wood at (309)820-3240. Follow Connor on Twitter: @connorkwood Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Thursday evening, his right fist raised in defiance, Jussie Smollett walked out of Judge James Linns courtroom and into a monthslong stretch of Cook County custody. While Linn sentenced the former Empire actor to 150 days in jail, it seems likely he will be eligible for good-behavior credit, which would cut his custody sentence in half. Still, his attorneys expressed shock that he was given jail time. Anyone who is a lover of justice and fairness should be appalled by this, his attorney Nenye Uche told reporters, saying that as a Black man he was personally offended by the sentence. How much? Soon they will be asking for the guillotine. Smolletts attorneys requested that he be put in protective custody, records show, and Linn signed an order recommending that placement. Smollett is being housed in his own cell, which is monitored by security cameras and an officer with a body-worn camera who is stationed at the entrance of the cell, according to a statement Friday from the Cook County sheriffs office. He is entitled to substantial time out of his cell to use the phone, interact with staff and watch TV; during that time, other detainees will not be present with him in the common areas. These protocols are routinely used for individuals ordered into protective custody who may potentially be at risk of harm due to the nature of their charges, their profession or their noteworthy status, the statement read. Smollett was convicted of low-level felonies in December when a jury found that he had lied to police about being the victim of a hate crime attack. Prosecutors argued at sentencing that he denigrated real victims of hate crimes when he staged a phony assault on himself involving racial slurs, homophobic epithets and a noose. Smollett was sentenced to 30 months of probation, with the first 150 days to be served in Cook County Jail. In addition, he must pay a $25,000 fine as well as $120,106 in restitution the amount of restitution the city sought to pay for its overtime costs investigating the case, minus the $10,000 Smollett forfeited to the city when his first case was dropped. Smollett declined to speak before sentencing, but after Linn handed down his decision, Smollett surprised the whole courtroom by standing up to proclaim his innocence. If I did this, then it means I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans in this country for over 400 years, and the fears of the LGBT community, he said. Your honor, I respect you, and I respect the jury, but I did not do this. And I am not suicidal, and if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. In response to Smolletts comments and his attorneys prior remarks about COVID-19 at the jail, a sheriffs office statement Thursday evening noted that like all individuals ordered into custody at the jail, Mr. Smollett will be given a comprehensive medical, mental health, and security assessment and will be placed in appropriate housing. Smollett will be tested for COVID-19 upon intake, which is the jails protocol, the statement noted. As of Thursday there were 12 jail detainees who were positive for COVID at the jail, all of whom were identified during the intake process Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the citys Law Department said Friday the office would reconsider its options regarding the civil suit they filed against Smollett seeking to recoup the overtime costs the city paid to police. In a letter filed with the court, a Law Department attorney along with Chicago police Supterintendent David Brown strongly hinted that the suit would be dropped if Smollett were sentenced to pay the $130,106 in restitution. Even before Smolletts adamant remarks, his hourslong sentencing hearing was bombastic even by Cook Countys blustery standards. Linn called the actor a charlatan, claiming he wanted to throw himself a pity party and grab attention by staging the fake hate crime. The fact that Smollett and his family have been deeply committed to social justice issues made it all the more shocking that Smollett tried to exploit those sentiments, Linn said. You were so invested in issues of social justice and you knew this was a sore spot for everybody in this country, you know this was a country slowly trying to heal, he said. You took some scabs off some healing wounds and you ripped them apart for one reason: you wanted to make yourself more famous. Uche told reporters after court that Linn himself has given more lenient sentences to other defendants with Class 4 felonies. And besides, he said, Thursdays sentencing was round two of punishment. Smollett had already forfeited his $10,000 bond as part of an agreement that Cook County prosecutors would drop his initial charges. So regardless of where anyone stands, in where they feel or how they feel about Jussie, the question is, isnt that beating a dead horse? Isnt that going too far? Uche said. One of Smolletts attorneys, Shay Allen, told reporters that Smolletts sentence was a travesty. For Judge Linn to chastise Jussie that way, and speak about the Black community and speak about the LGBTQ-plus community in a way that was so demeaning, and then give him a jail sentence on a Class 4 felony ... Ive never, never ever seen such a harsh sentence on a Class 4 felony. Dan Webb, the prosecutor appointed to investigate the Smollett matter after Judge Michael Toomin ruled Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxxs recusal was improper and the initial case was all void, said they were extraordinarily pleased with the sentence. Webb also pushed back on Foxxs characterization in a Sun-Times op-ed that Smolletts second case was a kangaroo prosecution. The Cook County states attorneys office dismissed the entire indictment with no punishment whatsoever, no jail time, no restitution, no criminal fine, no probation, no deferred prosecution, Webb said. Smollett was allowed to go free and basically give the finger to the city of Chicago, and Judge Toomin decided that the handling of that case was so inappropriate that a special prosecutor needed to be appointed. Gloria Schmidt Rodriguez represented the two star witnesses against Smollett, brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundario. Much was made at trial of Olabinjos felony conviction, but he tried to better himself afterward, she noted, and urged Smollett to do the same. We can only hope to convey that message to Mr. Smollett. Dont let this mistake define you. It doesnt have to. Make something good from this. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 100 years ago March 12, 1922: State highway commissioners have announced plans for the routing of the Corn Belt Trail (later Route 24) east from Washington. Some of the land is donated, and the rest will be bought. The new hard road will run through Eureka but will bypass Secor by a mile. 75 years ago March 12, 1947: El Paso residents have petitioned the Woodford County Board to probe suspected jailhouse liberty. This is a response to an El Paso murder suspect being spotted at large when he was supposed to be in jail. If the sheriff lied about it, he must resign, the petition says. 50 years ago March 12, 1972: Fire caused $50,000 loss at the Pizza Hut restaurant on East Empire Street. Police think the blaze was set by a burglar. The fire started away from the money that was taken, but also away from more cash that was missed. BFD Capt. Ranna Potts suffered a leg injury. 25 years ago March 12, 1997: An Ellsworth citizens group opposed to a possible nuclear waste storage site near their town is getting the word out. Some people dont know about it yet, and others only learned of it when the media approached them. Information has been slow to come, they say. Compiled by Jack Keefe; jkeefe@coldwellhomes.com. Nigerian student Samuel Otunla sounds exhausted in the voice note he sent the BBC after managing to leave Ukraine. He recorded the message after getting his first decent sleep in three days, following some 60 hours of travelling as he made it from the eastern city of Sumy across the border in the west into Hungary. He began the evacuation journey, which involved a bus, a train, and then another bus, on Tuesday with other international students. Otunla had previously told the BBC about how traumatized he was after spending much of the previous 10 days in a basement. In the latest voice message, he says that on the night before he left there was an explosion a kilometre away from his university campus. "It was so loud that we actually thought it was our building that was hit. We heard the swooshing sound of the rocket as it went past and the building was just shaking. "It is sad, it is crazy what is happening." But the veterinary student wants to emphasize how much he enjoyed being in Ukraine. "Ukraine has been home for us... we really loved this country and we didn't want to leave it. It was a peaceful place to live in and we had a very nice studying environment." Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Colonel Festus Aboagye (retired), a security analyst, has alleged that one of the police officers killed in connection with bullion van robberies in Accra had criminal tendencies before joining the Ghana Police Service. The police on Tuesday (8 March) announced they have killed two officers and arrested four others linked with bullion van robberies. Talking to Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on Friday (11 March), Aboagye questioned the procedure followed in recruiting officers into the Ghana Police Service. At least since I was back in Ghana 2017, there have been questions every now and then raised about recruitment into our national institutions, especially the security institutions including National Security, that to me I think is still a problem. Now only last night, there is some anecdotal evidence on social media that one of the persons who have been killed, had some criminal tendencies in two secondary schools that he attended to the extent that in the first instance, he was dismissed, he said. He went to a second school and the school find his behaviours unacceptable and was sacked from boarding, so how did this character find himself into the police service? Would this suggest that the police did not do due diligence of rigorously going into the backgrounds of these individuals? Aboagye asked. He called on the security agencies to review their recruitment processes. But all of us including ourselves when we apply to join the Ghana Armed Forces, while we were under training certain national officers were going to our schools and villages and wherever we have listed that we lived and asking questions about us, did we do this in the case of this particular individual? he added. Four police officers, civilian charged and remanded The circuit court in Accra on Wednesday (9 March) remanded into police custody four police officers and a civilian arrested recently in connection with bullion van robberies in Ghana. Their plea for bail was not taken after it was opposed by the prosecution, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Sylvester Asare, who argued that the Police Service is still carrying out investigations into the case and will require the assistance of the five accused. Of the five suspects, two Albert Ofosu and Affisu Yaro Ibrahim have been charged with attempt to commit crime and robbery. The others Richard Boadu, Razak Alhassan and Rabiu Jambedu have been charged with abetment of crime and robbery. The five were picked up at a hideout after a police intelligence-led raid at Borteyman near Ashaiman on Tuesday 8 March. The case has been adjourned to Monday 28 March 2022. Source: asaaseradio.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 TEHRAN, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran's nuclear chief said on Saturday that no political impacts can divert Iran's relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) governed by the framework of the IAEA's rules and regulations, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. "We move forward in line with the IAEA's regulations and our professional relationship with it," Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), told reporters. The recent visit by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to Tehran was part of mutual interactions between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, Eslami said. Grossi visited the Iranian capital in early March, during which Iran and the IAEA agreed on a roadmap to resolve Iran's nuclear safeguards issues by June, according to a joint statement by Grossi and Eslami after their meeting. The Russian space agency Roscosmos has warned that the Western sanctions against Russia may cause the 500-tone International Space Station to 'fall' or 'land.' Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos called for the 'illegal' sanctions to be lifted while adding that the operation of Russian vessels servicing the ISS could be disrupted. As a result, the Russian segment of the station - which helps correct its orbit - could be affected, causing the 500-tonne structure to 'fall down into the sea or onto land'. Listing the Russian segments' utilities in Telegram posts, Rogozin said it 'provides duplication of the life support systems of the American segment', including those for obtaining oxygen, removing carbon dioxide, and removing harmful impurities from the atmosphere. 'Also, Russian means provide backup of voice and telemetry communications of the American segment of the station with ground control points,' he added. In one of the posts Rogozin presented a map, saying it was 'created by American astronomers arguing with me' but 'just shows that Russia would least endangered by the destruction of the ISS'. He warned other countries, 'including those led by the "dogs of war"' should 'think about the price of the sanctions they initiated against Roscosmos'. 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 apex court presided over by Justice Jones Dotse on Wednesday unanimously ruled that a Deputy Speaker in Parliament can vote and be counted during the formation of a quorum for parliamentary decision-making. The landmark ruling was given after private legal practitioner, Justice Abdulai, filed a case against the Attorney-General to contest the First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusus decision to count himself during a vote to approve the 2022 budget. Many have argued that the standing orders of Parliament cannot supersede the 1992 Constitution of Ghana; hence the SC is right in their ruling. The Minority and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the other hand believes it's an affront on the principle of separation of powers. Adding his voice to the debate, George Opare Addo, National Youth Organiser of the NDC, says the independence of Parliament is being compromised adding if it's not checked soon, the Judiciary can rule that Parliamentary sitting is unconstitutional Speaking in an interview on Peace FM's The Platform programme, Pablo as he is popularly called, further described the ruling as a form of judicial interference because Parliament is a separate arm. "The Supreme Court should have stayed away from this matter because the SC does not have the power to intervene in matters of Parliament; it's as simple as ABCD. this is an issue that concerns Parliament. If the Chief Justice issues practice orders can Parliament intervene? The Chief Justice doesn't make laws but he issues practice orders; can parliament say because he doesn't have the powers to make laws they won't allow the practice orders to work? No. The Supreme Court should've declined jurisdiction on this matter because clearly, they don't have jurisdiction to go into issues of procedures of parliament..." he averred. "...the SC cannot intervene in the standing orders of Parliament. Parliament is the house of the people; Supreme Court is not the house of the people; for me, I think they got it wrong...issues that cover the administration of parliament, the Supreme Court cannot intervene" he insisted. Listen to him in the video below Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Aspiring Central Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ben Aryeh has thrown his weight behind the Supreme Court ruling regarding the voting right of Deputy Speaker acting in lieu of the Speaker of Parliament. The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, settled this contentious issue as a seven member panel unanimously ruled that a Deputy Speaker can partake in the voting in Parliament. The verdict was made to bring a finality to the dispute about whether or not the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, when sitting in for the Speaker, can also exercise his right to vote as a Member of Parliament. This contentious matter before the House resulted in the members on both sides trading blows when the Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, acting as Speaker, in November last year decided to hand over to the Second Deputy Speaker in order to join a quorum and cast his vote on the 2022 budget by the Akufo-Addo government. The verdict said "Deputy Speaker is entitled to be counted as a member of Parliament for quorum" and can also "vote and take part in the decision of parliament". However, some critics and members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have registered their displeasure with the court ruling. They have described the ruling as a travesty of justice. Dissenting Views Former President John Mahama described the ruling as "shocking but not surprising" and dreaded the Apex Court is setting a "dangerous precedent of judicial interference in Parliamentary procedure for the future". Also Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George calls it a sham, tweeting "the sham called Justice delivery in our Republic. Despicable!'' Seasoned journalist Kwesi Pratt also backs the critics stressing the constitution gives every Ghanaian the right to comment on their ruling. ''The Supreme Court is not a divine institution. Supreme Court is a creation of the constitution. The constitution also gives us the right to review its provisions. We can even rewrite the constitution. The people of Ghana, the sovereign people of Ghana, they are the ultimate decision makers in everything including judicial matters. In fact, the continued existence of the Supreme Court is subject to the will of the sovereign people of Ghana'', he said on Peace FM's morning show ''Kokrokoo'' on Friday, March 11. President Akufo-Addo's Take The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo also sharing his thoughts on the ruling asserted that should the Deputy Speaker be ''denied the right to vote, [it will mean] it is tantamount to denying the right of the people you represent to have a say in the decision of the Assembly. That will not be right. So, I couldn't understand all this furore and controversy artificially generated''. ''I'm astonished about how much public energy has been wasted, I say so with the greatest of respect, been wasted in an area on an issue where there is so much clarity and I'm happy that the court...the Supreme Court, when it is declaring the meaning of the constitution and it does so unanimously. That is the most emphatic way in which the court can pronounce!'', he added. Only Speaker Takes Oath Contributing to the Friday edition of Kokrokoo, Ben Aryeh shared similar sentiments with the President over the brouhaha surrounding the Supreme Court verdict. Speaking to host Kwami Sefa Kayi, Hon. Ben Aryeh explained that the oath of the Speaker of Parliament is taken by only the person elected by the House as the substantive Speaker, therefore any other person who sits in for him is never the Speaker but rather acting in his stead. This, he expounded, is a proof that the Deputy Speakers remain Members of Parliament even when acting as Speaker, so have the right to vote in the House. ''We have a Speaker who takes an oath as the Speaker. He is the only person who takes such oath. All other members of the House swear the oath of Members of Parliament including those who, temporarily, assume the role of the Speaker. When they assume that role, they don't swear any oath as the Speaker. That is why they don't retire on their Speaker's benefit or like the Speaker who retires on his salary and what have you. The Members of Parliament who act as Deputies are treated as Members of Parliament and that is it'', he affirmed. He also cautioned Parliamentarians speaking against the ruling to desist from it, stressing ''that House is an honorable House...So, they who have got the opportunity to serve in that House should accord that respect, dignity to that House''. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Seasoned journalist, Kwesi Pratt has lashed out at those slamming the critics of the Supreme Court verdict on the right of Deputy Speakers to participate in voting in Parliament when acting as Speaker. Following the court ruling which said a "Deputy Speaker is entitled to be counted as a member of Parliament for quorum" and can as well "vote and take part in the decision of parliament", there have arisen some people who disagree with the ruling. Objections Some of the notable critics are former President John Dramani Mahama who describes the ruling as ''shocking but not surprising" and fears the Supreme Court has set a ''dangerous precedent of judicial interference in Parliamentary procedure for the future" and Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George who tweeted ''the sham called Justice delivery in our Republic. Despicable!''. Minority Leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu also believes the verdict is to award the majority the opportunity to pass the e-levy bill. Counter-Arguments But some members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Majority in Parliament have descended on the critics, wondering why they are speaking against the court ruling. President Nana Akufo-Addo has questioned the opposition's logic in objecting to the verdict. ''I'm astonished about how much public energy has been wasted, I say so with the greatest of respect, been wasted in an area on an issue where there is so much clarity and I'm happy that the court...the Supreme Court, when it is declaring the meaning of the constitution and it does so unanimously. That is the most emphatic way in which the court can pronounce!'', he said as he expressed shock over the opposition remarks. ''Our Speaker is expressly not a member of the Assembly, that's why he doesn't have the right to vote. In fact, he is really not even to participate in the deliberations of the House. He is the referee making sure that the debate is conducted properly and the rules of procedure or the orders of the House are complied with. That's his role'', he argued, emphasizing if the Deputy Speakers are ''denied the right to vote, [it will mean] it is tantamount to denying the right of the people you represent to have a say in the decision of the Assembly. That will not be right. So, I couldn't understand all this furore and controversy artificially generated''. Also, a leading member of the NPP and former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayensuano constituency, Samuel Ayeh-Paye has asked the opponents to leave the Supreme Court alone stating "the Supreme Court has the authority to say what you're doing contravenes the constitution, so cancel it...we can't put any order in our standing orders which infracts the constitution''. He urged the law makers to "admit that if we accept separation of powers, the Executives, the Judiciary and the Legislature, then we must give the Supreme Court the room to do its work". Supreme Court Isn't Divine Reacting to this matter during a panel discussion on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Kwesi Pratt stressed the Supreme Court is not above criticisms. He explained that the constitution of Ghana gives every citizen the right to comment on a court ruling, hence can speak against it without fear or intimidation. ''The Supreme Court is not a divine institution. Supreme Court is a creation of the constitution. The constitution also gives us the right to review its provisions. We can even rewrite the constitution. The people of Ghana, the sovereign people of Ghana, they are the ultimate decision makers in everything including judicial matters. In fact, the continued existence of the Supreme Court is subject to the will of the sovereign people of Ghana'', he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi. He asserted; ''When the Supreme Court make the decisions, we are entitled to examine the decisions of the Supreme Court and to comment on the decisions of the Supreme Court.'' On his position on the verdict, Mr. Pratt argued that the purpose of the ruling is to give the Majority in Parliament an upper hand in decision making in the House. ''What is the purpose of this interpretation? The purpose of this interpretation is to allow the so-called majority to carry the day even as we have 137/137. That's the effect. That is the effect; no other effect! Is this right thing? For the Judiciary now to be making decisions about how voting can be carried in the House?'', he expounded. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Head of Monitoring Unit of the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu has called for a ceasefire over the Supreme Court ruling which legitimizes the Deputy Speaker's role as a Member of Parliament when presiding over proceedings in the House in lieu of the Speaker. The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, unanimously ruled that a "Deputy Speaker is entitled to be counted as a member of Parliament for quorum" and can "vote and take part in the decision of Parliament". However, there's been intense opposition from the Minority in Parliament and some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against the verdict. To Ex-President John Mahama, the Supreme Court, by this verdict, has set a ''dangerous precedent of judicial interference in Parliamentary procedure for the future". Ningo-Prampram MP, Sam George also describes the ruling as despicable, tweeting "the sham called Justice delivery in our Republic. Despicable!'' Charles Owusu, speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', countered the objections raised against the verdict. To him, the Supreme Court Judges have effectively done their job as Justices hearing the case, so wondered why there is too much noise about the ruling. Questioning the critics, he asked ''are they (Judges) not there because of the law we're talking about? Their job is about the law. Apart from pronouncing the law, what does the Supreme Court Judge do again?'' Charles Owusu further asked; ''When Joe Osei Owusu acts as Speaker, does he lose his membership as MP? So what is this? If he doesn't become a Member of Parliament, how can he become a Deputy of Speaker? In the first place, until the law is changed, if you are not a Member of Parliament, how can you be a Deputy Speaker? So, how does he lose his membership as a Member of Parliament?'' To him, the opposition is treating the Supreme Court Judges as if they ''Sunday school teachers'', cautioning them to desist from it. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video In this photo issued by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, a view of the stern of the wreck of Endurance, polar explorer's Ernest Shackleton's ship. Scientists say they have found the sunken wreck of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance, more than a century after it was lost to the Antarctic ice. The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust says the vessel lies 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) below the surface of the Weddell Sea. An expedition set off from South Africa last month to search for the ship, which was crushed by ice and sank in November 1915 during Shackleton's failed attempt to become the first person to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. Credit: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust/National Georgraphic via AP Researchers have discovered the remarkably well-preserved wreck of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, in 10,000 feet of icy water, a century after it was swallowed up by Antarctic ice during what proved to be one of the most heroic expeditions in history. A team of marine archaeologists, engineers and other scientists used an icebreaker ship and underwater drones to locate the wreck at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, near the Antarctica Peninsula. The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust's search expedition Endurance22 announced the discovery on Wednesday. Images and video of the wreck show the three-masted wooden ship in pristine condition, with gold-leaf letters reading "Endurance" still affixed to the stern and the ship's lacquered wooden helm still standing upright, as if the captain may return to steer it at any time. "This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen," said Mensun Bound, the director of the exploration. Bound noted the wreck is still upright, clear of the seabed "and in a brilliant state of preservation." The discovery is "a titantic find" in "one of the world's most challenging environments," said maritime historian Steven Schwankert, who was not involved in the expedition. The combination of deep, dark watersno sunlight penetrates to 10,000 feetfrigid temperatures and sea ice have frustrated past efforts to find Endurance, but also explain why the wreck is in such good condition today. The bottom of the Weddell Sea is "a very inhospitable environment for just about everythingespecially the kind of bacteria, mites and wood-eating worms that would otherwise enjoy munching on a wooden shipwreck," said Schwankert. The expedition Endurance22 embarked from Cape Town, South Africa, in early February in a ship capable of breaking through 3-foot (1-meter)-thick ice. The team, which included more than 100 researchers and crew members, deployed underwater drones that combed the seafloor for two weeks in the area where the ship was recorded to have sunk in 1915. "We have made polar history with the discovery of Endurance, and successfully completed the world's most challenging shipwreck search," said expedition leader John Shears. In this photo issued by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, a view of the bow of the wreck of Endurance, polar explorer's Ernest Shackleton's ship. Scientists say they have found the sunken wreck of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance, more than a century after it was lost to the Antarctic ice. The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust says the vessel lies 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) below the surface of the Weddell Sea. An expedition set off from South Africa last month to search for the ship, which was crushed by ice and sank in November 1915 during Shackleton's failed attempt to become the first person to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. Credit: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust/National Georgraphic via AP The British explorer Shackleton never achieved his ambition to become the first person to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. In fact, he never set foot on the continent during the failed Endurance expedition, though he did visit Antarctica during earlier voyages. "Despite being designed to resist collision with ice floes and to break through pack ice, Endurance could not withstand being crushed by heavy sea ice," said Ann Coats, a maritime historian at the University of Portsmouth. Shackleton himself noted the difficulty of the endeavor in his diary. "The end came at last about 5 p.m.," he wrote. "She was doomed, no ship built by human hands could have withstood the strain." Before the ship disappeared 3,000 meters below icy waters, Shackleton's crew loaded food and other provisions into three lifeboats to escape and set up camp on ice floes, where they used sled dogs to carry their provisions, according to Shackleton's diary. Shackleton and his captain, Frank Worsley, then sailed across 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) of treacherous icy waters in a 22-foot (7-meter) ship to the island of South Georgia, a remote whaling community, to get help. That successful trip is considered a heroic feat of fortitude, and Shackleton's decisive response to imminent tragedy is still held up today as a model of how to lead in difficult circumstances. "Shackleton was very good at planner and a good improviserI have a feeling that the polar explorers of today would not survive the same kinds of things he endured," said Anna Wahlin, a polar researcher at the University of Gothenburg, who just returned from a two-month mission studying ice shelves and warming ocean currents in Antartica. In Antartica, "everything is gray or white," and after only a few weeks, explorers "start to miss smelling Earth, walking in the forest, hearing birds chirp, seeing things that are green," she said. The expedition to find Endurance comes a century after Shackleton's death in 1922. British historian and broadcaster Dan Snow, who accompanied the researchers, tweeted that the wreck's discovery on Saturday happened "100 years to the day since Shackleton was buried." The ship is protected as a historic monument under the 6-decade-old Antarctic Treaty that is intended to protect the region's environment. Researchers filmed the wreck, but nothing was recovered or disturbed. Instead, expedition organizers say they want to use laser scans to create a 3-D model of the ship that can be displayed in both traveling exhibits and a permanent museum exhibit. "Shackleton, we like to think, would have been proud of us," the expedition's Bound wrote in a blog post. Explore further Shackleton's lost shipwreck discovered off Antarctica 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Credit: CC0 Public Domain A California startup is joining much bigger players in the drive to explore settlement on the moon, as plans by NASA to send astronauts back there heats up the commercial lunar market. Aerospace firm Venturi Astrolab Inc., better known as Astrolab, based in Hawthorn, California, is building an all-purpose truck that is intended to construct lunar infrastructure and also ferry astronauts around, enabling work that would make long-term settlement on the moon possible. Companies are betting that NASA's drive to return to the moon in several years, along with technological and business advancements that have lowered launch costs, could be lucrative for businesses that get in there early and succeed. "We are transitioning now from just the earliest phase of exploration to the early stage of settlement," said Chris Hadfield, a retired Canadian astronaut and advisory board member for Astrolab. "This is going to become part of human commerce and human geography," he said of early moon settlement. NASA is aiming to launch astronauts to the moon no earlier than 2025 as part of its Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon. The goal is to develop a sustained lunar presence, which would serve as a stepping stone of sorts to future missions to Mars, from a place relatively close to home where astronauts could further explore the moon and train on how to live and work in space. The moon is about 238,000 miles from Earth, while Mars is about 140 million miles away. First, that would require a base for operations on the moon. Already, SpaceX won a contract to develop a lunar lander that would deliver astronauts to the lunar surface. Last year, aerospace giants Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin each said they were working on lunar terrain vehicles for astronaut transport that could compete for a future NASA contract. Founded in 2019 by former employees of NASA, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and SpaceX, Astrolab is building a rover capable of completing tasks such as construction, transporting supplies to build a lunar base, science and exploration, as well as ferrying astronauts around the moon's surface. The 15-person company is currently testing a prototype vehicle. Unlike other rovers, which are often designed around a specific purpose, Astrolab's Flexible Logistics and Exploration rover is intended to be more versatile, said Jaret Matthews, company founder and chief executive. "We want to be the UPS or FedEx of the moon," Matthews said. On Wednesday afternoon in Hawthorne, Matthews demonstrated how the rover is able to roll over rocks, maneuver sideways and spin around and pick up and carry loads. He said the rover can carry twice the capacity of a Ford F-150 truck bed. The company eventually wants to build a fleet of rovers. Matthews spent 10 years at NASA's JPL working on Mars rovers before moving to SpaceX and developing the system that allows the Crew Dragon astronaut-carrying capsule to dock with the International Space Station. "What I love about rovers is they're an extension of humanityour ambassadors in the solar system," he said. Matthews said Astrolab's rover is different from other rovers in development because astronaut transportation is only one part of its job. The company is aiming to get a rover onto the moon before astronauts even arrive so it could set up ahead of time. "Astronaut time is the most precious time in the world," he said. "The more we can do robotically the better." At least at first, the lunar market will be limited to government contracts, said Laura Forczyk, owner of space consulting firm Astralytical. But if technology matures and the market proves itself, it could expand beyond government exploration to construction, mining of resources, lunar infrastructure or even tourism. "In the future, as we start to get more comfortable with lunar exploration, it could really open up," Forczyk said. "But it's so early in the process that we don't know which direction is going to be most realistic." Astrolab is not betting solely on government contracts for its business case. Matthews would not discuss the company's investors or finances, citing Astrolab's status as a privately-held firm, but said he thinks the rover will be competitive for a number of commercial and civil opportunities. The company's moonshot has taken the pilot rover from its base in Hawthorne to California's Death Valley, where Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut, tested whether it could be operated successfully in a rugged landscape. Clad in a bulky spacesuit mock-up, he and a partner stood on a platform at the controls on the back of the rover, as if they were ready to operate a much bulkier, four-wheeled Segway. They began driving the prototype away. As they drove, the team chasing them faded away, and the test suddenly became "very realistic." "There was nothing in our field of view that was human," Hadfield said. "There were no tracks, no buildings. It wasn't perfect, but it was quite evocative of what it's going to feel like, and obviously what it felt like for the 12 guys that walked on the moon." More information: 2022 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. GLENS FALLS Some new faces have found themselves at City Hall, while a familiar one moves back into a familiar role in the mayors office. Pat Dowd, former communications director with the Lake George Association, has been appointed as the citys community development director. I have grant writing and grant management experience and thats part of what the job is right now, he said. When Mayor Bill Collins was sworn in on New Years Day, Mike Mender, former special assistant to the mayor, was appointed to the community development director post, while Chip McTiernan was appointed to replace him as special assistant. McTiernan grew up in Glens Falls. He attended Kensington Road Elementary School, St. Marys-St. Alphonsus Regional Catholic School and graduated from Glens Falls High School. He moved to Arizona with his wife in 1989 and attended Collins College. For 30 years, they stayed in Arizona, where McTiernan mostly worked in information technology. He his wife and two kids had made the decision to move back east so they could be closer to extended family. My moms still here, her mom is still here. Her brothers are here, my brothers are here. It just made more sense to come back to Glens Falls. McTiernan had spent the past two years selling cars at Whiteman Chevrolet. He said he knew Collins prior to the appointment, and that Collins wanted to have someone he knew working alongside him. After recent developments and discussions between Mender and Collins, it was decided that Menders role at City Hall would change. On March 1, the Common Council voted to approve a transfer of money, which serves as Menders salary, into the Mayors Assistant Personal Services line of the budget. That will allow Mender to shift back into the mayors office and be an assistant who will serve as the citys budget officer. Hes going to help teach my new mayors assistant the budget, and work with me to develop the budget for this coming year, Collins said. Were going to expand the opportunity to try to budget over a number of years. Collins said that prior to the decision, that role was going to be included in Menders duties as community development director. This will allow him to devote all of his time to that specifically. Collins said he feels Mender will serve the city better in his new role. I realized that Mike Menders true strength lies as a budget officer, Collins said. And I want to take full advantage of his 18 years of experience. The position of community development director is a mayoral appointment, so the Common Council did not have to vote to approve Dowd. Collins said there was discussion between members of the council and himself prior to Dowds appointment. Collins said he believes Dowds experience will make him a good fit for the job. He will help us to develop and plan out a true plan for community development in the 21st century here in Glens Falls, Collins said. Before Collins was sworn in, he had the idea for the position of community development director. At the time, he said there were a number of grants that had started with Ed Bartholomew, who wore many hats during his time at City Hall, including being a mayor, and had served as an economic development director for the city. Collins said that due to Bartholomews sudden passing, there are grants that havent been finalized and are at various parts of the process. The role of community development director, in part, will serve to ensure the city finalizes those grants. Collins has known Dowd since his days with the LGA, and knew that Dowd had a history with grant writing, communications and development. He said that he knows Dowd to be a leader in the community. The reason this all happened quickly is because I knew those grants existed and that we had a ton of work to do, Collins said. And I knew Pat Dowd with his experience would be the guy for the job. Jay Mullen is a reporter for The Post-Star covering the city of Glens Falls, Warren County and crime and courts. You can reach him at 518-742-3224 or jmullen@poststar.com. Love 2 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 3 A Thursday night fundraiser at 42 Degrees Tavern in Glens Falls raised money for Ukrainian refugees. All proceeds from the event are going toward the United Nations Refugee Agency. Sing for Ukraine raised around $1,500 by midnight on Thursday, according to the organizer, Mike Thompson. In addition, Thompson helped prompt the Catholic Health of Long Island to donate $300,000 in medical supplies to Ukraine. Thompson is an English teacher who taught in Kyiv, Ukraine, for five years. He made many friends with other teachers and students throughout his time there. His Ukrainian wife, Yulia Pylypchak, and their son, Timofey, left Ukraine in January when they felt their lives would soon be in danger because of an imminent Russian invasion. The Russian army had not mobilized at that point, but Thompson nevertheless listened to his instinct. He tried to warn many of his students and friends, but they would not heed his warning. Now in Glens Falls, Pylypchak and Thompson are doing all they can to help evacuate their friends and family from Kyiv remotely. Thompson said he will probably organize another fundraiser event in the near future, but one to raise money for ammunition and supplies for the Ukrainians who are fighting. Prayers are all well and good, but they (Ukrainian soldiers and residents) need supplies and weapons, Thompson said. Pylypchaks brother and sister-in-law are still in Ukraine and are fighting in the conflict. Support for Ukraine in the region has been unilateral, with many residents in the region donning Ukrainian colors and flags. Lawrence Street Tavern in Glens Falls is flying a number of Ukrainian flags. The flags have a trident symbol in the top left of the flag, which is the official coat of arms of Ukraine. Drew Wardle is a reporter for The Post-Star. You can contact him at 518-681-7343 or email him at dwardle@poststar.com. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The daylong simulation, called the Adrian Project, was held in the Fannie Lou Hamer Event Room at Stocktons Atlantic City campus and provided students with a quick glance at a potential career path as an IRS special agent, who represent the law enforcement arm of the federal tax agency. The Adrian Project is a national program established in 2000 by the IRS, so named because it was first held at Adrian College in Michigan. For more than 12 years, the project has been held at several New Jersey colleges. The first time the Adrian Project was at Stockton was in 2017. Professor Barry Palatnik, an accounting professor at Stockton, is credited for bringing the training here, while Dan Barbera, a Stockton alumnus and chief financial officer of Lydia Security Monitoring, sponsors the event. Its a fun program, but students learn a lot, said Palatnik. My students do great work, so I want to take it to the next level. The program started Friday with an 8 a.m. swearing in. At least 10 IRS special agents trained about 20 Stockton students majoring in accounting, finance and criminal justice, as well as two students from Ocean City High School who take college-level accounting. IRS Special Agent and Lead Firearm/Use of Force Coordinator for New Jersey Kristine Fata conducted the defense training, which consisted of learning how to use police vests, handguns and handcuffs and arrest people. Fata conducts training for all IRS special agents in the state. Mena Adly, 22, is a senior at Stockton who had heard about the training from Palatnik. Im interested in a career in law enforcement. The job I want to apply for you need a degree for, Adly said. This is a potential career for students. They can use their accounting knowledge and be in law enforcement, Palatnik said. This gives students insight to the job. If you dont want a desk job, this is like 50/50, Adly said. Stockton suggests new marketing plans to attract young Atlantic City visitors Atlantic City could benefit from a targeted marketing plan to attract younger visitors and e Jackson Goetter, 16, and Kylie Turner, 18, said their accounting teacher told them about the opportunity. It sounded interesting, and its better than a CPA, said Goetter, who takes college-level accounting classes with Turner at Ocean City. Adly said he wasnt interested in numbers, but other students could see themselves in a career where kicking down doors in a bulletproof vest and accounting go hand in hand. This program really opens your eyes up to different career paths, said Robert Glantz, special agent and public information officer for IRS Criminal Investigation. Glantz, whos been working as a special agent for more than 31 years, said IRS Criminal Investigation special agents are a small part of the organization, whereas 95% of IRS matters are civil. Its a fantastic job. You feel good every day about what youre doing, Glantz said. New IRS special agents usually have to undergo six months of training, while veteran special agents train quarterly. That training is condensed into a one-day simulation for students in the program. Other requirements include an accounting degree and a certain number of accounting classes. Glantz said the students learn a lot in that day, including how important it is to separate, quickly and correctly, the guilty from the innocent during a raid. We put a fake baby in each one of our mock raids, he said with a smile. And they point their guns at the baby. They dont know any better because its their first raid. Contact Selena Vazquez: 609-272-7225 svazquez@pressofac.com Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. People are seen inside a shopping mall in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on March 11, 2022. British Columbia of Canada lifted the mask mandate in public settings starting from Friday. Individual businesses and event organizers can choose to continue requiring masks on their premises. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua) People are seen inside a shopping mall in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on March 11, 2022. British Columbia of Canada lifted the mask mandate in public settings starting from Friday. Individual businesses and event organizers can choose to continue requiring masks on their premises. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua) Passengers take a train in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on March 11, 2022. British Columbia of Canada lifted the mask mandate in public settings starting from Friday. Individual businesses and event organizers can choose to continue requiring masks on their premises. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua) A sign recommending face masks is seen at a Skytrain station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on March 11, 2022. British Columbia of Canada lifted the mask mandate in public settings starting from Friday. Individual businesses and event organizers can choose to continue requiring masks on their premises. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua) By December 2016, Thomas TJ Siderio already had more days behind him than ahead. He still believed in Santa Claus. Photos taken a few weeks before Christmas that year show the 7-year-old talking with the white-bearded man, albeit a bit tentatively. In the years that followed, TJs life would come to a rolling boil, fueled by bad influences and bad decisions as he cruised the streets of South Philly on a bicycle. Soon, he started breaking curfew, and by the spring of 2020, police had to put out a bulletin when he went missing for days. Be on the lookout, they advised, for an 11-year-old with short brown hair and a small scar on his right cheek. He was 4-foot-9 and 98 pounds at the time. A year later, cops were searching a house where he was living after receiving a tip that hed pulled a gun during a large fight at Second and Porter Streets in South Philadelphia. They found clothes matching a photo taken at the scene, but no gun, according to a law enforcement source. In recent Instagram posts, TJ could be seen in a ski mask, and there are several references to guns and drug use. Then, he was gone. On March 1, Thomas J. Siderio Jr., a seventh grader at Sharswood Elementary School who was weeks away from his 13th birthday, was shot in the back by a Philadelphia police officer and killed. He was fleeing the scene, police said, after he fired a bullet, shattering the window of an unmarked police car. After the shooting, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said: We as a society have failed him. And at a news conference announcing that the officer who shot TJ would be fired for violating the departments use-of-force policy, Outlaw returned to that theme. It was a tragedy before it even ended, she said. Outlaw has taken heat on social media from both sides: Critics of the police saw her comments as an attempt to deflect responsibility from the officers, while the pro-police crowd accused her of downplaying the danger that the child posed. But she raised questions that Philadelphia cannot ignore. Children arent born with guns in their hands. What went wrong? How did things get to this point, where cops investigating illegal firearms are led to a 12-year-old allegedly packing a laser-equipped 9-millimeter handgun? He had a tendency to follow the wrong kind of kids, said Terry Elnicki-Varela, who works in special education and started helping TJ at school three years ago. He was no angel. Far from it. Elnicki-Varela, however, saw TJs potential. She said he just needed someone to love him and guide him along a straight path. Eventually, she invited him to her home in South Philadelphia. Watching him chilling out on her porch with her grandson after school, she hoped it gave him a glimpse of a supportive family life. He didnt have to go down the path he chose, she said. Her grandson is heartbroken by TJs death. Interviews with friends and family point to a chaotic and shifting home life for TJ, with a father whos been incarcerated for several years and a mother with two arrests for drug possession and jail stints. Some described the mother, 31, as more of a big sister. Although he nominally resided with a grandmother, TJ was a bit of a nomad and could often be spotted riding though neighborhoods from Pennsport to Girard Estates on his bicycle, visiting friends or family scattered across a wide swath of South Philadelphia. TJs life was documented by extensive social media posts from the many young people he encountered touring around. He was well-known. To some as a friend, to others a menace. On certain blocks, he was a fixture. It wont seem right walking down the block without you popping out of nowhere saying Yo, gang, one relative wrote online after TJs passing. Some posts show innocent scenes of TJ: At the Jersey Shore with other children, marching along with the Mummers, taking selfies or showing off his dance moves on TikTok frequently while flipping off the camera. Friends described him as funny, intelligent, and caring. In one video, posted after his death, a beaming TJ is shown scooting down a South Philly boulevard as two friends balance on his bikes pegs. One thing about TJ, a friend wrote in a caption. If he got a bike, he not gon let me walk. You were my whole entire world, a girl wrote on Instagram, sharing a photo of TJ as a baby. I always told you to stop wit the streets and not to be around some of the people you were around. But the same friends said he was often hardheaded. Other times, he seemed despondent about his life, with one friend recounting online how theyd held TJ after he had abruptly broken down in tears. Mark Nasuti, a family friend who sometimes looked after the boy, expressed shock that TJ had ever gotten mixed up with guns. Nasuti met TJ when he was 5 years old and living with his great-aunt Marge in South Philadelphia. Nasuti, whom TJ called Uncle Frank, knew the aunt and TJs mother from their neighborhood, and had stepped in to help raise TJ, spending his own money to get him clothes and other necessities, and a bike. Id buy him stuff and wed hang out, said Nasuti. And then when his aunt passed away, I felt bad and tried to keep an eye on him. After her death in 2018, TJs relatively harmless pranks, like throwing eggs at peoples houses on Mischief Night, began to turn into more serious trouble. TJ was clever, but he could sometimes be manipulated by older kids. Nasuti recalled being contacted by police after a group of kids had called a pizza shop and mugged a delivery worker. Cops said that they had used Nasutis phone number to order the pizza and suspected his number had been spoofed. Nasuti knew better. The geniuses used TJs phone to call the pizza guy they robbed, he said, referring to a phone hed bought him. Sometimes, people in the neighborhood would mention social media posts that appeared to show TJ with a gun. But Nasuti had never seen that himself. He said TJ might have been influenced by older kids or wanted to impress them by acting like a tough guy. There was nothing mean or malicious in this kid, said Nasuti. He had all these pets, these cats. He cried when his dog died. He was the antithesis of what theyre painting him out to be. Social media, however, provides another perspective. Like many adolescents, TJ seemed to sprout physically almost overnight and was itching to prove he was mature and could hang with his older crew. In a video posted to an Instagram account associated with TJ last year, the boy appears to be smoking marijuana and driving a car while two older boys can be heard goading him on and laughing off screen. In more recent images, TJ poses for several photos wearing all black clothing and a ski mask that covered most of his face except for his eyes. On an Instagram account that appears to have been run by TJ, the profile photo depicts someone just out of frame holding a pistol upside down while exposing a magazine of ammunition. The sleeve of a black jacket is just visible in the corner of the photograph the sleeve of a jacket Nasuti says he gave to TJ as a gift six months ago. Just two days after TJ was killed, his father, Thomas Siderio Sr., initiated a lawsuit against the four officers who were in the car and gave chase. Siderio, 28, is currently incarcerated on firearms convictions in a state prison in Coal Township, Pa. Hes been there for the last three years, and previously spent at least a year in prison in Philadelphia. The gun case stemmed from a 2017 shootout outside a bar in which the fathers cousin was killed. Video and audio recordings obtained by The Inquirer show that the Taurus 9-millimeter that police say TJ tossed was found about 60 feet from his body. Siderio Sr.s attorney, Conor Corcoran, has said he is not aware of any definitive evidence that TJ fired the gun. TJs mother, Desirae Frame, also has a criminal record, with the two drug cases and other arrests for theft, forgery, contempt of court and receiving stolen property. This week, Frame retained a high-profile personal-injury law firm in what is likely a precursor to a lawsuit over TJs death. Attorney Robert Mongeluzzis past clients include victims of the 2010 duck boat accident in the Delaware River that killed two passengers and the 2013 Salvation Army building collapse that killed six people. He said Frame asked us to find out what really happened in the shooting of her son and to gather every piece of evidence and push for reform so this never happens again. Mongeluzzi said the initial reporting on the shooting appears to be damning for the Philadelphia Police Department but that there are still many unanswered questions. I think a lawsuit will be necessary to get the information and the reform, he said. In a statement issued through Mongeluzzi on Friday, Frame said: I love my son and his death is a tragedy that has left a hole in my heart. While TJ may have had challenges in his life, he was a loving son and friend who did not deserve to be gunned down in the back while unarmed. My only hope is that out of this tragedy there is reform, so that no other mother has to go through the pain of burying their child. Nasuti said he had lost touch with TJ a bit in recent years, as the boy grew older, but continued to check in on him, making sure he had what he needed. He was like my little friend, my buddy, he said. But we were spending less time. At 7:09 p.m. March 1, Nasuti spoke to TJ for the last time. It was a conversation that went much like all their other quick chats. As a goof, Nasuti had purchased a kids book for 3- to 5-year-olds, and dropped it off along with pillows and a comforter that Frame had asked for, because the boy would be staying with her. That night, TJ called Nasuti back. He wanted some money to go out with his friends later that night. Nasuti brought up the book, teasing the boy. The 12-year-old responded with an expletive, and started laughing. He was in good spirits, Nasuti said. He seemed happy, he was laughing. About 30 minutes later, TJ was pronounced dead. On Thursday morning, at Lighthouse Baptist Church at Broad and Ritner Streets, eight blocks from the shooting, TJs body lay in an open casket for his funeral, alongside wreaths of flowers the Sixers, the Froggy Carr Wench Brigade, a message from his parents calling him #1 son. Prayer cards contained a link to an online memorial video. Photos showed TJ as a newborn. Then hes on roller blades. Cuddling with a cat. Sitting on a pumpkin. A baby in plaid overalls in front of a Christmas tree. At the Mummers Parade. The pastor, Mandell Gross, went around the church, asking dozens of young people whod attended the funeral to say their names into the microphone. He reminded them each name is important and pleaded with them to love one another and avoid TJs fate. We need each other, Gross said, more now than ever. Police sirens wailed in the background. The night before, at TJs viewing, Nasuti walked into the church to pay his respects. As a little kid, TJ loved playing with the rings Nasuti wore, particularly the gaudy blue one that Nasuti wore on his right pinkie. It was his favorite. As he knelt down Wednesday evening and looked at his young friend in the casket, wearing a gray suit and with his hair combed back, Nasuti slipped the blue ring off and put it on TJs left index finger. He kissed TJs forehead, said goodbye and walked out. A Rock Island County jury on Friday found Jerry J. Sanders guilty of first-degree murder in relation to the 2020 killing of Jeremy Jackson, 33, of East Moline. The jury deliberated for about three hours before returning its verdict against Sanders, 37, of Chicago, according to county court records. The trial began Monday. Silvis and East Moline police officers responding to a report of a shooting found Jackson suffering from a gunshot wound in the early morning hours on Aug. 30, 2020 in the area of 19th Street and 18th Avenue in East Moline. An ensuing investigation determined Jackson was shot in the 300 block of 3rd Avenue Court in Silvis. A warrant for first-degree murder was issued for Sanders arrest in September of 2020, according to Rock Island County court records. Sanders was arrested on the warrant in April. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 9, according to court records. A second man, Keith O. Richardson, 43, East Moline, was charged with obstruction of justice in relation to the killing, according to previous reporting. That case is still pending, with Richardsons next court date scheduled for March 15, court records state. Richardson was released from jail after posting a $10,000 bond, court records state. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A man from Marshalltown was sentenced Wednesday to 360 months in federal prison on charges related to a Quad-Cities methamphetamine investigation. A jury found Michael James Grommet, 37, guilty of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of methamphetamine, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of Illinois. Grommets trial was in August. He will also have to serve five years of supervised release once his prison sentence is complete, according to the release. Authorities say Grommet conspired with others to distribute about 15 pounds of ice methamphetamine in Illinois and Iowa. Hal Gunter, a co-conspirator, was also convicted at trial in August on the same charge and is scheduled to be senteced on March 16, according to the news release. "The case began when the Rock Island Police Department and (federal) Drug Enforcement Administration seized approximately 100 grams of 99% pure methamphetamine from the defendants' co-conspirators at Jumer's Casino in Rock Island, Illinois," according to a federal news release issued in August. "Agents worked up the chain of distribution to identify the sources of the methamphetamine as Grommet and Gunter." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A 43-year-old Moline man with at least 10 felony convictions on his criminal record will serve six years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a federal charge being a felon in possession of a firearm. During a sentencing hearing Friday in U.S. District Court, Davenport, Jose Antonio Tapia also was ordered to spend three years on supervised release after he completes his prison sentence. Tapia will be given credit for the time he has spent in the custody of the U.S. Marshals prior to his plea and sentencing. There is no parole in the federal prison system. The case began on the morning of March 14, 2021, when Davenport police were called to the Deja Vu strip club, 5220 Grand Ave., to investigate a report of a man with a gun inside the club. According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Police Officer Aaron Hoenig, when Tapia left the club he dropped the gun, but police found the gun along the path he had taken and arrested Tapia. While being booked at the Scott County Jail, Tapia tried to swallow a plastic packet. He regurgitated the packet, and when it was tested it was found to be cocaine. Tapia was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance-third offense and possessing contraband in a correctional facility, all three of which are Class D felonies under Iowa law that carry a prison sentence of five years. He also was charged with carrying weapons, an aggravated misdemeanor that carries a prison sentence of two years. Tapia was freed from the Scott County Jail after posting 10% of a $12,000 bond through a bonding company. Four months later, in July, federal authorities took over the case, and charged Tapia with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty to the charge on Nov. 15. Tapia has at least 10 felony convictions in Rock Island County dating back to 1998. In 1998 he was convicted of aggravated battery to a peace officer-fireman and was sentenced to two years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. In September of 2000, he pleaded guilty to drug possession and was sentenced to two years on probation. He violated his probation and was sentenced to four years in prison. In 2005, he was convicted twice for driving on a revoked or suspended license and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. In 2006, he was sentenced to four years in prison for once again driving on a suspended or revoked license. In 2011, he once again was sentenced to two years in prison for driving on a suspended or revoked license. In 2012 he was sentenced to two years on probation after pleading guilty to a drug possession charge. In 2014, he was sentenced to concurrent seven-year prison sentences after pleading guilty to three charges: aggravated driving in the influence, selling crack cocaine, and driving on a suspended or revoked license. The federal case was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Richard Westphal. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Nikolai Valencia hates seeing his mother sad. The St. Ambrose University freshman lives half a world away from his mother and home in Quito, Ecuador. The pair forced to watch from afar family in Svatove, Ukraine, struggle to survive as Russia continues to bombard the country. "It's hard to describe, even in Spanish," Valencia said. "I don't know how to say how she's feeling. She's just so frustrated and sad and angry." Valencia shares his mother's feelings, especially the helplessness that comes with not being able to do anything to stop the violence or help those he loves. But, he brought a little bit of happiness for them both when he stepped up to a podium Friday afternoon to share his story and march with others in solidarity with Ukraine. A group of around 50 students, staff and faculty marched into the chilly wind around campus, holding signs and calling for peace and an end to Russias invasion. Laura Meloy, a senior on the Model United Nations team and organizer of the march, said the team organized the march to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people. The St. Ambrose Model United Nations team had diligently prepared to represent Russia and Ukraine at a mock UN conference in St. Louis, studying each country's history and views on international matters. What they hadn't prepared for was Russia's invasion. News of which broke around the start of the conference. Knowing the history of both countries made the context of the invasion easier to understand, but not justifiable, Meloy said. In addition to the march, the Model UN team gathered letters in support of Ukraine and in opposition to the invasion to be sent to a Russian diplomat. "When we got back we really wanted to take what we learned and bring it to campus and spread awareness here," Meloy said. "We think it's really important to show solidarity with Ukraine even though we can't really do much to stop it." Duk Kim, the Model UN faculty advisor, said he was happy to see how well his students handled the conference, and was proud to watch as they organized the march and other activities in support of Ukraine. While he discusses issues like this in his classes, Kim said students don't often get to educate themselves outside the classroom and demonstrate their commitment and passion toward democracy. "This is a great opportunity to get engaged and see the people who share the same interest," Kim said. Valencia's mother was happy to hear that her son would join other St. Ambrose students to speak out against the Russian invasion. He said it was nice to see other students care about Ukraine and share in his frustrations in wishing the conflict to end but not being able to do anything to stop it. Valencia said his aunt, uncle and cousin are sheltering in their home, not wanting to leave their lives in Ukraine behind. Even if they wanted to evacuate, he said lack of transportation and presence of Russian soldiers would make it dangerously difficult, if not impossible. They check in with Valencia's mother regularly throughout the day, giving updates on bombardments and where Russians are entering the city. He recalled when speaking to the crowd his visits there as a child, playing with his family under a constantly sunny sky and seeing the beauty of the towns and people. If and when the conflict ends in Ukraine, Valencia hopes to go back and help his family and others in any way he can. "She's really happy that I care about it," Valencia said. "Obviously, I care. I'm proud that my mom is from Ukraine, and I've always loved the country." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CHICAGO - Mayor Lori Lightfoot will put Chicago police officers and other city workers who dont get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Sunday on nondisciplinary no-pay status, her administration said late Friday. The city will also consider disciplining workers, though it will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis as the Lightfoot administration balances its public health policies with staffing problems in the Police Department. All city employees, including Chicago police officers, who fail to comply may also face disciplinary action, up to and including termination. These decisions will be addressed at an individual and department level, and are being undertaken in a manner that will not impact public safety or the continuity of everyday government operations, her office said in a statement. Lightfoots latest pronouncement comes after the city won another round in court this week in its legal battle with the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police over the vaccine mandate. But she faces pressure not just from the police union which has appealed the latest legal ruling and claims the mandate will results in an exodus of officers but also from a group of aldermen still seeking to undo the rule. The lawsuit filed last year by Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 and other police unions against the city resulted in a February arbitrator ruling that upheld the requirement for city employees to be vaccinated, and set this Sunday as the deadline to get the first shot. A judges decision this week to deny the unions request to reconsider, and to lift a previous order pausing the vaccine policy, were additional setbacks for the local FOP, whose president, John Catanzara, has for months insisted the mandate violated union collective bargaining agreements. The FOP has appealed that ruling, but Catanzara acknowledged to his membership in an online video Friday that unvaccinated officers could be placed on no-pay status Monday. However, he said the arbitrator indicated Friday that officers who have pending vaccine exemption requests will be excused from the rule until they receive a determination, and that those denied exemptions will get a six-week reprieve. Catanzara said hundreds of officers could fall into that category. Those statements could not immediately be confirmed by a City Hall representative. On Wednesday, when announcing the appeal, Catanzara said: I dont know what happens over the next 72 hours. All I can tell you is we are not going to stop punching. This easily can be all averted before this cliff becomes a reality. The cliff was a reference to the just-under 2,800 Chicago police officers who remain unvaccinated and, according to Catanzara, may walk off the force soon unless they get religious or medical exemptions to the vaccination policy. Catanzara in recent weeks has sounded the alarm over what he said will be a bloodbath in Chicago if his predictions of a mass resignation come true. He did not immediately respond to questions Friday on why he thinks a substantial share of those 2,800 officers will quit. As of March 3, 30 members of the Police Department and 21 Fire Department employees were on no-pay status, according to a city spokesperson. Some city employees have lost pay over failing to comply with an earlier deadline to report their vaccine status or to submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. The arbitrators ruling noted that 6,621 Chicago police officers applied for religious exemptions as of December, about 58% of whom were still waiting for approval or denial. Only 1.5% of requests had been granted. Citywide, 11% of all accommodations have been granted, while 52% are pending, according to the ruling. Catanzara in February urged union members who have been denied exemptions to keep submitting requests and to even file a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging health care discrimination. This is all to pave a way for a future legal fight over the exemption process itself, he said. Also Friday, 12 aldermen sent a letter to Lightfoot announcing they would call a special City Council meeting if she did not respond to their concerns over the vaccination mandate. The council members flagged a clear and present danger to public safety should first responders be disciplined. The aldermen also pointed to natural immunity of workers who have been infected with COVID-19 which public health experts do not recommend as a substitute for vaccination and condemned what they said were lopsided numbers for exemptions across city departments. We cannot afford to lose one more police officer, firefighter, paramedic and city worker at this critical time, the aldermen wrote. Under Lightfoots directive, all city employees had until Oct. 15 to report their vaccination status but could choose to undergo regular COVID-19 testing, rather than get shots, through the end of the year. After police unions challenged the vaccine mandate in court, though, a judge suspended the Dec. 31 date for members to be fully inoculated, saying that needed to go through arbitration. Other unions representing city workers, including firefighters, sought to do the same but failed when an arbitrator sided with the city in December. In February, the same arbitrator also handed a defeat to the police unions. As the citys newest deadline for the first shot nears, Lightfoot faces tough choices about enforcing the mandate. Police Department staffing is significantly down since 2019 and the city has struggled to recruit replacements for cops who have left the job. Chicago is also in the midst of a major crime spike that began in early 2020. Cook County Judge Raymond Mitchell, in denying the FOPs bid to toss the arbitration result Wednesday, made a plea for the two sides to come together despite the contentious road they have gone down. While nodding to his belief that Chicago needs its police and that extraordinary and unrelenting challenges plagued both city leadership and police, the judge said it wasnt too late to sit down one more time. These have been tough times. Relationships may have frayed, Mitchell wrote. But even now, the parties to this case still have it within their power to negotiate a compromise. That same day, Catanzara in a YouTube video castigated Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown as having absolutely stupid leadership. Chicago Tribunes John Byrne contributed. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Nine of the 240 deer the city harvested in the annual harvest tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The remaining 231 deer were processed with 6,401 pounds going to Feeding South Dakota. South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks recommended 250 deer should be harvested in the city this year and 240 tags were filled. The program began in 1995 to foster healthy deer populations, address deer overpopulation problems within the city, and to donate the meat. Overall the Deer Harvest Program went well again this winter, falling just short of the quota set by Game, Fish & Parks, said city Parks Division Manager Scott Anderson in a press release. Its a win-win program for the community. It is a great way to effectively manage deer in the city limits at a safe and healthy level, and an opportunity to donate meat to people in need. The Citys Parks Division and Black Hills Sportsmen cover the processing costs of the first 150 deer harvested with Sportsmen Against Hunger covering the costs of the next 100 deer. The city harvested 250 deer in 2020-21 and 2019-20. Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 One of the more popular songbirds found in the Bitterroot is the black-capped chickadee. This tiny bird is also one of the smallest avian inhabitants of Montana, yet it can survive brutal temperatures. An extremely acrobatic perching bird, this is one of two species of chickadees that are found in the Bitterroot. Its cousin, the mountain chickadee, is not nearly as common, and occasionally visits the valley floor. Black-capped chickadees are found in flocks and often found visiting backyard bird feeders. Watching these beautiful grey, black and white puffballs nervously search for food, often feet away from a motionless human predator with much larger prey on their mind is always a battery charger. I once had a black-capped take perch on my arrow as I watched a deer approaching my tree stand. Of course, that event required a quick shooing movement that sent the deer and the chickadee on their way. Black-capped chickadees are named for the black crown of feathers on their head and throat with a wedge-like white streak coming from the back of the neck to the beak. The remainder of the plumage is generally grey with a white breast. These birds are regular visitors to backyard bird feeders where both male and female chickadees will fly off with a seed in their beak to cache for later retrieval. Researchers have discovered that chickadees may have up to 1,000 individuals cache locations, with the ability to remember where each of those locations is. One interesting fact that researchers have learned about this species is their ability to dump old brain memory cells and replace them with new fresh memory cells. This allows the species to remember fall cache locations such that they can find that location later during winter months when seeds might be difficult to find. The following year, they may establish new memory locations and eliminate the previous years cache locations from their memory banks. Found throughout the northern half of the U.S. and Canada year-round, this tiny bird, while considered a migratory songbird, rarely migrates during its adult life. They are adapted to withstand frigid temperatures by using tree bark cavities as shelter. Even though they have a small beak, they have been observed pecking out a nesting or shelter hole. They will also take advantage of man-made nesting boxes. If you are interested in placing nesting boxes to attract chickadees, be sure to move them into a cottonwood, willow, or alder grove at least 25 yards from a meadow's edge to avoid wrens from occupying all of your nest boxes. Once a nest site has been selected, both male and female chickadees will shape it, eventually leading to a small bowl-shaped nest several inches deep within a decaying tree. The female will line her nest with soft material including fine grass and hair. Typically, the female will lay around eight eggs which only take about two weeks to hatch. While incubating, the male will bring food to the female. Completely dependent upon the parents to feed, the tiny young will eventually fledge and leave the nest about two weeks after hatching. Black-capped chickadees are one of the more frequently observed birds during the Bitterroot Audubon Christmas Bird Count, with an average of around 275 individuals being observed annually within the Bitterroot survey area. The North American Breeding Bird Survey reveals a slight increase in numbers over a 50-year period, possibly due to increasing urbanization, human feeding and habitat availability. Scientists believe that climate change will reduce the current range of black-capped chickadees in the U.S., yet their range is expected to expand farther north, expanding the overall range of the species. A word used frequently by birders is pishing. It is a call made by a human, sounding exactly like the word, repeated 3-5 times at second intervals. Black-capped chickadees are notoriously attracted to pishing." Next time youre out for a walk along the Bitterroot, try making the sound, and watch out for this tiny little bird to appear. It wont take long! Sam Lawry, Teller Wildlife Refuge Executive Director has over 40 years in the wildlife conservation profession. His contributions to the Ravalli Republic are intended to share some of that knowledge of wildlife in the Bitterroot with the community. If you would like more information about Teller Wildlife Refuge please visit our website at www.tellerwildlife.org. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Craig Falcon, a 57-year-old Blackfeet and Aaniih, recently joined the Bitterroot-based MAPS Media Institute as its new Media Lab director. For decades, the nonprofit has worked to empower, inspire and prepare future generations for success through professional media arts instruction. From its beginnings in Hamilton, the MAPS Media Lab has become a statewide outreach program that teaches film, design, technology and music production to Montana students living in rural and Native communities. It provides professional instruction that opens up doors for young people to bring their own stories to life. MAPS Media Institute executive director Clare Ann Harff said the program has been looking for someone with Falcons background and skills since they first began offering the program on the Flathead Indian Reservation years ago. We were born in the Bitterroot and saw very early on how successful our approach could be, Harff said. While they continued to refine the recipe and the program grew to other reservations and communities across the state, Harff said they knew they needed the right person to take their traveling program to the next level. Harff couldn't have been happier when Falcon stepped forward. He has experience as a teacher, a consultant in public schools, museums and universities and a variety of capacities in the film industry including cultural advisor, actor, film location manager and script revisionist. The first film he worked on was The Revenant. I kind of stumbled into film work, Falcon said. I was in Canada when they were filming 'The Revenant' and decided I would go there to give them my verbal resume. Falcon knew the film told the story of trapper Hugh Glass, which occurred in Montana. After being introduced to the director, he was hired as the cultural advisor. When anything Native came up in the film, I would 'yes' or 'no' as to it being authentic, Falcon said. At first, the job was a bit intimidating. When the decision was made to name a war chief, Elk Tongue, Falcon provided a history lesson on how Native Americans receive their names. He told them the name they had selected wouldn't be a good fit for a war chief. I told them when I was young, I was called Elk Dog, he said. Elk dog translation was horse. A horse looks like an elk but does the job of a dog. I loved to run cross-country and track, Falcon said. So that was my name. The next day when I woke, there was a script in my box. They had changed the name of the chief to Elk Dog. So I suppose I put my own stamp on that film. After that, I wasnt scared anymore, he said. If the director asked me something, we had a good discussion. We were a great team. Those are the kinds of experiences that Falcon wants to share with young artists across Montana in his new role with MAPS. My goal is to see young artists make it, Falcon said. I believe there is so much talent in Montana. Sometimes people just need a chance for people to discover them. I want to help them build that foundation and foster their love for art. Rural Montana doesnt have what other metropolitan kids have at their fingertips, Falcon said. This can be a good opportunity for them to experience something different. Harff said the MAPS Media Lab already has four projects either started or in the planning stages from the Flathead to the Fort Belknap, including a statewide effort to interview athletes from the Montana Indian Hall of Fame. Falcon brings all the skills, history and cultural understanding that will help bring projects like that to life. Craig is so well respected in and out of the state, Harff said. Hes also at a point in his life that he knows exactly what he wants to accomplishHell be able to bring in his own personal experiences while working with the students. I really see this as MAPS 3.0, she said. Nine years ago, being in all of these different communities was part of our strategic plan. Im really proud that our board has brought us this far. MAPS receives funding the Greater Montana Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Groundwater is water held underground in the soil or in pores and crevices in rock. Over 44% of the population in America depends on groundwater as a primary water source. The second week in March is National Groundwater Awareness Week, often the focus is on groundwater wells and the recommendation to test and inspect wells annually, but today were going to talk instead about septic or wastewater systems. Septic systems are underground wastewater treatment systems, commonly used in areas where municipal water and sewer services are not available. A combination of nature and technology are used to treat wastewater from household plumbing produced by bathrooms, kitchen drains and laundry. Systems may vary in their method of filtration and discharge but common elements include a septic tank and a drainfield. It is a homeowners responsibility to have their septic system inspected and maintained regularly. Septic systems should generally be inspected every three years and pumped every 3 to 5 years. Learn the location of your septic tank and drainfield and avoid driving or parking on them. You should also avoid planting trees or shrubs in the area as their roots can cause costly damage to the system. There are steps you can take to avoid clogging or overloading the system. Only human waste and toilet paper should be flushed down your toilet. Avoid rinsing grease or oils, coffee grounds and chemicals down your drains. Eliminate or limit using a garbage disposal. Stagger the use of water-generating appliances or activities like dishwashing, laundry and taking a shower. These simple steps will help to protect your home, health and system. If you are looking to install or modify a wastewater system you will need to consult the Ravalli County Environmental Health Department (RCEH) and get a permit. Every septic system installed or modified after 1982 should have a permit on file with the RCEH. The county and state regulate wastewater systems with groundwater in mind. RCEH has over 20 years of historical groundwater monitoring information and an active groundwater monitoring program, they can help advise. State of Montana Department of Environmental Quality regulations require wastewater systems to have at least 4 feet between waste hitting the soil in the drainfield and groundwater level at its peak season. Peak groundwater will vary by location, with some areas heavily influenced by the river and others more affected by the irrigation season, but is defined as two weeks of fall after a steady rise. The process starts with an 8-foot hole to determine if there are any indications of groundwater. Indications may be subtle like mottling or staining of the soil. If any indication is noted then groundwater monitoring is required to determine if there needs to be a vertical setback of a wastewater system or if a system is possible at all. To monitor groundwater a 10-foot perforated pipe is installed 8 feet into the soil with 2 feet above. The perforations allow groundwater to move within the pipe and allows us to see what is going on with the groundwater level. RCEH monitors groundwater weekly. If there is any indication of groundwater in the top 52 inches then there can be no increased usage, as in no additional system or added bedroom count. The RCEH office noted that there should be no assumptions on groundwater. Groundwater is very unpredictable. Having a neighbor with a permitted system doesnt mean you will get approval. The enrollment period for RCEHs groundwater monitoring program ended on March 1st. Late enrollment is possible, however you run the risk of missing the peak. Last year RCEH did a little over 350 pipes, but noted that enrollment is a little down this year. Learn more by calling the Ravalli County Environmental Health Department at 406-375-6565 or emailing RCEH@rc.mt.gov. Their office is located at 215 South 4th St. Suite D in Hamilton if you prefer to stop in or are looking for a well testing kit. Watershed Wellness is a monthly installation provided by the Bitter Root Water Forum, a local nonprofit that builds community around the river. Learn more about the Water Forum and their education and restoration programs at www.brwaterforum.org. This informational project is funded in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, DEQ, and MACD. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 COLOMBO, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Revival of tourism in the Maldives has contributed to higher revenue for the archipelagic country in the first two months this year compared to the same period in 2021. The Maldives received 137 million U.S. dollars in January and February 2022, compared to 88 million dollars collected in the first two months of 2021, according to statistics released by Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA), the country's national tax agency. MIRA said the main reason for the increase in revenue is the rise in time spent by tourists and the increase in the number of tourist arrivals. By Feb. 23, the total number of tourist arrivals was 251,339, an increase of 46.9 percent when compared to the same period of 2021, of which 39,660 tourists arrived from Russia accounting for the largest share, according to the Maldivian Ministry of Tourism. One of the primo properties in the Stillwater Valley, the Beartooth Ranch, has been sold after about two years on the market. Hall and Hall listed the 12,350-acre property about five miles south of Columbus in 2019 for $29.8 million. The ranch controls another 1,000 acres of state, private and federal leases, according to the listing. The sale price is confidential. According to Andy Rahn, of Montana Land Source, the ranch was the second largest ranch transaction to occur this year. The sale follows record-setting land deals in Montana in 2021, with close to 1.2 million acres sold. Two ranches were the most expensive ever sold in state history, starting with the $136.25 million Climbing Arrow Ranch outside of Bozeman in September. That was followed by media mogul Rupert Murdochs purchase of the Matador Cattle Co. ranch near Dillon in December for $200 million. The market is as strong as its ever been in history, said Landon Phillips, of Phillips Realty in Lewistown, whose client purchased the Beartooth Ranch. Everything on the market, if its blue chip property, it moves pretty quickly. And most of the buyers are carrying cash, so financing is never a problem. Mad Max The Beartooth Ranch gained wider attention in 1988 when actor-director Mel Gibson purchased the land from Vern Sanders, who was well-known for his cattle business. After the sale, a large rapid in the Stillwater River, just above the ranch bridge, was dubbed Mad Max. Gibson sold the property in 2005 to Kent and Pam Williams. Kent Williams founded Montana Silversmiths, a Columbus-based business that he sold in 1993. Phillips brought his Missouri buyer to the Stillwater Valley after searching across the state for nine months. Upon visiting the Beartooth Ranch, Phillips said it more closely aligned with what his buyer was looking for in terms of a well-cared for property close to town. It also provided the outdoor attributes the buyer was seeking, including elk, deer and gamebirds, along with four miles of the Stillwater River to fish. Its difficult to find something with trout to elk, Phillips said. Location Rahn speculated the property may have been slower to sell because of its location. The ranch has multiple small private inholdings along the Stillwater River as well as two adjoining public fishing access sites, he wrote on his website. These factors negatively impacted the privacy and exclusivity of the ranch, which is what many buyers at the $30 million dollar range are looking for, and likely impacted the time it took the ranch to sell. Randy Shelton, of Hall and Hall real estate, was the listing agent for the Beartooth Ranch. He said, Two years actually is not a long time for a massive production ranch like this one to stay on the market. The ranch also contains a 3,700-acre conservation easement at its south end, meaning development options are limited on that portion of the land. The easement doesn't have much impact on the value of the ranch, as the southeast portion is remote and would not be developable as its highest and best use, Rahn wrote. The ranch is divided by Highway 78 and the Stillwater River. A private bridge provides access across the water to hay fields and upland acreage to the west. To the east the ranch extends through forested foothills and high prairie. Top dollar The sale was the largest Phillips has landed in his 12 years in the real estate business. In the early days, I joined after the 08 crash, at that time you really worked your tail off to make a sale, he said. Now, demand is so strong, and were seeing some properties double in price. Last years hot market reduced ranch inventory by about half. So properties coming onto the market that are priced right and contain recreational amenities are quick to move, he said. There are still some large high-dollar properties on the market in Montana, including the 66,800-acre IX Ranch near Big Sandy listed for $66 million. Many of the buyers approaching Phillips are from the Midwest and Texas. A recent Missoulian story examining 2020 and 2021 tax returns showed newcomers to the state were often arriving from other populous western states including California, Washington and Colorado. Montana just has an aura about it, it always has, Phillips said. Caretakers Phillips praised Kent and Pam Williams for being good caretakers of the property. When they bought the land they converted it from a cattle operation to a horse ranch complete with stables. By combining Gibsons adjoining 20,000-acre Beartooth Ranch to the property they already owned, the Williamses oversaw a spread of about 45,000 acres. "Pam and I were worried that if it got in the wrong hands, the valley would be subdivided and split up," Kent told the Billings Gazette in a 2005 story. "We would like to maintain the valley and, if anything, improve it." To the south for about seven miles runs the Joe Hill Creek valley. Its massive, Phillips said, noting that when he drove his client onto the property two elk calves ran off from next to the cattle guard. The property includes the original 1949 one-and-a-half-story Victorian style ranch home, bungalow guest house, ranch office, shop and indoor riding arena. Other structures include a small show bar, new tack shed and two 30x30-foot garages. Subdivisions surround the ranch to the southwest, north and east along Shane, Whitebird and Countryman creek roads. Phillips said he preferred to look at the proximity of neighbors as a benefit rather than a detriment to the ranch. It does give a nice community feel to the property, he said. As soon as you get off this property, to the west in the hills, youre not seeing a soul. You can get as remote as you want pretty quickly. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 1 Oct. trial set for man in Wis. parade deaths A judge on Friday set an October trial date for a man accused of killing six people and injuring dozens of others by driving his SUV into a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee last year. Darrell Brooks Jr. has pleaded not guilty to more than 70 charges, including six homicide counts in connection with the Nov. 21 incident in downtown Waukesha. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Darow scheduled Brooks trial to begin Oct. 3 and run through Oct. 28. Prosecutors told her they would likely need five to seven days to present their case. Brooks attorneys said they didnt know how much time they would need. Darow acknowledged during the hearing that she knows the father of one of the people who were killed. She said her family has hired him in the past to perform legal work for them, he donated $500 to her judicial campaign, and she offered him her condolences after the parade via text messages. She said she hasnt interacted with him since those texts and pledged to officiate the case impartially. Super Mario park will open in Calif. in 2023 The first U.S. theme park built around characters from the Nintendo video game universe will open outside of Los Angeles next year, Universal Studios Hollywood announced Thursday. Super Nintendo World, which represents a partnership with the Japanese video game giant and Comcast Corp., will sit in an expanded section of the Universal park that features Super Mario characters like Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach. A news release promises a groundbreaking ride and interactive areas. The first Super Nintendo World opened in March 2021 at Universal Studios Japan, in Osaka. The Japanese version offers real-life Mario Kart racing and a treasure hunt with Yoshi. A review from the Verge called the park a gleefully surreal experience that pushes surprising technological boundaries. Visitors walk through a tunnel decorated as a green warp pipe and into a world featuring life-size coins, blocks and bad guys like Goombas and Piranha Plants. Universal reportedly spent $580 million on the park. Fla. woman charged in hugging bandit case Florida officers said a hugging bandit was hugging older men and helping herself to their wallets. The Clearwater Police Department arrested Kathy Stevens, 65, on Thursday, according to a post from the police department. She faces more than a dozen charges from various law enforcement agencies around the Tampa Bay area. Police said Stevens approached men, pretending to know them, hugged them, then shed help herself to their wallets and credit cards. Clearwater police have four pending cases against her, according to the Facebook post. Stevens is in Pinellas County Jail awaiting trial for charges, including fraudulent use of personal information, robbery by sudden snatching, unlawful possession of someone elses identification and unauthorized use of a credit card. Employers can no longer compel employees into arbitration following a complaint of sexual harassment or sexual assault. Earlier this month, President Joe Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, which Congress passed with bipartisan support. Under the law, employers cannot enforce a predispute arbitration agreement, which many employees are required to sign upon hire or during their employment. The law defines a predispute arbitration agreement as an agreement to arbitrate a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. Following a dispute, the parties can agree to arbitrate a claim in lieu of taking the case to federal or state court. Under these agreements, employees cannot litigate a sexual harassment dispute against the employer in state or federal court, including in front of a jury, but must resolve the dispute in arbitration. Arbitration allows the dispute to be resolved confidentially in front of an arbitrator, who is typically a retired judge or attorney. Some argue this arrangement unfairly minimizes the awards for victims, and allows employers to enjoy a shroud of secrecy around these cases. The law also contains a provision that may impact settlement agreements when an employee is provided severance or other transition pay. The law also prohibits predispute joint-action waivers which the law defines as an agreement, whether or not part of a predispute arbitration agreement, that would prohibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collective action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of making the agreement. Many settlement agreements contain language that waives the employees right to participate in a future class action. In practical terms, litigating sexual harassment cases in federal or state court is time-consuming and expensive for all parties, so arbitration was seen as a way to level the playing field and resolve disputes in a more cost-effective manner. Unfortunately, arbitrations have become essentially mini trials and can ultimately be as expensive and time-consuming as litigating in court. In cases where there is no dispute that sexual harassment occurred, parties are well advised to consider mediation where the parties agree upon a trained mediator who can amicably resolve the dispute upon agreement of the parties. Usually both parties end up a little disappointed because they have to negotiate, but ultimately this is a good alternative to arbitration or litigation. In signing the law, Biden said, Forced arbitration silences survivors of sexual assault and harassment. It shields predators instead of holding them accountable and gives corporations a powerful tool to hide abuse and misconduct. And it compels the people of our nation and most often the women of our nation to sign away one of their most fundamental rights the right to seek justice in court. He added that the legislation will apply retroactively, which will invalidate every one of these agreements, no matter when they were entered into. Employers should review existing employment agreements and amend provisions that compel arbitration of sexual harassment or sexual assault claims. This law only applies to sexual harassment and assault, not to other employment disputes that might arise such as harassment based on race, disability, national origin, age and other protected characteristics. A Richmond police officer was sentenced Friday to serve one year behind bars for fatally shooting his fiancees dog in what a prosecutor called a senseless and violent act against a helpless animal. Following a sentencing hearing in Powhatan County Circuit Court, Judge Paul Cella sentenced Richard R. Chinappi III, 27, to five years in prison with four years suspended on his conviction of felony animal cruelty. The judge sentenced Chinappi to an additional six months in jail with six months suspended for giving police a false report about how the dog was killed. Chinappi, who was off-duty at the time of the Oct. 19 incident, falsely claimed that he accidentally killed the dog a 27-pound beagle-hound mix named Lola while trying to stop a bear attack at his Powhatan home. He lived there with his now-former fiancee, who owned the dog. Its a very serious thing to kill an animal for no particular reason, Cella said in remarks from the bench. The judge also noted that it was a shame that someone with a prior good record, referring to Chinappi, suddenly finds himself with a felony charge. Powhatan Commonwealths Attorney Richard Cox told the court that Chinappis actions were so egregious that it required an active term of incarceration. A large number of people in this community consider their pets as family members, said Cox, noting that Chinappis former fiancee will never get over what happened. Its had a ripple effect ... and its going to stick with her forever, the prosecutor said. It was a simple act of cruelty and then the cover-up afterwards. When given a chance to speak, Chinappi apologized for his behavior. I didnt mean to do it, he told the judge. I loved that dog. Chinappi said there were some things he should have done but didnt do, apparently referring to a problem with alcohol. His attorney, Mark Bong, informed the court that his client has been undergoing substance abuse treatment. Chinappi was admitted into a program at The Farley Center, a rehab center in Williamsburg, on Nov. 10. Bong also submitted to the court a number of letters written in support of Chinappi, from people who had heartfelt, good things to say about the officer and veteran. The attorney also noted that as an officer, Chinappi was exposed to intense situations, and repeated exposures to societal ills can overlap into our lives. According to a summary of facts, the Powhatan Sheriffs Office received a call from the father of Chinappis fiancee about an alleged bear attack at the home she shared with Chinappi. Upon arrival, officers located Chinappi, who showed signs of intoxication. Inside the house, they discovered blood spatter on the kitchen island pantry and refrigerator, along with blood smeared on the floor, which appeared to be semi-cleaned up. They also found bloody Clorox wipes and a bottle of Clorox bleach. In a police interview, Chinappi initially reported he was in the bathroom when he heard footsteps coming from the back deck. He said that when his dog began barking and acting crazy, he soon realized a bear had entered the house. He said he grabbed a shotgun he kept in the bathroom and fired at the bear. When asked what happened to the dog, Chinappi said the bear carried it off. He claimed the bear wandered inside through a back door he left open while grilling steaks the prior evening. However, deputies could find no evidence such as footprints or markings suggesting a bear had been inside or even near the home. They did, however, find signs a weapon had been fired inside the house. After a sheriffs supervisor pressed Chinappi, insisting his version of events didnt add up, Chinappi changed his story, saying he accidentally shot the dog while firing at the bear. He said the one shotgun blast he fired went through the bear and struck the dog. Chinappi said he buried the dog in the woods near his house. Deputies recovered the remains, and a necropsy conducted by a veterinarian determined the dog had been shot at close range. After the October incident, Chinappi was charged in early January with sending a threatening or profane message by phone to his former fiancee and causing her phone to ring with the intent to annoy her, both misdemeanors. He is scheduled to appear on those charges March 30 in Powhatan Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Chinappi has already surrendered his law enforcement certification in a letter to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. In a statement, Richmond police said Chinappi, who was hired in October 2016, remains on leave without pay. But in light of Fridays sentencing, the department said it is very close to concluding its internal investigation of Chinappis actions and corresponding administrative process. In late December, the Virginia Department of Health announced a new COVID-19 testing program for unvaccinated students to help them remain in schools despite being exposed to the coronavirus in a school setting. But, about a month later, the VDH ceased contact tracing, meaning school systems do not have to inform students if they are exposed to the virus in a school setting. When introduced, the Virginia test-to-stay model recommended that eligible students, either unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, take a rapid antigen test every day for five consecutive days (excluding weekends and holidays) after being informed they were exposed and considered a close contact. If the daily test was negative, the student was allowed to come to school instead of quarantining. The test-to-stay program is still in existence, but now its up to a students discretion to receive the free test kits. Test-to-stay is a strategy that allows students who are close contacts of individuals with COVID-19 to remain in the classroom instead of quarantining at home, said Gauri Raval, physician consultant to the VDH COVID-19 taskforce school support unit, in an interview. The reasoning for not expanding the program to vaccinated students is because since they have received the vaccine and remain asymptomatic, they are not recommended to quarantine upon being exposed, Raval said. While participating school systems report how many students have taken part in the test-to-stay program, the VDH did not collect student quarantine data prior to the start of the testing program. We cannot determine the change in the number of students having to quarantine at home as a result of test to stay, Raval said. It also remains unclear how the test-to-stay program is curbing student quarantine numbers because contact tracing is no longer required in K-12 schools. Its hard to measure the success of the program because the VDH has not reported any results on what the testing looks like in a school system or even a single school, said Elizabeth Prom-Wormley, a VCU professor in the epidemiology department. In fairness to them [VDH], this is a lot of work. ... It is a highly intensive resource endeavor, she said. Given that the test-to-stay strategy is focused on those who are unvaccinated, at this point, Prom-Wormley does not know if its a truly effective strategy as its not being implemented to everyone, meaning including those who are vaccinated. The rollout was probably a little bit late, with what was happening with omicron, Prom-Wormley said. Unfortunately, youre always running a race against the virus and whats happening with the virus. By the end of last year, daily coronavirus cases escalated because of the omicron variant. If theres a silver lining, we use this time now that were coming off of omicron to gather ourselves, reflect, prepare and fortify ourselves for the next variant. Its possible that we might be able to double down on this approach for the next time ... and really do a good job, Prom-Wormley said. *** Not only cant the VDH determine if student quarantines are down thanks to the test-to-stay program, neither can school systems in the Richmond area. In late January, Chesterfield County Public Schools began receiving test kits from the state health department. The district first received 4,536 test kits that were divided equally among schools, with the priority going to unvaccinated students. Due to demand, Chesterfield received an additional 3,672 kits. When asked if Chesterfield has seen a drop in student quarantines since implementing the program, schools spokesman Shawn Smith said in an email, there are several factors to consider and movement in quarantine numbers cannot definitively be correlated to one particular action. Chesterfield employees can request separate at-home tests from the district. Since implementing the test-to-stay program in early February, only 16 students in Henrico County Public Schools have participated as of Tuesday, according to a schools spokesperson. So far, the district has received 4,800 test kits and may request more if the stockpile runs out. A separate supply of home test kits is available to all school employees, who can request a test every week. Richmond Public Schools implemented its test-to-stay program in mid-January. Questions regarding the number of tests, cost of the program, and student quarantine rates were directed to a FOIA request. Families whose children attend Hanover County Public Schools are able to request a take-home COVID test from their school nurse while supplies last. The district currently has an ample amount of tests, said schools spokesperson Chris Whitley. The school district, in partnership with BetterMed Urgent Care, provides employees with free rapid tests upon request. The Hanover County School Board, caught in an act of secrecy, didnt try to defend its unholy alliance with a Christian conservative legal outfit that has been branded as an anti-LGBTQ hate group. The board no doubt realized the inherent conflict in accepting free legal advice from Alliance Defending Freedom on its equal educational opportunities policy. How else can we explain the items placement on the boards consent agenda, a spot usually reserved for matters of consensus? Putting clearly controversial items on the consent agenda is a move to not involve the community in your actions, resident Dottie Walsh said at Tuesdays meeting. Youre not being transparent in how things are run. Called out for attempting to sneak the item through, the board removed it from the consent agenda and listened to constituent concerns about partnering with an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as a hate group for its aggressive anti-LGBTQ stances in the U.S. and beyond. The comments did nothing to shift this boards intransigence in expressly permitting transgender students to use school bathrooms and facilities that align with their gender identity a refusal that has left it as a defendant in a December 2021 lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia on behalf of the parents of five transgender students. Tuesday, a divided board voted 4-3 to bring Alliance Defending Freedom onboard. (Howd that land on the consent agenda?) Remarkably, the majority did not even bother to go through the motions of publicly denying that ADF is a hate group. Patricia Hunter-Jordan, president of the Hanover NAACP, noted before the vote that the board continues to embrace right-wing politics while acting as if it supports equity. After inviting a known foe of trans-inclusive policies in for this looksee, perhaps the board has the Proud Boys on standby as an equity consultant. No one explained how the board came into this arrangement with the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based ADF. The only comment before the vote was by dissenting member Sterling Daniel, who said the board has sufficient guidance on legal issues from school board attorney Lisa Seward, who must be thrilled at her new legal partners. It was a disgraceful display of arrogance and opacity by a public body that apparently feels it owes the public no explanation for its action. ADF has declined to comment on the arrangement. The board is digging in its heels against legal precedents. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit both ruled that the Gloucester County School Board violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause by prohibiting then-student Gavin Grimm, a transgender male, from using the same bathrooms as other boys. Until the Supreme Court weighs in otherwise and it has refused to hear the case the Hanover board is thumbing its nose at federal rulings and Virginia law. This resistance lands the Hanover school district in a familiar posture. Its response to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court outlawing school segregation by race was to name a new, all-white high school after two Confederate leaders. Ill leave it to readers to decide whether ADF is a hate group. But theres no debating its hostility toward LGBTQ people. It opposes same-sex marriage. It fights bans on the discredited practice of conversion therapy to change sexual orientation and gender identity. In a case decided on narrow grounds by the U.S. Supreme Court, it successfully defended a Colorado baker who refused for religious reasons to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. It represented the funeral home that fired Aimee Stephens for being transgender a case that resulted in the landmark 2020 Supreme Court decision, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects transgender people from employment discrimination. In a case now before the Virginia Supreme Court, ADF is defending a former West Point High School teacher, Peter Vlaming, who was fired from his job for refusing to call a transgender student by his preferred pronoun. The organizations disturbing and erroneous positions clearly should disqualify ADF from providing legal advice to the Hanover County School Board, a taxpayer-funded public agency, on a matter as sensitive as providing safe, discrimination-free schools for all students, including transgender students, the ACLU of Virginia said in a statement. The outcome of this engagement is a foregone conclusion the continued discrimination against transgender students in Hanover County. Is this what Hanover is? a parent asked the board. When a school board shows you who they are, believe them. Turns out, Gov. Glenn Youngkin is a quick study. In a little-noticed, high-stakes clash with the overseers of Virginias community colleges all Democratic appointees the Republican torpedoed what looked suspiciously like an inside job to install as the leader of the 23-school system a former education secretary, interim university president and State Board of Education member whose credentials also include a four-year stint as first lady. Anne Holton wife of Tim Kaine, the Democratic governor-turned-U.S. senator was widely expected to be selected as chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, succeeding Glenn DuBois, who is retiring this summer after 21 years. But Holton worried, friends said, over the troubling optics of a tussle that further escalates the partisan duel over a treasured political goody: appointments withdrew her candidacy this past week after Youngkin publicly complained that hed been shut out of the search process, even though, by law, the State Board for Community Colleges hires and fires the chancellor. But the governor hires and fires the trustees of the community college system and Virginias 15 public four-year colleges and universities. And Youngkins none-too-subtle reminder of his prerogative and the implication that he was prepared to fully exercise it came down to one word in a letter to Nathanial Bishop, head of the community college board and its search committee: misfeasance. Embedded in the Code of Virginia, that word speaks to the chief executives authority to determine whether an overseer of the two-year community colleges as well as the senior schools is behaving badly and deserves the boot: The governor may remove from office for malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetence, or gross neglect of duty any member of the board of any public institution of higher education and fill the vacancy resulting from the removal. The law requires that the governor set forth in a written public statement his reasons for removing any member. For Youngkin, those reasons apparently include the community college board trying to pull a fast one. In this instance, a board dominated by loyalists of Govs. Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam hiring as chancellor someone who is to use Youngkins word from his letter to Bishop aligned, not with the Republican administration but with the Democratic appointees who, like a lot of Virginians, were anticipating a second term for McAuliffe. It was The Macker who named Holton as education secretary in 2014. She resigned in 2016 when Kaine was nominated as Hillary Clintons vice presidential running mate. Holton later joined the faculty of the education school at George Mason University, where she was acting president for a year. Holton has since returned to the education program. She might have been among the Democratic appointees sunk by House Republicans in retaliation for Senate Democrats rejecting Andrew Wheeler, Donald Trumps environmental chief, for natural resources secretary. Holton, appointed by Northam to the Board of Education, was spared. Eleven were not. That Holton, who did not return a text seeking comment, wasnt yanked from the Board of Education left some to believe Republicans had concluded sinking someone with her pedigree her late father, Linwood, was Virginias first GOP governor of the 20th century and a strong proponent of public school desegregation was an invitation for trouble. Elevating suspicions the fix was in for Holton: two other Virginia candidates had been cut Sharon Morrissey, vice chancellor for academic services, and Megan Healy, Northams labor secretary (Disclosure: My son, Felix, hired in the governors office in 2015, was assistant secretary, reporting to Healy.). And in a scenario advanced by Democrats and Republicans, Holton would have been paired with two out-of-state candidates, providing the board cover to do what it might have planned all along. That is, select someone it knew and someone who knew Virginias education system and perhaps make that selection before Youngkin took office in January. Officially, however, the search for DuBois successor was technically still underway more than a week ago when Youngkin, the Apprentice Governor, pulled on his big-boy pants in a crisp display of gubernatorial power helped by two aides who have a lot of what Youngkin and many members of his personal staff lack in spades: experience in state government. They were Matthew Moran, deputy chief of staff and previously a top assistant to House Speakers Bill Howell and Kirk Cox; and Richard Cullen, who as a former attorney general, federal prosecutor and head of a giant law and lobbying firm, is in Richmond as was said of Edward Bennett Williams, the famed Washington consigliere The Man to See. What is not clear is whether Youngkins objection is with the search process, Holton or both. His press secretary, Macaulay Porter, wouldnt say whether Holton was the governors intended target. Nor would Porter say if Youngkin was prepared to remove board members for heres that clunky word again misfeasance. The message clearly was received. Bishop, whos reportedly met with Youngkin, has said the next chancellor should be in synch with the governor. And other applications have been submitted. Among them: Norfolk Mayor Ken Alexanders. A former state legislator and McAuliffe ally, Alexander is also an executive of a for-profit college that trains aviation mechanics and drone pilots. The dust-up over selecting a new chancellor is a political distraction from a nagging problem for the community college system, long a job-training hub: Enrollment has fallen nearly 30% over the past decade, 9% since 2019, just ahead of the coronavirus pandemic, now in its second year. Despite programs promoting the community colleges as a conduit to employment, 300,000 jobs remain unfilled and there are 200,000 fewer positions. With birth rates falling, demand for higher education is, too. That is posing a sustained financial threat to two- and four-year colleges. Since the 1980s, at least four Virginia governors Republicans Jim Gilmore and Bob McDonnell and Democrats Jerry Baliles and Doug Wilder have invoked, or threatened to invoke, against recalcitrant higher ed trustees the provision in law that Youngkin is wielding as a loaded, high-caliber pistol. And its not the first time the search for a community college chancellor has boiled over in controversy. In 1983, there was a push to reinstate the systems first leader, Dana Hamel, who had quit after 13 years in 1979 amid complaints of financial mismanagement and possible enrollment padding. Hamels attempted do-over was scuttled by the disclosure that part of his doctoral thesis had been plagiarized, though academic officials said it was not intentional. The governor at the time, Democrat Chuck Robb, had signaled to his appointees to resist Hamels candidacy, which had been pushed by Republicans put on the board by Robbs immediate predecessor, John Dalton. Well after Hamel was done for, Robb appointees recalled that sinking his application had become a non-negotiable demand. Nearly 40 years later, Youngkin is making the community college board an offer it cant refuse. Unable to come to a resolution on the state budget, Virginia House and Senate leaders say they expect to adjourn the regular session of the General Assembly on Saturday, giving negotiators more time to bridge their differences in anticipation of a special session. Senate Democrats Friday afternoon made clear to Republicans that their caucus would not vote to extend the session past the constitutions prescribed 60 days. That could spell trouble for Gov. Glenn Youngkin, whose hands would be tied from making certain appointments if lawmakers then decide not to adjourn the special session. Separating the GOP-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate is a $3 billion gap on how much money they will have to spend in the two-year budget that will take effect July 1. Weve got some ground to cover not a lot, but there are differences. Were going to sine die, and then well come back at another time, House Appropriations Chair Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach, said Friday afternoon, using a Latin term for final adjournment. Senate Finance Chair Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, said earlier Friday: Were still at loggerheads over the tax issues. Knight said Friday evening that House and Senate budget negotiators had not yet met on Friday, and had not met on Thursday. The House budget includes almost $5.5 billion in tax cuts and rebates, but the Senate continues to insist on deferring the centerpiece of the governors tax plan the doubling of the standard deduction for income tax filers until a joint subcommittee completes a comprehensive study of Virginia tax policy in the coming year. Doubling the standard deduction would reduce state revenues by $2 billion over two years. The Senate has agreed to partial repeal of the 2.5% sales tax on groceries, but has balked at eliminating the 1% that goes directly to local governments and has approved a less generous tax exemption for military retirement income than the House. It also has approved smaller tax rebates this year than the House and rejected a 12-month rollback in the gas tax as meaningless to soaring prices at the pump. House and Senate budget leaders have not yet announced plans for completing negotiations on the budget, but its already too late to produce an agreement in time for adoption on Saturday under House rules that require at least 48 hours for members to review the spending plan. Republicans who control the House and have a narrow disadvantage in the Senate generally support the Republican governors tax cut package, but Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, has sided with Howell in delaying action on major tax cuts without a comprehensive study. Hanger said Friday that a general consensus seems to be developing to adopt a more thoughtful approach to finalizing the budget rather than a rushed process. Knight, meanwhile, described the differences by saying: They want to spend, and we want to give money back to Virginia taxpayers. Knight said he hopes negotiators can bridge their differences and come back in a matter of weeks to a special session called by Youngkin. A special session that doesnt adjourn a somewhat regular occurrence could spell trouble for Youngkin as he tries to fill two vacancies on the Supreme Court of Virginia and one vacancy on the State Corporation Commission. Any appointments Youngkin makes would need to be taken up by the legislature within 30 days; if they are not, Youngkins picks would be barred from serving in those roles. Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said Democrats would strive to keep our options open when it comes to appointments. Surovell criticized Youngkin and House Republicans decision to reject 11 of former Gov. Ralph Northams appointees earlier in the session, including members of the board of education, and the regulatory boards and rule of issues related to air and water quality. They politicized a long tradition of board appointments, Surovell said. Senate Democrats on Thursday rejected four of Youngkins picks for the Virginia Parole Board. *** Meanwhile, Virginias revenues dipped last month, but Youngkins confidence remains high that the state will have plenty of money this year to pay for tax cuts and new spending in the budget now pending in a deeply divided General Assembly. Youngkin said in an interview on Friday that despite a 1.2% decline in February compared with the same month a year ago, the state remains on track to finish the fiscal year on June 30 with at least an additional $1.25 billion in revenues under the revenue forecast he announced last month. We have a strong revenue forecast that can fund tax cuts ... and this is the time to get it done, he said. The latest state revenue numbers arent likely to change the budget debate. Revenues fell by $19 million in February, or 1.2%, over the same month a year ago, but Youngkin discounted the comparison because of what he called anomalies in last years results. The states tax collections remain 13.6% ahead for the first eight months of the fiscal year that began July 1. He said last years numbers were abnormally high by $125 million to $150 million because of a delay in conforming state and federal tax codes that suppressed the number of income tax refunds. He said that income taxes withheld from pay checks also were abnormally high the previous February. Youngkin said he remains cautious about collections of non-withholding income taxes paid by investors on stock gains and self-employed professionals in the last four months of the fiscal year, with the stock market highly volatile because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the soaring cost of oil and gasoline. But he said he is highly confident in the revenues that pay most of the cost of state government taxes on payroll income, corporate income and consumer sales, which he called really strong underpinnings to support his forecast for a $27.9 billion general fund budget in this fiscal year. Asked whether the dip in February revenues would affect that outlook, Youngkin replied, Not at all. Not in the least. Michael Martz Follow Michael Martz 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 FINCASTLE Long delays for the states first onshore wind farm grew longer Friday, when a Botetourt County judge found that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality made procedural errors in approving the project. The decision by Circuit Court Judge Joel Branscom sends a modified permit for Rocky Forge Wind back to the state agency for more review and complicates plans to have the giant turbines spinning by next year. DEQ will likely have to hold another public comment period on the wind farm, which has undergone many revisions and postponements since it was first proposed in 2015 by a Charlottesville company, Apex Clean Energy. Before ruling on the merits of the case, Branscom first had to decide whether about a dozen Botetourt and Rockbridge county residents live close enough to the proposed turbines atop North Mountain to challenge them in court. Attorneys for Rocky Forge and DEQ had argued that the petitioners homes, which are from two to 23 miles away from the site, were too distant to establish standing under Virginia law. In allowing the lawsuit to go forward, Branscom acknowledged that he was plowing new legal ground. But standing has not been considered in Virginia when it comes to turbines about twice the height of the Wells Fargo tower in downtown Roanoke. I think were getting into something that the courts havent weighed in on yet, he said. In past cases, the Virginia Supreme Court has established the legal standing of plaintiffs to be no more than 2,000 feet from the subject of their lawsuits. Rocky Forge asked Branscom to follow that precedent, rule the plaintiffs lacked standing, and dismiss their lawsuit. Evan Mayo, a Charlottesville attorney who represents the petitioners, said there was no comparison between the turbines and the subjects of the previous lawsuits decided by the supreme court, which involved a gravel processing plant and a river port for municipal waste. No one would look at something 700 feet tall and say it only affects people living within 2,000 feet, Mayo argued during a hearing Friday that lasted more than four hours. Although one concept of Rocky Forge included about 20 turbines as high at 680 feet, the most recent variation calls for 13 turbines, each one 612 feet tall. Once Branscom found that at least some of the petitioners had standing, he turned to the crux of their case, which accused DEQ of downplaying or ignoring problems posed by the turbines. Opponents say the ridgetop wind farm will be an eyesore to a scenic part of Southwest Virginia, cause harmful low-frequency noise, devalue nearby homes and endanger wildlife and other natural resources. But DEQ granted a permit for the wind farm in 2017, subject to conditions that included turning the turbines off at night during the warmer months to protect bats who might fly into the massive blades while feeding. Construction never started, though, as Apex searched for a buyer of the electricity that would be generated by the wind farm. In late 2019, Dominion Energy agreed to purchase the power and then sell it to Virginia to help the state meet its renewable energy goals. By then, improvements in technology made it possible to build fewer turbines, but at a greater height. Apex applied for a modified permit to allow taller turbines. And that is when DEQ ran into legal trouble. Under a streamlined permitting process for renewable energy projects in Virginia, applicants must submit documents and studies to the state to satisfy more than a dozen requirements. DEQ required new information only on what would be impacted by the higher turbines. Other requirements such as studies that demonstrated the wind farms ability to connect to the electric grid were not repeated because those circumstances had not changed, DEQ said. However, interested parties were not allowed to weigh in on DEQs decision during a public comment period. That was the source of great frustration for us, said Molly Petty of Rockbridge County, the lead plaintiff in the case. Bransoms decision did not invalidate the modified permit as opponents had asked. Rather, it sends the matter back to DEQ for further review. Apex spokesman Patrick Chilton said the company will be contacting the agency soon to reach a "mutual understanding" of what the ruling means for its plans. "We will also look for additional clarification in the judges written order," Chilton wrote in an email. "We hope for a speedy resolution to this process. When plans were first announced to build the project on a nearly 7,000-acre tract in an isolated area about five miles northeast of Eagle Rock, it was expected to be the first onshore wind farm in Virginia. In addition to lawsuits by opponents, Apex has also run into issues finding a commercial partner. A power purchase agreement with Dominion expired at the end of last year and was not renewed. Apex says it expects to find a new buyer shortly. Assistant Attorney General Jerald Hess, who represented DEQ, contested the lawsuits allegations that the agency overlooked its regulatory requirements to benefit a large corporation. DEQ went above and beyond what was required, Hess said, citing as one example a decision to require additional study on the turbines impact to golden eagles, which have been seen soaring above North Mountain. Mayo countered that shortcomings in the state permitting process would only encourage other wind developers to take advantage of regulators doing just part of their jobs. Half the job isnt good enough when it comes to environmental stewardship, he said. However, Branscom found the only errors were procedural, ruling that the permit be remanded not outright invalidated. Ultimately, the judge said, I dont feel like anybody is doing something wrong. The final defendant in Montgomery Countys Icy Roads methamphetamine trafficking case was sentenced last week, wrapping up a prosecution that entered the courts in the summer of 2020 and involved charges against 30 people. Donald Todd Duncan, 48, of Christiansburg, who had pleaded guilty in September to conspiring to distribute a Schedule II substance, was sentenced Monday to a three-year prison term, to be suspended after he served seven months. Circuit Court Judge Robert Turk also ordered that Duncan be supervised by the probation office for two years after his release. After the hearing, defense attorney Eric Frith of Blacksburg noted that the sentence was at the low end of a range that state guidelines suggested. At an earlier hearing in the case, a prosecutor portrayed Duncan as a meth user who let drug sales occur in his home a description similar to those given to many of the defendants in the case, which involved meth being brought from Georgia and distributed in the New River Valley. Of the 30 people charged in the case, 28 were convicted, charges were dismissed against one, and charges could be dropped against another in a year. Sentences have ranged from fines and suspended terms of incarceration to 20 years in prison. According to prosecutors, the central figure in Icy Roads was Thomas George Belcher Jr., 47, of Elliston. From November 2018 until January 2020, Belcher was involved in bringing meth from Georgia, buying the drug for $300 per ounce and selling it for double that, prosecutors said. A network of sellers helped him spread the drug, prosecutors said. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. by Xin Ping BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- For most kids, a school is the starting point to embark on a bright, civilized journey of life, but for the indigenous children in Canada, a government-funded residential school may well be the departure station of "the train to Auschwitz," a gateway to dark, abuse and death. For more than a century since the 1830s, school-aged children of the indigenous community were snatched from their mother's arms and corralled in distant residential schools funded by the Canadian government, where they were surveilled by the clergy of the Christian church, barred from family visits, and institutionalized away from their cultural traditions. About 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children are believed to have fallen victim to the cultural assimilation. In these schools, the children were subject to abuse and torture that scarred both their skin and heart. Some survived to share their horror experiences -- in English instead of their native languages for sure, offering a glimpse of the misery the Canadian government inflicted upon the indigenous community. Some say, the first day in the so-called residential schools marked the last day of their own identity. But those who walked out of the residential schools alive can still be considered as the lucky ones. There were countless indigenous people who perished in the "schools." Many names were unable to be retrieved. Some institutions based in Canada estimated that more than 3,000 children died in the "schools." Former Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Murray Sinclair said that some 6,000 children may have never made it home. Following constant discoveries of unmarked gravesites, the death toll continues to rise. According to the BBC, investigations across Canada have found evidence of more than 1,100 graves since the spring of 2021. No doubt, the number will be even more staggering, although the government has halted some detection work for locating the graves, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's going to be a very tough time ... knowing we have unmarked graves in our community, where we walk every day, drive every day," lamented Chief Lee Kitchimonia of Keeseekoose First Nation. While the Canadian politicians have been playing sorry and regret in a bid to quell the raging anger from both the Canadian people and the international community, little has been done to remedy the wrong and compensate the victims apart from paying lip service. From time to time, the Canadian government disappointed people who still believed that the government would face up to its dark history and take responsibility for the atrocities. Politicians balked at admitting the crime as cultural genocide. Institutions set up to facilitate and coordinate fact-finding about the bloody residential schools constantly encountered obstacles and setbacks. In 2007, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the General Assembly as a document guaranteeing the rights of Indigenous Peoples to enjoy and practice their cultures and customs, religions and languages, and to be free from discrimination. Ironically, while a majority of 144 states voted in favor of the bill, Canada was among the only four countries voting against it. Even after the country reversed its initial position to endorsement, it frequently used terms like "aspirational" and "non-binding" in official statements. Experts cautioned that the real attempt of the Canadian government is "to exempt themselves from any legal responsibility to the UNDRIP." As a narcissistic country which has been touting itself as a global human rights defender, before pointing the finger at others, Canada should take back its overreaching hand, and exert some deep introspection in front of the graves filled with skeletons of the indigenous children. (Xin Ping is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for the Global Times, China Daily, etc. He can be reached at xinping604@gmail.com) POWHATAN A Richmond police officer was sentenced Friday to serve one year behind bars for fatally shooting his fiancees dog in what a prosecutor called a senseless and violent act against a helpless animal. Following a sentencing hearing in Powhatan County Circuit Court, Judge Paul Cella sentenced Richard R. Chinappi III, 27, to five years in prison with four years suspended on his conviction of felony animal cruelty. The judge sentenced Chinappi to an additional six months in jail with six months suspended for giving police a false report about how the dog was killed. Chinappi, who was off-duty at the time of the Oct. 19 incident, falsely claimed that he accidentally killed the dog a 27-pound beagle-hound mix named Lola while trying to stop a bear attack at his Powhatan County home. He lived there with his now-former fiancee, who owned the dog. Its a very serious thing to kill an animal for no particular reason, Cella said in remarks from the bench. The judge also noted that it was a shame that someone with a prior good record, referring to Chinappi, suddenly finds himself with a felony charge. Powhatan Commonwealths Attorney Richard Cox told the court that Chinappis actions were so egregious that it required an active term of incarceration. A large number of people in this community consider their pets as family members, Cox said, noting that Chinappis former fiancee will never get over what happened. Its had a ripple effect ... and its going to stick with her forever, the prosecutor said. It was a simple act of cruelty and then the cover-up afterwards. When given a chance to speak, Chinappi apologized for his behavior. I didnt mean to do it, he told the judge. I loved that dog. Chinappi said there were some things he should have done but didnt do, apparently referring to a problem with alcohol. His attorney, Mark Bong, informed the court that his client has been undergoing substance abuse treatment. Chinappi was admitted into a program at The Farley Center, a rehab center in Williamsburg, on Nov. 10. Bong also submitted to the court a number of letters written in support of Chinappi, from people who had heartfelt, good things to say about the officer and veteran. The attorney also noted that as an officer Chinappi was exposed to intense situations, and repeated exposures to societal ills can overlap into our lives. According to a summary of facts, the Powhatan Sheriffs Office received a call from the father of Chinappis fiancee about an alleged bear attack at the home she shared with Chinappi. Upon arrival, officers located Chinappi, who showed signs of intoxication. Inside the house, they discovered blood spatter on the kitchen island pantry and refrigerator, along with blood smeared on the floor, which appeared to be semi-cleaned up. They also found bloody Clorox wipes and a bottle of Clorox bleach. In a police interview Chinnapi, initially reported he was in the bathroom when he heard footsteps coming from the back deck. He said that when his dog began barking and acting crazy, he soon realized a bear had entered the house. He said he grabbed a shotgun he kept in the bathroom and fired at the bear. When asked what happened to the dog, Chinannpi said the bear carried it off. He claimed the bear wandered inside through a back door he left open while grilling steaks the prior evening. However, deputies could find no evidence such as footprints or markings suggesting a bear had been inside or even near the home. They did, however, find signs a weapon had been fired inside the house. After a sheriffs supervisor pressed Chinappi, insisting his version of events didnt add up, Chinappi changed his story, saying he accidentally shot the dog while firing at the bear. He said the one shotgun blast he fired went through the bear and struck the dog. Chinappi said he buried the dog in the woods near his house. Deputies recovered the remains, and a necropsy conducted by a veterinarian determined the dog had been shot at close range. After the October incident, Chinappi was charged in early January with sending a threatening or profane message by phone to his former fiancee and causing her phone to ring with the intent to annoy her, both misdemeanors. He is scheduled to appear on those charges March 30 in Powhatan Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Chinappi has already surrendered his law enforcement certification in a letter to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. In a statement, Richmond police said Chinappi, who was hired in October 2016, remains on leave without pay. But in light of Fridays sentencing, the department said it is very close to concluding its internal investigation of Chinappis actions and corresponding administrative process. RICHMOND Unable to come to a resolution on the state budget, Virginia House and Senate leaders say they expect to adjourn the regular session of the General Assembly Saturday, giving negotiators more time to bridge their differences in anticipation of a special session. Senate Democrats Friday afternoon made clear to Republicans that their caucus would not vote to extend the session past the constitution's prescribed 60 days. That could spell trouble for Gov. Glenn Youngkin, whose hands would be tied from making certain appointments if lawmakers then decide not to adjourn the special session. Separating the GOP-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate is a $3 billion gap on how much money they will have to spend in the two-year budget that will take effect July 1. "We've got some ground to cover not a lot, but there are differences. We're going to sine die, and then we'll come back at another time," House Appropriations Chairman Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach, said Friday afternoon, referring to a Latin term for final adjournment. Senate Finance Chair Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, said earlier Friday: "We're still at loggerheads over the tax issues." Knight said Friday evening that House and Senate budget negotiators had not yet met on Friday, and had not met on Thursday. The House budget includes almost $5.5 billion in tax cuts and rebates, but the Senate continues to insist on deferring the centerpiece of the governor's tax plan - the doubling of the standard deduction for income tax filers - until a joint subcommittee completes a comprehensive study of Virginia tax policy in the coming year. Doubling the standard deduction would reduce state revenues by $2 billion over two years. The Senate has agreed to partial repeal of the 2.5% sales tax on groceries, but has balked at eliminating the 1% that goes directly to local governments and has approved a less generous tax exemption for military retirement income than the House. It also has approved smaller tax rebates this year than the House and rejected a 12-month rollback in the gas tax as meaningless to soaring prices at the pump. House and Senate budget leaders have not yet announced plans for completing negotiations on the budget, but it's already too late to produce an agreement in time for adoption on Saturday under House rules that require at least 48 hours for members to review the spending plan. Republicans who control the House and have a narrow disadvantage in the Senate generally support the Republican governor's tax cut package, but Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, has sided with Howell in delaying action on major tax cuts without a comprehensive study. Hanger said Friday that "a general consensus seems to be developing to adopt a more thoughtful approach to finalizing the budget rather than a rushed process." Knight, meanwhile, described the differences by saying: "They want to spend, and we want to give money back to Virginia taxpayers." Knight said he hopes negotiators can bridge their differences and come back in a matter of weeks to a special session called by Youngkin. A special session that doesn't adjourn - a somewhat regular occurrence - could spell trouble for Youngkin as he tries to fill two vacancies on the Supreme Court of Virginia and one vacancy on the State Corporation Commission. Any appointments Youngkin makes would need to be taken up by the legislature within 30 days; if they are not, Youngkin's picks would be barred from serving in those roles. Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said Democrats would strive to "keep our options open" when it comes to appointments. Surovell criticized Youngkin and House Republicans decision to reject 11 of former Gov. Ralph Northam's appointees earlier in the session, including members of the board of education, and the regulatory boards and rule of issues related to air and water quality. "They politicized a long tradition of board appointments," Surovell said. Senate Democrats on Thursday rejected four of Youngkin's picks for the Parole Board. *** Meanwhile, Virginia's revenues dipped last month, but Youngkin's confidence remains high that the state will have plenty of money this year to pay for tax cuts and new spending in the budget now pending in a deeply divided General Assembly. Youngkin said in an interview on Friday that despite a 1.2% decline in February compared with the same month a year ago, the state remains on track to finish the fiscal year on June 30 with at least an additional $1.25 billion in revenues under the revenue forecast he announced last month. "We have a strong revenue forecast that can fund tax cuts ... and this is the time to get it done," he said. The latest state revenue numbers aren't likely to change the budget debate. Revenues fell by $19 million in February, or 1.2%, over the same month a year ago, but Youngkin discounted the comparison because of what he called "anomalies" in last year's results. The state's tax collections remain 13.6% ahead for the first eight months of the fiscal year that began July 1. He said last year's numbers were abnormally high - by $125 million to $150 million - because of a delay in conforming state and federal tax codes that suppressed the number of income tax refunds. He said that income taxes withheld from pay checks also were abnormally high the previous February. Youngkin said he remains cautious about collections of non-withholding income taxes - paid by investors on stock gains and self-employed professionals - in the last four months of the fiscal year, with the stock market highly volatile because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the soaring cost of oil and gasoline. But he said he is highly confident in the revenues that pay most of the cost of state government - taxes on payroll income, corporate income and consumer sales, which he called "really strong underpinnings" to support his forecast for a $27.9 billion general fund budget in this fiscal year. Asked whether the dip in February revenues would affect that outlook, Youngkin replied, "Not at all. Not in the least." Norfolk has served as the proud home of Naval Station Norfolk for more than a century and has hosted NATOs North American Headquarters since 1952. Given our position as a center for international security and critical role in ensuring the collective security of 30 nations, we have to maintain clear eyes and not just full hearts in our relationships with Sister Cities. My concerns about Norfolks Sister City relationship with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad continue to grow. I say this not only because of Russias unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine, a free, independent and democratic country. I am also troubled by Norfolks relationship with Kaliningrad given its role as platform for Russian military engagement in the Baltic region and menacing location between NATO member nations Poland and Lithuania. As noted on the Norfolk Sister City Association website, our relationship with Kaliningrad began in 1992. This was soon after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when hopes were high that Russia could transform into a more open society with positive trends in terms of international relations and democratization. It was exciting to contemplate Norfolk and other American cities, through Sister Citys program of citizen diplomacy, helping to normalize relations with a country that seemed to be evolving from foe to friend. Similar optimism took hold in Europe, especially for relations between Kaliningrad and its neighboring countries in the Baltic region and northern Europe. Unfortunately, evidence suggests that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his militaristic ilk have taken Kaliningrad in a different direction over the past decade. For example, in an article written for the European Council on Foreign Relations in March 2017, Kaliningrad: From Boomtown to Battle-Station, analyst Sergey Sukhankin observed that The intensity with which Russia has militarized the oblast in recent years has dispelled any remaining illusions about Kaliningrad becoming a bridge of cooperation with the West, as many once hoped. Dreams of economic reform and the integration of Kaliningrad in the Baltic region are vanishing fast . Among news stories about the military buildup in Kaliningrad, an October 2018 CNN report said: New satellite imagery shared exclusively with CNN shows Russia appearing to upgrade four of its military installations in Kaliningrad, Russias strategic outpost on NATOs doorstep. US military officials say they are concerned by what they call Russias ability to establish anti-access/area denial capabilities, or, weaponry that reduces NATOs potential freedom to maneuver in the region. Those include some of the modern weapons systems stationed in Kaliningrad, including anti-ship missiles, radar systems and surface-to-air missiles. I am a strong believer in the ideals and aspirations of our Norfolk Sister City Association and support its mission to foster international understanding, friendship, and cooperation by promoting people-to-people exchanges and continuing relationships between Norfolk, Virginia, and its international sister cities. There may be many citizens of Kaliningrad who value cultural exchanges and friendship with Norfolk. But I have strong doubts that Kaliningrads political leaders, along with those in Moscow, share this peaceful vision. As Sukhankin wrote, For the Kremlin, Kaliningrad is little more than a pawn used strategically. Russia has been a bad-faith participant in a program formed to promote friendship and peace. Norfolk cannot allow itself to become a complicit pawn in Russias propaganda package of pretenses, lies and betrayals. When it comes to sister cities, dont be fooled. (The Norfolk City Council voted unanimously to suspend its sister-city relationship with Kaliningrad on March 8.) Alexander is the mayor of Norfolk and a former adjunct professor at Tidewater Community College where he taught international relations. North Carolina Gov, following recommendation of state Juvenile Sentence Review Board, commutes sentence of three convicted of murder as teens | Main | Some first-cut musings on US v. Wooden, the latest SCOTUS effort to make ACCA less wacky March 12, 2022 "Card Carrying Sex Offenders" The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Wayne Logan now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: Although it is commonly believed that Americans have never been required to carry and show upon demand personal identification documents, the belief is incorrect. Over time, select sub-populations have in fact been subject to such a requirement, including free-born and emancipated African-Americans until after the Civil War. This article examines the targeting of yet another disfavored sub-population: individuals convicted of sex offenses, who are required to register with government authorities. Today, roughly a dozen states require that registrants obtain and carry identification cards or drivers licenses signifying their status. Often, the branding is very overt, such as a stamp of SEX OFFENDER or SEXUAL PREDATOR in bight colored lettering. At other times, it is more subtle, such as use of a U, denoting that the individual is a Sexual Deviant. The federal government also brands registrants, requiring that their passports display a unique identifier stamped in a conspicuous location. The passports must be shown to airport and customs officials, as well others when traveling abroad. With state laws, disclosure is even more pervasive: not only to police, upon demand, but also to myriad other individuals encountered in daily life, such as bank tellers and store clerks. To date, the laws have faced only a few judicial challenges, which have condoned government branding in principle, yet at times required use of less graphic signifiers. The decisions, while notable for their reasoning regarding government-compelled speech, have failed to address other significant constitutional concerns, including the First Amendment right of free association, the Fourth Amendment prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures, and the Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination. As important, courts have ignored the troubling implications of allowing governments to force individuals to publicly self-stigmatize and systematically compel, under threat of criminal sanction, that they be complicit in their own surveillance. The article frames and illuminates these issues for the important coming important debate regarding the authority of government to target not only individuals convicted of criminal offenses, but anyone it thinks worthy of public stigmatization and monitoring, possibly for their lifetimes. March 12, 2022 at 12:53 PM | Permalink Comments This must be the 10,000th study in which the ultimate finding is that compelled disclosure of sex offender status is antithetical to successful rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders back into the community. Successful rehabilitation equates to significant decreases in re-offending which SHOULD be the goal of all members of society, in spite of many peoples strong emotions/ moral outrage. The specious and contrived argument that public shaming is not punishment only serves those dedicated to the belief that all offenders are not deserving of basic human dignity and the protections guaranteed thru our nations constitution. The shame is on the other side. Posted by: Drug Cnslr | Mar 12, 2022 1:44:44 PM The government could just allow people to identify as non-offenders on their ID card (and presume they opted into this if eligible). Would be hard to successfully challenge what would technically be a voluntary certificate of not being a sex offender. Posted by: Jason | Mar 12, 2022 1:47:28 PM This is a bit like the discussion of the ACCA on another post. In principle, it seems like a good idea to protect the community from sexual predators. Who could be against that? But some of the offenses that trigger this status are marginal, at best. I think it would be tough to invalidate these sanctions as a matter of Constitutional law. As a matter of policy, they are likely over-done and not helpful. Posted by: Marc Shepherd | Mar 13, 2022 12:47:52 PM I would love to hear someone articulate why they believe that a public sex offender registry somehow protects society. Has there ever been an example of a sexual offense being prevented as a direct result of publicly disclosing the status of a person previously convicted of a sex offense? Ever? Posted by: Drug Cnslr | Mar 13, 2022 7:24:49 PM Statically, very few sex offenders are prosecuted. And some of the crimes are what I characterize as young love. Seems strange having a "Scarlet Letter" used to identify a person's crime. If this a good rational to protect society, shouldn't all persons who have served time be identified. The Epstein mess is an example of how strange our outrage works. retiree Posted by: ilene marsch | Mar 14, 2022 4:03:40 PM Post a comment Exclusive-Sri Lanka to start talks with IMF as economic crisis worsens - sources A general view of the business district in Colombo By Uditha Jayasinghe and Devjyot Ghoshal COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lanka will begin talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month on a plan to help the crisis-hit country, where a foreign exchange shortage has squeezed essential imports amid looming debt payments, three sources said on Friday. Sri Lanka is facing its worst financial crisis in years. With foreign exchange reserves standing at a paltry $2.31 billion, the country is struggling to pay for critical imports including fuel, food and medicines. The move to approach the IMF for help comes after months of resistance from Sri Lanka's government and central bank, despite calls from opposition leaders and experts to seek a bailout package. Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa will travel to Washington in mid-April to present Sri Lanka's proposal to senior IMF officials, two sources with knowledge of the ongoing discussions told Reuters. "We are taking our proposal and a plan," one of the sources said, declining to be named since the discussions are confidential. "The government is serious about fixing things." In a tweet late on Friday, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said the aim of the upcoming talks with the IMF was not restructuring Sri Lanka's debt. "Meetings of Sri Lankan authorities with @IMFNews officials over the next few weeks are NOT for the purpose of #debt restructuring," he said. Through repeated cycles of borrowing since 2007, Sri Lanka had piled up $12.55 billion worth of debt through international sovereign bonds (ISB), which make up the largest part of its external debt. The island nation has to repay about $4 billion in foreign debt this year, including a $1 billion ISB maturing in July. "We will discuss options based on our plans," the source said. Sri Lanka's finance ministry and the IMF did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters. 'TOUGH SITUATION' A combination of historically weak government finances, badly timed tax cuts and the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the country's lucrative tourism industry and foreign remittances, have wreaked havoc on Sri Lanka's economy. Story continues In a periodic review last week, the IMF called on the government to implement a "credible and coherent" strategy to repay debt and restore macroeconomic stability. "The country faces mounting challenges, including public debt that has risen to unsustainable levels, low international reserves, and persistently large financing needs in the coming years," the IMF said. To find a way out of the crisis, the government will seek assistance with debt restructuring, the foreign exchange crisis, bolstering revenue generation and reforming state-owned enterprises, the source said. "This is a tough situation," the source said, "We want to see what support we can get from the IMF." In recent weeks, the country of 22 million has faced rolling electricity cuts. Bakeries have run out of gas and many fuel pumps have run dry. Soaring oil prices have added to the government's woes. Late on Monday, the central bank implemented a flexible exchange rate for the rupee, triggering a devaluation of about 30% and driving up the prices of many essential items. (Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe in Colombo and Devjyot Ghoshal in New DelhiEditing by Toby Chopra, Hugh Lawson and Frances Kerry) 18 1.1% 818 10% 1.2% 1.33% 3%12% 57% 27% 510.4 62 10% 8844.4 Jupiter Lai 6% 6 810 15% 4% 62 Twitter 5% 8844.4 102 2.45 68.66% B.Duck 2021 5% THE HENLEY II3.8 LYOS23 1088 Dear Helaine and Joe: I recently acquired this large tureen in the shape of a goose. I believe it is a piece of armorial porcelain marked with the seal of the Chinese Emperor Qianlong. My question is whether or not you have a seen a representation of the great seal of the United States with the eagle facing away from the olive branches? Thank you, M. D. Dear M. D.: We are both more than a bit surprised that this inquiry is centered around the placement of the eagle on this goose-shaped tureen. Unfortunately, this a minor side issue when it comes to a discussion about this particular object. Several other significant issues might include: How old is this piece? Was it really made in the mid- to late 18th century? Is the seal mark authentic? Was it actually made in China or somewhere else such as Italy, Portugal or even Japan? On its face, this is supposed to be a piece of Chinese porcelain designed to be exported to the West specifically, to the United States and made during the reign of the Emperor Qianlong (1735-1796). Interestingly, the great seal of the U.S. with of its depiction of an eagle with spread wings and its talon clutching an olive branch in one and a sheath of arrows in the other was not adopted until 1782, just 14 years or so before Qianlong's death. It is thought that the first tureen appeared in France during the reign of the French King Louis XVI (1638-1715), aka the Sun King or Louis the Great. Originally, it was a large, round lidded serving dish used to serve the first course at dinner. There were two ways that formal dinner might be served: service a la Francoise, in which all the dishes were on the table at the beginning of the meal, or service a la Russe, in which dishes were carried in from the kitchen one course at a time. Over time, the simple round earthenware serving dishes became more elaborate in design and shape and many were made from porcelain or silver. Shapes went from round to oval to square, then to fanciful forms such as cabbages, tomatoes, pumpkins, rabbits, swans, boars heads, shells, nesting chickens and geese, among others. Unfortunately, the mark is misleading and this tureen was not made in China or manufactured during Qianlong's reign. It is in the style of Chinese export wares but was made elsewhere and at a much later date. Most commonly, these goose tureens were made in Italy, but we cannot rule out an origin in Japan. These goose-shaped tureens turn up for sale on occasion, and everyone we have seen has a different scheme, but they all tend to be very attractive and appealing to the eye. We can imagine their turning up in giftware catalogs of specialty shops featuring table wares and settings. But the bottom line is they were meant to deceive the unwary. When we see these goose tureens being offered for sale online, they are in $70 range. We suspect they are being offered at $125 or so at retail. (Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson have written a number of books on antiques. Do you have an item youd like to know more about? Contact them at Joe Rosson, 2504 Seymour Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917, or email them at treasures@knology.net. If youd like your question to be considered for their column, please include a high-resolution photo of the subject, which must be in focus, with your inquiry.) 2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SIOUX CITY -- Grammy winners Little Big Town will return to Sioux City this summer as part of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino's Battery Park series. Slated to perform July 23 in the outdoor concert area, Little Big Town has appeared several times at the Tyson Events Center and the Orpheum Theatre. Tickets will go on sale Friday and can be purchased at: hardrockcasinosiouxcity.com or at the hotel's Rock Shop. Little Big Town has earned more than 45 award show nominations and has taken home nearly 20 awards, including four Grammys and nine Country Music Association Awards. Known for such hits as "Girl Crush," "Boondocks," "Little White Church" and "Pontoon," Little Big Town consists of Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Philip Sweet. The four are currently represented on the charts with cuts from their ninth studio album, "Nightfall." To date, "Wine, Beer, Whiskey" has reached more than 265 million streams, putting the quartet's lifetime streams at more than 2.3 billion. Most recently, the band launched 4 Cellars wine and Day Drinking canned wine spritzers, their first non-musical project as a band. Little Big Town is the first band announced for the summer series. More acts are expected. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Candi Rathe was sleeping peacefully when Travis Harrington, her partner of 25 years, climbed back into bed around 5 a.m. Dec. 18. Within five minutes, Rathe, 41, began having what appeared to Harrington to be a seizure. He couldnt wake her. She breathed hard for about 30 seconds, went limp and stopped breathing. He couldnt find a pulse. Harrington got the couples 19-year-old daughter, Delaney, and called 911. The pair started CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Rathe. Bellevue Police Officer Tyler Andahl arrived and took over chest compressions. Officer Robert Markve then arrived with an automated external defibrillator. He placed the pads on Rathe. The machine advised the officers to stand clear and delivered a first shock. Soon after, first responders with Bellevue Fire and Rescue arrived and continued the resuscitation efforts. Rathe, who awoke several days later at the Bellevue Medical Center with no memory of what had happened to her, said doctors told her the combination of CPR and the AED saved her life. Without those two things, I wouldnt have been here, she said. Those machines are wonderful. Theyre lifesavers, for sure. Markves AED, which he carries in his squad car, is among 2,500 that have been placed with law enforcement agencies, first responders and state offices and facilities throughout Nebraska thanks to a $6.4 million grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The Bellevue department received 56 units. Nebraska and Iowa are among six states that have received devices through the initiative, which so far totals $34 million. Two more states, Minnesota and Nevada, also will receive grants for AEDs. Walter Panzirer, the trustee for the Helmsley Trust, said the AED program builds on earlier initiatives by the trust that also focus on improving responses to heart attacks and strokes. Those initiatives include stocking ambulances with 12-lead electrocardiogram systems and what are called LUCAS devices that provide mechanical chest compressions. In both urban and rural areas, Panzirer said, police officers who are out on patrol, as Markve was, often arrive at cardiac arrest calls before paramedics do. Thats particularly true for volunteer forces, whose responders may have to travel to a station before responding to a call. The quicker you can get a defibrillator on someone, the higher likelihood that that person will survive, said Panzirer, who previously worked in law enforcement. A study by the American Heart Association indicated that the chances of survival when a patient is first shocked by law enforcement is nearly 40%, compared with 28% when patients have to wait for a first shock by EMS personnel. The newer, self-monitoring units also are connected via Wi-Fi to a centralized online data repository so law enforcement agencies can track whether theyre charged and ready to go. Markve said he never had needed to use the device before. After the ambulance left with Rathe, he and Andahl followed it to the hospital. Markve stayed after his shift was over. He said he tried to reassure Rathes family, telling them they had done a good job in starting CPR. Im sure they were stressed beyond belief, he said. Several days later, Markve went to the hospital before he started work and spoke with Rathe and her family. Rathe went home on Christmas Eve. That was really their ultimate Christmas present, Markve said of the family. For his actions, Markve will be recognized in a Friday ceremony held by the City of Bellevue and state health officials. In addition to the incident with Rathe, Markve has helped revive two people with suspected drug overdoses using the rescue medicine naloxone, or Narcan once in November and another time in February. Travis Harrington, Rathes partner, was familiar with AEDs lifesaving potential before Rathes episode. He first trained in their use and in CPR in 2007 as part of his job. Later, he used an AED in the Atlanta airport to help revive a person who was in cardiac arrest. He said he was able to hold it together in the airport, but at home, he was pretty scared. I tell you, he said, its a whole different story when its someone you love. Rathe, meanwhile, still is trying to figure out what went wrong. She said she felt fine before her health scare. She and her daughter had worked out the evening before. It was just out of the blue, she said. Shortly after she was released from the hospital, she began wearing a defibrillator vest that can monitor her heart and shock it into rhythm if necessary. On Wednesday, she had surgery to place an internal defibrillator in her chest. Harrington said Rathe will undergo genetic testing after she heals as another step toward a diagnosis. In the meantime, Rathe has returned to work full time. She works in a doctors office, so her co-workers keep a close eye on her, as does her family. They dont let me out of their sight, she said. Harrington said his family gives special thanks to the officers, paramedics, firefighters and dispatcher who responded to their call and helped them through their emergency. They were all pretty phenomenal, he said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 OMAHA -- Kozee Decorah's family wanted to see Jonathan Rooney receive the maximum prison sentence for the young woman's death. The sentence handed down Friday may have fallen short of that, but Decorah's family found some peace knowing that Rooney would serve 25 years in prison and would be held accountable for the May 16, 2020 slaying and burning of Decorah's body near a remote cabin on the Winnebago Indian Reservation. "We're OK with that," said Leila BigJohn, a family friend who accompanied several of Decorah's family members from their home in Wisconsin. "I think they understand that nothing will bring her back, that nothing will make it OK. "I think they got some closure today." A federal jury in December found Rooney, 27, of Winnebago, Nebraska, guilty of voluntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice by destruction of evidence. He had been charged with second-degree murder, but at the conclusion of the eight-day trial in federal court in Omaha, jurors convicted him of the lesser charge, sparing him the possibility of life in prison. Federal sentencing guidelines, which take several factors into account, suggested a prison sentence of 11-14 years, but the U.S. Probation Office recommended that Rooney be sentenced to the maximum of 35 years, a sentence that family members asked U.S. District Judge Robert Rossiter Jr. to apply. In a letter read to the court, Angelina Sanchez, Decorah's niece, said her large family remains devastated by the death of the 22-year-old Decorah, who had three children with Rooney. "To this day, we still struggle. We struggle with our emotions dealing with the fact she is gone," Sanchez said in the statement, read in court by BigJohn. "He took a beautiful soul from us. He should never have such beauty and love again." Conservation officers found Rooney sleeping naked with the couple's 4-month-old son four hours after Decorah had called Winnebago Police to tell them they needed help after their vehicle got stuck on a muddy road. Just before midnight, officers noticed a fire, leading them to the cabin, where an outhouse was on fire. When awakened, Rooney told officers he didn't know where Decorah was. During an interview, Rooney said he and Decorah found the cabin and started a fire in the grill to dry his clothes. An argument began after Decorah asked him if he had been drinking or using drugs. He said Decorah hit him with something, and he pushed her out of the cabin, shut the door and went to sleep. The next thing he was aware of, he said, the officers were waking him up. Officers observed a blood smear on Rooney's arm, scratches on his shoulder and an injury on his cheek. When officers extinguished the fire, they found human remains burned so completely, only a skull, a few broken bones and some internal organs remained. Dental records determined the remains were Decorah's, but an autopsy could not determine if she suffered trauma before her body was burned. "To say that he tried to get away with this is an understatement," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lecia Wright said in asking for the maximum sentence. "This was essentially extreme, it was unusually heinous. It was cruel, it was degrading." Rooney declined to speak when offered the chance before he was sentenced. His attorney, assistant federal public defender Kelly Steenbock, said a maximum sentence would be excessive, essentially punishing Rooney for second-degree murder, a crime for which jurors could not find him guilty. "We ask the court not to hold Mr. Rooney to the standard he was acquitted of," Steenbock said. "The fact he covered up the crime does not make it worth twice the sentence called for under the law." Calling Decorah's manner of death unforgivable, Rossiter said the sentencing range called for under the guidelines was not a sufficient punishment. "I am most astounded and disturbed by the manner of the disposal of the mother of your children," Rossiter said. But, the maximum sentence was not appropriate either, Rossiter said before announcing a sentence that fell between the one suggested in the guidelines and the maximum. Rooney showed no emotion upon hearing his sentence, though members of his family sobbed softly upon hearing it. As he was led out of the courtroom, he glanced back at them, smiled and nodded in their direction. He can appeal his sentence. Outside the courtroom, BigJohn said Decorah's family members were not concerned Rooney did not offer a statement during the hearing. They choose to focus on Decorah's children, who are in the custody of Rooney's mother, and remember a young woman whose life was cut short. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 3 Angry 6 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Matthew Sandoval, 28, pleaded guilty in October in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Chief U.S. District Judge Leonard Strand sentenced him to 234 months in prison. There is no parole in the federal system. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Sandoval conspired with others from 2016 through June to sell at least 40 pounds of meth in the Sioux City area. The meth was received in several shipments that were mailed to him through the U.S. Postal Service. SIOUX CITY -- A fire that damaged a painting and decorating business in Sioux City's Riverside neighborhood Thursday night is being investigated as accidental in nature. At 6:24 p.m., firefighters were called to a green Morton building, 3601 Sioux River Road. Sioux City Fire Rescue Captain Ryan Collins said Friday that Irwin Painting & Decorating occupies half of the building and that the rest of the space is used for personal storage. No one was inside the building at the time of the fire and no injuries occurred as firefighters worked to extinguish the fire. The owners primarily paint and finish wood trim and doors inside the structure, according to Collins. "The fire happened on a wall that separates the two occupancies," he said. "The fire was limited in scope, meaning that it was contained to that wall area. It did not extend up into the attic or any other spaces within the occupancy." Collins said a UPS driver on Sioux River Road saw smoke coming from the eaves of the building and reported the fire. He said a second 911 call was made by a neighbor a few seconds later. As the sun set and darkness fell, flames and smoke billowed from the building's west side. Firefighters pulled hose lines through large garage doors into the structure, deployed an ariel ladder over the roof, and removed large pieces of metal from the building's interior. At one point, an RV and SUV were driven out of one of the garage doors. "The majority of the fire was put out with just our tank water, the water that we carry on the engines themselves," Collins said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. SIOUX CITY -- In honor of Women's History Month, the Sioux City Public Museum is once again showcasing the accomplishments of local women. The March History at High Noon features "Women in the Newspapers" at 12:05 p.m. on Thursday. Presenter Haley Aguirre, archival records clerk, highlights some of Sioux City's most prominent and pioneering women in print media. Learn the stories of the women who made first made feminine voices heard in the Society pages, the women who broke glass ceilings to report "men's" news, and Sioux City women who made a name for themselves in newspapers across the country. Attendees are invited to bring their own lunches to the free presentation at the museum, 607 Fourth St. Also showing is the exhibit, A Century of Service: Mary J. Treglia Community House & Junior League of Sioux City 1921-2021 through March 27. The histories of the Mary J. Treglia Community House and the Junior League of Sioux City are closely related. The Sioux City Community House opened on April 7, 1921, as a settlement house modeled after London's Toynbee Hall and Chicago's Hull House. Designed to help immigrants transition to new lives as American citizens, the Community House provided educational opportunities, advocacy and material assistance to the people it served. The women who founded the Junior League of Sioux City held their first meeting on April 11, 1921. As a local chapter of the national organization, the intent was to coordinate their individual volunteer activities to make them more effective. Many of these same women were heavily involved in the founding of the Community House and it remained a focus of the Junior League's volunteer efforts for many years. Additional stories about women making a difference will be told throughout the month via the Museum's social media channels. Protective masks/face coverings are encouraged for those who have not received the COVID-19 vaccination. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. I just took my sister to MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center. I want to tell the people of this area that our experience was good. Everyone was The wildfires that broke out in the Florida Panhandle in early March 2022 were the nightmare fire managers had feared since the day Hurricane Michael flattened millions of trees there in 2018. It might sound odd hurricanes helping to fuel wildfires. But Michaels 160 mph winds left tangles of dead trees that were ready to burn. We asked University of Florida fire ecologist David Godwin, who co-leads the Southern Fire Exchange, to explain the role the hurricane played in wildfires that forced over 1,000 people to evacuate their homes. Whats fueling Florida wildfires so early in the year? March is early for large fires in this part of Florida. Were not in extreme drought, but the weather has been warm and dry, and this area has a lot of fuel on the ground that can burn. When Hurricane Michael rolled through, it had a catastrophic impact on timber in the region. The hurricane dropped most of the standing trees into a jumbled mess that piled up on the ground. Typically, a forests fuel load the total mass of burnable stuff on a site is less than 10 tons per acre. After Hurricane Michael, surveys found over 100 tons per acre in parts of the Panhandle. Thats off the charts. Everyone involved saw this storm had tremendous potential to affect wildfire activity for years to come. Using satellites, the Florida Forest Service mapped the damage to timber in the Panhandle. Florida Forest Service In most fires within the region, only the ground cover and understory vegetation burn. Here, almost the entire forest is now on the ground branches and trunks that normally wouldnt be available to the fire are dead, dry and ready to burn. In the years since the hurricane, with the forest canopy gone and more sunlight reaching the forest floor, additional vegetation has also grown in, contributing additional fuels. All of those fuels are driving increased fire behavior, meaning more intense fires with longer flame lengths and additional spotting caused by blowing embers igniting new areas. How does all that debris affect firefighting? The tangle of trunks and branches make these areas hard to access and dangerous for fighting a wildfire. It means youre climbing over, under and around trunks. Vehicles cant get in. Firefighters often cant use their typical bulldozers to establish fire lines. The heavy fuels can burn for a long time, harboring persistent fires that reignite later. The heavy fuels are harder to extinguish and can produce smoke that can endanger roadways and impact communities. Two images of a section of Calhoun County, Florida, about 40 miles from the coast, show the damage after Hurricane Michael. Forwarn/USDA Forest Service Why havent the trees been removed? People might ask why the government didnt clean up the damaged trees, but about 80% of the areas severely impacted by Hurricane Michael were on private lands. That limits what officials can do. A lot of this land is timber investment land, and theres no crop insurance for trees, so people may not have the money to get a contractor in to clear out the dead trees. Its a very rural region and low-income in many places. The Florida Forest Service has been very vocal in trying to get support for private landowners to manage fallen trees, for the reason were seeing now. I was at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida, recently, and the difference funding can make was obvious. The base had almost a direct hit from the hurricane, and the surrounding trees were decimated. But because the Air Force had access to funds, within a year it was clearing out dead trees and chipping the material for bio energy. Workers at Tyndall Air Force Base remove trees broken and blown down by Hurricane Michael. David Godwin/Southern Fire Exchange, CC BY-ND The base is now rapidly on its way to replanting longleaf pines. Longleaf pines were once the dominant pine trees of the South, but they were cut down when timber barons came through. While industrial forestry had better success with slash pines and loblolly pines, the longleaf pines hold up better to hurricanes, wildfire and disease. Research after Hurricane Katrina showed that longleaf pines were more resilient in the face of hurricane-force winds, with significantly less damage. Theyre also more pest-resistant and a keystone species for the ecosystem. Rain that started March 9 began to help firefighters, but the forecast after that was expected to bring dry, windy conditions that could whip up fires again. [Youre smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversations authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter.] David R. Godwin receives funding from the US Joint Fire Science Program through grants in agreement with the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station and also the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. He works for the University of Florida Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences. He is affiliated with the North Florida Prescribed Fire Council and the Southeastern Regional Action Committee of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Retiring Rep. Adam Kinzinger said his biggest regret during his time in Congress was voting against the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump. The Republican lawmaker, who is one of two Republicans on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, expressed his regret in a series of tweets Friday night in which he noted the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine has made clear the seriousness of Trumps actions. The former president was impeached for the first time in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to a phone call in which he pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the family of now-President Joe Biden. Advertisement Its important for political leaders to be transparent and admit regret when needed. The bottom line, Donald Trump withheld lethal aid to Ukraine so he could use it as leverage for his campaign, Kinzinger said. This is a shameful and illegal act, directly hurting the Ukraine defense today. The lawmaker added that he wishes he could go back in time to change his vote, but insisted there was a lesson for the future. What we can do now is to ensure that this never happens again, and that we all put the interests of our nation above our party, he said. Kinzinger, who has said he wont be seeking reelection for his House seat, has been vocal about his opposition to Trump. He joined the rest of his fellow Republican lawmakers in the House in voting against impeaching Trump over the Ukraine scandal. In the Senate, only one Republican, Sen. Mitt Romney, voted to convict the president. Kinzinger later became one of 10 lawmakers in the House to vote in favor of impeaching Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Saudi Arabia executed 81 men on Saturday in what was the kingdoms largest mass execution in its modern history. The number is astounding when you consider that Saudi Arabia executed 67 people in all of 2021 and 27 in 2020. The number is even higher than the 63 people Saudi Arabia executed in January 1980 after they were convicted of seizing the Grand Mosque in Mecca a year earlier. It was far from clear why Saudi Arabia chose Saturday to execute so many people, including 73 Saudis, seven Yemenis, and one Syrian. The state-run Saudi Press Agency said the men executed included people who were convicted of various crimes, including the murdering of innocent men, women and children. It also said some of those killed had pledged allegiance to foreign terrorist organizations, including ISIS and al-Qaida. The accused were provided with the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process, which found them guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes that left a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers dead, the Saudi Press Agency said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest Newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. The number of executions being carried out in Saudi Arabia had declined during the pandemic. But these latest executions took place at a time when Saudi Arabia may be feeling as if it has a lot of leverage on the world stage as energy prices surge as a result of Russias war on Ukraine. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly planning a trip to Saudi Arabia next week to discuss oil prices.* Several international rights groups criticized the executions. There are prisoners of conscience on Saudi death row, and others arrested as children or charged with non-violent crimes. We fear for every one of them following this brutal display of impunity, Reprieve, a London-based group, said in a statement. Saudi Arabia is fifth in a list compiled by Amnesty International of the countries with the highest execution rates in the world in 2020 after China, Iran, Egypt, and Iraq. A judge in Texas temporarily blocked the state from investigating gender-affirming care for transgender youth as child abuse. District Judge Amy Clark Meachum issued a temporary injunction Friday that blocks the state from enforcing Gov. Greg Abbotts directive that calls on the Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents if they receive reports that theyre allowing their children to receive medical treatment to transition genders. If allowed to go forward, the Republican governors order would endanger children and their families, the judge said. Meachum said there is a substantial likelihood that the lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal will be successful in challenging the governors directive. Advertisement The ruling is a victory for LGBTQ groups as well as civil liberties advocates at a time when conservative politicians in several states are moving to criminalize gender-affirming treatment for trans youth. Since Abbotts directive, the state has opened nine investigations into families who provide this type of medical care to their children. The courts decisive ruling today brings some needed relief to trans youth in Texas but we cannot stop fighting, Brian Klosterboer, ACLU of Texas attorney, said after the ruling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ruling came after hours of testimony during which a Department of Family and Protective Services supervisor said the abuse investigations into families of transgender children were being held to a different standard. Among other things, investigators are required to look into cases even if theres no actual evidence of abuse. Ive always felt that, at the end of the day, the department had childrens best interest at heart, said Randa Mulanax, an investigative supervisor with DFPS who resigned due to the directive. I no longer feel that way. Abbott issued the directive based on a Feb. 18 non-binding legal opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton days before the states March 1 primary election. Paxton vowed to appeal the Meachums decision. House Democrats had one big piece of business to get done this week before decamping to Philadelphia for their annual retreat: Passing a $1.5 trillion government funding bill, to which a separate $15 billion bill refilling the governments COVID-response coffers was attached. Well, lets call it a partial success. On Wednesday, in the handful of hours members had to pore over the 2,700-plus page bill before voting on it, it became clear that the $15 billion in COVID response money had been offset by clawing back some state relief funds that had been doled out in last years American Rescue Plan. Rank-and-file House Democrats revolted, and leaders were forced to drop the entire COVID-response bill from the package. When asked about it at a news conference, Speaker Nancy Pelosi boiled over. You're telling Noah about the flood, Pelosi said, in reference to House members who had complained that they didnt get everything they wanted. Let's grow up about this, OK? she said. You don't like what you didn't get in the bill? I'm very unhappy with what I didn't get in the bill. You think I could have gotten something into the bill as speaker of the House? No. Because it takes six60 votes in the Senate. That's it. That's all I'm going to say about that. All in all, it was the perfect way to pregame for a retreat performance from DJ Jazzy Jeff. Wednesdays discovery of Ernest Henry Shackletons Endurance ticked all the boxes for a prime shipwreck: The ship is extremely well preserved; it has an old-timey look that evokes swashbuckling fantasies; and it was found in a hard-to-reach area, which makes the discovery all the more exciting. The stars of the discovery, however, were the gorgeous sea creatures that had made the ship their home. Some of these were cataloged in a viral Twitter thread by Huw Griffiths, a marine biogeographer with the British Antarctic Survey and science communicator. The sea lily? Stellar. The starfish? Beautiful. The sea anemone that appeared to be piloting the ship? An incredible feat for a sea anemone. Advertisement But one of them immediately stood out to me for its spidery appearance, and the distinction of being one of the few life forms aboard with the capability of crawling. Allow me to introduce you to my favorite denizen of the Endurance: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ok so I changed my mind! In one of the higher resolution images shared by @BBCAmos my @BAS_News colleague Dr Katrin Linse and I just spotted a CRAB!!! Probably a munopsid of kiwa (yeti crab)! Crabs have NEVER been recorded in the Weddell Sea before! AMAZING find! pic.twitter.com/02GPWwQHvv Huw Griffiths (@griffiths_huw) March 9, 2022 Advertisement Advertisement Dare I say the Shackleton wreck crab, thriving at 10,000 feet deep and in extremely low temperatures, is exactly the inspiration we need as we navigate this tricky and dark world? I have taken the liberty of naming this crab Crab. Crab is a bright spot. Crab is my new best friend. Crab is everything to meor at least the newest thing I incessantly bother my friends about. So I gave them a break and reached out to Griffiths (who was not involved with the Endurance22 expedition), hoping that he could tell me all about Crab. Advertisement First off, we dont know exactly what kind of crab Crab is. Its likely that its a member of the Munidopsis genus, which is a family of squat lobsters, a type of crustacean. They make deep waters their home, and Griffiths told me that scientists previously had found one off the West Antarctic Peninsula. But one in the extremely cold depths of the Weddell Sea is unprecedented and a real surprise. As more photos and more information come in, Griffiths told me that it might be possible to identify specifically what species of crab it is. Or it could be a new crab entirely. Lots of things are new to science when we go down there, says Griffiths. Somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of what we catch is a new species. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whether it turns out to be completely new or not, this is for sure: Crab is resilient. The deep Antarctic sea is a very harsh place for anything to live because its so cold. One of the old rules of Antarctic things is its too cold for this and its too cold for that, Griffiths said, noting that Crab breaks that rule, which is very exciting. Griffiths told me that the temperatures tend to have a sedative effect on animals: The chemistry involved in keeping a crab alive slows down a lot in low temperatures. The frigid water is a much better place for sea lilies and other stationary species that were spotted in the picture, what Griffiths called living fossils because of their ancient, prehistoric origins. But when it comes to animals like sharks and crabs, they become rarer because they cant swim away. They dont have any defenses. This creates a largely predator-free environment, where all of the sedentary creatures can thrive without being eaten. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But if youre wondering if Crab could threaten the peace aboard the wreck, rest assured, Griffiths didnt think so. As far as predators go, these squat lobsters probably arent a huge threat. Theres not millions of them roaming around eating everything. (Though Griffiths did point out that the photos taken of the wreck show that there might be more crabs than just Crab.) The harmonious scene on the sunken ship has another threat, though. Climate change, said Griffith, absolutely can affect deep sea life. The organisms at the bottom of the sea depend on organisms nearer to the surface. Plankton at the surface make the food that eventually sinks down to the ocean floor, so if conditions change near the top, like less sea ice, then that could affect life near the bottom. Ironically, the reason the Endurance22 team was able to get to the wreck at all is because the sea ice was at a record low, and they were able to access parts of the ocean that normally wouldnt be accessible. Its bittersweet, but Griffiths told me that its pretty good that weve got people finding out whats there before it all gets ruined by climate change before things change too much. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I did have one last question, at the behest of one of my friends whom I dragged into my Crab obsession: Is Crab happy? Is Crab having a good time down there? Griffiths thinks it probably is. He told me that most of whats on the seafloor is flat mud, and things are much more spread out. But on the wreck, theres much more density of life than you would normally find, so if that crab feeds on sponges or anemones, then its like a huge buffet that [crabs] can just walk around on. But again, there arent enough crabs to demolish that buffet. I think all the animals were quite happy and having a good time, said Griffiths. And in turn, Im having a good time watching them. After the Arab Spring, Vladimir Putin began to see the internet as a tool of Western power projection, according to Justin Sherman, a fellow at the Atlantic Councils Cyber Statecraft Initiative. His belief that the U.S. created the internet as a means of asserting its power has led to a range of moves restricting Russians access to the internetand its given the Kremlin an excuse to use the internet as a weapon for its own purposes. Now, as Western tech companies are pulling out of Russia, will Putin act decisively against the internet? Advertisement On Fridays episode of What Next: TBD, I spoke with Justin Sherman about how Putin wants to wall off Russia from the rest of the digital world. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lizzie OLeary: The early 2000s were marked by the color revolutions in former Soviet countries, including Ukraine. Did technology start to play a role at all there? How has Putins thinking on the internet evolved since he first came to power at the start of the century? Justin Sherman: Technology did not have a huge role in those early color revolutions, but this thread is really, really important for understanding how we gotand how Putin gotto where we are today. The color revolutions did send fear rippling through the Kremlin about Russia losing influence over former Soviet republics, and also about foreign governments toppling regimes that are close to the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin doesnt see opposition movements as legitimate. He sees people protesting on the street, and says There must be some foreign plot here where a government is orchestrating this behind the scenes. And so, though the internet role in those early ones was minimal, they really did explode that fear in the Kremlins head that other states, other mysterious forces, were trying to reduce Russias influence over surrounding countries. Advertisement Advertisement In 2008, the Kremlins fears began to be realized. In August of that year, Russian forces invaded Georgia. The conflict itself only lasted five days, but it marked a turning point in Russias abilityor perhaps its inabilityto control information and the narrative around what was happening. What role did the internet play in that conflict? Advertisement You had that gap between what people were seeing on television, which is near totally controlled by the Russian government by that point, and what they were seeing on the internet, which was not that filtered and was pretty open in Russia at the time. People easily could go on sites that were up in Georgia and say, Oh, well, the Kremlin says there werent any casualties, and yet here, this website says that Georgians killed a bunch of Russian soldiers. That worried a bunch of Russian officials. That really made people sit up and pay attention and say, Hey, even in a traditional armed conflict, we have to pay a lot more attention to this internet thing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is the striking quote from Putin in 2014 that the internet is a CIA project. Its easy to dismiss that as propaganda, to say, Thats ridiculous. He cant literally think that the U.S. government controls the internet and controls every tech company. But Putin very much was serious when he said that. The Arab Spring had just happened and that freaked Putin out. And then 2014 really was the nail in the coffin, which was the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement This is right after the Snowden leaks, and all this stuff about U.S. government surveillance globally. Next thing you know, Facebook and Twitter are huge points of mobilization to overthrow the Kremlin-friendly Yanukovych regime in Ukraine. He really did believe that the internet is a CIA project and that Western tech companies, too, were arms of the U.S. government. And when you have this view that the U.S. built and uses the internet to hurt Russia and to hurt other countries, the view in the Kremlin is, If were using disinformation, if were cyber attacking you, thats not escalation. Were just doing back to you, what we see you doing to us. Advertisement Advertisement As Vladimir Putin sees it, the very architecture of the worldwide web is threatening. What he would prefer is a domestic internet: One that could control all information within Russias borders. What steps have been taken toward creating a domestic internet? In 2014, you had Russian officials talking about building a domestic DNS system, the domain name system that converts website names like slate.com into IP addresses. They were saying, We need our own. We want independence from the global web. There were many people who even scoffed at that idea. But in 2019, the Russians put all of this on paper. Putin signed a law saying, We need to be able to isolate the internet in Russia from the rest of the world at a moments notice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Is their attempt to create a Russian internet more about blocking and monitoring Western providers and infrastructure, or is it about creating something that is uniquely Russian? Its both. Its wanting this idea of a Russian internet. Wanting one where Russian-language content can thrive, where the state can control and decide for people, what is the best kind of information and the best kind of services to have. It is also a desire to have that deeper level of independence from the global web. There are other countries who are very happy to censor the internet, to block websites, to filter traffic, but theyre still using global protocols. Russians, time and time again, talk about going deeper, talk about being able to flip a switch and have no data going in and out of Russia. Advertisement You wrote a piece for Slate back in 2019 with this headline: Russias Domestic Internet Is a Threat to the Global Internet. What is it about this project that is so threatening to the foundational ideas of the internet? Part of it is that Kremlin drive to actually set up a Russian DNS, to set up different Russian protocols and infrastructure. Not many countries are pushing for that level of isolation. Even the Chinese government, which changes protocols internally and does a ton of filtering, is still pretty reliant on global internet technologies. Even in Iran where theres a national information network, a domestic intranet that has a lot of state content on it, there still is access to the global internet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has moved incredibly quickly against Western tech companies and websites either by blocking or throttling them. Many of those companies have pulled out of Russia for the moment. Russia also passed a new law that threatens websites and publishers with prison time for misinformation about Ukraine. What is still to come? Advertisement Advertisement There are really a bunch of different things to watch here. One is, in past years, the Russian government has tried to block access to things or slow down access to things and has failed. Yet now we do see a bunch of blocking of foreign sites, slowing down access to websites. It does seem, even if a little bit, that the Kremlin has improved those filtering capabilities. Advertisement The other big thing to watch is Putins rhetoric. Just last week, for example, Russias internet censor said that YouTube was a tool of Western information warfare against Russia. And so the fact that the state is getting more escalatory in its language also suggests that these tech actions are angering the Kremlin and that there may be more and more crackdowns than weve ever seen in the coming months. Do you think we might be moving toward something that looks like a Chinese Great Firewall, or is it a very different tactic from the Russians? Advertisement We could be moving to more filtering, but the Russian internet control model has for a while relied on far less blocking than in China. China has a really sophisticated data filtering apparatus on its gateways and in the country. The Russian internet control model instead relies on a lot of traditional coercion: law enforcement harassing you, intelligence services following people at tech companies, confusing and inconsistently enforced speech laws. The point is very much so that citizens think about posting something and say, Well, so and so got arrested for posting that, maybe I shouldnt post it. Its that kind of hesitance, its that kind of fear injection that the Kremlin knowingly uses to shape the internet environment within the country. Advertisement Is the fear the point? The fear is the point. Masha Gessen said this recently: You cant talk about censorship in Russia, whether thats a newspaper or social media, without talking about the economy of fear. And that worry, that fear about getting arrested, that fear of being separated from your family, of getting beat up at a protest, all of those risks are part of this internet control model. Even in recent weeks, the Russian government has introduced new punishments for people sharing information about the war. It released a directive last week, telling citizens not to share anything about Russian forces killing Ukrainian civilians and not to share anything about Russian troop casualties. All of these things are in flux, and its a really scary environment to be living in Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Is the early-aughts dream of an open internet that connects us all just sounding even more silly in the face of all of this? I dont think it sounds silly. Russias troop buildup and disinformationand now second illegal invasion of Ukrainehas had such a strong internet element. Weve seen so much information coming out of Ukraine by people posting online. Weve seen unprecedented action by foreign governments all at once, real time, disclosing Russian covert action and other things. There really is a strong internet theme with all of that. It might not be silly to believe in a global internet, but its silly to think that these companies have all the right incentives. Its silly to think that other governments are not aggressively trying to undercut the global web as we know it. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. https://sputniknews.com/20220311/biden-reportedly-vetoed-delivery-of-polish-mig-29-jets-to-ukraine-to-avoid-causing-wider-war-1093792724.html Biden Reportedly Vetoed Delivery of Polish MiG-29 Jets to Ukraine to Avoid Causing Wider War Biden Reportedly Vetoed Delivery of Polish MiG-29 Jets to Ukraine to Avoid Causing Wider War WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden vetoed Poland's proposal to send Polish MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in order to avoid provoking Russia to... 11.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-11T22:17+0000 2022-03-11T22:17+0000 2022-03-11T22:16+0000 situation in ukraine us poland russia ukraine us arms for ukraine mig-29 nato /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0b/1093792077_0:0:2200:1239_1920x0_80_0_0_acedbe9e6eb7f56cfc378b8be11f0bd4.jpg The report, citing the White House, said that the US decision to deny Polish MiG-29 jets to Ukraine came directly from Biden.The United States has provided Ukraine with other weapons and assistance such as anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, the report said.Earlier on Friday, Biden said the United States would defend the territory of NATO member states against an attack from Russia but that delivering the NATO-member's fighter jest to Ukraine could lead to World War III. He also ruled out entering the war over Ukraine.According to earlier reports, the US did not approve of Poland's idea of transferring fighter jets to the US authority and sending them to Ukraine from the US and NATO airbase in Germany, believing that this would lead to an escalation of the current conflict. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier that the transfer of other types of weapons is different from the provision of combat aircraft "that could cross a border and actually conduct operations on Russian soil."Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 after the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics requested help to defend themselves against attack by Ukrainian military assets. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that their special military operation is only targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure. Two weeks into the special military operation, Moscow released a statement asserting that Ukrainian troops were using terrorist methods, such as shielding behind civilians and positioning weaponry in civilian quarters.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus poland ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 us, poland, russia, ukraine, us arms for ukraine, mig-29, nato https://sputniknews.com/20220311/congress-sends-federal-anti-lynching-bill-to-biden-after-122-year-long-fight-1093790845.html Congress Sends Federal Anti-Lynching Bill to Biden After 122-Year-Long Fight Congress Sends Federal Anti-Lynching Bill to Biden After 122-Year-Long Fight Since the first anti-lynching bill was introduced in 1900, over 200 attempts have been made to pass a federal law designating the extrajudicial killing of... 11.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-11T21:15+0000 2022-03-11T21:15+0000 2022-03-11T21:17+0000 lynching emmett till hate crime us bill racism /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0b/1093790683_0:0:2790:1569_1920x0_80_0_0_5d3f676f2d5fa8532d5f55d7d073a5a0.jpg On Monday, the US Senate unanimously voted to pass the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, named after a 14-year-old Black boy who in 1955 was tortured and murdered in Mississippi by a group of white men. Tills brutal murder shocked the world and helped spark a mass movement that a decade later forced an end to formal racial apartheid in the United States informally known as the Jim Crow system.A week earlier, the House passed it by a vote of 422-3; the three lawmakers who voted against it were Republican representatives Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Chip Roy (R-TX).Perpetrators of lynching got away with murder time and time again - in most cases, they were never even brought to trial. [] Today, we correct this historic and abhorrent injustice, he said.Between 1882 and 1968, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) recorded 4,743 lynchings in the United States. The group notes that other sources have reached different totals, due to the difficulty in tracking and verifying the killings. Many historians believe the reported tallies to be well below the true number of murders.The vast majority of the killings happened in the American South, where white aristocrats staged an armed rebellion in the 1860s in defense of the legal enslavement of Black Americans, whose labor formed the basis of the cotton-export economy. After the rebellious Confederacy of states was defeated in 1865 and Congress banned private slavery, a brief attempt by radical Republicans to eradicate the legacy of inequality between Black and white Americans was curbed by a resurgent white supremacist movement, which reestablished an apartheid system that persisted until 1965.The first attempt to ban lynching was in 1900 in a bill introduced by Rep. George Henry White (R-NC), the last of more than a dozen Black congressmen who took office during the Reconstruction era. When he left office in 1901, there wasnt a single sitting Black congressman until 1929. The bill was killed by the Judiciary Committee, despite a huge petition delivered by White that called for outlawing lynching and creating a Central Detective Bureau to record and investigate information in support of lynching prosecutions.Another notable attempt came in 1918, when Missouri Republican Rep. Leonidas Dyer introduced a bill that was passed by the House but stalled in the Senate thanks to the filibuster rule, which conservatives successfully deployed for decades to block progressive legislation. Recent stonewalling of Bidens political agenda by Republican senators has aroused calls to repeal the filibuster rule.The Emmett Till Antilynching Act, the purported final iteration of an anti-lynching bill, was first introduced in 2018. During the 2020 George Floyd protests, when millions of Americans poured into the streets to demand an end to anti-Black police violence and killings, as well as lynchings by vigilantes, progress on the bill was stalled by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who claimed it was overly broad, demanding an amendment be added to ensure it "would apply the criminal penalties for lynching only and not for other crimes." The version passed this week contains Pauls proposed changes, and the Republican Kentucky senator voted in favor of its passage. us Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 lynching, emmett till, hate crime, us, bill, racism https://sputniknews.com/20220311/puts-us-on-the-map-texas-rattlesnake-festival-remains-despite-backlash-from-animal-rights-groups-1093793011.html 'Puts Us On the Map': Texas Rattlesnake Festival Remains Despite Backlash From Animal Rights Groups 'Puts Us On the Map': Texas Rattlesnake Festival Remains Despite Backlash From Animal Rights Groups Sweetwaters bloody rattlesnake roundup is a decades-old tradition that some Texans are unlikely to abandon. But with other rattlesnake roundups in the United... 11.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-11T23:08+0000 2022-03-11T23:08+0000 2022-03-11T23:07+0000 snakes texas georgia animal rights /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0b/1093792987_138:0:1002:486_1920x0_80_0_0_6c359953fa9a2f6e858cd091dd2e3bbd.png What is advertised as the Worlds Largest Rattlesnake Roundup draws about 25,000 visitors annually to the town of Sweetwater, a community in Texas made up of a little over 10,000 people. For Sweetwater, the festival brings in a reported $8.3 million for the town. Thats a price tag thats hard to ignore, even if it means death to thousands of animals.But the festivals dark underbelly has drawn criticism from animal rights groups and many others who see the treatment of the animals as cruel and inhumane. Every March, tens of thousands of snakes are driven out of their dens in the wild through the use of gasoline being poured into the ground, making the burrow uninhabitable. From that point, any wildlife which isnt being hunted, enjoys the pollution of the surrounding land and water which affects over 350 wildlife species. Among the critics of the Texas festival is the nonprofit Advocates for Snake Preservation (ASP), which calls for the conservation and education of snakes. "Negative attitudes about snakes may be the biggest barrier to their conservation it is difficult to gain public support when you arent perceived as cute and cuddly," the group writes. The group has condemned rattlesnake roundups as unjustified and lacking critical science to back up any false claims made about population control. Proponents of the event, held annually since 1958, claim that killing snakes helps with population density, and that their venom is harvested for anti-venom treatments. But activists note that the snake population is already maintained by natural predators, prey abundance, and disease. Taking the animals out of the local ecosystem can result in an explosion of the rat and rodent populations, which carry many diseases.Additionally, venom used in the production of anti-venom is already collected from captive colonies of rattlesnakes by companies like BTG International, which is responsible for making CroFab, the only FDA-approved anti-venom available, and Red Rock Biologics, which manufactures a vaccine for dogs and horses. Rattlesnake killing roundups are not approved by the FDA, and subsequently any venom collected at these events cannot be used in the production of any FDA-approved anti-venom treatment.The Sweetwater annual roundup is reportedly a bloodbath. Prior to the event, snakes are loaded into crowded and confined spaces where they are heard rattling. Western diamondbacks are taken and shot in the head with a bolt gun, before being decapitated, skinned and gutted. As snake brain tissue does not succumb to the cessation of blood supply and oxygen - like other creatures - the reptiles remain fully conscious throughout the killings. Once skinned, their bodies, regularly continue to writhe, removed hearts continue beating, and decapitated heads continue to gasp for air.Festival goers press bloody handprints on walls of the facility, signing a handprint with their name. Children are encouraged to hold bloody and decapitated bodies.The state of Georgia replaced its own rattlesnake roundup with a festival deemed cruelty-free by wildlife experts. The Whigham Rattlesnake Roundup held its first humane event earlier this month, choosing to educate the public about the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, which has lost 97% of its natural ecosystem, and is not protected by the states in which it lives, including South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama or Louisiana.Whighams new vision emphasizes how cruel and antiquated the few remaining roundups are, including the largest one left, in Sweetwater, Texas. It also shows that it's possible to have a change of heart and make compassionate changes for these really misunderstood animals, noted Bennett.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg snakes, texas, georgia, animal rights https://sputniknews.com/20220312/bill-clinton-reportedly-gifted-and-signed-his-memoir-to-sex-trafficker-ghislaine-maxwell---1093800428.html Bill Clinton Reportedly Gifted and Signed His Memoir to Sex Trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell Bill Clinton Reportedly Gifted and Signed His Memoir to Sex Trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell The Democrat has been getting negative publicity since 2019 following reports that he hung out with Jeffrey Epstein and travelled on his private jet, where the convicted sex offender reportedly abused dozens of young women and girls. Clinton has distanced himself from the financier, but he is yet to comment on relations with Epstein's accomplice. 2022-03-12T07:44+0000 2022-03-12T07:44+0000 2022-03-12T07:44+0000 society bill clinton ghislaine maxwell jeffrey epstein sexual abuse sex trafficking ring /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/08/1080102971_0:196:2947:1853_1920x0_80_0_0_4131702e5bd2e9150bed17c76b9890e5.jpg Former US President Bill Clinton signed and gifted his memoir to Jeffrey Epstein's "pimp" Ghislaine Maxwell, the Daily Mail has reported, publishing a photo of the book it obtained. According to the tabloid, the photo was sent by Rasmus Alpsjo, a former aide to Ghislaine Maxwell.He recalls that he discovered the memoir in the socialite's $15 million house in New York around 2015 and decided to take a picture of the first page, where the Democrat allegedly wrote "to Ghislaine with love" in blue marker.Alpsjo, who is now 31, said Maxwell's husband Scott Bourgerson, whom she married in 2016, was intimidating. He told him that he could never reveal the identity of his boss.The young man says he was paid $300 a week and took turns with other aides, who all looked liked him. They looked really, really Swedish, like blonde, tall, blue eyes. So we all had that in common,' said Alpsjo, who was 24 when he took the job, he said.The President, The Beast, and His Right-Hand WomanThe revelation is likely to reignite the debate on how close Bill Clinton was with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein and whether the former president was involved in the crimes committed by the two. Jeffrey Epstein made his fortune doing financial consulting. He met Maxwell, one of the children of British publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, in the 1990s. According to an indictment, the two were in an "intimate relationship" between 1994 and 1997, but even after their separation, Ghislaine Maxwell is said to have maintained a close ties with the financier.The two then created a sex trafficking network of minors with Maxwell luring girls and women into the hand of Epstein, promising them well-paid jobs in the house of the millionaire. Epstein had many acquaintances in high circles presidents, billionaires, entrepreneurs, Hollywood actors, and even royals. Reports say that some of his powerful friends slept with Epstein's victims.Several lawsuits have been filed against Epstein, but they were settled out of court. In 2008, he received a lenient prison sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution, which allowed him to leave his cell for up to 12 hours a day, six days a week to work. After 13 months in prison, his punishment was changed to house arrest.However, in July 2019 he was arrested following the publication of an article where several women opened up about the abuse they suffered at the hands of the financier. Epstein didn't live to see the trial. He was found hanged in his prison cell on 10 August 2019.The New York City Medical Examiner's Office concluded that his death was a suicide. Yet, a forensic pathologist hired by his family suggested that evidence pointed to the financier potentially having been strangled. These inconsistencies sparked conspiracy theories. According to one, Epstein was killed by his powerful friends, who feared they may be implicated in his crimes.Following Epstein's death, attention shifted to Maxwell and the financier's accomplices. It was revealed that Bill Clinton travelled on Epstein's private jet, dubbed the Lolita Express, where the financier's victims were purportedly abused. According to the Democrat's former aide Doug Band, Clinton also visited Epstein's private island, where women and girls were reportedly abused too.Several photos have since resurfaced showing Epstein's victims with Clinton. One of the images shows the Democrat getting a neck massage. The ex-POTUS was also close with Ghislaine Maxwell, according to Doug Band. The British socialite even attended the wedding of Clinton's daughter Chelsea in 2010, after Epstein's first criminal case.Bill Clinton distanced himself from Epstein after the sex scandal broke out, with the politician's spokesperson saying the Democrat knew nothing of the crimes and dismissing reports that Clinton visited Epstein's private island.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Max Gorbachev Max Gorbachev News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Max Gorbachev society, bill clinton, ghislaine maxwell, jeffrey epstein, sexual abuse, sex trafficking ring https://sputniknews.com/20220312/croatias-prime-minister-calls-zagreb-drone-crash-threat-to-nato-countries-1093812296.html Croatias Prime Minister Calls Zagreb Drone Crash 'Threat to NATO Countries' Croatias Prime Minister Calls Zagreb Drone Crash 'Threat to NATO Countries' BELGRADE (Sputnik) The recent fall of a Soviet-made unmanned aerial vehicle in Zagreb was a clear threat to all NATO allies, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T16:04+0000 2022-03-12T16:04+0000 2022-03-12T16:04+0000 croatia zagreb drone /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/0c/1093812237_0:321:3071:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_ff34ab6a75ab6e035b33c943629a78a3.jpg In the early hours of Friday, an aircraft crashed in a green zone in one of the districts of the capital of Croatia causing a loud explosion. Presumably, this was a Soviet-made Tu-141 Strizh UAV that flew from Ukraine. Plenkovic on Saturday examined the crash site with government members and law enforcement officials.According to the prime minister, the drone also passed Romanian and Hungarian airspace before entering the Croatian skies, where it was flying for seven minutes before falling in the crowded area. Fortunately, no one was injured.He added that the Hungarian authorities failed to react to the incident for 40 minutes, a behavior that raised questions. Croatian authorities, including the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the security forces will investigate the incident, Plenkovic said. In particular, Croatia will extract the wreckage of the aircraft and check it for useful data and contact all the countries that may have relevant information. croatia zagreb Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 croatia, zagreb, drone https://sputniknews.com/20220312/ex-us-attorney-general-william-barr-calls-china-biggest-threat-to-america-1093811154.html Ex-US Attorney General William Barr Calls China 'Biggest Threat' to America Ex-US Attorney General William Barr Calls China 'Biggest Threat' to America The former official has repeatedly criticised the actions of Chinas authorities, calling Beijing the most "powerful violator of human rights". Barr also condemned US tech companies for continuing doing business with China, describing their behaviour as "kowtowing". 2022-03-12T15:54+0000 2022-03-12T15:54+0000 2022-03-12T15:54+0000 world china us william barr threat technology /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107831/61/1078316138_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_52f38646cb93646661301bf2d700a895.jpg Former US Attorney General William Barr has called China the "biggest threat" to the United States. Speaking on Fox News about his new memoir "One Damn Thing After Another", the Republican said that Beijing is not only a military adversary, but also poses a technological threat.The ex-attorney general emphasised that in its efforts to combat the purported threat from China, the Biden administration needs to focus on the fact that the US' position as a technological leader makes the country prosperous and creates all the opportunity for future generations and provides for our security".His comments come amid the release of a US intelligence report on global threats. The annual assessment mentions Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Commenting on China, the Intelligence Community said Washington and its allies would face "an increasingly complex and interconnected global security environment marked by the growing specter of great power competition and conflict, while collective, transnational threats to all nations and actors compete for our attention and finite resources".Relations between the two nations have been tense in recent years due to disagreements over a number of issues, including trade, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, human rights in Xinjiang, the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, and the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.Beijing and Washington have also locked horns over cybersecurity, with the US accusing China of carrying out a global espionage programme via tech giants such as Huawei and TikTok. Chinese authorities have rejected the accusations, which they described as smears and political suppression. china Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Max Gorbachev Max Gorbachev News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Max Gorbachev world, china, us, william barr, threat, technology https://sputniknews.com/20220312/gop-senator-claims-weak-biden-counted-on-putin-to-get-iran-to-cut-nuclear-deal-with-us-1093808791.html GOP Senator Claims 'Weak' Biden Counted on Putin 'to Get Iran to Cut' Nuclear Deal With US GOP Senator Claims 'Weak' Biden Counted on Putin 'to Get Iran to Cut' Nuclear Deal With US On Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated negotiations on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action being held in Vienna had been suspended to... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T13:47+0000 2022-03-12T13:47+0000 2022-03-12T13:47+0000 us russia iran joint comprehensive plan of action (jcpoa) nuclear deal vladimir putin joe biden /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107612/29/1076122933_0:123:2000:1248_1920x0_80_0_0_4ee6f71eedcb76a1bf4df5a899046eef.jpg Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has accused US President Joe Biden of being "weak" and relying on Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to help revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).In an interview with Fox News, Cotton focused on the future of what he described as the "terrible" Iran deal in light of Russia's ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, meant to demilitarise and de-Nazify the country.The senator claimed that Biden has been "counting on Vladimir Putin to be his lawyer for the last year to try to get Iran to cut a deal with us". Cotton attributed Biden's "weakness" last year to the president's purported unwillingness "to do anything to offend Vladimir Putin and upset the apple cart with this nuclear deal with Iran".He spoke after Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on Friday that negotiations in Vienna on reviving the JCPOA had been suspended in order "to resolve the remaining issues and nuances of the final agreement".The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, cited "external factors" as he admitted that a pause is needed in talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.Vienna Talks The JCPOA was inked in 2015 by the UK, Russia, China, the US, France, the EU plus Germany, and stipulated imposing restrictions on the development of the Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.In May 2018, then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the JCPOA, reinstating harsh economic sanctions on Iran. Exactly a year later, the Iranian government announced that Tehran had started to scale back its JCPOA obligations.Since April 2021, Vienna has been hosting talks to restore the deal, which had until recently shown little success. The US accused Tehran of pushing unrealistic demands, while Iran said it wouldn't agree to anything less than a reliable and lasting lifting of all the sanctions.As for the Russian special operation, it began on 24 February and is going "as planned", according to President Vladimir Putin. The Russian Defence Ministry emphasised that the operation only aims to destroy Ukraine's military infrastructure with high-precision weapon strikes and that civilians are out of danger.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus iran Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Oleg Burunov https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg Oleg Burunov https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Oleg Burunov https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg us, russia, iran, joint comprehensive plan of action (jcpoa), nuclear deal, vladimir putin, joe biden https://sputniknews.com/20220312/indian-security-forces-kill-four-terrorists-in-jammu-and-kashmir-1093800100.html Indian Security Forces Kill Four Terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir Indian Security Forces Kill Four Terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir Since the start of 2022, security forces have launched a series of anti-terrorist operations in Indian-administered Kashmir after the disputed region witnessed... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T06:33+0000 2022-03-12T06:33+0000 2022-03-12T06:37+0000 india indian army terrorists kashmir jammu and kashmir militants militants paramilitary troops paramilitary unit sputnik /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/103070/57/1030705766_0:0:3268:1839_1920x0_80_0_0_73b0df5f9d83303b8bf8cd00b3fc0624.jpg Indian security forces gunned down four suspected terrorists and captured one alive in five overnight operations across Jammu and Kashmir. According to a police statement, joint teams of the Indian Army, Kashmir Police, and paramilitary forces launched overnight counter-terrorism operations against militants in the three districts of Pulwama, Ganderbal, and Handwara, resulting in the elimination of four terrorists.The police also revealed that out of the four terrorists killed, two militants, including a Pakistani national, were affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed* (JeM), while the other two were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba* (LeT).A total of 20 anti-terrorist operations have been successfully executed by the security agencies in Kashmir this year. In the course of these operations, three top commanders and nine Pakistani militants have been killed. Sixteen terrorists have been captured alive, and 40 of their associates have been arrested this year.*Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba are designated as terrorist organisations.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channels to get all the latest news: Sputnik News US - https://t.me/sputniknewsusSputnik News India - https://t.me/sputniknewsindia kashmir jammu and kashmir Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Pawan Atri https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/05/12/1082926219_0:0:358:358_100x100_80_0_0_aca1d9bdccc7af990e49b4511ee80344.png india, indian army, terrorists, kashmir, jammu and kashmir, militants, militants, paramilitary troops, paramilitary unit, sputnik https://sputniknews.com/20220312/israel-records-first-polio-case-in-33-years-doctors-fear-outbreak-after-jerusalem-sewage-tests-1093795283.html Israel Records First Polio Case in 33 Years, Doctors Fear Outbreak After Jerusalem Sewage Tests Israel Records First Polio Case in 33 Years, Doctors Fear Outbreak After Jerusalem Sewage Tests Israeli doctors have confirmed the first clinical case of polio in the country in more than 30 years, and now fear more cases may not yet have been detected... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T01:07+0000 2022-03-12T01:07+0000 2022-03-12T01:06+0000 polio israel jerusalem outbreak /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/0f/1082078912_0:245:2986:1925_1920x0_80_0_0_5088a7b20c87c876387d147b95b52286.jpg A four-year-old girl in Jerusalem was confirmed diagnosed with Poliomyelitis on Sunday, the Israel Ministry of Health announced. The girl had not been vaccinated against the contagious virus, which is most commonly spread between humans by fecal matter, although in certain circumstances the live virus contained in the vaccine can also cause infections.While the disease was common in the early and mid-20th century, aggressive vaccination campaigns dramatically reduced global cases, and several parts of the globe have since been declared polio-free. According to the World Health Organization, in 1988 - the last year polio was detected in Israel - there were 350,000 polio cases worldwide. By 2017, just 22 new cases were detected globally.The Israeli child diagnosed on Sunday had already suffered muscle weakness and was released from the Hadassah Medical Center to get support in a specialist hospital.In addition, the Health Ministry reported two additional preliminary positive cases that have not yet been confirmed. One was from a contact of the girls, and another was in an unrelated stool sample sent to the lab, according to the Times of Israel.In addition, the Health Ministry said it had detected polio in the capital citys sewage system, suggesting an even greater spread of the dangerous virus.Another polio case was found in Lilongwe, Malawi, in February, according to the WHO. It was the first wild case in Africa in over five years, and health officials claimed it was imported from Pakistan, where the disease is still found. A few days later, Malawi declared an outbreak and set up testing sites, although no additional cases have been announced.As long as wild polio exists anywhere in the world all countries remain at risk of importation of the virus, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa, said in a statement.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus israel jerusalem Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 polio, israel, jerusalem, outbreak https://sputniknews.com/20220312/kiev-says-israel-does-not-suggest-that-ukraine-accept-russias-proposals-1093808482.html Kiev Says Israel Does Not Suggest That Ukraine Accept Russia's Proposals Kiev Says Israel Does Not Suggest That Ukraine Accept Russia's Proposals MOSCOW (Sputnik) Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett does not suggest that Kiev should agree to any of Moscows settlement demands, Volodymyr Zelensky's... 12.03.2022, Sputnik International 2022-03-12T13:14+0000 2022-03-12T13:14+0000 2022-03-12T13:15+0000 russia ukraine israel /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/03/07/1093666732_0:252:3111:2001_1920x0_80_0_0_87a4d1ff795ea9b789b196215d512371.jpg Earlier this week, media reported, citing an anonymous high-ranking Ukrainian official that Bennett allegedly pushed Zelensky to agree to Russian President Vladimir Putins proposal to end hostilities, which would require Kiev to make substantial concessions. The reports did not specify any other details.On 24 February, Russia began a special operation to demilitarize and "denazify" Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics in countering the aggression of Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defence Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.Let's stay in touch no matter what! Follow our Telegram channel to get all the latest news: https://t.me/sputniknewsus ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 russia, ukraine, israel Serbia Under Pressure After Opting to Keep Air Links With Russia Vucic Serbia has been pressured about its decision to double flights between Belgrade and Moscow after the European Union closed its airspace to Russian planes, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday. "They are telling us that we are making money on the blood of Ukrainians and so on and weve been flying two planes instead of one," Vucic told TV Pink. He pointed to Turkey, which he said had been flying 30 times more flights to Moscow than Serbia, and to Persian Gulf countries that had 15 times as many Moscow flights as the small Balkan nation. Vucic also remarked during the Saturday interview that he would accept the price of $400 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian natural gas after the delivery contract expires in June. "Back when I was negotiating with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin I did not agree to the price of $400 per 1,000 cubic meters. I would have signed up to it now by both hands," he told TV Pink. Serbia has been paying Russia $270 per 1,000 cubic meters, with shipments of 6 million cubic meters a day contracted until June 1. Serbia hopes to negotiate a 10-year deal next.